“Hey you! You with the barrel!”
Once again a thrill of panic ran through him and Atock turned to see who had spoken. It was a man, finely dressed, but not like the lords on the end of the bridge. This man was rich, but probably not a lord. Regardless, he was walking fast at Atock.
Atock sat the barrel down on the bridge planks, being careful to lay it on its side and not on its end; the oil continued to pour out.
“Hey,” the man said getting nearer. “Don’t you know that Lord Aston has forbidden the lamp oil barrels on the bridge. Get that back off of the bridge before he sees you.”
Atock smiled looking confused and grinned at the man.
“Did you hear me?” the man asked, getting nearer. He came within an arm’s reach of Atock. “Good gods, there’s oil everywhere.” It was the last thing the man ever said.
Atock stabbed out with the knife he held concealed in his right hand and caught the other man across the throat. Blood gushed everywhere and the man’s eyes bulged and his hands flew to the ruined mess that had been his throat just moments ago. Atock kicked the man hard and he collapsed and lay still.
Looking around, Atock realized that the murder had not gone unnoticed. Workers farther on down the bridge had stopped and were staring at him. He guessed that he was halfway across the completed portion of the bridge on the north end. He had hoped to go a little further, but as the workers began to slowly head his way, he realized he was out of time.
He kicked the barrel several times and the slow gushing became a quick gushing. Then, he moved the several feet to the edge of the bridge and carefully picked up one of the lamps. Being mindful of the oil that covered his body, Atock took the lamp and threw it straight up into the air about ten feet.
He didn’t wait to watch it fall, but turned and jumped out into the darkness of the river. He said a quick prayer that this part of the river was deep enough so that he wouldn’t break anything.
Enton was crossing the sandbar when he heard a ‘thump’ followed by an explosion. He paused and looked up. The long bridge spanning the middle of the Adelion was on fire and it appeared that an explosion had destroyed a huge section in the middle of the bridge.
The bridge planks were recently cut trees and full of sap and, on top of that, they had been rained on for days; there was little chance of them burning, that is unless one poured lamp oil all over them. Although the explosion from Atock’s barrel had done the most damage, there was a long stream of fire that reached back along the bridge. The plan had called for Atock to put a hole in his barrel so that the oil would leak all over the bridge; that was what was burning now.
Swallowing hard, Enton continued on his way, hoping that no one noticed him carrying a barrel full of oil toward a burning bridge.
Stepping onto the bridge, Enton picked up the pace. Men were rushing back and forth, and he needed to move with a sense of urgency.
He noticed three men being rushed from the bridge and he nearly paused again. Those men had been unlike the others he’d seen so far. They were not the dirty, grimy workers, but looked more like nobles. He silently wondered if he’d seen any of those men at the battle of Fort Mul-Dune. He didn’t think so, though. They’d had the look of men used to ballroom dances more than leading a siege of a fort. Then again, he wouldn’t have guessed that they would be in the middle of the woods leading mercenaries and goblins in the building of a bridge.
The thoughts of the three men were pushed from his mind as the bridge slipped precariously to one side. The explosion had severed the frame on the western edge of the bridge and the two ends of the bridge were only connected now by the eastern part of the frame. In addition to the frame damage, there were many pylons driven down into the muck of the river; many of them had been damaged as well.
Several people passed him heading toward the sandbar. He absently noticed they were carrying a third man who was either badly injured or perhaps dead. Enton thought it was only fitting. The man had sold out Telur to goblins for gold; whatever happened to him was probably deserved.
Enton nearly tripped on the uneven planks of the bridge, but just managed to steady himself. He didn’t want to drop the barrel now as there was fire to his right along the western edge of the bridge now. Dropping his barrel now would probably cost him his life. He didn’t mind the idea of dying for Telur, but he preferred it to be a courageous end, not due to the fact that he was clumsy.
He was getting close to the site of the explosion now, and he began to look for a way to follow the plan. As it turned out, he never got the opportunity.
Enton moved to the eastern side of the bridge, still carrying the barrel full of oil.
“Get that away from here! Are you crazy?”
Enton turned to see a man rushing toward him. The man was waving his arms and looked terrified.
Time was up and Enton knew it. The plan called for him to pull a hole in his barrel and do exactly what Atock had done; toss a lamp on top of it. That wasn’t possible now; there were too many people around and he’d been noticed. So, Enton did the only thing he could think of. He set the barrel down and kicked it toward the fire. For a wonder, the planks were smooth enough that it rolled straight at the fire burning along the eastern edge of the bridge.
Enton didn’t wait to see what happened. Instead, he sprinted west, straight at the trail of flames that followed Atock’s oil leak.
Enton jumped through the flame and out into the darkness below.
He hit the water hard but was pleased that he sank and didn’t bash his brains on the rocks. He was still underwater when there was a second ‘thump’ and the black sky above him was lit up like the noonday sun.
He broke through the surface of the water and looked back. The second explosion had wrecked the bridge even more and long pieces of it began falling away, landing hard in the water.
Enton had only a moment of pleased satisfaction before the Adelion whisked him away to the west. Even so, he could see the glow of the fire for nearly an hour as the current slowly carried him away.
