by Jon F. Merz
If the bandits had set the attack for just before daybreak, they would most likely be asleep right then. A sentry would rouse them at the prescribed time, and then they would proceed. Ran needed to get there, reconnoiter the camp, and see what sort of force they had. Hopefully, by that point, the other members of his team would arrive, and they could then coordinate together the best way to attack the bandits.
He glanced back, wondering where they might be. Ran had neutralized the only threat he’d seen so far on the trail, so they wouldn’t have to worry about that. Speed was what they needed now. He just hoped they could pour it on and get there in time.
Ran tasted the air. He guessed a light drizzle would be falling by morning. That would make the ground potentially muddy and unstable for fighting. They would need to attack the bandit camp ahead of the rain; otherwise, it would be another thing working against them.
Skirting around more massive boulders, Ran worked his way ever closer to the camp. He sighted an outcropping that looked like it perched high enough to give him a view into the valley beyond, exactly where Ryu had told him the bandit camp lay. As he climbed toward it, he thought about where he would have stationed a sentry to watch over the camp. Not on the outcropping, Ran decided. That would have restricted the man’s movements. Far more likely the sentry was positioned closer to the camp, where he could sound an alarm if anything threatened in the night.
But what was there out in this lonely landscape that would threaten an armed camp of bandits in the middle of the night?
Nothing, thought Ran. At least nothing they had thought about.
Sweat soaked his tunic as Ran finished his ascent and perched himself high overhead. With the cloud cover tonight, he didn’t have to worry about the moon giving his presence away. He sat on the outcropping with his back to the mountain and stared into the valley below.
There.
He spotted the horses first, shifting and moving in the night as they fed and slept in a patch of scrub grass to the left of what looked to be the main bandit camp. Ran allowed his eyes to track right, but he avoided staring at the firelight. Even from his perch, it was substantial. No doubt the cold night air had forced them to create a fire big enough to keep everyone warm.
Ran spotted no tents, just bedrolls filled with people near the fire. He counted a dozen.
Ran smirked. Twelve people was much better than what he’d thought they might find. The numbers could have been easily three times that amount. But this was a good piece of news and very nearly manageable if Ran and his men timed their attack just right.
Where was the sentry, though?
His eyes tracked all over, but he couldn’t see anyone up and moving around. That meant the guard had to be positioned somewhere else. Somewhere out of sight, perhaps. One thing was certain: Ran wouldn’t find him sitting high above the camp.
He slid back down the outcropping and then made sure his tunic hadn’t ridden too far up to expose his various weapons. Ran would need to get close to the camp to be sure of what they were facing.
Down the path he moved, always careful to make sure his feet didn’t send any stones skittering away. He was just about to enter the camp when he sensed movement to his left.
And then felt the cold steel of a blade at his throat.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ran’s reaction was immediate and instinctive. As he felt the pressure of the blade pressing into his throat from the left side, he went with it, turned and dropped down underneath. Continuing to twist, he drew his own short blade and cut up at an angle, driving the edge deep into the sentry. The movement took no longer than the briefest of seconds to complete, and the sentry was caught completely off guard. His surprise was only evidenced by the startled gasp as he felt Ran’s blade slicing into his gut and up into his heart even as Ran clamped his other hand over the man’s mouth. The life dropped out of him and he sank into Ran’s waiting arms, where the shadow warrior cushioned his fall even as blood streamed out of the corpse.
Ran carried the dead body away, aware that he was stained in the heavy scent of blood now. He dumped the sentry’s body behind a large rock and then sorted himself out, trying his best to wipe the blood off of his hands and clothes. It wasn’t going to work very well. The blood soaked into the tunic and Ran wrinkled his nose at the scent of it mixing with his sweat. A hot bath was a long way away at the moment, but Ran permitted himself a moment to think about immersing himself in the scalding water. The soothing effects upon his tired muscles would be wondrous.
But he still had work to do.
