“Who doesn’t?” Ryker asked, as he finished his crab. As if to change the subject, he suddenly stated, “Leonid looks different,” matter-of-factly.
Johan, caught a little off guard by this change in topic, sat up before answering.
“Yeah, I noticed the same thing. He looks pale. Well, paler. And I’d say that he’s lost a little weight on this trip, but that doesn’t make much sense considering how much he’s eaten. I think that what happened in the barn took a bit out of him.”
Ryker nodded. “That could be it. It’s funny, us being here in the middle of all this. I mean, we grew up with tales of magic and heroism and all of that rot, but the reality isn’t anything like it, is it? We have no idea how to really handle it, do we?”
“I don’t know,” Johan replied. “My brain is still adjusting to the fact that we are here. It’s happened so fast, I feel I don’t know much about anything anymore.” He lay back down, his mutton gone. “All I know, really, is our orders. In a few hours, we’ll hit the bandits, and accomplish our mission. Or we’ll fail. That’s as far as I’m going with this. We’ll leave magic and intrigue to our wizard and spy, fair enough?”
Johan waited for some snappy comeback from his friend, but instead of a sarcastic retort, all that came from Ryker’ bed was soft snoring. Shaking his head, Johan reached over and extinguished the lamp. Sleep was long in coming.
Some miles away from Oberon, a bird flew single-mindedly toward The City, a message to Jonvar Else tied tightly to one foot. He was a veteran carrier, as much as you could call an animal a veteran. In a different time and place, you would call him an ace. One hundred sorties between Oberon and The City. Were he a member of the Skyguard, he would have been retired with the highest honors, even made into a sigil of perseverance. But there were no such honors for this bird. So single-mindedly did he fly, so secure in the safety of night-flying, he never saw the black raptor diving at him from above, large hooked talons outstretched. For his long and distinguished career, at the least he was given a swift death. The large raptor ripped off the leg carrying the message, letting the dead carcass fall to the earth. Obeying orders of its own, the raptor flew to its master, shrouded in black, with an arm outstretched.
Chapter 7
The Battle
Nerthus, as it turned out, did not wait until first light to wake them. Shortly before the sun’s rays cracked the darkness, she appeared in Johan and Ryker’s room. Both of them awoke with drawn blades, but she merely hissed at them from the dark to get ready and went downstairs to ready their horses. Ryker, gathering himself together, went to the other rooms to awaken the men and get them ready. Johan could hear the rustle through the walls as heavily armed men roused themselves, and the clink of their mail as they draped their riding coats on.
Johan was downstairs before anyone else, and met Nerthus outside by the front steps. She had already gathered together the Outriders’ horses. She was different somehow, Johan noticed, but he couldn’t quite place it in the pre-dawn gloom. As best he could tell, she was wearing a tight studded leather jerkin and pants. Johan could see large leather blisters across her chest and legs where metal plates were sown in, affording extra protection. But that wasn’t it. He watched her handle the horses, grabbing the reigns of two horses, one in each heavily gloved hand. Each hand…
“Your arm! You have two arms!” he exclaimed.
She never even turned around, but continued handling the horses.
“And you have two eyes,” she murmured dryly. “Astonishing.” The tone of her voice took Johan back a bit. “Help me, will you? Eight horses are a little much for one person.”
By the time the two of them had tied all eight horses to the front posts, the rest of the Outriders emerged from the tavern, their weaponry out and ready. Nerthus apprised each one of them as they walked past her, her head nodding slightly as she took stock of what they had.
“Bows, pilum, good. The Weaver, okay,” she murmured. Her eyes then moved to Garm and widened. He held his large repeating crossbow one-handed over his shoulder, his greatsword was strapped in his back scabbard, his gladius and three daggers attached to his belt, and both of his hands were encased in his large metal gauntlets. Each boot also had metal tips, and the handle of a small knife was visible at the top of each one.
“I wasn’t aware we requisitioned a siege engine,” she said, her impish smile briefly returning to dance on her face. “I like his style.”
