kept for safety. With the help of others they begin the transference of the crossbows and bolts.
“That’s going to come in handy,” states Jiron. Having come up behind James while they were paused on the road, he saw the wagon load of crossbows as it headed for the packhorses.
“More is always better,” agrees James.
By the time they’ve been transferred, the men who were left in camp finally join up with them. While waiting to resume their progress toward Korazan, James goes over to Brother Willim and the rest of the Hand.
“The force from Al-Zynn rides a few hours behind us,” he says as he draws close.
Two members of the Hand nod as Brother Willim replies, “That’s not going to leave you much time at Korazan.”
“I know,” states James. He glances from Brother Willim to the others and then his eyes settle back on Brother Willim. “I have an idea of how to slow them down.”
“Oh?” says Brother Willim questioningly.
“Are you game?” he asks.
“What do you have in mind?”
Illan continues with the rest of the force while James, the Hand of Asran, and Jiron with his fighters from The Ranch stay behind to set up a few surprises. James was at first annoyed by the lack of help from the Hand when he first began to lay down what he wanted. He saw what they did against the warrior priest back at Lythylla and expected them to do something similar now.
“We do not kill men,” Brother Willim states adamantly when asked if they could do something against the approaching force. “The warrior priest was an entirely different matter.” But they work out a few things they could do without compromising the sanctity of life.
Now, two hours later, they wait just within visual distance of the section of the road where the caravan lies destroyed. Jiron figured the Empire’s men would take a few moments to examine the wreckage before they continue the chase on the off chance someone was left alive.
“Here they come,” says Stig as he returns from his lookout position by the road.
The force comes into view with the three mages riding in the lead. Coming up behind the mages is a force of cavalrymen over a thousand strong. Their foot soldiers are still hours behind, following as best they can.
When the mages take notice of the destroyed caravan and the dead bodies of those who fought back, their approach slows. Moving closer to the wagons, soldiers begin dismounting as they search for survivors.
“Any time now,” whispers James under his breath. To Brother Willim he says, “When it begins, that’s your cue.”
“We’ll be ready,” he replies. He and the rest of the Hand gather together, a subtle green glow springs into being around them. James can feel the unmistakable tingling of nearby magic as the Hand makes ready.
At that time, one of the mages suddenly sits erect in his saddle as he gazes in their direction. “One senses the magic,” he tells them. “I just hope he…”
Crumph! Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!
All along the road in the vicinity of the wrecked caravan, crystals which James had secreted earlier, respond with violent explosions when they detected the mage casting a spell.
James glances over to Brother Willim and gives him a nod indicating it’s time.
The green glow surrounding the Hand intensifies tenfold as they summon the power of Asran. Cries are heard from the horses as ants, millions of ants, swarm out of the ground and up their legs. Green shoots also spring out of the ground from the seeds which the brothers had sowed earlier, causing even more confusion and panic.
Horses try to run but their legs become entangled in the rapidly growing thorn bushes. Men scream as their horses rear and throw them into the carpet of ants covering the ground. No sooner does a man hit the ground then the ants are upon him, crawling inside the armor and begin biting. Nothing lethal but these are fire ants and each bite brings pain.
The dust which had been thrown into the air by the explosions begins to dissipate. One mage lies on the ground, the one who had initiated the blasts in the first place, and it doesn’t look as if he’s getting back up. The other mage who was near him at the time of the explosion is rolling on the ground, his hands flying fast as they try to get the ants off him.
The remaining mage was bucked off his horse when the explosion happened and managed to land without injury. He now stands safely just outside the perimeter of the ant swarm. James can feel the tingling spike as he works to counter the magic wielded by the Hand.
“How long can you keep this up?” James asks Brother Willim.
“His power is not nearly as great as ours,” he replies. “As long as you require.”
Jiron comes to him as he continues watching the events unfolding by the road. “Are you thinking what I think you are?” he asks.
“One mage down, another incapacitated by the ants, and the third locked in a duel with the Hand,” he says and then turns his attention to his friend. “We may never have a better chance.” The enemy force is in total chaos. Between the ants and the thorn bushes which continue to grow, most of the force is out of action.
Jiron gives him a grin and turns to the rest of the riders. “Mount up!” he yells.
“Yeah!” shouts Potbelly as he jumps into the saddle and draws his sword.
“We get in, take out the mages and then retreat,” James says to the others when he gains his saddle. “Now ride!”
With a whoop and holler, the fighters from The Ranch break into a gallop and charge. The enemy mage is quick to take notice of their attack and halts his attempt to counter the Hand. Turning his full attention to the attackers, he raises his hands and a greenish black globular substance forms before him. Moving with incredible speed, the substance flies toward the approaching riders.
James summons the magic and forms one of his protective barriers around the airborne mass, completely encompassing it. Nudging its trajectory slightly with another burst of power, he has it hit the ground far to their left. Once the barrier encased goo comes to rest on the ground, he releases the spell and sets the goo free where it sizzles and burns upon the ground.
He feels another spike when they are halfway there and this time the ground shakes violently, their horses begin to lose their balance and footing.
“We got company!” Shorty hollers out as a force of several score enemy riders appear riding hard from the rear of the force around the edge of the ant swarm.
A memory comes to mind and rather than attempting a direct confrontation with the mage, he selects a point within the swarm of ants.
Crumph!
Letting the magic go, the earth erupts in a massive explosion sending dirt and a cloud of ants into the air. A portion of the flying mass of dirt and ants is headed directly for the mage. Just then, Scar’s horse loses its battle with the shaking ground and stumbles, sending him to the ground.
When the mass of dirt and ants hit the mage, James feels the tingling stop as hundreds of ants begin crawling and biting all over the mages body. No one could possibly maintain concentration while beset by hundreds of stinging fire ants.
Their horses once again pick up speed as the ground quiets. Potbelly slows and glances back to his friend Scar who’s already off the ground and has his horse’s reins in hand. “You okay?” Potbelly hollers back to him.
Swinging into the saddle, Scar yells, “Of course!” Kicking the sides of his horse, he’s soon caught up to Potbelly and together they ride to catch the others.
“Uther, Jorry,” James yells to the pair. “You two stay with me.” Then to Jiron he says, “Take out those mages, we’ll slow down the riders.”
“You got it,” Jiron replies.
Turning to face the onrushing riders, James reaches into his pouch. Pulling forth one of the two remaining crystals, he makes a conduit from the darkly glowing crystal to himself. Feeling the power rush into him, he immediately sends it forth to a point directly before the oncoming riders.
Ka-Boom!!!
An explosion of massive proportion detonates under the leading edge of the force. Riders, horses and debris are thrown into the air, their screams and cries only silencing when they slam back into the ground.
James glances back to Jiron’s force and find them already at the mages. Unable to defend themselves with
