“ James! Wake up!”
Startled out of sleep, he awakens to see Jiron running toward the camp. “What?” he asks as he sits up, suddenly alarmed. Night had fallen and the woods are dark, the dim glow of the dying fire is all that keeps it at bay.
Miko wakes up and still half asleep says, “Is it my turn?”
Jiron runs to the remnants of the fire and begins kicking dirt on it, putting it completely out.
“What’s going on?” James asks as he gets to his feet.
Miko comes fully awake when he sees Jiron putting the fire out. Realizing that something’s not right, he quickly gets to his feet.
In the last light of the fire before it’s covered by Jiron, they see him pointing to the north as he says, “There’s a road not fifty feet further ahead.”
As the last dying ember is covered and they’re thrown into darkness, James can hear voices coming their way from the direction of the road. He begins to see torches moving their way in amongst the trees as well.
Leading them away from the camp, Jiron whispers, “Soldiers, lots of ‘em.”
As they hurry through the brush away from the river, James asks in a hushed whisper, “Were they looking for us?”
“I don’t think so,” he replies as he continues leading them further away from the river. “I had been scouting ahead of us for when we leave tomorrow and had found the road. They were simply marching this way, coming over the bridge that spans the river we had been following. Then as I was heading back, I heard one of them say something and a smaller group broke off from the main force. They began making their way to our camp. I think they must’ve seen the fire and were going to investigate.”
They hear Miko mumble in the dark, “I knew the forest was a bad place to be.”
Suddenly, they hear a horn sounding from back at their campsite. “Damn!” curses James, “they’re going to be combing the woods for us for sure.”
Jiron slows them down in the hopes they’ll make less noise as he continues to lead them further away from the soldiers.
Suddenly, the woods open up and the moon above shows they’ve come out on the road. Five feet in front of them, a horn sounds, ripping through the stillness of the night as a soldier spots them coming out of the forest.
They stand there frozen for just a moment as two torches burst into life along the road, one across from them and another further to the west. Two dozen soldiers stand on the road between them and the forest to the north, their attention now turned directly to them. The soldiers draw their swords as one of them steps forward and says something in a commanding tone to them in their language.
“James,” Miko begins to say when the group of soldiers between them and the other side of the road are suddenly thrust aside like rag dolls by a blast of magic from James, clearing a path through.
“Move!” he yells as he propels Miko toward the forest on the north side of the road, through the gap in the line of enemy soldiers he’d just created.
The soldiers not thrown aside immediately give chase, following them into the forest. A horn sounds behind them as their pursuers alert the rest of the force as to their whereabouts.
The sound of pursuit is very close behind them. James concentrates as he runs and…
Crumph!
…the ground under the pursuing soldiers erupts, tossing them like rag dolls. When they slam back to the ground all but a few lie still. The explosion slows the pursuit and allows them time to move further into the trees.
“Come on!” Jiron hisses to Miko who’s falling behind. The trees and bushes continue getting in his way as he tries to keep up. The faint light from the stars above gives insufficient light to navigate the forest quickly.
From out of the forest ahead of them, three soldiers appear, one of them raising a horn to his lips. Jiron draws his knives and rushes to intercept. He moves to take out the one about to sound the horn when the soldier abruptly flies backward as one of James’ slugs takes him in the chest.
The other two soldiers draw their swords but are no match for Jiron. The first one to close with Jiron thrusts at his poorly armored chest. Deflecting the thrust skillfully away from his body, Jiron strikes with his other knife and sinks several inches into the soldier’s chest, piercing his heart.
He strikes out with his knee to aid in removing the dying soldier from his knife, while at the same time twisting to avoid a slice from the man’s comrade.
The remaining soldier attacks again, this time with an overhand hack and Jiron catches and stops the falling blade between his knives. While holding the sword immobile, he kicks out and catches the man in the knee. The sound of bones snapping can be heard as his knee breaks, causing the soldier to cry out as he falls to the ground.
Not willing to take the time to finish him off, they skirt around the fallen soldier and continue into the forest. James notices that Miko has acquired a sword from one of the fallen guards, its scabbard secured around his waist.
As they follow Jiron through the trees, they can still hear the soldiers in pursuit not very far behind them.
“We’re not going to lose them,” cries out Miko.
James abruptly stops and turns toward their pursuit.
Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!
