by Pedro Urvi
“Let’s see if we can manage it without any more foul-ups on the way,” Gerd muttered.
Egil gave him a smile. “Let’s hope so.”
They spurred their horses on, and the group disappeared into the night.
Chapter 43
Nilsa, Valeria, Egil and Gerd covered the part of the Thousand Lakes controlled by Zangria as fast as they could. It was imperative that they should not meet any Zangrian soldiers on the way. If they did, they would be in deep trouble.
They went on riding through the night, with their hoods up. The journey home seemed shorter than the journey out, probably because this time they knew the terrain and what to expect. When they reached a crossroads, which showed the way to the city of Asofi, they were afraid that agents of the Guild might be coming after them. But thanks to Egil’s plan and the fact that they were traveling at night, the agents of the guild of assassins – who were certainly looking for them – never found them. On a couple of nights, they had a scare or two with strangers on the early morning roads, but that was all.
“Are you sure the Guild aren’t looking for us?” Gerd asked Egil, sounding worried.
“Yes. I certainly am.”
“But they don’t know it was us.”
“They’re not absolutely sure, but they’d certainly suspect a group like ours. That’s what I’d do myself.”
“We didn’t leave too many traces that could identify us,” Nilsa pointed out.
“True. On the other hand, you should always assume that the enemy will take the most damaging action, and foresee it. Otherwise, we’d be underestimating their intelligence. I don’t trust them. I’m sure that somehow they’ve managed to find out it was us, however careful we might have been at hiding our trail.”
“Yeah,” Valeria agreed, “it’s always better to expect the worst and be ready for it.” They all nodded.
“All the same,” Egil pointed out, “the danger’s only temporary. Remember, I worked out a plan to deal with the Guild.” He smiled.
“That’s true. That was a good bit of thinking,” Nilsa said more cheerfully. “When will it happen?”
“I calculate about two or three weeks from now. It’ll take them some time to prepare the hit.”
“So, until then we’d better keep our eyes peeled,” Valeria said.
“Definitely.”
They had no more trouble the rest of the way to the border with Norghana. One cool dawn, they reached the river they would have to cross to leave Zangrian territory for good.
“On the other side of that river we’ll be home,” Gerd announced joyfully.
“At last!” cried Nilsa. She raised her arms in a gesture of victory.
Valeria inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the fresh breeze. “It smells of Norghana from here.”
Nilsa clapped her hands. “I’m so looking forward to getting back!”
“I thought you liked adventures,” Gerd said.
“Yeah, as much as you like eating dried meat and stale bread every day.”
Gerd laughed aloud. “Very true,” he was forced to admit.
“I’m delighted to be back,” Valeria said, “in spite of the good time I’ve been having with your messes.”
“Our messes,” Nilsa corrected her. “You’re part of the mission.”
She smiled. “A parallel part.”
Egil was looking at the river. “We’re not in Norghana yet,” he pointed out.
Nilsa turned to Gerd. “Where do we cross?”
“A little further north, there’s a ford.”
“Right then, let’s not waste any time.”
“You want to cross in broad daylight?” Gerd said in surprise.
“I’d risk it,” said Valeria.
“Yeah, I want to cross over straight away,” Nilsa agreed.
Gerd wrinkled his nose, not liking the idea at all. “A Zangrian patrol might see us.”
“You want to wait for night?” Nilsa asked with despair in her voice.
“It’s safest.”
“But we’ll lose half a day,” she insisted, “and we’ve already lost a lot of time. We’ve got to get to Dolbarar and save him.”
“Egil, what do you think?” Gerd asked.
“The safest option is to wait until night-time to cross. On the other hand, that would delay us, and as we have one foot in Norghana, the idea of crossing now is tempting …”
“And so?” Gerd asked.
“Let’s cross now,” said Nilsa.
“Exactly,” Valeria agreed.
Egil was shaking his head slowly. “My head tells me to wait for night. My heart tells me to cross now …”
“So, which do we listen to?” Nilsa asked, impatient for an answer,
“Hmmm.”
“That doesn’t sound like either the one or the other,” Valeria taunted him.
“Given the circumstances we’re in, I think that this time I’m going to listen to my heart.”
“Yesss!” Nilsa cried
Gerd shook his head and frowned. “All right, then.”
“Lead the way, Gerd,” Valeria said impatiently.
Gerd led them to the spot where they could cross, hugging the edge of the forest so that the trees would hide them from possible enemy watchmen. The river was on their right, and behind it was Norghanian territory. Danger would not come from that side, but from their left. Luckily the forest on that side was thick, and left nothing much visible more than ten paces away. Nilsa, deeply restless, constantly turned in her saddle. More than once she looked as though she were going to turn all the way round.
Gerd pointed. “There it is.”
“Good place,” Nilsa said. “The river narrows a lot there.”
“It’s not flowing as strongly as it was the first time we crossed,” Valeria commented, with a glance at Egil.
Egil smiled in embarrassment, remembering what had happened to him. “It’s better like this.”
“What are we waiting for?” Nilsa urged them.
