“The chieftains will speak to them before we move once more. I am certain they will not object too much if it means they and their children have a chance to live,” Saefa replied.
Jandar asked, “Naidu said they won’t engage you directly, right?”
Saefa nodded. “That is correct. They shoot at us from as far away as they can. The lizard riders have tried to charge them but they retreat, and there are simply too many. Their volleys overwhelm any resistance we can muster. It is why I say we must push south to Lahar. It is the only place they might hesitate to follow.”
“Lahar is the haunted place you spoke of?” Nyx asked.
“It is. Lahar was once Capria’s most important port and the central hub of our economy. It was the only access we had to the sea and the trade such routes brought with it.”
“What happened to it?” Lexon asked, always eager to hear a new story.
“Lahar was located near a large volcano, but when it erupted it buried what little survived the massive landslide in ash. It was so sudden, few survived. Thousands perished in an instant. The lava flows even destroyed the only access to the sea, choking the inlet with stone and making it impossible to approach by ship. The mountains, sea, and its reputation make it the best place for us to avoid Aelim’s kill squads.”
Jandar nodded in agreement. “Then this is where we should go. I will do whatever I can to help you. I wasn’t able to save my family, but maybe I can save theirs.”
Saefa’s eyes watered as he held back tears, and the weight returned to his shoulders. He lifted himself back up both physically and emotionally. “We can mourn our losses later. For now, let us prepare to move. We have not rested long enough, I know, but it is the most we can expect to get. Jandar, you and Nyx are best placed at our rear. The army will give chase and run us down the moment they can see well enough to loose death upon us without fear of getting too close and contracting this so-called plague we carry.”
Nyx opened her inventory and gave Saefa the scimitar they had looted from the Shahmaran. “Here, maybe this will help you exact some retribution.”
Saefa cradled the large sword in his hands and gazed down upon it. “It is a magnificent blade. I will anoint it in the blood of my enemies.”
The camp packed up and began moving within minutes. With little more than the clothes on their backs and whatever essentials they could grab before fleeing their homes, there was nothing to gather before moving on.
“If it’s all the same to you,” Lexon said, “I’ll travel near the middle of the group where I might be most useful.”
Jandar rolled his eyes. “You mean with the women and children where you might be most safe.”
“I know you’re trying to insult me, but I’ve come to terms with me own cowardly nature and sense of self-preservation. I ain’t proud of it, but I also won’t deny who I am by being ashamed. Saying that, in this instance you’re wrong, and being a gentleman, I will refrain from responding to you in kind. These people have suffered horribly, and their spirits are crushed. In case you haven’t noticed, me music can bring more than just a pretty tune to their ears. It can lift their spirits and ward away the fatigue in their hearts and feet…you horse’s ass.”
Nyx laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’re right. It’s a wonderful idea,” she glared at Jandar, “and he is a horse’s ass.”
Jandar huffed through his nose and bulled his way toward the back of the caravan. The sun was minutes away from peaking over the horizon, and he could just make out the soldiers’ camp in the distance when he stood atop a small rise.
The train of people wound their way through the low ground. It did not take long for scouts to get word of their departure back to the army, but they were slower to pack up their bivouac and give chase. Nyx and Jandar kept a wary eye on the soldiers as they hove in and out of view with every rise and dip in the terrain.
“I hope I don’t sound like a fangirl, but what was Edison like?” Nyx asked.
“Fangirl, like one of those Caprian exotic dancers?” Jandar queried with a sidelong glance.
“No! A fangirl or fanboy is someone who idolizes another person. I’m a bit of a nerd back home, and I’ve looked up to him my entire life. He’s kind of like the patron saint of nerds.”
“Nerds?”
Nyx palmed her forehead. “I feel like I’m talking to someone from another planet with you sometimes.”
He hesitated a moment before answering. “I am from another planet, technically.”
