* * *
Ava and I walked beside Dekar as he drove the lead wagon. We had just gotten underway for the day, walking down a narrow road with hills on our right and a sharp drop into a ravine on our left. Every mile or so, we’d get a break from the mostly bare hills and come across a patch of thick trees.
Sivan galloping in from the south quickly took our attention away from the landscape.
He pulled up hard on the reins wearing a worried look. “Small band of raiders are up ahead. About thirty men. All mounted. They were wearing blue sashes at their waists like the raiders from Uman.”
I swore.
I was just about to ask my first follow-up question when a holler came from behind. Ira’s mount pounded the earth heading toward me from our back trail.
I swore again. “This can’t be good.”
“Atta way to state the obvious, Big Brother.”
I gave Ava a sour look which she returned with a smile.
Ira came to a stop. “Forty men on horseback, all wearing blue sashes, are coming up our back trail. They’ll be here in less than ten minutes.”
Though the pessimist in me had taken a backseat to the bright-eyed optimist the last couple of days, it hadn’t been napping. It kicked the optimist to the side of the road and took full control over my mind, recalling contingencies, plans, and strategies.
“What’s the plan, Ty?” asked Ira.
“I’m thinking they’ve done something like this before, probably in this same spot since the road is too narrow to get our wagons in circles.”
“There’s a place about a mile ahead where we could get them into position to better defend ourselves,” said Sivan.
I cursed once more. That’d be cutting things close, but we’d be much more vulnerable where we were. “Ira, take as many men as you can on horseback. The best with bows. Get up the road as fast as you can to where Sivan said that clearing is. Do whatever you can to stop them from reaching that point. Fall back only when Dekar has the wagons in position and you can take cover behind them.”
He wheeled and started yelling orders. Panic ensued, but quickly settled as everyone remembered their drills. Ira and twelve others galloped up the road moments later, most riding double due to our lack of mounts.
I yelled out to the others. “Everyone, climb onto the wagons. Pile on however you can. Comfort isn’t important. Adults, make sure the kids stay on.” I moved up beside Dekar. “Drive the wagons hard as you can and get everyone into position at the first clearing you see. Should be a mile up the road. Understand?”
“Got it.”
Good old Dekar. He knew when to ask questions and when to just do what he was told. Ava however, wasn’t so easy.
I was at the back of our wagon, looking for a quiver and bow. I found them quickly and then slung two crossbows over my right shoulder when she spun me around.
“I’m coming with you.”
“What?” I said, doing my best to play dumb.
“I’m not going to let you go off and get killed.”
“Getting killed isn’t part of my plan,” I said in a low voice before nodding and smiling at Myra and Zadok who looked on just out of earshot. I hoped.
She looked at the weapons in my arms, shook her head, and grabbed two crossbows of her own before the wagons started rolling again. “That’s never your plan, but I’ve lost track of how many times you’ve come close to doing so. Now let’s get to whatever you had in mind.”
“Ava, I need you with the kids,” I hissed before heeling and toeing it down the line of wagons.
I didn’t want her to follow, but I didn’t exactly have time to stand around arguing either.
“The kids will have plenty of people looking out for them. Besides, I’ll do more good for them by making sure you stay alive.”
I ran past the last wagon in line with a brief nod to the driver. I did my best to wear a confident smile. He returned it with a shaky wave.
“Losing an aunt too won’t make things any easier,” I told her.
“True. But Hamath was usually the one to go with you when you’d go off and try to play hero on your own. He’s not here, and you already gave orders to Dekar and Ira. That leaves me.”
She had me there. Hamath was the one who kept me from getting too overly ambitious. It was hard to find a better friend than him.
“What’s your plan?” she asked.
“We’re stalling those coming up from behind.”
“Ira rode off with almost a dozen people on horseback. And you were planning to run off by yourself on foot with a bow and a couple of crossbows? Are you an idiot?”
“Hey, I’ve got you now. What can possibly go wrong?” I joked.
I halted at the base of a hill we had passed moments before. It was about eighty feet high, and mostly bare except for a couple of dead bushes and a few outcroppings of rock near the top. I chose it since I thought it would provide a good view of the road once we got into the position I had in mind.
“Famous last words,” she huffed. A curse followed as we began the short climb. “Those weapon drills aren’t doing much for my conditioning.”
I grunted while skirting around some loose rock. “Maybe I should increase the pace.”
“Your army.”
I looked over my shoulder while cresting the top. She smiled, knowing the comment would aggravate me.
I straightened and shielded my eyes from the orange glare. The raiders coming up from behind kicked up quite a bit of dust. They’d reach us in less than a minute.
I looked over the hill. For cover, we had a choice between a patch of dead briars and a small four-foot tall outcropping of boulders.
“I need details, Big Brother.”
“We shoot a bunch of arrows at them quickly to make them think there are more than just two of us up here. Hopefully, it will slow them down. We’ll kill a couple, and they’ll send several others after us before riding on ahead.”