Three more explosions, spaced fifty feet apart, erupt under the leading edge of the advancing force. Men scream as their bodies are flung up into the air only to fall back, slamming into the ground with bone shattering force. Many fail to move again while others weakly call out for help. Several trees in the explosion area begin to topple, men cry out as they run to avoid them. Some are crushed by the falling trees while trying to rescue their companions who’d been injured in the explosions.
“That should slow them down some,” James says as he rejoins the others. Setting a quick pace, they race through the trees to put as much distance between themselves and the soldiers.
As they continue on, the sound of pursuit becomes more distant. Jiron continues to lead them northward, though he soon loses exactly which way north is. Not being a woodsman, he’s now using the sound coming from their pursuers to determine their course. His main goal is simply to just stay ahead of them.
Suddenly, the trees open up and the river appears before them. Without hesitation, he immediately turns to follow it upstream. “Won’t they think to follow it?” James asks him.
“Most likely,” he says, “but that mural indicated this river comes from a lake nestled in among some mountains. I think we’d be better able to lose them in the mountains than in here.”
“Good thinking,” James replies approvingly.
When the sound of pursuit all but disappears, they slow their progress, giving everyone a break from the relentless pace. They pause near the river for only a few moments to allow everyone to have a quick drink and to catch their breath before continuing on.
“Let’s go,” Jiron announces as he makes ready to resume following the river to the mountains.
Miko gets to his feet with an exhausted groan. Jiron grins at Miko but then his grin disappears when he sees James beginning to limp on his wounded leg.
Coming over to James, he says, “Leg bothering you again?”
Nodding, James replies, “Yeah, a little. All this running is putting a strain on it.”
“You going to make it?” he asks.
“I have little choice,” James says, resigned. Then he indicates Jiron should proceed as he says, “Go on, I’ll be fine.”
Worried about his leg, Jiron again moves out. Following the river enables them to maintain a consistent heading that forging through the forest hadn’t allow.
The moon appears on the horizon, giving them some light with which to make their way. Though it’s merely a lightning of the shadows after it filters its way down through the canopy of leaves above them. Miko continues to jump at every sound around him, the shadows playing tricks with his eyes, making him see enemies around every tree.
For the next hour, they continue moving quickly through the forest, staying close to the river. Soon the sound of pursuit completely disappears behind them. They stop for another few minutes by the side of the river where everyone takes a moment’s rest.
Miko plops himself down on the ground, exhausted. “Don’t get too comfortable,” Jiron tells him from over by the river. “We’re not staying very long.”
“I know,” he replies, sounding very tired.
James hobbles over and sits down with his back against a tree near Miko, glad to have the opportunity to rest. His leg is starting to burn and when he looks at it, can see that blood is beginning to ooze again from the cuts. He brings his head down to lay on his arms resting on his knees just as a crossbow bolt embeds itself into the tree where his head had been but a moment ago.
“Jiron!” he yells as he rolls to his side, avoiding another bolt as it strikes the tree. Pain erupts in his side as he feels the barely healed wound rip open. Suddenly, the entire area is illuminated by a bright light as he creates an orb of light in the air above them. He quickly looks around and sees several soldiers coming toward them out of the trees. He lets loose with blasts of energy that lifts two of them up and slams them into the trees behind them.
Miko is getting up, trying to get his sword out of its scabbard when a soldier appears in front of him. Screaming, he lurches away from the attacker just as a slug strikes the soldier in the chest, propelling him backward as it blasts out of his back.
He at last gets the sword out as Jiron joins the battle, engaging two of the remaining soldiers. Taking the sword in both hands, Miko edges backward, away from the battle knowing he’d be little use against them.
The ground erupts and five soldiers are thrown into the air. Miko looks around and sees a soldier coming up behind James who looks to be lost in concentration, oblivious to the approaching danger.
Miko breaks into a run to engage the man before he can get to James. The soldier hears him approaching and turns, a smile on his face when he sees Miko.
Coming closer, Miko cries out as he swings the sword with all his might. The soldier easily deflects his inept attack and returns with a slash. Before it has a chance to connect, the soldier is struck with a slug and thrown off balance. Miko is sprayed with gore from the exiting slug as the man falls to the ground dead.
Miko turns to see James looking toward him another slug in his hand. He gives him a brief nod of thanks as he wipes some of the man’s blood off his face, then brings his attention to the remaining soldiers battling Jiron. Knowing he’d be worse than useless there, he goes over to James and stands with sword ready as he watches his back.
