The Forsaken Call

by Jamie Murray

  "It was an arrow," Luke said, pulling the arrow out of the carriage and throwing it to the ground where Johanna could pick it up and inspect it thoroughly. "What's with the rope?"

  As Johanna bent down to pick up the arrow, it was suddenly pulled back towards the group as they reeled it in like a fishing line.

  "I'll get it!" Johanna announced, drawing her sword and running after it.

  "Don't!" Cyrus ordered as he grabbed her by the arm and held her in place.

  "What for?" she demanded.

  "He doesn't really have to answer that, does he?" Louisa said, raising an eyebrow at Johanna.

  "It probably actually would be better for you to be inside," Jameson said, taking Johanna's arm away from Cyrus and starting to guide her, but she pulled away from him and wrenched her arm from his grip.

  "I can help!" she said angrily. "I guess no one told you this, but I help Baloric kill some of the Forces in the mines!"

  "You told me that when we first met," Jameson said. "And that's not what this is about. It's about keeping all of us safe, including Baloric and Erestina who are both inside, defenseless. Can you be the last line of defense?"

  Johanna looked almost enraged at first, but another arrow landed in the dirt near Cyrus, so she exhaled deeply and finally nodded, shaking with resentment. "I'm going to have a long conversation with you," she said, pointing her finger at Jameson and then abruptly turning around and throwing herself back inside the cart.

  "Another warning shot?" Cyrus said as he actively chose not to pick the new arrow up. It, like the first shot, had a rope tied to the end of it, which was pulled tight by the bandits. Seconds later, another arrow fired, landing in the dirt by the cart only a few feet away from where their previous one hit.

  "It's best to disconnect these ropes," Jameson evaluated, now feeling a little uneasy as well. "Louisa, maybe you want to…"

  "I'm going inside the cart," Louisa finished before Jameson needed to say it.

  "Another one!" Luke shouted.

  Jameson stood in front of Louisa but the arrow was not close to hitting her as she scrambled into the cart. He pulled the curtain shut and went back to the front of the carriage where there were now several more arrows in front of them, each with ropes tied to the ends.

  "What does it mean?" Luke asked.

  "They're planning something, obviously," said Jameson. "So let's just end their attempted plan. Break the arrows. Pull. We're going to pull them right back out instead of the other way around."

  The other two did not hesitate for even a moment. Confidentially, they grabbed the arrows up out from the ground and gave a rough pull. Jameson observed and then saw another arrow flying overhead and, at first, he figured he would dive to the side to let it land, but then something told him to just reach his hand out and take it right out of the air.

  Sure enough, his hand enclosed around the arrow and he held it in place. Promptly, he untied the rope and joined the others who were engaged in pulling their own ropes.

  "What do we hope will come out the other side?" Luke questioned.

  "Anything which could help us avoid fighting Gislan bandits," Jameson said.

  There was an eruption of ropes and arrows from the small group, all flinging up into the air at the same time. The ropes were pulled tight, connected to the ground. Jameson felt the rope he was holding get significantly tighter and almost pull him forward. He observed Luke and Cyrus experience a similar jerking motion.

  "They've got a bigger plan than this," Cyrus evaluated morbidly.

  The massive roped arrows sailed through the air, lodging into a stump a few feet away from the cart. The bandits were quickly following, holding the ends of their own rope and then running towards where Cyrus, Jameson and Luke were standing absentmindedly. The man in front certainly had determination in his eyes as he shouted something incoherent to the men behind him. In a manner which suggested they had rehearsed this act, the men in back cried out something loud and hardly understandable. This sound was the signal; the other bandits grabbed their ropes and dodged off in all different directions, circling the cart, crawling underneath it, bounding over it.

  Their speed was beyond human abilities, and Jameson wondered for a moment if they were somehow able to use Gislan magic to make themselves go faster. They almost took no mind to him standing there since their target appeared to be wrapping as many ropes around the carriage as possible. Cyrus and Luke must have been similarly mesmerized by their motion as Jameson was at first, because only after the outside carriage was significantly bound did they suddenly realize that they had important cargo inside.

  Jameson drew his sword to distract one circling the carriage, but his blade went right through the man and he took no notice of it. "Forces!" Jameson shouted to the others, assuming there couldn't possibly be another explanation.

  As soon as he spoke, he got the attention he had originally been looking for. The man he struck changed direction in mid air and bolted towards him with arms outstretched like a massive hug. The man's actual body passed through Jameson, but the rope was solid enough to throw Jameson off balance at first as the man changed direction again and tightly pulled it across Jameson's back. In attempt to keep himself upright, Jameson had to brace himself and take a few steps towards the cart, but the man was still circling him, passing around him several times so his sword clattered out of his hand and his arms were bound against his body.

