by Gerard Bond
Wollfen considered Keera's words, it was unusual, were they bandits?
“Who knows, there looks to be about a dozen of them, they aren't moving fast.”
No one could tell what they might be up to.
“Let's continue on, it isn't of any consequence to us.”
The four of them geed their horses on once more and they quickly forgot about what they had seen, they were more intent on getting back to Outrock and having some hot food.
Later that afternoon they mounted a rise and saw Outrock off in the distance, not long now. It livened their spirits a bit to see their destination. The rain had stopped a couple of hours before but a wind had picked up. In those overcast conditions it had chilled them to the bone. Soon enough they were approaching the gates to the town, curiously they were shut. Pulling up Wollfen hailed the guard standing on the rampart,
“Ho! We have business in town!” The guard made no moves as he addressed them,
“The town is in lock down you will need to move on!”
Another man also dressed in uniform showed up beside the guard,
“What business have you?” All this was very curious to the four.
“We have returned from a scouting trip for the Lord Cazzara, please inform the official Oberton that we are here.”
There was some talk on top of the rampart and the man turned back to them,
“The man you call Oberton is dead.”
“What? What has happened? Get me your Man at Arms, I need to speak to him.”
“He is dead too.”
“Then who is there of authority that I can speak to that will open these gates?”
“That would be Sargent Dunn but he is indisposed.”
Wollfen was having a hard time understanding what was going on and why the gates needed to be shut.
“Would somebody please tell me what's going on?”
The two men conferred on the rampart looking very unsure of themselves, Wollfen watched on and could see that they seemed to be at a loss as to what to do, then finally a decision was made and the man turned back to them.
“We have been in lock down since the Lord Hale of Outrock was kidnapped this morning by a gang of bandits.”
Wollfen looked to Kane and the others, they all realized at once what they had seen earlier and he turned back to the guards,
“Tell me, was it a band of about a dozen men that left going east?” The two men nodded in unison and Wollfen went on, “Then let us in, we have knowledge of their whereabouts and time is of the essence, get me to your Sargent immediately!”
This time one of the guards left the rampart and and there was a noise behind the gate, it opened with a creak and the four trotted in. Rounding the corner Wollfen dismounted and strode into the guards office looking about, seeing a man standing there he demanded loudly,
“Where is Sargent Dunn?”
The man simply pointed to a closed door, Wollfen went straight in without a second thought and found the Sargent asleep in a cot.
“Sargent Dunn!” The man roused and looked about, Wollfen immediately realized he was drunk, “Oh crap, you are no use.”
He immediately turned on his heel and walked back out to be met by the guard from the rampart who did all the talking,
“Tell me soldier who is next in command to the Sargent?”
“That would be me sir, I am Corporal Rice.”
Wollfen looked him up and down, he was maybe nineteen years old.
“Well Corporal Rice while the Sargent is incapacitated you are in charge and will have to make all the decisions.” The poor boy almost stammered,
“But I, er, wait, I can't be in charge, I'm not trained.” Wollfen had already deduced as much,
“Tell me what you know and we will come up with a plan.”
“Well there was a commotion in the town hall and it turns out that these bandits grabbed the Lord and took him away, they killed Oberton there and the Man at Arms was killed at the gates here trying to prevent their escape. They simply rode away and as they did they called out that they wanted a payment of five thousand gold pieces in ransom. The Sargent was passed out in the cot so I ordered the gates shut.”
Wollfen quickly digested the news and considered their options,
“Tell me Corporal is there five thousand gold in the towns coffers?” He didn't know and said so,
“I have no idea, but I can tell you that none of the soldiers have been paid in a month, Oberton made it clear to us that we would be paid as soon as there was an arrival of supplies from Port Cholandra.” Wollfen grunted,
“Then there is no money to pay a ransom, it is going to have to be a rescue mission.”
“But we don't have the men! We are six in this town! There are no more soldiers! All we do is keep the peace as best we can most of the time.”
Wollfen shook his head at the news, this was not good at all, he looked from the two soldiers standing there back to his companions, there was nothing for it but to do it himself.
“Corporal, we will ride out as soon as we are ready and mount a rescue mission, it is all we can do, but before we do we will need dry clothes and a big fire by which to warm up, we have been on the trail three days. Also a quick hot meal is in order plus supplies for two days ride.”
Larens nodded quickly, glad to not have to make any decisions on his own,
“I will ready it all immediately, I can offer the services of two soldiers?”
“Yes that would be good, it will help I am sure.”
They all exited the guard house and went about their business, there was no time to waste, the bandits had a good five hour head start.
The four went to their quarters in the tavern and pulled out dry clothes changing quickly. Before long they were all scoffing down some hot vegetables and meat with a side order of soup.
“Make sure you all have your greased leather overcoats this time, this weather doesn't look like it will clear up tonight.”
Looking around Wollfen noted that the tavern was empty, people were not in a mood for drinking obviously.
