Karina nodded.
Seth snorted. “I think you have a higher opinion of yourself than you should.”
Karina ground her teeth, but refused to rise to Seth’s bait. After a moment she said, “Will you do as I’ve asked?”
In answer, Seth began taking off his clothes.
Karina grimaced and looked away.
Seth’s unique talent was the ability to transform his body into that of a enormous bear; the only problem was that clothing would look mighty funny on a bear, so he always changed naked.
To anyone watching, the air seemed to shiver around him and his bones snapped and popped in a frenzy. The change was completed in the blink of an eye, but tremendous pain always accompanied it; every last time.
When the change was complete, a great, shaggy grizzly bear stood in his place. He turned his head to stare at those that walk on two legs. His thought processes were different now, more bestial, but still he knew these two were friends. Strangely, the idea was foreign to him. Bears are solitary creatures, and the idea of friends was a holdover of the Seth mind.
He glanced their way again and ambled off to the west. Another holdover of the Seth mind was the need to scout the area to the west where the lights glowed upon the water. The bear didn’t know why it was important, just that it was.
For all his size, the bear moved quietly through the foliage. The path he chose was not straight, but rather it was the easiest course to follow.
As he walked the rain began to fall hard and fast, but his thick fur repelled the water and he barely noticed.
Once he smelled a hive nearby and in his mind he could picture the wonderful sweet honeycomb, but the urge to go west was relentless; it nagged at him, driving him onward.
Several times his sharp eyesight picked out more of those that walk on two legs and he froze in mid-step. Those that walk on two legs tended to be blind and they never noticed him. He simply changed his path, choosing to walk in a direction that avoided them.
Halfway into his journey, the wind changed and blew from the west. The bear stopped in his tracks. The wind carried a horrible smell. He knew what it was; it was what those that walk on two legs called goblins. The bear didn’t hate those that walk on two legs; they could be dangerous, but he didn’t hate them. However, he despised the things called goblins. They were cruel, twisted creatures that relished handing out pain.
The bear stood there, sniffing the air; trying to determine which way to the goblins. After a moment, he relaxed. The goblins were to the south and farther west than he was going. Their stench was so bad that the wind was carrying it for miles.
Relieved, the bear continued its journey. Several more times it changed course to avoid more of those that walk on two legs.
At long last, he reached a hill overlooking the fallen trees that spanned the river. Those that walk on two legs scurried about, running back and forth. In the bear’s opinion, it was a whole lot of wasted energy. Why knock the trees down and lay them across the river? There were plenty of fish in the shallow water on this side of the river.
Having reached his destination, his bear instincts threatened to take over. He wanted nothing more than to swim in the shallow water and look for those fish he’d just been thinking of, but once again the Seth part of his mind wouldn’t let him. Having just walked all this way, he now realized he had to walk back again. That thought made no sense to him. Why walk here and then turn around and walk back?
The bear shook its large head several times and grunted in anger. Finally, he made a sound resembling a sigh, looked one more time longingly at the water, then turned and started back to the east.
The trip back was quicker as he already had traveled it once and the path was keenly laid out in his mind.
Karina and Reega waited nervously for Seth’s return. They sat side-by-side, with their backs up against two tree trunks.
He’d been gone for four or five hours and she was beginning to get nervous. She really didn’t like the man, but she had sent him to scout the bridge. If he didn’t make it back, then that would haunt her. She knew that wasn’t the way to think. This was a war; good versus evil. People died in a war, but she never wanted to be the reason one of the good ones died. One of the good ones? She nearly laughed out loud at referring to Seth in that manner. Still, he was at least one of the marginally good ones.
She was snapped out of her thoughts by the welcoming grunts of the bear.
The bear stood off to the side just watching her and Reega. After a moment it cocked its head to one side just like an old dog she’d had as a young girl. Then the air shimmered and there was a multitude of pops and cracks and Seth stood before them again, naked as the day he was born.
Karina and Reega both climbed to their feet, but she grimaced and looked away. She liked men, even found them attractive. Well, she found some of them attractive anyway, but not all. Seth standing before her in all his glory was something she would try hard to forget.
Reega took a couple of quick steps toward Seth. “Oh, thank the gods! I was beginning to think something bad happened to you.”
Seth’s response was quick and completely unexpected. He bared his teeth and growled at Reega, even hunching down a bit as he did.
Reega stopped in his tracks, holding his hands out in front of him. “Wait! It’s me Reega. You do remember me, right?”
Seth shook his head several times and sunk to one knee. He waved a hand at Reega. “Sorry. The bear thoughts tend to stick with me for a while.”
“Are you all right?” Karina asked. She had looked up briefly when Seth had growled, but she quickly looked away again. She just couldn’t stand the sight.
“I’ll be fine,” Seth said. He was talking low and he seemed out of breath. He closed his eyes, seeing once again through the eyes of the bear. “I got to the bridge. There are a lot of humans where it meets the shore. They’ve cleared a large part of the forest to the west of the bridge. I suppose that’s what they used to build it out of.”
“Were there any guards, sentries?”