Garm merely grunted in acknowledgement and walked towards his horse. He stopped mid-stride when he noticed Nerthus had two arms, raised an eyebrow, and then mounted his horse. Leonid merely chuckled as he climbed his angry mount. Toma stared a bit before climbing his own horse.
Johan looked around. “I don’t see a horse for you,” he said to the spy.
“Don’t have one. Didn’t have any place to keep one without raising too many questions. Chops is but a poor butcher girl, after all. I’ll ride with you, if you don’t mind. I need to lead you to the camp anyways.”
Ryker protested. “I believe it is the duty of the second-in-command to let beautiful ladies ride with him.”
Nerthus snorted as she climbed up behind Johan. “I don’t think there’s enough room on your horse for you, me, and your ego, piker.”
The Outriders all chuckled, even Ryker despite himself. With Johan and Toma leading, they rode out of the village.
Slices of white dawn light began to penetrate the forest canopy as they rode. At a hand signal from Johan, they all donned their helmets. Finally, they were displaying themselves openly. Even without sigils on their coats, the helmets would be a dead giveaway for anyone who knew about the Outriders. It was a statement on Johan’s part, a brief one. “Here we come.”
After an hour’s ride, Nerthus made them dismount and lead their horses off of the main road and onto a small dirt trail. Shortly after, they tied their horses to nearby trees and silently made their way forwards. About twenty yards from where they tied their horses was the camp. Ryker notched an arrow and Vegard readied a pilum. Toma and Nerthus, having the best eyes and the most skill, crawled forward. Johan watched as the two of them spoke in near silent whispers and hand gestures before coming back to the group, all of them crouched in a huddle.
“Somehow they killed my spotters,” Nerthus hissed. “I could see their clothes among the bandit’s things, and there are bones in the fire. Human bones. These are either our targets, or murderers. Either way, I say we kill them all.” Her body was almost quaking in rage.
“She’s right, sir,” Toma added, his own voice hushed. “Definitely human bones in the fire. The camp itself is pretty small, and has no tents. It’s also in a rather large clearing. We also could only see two men. No sign of number three. There isn’t any place for the third one to be hiding nearby that we can see. There’s also small stream that runs through the clearing that should cover our movements so long as no one sneezes.”
Johan looked at the dirt for a few seconds. He could feel the eyes of six professionals on him, looking to him for guidance. It was both terrifying and thrilling. He looked at Garm and pointed at his crossbow.
“How many bolts can that thing shoot before you need to reload?”
“Six shots. Reloading is easy, but it takes me a few seconds.”
“Okay, here’s the plan. Toma and Ryker each pick a man. I want simultaneous shots. Take them out. Garm? You cover the rest of the camp. Once these two are dropped, we will wait a minute to see if there’s any movement around the camp. After the minute, we search the camp. Grab anything you think looks important. Leonid, we are counting on you to be able to identify anything magical that we will need to secure.”
The Weaver nodded.
“Understood?”
Everyone nodded. Toma and Ryker, with arrows notched, exchanged a few words, then moved up to where Toma and Nerthus had been previously. They drew their bowstrings back tight, and mirrored each other as they shot. Ryker’s bandit took the arrow through the neck, hi
s soft gargles drowned out by the noise of the stream. Toma’s target took the arrow through the center of the back, a heart shot. He went down instantly and silently. Neither one knew what had hit them.
The Outriders waited a moment, and then after an all clear from Garm, moved as one into the camp. Garm, Ryker, and Toma moved past the stream and then crouched down, constantly searching the tree line for any new arrivals. The rest fell about searching the small camp vigorously. Aside from a few small valuables, they found nothing of interest. Vegard and Nerthus searched the fallen bandits and recovered a few coins and some weapons, which they left in a pile. Johan and Leonid searched their packs and found nothing of use.
Johan stood up and looked at Leonid.
“Anything?” he asked.
The Weaver held up a hand, halting Johan’s questioning. His eyes had a distant look as he looked around the camp. His gaze went to the stream and followed it. He suddenly hurried over towards it and got on his hands and knees, one hand dipping into the water. His expression changed from one of concentration to one of excitement as he pulled up a large waterproof satchel.
