by Jordan Baker
“They won’t hear a sound,” Aaron assured him.
“Good. If anything should happen, it is your duty as a Maramyrian to give your life in their defence. You know that,” Nathas told him.
“Yes. They are also my friends,” Aaron added. “But even if they were not, I would do my duty. ” The Captain nodded.
“It’s possible that they might be your King and Queen someday if we’re all real lucky.” He told him. Aaron told him that he understood. Nathas gestured to the line of cloaked riders clustered around the Princess. “I've alerted the guard and let them know you’re there so they won’t accidentally put a bolt through you.”
“They won’t know I’m there, Captain,” Aaron assured him. He knew these woods and how to move through them without making a sound.
“Good.” Nathas said. “Then you're to fall back and be ready to disappear. We make camp a short ways up this road in a clearing to the north and we’ll make our base there for the next three days. You will not camp with us. Here is a bag of oats for your horse.” Nathas pulled a sack from the side of his saddle and handed it to Aaron. He held up another bag. “This is for you. You’ll have to forage a bit to supplement it, but I’d rather that than everyone seeing you come and go from camp. You’re to be invisible. Got it?”
“Yes sir,” Aaron said. Nathas pointed along the road ahead.
“Three more bends in the road and we’ll move to a trail that cuts off to the north. When we fork, you take to the woods. I’ll see you in two day’s time for a full report on our guest’s progress as a ranger.” Nathas smiled and nodded before urging his horse to a faster gait.
Aaron rode at the back of the file and shrugged. When he had seen that the Princess was training with them, Aaron had hoped that he would have a chance to get to know her a little better. Still, he was fulfilling a special duty to her by protecting her in the forest. He understood why Nathas had assigned him to the job. He had told him about how Tarnath had taught him to sneak up on squirrels in this same forest when he was a boy. He figured that Ariana’s guards were probably excellent rangers as well but he knew that Nathas felt as he did, that one more pair of eyes watching the Princess could only be a good thing.
They turned the second bend in the road and Aaron decided he would break off from the group early. A short time after, the convoy left the road for the trail and another rider fell behind and turned his mount deep into the thick foliage of the forest.
*****
The night was cool in the forest without the warmth of a fire. It was colder still from the clinging wetness of the small stream Aaron had used to wash the smells of the city and his mount from himself. He had rubbed himself with needles and leaves to take on the scent of the forest but the activity had hardly dried him. Still wet, he had found a spot in the crook of a branch in a large tree where he slowly dried off and watched. From this vantage point, Aaron could easily see the clearing where the Academy trainees had made their camp. He watched as the royal guardsmen quietly filtered away from the fires and took up protective positions in the forest. He wondered whether they would be up all night or whether they would take shifts.
Unable to sleep, Aaron gazed up at the stars long into the night. Some time later, he heard a series of low whistles like the call of a bird in the woods. He watched carefully as several other guardsmen filtered into the woods to replace the first shift. Satisfied that they were getting their sleep, Aaron decided that he should do the same. His horse was tied safely in a dense thicket nearby.
Some time later, another series of whistles, different from the first, woke Aaron. It was still dark but he could tell that most of the night had passed. That would be the second shift coming returning to camp. Creaking out of his perch in the tree, Aaron set about making his way back to his mount to round up some breakfast before the camp awoke and began the morning’s exercises.
From another thick-limbed tree, Aaron watched as Nathas split the party into two groups. One, Nathas had told him, would be instructed to enter the forest and build a hidden camp where they could avoid detection or ambush anyone searching for them. The other group would be instructed to find them and capture them. To make the game more interesting, the tracking would not be random. The two sides were further divided into corresponding groups of three and given colored armbands that corresponded with another group of three on the other team that they would play against. Aaron noticed that the groups were arranged so that two trainees were paired up with one of the accompanying rangers.
Aaron watched as Ariana was assigned to a group in the first team with Borrican and one of the green-cloaked guardsmen. The other guardsmen did not join the game and Aaron guessed that they would track the Princess on their own. From his vantage point, he could not see the faces of the group assigned to track and capture the trio but guessed that they would have little chance of success with Ariana’s guardsman helping her and Borrican.
Aaron climbed down from the tree and made his way carefully around the camp, watching the trio in case they should depart into the forest. He wanted to be able to pick up their trail without the confusion of the other groups. He heard Nathas give the order to disperse and melted quickly into the dense underbrush as Ariana, Borrican, and the guardsman took to the forest. Aaron moved off a ways and picked out a path from which he would be better able to track their movements.
Moments after the trio entered the trees, another figure dropped from a nearby tree and began to shadow them. He had seen the guardsmen and knew they would be along shortly. They were no match for him, his was a stealth that was not taught by any royal army. The guardsmen had as little chance as did the Princess and her companion.
Ariana stepped carefully over the moss-covered rocks and through the tiny twigs that littered the forest floor, doing her best not to make a sound. Ariana’s guardsman told her and Borrican that there was no point in rushing. Captain Nathas had given the first team until midday before he would send the second group into the forest after them.
