by Travis Pond
Braon pointed his sword at them and said, “Now remove all your weapons and place them on the ground.” Slowly they complied with the request and placed various knives and daggers on the ground. Ailish lay down an old crossbow and several bolts as well. She had kept her new crossbow as well as the quiver with the bolt she received from the Oracle safely in her bag, as she had no desire to lose them in the fight.
The one remaining man retrieved several sets of arm and leg irons and threw them on the ground. Since the other two men were still unconscious on the ground, the remaining man pointed his sword at them and motioned for each of them to put the leg irons on themselves and sit back down. Then they all held out their hands and he placed the irons on their wrists. Finally, Braon and the other man connected all the leg irons together with a large chain and locked it with a large lock similar to the one attached to the prisons in Thaven. With their hands and legs bound and the weapons gathered, Braon sat down next to them.
“Why are you doing this?” asked Ailish. Braon didn’t answer, but instead began eating a biscuit. “We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember. I never thought you were capable of something like this,” she said.
“We’re all capable of many things,” said Braon
“Then why?” pleaded Ailish.
Braon though for a moment before he responded, “Because the King threw me out for not doing anything. I was set up! All those years of service meant nothing to him! He just needed to make an example of someone and I was chosen. I was loyal to him and he threw me out like a chamber pot.” Braon was breathing hard now and seemed to be upset. He stood and walked away from the fire out of earshot.
At that moment, when Braon’s emotions had boiled over, Tureis felt it. For a brief moment Braon lost his focus just a little, and a sliver of his Matya peeked out. Tureis had felt his Matya and it concerned him. He felt a mixture of good and evil Matya with a great deal of uncertainty and confusion stirred in. For a brief moment it was there, then just as quickly Braon recovered and his Matya was gone. How was he able to hide his Matya such that no one could sense it? This was something he would need to research.
In the shadows, Braon pulled out the coin from his pocket and moved his finger over the surface. After several minutes he returned to the fire and sat down. “Tonight you will sleep here,” said Braon. “Tomorrow we will ride towards Darish and await King Hamish. King Hamish will meet us three days from now and we will make a trade. If you don’t give me any trouble you won’t be hurt. I have no desire to hurt you. I just want my gold and I’ll be gone.” And with that he turned away from the fire and walked from camp.
Chapter 28
- Caged -
Chained together, they were forced to sleep sitting up against a large log. They stayed as quiet as possible, waiting for Braon and the other men to go to sleep. Soon, the soft sounds of snoring became rhythmic and steady. “I think they’re asleep,” whispered Ailish.
Slowly and very quietly they sat upright and brought the chains in close to their body. Eammon quietly reached into his pocket and removed his small adjustable key and went to work on the lock. Seth retrieved the key he had been working on earlier from an inner pocket and attempted to free them from the leg irons. After several attempts Seth finally adjusted the key into the right configuration and the leg irons opened.
Eammon was able to unlock the chain connecting them and quietly they all worked together to remove the chain. Eammon and Seth worked to remove the leg and wrist irons from each person before doing the same on each other. Eammon retrieved his bag from his horse and quietly deposited all the irons and the chain into its bottomless depths. Ailish shot him a questioning look and he replied with a smile and silently mouthed, “You never know.”
When they were out of earshot of the camp, Eammon whispered, “I’m glad that worked. That key of mine has never failed me.”
“Mine worked too,” whispered Seth. “Thanks for helping with the design Eammon. That thing’s amazing.”
“Let’s hope the next part goes as well,” whispered Tureis.
They arrived at the designated spot Eammon and Ailish had chosen the night before and began to make final preparations. After everything was ready, they sat waiting for sunrise. “Tureis, did Braon make contact with Caitlyn?” asked Ailish.
Tureis removed the gold coin from his pocket and looked at the face. He nodded and said, “Yes. He told her that he had Seth locked up. He also said the rest of the people would be dead before they traded Seth for the gold. He then told her to pass on that information to Gavin.”
Ailish looked surprised, “He really said that the rest of us would be dead?”
“Yeah,” answered Tureis. “The language they’re using on this coin to communicate is just our normal language and they’re doing nothing to hide what they say.”
Ailish’s cheeks were red with anger and she spoke resolutely, “That makes this all the more necessary to capture him. It appears it’s either him or us.”
“Knowing that King Hamish thinks I’ve been caught, means he will be at the exchange in the town square in three days,” said Seth, changing the subject. “We have that to our advantage. Tureis will know if Braon tells him anything different. Let’s get ready, the sun will be up soon and when Braon realizes we’re gone he’ll be upset.”
They all separated and moved to their positions in the forest to silently wait. It wasn’t long before they heard shouting coming from camp. It would appear Braon had awakened and realized everyone was gone. Between the shouting and cursing, everything seemed to be in utter chaos. During all the commotion, Ailish entered camp and untied all the horses, leading them away and into the forest toward the border road. There she met Tureis, where she handed off the horses.
