A group of thirty riders moved swiftly along the road. The Odessian dropped to his stomach to avoid being seen. It was not a conscious thought, but rather an instinct. Horst half-expected to see an army patrol heading westward, but that is not what he saw. As the riders got closer, Horst inhaled sharply and he found himself subconsciously holding his breath.
The men wore dark, nondescript clothing, but there was a certain discipline about them that spoke of the military. That in itself was not disturbing, but the sight of a hooded man in their midst set Horst's hair on end. Many people wore hoods in inclement weather, but the day was fair and had all the markings of remaining a pleasant one. The Odessian immediately thought about the hooded Borundan that Antion had seen in Caxon, but the skeptic within Horst discounted such a coincidence. It was only when he recognized the face of Asgar that Horst knew that the hooded figure was most likely the dark prince of Borunda. Horst's hands clawed at the rock as he felt his body tense, and then the party passed from his sight, hidden by the very cliff the Odessian was on.
Horst rose to a crouch and hurried across the cliff top to see if the Borundans turned off the main road towards the campsite, but they did not. He soon saw the party reappear on the Caxon-Kyland road racing westward. He watched for several long moments as the party continued onward, before heading for the edge of the cliff and scrambling down. His three companions were already awake and Kerzi was just beginning to start a fire. Horst raced over and kicked it out.
"Hey," growled Kerzi, "What are you doing? I've got a mind to make you starve while the rest of us eat."
"Make no fire," commanded the Odessian. "Riders have just passed on the road and we must not let them know that we are here."
"What kind of riders?" asked Gunnar.
Instead of answering, Horst turned to Monte. "Did you tell anyone where you were going?" he asked the Caroomite.
"Only my brother," Monte replied hesitantly. "I told him nothing about you or Gunnar. I merely told him that I was heading west with a merchant and his warrior. Why is this important?"
"Only your brother?" pressed the Odessian. "Are you sure that no one else knows?"
"I am positive," nodded Monte, "and I asked my brother to tell no one, and he will not. I trust him explicitly."
"Why the questions?" asked Gunnar. "Tell us what you saw."
"I saw a group of thirty riders," reported Horst. "They were either military out of uniform, or they were ex-military. I cannot be sure which, and they were coming from Caxon. As the sun is just now rising, they would have to have left in the middle of the night."
"The Caroom army would not have soldiers out of uniform," declared Monte. "Their authority rests in their uniforms."
"So a group of riders left the city in the middle of the night?" shrugged Kerzi. "It may be abnormal, but it is not unheard of."
"No," frowned Horst, "except this particular party had two riders of extreme interest to us. One of them was hooded, and the other was Asgar."
"Asgar?" gasped Monte. "That is impossible. I turned him over to my brother personally. He would never have let Asgar go free. He would have been put in chains when they got him to the prison."
"There was a leg shackle on one of his ankles," replied Horst, but it was attached to nothing. The chain had been broken."
"So he had been shackled," mused Gunnar. "I suppose that the hooded man was the dark prince. I wonder if his Talent would allow him to help Asgar to escape?"
"That is possible," nodded Kerzi. "I have heard some strange stories about what the Talent can do, but I never know what is truth and what is not."
"It is a shame that Asgar is again free," remarked Gunnar, "but that is not the end of the world. His identity is now known in Caroom, so his use as a spy is worthless."
"I am more concerned that they might be tracking us," countered Horst. "Asgar knows what Monte looks like, and if he knew that Monte was traveling with a merchant, we would be in grave danger. Are you sure, Monte, that your brother would not repeat what you told him?"
"Positive," Monte nodded vigorously. "He would never break a confidence."
"What if someone else overheard the conversation?" suggested Gunnar.
"There was no one else around," answered Monte. "I had him meet me in the cellar of my parent's home. I told him what he needed to know and then he took the sack and left. There was no one else there. I am positive."
"The sack?" questioned Kerzi. "Would that have been the same sack that held Asgar?"
