by Alon Shalev
In the late afternoon, they reached a stream and let the horses drink. Mainch approached Rhoddan and pointed at the elf’s horse. Riverwader was splashing through the current and whinnying.
“He’s brave in battle and strong on the long road,” Rhoddan muttered.
Mainch smirked. “We’ll camp here tonight. The ground ahead is stony and the horses need to see where they are going. We will stay with you and guard for you, but we will leave in the morning. You need–”
He stopped as Ilana approached.
“Are you discussing directions?” she asked.
Mainch drew his sword and glared at her.
“Keep your distance, she-elf,” he growled.
Ilana froze, and then, remembering she was supposed to be sick and infectious, retreated quickly to Seanchai. Mainch stared after them. “What if she infects the boy?”
“Then I’ll kill him,” Rhoddan answered without hesitation. “But meanwhile, he has his uses.”
Shayth nodded approvingly at Rhoddan behind Mainch’s back. He was enjoying Rhoddan’s act. The elf had seemed so rigid and square up until now. This had been most revealing.
The next morning, as they watched Mainch and Rovert’s disappearing forms, Seanchai turned to Rhoddan. “Impressive. When did you decide to take on the role?”
“Over breakfast, when Shayth had rejoined us,” replied Rhoddan before blushing under their admiring gazes. “Actually …” he hesitated, then continued. “I once saw a play in Castleton and always thought of becoming an actor.”
“Well, I think you make a great actor,” said Seanchai. “Am I right, Ilana?”
Ilana glared at them. “Sick! Infectious! You might be a good actor, but I’m not impressed with your casting ability.”
They all laughed, except Rhoddan. “You know why I did that?” he protested.
“Yes,” she replied and her tone was warm. “It was good thinking. I appreciate it.”
They saddled their horses and began to follow the stream. Seanchai leveled his horse with Ilana’s, bumping it in the process, much to both horses’ apparent disgust. They neighed their objections and Ilana tried to hide her smile.
“How long are we going now?” he asked.
“Not far, I think. We follow this to the foothills of Cadhria. Then we climb into the mountains and follow the path to a hidden lake where we are to wait. If your teacher is around, he will find us when he comes to the lake.”
Seanchai glanced across at her face. He enjoyed her cheekbones, her full lips and cute nose. But this time he felt something else. “You seem worried,” he said.
“Those men were scared to bring us out of the mountains and in a hurry to leave us. I’m worried about what lies ahead. Remember, Seanchai: whatever else happens, you must go on and find the lake. Forget about Rhoddan, Shayth and myself. You must find your way to the lake.”
“Lighten up,” Seanchai replied. “It’s a beautiful day. What can possibly happen?”
As if summoned by her cautionary words, an arrow whistled past them fired from behind and Mainch reappeared, galloping toward them at full speed and lying flat on his horse.
“Ride!” he yelled.
Fourteen
Seanchai’s horse broke into a gallop almost without any prompt and the tranquility he had just been enjoying vanished in the dust the horses kicked up. Still uneasy riding, he had to focus desperately just to stay in the saddle.
They were chased over the plain. Mainch cut sharply across the stream and headed for the foothills of the Cadhria mountain range’s tall, sharp peaks. The occasional arrow flew near, but it was clear their pursuers seemed content to just keep up for now.
The path steepened into a narrow gorge as rocks rose on either side. At a growth of flat rock ahead of them, Shayth leapt off his horse and onto the rocks, climbing higher as his balance allowed, to cut off the ambush.
“No,” shouted Seanchai, but it was all he could do just to keep himself on Snowmane.
They rounded a corner and brought their horses to a stop. Rhoddan was immediately on his feet, long knife drawn. Ilana called to Seanchai to take the horses and lead them away from the fray. Snowmane had advanced twenty yards ahead of the others before he had managed to halt him and dismount.