Ailish then made her way back toward camp when she came upon two of Braon’s men in the forest, searching for Seth. She took up a position behind a large tree where she took aim and fired a single bolt from her crossbow. The bolt found its mark as it planted itself into the back side of one of the men in camp, causing him to cry out in pain and run the opposite direction into the forest. The bolt returned to Ailish and she quickly reloaded it and fired at the remaining man, striking a tree just inches from his head. Fearing the next shot wouldn’t miss, the last man ran took off through the forest before the next bolt had a chance to find its mark.
Braon stood in camp alone, breathing hard. He ran his hand through his hair and frustratedly kicked the log near the fire. He looked around, realizing the horses were gone, his help was gone and his prisoners were gone. This was not going well. But he did know which direction they were going. He thought about his options for a moment and decided his best chance of finding Seth again was to follow the horses.
Picking up his bag, he ran from camp in pursuit of the the horses. After a short distance he stopped suddenly, his training telling him he was being watched. He may be actively hiding his Matya, but he could still use it to sense things and this feeling had saved him many times in battle.
Slowly, he removed his sword and moved forward, his sword at the ready. He stopped and turned around, looking in all directions. He heard the horses snorting in the distance and turned back toward the source of the sound. Raising his sword, he began to move slowly forward toward the horses.
Suddenly there was a soft swoosh and then a bolt hit a tree not more than six inches from where he was standing. Braon jumped and began running again through the forest until the trees became even more dense. When he stopped he saw one of the horses standing and eating grass, not more than twenty yards away. As he scanned the area, the hairs on his arms stood up straight. He knew something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t figure out just what he was feeling.
He focused his hearing and heard a hushed voice in the distance, “Come on! Hurry! We need to get out of here!” It was Seth’s voice. Seth must still be
close. This caused him to pick up his pace and he ran straight toward the sound of the voice, hoping he could still catch him. He hadn’t run more than ten feet when the ground underneath him erupted. Leaves and branches that, just moments before, were laying harmlessly on the ground suddenly flew up, all around Braon, attacking him from all directions. During all the commotion, there was a loud clang of iron and suddenly his feet were no longer touching the ground.
After the leaves and other flying tree debris settled, Braon looked out from behind the iron bars of a cage suspended in a thick rope net, hanging from a tree. Braon and his cage were suspended ten feet off the ground by a large rope attached to a thick horizontal branch in a tree. During the commotion his sword fell through the openings in the floor and landed on the ground beneath him.
From behind the trees, each member of the group emerged and stood watching Braon slowly swinging from a rope while sitting in the cage. “Should I let him down?” asked Eammon.
“Can’t I just shoot him?” asked Ailish.
Tureis stepped forward, “Let’s not shoot him yet, Ailish. Eammon, just let him most of the way down.” Eammon loosened the rope and lowered the cage until it was a foot off the ground. Then he stepped forward and placed steel rods in the top of the cage that connected to the four sides. He placed locks in various places around the cage connecting the sides and the rods holding them in place and securing the cage.
Everyone backed away as Braon began thrashing about, yelling and cursing as loud as he could. When Seth entered the area and saw Braon swinging from a rope and thrashing about he just stopped and stared. Upon seeing Seth, Braon became even angrier and reached into his pocket and removed a knife. Without any warning and with amazing speed, he stuck the knife through the cage bars and threw it. The knife flew end over end through the air directly at Seth’s chest. Set just froze unable to move or react. The point of the blade rotated one final time diving toward Seth, when it suddenly stopped in mid air, just inches away from his flesh and fell harmlessly to the ground.
Finally able to move, but still too stunned to speak Seth looked up in surprise and saw Tureis standing there holding his hand out. Tureis dropped his hand and said with a loud voice, “Stop!” This just made Braon even angrier, and he continued to thrash about, attempting everything in his power to break free. Tureis walked directly to the cage and grabbed one of the steel bars. He closed his eyes and transferred his Matya into the metal, causing the bars to glow blue. When Braon attempted to grab the bar,s there was a brilliant flash of light. Braon yelled one last time and then relaxed and lay back in the cage motionless.
After Tureis leg go of the cage bars, Eammon stepped forward and secured one last steel bar down the front of the cage. Then he opened his bag and retrieved a set of irons, looked at Tureis and nodded.
Tureis reached through the bars and grabbed Braon’s hands and pulled them back through the bars. Eammon stepped forward and placed the irons on each wrist keeping the chain connecting the two irons on the outside of the steel rod, thus preventing Braon from pulling his hands into the cage to retrieve any more weapons after he awakes.
Eammon then finished securing the sides of the cage and created a roof with the placement of more rods and locks. Eammon left and moments later returned pushing a small cart he’d made from large branches lashed together with rope. He placed it under the cage and lowered the cage onto the cart. After securing the cage to the cart he attached the cart to Braon’s horse.
“I think that does it,” Eammon said with a chuckle. “We’re ready to go”
“One question,” said Seth scratching his chin.
“What?” Eammon said.
“Where did you get those small wheels on the cart?” asked Seth, pointing at the cart.
Eammon laughed and held up his bag, patting it. “Luram said take anything I thought might be helpful. You should see what I have in here. I love this bag!”