"Could Asgar have been awake?" asked Horst.
Monte's face paled, and his eyes opened wide in horror.
"I don't think we are going to like his answer," sighed Gunnar.
"He was awake," confessed Monte as he began to shake. "I didn't think anything about it at the time. After all, he was going to prison to be interrogated. I thought that would be the end of him."
Monte was obviously upset that he had endangered everyone by his carelessness. Gunnar smiled and put his arm around the bowyer.
"At least we know what we are up against," Gunnar said with acceptance of the situation. "We will have to proceed very carefully."
"We can't continue onward," Monte shook his head. "After what I let Asgar hear, they will be looking for us. We must turn back."
"Turning back would accomplish nothing," retorted Gunnar. "We cannot hide in Caxon, and taking the Caxon-Laborg road would only lead us to Borunda. There must be another trail that will get us to Kyland."
"There are other trails," interjected Kerzi, "but they will be slow going. It will takes several times as long to get to Kyland."
"But we will be safer," shrugged Gunnar. "Is speed that important to you, Kerzi?"
"Speed is never more important than safety," the old man shook his head. "When one makes a small amount of profit on each journey, time does become your enemy, but you have made my profits soar on this journey. I am in no hurry."
"Do you know these trails?" asked Gunnar.
"Some of them," nodded the merchant, "but it has been many years since I have been on them. Some years the bandits are thicker than fleas on an old tom cat, and the best way to avoid them is to use alternate trails, but I have not had the problem in some time."
"About an hour's ride westward," interjected Monte," is a trail on the south side of the Caxon-Kyland Road. It starts out as if it is heading back towards the Vine River, but that is only a momentary bend that soon straightens out in a westerly direction. It runs halfway across Caroom."
"Then we have a plan," Horst took command of the conversation. "I want to make things clear before we head out. We will no longer turn these people over to the authorities; so do not even suggest it the next time, Monte. We cannot continue to give our enemies second chances at killing us."
"It is not just us that they might kill," interjected Gunnar. "I would not be surprised to learn that some good, decent guards died last night when Asgar was freed. These Borundans think nothing of killing anyone who gets in their way."
Monte thought about the possibility that his brother might have died during the escape. The thought caused an unwelcome shiver to race through his body.
"Agreed," Monte nodded. "There is no way to escape the prison without killing some guards. They would not have been able to even reach the cells unless they killed the outer guards. I guess I was a bit naïve the other night. If I had let Horst do what he wanted to, some dead Caroom soldiers would be alive today. I will not make such a mistake again."
"Your intentions were good," smiled Gunnar. "Dwell upon it no more. Let's get ready to leave this place. Kerzi, you will be riding alone. One of us will always ride directly in front of the wagon and another immediately behind, while the third scouts ahead of the track. Monte, you be the scout for now as you know the trail we seek."
"We should have some signals to alert the others to danger," suggested Horst. "That is preferable to shouting an alarm."
"Agreed," replied Gunnar. "For now a simple pointing to one side of
the road or another will be enough of a warning to hide, but you should teach our new friends the horse language when we camp each night. It will come in handy."
"I will," agreed Horst. "Monte, try to ride far enough ahead to provide plenty of warning. The wagon cannot move quickly, especially on secondary trails. If you think pointing will not suffice, or if our attention is not on you, shoot an arrow to the proper side of the road. That is something that neither of us will miss."
"And if I am not sure which side of the road to direct you to?" asked Monte.
"Just pick one," shrugged Gunnar. "We will try to improve our signals when we camp each night. For now, I want to get off the Caxon-Kyland Road as soon as possible."
The campsite was cleaned up quickly, and Monte rode out to the main road. He saw nothing in either direction and waved the others forward. Once on the road, Kerzi pushed his team hard, and it took slightly less than an hour to reach the turn off. The secondary road was little more than a cleared path through the woods, two grass covered indentations that bespoke of little use and none of it recently.
