Unsuspecting Mage

by Brian S. Pratt

  “Ammunition,” answers James, grimly.

  “Ammunition?” asks Rylin, “What’s that?”

  “When we catch them,” James explains as he swings back into the saddle, “you’ll see.”

  Mounted again, they once more set off after the bandits. Another hour passes and the rain continues its relentless downpour. The trail becomes clearer and more distinct now that they have narrowed the gap. Even with the torrential deluge, they have little trouble making it out.

  Then, from out of the rain ahead comes a woman’s scream. “Sheila!” shouts Rylin. Kicking their horses into a gallop, they race forward hoping to arrive in time.

  No sooner had James reached a full gallop, than indistinct shadows appear before him. Unable to stop in time, he rushes headlong into the bandits’ camp, knocking down two of them before even realizing they are there. As the two bandits hit the ground his horse slams into the side of a tent and the unexpected impact vaults him from the saddle. He hits the tent and it collapses beneath him.

  “To arms! Intruders!” sounded the alarm.

  James rolls and clears the side of the collapsing tent, gaining his feet. He looks around and sees men running toward him with swords drawn. Reaching into his pocket he pulls out the stones. With magic aiding aim and velocity, one of his missiles strikes the nearest attacker square in the chest. The bandit looks in startled surprise at the hole that appeared in his chest before collapsing to the ground, dead.

  Three more men are bearing down on him so he turns and runs, keeping distance between them. He concentrates, then stops suddenly and spins quickly toward his pursuers, casting his flashing light spell. The brilliance of the flash causes them to pause for an instant, long enough for him to throw three more stones in quick succession, taking them out.

  “To me!” he hears a commanding voice pierce the air. “To me!”

  A clash of metal off to his right signals Rylin’s entry into the battle. Following the sound, he finds the caravan guard hard pressed battling two of the bandits. Using his last stone, he nails one of them in the side, dropping him to the ground. Rylin steps back a moment and glances over to see James, who is but a shadow in the rain. He acknowledges him with a nod and then continues the attack on the remaining bandit pressing him.

  James moves in the direction from which the commanding voice had called out earlier. Darting around another tent, he spies a group of men heading toward him. One is covered in armor and wielding a long sword, obviously the leader. They are heading toward the sound of Rylin’s battle with the bandit.

  He waits too long and one of the approaching bandits sees him standing by the tent and cries out, pointing him out to the others. The leader yells for them to charge and they surge forward, swords drawn.

  Seeing a dozen men bearing down on him, James turns and runs, angling away from where Rylin is battling in the hopes of giving him time to finish his opponent before help arrives.

  Another shape materializes out of the rain ahead of him and he prepares another spell. Then he realizes it’s Miko leading the horses and mule.

  “Are you okay?” Miko asks before spying the raging, sword waving men emerging out of the rain behind James.

  “Get the hell out of here!” James yells at Miko, then turns to face the men. He concentrates on the ground near the leading edge of the attackers and lets loose a massive surge of power just as the men enter the targeted area.

  Crrrrumph!

  The ground erupts, throwing men, mud and rocks high into the air. James cries out at the pain caused by unleashing so much power at once. He drops to his knees, refusing to give in to unconsciousness.

  Surveying the damage through the rain and falling mud, he sees most of the men lie unmoving. From behind the scene of carnage, three men, one being the leader, walk around the crater in the ground he just made. Coming toward him cautiously, the men gain confidence when they see him on his knees.

  James grabs a stone from off the ground as he climbs to his feet and faces the approaching men. “Stand back!” he yells, putting more strength and confidence in his voice than he really feels. “Lest you wish to die.”

  “You’re the one to die, mage,” the leader says as he continues his approach, a smug smile upon his face. “You can’t have much left in you after that, not if it left you on your knees.”

  Coming off his knees through a sheer force of will, James stands straight and tall, praying that his knees won’t collapse on him. “Die then,” he yells and throws the stone at the leader while casting his spell. There is no familiar out-surging of power and the rock glances harmlessly off the leader’s armor. His magic has been all but depleted and the effort to draw on the little remaining to him causes dots to dance before his eyes.

  Laughing, the leader says “Take him boys.” His two men come at James as he turns and tries to run away. But his weak legs give out and drop him to the ground. Turning, he sees his death coming at a run.

  Thwock!

  A crossbow bolt flies out of the rain to strike one of the men in the shoulder, spinning him backward. The bandit cries out in pain as he hits the ground. James looks to where the crossbow bolt originated and sees Miko throwing down the crossbow. Drawing his knife, Miko comes and stands before James.

  The other bandit, seeing who it was who shot his partner says, “I’m going to gut you boy. You’re going to die slow and painful.”

  Miko stands ready and doesn’t back down. James can see that the boy’s legs are shaking. He’s scared to death, but still holds his ground.

  A fast-moving shadow emerges from the pouring rain and slams into the man approaching Miko, knocking him to the ground. Rylin quickly regains his feet and slashes down, catching the bandit in the neck, practically severing his head from his shoulders.

  Roaring in rage, the leader rushes Rylin and launches into a series of blows, causing him to retreat in the face of such an onslaught. Rylin successfully blocks the leader’s attacks but seems to be doing all he can just to hold his own.

