Moving to his horse, Jiron leaps into the saddle and they again race for the bridge. Still several miles away, their horses are quickly becoming fatigued. The hard pace of the last two days has definitely taken its toll.
Staying low in the saddle, they keep the pace quick. The riders behind them gradually close the gap, their fresher horses able to maintain a quicker speed. When the riders have closed the distance to within fifty yards, they begin to see people moving across the horizon. It’s the road to the bridge!
“Not much further now,” Jiron shouts. In minutes they’ve reached the road and race alongside, the refugees fleeing the approach of Black Hawk line the road so thickly, James and Jiron are unable to use it. When the people who are on the edge of the road see them coming fast, they quickly get out of the way.
Behind them, the riders continue to close the gap, now only thirty yards away. Fortunately they are as hampered by the ebb and flow of the refugees as James and Jiron are so are unable to gain any faster.
Then all of a sudden the river appears ahead of them. James looks with horror at the jam packed bridge crossing over the river full of women, children and the elderly.
Jiron sees it too and yells, “You have no choice!” When he sees James hesitating, he shouts, “Do it!”
No! Focusing on the ground to either side of the bridge, he lets the magic flow…
Crumph! Crumph!
…the earth erupts in two massive explosions. The refugees scream in fear as they flee. Tweaking the dust from the eruptions, he forms it into a humanoid figure twice the size of a man and has it begin to stalk toward the bridge. That’s enough for even the bravest of those still upon the bridge. At the sight of the twelve foot tall creature walking toward them, they turn tail and race for the other side.
By the time James and Jiron reach the bridge, the area is in total chaos. The creature has reached the edge of the bridge and is beginning to walk across. James aims for the bridge and races right through the dust formed creature. As he exits through the creature and begins to cross the bridge, he cancels the spell. Hooves thundering, they race across to the other side. A gathering of people has formed a little ways from the beginning of the bridge and he has to slow in order not to run them down. With Jiron right behind, he clears the bridge and turns to the right.
Behind them, the enemy riders have already gained the bridge and are crossing fast.
Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!
Three explosions rip through the center span of the bridge. The people cry out in fear as horses, riders and stone erupt into the air. James slows as he gazes back. With a crack, the center span of the bridge collapses into the river below. On the far side of the river, the enemy riders who had yet to begin crossing over come to a quick halt. None made it to the other side.
“James!” Jiron cries out when he sees several of the riders on the other side of the river remove crossbows from behind their saddles. Turning their fatigued horses from the river, they break into a gallop and head for the open desert. The people on the road part quickly to avoid being run over. Soon, they are out of crossbow range and the river is disappearing quickly behind them.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Since leaving Korazan behind, Illan has led the Black Hawk Raiders along the road north. With a wagon train stretching out over a half mile, not to mention the freed slaves that he’s brought with him, they have moved at a crawl.
From the weapon stores of the slavers and the dead bodies of the enemy soldiers, they were able to equip most of the freed men with armor and weapons. Those who had never wielded a weapon before were given crossbows and formed into squads. The women, children, and the few elderly stayed within the center of the column as it marched northward toward Madoc.
Among the freed slaves, jubilation reigns. When before all they had to look forward to was a life of misery and servitude, now they are free with the hopes of remaining that way. Surely if anyone can bring them forth out of the Empire alive and well, Black Hawk can.
The rest accompanying him have a more realistic appreciation of the situation. They know there are still forces that yet lie between them and Madoc. None believe they’ll simply be allowed to walk to safety. It’s simply a matter of time before sufficient forces gather to strike.
Scouts are out in every direction and so far haven’t reported sighting any other sizeable force. When a patrol or caravan comes within striking distance, Ceadric takes several hundred Raiders and takes them out. Whenever the enemy is destroyed, they strip the dead of their armor and weapons. They then take them back and arm what freed slaves that are still without.
During their trek northward, the towns they encounter are quickly taken. Soldiers are killed, slaves are freed and given the opportunity to join them, and the shops are raided for much needed supplies. A force this large goes through food quickly. Illan gave the order that civilians are not to be accosted under any circumstances. Any who give them problems were to be brought to him for judgment.
So far the process has worked fairly well. The first town they raided after Korazan, a couple of the new, younger raiders took advantage of a young woman. When brought before Illan, the young men pleaded their innocence but too many had witnessed them taking her into the building. Illan pronounced them guilty and left their bodies hanging from the eaves of the building where the woman was attacked as an example to the rest. Since them, there have been no reports of any molestation of civilians by any of his men.
Another item the scouts were on a lookout for were bridges. The sack of crystals containing the explosive ones James had left him is now all but empty. Only two crystals remain. Whenever a bridge was sighted, he sent Ceadric with the sack of crystals to take out the bridge. He and his men would ride up to the bridge where he would toss a crystal onto the center span. Ten seconds later the crystal would explode leaving a large hole in the center. A few were made more sturdily and required two of the crystals to destroy it.
Earlier this morning while they were on the move, scouts reported the fortress of Al-Ziron was but two days ahead of them. A force of over a thousand men was estimated to be garrisoned there. Unwilling to tackle a fortified fortress, he makes the decision to leave the road and head cross country to the northeast. With any luck he and his men will be too large for them to attack, and those soldiers will remain where they are, allowing them to pass by.
The wagons rolling along behind him are filled to brimming with water and food for the horses and people. It’s unlikely they will be able to forage for anything else from here on out. No more towns lie between where they are and Madoc. Any that used to be here were destroyed when the Empire came through last year.
Riding behind his banner are still over five hundred Raiders, those are all that’s left from the many battles fought since they first entered the Empire. The slaves number close to a thousand; three hundred crossbowmen, five hundred bearing weapons of one type or another, and the rest is made up of the women, children and elderly. The elderly are suffering the trip the most. So far he’s had to leave close to a dozen on the side of the road in a shallow grave after they died from the exertion of the trip.
His mind wanders while he rides, wondering where James is and if he’s even still alive. Did this crazy plan work? Are Madoc’s forces even now pushing the Empire out? But what’s most on his mind is the threat of attack. They’ve been extremely lucky so far. How long is that going to last though? The closer they come to the border, the more likely that they will be hit and hit hard!
“Sir!” a scout cries as he rides up from the south.
“Report,” Illan says as the man draws near.
“A score of riders comes from the south,” reports the scout. “They don’t look like soldiers, rather civilians.”
From where Miko rides next to Illan he asks, “What were they wearing?”
“Most had on robes of one kind or another,” he replies.
Illan glances to Miko, he understands the significance of that. “How far away are they?”
“A day, maybe more. They are moving only slightly faster than we are,” he explains.
“Very well,” replies Illan. “Return and keep an eye on them. If they should begin moving faster, return to let us know immediately.”
Giving a smart salute, the scout says, “Yes, sir.” Then he turns his horse and gallops back to the south.
