Journey Across Jord

by Allan Joyal

  Natalie glanced at the plow. "It's small," she told me. "We really need a big one that can plow multiple furrows at once, but we can use it. We don't have space for that on the carts though."

  "Ron!" I heard from behind me. I turned around to see Gerit leading a mule pulling a cart about the same size as the others we were using. "I've got a cart and a mule."

  I nodded and turned to the merchants. "The plow is small for our needs, but we are interested. Can I have a moment to talk to my colleague?"

  They nodded as the one in the wagon started handing down some knives that had handles at both ends. I hurried over to talk to Gerit. "How much?" I asked.

  Gerit smirked. "I had some savings left over," he informed me. "I used that to save time."

  "We've received word that the slavers are nearby and looking for us," I said. "We need to trade and leave, so I'll have to handle returning the funds later."

  "No," Gerit said. "You welcomed me into the group without ever asking for anything from my wife or me. You have made us part of what is a family. I could not take your money. This is my payment for joining."

  "Thank you," I whispered. I rushed back over to the merchants, who now had three of the double handled blades out and were showing Natalie a number of hoes and shovels.

  "Help," Natalie whispered as I arrived. "I can't think of how to tell them what we really need."

  "The plow, the three shearing knives and four watertight barrels," I said. "Four drachma."

  The merchants laughed. "The metal in the plow cost almost that much. One gold for everything."

  I reached into the pouch of dwarven coins and carefully extracted three coins. "Three coins of dwarven silver," I said. "But you add a fifth barrel containing wine or ale."

  "Only four barrels, but one will contain wine," the merchant challenged as he gazed at my open palm with avarice.

  "Done," I said. "Gerit, Al, load the items on the new cart."

  "No farm tools?" Natalie asked.

  "We have a lot, and I don't want to wait in town too long," I said. "I just have a bad feeling."

  The first pair of merchants had unloaded the barrels and were now coaxing their oxen to move forward. As soon as they left, the wagon with the hay came forward. Steve rushed over to me.

  "They say for one coin we can have their whole load," he said. "Do we have space for that much?"

  "Probably not, especially loose hay like that. Get who you can and move it to the new cart. We need ropes and a sail to cover everything," I replied.

  "A covering? I can get you that!" a boy shouted. I had not even seen the shouter before I heard footsteps racing away from where we were.

  Most of the ladies had come over to help transfer the hay. We discovered that there were also two barrels filled with oats in the wagon and the merchant laughingly told us it was included. The barrels went into our first cart while the new cart was filled with hay.

  Steve came over to me as the last barrel was removed from the wagon. We watched the wagon start moving and looked around the courtyard. "How bad will it be?" he asked.

  "I get a feeling it's going to be bad," I said. "I get a feeling that the slavers are waiting for us just outside of town."

  "I'll get the weapons out," Steve said. "Who should guide the carts?"

  "Victoria, Amalya, Gerit, and then combine Esme and Mary," I said. Have Al or Henck help cover the flock and the kids. Oh, make sure Shaylin knows and has any offensive spells she knows ready to cast," I said.

  Steve nodded and then headed over to the carts. I saw him talk briefly with Gerit. Gerit moved to claim one of the mules and lead him to a cart.

  "Excuse me," a young female voice said from behind me. I turned around to see a girl of maybe thirteen years. She was holding a large crate. I could see something moving within the crate.

  "Can I help you?" I asked.

  "Are you really going to head south when you leave town?" the girl asked.

  "That was our plan," I said carefully.

  "There are slavers waiting for you," she said. "They showed up two days ago."

  "How far down the road are they?" I asked.

  "Not too far," the girl said. She then leaned forward to whisper to me. "None of them know about the tunnel and they are hiding just past the entrance. But they set up rafts on the far side of the tunnel."

  "Why there?" I asked.

  "There is a town at the bend," the girl informed me. "They don't like slavers and won't allow them to enter. If the slavers catch you, they'll make you hike over the mountains to get to the rafts."

