Alec rode out alone to meet him. “We are so glad to see travelers on the road,” the man said. “How has your journey been?”
“It’s never easy to make the journey in the winter, but we’ve fared well,” Alec answered. “You probably don’t see many caravans come through this time of year, do you?”
“No, it’s a rare thing,” the man agreed. “You must have a very good reason to try to make the journey now. Some goods of very high value that you are transporting, perhaps?”
“We’re carrying some goods, as a favor to some friends,” Alec agreed. “But our real reason is that we’re following another group. They took something we value, and we’re going to get it back. Perhaps you dealt with them recently?” he asked.
The highwayman’s face twitched uncomfortably. “There may have been a group, but I don’t recollect,” he said uneasily.
Alec’s sword was out of his scabbard and pointed at the man’s throat faster than his eyes could see. “I suspect you do remember them,” Alec spoke softly. “They wiped out most of the last gang east of here, and then we mopped up the rest; you’ve got no competition in that part of the mountains if you’d like to move into a nice new cave.
“The people we are pursuing are fighters, and we are too,” he bluffed. “But we don’t want to shed blood needlessly,” he lazily pulled his sword away from the man’s pale face and shoved it back in his scabbard again, then pulled a bright red ruby, one of the smuggled stones that the brothers had hidden on the mules, out of his pocket and dropped it into the hand of the robber.
“So tell me now, truthfully, how many days are we behind the other group, and did they fight you? “ Alec asked.
“They wiped out half our men; we killed one of theirs, and that was just a lucky arrow shot,” the man said, his fist clenched tightly around the ruby. “They came through about eight days ago.”
“Were they still on foot, or had they gained any horses from the last gang they beat?” Alec asked.
“Half were on foot, half were on horseback,” the man answered. “Four and four.”
“Thank you. You can call your men down off the hillside now if you want to, and we’ll pass through peacefully,” Alec ended the conversation, waved to his followers, and continued to head west.
Stacha found her attention torn as they traveled. She wanted to be with Alec, to practice her ability to speak with her mind only and to remind him that he was her husband. But she also proved to be fascinated with Alfred’s stories of hats and fashions, asking questions constantly as she rode on the wagon bench with him. “I didn’t realize how much I remembered,” he told Alec one evening. Stacha questioned him about not just hats, but the fashions of the dresses and cloaks that went with them, and how they matched. One morning Graze disappeared into the rear of the wagon for several minutes, an returned with a basket and cloth. “Gwen never stopped loving sewing,” he said.
“Here’s her sewing kit and some of the material she was using right before she passed away,” he handed the bundle to Stacha. “We’ll look at it as we ride this morning, and you can see what the different stitches did, how they looked.”
Alec was pleased to see Stacha’s attention subtly shift away from him. But he was troubled when Hope gleefully relayed her conversation one afternoon with Andi. The Black Crag guard had asked a great deal about Alec and expressed her determination to earn his attention. Alec consequently tried to avoid Andi as much as possible.
During the following week, the caravan continued to enjoy better weather than Alec anticipated, and met only one other group of highwaymen, who Alec paid a token sapphire to. Then, once he’d grown too comfortable, they were hit by another blizzard. They saw it coming from the northern sky for half a day before it hit, and Alec attempted to use his Air energies to protect their group from the snow and wind, while keeping the road clear in front of them. He succeeded in doing so for the rest of that day, but when they camped at night, the snow continued to fall, and large drifts built up around the campsite. At last, when the cooking was done, Alec released his energies, and the brutal wind brought a sheet of snow into the campsite.
“Kane, you can take the first watch tonight,” he told Salem’s son.
“Me? Really? What do I do?” the boy asked, startled.
“You stay awake, you watch outside the campsite, you make sure nothing bad happens, and then you wake me up when my shift starts,” Alec said briefly. He was convinced that no trouble was likely to fall on them under the conditions of the storm, making it the best time to start breaking the boy into the guard rotation.
“How will I know when my shift is over?” Kane asked, as his mother fidgeted about him.
“Watch the fire,” Alec answered. “I would say watch the stars, but that doesn’t apply tonight,” he added with a thin smile. “Watch a stick slowly burn, and estimate how long it takes, then stir the fire alive, and let another stick burn, and keep track of them.
“I’ll go check on the animals for the night. You go find your spot where you can keep an eye on the camp site, and walk around it from time to time,” Alec advised as he wiped melting snow from his face, then walked away to check on the mules and the oxen.
He found Alfred Graze also checking on the oxen, and the two men stood together next to where the large, placid beasts lay down for the night. “You’re good with animals,” Graze told Alec. “I appreciate you watching out for the oxen.
“You’re good with people too,” he added. “You’ve made this trip a greater success than it should have been.”
“We’ve lost three people,” Alec disagreed. “It doesn’t feel like a success.
“Thank you for taking Stacha under your wing with the sewing and the fashion work. You’ve filled a void in her life; it’s good for her,” Alec told the older man.
“It’s been good for me too,” Alfred replied.
“And you may have lost three people, but any other leader would have lost us all, and you’ve picked up some additional ones as well. As far as we’ve gotten, I’m starting to feel pretty good about our odds of making it all the way,” the older man said.
