by Bob Blink
Once she regained her senses when they stopped feeding her the daily doses of drugs, she realized who had tried to rescue her. Prince Mojol had died in the attempt, but she didn’t let her captors know who he’d been. She couldn’t see any way it would be in her or the Kingdom’s interest for them to have that information.
Shyar looked at the cage that held her once again. Whatever was blocking her access to the power, it was related to the construction of the cage itself. So the obvious question became, what could she do to the cage?
Chapter 92
Traveling south from Bauto, Asari and Luzoke began to encounter increasing numbers of Angon’s troops on the road as they approached the tiny village of Aberton, the last outpost on the southern border of the country. This wasn’t much of a surprise since they expected the border to be guarded after the unexpected invasion of Kimlelm earlier in the year, but the presence of the soldiers started them discussing the possible difficulties they might have getting across the border. While the greatest concern of the troops would be watching for people coming into the country, Asari was sure they would be concerned with people leaving as well. There was nothing they could show that would convince the soldiers they weren’t spies of some sort, and they would be hard pressed to explain why they wanted to head into an area that was under the control of an enemy force. They were going to need to know how well guarded the road was and where the soldiers were being quartered. That meant asking a few careful questions once they arrived in Aberton.
They had no trouble getting a room in the surprisingly nice Wandered Inn on the southern edge of the village. Asari had seen the inn on his previous pass through the town when he’d made this trip alone, and was surprised to find it almost empty. The quality of the inn wasn’t surprising since it was the first nice place travelers would find after a few weeks coming through the mountain passes, but with the roads closed as a result of Ale’ald’s blockade, there were no travelers to take advantage of its comforts. The soldiers were obviously staying elsewhere, so the proprietor was suffering as a result, and was extremely happy to have a couple of paying guests.
“I’m surprised to see someone on the road,” he said in a back handed way of asking why they were traveling. “You must know that the mountain passes are occupied by the enemy wizards and their army.”
“We do,” replied Asari. “I’m from the mountain area and have made this trip a number of times. I’m escorting this man for the crown. He is a specially trained mage, and he is supposed to report to the area commander. We were told it would be easy enough to find out where he was located once we arrived in the area.”
The proprietor looked at Luzoke with new respect. “They are camped just south of town, on the main road. They have a large encampment of troops that have been tasked with patrolling the border. It’s only another five miles. You will find many soldiers from this point on. Any of them can point you should you have difficulty, but in truth, you really can’t miss the camp.”
Up in their room, Asari and Luzoke discussed their options. While the soldiers had no right to stop them from going south, Asari was convinced they would certainly detain them for several days if not longer. Positive that the straightforward approach was doomed, they decided they would need to try and sneak across the border and into the mountains. That would mean leaving their horses behind and continuing onward on foot, something that would have become necessary anyway once they hit the mountain trails. This would be better for the horses, which could run free on the plains until someone found them.
That night they transferred the items they would be carrying into the two hiking packs they had purchased back in Bauto after splitting with Jolan and Ronoran. Asari had known they would need them, since the travel bags they used with the horses were simply not suited to mountain climbing. In the morning they would ride away from the road, probably to the southwest until they could find a place to bury their remaining items, pull the saddles from the horses, and turn them lose. Then they would set out on foot, taking care to avoid the Angon patrols. Once they had passed the main force, Asari didn’t expect much other trouble. There would be little reason for the military to patrol up into the mountains. Their primary purpose could be met by a careful patrol down here in the foothills.
The landscape had started slowly rising even before they had reached Aberton, and as they walked south towards the mountains, the rate at which the land rose became more pronounced. The open plains started to give way to more frequent trees, which transitioned from the leafy variety into the pine-like trees of the mountains. The trees afforded them more chances to remain hidden, and they stuck to the lower gullies and the heavily forested sides of the hills. The patrols they did see were noisy enough to hear well in advance, and while they would have easily spotted an invading force, they simply weren’t numerous enough to have a real chance of spotting two men on foot taking care not to be seen. As they approached the last boundary before actually starting up the side of the first of the mountains, they walked through the small ravine cut by one of the many streams that flowed out onto the plains from the mountains. It was deep enough, and this time of year dry enough, that they could walk along the edge of the water, well below the level of the land above. Even though there was a patrol a mile off to the north, they passed unseen into the tree line, and started on their way into the occupied territories. By the time they had traveled five miles they had gradually worked their way back to the main trail. Breaking a new trail through these steep hills was far too much effort, and Asari wanted to stay on a known path both for speed, and to minimize chances of getting lost. They were careful to scan ahead, and always kept their eyes open for a place to hide off to the side of the trails in case they encountered troops of either country. For the next two days they made excellent time.
“Just the two of them,” Luzoke agreed. “I can’t see anyone else nearby, and I can’t sense anyone using the power.”
