Warrior priest of Dmon-Li ms-3

by Brian S. Pratt

  The warrior priest calls out commands as he and the warriors near him run over toward where the bursts are originating.

  Once they are past, Jiron crosses to the back of the tent and with a quick swipe from his knife, opens a long slit in it.

  He quickly steps through the opening and dives to the side when he detects a movement out of the corner of his eye. The sword of the guard which had been stationed inside the tent passes just inches from where Jiron had entered the tent. Rolling quick, Jiron comes to his feet with both knives at the ready.

  The guard calls out to those outside but the noise out there drowns out his words. Jiron moves to engage him and attempts to draw him away from the opening in the side of the tent so James can enter.

  James pokes his head through and sees them battling a dozen feet away. Passing through, he moves away from where Jiron and the guard are battling, staying near the side of the tent. Tied to the central pole of the tent, Miko sits with his hands secured behind him. Coming over, he takes his knife out and cuts his bonds.

  “Thank god you’re here!” Miko says as he gets up off the floor.

  “Never mind that now,” James tells him. “We’ve got to get out of here.” He looks over to where Jiron and the guard are still fighting. Neither one seems able to get the advantage over the other.

  Jiron is able to deflect the blows of the guard but so far has been unable to successfully counter attack. James sees his difficulty and picks up a stool and tosses it over behind the guard, causing him to trip.

  Off balance, the guard falls to the ground and Jiron is able to sink a knife several inches into the man’s thigh. Leaving the knife there, Jiron falls upon the man as they wrestle for the sword.

  The man punches out and connects with Jiron’s jaw, snapping his head back. Jiron uses his knee and catches the man in the groin causing him to gasp in pain.

  Seeing them on the floor, Miko comes over and kicks the guard in the side of the head which leaves him dazed. Jiron then has little trouble in taking the sword away and with his remaining knife, slices him across the throat.

  He retrieves his other knife from the man’s thigh and wipes them both off on the dead man’s tunic. Seeing James has already freed Miko, he moves to the opening in the side of the tent just as the night lights up with a loud explosion which can be heard as the remaining bubble detonates.

  “That’s it,” James tells them. “They’ll be back soon.” He tosses a tunic he’d found in the tent over to Miko so he’d blend in better.

  “Then let’s not wait around for them to return,” Jiron says as he opens the slit and makes his way out of the tent.

  He waits a moment, scanning the area as the others exit, and then they run in the opposite way from where they heard that last explosion. Running as fast as they can, they race past tent after tent until they reach the edge of the Grey Wolf Clan’s camp. Warriors are running around like ants whose anthill has just had a stick poked in it. James grins at the analogy. I suppose it has!

  Finding that they are now on the outskirts of the entire Gathering, they see a wide open area between the edge of the tents and where the trees begin. Running fast, they cover the distance to the trees before anyone takes notice of them. Jiron again takes the lead as they make their way through to the northern ridge.

  The camp behind them is total chaos, warriors swarm the area and several horns can be heard. Other areas of the Gathering are in an uproar as well as after the two large explosions in the Grey Wolf Clan’s area.

  “They’re not going to let us just walk out of here,” Jiron says. “We have violated the Pact and I’m sure the protection of the Windriders will be withdrawn shortly if it hasn’t already.”

  “Then let’s hurry and reach the northern passage out of here before they begin a serious search for us,” James suggests.

  Angling as directly to the northern pass as they can, they break into a run toward the northern ridge. Suddenly, out of the trees ahead of them, appears a group of horses.

  Jiron’s knives jump to his hands and James readies a spell before they realize that it’s Therin with several other Windriders. Therin has a big smile on his face as he approaches them. “I can see now why they want you so bad,” he says.

  He signals a rider who brings out three horses. “Take these horses and fly swift,” he says.

  As James mounts, he says, “Aren’t you running the risk of violating the Pact?”

  “Probably,” he says, “but that’s my concern. And don’t worry about the horses leading the trail back to us. We stole these from the Grey Wolf Clan.” At that, a couple of the other riders break out laughing.

  When they’re mounted, James says, “Thanks again.”

  “You are welcome,” he replies. “Though you may not want to come this way ever again.”

  “I understand,” James says as he turns his horse toward the north.

  “Good luck,” Therin says. “And ride fast!”

  They kick their horses and ride for the northern passage through the mountains. Jiron again takes the lead as they quickly leave Therin and the other riders behind.

  “Think he’ll get into trouble?” Miko asks him.

  “I hope not,” James replies. “But like he said, I don’t think we should ever come this way again.”

  As they progress toward the pass, they see a large group of riders now following behind them. James can feel the prickling of magic, telling him Abula-Mazki is among them. “It didn’t take them long to determine where we were going,” James observes.

  “He probably did the same trick to find you that you used to find Miko,” Jiron explains.

  “You’re probably right,” agrees James.

  “We’ll never lose them as long as he’s behind us,” Jiron says.

  “I know,” replies James. “I’m working on that.”