Seanchai was angry at being given the task of tending the animals, but had no time to argue. Already he could hear cries behind him–ones he hoped were from soldiers falling to Shayth’s deadly bow. Then the clash of metal and he knew that his friends had joined the fray. He hurriedly tied the horses to a bush, freeing him to battle with the others. He drew his knives.
Seanchai crept along the path, careful to keep against the rocks. He was very close now and could hear shouting and swords parrying just around the bend. He stopped as the sounds came closer and felt his chest contract. Fear rooted him to the ground.
Then as he rounded the bend, he saw Ilana backing up, frantically fending off a huge soldier’s sword with her long knife. She retreated past Seanchai and then tripped on a rock, stumbling back. The soldier snarled and leapt forward, his sword raised above his head.
But the soldier’s blade never made contact. Seanchai had learned well during his few days with Uncle, and Rhoddan had diligently made him practice when they stopped every night. Seanchai sprang at the soldier from behind and pulled up his helmet with one hand, slitting his throat with his short knife in the technique Uncle had taught him.
He stumbled back in horror as blood spurted from the man. Though he had killed the soldiers on the plain when he rescued Rhoddan, he had been frenzied and unaware of his actions. This time, he had planned his attack, felt the man physically in his hands. It was so much more real.
Ilana, back on her feet, jumped at him and yelled. Another soldier had crept up behind him and Ilana’s long knife was just able to deflect it from cleaving Seanchai’s head. She kicked the soldier in the groin, sending him off-balance, howling in pain. Then she leapt forward and pushed the man over the ridge.
“Get out of here!” Ilana yelled. “You’re not ready!”
Seanchai stood frozen with fright, then began to back away as Ilana commanded. But if had listened to that command the last time, Rhoddan may not be alive, or maybe Ilana just now. He stopped, took a deep breath and, teeth clenched, stepped back into the fray.
Another soldier had Ilana pinned against the rock face, his sword locked between her knives, but he was far stronger and using his body weight to bring the blades closer to her face. Again, Seanchai grabbed the soldier’s helmet, yanked his head back and slit his throat. Ilana screamed as the man’s warm blood spurted onto her face.
Seanchai suddenly felt a wave of calm descend. The controlled detachment of his power took over as he watched Mainch desperately fend off two soldiers who were pushing the big man toward the ridge. He knew immediately that the distance was too great for him to reach Mainch in time to help.
Without thinking, Seanchai sheathed his knives and held out his palms. A strange, alien word left his mouth and both soldiers were picked up like feathers in the wind and sent sprawling. Mainch quickly dispensed with them, then turned and stared at Seanchai, stunned, before going to help Rhoddan.
With so much damage done already, the fight was over in a matter of minutes. Ilana shouted as one soldier mounted a horse and fled.
“Get him,” Mainch yelled, presumably at Shayth, but the soldier escaped unhindered. “Why didn’t you shoot him down, you idiot? He’ll bring more soldiers from the patrols below.”
“I have no more arrows,” snapped Shayth. He began retrieving those protruding from a dozen soldiers.
Ilana was tying a tourniquet around a wound on Rhoddan’s arm, ignoring his protests that it was just a scratch. Seanchai knelt to help retrieve Shayth’s arrows so he could avoid dwelling on the fact that he had killed more men. He had heard their screams and felt their warm blood leave their bodies.
The young elf sighed and told himself that it had killed these soldiers to save his friends. They
would be dead otherwise. As he struggled to pull out the arrow from a lifeless body, Mainch approached him. “You are the special one, aren’t you?” he said.
Before Seanchai could react, a drawn arrow was inches from the man’s face. “And the elf saved your life. You owe him a debt.” Shayth’s cold tone made Seanchai flinch. “Never reveal who he is or what he did, or I will find and finish you.”
“He saved my life,” Mainch repeated, his voice steady. “I understand.”
“We should not let him go back,” Shayth continued, his tone still icy, his bowstring taut.
“No,” said Seanchai quietly but with authority. He slowly pushed Shayth’s bow away from Mainch’s face. “He risked his life for us, too, so we are also in his debt. That is enough.”
