He had moved his men across the river to patrol the western bank. Earlier they spied their quarry and sent a man north to raise the alarm while the rest of them backtracked to the ford.
Once across, they continued the pursuit halfheartedly. Ragni had no desire to confront a mage who could bring down mountains, but dare not show this to his men. They entered the foothills, moving quickly for a little over an hour.
One of his men cries out from a hilltop where he’d been scouting. “I see their campfire.”
“They took the time to camp when they knew we were giving chase?” Ragni muses to a nearby rider.
“Either they’re sure of themselves, or stupid,” the rider replies.
Nodding his head, Ragni motions for the scout to return to the group. Once he’s returned, Ragni says, “Use bows and take them unawares, we cannot let the mage have time to cast a spell.”
His men all nod and get their bows out and ready. When all are set, they move as one around the hill toward where their quarry has their camp.
As the camp comes into view ahead of them, he sees their quarry sitting there relaxed around the fire, meat sizzling as it cooks over the fire. Off to one side are their horses tied in a picket line.
He signals his men to quietly surround the camp, using animal calls to one another, letting him know they’re in position.
Once he’s heard the last call, telling him all are in place, he gives out with the call to signal the attack. Arrows fly into the camp as they simultaneously fire at the enemy. They drop their bows as they draw their swords and follow the volley of arrows into the camp.
Suddenly, a light encircles them and golden bands arc toward the sky where they meet above the center of the camp.
His men cry out and try to leave but soon realize they are trapped in a cage they can’t escape. That’s when Ragni realizes the mage is facing them. He’s shocked to see all their arrows in the ground, each one having missed their mark.
The mage says, “To follow is to die. Turn around and go home!”
Then the mage, his companions and the horses all begin to change. Their features turn into demonic visages and their hands become claws with long, sharp nails. They begin howling and growling as they advance upon them.
His men cry out with fear, pressing themselves as far away from the demonic creatures as they can. Two of them, warriors tested through many battles, faint dead away as the creatures come closer. Then suddenly, the creatures swell to twice their original size as they let out a roar of ear shattering intensity.
Then with a blinding flash of light, the creatures, the camp, and the cage disappear.
From a nearby hill, Jiron gives a quiet chuckle as he sees what’s going on over there. “Man you’re good,” he tells James.
James doesn’t respond, just continues watching, hoping it’ll be enough to dissuade them from continuing.
When the light flashes and all becomes still, he holds his breath, hoping it worked. Then suddenly the men down there erupt in a flurry of motion as they wake up the ones who fainted and run back to their horses. They mount quickly and he sighs with relief when they turn and race south just as fast as their horses will go. For these men, the chase is over.
Once the riders have moved through the hills and are once again out of sight, James stands up and makes his way with the others back down to where their horses are picketed.
“That should discourage any pursuit from them for awhile I would think,” announces James.
Laughing, Miko says, “I would think so. I thought they were going to soil themselves when we turned into demons.”
“How did you manage that, anyway?” Jiron asks.
“Can’t really explain,” replies James. “Has to do with light and perception.”
“It was effective anyway,” he says.
“Doubt if it would fool any serious mage,” he tells him. “Abula-Mazki wouldn’t have been fooled, I’m sure.”
Once they’re mounted, they head north again. Even though the pursuit from the south is stalled, if not stopped completely, there’s still the rider who’d raced north. James wonders what he is up to as they head once more to the north.
Chapter Thirteen
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Continuing north until it’s almost dark, they then move toward the river so James can look around to see if there are any forces closing in.
He digs his pool again and once the water has filled it and becomes placid, begins to scan the countryside for hostiles. To the south, it’s clear. He smiles to himself when he realizes his attempts to thwart pursuit had met with success. To the east all he can find are more plains.
Looking westward past the river, he finds the road going north and south. He scans the road in both directions and is satisfied when he doesn’t see anyone upon it. There is a small town sitting on a crossroads further north, but nothing which concerns him is going on there. The road goes through the town as it continues its way north while another one begins, heading due west out of town.
The town there does have a garrison but doesn’t look to be very large and it shows no signs of preparing to leave. He moves the image northward and finds the river continues on through more plains until entering another set of hills.
Getting up, he says, “Looks like there is no one near, so it should be safe to have a fire tonight.”
“Good,” Miko exclaims. “I hate being in the dark out here.” He scans the area and tries to find sufficient fuel for the fire, but there’s not much available. When he has gathered all he can find, he looks at the small pile and says, “I doubt if this is going to last the night.”
“Probably not,” agrees Jiron. “But it should last through dinner.” He looks over and sees James returning to camp with three small rabbits. He takes them from him and proceeds to get them ready for the fire.
James sits and rests, a little tired from the magic expended earlier in the day. He seems to be able to do more with less effect as he goes along. Must be like weightlifting, the more you do, the more you can do.