“Hm, I guess you are, aren’t you? I forget that sometimes. Anyway, a nerd is usually an academic with poor social skills.”
“I see.”
“So, what is he like?”
Jandar shrugged. “Like most players I guess. Kind of a narcissistic, self-centered asshole.”
Nyx quirked an eyebrow at him. “You’re calling someone else an asshole?”
He gave her a thoughtful look before replying. “I guess that’s fair.”
“No, it’s not,” Nyx replied with a sigh. “You’ve suffered a lot, and he’s at least partly responsible. I guess I understand your bitterness a little.”
“Thank you.”
“It still wouldn’t kill you to lighten up a bit, especially with Lexon.”
Jandar’s expression soured. “He is conniving and a proclaimed coward.”
“He’s trying, and given the fact that he is a coward but has followed us into danger several times and acquitted himself well is a good indication of his true character.”
“I suppose. I still don’t trust him.”
“You don’t have to trust someone to be polite.”
Jandar gave her a relenting nod after a moment of contemplation. “I’ll try.”
The army moved faster than the caravan did, which was limited to the best speed the young, old, and infirm could manage. The pursuers’ front ranks were nearing bowshot range less than two hours after they had broken camp and begun traveling south.
Nyx vanished, and a few minutes later a sharp cry reached Jandar’s ears. A second one followed a short time afterward from a different position, both about a hundred yards away. Jandar flinched when Nyx loped around the base of a rise on his left a minute later.
“They have two less scouts now,” she said, beaming with pride.
Jandar looked out over the expanse between them and the army. “I don’t think they’re as happy with your work as much as you do.”
A score of archers sprinted forward and drew back their bows in preparation to release a volley of steel rain down upon them. Jandar let the stone in his hand guide his efforts and work his will. Just before the archers loosed their arrows, a powerful wind blew through their ranks and across their front. The arrows, carried off course by the wind, thudded into the sand well to their left.
“Go tell the others to quicken their steps and maybe change course while the soldiers are blind,” Jandar said. “I should be able to keep the sand storm between us and them for several minutes.”
Nyx ducked her head and ran toward the front of the procession. She returned several minutes later, her breath only slightly labored after making the mile-long round-trip.
“Saefa had anticipated this and is leading us into a gulch that will keep us moving mostly southward.”
“Good. Can you channel mana to me? The stone is already drained by a third.”
Nyx looked toward their rear element. “We’ll need to stick closer to the back and anyone I need to drain.”
Jandar nodded and they both hastened toward those closest to the rear of the caravan. No one appeared to notice when Nyx begin drawing off their mana and sending it to Jandar, who replenished the eternity stone from his own store of arcane energy.
Since he could not see through his own dust storm, Jandar had no idea if the army was following just behind the curtain of wind-blown sand or if they were skirting around it in an attempt to flank them. The area of his spell only covered a strip five hundred yards long, but the wind was with the
m and carried the cloud twice that distance. He couldn’t worry about that. All he could do was focus on the task at hand and adjust to any changes that arose.
Even with Nyx’s mana leeching and sharing, Jandar could not maintain the sandstorm barrier for more than an hour before the stone’s energy ran dry. Fortunately, their constant shift in direction was enough to keep ahead of their pursuers until Jandar was able to conceal them once again.
Chapter 17: Hounded
Night had fallen. The refugees gathered into their huddled groups, most of them falling asleep as soon as they ate a bit of dry food. They were all exhausted from the marching, particularly the weakest of them.
Jandar, Nyx, Saefa, and Lexon stood atop a rise and looked out across the desert to the campfires in the distance. The nights were cold, and Jandar knew he was not the only one envious of their warmth. It did not appear as though the army had pitched any tents this night. They would give chase the instant the caravan began to move again.
“You’re sure they won’t try to ambush us at night?” Jandar asked.
Saefa shook his head. “Not unless they get truly desperate. They fear the plague too much. It would be far too easy for a few of us to sneak close, and to contract the disease is a death sentence.”
