by P. S. Power
He needed to find some other way of doing things, that would allow that, in the rain, or cold weather. Bows were at a disadvantage if the wood got too cold. They could break from it, under ordinary use and would be much harder to pull at the same time.
Shrugging, he simply answered, his face bland.
“There’s a herd of swine ahead, on the right of the road, close enough to the water to make it worth looking for them.” He went on instantly. “There’s more honey and greens that way. Also, about a half-mile past that, those men, our tree felling friends, are planning to destroy a small dam and wash the road out. They aren’t in place yet. I’ll have to ride about five miles ahead, to meet them.”
The Knight, his red mustache looking well groomed for being on the road, shook his head.
“Then arm yourself. Bring your bow, blades and make sure your armor is in order. A spear, as well. How many are we facing?”
That was a number he had, at least.
“Six again. These aren’t bandits though. The sense is that they were hired to do the work and are mainly just farmers. Local ones, even.” They were still well inside of Istlan, which meant they were their own people. Probably working for the Yansians, even if they didn’t know it. It was clear that they suspected the fact though. The man who had hired them had spoken with a deep accent, after all. Anders had picked that up, if not a name for the fellow.
The large Knight went still, then shook his head. After a moment, he smirked a bit.
“We let the squires have the last group, so we should let the others have a go at the problem this time. Otherwise people will start to become restless. We’ll put the boys on to guard, this time, and send part of the knights with you.” The man turned then and bellowed. He was good at that kind of thing, as it turned out. His voice sounded bass, and manly. Enough so that it rumbled inside of Anders’ chest, even though he was several feet away from him. It was daunting.
Powerful even.
“Knights to the fore! Knights to the fore!” With no explanation, there were eleven men riding to their position at full speed, with weapons out, ready to repel an attack if needed.
In their excitement, the horses danced, not knowing what was going on. Anders patted Brownie on the neck and explained.
“We’re going on a trip. They just want to go with us. No reason to be antsy over it. I’m pretty certain we’re already going along.” Not that it totally made sense, but he had to think that getting the food in was at least as important as taking out the would-be saboteurs.
At least part of him thought so. It was interesting when Farad pulled back, to understand that he was the one that felt that way, since people needed to eat every day like they did. Anders the boy on the other hand thought that preventing the road from being washed out, which would mean the caravan being stuck, possibly for days or longer, was just as important. Yes, they all had to eat, but the truth was they had a goal to see to as well.
Which, when stated that way, made enough sense that Farad simply agreed with the younger portion of himself. He’d been thinking like a historian. A man who had lived away from the dangers of the world, for almost his entire life. Food had been important to him and the others, but no one had actually prevented them from doing their jobs, the entire time he’d lived at the compound.
The situation he was in at the moment was very different than anything the old man had ever experienced, except for the one trip he’d taken a few months before. That was instructive enough, perhaps, for him to not make such basic mistakes, but part of being an elder was becoming set in your ways. A thing that he couldn’t afford at the moment. Luckily Anders had been there to correct his thinking.
The Knight Commander looked at the others, and then spread his hands. Everyone had ridden up, after a few moments, so they had all the squires, even if that technically hadn’t been called for.
He gestured up the road.
“Brolly here found our friends for us. The ones that put the trees in our path the other day. The new plan seems to be to wash the road out ahead. They aren’t in position yet, but it’s a bit of a race, if I have it right. Anders is headed that way, but we aren’t sending him alone.”
Squire Howard nodded.
“Do you want us to handle that? Or is it...” He looked confused then and blushed, his face turning red enough that it was clear he was feeling embarrassed for being assumptive.
Sir Humphrey just grinned at the boy, as if he couldn’t be prouder of him.
“Good thinking there, Squire. Not on this one. I want you and the others to take over on guard duty here. You know the pattern. This could be a ploy to get us to set our guard low, drawing part of us off ahead, while we’re attacked from a different angle. That isn’t likely, but even a wizard can be tricked, and we’re going into a war ahead, so that kind of thing might be in play.” The fellow sobered a bit then, and shrugged, which caused his mail armor to shift in the dim daylight.
After a moment, the slightly bronzed colored armor shining a bit too much to truly mimic rust, he went on, looking at everyone in turn. Including Anders.
“We take everything seriously from this point on. I know that it might seem like a game so far, but this is an engagement with real enemy forces, or at least might be. Our task is to guard the supplies going to the front. That means getting them there.” He sounded stern for a moment, but smiled at the others in turn. “I’ll ride out with Brolly, Rob and Daniel. Sir Clemence and Sir Farrel. Sir Donno is in charge until our return. If we fall in battle, you squires are responsible for making certain that the task we were set is finished, understood?”
There was a collection of somber nods, and then scrambling, as Sir Humphrey waved at them.
“Weapons and light armor. We need to leave in ten minutes. As I mentioned, we have a race ahead. Hurry. Meet at the head wagon. Ride!”