“And then we kill those and get back to the wagons?”
“Pretty much.”
“What if they send more than a couple and we need to fall back?”
I gestured down the opposite side of the hill. It led to a massive patch of dead briars that bordered the side of a dry creek bed.
“Then we haul it down there, and lead them into the briars. Hopefully, they get tangled up while we follow the creek bed south toward the others.”
“Not a very complicated plan.”
“No time for complicated. Think it will work?”
Ava shrugged. It was a ringing endorsement for our success if I had ever seen one.
She looked back to the side of the hill facing the road. “I’ll take cover behind that small patch of briars.”
“That will put you first up the hill.”
“I know. But you’ll have the bow so you can afford to be higher up. And you’re better with it than I am.”
“Then take my crossbows too and just fire all four as quickly as you can.”
She didn’t argue, and got into position.
Thankfully, none of the crossbows required a crank. We got them loaded with enough time for me to slide back behind the low boulders.
As the raiders neared, I saw Ira’s estimate of more than forty seemed about right.
“You see them, right?” I asked.
“I’m not blind,” she hissed, nodding at the whirls of dust dancing around the hooves of their mounts.
“Make the arrows count. You aim for those in the middle. I’ll try to take out their leader.”
“All right.”
They came up in no hurry, probably sensing another easy kill in regards to our wagons, another opportunity to have their fun. A few whoops of anticipation escaped their lips.
Not much discipline in the bunch.
My first arrow struck the lead rider just below the collarbone. The impact threw him from the saddle. His body was lost in the hooves of the mounts behind him.
I aimed, and loosed again. It hit
a man in the leg. The next took a man in the neck, leaving an airborne trail of blood in his wake.
Ava scrambled up beside me after I expended my fifth arrow. Empty crossbows lay by the briars. She yanked me to the ground as I pulled at a sixth from my quiver. An arrow flew past my head on the way down.
“Pay attention,” Ava said in frustration.
Our backs were against the four-foot high rocks as two arrows clacked against them.
“How many you got?” I asked.
“Two dead. Two injured. One of them won’t be fighting any time soon.”
“I killed three more. Two injured. Both minor. Not too bad of a showing.”
“Not many could do better.” She glanced around the side of the boulder before ducking again. Arrows followed. “We definitely got their attention.”
Shouting came next. I risked a look. A crossbow bolt whistled by my head just as I pulled back.
“See anything?” she asked.
“Yeah. Looks like the bulk of the group are moving on up the road, but they’re leaving a few behind to finish us. Not enough for us to worry about making it down the other side to the creek.”
She withdrew the sword at her waist, a slim blade, more suited for dueling among the nobility than what we used in the army. She had proven many times over the years that the weapon suited her best. “How many is a few?”
I peaked around the rock. An arrow fell several feet short from our spot. I grinned.
“Four men are climbing up after us. One more is on the ground with a bow. I guess he’s supposed to keep us honest until they get here.”
She saw his missed arrow. “He’s not as good as the others.”
“Nope.”
“Good.” Ava rose quickly. “Then you should be able to cover me with the bow easily enough.”
She took off down the hill at a sprint. I swore at her stupidity, but had little time for anything more. I fitted an arrow to my bow and loosed a shot at the first man she barreled toward. It took him in the chest. Ava finished him with a slash across the throat and charged at the next man. I grabbed at another arrow to take that next person out for her, but ended up releasing it at the man charging up after me. It caught him in the shoulder.
He yelled in pain, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. His sword swept out at me. I jumped back to avoid it, reaching for my hilt. I didn’t have time as the man made up for sloppiness with speed and came at me again. I dodged that strike as well and then struck him across the face with my bow. Bone and wood cracked. He careened to the ground, jaw a bloody sideways mess.
The man who followed him had enough sense not to come charging in as carelessly as the first. However, the extra time he gave himself allowed me to draw my sword. We danced around the raider choking on his own blood, but after a couple of quick strikes, he lay gasping his last.
I peered down the hill where Ava gathered up two horses. The two men she took out lay dead, roughly halfway up the hill.
I hurried after her.
“Took your time, I see,” she said.
I gave her a look as I jogged over to the other mount. “Next time you do something stupid like that, a little more warning would be nice.”
“Sure thing. Now, hurry up and let’s see if the rest of your plan worked.”
In the saddle, I kicked the beast hard.
CHAPTER 22
The rest of my plan didn’t work out as I had hoped. It actually went better.
We came upon the clearing and found the fighting already over. Apparently, Ira and his men had taken out so many of the riders ahead of us that the rest fled without ever reaching the wagons.
When the raiders who escaped me and Ava reached the clearing, they found a group of people much better prepared than expected.
Of the seventy riders that had ridden against us, we killed thirty-six. Most by arrow or quarrel. A few by sword, dagger, and in one case, a shovel. The shovel wielding defender was a sixty-four-year-old man from Uman with a bum leg and bad vision.
