by Gerard Bond
'I have had the skill all my life and had a good teacher too, I am also able to do this over large distances, it could prove to be useful don't you think? I also notice you have a great reserve of magic too.'
“Wolf?” He turned back to Kane,
“I'm sorry, I got distracted by Nightwing, she is a magic user and has good mindtouch abilities, she was just conversing with me.”
“That's good to note, I will keep it in mind.”
Kane wasn't big on magics, he didn't understand them and so usually dismissed the notion.
“Let's get back to it, we need to pick up some supplies of lamp oil and also attack the next wagon delivery going into the bandits lair.”
Wollfen reached out to Nightwing with a question in his mind,
'Do you know when the next wagons are due to arrive?'
'Yes, I would say within the next week.' He turned back to Kane,
“We have a week to get things organized, a couple of days back to Outrock and three back again, that gives us a day or two leeway to prepare. It will be close but I think we can do it.” Kane was feeling positive,
“Yes I agree, I also think you only need to send back two people to collect the oil, they can ride the wagons back here. In the meantime if the bandits do move for some unknown reason you will still be able to use your hit and run tactics on them, That is sure to keep them busy and maybe even make them pull back to the cave for awhile.”
“Good thinking Kane, Okay, I will send Justin and Keera back to town. Let's make this happen.”
Wollfen was feeling very positive again.
Chapter Seven
The Wolf Pack Forms
After three days of sending out scouts and some of them not coming back Blackstorm was getting frustrated, he still had no idea of where the posse that had hit them was. He knew they couldn't be here in strength, if they had then they would have attacked in full force already. No, word coming back from the road into Outrock was that there was no movement there at all. The Kingdom wasn't sending any reinforcements. So who were these guys? Where did they come from and what did they want?
The other gang members had been growing restless at the inactivity and wanted to ride out, but he wouldn't have any of that. Blackstorm understood his strength was in staying put for now and keeping all his men together. They had ample supplies with more coming in soon and even if that didn't arrive it wouldn't present any immediate problems. No the problem was his own men, yesterday he was forced to kill a man who tried to take over. It reestablished his authority for sure, but the man had been popular among many of them and now there was some resentment.
If something didn't happen soon he would still be forced to take action. If only his scouts would find out something, anything that could give him an idea of what he faced. Then he could deal with it. Already his latest scout was overdue from last night, what did that make it? Three? He couldn't afford to keep sending them out and not having them come back. They had lost twelve men that first night, two were hit by arrows coming in through the entrance of the cave with one of them dying instantly, the other was only wounded but his wound became infected and died a day later. The other ten were the men that had ridden out after the attackers.
He was obviously facing a very capable enemy who knew how to fight, that was dangerous. Outrock he could handle, even the local soldiers based there were no big issue, they were predictable. The thoughts of this new unknown enemy kept going through his head keeping him up at night. Sitting and waiting, always waiting.
“Anders! Get your ass over here!”
The man came running and almost stood to attention in front of Blackstorm. He hoped he didn't get hit in the head again.
“Has there been any word of that scout we sent out last night?”
The man shook his head in fear, he could see another flogging coming.
“No sir there has been no sign at all of him.”
“Probably ran off just as Henrick did.” He mused.
“Sorry sir?” Blackstorm waved him away,
“Nothing! Begone with you!”
The man scooted away before he could change his mind. Blackshadow was in a dark mood and he knew it. Then all of a sudden he had an inspiration and called out,
“Men! I have an idea!”
They gathered around waiting, ready to listen to something that would break this monotony.
“Alright listen in, we got suckered the other night into chasing the attackers only to lose all the men that went after them right?”
The men all murmured in agreement, they were angry at what had happened.
“So what's to stop us from pulling the same thing on them? Aren't we smart enough to get one over on them?” They all cheered, that's what they wanted to hear.
“This is what we are going to do, we are going to have some of us ride out and whoever is out there will attack them and when they do we will retreat. They will chase us but we will have more of our men in hiding waiting for them to fall into our ambush, then we will see who wins the day!”
The men roared their approval calling out Blackstorm's name, chanting and cheering him on. Oh yes, it didn't get better than this, he knew what a great leader he was. He would be victorious and would make a name for himself that would last through the ages.
Meanwhile Wollfen was scanning the hillsides to the east, he had sent Solynne and Kane there again to keep an eye on any movement. It had been three days since Keera and Justin had left for Outrock and he wasn't expecting their return anytime soon. As long as those bandits stayed in their cave for now he was happy.
“Wolf?” He turned to see Nightwing standing there,
“Yes Night?”
“Mind if we have a chat?”
“Sure we can do that, what's on your mind?”
The two of them moved over to the shade of a tree and sat down, she was cross legged and he leant back against the trunk.
“I've been thinking a lot about why we are here and for me, it's obvious I have personal reasons against some of these bandits.”
“Okay yes, I remember your reasons, so what's bothering you?”
