Pioneering on Jord

by Allan Joyal

  “Amalya,” I admonished the young woman. “It’s not nice to talk of such things in front of a man who does not have a partner.”

  “Then I didn’t see Lenoir crawl out from his bedroll before dawn this morning?” Amalya said teasingly.

  I glanced over at Krysbain. The man blushed and then looked at me. “I like her. She is a proud woman, but really cares for her friends. I just wish she wasn’t so haunted.”

  “She loved Gorm, but never told him that,” Amalya said. “And then Gorm was killed by the slavers.”

  I said nothing, but continued walking down the road. It soon became clear that it was not well-preserved. Sections of the stone were missing, and the path had many ruts and soft spots. Amalya smiled throughout our progress, insisting that the effort to move on the road was significantly less than crossing the plain.

  The plateau was still dominating the landscape to our right. The road ran parallel as we marched eastward. I could not count the miles, but the sun passed midday and was starting to descend before the plateau’s walls turned away from the road and vanished into the distance. We began to hear the roar of quickly moving water ahead. It echoed strangely, and I could see worry lines appear on Krysbain’s face.

  The road took a gentle left around one hill and passed between two bluffs that ran about ten feet tall. Just on the other side we could see a deep crevasse in the landscape. The road ran straight over this natural obstacle and extended into a small forest on the other side. I slowed as we approached the bridge.

  “Is it safe?” Amalya asked.

  I looked at Krysbain, but he immediately shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  Sighing I started walking forward onto the bridge. I probed the ground ahead with the tip of my spear, seeing if any sections were weak. The road proved to be solid, but there were three places where the low stone wall at the edge of the bridge fell apart when I touched it with the spear. I made sure to walk all the way to the far side before turning back. By the time I returned, all of the carts were lined up on the road, and the herd was waiting in a small field just to the right of the bridge.

  “It’s solid, but you don’t want to hit the sides,” I informed Amalya. “I’d recommend going one at a time.”

  Amalya nodded. “I’d like someone with a weapon on the other side,” she said. “Just in case.”

  “Lydia! Load your crossbow and lead the first cart across. Once you are across, move only far enough to allow all the rest of us to cross,” I shouted.

  Lydia ran up carrying her crossbow. She stopped at the edge of the bridge and carefully strung and loaded the weapon. She looked at me with worry in her eyes. “Do you expect trouble?” she asked.

  I pointed across the river. The forest was rather thick, and we could not see into it from where we were standing. “We have a forest over there. Nothing tried to attack me, but it pays to be careful.”

  Lydia nodded and then waved to the rear of the caravan. She started moving across the bridge. I noticed that she was crouched, and when she reached the far side she stopped and knelt down. She scanned the trees before starting forward. She was about ten feet from the bridge when she waved for Amalya to start moving.

  Amalya nudged the mule pulling the first cart. It started with a loud clatter on the cobbled stone of the road. As she started moving Krysbain, Hencktor, and Gertrilla all ran up.

  “Henck, follow Amalya,” I said. “And be ready to support Lydia. I’ll try to cross after the first wagon. Krys, I need you to watch our back trail during this. You have the most experience. I don’t expect an attack, but right now is the best time to do it. Gertrilla, do you think we can keep the herd on the bridge? Do you need help keeping them from the ravine?”

  Gertrilla giggled as the two men started to move away. “We’ll use the dogs to keep the animals from straying to the sides of the bridge,” Gertrilla said. “But I should send someone across so they can route the herds as they cross. Can I tell Corwar to get moving?”

  I could see that Borlan and Ximenia were moving past us and guiding the rickety cart. “Go,” I told Gertrilla with a nod.

  Borlan appeared a bit worried. He was crowding the horse pulling the cart just a little from its right side. The horse did not appear too bothered by this and kept to the center of the path.