Jiron deflects one soldier’s blade while at the same time elbowing the other in the side of the head, causing him to stagger dazed for just a few seconds. He sidesteps away from the dazed man as he engages the remaining soldier.
The man holds him at bay with his shield while striking out with his sword. Jiron deflects the soldier’s sword rather than taking the brunt of the attack by blocking, and returns with a slice from his other knife, opening up a long wound down the man’s forearm. He severs several tendons which causes the soldier’s hand to release the sword. Without his sword, Jiron is able to knock aside the shield and get inside his defenses. A quick strike with his knife and he connects with a mortal wound to the man’s neck.
Blood spraying forth as the jugular is severed, he sees the soldier fall and then turns his attention back to the man who’d been staggering dazed and kicks out with his foot. Connecting with the man’s knee, he hears a satisfying ‘snap’ as the soldier cries out and falls to the ground.
Moving away from the fallen man, he quickly glances around the area and realizes there’re no more soldiers to deal with. “Come on!” he cries as they resume their flight through the forest. He notices that this time, Miko has acquired a crossbow as well as a brace of bolts which is slung across his back. The sword is back in its scabbard hanging at his hip.
As they hurry along, James asks, “How’d they catch up to us so fast?”
“Moving silently,” Jiron replies. “They’re trained for that, whereas we plow through the brush announcing our position with every move we make.”
“No time to rest then,” James announces.
“I wouldn’t advise it,” Jiron says and then hears a groan from Miko. Glancing back to him, he asks, “Tired?”
He just gets a nod from Miko as he tries to keep up with them. The added equipment he’s acquired burdens him more than he’s willing to admit.
After another hour, the sky begins to lighten and they can see that they’re finally approaching the foothills of the northern range of mountains where that lake is suppose to be. When the sun begins to crest the horizon, they locate a somewhat hidden spot and stop for a rest break. Miko immediately collapses to the ground, James hits the ground not too far behind as well. “You guys rest,” Jiron tells them, “and I’ll have a look around.”
Getting a nod in reply, he moves out and soon disappears in the trees. “Think we lost them?” Miko asks James.
Shaking his head no, he says, “I doubt it. I’m sure they have trackers and we’re probably leaving a trail a blind person could follow. It’s just a matter of time until they find us.”
“What are we to do then?” he asks worriedly.
“Keep going, try to stay ahead of them,” he tells him. “That’s about all we can do.” He leans back against the bole of a tree and closes his eyes. The pain in his leg throbbing and he knows he really needs to get off it for a while so it can have a chance to heal. His side has stopped burning from where he’d agitated it earlier. He’d looked at it after the sun came up and found some blood had begun oozing again.
Just them, Jiron returns and says, “I don’t think they’re very close behind us.”
“Good,” says Miko as he stretches out on the ground.
Jiron comes over to him and says, “We aren’t going to have time for you to take a nap.”
“I know,” he replies. “Just let me know when we’re leaving.” Then he closes his eyes as he lays there trying to get some rest.
“We’re not going to be able to keep this pace up,” James tells him from where he’s resting, not even bothering to open his eyes.
“Your leg?” he asks. He can tell James is in pain and the fatigue they’re all feeling is apparent in his face.
“It’s getting bad,” he admits. “Not sure how much longer I can keep going. I also opened up the wound in my side during that last battle.”
“Can you use a puddle or something to find out where they are?” he suddenly asks him.
“Perhaps,” James says as opens his eyes. He gets up and walks over to the river. Using some stones and dirt, he makes a small pool at the water’s edge and then settles down next to it.
As the image in the pool begins to change, they see them sitting by the pool and then he begins to expand the image. It’s quickly apparent that the trees are going to hide everything and that this isn’t going to work here.
“Afraid not,” James says as he cancels the spell.
“Then we’ll just have to trudge on as best we can and hope for the best,” Jiron says.
From where Miko is lying down, they begin to hear snores and they just smile at each other. “Hate to wake him up but we need to get going,” says Jiron.
James groans as he gets up and limps over to him, nudging him with his foot. It takes some doing, but he manages to get him awake. Jiron sets a quick pace, following the river north as they pass deeper into the forested hills. It’s not too much longer before they are able to see the sun glistening off of a large body of water through the trees ahead of them. It’s the lake that the mural back at the ruins had depicted.
It’s not nestled in among the mountains like they’d thought, but rather sits at their base. They can see how the foothills hug its southern shore and turn into mountains on its northern side. The lake itself is quite large and has a large island situated out in the middle of it. The island is wooded and looks deserted.
