Tremors of fear and determination rang through the campsite as the gypsies and the children prepared to evacuate the camp before Wolinda and the Dark Riders arrived. Evidently, the magic display given off by the Sword of Heavens was sufficient to alert the witch, Wolinda, who was leading the group of Dark Riders. Events of the day had been sufficiently unusual that no one had thought to question Garth on how he knew the Dark Riders were approaching and everyone scrambled to secure the things they each wished to bring.
Garth rummaged through the wagon selecting the items he did not wish to leave. He piled up several long lengths of rope and several quivers of arrows before reaching for the heavy canvas satchel. The satchel was divided into two compartments and Garth was relieved that the children had not thought to search through it. One side of the satchel held a large number of Lanoirian Stars that he had purchased from a source in Ongchi the last time he was there, but the other was packed with deadly myric quills. A touch to the point of one of those quills would have meant instant death to the children who touched them, something he would cover in his next lesson. He had purposely exaggerated the two minutes that it would take the Dark Riders to arrive so the children would not dawdle. He knew they had closer to ten minutes, but that was still cutting it close when it came to fleeing from servants of the Dark One.
Tanya appeared at the back of the wagon. “Is there something I can do to help you?” she asked. “I never unpacked my belongings and Arik has already shown me the horse that I will be riding.”
Garth stared at the young girl who enjoyed dressing as a boy. He handed her the coils of rope. “Use one of these to create a lead for the two wagon horses. We will be taking them with us. Then secure the other coils to my horse.” She turned to go and Garth reached out and held her arm. “Do you have any fighting skills?” he asked.
Tanya looked up at the imposing gypsy and grinned. “More than any of your boys. Uncle Boris often bartered for lessons for me. I can handle myself with sword, knife and bow, although I do not own a bow.”
Garth reached into the wagon and grabbed three bows and handed them to her. “Take these and choose one when you have time to test them out. The large one will probably not be suitable, but we will take it anyway.” He also handed her a quiver of arrows before she left.
Garth shook his head in amazement at how things had developed and bent to complete his task. Within two minutes of his warning the group was ready to go. Garth smiled broadly as he called for the assemblage to mount up and ride northward. Kalina took the lead on her beautiful white mare that looked suited to leading a grand parade down the street of a great city during festival time. Niki and Tanya rode behind Kalina, with Fredrik and Tedi behind them. Arik pulled in alongside Garth at the rear, as Garth looked back over the campsite and the wagon that had been his home for so long.
Kalina kept to a strong pace as she kept her eyes on the path for a good spot to stage an ambush, something that Garth had instilled in her repeatedly over the years. Garth was busy playing with the leads on the two spare horses.
“What are you up to?” Arik inquired.
Garth separated the two leads and handed one over to Arik. “There is a small canyon coming up in a half hour at this speed, and we are going to surprise our followers. Tie this to your saddle. You and I are going to be diversions, but not just yet. Keep an eye behind us and if you see anything, shout.”
Garth moved his stallion up between Fredrik and Tedi. “Do you and Niki know how to shield against magic spells?”
Fredrik looked at him and nodded. “Somewhat,” he explained. “I am better at it than Niki, but she knows the concept. We have had precious little chance to practice and I’m not sure how effective they will be.” Fredrik laughed. “A couple of days ago, I would have boasted that I could stop any spell. After the little display with Kalina, I realize that I know very little of my craft.”
“We are going to plan a little reception for our friends,” Garth explained. “I will need you to create a shield around you and Tedi. Can you handle it?”
“I will try my best,” Fredrik stated.
“I can ask no more of any man,” Garth smiled. “If you feel the shield coming down, you and Tedi will run away from the fight. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” declared Fredrik. “I will do nothing stupid.”
