by Allan Joyal
Night had now fully fallen. Kariy's small fire had burnt down to a few glowing coals, casting no light in the campground. In the distance, the ferry was still steadily pulling away from the shore, the glow of a lone lantern indicating its location. Even the city was merely a few flickering lights in the distance.
The campsite was still. Occasionally one of the sleepers stirred slightly, but otherwise the whisper of a gentle night breeze through the trees was the loudest sound. The still air brought a chill to the campsite, and Natalie moved next to me to share warmth as we looked out into the darkness.
We sat, side by side, silently watching the lights of the city go out one by one. The ferry completed its return trip to the far shore, and the lantern was blown out, leaving the river in darkness.
Finally, I was yawning so often that I could no longer focus my eyes on the few lights left in the city. I reached over to tap Natalie and discovered that she had fallen asleep at my side. I turned to scan the campsite. My eyes had adjusted as much as they could to the darkness, but my companions were all indistinct lumps lying on the ground. I crawled away from Natalie, moving to the nearest one. Once there, I tried to tap the body on the shoulder.
In the darkness I had misjudged the sleeping figure. My hand pressed against a woman's breast, coaxing a soft moan from the woman. I knelt down in the direction of the moan and hissed. "Your turn for watch duty."
A sleepy voice replied. "Do I have to?"
"Yes," I said softly. "Natalie already fell asleep, and I'm too tired to keep watch."
"Aw," the voice mourned. "And here I was in a wonderful and sexy dream."
"Let's keep dreams from becoming nightmares for the others," I swore. "It's been quiet, but I'd rather not be surprised."
"I'm awake," the voice said. "Go to sleep Ron. In this case even a sexy secretary can keep watch and raise an alarm."
The figure sat up with a giggle, putting her arms around me. I found myself held tight while Lisa gave me a gentle kiss on the lips. "Dream of me," she commanded as she released me, and I crawled back to my bedroll to sleep.
A hand pushing on my shoulder woke me the next morning. I struggled to open eyes heavy with sleep and cold, then slowly sat up as a mug of steaming liquid was held under my nose. "Drink," a voice commanded.
I reached out and took the mug. The smell of the liquid was a mix of citrus and spice, and I brought the mug to my mouth for an experimental sip. To my surprise the beverage was refreshing, warming me up and helping encourage my eyes to open. I opened them fully and turned to find Kariy kneeling on the ground and smiling.
"All is quiet," she told me. "Al is up. He walked down to the shore to see if he can get a better view of the docks of Linktrum. I figured you'd want to wake before the others."
I nodded. "Thanks for the drink. Are you going to try to fix breakfast?"
Kariy shook her head. "No. I thought you'd want us moving as soon as everyone was awake and the sun was up."
I looked up and realized that we were in the false dawn that occurs before the sun truly breaks over the horizon. A thick layer of dew lay upon the ground. I brushed the sleep from my eyes and glanced at the campsite. The others were still lying in their bedrolls.
"I guess we'll live with that," I said. "Hopefully this drink will get everyone going, but if you could distribute some food... ?"
"Like this?" Kariy interrupted me, holding out several strips of smoked meat and a handful of dried fruit.
Laughing, I took the offered food. I started alternating bites of the food with sips from the mug. The sun was just a sliver of light above the horizon when I finished and stood up, picking up the pack I had used as a pillow and throwing it over my back.
Al walked up as I finished. He pointed to a spot just upriver of our campsite. "There's a rather wide trail heading into the forest. I'm guessing it's a trader's road," he told me. "How soon until we start moving?"
"As soon as everyone is up and has a bite to eat, we should be going," I said. "We might be far enough away that no one from the city will bother with us, but I'd rather be out of sight by the time they think of pursuit."
Al nodded and moved to wake Hencktor. Kariy had filled another mug and was bending over Heather. I gave Natalie a loving tap and moved to look out over the river.
