by Jon F. Merz
“The only danger,” said Ran, “is if they have scouts out ahead of the main attacking force. They’ll be disciplined and quiet. Trained for exactly the type of thing that we’re going to be attempting. If we blunder into them and they raise the alarm, then our gambit is over before it gets a chance to begin.”
“I’m comfortable working at night,” said Gunj. “The dark hasn’t affected me in quite some time. Not since I was a child and my father made me spend a night out in the woods by myself.”
Ran smiled. They’d done much the same thing at the shadow warrior school back in Gakur. “How long did it take you to get comfortable?”
“You mean once I stopped screaming?” Gunj chuckled. “A few hours. But once I was able to see better, the shadows didn’t look so dangerous. And when I started exploring and seeing how much life there is in the night, I actually grew more and more curious about the nocturnal hours. So much so, I kept going out at night. My father realized his plan had somewhat not produced the results he was looking for. Or rather, it did, but then it went far beyond.”
“And here we are.”
“Indeed,” said Gunj. He stood and glanced around. The twilight was drawing down upon the encampment. “We should get ready to leave as soon as possible.”
Ran nodded. He made sure the other members of their small raiding force blacked out their faces. Yasseh saw what they were doing and immediately helped himself to some of the charcoal mixture, streaking his face with it. He turned to Ran.
“How does it look?”
“Fine,” said Ran. “You don’t have to make any sort of pattern, just be sure that the charcoal breaks up the lines of your face. The darker and less reflective your skin is, the better.”
Yasseh took another few minutes to go over his face once more before nodding to himself that all was well. Ran watched him jam a curved saber into his belt along with three smaller daggers, each complete with jeweled hilts.
“Wait.”
Yasseh turned. “Is there a problem?”
Ran pointed at the daggers. “Their handles. Those jewels will reflect any sort of light and twinkle as we make our approach. I’m sorry, but you can’t wear them.”
“These knives have been in my family for generations. Seven, in fact. They are as old as they are priceless.”
“I’m sure they are fine weapons,” said Ran. “But you can’t bring them with you. If you do, you risk all of our lives.”
Yasseh frowned. “The problem is with the jewels?”
“That’s right.”
“Very well,” Yasseh pulled out one of the daggers and used its blade to pry the jewels from the handle of the other blade. When he was finished, he used that dagger to pry the jewels from the first.
As Ran watched, the tiny rocks spilled to the ground and laid there until Yasseh scooped them all up and placed them in a small drawstring bag that he tossed to an assistant. “Put those in my wagon.” He looked at Ran. “Will that be satisfactory?”
“You didn’t need to do that,” said Ran. “You could have simply chosen another set of knives.”
But Yasseh held up his hand. “No. These daggers go into battle with me. They have served the men of my family for almost a thousand years. I’m not about to go off into the night without the skill of my ancestors to help me should I require it.” He tucked the blades away again and turned.
Gunj slid up next to Ran. “He is a proud man.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” said Ran with a grin. “In any event, at least he got rid of the jewels.”
“When should we depart?”
Ran looked around. The entire encampment was already swathed in darkness, save for the glow of the fires burning around them. “Now is as good a time as any.” He waved Kuva over. “We’re moving out. Be ready.”
Kuva moved off. Gunj looked at Ran. “He’s big. Possibly too big to move quietly.”
“Agreed,” said Ran. “But what he lacks in finesse he more than makes up for in sheer strength and his ability to instill fear in anyone we come across. Chances are good we’re going to need him when we make contact.”
“I’d rather it was just you and me on this venture,” said Gunj. “We could be there and back within a matter of hours.”
“And what if we ran into a force that outnumbered us significantly?” asked Ran.
Gunj shrugged. “It would be a good death, at least.”
“I’m not anxious to die yet,” said Ran. “I have places to go and a woman to visit in a faraway land. That alone makes me think that dying prematurely would truly be a crime I could never commit.”
Gunj clapped him on the shoulder. “The love of a woman will do that to you. Not a bad thing at all.”
“But you?” asked Ran. “You’re ready to die?”
“Any warrior worth their weight is always ready to die.” He eyed Ran. “Even you. You might say that you don’t want to. You might talk about this woman. But the truth is, you’re prepared to die. We all are. If we weren’t, the gods would have chosen another life for us to lead. We are here for a reason. And if we die in the course of that, so be it. There can be no arguing with one’s destiny.”
“I choose my own destiny,” said Ran. “If the gods don’t like it, I don’t really care.”
“You might anger them,” said Gunj.
“Maybe,” said Ran. “I’d rather take the chance that they get angry with me than live like a sheep being led about by the whims of supposedly divine beings. At least this way, I’m in full control of my life. If that means I die in the process, then I’ll take that chance.”
“You often take chances, Ran?”
Ran smirked in the shadows. “More often than I probably should. But what’s life without risk?”
“No life at all, I suppose,” said Gunj. He rested a hand on his sword. “Shall we?”
They moved to the edge of the canopy again, and Ran saw Kuva, the other guards, and Yasseh already waiting for them. Ran checked the position of his swords again, and then looked at the others, checking them over to see if they wore anything that would glint or otherwise reflect light. Each man’s face had been darkened, and they had also done the same to their hands. Any other bits of exposed skin were also coated with soot to help them blend in to their surroundings.