“Good,” replied Garth. “In a half hour we will be coming to a canyon, Tedi. Just before the walls start to rise, you and Fredrik will bear to the right and find a way up to the rim of the canyon within eyesight of a small cave where the path below turns. I want you to keep hidden until the Dark Riders attack, and then you will shoot at the Dark Riders in the valley. If you get the chance, without moving your position, to shoot the witch, take her first. Fredrik, keep the shield on the two of you as long as you can and then both of you flee.”
The boys nodded and Garth started to move ahead, but dropped back quickly. “Tedi, I don’t want you to veer off the path where your tracks will show. Wait until the ground is rocky, even if you have to backtrack a way. I don’t want them to know that you have split off.”
Garth rode up between Niki and Tanya and repeated the instructions, but sending them to the left. He had to grill Tanya about her understanding of tracking and leaving tracks before he was satisfied that she understood. Niki’s attitude bothered him a bit. She seemed eager to use offensive magic against the Dark Riders and he had to keep stressing that the only magic she was to use was shielding.
Garth rode up to Kalina and explained his plan before dropping back to Arik. After telling Arik what he told the others, he launched into the diversion plan for himself and Arik. “As soon as we can see the canyon rising in the distance, you and I will head off at angles from our current track. We will lead our pursuers into believing that the group has split into three groups. They will be forced to divide their men. After you have gone out about ten minutes, turn enough so you are headed directly at the canyon mouth. At this point, cut the spare horse loose. Try to chase him to continue the way you had been heading, but don’t waste any time if he chooses a different way. Then gallop as fast as you can to the cave in the canyon. You will have to hurry because your false trail will have shortened the distance between you and your pursuers.”
Arik nodded solemnly. “I understand, Garth. I will make tracks that are easy to follow right up to the point where I turn. I will make it to the cave. Do not worry.”
Garth placed a firm hand on Arik’s shoulder and smiled. As soon as he caught sight of the canyon rising in the distance between the trees, he indicated for Arik to move out. Garth veered sharply to the left with his horse kicking up large clumps of grass while Arik veered to the right. When Garth had ridden out for ten minutes, he cut the spare horse loose and chased him off. The free horse went more westward that Garth would have liked, but it didn’t really matter much. Garth dismounted and chose the best tree for this part of his plan.
Klarg and Wolinda halted their column by the two trackers who had stopped on the path. “What is it?” Klarg demanded.
“The group split up here,” one of the trackers supplied. “Two to the right and two to the left. The rest continued straight.”
“What does it mean?” Wolinda asked. “Why would they split up?”
“I would suspect,” Klarg mused, “that they plan to siphon off the children a little at a time with instructions for them to meet in some town, like Lorgo. I would expect to see another split-off about ten minutes down the path. If we follow only the main trail, we will end up behind only the gypsies and they will plan to disappear on us.”
“I don’t care about the gypsies,” Wolinda snapped. “I want the children.”
“We will have them all,” declared Klarg. “Five men to the right and five to the left. The rest will continue on. Trackers, continue down the main path.” Klarg laughed. With thirty men at his disposal, they could split up as much as they wanted and he would still get them all.
The five men detailed to take the left track took off at a gallop. With any luck at all, they could capture their two runaways and still make it back for the battle with that gypsy devil with the wicked sword on his back. Once it had been determined that the gypsies had been hiding the children, Klarg placed a high bounty on the gypsy warrior. Klarg was convinced that the gypsy was part of the group of armed men who had helped the boys escape the trap by the seaside cliff. That made Klarg want him more than the children.
Garth heard the thundering of the Dark Riders’ hooves a full two minutes before he got first sight of them. Perched on a sturdy branch with an excellent view of the track, Garth had one arrow already nocked and three more stuck in the tree within easy reach. He quickly pulled another arrow from his quiver and slammed it into the tree. There was not much chance that he would be able to down them all from here before they got wise, but he would be prepared if they gave him the chance.