Chapter 31
Reega, Karina, and Seth set out as the sun went down. They had spent the day hiding in the thick bushes a couple hundred yards from the shore. Actually, the day had been fairly relaxing. They had been traveling for nearly two weeks and this was the first day where all they had to do was rest.
All-to-soon, the sun began to set and they started out toward the bridge. Their plan was simple – travel to the bridge, see if anything could be done about it, and then run.
There was no doubt what Seth thought about approaching the bridge for a second time. Several times throughout the day, he had used the phrase, “Utter stupidity,” to describe their plan for the evening.
It hadn’t taken Karina long to discover that Reega agreed with Seth, at least to some degree. He hadn’t said it, and most certainly would have used different words to describe his feelings, but she could tell. It was mostly in the way that he looked at her and then away. It was as if he wanted to say something to her, but couldn’t bring himself to say it.
The doubts of her two companions began to make Karina think she was making a mistake. Perhaps as Seth had said, she did have an overblown opinion of her abilities. There was only so much plants could do and she’d never tried to affect a structure before.
Several times throughout the day, she considered changing her mind. Considered telling the others to prepare to leave on the morrow. No one would blame her, but still it didn’t feel right. She felt the need to try and do something, even if it was beyond them. War wasn’t the time to play it safe. Besides a part of her resented the others’ doubts. She was in charge and they had to at least try.
As the sun began to set, Seth stood and began stripping his clothes off. Once again Karina turned her head. Why did the beastly man have to stand right in front of her? It was like he was trying to annoy her. That couldn’t be it, could it? Glancing up, she saw a grin on Seth’s face and she knew she’d guessed right. The sorry bast
ard was playing with her. For a moment she considered calling his bluff and just staring at him, but the sight was just too unbearable.
“Remember,” she said without looking at him, “don’t lose us.”
Seth didn’t even bother to respond.
She continued to look away until she heard the familiar popping and cracking and then looked back. In the place where Seth had just been standing, a large grizzly bear now stood. It looked like the damn beast was grinning at her.
The bear turned and began to lumber away.
A sudden thought struck Karina and she looked questioningly at Reega. The boy could communicate with the animals, did that include the bear too?
“Reega,” she began slowly. “Can you speak to Seth when he’s in the bear form?”
Reega’s eyes widened and he glanced at the retreating butt of the bear. Clearly, he’d never considered the possibility before. “I don’t know,” he answered. “Let me try.”
As far as Karina could tell, Reega didn’t do a thing, but the bear suddenly stopped in its tracks and turned around to stare at them.
Breaking out into a grin, Reega turned to Karina. “It worked. I can’t believe I’ve never tried that before.”
Actually Karina found it easy to believe. She’d raised the boy and had tried to keep him away from the rude and revolting Seth. She didn’t want the boy to pick up any of the man’s bad habits.
The bear still stood there, watching them.
“What’s he waiting on?” Karina asked, her eyes narrowing. “Is he waiting on you?”
Reega turned and caught sight of the bear. “Oh, sorry. I called out for him to wait.” He stared at the bear for a moment and then the bear turned and began padding away.
“Well,” she said, “at least we won’t get lost.”
They followed Seth the grizzly westward toward the bridge. It didn’t take long for Karina to thank the gods above that they could communicate with Seth without actually speaking. In the dark, they lost the bear quickly and, if not for Reega, would have had to try calling out loud for the bear. That would have been disastrous. As it was, they were able to follow the meandering path the bear chose with a minimum of difficulty.
Karina would have guessed their path would have been more or less a straight line; roughly a mile from their camp to the bridge. It was anything but straight. They traversed the distance in a zigzag line that was, at best, difficult to follow. Karina had lived most of her adult life in the forest and knew a thing or two about following a trail. Even so, she would have been lost if not for Reega.
Several times she knew the boy had to be wrong. Why go south, then go west for ten feet and travel back north? The bear’s path all seemed random, but they had turned the duty of guide over to Seth, and he was the most qualified person for the job. She just hoped he wasn’t playing some stupid game. It would be just like him to run them all over creation and then say they couldn’t get close to the bridge.
Reega stopped suddenly and Karina, who wasn’t paying attention, walked right into his back. There was a muffled “Oomph,” and Reega shot a nasty glare her way.
She opened her mouth to speak, but froze when Reega held a finger to his mouth. They both slowly lowered themselves to the ground behind a couple of thick bushes. Karina cringed when one of her knees popped loudly; oh, but she was feeling old all of a sudden.
Reega tapped her on the shoulder and once again held his finger to his lips.
Karina took a deep breath, wanting nothing more than to smack him. Did he think she intentionally had her knees pop? One day the boy would get old and she so dearly hoped she was there to see it.
All the hateful, angry thoughts disappeared in a flash at the sound of twigs snapping and limbs being shoved aside. Her breath caught and she turned to see Reega’s staring back at her wide-eyed.
Her first thought was Could it be Seth? She knew that was wishful thinking even before the thought had been complete. Why would Seth come back to them in man-form? Besides, even as a man he didn’t make that much noise.