“I better go now,” he added. “You’ve got some company coming,” he nodded and then walked off, his head pulled down into the collar of his coat, trying to avoid the wintery blast.
Alec turned and saw that Salem was bent into the wind, heading towards him. He threw up a shield of air to lessen the breeze blowing against her, and she lurched forward unsteadily for a moment as the headwind disappeared. She raised her head and grinned at him, a warm and friendly grin that gladdened Alec’s spirit to see.
“You know just what to do, and you can do anything, can’t you?” she asked as she reached him.
“I can do many things, but not anything,” he denied.
“Thank you for giving Kane that guard duty. You’ve given him a sense of self-worth. You knew that, didn’t you?” she asked.
“The boy needed a chance to contribute,” Alec agreed. “And taking a shift tonight will also make him appreciate the work others do when they serve guard duty. And I imagine Jasel will appreciate a night of not serving duty.”
“You’re a great one aren’t you?” Salem asked. “You’re more than just a caravan leader, more than just a traveler. You’re going to change life in the Twenty Cities when you get there.”
Alec looked at her inquisitively.
“You know, the five oldest cities, the special ones, have races of people with talents they use for their cities, as they have for centuries and centuries – the Old Ones, they’re called. And among the Twenty Cities, we think they are the grandest beings of earth. But here you are with more abilities or talents or gifts, whatever you call them, than all of the five cities put together, it seems to me. What are you going to do?” she asked.
Alec noticed that she shivered in the cold, and he reached out to touch her, providing a stream of Healing energy that raised her temperature.
“That is very effective,” Salem sai
d. “But my husband would have simply hugged me to warm me up, and while it might not have been as effective as your magic, it would have had more impact.
“Would you hold me, please? I feel so lonely sometimes, and so weak,” she asked, with moisture in her eyes that Alec knew was more than just snow.
He held his arms wide, and embraced her, his arms holding her tightly against his body, and he turned slightly to block the wind from striking her. You are not weak, he sent a silent message to her spirit. The world seems hostile, but there are always friends and hope and refuge, sometimes in the unexpected places. You will be safe with us.
“And so you are a mind reader as well? But for how long will we be safe with you? When you get to Oolitan we will go our separate ways, and then,” her voice trailed off.
Perhaps our paths will lie together, Alec answered. Do not borrow tomorrow’s troubles for today. There must be hope; I have learned in life that there can always be hope when troubles seem unbearable.
“You say the things my husband would have said,” Salem told him softly.
Alec infused her with more of his Healing energy, and then told her, “Our sentry is watching only his mother instead of the whole camp. Go back to your bed for the night so that we can all be safely protected.”
Salem stepped away and smiled, then turned into the wind, and Alec erected a shield of air to make her stroll back to the wagon easier. Once he saw her climb into the wagon, he resumed checking the mules, prying away stones in their hooves, and thanking the Lord that none had lost a shoe on the journey. He hadn’t asked Graze whether he had blacksmith tools with his wagon, and the craft remained one whose finer points were beyond his mastery.
When his treatment of the animals was complete, he went back to the wagon, warmed the stones that had been placed beneath, and crawled into his spot, resting but not sleeping, until he heard Kane approaching the wagon. He rose, added heat to the stones again, and climbed out. “How was your shift? Anything interesting to report?” Alec asked.
“Nothing. It’s so cold out here even the wolves aren’t coming out,” Kane said.
Alec gave him a dose of body warmth. “Thanks,” Kane said curtly, then climbed beneath the wagon.
Alec walked about the camp for an inspection, then climbed up onto the stones and took a seat, warming himself occasionally and observing nothing that moved but the snowflakes and the trees that were blown by the wind.
Chapter 17 – Battle with the Miners
The caravan struggled through heavy snow for the next two days, Alec aiding their progress the best he could, and by the third day the storm was past and the roadway was blown clean of snow before them, leaving only the bitter chill as a condition to be vigilant against. The cold was unrelenting for the next week, but they made decent progress, with no signs of bandits or other problems, except for one mule that died overnight.
At the end of the week, three occurrences raised everyone’s spirits. The weather broke in their favor, with sunshine and air that was so warm the snow around them began to melt day after day. At the same time, their road began a consistent and noticeable tilt downward, which Kane reported was a sign that they were over the heights of the mountains and heading downward towards the Twenty Cities.
“But we’ll still have to go down the big cliff road,” Jody added.
And after three more days, they passed an active coal mine, and began to intermingle with other traffic on the road. Mules and carts carried numerous loads of coal down the mountain road, making a wider, busier, and muddier path. Mindful of the greater traffic and the approach to civilized areas, Hope and Jody asked that the horse-riders be allowed to ride ahead of the mules and the wagons. Alec turned to Andi. “What’s your opinion?” he asked.
She shrugged. “We probably won’t see bandits, but the miners can get rowdy, especially if they’ve been working isolated up in the mountains all winter.”
“You may ride ahead, but don’t go too fast,” he warned. And call me at the first sign of trouble, he added to both Bauer and Hope.
