by Wilbur Arron
That gave me an idea. “How long would it take for us to get to Crenae?”
The others turned and looked at me. Only Nomiki and Carenos could see what I was getting at.
One of the acolytes nearby actually raised his hands as if to ask permission to speak. I nodded my approval, and he spoke hesitantly. “Master Mage Sopholus, it would take a full market interval of ten days to get there at the least, but that is using the road.”
“That will not work,” Chremon spat out. “They will spot us for sure. It is also too open, no place for a group this big to hide.”
“We could go along the coast,” Carenos suggested, “There are no roads, and the area is mostly forested except near the poleis of Argura and Scolussa.”
“How big are those poleis?” Chremon asked.
“Argura is one of our main fishing ports. Out in the sea, there are rich fishing banks. Nearby in the hills are salt deposits in the ground the fishermen use to dry and preserve their catch. Argura is the largest supplier of preserved fish in Lantia.”
“Does it have a garrison?” Chremon asked.
Carenos thought about that for a few moments. “No more than fifty, or at least that was what it was when I was a boy.”
“What about Scolussa?” Nomiki asked.
Carenos shook his head no. “Scolussa is the main naval base for the southern coast of Lantia. It has a fine harbor and is close to needed materials. It has an extensive forest and tar pits, so shipbuilding and ship maintaining are their main businesses. It is mostly made up of sailors and merchants who keep the navy supplied with goods.”
“That means it is well garrisoned; I do not want to go there,” Nomiki said. “Can we go around the poleis?”
“In Argura there will be no problem,” Carenos said. “We can go into the hills surrounding the polis. Getting around Scolussa will be more difficult. There are more people in the forest, cutting trees and getting pitch. You are right when you say it is well garrisoned. It has a large fortress with a garrison of two hundred not counting the marines and rowers that live in town.”
“We may be out of food by the time we get there,” I said. “We might have to resupply there.”
Nomiki shook his head no. “No, we will have to supply in Argura. There are fewer troops.”
“They will surely send word to the others about us,” I said.
Nomiki took a deep breath in frustration. “It is that or starve the four days from Scolussa to Crenae and hope our friends are there; otherwise we will starve to death.”
“We could get our food in Argura and then disappear into the deep woods,” Carenos suggested. “If we go higher up in the hills, we might be able to go around Scolussa and approach Crenae from the upland hills. It will be a harder journey and take longer, however.”
“But that will take us at least twelve days to go overland through the forest,” the acolyte replied. “As far as I know, no one ever does that.”
“All the more reason for us to do it,” I reasoned. “If we can meet the others in Crenae, then we can all go to Argina at once. Can we travel along the coast?”
“No one ever goes that way because the main road is so much easier,” Carenos added. The acolyte just shrugged his shoulders.
“Then let us prepare,” I said. “Master Mage Carenos, can you contact the others to let them know we are coming. We both need to get there at about the same time. Any others that can travel safely should follow our lead.”
“I can do that tonight,” he said.
Nomiki added, “We need to get as much food here as possible. We still have a long trip to any of the poleis. We can use the horses as pack animals and walk mostly, but they cannot carry enough food to supply a group of this size for more than a few days. Some of you should go to abandoned farmhouses now and gather what food is available. The rest of us will have to travel light and across broken country. Take clothes, weapons, and a good pair of shoes, more than one if you have them. This is not going to be easy.” He looked at the two women.
“Are there any questions?” Carenos asked.
I looked around. There was silence. “Let us get started,” I said and shot to my feet.
The meeting broke up, and we all went around on our business. We spent the day gathering our meager supplies. After inventorying our foodstuff, which was mostly milled grain, some dried meat, and nuts from the forest, Nomiki and Chremon estimated we could get maybe two or three days from our current supplies. As soon as we packed our bags, Carenos sent half the acolytes with Kimon to the coast to forage. We set pick up points to meet them. The rest stayed back and started to destroy or hide any trance of our presence.
By the time Apollo finished his daily ride across the sky, we had packed what we could. Melina and Zila made sure all the things we took were necessary. I had not spoken much to my wife since we got here and even less to the others. After a dinner of barley and the last of our fresh meat that would only spoil, I pulled my companions aside and spoke in private.
“What do all of you think of this plan?” I needed to know.
“The plan is bad,” Chremon told me abruptly. “I see many things that can go wrong. Our chance of success is not good. The problem is, I cannot think of a better plan.”
“We cannot stay here,” Zila said. “Sooner or later, someone is bound to find us.”
“This is the best chance of us getting home,” Nomiki added. “Otherwise, we are all dead.”
Gyras said nothing, so I looked at my wife. “This was not what I thought would happen,” she told us. “However, since we have no choice, we do what we have too. If we can get most of the Academy to Argina, we will have a better chance of survival against both Zilar and Pytheas. I just feel that all hands are against us and frankly, I am frightened.”
“I am also frightened,” I admitted in a low voice. “Not just of the Zilar or Pytheas, but for our friends in Argina if either of Zilar or Pytheas conquer it. I am more frightened of the idea of using mages to fight their wars. With that level of destruction, I fear for our vasíleio and this world.”