The first shot would be the trickiest, as Garth planned to take out the last rider first. If it worked, it would confuse them as to where the attack was coming from. One or two of the other riders might notice that the arrow had come from in front of them, but there would be no time for them to tell the others. When the front two riders went down, the confusion just might give him a chance for the remaining two.
Garth pulled back and let the first arrow fly. He immediately nocked the next arrow and sighted on one of the leaders. Garth heard the piercing cry of pain as he let go the second arrow and nocked the third. Garth knew that the Dark Riders had not bought the deception and they started to split up as the third arrow found its mark. The last two men were going to eat up valuable time now and Garth grabbed the two remaining arrows and returned them to his quiver. Quickly, he climbed down out of the tree and crept off at an angle to the track the Dark Riders had been following.
Garth nocked an arrow as one of the Dark Rider’s mounts passed in front of him. He wasn’t sure where the remaining two men were, but they had each chosen a different side of the track. They had dismounted by now or he would have heard them high-tailing it back down the trail. Getting closer to the area of the attack, Garth discarded his bow and took two Lanoirian Stars out of a pocket as he dropped to his belly. Lying quietly, he listened for sounds. One of the men on the trail was not dead. Garth could hear him moaning and realized that it must have been his third shot and the man had turned to flee into the woods while the arrow was traveling.
The noise of the horses was also distracting and Garth could not pick up the sounds of his enemies. Precious moments were ticking by, but Garth remained motionless and listened. Finally, he heard the sound of the man on the other side of the trail. The man was creeping towards the tree where Garth had been shooting from. Still, the warrior had to eliminate the man on this side of the trail first or risk exposing his back. Garth continued to wait patiently.
Soon he heard the sound of a crawling man and the sound was coming closer. Garth laid the Lanoirian Stars on the ground and silently extracted a reed and myric quill. Fitting the quill into the reed he held the blowpipe to his mouth and waited. Several tense seconds later, the Dark Rider’s head appeared not three feet in front of Garth and he blew the quill into the side of it. The man collapsed and Garth shoved the reed back into his pocket. Picking up the two Lanoirian Stars, Garth crawled to where he could see the trail and lay quietly again.
Less than a minute later, he saw the last man dash across the trail to the foot of the tree that Garth had used. Garth quickly and quietly made his way back to where he had dropped his bow. Hiding behind a bush that shielded him at ground level, Garth nocked an arrow and sat waiting for the man to climb the tree. He still kept the Lanoirian Stars on the ground, one on each side of him, in case the man decided to come back this way, but Garth was pretty sure that the man would find his old perch too inviting. It offered good cover for an ambush and afford an excellent view in all directions. Unfortunately for the Dark Rider, it was exposed if somebody was expecting you to be there.
As if on cue, the Dark Rider pulled himself onto the sturdy limb and Garth let his arrow fly. Quickly, Garth rose, gathering his Lanoirian Stars and went to check on the wounded man. The arrow had missed the mark that Garth had aimed for, but the man had died, anyway. Garth jogged down the trail and found his horse waiting for him. He grabbed onto the mane and swung himself onto the horse and took off for the canyon.
Klarg halted the column at the mouth of the canyon. “I do not like the looks of this,” he speculated. “It is too convenient for an ambush.”
“From children?” Wolinda complained. “Don’t tell me the Dark Riders are afraid of these children.”
“Not from the children,” Klarg spat. “I am sure that this gypsy and his men were the ones who ambushed us at the sea cliff. This is probably where his men are hidden. The fact that the rider came back to meet the main group supports me. It was an attempt to lessen the amount of men they would have to attack. Our left flank group never returned. They are probably ten miles from here by now chasing a nonexistent enemy.”
“Does this canyon go through?” Wolinda pressed. “And if so, how long to go around it?”
“The canyon goes through,” Klarg admitted, “and it would take an extra day to get around it.”
“Then we have no choice but to follow,” Wolinda ordered. “You shouldn’t worry. My magic will protect you. Of course, if you want to run for reinforcements, you have my leave, but your men are going in.”