Ran moved down the path and into the camp proper. Surveying the scene, Ran counted the bedrolls again to make sure he had the number right. Twelve. To one side of the camp, the horses whinnied softly and stomped their feet. Perhaps they could smell the blood on Ran and knew that he was an outsider. He hoped they would stay quiet long enough for him to make sure the ambush went off without a hitch.
Ran could have stayed in the camp and tried to kill a few of the bandits while they slept, but there was too much risk in it. If just one thug woke up, he’d quickly find himself outnumbered and facing some dangerous opponents. And given the proximity of the bandits to each other, the chances one of them would overhear the death throes of a companion were simply too likely to risk. Better, Ran decided, to make sure that his comrades found the camp and were ready to launch an immediate, overwhelming attack.
He moved back out of the camp via the path and headed in the direction he’d come, hoping that his comrades would soon arrive. It was critical that they attack before the bandits awakened and found the dead sentry’s body. If that happened, any chance of a successful ambush was remote.
Ran waited another hour before he sensed something in the distance. A half mile from the camp, he knew that some sound could still reach the bandits, but he was far enough away that he could coordinate the attack when his friends got there. He heard a grunt far off and then the sound of pebbles clattering down the path. Ran almost grinned. He thought it likely that Kuva was the one who had grunted. Most likely the big guy had fallen.
He moved down the path and, using his ability to see better in the night, counted seven shapes heading toward him in the dark. One of them was farther out in front, moving like a ghost. Ran nodded. Gunj. The smaller man had apparently found his footing, after all, and was driving his followers to make better time than they had earlier.
Ran waited until they were nearly level with him before stepping out into the path. When he did so, Gunj nearly cried out. Ran waved him over, and they squatted beside the trail.
Gunj exhaled in a rush. “I didn’t even see you.”
Ran gestured down at his clothes. “You probably would have smelled me in another moment.”
“What is that?”
Ran shrugged. “Blood. There was a sentry. I had to catch him as he fell or risk waking the entire camp.”
“You’re covered in it,” said Gunj. “Stay in those clothes and you’ll draw every animal in a ten-mile area to us.”
“I’ll get changed after we deal with this camp. They’re all still asleep.” Ran thumbed over his shoulder. “How did everyone else do?”
“Exhausted,” said Gunj. “The distance was a great deal more than we estimated, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” said Ran. “But it wasn’t until we got into the mountains that we could tell that. From the highway, it looked much easier and closer.”
Gunj took a water skin from his side and drank deeply. He wiped his mouth and then sighed. “Well, we’re here now. We’ve got to give them some rest before we attack, though. Otherwise, they’ll be facing a rested enemy.”
“You look as though you could do with some rest yourself.”
Gunj smiled. “I’m not as young as I used to be. Certainly I’m not gasping for air like Yasseh, but my joints are creaking from all the climbing we did tonight.”
“And how is Yasseh?”
“I think his quest for vengeance has given him all the energy he needed to
get here. But he’ll still need rest and rations before we fight.”
Ran nodded. “All right, we can take a rest. Let’s get them fed and watered and I’ll sketch the layout of the camp while they refresh.”
Gunj laid a hand on Ran’s arm. “What about you? This can’t have been all that easy on you?”
“I’m the youngest one here, I think. I’ll be fine. I’ll get some food and water into me as I brief you all. But I’ll be fine.”
Ran had no intention of eating, however. He had found that eating before combat made his stomach upset. If he knew he had to fight, Ran preferred doing so on an empty stomach. But he would take water.
As Gunj gathered the rest of the men around them, Ran found a stick and began sketching the outline of the camp. He looked up into the tired faces and smiled. “I’m relieved to see you all here, safe and sound.”
Yasseh grunted. “You basically ran here, didn’t you?”
“I had some distractions along the way,” said Ran. He redirected their attention to the map he’d drawn in the dirt. “Now, let’s get into this.” He pointed at the small circle in the middle. “The main fire is here. All of them are clustered around it, sound asleep.”
