Galen hardly blamed the little girl for getting scared, and in fact, it made his already heavy heart feel lighter when her cries in the night had caused the family, and their guardians, to change their minds. Before it was too late and they had strayed too far from shore, the quintet had turned back toward their ship. He hadn't made any false promises to them about delivering them to his clan, but that didn't mean he hadn't worried about their fate under his watch. Now that they were gone, he and Valan could continue their search for both elf and darkspawn at a faster pace. Darkly, he thought as their feet swept over the soft ground, no longer would he have to worry about the safety of innocents in his pursuit of vengeance. He would be equally merciless the next time he saw any of those foul beasts.
Night fell and the sun rose quickly. They had only paused briefly to rest, but hardly more than an hour, for the hunters couldn't afford to waste any more time. Eventually, the trail left by the clan went cold -- as was intended by his Keeper, of course. The Dalish were careful and clever, while the darkspawn were just brutal and clumsy. For being so much older than himself, Valan was still incredibly nimble and traveled well; Galen couldn't imagine his own father being able to keep up in the slightest. Ualan Elerron wasn't the slightest bit overweight (what elf could ever afford to be?), but he was so out of shape that running from one end of the alienage to the other would have left him breathless. He was also an expert tracker, easily picking up signs that Galen's inexperienced eyes passed by in the dim light of dawn. By midday, it became obvious that they were drawing close to their enemies. The rotting stench their corruption left behind clung to the silent trees, free of fearful birds and small animals.
Then a cacophony arose from half a league away, and in spite of the distance, it was unmistakable for anything else but a battle. They were too late, then. The darkspawn had struck another unsuspecting crowd -- perhaps another clan caught off guard? He didn't think he needed to say anything to Valan to let him know that they had hurry. Galen unslung his bow from his back and prepared to notch an arrow as he dashed forward, prepared to engage in combat. But the battlecries and clashing of metal stopped before he was within ten yards of the scene, and as the figures came into clarity, he quickly realized that the victims had become victors. And that hardly any of them appeared to be elves. In fact, the closest being to him was a great beast -- a horse, a creature he hadn't seen since Highever, and a girl with flaming red hair beside it. He couldn't see her face, but the combination struck him as oddly familiar, even though it was hardly likely.
The archer stopped short of the clearing, slowing his pace down almost to a cautious creep, keeping himself close to the brush. Who were these strangers? For a moment, he was almost irritated that they had stolen his revenge from him, even though all rationality told him they were on the same side. Him, and Valan, and this strange band of...men, and dwarves? And Tal'Vashoth, since it was hardly likely that those two large bronzed men were proper Qunari. He didn't linger in the shadows for too long, though, so as not to be mistaken for a straggler. Galen wasn't ready to trust this crowd -- for all he knew, they could have been slavers or bandits -- but he was willing to take his chances that they would treat him as ally if he stood in the open, rather than never give them the option by lurking.
The hunter didn't lower his weapons completely, but he did take a few slow, loud strides into the open so that it was obvious he was no short hurlock or tall genlock. Galen couldn't see whether there were any weapons about to be drawn or arrows trained on him or not, but he said calmly and clearly, "Don't shoot. I'm on your side."