“That’s not a bad idea.” Flare said.
“Wait. Who’s going to be the decoy?” Philip asked.
Callin answered the question, “It was my idea. I’ll be the decoy.” Before his brother, Trestus, could interrupt, Callin continued. “It was my idea. I have to be the one to go. If somebody else dies while trying my plan, I just couldn’t live with that, it has to be me.”
“It’s your plan, but I can move a lot quieter than you.” Flare said.
“But that’s defeating the plan. The plan calls for a decoy that gets noticed! I will make a much better noisy decoy than you will.” Callin argued passionately.
“He’s right Flare, besides you are the commander of the fort. You cannot abandon your post.” Atock said.
“I was not talking about abandonment. I was talking about leading through example.” Flare said, a touch of anger rising in his voice.
“It’s called being a leader. You cannot risk yourself on every mission.” Atock responded.
Reluctantly, Flare gave in, and rested his head in his hands and was quiet.
Philip stood from his chair, and asked, “All right, Callin will be the decoy. But who will be the messenger?”
It was Flare who answered, without so much as raising his head. “That much is obvious. It has to be Heather. She is the only one, besides maybe me, who has the ability to sneak quietly past the soldiers.”
Heather sighed, and crossed her arms across her chest, before answering. “Right now, I cannot imagine anything more dangerous than staying in this fort. If you can get me through the barrier, I will deliver your message, but where am I to go that it will make much difference?”
Derek cleared his throat and leaned forward to rest his arms on the table. “I think that I can help answer that. I spoke with Colonel Holt's secretary, and he gave me some good information.” Subconsciously, Derek rubbed his right knuckles and Flare wondered if the secretary had volunteered the information or not. “General Andatell is gathering soldiers to send to the south and east. He started in the south of the western territories, and is working his way northward along the mountains and will eventually make his way eastward.”
Philip's forehead wrinkled in confusion. “I don't understand. Why wouldn't he just start in the far west, and move eastward picking up soldiers? Why start in the south and move northward?”
Derek studied the table for just a moment, “It seems that some of Lord Efflen's bondmen have openly discussed not sending aid. The general is picking up soldiers from the loyal southern lords and moving northward toward the rebellious bondmen. By the time he reaches them, they won't dare hold any soldiers back. He will have enough fighters to obliterate them if they do not keep their oath.”
Hope bloomed in Flare at Derek's words. “Perhaps, if we can get word to General Andatell, then perhaps his host can save the day.”
“Perhaps,” Derek agreed, frowning. “But we have to get word to him quickly. He is still supposed to be several weeks south of us.”
Flare refused to hear the negativity and focused on the hope. “Okay. So we have a messenger, we have a plan to get her through the enemy, and now we have a destination.”
Heather looked at Flare, “Now we just need a message.”
Flare smiled and nodded at her, “Leave that to me. I'll write it myself.”
Trestus broke the silence. “So we try tomorrow night?”
“No! We need to do it as soon as possible.” Philip replied. “We don’t even know if anyone will be left tomorrow night.”
“We need time to plan, and they need to be rested before we try this.” Trestus replied.
It was Callin who responded, quietly answering his brother's objections. “We will be no more rested tomorrow night, than we are tonight.” Looking at his brother, Callin continued, “Philip is right. We have to try right now.”
Flare had to admit that tonight was perfect for trying to sneak somebody out. The moon, which was just a sliver at this time of the month, was hidden by thick clouds that had rolled in since the sun had gone down.
Enstorion shape shifted Heather into the form of a rabbit. The spell was slow and complicated. At first Heather could feel nothing, but as the spell continued, she began to feel her body changing. She became more disorientated as time passed. The rest of the guardians were gathered around her, and as the spell was being cast, they slowly began to appear larger.
The popping and snapping of Heather’s joints changing caused several of the spectators to get sick. Flare ushered them away from the magician, so they wouldn’t interfere with the spell.
Finally, Enstorion turned from the rabbit at his feet, and spoke. “Finished. We’re ready to go.”
Enstorion started to move toward the battlements, when Flare stopped him. “Wait. Is it going to take that long for her to be changed back? She could be dead long before the transformation is complete.”
Enstorion looked irritated, “Of course it won’t take that long. I took extra time in transforming her, so that when I transform her back it will be much quicker. I know what I am doing.”
“And it's much easier returning something to its natural form,” Mikela added, looking smug.
Flare had been relieved that the magic spell had also hidden her clothes and weapons. It had also hidden the letter that he had written to General Andatell, and one other thing. To make sure that Heather was believed, Flare had given her the bag containing Colonel Holt's head. He was sure that the head would be recognized and hoped it would spur the General into action.
Heather was placed in a small wooden box, and she was then gently lowered down to the ground on the northern edge of the eastern wall. Mikela was to keep in magical contact with Heather, as she moved toward the barrier.