“I’ll go first,” Gerd said. “Wait till I’ve finished crossing before you get into the water.”
Valeria nodded, but Nilsa looked unwilling. She wanted to cross right away.
“Go ahead,” said Egil.
Gerd led his horse to the shore, and then carefully, winning over the horse’s unwillingness to get wet, he went on into the river. In fact, the current was less strong, and the horse was less affected by the force of the water. He reached the middle of the river, and established that they could cross without too much difficulty. He had turned in his saddle to signal to them when he saw a large group of riders coming at them from the Zangrian shore.
He began to wave at them to warn them of the danger.
“What’s up with Gerd?” Nilsa wondered.
“He’s warning us of danger!” said Egil.
“Danger for him?” Nilsa asked.
“No. Danger for us,” said Valeria who had already identified the danger Gerd was pointing out.
“Where?” Nilsa asked.
“Right in front of us. I can see twenty or so Zangrian soldiers on horseback, patrolling their side of the river.”
“Hell!” Nilsa said. “What do we do now?”
“The best thing to do would be to hide in the forest and wait for them to go by,” said Egil.
“Too late!” said Valeria. “They’ve seen us!”
Nilsa saw them too. “It’s true! They’re pointing at us!”
“They’ve broken into a gallop!” said Valeria. “What do we do now?”
“Cross the river!” Nilsa cried, and spurred her horse.
Valeria looked at Egil for confirmation.
“We cross!” he agreed.
“You go first,” she said.
Egil forced his horse to get into the water, with Valeria following close behind him.
“Hurry up! They’re right on top of you!” Gerd shouted. He was readying his bow.
The Zangrian soldiers were galloping along the riverbank.
They carried spears and shields. They were not interested in capturing them, they had come to kill. The horses’ hooves clattered on the earth, stones and water of the shore. A Zangrian officer was shouting the order to charge. They had been taken for spies.
Nilsa was pushing her mount to cross at top speed. Egil was trying to follow her, but it was a lot more complicated for him, particularly when he got into the deeper stretch.
“Don’t stop, Egil! Keep going!” Valeria called from behind him.
The Zangrian soldiers reached the crossing-point. The first of them seemed to hesitate over whether or not to continue the pursuit. Then the officer barked an order, and their doubt evaporated. They plunged into the river after them.
“I’ll deal with them,” Gerd shouted. They had almost reached him by now. The giant released an arrow, which brought down the first of the pursuing soldiers.
“We’ve got to get across!” Nilsa shouted as she overtook him.
Egil was trying to follow Nilsa, but with great difficulty. Seeing him in danger, Valeria went to his side, choosing the side the current was coming from so that it would hit her and her horse first and cushion the force it was exerting on Egil. He realized what she was doing and glanced at her gratefully.
“Keep going, don’t stop!” Gerd said when they reached him. He released again against the pursuers, who were already crossing the river.
“I’ve made it!” Nilsa called from the Norghanian side. She nocked an arrow, aimed at the first rider and released. The arrow caught him in the shoulder of the arm he was holding the spear with.
“We’re nearly there!” Valeria shouted encouragingly to Egil.
The enemy soldiers were practically upon them. Gerd launched another arrow.
“Big guy!” Nilsa yelled. “Get out of there! I’m covering you!”
Gerd nodded, spurred his horse and went on after Valeria and Egil.
The leading Zangrian soldiers were very close to him. Too close, as Nilsa realized. She brought down the first with an arrow in the lower part of the neck. The second one she hit squarely in the head. The arrow did not penetrate his helmet, but the impact unbalanced him and the force of the river swept him away.
Valeria and Egil reached Nilsa, who was waiting for them. Valeria took her bow and prepared to help Nilsa in defense of Gerd. The giant had gained a small advantage with Nilsa’s protection. Valeria released, then Nilsa. The Zangrian soldiers deflected the arrows with their shields, but the effort delayed them. Defending themselves against accurate arrows and the force of the river at the same time proved to be a difficult task.
Gerd’s horse managed to reach the shore, and Nilsa and Valeria each released a final arrow.
“Let’s get out of here!” Nilsa shouted.
“Fast as you can!” Gerd urged them.
The group galloped away and disappeared between two areas of woodland. The Zangrian soldiers pursued them for a stretch, but realized that they would never catch up with them, abandoned the chase and turned back. They were in Norghanian territory in full daylight, which was not a good idea.
The four friends rode northwest into Norghanian territory in the direction of the capital. They did not stop until their horses could take no more.
Gerd raised his hand, seeing that his horse was about to collapse. “We’ve got to stop” he called. Because of his considerable weight, his horse was the one which had suffered most.
“I can see a stream,” Valeria said as she scanned the area from her stirrups.
“Come on, then,” Nilsa said. “My poor horse is exhausted.”
They went over to the stream and dismounted to give their exhausted horses a rest. They took off their saddles and let them roam free for a while before tending to them.
“You’re getting better at crossing rivers every day, eh?” Gerd joked to Egil, and slapped him on the back.
“Yeah,” Egil said, “I’m turning into quite a prodigy.” He put on the contorted expression of someone drowning in the river.
