Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2)

by Courtney Bowen

  “Do you think Fato will find them?” Gnat asked.

  “I think so.” Basha said.

  “It doesn’t matter which way we turn, they always keep coming after and finding us. What are we going to do now?” Oaka muttered.

  “How far away are they?” Basha asked Monika, ignoring Oaka.

  “Thirty, forty, fifty miles--” Monika shrugged as she tried to discern their location. “It doesn’t matter. By the time we reached the bottom of the mountainside, they will probably already be there to greet us.” She whispered. “And then we would have to fight them to survive.”

  “We could stay up here.” Oaka said, tilting his head back. “Climb higher. Go another way, avoid Coe Wina. We could even keep going down in the dark, reach the bottom sooner and race to Coe Wina in the hopes of avoiding Goga and his forces.” He listed their options.

  “They would chase us down in the valley. They might climb up after us. They would continue to follow us, no matter which way we go,” Basha said, shutting his eyes as he listed the results. “We can’t keep going forever, not like they can.” He said.

  Basha felt a strange resentment bubbling up inside of him in that moment, something that had threatened to spill over for days, just waiting to come out. Why did he and the others have to deal with all of this mess, all of this danger? Why couldn’t they just live a normal life like most people did, with nothing more to worry about than a common cold or crops failing or being evicted from his home? Something that didn’t involved being chased down by Black Wolves and Goga’s men? At least in normal life, life-altering or life-changing events didn’t mean that you would get run down and killed. You might get hurt and eventually would have to face your death, but not like this. Please, gods, not like this, not with his friends or his brother.

  “What can we do?” Gnat whimpered, but no one answered her.

  Basha just clutched Gnat’s hand. “We’re going to make it, you’ll see,” He whispered, not really believing his words.

  Fato returned with the news that they had already expected, and then they sat in silence. They ate little that night, especially with their rations dwindling, and then they huddled together for warmth. It wasn’t as cold as last night, but they felt the chill on the mountainside and inside themselves. They needed company. There was nothing that they could do now, and they did not feel like traveling on in the dark to try beating the inevitable, when it was already here, or would soon be. They tried to sleep, but it was pointless.

  They roused themselves from a restive trance as the first light approached in the sky from the other side of the mountain on the 25th day of Markee, not even dawn and yet they were all ready to continue on, the humans trudging down the mountainside in a bleary wakefulness. The sun moved on, and rose ever higher that morning. They managed to find their steps without slipping, and did not look up as Fato flew ahead.

  “Why even bother?” Oaka muttered to himself. The falcon could not help them, even if he managed to reach Coe Wina and convinced the people there to send help to the group--they would already be dead.

  Basha lifted his head and stopped walking. “Look,” He said, pointing down.

  Now wide awake, the others stopped walking and looked down as well. Beneath them, near the grove of trees Monika had seen yesterday, they spotted a lone figure in red and black uniform begin the climb up the mountainside.

  “Red and black?” Monika said.

  “It does appear to be that way,” Oaka remarked.

  “It could be a guard from Coe Wina!” Gnat cried. “Red and black are definitely not Coe Aela’s colors.” She said.

  “It could be, but how did this person get here so fast?” Basha asked. “Did he know that we needed help? And why is he here?”

  “I think it will be another hour or two before we are close enough to even shout such questions at him,” Monika said, and then they continued down, now racing to reach the figure coming up to meet them.

  “Hello!” Basha called when they were close enough.

  “Hello!” The figure called from far below, stopping to raise his voice towards them. He sounded faint, but at least they could hear him.

  “We are coming to you! Are you from Coe Wina?” Basha shouted back.

  “Yes!” The voice called up in reply.

  “That sounds promising.” Basha said to the group.

  “Can we believe him, Basha?” Oaka asked.

  “Do we have a choice?” Basha asked. “It’s either him, and whoever else might be with him, or wait for Goga and his men to show up.”

  “You give us such tough choices.” Oaka said.

  “These are our only choices, unless you can think of any,” Basha said, shaking his head as he turned away from Oaka. “We have to hurry up, before it might be too late.” He said, climbing down. “Sir!” Basha called out to the man below. “We need help! We are being chased by men from Coe Aela!” He cried.

  The distance around the mountain had been longer than going over the mountain, but Captain Goga had been certain that he and his men would meet the group coming down the mountain tomorrow morning or later on, as the horrible weather on the upper slopes of the mountain must have slowed them down in their ascent or descent. He had been unable to spot the group climbing or descending the mountain when the telescope he had in his possession was not powerful enough to focus on such minute details, but he felt certain that the group would try to scale the mountain before attempting to circumnavigate it. They might have the foolish notion that a mountain ascent would be faster than going around.

  Goga would catch them one way or the other, as all he had to do was wait. He could not proceed until he was certain that they would or would not pass by here, and he could not proceed without further risking arousal of Lord Lagotaq’s ire. He also did not want to risk upsetting Doomba even further by letting these youths get away from him. He had known the risk coming into this mess, as it was obvious, and it was even worse now that they were in the shadow of Coe Wina so to speak, with the fortress a few miles away from here on its mound. All he had to do was just keep his head, watch himself and the other guards as they proceeded to chase down the group, and then be quick about their business so that they could leave the area as soon as possible.