The river was peaceful in the morning light. A few waterfowl were swimming against the current, stopping occasionally to dip their heads into the mud by the shore. I could see a couple sailing boats leaving the docks and turning to run down river. As the light increased, I could see an occasional wagon travelling the roads headed towards Linktrum.
I was about to turn away when several horses appeared from around the city. The riders were scanning their surroundings carefully as they headed towards the ferry. "Damn," I whispered as I dashed back to the campsite.
"We've got horses on the road. If they are after us and take the ferry, they'll catch us fast. We need to be gone before someone notices the campsite," I said.
"They notice us yet?" Steve asked.
"It didn't look like it," I said. "I wasn't standing in the open, and the light still isn't great, but once the sun rises a bit and the glare off the water isn't in their eyes, we'll stand out. It's time to move."
"But what about breakfast?" Eddie moaned.
"Did you get some meat and fruit from Kariy?" I asked. I noticed she had grabbed the tripod and cauldron she had used to warm her drink. She dumped the cauldron over the fire to put it out and then thrust the assembly into her pack. In almost the same motion her hands grabbed the straps of the pack and spun it around so it was resting on her back.
"Yes," Eddie said petulantly. "But I'm still hungry."
"No time!" Lydia hissed. She ran up behind Eddie and kicked him, causing him to jump to his feet.
Steve was pulling a pack onto his shoulders. "Are you sure they haven't noticed us?" he asked.
"No, but they are stopping at wagons," Lydia said, shielding her eyes with her hands as she looked back over the water. "I'm guessing they are asking to see if the wagon drivers have seen us. Eventually they'll think about the ferry, even if the ferryman tells them he hasn't seen us."
"God!' Steve cursed. "You're right, let's go!" He grabbed an unclaimed pack and rushed over to Martha to help her put it on. Hencktor was making a circle of the camp. He picked up a few scraps of leather and then looked at me.
I nodded. "Follow me. Let's make tracks."
I strode quickly to the trail Al had mentioned earlier. It led directly into the forest, and I followed the path, looking at the twin tracks suggesting that wagons or carts regularly followed this path.
Entering the forest did not diminish the sense of urgency, and I set a fast pace for the next hour as the trail led deeper into the forest. Unlike the forest in the mountains, this was a dense twisting mass of trees and bushes. Visibility was confined to the road itself most of the time.
Once the first hour was over, I slowed the pace. The coeds began giggling nervously, gazing into the deep forest with trepidation.
"Hey boss!" Steve called out. "You realize where we are?"
He sounded a bit too chipper. Confused, I responded. "Where?"
To my surprise, Steve responded by singing out in a bass voice. "On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again."
The coeds burst out laughing. Steve kept singing for the next several minutes as we made our way through the trees. We he came to the end, the coeds clapped appreciatively.
"Why did you sing?" Kariy asked Steve.
"Everyone was getting too nervous about where we are," Steve said. "The singing calmed everyone."
"Do you know more songs?" Kariy asked.
The question resulted in the coeds offering a number of song titles. I appointed Steve as singing master, and for the next several hours the forest was regaled with a mix of every music genre from Earth as we marched along the track.
Two days later we finally emerged from the forest. No pursuit had reached u
s, and despite the forbidding nature of the forest, morale was rather high. Lydia was beaming as we exited the forest. The afternoon of the first day, she had crept away from the group during a rest break and shot a large bird with the crossbow. We roasted the bird on a spit that night, and Kariy turned the leftovers into a hearty soup the next morning at breakfast.
The track had only just exited the forest when we encountered a road. The road ran alongside the forest, stretching off into the distance in both directions. Heather looked at the road and immediately pointed to the left.
"That way!" she cried.
I paused to look at her. "You're sure?"
Heather turned to glare at me. "While you were charming those two dwarves, I took the time to study the map. This road will take us directly to the Wizard's Academy."
"Lead on MacDuff," I said, offering Heather a mocking bow. Someone in the group started to laugh. Heather stomped her foot and strode up to me. Her left hand reached around my neck and pulled my head down until I was staring in her eyes.
