The Burning Bridge ra-2

by John Flanagan

  They leaned forward as he smoothed over the diagram he had drawn in the sand and hastily sketched out a new one. He wasn't sure that it was totally accurate, but at least it included the most important features of the kingdom, as well as the Southern Plateau, where Morgarath ruled.

  "They said they have more Skandians coming up the cliffs on the south coast-to join with the Wargals we've already seen. They'll cross the Fissure here, where we are, and move north to attack the barons in the rear, while they wait for Morgarath to try to break out of Three Step Pass."

  "Yes," said Horace. "We know that. We guessed it as soon as we saw the bridge."

  Will looked up at him and Horace fell silent. He realized the Ranger apprentice had something else to say.

  "But," said Will, emphasizing the word and pausing for a moment, "I also heard them saying something about Horth and his men marching around Thorntree Forest. That's up here to the north of the Plains of Uthal."

  Evanlyn grasped the point immediately. "Which would bring the Skandians northwest of the King's army. They'd be trapped between the Wargals and Skandians who have crossed the bridge and the other force from the north."

  "Exactly," said Will, meeting her gaze. They could both appreciate how dangerous that situation would be for the assembled barons. Expecting a Skandian attack through the fenlands, to the east, they'd be taken by surprise from not one, but two different directions, caught between the arms of a pincer and crushed.

  "Then we'd better warn the King, surely!" insisted Horace.

  "Horace," said Will patiently. "It would take us four days to reach the Plains."

  "Even more reason to get going. We haven't a moment to waste!" said the young warrior.

  "And then," put in Evanlyn, seeing Will's point, "it would take at least another four days for any sort of force to get back here and hold the bridge. Maybe more."

  "That's eight days all told," said Will. "Remember what that poor miner said? The bridge will be ready in four days' time. The Wargals and Skandians will have had plenty of time to cross the Fissure, assemble in battle formation and attack the King's army."

  "But:" Horace began, and Will interrupted him.

  "Horace, even if we get warning to the King and the barons, they'll be badly outnumbered and they'll be caught between two forces-with no way to retreat. The swamps of the fenlands will be behind them. Now, I know we have to get a warning to them. But we can also do something here to even the numbers."

  "Plus," Evanlyn put in, and Horace turned to face her, "if we can do something to stop the Wargals and Skandians from crossing here, the King will have the advantage over this northern force of Skandians."

  Horace nodded. "They won't be outnumbered, I guess," he said.

  Evanlyn nodded, but then added, "That's part of it. But those Skandians will be expecting reinforcements to attack the King from the rear-reinforcements that will never arrive."

  Understanding dawned in Horace's eyes. He nodded slowly, several times. Then the frown returned. "But what can we do to stop the Wargals here?" he asked.

  Will and Evanlyn exchanged a glance. He could see they'd come to the same conclusion. They both spoke at the same time.

  "Burn the bridge," they said.

  22

  B LAZE'S HEAD HUNG LOW AS HE TROTTED SLOWLY INTO THE outskirts of the King's camp on the Plains of Uthal. Gilan swayed wearily in the saddle. They had barely slept in the past three days, snatching only brief rests once every four hours.

  Two guards stepped forward to query his progress and the young Ranger fumbled inside his shirt for the silver amulet in the form of an oak leaf-the Rangers' badge of office. At the sight of it, the guards stepped back hurriedly to clear the way. In times like these, nobody delayed a Ranger-not if he knew what was good for him.

  Gilan rubbed his gritty eyes. "Where is the War Council tent?"

  One of the guards pointed with his spear to a larger-than-normal tent, set up on a knoll overlooking the rest of the camp. There were more guards there, and a large number of people coming and going, as one would expect at the nerve center of an army.

  "There, sir. On that small rise."

  Gilan nodded. He'd come so far, so fast, finishing the four-day journey in just over three. Now these few hundred meters seemed like miles to him. He leaned forward and whispered in Blaze's ear.

  "Not much farther, my friend. One more effort, please."

  The exhausted horse's ears twitched and his head came up a few inches. At Gilan's gentle urging, he managed to raise a slow trot and they passed through the camp.