They turn and follow the shoreline east as the river coming out of the lake is too wide to cross to the west. After walking over a mile along the shoreline, Jiron points behind them.
Coming out of the woods where the river leaves the lake are dozens and dozens of soldiers. When they see them ahead on the shoreline, they begin moving in their direction.
James pauses for a second to watch them as they pour out of the forest. It looks like nearly a hundred men are behind them. “Dear god!” he exclaims as he watches them.
A whimper escapes Miko and Jiron says, “Move!”
Moving quickly, they leave the shore and enter the forest. “We’re going to have to do something,” he says to James. “We’ll never make it with all them behind us!”
“I know,” replies James as he works to keep his tired feet moving. His leg is on fire and feels as if it’s about ready to buckle. Somehow his leg continues to keep going as he keeps up with the hurried pace of the others.
As the hills become more pronounced, he begins to get an idea of how to deal with their pursuers. He keeps an eye out for a suitable spot for his plan, and when they come to where a ravine passes through between two hills, he says, “Let’s stop.”
“Why?” asks Miko.
“I intend to discourage any more pursuit,” he tells them.
“How?” Jiron asks.
“First of all…”
From where Miko lies at the crest of the hill where the ravine ends, he watches as the first of the men enter the ravine and make their way toward him. Getting his crossbow ready, he takes aim, and as they near the middle, he lets fly.
The bolt misses the lead man and strikes the ground in front of them. The line halts as they search for where the bolt originated from. While they’re doing this, the rest of the men behind them continue to enter the ravine, creating a tight packed crowd.
When enough of them have entered the ravine, Miko suddenly stands up and turns around as he races back over the hill. “I hope this works,” he mumbles to himself as he hears cries of the soldiers behind him when they see him running away.
Suddenly, he’s knocked off his feet by a deafening explosion behind as the ravine rocks with an enormous explosion. Glancing back, he sees a cloud of dust rising to the sky.
He moves around to where James said to go and meets up with him. He’s sitting on the ground, head cradled in his hands. “You okay?” Miko asks, worried.
James just shakes his head as he sits there.
Miko moves around to the hill where Jiron was suppose to be waiting and watching what happens in the ravine. He comes up behind him and asks, “Did it work?”
“Looks like it,” Jiron replies from where he’s lying on top of the hill looking down into the ravine.
When Miko crests the hill where Jiron lies, he can see the ravine is no more. The hills on either side have exploded outward, coming together and crushing all that had been between them. He looks to where Jiron points and can see maybe ten men who are hesitantly approaching what used to be the ravine. Only ten of the force behind them survived.
From the ravine, they can hear the cries of the soldiers who hadn’t died in the initial explosion. The ten move cautiously toward the ravine and when they realize nothing further will be happening, speed their approach as they move to rescue the survivors.
“Think they’ll continue after us?” Miko asks Jiron.
“Doubt it,” he says. “They’ll have all they can do just to get the survivors out of there.” Turning around he begins to head back to James and says to Miko, “Let’s go.”
Miko glances back at the men coming to the rescue and then follows Jiron down.
When James sees them coming, he says, “Well?”
“Looks like you got most of them,” Jiron replies. “Less than a dozen remain and they’ll be too busy helping their fellows to come after us.”
Shaking his head at all the death and destruction, he says, “Why can’t they just leave us alone?”
“They will now,” Miko says.
Saddened to have once more caused so many deaths, James sighs, “Alright, lets go.” He gets up and Miko comes to help him as he starts to waver a little bit. “Thanks,” he says once he regains his equilibrium. Limping, he has to lean on Miko to even walk, the pain in his leg is so bad.
Jiron angles them away from the scene of the explosion and they make their way back toward the lake shore. From there, they continue following it for several more hours until James states that he just can’t make it any further. Jiron moves ahead and returns shortly saying he’s found a spot along the shore they can spend the night.
As he brings them back to the camp site, he sees a small animal at the edge of the water. Stopping, he whispers, “James, can you take him down?”
Removing a slug from his belt, he leans on Miko to steady himself as he prepares to throw. When he throws the slug, his leg gives out and he loses his balance, falling to the ground. Despite falling, the slug flies true and strikes the animal, killing it.
“You got him!” Jiron hollers jubilantly as he moves over to the dead animal.
Miko helps James to his feet and then over to a tree where he aids him in sitting down. Once James is settled in, Miko sits down next to him and then passes out from exhaustion.