They picked their way carefully through the trees putting some distance between themselves and the camp. Borrican discussed forest growth with the guardsman trying to figure out the best way to conceal themselves within its protective cover in the allotted time. He felt a little like he was cheating since the guardsman was obviously an experienced woodsman. Still, he counted his stars lucky that Ariana had come along for the training. It would be fun hiding out in the forest with her.
After a time, the grey morning sky cleared and the sun shone down warmly through the trees. A ways ahead, Aaron noticed the familiar smell of the warm leaves, detecting the faint hint of autumn in the scent of summer green turning to fall color. It was a perfect time to be out here for within the week most of the leaves would turn a myriad of fall colors. It was one of Aaron’s favorite times of the year.
Not far behind the trio, part of a green leaf became prematurely red. A small droplet fell then was wiped clean as one of the guards, now dead, was expertly concealed beneath a fallen tree. Without a trace of a sound, the man who killed him moved on catching up with the princess. He could faintly hear another guardsman following a ways behind and he caught the scent of another on the light breeze that floated in from the east.
It was not long before the lead guard had picked out a spot where they would build their camp. The forest floor had begun to rise and fall leaving outcroppings of rock and dense trees in clusters. There was a particular large tree with thick green needles surrounded by a bunch of other needled trees that would make for the perfect spot. The guard let Borrican and the Princess inspect the site and give it their approval before he instructed them on how to enter the brush. Careful not to disturb the undergrowth, they eased themselves between the thick conifers. Inside the stand, Ariana and Borrican discovered a tiny clearing covered with soft needles where they could sit comfortably and break for lunch. The guard followed after them, making sure that no sign was left visible of their entry to the stand of trees.
Aaro
n watched as they disappeared behind the branches. The guard had picked the spot well. Had he not known that they were there, he himself might not have been able to find them. The only thing that gave them away was the faint scent of flowers that Aaron had come to recognize from Ariana as her own distinct scent. He wondered if she could ever be convinced to take a bath in the shallow mud of a stream the way he had. He carefully looked around for a good vantage point from where to watch the hidden camp and, finding one, he disappeared into a patch of dense ferns.
The day wore on and Aaron quietly removed some of the dried fruit he carried in his pack. He chewed it slowly so it would not affect his hearing as he waited, watched and listened. He was surprised that none of the guardsmen had shown up yet. Perhaps they were merely superior woodsmen and had already found the spot without being seen by Aaron or the man hidden in the trees nearby. After a while, Aaron decided that he should at least be able to sense the guardsmen. He smelled the wind carefully all afternoon and found nothing until the wind changed and began blowing from the south. The breeze carried with it a slight scent of iron that Aaron recognized. It was the scent of blood
That was when Aaron saw a figure appear on the trail his friends had taken. He did not recognize the man, who was dressed in the fashion of a hunter, and Aaron was impressed at how silently he moved through the dense underbrush. He saw him stop and scan the trail, looking for anything that was out of place. Aaron guessed that there were too many rocks in the area to track much of anything, and knew that the guard that had accompanied them had kept Ariana and Borrican from disturbing too many of the tender needles that littered the ground. Aaron watched as the man carefully stepped his way around the area, searching for his prey.
Aaron had slowed his breathing so the man would not hear him and he passed within a footstep of his hiding place in the brush. That was when the wind shifted slightly and Aaron was able to scent his friends and the guard from their hiding spot in the nearby thicket. The man noticed as well and Aaron saw the man smile as he pulled a long dagger from its sheath at his waist.
Careful to stay as silent as possible, Aaron ducked out of his hiding spot and drew a dagger of his own. It would be better than trying to swing his sword if he had to fight the man in the dense trees. He moved quickly, blade in hand, following the man who was now heading toward his friends. He was almost upon him when he heard the man give a low whistle, barely audible among the gentle rustling of the trees.
Aaron saw several more figures emerge from the dark parts of the forest and he knew it could only mean trouble. He kicked himself for not having noticed them and realized that the one he had must have been on point for the larger group, allowing the others to move with greater stealth. They were most definitely not hunters. They were assassins.
Aaron moved to strike the man with his dagger, but he had heard him and pivoted at the last second, blocking Aaron's dagger with his own. Steel rang on steel. The sound alerted the other assassin and they moved quickly toward him as he began to fight with the first man. Aaron hoped his friends and the guard who accompanied them had also heard the noise.
He ducked a thrust of the assassin's dagger that nearly slashed his face and barely dodged a leg that swung around low. The man moved with the efficiency of a soldier but with the grace and reflexes of a cat. Aaron barely managed to evade a flurry of swings and jabs as the man pressed the attack. He caught sight of the others, closing in on him and knew he would have to do something quickly. If the rest of them were anywhere near as skilled as the first assassin, Aaron would be in trouble.
He rolled out of the way of another slash and then ran toward the small clearing just before the thicket. It would draw the group closer to where Ariana and Borrican were hidden, but it would allow Aaron to draw his sword, giving him some advantage. Aaron also figured that the group of assassins had already figured where his friends were anyway. It was merely a matter of time before they turned their attentions to them.
