by R J Hanson
Roland noted the sparse nature of the tent. It was large enough for several men to stand around a map or table comfortably but lacked any of the fineries that Roland fully expected to find here. There were no rich tapestries, just a few extra blankets. There was no large, plush bedding, just a simple bedroll. There were no servants standing around holding pitchers of wine, just two of the Prince’s personal guard.
Prince Ralston was traveling light for a Prince of the Kingdom and the Lord of a Land. He hadn’t burdened his expedition with his own wants of comfort. The more Roland learned of the Prince the more he liked him.
“Sir Roland, Sir Eldryn, please bring your friends and come in,” Prince Ralston said waving them toward the table where a rough map had been drawn with a charred stick on a lamb skin.
They approached and all gathered around the large table and map. The map appeared to be the area around and to the north of their current location. It appeared to cover a region of fifty leagues east to west and at least sixty leagues north to south.
The map confirmed for Roland that they had indeed been traveling to the east of the route taken when they pursued Prince Ralston’s captures. It showed the direction of the mountains to their west, and Shrou Canyon, labeled Roland’s Duel on this map, off to the north west. The drawing made by the scout wearing the symbol of Bludu showed their current position as west of a large, dense forest. Roland did his best to memorize the map, for one never knew when that information would mean the difference between life and death.
“This is Brother Othlynn, a servant of Bludu,” Sir Brutis said, pointing this thumb across the table at the scout. “He is a paladin of their faith.”
Brother Othlynn nodded to Roland and Eldryn and returned his focus to the map. Kodii stepped forward and examined the map as well.
“Here,” Kodii said pointing at a location near the edge of a wooded area. “Travel south now. Be here by noon day.”
“How do you know they will be at that particular location?” Isaak asked. “They may turn at any point.”
“They travel south for a reason,” Othlynn said. “What that reason is, we don’t know yet. However, the wooded area is higher up and the ground slopes downward everywhere else coming south out of it. Everywhere but here.”
Othlynn pointed at the same location Kodii had indicated.
“Here there’s an outcropping of rock that raises above the plain south of the forest,” Othlynn continued. “Whether they’re hunting, scouting, or just traveling south, they will want at least one man up on that outcropping to view the plain below before they leave the cover of the forest.”
“Between the stride of giants and the fact that the men are mounted, I don’t see how we can beat them to that spot,” Sir Brutis said. “I take it there is no other likely place for this ambush we plan?”
“No,” Othlynn and Kodii answered in unison.
“I could help, some,” Isaak said. “I could teleport two or three of you to the place, assuming Brother Othlynn could provide a good description of the area. However, that would be a one-way trip and I wouldn’t be able to send anyone else until I rested.”
Isaak, the apprentice mage, became more quiet toward the end of his statement, as if in apology.
“Three is too few to risk on this,” General Maditt said.
“Three is the limit,” Isaak said. “Two would be…safer.”
“What do ya mean, ‘safer,’” Ungar asked.
“Well, three would be the absolute limit of my capabilities,” Isaak said. “There is a margin of error.”
“So, they’d land in the wrong spot?” Ungar asked. “Big deal.”
“Or the wrong dimension,” Isaak said.
Prince Ralston looked around the table at the warriors gathered there. He was young, although still several years older than either Roland or Eldryn if not in appearance than in actual age. It seemed that the options before him were all suicide missions.
“What about objects?” Roland asked looking at Isaak.
“What do you mean?” was Isaak’s understandable response.
“Can you teleport someone to a described object rather than a described location?” Roland clarified.
“Well…yes,” was Isaak’s simple reply. “Although, objects need to be more detailed, and a rough location is necessary.”
“El’, you could ride with someone double on Lance Chaser, right?” Roland asked.
“Well, I’m sure that I could,” Eldryn said. “He’s a stout horse.”
“What is it that you have in mind, Sir Roland?” Prince Ralston asked.
