Dragons of Summer Tide (The Dragons of Hwandor) by Robert Barton Page A

tree tops keeping pace with the horses.
    After about a quarter of an hour Veer slowed their pace to a walk since they were not really on a trail and it was rough going for the horses not to mention that the young man was taking a few small limbs to the face in his haste. Another half hour brought them to a trail.  Veer climbed down from his horse and looked around and said. “This is the trail I was telling you about. If we go up it that way it goes deeper into the hills and eventually into the mountains. If we head down it we run south but it stays parallel with the mountains just this far in the foothills right along the edge of the plains.”
    “So which way do we go?” Shira asked as she climbed off of her horse, deciding that she might as well give it a rest while the two of them talk. “South, along the trail or do we go into the hills?”
    “This is strange. This trail doesn’t get used much, just a few trappers coming down to go south to market their furs. But look at it.” Veer looked up and down the trail as he spoke.
    “Well somebody has been using it this spring and summer – and using it a lot.” Shira noted. “So this is the southern part of the Furway, I know it back up north of here. Would be about two weeks that I travelled south at the edge of the plains following those foreigners and Talenger. He has staying a day behind them and I was staying a day behind him.”
    “Yes, this is the Furway, the Northern branch joins it a couple of days up-trail on the other side of some hills.” Veer nodded. “But the trappers didn’t wear the trail like this, there just aren’t enough of them, they go down-trail in the spring and come back up-trail in late summer so they can be back in their trapping grounds by first snows.”
    “Maybe all of the bandits that we have been hearing about have been using the Furway to get around without being seen. All you have to do is ride west toward the mountains into the hills and you will find the Furway and that can take you into the mountains or along the edge through the hills.” Shira said.
    “That old ranger said they weren’t bandits. When he was dying he told me they were foreigners. But I think that they are just passing as bandits. You could move a small army along the Furway ,.” Veer answered.
    “Looks like that is what somebody is doing ,” Shira said
    “I wish that I could see some clear tracks so I would know more but the last ones are old and washed out ,” Veer said
    “No, they aren’t washed out I can see them clear as day ,” said Shira
    “I grew up in these hills and I can track and there isn’t anything readable on th e ground right now, I have eyes,” said Veer.
    “Then you need some eyebright, ‘cause I grew up in these hills too and I was trained by a hunter and a ranger and I can see cle ar sign on the ground right now,” said Shira. “But the prints don’t look right something odd about the shoes on the horses.”
    “Odd how? I know horseshoes, my da was a smith and I had to make shoes, a lot of shoes like a ferrier, right after I spent forever making nails,” Veer responded.
    “I don’t know how to describe it, oh look there it is ,” Shira said pointing to the ground under one of the horses. “See that print where your horse stepped, that is a normal horseshoe like we have around here. But look there under my horse and you can see the difference.”
    Veer walked over to the pack horse and lifted its hoof to look right at the shoe and said. “I see it now, look right here you can see when we are shaping the metal we, oh never mind why it’s just different. That’s strange because flatlanders and southlanders all make their shoes the same way that we do. These people are from far away and there are a lot of them. Who are they and what do they want around here?”
    “You said that Talenger told you that they were foreigners, I guess that he was right, they are ,” Shira said. “Do we follow the tracks north and