Has to be sentries was her second thought. Despite her best attempts, she could find very little flaw with this thought. Fear grew within her. She knew what the Dalarian soldiers did to Wildlings when they caught them; she could only imagine that these mercenaries had to be worse. Her eyes sought out Reega. At least the boy would die quickly; that would be far better than what she would be forced to endure.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of three men. Mercenaries, undoubtedly. They walked single file, making enough noise that the men still at the bridge had to be able to hear them.
Slowly, Karina’s hand settled down to her knife. The knife wasn’t much, but just touching the hardness of the handle made her feel better.
She forced herself to take slow, shallow breaths. Part of her wanted to suck in air like a bellows, but she was sure the men would hear that.
Glancing around, she realized that they hadn’t chosen the best hiding spot. The bushes were thick, but there were gaps that the men could see through. Precious little could be done about it now. She said a little prayer that the men wouldn’t see them. She did not want a fight this close to the bridge. She was fairly certain that she could kill the three men, but she wasn’t so sure that it could be done quietly. The noise would probably draw other sentries and once they had numbers, there was very little that she would be able to do.
Thinking of a fight caused her to wonder where Seth was. Had he stopped or continued on? She looked at Reega, who was busy watching the three men. That was when it occurred to her that Seth had warned the boy about the sentries. She suddenly had a mental image of the bear attacking the three men. Once again, she felt certain the bear could kill the three, but that wasn’t what worried her. When Seth was a bear, he fought like a bear; ruthless and very, very loud. Without a doubt if the bear attacked, every sentry for half-a-mile would come running.
Karina swallowed hard and tried to focus on the positives, but for the life of her she couldn’t think of even one.
The three sentries never slowed down, and only occasionally glanced around. Within moments they’d disappeared from view, although their progress could easily be followed by the clamor they were making.
Karina let out a long breath and grinned weakly at Reega. She couldn’t imagine how the men made such noise, and they weren’t even trying. She shook her head in amazement.
They continued to sit there for several more moments until the ruckus of the sentries had faded away.
Reega finally leaned close and whispered, “Ready?”
She nodded and he got up, leading the way. As she climbed to her feet, both knees popped again loudly, eliciting a snicker from Reega.
It took them over three hours to travel the one mile to the bridge. Part of it was due to the strange route Seth chose, but several more times they had to hide as sentries passed by. They would surely have been caught if not for the bear warning them.
When Reega motioned for her to go behind a large plant, she did so quickly, expecting another set of sentries. He followed her and sat down quietly on the ground.
She looked around but could see nothing, couldn’t hear anything either. “I don’t see them,” she whispered.
“See who?” Reega asked, looking confused.
“The sentries we’re hiding from.”
The boy shook his head. “No sentries. We’re close. Seth will be rejoining us in a moment.”
Karina shot the boy a nasty glance; the least he could have done was warned her. All thoughts of anger towards Reega flew out of her mind at the sudden appearance of Seth. He was back in his human form, strolling along as happy as could be, and completely naked.
“I might be sick,” Reega said, looking over her shoulder.
Karina chuckled. “It does take away the appetite, doesn’t it?”
Reega rummaged through the pack he carried and quickly found Seth’s clothes. Despite Reega handing the clothes over quickly, Seth seemed
awful slow to get dressed, or perhaps that’s just how it seemed to Reega and Karina.
Once he was dressed, Seth joined them behind the large bush. “Now what?” he whispered.
Karina stared at the man. “What do you mean ‘Now what’? Where’s the bridge?”
In answer, Seth pointed north. “We’re several hundred yards from it. After about twenty yards, the trees go away and then there’s a clearing the rest of the way to the water.”
“Clearing?” Karina repeated, not liking the idea of having to cross a wide-open space.
“Yep. A clearing full of huts and men. If you can cross that, you can reach the bridge.” Seth’s face pulled down in a grimace. “More bad news; the goblins are close, much closer than last night.”
Karina swallowed. She hated mercenaries, but that was nothing compared to how she felt about goblins. “How close?”
“One mile, maybe less, and they’re headed this way.”
“Good gods,” Karina said in exasperation. “Why now?”
“If I had to guess,” Seth replied, “I’d say that bridge is almost done.”
Shaking her head, Karina took another calming breath. “Show me the bridge,” she finally said.
Seth led them the short distance to the edge of the clearing. He held his finger to his mouth, like she was about to shout or something, and then grinned at the nasty look that Karina shot him. The last few feet they covered on their bellies until Seth could reach out and pull a couple of branches to one side, revealing a large open clearing.
The clearing was maybe two hundred yards across, with cook fires and some poorly constructed huts near the water. Men were lying down along the western edge of the clearing, probably where they chose to sleep. The trees on the western side of the clearing had been cut down and she puzzled over that fact for a moment. Why not cut all the trees down? Why only cut those on the western side? It was then that she realized the reason. The trees had indeed been cut down to help make the bridge, but that was only part of the reason. The second part was that the removal of the trees made a makeshift road back to the Arium Highway. This was how the goblins would reach the bridge. Time, it would seem, was indeed running out.
A Gathering of Armies Page 29