The man nodded at Seanchai. “Your secret is safe with me. But I’ll ride with you for a while if you’ll let me.”
“What for?” Shayth spat, still suspicious.
“Well, first, there’s half a garrison of soldiers coming from the direction in which I would be headed.” Mainch stopped for a moment to consider his words. Then he looked up at Shayth and nodded towards Seanchai. “But also, I don’t know–I want to help him.”
Shayth lowered his bow and nodded. “Yeah,” he said, rolling his eyes. “He has that maddening effect on people.”
The tension broke with their shared laughter.
“And the girl?” Mainch asked.
“She’s not sick,” Seanchai replied. “But you still might want to keep your distance. She can be, well, somewhat unpredictable.”
Ilana coughed a warning, but when Seanchai met her eyes, they were soft. “You shouldn’t have…” she began but Rhoddan interrupted.
“Come. We must make haste. You two can argue later.”
They mounted their horses and began to move– Shayth took one of the soldier’s horses and released the rest. Seanchai saw how stiffly Rhoddan sat in his saddle as they trotted alongside each other. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Just stay on your horse,” Rhoddan snapped and clicked his horse forward.
They rode alongside and then away from the ridge into the mountains, each listening keenly for pounding hooves behind them. Seanchai looked over the ridge to the trees and bushes far below escorting the stream as it grew into a river.
He sighed and tried to force himself not to think of his village and the forest that he had grown up in and felt certain he would never see again. It made him think of his parents and friends, and he realized he could never return to the life he once had. Four men lay dead from his hands today. He sighed again. No, things would never be the same.
Fifteen
With Mainch urging them on, they rode as fast as they could across the plateau they were crossing. The short rests they took were to keep the horses as fresh as possible. Their hurry was because the flat land revealed their position, even from a distance. On the second day after the battle, they saw signs of their pursuers and quickened their pace as the Cadhria Mountains rose on the horizon.
“Those are the mountains that you have heard mentioned in stories,” Mainch said to Seanchai as they cantered side-by-side. “What we were in before are just the foothills. These mountains are dangerous, steep, angry and unpredictable. And haunted! When I was a kid, we were told tales of the angry spirits who live there. Not many men dare enter, and even fewer return.”
Seanchai said nothing. Right now he was more fearful of his horse than ghosts. His body was numb from riding and he doubted he would ever again be able to straighten his legs or sit down with ease. He was feeling more in control of his horse but not comfortable. No, definitely not comfortable.
As the sun began to set, they came across a shallow stream. Ilana stopped and jumped down from her saddle to fill her water skin.
“We must keep moving,” Shayth called and they all turned their heads toward the cloud of dust in the distance where the Emperor’s army rode toward them. There was no doubt they were catching up.
“They ride hard,” Mainch said. “I think they will ride through the night.”
“Why?” asked Seanchai, who had also dismounted.
“The ground is smooth and poses no danger to the horses turning their hooves.”
“But their horses need to rest if they are to catch us, and be able to return to where they have come from,” Seanchai said.
The silence that met Seanchai’s comment spoke louder than words. “Oh,” he said as he filled his water skin. The soldiers cared only to find and capture him. If they had to walk all the way back to their fortress then that was what they would do. The fear in his voice was unmistakable. “Will we stop?”
“We must,” said Rhoddan. “We need to find somewhere off the path.”
It was already dusk when they entered a canyon between two mountains and found what they were searching for.
“Let’s set up camp in there,” said Rhoddan, pointing, and then turned his horse back to the main path to join Shayth.
“Where are you going?” Seanchai asked.
“Clean your tracks. Then we will lead them on some,” Shayth replied, “and give them something to think about.”
As Rhoddan and Shayth rode off, Seanchai turned to Ilana. “What are they up to?”
She smiled. “I think I know.”