  At least he might hope Lord Lagotaq would be forgiving, able to understand that what he, Captain Goga, was doing here was dealing with some personal, private business that had just happened to spill over onto Lord Lagotaq’s land, and could be dealt with accordingly and swiftly before he would retreat. Not judging too swiftly, mind, that it could be constituted as a threat. Unless Lord Lagotaq had developed senility, then, and would not happen to notice the force of men crossing his land—well, Goga hoped for this, too. He knew that Doomba would never forgive him if he failed.

  Goga and his men approached a grove of trees near the base of the mountain that afternoon as the sun slowly dropped in the sky. He felt that this might be the best place to wait out for their descent to reach him as the shade might block their view of his forces. His telescope was out, scanning the mountainside as usual, but not a trace could be seen. He wondered if he had missed them. Perhaps they had seen his approach--

  “Captain Goga! Captain!”

  “What? What is it?” Captain Goga asked, turning around to greet the guard coming up towards him. Hava hovered in the background, as he usually did these days.

  “Some of the horses have wandered off again. Their riders have gone in search of them.”

  “Is that all?” Goga sighed, annoyed at being bothered by such a trivial matter. “Is it the same three horses?” He asked, remembering the previous occasion.

  “The exact same three. They’ve been trouble ever since we left Coe Aela.” The guard remarked. “That’s twice now they’ve wandered off, and they’ve always acted up.”

  “I believe those horses were requisitioned from the stables,” Hava remarked, scribbling down a note in his developing manuscript of Goga’s history. “The horses might have belong
ed to the group we have been chasing, before the group left Coe Aela, and perhaps that is why they act up.” He said.

  Goga paused a moment to think. “You know, that is perhaps the first sensible thing you have ever said, Hava.” He said.

  Hava stopped writing. “The first?” He asked.

  “All right, you have said more, much more, but that is perhaps the best,” Goga told Hava, before turning to the guard. “Spread the word. All men on foot, be alert, and prepare to scour the grove. All men on horses--follow me.” He told the guard. The guard ran off to inform the others, and Goga turned to the scribe. “Hava?” He asked.

  “Yes, what?” Hava asked, caught up in the action as the men prepared themselves with the mounted guards coming towards them.

  “Give up your horse to a man who needs it more, and stay with the guards on foot!” The captain ordered. “Or better yet, don’t go into the grove at all. We don’t need you to help us!”

  “What? After I came all this way?” Hava cried.

  “Just do it!” Goga told him, and then turned to his mounted men, six of them for now, with three gone to look for their horses, and the seventh about to exchange places with Hava. “Men of Coe Aela--no, you all are my brothers.” He said hurriedly. “We ride towards Coe Wina. I don’t know what is to happen next, but I believe that the chase is almost done, one way or the other. The group is near, I feel that now, and they are within our grasp, but it is a dangerous thing we do now, especially when Coe Wina is so near. But we are not cowardly sheep scum, no, we will not turn back. We will continue on and find them before they reach the castle. We will be swift and to the point!” He cried, riding off with all seven men.

  Hava was left with the ten remaining guards on foot, but then they continued on towards the grove, to check if anyone was in there, and he was alone, out in the open with quill, book, and paper still in his hands, his packs on the ground. They had lost one man already, the man whose left leg had been torn apart by a Black Wolf had died of his injuries, and they would lose more now.

  Hava grumbled to himself, kicking the ground. He should have known better, he should have expected that this would happen eventually, that he would be kept out of the action, but he had gotten used to the idea that he would be privileged enough to know and understand what was going on at Coe Aela and with Captain Goga, so that he could write about it someday. Captain Goga was an intriguing character, and though Hava had been reluctant at first to be partnered up with him, to write for him, at least he had gotten something interesting out of the deal, in the fact that he might be on the front line with a rising star who could be an important Follower of Doomba someday, not to mention lord of Coe Aela. That alone might be worth the trip.

  But now he was left out, and he wouldn’t know for certain just what happened, only what Goga and his men would care to mention to him. Next time, Hava swore, he would not be left out of Goga’s activities, he would become involved.

  The men had entered the grove, and next he heard a scream from that direction--he knew immediately that it had been an ambush, especially as the trees themselves seemed to move with the force of the attack. He picked up as many of his packs as he could and ran; he had to get away before whoever was in the grove attacked him as well. Perhaps he would go up the mountain, as at least he knew there might be some shelter up there, away from the range of their bows and arrows. This valley had ridges, hillocks, and ravines, some trees as well, where he might find shelter and hiding spaces for awhile, but it was all still too close to Coe Wina for him to feel comfortable, and he would eventually have to move out of this valley to get as far away from Coe Wina as possible. No, the mountain was his best bet, he would climb if he had to, perhaps cross over to the other side of the mountain, back towards Mila Forest, or he might traverse the range. Become a hermit if he had to, ha-ha, but no, he had to get away.

