“When I said I’d see you again, I can’t say I meant it to be so soon,” Stroan said as he dismounted.
“I’m just glad it was in this life and not the next,” Johan said, taking the Rider’s hand.
They sat around a makeshift camp that the Inja Army detail deployed here had set up on the north end of the destroyed town. Here the caravan from the south merged with several other smaller groups that had been in the process of being escorted deeper into the mountains by military escort.
“We left Huan three days ago to the high country of the north-eastern passage, heading for the Komoky Valley and beyond,” Stroan told Johan as he sat with him for the evening meal. He was dressed casually in dirty canvas pants and a thick sweater, his helmet replaced by a knit cap to cover his military-cut blonde hair, a rarity to Johan, but more common in the lands Stroan was from. He’d told Johan he was from the Vein Valley northwest of Tan Torna Qu-ay, on the borders of the Inja where the war with the Westlanders had been waged for years.
His youthful face still contained the sunken eyes, a sure sign that his journey had not been easy. “A Rider from another troop tracked us down, telling us of the fate of Huan. We turned around and met up with more Riders as we came into town, not long before you all arrived. How did you get here?”
Johan began telling him of what had befallen them since they had parted company. He spoke of the blast that had forced he and Aryu to go their separate ways, the needless destruction of Tan Torna Qu-ay, the mountain town and their first encounter with an Ark 1, the deal Aryu had made and the mission he’d left on with the promise to return, and finally their journey here.
“Quite a tale for such a short period of time,” Stroan said. “We had heard of what had happened to your home. I am very sorry. I thought of you at once, hoping you’d not been a part of it. My journey has been less eventful. I met up with my troop and accompanied them and other travelers into the mountains to Huan, where we’d been for a few days before we chose to leave as escorts. Only a small amount of us were going with the caravans;. The rest rode off for the Thunder Run, planning on following the Paieleh, much as you planned to do.”
“That’s still the plan, my friend,” said Johan,
“Yes, well, I believe once we make a few more rounds to determine what happened here, we’ll have to leave the travelers behind and ride on for the rest of the troops that have gone that way.”
“And you still have no idea what happened here?” Johan asked.
“Not a great idea, no. My superiors are piecing it together and there’s not a lot that trickles down a cadet’s way. Essentially I just do as I’m told and follow my orders.”
“But you do know something, don’t you?” Johan pressed. Stroan said nothing. “Stroan, think about all the things I’ve seen lately. Do you really think that whatever you have to say will scare me?”
“It may not scare you,” he began, “but it may certainly make you think twice about either staying here as you planned or following the Paieleh.”
Stroan looked into his face and relented, seeing the determination in the young man. He brought Johan closer, sure that no one at a near-by fire could tune in. “The rumor is a large and nasty group of Ruskan Stalkers did this. Old ones. Smart ones.”
“I didn’t think they traveled in groups,” replied Johan, pondering the possibilities. “They’re so territorial.”
“They are,” Stroan agreed, “but this group wasn’t just attacking randomly. They were organized. They hit, killed, and burned across the whole village like a wave, then took off again into the mountains farther north, led by one who seemed particularly clever. They were in and out in the blink of an eye. There are tracks, but they’re difficult to make out. Our scouts that we sent farther north to the Thunder Run confirmed what appeared to be several tracks heading away from the town, around the lake at the base of the waterfall and continuing up the valley floor. From there, who knows. It’s possible they just wanted to disrupt Huan because it was where so many people were. This place has been packed full since people started running here. Being so territorial, they might have simply had enough, hit Huan, and retreated back to the high country before we could send retaliation.”
“Would they be that intelligent?” Johan asked, mulling over a million different things in his mind (as any story such as this was prone to do to a tactician).
Stroan shrugged. “It’s just a theory, but older Ruskans have been known to talk, plan, strategize, any number of things an animal shouldn’t be capable of as far as we know. Unfortunately, they’re so lost in the unexplored high mountains that no one can confirm any of it. Even what I tell you now is third- or fourth-hand information, honestly.”
The two sat silent, thinking of the multitudes of possibilities. Finally, Johan spoke what had been on his mind.
“You said your troops were heading up the Paieleh. Why?”
Stroan nodded. “There’s a massing of military might from the Westlanders, the Inja Army, and powers from farther places on the south shores of the Blood Sea. At first I thought that was why you agreed with your