Kuva pointed. “What about guards?”
“Only one,” said Ran. “I’ve already taken care of him.”
“Which means we need to get this attack underway as soon as possible,” said Gunj. “The risk of someone waking up to take a piss is greater. If they discover the sentry is dead, they’ll raise the alarm and we’ll be dead.”
“Figure we hit them from varying angles,” said Ran. “If we can hit them at the same time, then they won’t be able to mount a counterattack.”
“The way they’re arrayed,” said Yasseh, “we could kill them all and vanish before they even realized they were under attack.”
Ran nodded. “It’s pretty straightforward. Kill or injure as many as you can. If they somehow manage to regroup, be ready to retreat.”
“So why are we sitting here jabbering away?” asked Kuva. “Let’s get this done.”
“We thought,” said Gunj, “that you might like a rest.”
“I would indeed,” said Kuva. “But not when there’s fighting to be done. I can rest later, on the way back to the caravan.” He stood and checked his scabbard. “I’m ready now.”
Gunj glanced at Ran and shrugged. “I guess we’re ready.”
“All right. I’ll go first, and then each of you pick two bandits that you’ll kill. When I give the nod, do the deed fast and hard. Make sure your shots are killing blows. If they only wound then we’re going to have trouble.”
Yasseh grinned, but there was no mirth in his smile. “They will all die. Twice, by my hand.”
Ran had no intention of trying to calm Yasseh down. He couldn’t imagine the grief Yasseh must have been feeling, even if Ran knew that Ejul was conspiring against his father. There might be value in Yasseh’s rage. If anyone did wake up and they found themselves facing armed enemies, Yasseh would become even more formidable.
“Let’s go,” said Ran. He led them down the path back toward the bandit camp. They passed the boulder where Ran had hidden the sentry’s body and then fanned out around the campfire. Ran slowly drew his short and long sword and watched as the others did the same. As they drew ever closer to the fire, Ran’s heart ticked up a notch and he forced himself to breathe and calm it back down.
Ten feet from the bedrolls, Yasseh sneezed.
Ran grimaced as the thunderous explosion erupted from the portly merchant. But there was no time to waste. As soon as he heard it, several bandits woke up and started grabbing for their weapons. Ran shouted above the sudden chaos. “Now!”
He faced the bandit he’d seen in the tavern giving Ejul a hard time. Perhaps he was the new leader of the group. Maybe he’d even been the one to give the order to kill Ejul. Ran didn’t know, and he didn’t care. The bandit rushed him with a huge battle-axe, swinging it up and over his head to try to cleave Ran’s head in two. Ran threw his short sword directly at the man’s chest, causing him to lurch to one side to avoid the blade. As he did so, the weight of the battle-axe pulled his balance, and he stumbled. Ran charged in and cut down on the wrists, severing them before turning his long sword and cutting back up at the bandit’s throat. Ran watched his blade cut into the thick neck muscles and then keep going. Even as the bandit’s head lolled at a horrible angle to one side, he was already dead on his feet. Ran let the body fall away and turned to meet a new foe.
A smaller man wielding two slim daggers surged at him, slashing his knives across his body at crisscross angles. Ran kept his distance and waited for the man to commit his energy to a strike. But the bandit seemed content to stay back, trying to poke and slash at Ran only. The effect was a bothersome fury of would-be cuts that lacked any real commitment or strength behind them to turn them into mortal wounds. In his periphery, Ran could see melee breaking out all over the camp. He hoped his men would be all right, but in the meantime, he had to deal with the double knife wielder.
Ran edged his back toward the rock wall of the mountain, hoping his attacker would think he was retreating. He followed Ran, still waving his blades in front of him. Ran drew to within three feet of the wall and then stopped, using his sword to keep the attacker at bay. The attacker, thinking Ran had run out of places to flee to, now launched an aggressive attack. In the midst of it, one of the slashes became a stab aimed right at Ran’s throat.