Jandar looked over his shoulder toward the cold, dark camp. “We’ll have to leave earlier than we did last night. Midnight at the latest. That will give us at least five hours where they won’t come within bow range and I don’t have to use the stone to keep them away.”
Saefa shook his head. “It won’t matter. The children and infirm are exhausted. Remember, this is our third day of running, not the first. We will be slower tomorrow, and the next day slower still.”
“How far to this place you think is safe?”
“Two more days at a normal pace. Probably three for us.”
Nyx said, “They’ll have scouts watching us and will follow within minutes of us moving even if they won’t get close enough to use their bows effectively no matter how early we pack up and leave.”
“We need to give them a reason to stay farther away,” Jandar said. “We have to make them afraid of us.”
Saefa answered him with a small shake of his head. “You want to try to ambush them. We tried this the night after we fled the village. Their scouts spotted us, and the archers rained down death upon our heads. We lost many of our warriors that night.”
“I can make sure they don’t see the three of us,” Nyx said.
“You mean the four of us,” Lexon replied.
“No. I can only gather enough shadows to hide me, Saefa, and Jandar. Besides, you’re better used to help keep the caravan moving.”
Lexon let out the breath he had been holding. “I’m so glad you said that on account of I really didn’t want to be stuck like a pincushion. I just didn’t want you to think I wasn’t willing to go.”
“But you weren’t,” Jandar said.
“But I made it look like I did. If there’s one thing I know being a master illusionist—”
“You’re an initiate at best,” Jandar interrupted.
“If there’s one thing I know being a novice illusionist,” Lexon said with a glare at Jandar, “is that appearance is everything.”
“Not when you ruin the appearance by continuing to talk.”
Lexon nodded. “Right, that did diminish the overall image I was hoping to portray. Not knowing when to shut me gob has earned me more than a few punches to me face and many a night spent in a jail cell.”
Jandar began to mutter, “I’d like to punch—”
Nyx’s swift backhand caught him in the arm, and she cast him a glower that was both a reminder of their earlier discussion and a warning. “We each have our strengths and roles. We three are best suited for creating an ambush. There’s a saying where I come from, use the right tool for the right job.”
Lexon’s eyes flicked toward Jandar and he mumbled, “He’s a right tool all right.”
Jandar glared at the bard and clenched his fists but stayed silent.
Nyx continued. “I’ll find us a good place to lay in wait. We’ll stay behind once the caravan starts moving again. Now, get as much rest as you can.”
Saefa woke Jandar and Nyx with a soft word and touch on the shoulder. “We are preparing to move.”
Nyx stood and stretched with the fluidity of a cat while Jandar rubbed the sleep from his eyes and lumbered to his feet.
“Are we ready to get in place?” Nyx asked once Jandar donned his armor and weapons.
The two men nodded, and she led them to the spot she had chosen for their ambush. The plan was as audacious as it was dangerous. For it to work, they would have to attack and kill many times their number. Even though their targets were mostly archers who had little in the way of melee skill, there would be a lot of them. If they failed to rout out of fear and surprise, they could easily overwhelm them.
Nyx knew Lexon would have been a big help in this regard. He could instill a sense of unease in them with his magic that would almost guarantee they fled, but it simply wasn’t feasible. He would also have been all but defenseless in such a chaotic battle, and a single, well-placed arrow could spell his demise.
They would have to rely on their martial skills and shear brutality to see them through. They also had the advantage of darkness. Most people had an innate fear of the dark and the things it hid from their eyes. Many of the soldiers would not know who or what was attacking them, or how many there were. This alone provided their greatest chance of success.
The caravan began moving, and the tail end soon disappeared from sight. Ten minutes later, a pair of scouts crept through the night after them. Nyx deepened the shadows around her until they passed. She needed to conserve her mana and maintained the spell only when she knew someone was nearby.