“Oh, yes, but I managed to avoid them. They’re all human. I smelled goblins, but they are still off to the south and farther west.”
“Can you get us to the bridge?” Karina asked.
Seth sighed. “I can get you to the shore, perhaps within several hundred yards of the bridge, but the whole shore is covered with humans. I can’t make any promises about getting on the bridge itself.”
“Fine,” Karina said nodding. “You just get me as close as you can and we’ll see if there’s anything I can do about that bridge.”
Seth snorted. “Whatever you say.” His tone clearly meant that he felt this little expedition was a colossal waste of time.
Karina moved toward her small pack; it was nearly empty but there were still a few stale provisions left within. “Good, let’s get moving.”
“No,” Seth said quickly, causing both Reega and Karina to start in surprise.
“But you just said …” Karina began.
“I know what I said,” Seth snapped. “But I’m tired and I need to rest. We’ll have to try tomorrow night.”
Chapter 28
The goblin chief Wer’ock stood along the Arium highway, looking out over a sea of goblin corpses. He growled in his throat as he guessed at the number of the dead; five hundred, perhaps as many as seven hundred dead, and all in one night.
He looked up at the forest that lay to the west of the highway and he growled deep in his throat. Every night these attacks came and the means varied each time. Even though the means varied, the results were always the same: dead goblins piled upon more dead goblins. Either the attackers took their dead with them, or they simply hadn’t lost the first fighter yet, and he simply couldn’t believe that his goblins would die in such large numbers and not manage to kill even one attacker.
“WWhhaattt dooo weee doooo?” one of the smaller, white goblins standing to his right asked.
Wer’ock growled at the goblin, no
t so much at the question, but more that it gave him someone to direct his anger at. The smaller goblin cowered and then moved away.
The affect was most unusual. Goblins didn’t cower in fear very often, but the white goblins had a healthy fear of the much larger, and meaner, black goblins.
Still the question was a good one. What were they to do? The road forward was blocked by more goblins. They couldn’t move until that blasted bridge was completed, but they couldn’t stay near the forest either or more goblins would die. A few had even deserted, but only a few. They all knew what happened once the deserters were caught, and they were always caught; better to stay here and die in one night, then to run and die a slow, painful death.
“SSeend rrunners aaheadd,” Wer’ock said in broken common. “Sstart da aarmy towwwards da bridge.”
“You can’t,” a human said. He was a mercenary and the only human in the small group examining the carnage. “The bridge isn’t completed yet.”
Wer’ock didn’t like to be questioned by his fellow goblins, he certainly wouldn’t stand for it from a mere human. He lashed out with a powerful overhand blow. His fist slamming hard onto the top of the human’s head.
The human collapsed to the ground, his eyes rolling up as he fell. Such was the blow that the man’s neck was broken and he died instantly.
“SSend da runnerrrs!” Wer’ock shouted.
The other goblins hastened to obey.
Chapter 29
Atock awoke the next morning both cold and tired. Sleeping uncovered in a rain storm is not easy. The bushes and tree limbs above his head didn’t provide much, if any, shelter. The sleeping had been intermittent. He woke frequently, his soaking wet clothes chilling him to the bone. He couldn’t even get up and move about as they were so concerned with the possibility of being seen, so they just lay there shivering and miserable. Eventually exhaustion would claim them and they would fall into a fitful sleep, but it never lasted long and they found themselves replaying this cycle over and over. When Atock woke this time, however, the sun was peeking above the eastern horizon and the day was already becoming visible, although it was both foggy and overcast.
Atock stretched, immediately regretting it as the movement brought his skin into contact with the still wet clothes. The sensation sent a shiver down his back and he just did suppress a gasp. He was sure there had been worse mornings in his life, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember any.
Gritting his teeth, Atock used his hands to make a small gap in the bushes so that he could peer at his surroundings. His side of the bushes faced back down to the east, the way they had come last night. Mercifully the rain had stopped, but everything still looked soaking wet; at least they didn’t have to worry about their footprints being spotted as the rain would surely have washed them away.
Turning, Atock took in the sight of Enton still asleep. Enton, who was nearly seven feet tall, lay on the other side of the trees, his legs bent to keep his feet from sticking out past the edge of the bushes. It looked most uncomfortable.
Atock reached over and shoved Enton once.
Enton’s eyes popped open and he tried to sit up, but several limbs smacked him in the face. He lay back down and looked around – blurry-eyed.
Atock snorted, just managing to hold in the laughter that wanted to explode out from him. Enton frowned, apparently failing to see the humor in the situation. Still grinning ear to ear, Atock held his hands up in a placating manner. He then leaned over and whispered, “Sorry.” He motioned with his head towards Enton’s side of the bushes. “Have a look through the bushes and tell me what you see.”
Still glaring, Enton rolled onto his side, all the while keeping his legs bent. The look was comical and once again, Atock barely managed not to laugh. Undoubtedly, since Enton had just awoke, he would have welcomed a second laugh at his expense even less than the first.
On his side now, Enton shifted his weight to get into a more comfortable position. His movement snapped several twigs, causing Atock to grimace in annoyance. It was doubtful that there was anyone to hear, but still he didn’t like the noise.