Klarg clenched his fists in anger. He could not be seen as a coward in front of his men or they would refuse to follow him, yet he felt as if he wouldn’t have any men left if he followed the witch’s orders. “Let me at least take a couple of men up each side of the canyon to provide cover,” he insisted.
“Fine, Klarg,” Wolinda patronized, “play the grand strategist if you wish, but use the men from the left flank when they get here. These men are going in with me to get those children.”
Wolinda gave the order to move forward and Klarg felt like putting an arrow in her back. Instead, he turned his mount and galloped westward to find the men of his left flank.
The trackers led the procession into the canyon and followed the evident tracks. They rode deeper and deeper into the canyon at a cautious pace until the trackers hit an invisible wall. They stopped, dumbfounded, and looked down the canyon trail at the cave where Kalina and Arik stood waiting for them. Arik started firing arrows over the invisible wall into the Dark Riders. At the same time, Tedi from the right side of the canyon rim and Tanya from the left, started showering arrows down on the assembled troops.
The Dark Riders dismounted and sought cover. They started returning arrows at the three targets, but they were not able to reach the rim of the canyon and most of the arrows directed at the cave slammed into the invisible barrier. Wolinda started blasting at the invisible barrier and the two bowmen on the rim with her magic. Each time one of her projectiles struck the barrier or one of the shields, it burst into radiant colors and dissipated, but each hit weakened the shield. Wolinda ordered the Dark Riders to start scaling the sides of the canyon and directed most of her magic at the two rim bowmen.
Tanya kept trying to aim at the witch with the bright green dress, but every time she let an arrow fly, a Dark Rider or a horse got in the way. She was trying to conserve her arrows and make each one count for a hit, but the pandemonium below made that difficult. If the horses would clear out of the canyon, she would have a much easier time of it.
“I’m not sure I can hold this anymore,” Niki complained. “Every time she hits my shield, I can feel it, just like she was punching me. She must be very powerful.”
“Just keep holding it,” Tanya demanded. “I want to kill that witch and if your shield fails, we must retreat.”
“I’ll try, Tanya,” Niki wheezed, “but you don’t know what it’s like. It really hurts.”
Across the canyon, Tedi was not trying for the witch because there were too many Dark Riders a lot closer. “How are the shields holding up, Fredrik?” he asked.
“Okay, so far,” Fredrik replied. “I’ve never really done this for any period of time. It’s strange. Every time she hits my shield, I feel it more. At first it was like a distant thump, now it is more like a jab with her fist. Not hard enough to hurt, but annoying to my concentration. This is something I am going to have to practice more when I get the time.”
“You are getting practice right now,” Tedi chuckled.
“Yeah,” Fredrik laughed, “but I am concerned about Niki and Tanya. She’s not nearly as strong as I am and she is getting hit just as much.”
“Don’t worry about them,” Tedi said. “If it gets too tense, they will withdraw.”
“I hope you are right,” Fredrik grunted with another jab from Wolinda. “With women you never know, though.”
The arrows were starting to take a toll on the Dark Riders with fifteen of them dead or dying in the canyon below when Fredrik announced that he could no longer maintain the shield. “We have to retreat, Tedi. Garth was clear with his orders and I never want to feel his wrath or displeasure. Let’s go.”
Tedi backed away from the edge of the rim and Fredrik gazed across the canyon and saw that Niki and Tanya were still there. The two boys took off running and Fredrik hoped that Tanya wasn’t as stubborn as Niki. If she were, both girls would likely be dead before the battle was over.
The Dark Riders were not making much progress at climbing the walls because Arik was concentrating on the climbers. Any time a man got higher than the level of Kalina’s invisible barrier, Arik shot him down. He no longer concerned himself with the men on the canyon floor. It felt strange to him to see armed men trying to kill him and not be concerned about them. He began to think that magic did have some good benefits.