  The terrain suddenly rises steeply as they near the upper reaches of the pass. Suddenly, they find themselves between two tall ridges as they enter the pass. The pass is wide enough to accommodate several horses side by side and they continue racing through to the other side. The full moon above gives them ample light to see by.

  Halfway through, James brings his horse to a sudden halt and quickly dismounts. Jiron soon realizes he’s not with him and glances back. When he sees him there in the pass, he stops and turns his horse around. Moving back, he asks, “What’s wrong?”

  James glances up to him and replies, “Just trying to slow the pursuit.”

  Jiron watches the pass behind them as James does his thing. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees glowing circular spots flash briefly upon the sides of the pass. They extended at least thirty feet up and after the last one flashes, he sees James slump to the ground again.

  He quickly dismounts and helps James get up on his horse, tying him in place. “Haven’t much time,” he hears James say once he has him secured to the saddle.

  Nodding, he gets mounted himself and they begin racing toward the far end of the pass. Jiron looks back, and can see riders in the moonlight as they begin entering the pass. Abula-Mazki is in the lead and riding hard to catch them.

  Crumph!

  When the riders are less than twenty yards from where James had worked the magic, the sides of the pass explode outwards, causing the ridges on both sides to sag into the pass. Gigantic sections of the ridge fall and crush the leading edge of the pursuing riders, Abula-Mazki among them. Cries from horses and men can be heard out of the mammoth dust cloud rolling through the pass.

  Jiron pauses momentarily, waiting for the dust to clear. When it does, he sees the pass is now completely blocked by a pile of rubble, several hundred feet high. Even though he’s seen the effect James’ magic can have, it still amazes him. He turns back to the north and quickly makes it to the other side.

  They catch up with Miko who’s waiting for them at the other end of the pass. They continue down the trail as it leaves the pass and begin to descend down the other side of the mountains.

&nbs
p; “Think that’ll stop them?” Miko asks Jiron.

  “If it doesn’t, then that warrior priest is more powerful than anything I can imagine,” he replies.

  “Good,” says Miko.

  They slow their pace a little to save the horses and travel for several more hours before finding a spot to make camp. Miko and Jiron take turns at watch, seeing as how James is already asleep.

  Worried about pursuit, they keep the horses saddled and the one who’s on watch keeps extra alert during their vigil.

  Chapter Twelve

  James awakens with the rising of the sun, tired and head aching slightly. He sits up and finds Jiron by the fire cooking a small animal that he killed earlier that morning.

  “Good morning,” he says when he notices James sitting up.

  “Good morning to you too,” he replies. He glances over to where Miko is still sleeping on the ground. “Did he take the first watch?”

  “Yeah,” Jiron affirms.

  “Do you think we have time to cook breakfast?” James asks him. “I mean with all those riders after us?”

  He shrugs before saying, “Hope so. I don’t know if you remember, but you pretty well blocked the pass. Any pursuit will have to travel another way.”

  “But they will come,” James tells him.

  “I know, but we need to keep our strength up,” counters Jiron. He pokes the roasting carcass with his knife and says, “Wake up sleepy head, I think breakfast is ready.”

  James gets up and goes over to Miko and nudges him with his foot.

  “What?” Miko exclaims, coming awake abruptly. He looks quickly around and sees James standing above him.

  “Breakfast is almost ready,” he says.

  “Oh,” he grunts as he looks over to where Jiron is taking the meat from the fire. Getting up, he crosses over to the trees and does his morning business and then returns to take a seat by the fire.

  Jiron hands him his portion and then gives James his. They sit there for a while in silence as they eat. James takes a look at the mountains surrounding them. Glancing to the south, he can’t really see where he caused the sides of the pass to cave-in as trees and mountain block his view.

  “How far did we come last night?” he asks.

  “Not sure, we traveled for several hours before stopping,” Jiron replies.

  “We better push long and hard today,” continues James. “Abula-Mazki won’t be giving up so easily.”

  “I hope he was caught in the landslide,” Miko adds.

  “So do I,” agrees James, “but we can’t go on that assumption. We must act as if he’s still after us.”

  “Where to now?” Jiron asks.

  “Continue heading north,” James replies. “It’s all we can do.”

  Once they finished their breakfast, they mount and continue down the side of the mountain. The trail they are following is fairly clear, having been traveled by riders on their way to the Gathering for a very long time.

  It takes most of the day to reach the plains below the mountains. They turn more to the west as they continue along the foothills, traveling until the sun begins to fall. A hollow between two hills gives them a good place to remain hidden while they camp through the night.

  While Jiron gets the fire going, James goes out and gets a couple rabbits for dinner. Once they’re on the fire roasting, they sit back and relax.

  James wishes he had something to use to see if they are being pursued, but there are no pools of water to be found. He needs something that has a smooth, reflective surface in order to do it.

  “Think we’re staying ahead of him?” asks Miko.

  “Maybe,” replies Jiron. “It’s really hard to say. It all depends on how far he had to ride to find another way from the gathering. And if he’s willing to kill his horse in order to catch us.”

  “Do you think the Grey Wolf Clan will aid him?” Miko asks.

