The sound of pursuit follows them as an unknown number of riders chase them in the dark. Suddenly, the tingling sensations spikes again and he yells, “To the right!” They both swerve to the right just as another of those blobs strikes the road where they would’ve been if they had kept going straight. A slight sizzle can be heard from where it hit the ground.
Behind them, dozens of riders can be seen in the moonlight behind them. And they’re closing quickly. “Do something!” yells Jiron.
James is having a hard time thinking, his mind is already tired from when the barrier had initially been struck. “To the left!” he cries as the tingling sensation once more spikes. Swerving to the left, they barely get out of the way before the blob hits the road a few feet from them. That was too close!
An image springs to mind of another time when they were being pursued on horseback and he had created holes in the ground to slow their pursuers. Concentrating hard, he begins creating a patchwork in the ground behind them of foot deep holes that will entrap and break the horses’ legs.
From behind them in the dark, they begin to hear screams of horses as they encounter the holes. The tingling which had been constant since leaving the town abruptly stops.
“I think that slowed them down,” he tells Jiron as they continue racing through the night. “I can no longer feel the presence of magic back there.”
“Think you killed him?” Jiron asks hopefully.
“I would think that’s highly unlikely,” he replies. “Most likely his concentration was broken when his horse collapsed after stepping in one of those holes.”
“Is that what you did?” he asks.
“I hate hurting the horses, but I didn’t know what else to do,” he replies in regret.
“You did what you had to do,” he says, trying to assuage his guilt over what he did to the horses. They ride on for a few minutes before he says, “This isn’t going to slow them down very long.”
“I know. They’ll be after us as soon as they get more horses,” he says. “Which shouldn’t take very long.”
“If we follow this road far enough I think we’ll come to the town Bindles,” Jiron says. “You remember that town we first came to after leaving the mountains last time?”
“I remember,” he says.
“There was a road there going west along the southern edge of the mountains which may lead us to Cardri,” explains Jiron.
“If we can reach Cardri,” James tells him, “whoever is back there won’t dare to continue following us unless they’re willing to risk war.”
“Let’s hope he takes that into consideration.”
James continues attempting to sense the working of magic behind them as they ride, but so far, nothing. Sometime after leaving Mountainside behind them, they reached the end of the fire ravaged area. The mountains on their right again have a full forest of trees upon them, enough to shelter them from anyone traveling along the road.
“Maybe we should get off the road now,” suggests Jiron. “Remember that officer back there said a rider came through and warned them about us. Anyone further ahead will be alerted and looking for us.” Glancing to James he adds, “We don’t want another ambush like the last one, not with that other force hot on our heels.”
“Good idea,” agrees James.
Moving off the road, they begin making their way up the mountain and into the shelter of the forest. After putting a mile or so between them and the road, they decide to make a brief camp. The horses are on the verge of exhaustion and both of them could do with a few hours of rest before heading out again.
Jiron takes the first watch and after letting James rest only three hours, he wakes him for his turn. “Don’t fall asleep!” he warns. He knows James is incredibly tired, but he needs sleep too.
“I won’t,” James assures him. Getting to his feet, he begins walking around the camp in order to remain awake. After his second pass around, he glances over and sees Jiron has fallen asleep. The night here in the forest is anything but comforting. Every shadow, every sound, startles him in expectation of enemy soldiers coming for them.
After what seems several hours, the sky to the east begins to lighten and he realizes he’s wandered some distance from their camp. Using the sound of the horses to guide him, he makes his way back.
Snap!
Behind him he hears the sound of a twig breaking and quickly turns to find someone standing there, arrow knocked and aimed right at his heart.
Chapter Twenty
“What do we have here?” she asks with a grim expression.
James is slightly surprised to find the archer is a woman, a young one at that. She couldn’t be more than seventeen or eighteen. Dressed in greens and browns, she blends in well with the forest, her long auburn hair tied in a ponytail. No telling how long she had been in the vicinity before making her presence known.
“My name is James,” he replies. “A wanderer.”
“Spy of the Empire no doubt,” she says. “I should just kill you right where you stand.” She pulls the bowstring back a fraction of an inch.
“I’m not a spy!” he asserts, trying to prevent the arrow from being released.
“No one wanders these woods in times like these unless they’re up to no good,” she says.
“Believe me,” he says, “I am no servant of the Empire.” He glances briefly over to where their camp lies. The horses are visible where they’re tied but there’s no sign of Jiron. Scanning the woods behind the woman, he sees him working his way quietly through the trees to get around behind her.
“What business do you have here then?” she asks.
“Merely trying to get back to my home in Cardri,” he tells her.
“Perhaps,” she says.
Jiron is closing the distance quickly, now no more than ten feet behind her. James sees one of his knives in his hand as he sneaks up behind her.
“One more step,” she says loudly, cocking her head to the side, “and I’ll kill your friend.” When Jiron comes to a halt, she glances back to him. Nodding to James, she says, “Go over and stand by your friend. Now!”
Jiron doesn’t resheathe his knife but does what she says and makes his way over to stand next to James.
“So, two wanderers,” she states.
“We are no friends of the Empire, you can rest assured lady,” Jiron says to her. “In fact, we’re trying to escape from them.” He gives her a serious look and then continues, “We all need to be getting out of here. A large force has been tailing us since yesterday and could be in the area at any time.”
“I saw the force you mentioned earlier,” she tells them. “It went past earlier as it made its way south.”
As James stands there with the arrow pointing menacingly at him, he begins to once more feel the tingling of magic being worked in the area. “Jiron,” he says nervously. “I feel it again.”
“Where?” he asks looking around, the danger from the woman now ignored.
“I’m not sure, but it’s getting stronger,” he replies. “They may be heading back.”
Jiron moves to return to the horses when the woman says, “Stay right there! I don’t know what kind of trick you’re playing here, but it’s not going to work.”
“This isn’t a trick,” insists James, fear growing in his voice. “A mage of some power is out there, and he is drawing near.”
“You expect me to believe that?” she asks. “I don’t think so.”
Further down the mountain, the sound of a large number of individuals can be heard as they forge their way through the brush. She glances down and her eyes widen when she makes out the unmistakable sight of Empire soldiers heading their way.
Seeing them too, James says, “Now do you believe us?”