  Jameson let out a frustrated grunt, which got Luke's attention. Luke called out to Cyrus, but as soon as the sound escaped him, the man circling Jameson seemed to be drawn to him instead. The Forces rocketed towards Luke, using the rope to bind him as well, moving too quickly for Luke to even be able to react intelligently. It continued to circle him and swept past his legs, knocking him right off his feet and onto the hard ground. Jameson fell forward as well when the slack was pulled tight and joined Luke sprawled out on the ground. They didn't last long where they lay because the Forces returned to tying the cart, dragging them along and pinning them up against the walls.

  Cyrus had his sword drawn and attempted to cut the rope but as soon as he did so, another rope gripped his wrist and pulled him down backwards in a very ungraceful landing. He started to sit up only to get a rope around his neck, which he promptly raised his arms to remove, which resulted in eventually binding him in the rope as well.

  "What are they doing?" Luke called to Jameson, unable to see him from the position from which he could not move.

  Jameson tried to pull himself out of the ropes, but there was little his struggling was proving. He did not like the feeling of restriction, as it reminded him too much of the plants in the Forest. His face was pressed up against the carriage where he could hear muffled voices and commotion, though he did not know if he should call out to the girls to encourage an escape. After all, how far would they possibly be able to get? And would he really be able to convince them to leave Baloric?

  All at once, the Forces stopped moving entirely, lining up and facing a direction which Jameson could not turn his head to see. He counted twelve of them, all identical in their nondescript appearance, but obviously stronger and faster than any human.

  He suddenly felt the ropes loosen as he and Luke dropped away from the carriage. He hit the ground and looked around frantically to see Johanna exiting from the back with a sword raised since she had clearly been the one to cut the handiwork of the Forces, though they seemed completely distracted with what they were looking at.

  "What's going on?" Johanna said urgently though there was a distinct quietness and apprehension in her voice as she bent down to cut Cyrus free as well.

  Jameson began to answer that he didn't know, but one of the Forces spun around and struck him right in the chest, sending him back up against the carriage so hard that he felt it rock when he hit it. Another one made a similarly swift attack on Luke, and two more launched towards Cyrus and Johanna, knocking them over as well. With the wind knocked out of him, Jameson was disoriented f
or a few moments, feeling lightheaded as the Forces took his arms and tied them behind his back with the apparent endless supply of rope each of them were employed with. Johanna, Luke and Cyrus were also bound, and the other Forces seemed to take it upon themselves to inspect the inside of the carriage in case there was anyone else there to oppose them.

  Louisa had already been on her way out, so she was quickly apprehended by the first Forces in line, only able to make a feeble cry in protest as it wrestled her to the ground. More went inside and, within a few seconds, Erestina was flung outside into the pack as she flailed fruitlessly. Following that, Baloric's limp body was tossed onto the ground and the Forces did not hesitate in tying him up as well even though he clearly did not offer them any threat.

  "Leave him alone!" Johanna commanded, trying to break away from the one that held her, but another one spun around and hit her across the face. She yelped at the sudden attack, though was eventually silenced.

  Jameson watched all of it happen, unable to do anything because he was being held on his knees several feet from where it was occurring. He turned his head just as a very old man sitting on top of a large horse trotted up and looked down at them, looking strangely bored with the image he was presented with. The man glanced briefly down at Jameson, and then raised his hand towards the Forces which had just hit Johanna.

  "Please," he said in an average voice which didn't convey anything particularly exceptional. "We do not hit ladies."

  "Who are you?" Cyrus demanded, barely able to decide whether he should be looking at the man on the horse or at Erestina who had been forced to her knees as well.

  "I have no desire to belabor our meeting," said the man with a sigh. "Just know that I am simply the one who is robbing you and that is all."

  "Robbing us!" Louisa repeated in disbelief.

  "Ah, please," the man said. "If you all behave, I will leave you in peace, after I've taken my fill, of course."

  He gave a minute gesture towards the carriage and all the Forces which were not holding onto someone dove into it and began to rummage around.

  "We need those supplies!" Johanna shouted angrily. "We're on an important mission!"

  "I don't wish to strike you, ma'am, but if you speak out again, I might have to," the man said, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

  Johanna looked over at Baloric who was tied and restrained by one of the Forces. He was unmoving and completely helpless as he was and, despite her better judgment, Johanna struggled against her captors again. "Baloric is dying!" she yelled.

  "Johanna, stop!" Jameson ordered. He definitely didn't want to be robbed, but he didn't think allowing Johanna to get hit again was really worth it.

  "If we don't get him to the Angel's soon, then it'll be too late!" Johanna continued anyway.

  At first, the man became angrier with her outburst, but when he processed what she said, his expression changed somehow into surprise and shock. "Baloric?" he repeated. "Did you say Baloric?"

  "Johanna, stop speaking," Louisa said somewhat anxiously.