  Hack! Hack! Slash!

  It is soon obvious that Rylin is outclassed, the leader is by far the better swordsman and he’s protected by armor.

  Miko approaches the battle in an attempt to help Rylin, but only receives a back handed cut for his efforts that slashes open his upper left arm. Out of commission, he backs away from the fight. He tears a strip of cloth off his shirt and uses it to stem the flow of blood coming from his arm, tying it as tightly as he can.

  James watches as Rylin blocks blow after blow, never once being able to go on the offensive. The two combatants move around the camp, the leader seemingly able to have Rylin go in any direction he wants simply with the pattern of his blows.

  “James what are we going to do?” Miko asks as he comes over, blood still leaking from under his makeshift bandage.

  “I’ve no strength left in me,” he replies.

  Miko extends his right hand toward James and asks, “Can you use mine?”

  Looking at Miko through the rain, James says, “I don’t know what that would do to you. It may kill you.”

  Miko glances over at Rylin then says, “He’s not going to last much longer. If we don’t do something soon we’ll all be dead.” He reaches over and takes James’ hand, “Just do it!”

  Nodding, James concentrates, envisioning the power flowing from Miko into him and then through him. He looks over at the battle where Rylin who’s obviously exhausted, is having greater difficulty in blocking the leader’s blows.

  Suddenly, Rylin cries out as the leader scores along his side opening a shallow cut. The leader shouts in triumph, “Aha!” when he sees the blood beginning to well from Rylin’s wound. Blow after blow the leader rains down upon him, continuously pushing him backward.

  The leader maneuvers Rylin back close to the man Miko shot with the crossbow who is still lying on the ground. The man, though in pain, reaches out and grabs Rylin’s ankle causing him to lose his balance and stumble to the ground. The leader sees his chance an
d raises his sword to finish it.

  Feeling the power flowing from Miko to him, James releases it and feels it being sucked out of his friend at an alarming rate. Miko cries out before slumping to the ground unconscious. James keeps a tight hold of his hand so the contact won’t be broken. He directs the power to the upraised sword of the leader, increasing the disparity of polarities between the sword and the clouds above.

  Flash! Boom!

  A giant bolt of lightning flashes from the sky to strike the end of the sword. The resulting explosion blasts the leader into the air. The bandit on the ground is charred as both he and Rylin are lifted into the air and tossed several feet away.

  The leader, when he hits the ground, no longer moves. Wisps of smoke drift upward from his body and a hissing sound can be heard from where the rain comes in contact with the heated metal of his armor.

  James checks Miko and is relieved to find that he’s still alive and breathing. He then makes his way over to Rylin.

  “What was that?” Rylin asks, a little shaky.

  “Lightning,” James replies, a bit shaky himself. “Are you okay?” he asks, looking closely at him.

  Rylin looks down at himself and nods, “I think so, is it over?” He presses his hand over the cut in his side to stem the flow of blood.

  “I don’t see anyone else but us moving, so I think it is,” he replies.

  Helping Rylin to his feet, James says, “My friend is over there,” pointing to where the boy lies in the grass. “He’s out, but alive.”

  “Thank goodness,” Rylin sighs, leaning on James for support. “Now, let’s find the women.”

  They return to the collapsed tent where the battle started. There they find a lump under the canvas, and it isn’t moving. Thinking the worst, they pull back the tent and uncover a bandit. The man’s neck is bent at a wrong angle, obviously broken, and his pants are down around his ankles.

  Rylin quickly scans the camp through the rain but sees nothing other than the dead bandits. “Sheila!” he cries into the rain. “It’s Rylin! It’s safe, they are all dead.”

  James looks around as well and soon spies two silhouettes appearing out of the rain, coming toward the camp.

  “Sheila!” Rylin cries and runs over to them, James following.

  The women, though shaken and upset, seem to be alright. Sheila is wrapped in a blanket and her mother has her arms around her. She has a lost look about her.

  Rylin turns to her mother and asks, “Is she okay?”

  “One of the bandits was just about to have his way with her,” she explains. “He had stripped her and was about to…,” overcome with emotion, she stopped. Getting hold of herself, she continued. “Then something hit the side of the tent, knocking it over.”

  Rylin puts his arm around her and begins to offer comfort when her eyes suddenly widen at something behind him and she looks as though she’s ready to bolt. Seeing her reaction, Rylin turns around expecting an attack but only finds James walking toward them.

  “It’s okay,” Rylin assures her. “This is James, he helped rescue you.”

  Relaxing somewhat, she says, “Thank you for helping us.”

  “You are welcome,” he replies. “I hope you and your daughter will be okay?”

  “I think we will,” she says. “It may take some time for my daughter to get over this, but she will. She’s a strong girl.”

  “Maybe we should put the tent up again,” James suggests, “so the ladies can have shelter?”

  “No,” the mother says adamantly. “We will not stay in that tent. Besides, we need to see about our caravan.”

  “How?” Rylin asks. “The horses are gone.”