  Gerit was approaching while walking next to the mule team pulling the first wagon. I cut across the road and joined him in walking on the left side of the animals. Gerit frowned at me as we set foot on the bridge. “You do realize that my wife went across first,”

  “Lydia was first across,” I said. “And Hencktor is also over there to watch for problems. I didn’t notice anything when I scouted the bridge, so I think we should be safe. But this is the first forest we have encountered, so I’m being cautious.”

  “The road seemed untraveled,” Gerit said. “And I’ve never seen one like this.”

  “It’s expensive to build,” I said. “Think of the number of men involved in laying all of the stone. It’s probably something left behind by the empire.”

  We were across the bridge. The first two carts had pulled ahead about twenty yards. They had moved to the side to allow more room and were sitting side by side on the road. I nodded one last time to Gerit and then ran forward to join Amalya and the others.

  Hencktor intercepted me before I had reached the carts. “We might have a problem,” he said as he held up a broken stone tipped arrow. From what I could see the head was a piece of flint and the shaft was a rather gnarled branch. It looked primitive.

  “New?” I asked.

  Hencktor flipped the shaft around and then used both hands to flex it. “The wood is still spongy. This can’t be more than six months old.”

  “Does Lydia know?” I asked worriedly.

  “She found it,” Hencktor told me. “She was checking the edge of the forest and found it stuck in one of the trees.”

  “Damn,” I said. “We could try going back across the river and then heading north, but that’s not a solution. We might never find another way over this ravine.”

  “We don’t have enough people to hold off a serious attack,” Hencktor said. “And we never got the other spears ready.”

  “I know,” I said with a sigh. “Well, all we can do is prepare for an attack and try to get through the forest fast. While we are in the forest, an ambush could get us. On the plains we can often see for miles.”

  “Miles?” Hencktor asked.

  “A really long way,” I replied. “Go back to the front and watch. I need to organize everyone. We’ll have to put the herds in between the carts and move fast. No camping or halts until we are out of the forest.”

  “Can we do that?” Hencktor asked.

  “Probably not,” I admitted. “But it’s the only solution I can think of at the moment. We need to escape the potential trap, and I heard that the military of my homeland often says you attack into an ambush. That’s what we have to do here.”

  “There’s nothing to attack,” Hencktor pointed out.

  “True, but if we are seen, whoever fired that arrow might try to attack. However, it might take time to summon all of their warriors. If we move swiftly we might be out of their territory before they can gather,” I said.

  Hencktor nodded. “I’ll let Lydia know. We haven’t seen movement, but…..”

  I nodded and moved back to the bridge. Gerit had stopped directly behind the second cart. I waved for Verval, and had him pull up next to Gerit. “We’re going to have to bring the herds up. I’ll have the small sheep herd that Haydee runs in front of you Gerit. The cattle and goats between both of you, and the rest of the sheep behind Verval. Have your weapons ready. There appears to be arrow users in the area.”

  “Damn,” Verval said. He reached back to the wagon and pulled out a wicked looking knife. I would have considered it a small sword. Gerit just nodded and unwound a sling from around his waist.

  I rushed past them and found that Yveney and Piemal had already gotten the
cattle across and directed them to step off the road. I waved to Yveney and she ran over.

  “What’s up?” she chirped merrily.

  “When we start moving put the cattle behind Gerit’s wagon. Verval will follow you. Have your weapons ready and be watchful. We are going to be moving fast, so keep the animals together and try to keep them calm. If one leaves the road, we don’t chase after it.”

  Yveney paled. She held up her staff and waved it in a circle several times. Then she looked at me. “What about the others?”

  “Haydee ahead of Gerit, the other sheep behind Verval,” I said.

  Yveney nodded and waved to Piemal before rushing to speak with Gertrilla. The moment she turned to run, Krysbain rushed up. “I hear that people are getting weapons out.”

  “Lydia found a primitive arrow at the edge of the forest. We’re going to head out fast and ready for a fight,” I said.

  “But we don’t know,” Krysbain started.