After a moment, Enton rolled onto his back and whispered, “Nothing but trees and bushes.”
Nodding, Atock worked his way around in the bushes until just his head poked through. It was exactly as Enton had described it. Nothing but bushes and trees, oh, and lots and lots of sand. That was another thing that Atock hated – he had sand in places where it was not supposed to go.
They were on the beach of the small tributary that fed into the Adelion. He looked south and could just see where the two merged. They were maybe a hundred yards north of the Adelion and the only sound was the early morning chirping of the birds – it was almost relaxing but then his thoughts returned to the task at hand. His best guess was that these woods would be crawling with more of the sentries, like the ones that Enton had spotted from the tree.
It wasn’t even an option to walk along the bank of the Adelion in the daylight. Whatever was going on in the Narrows, the Adelion would be closely guarded. If the riverbank was out, then that only left traveling through the woods, but that seemed dangerous as well. Briefly, he considered just remaining there until the sun was down, but he dismissed that. They needed to know what was going on in the narrows and they couldn’t risk missing it in the dark. They had to try and discover the enemy’s intentions in the daylight.
Moving backward, Atock returned to the center of the bushes.
“Well?” Enton asked expectantly.
“We’re a hundred yards north of the Adelion. I want to stay roughly this distance from the river. I want us to move westward through the woods and try to discover whatever is going on.”
Enton nodded soberly.
Atock knew Enton wasn’t a fool. He knew the risks of traipsing through the woods, but he also wasn’t a coward. Enton’s people believed that there wasn’t anything better than dying in battle. Atock took a deep breath, sincerely hoping that Enton wouldn’t die in battle anytime soon.
“Want me to lead?” Enton asked.
Atock smiled at his friend. Whoever was in the lead position risked being discovered first – it was the more dangerous position. Enton also knew the dangers, but still he volunteered. Atock shook his head. “No, I want you to follow me, but stay close.”
As they headed westward, away from the small tributary, the woods became thicker. The Guardians found this reassuring, as more woods meant more cover, but it also meant more hiding places for sentries.
Atock led them carefully and cautiously. They moved painfully slow, as he often paused and waited, looking and listening for any sound of a sentry or of someone following them. Going this slow it would take them all day to go a mile or two, but that was okay with Atock. As long as they didn’t get caught.
They moved at a snail’s pace throughout the day, and by early afternoon, they had just managed a mile and a half. Their pace was slowed by the need to occasionally go south, across the hundred yards to the Adelion river, to see if anything unusual could be seen. All through the morning, despite their frequent checks, they couldn’t discover anything out of the ordinary.
Just as Gilga had said, the river was low, extremely low. So low, in fact, that a wide strip of land that was normally riverbed was exposed. The Adelion river was wide here, which contributed to the lower water level, but the water was shallow and numerous rocks poked through the surface. Atock silently wondered how any ships ever traversed this river, but then again, the middle of the river should be a good deal deeper.
Atock began to doubt his belief that something was going on in the Narrows. They hadn’t spotted anyone since Enton had climbed the tree. It was like this part of the shore was deserted. The only thing that continued to nag at him, was that there were goblins in the woods. He just knew that something out of the ordinary was happening.
The serenity of their slow march was broken in the mid-afternoon when they made one of their frequent checks on the river. The Adeli
on had been flowing in a southwesterly direction for some time and this was the first time they had checked on it since it turned to the northwest. It wasn’t the direction of the river that caught their attention, but the sight of three ships, lying on their sides on the beach.
“What in the name of the gods?” Enton said in wonder.
Atock didn’t reply, except to grab Enton by the arm and pull him back to the safety of a large tree. “Quiet!” he hissed.
Instead of getting angry, Enton looked appropriately abashed.
The three ships were not very large. They were riverboats, used for transporting goods up and down the Adelion. Wide, with a shallow draft, they were built for navigating the dangerous rivers.
For a moment as they stood there staring at the three wrecks, Atock wondered if perhaps the ships had run aground. Perhaps the wrecks were the natural result of the river being so low. But as these thoughts played across his mind, he realized he couldn’t spot the first hole or breach in the hull. It was as if the ships had been driven up hard onto the sandy shores. Atock looked out to the middle of the river. Surely if they had hit a submerged rock, then the ships would have remained in the river; perhaps sinking, but he doubted they would make it all the way to the shore. Besides, if a rock had damaged the ships badly enough to force them to the beach, then there would be some sign of the damage, but their hulls looked intact.
“What do you think?” Enton asked, snapping Atock out of his mental wanderings.
“I’m not sure,” Atock whispered back. “They don’t look damaged to me. I can’t think of any reason to beach them. Can you?”
Enton opened his mouth to speak, but they both froze as a shout rolled down the beach.
“Bajak! What’s the word?”
Atock and Enton both peered out around opposite sides of the tree.
A human man stood on the beach, farther along the shoreline to their right, which was the northwest. He was rough looking; long, stringy hair and dirty clothes. Still he looked formidable, muscular and armed as he was with a long sword.
A Gathering of Armies Page 27