“We live in a dark age,” Zila moaned. “And it is getting darker all the time.”
That night I held Melina close to me to reassure her. Any other activity by us was out of the question in this crowd.
At first light, Carenos came out and told us all that he had passed the message to everyone that could hear it. The mages and soldiers at Kyropius would be leaving shortly.
Nomiki and Chremon packed the horses. For now, no horse carried more than two talents in weight so as not to tire them. We managed to take all our food and some personal possessions, and secretly, I packed my two bags of gold in case we needed funds. Everyone, except for the women, carried the rest of what we needed on our backs. When the sun was overhead, we left and walked toward the coast. Chremon and Gyras stayed back with two acolytes and removed traces of our tracks as best they could. They joined us at dark. We had prepared the evening meal before we left so we would not need fires so close to our former camp. We took shelter in the forest halfway to the Northern Sea.
Late the next morning, we arrived at the four abandoned farms. The acolytes raided all the smokehouses so we had a supply of smoked meat that should last for days. They had managed to collect many sacks of grain, but it was raw grain, and it would take time to grind it into flour. We decided it was worth spending a day grinding it at an abandoned local mill, and we managed to make enough flour to feed fifty people for no more than seven days. With the limited number of horses we had, we dared not take anymore. Several of the more burley acolytes volunteered to carry a sack of flour rather than a backpack, so their personal belongings were given to others. All the time, Chremon and Gyras scouted the trails behind us, and Nomiki scouted the path in front of us for signs of anyone following us.
We wandered through the forest, leading our horses for the first six days. Nothing much of note occurred except for some complaints about tired feet. What few injuries occurred to man and hor
se, Carenos or I took care of with a little use of Life Magik. We broke camp in the morning and had a meal of flatbread and preserved meat. We continued like that, stopping every two hours or so to rest the horses and ourselves, until near night when we camped and cooked. That meant having fires, of course, and I did not like that, but you cannot eat raw flour. Nomiki, Chremon or Gyras saw nothing around us, so we assumed we were not being followed—or we were being followed by excellent scouts. We set up three shifts of guards at night. Even Melina and Zila stood watch. My main concern was that since we left, we had heard no message from any of the other mages in Lantia, despite the efforts of Carenos each night.
On the morning of the seventh day, Nomiki came back around midday to bring us news.
“The forest ends up about a milion from here. Beyond the edge of the trees, I saw several farms. Toward the hills, the ground was cleared for pasture. There are people working in the fields everywhere I looked.”
“Those would be the farms for Argura,” Carenos said. “There is a small road that goes north from the polis through the nearby pass. That road ends at one of the way stations that is about fifty milio from Ithome. A second road, actually a well-worn path, leads along the coast to Scolussa about three days ride away. That path becomes a road that goes to Crenae the main polis.”
“We have food for about three more days,” Gyras added. “We need to supply here or at the naval base.”
“There is no choice,” Nomiki growled. “We either fight fifty here, or we may have to fight two hundred in Scolussa. We might be able to fight fifty, but we will need help from your mages. I know what Alex can do, but what can you and your acolytes do?”
Carenos looked a bit angry. He turned, and I saw him start to concentrate and pull energy from the realms. A few moments later he shouted out “Kervano!”
A bolt of lightning flew from his hand into the nearest tree, causing the center of the trunk to explode and setting it ablaze instantly. Then, he reversed the flow and pulled energy away from the tree, extinguishing it as quick as it had started.
“Does that answer your question?” Carenos said tersely.
Nomiki did not blink an eye. “Yes, that is good, but will you use that if the garrison attacks us and what of your acolytes?”
“I will do what I have to, and so will they,” Carenos said bluntly and turned away.
We went around the farms and into the woods until we came upon the narrow road coming down from the north. There we stopped, and Carenos pulled us all in close.
“We need to enter the town to buy supplies to continue our journey,” he said. “The residents will likely question us, but other than Nomiki, Chremon, Gyras, Master Mage Sopholus and myself, you will all remain silent. It is possible we may be attacked. Those of you who can use Nature Magik, use force and wind on anyone who attacks you unless they try to kill you. Then if you must, use your fireballs. We do not want to hurt those in this polis per our Mage Code, but we will defend ourselves. Does everyone understand me?”
“Will we take what we need?” one of the younger acolytes asked.
“No, I called out. “We will buy what we need. I have certain funds I will use to buy our supplies. Stay together all of you. Do not wander off, no matter who or what anyone asks you to do.”
There were no other comments. I put Nomiki in front and Gyras and Chremon in the rear to make sure everyone stayed together. I put Zila and Melina next to each other. I went into my pack and took out one of my sacks of gold, and then we walked down the path and through the front gate. There were no guards there, which immediately aroused my suspicions. We walked into the small town, past several houses and shops on the empty streets. The people stayed indoors but stared at us like we were visitors from Olympus. The open square was in the middle of the town. I looked at the nearby fortress and saw several guards on the front wall facing us. Most had bows at the ready, and the gates were shut tight. That was also unusual during the day; they were expecting trouble.