The ground was parched, since there had been no rain for almost a week. Heather was amazed at how sharp her senses were. She could smell things, and hear things that she never thought possible. Behind her, she could smell meat that was still cooking over fires within the fort, and she could hear conversations that were far off. Ignoring the day old scent of a squirrel, she hopped towards the mercenaries.
Even from this distance, Heather could locate guards placed in hiding along the human picket line. She heard their rustling in the vegetation, and smelt their scents as they went about their guard duty. She slowly moved toward the second largest gap in the humans’ picket line. She avoided the largest gap, perhaps it had been left open as a trap.
‘Stop!’ Mikela's whispered voice called from Heather's right. ‘You are right against the barrier. You can move north or south, but do not go any more eastward! I’ll contact you right before we change you back. Find the best place to move across the barrier’
Heather spent several moments trying to find the best place in which to be transformed back. She found several bushes growing close together. They were just the size that would hide her, as her body was transformed. She hopped into the bushes and waited.
All of the guardians were gathered in the shadows of the battlements on the eastern wall. “She’s against the barrier.” Mikela told the rest of the guardians.
Looking a little nervous, Callin stood up and took a deep breath. He was dressed in a dark outfit, and had mud smeared across his face and arms, he paused for just a moment, and then he climbed over the wall and descended a rope.
Callin dropped to the ground and immediately went prone. He lay on the ground quietly, for several moments, with his eyes closed. He listened to the sounds around him as he tried to absorb the locations and origins of the sounds. He formed a map in his mind of what type of sound was coming from which direction. Hoping this would help him as he moved toward the barrier. Any sound that changed would be a warning.
There was a slight wind that rustled the bushes and the small trees growing around the fort. The chirping of crickets gave the night a constant background noise, interrupted occasionally by the calls of various birds. He said a silent prayer of thanks for the crickets; they should provide
an advance warning of danger. The crickets would quit chirping if something or someone moved around them.
Callin got to his feet, and ran hunched over to the nearest obstruction. It was a small outcropping of rock that at least provided him a hiding place. He sat there for several more moments and listened to the sounds of the night once again.
The wind picked up, as he moved toward the barrier. His heart was pounding as he moved from hiding place to hiding place. He stopped at each hiding place, and listened for a change in the night sounds. At every stop, he could detect nothing different than what he expected. Everything was as it should be.
The rest of the guardians waited, somewhat impatiently, for Callin to reach the barrier. Mikela monitored the location of both Heather and Callin, and reported their progress.
“All right. Heather has been in place for a while now, and Callin is approaching the barrier,” Mikela said. “He should be noticed anytime now. Enstorion are you ready?”
A look of irritation briefly passed over Enstorion's features, his distaste of being questioned clearly showing. “I’m waiting only on you,” was his answer.
Callin was moving toward the enemies’ picket line, worrying as he advanced. ‘I should have seen somebody by now,’ he thought. A gnawing suspicion began to grow in his gut. What if he had slipped right through the picket line, and was now on the other side of the barrier? The whole plan counted on the mercenaries spotting him, and chasing him back to the fort. If he had slipped past the mercenaries, then he would have to try and deliver the warning himself. He knew he was a decent woodsman, but he didn’t begin to compare to Heather.
The wind was starting to blow harder, and it was beginning to drown out the other sounds of the night. He took another step forward, when a sensation of wrongness sent a shiver down his spine. He froze, and tried to determine what had changed.
‘The crickets!’ The wind hadn’t drowned them out, they had just quit chirping.
Trestus paced back and forth across the battlements, alternating between cursing one moment, and praying the next. How could he have let Callin go on this folly of a mission? Of the two, he was the eldest, and he was responsible for his brother. He dreaded the thought of Callin not returning, but the thought of having to break the news to their mother was almost as bad.
Their father had made quite a respectable fortune as a merchant. For the right price he could acquire anything, but the majority of his business was spices, silk, magical ingredients, and other hard to get commodities. He traveled extensively, bringing goods back to Telur in enormous wagon trains. The wagon trains were normally safe, because of the sheer size of the convoys and the hired guards that traveled with the wagons. Bandits and thieves normally refused to attack such a well armed convoy.
Sometimes, however, even a well defended convoy could be attacked. Trestus remembered the convoy that had brought their father back to them in a coffin, the victim of a bandit attack. Trestus and Callin had only been twelve at the time, and the death of their father had been a hard blow for both of them. Callin had took it harder than Trestus, and ever since then, he had been Callin’s protector. Their older brother had take over the family business, and they had been given an opportunity to work in the business, but when Callin had applied for entrance into the guardians, Trestus had dutifully followed him.
His mother had taken the death of her husband hard, and had avoided the pain by spending all her time raising her children. She had not liked the idea of her sons entering the military, but she had agreed, since Callin had his heart set on it. Trestus remembered the fear in her eyes when they had graduated from the guardian training. She had tried to hide it, but she had failed.