  "You've seen them?" I asked.

  The girl nodded. "I avoid going home at night and I've seen their campfires. They have a couple strings of slaves with them."

  "Why wait for us then?" I asked.

  "Girls like the ones you have are worth good money in the cities," the girl replied.

  I looked at her. She was not as slender as any of the girls in our group, but she appeared to be healthy. She had all of her teeth, but her hair was hidden under a dark brown hairnet, making it impossible to see what it looked like. She blushed a little under my scrutiny.

  "The village keeps people at the top of the falls to watch for the slavers. They ring a bell if one is spotted. I've always hid when they came by, all the women in town do," the girl said.

  "So you have something to sell?" I asked.

  The girl shook her head. I noticed suddenly that she had a pack of some kind on her back and another bag was resting at her feet.

  "You want to come with us?" I asked.

  "Can I?" the girl asked hopefully.

  "What about your family here?" I asked.

  "I have none," the girl replied. "Father died cutting down trees two years ago and mother died last year."

  "No brothers or sisters?" I asked.

  The girl shook her head. "They are adults. None live in Crayolyn Falls."

  I looked around for Victoria. She was talking to Steve and Gerit at the front of the first cart. I was about to call for her when Heather ran over. "I see some men driving a few animals across the bridge. They might have the livestock we want. The only other thing is for Lenoir to come back. Oh, who is this?"

  "Heather," I said hopefully, "it seems we are once again seen as a way to escape a town that isn't pleasant to live in. Could you escort this young woman over to the carts and get her goods stacked? After that, make sure everyone is ready to leave."

  "I can," Heather said turning to the girl. "What's your name?"

  "Dafalia," the girl whispered. "Will you really take me along?"

  Heather put an arm around the girl. "We'll be happy to have you." My love looked back at me. "Ron, we'll need more men at this rate."

  "Boys get the family home, it's the girls who will want to escape," I said. "But we'll see what happens when we reach Saraloncto. We might want to actually recruit when we are there."

  Heather giggled. "We can have Esme and Natalie vamp them. Those girls need a night on the town."

  I shook my head as Heather led Dafalia over to the carts. They started loading the girl's items onto the rickety cart. As they loaded the crate, Lenoir ran into the courtyard. The girl ran directly to me and then collapsed to her knees. "I got the slings, but no stones and we won't have time to teach the girls how to use them today."

  Lenoir was out of breath. I bent down to help her stand. "Problem?" I asked.

  "Slavers coming over the hill. They'll be here soon," Lenoir gasped out.

  "You saw them?" I whispered.

  "Yes," Lenoir responded.

  I pointed at the new girl. "She knows of a secret passage we can take once we leave town that might allow us to escape the slavers. Talk to her, then be ready to protect any flocks we have."

  Steve jogged up to me as Lenoir nodded and stood up. He had a worried look on his face. "Some farmers showed up. They have six goats, eight more sheep, including another ram and seven cows, including a bull. They want seven drachma."

  I reached
into my pouch and pulled out three of the dwarven coins. "See if they will take this," I said. "Lenoir says that she received word that slavers are on their way over the hill from Rockspire."

  "It only took us about an hour to walk to town once we saw it," Steve said. "If slavers are moving quickly, they can be here in minutes."

  "I know," I said.

  Steve took the coins and started hurrying toward the farmers and their livestock. I shouldered my spear and moved to the lead cart. Around me, everyone in our group was unsheathing weapons and moving to form a screen in front of the carts.

  "Marines, we are leaving!" I shouted. There was a cry of confusion from Amalya, but Victoria smacked the rump of the mule on the first cart and it began moving.

  I stepped out ahead of the cart, trying to stay only a short distance ahead. Gorm jogged up from the back. "I've heard we have slavers nearby."

  "Yes, and the town has no walls and probably little food. We either push through or we'll be captured," I said.