  Dust drifting on the breeze, the smell of woodsmoke, noise and confusion: the camp was like any army camp anywhere in the world. Orders being shouted. The clang and rattle of arms being repaired or sharpened. Laughter from tents, where men lay back relaxing with no duties to be performed-until their sergeants found them and discovered jobs for them to be doing. Gilan smiled tiredly at the thought. Sergeants seemed to be totally averse to seeing their men having an easy time of it.

  Blaze came to a halt once more and he realized, with a jerk, that he'd actually nodded off in the saddle. Before him, two more guards barred the way to the War Council compound. He looked at them blearily.

  "King's Ranger," he croaked, through a dry throat. "Message for the Council."

  The guards hesitated. This dust-covered, half-asleep man, seated on a lathered, exhausted bay horse, might well be a Ranger. He was certainly dressed like a Ranger, as far as they could tell. Yet the guards knew most of the senior Rangers by sight, and they had never seen this young man before. And he showed no sign of identification.

  What's more, they noticed, he carried a sword, which was definitely not a Ranger's weapon, so they were reluctant to admit him to the carefully guarded War Council compound. Irritably, Gilan realized that he had neglected to leave the silver oakleaf device hanging outside his shirt. The effort of finding it again suddenly became intense. He fumbled blindly at his collar. Then a familiar, and very welcome, voice cut through his consciousness.

  "Gilan! What's happened? Are you all right?"

  That was the voice that had meant comfort and security to him throughout his years as an apprentice. The voice of courage and capability and wisdom. The voice that knew exactly what action should be taken at any point in time.

  "Halt," he murmured, and realized that he was swaying, then falling from the saddle. Halt caught him before he hit the ground. He glared at the two sentries, who were standing by, not sure whether to help or not.

  "Give me a hand!" he ordered and they leapt forward, dropping their spears with a clatter, to support the semiconscious young Ranger.

  "Let's get you somewhere to rest," Halt said. "You're all in."

  But Gilan summoned some last reserves of energy and, pushing clear of the soldiers, steadied himself on his own feet. "Important news," he said to Halt. "Must see the Council. There's something bad going on in Celtica."

  Halt felt a cold hand of premonition clutch his heart. He cast his gaze around, looking back down the path where Gilan had come. Bad news from Celtica. And Gilan apparently alone.

  "Where's Will?" he asked quickly. "Is he all right?"

  "He's all right," Gilan said, and the senior Ranger's heart lifted just a little. "I came on ahead."

  As they had been talking, they had begun to move toward the central pavilion. There were more guards on duty here but they moved out of the way at the sight of Halt. He was a familiar figure around the War Council. He put out a hand now to steady his former apprentice and they entered the cool shade of the Council pavilion.

  A group of half a dozen men was clustered around a sand map-a large table with the main features of the Plains and Mountains modeled in sand. They turned now at the sound of the new arrivals and one of them hurried forward, concern written on his face.

  "Gilan!" he cried. He was a tall man, and his graying hair showed him to be in his late fifties. But he still moved with the speed and grace of an athlete, or a warrior. G
ilan gave that tired smile again.

  "Morning, Father," he said, for the tall gray-haired man was none other than Sir David, Battlemaster of Caraway Fief and supreme commander of the King's army. The Battlemaster looked quickly to Halt and caught the quick nod of reassurance there. Gilan was all right, he realized, just exhausted. Then, his sense of duty caught up with his fatherly reaction.

  "Greet your King properly," he said softly, and Gilan looked up to the group of men, all their attention now focused on him.

  He recognized Crowley, the Ranger Corps Commandant, and Baron Arald and two other senior Barons of the realm-Tyler of Drayden and Fergus of Caraway. But the figure in the center took his attention. A tall blond man in his late thirties, with a short beard and piercing green eyes. He was broad-shouldered and muscular, because Duncan was not a king who let other men do all his fighting for him. He had trained with sword and lance since he was a boy and he was regarded as one of the most capable knights in his own kingdom.

  Gilan attempted to sink to one knee. His joints screamed in protest and tried to lock up on him. The pressure of Halt's hand under his arm was all that stopped him from falling once again.

