Chapter 16
May 3rd, 770; Markham
Talon and the rest of the unit continued waiting for the scouts. It was longer than Talon wanted as both scouting teams returned to the main unit. Trall gathered with each of the teams and had a brief discussion. He broke off from the group and headed over to Talon.
"This placed cleared out in a hurry. They reported nothing but abandoned homes."
"I guess we aren't one step ahead of the north. Well, let's go see what William and Stephen found." Talon gathered everyone up. Once he had everyone's attention, he issued the command. "Let's move." The procession headed down the path with Talon in the lead.
Trall edged his way to the front. "Notice who we are still missing?"
"Yes. I can only imagine what his excuse is going to be this time."
"I don't think I want to hear it. Do you think they found anything in Markham?"
"Who? William and Stephen. Not really sure, but William could find trouble in a church."
Trall laughed. "Reminds me of you, back in the day."
"I know. I'd thought about the same thing."
Both men continued to laugh as they headed closer and closer to Markham.
Caswel’s Risk
Caswel paced back and forth in front of the path. There was no way he was risking his unit and his life on this towne, but he was running out of ideas to keep stalling his men. He went back to pacing and hoping an idea would come to him.
Royal Guardsmen Ron Champagne was tired of sitting around. He went over to Royal Guardsmen Richard Lee. "I think it’s time to push Caswel. You with me?" Ron had the feeling Richard was one of the only Royal Guardsmen who would stand up to Caswel.
"Yes. You want the honors?"
"Sure. You get next one?"
Richard chuckled. "Okay, fair deal." Richard patted him on the back, "Let's go stick a dagger in Caswel's mood."
Ron hoped having the united front would put enough pressure on Caswel, but he wasn't going to hold his breath. "Excuse us, Royal Man Holloway. May we have a word with you?"
Caswel looked down at the two from his horse. He knew this was trouble. "Yes. By all means."
Ron looked over at Richard, but stepped forward. He straightened his back and started, "Umph. We have a job to do. This unit is under direct orders to provide protection to unit two. We need to move."
Caswel looked past both of his Guardsmen. "We are not ready to move."
Richard continued before Ron could. "With all due respect, sire, each Royal Guardsmen and his Guardsmen are ready to go with the sole exception of you." Richard stood up a little taller after realizing what he said was borderline disrespectful.
Caswel dismounted and walked over to Richard. "With all due respect, I am in charge and I will tell you when you are ready. Understood."
Richard nodded his head.
"What? I didn't hear you!" Caswel walked a few steps closer until he was almost standing on top of him.
Richard looked directly at him. "Yes, sire!"
Caswel stared at him for a few seconds and said. "Mount up. We move." Caswel turned around and mounted his horse. Without looking back he started onto the forest path.
Ron looked over at Richard. "That went well, don't you think?"
"We're moving, aren't we?'
Ron grinned at that comment. "You still want the next encounter?"
"A deal's a deal."
They had won the battle, but the war wasn't over yet.
Ron mounted his horse. "You heard him, men. Move!"
Unit one headed in the same direction that unit two had gone down almost a full hour ago. The civilians accompanying them moved in behind the group. It wasn't long before they came to the first fork in the road. Caswel halted everyone. "Royal Guardsmen Champagne."
Ron glanced at Richard, but headed up to speak with Caswel. "Yes, sire."
"Send some scouts in both directions of this fork. The rest of us will wait here. Have the scouts report back here when they are done."
"Yes, sire." Ron headed back and picked two units. They immediately disappeared down the two paths.
"Good. Now we wait."
"Yes, sire." Ron turned around and wasn't surprised to hear groans from some of the more eager and honorable Guardsmen.
Talon and Trall’s Discovery!
Talon was getting closer to the second fork in the road when he smelled the air. "Trall, do you smell that?"
Trall took a moment to inhale deeply. "Yeah. Smells like something’s burning, like wood."
"Any ideas?"
"Not really. I suppose we better find William and Stephen fast."
Talon agreed and broke into a fast trot. The smell grew stronger as they grew closer to the second fork in the path. "The docks are on the left. Correct, Trall?"
"Yes. That is where the scouts are supposed to be."
The unit made it to the fork and barreled down the right hand path. Talon wasn't halfway down the path when he was forced to avoid an oncoming horse. Talon swerved and was surprised to see a rider being dragged behind the horse. When Talon swerved he cut in front of Trall, who had to swerve to avoid smashing into Talon. Before anyone could react to the horse, all eyes fell forward. No one could say anything. William and Stephen were coming down the path towards the unit, but everyone's attention was drawn to the tower behind them. The entire top was engulfed in flames. Some of the support beams were starting to catch on fire. Moments later the entire top of the structure fell to the earth leaving the support beams with nothing to hold but flames.