That was a good lesson for my group that no one should ever be underestimated.
We lost no one. A dozen carried injuries, but all would heal with stitches, or in one instance, a splint.
According to Dekar and Ira, everyone kept their cool. Squad leaders made sure everyone remembered their duties.
I couldn’t have been more proud. Everyone floated with swollen heads, especially the survivors of Uman. They realized we could accomplish a lot, maybe even survive the new world, if we continued working together. In that moment, the fears and uncertainty of the future didn’t matter quite so much.
With one arm around Zadok and much to Myra’s embarrassment, another around her, I couldn’t agree more.
Unfortunately, the moment was ruined, at least for me, when that blasted priest shouted a prayer of thanks to Molak.
I really needed to talk to him about timing, if nothing else.
CHAPTER 23
Heartfelt moments generally don’t last long, or so I’ve learned.
Reuma had caught one of the raiders alive. Dekar led me to him.
The outlaw was better dressed than his counterparts, armor and clothing all part of the same set rather than thrown together from past raids. The grime around his exposed neck and face wasn’t nearly as thick either, which made me think the man had seen a bath within the last month. I couldn’t say the same for his dead friends.
He bled from two wounds, a small one across the thigh, and a more gruesome one in his side. Neither would kill him right away. If left untended, the wound to his leg could get infected and rot. However, it would never come to that. The slow bleed from his side would kill him in a matter of days.
I halted a dozen paces from the raider to speak with Reuma. Dekar had her squad guarding the prisoner since a few from Uman looked like they wanted their revenge on the man.
I had half a mind to give it to them once I questioned the prisoner.
“Dekar says you and your squad did well.”
Reuma blushed, her fair skin taking a pink tone. It matched a face full of freckles and framed with red hair. Considering her former profession, I was surprised she was so easily embarrassed.
“We did our best, sir.”
Sir? Gods, if Ava had heard that . . .
“Tyrus is fine Reuma. Dekar said your squad held the right while he controlled the left. Said that the other squad leaders followed your example when getting things in order.”
“Just doing my job with good people under me. My squad deserves all the credit.”
Modesty was a good thing. I could have used more of that attitude in the beginning of my stint in the army. Success had given me a big head that, years later when I matured, people had unfortunately remembered.
“No doubt. But you’ve had a big hand in their success. Your squad is always among the first to finish drills.”
She shrugged. “Myra helped me with strategy.”
I blinked.
Reuma must have seen something that worried her. She sputtered. “She didn’t cheat or anything when she helped. She just explained things I should look for and consider.”
“Oh?”
“She also said a good leader should learn how to read people. That way they know how to use the men under their command.”
I held back a grin. “I see.”
Reuma’s red cheeks returned. “Anyway, I got really good at reading people in my former profession. It was almost a requirement if you wanted to make any money.”
I nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’ve found a good use for those skills. You did good.”
She saluted. “Thank you, sir.”
I scowled.
“Tyrus,” she corrected herself.
“Better. You and your men are relieved.” I gestured to the raider. “I’ll take over here.”
* * *
Though I took the man away from camp, his pleas for mercy had bounced off the surrounding hills. Everyone gave me a wide berth as I returned to the group. I r
efused to acknowledge anyone, pretending that none had heard the raider’s screams.
I made a straight line for Nason’s wagon.
He straightened as I approached, looking uncomfortable.
I understood, but I did what was needed to get information for the protection of the group. None of it had been pretty, and I took no joy in the task.
But it was worth it. I knew where the raiders would likely retreat to and could avoid that path without disrupting our route south.
“Are you all right?” he asked, shifting his stance. It was the best thing he could have said to me. I would not have reacted kindly to judgment.
“Not especially.”
He didn’t pry which was also the best thing he could have done.
“You got any of that wine left?” I asked.
“Huh?”
I met his eyes. “I know you took some with you from Uman despite the fact that I told everyone to bring only the basics. I’m not judging. Especially if it helps you cope with your wife’s passing.”
“You know, we could do some reminiscing together about what we both lost one night after making camp.”
I thought of Lasha. “Might not be a bad idea. However, I could really use a cup or two now.”
“Sure.”
He fumbled around with a couple of cups and then a small barrel he kept under a pile of blankets. He produced two cups of wine, handing me one and placing the other in front of me on the edge of the wagon. I downed the first in one long gulp, well aware of the eyes still on me. I set it down and grabbed the other.
“Thanks.” I walked away from the wagons again. I needed a moment alone.
I took a couple of short sips and counted to ten. And then the remainder of my old crew was at my side.
“Same old, Ty,” said Ira. “Must have been bad for you to already be on your second cup.”
“It wasn’t pretty.”
“I wish you’d just let one of us do it,” added Dekar. “We know how much that stuff bothers you.”
“Just because something bothers me doesn’t give me an excuse not to do it.”
Wayward Soldiers Page 18