Everyone had to scatter, even if the adults were all properly armed. They had spears with them, instead of lances, which given the terrain in the woods was the wiser choice. Anders had to travel the furthest to get his things, including his bow, arrows and spear. He didn’t have a proper sword, but dug out a long knife that was nearly up to the task. As he worked, Prince Erold turned around to stare at him.
“That looks serious then. What is my portion in this?”
That hadn’t been explicitly spoken of, but there was an obvious answer, anyway.
“Guard duty. Get ready to repel an attack, and protect the center of the line, from the wagon. You might not sleep tonight, even if all goes well, having to do a double or even triple watch. Clearly, if it comes to it, make a simple meal for people and request help in doing it from Mary and her ladies. Give them some of the honey for their efforts. I’ll try to bring back more, but you never know what will happen in these kind of things.”
The Prince snorted at him and shook his head.
“You know Anders, you’ve been more than a little strange, for some time now. Ever since you were ill to dying with the red fever those seasons back, in fact.” The boy seemed suspicious, even as Anders blinked at the words.
“You mean they didn’t tell you? I would have thought... Everyone else knows...” He shook his head then and sighed. It was his story and Erold was his best friend. Close to his only friend, if he were going to be honest about the matter.
The other blond fellow narrowed his eyes then.
“Sorry? I don’t’ know what the topic is, I’m afraid. What didn’t they tell me?”
It was tempting to put things off until later, since he didn’t really have time for a long discussion at the moment. Still, he hated it when people did that sort of thing to him, so kept packing his gear, moving it from the back of the wagon onto Brownie as he tried to come up with a short version of events.
“When I lay dying Prince Alpert and Lady Lyse begged Master Franken, not then known to be a traitor, to save their boy. He used a magical crystal he had to do so. It worked well enough, though it wasn’t a simple healing magic. Insi
de the crystal was a copy of an old historian from over a thousand years ago. Farad Ibn Istel. His old and rather boring mind was mixed with my own, which is why things have seemed so off. It isn’t possession really, we are, more or less, one person now. There is more to the tale, but I have to go and see to the issues of the day.” He felt torn, since he hadn’t shared nearly enough to satisfy himself on the matter.
The Prince nodded.
“I have been told some of that, to be fair. I heard you talking to that magical seeming, when Franken died, even. I’d thought that the effect had faded, though. Father made it seem as if that might be the case.” There was a troubled glance from the driver’s seat, as if he felt he might have been lied to, directly. By someone.
Shaking his head, Anders managed a smile.
“Not so far. Worse, I fear that Master Franken had been sent with the crystal to attempt such a thing on purpose. Which... Well, if it’s a trick, then I haven’t been informed of it, personally. We need to be on the watch for that. Really, they should have set you to that task, being my friend. Clearly, if I’m some kind of spy or traitor, unknowing, then kill me at the earliest possible chance.”
He waved then, and rode off. There was no calling out for him to stop or explain more, which was a good thing. The idea that he, Farad, might not know that he had been sent to harm people was a thing that nearly crippled him in fear, for a moment. Anders kept them moving toward the front. Well, Brownie helped with that, being a good horse, as she was.
By the time they were headed forward, moving at a quick walk, Prince Robarts moved up alongside of him. The Heir to the throne seemed calm enough, at least on the outside.
“Can you ride and collect information using your magical skills, Anders? I know that Master Tolan can.”
He nodded, smiling a bit.
“Master Tolan is much better at this kind of thing than I am, however. I should be able to manage it, if we aren’t going too fast. The trick isn’t in getting into the correct trance state for it, but in not falling off the horse. Let me see here.” He took a moment to make certain his body was well balanced and that the road ahead was relatively flat and smooth. It was a bit damp, but it hadn’t been churned by forty wagons before he got to it this time, which made riding almost normal again.
When he closed his eyes, he searched for any dangers ahead of them, to the sides and behind them. That got him to nod and speak gently.
“Behind us, a good way back, is a small Yansian attack group. They aren’t after us in particular, but are dressed as ordinary citizens of Istlan. They seem bent on causing trouble, where they can. I...” He paused, the sense of someone noticing him watching them growing for a moment, before the whole group of enemy attackers suddenly vanished from his magical sight. “I was noticed and they’re gone now. They seem to be off this road, by about twenty or thirty miles and off to the side.”
There was a nod then, from the Prince, as Sir Humphrey rode up. Rob looked at the other fellow and shook his head.
“Meaning they have a magic user of some sort with them. Probably a good one, if they can hide from a wizard’s sight like that. Can you mark their position and send that information off to my Father, do you think? While we ride, I mean.”
Anders stared at the man, still in a trance and shook his head a bit.
“Not quickly, or well. The men ahead aren’t in place yet. We can get there at about the same time they arrive, if we hurry. I’ll try to get a short message off to Master Tolan, just in case he hasn’t found the group behind us yet.” The man may well have, but the weakness of wizardry was that you had to look in the correct location, to collect the information you needed. Plus, if someone could hide from that sight, on purpose, they might well be too hard to find.