He’d been waiting for that. As he saw the blade plunge in, Ran sidestepped and dropped the point of his sword. Putting his weight behind the cut, Ran flipped the blade horizontally, and, as the attacker’s weight came down, Ran stepped through, cutting with all his strength. The edge of the long sword sliced through the bandit’s clothes and into his belly. Ran kept moving, severing the bandit’s entrails and leaving behind a horrifying gaping wound. The bandit fell forward onto his feet, desperately trying to collect his guts and put them back into his belly. Before he could do anything, he fell over to his right side and lay forever still.
With two of the bandits killed, Ran glanced around. He saw more bodies scattered by the fire, and his men seemed to be making short work of their opponents. One of the other security guards had chosen a huge fellow to take on, but Kuva stepped in and calmly ran the big beast through. As he dropped, the security guard stabbed him the throat to seal the deal.
Yasseh, for his part, was calmly going around to all of the deceased bandits and plunging each of his family daggers into their hearts. Ran frowned. Overkill did little to excite him. It was unnecessary and a wasteful expenditure of energy better saved for a legitimate reason. But even while he himself would not do such a thing, he found he couldn’t really be too judgmental about Yasseh’s actions. The merchant had warned them, after all, that he would do exactly this.
Ran heard Kuva yell out and saw that the burly warrior had three men trying to cut him down. Ran dashed over and cut through one of the attacker’s legs before the man even realized what was happening. Ran cut his legs off at the knees and then flashed his sword around to land a killing cut at the base of the man’s neck.
Kuva roared and swung his massive broadsword around him like a tempest. His blade smacked the two other attackers away, and Ran helped him finish them off.
Sounds of battle tapered off and then died entirely, save for Yasseh’s repeated dagger thrusts puncturing the air with the wet smack of steel meeting flesh. Ran looked around and saw that two of his men were nursing wounds, but neither seemed serious.
Kuva laid a hand on his shoulder then. “Thank you.”
Ran smiled. “That didn’t go exactly as well as I’d hoped it would go.”
Kuva shrugged. “Definitely a bit more explosive and not as surprising, huh?”
“Something like that.” Ran let out a sigh and only then realized how tired he was. He’d been going since the evening of the day before and here it was about to dawn over the surrounding area. He’d had noth
ing to eat and only a little to drink. He’d come miles across the land and finished by fighting off some formidable enemies.
“Now there’s just the quick hike back,” said Kuva. “At that point, we can all rest.”
Yasseh had finished his grisly duties and sat on the muddy ground wiping his blades clean.
Ran called over to him. “When we get back, we could all do with a bit of a rest before we push on.”
Yasseh smiled. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“We can wait a day?”
Yasseh shrugged. “A day won’t make any difference in the price of my goods. And since I’ve gotten vengeance on my son’s killers, I see no reason why we can’t take a day to give Ejul a proper burial and then rest up for the long trip ahead.”
Ran could have fallen asleep right there. But he only smiled and said, “Good.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
After a day of full rest, Yasseh ordered the caravan back on the road west. A convoy journeying back to Chulal passed them in the opposite direction, and the occasion was marked with a brief stop and exchange of news. Ran hung back, hoping to keep his face away from any prying eyes that might mention the presence of a Nehonian when they reached Chulal. The last thing he needed was Tanka learning about his presence on the caravan.
When the two convoys parted ways, Yasseh resumed his position at the lead while Gunj dropped back to ride with Ran for a while.
Ran set Ryu loose and watched as the falk soared skyward. “Any interesting news from the other convoy?”
Gunj frowned. “The usual, for the most part. Reports of bandits and thieves robbing along the trade route. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before, although they did also mention coming upon the wreckage of a small caravan about twenty miles from where we are right now.”
“Wreckage?”
“The wagons were burned. But there were no bodies. It still smolders, apparently.” Gunj sighed. “We’ll probably see the smoke within the next few hours, I would expect.”
“Do bandits around here routinely set fire to the wagons when they’re done?”