  I nodded. “We don’t, and that is a problem, but we are across the ravine, and the road is still here. All we can hope is that it crosses the forest and that we can rush through it before the arrow’s owner discovers that we are here. I’m tightening the caravan and putting the animals between wagons. Everyone should get their weapons out. Do you want the front of the rear?”

  Krysbain nodded. “I’ll take the rear for this. Having you out front will calm the others. But we should start moving.”

  I waved and turned to run past the waiting carts. “Everyone! We have found the remnants of an arrow and it’s new enough that the owner might be near. Keep your eyes open. We’ll be moving fast. If an animal leaves the road, don’t chase it. Just keep others from following. We can’t risk a fight in the forest.”

  I got to the front to see that Hencktor was standing on the right side of the road and looking at the ground. “Anything?” I asked.

  “Nothing I understand,” Hencktor said. “I wasn’t a tracker, and there isn’t anything very recent. But I did find one footprint.”

  Hencktor pointed to a dried spot on the ground. It looked like there had been a rain and afterward some biped with clawed feet had walked through. The strange feet had three toes in front and a vestigial claw that looked like it was once set up in opposition to the others, but was now drifting to the front. I had never seen something like that before.

  “I have no clue,” I said. “Should we get Krysbain up here? He might recognize it.”

  “Would it help?” Hencktor asked.

  “No,” I admitted. “Let’s get moving. I’ll take point; everyone else should be guarding wagons.”

  Hencktor nodded, and I moved to the center of the road. I stretched out my arm pointing the spear down the road. I was about to shout, but realized that silence might be prudent. With a wave of my free hand, I started moving forward.

  I could hear Amalya quietly coax the mule pulling the first cart forward. The road here was clear of dirt and other debris. The rattle of the wooden wheels on the stones echoed as the cart began moving.

  As we started moving I kept my attention focused on the woods to the sides of the road. Thick brambles grew between the trees making it difficult to see more than ten feet. I also concentrated on the sounds coming to my ears. I could hear many birds in the distance. Their raucous and near continuous calls made it clear that for the moment nothing was moving near by.

  The forest itself was just putting leaves out. I noticed that there were a few areas where thin paths of stone broke off from the road and vanished into the forest. I was wondering about this when Soldrin ran up. “Ron, Natalie said to tell you that she recognizes some of the trees as peach and plum trees.”

  “Can she come up here for a moment?” I asked.

  Soldrin ran off to the back. The road was heading up a gentle slope. I looked a bit more intently at the forest to the left. There were a few stone pillars near the road. I moved to check one and found that it contained a crumbling piece of clay pipe held about two feet off the ground. I was moving back to the center when Natalie limped up.

  “I know it’s a surprise, but I recognize the bark and the leaves. I’m just surprised we don’t see flowers,” Natalie said.

  “It’s still very early spring, the flowers will come in the future,” I said. “Are the trees in groups at all?”

  “Clumps,” Natalie said. “But nothing like I’d expect on a farm.”

  “Two thousand years,” I reminded her. “The empire has been gone that long. But the original trees would drop seeds. Eventually the nice rows would be gone, but the trees might survive.”

  Natalie gasped. “So this,”

  The road flattened out abruptly. I looked forward to see that the forest stopped abruptly at the edge of what appeared to have once been a cobblestone courtyard. Natalie and I looked up to see a crumbling stone building ahead and to the right. The foundation of another building was to our left.

  “Is the remnants of the groves that helped feed an empire town,” I said needlessly as we stepped onto the stones of the courtyard.

  “Wow,” Natalie said. “Where are the city walls? I thought all cities on Jord would have walls.”

  “The town of Rockspire didn’t. I don’t remember walls around the mining village where we first met Hencktor and Kariy,” I said as we slowly walked across the courtyard. We could see more crumbling foundations and walls in the distance. There were several roads that left the courtyard. I pointed to the one to the east.

  “I forgot them,” Natalie admitted. Then she pointed up and to the left. “Ron, something is watching us!”

