The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde

by Brian S. Pratt

  “We don’t have much choice if we wish to survive,” Kevik said. “It’s the Tower, or fight.” Behind them the light from Pyck’s group was growing closer, the sound of voices could now be heard. “Dawn’s not far off,” he said. The eastern sky held the barest promise of dawn’s approach. The sky was just beginning to lighten.

  Thwock!

  An arrow embedded itself in a tree near Riyan just as other arrows began to be loosed at them. “Go!” he yelled as another flew within inches of his head. Kicking his horse, he raced towards the Tower’s opening and the safety it promised.

  As the others followed behind him, the arrows came to a stop. Again, it appeared they were forcing them into the Tower. Why? To attack them while they were within the walls would cost their attackers dearly. In Riyan’s mind it would have been much better to strike when they had still been in the forest. Heading for the opening, Riyan wondered what their pursuer’s plan was.

  As the gate neared, Bart looked at the opening and something didn’t feel right. Their pursuers not pressing them hard as they chased them through the forest, a place of refuge just when they needed it. And the final element was that the hail of arrows ceased once they were on their way to the opening. They wanted them to enter the Tower! In Bart’s mind that could only mean one thing.

  “It’s a trap!” he exclaimed to Tad. Ahead of them Riyan’s horse had just reached the entrance to the Tower and he was only a few feet behind. Thinking fast, Bart leaped from the back of the horse and hit the ground near the entrance. Rolling quickly, he came to a stop with his back against the wall of the Tower. Looking to the entrance, he saw light spring into being just as the last horse bearing Kevik and Chyfe passed through the gates and entered the courtyard on the other side.

  “Stay where you are!” a voice from within the courtyard commanded.

  Bart moved to the entrance and glanced inside. A dozen men, half of whom held bows with arrows knocked, were moving to surround Tad and the others. “Damn!” he cursed silently to himself. Then the lights from the other two groups who had been herding them began moving to quickly converge on the Tower. Their trap now sprung, they were coming to finish it.

  Bart opened his pack and prayed that neither Durik nor his men had taken his Cloak of Concealment. When his hand touched its fabric, he gave out with a sigh of relief and pulled it forth. Still in the shadows against the outer wall of the Tower, he quickly pulled it on.

  The two groups converging on the Tower would be here in a matter of minutes, he didn’t have much time. Removing the rolled leather containing his darts, he pulled the Cloak close about him. Trusting that he was invisible, he stood up and moved into the light coming from within the Tower. Standing in the entrance, he quickly assessed the situation.

  The six archers and six men at arms who had been waiting in ambush for them within the Tower weren’t attacking. To Bart it looked like they were waiting for Durik and the rest of his men to join them before doing anything further.

  Bart moved into what was a small, walled courtyard. It was barely large enough for the four horses and the dozen men who held his comrades at bay. He hurried to the horse upon which Kevik still sat. On the way he removed several darts and placed them in his left hand. Once there, he laid a hand on Kevik’s leg causing the magic user to start in surprise.

  “It’s me,” he whispered and saw Kevik nodded almost imperceptibly in understanding. “Take care of the archers,” he told him. Then when Kevik again nodded, he patted his leg twice and moved over to Riyan. “Get the gate,” he said after laying a hand on his leg to let him know he was there.

  Riyan gave him a nod. “You got it,” he said in a whisper.

  Then four of the six archers were suddenly encased in Kevik’s goo. Bart immediately shouted, “Attack!” as two darts left his hand in quick succession. The first dart struck the fifth archer before he could loose and fouled his aim. The sixth archer got his arrow off just before being struck by Bart’s second dart. A gasp of pain tore through the courtyard as Tad was struck by the arrow and flew backward off his horse.

  “Come on!” Riyan yelled to Seth as he quickly dismounted. “We have to get that gate closed.”

  The remaining six ambushers rushed to close with them, their war cries splitting the night. One was struck by a dart before they took their second step. The attacker faltered but didn’t go down.