  The man dismounted his horse and gestured his hand for the Forces holding Johanna to let her go. As soon as she was free from its grip, she scrambled to her feet and took a defensive posture, still unable to move her arms. The man began to approach her as he did so, looking extremely cautious. "Go on," he said. "Don't use more words than you absolutely need."

  "We have to take him to see the Angel," Johanna said, trying to keep her voice steady. "She's very powerful. We're hoping she can use her magic to help him."

  The man looked over at Baloric and waved his hand. The Forces holding him let him go and he simply collapsed to the dirt and did not move. Curiously, the man used his foot to prod at Baloric and roll him over.

  "This is Baloric," he said finally.

  "Yes," said Johanna.

  "This man here. This is Baloric. Daigh Baloric of a wandering merchant Gislan tribe?"

  "That's him," Louisa interjected.

  The old man mused this response and then, in passing, remarked, "Hmm."

  "You know him?" Cyrus asked.

  "I knew him once," the man admitted. "A long time ago, when he was just a little boy. His parents were very kind to me. He always had big dreams to become a scholar. I taught him how to use a sword."

  "Swordsman," Louisa said immediately. "You're that man! You're the man who taught Baloric how to fight when he was a child, aren't you?"

  The man seemed taken aback with Louisa's sudden expositional outburst. Then he regained his composure and scratched his head. "I confess myself a bit conflicted now," he said, pointing his finger high up to the sky. In that moment, the rummaging from the carriage ceased and the Forces inside immediately barreled out into the opening again and resumed standing in their original places in the line before he had originally sent them inside the cart.

  "Conflicted in what way?" Johanna said.

  "I was told Baloric had died many years ago," the man said. "His family told me he disappeared in the wastelands and no one had seen him since. What happened to him? Why doesn't he wake up?"

  "We're not sure exactly what's wrong with him," Louisa said, sounding a little put off that they were being interrogated. She gave a sharp look to Johanna, her own way of saying, "He does not need anymore explanation than that."

  "Which is why you seek the Angel," the man said. With one more wave of his arm, the twelve Forces let go of their prisoners and lined up on the other side of the old man. Johanna stepped over her hands without a moment's hesitation and began to untie Baloric.

  Jameson's concern was more about this strange man. "So you knew Baloric years back," he said. "Could you always control the Forces?"

  The man rolled his eyes and mounted his horse with some difficulty. "No," he said. "That was an ability given to me by our Lord Devin."

  "Devin gave you those powers?" Erestina said, raising her head and quite suddenly sounding interested. "The powers to control those Forces? You are a soldier of his?"

  "I don't work for him anymore," the man interrupted hastily. "As long as I don't do anything to rock the boat, as you might say, I imagine he has forgotten all about me."

  He paused for a long while and then turned his back to them. After even more silence, he glanced over his shoulder, his eye focused on Baloric.

  "Untie them," the man commanded of the twelve Forces. "Return anything you took from them and promptly let them go." The Forces immediately did as they were told as the man continued to speak, "A payment of a debt to the Baloric family, I'll leave you all with a warning. Travel more cautiously. Not all bandits and Forces will be as conflicted as I am."

  The man mounted again and pulled the reins of his horse. Jameson looked at the others who appeared relieved to be rid of him, but he couldn't feel as though merely that was the end of this man's story.

  "Wait," Jameson called, jogging after him. He felt Louisa's frustrated glare at his back as he departed and the man surprisingly stopped and gave him a minute. "Why don't you come with us?"

  Jameson said it, but he wasn't even sure why. It wasn't as though he had decided that was a question he was going to ask and he was also positive that he didn't even want the man to come along with them. Something about their interaction and the man's history seemed so aligned with the way destiny had already dictated Jameson's journey to the point it was.

  "What I mean is," Jameson followed up when the man did not respond. "Our ultimate goal is to defeat Devin. You're strong. You've got power. That's the type of thing we need right now. Do you really think it's a coincidence that you happened to meet up with us and Baloric?"

  "What could you possibly expect out of these old bones?"

  "We're going to need all the help we can get in order to go up against Devin," Jameson said.

  The man sighed heavily. "You're young and strong…" he began. "I'm sure you'll outlive him as long as you don't do anything stupid."

  "You're saying to wait for him to die and our problems will all be solved," Ja
meson inferred skeptically.

  "It sounds so harsh when you say it like that," the man said, laughing slightly. He leaned over and said, "Despite all his power, Devin is still just a mortal man. Take that as advice from an old soldier and nothing more."

  "At least come with us far enough so when Baloric wakes up, you'll be able to tell him this yourself," Jameson tried.

  "Baloric was a dear boy who was always kind to me," the man said quietly, as if he did not want the others to hear. "He was completely unlike your typical Gislan child. His family took me in because he wouldn't allow them to do otherwise. As he grew up, I taught him how to use a sword and encouraged him to always want more than what he assumed he had. There were times I liked to imagine he was my son."

  "But you left him anyway," Jameson continued.