  "Got it," Gorm said. "Let's show them that they will pay for thinking of capturing us."

  We were exiting the courtyard and rejoining the road when I heard a shout from behind me. "Hey! Don't you want the cloth to cover the carts?"

  "Sorry, we've run out of time to trade," I said.

  "I'll give it if I can come with you!" the same voice shouted.

  I turned around and walked backwards while looking for the voice. It was coming from a twelve or thirteen year old boy. He had a pack on his back and was dragging a large cloth behind him. Immediately, I made a decision.

  "Natalie, help the boy get the cloth on the last cart and then make sure he stays close to the carts," I called out.

  I could see the coed rush out to help the boy carry the cloth over to the cart. Just then, the flock of sheep appeared behind the cart and began passing all the carts on their left side. The flock absorbed the new animals as it passed through the gate. Shaylin ran in front of the flock to catch up to me.

  "That Dafalia told us the tunnel will be on our left," she said. "Do you know how close we are?"

  "No clue, but it's supposedly close to town," I said. "I just hope we can get there before we run into the slavers in front of us."

  "There is another group?" Shaylin asked.

  "Yes. They passed by the town a couple of days ago. Supposedly they are likely to be set up only a short distance from the town," I replied.

  "Why?" Shaylin asked.

  "Money. The ladies in our group are attractive and in good condition. They would be worth a lot of money to a wealthy merchant looking for a sex slave or to a man running a brothel in a seaport town," I replied.

  "You'll protect me," Shaylin said confidently. It was not a question and I tightened my grip on the spear as I nodded. Shaylin dropped back to the front of the flock as Victoria tried to encourage the mule pulling the first wagon to move faster.

  I looked back over my shoulder, trying to spot the slavers on the road, but even with the bend in the river keeping the roads closer, I could not spot any visible movement. I did see the farmers in the pastures moving their herds away from the road as we left the town and headed south, toward an ambush we were hoping to escape.

  Chapter 34: Meeting Our Pursuers.

  The tension as we left the town of Crayolyn Falls only increased as we headed south. Here the hills to our left rose steeply. The road was clearly scoured by annual floods. We could see spots where people had removed large stones and filled in the holes to allow carts and wagons to pass.

  Everyone watched the road ahead. It seemed to be clear, but with the hill on one side and the river on the other, it was easy to imagine how slavers could trap a small party. I thought we were a bit larger than they would normally attack, but if William Tuttle had told them that we were not skilled at fighting, they might try. After all when William left we only had two weapons and a crossbow that would take several minutes to reload.

  Dafalia came up to walk next to me after we were out of sight of the town. The river had curved to the right enough that the hills now intervened and blocked us from seeing the village.

  Just then I heard a shout from Aine who was watching to the rear. "I can see movement on the road, just south of the town. I can't see how many. Looks like they are on foot."

  "Damn," I muttered. "Dafalia, I hope we are at your tunnel soon," I said.

  The girl pointed down the road. "See the gap in the hills, that's the path the slavers use to avoid Anterium. The tunnel is a short distance before that."

  I felt a bit of hope, but as the road curved back to the left that hope was immediately dashed. Three men stood in the middle of the road just one hundred yards away. They said nothing, but one raised his right hand and several others appeared on the rocks beyond them.

  "I see two archers in the rocks," Gorm called out from the right, softly enough that I hoped the men could not hear us.

  Two of the men in the road were wearing leather shirts and pants. Both held strange spears. Instead of a single blade, they had a curved and barbed metal piece shaped like a circle with a single wedge cut out of it. It was easy to imagine that if they caught your neck in that, you would be forced to submit.

  The third man was wearing robes of some kind. He looked at me and laughed. "So, you are still in charge? The salesman with delusions that he can protect everyone. I hope they take you alive. I'll enjoy making you eat those words afterwards as you watch me rape the women."