They’d come across the two guards ten minutes before. They had set up in one of the narrowest parts of the trail, between two tall smooth granite hillsides, which simply could not be easily bypassed. The road was a mere twenty feet wide where the soldiers had set up their check point. It would take several hours to backtrack to a point they might be able to find a way around, but it would take them several days to work their way through the steep mountains back to where they needed to go. That was why there was only the one trail through the mountains. It had been found a very long time before and was the only reasonable path open.
“There have to be more nearby,” insisted Asari. “It wouldn’t make sense to have just the two of them out here alone.”
Luzoke shrugged. “What do you want to do?”
“The jump off point for the back way to the lake is only a half mile ahead. If we can get by these two and off the trail without being spotted, they will probably think the men were attacked by soldiers from Angon making a check. I’m sure they won’t be able to spot us.”
As he talked he took three arrows from his quiver and pushed them into the ground in front of his feet. He positioned himself carefully, and then whispered once again to Luzoke.
“Jolan wants our presence here kept as quiet as possible. We especially don’t want our interest in the lake to become known. It would be best if you don’t have to use your power. That would generate a lot of interest, and Angon mages typically don’t attack normal soldiers. I’m going to try to kill them with the bow. If something goes wrong, then you can join in. We will figure out how to cover up later.”
Luzoke nodded his understanding, and watched as Asari pulled the first arrow from the ground and slipped it into place. He pulled back on the string and sighted on the two men standing unaware fifty yards ahead on the trail. Luzoke heard the soft “twang” of the string, and watched as the arrow flew swiftly toward the man on the right. The arrow struck true, passing through the man’s chest, and before the second man could react to the sudden death of his partner, Luzoke heard the bowst
ring sound a second time. The arrows traveled at two hundred feet per second, which meant they took less than a second to travel the short distance to the men. The heavy arrow moving at that speed could easily penetrate all the way through a man. It had taken Asari about five seconds to grab the second arrow, slip it into place, and release it. That meant in less than ten seconds the two men were dead, the second with the arrow protruding from his chest, the arrow having caught on one of the larger bones on its way through.
Asari and Luzoke listened carefully for any signs of alarm. Asari had already slipped the third arrow into place on the bow, and waited ready to cock and release if needed. They heard nothing. There were no signs of alarm. Quickly slipping out of their concealment on the side of the trail, they hurried up and past the two dead men. Asari hated to leave the arrows behind, but there was simply no time to waste recovering them. He and Luzoke continued past the dead men, scanning ahead for further danger. Their luck didn’t hold, and as they made the next small turn in the trail they saw a group of five soldiers headed down the trail in their direction. One of the approaching soldiers noticed them as well, and pointed their way saying something to his companions.
“Uh-oh,” said Luzoke, who’d been the first to see the approaching group.
Luzoke and Asari turned and headed back down the trail, soon passing the two men they had killed a few minutes before.
“Turn left off the trail at the stream,” Asari said as they ran. The stream was just around the bend from where they had ambushed the guards. They had stopped briefly for a drink and Asari remembered a place a bit up the hillside where they could make a stand.
They could hear the group behind them coming at a run. They could hear they were talking, probably making plans, but couldn’t make out the words. Asari reached the turnoff first, and sprinted up the soft hillside, slipping a bit on the pine needles as he scrambled for the trees ahead.
“Keep going up the hill so they can see you. I’m going to take a shot from the first tree.”
As they passed the two trees Asari was pointing to, Luzoke continued on, staying clearly in view from below rather than taking advantage of the cover to try and remain hidden. The approaching soldiers saw him and assumed Asari was even further ahead. They started up the hillside after them. It was a fatal mistake for the first two. The two trees formed a ‘V’, and Asari suddenly popped up and released his first arrow. Once again, a man suddenly dropped dead from the passage of an arrow through the center of his chest. A second arrow followed the first, and the next man crumpled, falling back into the third man knocking him off balance.
Wisely, Asari ducked and started moving up the hill, only he stayed low and tried to remain hidden. The men below had had enough, and then suddenly started firing, even though they didn’t have a clear target. The lever action rifles spit round after round as the men peppered the hillside in response to the deaths of their comrades.
So much for quiet, Asari thought as the report of gunfire echoed through the hills. Suddenly he stumbled as something slapped hard along his thigh. Recovering, he reached down and felt, his hand coming up bloody when he checked. One of the soldiers had gotten lucky. His leg felt a bit numb as if someone had hit it with a heavy stick, but he was still able to walk. He started back up the hill after Luzoke, but moving slower than he liked.
The three soldiers were closing the distance, and they suddenly came around the bend down the trail and could now see Asari. He’d slipped the bow back over his shoulder and now had the rifle in his right hand, but his current position standing on the trail and favoring his left leg was awkward, and they would be able to shoot him before he could get a single accurate shot off.