  "My lord:" he began apologetically, but Duncan had already stepped forward, seizing his hand to steady him. Gilan heard Halt's introduction.

  "Ranger Gilan, my lord, attached to Meric Fief. With messages from Celtica."

  Suddenly, the King was galvanized with interest. "Celtica?" he repeated, studying Gilan more closely. "What's happening there?"

  The other Council members had moved from the sand map to group around Gilan. Baron Arald spoke: "Gilan was carrying your messages to King Swyddned, my lord," he said. "Invoking our mutual defense treaty and requesting that Swyddned send troops to join us-"

  "They won't be coming," Gilan interrupted. He realized he had to tell the King his news before he collapsed from exhaustion. "Morgarath has them bottled up on the southwest peninsula."

  There was a stunned silence in the Council tent. Finally, it was Gilan's father who broke it. "Morgarath?" he said, incredulously. "How? How could he get any sort of army into Celtica?"

  Gilan shook his head, suppressing a huge need to yawn. "They sent small numbers down the cliffs, until they had enough troops to catch the Celts by surprise. As you know, Swyddned keeps only a small standing army:"

  Baron Arald nodded, anger showing on his face. "I warned Swyddned, my lord," he put in. "But those damned Celts have always been more interested in digging than protecting their own land."

  Duncan made a small, pacifying gesture with one hand. "No time now for recriminations, Arald," he said softly. "What's done is done, I'm afraid."

  "I should imagine Morgarath has been watching them for years, waiting for their greed to overcome their good sense," Baron Tyler said bitterly. The other men nodded quietly. Morgarath's ability to maintain a network of spies was all too well known to them.

  "So Celtica has been defeated by Morgarath? Is this what you're telling us?" Duncan asked. This time, as Gilan shook his head, there were relieved glances around the tent.

  "The Celts are holding out in the southwest, my lord. They're not defeated yet. But the strange business of it all is that Wargal raiding parties have been carrying off the Celt miners."

  "What?" This time it was Crowley who interrupted. "What earthly use has Morgarath for miners?"

  Gilan shrugged in reply. "I've no idea, sir," he told his chief. "But I thought I'd better get here with the news of it as soon as possible."

  "You saw this happening, then, Gilan?" Halt asked, frowning darkly as he puzzled over what the young Ranger had just told them.

  "Not exactly," Gilan admitted. "We saw the empty mining towns and the deserted border posts. We were heading deeper into Celtica when we met a young girl who told us about the raids."

  "A young girl?" the King said. "A Celt?"

  "No, my lord. She was Araluen. A lady's maid whose mistress was visiting Swyddned's court. Unfortunately, they ran into a Wargal war party. Evanlyn was the only one to escape."

  "Evanlyn?" Duncan said, his voice the merest whisper. The others turned to him as he spoke and were startled. The King's face had turned a chalky white and his eyes were wide with horror.

  "That was her name, my lord," said Gilan, puzzled by the King's reaction. But Duncan wasn't listening. He had turned away and moved blindly to a canvas chair set by his small reading table. He dropped into the chair, his head sunk in his hands. The members of his War Council moved toward him, alarmed at his reaction.

  "My lord," said Sir David of Caraway. "What is it?"

  Duncan slowly raised his eyes to meet the Battlemaster's.

  "Evanlyn:" he said, his voice breaking with emotion. "Evanlyn was my daughter's maid."

  23

  T HERE WAS NO TIME TO PUT THE PLAN INTO ACTION THAT night-dawn was less than an hour away. At one stage, Will had suggested that Horace and Evanlyn should leave him behind to burn the bridge, while they rode to take the news to Araluen. But Horace had refused.

  "If we go now, we won't know if you've succeeded or not, so what do we tell the King? There might be a bridge or there might not be?" he said, in another example of the solid common sense that had become part of his thinking. "And besides, destroying a bridge this size might be a little more than you can manage alone-even a famous Ranger like yourself."

  He smiled as he said the last words, to let Will know he meant no insult. Will conceded the point. Secretly, he was glad they would be with him. He shared Horace's doubt that he might not be able to handle the task alone.