William was the first to say something. "Hi Talon, Trall. What's new and exciting?"
Talon almost burst into laughter and tried to say something, but Trall was one step ahead of him. "What the hell happened?"
William opened his mouth to speak, but Talon stopped him by raising his hand. "Not you! Stephen, what happened?"
Stephen looked from William to Talon, but resigned to telling the story. Stephen made sure he included every detail including William's climb, his grapple, and his almost fall.
"I am going to assume by the fact there are guards and guard towers that the town is not abandoned. I am also going to assume that these same people have seen or smelled that towering inferno. Correct me if I am wrong, but that would also explain the horse and dragging rider."
"Okay, okay. I admit we have caused a little problem here, but Stephen came up with a good plan. We removed as many traces as we could. We tried to make it look like we had never been there. Maybe whoever investigates will think it was an accident."
Talon looked at William then at Stephen. "Well, besides for the tower, is there anything else I need to know?"
"There was one other guard still alive. He is tied up in the woods and out of sight."
"Okay. What's the next plan?" Talon looked around. "Anybody?"
"We can't stay on the waterfront, so why don't we head back to the fork in the path. If we head through the middle, divide the unit, we can cover the warehouses, the docks, and the bridge. If Stephen's plan worked, we can even buy ourselves some time to size up their forces. Sound good?"
"Okay. From this point on, it’s safe to assume that Markham encountered hostilities recently. Our first concern is to secure the area and then we find out what happen to Lady Loveland and the towne’s occupants. Let's move to the fork. We can follow the middle path and break into teams by the warehouses if I am reading the map right?"
"That's what I'm seeing. Let's go."
The unit turned around and headed to the fork. No one looked back to see a few of the support beams come crashing down on top of the smoldering blaze.
The unit paused briefly at the fork. Talon wasn't surprised to see Caswel hadn't made it yet. With the burning tower in mind, Talon set down the path. According to the map there were three warehouses facing the waterfront. The unit started passing the first warehouse.
No one provided a yes. "Okay. I think it is safe to assume they are holed up on the other side of the bridge. Do you think we have enough to lock them out of here?"
"Maybe, but it wouldn't be a question if we had unit one with us."
"I know Trall, but I have to believe some of those Royal Guardsmen will knock some sense into Caswel. The question remains, before we go any further, do we split into two teams?"
"Doesn't sound like we have much of a choice. Even though it doesn't make sense, I think we are spreading ourselves too thin, but if the archer squad could hold off reinforcements then maybe, just maybe, we can gain some ground."
"Right. So let's stick with the two-team plan. Which one do you want, archers or swords?" Talon asked Trall.
"Decisions, decisions. I think it’s pretty obvious which team I belong on. You've seen me fire a bow. I think I will take the sword team between the warehouses."
"Okay. I do remember seeing you shoot, so I think this will be the best arrangement. As soon as you are ready, give me a heads up. We will be at the second warehouse momentarily."
"Right." Trall broke off and gathered together the small group. Moments later the entire group stopped short of the opening between the warehouses. "We're ready to go, Talon." When Talon didn't answer Trall became concerned. "Anything wrong?"
"I hear voices, people running. I think they have finally noticed the burning tower."
Trall dismounted and looked around the corner of the warehouse. Men were running towards the tower. None of them were armed and Trall assumed they were there to fight the fire.
"You are right. We better get to work. Swordsmen, remove your quivers and pass them to the rangers." Trall complied with his own order.
"Why don't we ditch the horses into this warehouse?" Talon pointed out a smaller warehouse on the left side of the path.
"Okay. Everyone who isn't taking a horse head over there."
Talon maneuvered over to Peter. "Do you think they will be all right?"
"Sure. Let me go ahead and I will make sure they are taken care of." Peter felt disappointed that he was not going to be involved in the fighting, but he knew what his job was.
Talon saw the look in his face. "As soon as you finish with the horses and you are comfortable that they can be left alone, rejoin Trall and his group of swordsmen. If I remember right, you are better with a sword than a bow."
Peter's excitement level shot up. "Yes. And thank you." Peter trotted off to the warehouse. The door had already been broken down. Peter was let inside to start making preparations to receive the horses.
Talon told his rangers to leave the horses with the swordsmen. Loaded down with the extra quivers, the rangers started to head off to the bridge. Talon stopped for a moment and even though he was already carrying a large load he grabbed his javelin.