“If Isaak could teleport one of us to the object, and then another to the location, we might get the jump on them we need,” Roland said. “Isaak teleports me to the object, in this case the large horn carried by the giant. I destroy the horn and then run to the rocky outcropping, presumably with the rest pursuing me. If there is only one attacker, then it would be very unlikely that they would send a runner back to camp, assuming there is even a camp. Meanwhile, Kodii is teleported to the outcropping to prepare an ambush for those chasing me. El’, you take Ungar on Lance Chaser. It would be a rough ride, but you could make it in incredible time, given the potent horse shoes Lance Chaser wears. That would be four of us, and we would have surprise on our side.”
“And they would have giants, ogres, and numbers on theirs,” Eldryn said.
“This outcropping,” Prince Ralston said pointing at the location indicated by Kodii and Othlynn. “We are seven hours march from it. Correct?”
“Yes, my lord,” Brother Othlynn said.
“They will presumably be there in five hours, correct?” the Prince asked.
“Yes, my lord,” Brother Othlynn confirmed.
“Tell me about this region here,” the Prince said, indicating an area some leagues south of the original rocky outcropping.
“Open plains and rolling hills,” Brother Othlynn said. “Men on horseback would be easily seen for a good distance.”
“Roland, I know the stories of your run,” Prince Ralston said. “Tell me the facts. Could you run, out pacing giants, for two hours? Could you cover the ground from the outcropping to this area here with them on your heels?”
“Yes, my lord,” Roland said, actually having no idea if he could pull it off or not. “A giant’s stride is great, but so is mine. Furthermore, I am much quicker than I look. A few nets would stop, or at least slow, the horsemen considerably.”
“My lord, assuming Sir Roland can lure them to this area of open plain, they would spot our waiting cavalry a league out,” Sir Brutis said.
Roland, Eldryn, and Tindrakin noticed General Maditt smiling.
“They won’t spot our archers and pikemen though,” General Maditt said. “If they’re belly to grass in a semi-circle like so, then this group of Daeriv’s men will find themselves in the Wolf’s Jaw.”
“General Maditt, select forty archers and twenty pikemen,” the Prince said. “Get them started right away and with haste to this area of the plains. Sir Eldryn, study this map and speak with Brother Othlynn about the surrounding area. If there is a runner, or if any of them break away to flee it will be your task to bring them down. I assume Lance Chaser is up to the task, given what I’ve heard about your ride from Daeriv’s dam back to Skult. The moment Isaak summons the energies for teleportation you should head for the outcropping. Sir Roland, take only what you need, what you can easily carry, and prepare yourself. You’ll march with us until we’re much closer, but soon enough you will be sent into the wilds well ahead of us. Brother Othlynn, will you join Sir Roland?”
“Of course, m’ lord,” Othlynn said. “I would not be able to outrun them, not likely anyway. However, I can certainly hide from them. Bludu allows me to virtually disappear in the wild.”
“Good,” Prince Ralston said. “We have our plan. Each of you see to what you’ll need and get yourselves prepared.”
Tindrakin took up his pike, oiled it one more time, and then wrapped its
shining metal head in camouflaging canvas. He had been wise enough to roll up his cloak and store it in the bottom of his bedroll while he slept and now it was warm and dry. He grabbed an extra water skin and mustered with the other pikemen and archers that would be marching. They would actually be riding for the first several leagues and, when approaching the area of intended ambush, turn their mounts over to another scout that would lead them back to the main troop.
After a few more hours of marching, Roland left his pack and borrowed horse with one of Prince Ralston’s soldiers. Eldryn had rubbed down Lance Chaser and fed and watered him lightly. Ungar gave over his extra axes and packs to another soldier and carried with him only a throwing axe and war hammer. Kodii, spears in hand, stood near Isaak and Paladin Othlynn where they awaited Roland. They all understood what they must do and the risks involved. Isaak was the only one among them that appeared nervous.