Trestus had never regretted joining the guardians before now, but now he silently wondered how he would go on if something happened to Callin.
Deeply worried, Trestus stared out over the battlements.
Flare was busy marshalling the archers. As soon as the excitement began, the archers would provide cover for Callin as he made his retreat to the safety of the walls. He double checked their equipment, and got them into place, as quietly as he could, then he rejoined the rest of the guardians. He opened his mouth to ask if anything had changed, when Mikela spoke.
“Now, transform her back! They've spotted him.”
Callin was standing on a gentle slope, with several bushes to either side of him, and two oak trees growing side by side in front. There were several small boulders scattered around, which could be hiding soldiers.
Callin hadn’t moved since he first realized that the crickets were quiet. He was trying to determine where the sentries were, or if they were there at all. He immediately dismissed the bushes, since they were too scrawny to conceal a man. The ridges and boulders didn’t appear to conceal anybody. That left only the trees in the immediate area, but Callin could see the shadows coming from the other side, and there was nothing out of place.
He breathed a little easier, but still he didn’t move. Something was still gnawing at him, and he couldn’t figure out what it was. He looked up at the moon, and noticed for the first time the low hanging branches of the oak trees. Staring down on him, with weapons in hand, were several sentries.
Heather, still in the form of a rabbit, was enjoying the acute senses that her new form offered. Even though the moon was behind the clouds, she could see clearly, even making out the form of several sentries that were moving behind the barrier. The sentries didn’t worry her, because they were too far to the south to interfere in the plan.
Her smelling was equally acute, as she could make out the smell of the dinner the human sentries were eating in their encampments. The smells didn’t tempt her stomach, since in her current form, she was only craving vegetables.
As she sat there, listening to the sounds of the night, she began to feel odd.
It took several moments before she realized she was being changed back into her human form. Although the change started slowly, it was over in a flash.
She lay there momentarily, her heart beating so fast, she thought she was having a heart attack. Ever so slowly her heartbeat returned to normal, but after having extremely acute senses, she now felt like she was blind and deaf.
She slowly crept forward from her hiding place.
Callin cursed himself, and then thanked the gods above with his next breath.
The sentries plan was simple, and brilliant. They could wait quietly until a soldier, walked underneath their hiding place. Then, they could drop down, and cut off the only escape route.
These thoughts passed through his mind in a flash, and then he turned and ran as fast as he could back toward the fort.
Callin heard several thuds as the sentries dropped from their branches, and took up the pursuit. He ran through bushes and stumbled over rocks, trying to run in a zigzag route.
He knew the sentries were close behind him, and was therefore surprised when he heard the alarm being raised back near where the sentries had originally been placed.
Callin was in good shape, but he was still breathing hard and gasping for breath. He thought his heart would burst, but the rush of fear motivated him to run even faster. The night was cool, but he was sheathed in sweat. He was running for his life, and he knew it.
Bushes whipped his arms as he ran, but he hardly noticed. The only things he heard, was his labored breathing, and the footsteps of the sentries behind him. As he ran, he slung branches, bushes, and anything he could get his hands on backwards in the general direction of his followers. He was rewarded, when he heard muffled curses coming from behind him. He wasn't foolish enough to think that the damage was even remotely serious.
Callin was about halfway back to the fort, when he caught his foot on a rock outcropping, and went down. The mercenaries were on him immediately.
Heather moved slowly through the bushes, and undergrowth. She had already passed through the barrier, and so far had managed to avoid encountering any sentries.
There was evidence th
at Callin had done an excellent job of distracting the sentries, and drawing them to the south. Heather had heard shouts coming from that direction, and had even observed several sentries running that way.
She was picking her way through the enemies’ camp. She would have preferred to avoid the camp completely, but it was spread out and covered a large area. Heather wanted to get away as quick as possible, and the quickest way was right through the middle of the camp. The evening fires were between the tents, and she avoided them at all costs.
Saying a silent prayer for guidance, she moved forward through the camp.
Callin landed flat on his stomach. He knew immediately that the sentries were right behind him, and his options were limited. He rolled over to his back, and sprang to his feet. He swung his knife at the nearest sentry, as soon as reached his feet. The speed of his move caught the sentry off guard, and Callin slashed him across the face. The sentry fell to his knees, bleeding profusely.
Callin reversed the motion of the swing, and threw the knife at a second sentry. He heard a gratifying thunk, as the knife hit home.
The sentry fell backwards into his three companions, slowing them down. Callin took full advantage, once again sprinting back toward the fort.
Ever since Mikela had raised the alarm, Flare had been preparing the soldiers for Callin retreat. The archers had been moved to the battlements, and were now spread out all across the top of the wall. The cavalry were mounted and waiting just inside the gate. The plan called for Callin to climb a rope that was hanging down over the wall, but Flare was prepared to risk opening the gate if Callin was in danger.
The Guardians: Book One of the Restoration Series Page 21