I looked around and found the shop of the local grain merchant. I went in and asked to buy twenty sacks of flour. That was most of what the man had in stock. I knew the price would be no more than three drachmae per sack I also knew that a gold drachma was worth seven silver drachmae. I had the shop keeper put ten silver drachmae on the scale, and I poured out enough gold to balance it. The merchant seemed happy but did not bargain. In fact, he looked scared. I called acolytes to come in and pick up the sacks and put no more than two on a horse. The fish dealer was nearby. I saw racks of dried fish outside his hut. I walked in and purchased two hundred. They were five to a drachma. I paid him the same way I paid the grain merchant. Again, there was no bargaining and like before, there was the look of fear on the merchant’s face. People glared at us, but no one approached at first.
“Alex,” Melina called out. “The gate to the fortress is opening, and about thirty men are marching out.
I had the acolytes wrap the fish and put it in on the horses and in our backpacks. Carenos and I stood up front facing the approaching column. Two other mages stationed at the rear watched from there. Nomiki and Chremon stood behind us, bows at the ready, and Gyras stood next to Zila and Melina who also had bows out. I charged my crystal around my neck. I saw Carenos do the same to his stone.
The column approached us in a group like a small phalanx with spears forward. In front marched what looked to be an officer. I saw at least five archers in the rear. I patiently waited, not showing any concern. When the column got within ten paces of us, they stopped. The officer called out in a loud voice.
“I am Lochagos Theas, commander of the garrison of Argura. By the command of the Ethnarch of Lantia, I am ordered to put all mages under arrest. You will all come with me.”
I glanced at Carenos, who was looking around. Experience has taught me to confront such matters directly.
“Pyra,” I called out. My voice filled the square.
From my right hand, a small fireball appeared. I directed it over the phalanx and toward the walls of the fortress. A moment later it hit the bare wall near the gate, blackening the entire wall and causing every archer to take cover. The people around us, including Carenos, froze in place.
I let the magik flow into my voice. “Listen to me people of Argura, I am Master Mage Alexio Sopholus, the Zilar slayer.”
I let that sink in for a moment before continuing. “I have no wish to harm any of you, but if you attempt to hinder us, or try to harm us, I will burn this town to the ground with everyone in it. I have done that before, as you may have heard. I also have other mages here who can do the same thing. Leave us in peace, and we will do the same to you; otherwise, everyone in this town will die in flames.”
I folded my arms and stood there erect like Zeus himself. Two men in the phalanx actually dropped their spears, not exactly first-rank troops.
I walked boldly forward and directed the phalanx to move off the side of the street. Once a path was clear, I motioned for my troop to leave the way we came.
“Stop!” the officer called. “I said you were under arrest by order…”
That was as far as he got before I called out “Energeia” and hit him with a force ball that sent him sprawling, but otherwise unhurt.
“ARE THERE ANY MORE OBJECTIONS?” I bellowed out in a voice so loud it scared the horses.
With their leader down, the troops and the town’s people stepped aside and let us pass without comments. I waited until our troop passed by and then followed them out the front gate of the polis again. As we left, I called out again.
“If you are wise, you will not follow us.”
We took the north road out of town, and as soon as we were out of bowshot from the walls, I walked up to the front of the column again.
“That was a good trick,” Carenos smiled. “I can see why your archiereas in Arginnia wanted to charge you with impiety. You acted like an Olympian God back there.”
“We also got out with our skins intact,” Nomiki added. “
The gods can forgive us later. Now, what do we do?”
I thought for a second, and the answer came to me. “We take this road until we are well clear of the town and then go to the west. I want you and Chremon to stay back and make sure we are not followed. If we are, discourage them, but do not kill anyone unless you have too.”
Both men nodded, and I walked on until we came to where we had crossed the road before. There we turned left and slowly started out cross-country.
That night as we rested, Melina pulled close to me and whispered in my ear. “You made quite an impression on those acolytes. I heard many say that you must be the most powerful mage of all.”
“I am more likely the luckiest mage of all,” I countered. “If those townspeople had attacked us along with the troops, there would have been enough carnage to keep Hades busy for a month.”
“But there wasn’t. No one got hurt. You did it again,” she said and kissed me.
“I owe you a lot if we get out of here,” I said.
“And I will collect,” she smiled, and we both went to sleep.
We followed Carenos westward, although he admitted he was not sure where he was going. We took our bearings at sunrise and again as the sunset. We plodded along. From time to time we could see animals running away in the distance and flocks of birds suddenly fly up into the air. Something was scaring them, and it was not us. Chremon told me no one was following us closely. That told me they were keeping their distance and dogging us, waiting for a favorable time to attack.
It was at noon on the fourth day after we left Argura that we came across a wide open road running north-south. The road was not paved, but it was large enough to take a wagon in either direction. It looked like the east-west road we had taken on our way to Lantis.
“This is the main road into Scolussa,” Carenos told us. It runs from here to Sycion and carries military traffic and supplies to the navy base. We should not stay here for long.”