Roland understood Isaak’s sense of worry, of hesitation. Isaak was pushing himself beyond known bounds, which was risky enough. However, the others were placing their lives in Isaak’s hands. Roland believed it was that responsibility that trouble Isaak so. How could Roland not understand the mage’s concern; for he had lived with the same fear.
Roland knelt and turned his thoughts to his wife and their coming child. With his knees in the dying grass of winter and a bruise colored sky above him he whispered a prayer to Bolvii. All of his life his chief fear had been a fear of failure. Always before that fear had been born of pride and what might happen to his pride if he failed. He still feared failure, but now feared what might happen to his family if he failed. Engiyadu was out there somewhere and so was Lord Kyhn. Sir Brutis had taught him much in their short time together, but the over-riding lesson was how much he still had to learn.
Roland stood and walked to Kodii, Isaak, and Othlynn who were already gathered together.
“Are you fellows prepared?” Isaak asked. “You understand the dangers of incantations such as these?”
“Tribe,” was Kodii’s simple answer. An answer that seemed to speak for all of them.
Sir Brutis saw the gathering and rode over to them for a final word.
“Be swift,” Sir Brutis called to them. “Give them no quarter for they will give you none.”
With that Isaak began his incantation. The words, melding with intricate hand gestures, called a light mist that collected around them. The mist intensified and seemed charged with electricity. The small hairs on their necks and the backs of their hands began to stand on end; while their breathing became more difficult. The air continued to thin as though they were high on a mountain top and climbing even higher. With an anticlimactic, and virtually silent, puff of air, they vanished.
Chapter IX
A Lesson Remembered
Roland, Swift Blood in hand, tried to blink away the momentary vertigo that had assailed him. He had been subjected to teleportation before; but this was much more rough. He suspected that Claire was much more adept at this particular spell than the young Isaak. As his vision cleared, he saw his target, the giant sporting the large horn on his waist and a heavy studded club in his hands, walking thirty yards away. Charge him! The command was clear in his mind and it seemed to be his voice.
He sprang forward in a sprint for the giant. If he had hesitated, even for another moment, he would have surely died. As Roland took his first stride, a many notched great axe tore through the air where he had been. Roland felt the wind from the near blow. After three strides he looked over his shoulder to see that he had apparently arrived just in front of one of the other giants.
A roar erupted from behind him and Roland called upon the speed of Swift Blood to propel him forward. An arrow cut silently through the air beside him, rapidly followed by others. The giant with the horn, seeing no real danger in a single man running at him, took up his club as a crooked smile spread across broken and blackened teeth.
As Roland approached, he raised his arms hauling his Shrou-Hayn over his head for an apparent leap at the huge creature. Many warriors had tried just such a maneuver against this giant. Many had sought to jump high enough to cut the throat of the tall creature. The giant swung his club as a child might swing a stick at a rock in a game of Sticks and Stones. Confident he would slap this fool high into the air, the giant’s grin broadened.
Just as his last foot was leaving the ground, Roland plunged both of his feet out before him in a slide toward the giant. As the club passed over head, Roland pushed off of the ground with his left hand striking out with Swift Blood in his right. It took all of the strength his arm and shoulders could bring to bear.
With his momentum behind it, Roland’s Shou-Hayn cut cleanly through the large horn and deep into the giant’s hip slicing free a fist sized piece of bone with it. Judging from the way the creature contorted and lurched, Roland guessed that chunk of bone came from the giant’s spine. The large monster was struggling against paralysis. Roland worked to recover his footing and took up his Great sword in two hands once again. He scanned his surroundings and saw his second target, the rider with a signal horn.
Kodii had killed three of the men before any of Daeriv’s forces realized anything was wrong. He had killed an ogre before they had spotted him. Kodii had chosen his foes wisely. The three men carried good bows and the ogre a heavy crossbow. He saw Roland off to his right as a giant pursued him, but Kodii now had his own problems. He had drawn the attention of another ogre and several of the men on horses.