  Chyfe drew his sword as he vaulted off the back of the horse, Kevik remained mounted as arcane words issued forth. Two of the attackers were swept backwards as wind struck them with incredible power. Kevik was surprised by the degree to which he had managed to cast the spell, maybe it had been the burst of adrenalin the situation induced in him that caused the effect. He hesitated only a moment before he began another.

  Chad and Soth joined Chyfe as the three unaffected attackers joined with them. Each facing off with one, the clash of metal on metal announced the beginning of the melee. At first scared out of his mind to face off with an opponent bent on his demise, Chad only managed a weak defense.

  His opponent would thrust and he would barely manage to deflect the blow aside.

  Then another strike to the head which he again successfully blocked. Amazed that he wasn’t dead yet, he realized his Guild training was kicking in. Watch the eyes! How many times had he heard that over the past months? Keeping his eyes locked to his opponent’s, his arm suddenly moved and blocked an attack before he had even consciously realized the blow was coming.

  A crackling and popping noise nearby tried to draw his attention away but he kept his eyes locked with his opponent’s. His opponent glanced towards the noise, which later Chad found out was Kevik’s spark spell, caused the man to slow ever so slightly. Seeing his opportunity, Chad struck out and managed to score a minor wound in his opponent’s side.

  First blood! He had drawn first blood! A grin came to him as confidence grew. No longer satisfied with merely keeping his attacker’s blade from him, he went on the offensive.

  Riyan and Seth arrived at the gate. Less than a hundred feet on the other side, Durik and his men were running all out to reach the gate before it could be closed. Putting their shoulders to it, Riyan and Seth began swinging it closed. In the courtyard behind them, the battle raged as their comrades fought those within the walls.

  The gate was large and heavy. Riyan pushed with all his might, Seth did the best he could with his injured leg, and together they brought the door closer to being shut.

  Wham!

  When the door had only another foot to go, it was struck from the other side. All progress towards closing the door was halted.

  “You close this and none of you will get out of here alive!” Durik yelled from the other side.

  Riyan didn’t reply, just kept his shoulder against the door and continued working to shut it. For an instant they were able to hold the door against those on the outside. But as more of Durik’s men joined with him in forcing the door open, Riyan and Seth were no longer able to halt its progress. Inch by inch, the gap between the door and the wall widened.

  An arm with a sword reached in through the opening which was immediately followed by the head and upper body of one of Durik’s men. The man grinned when he saw Riyan less than a foot away. Raising his sword, he prepared to strike.

  The Recruits were holding their own against their assailants, and with the help of Kevik’s spells, were beginning to take them out. Hidden as he was in his Cloak of Concealment, Bart was able to strike and kill from behind which only speeded up the process. He had already taken out the two archers he had struck with his darts, now he was turning his attention to the rest.

  Kevik still sat atop his horse as he finished another of his sparks spell. The battle within the courtyard of the Tower was going their way. He was forced to restrain himself from casting spells as the combatants were too intermixed and the risk of harming his comrades was too great. That’s when he glanced back to where Riyan and Seth struggled with the gate. Dismounting from his horse h
e ran forward to add his strength. When he saw the arm bearing the sword pass through the opened gap, he realized Riyan was in serious jeopardy. Without thought he cast a spell that he’s cast many times before.

  Riyan saw the sword appear and then the man’s head a second later. When the man raised the sword to strike, he knew he was dead. Then all of a sudden, the sword and the man’s arm were encased with goo, firmly attaching them to the wall. The man struggled in vain to free himself.

  Glancing back, he saw Kevik standing there and nodded. “They’re on the other side!” Riyan yelled. “We need help to get this closed.”

  “Brace yourselves,” replied Kevik. Then he began speaking arcane words as he gestured to the gate.

  Brace ourselves? Riyan thought to himself just before he and Seth were smashed against the door of the gate by a fierce gust of wind. The force of the wind was such that it slammed the gate shut, severing the arm stuck to the wall by Kevik’s goo spell. The man’s scream was plainly heard as he and Seth recovered from the blow.

  “The bar!” Riyan yelled.