"I was wondering when you were going to break that out."
"Trall, you know I can't forget about my old friend, the javelin. Good luck out there."
"Thanks, but we won't need it if you can keep those rangers in line. Once we stop the flow of Northerns, we take some control, well, on this side of the Teal anyway.”
Talon shook hands with Trall and then turned and headed off to catch up with the rangers.
Trall stood in line with the rest of his swordsmen waiting to secure the horses. The warehouse was bigger inside then it looked. There were stalls in the corner that fit two horses without any trouble. In more time than Trall wanted to lose, the swordsmen were on their way to the alley between the two warehouses.
"William. Stephen. You have lead. Go as far as you are comfortable, but please remember we don't want to be seen."
"No problem, Trall. Don't forget we are professionals." With a wink William disappeared around the side of the warehouse with Stephen right behind him.
Trall rolled his eyes. “That’s what I was afraid of.” He ran to the side of the warehouse and peered around the corner. He noticed the alley was littered with junk: old crates, piles of clothes and garbage. He smiled to himself knowing there were plenty of places to hide. William and Stephen had made it to the half waypoint and they flipped Trall a signal.
"Good." Trall stepped back. He looked back at the last three of his swordsmen: Carole Reinard, Kenneth Layton and Peter Gredit. "We have plenty of cover. Let's go." They dropped low and turned the corner. Hiding from junk pile to junk pile, they moved quicker than Trall expected and were making up for the time lost putting the horses away. William and Stephen were almost to the end of the path when they dove for cover. Trall took the hint and halted everybody. Moments later, Trall was given the signal to continue. William and Stephen didn't move from their spot. Obviously, they had found a spot where they couldn't move any further without being seen. Trall brought his group a little farther forward and then took up positions. All they could do now was wait.
After a long wait, Talon quietly led his team past the second warehouse and stopped at the edge of the third. Directly across the path lay their objective. The woods would provide them with cover and an ability to get very close to the bridge unseen. Talon hoped both proved true. Taking lead, he peered around the corner of the warehouse. He could make out the bridge and, unfortunately, it wasn't empty. A squad of Northern footmen was in the middle and crossing. The footmen weren't the biggest problem. Just beyond the bridge lay another newly built guard tower. From this distance, Talon couldn't see inside.
"There are footmen crossing the bridge now. As soon as they are gone, I want all of us to make a run for the woods. Everyone ready?"
Talon looked again and watched as the footmen disappeared down the waterfront. No one else was coming. "Let's go."
All six archers made the dash into the woods. Once inside, Talon looked around to verify they had made it without any trouble. The other rangers were already making their way towards the forest reaches. It looked like they passed the first test. Talon watched as Yara Retore and Bryant Theos moved up to the point. They assumed the closest point to the bottom of the bridge. Bryant Theos took Alexandra Mitchell to the northeast area. Their position allowed them a clear shot of the middle of the bridge. Talon maneuvered over to Elizabeth Sanders.
"I guess it's just you and me."
Elizabeth smiled. "Yes. Why don't we fill in the middle?"
"Okay. After you, my lady." Talon waited while she positioned herself and then filled in next to her. Both quivers lay at his feet with the extra bow. Talon laid his javelin down against the tree. He looked around and started the next part of the plan: the wait.
Caswel’s Folly!
Caswel was happy with the way the operation was proceeding. So far, they had seen nothing to indicate the Northerns claims to Centerpoint and he still had a full unit. He was a little worried by the lack of people one would expect in a busy towne, but he wasn’t going to worry about it. He smiled to himself, as he felt even closer to his personal objective: Elizabeth towne. His reverie was cut short.
"Sire, forgive me for the intrusion, but both scouting teams have returned."
Caswel looked down from his horse and saw it was Richard Lee. He was starting to get the feeling this man was going to be trouble. "What have they to report?"
"Nothing. Both paths contain abandoned homes. May we continue to the second fork?"
Caswel didn't see any reason not to. He was starting to get the feeling that Centerpoint was really deserted. "Let's move." Caswel turned and headed down the path.
Richard turned and repeated the order. "Move." He headed back to his horse. Ron was holding his reins.
"Did I hear you correctly?"
Richard g
rabbed his reins and mounted his horse. "Yes. No questions asked."
"Really. What did you do, bribe him?"
Richard laughed. "I wish. That would at least explain his behavior. He must have some angle, but I'll be damned if I know what it is."
Ron turned and looked back at the Guardsmen. No one was moving. Ron didn't blame them; he had to ask twice himself. "You heard the man! Let's move.