  Shaking her head, she says, “Our horses were taken by several of the bandits to the south while this group continued this way. If we can get them back, then maybe we can bring in our caravan to Trademeet and salvage something from all this.”

  Seeing the doubt in Rylin’s eyes, she continues, “With my husband dead, we need the money from those goods to survive.”

  “James!” Miko’s cry interrupts the conversation.

  “Over here!” James hollers back. Shortly they are able to see him approaching through the rain.

  “Oh, you’re hurt!” Sheila cries out when she finally becomes aware of Rylin’s blood soaked shirt, pressed to his side. “Let me help you.” Taking him by the hand she leads him over to the tent and rummages around, coming up with several strips of cloth. Removing his shirt, she inspects the cut and decides it’s not too deep. She then proceeds to wrap the cloth around his side tightly, finally securing it with a knot.

  “Thanks, ma’am,” Rylin says when she’s finished.

  “That should do for a while,” she says. “Just be careful from now on, okay?”

  “Alright, ma’am, I will,” he assures her.

  Sheila finds her clothes in the tent and with her mother’s help, gets dressed while everyone else looks the other way.

  As Sheila dresses, James says to Rylin, “Miko and I can go after the bandits and see if the horses can be recovered, though I will need to rest for an hour or so before I leave. I pretty much wore myself out during the fight.”

  “Perhaps I should go with you as well,” Rylin offers.

  “You need to stay with the ladies and watch over them,” James replies. “You can defend them better than either Miko or myself. And we certainly don’t want to leave them alone and unprotected.”

  Rylin glances over to the mother who nods her head, agreeing with the plan. “Alright, but how will we know if you are successful?”

  “If we are, we’ll take them back to the road and meet you there,” explains James. “Take the horses here with you and if we don’t come back, use them as best you can to get the caravan to Trademeet.”

  “Those are not draft animals,” the mother says, looking at the nearby picket of horses.

  “Better than nothing wouldn’t you say?” James counters.

  “I suppose so,” she agrees, though not entirely happy about the situation.

  “Miko,” James says to him, “search all the bandits, especially the leader. See if there is anything that may tell us why they are here.”

  “What do you mean?” Rylin asks as Miko begins to rummage through their belongings and inspecting each of the dead bodies.

  “The leader seemed too professional to simply be a bandit leader,” James explains. “Also, if they were merely bandits, why did they split their forces and send the horses south? It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

  “I see your point,” Rylin acknowledges.

  While Miko searches the dead, Rylin and James tie the bandit’s horses in a line, bridle to saddle. Three saddlebags are found to be filled with gold and other valuables.

  “This must belong to the ladies,” James guesses when he sees the fortune, “taken from their caravan.”

  “Most likely,” Rylin agrees.

  The rain begins to lessen though it’s still a constant nuisance. Miko returns from his search and says “Couldn’t find anything on anyone. There was some paper on the leader but it’s ash now, couldn’t make out any writing.”

  “Alright, let’s get our stuff and we’ll go look for the horses,” James tells him. “Also, let’s take the tent with us, it may come in handy should the rain continue.”

  “Alright, James,” Miko says as he turns to go over to where the tent is lying in the mud.

  Rylin, having already assisted the ladies to mount, comes over to James and says, “Thank you for your help in rescuing them.”

  “We couldn’t leave them to their fate,” he replies. “I just hope Miko and I are able to get the horses back for you.”

  “So do I,” he says. “We’ll wait on the road for a day or so before continuing on toward Trademeet. If you manage to get them, try your best to find us.”

  “We’ll find you,” James assures him. They walk over to Rylin’s horse and James gives him a hand mounting.

  “Goodbye ladies,” J
ames says as he turns toward them. “We’ll see you in a couple of days.”

  As Rylin gets the line moving, the mother says, “Thank you again, James. I can’t begin to express my gratitude for you helping Rylin to save us. Should you ever need anything, the House of Ellinize will help you.”

  “Thank you ma’am,” James replies. He stands back a bit and waves as they begin moving northward to where the caravan was abandoned back on the road.

  Miko waves to them as they begin to leave. “Everything set?” James asks him.

  “Yeah, I got the tent on the mule,” he answers.

  “Then let’s go,” James says and then walks over toward their horses.

  “What is that?” he asks as they approach the horses. On the back of the pack mule is the tent all right, but it looks like it was stuffed and tied up there without any effort made in compacting it.

  He looks over at Miko and asks, “Ever folded a tent before?”

  Shaking his head, Miko answers, “No, I’m a city boy.”

  James begins to untie it from the horse, and then lays it on the ground. “Here, give me a hand and I’ll show you how to do it properly so it will be a much smaller package to handle.” Having never folded this particular type of tent, it takes him a couple of tries but they eventually get it down to a manageable size and secure it on the mule.

  Then they mount up and begin to ride after the other band of bandits.

  Chapter Eighteen

  _______________________

  The rain continues to lessen throughout the morning until shortly after noon, when it stops altogether. Not long after the sun breaks through the clouds to bring a much welcomed relief to the sodden pair. James and Miko manage to maintain a quick pace as they try to catch up with the remaining bandits, only stopping for brief periods to rest the horses before continuing the search.