“What I don't get is you,” She paused looking him in the eyes, “Why are you here? I mean, You told me about rescuing Lord Hale and how you lost him again and all that. But the thing is here you are risking life and limb of not only yourself but your friends too for a man you didn't know.”
“I'm not sure how to explain it Night, Outrock is in far more danger than ever before, this isn't just some skirmish we are dealing with here, it's an attempt at a shift in power.” She looked at him, considering his words but not quite understanding,
“Can you explain?”
“Well, you see, this band of miscreants we have hiding in that cave are well organized and obviously have a strong leader who has aspirations far beyond just a few raids on local commerce and wagons. This lot could do this anywhere without having to have such a large gang too. In fact it would do them better if that was their only goal, to be a small group that wouldn't upset the status quo.”
“Sorry I'm still not getting it.”
“Okay, crime is something that always exists and it can't be stamped out right? All you can do is keep it in check and not let it get out of hand.”
“Agreed I get that part.”
“So, here we have a very large gang that is capable of not only carrying out major crime, but also challenging the local authority of the people. That raid of theirs to take Lord Hale was a direct challenge to that authority, the fact that they also killed him and the Kingdom has done nothing to address it will only make this lot even more bold. They could quite conceivably take over the town. And then what?”
Night was starting to gain an understanding of the far reaching consequences of such a thing happening.
“So if they did take the town, what would they do with it? Do you really think such a bunch of criminals could hold it and keep it?”
“That's the thing Night, they already are abl
e to stick together and keep operating smoothly enough to do what they are doing, I am sure it's not because of the skills or loyalties of the bandits themselves but far more likely the strength of the leader that is keeping them going.”
“But it still begs the question, why take and keep the town?”
“Why do any group of people fight over what the other has? It's greed and envy and lust for power, any number of those desires or even all of them. This leader of theirs is no small time crook, he wants more. If he captured and held Outrock, what would the Kingdom do? How important to the Kingdom is Outrock? This out of the place back water that no one likes to be posted to and no one wants to hear about?”
Night thought long and hard on that, the Kingdom certainly wouldn't go out of its way to set the local population free when it would cost a lot of money, manpower and resources to do so. No they would opt for another solution, she looked up to Wollfen,
“The Kingdom would do a deal.” He nodded, she was sharp he noted,
“Yes and then you would have a totally corruptible and violent new Lord in power that would then lust for even more, he would have legitimate claim to authority in the area and could build his influence through increased money and manpower over time. Where that would lead who knows, but I do know this, the nation would end up suffering for it, not just the people of the whole district.”
They were sobering words and they certainly gave her pause for thought, it was true that these bandits needed to be dealt with emphatically. But then her original concerns came back,
“Wait, all that is well and fine. I also get that this is something that needs to be done. But what I don't get is, why are you doing it? What's in it for you?”
She looked at him closely trying to get a read of him, who was this man? Why was he taking on such moral causes for people he didn't know? He wasn't a Kingdom soldier and he wasn't a noble either, what difference did it make to him what happened?
“I see what you are driving at Night, I don't have any special interest invested in all this beyond the welfare of the people huh?”
“Yes, that's exactly my point. I have been watching you for three days trying to work you out. I don't understand what your motivations are.”
He paused for a bit collecting his thoughts, wondering how to explain his feelings, then he took a breath and spoke,
“I care about this land and I care about the people too. I have lived here all my life and it's a part of me. I am no noble so I will never hold any position of authority within the government or military. I don't want to be a soldier and simply spend my days being cooped up in some barracks somewhere and then only going out and doing the bidding of some local Lord. If I was doing that I certainly wouldn't be able to make a real difference like I am trying to here.”
Night smiled a little and nodded her head,
“Those are noble words Wollfen and those very same sentiments mean a lot to me too. You are certainly giving me a lot to think about.”
She got up and nodded to him before walking off, that certainly was a curious conversation to him, no one else had ever asked him such questions before. It showed him she was someone worth watching. Was she the right stuff for his team maybe? It certainly would be a good thing if she and Loranda were, eight people in the team would be a good number. Well, he still had to see her in action first too, then if all that panned out he may approach her later and ask if she was interested.
It was about thirty minutes later that Kane came galloping up,
“We have a dozen men riding out at full gallop!”
Wollfen jumped up and cried out,
“Mount up! Prepare for battle!” He turned back to Kane, “And where's Solynne?”
“She is staying on the ridge line watching the cave.”
“Good let's leave her there, I want to see what this lot are doing plus I want to know if any more come out.”
He jump up on his horse and signaled them to split into two,
“Let's hit them like we did last time and keep at them, I want to take down as many as we can!”
Dark came up beside him with a big grin on her face, her crossbow was already loaded and ready. Wollfen turned to Nightwing and Loranda signaling them to join him.