With the thinning ranks of Dark Riders Tanya finally got her shot at Wolinda. Her arrow ran true and struck Wolinda in the left side of her chest. The witch tumbled to the ground and the Dark Riders below started shouting.
“My shield just went down,” Niki shouted. “I don’t understand it. I felt it getting weaker and weaker and then it stabilized and her punches didn’t hurt anymore. Then, all of a sudden, it just collapsed.”
“It doesn’t matter any more,” Tanya replied, watching the Dark Riders heading for the mouth of the canyon. Those that could find live horses mounted and rode back the way they had come. Those without horses ran. Tanya managed to get one more as he was running away.
“Damn!” Tanya shouted. “I didn’t want any of them to get away. Now they will just get more men and come after us again.”
Garth rode into the mouth of the canyon hoping he wasn’t too late. The sound of shouts echoed off the canyon walls with the wail of men in retreat and Garth drew his sinuous sword. Garth slowed his steed to a stop a little ways from a bend in the trail and waited. He didn’t have long to wait before two riders came flying around the bend. The enemy approached while trying to draw their swords and Garth swung into action. Garth swung his sword and decapitated the first rider. Stopping the swing short, he lunged at the second rider with his sword and it cut cleanly through the man’s armor and pierced his chest. Yanking his sword free, Garth saw two more riders round the bend. The second set of riders immediately halted their horses, nearly colliding with each other, and drew their swords.
Garth slowly approached them and they tried to sandwich him between them. Garth’s steed suddenly rose up and turned towards one of the Dark Riders, its hooves lashing out at the man’s head. As if this was a practiced maneuver, Garth chose that very moment to swing his mighty sword at the other Dark Rider. Garth’s sword cut a long rent in the man’s body from his neck to his waist as Garth was sliding off his horse to the ground. Ignoring the man he had just severed, Garth turned to the rider who had been knocked off his horse by the beating hooves. Garth halted his swing at the man on the ground when he saw a pair of lifeless eyes staring up at him. Garth’s horse had crushed the man’s head.
Garth stepped around the bend in the canyon trail and saw three men running towards him on foot. He placed himself squarely in their path with a stance that indicated that the men were not getting past him and they slid to a halt. Eyeing his blood-drenched sword, the Dark Riders drew their own steel while looking for another way out. Garth furtively slipped his hand into a pocket and grasped a Lanoirian Star. He stood with his sword point on the ground in front of him, hilt in his right hand, with his left hand concealing the Lanoirian Star.
“You wanted to serve the Dark One, didn’t you?” Garth sneered. “Well, come, let your blood flow for him.”
The three men screamed as they rushed as one. Garth waited until they closed the distance before tossing out his left hand and sending the Lanoirian Star into the leftmost man’s eye. A second later, he brought his right arm up and the tip of his sword caught the center man just under the right side of his jaw. The sword continued upward and sliced through the man’s nose and left eye. Dropping to one knee, Garth felt the shock of the third man’s sword striking his sword. He allowed the blow to push his sword back by withdrawing it in a smooth arc that came around and sliced through the third man’s legs. The man lay screaming and Garth plunged the sword into his heart.
Garth rose and looked down the canyon for more adversaries. Seeing none, he wiped his sword clean on one of the bodies and sheathed it. He recovered his Lanoirian Star and wiped it clean, also. He walked with his horse down the canyon towards Kalina. Kalina lowered the barrier and walked out to hug him.
“Arik,” Garth said over Kalina shoulder, “I need a count of the bodies. I want to make sure that we got them all.”
The two teams that had been on the canyon rims came riding in, and Garth ordered them to retrieve arrows and anything else that they could find which would be useful. When Arik came back with a count of twenty-six, Garth frowned. He left Kalina’s embrace and went to examine the bodies.
“Klarg is missing,” Garth sighed as he returned. “Everyone is accounted for except Klarg. He will organize a new troop and pursue us. Loot what you can. We move out in half an hour.”