  “Probably,” answers James. “We messed up their camp pretty good, and probably insulted them in some way when we snatched you out from the middle of their camp.”

  “Other clans may help as well,” Jiron guesses. “We did violate the peace, though I doubt if the Windriders will be among those coming after us.”

  “Maybe,” agrees James. “If we can make it out of their lands, then maybe the clans won’t continue the pursuit.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Miko sighs. “Is that why we’re moving more to the west? So hopefully we will be out of their lands?”

  “I hadn’t thought of it that way,” Jiron says. “I just figured the hills would give us more cover than the open plains. But that’s a thought.”

  “The forces of the Empire in this area would hardly be on the lookout for us,” reasons James. “If anything, they’d still be looking for us further south. We should have a day or two before Abula-Mazki has the chance to alert anyone.”

  “If our luck holds, we may be able to keep ahead of the word of our whereabouts all the way to the border,” Jiron says optimistically.

  “That would be nice,” James agrees, though doesn’t really feel that is a possibility.

  James takes the first watch once they’ve eaten and are ready to bed down for the night.

  In the morning, Jiron pulls out rations he found on the horses Therin had given them. After a quick bite to eat, they’re in the saddle and making their way through the hills. They continue to maintain a route to the west, with a slight northerly heading. The hills afford them some protection from being spotted but at the sacrifice of speed.

  Some time after noon, they curve around a hill and suddenly before them is a road going north to south. They pause a moment before moving behind a hill bordering the road. Jiron dismounts and while the others wait with the horses, looks for any traffic moving upon the road.

  He’s up there several minutes before coming back down. When he returns, he says, “There’s no one on the road and I could see it winding its way through the hills for miles in either direction.”

  “Think we should chance it?” James asks him.

  “We’d make better time, but you never know who’ll be using it,” he replies.

  “Moving through the hills is slowing us down,” James tells him. “I think we need to chance it. If we keep a constant watch for anyone approaching, we might be okay.”

  “Alright,” Jiron says as he remounts. Turning his horse toward the road, he continues, “Then let’s do it.” He leads them back to the road where they break into a gallop as they race to the north.

  After only going several miles, the hills begin to smooth out until they’re once more in grassland. There’s a river to the west and as they go further north, it slowly draws closer.

  Several more miles finds them where the road crosses the river. Ahead of them, a mile or so past the bridge, sits a large keep not far off the road.

  They come to a stop in the road before crossing the bridge as they consider their options.

  “Think there’s anyone still in there?” Miko asks, referring to the keep.

  “From here it’s hard to tell,” Jiron replies. “I would think so though.”

  James glances to the east where the hills begin again, about a mile away. “We should return to the hills, they’ll give us more of a chance to get by here without being seen,” he suggests.

  “I agree,” says Jiron as he turns his horse and leads them at a gallop toward the cover of the hills.

  As they reach the hills, James glances over to the distant keep and sees a force of cavalry coming out through the main gate. They’re heading down the road to the south.

  “Jiron, we may have company!” he hollers to him.

  Jiron looks over and sees them leaving the keep. Pushing their horses harder, they make their way into the hills. After they’ve put a large hill between them and the riders, they come to a stop and then dismount before climbing to the top of the hill. Peering over the crest of the hill, they see the riders continuing down the road to the south and not turning to follow them.
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  “I guess that answers whether anyone is in the keep or not,” James announces.

  “Yeah,” agrees Miko. “It’s a good thing we got off the road when we did.”

  “I’m just happy they didn’t see us,” says Jiron.

  “Me too,” James says.

  They climb back down to where their horses are awaiting them. Once they’re mounted again, they make their way through the hills toward the northeast.

  An hour of riding brings them to where the hills end. To the north is nothing but open plains. To their left is the river where it turns to the north. They can still see the keep far to the west and are relieved when they fail to see anyone around.

  “We’ll be pretty conspicuous out there,” Jiron says, indicating the open plains.

  “Don’t have much choice unless we want to just sit here forever,” reasons James.

  “Maybe we should stick close to the river?” Miko suggests.

  Shaking his head, James replies, “Might not be a good idea. If there’ll be anyone around, most likely they’ll be by the river.”

  “Oh,” he says.

  “Let’s stick to the plains, but keep the river in view,” suggest Jiron.

  “Alright,” agrees James. “As good a plan as any.”

  Miko gives him an annoyed look.

  “What?” James asks him.

  “You never take my suggestions but are always taking his,” he accuses.

  “Take it easy,” James tells him. “I don’t always take his suggestions. We, meaning all three of us, try to come up with the best course of action. Whichever one sounds the best, we do. Don’t take things so personally.”

  Miko doesn’t look very satisfied with his response.

  “Shall we?” Jiron asks, looking from one to the other.

  “Let’s,” replies James. Miko gives a nod as well.

  Jiron moves out, the others follow as he angles east, away from the river. They proceed until it’s just in view behind them before turning more directly to the north. As they travel, they keep a constant watch for anyone out upon the plains, but it looks as if they’re the only ones about.