The rest of the Outriders stopped their search and looked over at the Weaver. Johan took a few steps towards him, but another upheld hand from Leonid stopped him.
“Let me have a closer look at this before you get any closer, Joh,” he said. “I don’t think there are any surprises, but you can never be too sure.”
He opened the satchel and pulled out a small, ornate lockbox. It was jet black, with runes and figures carved into it. The top was sealed with a simple latch, locked with a single black lock through the latch. Leonid held it, one meaty hand on either side of it. He narrowed his eyes at it, and Johan swore that for an instant, the air around the lockbox rippled as if it had become water. Leonid then stood up and held the box out to Johan. Johan sheathed his sword and took it
“There’s definitely something radiating power in there. Or at least it is trying to. The lockbox is containing it quite handily, I must say. It’s quite safe to handle. I can’t wait to get this back to The City. I’ve never this combination of runes before, but I am fascinated by it.”
Johan took the lockbox gingerly. He held it at arm’s length for a few seconds, which made Leonid laugh. Smiling slightly now, Johan held it closer. Nerthus walked over to him, her eyes intent on the lockbox.
“So that’s what it’s all about,” she said flatly. “Honestly, I was hoping for something a little more grand to be worth…” she glanced at the blackened bones of her people, “the price we paid.”
“It wasn’t for nothing,” Johan said. “It never is.” He met her eyes for a second. “We accomplished our mission, thanks to them. Don’t forget that. Let’s get out of here before number three gets back, shall we?”
“Horses!” Toma cried out.
As one, all of the Outriders turned toward the sound coming towards them, weapons raised. Leonid and Nerthus also readied themselves.
Nine horses broke through the far side of the clearing. On them were nine men in Outrider garb. Mail armor under leather riding coats, and matching grey barbute helmets. The leader of the formation quickly raised his hands, and the other horses immediately stopped. All of them also raised their own empty hands. Johan and the others noticed that one of the new Outriders had a man behind him, bruised and blindfolded.
With Garm, Toma, and Ryker training their weapons on them all, the leader slowly dismounted and walked towards them.
“Well met, brothers! It is good to see you. You must be the new Outrider unit sent to help us. Excellent! Ah, forgive me.” He reached up and removed his helmet, holding it in the crook of his arm, keeping his free hand visible. He was a clean shaven older man in his forties, with thick black hair running over his shoulders, shocks of grey shooting through it.
“I’m Commander Kinnese, Eastern Outrider Command.”
Johan gave a hand signal and his men lowered their weapons.
“Commander Else, out of The City. Good to meet you.”
Kinnese smiled, his eyes meeting Johan’s. Inexorably, however, his eyes were drawn to the lockbox Johan still held to his chest. Behind him, six of Kinnese’s men dismounted, one pulling the tenth man down. The other two remained mounted, their hands now resting on handles of small repeating crossbows, tiny younger cousins to Garm’s monster. Kinnese turned slightly and gestured to the blindfolded man.
“We had been pursuing them since they crossed the border from Melcara. We caught up to them a few times, but they were crafty. One of them even had some magical talent. It wasn’t enough. We were able to thin them out a bit gradually. There were originally twelve of them. They led us on a merry chase, alright. We picked this one up a few hours ago. He was trying to leave the forest, attempting to contact his buyer. It took a bit of…’convincing’, but we got him to tell us where the last two were.” He looked back at Johan and the lockbox and smiled. “But it looks like we needn’t have wasted our effort. I apologize for not attempting to contact you before, but we only just reached the forest last night.”
At this, Johan could see Nerthus stiffen slightly. Not wanting to draw attention to it, he stepped next to her, his eyes never leaving Kinnese.
“That’s not a problem, sir. We did our best to go unnoticed on the way. We didn’t want the entire forest to know we were on our way. And I apologize on our behalf as well for not trying to make contact with you or the others.”
Kinnese looked puzzled. “The others?
“Yes, the other Outrider group that was supposed to meet us here.”
Kinnese blinked. “This is the first I’ve heard of this. I was informed it would simply be your group and mine.”