  I looked up. Natalie was pointing at a high curved ruin. It looked like it might have been a watchtower at one time, but now appeared to be missing the left side of the wall. On the top of the remaining wall was a green creature. He was holding a bow in his left hand and aiming our way.

  “Lydia!” Hencktor shouted.

  There was a loud twang. The creature stood motionless for a moment and then its right hand dropped to cover his abdomen. It crumpled forward, falling from the wall and crashing to the pavement below.

  “I’ll get the arrow!” Thom shouted. The six year old boy dashed out from the line of wagons behind us. I ran forward a few steps.

  “Ron! Jeff is there!” Natalie said.

  I glanced to my left to see Jeff rushing after Thom. Jeff was holding a large knife and glancing around wildly.

  “Ron, that thing might have friends,” Krysbain shouted. “It was probably a sentry. We need to move.”

  I started moving forward. I just about reached halfway across the courtyard when more of these small green creatures came pouring out of the mostly intact ruin to the right of the courtyard. I tried to get a count, but the creatures were climbing over each other as they flowed out of the building.

  The creatures stopped when they were about fifty feet away. I saw only one more bow, but the rest carried a combination of short spears and clubs. They appeared to be about three feet tall, and extremely slender. They had green skin, huge bulbous noses, and scrawny limps. I couldn’t see clothing on most, but one stood in the middle of the seething mass wearing a large metal skullcap. The cap has several visible rust spots, but the creature stood tall and proud.

  I stared at the creatures as they remained some distance away. The path forward was blocked by their bodies, but they did not appear in a hurry to move forward.

  “Ron!” Krysbain called. “We have more back here.”

  “How many?” I shouted.

  “Enough that they could overwhelm me if they charge. Aine is back here to help, but we can’t hold them if they attack,” Ron shouted worriedly.

  The creatures shifted backwards. Several were chattering at each other as they watched us.

  I was thinking about the best method to deal with them when Thom ran back. Jeff moved to stand next to me. As Thom jumped up and down in front of me. The boy was holding the bow the dead creature had been carrying along with a pouch that held several arrows. I
noticed that the arrows were fletched with leaves rather than feathers.

  “Can I keep it?” Thom asked.

  The bow was maybe two feet tall and appeared to be formed from a single flexible piece of wood. I could hear some hooting from the rest of the creatures as they realized what Thom held.

  “Don’t use it until you have a chance to practice,” I said. “And Krysbain should look at it. Now go put it in the rickety cart and watch over Jesame.”

  “Aww, I never have fun,” Thom said as he ran off.

  “Ron! The ones back here are approaching,” I heard Krysbain shout.

  “Gertrilla, I need the slingers to fire a volley. Have the people with the last herd of sheep fire at the ones following, everyone else shoot the mass in front of us!” I shouted.

  “Everyone!” Gertrilla shouted. “I hope you already got your slings out. Load and start to spin.”

  Slowly, a whirring sound began to ring out in the otherwise quiet courtyard. The creatures in front of us shifted backwards a bit. The one wearing the skullcap bashing a couple of the smaller members of the band. They retreated only a couple of feet.

  “Loose!” Gertrilla shouted.

  The whirring noise immediately began to fade. I heard a few loud grunts from the rear of the caravan. Then three of the horde in front of us fell backwards knocking others aside. One may have cried out, but a moan of fear made it difficult to be sure. The mob seemed to recoil, but the one wearing the skull cap immediately started using his club on ones that were turning to run.

  “Jeff, watch the front. I think I can break their line,” I shouted and then charged. A couple of the creatures in the back of the mob turned and ran. Others pointed their spears in my direction as I approached.

  Time seemed to slow as I charged. I noticed that the creatures cowered slightly, and the front rank pressed backwards. Only the presence of the one wearing the helmet kept them from turning and running. When I was about ten feet away I swung the spear so that I was holding it straight over my head. With a great leap I jumped towards the creatures.

  The creatures cringed back more as I flew at them. When I landed, I swung the spear down like I was chopping with an axe. I aimed for the head of the leader of the creatures.