Bringing the animal over, Jiron says, “You just rest. I’ll gather some wood and we’ll have this cooked in no time.”
James just nods his head before resting it back against the tree. Closing his eyes, fatigue takes him and he quickly falls asleep.
The smell of roasting meat wakes him up. Glancing over to where Jiron is cooking the animal, he asks, “Do you think it’s risky to have a fire?”
“Maybe, but I’m not eating this raw,” he replies. “Besides, I really doubt if anyone will be coming after us so soon after the beating they took back there.”
“I hope you’re right,” he says.
They have a hard time waking Miko when dinner is ready. But once the mouthwatering aroma reaches him, he perks up and readily joins in.
James wishes for more than just meat to eat. He was never much into salads or vegetables when he was back home, but he sure misses them now. Looking around, he’s sure there are edible plants and roots out there somewhere, if he only knew what they looked like. Oh, well, at least he has the meat.
When they’re done eating, they toss the carcasses into the water and Miko is surprised when nothing comes and eats them. “Where are the little fish?” he asks.
“The water’s probably too cold for them,” explains James. “They most likely prefer the warmer water back in the swamp area.”
Miko just looks curiously out at the water and when still nothing happens, nods his head and realizes that James is probably right. Again.
James and Jiron decide to keep watch through the night, they don’t dare trust Miko to do it, not in his tired state. James decides to take the first watch since he’d already taken a short nap.
It was several hours into his watch when he first notices it. At first he thought it was just his imagination, it was so subtle and quiet. Then it became increasingly more pronounced. Singing. A woman’s voice, singing a quiet song.
He quickly realizes it’s coming from the direction of the lake. Pulling himself to a standing position, he looks out over the water. Barely perceptible in the moonlight, he’s able to make out a small boat coming toward their camp. A small figure is sitting in the middle of the boat, facing his way.
The singing continues as the boat approaches closer and James is able to see that it is indeed a woman sitting within the boat. James begins to feel the prickling which always indicates magic being used in the vicinity. Must be what’s powering the boat.
When the boat reaches the shore, he grabs it and pulls it further up onto the beach. The lady inside says, “Thank you,” as she gets up and steps out of the boat.
Standing only about four and a half feet tall, she walks over to James and stops several feet away. Her blond hair glistening in the moonlight, she looks James up and down.
“Hello,” James greets her.
“A good evening to you sir,” she replies.
“My name is James,” he tells her.
“You may call me, Lyria,” she says to him, giving him a small smile.
“Would you care to come and share our fire?” he asks.
Shaking her head negatively, she says, “No. I had come to offer you and your companions shelter and the hospitality of my home this night.”
Beyond all reason, he feels he can trust her. Something about her puts him readily at ease. “Where?” he asks.
She nods over to the island and says, “My home.”
Jiron suddenly sits up and sees him there talking with Lyria. “James?” he asks coming quickly to his feet.
Turning toward him, he says, “This is Lyria and she’s invited us to her home out on the island.”
“Why?” he asks not nearly as trusting as James seems to be.
“Because you are in need,” she tells him. “And I get so few visitors.”
“Aren’t you afraid of being alone with three strangers all by yourself?” he asks her.
Laughing, she says, “No. I fear not that you will harm me.” She glances over to where Miko is sleeping and says, “If you will but wake up your friend there, we can be going.”
Jiron says, “James?” and then indicates with a nod of his head that he wants to talk with him away from her.
When James comes over, he says, “What?”
“Can we trust her?” he says. “It seems odd for a woman to be all alone in these parts, wouldn’t you think?”
“I don’t get any ill feelings from her,” James says. “Besides, she’s magical in nature, possibly a magic user of some kind.”
“How can you tell?” he asks, and then says, “Oh, right.”
“She’s offered us food and shelter,” James tells him. “I say we take her up on it.”
“Why?” he counters.
“I don’t know,” he admits. “I just feel like we can trust her.”
From the camp, they hear Miko cry out when he wakes up and sees her there standing near him.
Coming back over, they reassure him all is okay and make another round of introductions. When they tell him of her offer, he looks dubious at best.
“I’m going,” James says as he looks at the other two. “Who’s with me?”
Reluctantly, they agree to come and they all pile into the boat. Once they’re all situated, she begins her song again and the boat pulls itself off the beach and turns to head back toward the island.
Miko gasps at the boat moving all by itself, but then settles down when no one else seems to be upset by it. Her song is soothing and it seems to melt all their worry and cares away.