Johan shook his head. “No. My group was to secure the object, with your group and another group, led by Commander Samnusen, to provide support if needed.”
Kinnese took in a sharp breath. “Samnusen is on his way here? Please tell me he doesn’t know where we are.”
Johan shook his head.
“Well, he will soon, that’s for sure. I guess I’m out of time. Please accept my apologies, but I think this was inevitable.” In a blur of activity, he put his helmet on and raised his hand, palm up, towards Johan.
“Look out!” Johan heard Leonid call out behind him.
A white ray of light lanced out of Kinnese’s palm towards Johan. Before it could hit, an arc of lightning flew over Johan’s shoulder with blinding speed and impacted the white light. There was a smell of ozone and a clap of sound, like thunder. Johan and Nerthus were flung backwards from the force, the lockbox hanging in mid-air for a second before flying into Kinnese’s hands. The six dismounted men raised their own hands, and a dazzling array of light flew at Johan and his men. Another bolt of lightning chained around them, absorbing the light and detonating with force enough to throw everyone back, Johan’s men and Kinnese’s alike.
Kinnese landed more or less on his feet, but found himself looking eye-to-eye across the camp with Leonid. The fat Weaver put his hands on his hips like a disapproving parent. He looked amused.
“Nice tricks. But that’s all you really have, tricks. I’m afraid you are fighting above your weight on this. Put the lockbox down and surrender, and this will end now, quickly and painlessly.”
Snarling, but with obvious fear in his eyes, Kinnese turned toward his horse and leaped onto it. Leonid shook his head, still grinning. He attempted to step forward, but found his feet were suddenly encased in stone, up to his ankles. His grin now gone, he looked over at the six Outriders who had assaulted the group. They were back on their feet, one of them with both hands outstretched at Leonid’s feet. All six had their helmets off now, and to Johan’s horror they were identical. They had man-like faces, but their eyes were reptilian in shape, with yellow irises. They long hanging jaws, with thin needle teeth, all grinning at the Weaver. The other five raised their own hands at him. Blinking hard and concentrating, Leonid fought their movements with his mind. The monsters lost their grins, and th
eir faces became confused, their breathing labored. Their outstretched hands were slowly, forcefully, being lowered to their sides, as if bound by rope.
As Johan and the rest got back to their feet, Kinnese and his two mounted bodyguards turned their horses and fled down the trail they had come from. Leonid let out a shrill whistle, and almost instantly they heard the neighing of their horses, rushing towards them.
“After them!” Leonid yelled, his voice horse with effort. “Don’t let them get away with that box! I’ll deal with these fools.”
All of the Outriders leapt onto their horses, with Nerthus climbing on the back of Toma’s horse with him. As they finished mounting, the lizard men broke free of Leonid’s grasp, and in unison let loose a violet torrent of force at the pursuing Outriders. Vegard took a hit in the shoulder, blasting him off of his horse. He landed on his back and yelled in pain. Toma looked to turn back when Leonid shouted again.
“Go!! I will protect him! Get that box back!”
Spurring his horse on hard, Toma disappeared down the trail with the rest, leaving Leonid and the injured Vegard alone with the lizard men, who turned back towards him as one.
“You may be protecting him,” they hissed together, “but who will protect you?”
The four horses of Johan’s Outriders rapidly began closing the gap with Kinnese. The path was wide enough so that two horses could ride side-by-side. After a few minutes though, the path bled out into the main thoroughfare through the forest, a large, cobblestone road used by the village for commerce. It was wide enough to allow all of the Outriders to ride freely. Kinnese looked back and, seeing his pursuers gain, reached a hand forwards. As before, a spike of white light shot out of his hand, this time slicing through trees as he passed them. Trees fell in all directions, some falling into the road. The Outriders had to swerve in different directions to dodge the trees as they fell among them. Johan had to jump his horse.
To add to the chaos, they rode up upon a large timber caravan. The rogue Outriders trampled whomever got in their way, but the loyalists were forced to weave about, narrowly missing a few loggers.
The Outrider Legion: Book One Page 12