Within minutes they were riding hard down the left flank of the road seeing a dust plume on it in the distance, that would be the bandits coming hard, he turned in his saddle and pointed with his hand, they all nodded and spread out a little. Then they all stopped and turned waiting. They were maybe fifty yards off the road and would run parallel to the bandits, firing at every opportunity. The woods would give good cover and there were enough gaps in the trees to allow them to take a shot when they wanted.
Wollfen raised his hand, waiting and listening for the pounding of the hoof beats. When he was satisfied they were close enough he dropped his hand and they were off at a gallop. They all raised their crossbows aiming through the trees, the group was in plain view racing along the road. Almost all of them fired at once having picked their targets. Two of the bandits dropped from their saddles one of them had two bolts in him, a fourth shot had missed.
All of a sudden the entire group of bandits immediately pulled up on the road, pausing for a moment and firing into the trees at random. Wollfen and the other three also pulled up and looked. What on earth were they doing? Then they all turned and raced back down the road and Wollfen called out,
“After them! Try and take out as many as you can before they get back to the valley!”
Now they raced along closer to the road taking pot shots from the rear as best they could, they only had about a minute to attack them before they would need to break off.
Over the next minute they managed to pick off one more of the rearmost bandits and maybe wound another but he couldn't be sure. Then something caught his eye on the other side of the road, looking hard he managed to see it was Solynne riding hard and fast waving her hand wildly with a frantic look on her face. It took him only a moment for it to dawn on him and he screamed at the others,
“STOP!! It's a trap!”
They all immediately pulled up at the edge of the road but it was too late, he and Dark were in the lead as a flight of arrows flew past them. Both his and Dark's horses whinnied and Wollfen's collapsed beneath him, he rolled off fast into the underbrush wasting no time trying to take cover. Dark though managed to reign her horse around and set it off with an arrow buried deep in its chest. Wollfen meantime didn't waste any time scanning ahead, looking for the bowmen, were they on horseback? He hoped not.
Setting off on foot he ran away from the road trying to stick to as much cover as possible, another arrow flew past him and he knew they were watching. He dove down and waited, panting. Then he heard the sound of hoofs slowly moving along, they were closing in on him. All of a sudden Nightwing and Loranda broke from cover far to the left even further away from the road firing their crossbows. He heard a scream from behind but didn't look, Wollfen wasted no time in getting up and running directly towards the girls, another arrow flew past him this time just missing his right shoulder. Loranda veered to her left in an arc firing again and he heard another cry from behind, Nightwing pulled up and aimed her crossbow firing once more as well. Wollfen meantime pulled himself up behind her and she turned and carried the two of them away at a gallop. He leaned to her ear,
“What about Loranda?”
“She can take care of herself.” Night called back.
After a minute of full gallop she pulled up to a trot and looked around, they could hear someone near galloping along and Night raised her crossbow. There was a flash of blonde hair through the trees and Night relaxed, it was Loranda coming in fast with a big grin on her face.
“Hey guys! How was your ride? I'm thinking of riding back for some more fun, wanna join me?”
“Is she always like this?”
“Oh yeah, never stops let me tell you.”
He looked around,
“Loranda, have you seen Dark
?”
“Oh yeah she was riding hard due west when I last saw her, I am sure she will be fine, she was well out of it all.” He shook his head,
“No we have to go back, I know her horse took an arrow same as mine, no telling how long it will last.”
Night looked to Loranda who nodded,
“Let's do it.”
They turned their horses and began a trot back the way they came keeping a cautious eye out for any of the bandits. They spent a few minutes scanning the surrounding countryside looking for any sign of Dark. Loranda had moved out about fifty yards to the side to cover a larger area and it wasn't long before she called out to the other two,
“Over here, I see her.”
They trotted up seeing Dark walking towards them with her crossbow sitting on her shoulder, it was loaded as a precaution. Wollfen looked her over as they approached,
“Are you okay?” Dark could hear the concern in his voice,
“Oh sure, I had to kill a couple of them that were chasing me and then my horse finally gave out. There hasn't been anyone since then.”
She pulled herself up behind Loranda and held on. When Nightwing pulled up beside them Dark leaned over and gave Wollfen a deep kiss. Loranda couldn't help but comment,
“Oo, kissy kissy, the lovebirds are at it.”
She then made a dramatic act of blowing kisses to Nightwing who gave her a slap on the thigh, Loranda giggled and batted her eyelids.
“Let's get out of here, no telling what the bandits are up to.”
Night nodded to Wollfen and turned her horse around. They then made off to the rendezvous point to regroup once more. It would be a long ride back but uneventful.
Upon entering the clearing by the creek Wollfen looked about, everyone was accounted for except one, it was one of the soldiers missing,
“Do we know if he fell in battle?” The other soldier nodded,
“Yes I saw him go down when we were hit by those bowmen. Luckily Solynne warned us when she did otherwise we would all be dead.” Wollfen turned to Solynne,