The day passed uneventfully, but as sunset approached, both Bauer and Hope sent messages.
We’ve run into a large group of miners, a couple of dozen. They’ve been drinking and they’re surrounding us, commenting on how long it’s been since they’ve seen women. Jasel and Kane are growing agitated and there’s going to be trouble, Bauer explained.
Help us Alec. This is frightening, Hope simply called.
Alec explained the trouble ahead to Graze and Stacha on the wagon seat, then started running hard, using his Warrior powers, and carrying a bow and arrow. After a half mile he heard a call from Hope. They’re beating Jasel! Help!
Desperate to move faster, Alec dropped his Warrior abilities and embraced the Air energy, then cushioned himself on a stream of air that lifted him high off the ground and flew him forward along the route of the dimly visible road. When he saw the group in a melee two minutes later he plummeted swiftly to the ground, and dove into the fight, swinging his sword at the legs of the miners.
The bodies of the combatants were so densely intermingled with one another that Alec found himself under a scrum. A miner climbed on top of his back, and several others did so as well, seeking to swarm him under their weight. Alec felt a knife stab him in the kidney and he shouted with pain. He lost his connection to the Warrior energy and ceased to struggle as men continued to punch and kick him. He curled up into a ball to protect himself, as he heard the shouts and screams of the battle going on around him.
“Who’s this meddler?” one husky voice asked.
“He came out of the darkness and started cutting the boys,” another voice said, as men started raising off him.
Alec, are you here? Is it you? Are you okay? Bauer asked, as Alec heard one of the women start screaming.
Alec reached feebly for his healing powers, and grasped them tenuously. He slowly slid his hand back to the stab wound and focused on repairing the damage he had suffered, then felt a kick in the knee that distracted him.
“Take him to the edge of the road and throw him over,” the husky voice ordered.
Frantically, Alec regrasped the Healing energy, then sent a blast of the power into his back, removing the wound. He let several pairs of hands seize and lift his body, and he grasped his Air abilities again. As they walked him to the edge of the road and threw him, he created another current of air that let him float in place before the astonished men.
He rose in the air to better observe the dark battlefield before him.
“Look at him! He’s flying!” one of the ruffians shouted, as many heads turned to see him.
Jasel was down on the ground, pulled from his horse and wounded, Alec saw, while Jody and Kane and Bauer were trapped and held in place. Andi was on a pile of rocks with Hope behind her, swinging her sword wearily at the men trying to reach them, and Salem was screaming and kicking as a half dozen men were carrying her away from her horse.
Alec dove at Salem’s predicament, flying into the men like an arrow, knocking many of them over, then he stood up and began throwing punches that disabled all six of them quickly, as Salem lay sobbing on the ground.
Alec picked up two swords that lay on the ground and threw them at the backs of men who were assaulting Andi and Hope, striking those men down, then he ran over to Jasel’s location, covering another corner of the scattered battlefield, and checked the boy. Jasel had suffered a severe injury, a vicious stab to the stomach. Alec momentarily dropped his Warrior energy even as men started to run towards him, and sent a blast of Healing power into Jasel, enough to keep him alive.
He noticed a bow and quiver of arrows on the saddle of Jasel’s horse, and grimly reached for them, then engaged his Warrior powers, feeling the stressed limits of his power, and sent the deadly shafts flying with the greatest force he could muster from the bow, rapidly piercing six more of the attackers before the bow cracked from too strong a draw.
Andi and Hope were no longer under sie
ge, nor were Bauer and Salem’s children. The men who had been carrying Salem away, those who could still walk, were running away into the darkness, while a small, defiant knot, the men who had tried to throw him over the cliff, stood with swords raised.
“Drop your weapons and go, now,” Alec ordered them. “Go to Oolitan, and never trouble another traveler again.”
The men disappeared into the darkness, and Alec dropped the broken bow, then dropped to one knee next to Jasel. Bauer, come here, he called.
“Salem, how are you?” he called to the woman as he examined Jasel more closely, suddenly too weary to even use his powers to exam her.
“I’m frightened – shivering,” she held a hand in front of her as she walked towards his, her right hand shaking while her left hand held her ripped blouse together in front of her. “But I am not hurt. Thank you, thank you, my lord,” she began to cry as she arrived next to him.
Jasel was in grave danger, Alec could see, despite the emergency healing he had carried out.
“Alec, we’re here. Are you alright? Is the boy going to be okay?” Bauer asked as he also arrived next to Alec and knelt beside him. He could see little in the dim light, but could see the strain showing in Alec’s face.
Alec reached over and grabbed Bauer’s hand. Take Jasel and I to the edge of the road by the hillside and lay us side by side out of the way, then give me a knife. I am going to share my blood with him, as I did with you so many years ago. Let us sleep that way tonight. I don’t have enough energy left to heal him; I’m about to pass out as it is. In the meantime, take the bodies of all the attackers and throw them over the cliff; give them a mighty heave! Send someone – Hope – back with a lantern to find the wagon and lead them here, then set up a watch, with two on watch each shift, Alec laid out his directions, then he released Bauer’s hand and slumped forward.
The Caravan Road Page 22
