Breaking into a fast gallop, the thirty or so horsemen begin heading their way.
“James!” Jiron cries out as he sees them turning to intercept them.
“I know!” he exclaims.
Aleya has her bow out and aimed at the horsemen coming up behind them as they’re the closer force. Standing steady in the face of their charge, she lets fly an arrow which strikes the lead rider, knocking him off his horse. In one fluid motion she takes another arrow out of her quiver, sets it to the bowstring, draws back and releases. Another horseman is knocked off his horse by the impact of her second arrow.
Crumph!
The ground under the onrushing riders explodes upward throwing men and horses into the air. Three riders who were at the rear of the charge race through the flying debris.
Aleya, unfazed by James’ display of magic, again sets arrow to string, draws back and lets fly. The arrow flies and strikes the last of the three riders square in the chest, causing him to fall off backward from his horse. His foot gets tangled in the stirrup as his horse careens off, dragging him along the ground.
Jiron moves forward, his two knives at the ready as the remaining two riders approach.
Her last arrow to string, she aims for the lead horse, rather than the rider. Letting the arrow go, it flies within inches of Jiron on its way and strikes the horse on the left in the forward right flank. The injury causes the horse to stumble to the right and into the other. Both horses fall to the ground, their riders jumping clear.
Seeing his chance, Jiron moves forward quickly and engages the first man before he has a chance to recover. A quick series of blows at the unbalanced soldier soon has him falling to the ground, his life’s blood draining rapidly from the mortal wound in his side.
His partner, having regained his balance, draws his sword and advances upon Jiron.
Horns sound from all over as more forces rush to join in the fray. Foot soldiers begin swarming toward them from the direction of the encampment.
Crumph! Crumph! Crumph!
The northern force begins to be decimated as they start to feel the brunt of James’ magic. As the rear riders make it through the falling debris from the explosions, they start to fall as James begins knocking them off their horses with stones.
As he continues taking out the force coming toward them from the north, Jiron faces off with the remaining soldier from the southern force. Deflecting the man’s sword with skill honed through years of fighting in the fight pits back in the City of Light with one knife, he follows through with his other and leaves a red trail along the man’s forearm as he opens up a six inch long cut.
Jiron sees Aleya moving behind the man he’s fighting, going to the men she felled with her arrows. Whenever she gets one removed from a dead man, she immediately turns and fires it at the oncoming horsemen to the north.
“Get the horses!” he cries at her as he agilely moves to avoid a thrust by the soldier.
She glances to him and he jumps back to disengage from the soldier as he points to where several horses who weren’t either killed or wounded have congregated. Nodding her head, she leaves her arrows in the dead men as she rushes over to the horses.
Reengaging the man, he feints to the head and when the soldier raises his sword to guard against the attack, he lashes out with his foot, taking him in the knee. A snap can be heard as the knee breaks and the man cries out in pain. Falling to the ground, he’s easy prey to Jiron’s knives and soon lies dead.
A quick glance shows the advancing footmen from the camp are still a ways away. He turns toward the advancing northern force and sees James has already reduced their number significantly.
Crumph!
Another explosion sends more riders and horses into the air, leaving only four from the original force of thirty left moving in their direction.
James is visibly tiring. The hard run earlier, plus the magic is taking its toll. He arcs his arm back and sends another stone flying as it takes out the lead rider, leaving three on the way.
As he gets ready to throw another stone, an arrow whizzes past and strikes the lead horse square in the chest. The horse stumbles and falls, tripping the horse next to it. Its rider is thrown and hits the ground hard, breaking his neck.
The remaining rider rides straight toward them, James and Jiron dive out of the way. The rider’s sword comes within bare inches of James’ head as he passes. Turning, the rider comes again at James, intent on trampling him with his horse’s hooves.
Just before he reaches James, Jiron leaps toward the rider and pulls him from his horse. A quick thrust with a knife leaves the rider dead. Getting up, he looks around just as another stone from James takes out the remaining advancing soldier.
“Get on!” Aleya says from where she sits atop one of the horses she’d appropriated. With two others in tow, she rides over to them and they quickly mount.
The tingling sensation of a mage doing magic suddenly washes over him. Looking to the approaching force from the camp, he can see a rider in a hooded robe, galloping fast as he begins pulling ahead of the footmen. “Jiron!” he exclaims as he points over to the approaching mage.
Jiron turns just in time to see a glowing ball of fire materialize above the mage and soar with lightning speed toward them.
James summons the magic and creates a barrier in the fireball’s path. A great roaring explosion erupts when the fireball connects with the barrier, spraying flame and fire in all directions.
Spurring their horses into a gallop, James and the others make a dash for the Cardri side. Glancing back to the mage, they see him still riding hard in an attempt to stop them before they reach the safety of Cardri.
Another spike in the tingling sensation and James quickly looks back to the mage. Nothing is coming from that direction.
Suddenly a wide swath of the grass ahead of them bursts into flame, a veritable wall of fire. “He’s going to burn us alive!” screams Aleya as she brings her horse to a sudden halt. The horse rears up in fear at the sight of the wall of flame before it, somehow she remains in the saddle.
The wind begins to pick up, fanning the flames toward them. James calls forth the magic to combat the flames when the tingling sensation once more spikes as another fireball arcs toward them. Changing tactics, he again creates another barrier which causes the fireball to once more explode in mid-air.
“James!” he hears Jiron call to him. Glancing back, he sees that Jiron and Aleya have already moved further west. Sitting there on his horse, Jiron motions for him to follow. Turning his horse, James kicks it into a gallop just as the tingling sensation once more spikes. Groaning, he glances behind him and through the waves of heat the flaming grass is emitting, he sees yet another fireball arcing toward them.
Sending forth the magic, he again detonates the fireball before it has a chance to close the distance.
“You okay?” shouts Jiron as he and Aleya kick their horses into a gallop.
Shaking his head, James replies, “Not really.” Racing along the fringe of the fire, he begins to feel a gradual increase in the tingling. Suddenly, the speed of the wind increases rapidly as it begins whipping the fire into a roaring inferno directly at them.
A flaming stalk of grass which had been picked up by the wind strikes Aleya on the shoulder, sparks fly as she cries out from the burns. Flailing her arms wildly, she gets the burning brand off her but not before it ignites her long hair.
Jiron spies her predicament and brings his horse close where he uses his hand to put out the flames which had begun consuming her hair. When the fire is out only a small portion of her hair had been singed by the fire.
“Thanks,” she says.
“Welcome!” he shouts back to her over the roaring of the fire pursuing them. Glancing back behind them to where James is following, he sees him beginning to secure himself in the saddle with a rope which had been coiled on the saddle.
All of a sudden, they break out from the fire line and Jiron turns them due north as they race around the edge of the fire, putting it between them and their pursuers.
The wind changes course with an increase in the tingling sensation as the pursuing mage tries to alter the course of the wind to redirect the fire to stop them.
Jiron slows slightly to allow James to catch up. When he does, he says to Jiron, “You know what to do?” Jiron