Kodii crouched down over one knee with his other leg extended out behind him. He held his spear low as he watched the ogre charge him with an iron pike. As the ogre closed to thrust, Kodii uncoiled and sprang above the pike to land lightly on the ogre’s forward arm. One quick step took him to the surprised creature’s shoulder. Kodii tore out the ogre’s throat with his spear and then leapt toward the nearest rider in one fluid motion.
The rider, half expecting to see Kodii skewered on the ogre’s pike, could not have been more surprised to see Kodii descending on him from above. With a downward stroke of his spear, a ‘fork snake’ tusk sliced through the man’s neck and down into his shoulder. Kodii landed on the ground off to the side as he jerked the spear free from the dying man’s shoulder.
The second rider charged in quickly behind the first. Even though he had seen Kodii’s display of athleticism, he assumed a man on the ground with a spear made of bone was an easy target. He hauled out a steel scimitar thinking to take Kodii’s head quickly.
Kodii spun and rolled in front of the charging horse coming up on the other side. The rider saw the move and was bringing his scimitar back across, but too slowly. Kodii stabbed the point of his spear just beneath the rider’s breastplate and pushed it deep into his abdomen. Kodii let go that spear, took one of his lighter ones from his off hand, and threw it into the chest of the next rider.
The others rode wide of Kodii beginning to form a circle around him as the rest of their band moved to join them.
As the mist cleared around him, Othlynn found the nearest tree and scaled it with the skill of a squire. Quickly, and silently, Othlynn climbed to more than twenty feet from the ground. He knew they were hunting ogres and giants and wanted to be out of their reach. Once in his perch, he nocked an arrow. He decided on his first target quickly. A giant was on Roland’s heels. He drew, held, and then loosed. The arrow took the giant in the eye. The creature was dead before its large frame struck the ground. Othlynn, was already seeking his next target.
He looked to the south and saw two ogres returning, running, to the group. They were obscured by trees, but Othlynn was a consummate hunter. Patience was just as important as aim. Just as the second ogre moved into the clearing he loosed. His arrow took this creature in the eye as well. The sound of its fall drew the attention of its companion. The first ogre halted his charge north to turn back south. Just as the ogre was realizing his partner was laying there dead; an arrow severed his spine from his brain.
Roland charged an archer
who was afoot near the rider with the horn. The archer was able to loose an arrow before Roland reached him but the edge of the point only drew a little blood as it slid past Roland’s neck. Roland brought Swift Blood up for an over-head chop at the archer. As the man fell back Roland let go the haft of his Great sword with his right hand and drew a dagger. Roland hurled the dagger at the signal man on horseback. Thrown with deadly accuracy, the dagger stabbed into the soft flesh just behind the rider’s ear, driven in to the hilt.
“Flee!” Roland called.
He hated saying the word but understood the importance of the ruse. If this group thought they were fleeing from them the odds of pursuit would be increased dramatically.
“Flee!” Roland called again.
He took a moment to see Kodii already on the move toward him. He saw Othlynn nowhere, but remembered what the paladin had said. Roland turned south. Roland ran.
It took the survivors a few minutes to realize what had happened, and what was happening. Once they regrouped and began pursuit Roland and Kodii were moving swiftly across the open plain to the south.
The ogres, there were eight left now, broke from the tree line first and on the run. Their stride was long but they were not a race of sprinters. Their lumbering gait, even when pressed, was about the speed of a trotting plow horse.
Four of the men, mounted on well fed horses, were just behind the ogres. As they moved onto the open plain, the horses were spurred on and would be passing the ogres soon. Twelve more men ran on foot from the tree line in pursuit. After the last one in the pack fell with an arrow stuck through his right lung; there were eleven left to run south.
Roland and Kodii ran on. The ugly gray sky above them hide the sun from the land. The dead grass of the rolling plains spread in an unmarked ocean around them. The sound of distant thunder came to them from the mountains to the west, muted by the thick air. There was no way of knowing if it had been minutes or hours since they began their run. The pound of hoof beats behind them was accompanied by the dull thud of ogre feet slapping the ground.