The first of the soldiers raised his rifle to shoot, when a blinding flash of light blasted past Asari and engulfed the man. He seemed to simply disappear. Two more flashes followed almost immediately, and the remaining two soldiers disappeared in a brief flash of white as well.
“No choice,” said Luzoke grimly, looking down the trail where the three men had stood moments before and realizing he’d just violated one of the rules the College had tried to drill into him the past several years. These men hadn’t been wizards, and he’d used the power to kill them.
“I’m not complaining,” answered Asari with a sigh of relief. He’d expected to feel a bullet take him moments before. “How strong are you?” he asked after a moment. I’ve never seen anything quite that sudden before. They simply disappeared.”
“With the ring Jolan lent me, I think I might be an eight with the beams,” he said, a bit surprised himself. “I can sense the strength, and I can create them far faster than I ever could before. It’s incredible.”
Then he noticed the blood on Asari’s leg.
“You’ve been shot!”
“I don’t think it hit me direct. Sure does hurt though.”
Asari pulled down his pants and had a look. The bullet had dug a large furrow along the outside of his thigh, but passed without doing major damage. After washing it with a wet cloth and tying the piece of cloth around the wound, Asari indicated they had to get moving.
“Those shots will have been heard. We need to get to the cut off before anyone else arrives.”
Luzoke looked doubtful, and watched Asari as he walked a bit tenderly at first, but without major difficulty down the trail. They passed where the three men had been incinerated, and there was hardly a trace they’d ever existed. If they’d had time, Asari would have probably suggested they try and cover the remaining traces, but they simply hurried past and back to the trail.
Once again they retraced their steps past the original two guards and up the trail, keeping a careful watch for more soldiers coming from the opposite direction. Once they had to slip off to the side and hide in the brush when a group of fifteen enemy soldiers came hurrying down the trail.
“Wizard,” Luzoke whispered after they passed, indicating he had detected someone with the power in the group that had just gone by. “A very minor one, but still someone with the power.”
As soon as it seemed prudent, they worked their way back onto the trail and continued on their way.
“Are you sure?” asked Luzoke doubtfully when Asari indicated they had reached the place to depart the trail. The spot Asari had chosen looked like nothing more than a small gully washed away from the hill by the spring melt.
“My dad brought me this way. He told me to remember the cut-off by the pair of bluish rocks on the hill there. I know it doesn’t look like much, but it opens up after a bit. None of this is going to be an easy climb though. Jolan didn’t like the trail I used to bring him out from the lake. That was the easy way.”
Luzoke shrugged and nodded. It would be good to get off the trail. The soldiers had passed them ten minutes ago, and so far they’d seen no sign of any more, but there must be a camp somewhere around here. The sooner they could get well away from the main trail, the better he’d feel about things.
Chapter 93
Asari had been right and the narrow gulley opened up after a bit, but the path they followed no longer resembled a trail in any sense of the word. Asari led them along hillsides and up ravines, sometimes scrambling over the loose rock as they made their way ever upward. Luzoke found it exhausting, and couldn’t imagine how Asari was able to continue climbing on the bleeding leg. Several hours later Asari called a halt and he sat down heavily on a large rock next to a small pond.
“We’ll camp here tonight,” he said.
After slipping off his pack and sitting for a few minutes, he pushed himself up and walked over to the pond. He slipped off his pants, revealing a very bloody piece of cloth with streaks of dried red blood running down his leg. Asari walked into the cool water of the pond and began washing the blood away, wincing as the water splashed against the raw flesh of the wound. He dug a handful of mud from the bottom of the pond and gently applied it to the wound, wrapping the mess with another piece of cloth he tore from his spare shirt.
“W
e need to get someone to look at that?” Luzoke said.
Asari looked around and grinned. “It’ll have to wait until we get the portal open. Then we should be able to go straight back to the College medical mages.”
“Next time we stay together and hide behind my shields.”
“Sounds good to me,” agreed Asari. “I guess I got a bit overconfident.”
“Which way are we headed?”
Asari pointed to a couple of high peaks off to his right. “Tomorrow won’t be too bad. We’ve come up quite a bit and will be traveling along this high meadow. When we get to the base of those hills, we’ll have a bit of a climb. From the top you will be able to see the north tip of the lake.”
* * * *
Four days later they had made it to the top of the range of mountains Asari had pointed out from the pond. They had moved slower than hoped, since Asari’s leg continued to bother him. The wound wouldn’t stay closed because of the constant stresses being applied to it. He was using a walking stick, a sign of how much the wound pained him, but they continued on.
The top of the mountain was bare and rocky, and extremely narrow. Luzoke guessed it was less than twenty feet wide where they now crossed, with steep smooth granite dropping off on either side. One slip and a person would slide for at least a thousand feet before being thrown abruptly off the ledge far below. Asari walked across the loose stones that lay scattered on top of the cracked and chipped granite at the top of the mountain as though the precipice didn’t exist.