Nilsa gave him an encouraging smile. “You did very well today.”
“If it hadn’t been for Valeria helping me all over again, I don’t think I’d have made it this time either.”
Valeria was shaking her hair in the wind. “It was nothing. At least this time I didn’t get so wet. My, it’s good to be able to take off this hood!” She massaged her temples.
“Is it all right to take them off?” Nilsa asked.
“We’re in Norghana now,” Egil pointed out. “There’s no need for hoods anymore.”
“Well, I think I’ll massage my skull too,” said Nilsa, and followed Valeria’s example. The blonde girl was looking at Egil meanwhile in case she had been too hasty in taking her own off.
“Great, then I will too,” said Gerd, and made them laugh by shaking his own not-particularly-long hair as if he were a girl like them. Valeria and Nilsa burst out laughing at the imitation.
“Good thing we’ve humor to spare,” Egil said with a smile.
“Thanks for covering us,” Valeria said to Nilsa and Gerd when the joke had run its course and they could begin to relax a little.
“A pleasure,” Nilsa said. “A little archery practice is always welcome.”
“All three of you are fantastic,” Egil said gratefully.
“Yeah, like everything you like and think is surprising,” Nilsa shot back, laughing at the term ‘fantastic’ which Egil liked so much.
“Let’s rest and have something to eat,” Gerd suggested. He was already searching among what limited supplies they had left.
They ate, rested and regained some of their strength before going on with their journey, waiting only long enough for the horses to be completely fresh.
The rest of their journey to the capital was uneventful. They rode at a good pace but without forcing the horses, since the poor beasts were much the worse for the long journey.
When they arrived at the capital they did not delay. Egil went to look for the ingredient he needed, and the others did not even go into the city. He was gone almost all day.
“It took you a while,” Nilsa said when he rejoined them.
“Yeah, it wasn’t easy, but I’ve got what I need.”
“Then we go on to the Camp?” Gerd asked.
Egil smiled. “We go on, like lightning!”
They rode north, with the horses once again at the limit of their endurance. Luckily this was territory they knew well, and there were no incidents. In a few days they arrived at the Camp entrance.
“At last!” Gerd said with a huge sigh of relief at the sight of the great wall of trees with the Camp behind it.
Nilsa clapped her hands, smiling. “What a relief!”
Valeria too was smiling. “Quite honestly, it’s a joy to be back somewhere you know, after that voyage through foreign lands.”
“It’s fantastic to be back home,” Egil said. “Well, second home,” he added with a smile.
“I must admit,” Nilsa confessed, “there were a couple of times when I thought we wouldn’t make it.”
The look in Valeria’s eyes suggested that this had been an understatement. “A couple? More like half a dozen!”
“A little excitement always brightens up a journey,” Egil said.
Gerd snorted. “As far as I’m concerned I like it when there aren’t so many thrills.” He patted his chest. “I have a weak heart.”
“What you have is a weak stomach,” Nilsa shot back. “You eat as much as Valeria and me put together. The way you gulp down your food …”
“We’re back home now,” he went on, without paying any attention to the criticism, as if it were something he could do nothing about. “We can eat to our heart’s delight again.”
“It was great fun,” Valeria said jokingly, “but next time, if they send me along with you, I’ll have to ask for a raise in pay.”
“No!” Nilsa said enthusiastically. “You must come. Your Elemental Arrows helped us a lot, and you’re great company.”
“The mission came out well,” Gerd said proudly. “And there were no casualties, which is what matters.”
“We haven’t finished our mission yet,” Egil pointed out.
Nilsa immediately looked vexed. “What d’you mean?”
“There’s still a very complicated part of the mission left for us: the final one.”
“I don’t understand,” the redhead said. “What do we still have to do?”
Valeria gave Egil a questioning look. “Yeah, I’m wondering about that too.”
“We still have to save Dolbarar.”
“We’ll be able to save him with the information we’ve brought,” Nilsa said confidently.
“The problem is going to be the leaders. They’re very unlikely to accept either this information or the proposal I’m going to make to them.”
“They’ve got to accept it,” said Gerd, frowning.
“Leave the speaking to me. Don’t step in unless they ask you a direct question,” Egil said. He was looking at each of them very directly.
“Fine,” said Nilsa.
Gerd and Valeria nodded, looking troubled.
“We’ve reached this point. Now we need to be intelligent and resolve this business.”
“We will,” Gerd said. But he and his friends had the clear feeling that this last stage was not likely to be at all easy.
Chapter 44
The sun was rising when Ingrid, Viggo, Lasgol, Ona and Camu arrived at the Ferocious Islands, in the west of the Turquoise Realm, in their Norghanian sailboat. They already knew the position of the three islands, which formed a curious triangle and were the old realm of Olagar, whom they had killed to help Uragh. They did not need the help of Arrain or his people, because they had been here before.
Lasgol was genuinely worried. He knew why Astrid had offered herself voluntarily for the mission, and he did not agree. The mere thought of the risk she was taking turned his stomach upside down, and he felt as if something were clutching at his heart.