“Are we all done?”
They nodded in unison and Wollfen led them back out to the stables where fresh horses had been provided by the town. Once they had mounted up the two soldiers offered by Larens fell in behind and the six of them rode out. They were on their way.
Chapter Four
Rescue
The posse of six had been riding for three and a half hours at a fast trot. They were all feeling it by now, most of them had been riding all day and the numbness had set in awhile ago. It had fallen dark an hour before but Wollfen had pushed them on. It was probably a good thing, by doing so they were sure to close the gap even further. There was to be no fire tonight, everything was too wet plus a fire would have given their position away to any wary bandits keeping a lookout for anyone tracking them.
“Let's keep going another hour then pull up for the night, these overcast conditions are making it very hard to see in the dark and we can't afford to injure any of the horses.”
Kane looked about and made his own contribution,
“I am not sure we will be able to track them much further tonight as it is, it is getting very difficult to see any signs of their passing.”
Wollfen considered his words for a moment,
“No you are right Kane, let's pull up for the night and post two sentries changing at three hour intervals. I am sure the bandits will have made camp as well in these conditions.”
They did what they were told with gratitude if not with some grumbling too, it was to be expected.
There was little conversation that night before they all bed down, it was still dreary under the overcast conditions and from time to time light drizzle fell. It wouldn't be until well after midnight when the rain would stop and skies clear.
Wollfen awoke in the small hours before dawn and looked about, he had stood watch earlier in the night and was hoping to sleep right through, no such luck. He propped his hea
d up and looked about for the sentries and managed to spot them doing their duty, that was good. In his experience sometimes one or both would nod off.
He looked up into the clear night sky seeing the teeming stars above, there was no moon but the sight was still magnificent, he never tired of it. He heard a whisper off to his left, it was Keera,
“You can't sleep either.”
“No.”
“I have been thinking a lot the last couple of days and I wanted to ask you some questions.”
“Sure, go ahead, my head is clear.” Keera sat up and collected her thoughts,
“Do you suppose if this group of yours does a good job that there may be positions within government for a person like me?” He couldn't see why not and said so,
“Anytime you do some work that shows your prowess it is sure to pay off in benefits afterward, if you are looking for a steady job with some government authority I am sure you would manage it. Tell me Keera, what's making you consider such a thing anyway?”
“Oh, I have been thinking about what I have done with my life the last ten years and to be honest other than becoming experienced at what I do I can't point to any real achievements.”
“Well look at what we are doing tonight Keera, are we not on an adventure to save the life of a local Lord of a town?” She smiled,
“Yes and that's only because I chose to ride with you, a man who I am realizing very quickly doesn't hesitate in taking up arms in defense of what is right and true.” He looked at her with a questioning look,
“I am not sure I understand.” She sighed a little,
“Le me tell you what I see okay?” He nodded, “When we worked out Dark was in trouble there was no hesitation, no choice to be made about whether to go and look for her or not, you just decided we were on our way and we did it. Then earlier today when we arrived back at Outrock and found out what was happening, did you ask who is taking care of things? No. Did you think about letting someone else do it? You didn't say so, but I think the thought didn't even cross your mind to maybe let it go, right?” He nodded, “See, for you it's always been second nature, do what's right without even thinking. If it had been me, I would have thought about having a beer first and not even giving second thought to the welfare of the Lord.”
“You are right Keera, it is what I do, I just see something and act on it, but do you think taking a government job will change who you are?”
“I was thinking it might, if I had responsibilities I would make the effort then?”
“Hmm, maybe so Keera, maybe so.”
Not much else was said and they both laid down again, Keera went to sleep rather quickly but for Wollfen he was thinking hard about what Keera had said and what it could all mean. Ah crap man, stop thinking so much, get some sleep.
At the crack of dawn they were all roused, it was time to get moving quickly if they were to make up even more ground in short time. Packing their rolls the posse mounted their horses once again and moved off in the early morning rays of the sun just now peeking out from behind the trees. They were all yawning as Kane led the way watching the ground intently as he tracked the bandits.
After about two hours more of riding Wollfen rode up beside Kane who pointed,
“It's getting easier to spot their trail, I think they are starting to relax and not paying attention no more.”
“Mm, alright, I don't want you accidentally running into them, you go on ahead a few of hundred yards, once you spot them high tail it back to us.”
“Got it.”
Kane spurred his horse on faster and moved away quickly into the distance, Wollfen allowed his horse to be caught up by the others.
“Solynne, will you keep an eye out and track Kane for us? We shall keep to the same pace as we are doing now.”
“Yes alright.”
Solynne then took up position in the lead of the posse and they continued on as before.
It was about thirty minutes later when Kane showed and pulled up beside Wollfen,
“I have seen them, they number thirteen exactly, that means one is the Lord and the others all bandits. Also they are entering a valley heading south by south east, if we take the ridge line to the right of them we can shadow them from above.”