A few minutes later, one of the two scouts returned, passing just a few yards away from where the ambushers lay in wait. Nyx laid a restraining hand on Jandar’s arm when she felt him tense up. They needed the scout to return to the main host and lead them into their ambush.
She heard the soldiers approaching well before she made out their dark forms. A single figure, likely the same scout they had seen earlier, passed by them. Seconds later, at least a score of men clutching bows filed into the area, the nearest ones just a few strides away.
Nyx whispered, “Go.”
Jandar burst from hiding, his boots kicking up a spray of sand. He barreled into the closest knot of men, raised his maul over his head, and brought it crashing down with a roar. A concussive shockwave tore through the soldiers around him, hurling them back, and shattering the bows they held.
You hit archer with earth-imbued Maul of Crushing using Bullard’s Blast for 34 physical and 39 magical earth damage. You have killed archer.
You hit archer with earth-imbued Maul of Crushing using Bullard’s Blast for 32 physical and 39 magical earth damage. You have killed archer.
You hit archer with earth-imbued Maul of Crushing using Bullard’s Blast for 33 physical and 37 magical earth damage. You have killed archer.
You hit archer with earth-imbued Maul of Crushing using Bullard’s Blast for 34 physical and 40 magical earth damage. You have killed archer.
You hit archer with earth-imbued Maul of Crushing using Bullard’s Blast for 35 physical and 39 magical earth damage. You have killed archer.
You hit archer with earth-imbued Maul of Crushing using Bullard’s Blast for 34 physical and 38 magical earth damage. You have killed archer.
Jandar charged out of the cloud of dust before the rain of sand and shattered stone finished falling from the sky. He met another group of archers trying to steady their shaking hands enough to knock and loose their arrows. One managed to get off a shot, but it whizzed harmlessly over his shoulder. Jandar swung his maul and caught three others in its deadly arc.
You hit archer with Half-Moon Cleave from fire-imbued Maul of Crushing for 34 physical and 15 magical fire damage. You have killed arch
er.
You hit archer with Half-Moon Cleave from fire-imbued Maul of Crushing for 32 physical and 14 magical fire damage. Archer ignites. Archer takes 7 fire damage. Archer takes 7 fire damage. You have killed archer.
You hit archer with Half-Moon Cleave from fire-imbued Maul of Crushing for 35 physical and 16 magical fire damage. You have killed archer.
Behind him, Nyx dropped the cloaking shadows and leeched mana and health from the nearest enemies, feeding it into both herself and Jandar. She flung throwing knives almost at abandon. The archers clustered so close together she needed only pick a direction before throwing. It was almost impossible not to hit someone no matter how haphazard her attack.
Few of her blades killed a man outright, but her combat log showed her death count creeping up with every tic of the poison with which she coated her weapons. An archer swung his bow like a staff at her, but she rolled beneath the clumsy swing and buried both daggers in his guts.
He and a good measure of his innards fell at her feet. She vanished back into the deeper patches of darkness as swiftly as she had appeared, reemerging like a specter elsewhere on the battlefield to reap more souls for her dark master.
Saefa rushed out to the periphery of the wild melee, putting himself between his fleeing people and those tasked with hunting and putting them down like animals. Most of the archers had dropped their bows and drawn shortswords. Two separate groups charged at him from different directions in hopes of hewing him down.
The Caprian counted the steps and seconds it would take the first group to reach him before sweeping the big scimitar in a complete circle before him. The cleaver-like blade cut through the nearest men with ease. He continued his rotation, and a spray of scorching hot sand erupted from the incredible weapon.
His attackers’ cries of pain added to the others across the battlefield to create a scene of true horror. Small fires made by bodies set alight by Jandar’s maul only added to the tableau. It took only seconds for the remaining men’s courage to break, and they retreated toward what they thought would be the safety of their fellow soldiers.
Chaos Unchained- The Mad Smith Page 30