Miko gets the fire going and in no time the rabbits are cooking.
The evening passes uneventfully after dinner as they take their turn at watch.
Before setting out in the morning, James goes back over to the small pool and again scans the area for hostiles. “Jiron!” he hollers.
When Jiron comes over, with Miko right behind, he shows them the large force of riders on the plains.
“Where are they?” Miko asks.
“Best I can figure, about an hour to the southeast,” he says. “And Abula-Mazki is with them. It looks like two or three times the number that we surprised back in the hills.”
“Is that all?” Jiron asks.
As he continues to scan, they see another force approaching from the northwest, having already entered the west side of the hills the river flows through to the north. “Looks like they have us boxed in,” says James.
“If we can make it north along the river quickly,” Jiron suggests, “we may be able to move past them before they connect with the riders.”
“Then we better hurry,” James says, getting up. They mount and quickly break into a gallop heading north. He wishes he still had his mirror so he can scan while riding, but that’s long gone at the bottom of the ocean.
Moving fast, they are soon approaching the hills to the north. Hoping to have beaten the soldiers coming from the west, they continue to follow the river as it moves among the hills.
Suddenly from the west, they see a scout crest a hill. They watch as he raises a horn to his lips and blasts a series of notes.
“That’s done it,” James says, just before a rock leaves his hand and sails toward the scout on the hill. They watch the rock fly through the air and then strike him, knocking him off his horse to the ground.
“They’ll be on us for sure, now,” Jiron says as he once more spurs his horse onward, the others following suit. They continue to follow the river as it meanders its
way through the hills.
As they ride, the ground begins to change from hilly grasslands to more of a desert, like what they experienced when they were searching for Miko. Another horn rings out, James glances behind and spies another scout. Several more riders suddenly appear alongside him.
“We’ve got company!” he hollers.
Spurring their horses on to even greater speed, they fly alongside the river. The hills on either side of the river begin to rise and James realizes they’re entering a canyon of some kind. Not as big as the Grand Canyon back home, but large. As the sides of the canyon continue to rise, he’s quick to realize that if they sent forces to the other side, they may very well be trapped.
The ground becomes rockier and less stable the further into the canyon they move, forcing them to slow their speed. Behind them, the foot soldiers have entered the canyon as well and are following about a mile away.
Progressing still further into the canyon, they come across a series of wooden stakes with wooden crossbeams. Skulls and bones hang from them as well as pieces of leather, which James thinks might be skin.
“What is that?” Jiron asks.
“I’m not sure,” James replies. “It can’t be good though.”
As they pass the structure, James begins to see others scattered about the floor of the canyon as well. Some not very large, though a couple are even bigger and more complex than the first one they encountered.
“This might be a burial ground of some sort,” he tells them.
“Burial ground?” Miko asks.
“Yeah,” he says. “It just feels that way.”
Nervous, Miko looks around.
“James, look,” Jiron says, directing his gaze back to the soldiers following them.
James glances back and sees the soldiers have stopped at the first of the stakes and skulls.
“Seems as if they are reluctant to enter,” Jiron observes.
“Hope so,” James says.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be here either,” Miko says as he glances around the canyon nervously.
“We have no choice,” James tells him as they continue on further into the canyon.
They keep glancing behind them and still the soldiers remain there at the stakes, unwilling to enter the canyon. The further into the canyon they move, the more of the burial sites they see. Some now actually have full skeletons laid out upon them. All the bones are human.
Miko is getting more and more nervous the further they go. The canyon is absolutely silent, not even the familiar sound of birds or animals can be heard, only the rush of the river flowing by makes any kind of noise. But even that has a hushed quality to it, as if it dares not disturb the peace of this place. With the sun already having moved past the lip of the canyon, the lengthening shadows give the place an even more eerie feel.
They proceed onward, further into the canyon for another hour or so when James decides to pause a moment to dig out a pool by the river to look for pursuit.
“Do we have to stop?” asks Miko, who is getting very jumpy.
“Yes,” replies James. “It will take just a moment. I want to do it before it gets dark and I’ll no longer be able to see anything.”
Once the pool is filled and the surface has stilled, James begins to see what the forces behind them are doing.
The image shimmers a moment and then they see themselves by the river. He scrolls the image south until the soldiers who stopped at the boundary are in view. A large force of foot and horsemen are gathered together. Bringing the focus closer, they are able to see two men arguing animatedly. One of them is Abula-Mazki. What I wouldn’t give for a little sound.
The two men are obviously at odds over what they should do. From the way Abula-Mazki is gesticulating, it would seem he wants them to follow into the canyon. The other officer is adamantly refusing.
In an enraged fit, Abula-Mazki stretches out his hand and they see the officer fall to the ground. Abula-Mazki then turns to the others assembled there and begins talking. The death of their officer must have given them the impetus they needed, for they begin to hesitantly move into the canyon.
