“Yeah,” Tinok says, chuckling a little. “We took one of the lanterns down, lit it and laid it beside him on the hay. The hay was just beginning to smolder as we left.”
“But he might burn to death!” Cassie gasps.
“Fortunes of war,” Jiron says, with little feeling.
“Besides, it’ll look like an accident,” Tinok explains. “It’ll look like he got drunk and was careless.”
“And with their horses in danger,” Jiron says, “they’ll want everyone to help with putting the fire out, which should draw the men off the bridge.”
“Let’s hope so,” James says.
Suddenly, from the north side of town, a reddish glow blossoms as the stable catches fire. Even from this distance they can hear the horses neighing in terror. From within the town, they hear the cry as the soldiers move to combat the fire and save their horses.
The men on the bridge turn and see the flames reaching high in the sky as the fire roars to life. As one, they race away from the bridge and head for the inferno at the stables.
“Now’s our chance,” James says, once the guards have left the bridge. Getting their horses moving quickly, they make their way toward the bridge and race across it to the other side without anyone raising the alarm.
A road crosses over the bridge heading south. They follow it for some distance before James slows them down to prevent a horse from accidentally putting a hoof in a hole and breaking its leg. They continue to follow the road for another mile or so before deciding to pull off a ways and make camp within a small copse of trees. A quick meal of cold rations and then they turn in. Jiron, Tinok and James all taking their turn at watch.
Next morning, they’re on the road again before the sun has risen very far above the horizon. James uses his compass and with relief finds that Miko is now a little to the north of east now, instead of south of east. We’re ahead of them, he thinks to himself with satisfaction. To avoid encountering Empire soldiers, they move off the road to the west and run parallel to it.
The Silver Mountains are also getting closer on their right as they proceed south. It’s not long before they are close enough to be able to make out the individual trees covering the mountain’s slope
Over the course of the next couple hours, they see several columns of troops going north on the road to the east of them, before James quickly moves them further west to avoid detection. An hour before midday, they begin to see another road running along the base of the mountains as it meanders through the foothills. Currently no one is traveling upon it, and since the one to the east had troops moving upon it, they decide to use it. If they move any further west they will be riding along the slope of the mountain.
“Should we even be on this road?” Cassie asks, nervously.
“There’s no one on it,” James explains, “at least not right now. If we were to go further east, then we run the risk of meeting troops going north. If someone comes, then there’s always the mountain.”
She looks over to the mountain but doesn’t look too happy at the prospect of going there.
Early afternoon, they pull off the road to have some lunch and to rest the horses. They find an area to the west, behind some of the rolling hills, which will keep them out of the view of anyone who may be traveling upon the road.
“How are we going to get to Korazan?” Delia asks.
“What do you mean?” Jiron asks.
“I mean, how will we get there without being seen?” she clarifies. “Once we cross the border, we’re going to stand out as northerners, we don’t even know the customs.”
Jiron and James look at each other and James says, “Well, I hadn’t actually thought that far yet.”
“Did you think we would just ride in, find them, and then be allowed to ride away free and clear?” she asks incredulously.
“I’m sure we’ll figure a way,” Jiron assures her.
She looks at them and says, “You’re both going to get us all killed if you don’t do a little planning ahead.”
“How?” asks James. “It’s true we don’t know the customs, but there’s no way to learn before we get there anyway. We may stand out now, but once there, we can acquire clothing that will enable us to blend in.”
“Besides,” Jiron adds, “are they really going to be expecting a group, such as ourselves, to be up to mischief? I’m sure we can wing a plausible reason should one be needed.”
“Then you better think fast,” she tells him.
“Why?” Jiron asks.
She points behind him to the six riders wearing Empire uniforms who are approaching their camp from the foothills, three have crossbows loaded and aimed at them. One who looks to be the officer in charge of the group comes toward them, flanked by the remaining two.
They all stand as he approaches. “Well, what do we have here?” he asks with a smile, coming to a stop a few feet away.
Cassie clings to Delia while James steps forward to speak, “Just some friends out having some fun is all.”
“I see,” he says, a small smile playing across his lips. “And what kind of ‘fun’ would bring you to this area?”
“We we’re camping up in the mountains and had come down to get some more supplies,” he explains. “We ran out.”
“Ah, yes,” the leader says. “And what town were you heading to for the supplies?”
“We don’t actually know where any are,” he admits. “You see we’re from Lornigan over in Cardri…”
“But,” Jiron jumps in, “we figured if we were to follow this road, it would eventually lead us to one.”
The officer nods his head and signals the crossbowmen to lower their weapons. “Then you’re in luck,” he says, “we were just on our way to a town just south of here. You’re more than welcome to accompany us and purchase your supplies there.”
“That would be great,” James says. “Just give us a moment and we’ll be ready.”
The officer nods his head and takes his men a short distance away, where he speaks to one of them in a language that none of their group understands. After a few short words, the man turns his horse and races off to the south.
The officer sees James looking at the departing rider and says, “He’s just gone ahead to keep a lookout for rogues.” Giving James a disarming, charming smile he continues, “You can’t be too careful.”
James comes over to his horse and gets ready to mount, when Jiron places his hand on his arm and whispers, “Are you crazy?”
James gives him a look of desperation and replies in a hushed whisper, “We’ve got no choice. We’d never be able to stop the crossbowmen before they fire, someone could get killed. Let’s just bide our time, and see what opportunities develop.” He mounts his horse and continues, “We can’t risk having the girls hurt.”
Not happy about it, Jiron mounts his horse as the officer and his men approach again. “Ready, are we?” he asks.
“Yes, we are,” James replies. “We appreciate the escort, though it’s not really necessary.”
Smiling a charming smile, he says, “Not a problem, really. As I said, we were already heading in that direction.”
The remaining man without a crossbow heads out first, leading the way. The officer rides next to James while his three crossbowmen take up position at the rear behind the girls.
James is very uncomfortable with the ‘helpfulness’ of the soldiers. Having three crossbowmen behind the girls doesn’t leave much opportunity to get out of the situation. Trying to appear nonchalant, he asks the officer, who’s riding next to him, “So what are you doing out in these parts?”
“Just on a routine patrol,” he replies, “making sure no one makes mischief, that sort of thing.”
“What town are we going to?” James asks.
“The locals call it Mountainside,” he explains. “Not a very original name if you ask me.”
“No,” comments James, “I suppose not.”
They ride for a short time before the town comes into view. “Ah,” he says to James, indicating the town up ahead, “there it is.”
Sitting at the base of the mountain is a rather small town, even though it’s at a junction of roads. A little over two dozen buildings are apparently all there is to it. As they approach, James begins to realize there are no people