“All right,” said Ran. “We’ll head out on a northwesterly track. If we’re right, we should come across the bandits before they have any idea that we’re bringing the fight to them.”
“If we’re not lucky?” asked Kuva.
Ran shrugged. “Then we’ll be fighting for our lives before we want to. But I don’t think that will happen. My guess is they’ll schedule their attack for just before daybreak. Bandits are mostly a lazy lot. They’ll want their sleep tonight. And when they go to bed, that’s when we’ll catch them unaware. There will be sentries to deal with, possibly a scout or two out to report on our camp. Let me deal with them. I can make sure to do it quietly. I’ll be at the lead of our column, anyway, so if you see my fist go into the air, that’s signal to freeze and not move.”
Gunj spoke up. “I can spell you as scout if you get tired. I’m fairly adept at night travel myself.”
Ran nodded. “Good, I may need a break. I’ll let you know if I do, and we can switch places.”
“Fair enough,” said Gunj.
“Any other questions or comments?” asked Ran.
There were none, so Ran grinned. “All right then. Let’s get going. Remember, our goal is to get to them before they get to us. These are the bastards who killed Yasseh’s son, Ejul. When the time comes, strike hard and fast. Surprise is our best weapon right now, so don’t do anything to compromise us. It’s better to move slow and quiet than fast and noisy.”
Gunj added, “If Ran or I call for retreat, get out as quickly as you can. We’ll destroy them all if we can, but better to use the element of surprise to our advantage for as long as possible, then escape with our skin intact. We do enough damage without sustaining any, they’ll think
twice about moving against us.”
“For Ejul,” said Yasseh quietly.
The other men repeated Yasseh’s declaration. Ran took a final look at them and then they moved out into the night.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ran led them out of the canopy of fig trees and across the highway. Once there, they crept up the gentle incline where Ran had spotted the three separate tracks earlier in the day. His goal was to backtrack and use the bandits’ tracks against them. He wished he could have had Ryu circling in the sky, but the falk was sound asleep back in the encampment. If nothing else, it would alert the merchants if Ran’s mission failed and the bandits launched their attack as planned.
He couldn’t think about that now. In the low light, he swept his eyes up and to the northwest, keeping his sight locked on the hill where Ryu had pinpointed the bandits earlier. As long as they made for the hill, they ought to be all right. Ran knelt and brushed his hand over the ground, feeling for any sign that his eyes couldn’t pick out against the dark, rocky ground. He felt a small depression and used his fingers to feel for the edges. Satisfied he was still on their trail, Ran moved again, noting that everyone else had paused when he had. Good, he thought. If they could just keep that up, then there was a chance they’d accomplish this crazy venture.
The incline led them deeper into the hills. Scrub grass swished as they passed by, rustling against the material of their trousers. Ran’s footsteps never made any noise as he picked his way ever upward. But behind him, Yasseh seemed to be having trouble with the gravel and small rocks that littered the ground. Ran frowned, but he knew there was little he could do about it. Yasseh hadn’t been trained as a shadow warrior, and even if he claimed some knowledge of hard living, the fact was he was now far removed from that life. Luxury, Ran thought, had a way of grinding down a man’s edge.
Kuva grunted once and nearly fell. Ran paused the line and moved back.
When he spoke, he cupped his hand over Kuva’s ear. “You all right?”
Kuva nodded. “Slipped.”
“We need to maintain absolute silence as much as possible. Sound will carry in the night, and they’ll hear us coming if we aren’t careful. Can you do that?”
Kuva nodded again, and Ran moved back to his position at the lead. He moved out, making a note of the areas around them that would offer up cover in case of unexpected attack. The ground sloped ever up and down, leading them through small wadis and then through concealed valleys that Ran thought could offer hiding places in case of discovery. They would climb, level out, or sink into a small depression and then reemerge only to climb even higher.
A stiff breeze whistled around them that Ran used to search for any unnatural sounds that might indicate that the bandits were coming toward them. He paused, controlling his breathing as he opened his throat to fully let the sounds of night wash over him, but he heard nothing. At the next high point, he checked their position and found that the hill Ryu had pinpointed was only a fraction closer. He glanced back and saw everyone breathing hard. That was to be expected, thought Ran. Traveling at night in near silence demanded a whole lot more effort than most ever realized.
When he motioned for everyone to take a break, the relief was palpable. Ran sighed and realized that if they kept up this pace, there was a chance they’d never make the hill before daybreak. Ran could do it, of course, but the people he traveled with were simply not conditioned to the duress. Ran waved Gunj over.
“Yes?”
Ran gestured to the others. “They’re moving too slowly.”
“I’m afraid we all are. Even for me, this is quite an effort.” Gunj looked around the barren landscape. “I’d forgotten how much the mountains can rob a man of his strength.”
Ran reflected on the statement. They were more like mountains than actual hills. From the highway, their appearance had been deceiving. Up here, however, the scope of their magnitude was apparent. And taxing. “If we can’t increase the pace, we won’t make it to our goal. It’s that simple.”