  They slept fitfully until dawn, finally woken by the sounds of shouting and whips as the Wargals drove the miners back to their task of finishing the bridge. Throughout the day, they watched with alarm as the completed footway crept closer and closer to the side of the ravine where they lay hidden. With a sinking feeling, Will realized that the estimate given them by the dying miner was not to be relied upon. Perhaps the extra numbers of slaves were the reason, but it was obvious that the bridge would be all but completed by the end of the following day.

  "We'll have to do it tonight."

  He breathed the words in Evanlyn's ear. The two of them lay prone on the rocks, overlooking the building site. Horace was a few meters away, dozing quietly in the cold morning sun. The girl shifted her position so that her mouth was closer to his ear and whispered back.

  "I've been thinking, how will we get this fire started? There's barely enough wood around here for a decent campfire."

  The same question had been taxing Will's brain throughout the night. Then the answer had come to him. He smiled quietly as he watched a group of Celt miners hammering pine boards onto the bridge framework to form the roadway.

  "There's plenty of good firewood here," he replied. "If you know where to look for it."

  Evanlyn glanced at him, puzzled, then followed the line of his gaze. The frown on her forehead disappeared and she smiled slowly.

  As dusk fell, the Wargals herded their weary, starving slaves back from the bridge and into the tunnel. Will noticed that by the end of the afternoon, the work of enlarging the tunnel seemed to have been completed. They waited an hour longer, until full darkness. During that time, there had been no sign of any activity from the tunnel. Now that they knew to look for it, they could see the loom of the firelight from the valley at the other end of the tunnel, reflecting on the low, scudding clouds.

  "I hope it doesn't rain," said Horace suddenly. "That'd ruin our idea all right."

  Will stopped in his tracks and looked up at him quickly. That unpleasant thought hadn't occurred to him. "It isn't going to rain," he said firmly, and hoped he was right. He continued on then, leading Tug gently to the unfinished end of the bridge. The little horse stopped there, ears pricked and nostrils twitching to the scents of the night air.

  "Alert," said Will softly to the horse, the command word that told him to give warning if he sensed approaching danger. Tug tossed his head once, signifying t
hat he understood. Then Will led the way across the uncompleted section of the bridge, stepping lightly as he crossed the narrow beams above the dizzying drop. Horace and Evanlyn followed, more carefully, with Horace heaving a sigh of relief when they reached the point where the planking began. He noted that compared to the previous night, there was much shorter distance to traverse before reaching the completed section. He realized that Will was right. Another day would see the bridge finished and ready for use.

  Will unslung his bow and quiver and laid them on the planking. Then he drew his saxe knife from its scabbard and, dropping to his knees, began to pry up one of the nearest planks from the bridge walkway. The wood was soft pine, roughly sawn, and perfect firewood. Horace drew his dagger and began prying up the planks in the next row. As they loosened them, Evanlyn moved them to one side, stacking them in a pile. When she had six planks, each over a meter long, she gathered them up and ran lightly to the far side of the bridge, stacking them on the far bank of the Fissure, close to where the massive, tarred cables were fastened to wooden pylons. By the time she returned, Will and Horace were well on the way to removing another six. These she took to the other cable. Will had explained his plan to them earlier in the day. To make sure there was no remaining structure on the far side, they would need to burn through both cables and pylons at that end, letting the bridge fall into the depths of the Fissure. The Wargals might be able to span the Fissure with a small, temporary rope affair, but nothing substantial enough to permit large numbers of troops to cross in a short time.

  Once they had burned the bridge, they would ride full speed to alert the King's army to the threat in the south. Any small numbers of Wargals who might cross the Fissure could then be easily dealt with by the kingdom's troops.

  The two boys continued levering the planks free and setting them to one side for Evanlyn. In her turn, she maintained her constant ferrying back and forth across the bridge, until the stacks by each pylon were piled high. In spite of the cold night, both boys were sweating freely with the effort. Finally, Evanlyn laid a hand on Will's shoulder as he pried up one board and began immediately on another.