says, hesitantly. “Let’s see what awaits us further down the river first. We may be able to make it past without having to cross.”
“As you wish,” says Jiron. Taking his fish off the fire, he checks it and finds it not quite done. Replacing it over the flames he sits back and relaxes.
The rest of the evening passes uneventfully. As the sun dips below the horizon and the light begins to fade, they put out their fire so as not to alert anyone to their presence. They again share the watch throughout the night and when the sun begins to rise, they set out for the end of the pass.
The rain had stopped sometime during the night and by midmorning the clouds begin breaking up. James welcomes the sunshine and enjoys the warmth it brings him. Sleeping without a fire on the cold ground had kept him shivering through most of the night.
Above them on the mountainside, the road leading from the pass continues its descent down to the plains on the far side. By midafternoon, it’s close enough for them to be able to make out soldiers traveling upon it. Most are moving toward the Madoc side of the Pass.
Early evening finds them close to the end of the Pass. From ahead of them, the scent of smoke wafts toward them from numerous campfires. “There must be a sizeable force up ahead?” Jiron whispers to James during a short break.
“There were around a hundred there the last time,” he says. “No telling how many there might be now.”
“We should await the coming of night before moving ahead,” suggests Jiron. “We’re just getting too close.”
“I agree,” responds James. They find a good spot to rest while they wait for night. James falls asleep for several hours until Jiron awakens him when it gets completely dark.
“Time to go,” he says to James.
“Right.”
Staying close to the river, they make their way carefully toward the end of the pass. After an hour of trudging along the bank of the river, they begin to see light from several campfires in the distance through the trees ahead of them. “Wait here” Jiron says as he moves forward to reconnoiter.
James waits by the river and watches as Jiron’s shadow merges with the darkness on his way to the camp ahead. After what seems a long time, Jiron returns. “Well?” James asks him.
“It’s not good,” he says. “They built a wooden wall across the entrance to the Pass, and it extends to the edge of the river. There’s no way we can get through on this side without going over or through the barricade.”
“Which would mean alerting them to our presence,” adds James.
“And I don’t think they’ll treat us kindly if we’re discovered sneaking around,” he says. “More than likely, they’ll treat us as spies, probably kill us on the spot.”
“Then it’s the river for us,” James says, not sounding too thrilled about the prospect of another dip into the cold water.
“They have a camp on the other side as well,” he says. “Though there are not as many, probably just enough to keep the Empire from sending small parties around or through the lines.”
“How about the river itself?” he asks.
“They don’t have that blocked off,” he says, “but they do have watchers on the wall stationed close to the river. I think they’re more worried about boats coming up the river than out of the pass.”
“I would think so too,” agrees James. He sits there and thinks awhile, knowing what he’s going to have to do but dreading it. After trying and failing to come up with an alternative plan, he says, “We’ll need to float down the river.”
“There’re plenty of logs on the bank of the river,” states Jiron. “We could tie a few together and use them to keep us afloat.”
“We don’t have enough rope to construct a raft,” counters James.
“I don’t mean a raft,” he explains. “I mean just enough to hang onto while we float in the water. It’ll be cold, but we shouldn’t drown.”
“Might work,” agrees James. “Do we even have any rope?”
Jiron grins as he lifts his shirt and shows him a coil of thin rope that’s wrapped around his waist.
“Where’d you get that?” he asks.
“Back in Trendle,” he tells him. “When I knew we were going to hide the Fire, I got it. Knowing you, I figured it would be needed.” James can sense that he’s grinning at him in the dark.
“Okay, let’s do it,” he says. For the next hour, they comb the bank of the river and locate several logs which will work. Tying four of them together with the rope, they soon have a makeshift raft.
“Ready?” asks Jiron.
“No, but let’s go anyway,” he replies. Helping Jiron push the raft into the water, he follows it in and takes hold with his good arm.
Jiron maneuvers them to the center of the river and they float silently toward the barricade. The number of men stationed in this area has indeed greatly swelled from before. A large encampment with several buildings has sprung up where the original site had been. The wall Jiron mentioned is thirty feet high with a platform running along the top allowing archers an area to stand where they can rain arrows down on attackers.
A thousand men or more are encamped on the side of the river where the road leaves the pass and another couple hundred on the other side. A hundred feet before they reach the wall, a rope spans the river. Sitting next to the river by the main encampment is a ferry which they must use to transfer men and supplies from one camp to the other. “Looks like they mean to stay here awhile,” whispers Jiron.
“I would have to agree with you,” replies James.
Now coming to where the river passes by the wall, they duck down in the water with nothing but their heads above the surface. At the end of the wall is a guard set to keep watch on the river but is currently talking to the man next to him. As fortune would have it, he’s facing the other way, away from the river.
The river takes them past the wall and into Madoc, now Empire territory. Before the encampment behind them completely disappears another one springs into view ahead of them.
A vast army is spread across the plains. Sprawling on both sides of the river, campfires by the hundreds can be seen. Though no wall has sprung up to ward off Cardri’s men, they do have a series of sentries stationed on the Cardri side.
As they approach the Empire’s encampment, a soldier moves to the river and fills his canteen right when they pass. James holds his breath as the makeshift raft sails past without the soldier even noticing them. When the soldier gets back up and returns to the camp, they both breathe a sigh of relief.
The river continues to take them through the encampment, and they see a large series of tents on the pass side. These tents are much grander and on a larger scale than the hundreds of others that dot the landscape. These must be the tents of the commanders of this force.
At the rear of the encampment is a great host of horses, at least five hundred strong. What would they need with such a large force here? It doesn’t make sense, the fighting with Madoc is much further north.
At last, the river takes them past the end of the encampment and they pull themselves more out of the water as they watch the light from the campfires slowly disappear behind them.
Chapter Sixteen
“Why do you suppose they have such a large army back there?” asks Jiron once they’ve put sufficient distance between themselves and the Empire’s forces.
“I don’t know,” replies James. “It doesn’t make much sense though.”
“Think they’re planning to invade Cardri?” he asks.
“I don’t think so,” he says. “From everything I’ve seen and heard the last few weeks, I don’t believe they would be able to sustain a war with Cardri. They’re spread way too thin.”
After floating another few minutes, James indicates the north bank, “Let’s get out of the water.”
“But isn’t Saragon further south along the river?” asks Jiron.