  "Get out of the way," I said. "I see less than a dozen of you."

  "We have more," one of the two armored men said quietly. He raised his right hand again and six more men walked out from behind a large rock. They led a line of people who were tied together and then forced them to kneel against the hill side.

  "We are going to fight you," I said firmly.

  "You'll be the first to die," the same slaver said. "We have bows."

  I looked back at my group. Steve, Henck and Al had all come forward and were using the first cart as cover.

  "I hope they don't aim at the mules," I muttered.

  "We still aren't going to just surrender," I called back. I let go of my spear with my right hand long enough to flash two fingers behind my back.

  "Foolish," Tuttle shouted back. "All you can do is die."

  "You first," I called back. "Fire!"

  I dove to my left. Behind me I could hear the twin twangs of Aine and Lydia firing their crossbows. Lydia must have aimed at the slaver leader because a bolt hit him in the throat. The man collapsed to the ground.

  The other bolt caught one of the archers high in the chest. The man collapsed as the other fired. The arrow came nowhere near me and I thought he had missed until Lenoir shouted. "Gorm!"

  I risked a quick glance to my right. Gorm lay face down on the ground I could see the head of an arrow sprouting from his back. Lenoir stood up. Her sling was already whirling. A moment later, she released the stone and the second archer fell.

  The slavers guarding the rest of the slaves roared. I watched the road and the other slaver leader had grabbed Tuttle around the neck. He quickly struck the man over the head and laid him on the ground before moving to check on the leader.

  I looked around carefully. There were still two slavers standing up on the rocks. Another eight were standing around the line of captured slaves. The slaves were kneeling on the ground; many were leaning against the hillside. There was still one slaver blocking the road, but he had moved to look at the fallen one and did not seem interested in what was happening.

  Looking over my right shoulder, I found Dafalia cowering near the first cart. "Where is the tunnel?" I asked quietly.

  Dafalia pointed to a spot almost directly to my left and away from the road. I risked a moment to look and could only see stone. Still I could hear from the cries of the slavers that they were getting ready to move.

  "Victoria, when we move, have Dafalia lead you. Men, we need to clear these slavers and convince them to leave us alone," I called
out firmly.

  One of the two slavers up on the rocks grabbed something and held it above his head. There was a whirring sound as he moved his hand in a horizontal circle a couple of times and then he opened the hand.

  Everyone on our side ducked as the object the man had held flew over our heads. We heard a strange wooden thunk and I glanced over my shoulder. A long rope had wrapped around one of the uprights on the rickety sled.

  "What is that?" I heard Jeff call out.

  "Bola," Hencktor said. "Don't let one hit you."

  "Then let's get into position where they can't use it without hitting their own friends," I said. "Charge!"

  I leapt to my feet and charged at the middle of the group of slavers. I held the spear out in front of me as I crossed the ground.

  I could hear additional footsteps behind me. Someone yelled out a battle cry as we covered the open space between us. The slaver on the rocks who had not moved reached for something at his hip, but then fell forward quietly.

  The slavers on the ground froze and stared at me as I charged. I was within twenty feet of the closest one before they started to move. Each one held up a club, but they were still reacting when I reached the first man and stabbed him in the stomach with my spear.

  The slaver collapsed. The club he had been raising dropped as his hands reached for the spear. I withdrew it from his body and turned to look around.

  It was clear our charge had caught the slavers completely by surprise. Steve had used his hammer to crush the skull of one man while the axes carried by Hencktor and Al had left two other men on the ground. I was looking to advance at one of the ones still guarding the slaves when I heard a woman shout. "Ron, duck!"

  I tried to duck but tripped over the man I had just stabbed. I fell backwards, holding the spear up in front of me. As I did a bola struck the spear near the tip and quickly wrapped around the blade. It did not appear to damage the blade, but the change in balance and the rope on the blade made it useless until I could cut the bola free. I tossed the spear back towards the carts and drew my dagger.