Seanchai, Ilana and Mainch unsaddled and rubbed down their horses. Their camp was only a short way from the main path, so there was no chance of a fire and they whispered, rather than spoke. Though concealed from view, an alert tracker might still hear or smell something.
Ilana took the first watch that evening. Seanchai fell asleep quickly and felt he had passed half the night by the time she woke him.
She signaled for him to remain silent by putting a finger to her lips. Seanchai heard the sound of horses’ hooves back on the path. He crept over to their own horses to help Mainch coax them to stay quiet. Ilana crouched at the entrance with her back against the rock face, her knives drawn.
They heard muttering about ghosts and evil spirits, quickly silenced by an authoritative voice. The troop slowly passed, and Seanchai returned to his bed. Mainch relieved Ilana from guard duty and she brought her bedroll over beside Seanchai and spread it out right next to him.
“It’s going to get really cold later,” she whispered. “Do you mind?”
Seanchai solemnly nodded his consent, secretly thrilled.
“Also,” she continued, “if I’m right, we aren’t through tonight and I don’t want you getting scared and giving us away.”
“Very funny,” Seanchai said, but then saw that she was not joking.
His pride wounded, the young elf turned onto his side away from her. Then he felt her move closer.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered in his ear. “We’re in a dangerous place and I’m just trying to look out for you. I care for you.”
Seanchai was confused. He was attracted to Ilana, though this was hardly the time to explore a relationship. Then there was what she just said–I care for you–and the fact that she was lying close to him. Did she share the feelings that he had for her–whatever those feelings were? He yawned and thought how complicated this was, then promptly fell into a deep sleep.
It felt as if he had been asleep again for only a few minutes when a harsh, piercing cry woke him. A vivid image of the demons that Mainch had mentioned filled his mind. Ilana felt his fear and clasped her hand over his mouth. Then she turned him onto his back so that she could whisper in his ear. “It’s okay. Don’t make a sound.”
Another screeching cry carried on the breeze. Seanchai could make out human voices and clearly heard their fear. He tried to sit up, the panic welling up inside of him, but Ilana tightened her hold.
“It’s not spirits or demons,” she whispered, pulling Seanchai toward her to comfort him. “Rhoddan and Shayth are putting on a show and trying to chase the soldiers away from us.”
He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly raised his head. “I guessed,” he shrugged, t
hough he was sure she could see the tips of his pointed ears reddening, even in the darkness.
She smiled at him and then leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. “I know you did,” she said and, turning her back on him to sleep, she pulled him so that he cradled her in his arms.
Seanchai was stunned. His ears was burning now for sure, but not from embarrassment. He barely heard the next demon scream.
Near dawn, Seanchai woke to more cries, horses neighing, and what sounded like a rock fall. He jumped up and moved to the rock walls. Ilana, her knives drawn, was immediately by his side, and Mainch had gone to their horses.
No one wanted to return to sleep and silently, they tied their bundles to the horses and returned to the main path. Around a sharp bend, they came across what appeared to be a rockslide. Men and horses were trapped underneath–some still twitching and groaning. Seanchai watched as Mainch ended their misery. Blood dripped from his blade and his face was grim.
“Now we ride fast,” the man said.
“Where are Shayth and Rhoddan?” Seanchai asked.
“Not here,” Mainch growled. “At best, they are chasing down other soldiers, assuming they weren’t caught in this.”
Sixteen
Seanchai was anxious to put distance between them and the carnage. The horses couldn’t gallop, as there were still stones scattered along the path, but the smell of dead bodies, horse and man, was enough to motivate them forward.
They rode through a gorge and steadily ascended into the mountains. Though he saw no one, Seanchai felt as though they were always being watched, always being followed. The feeling of high alert kept them silent until they stopped for lunch in a crevice off the path that hid them from sight.
Seanchai ate standing up, stretching his muscles. He ached everywhere.
Ilana and Mainch crouched by the horses, whispering together. Seanchai thought the discussion was about their route, but when he saw them both glance at him, he knew he was wrong. As he approached, they stopped talking.