  Goga and his seven men rode across the valley, their horses pounding the ground with thirty-two hooves, and he grimaced to himself. Perhaps he should have thought this out better, made certain that he had a plan in place when he went around the mountain to capture the group, but there was no way he could have anticipated every possibility of the group’s movements. Perhaps Fobata would have done a better job at this, he was the strategist of their unit during the campaign waged against Urso almost twenty years ago, but Fobata wasn’t here, was he? No, it was just him and his men now, just the way it should be, although Goga dearly wished that his brother would--

  Suddenly, Goga noticed the lip of the ridge ahead, the drop, and what could only be a wide ravine ahead—“Pull up!” He called, jerking back on the reins of his horse and startling the beast at the sudden arrest, but the other horses and their riders went on ahead.

  The riders were either unwilling or unheeding of the warning or unable to stop their horses, too eager in the chase as their horses jumped into the ravine or fell in, close to a copse of trees larger than the grove they had passed by before. He skirted the edge of the ravine, pulling his horse around to find another way down, when suddenly arrows flew through the air from the direction of the copse, killing two or three of his men and their horses.

  Goga’s horse retreated, and he gasped, watching in horror as a red-and-black platoon of Coe Wina guards rushed out of the copse to capture the remaining men. “The fools, the poor fools,” He muttered to himself, and spurred his horse to flight once more, though this time away from the ravine and the massacre.

  He could not sacrifice himself as his men had done, heedless and ignorant of the consequences, for he knew what was to come, and he knew that the best way to repay the Coe Wina guards in kind was to survive, and return in time to Coe Wina, with a force that would crush and overwhelm Lord Lagotaq and his men. Unlikely as that was in his current condition, when he knew only that he was the last one left alive of the men that had gone south from Coe Aela, and perhaps would be chased until his death by the Coe Wina guards, but he could hope, could he not? Hope, the cruelest thing of all, how he despised it in that moment.

  As the Coe Wina guard led Basha and his friends down the mountainside, towards the grove with the sun setting before them, he called, “Squad A! Status!”

  Several men emerged from the grove, dressed in red and black uniforms. “We have captured two men, the rest of the Coe Aela guards who entered the grove are either dead or dying,” One of them said. “All of the men were on foot, but the first three who entered the grove were chasing three horses--”

  Suddenly, the animals in question burst out of the grove, startling the Coe Wina guards present, but Basha, Monika, and Oaka called out to their horses, and staggered forward to greet and subdue the animals. The Coe Wina guards who had been put in charge of handling the animals followed soon afterward, having failed in their attempts to wrangle the animals into formation for the journey back to Coe Wina, but now they were appalled at how quickly the animals took to these strangers.

  “I take it these are your animals?” One of the guards asked.

  “Yes, they are, we had been been forced to leave them behind us at Coe Aela,” Basha said, brushing Talan’s forehead as the animal kept butting her muzzle at him. “We have missed them very much.” He said.

  “I suppose you may keep them.” The Squad A leader said. “We have no use for them, and your feet can rest on the ride back to Coe Wina. But wait right here, don’t mount up just yet.” The leader warned them as they moved towards their horses. “We will collect the prisoners, and then we will continue the rest of the way together. We must meet up with the rest of our platoon at their copse, and see if they had any success with their ambush.”

  “Platoon? Copse--are there more of you?” Gnat asked.

  “Yes. We will explain later.” Squad A Leader said.

  “Why don’t you explain it now?” Oaka asked.

  “It’s too complicated, now hush.” He ordered, as his squad emerged from the trees with their prisoners. The group was ordered to mount up, with Gnat sitting behind Basha on Talan an
d Fato flying above them, as they were escorted the rest of the way to Coe Wina, with a brief stop at the ravine.

  Talan, Deja, and Joko fidgeted as they approached, and then threatened to rear at the smell of the corpses in the ravine. Even humans with less sensitive noses started to gag. But a few of the soldiers had taken charge of the horses, to stop the group from riding off if they so intended, and calmed the animals down. They were forced to continue on. Gnat covered her eyes, unwilling to look into the ravine as Basha, Monika, Oaka and Fato stared down, unwilling to look away as they knew that they were responsible for this bloodshed, having brought the Coe Aela guards to the ambush. They had to face what they had done.

  The action long since over, and the smell having alerted them to what to expect so that they might steel themselves, meant that they weren’t quite as shocked as they might have been, if they had come to a fight like this unawares as participants. But they still were unsteady in their seats as they contemplated the awful scene, and had to hold on tightly to their horses. Basha recalled the fight that he had been a part of in the warehouse about two weeks ago, and how much worse it was to be a part of such an action, like one of the Coe Wina guards who had attacked the Coe Aela guards, or one of the Coe Aela guards. To be involved in such bloodshed, and yet to be removed from it as well, unable to process fully what was happening around them except for what needed to be done in the moment. Everything was filtered through the senses, and the edges were always dulled in a fight like that, until reflection made them more vivid in the mind. The men who survived would remember.

  Basha remembered what he had feared on the mountainside, being chased down and killed by Goga’s men, and how it was now the Coe Aela guards who had faced a similar fate. It didn’t make him feel any better, or braver. It just made him feel worse.