* * *
"Are you sure of what you heard?" snarled Prince Zinan.
"It is how I told you, Chike," Asgar replied. "I heard him tell the soldier that he was traveling with a merchant westward. He knew the soldier by name, and I think they were close friends or relatives. I see no reason that he would lie."
"Then why have we not found them in three days?" snapped the hooded Borundan. "They could not have come this far, and I have had men backtrack along the road. There is no way we could have missed them."
"There are other trails," cowered Asgar. "Perhaps they are on one of those."
"And why would they not take the Caxon-Kyland Road?" Chike shouted in frustration.
"Maybe the one you look for is with him?" suggested Asgar. "Someone other than the bowyer struck me in that alley, and they bothered to take the picture from me when I was unconscious. Maybe they knew that you would follow them."
"Yet they had no idea that you overheard the conversation?" balked the dark prince. "You were imprisoned. There was no reason for them to assume that you would be able to follow them."
"I did not mean to suggest that they thought I would follow them," replied Asgar, "but there is no way for them to know that I alone was searching for the man. There are only two main roads leaving Caxon. Is it not possible that someone would check both of them?"
Prince Zinan fell silent for a moment. The fact was that Asgar was not the only spy he had placed in Caxon. If his enemy was aware of that, he might very well try to stay off the main roads. The dark prince nodded as his course of action became clear.
"Halt!" shouted Chike as he held up his hand.
The grouped stopped in the middle of the Caxon-Kyland Road and gathered around the hooded man to receive new instructions.
* * *
Once again Monte was the forward scout as the group traveled along the narrow road through the forest. They had been on the road for days, but the progress was agonizingly slow. Monte rode so far in front of the wagon that he was not visible most of the time as the trail twisted and turned among the trees. Occasionally another seldom-used trail forked off in one direction or another, but they had not seen another soul on the road since leaving the main road.
The woods were quiet, and Monte kept the wagon far behind him, so it immediately caught his attention when he heard a distant shout. He instinctively looked behind for the wagon although he knew that the sound had come from in front of him. The wagon was not visible as the road twisted too much. Before him was a sharp bend in the road, and he eased towards it. The shout had been distant, so he was not expecting anyone to be close, but he took the time to be cautious anyway. Slowing his horse to a walk, the archer's eyes gazed along the road in front of him as he rounded the bend. The road still twisted its way through the woods, but it was straight enough to see a fair distance. What he saw caused him to pull on the reins and disappear back around the corner.
He had seen a group of men standing on the road. There had been about a dozen riders, but they were dismounted for some reason. Monte wasted no time on a second look. He turned his horse and headed back towards his friends as he picked up his bow and nocked an arrow. Remembering the curves in the road that he had passed through only moments before, he fired the arrow high over the trees, and immediately nocked another. As he now raced towards the wagon, he fired the second arrow in case the first signal had been missed. It hadn't been missed.
"Lead Kerzi through the trees," Horst called softly to Gunnar. "I will try to do something to cover the tracks."
Gunnar did not reply, but he waved the wagon off the road as soon as he saw a pair of trees that would allow it. The Arin prince moved quickly to blaze a path through the trees with his own progress, and Kerzi followed the path set before him. Monte raced around the corner and saw his friends slipping into the woods. He saw Horst trying to cover the tracks and knew that it would not be good enough to fool a tracker. They could only hope that the men would be too occupied to notice that a wagon had come down the road recently.
Looking up to see the archer arrive, Horst shook his head and said, "It's not going to work. The wagon is too heavy to hide its passing. They may pass by our exit point, but they won't be oblivious to the tracks we have been making for days. Go join Gunnar and prepare to defend when they arrive."
"We may have some time," Monte informed the Odessian. "The riders were dismounted for some reason."
"Good," nodded Horst. "We can use all the time we can get. They will be onto our trail soon after they pass this place. Go forward. I will follow in a minute."
Monte obeyed and rode after the wagon, which he could barely see through the trees. He quickly caught up to the wagon and passed it by to join with Gunnar. He explained what little he knew about the strangers.