The thirty members of unit one finally headed down the path to the second fork. The procession continued onward. As they grew closer to the fork, everyone noticed the smell.
"Do you smell that Ron?" Richard continued to smell the air.
"Yes. Wood, well burning wood. What do you think it means?"
"I don't know, but we are going to find out sooner rather than later."
Caswel smelled the wood long before his Guardsmen. A growing sense of danger was threatening to ruin the rest of his trip. He knew it meant trouble and it was getting closer. The smell was increasing as he led the unit closer to the fork. He could hear some of the Guardsmen talking and could tell they were ready. Caswel, on the other hand, was having a really hard time. All he wanted was to reclaim Elizabeth towne and resume his lifestyle the way it was before the Northerns flexed their muscle. Caswel drew in a long breath and tried to calm his fears. Sure he was given a field promotion after the Elizabeth towne debacle, but no one really knew the full story. No one lived who was there with him at the climatic ending, but Caswel did and walked away a hero because of it. This was a position he intended to keep and since he won it by deceit, he didn't see why it couldn't be kept by deceit.
Pausing at the end of the path, Caswel was startled to finally see the source of the smell. He saw what was left of a building engulfed in flames. There was a line of men that ran from the river to a spot right next to the blaze passing buckets along. The blaze was out of control and they weren't making much headway. Caswel was so intent on the blaze that he failed to notice a line of Northern footmen coming towards the blaze.
Royal Guardsmen Ron Champagne noticed. He didn't waste any time issuing orders. "Civilians to the rear. Archers follow behind. Swordsmen are with me. For Heartfelt." Ron started to move forward amidst the flurry of activity he started. He paused for a brief moment by Caswel. "Sire, I would recommend falling in behind the archers."
"I will remind..."
Ron broke into a trot and left Caswel and his opinions behind without a second thought. "Richard, take your swordsmen wide. Let's try and outflank them."
"Okay. See you in the middle." Richard threw him a salute as he directed his men to a different course than Ron's men.
Both teams flew into the battle. With the majority of the crowd busy with the fire, their approach wasn't noticed until they came around the warehouse. Ron was in the lead and was surprised to see how many Northerns there were. None were on horseback and, with a quick glance, he didn't see any archers. Ron raised his sword and jumped right into the surprised footmen.
It didn't take long for the fireman to notice the incoming attack and it took even less time for them to react. A group of them headed for the first dock and jumped into the river in an effort to make it to the other side. A small number headed up the path towards the bridge, yelling that they were going to get help. The rest ran straight into the fight, ignoring that they didn't have any weapons or armor. These Northerns dove at the attackers, trying their best to wrestle them from their horses.
The archers took up arms as soon as they crossed in front of the warehouse. They sent volley after volley of arrows into the back ranks of the Northern footmen. For now, they had clear shots, but as more and more Guardsmen entered the fight, they would have to start being more selective. A small section broke off and targeted the running firemen. These volleys scored fewer hits, but kept them from coming back to haunt the Guardsmen later.
Before Ron knew it, fighting surrounded him. He slashed left and right and continually moved his horse in an effort to trample the lesser footmen. He said a silent prayer that the Northerns hadn't thought ahead and brought along archers. Sitting higher than the battle has its advantages, but it also makes one an easy target. Ron pushed those thoughts to the back of his head and concentrated on the growing battle around him. He noticed the archers’ volleys were taking their toll on the Northerns, but the Northerns were now starting to crowd around the Guardsmen. The tactic was working as less and less shots were fired for the chance of hitting a Guardsmen was greatly increased.
Ron kept slashing further and further into the crowd, until he felt a stabbing pain in his leg behind his shin. He looked down to find a footmen slicing into him with a dagger. Ron swung his sword into the footmen's wrist, knocking the dagger out of his hand and cutting the footmen deeply. Another footmen filled in behind the fallen man. Ron was prepared for this footmen as he started to jab with his dagger. Ron slashed at him but wound up causing the footmen to stick his dagger into the rear of his horse. Ron braced as the horse reared up on its hind legs. He squeezed harder with his legs and was almost thrown backwards as the horse continued to buck. Fortunately, the footmen around him were just as concerned for they were giving him a wide berth. Even as Ron fought for control of his horse, he was disheartened to see a group of footmen attacking the archer squads. He knew they had followed too close to the swordsmen, but it was a little late to correct that oversight. Ron pulled tighter on the reins and hoped some luck would fall from the sky or he had the feeling this was going to be one of the shortest wars in the history of the Heartfelt's Valerica.
The Heartfelt Saga Page 16