Finally out in the open, Aaron drew his sword and met the assassin who had followed him. Dagger and sword, he pressed the man back and managed to cut a long gash on his arm but it did not slow the man down. The assassin pulled a second dagger and matched Aaron's blades blow for blow. He was good, but Aaron knew he could beat him. However, the others had closed the distance and that would be far more of a challenge. He ducked under the man's blades, blocking with his sword and thrust his own dagger deep into the assassin's midsection. The man fell to the ground but not after he threw one of his daggers at Aaron. It was luck that saved him. As he turned at the last second to face another attacker, the dagger whistled through the air where his neck had been only a second ago.
As Aaron engaged the next man, one more joined him and he found himself facing two of them at a time. He watched as three others continued on toward where his friends were. It appeared they were a group of six. Aaron knew Borrican could probably handle one or both of them, but it might prove more difficult while guarding Ariana. Hopefully the guard proved a more skilled fighter than the assassins.
Aaron swung his sword in a wide arc, keeping the three asssassins back. He moved left, swinging his sword high to catch his target's daggers as the man blocked the longer weapon with his two shorter ones. Aaron ducked low and slashed at the man with his dagger, catching a piece of his leg. The other assassin ducked around his comrade and tried to flank Aaron and he barely stepped back, out of the way of the man's blades. The other man, bleeding from the cut Aaron had given him, launched another attack, this time furious with wild jabs and slashes. It was all Aaron could do to block and dodge both his knives while the other man closed in on him again. Aaron managed to connect his sword on the first man's daggers and then he rushed in, risking the sharp steel and pivoted his grip on his sword, allowing the pommel to tilt.
Free of the man's blades, Aaron smashed the pommel of his sword into his face while blocking a slash from the other man with his free hand. He spun around the first man, pulling his own dagger in close and slicing the man's throat open. The other man took that opportunity to move in with an attack of his own and even though Aaron was blocked by the first man, the other managed to slash Aaron's forearm with a deep cut that began to seep dark red blood through his torn sleeve.
Aaron pushed the dying man toward the one who had cut him then leapt forward, bringing his sword tip up, thrusting it directly at him. The blade caught the man in the top of his and the sharp steel slid right through the thick muscle, protruding from the man's back. Aaron swung his dagger hand around blocking a desperate slash then knuckled the man in the face, as he shifted to the side. His sword, still stuck through the man, spun the assassin along with him and Aaron yanked it free as his opponent fell to the ground. He quickly stepped backward and plunged the blade into the back of the man's neck, killing him instantly, then he dashed toward the sounds of batttle coming from the nearby thicket.
Moving quickly, he ducked through the dense tree branches and found a small clearing where he saw Borrican fighting two men while another stalked toward Ariana who had a sword drawn as well. The guard who had accompanied them lay dead at the entrance to the clearing with a dagger sticking from his chest. Aaron pulled the dagger from the guard and threw it at one of Borrican's attackers, hitting the man in the back, just above his shoulder blade. It was not enough to take the man down, but he was now wounded and Aaron hoped it would give Borrican a better chance against the two as he quickly closed the distance toward the assassin attacking Ariana.
He watched as the assassin caught Ariana's sword and twisted the blade from her grasp. He saw the look of panic on the princess's face and Aaron felt a painful twinge as she gathered her power to attack the man. It was not fast enough, Aaron realized as he saw the assassin move in for the kill.
Ariana was too far away for Aaron to reach.
He felt a sharp pain in his head and suddenly felt his sword pierce flesh and bone. He heard a gasp. Somehow, Aaron had managed to get to her and the assassin now hung, dyin
g, run through by his sword, the tip of which was barely a hand's length from Ariana. The dagger fell from the assassin's hand and the man crumpled to the ground. Aaron turned to see Borrican take down the man with the dagger in his shoulder then square off against the remaining assassin.
"Princess," Aaron said between breaths. "Are you all right?"
"I'm okay. Thank you, Aaron," Ariana said, her attention now on the assassin who was fighting with Borrican. She put a hand on Aaron's shoulder, her touch unexpected and calming against the tension in him. "Forgive me for this." Aaron felt the pain in his head increase sharply as he felt her gather more power and his vision became blurry for a moment as he saw Ariana's fingertips erupt with a ribbon of fire that blasted toward the assassin.
The small but excruciating blast of heat distracted the man and Borrican took the opening, swung his sword hard and took the assassin's arm off at the elbow. His large swings so fast they were practically invisible, he hacked at the man again, sinking the sharp edge of this blade into the man's side, cutting him down in a pool of blood. The sword was stuck in the dying assassin's ribcage and Borrican put his foot on the man's chest and pulled his blade free.
Breathing heavily, Borrican turned to Aaron and Ariana and, seeing that they were both unharmed, he sighed with relief. There was a noise through the trees and both Borrican and Aaron took positions on either side of Ariana, ready to attack any who would dare attack them. They all relaxed when Nathas appeared from the brush, followed by six of the other Captains.
“You are unharmed, Princess?” Nathas asked Ariana.
“Yes, I have been well defended, Captain.” She nodded.
“Good work lads,” Nathas glanced at Aaron and the Kandaran prince before addressing the princess. “This forest is no longer safe, milady. It is clear that, despite our precautions, your presence here is known. We should return you to the city.”