“They mean to follow us then,” Jiron says from over his shoulder.
“It would seem so,” agrees James.
“What’s at the other end of the canyon?” Jiron asks.
The image moves quickly until it reaches the northern end and they see another large force of men waiting there. They seem to be settling in and preparing defenses. Tents and campfires have sprung up throughout the assembled forces.
“They plan to force us north and then get hammered between both armies,” guesses Jiron.
“Yeah, and with his magic to counter mine,” James says, “we’re dead.”
The image disappears as they stand up. Jiron looks around them, then up at the canyon walls.
“You aren’t serious,” asks Miko when he realizes what Jiron is thinking. “We can’t climb that far.” He looks up at the imposing sides of the canyon, in some places the surface is almost vertical.
“We have several hours before the southern force gets here,” Jiron says. “It’ll be a hard climb, but we seem to have little choice.” He walks over to his horse and takes his things.
James follows suit. When he sees Miko just standing there, he says, “Come on, we can do this. We have a better chance of scaling the walls of the canyon than surviving the battle that’s to come.”
Coming over to his horse, Miko gets his things. Then he looks dubiously at the canyon wall above them. “Couldn’t we just scare them like we did to that bunch earlier?” he asks.
“I thought about that,” James tells him. “If it were just the men, then sure, I’d try it. But not with that warrior priest with them. He’d for sure see through the illusion and most likely counter it.”
“Oh yeah,” he says, disappointed.
“We need to hurry if we’re to beat the failing light,” Jiron says. Then he moves away from the river and begins to ascend to the top of the canyon.
Miko starts to follow him but then pauses when James hasn’t moved. He glances back and sees him staring intently at the horses. Suddenly, the horses begin whinnying in fear and bolt along the river to the north.
James then turns to follow Miko and Jiron. When he sees Miko looking at him, he says, “Didn’t want them to find the horses and know where we’d started climbing up. It might give us more time.”
Miko just nods slightly as James joins him. He turns back and resumes following Jiron as he hunts for the way up.
At first, the way is fairly easy and not too steep. The sides of the canyon are composed mostly of shale and the ground is covered in loose rocks. This makes for an unstable surface which causes their feet to at times slip out from under them.
The canyon continues to darken as the sun sinks further to the horizon. The sun is still hitting the far side of the canyon and Miko keeps glancing over to it, dreading the time when it’s no longer there.
Jiron has gotten a ways ahead of them up the side of the canyon, James and Miko are staying fairly close together, helping each other. The way is beginning to get steeper and the loose shale is starting to cause them to slip more and more often. Once, Jiron starts a small landslide which pelts them with rubble and coats them with dirt.
“Watch it!” James hollers up to him.
“Sorry,” they hear from up above.
After climbing what seems a very long time, James looks down to the river, but is unable to see it. The bottom of the canyon is hidden in shadows with the setting of the sun. It no longer shines on the opposite wall of the canyon. Hope they’re not below us yet! He looks again but cannot make out anyone or anything down there in the dark.
Ahhhh!
Suddenly from up above them, they hear Jiron cry out. James looks up but other than some shale falling along the side of the canyon doesn’t see anything.
“Jiron!” James cries out. “Are you alright?” When no answer is forthcoming, he doubles his speed, send
ing a cascade of rocks down below him. Miko hurries along beside him.
When they near where they believe Jiron had been, they see a darker shadow ahead of them in the shadows. He quickly realizes that it’s a hole in the side of the canyon.
“Miko,” he says to him where he’s climbing, “stay there. It looks like he may have fallen into a hole.”
“Okay,” Miko replies as he comes to a halt, maintaining his balance on the unstable surface.
James moves to the edge of the hole and peers over the edge but all he can see is blackness. “Jiron!” he whispers down.
“James,” he hears him reply from down below.
“You okay?” he asks, concerned.
“Yes, I only fell about fifteen feet,” he tells him. “Help me out of here, will you?”
“Sure,” he says. He creates his glowing orb so he can see how to get him out.
As the orb begins shining, it reveals the face of a corpse only inches from his own. James screams and jumps back in panic, the light from the orb disappearing when his concentration is broken. He loses his balance and tumbles down the side of the canyon for twenty feet before coming to a stop. His heart beating wildly, he picks himself up just as Miko reaches his side.
“What happened?” Miko asks, eyes wide with fear.
“Thought I saw something,” he replies.
“What?” he inquires with a quaver in his voice.
“A dead guy,” he replies.
“Dead?” Miko asks, in a fearful tone.
“It’s probably just someone who had been buried here,” he explains. “It just took me by surprise is all.” Getting back to his feet, he climbs back up to the hole.
“James!” he hears Jiron yelling as he again approaches the hole. “Where are you?”
He comes to the edge and says, “Sorry, got startled and lost my balance.”
Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three Page 18