“Good thinking, take the lead and we will follow.”
Kane moved off ahead and signaled Solynne to follow him as he rode off slightly to the right through the woods, within a minute or so they started up an incline and were making steady progress. It was a few more minutes before they got to the top and the ground leveled out somewhat. Wollfen moved up ahead beside Kane keeping a watchful eye out down below.
“Do you see them?” Kane nodded,
“Yes, they are down ahead about three hundred yards, watch through the trees there for movement.”
Wollfen followed his pointing finger and after a moment saw the rearmost rider.
“Got it I see.”
“There's something else too, they only have one pack horse with them and it is traveling light, you know what that means don't you?” Wollfen nodded,
“Yeah means that their base camp is near.” Wollfen digested the information for a few moments before going on, “You know there may be more bandits at the camp too, we can't afford to let this group get there.”
Kane nodded in return, he had already come to the same conclusion and had thought up a plan,
“I think you should take the two soldiers with you, get ahead of them and block their path, they will see the soldiers and assume there is a larger military contingent. I would think they would charge you to try and break through.”
“I agree, and what would you and the rest be doing?”
“I will hit them from behind just after they spot you, the timing will have to be right. In the confusion they will lose focus on whatever they are doing, if we are lucky they will take off with every man for himself.”
“You don't think they will stand and fight?”
“Do we really want them to? We are only six here and two we have no idea if they are any good at combat. No we need to make as much noise as possible and keep them guessing.”
Wollfen was impressed by this young man's tactical thought processes, he was proving himself to be a good thinker. He added a bit more to the plan,
“Once I hear a clash of arms from the rear of the column I will drive to the center from the front, the soldiers with me may hesitate but I will put on a good show, that should put the wind up at least a few of them. Just remember Kane, the goal is to set Lord Hale free, whoever is closest must get to him and take him away, don't worry about the rest, we can fight our way out if necessary, okay?”
Kane nodded once more,
“Very well, I will let the others know.”
“Good man, I'll grab the soldiers and race ahead of the column, give me about five minutes then close up to the rear, I am sure you will hear when they spot us. Good Luck and may the gods smile upon you.”
Wollfen turned in his saddle and signaled the two soldiers to form up on him, he gave them a few quick words and they looked at each other but nodded in agreement. Then they set off at a fast past taking off along the right edge of the ridge line as to not give their presence away to the bandits. Kane meanwhile informed the two women of what was about to happen and they prepared themselves for battle, they each had a crossbow and got them loaded in preparation.
Kane led the way slowly closing in on the rear of the column and when they were about one hundred and fifty yards away he chose to descend the hill to fall in behind the bandits, he kept a wary eye out nonetheless all the way down. They could not afford to tip the enemy off to their presence until Wollfen was in position. He turned to the other two,
“When we hear a shout, let's shoot off a flight of bolts and take down as many bandits as we can, then drop the crossbows immediately, we aren't going to be able to reload them in time anyway, I will try to get us to within fifty yards before we let loose. I want them to see us swords drawn and shout
ing as we come in.”
Keera veering right as they hit the track and Solynne veered left, Kane rode straight down the middle. None of the bandits were looking back at all. At about eighty yards they heard a shout,
“Damn! We aren't close enough! Fire!”
There was nothing for it but to act and pray, Kane fired at the rearmost bandit and the other two women took aim at their own respective targets, even at eighty yards it was hard to miss. Three bandits went down in a cloud of dust as they hit the ground and a few of those startled by what happened looked behind them. They saw three people screaming with swords waving and bearing down on them but no signs of any crossbowmen, so how many were there? It was enough for two of the bandits to took off up the hill to try and make their escape, another two turned and faced off drawing their swords readying to clash with the incoming attackers. Many of the other bandits were milling around in the center looking back and forth and calling out, the state of confusion was giving the six attackers vital seconds to get the upper hand.
Kane reached the first bandit on horseback and he swung hard, hoping to unhorse the man with the hefty blow. Their swords clashed with a loud clang but the man remained seated, Kane pushed on riding past him taking another swing as he went by. Solynne meanwhile angled in from the left with the tip of her sword pointed at the mans abdomen and it skewered him through. Unfortunately she lost her sword as it was wrenched from her grasp, she still had a short sword available and now drew that riding into the middle to meet more of the bandits.
Keera had been doing her bit too, she had closed on the right flank of the rear and was fighting a bandit in heavy sword play, but she was tiring, her arm was getting weak. The man was powerfully built and every blow he directed against her blade shook and vibrated up her arm. Time to change tactics, as she continued to defend against the heavy blows Keera drew her dagger and flung it at the mans face, it gave her a moment when he recoiled in defense to swing her own blade at his extended arm cutting him deep along the forearm. He screamed in pain and immediately drew back on his reigns pulling out of the fight and turning to race off down the path clutching his arm.