  Seth left the door and reached the bar that would lock the door just as Kevik joined him. The bar was a thick wooden beam set in brackets. There were three handles which could be gripped to slide the bar across the face of the door into a bracket on the far side.

  Seth took one and Kevik the other. Together they slid the bar across the door and into the bracket. Before the bar could fully be inserted into the bracket, Kevik had to dispel the goo holding the arm on the wall as some of it was coating the bracket and the bar got stuck before it could slide in. When the goo was gone, Riyan added his strength and they slid the bar into the bracket just as a thud was heard from the other side.

  “Think it will hold?” Seth asked.

  “It should unless they have a battering ram,” replied Riyan. “And I doubt if they brought one of those along.” Turning back to where the battle had raged within the courtyard, he saw Chad coming towards them.

  Splattered with the blood of his enemy and bearing a grin on his face, he gestured behind him and said, “They’re all dead.”

  “Good job,” he said to his lifelong friend. He scanned the courtyard and saw Chyfe kneeling on the ground next to Tad. “Oh no,” he moaned as he rushed over to them.

  When he drew close he asked Chyfe, “Is he alright?” Tad opened his eyes and said, “Not entirely.” The feathered shaft of an arrow was sticking out from his breastbone. Somehow, it must have missed the heart and the arteries. “Are they out there?” he asked.

  Riyan nodded. “Yeah. We have the gate locked but we’re trapped.” Tad looked around the courtyard and saw the door leading into the Tower not very far away from where he lay. The sky beyond the walls was quickly growing brighter with the coming of the dawn. For some reason, the approach of dawn didn’t bring him any comfort. His eyes settled back on the Tower and he shuddered.

  Chapter Eighteen

  _______________________

  They gathered around Tad as he assessed what they were to do. The walls of the courtyard weren’t all that high, maybe thirty, forty feet at the most. It wouldn’t take Durik long before he figured a way over them. A walkway ran along the top of the wall, two sets of stairs, one on either side of the door, led up to it.

  Tad motioned for Riyan to come closer. “You’re in charge should I pass out,” he said.

  “Me?” asked Riyan, surprised at the unexpected promotion.

  Tad nodded. “All of you take a bow from the dead over there and get up on the wall,” he told them.

  “But Chad and I have never used a bow in our lives,” Riyan stated.

  “Neither have I,” added Chyfe.

  “They don’t know that,” Tad told them. “If they see bowmen up on the wall, they may hold off trying to get in here. Hopefully that will afford us time to figure a way out.” Bart joined them from where he had been retrieving the darts he’d used during the battle. All ten of the men were dead, he had taken care of the four that were imprisoned by Kevik’s goo spell. They didn’t have the manpower to spare for the watching of prisoners. He didn’t like what he had done, but there was no other choice.

  Riyan met him and explained what they planned to do. “Just be careful,” cautioned Bart. “They could have archers too.”

  “Already figured that,” Riyan said. Moving with the others, they relieved the dead archers of their bows and quivers of arrows. Riyan took Chyfe with him up the stairs to the right of the gate while Soth, Seth, and Chad took the left. Kevik stayed down below with Tad as did Bart.

  When Riyan reached the top of the stairs and stepped upon the platform lining the top of the courtyard’s wall, he looked over the edge to find Durik and a score of men congregated before the gate. A heated discussion was taking place, even from where he stood Riyan could tell that Durik was mad. The man whose arm had been severed by the closing of the gate was being taken from the area before the wall by two other men. One of the two men wasn’t wearing a shirt, it had been secured around the wounded man’s bloody stump.

  “You got a problem down there?” Riyan asked. Taking one of the arrows from the quiver, he set it to the bow’s string and held it casually as he looked down to the men below. Chyfe and the rest of those with him on the wall had their bows drawn back, aimed, and were ready to fire.

  Durik looked up at the bows covering them. “You going to shoot?” he asked.

  “That depends,” replied Riyan. He hadn’t planned to as he didn’t want to advertise he was no good with the bow. “Are you and your men going to get out of here and leave us alone?” His question sparked a hushed debate among those below. Riyan glanced to his comrades on the wall. “Don’t shoot yet,” he whispered to them. Chad nodded but still kept his bow knocked and ready.