They all chuckled. “We need to get going. We have a long way to go today,” said Seth. He paused for a moment, “Hey, where are the other guys that were with Braon?”
Ailish responded with a laugh, “If they continue in the direction they were running, they’re probably on their way to Purromp. And one of them probably won’t be sitting much.”
They all laughed. “Ok,” said Seth. “Let’s get going.” They mounted their horses and started through the trees. “We’ll travel along the border road for about an hour or two, I’m guessing. There’s a trail I’ve heard about that cuts through the forest straight to Darish. I think that’ll be the quickest way. What do you think, Tureis?”
“Sounds ok to me,” said Tureis. As they rode, Tureis used his sphere to communicate with Sepi and King Seathan informing them Seth was safe, they’d captured Braon and they were currently on their way back to Darish.
It was well past midnight when they came to the outskirts of Darish. Seth was in the lead and stopped, allowing the rest of the group to gather around him. “What do you think, Tureis?” he asked.
Tureis thought for a moment, “We could go through the city, but I think it would be faster and less obvious to go around.” Seth nodded in agreement and Tureis took the lead. It didn’t take long to travel around Darish. As they approached the rear of Tureis’ house, they noticed light coming from all the windows. They came to a stop and dismounted their horses. Within a minute the back door opened and two people came out to greet them.
“Seth, Tureis, Ailish? Is that you?” asked a familiar voice.
“Father!” exclaimed Ailish. She dropped the reigns to her horse and ran into his arms. Elis walked over and gave Tureis an embrace as well.
After the quick reunion, Elis and Emmett approached Seth. “It’s good to see you too, Seth,” said Emmett. “King Seathan will be relieved to know you’re home safe.”
Together they all walked back to the cage and peered inside. “Welcome back Braon,” said Emmett, “This time we’ll try to make your stay a little more permanent.” Emmett stood and walked around the cart, inspecting every detail. “Hello Eammon. It’s very good to see you too. It’s been a while, but it’s a pleasure to see you with them,” said Emmett.
“Where did you get this cage and cart?” asked Elis.
Eammon chuckled, “I built it.”
“You built this? Impressive,” said Elis as he looked over the group and the weariness on their faces. “Emmett, we should do something about Braon for tonight.”
“Oh...yes,” said Emmett. “There’s a small group of the King’s Guard camped in front of the house. They’ll be happy to take Braon to the castle dungeon.” Eammon led the horse and cart around to the front of the house and returned.
“King Hamish is on his way here,” Seth said in a slight panic. “He plans to attack two days from now. We need to prepare.”
“Yes, we know,” said Emmett. “You should get some rest tonight and tomorrow we will meet with King Seathan and discuss the information you gathered.”
“Yes, but…” Seth began.
“Not tonight,” interrupted Emmett. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Do you want to come in and sleep?”
They looked at each other. Tureis spoke, “Not tonight, father. We have a place to stay tonight. We’ll meet you here tomorrow morning...if that’s ok.”
“That’s fine,” said Elis. “Get the horses settled in the barn if you like. Good night. We sure are happy to have you home.” Elis and Emmett turned and walked into the house.
Tureis smiled at the thought of returning home and seeing the joy on his father’s face at his return. When he’d been caught by his father in the forest helping Braon escape, Tureis had felt sadness at the disappointment he caused his father. He had wondered if he’d ever have his father happy with him again. Feeling his father’s embrace tonight and seeing a smile on his face again reassured Tureis that his father truly was h
appy to have him back.
Tureis led his horse into the barn. After all the horses were fed and watered and bedded down for the night, they left and made their way to the cave. Tomorrow was coming fast and it was sure to be a big day.
Chapter 29
- Trap -
“We need to get going,” said Seth, as he shook Ailish’s shoulder. “King Hamish is only days away. We need to prepare.” Seth had been up before sunrise and couldn’t wait any longer.
Ailish rolled over, not wanting to be awake yet. She was exhausted after yesterday’s events and the long ride. “Is it morning already?” she asked wearily. The morning seemed to arrive too soon. Slowly they all rolled out of their bedrolls, ate and packed their bags.
“Let’s go,” Seth said again, even more impatient than before.
“I think we’re ready to go,” said Ailish. Seth couldn’t stay any longer and walked out of the cave entrance and down the path to the canyon. The rest of the group walked slowly out of the cave and down to meet him and together they made their way to the stables. After they finished preparing the horses, Eammon stood there, watching them as they prepared to leave. “What’s wrong?” asked Ailish. “Why aren’t you saddling your horse?”
“I was thinking,” said Eammon.
“What about?” asked Ailish as she attached her saddle bags to her horse.
“What if I ride back to the border and watch for the soldiers of Zummot?” asked Eammon.
“Any particular reason you want to travel back to the border rather than coming with us to the castle?” asked Tureis.
“Well,” said Eammon. “I was thinking that we know who’s coming and we know the possible route they’re taking. What if I get ahead of the King’s Guard and see how far Hamish and his army has traveled? That way when I find them I can bring you an advanced warning?”