"Are you implying that I'm wrong?" she said in a syrupy sweet voice.
"Nope," I replied immediately. "I just said you could lead."
Heather smiled wickedly. "Good," she said as she brought her lips to mine and kissed me. Her tongue teased me for a moment, and then retreated as she sank her teeth into my lower lip.
"Hey!" I cried when the kiss halted, and she was pulling her face away.
"Just reminding you of what happens the next time," she said before releasing me and walking away, leading the group down the road.
I fell in behind Heather, wondering what was up with this beautiful young woman.
Chapter 16: It's All Fun Until Blood Is Drawn
Now that we were out of the dark woods, everyone's mood rose significantly. The forest continued to follow the road as we marched for several more hours, but to the right were rolling hills covered with tall thick stalks of grass.
Lydia again supplemented our food supply that evening. This time she noticed several large birds flying low over our group. In a flash she had loaded the crossbow. Her shot brought down one of the birds.
Hencktor congratulated her for her skill and personally retrieved the bird. He spent the next hour, preparing the bird for cooking. Esme and Lisa giggled about how smitten he acted, but I noticed Lydia smiling shyly every time she glanced his way that evening.
During our third day out from Linktrum, the forest to the left finally retreated from the road. By midday the road was seemingly in the center of a huge field of waist high grass. Occasionally we would cross an area where animals had grazed the grass down, but most of the time we seemed to be the only animals moving in a huge sea of brown.
We did see some trees. They clustered around the periodic gullies that dotted the landscape. The road however, avoided the trees, making long sweeping turns as it meandered across the plains. It was as we followed a long sweeping turn to the right that Kariy spoke up.
"Ron! Why do I see several birds circling up ahead?" she called out, pointing to the sky on the other side of one of the small groves.
I glanced at the birds and then tried to see through the trees. We were a considerable distance from the trees, and it appeared to be a dense stand, for I could not see through the trees. However, shifting winds brought a low rumble to our ears. Mixed in was a steady deep thudding sound.
"Ron?" Heather called out, running up and clutching at my shoulder.
I looked around. The road was starting a new sweeping turn to the right. It was trying to avoid a stand of bushes that was growing along a depression in the landscape. The noise was growing slowly stronger so I pointed toward the bushes.
"Everyone, take cover in the thicket!" I ordered, dashing forward and scanning to the right.
As I cleared the forest, the expanse revealed to the right was frightening. A mass of red clad men was formed just behind the trees. The ranks stretched out before my eyes. I tried to keep going as the first rank lowered their spears and began a slow march forward.
I glanced to my left. Surprise and fear caused me to stumble, but I caught myself with the butt of the spear. Just across the road another army was falling into position, their own spears lowered. I had just reached the edge of the thicket when they started forward.
"My god! What are they fighting over?" Al hissed as the others ducked into the thicket.
"I don't know, but I'm not sure we won't be attacked if we try to cross that land right now," I said.
No one had an opportunity to say more as the red army gave a great cry and charged forward. Each man in the front line linked shields with his neighbors and held his spear over the wall, pointed slightly downward. They covered the open field between the two armies with terrifying speed.
Our group huddled in silent awe as the two armies clashed on the field. Surprisingly, it quickly devolved into something closer to a pushing match. The front lines of the two armies were intertwined, but the ranks behind pressed forward, squeezing the center. Directly in front of us, the red army was slowly pressing the other army back, forcing it to give ground. However, as we watched, the far side of the formation appeared to bend backwards, the red army retreating under the pressure.
We watched from our hiding place perhaps fifty yards away. Men fell and were quickly trampled by others, as the two armies pressed forward. Finally, the right wing of the second army collapsed, allowing the red army to rush forward more than ten yards before reserves arrived to stiffen the line. Shouts of men in pain and the clash of metal weapons thundered out.