Anders had done it, but he’d checked for threats daily for a week. Many times per day and this was the first time he’d noticed that particular group at all. It made sense that whoever they were, they’d be on guard from the King’s Wizard as their main focus. At least if they were intelligent and sane. That being the case, then Anders, who was far from as accomplished as Master Tolan, might have been blocked or hidden from seeing them.
He had to ride with his eyes closed for a time and nearly slipped off Brownie, more than once, since they couldn’t stop to let him sit on something that wasn’t moving. Not at the moment. It meant that it took him nearly twice as long to compose the short message as it should have, and when he finally spoke the thing out loud, he wasn’t truly certain that it was enough to set anyone in the right direction.
After a full two minutes of speaking in his magical gibberish language, directly contacting Master Tolan, he waited. Interestingly, instead of a mere feeling of the other man noticing him, which was their normal fashion for passing such things, he heard a voice. One speaking a single word, five times in a row.
“Understood.” It was Master Tolan’s voice, if perhaps a bit deeper and more authoritative than he normally heard the other man being.
Anders opened his eyes then.
“They have the message. It’s a bit frustrating. I feel like I should ride back and stop them, but...”
Sir Daniel laughed. It was a hearty thing. One that didn’t sound like the man had been nearly dead less than two weeks before.
“That’s always the way of it, isn’t it? We need to see to our main task first, even knowing about another threat. Getting to the front, with the goods intact. That lies ahead of us. We know of a threat to the rear, but can’t let that distract us from what’s needed, even if it means others will die or be harmed.” The thin man took a deep breath then, as some of the others turned a bit in their saddles, to look at him.
As if he might be speaking too harshly or out of turn. He wasn’t. Anders understood that portion, clearly. Sir Daniel was simply reminding him of their duty there, because he viewed the boy with them as a child. Not in an insulting fashion, either. He was lecturing a bit, perhaps, but it was done in a way that spoke of him expecting only good results, not with a harsh tone or as a reprimand. It was just as if he didn’t know if anyone had informed Anders of that fact before.
Which they hadn’t, in any direct sense.
So he simply nodded, still lightly in a trance state. It would leave him seeming a bit too calm and subdued, he didn’t doubt. As if he didn’t understand that they were riding into danger ahead.
“I understand, Sir Daniel. They should be about...” He pointed with his left hand, showing that the body of people they hunted were still on the right-hand side of the road, even if the dam they wanted to break open would be on the left. “Twenty minutes ride from here. They’re moving as we are. If we could push the pace slightly, we might be there before they are. I think they’re moving through the brush, off the proper road. That’s slowing them down.”
Sir Humphrey merely sped his horse slightly, not really pushing the animal at all. Brownie kept up, easily enough. Then, she was carrying nearly a hundred pounds less than any of the other beasts were. No one seemed to be labored in their breathing, though as they approached the correct spot, some time later, a few of the men were showing signs of anticipation.
Anders wasn’t. Then, he was in a trance still, which explained at least a portion of that kind of thing. He directed them, silently, to the dam, which was a small thing, with a nice lake behind it, but that was built of wood and had a small trickling stream which passed under a bridge to the other side of the road.
Sir Humphrey waved to the structure, which was back from their position enough to be nearly out of sight.
“It seems we got here first. We can hide in the woods and see if our friends will be along shortly? Anders, you have a plan for that?”
He nodded, since he actually did.
“I need to string my bow and to go to the other side of the road. We should try to capture some of them alive, if we can. I want to check and see who hired them. I haven’t gotten a name or a good description of them, using my wizardry skills. The men might know
more.”
That got a nod, though no promise it would work. Still, the men didn’t insist that Anders not take his bow and head to the other side of the road alone, either. A trickle of fear settled inside of him. The Farad portion at any rate, but he didn’t bother letting it show externally, as he hid in the bushes, near what he was certain was the correct animal trail to meet with the men.
When they got there, moving carefully, but not in a covert fashion, he could hear them talking. Chattering, really.
“We’re close, now. It’s been a while since I’ve been out this way, but when we worked on the dam it was near the crossing bridge. We should probably tie the horses and walk in, just in case we take the road faster than I think we will. Good beasts, so I don’t want to lose them. Spent half what I was paid for this girl.” The man came into view, patting his tan horse on the neck. She seemed to be a good enough animal, though not as refined or pretty as Brownie or Chestnut.
The other men more or less agreed with the idea, so helpfully got off their mounts, tied them up and walked almost directly in Anders’ direction. It would make it harder for them to escape, not being on horseback, he had to figure.
He muttered softly, placing a simple enough spell on the arrow he’d selected. It was a new one for him, since he wasn’t trying to kill anyone. Not yet.
“Bi ti ah hom, trin.” When he felt the spell sink into the wood of his nocked arrow, he pulled back and fired it into the ground at the feet of the walking men. The effect was what he’d called for, but looked different than he’d assumed it would.
Each of the men was suddenly hit, as if struck by a blow, three times. The sound of it was muffled and not sharp like a slap at all. They didn’t all fall down or anything that impressive, but each of them called out at the sudden assault.