  When the discussion below stopped, Durik again looked up to Riyan. “You’re only making it worse on yourselves,” he warned.

  A second later Chad’s bow twanged as he inadvertently released the arrow. Durik jumped when the arrow struck the ground no more than a couple inches from his foot.

  Riyan could hear Seth and Soth congratulating Chad on the good shot.

  “Don’t you know where you are boy?” Durik said after picking himself up. His men looked on the brink of fleeing but with a stern glance he held them where they were.

  “Looks like I’m in a place where you can’t reach me,” Riyan replied.

  Durik grinned at him. “True, I can’t,” he admitted. The tone of his voice indicated there was more to the statement than Riyan understood. “You all come out, return my journal, and tell me what you know about the King’s Horde and you may live to see another day.”

  “King’s Horde?” Seth asked and then looked questioningly to Chad.

  “He seems to think we know something about it,” Chad explained.

  “Do you?” Soth asked.

  Before Chad could reply, Riyan hollered down to Durik, “We don’t know anything.

  We stumbled across those coins in the mountains during an overnight camping trip.”

  “You don’t just stumble across hundreds of coins, boy,” Durik said. “Tell me the truth.”

  “The truth is you are trying my patience,” Riyan said. “If you and your men aren’t out of here by the count of ten, we’ll kill you all.” Raising his bow into position, he took aim.

  “One…”

  Durik glared up at him.

  “Two…”

  “Come on,” he told his men and they began moving away from the wall.

  “What’s going on?” Bart yelled up to them from where he sat next to Tad.

  Chyfe turned and replied excitedly, “They’re leaving!” His excitement, however, was short lived. Once Durik and his men had moved out of the effective bow range, they came to a stop.

  “No they’re not,” Chad hollered to Bart. “They’ve stopped two hundred feet out.” Bart was about ready to reply when Tad reached out and grabbed his arm. “Tell Riyan to leave two men on the wall to keep an ey
e on them,” he said. “Have him and the others return here.”

  Nodding, Bart relayed the message up to Riyan. “Seth, Soth,” Riyan said, “you two keep an eye on them.”

  “Yes sir!” Seth said with a grin.

  Riyan rolled his eyes as he and Chyfe began descending the stairs to the bottom. Once on the ground they were joined by Chad and walked as a group over to the others.

  “How many are there?” Tad asked, then grimaced. Even that amount of speech elicited pain from where the arrow impaled him.

  “A score,” he said, “give or take a few.” Riyan could see the paleness of his face.

  “How are you doing?”

  Tad waved away the question. “Does anyone here know the history behind this place?” he asked those assembled around him.

  They shook their heads. “I think Seth does,” Riyan said.

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” Tad replied, “he and his brother come from a town just south of here.”

  “What about this place?” asked Bart.

  Tad tried to sit up but the pain was too great and was forced to lie back down.

  “We should remove the arrow,” Chyfe said.

  “No,” Tad told him. “You do that and I’ll bleed to death.” His eyes then moved from one to the next. “Unless someone was smart enough to bring a healing potion on this endeavor?”

  They shook their head. “One of the dead men may have something,” suggested Bart.

  “Chad, why don’t you go check.” Chad nodded and left the group. Once he was on his way over to search the dead, Bart turned his attention back to Tad. “So, what is it about this place that has everyone afraid?”

  “It happened a little over a century ago,” Tad said. “People began disappearing from Kemmet and the surrounding villages. Even travelers camped along the side of the road would awaken to find one of their number gone.”

  A coughing fit came over him and it took him a moment to compose himself enough to continue. Chad returned at that time empty handed, none of the dead carried any potions on them. Once Tad had calmed down, he pointed to the Tower rising tall a dozen yards away. “So the story goes, they traced the disappearances to a Tower sitting on the inside branching of a river within this very forest.” Riyan nodded. “Sounds like this place,” he observed.