A moment later, the far side of the formation spun, as the men of the red army broke and ran. Reserves dashed up from behind the trees, forming ranks quickly and throwing themselves into the fray. The whole line pivoted until the red army had their backs to our hiding place.
I felt a hand on my right shoulder and turned to look. A flash of light and movement attracted my attention, and I blindly grabbed the person who touched me and threw them to the ground. Jennifer screamed in my ear as I tried to put a hand over her mouth.
"Quiet!" I hissed. "We don't want anyone to notice us.
The other coeds had all dropped to the ground, beyond them, racing down the road, was a patrol of about twenty armored men on horses. Their army was blue, and they carried a blue pennant.
The horsemen ignored the thicket as they thundered towards the battle. When they got close to the army, they pulled up for a moment. Several of the horses tossed their heads and jumped around. At their head, two of the men appeared to be pointing at various spots, clearly scanning the battlefield.
I could not tell what they were looking for, but the pennant waved rapidly, left, left, right and forward was the pattern. All of the armored men dropped into a wedge formation as the group charged forward, aiming for the far right of the second army.
Shouts of dismay and panic rose, but the army stood its ground. The charge had reached full speed when the army suddenly split, and a new band of warriors carrying long spears clutched in two hands advanced to block the cavalry.
The maneuver was smooth in its execution. The cavalry noticed and tried to pull up, but the surprise had been sprung perfectly. The first three ranks of the horsemen plowed into the spears. From the thicket we saw riders tumble to the ground as horses trumpeted in pain and panic. The rest of the unit broke off and galloped away, leaving that part of the battlefield to the spearmen.
"Who's fighting?" Heather asked as we watched the woods to the left disgorge a unit of men holding crossbows. They took a quick shot at the retreating cavalry, but the shots fell well short. The main battle was slowing down. In the distance several trumpets called out, and we could see both sides start to pull away.
"Haven't they heard you have to aim higher to hit at a distance?" Lydia hissed as the crossbow men melted back into the woods.
"What would you know? You're a secretary!" Eddie snapped.
I turned to glare at Eddie in time to see Steve smack him in the back of the
head. "Are you still that blind?" Steve asked.
Eddie turned to glare at Steve, but I waved to Hencktor, who wrapped an arm around his neck and covered Eddie's mouth. "Don't shout," I hissed. "Both armies appear to be calling that round a draw, and soon it's going to be a bit quieter around here. I'd rather not draw attention. As to what you are about to ask. Do you really think Lydia's accuracy with the crossbow is completely by chance? She's an expert shot with shotguns and pistols, that's why I never argued about her carrying the bow."
Eddie's eyes widened. Lydia smirked at him and gave Steve a one-armed hug. "This lug and our leader over there could protect me at work, but I still needed protection at home after my rape. I'm allergic to dogs, so a gun was the best way. I practiced every weekend and usually found myself at the range on at least two weeknights for the last three years."
Eddie reached up to push Hencktor's hand off his mouth. He gasped in a breath and then looked at me. "Did my father know?" he asked.
Lydia giggled. "He had my desk modified to conceal a pistol. I wouldn't come to the office unless Steve or Ron was there until he allowed that."
Eddie's face paled. "But...But..." he sputtered.
"You father is a wiser man than you think," I told Eddie, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Lydia is the best at what she did back in the office. Part of the reason the company did so well was the support she gave Dave, Steve and me when we were on sales calls."
Lydia blushed as Eddie glared at the ground. Elizabeth hissed at all of us. "So, how long do we squat in this thicket, afraid to approach anyone?" she asked.
I looked back at the battle. The army in red was now making a rather orderly retreat back beyond the grove that had concealed them during our approach. The cavalry that had charged in as their allies were screening the retreating blocks of spearmen, preventing the other army from surging forward.
The other army appeared content to allow the retreat. A few single soldiers with spears were making forays forward to prevent the formations from completely turning away from the battle, but their own formations held their ground, watching their departing opponents in silence.