Gunj smiled. “You can’t push them any harder than they’re going now and maintain silence. Moving faster will undoubtedly make more noise. It will no doubt alert our foes that we are coming.”
“I know,” said Ran. “Which is why I want you to take over and lead them to the hill.”
“Me? What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go ahead and move much faster. I can make the distance easily on my own.”
Gunj shook his head. “Is that wise? What if you get into trouble?”
“I’ve thought about it,” said Ran. “But there’s no other real option. If I can get to the hill first and see what things are like, then I can come back and we can either attack or formulate an ambush to take them down.”
“You can move that fast?”
“I grew up in the mountains,” said Ran. “Nehon has a huge range cutting through the country right in the middle. I grew up playing in areas just like this. I’m pretty comfortable moving along at my own pace.”
Gunj glanced back down the line. “Yasseh will not like this change. He may feel that his opportunity to get revenge for the death of his son will be lost.”
“It won’t be,” said Ran. “If anything, me leaving you all will only improve his quest for vengeance.”
“Fair enough,” said Gunj. “You go ahead, and I’ll let the others know when you’re already gone. That way, we can forestall any debate about it.”
Ran put a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder. “Keep to this route and head for the hill like we’ve been doing. If I get into any trouble, you’ll know.”
“How?” asked Gunj.
“You’ll know,” said Ran. Then he turned away and melted over the large boulder nearby, vanishing into the night.
Something moved up ahead of him.
It had been half an hour since he’d left the others behind. Ran had slid over the boulder and then down into the next valley before emerging on the other side at a higher elevation. The breeze blew even harder as it compressed between the two walls on either side of Ran. But the breeze also brought a noise that was out of time with the landscape. And Ran could have sworn he heard the sound of metal on rock. Unnatural.
He slid into the narrow crevice between a rock and the wall of the mountain to his left and waited.
There.
A bit of loose gravel came down past him from the path above. Skittering rocks meant that someone was close.
A shape moved past him in the dark, and then Ran eased out and behind him, coming up quickly as he did so, snaking his arm around the man’s neck and yanking him back and off of his feet. Ran used his body weight to take the man down, and, as he did so, he took all of the man’s weight, controlling it as Ran sank on his knees and brought him into the ground.
Before the man could yell, Ran’s dagger was at his throat. “How many?”
The man’s eyes were wide open as he tried to process just what had happened to him. He shook his head, and Ran pressed the edge of the blade deeper against his neck. “I won’t ask the question again. How many?”
“I’m a farmer,” said the man with a gruffness to his voice.
Ran frowned. He supposed it was possible to work the land around here, but where was the man’s farm? The area was dominated by peaks and valleys, and Ran had seen nothing that look like arable land. He pressed the blade again. “You’re no farmer.”
“I am, I swear it!”
Ran sighed. Had he made a mistake? He used his free hand to rummage through the man’s clothing. He came up with a simple knife but little else. If he’d been a scout for the bandits, wasn’t it likely he would be more heavily armed?
Unless he was ordered to move fast and then report back. Weapons, after all, weighed more. Ran eyed the knife. There was nothing remarkable about it, just a wooden handle around a full tang blade. The edge was sharp, however.
“Where is your farm?” Ran asked next.
The man pointed toward the same directio
n Ran was heading. “Just a mile over there.”
“And you’re out here late at night why?”
The man stayed silent. Ran nudged him again. “Answer me.”
At that moment, Ran felt him move. In a flash, another blade appeared in the man’s hands. Ran leaned back and away, narrowly avoiding the slashing cut aimed at his neck. As he leaned back, Ran used his legs to kick the man away from him.
Ran came to his feet even as the man launched a new attack. So much for him being a farmer, thought Ran. He backed away, aware that the narrow confines would restrict his movements. In the close quarters, his sword was worthless. Ran used his dagger to ward off the first attack and then cut back at the man. But the man ducked and stabbed in at Ran’s groin. If the cut connected, it would be a fatal wound.
Ran leapt away and then lashed out with another kick. This time he caught the man’s arm and heard a vague pop in the night. The man grunted and shifted the knife to his other hand. Ran hoped that would mean a less formidable opponent.
Unfortunately, his foe was gifted with using a knife in either hand. He came in fast again, slicing back and forth at Ran’s midsection, searching for a killing stab that would end the fight. Ran backed up and then felt his back hit the rock wall behind him.
The man rushed in, sensing an opportunity.
Ran waited until he was fully committed and then pivoted as the knife shot past. As he did so, Ran buried his dagger in the armpit of the man and cut up and in, severing the underside of his arms. Blood seeped out, dark and viscous, and Ran knew he’d managed to mortally wound the man.
The man’s knife clanked as it hit the ground and he sank to his knees. Ran moved next to him. “How many of you are there?”
But the man only stared up at him with vacant eyes and a smile. Ran nudged him once, and he toppled over into the dusty dirt. The scent of blood hung on the air, and Ran knew it would bring scavengers. He dragged the body behind a rock and did his best to cover it up. Then he resumed his trek northwest.
