The Kirken says, “We thought you to be the Empire’s men.” He looks around at his men lying dead around him before returning his attention to James, “A costly mistake.”
“We would not want to count the Kirken’s as enemies,” James says.
The man nods, “You are not, and I’m sorry we attacked you.” He goes over to a horse and grabs the dangling reins. “I must return and tell of what happened here. You’re welcome to come with me.”
Shaking his head, James says, “No, we cannot take the time, I’m afraid.”
“As you wish,” he says. He rounds up the other horses and then places the dead upon their backs, securing them into place. Then he ties the horses in line before mounting the lead horse. Then with a wave, he’s off.
They watch him as he disappears into the night with the bodies of his dead comrades. “It’s a shame they had to die,” James says.
“Fortunes of war, I’m afraid,” Jiron adds.
“Why didn’t we go with him?” Miko asks. “It seemed like a good idea.”
“We don’t want to get caught up in someone else’s war,” he says. “We’ve got our own problems and duties.”
“What duties?” he asks.
“Have you forgotten so soon?” he asks, pointing to his pouch.
“Oh, right,” he says then drops to a whisper, “the Fire.”
“Exactly,” replies James. “We can’t risk anyone getting their hands on it or even knowing about it.”
Getting back on their horses, they begin moving once more toward the north. They travel for several minutes when Jiron asks, “Just what did they hit us with anyway?”
“It’s called a bola,” he explains. “It’s a length of rope with weights at both ends. They twirl it and then let it fly at their target. If they do it right, then the target gets wrapped up and entangled.”
“Those things seemed pretty effective,” he says.
Nodding, James continues, “I’ve known them to be spiked and even have metal wires running the length of the rope to prevent it from being cut.”
“Nasty,” he hears Miko say.
“It can be,” admits James.
They ride on in silence as they eat up the miles. In a short while, they come to where a new road forms going west, into the heart of the Empire. Staying with the northerly route, they soon leave it behind.
After midnight, they stop for a quick meal of old rations, plus some from the Parvati’s. “You know,” James begins, “this riding at night is a whole lot better than riding in the day.”
“Yeah,” pipes up Miko. “No one can see us passing by.”
“Exactly,” replies James. “Maybe we can keep this up till we reach Madoc.”
“Maybe,” Jiron agrees. “As long as we’re able to find a place to hole up during the day.”
From up ahead, lights of a town begin to be visible. This town is a lot smaller than the one they’d skirted around earlier in the evening. Jiron leads them westward around it, making their way again through the farms and homes along the outskirts.
Once they made it to the north side of town, Jiron again leads them along the road to the north. The trees become denser as they move further away from the town. After only a mile or so, the trees become so thick, their upper branches virtually block out the light of the moon.
The road is quite dark now so James casts his light spell, just enough to be able to discern their way and stay upon the road. The night becomes stiller as they continue along the road through the forest. Off in the distance, they can hear the sound of wolves and other nocturnal creatures.
A shiver goes up James’ back as he remembers his first night in this world when poor Seth had been torn to pieces. If I would have known then what I do now, he would still be alive.
Several hours later, they come to a small river flowing to the south, a bridge had been built over it. The hollow sound of the horses’ hooves walking across reminds James of Ichabod in Sleepy Hollow. He almost expects to hear the maniacal laugh of the headless horseman as he comes charging out of the woods.
They continue through the forest for several more hours before the sky begins to lighten. Once it becomes bright enough, James cancels his light spell. The forest is a little less foreboding in the light than it had been in the dark.
“Should we find a spot to hole up for the day?” asks Miko.
“Naw,” replies James. “We’d loose too much time, daylight’s longer in the summer than the winter. Let’s ride another hour or two before we stop.”
Obviously tired and wanting nothing more than to get off the horse and sleep, Miko nods his head. James looks over to his friend, understanding his need, but they must continue to make time while they can.
He feels like they must be nearing the border, couple more days or so and they should be there. That’s when the fun is really going to start as they try to break through the lines. Hopefully, Madoc’s soldiers won’t mistake them for the Empire and attack. That’s been James’ biggest worry for the last day or so. Ever since the Kirken’s mistook them for the Empire and attacked, he’s been worried about other non-hostiles doing the same.
From up ahead, they begin to hear the sound of wagons coming their way. Jiron leads them off into the woods to hide as they approach. A small caravan of ten wagons and an accompaniment of twenty of the Empire’s cavalry slowly make their way by.
“Those wagons are coming from a mine,” whispers Miko.
“How can you tell?” Jiron asks him.
“I know, trust me,” he replies. “There must be a mining complex somewhere to the north.”
“I’m not destroying this one,” James announces a little too loud. One of the cavalrymen turns to look out into the forest in their direction as he pauses a moment.
Holding very still and quiet, they look through the trees at the rider as he continues to search. Another of the cavalrymen comes over to him and they begin having a quiet conversation. The other man looks out in their direction as well, but after a couple more moments, he says something to the other and they both resume their place along the wagons.
Once the wagons have passed their hiding places and have moved further down the road, Jiron walks to the road and looks south after the departing wagons. When he sees the wagons are out of sight, he waves the others back onto the road.
“Sorry,” apologizes James for his lapse in judgment back there when he spoke too loudly.
“Don’t worry about it, nothing happened,” assures Jiron.
They turn and continue back toward the north. “Wonder what they were carrying that requires an escort?” Miko asks.
“Could just be so the Kirken’s won’t attack it,” suggests James.
“You’re probably right,” agrees Jiron.
“We’ll need to keep on our guard from here on out,” says James. “If this is an ore shipment route, they’ll probably have patrols or guards all along this stretch of the road.”
Jiron glances back to him and nods before turning back. They quicken their pace, anxious to get out of the confining forest.
Two hours later, they’re all getting fatigued, and the horses are starting to show signs of wear. They decide it’s time to stop and move into the forest, far enough from the road so anyone passing by will be unable to see them through the trees. Tying the horses to neighboring trees, they take a moment to clear a camp before settling down.
James takes the first watch, with Jiron taking the last. Miko hates the middle watch, he never seems to get adequate sleep when he does. During James’ watch, he hears horses moving fast from the north and disappearing to the south. He tells Miko about the riders when it’s his turn at watch.
Jiron wakes everyone up when the light in the forest begins to fade. They have a quick meal of stale rations before mounting up and moving back to the road.
After several miles, James begins to realize the trees here don’t seem nearly as thick as the ones the night before, light from the moon is able to filter down through them more effectively. The road is barely discernable in the faint light, but enough can be seen so James doesn’t have to create his orb.
They travel down the road for several more hours before the trees begin to thin out even more. The ground begins to rise and fall as they enter what seems to be rolling hills. “If there are mountains ahead, that would