Gunnar nodded that he had heard, but he did not verbally respond. He continued concentrating on finding a way through the forest without causing the wagon to slow down or change direction. Monte rode past Gunnar and began to search for place to defend the wagon. As he rode, he noticed an almost sudden changing of the forest. The ground cover grew more verdant, and the trees grew larger. He stopped and stared ahead at the vines and moss that began to tangle the ever-larger trees. He knew what the difference in growth signified.
"Keep moving," Gunnar called softly as he got closer.
"We can't," objected Monte. "We are on the border of Lom, and they do not take kindly to people who enter unannounced. I didn't realize that this trail had led us so far south."
"Move aside," ordered Gunnar as he passed Monte. "Kerzi has enough obstacles to dodge."
"Didn't you hear me?" asked Monte as he turned and rode alongside Gunnar. "One does not enter Lom unannounced. Can you not see the differences in the forest appearance around you?"
"No," Gunnar lied. "I am stupid about such things. Either go forward or get out of the way. Those men will be upon us soon enough, and I don't want to meet them here. We need to find a place to make a stand."
"But they will kill us for entering Lom," Monte argued.
"And we will die if we do not find a place to defend ourselves," countered Gunnar. "I will take my chances with the good people of Lom. Guide Kerzi through the trees. I will search for a spot."
Without waiting for an answer, Gunnar urged his horse forward leaving the archer to blaze a path for the wagon. He had only ridden a few minutes when he noticed that the soil was getting soft and damp. He sighed in frustration as he altered course several times in a search for more solid ground. He looked over his shoulder and saw his friends getting closer. Finally he spied what appeared to be a very narrow footpath through what was obviously the beginning of a swamp. He made an instant decision to abandon the wagon.
"Get Kerzi onto your horse," Gunnar called to Monte. "The wagon stays here. Watch me, and follow me closely."
Turning his attention to the narrow path, Gunnar rode slowly across th
e muck that sat on both sides of him. After a few moments, the narrow path widened and then passed through a long row of brambles. Gunnar smiled as he recognized a perfect ambush site. He dismounted and tied his horse, and soon the others arrived in single file.
"We will stand here," declared Gunnar. "If they cross by the narrow dry path, we can take them singly; if they choose to charge as one, they will be slowed by the muck. It is the best that we are likely to find."
"We will find out soon enough," commented Horst. "They have already discovered our departure from the road. I suggest we nock our arrows and prepare for battle."
"The wagon will guide them to us," the merchant said. "We should have freed the horses. They are sure to torch the wagon if nothing else, and I hate to see animals suffer for no reason."
"They are not bandits," replied Gunnar. "There is not enough travel on the road we were on to interest any bandits. If they left the road to follow us, you can be sure that they are the ones looking for us. They will care nothing for your wagon or its contents."
"Here they come," whispered Monte as the first of the riders appeared.
"Spread out," ordered Gunnar. "They do not know how many of us there are. Let's keep it that way. If they come single file, Monte and I will shoot them. If they charge then everyone should join in."
The merchant moved to the right of Monte, and Horst moved to Gunnar's left. They kept spreading out as the horsemen gathered near the wagon. One of the horsemen broke away from the others and rode towards the swamp. The rider halted as the horse's hooves begin to sink in the muck. Slowly, the rider backed up and began to parallel the soft ground, looking for tracks as he rode. When he came to the narrow, dry path, his eyes rose to look across the swamp. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the brambles.
The other riders soon joined the lone one, and they spoke softly. The words did not carry to Gunnar, but it was obvious that the riders were discussing the potential for an ambush. One of the riders dismounted and looked for a stone. When he found one, he tossed it into the middle of the damp ground. Gunnar was hoping that it would sink rapidly, limiting the attackers to the narrow path, but it did not. The swamp was not soft enough to swallow the stone completely, and Gunnar knew what was coming next.
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