"I SAY WE FORGET THIS WHOLE THING! YOU SAW WHAT HAPPENED!" Scourge angrily tossed another log on the funeral pyre. "We gotone dead, and two wounded, and worst of all, we were set up andyou know it. Tarren, we must go back."
"No! We can not go back. If we give up they win..."
"DAMMIT MAN, don't you understand, we aren't going to get anywhere near our destination!"
"Scourge, Tarren is right. We mustn't give this up. If the council at Dursia is compromised we have no choice. They will not let us return, we know too much." Gylith, the bear, dropped another armload of wood onto the pile.
"Don't you remember the magic failing on our horses Gylith? Don't you remember the perfectly positioned archers who let loose on us just as we slowed? Don't you REMEMBER the men at arms that descended on us like the damned plague?! They are out there, they are waiting for us! We should be getting the hell out of here!"
"Scourge," Tellar came up behind him, limping, and put his hand on his shoulder, "This is not the time. Let us finish with our dead, and move on." Scourge, nodded his head, and a tear ran down his face. They burned Melissa tonight.
He had only known her for a short time but already he felt a deep sense of loss. Teller couldn't help but think about how they had ended up in this situation. As if in a trance he remembered...
After checking all the provisions, Tellar showed everyone the basic route laid out by the Dursia, and added his approval of their choice. They would be concealed and isolated, there would be little trouble. Plus the magically enhanced horses, they would easily be able to evade any problems. All was well until the third hour out.
Since they would be traveling at such high speeds, Greytan used his magic to enable the group to speak to each other without having to yell. Using this, Tellar and Scourge spoke to their new companions. The bear man, as Scourge took to calling Gylith, was from the north, from the kingdom of Urgantia. He was a proud man, and very religious, almost to the point of fanaticism. Despite that, Tellar judged him a good man. The archer, Antere, was from a western city in Turmantia, to the west. He spoke little of himself besides his occupation. A ranger since childhood, Antere did most of the scouting while they road. And their last companion, a ninja from Tyriniun, across the sea, was part of the diplomatic guard of her country. Scourge was most surprised by the her part. She was down to earth and practical, fending Scourge's advances like a pro. Tellar liked her.
The riders were making good time, and just adapting to the strange riding conditions, when the horses slowed to normal speed suddenly. Tellar screamed to beware, but vertigo claimed them all, and they barely maintained their mounts. Tellar recovered first, scanning the surroundings. They were in a ravine, both sides very steep and heavily wooded, except for the dry stream bed they rode in. A glint of light behind a tree, warned him of danger, and he yelled. But too late. The first volley of arrows caught Greytan's horse and Tellar in the leg. Tellar's eyes glazed with pain, and Melissa caught him by the shoulder to steady him. She shouted to Tellar to move, to follow Scourge, and dazedly he did. But not fast enough. The second volley caught Melissa, how bad Tellar couldn't tell. Tellar grabbed at Melissa's reins, and by some miracle, snatched them, then urged his horse after Scourge. Arrows whistled through the air.
Gylith turned to see Greytan's horse hit, and turned quickly. He easily scooped up the light man and deposited him behind Antere. He and Antere shared a quick look and knew they must run. So after Scourge they rode, leaving Tellar and Melissa back.
Tellar's horse, frightened by the smell of blood, along with Melissa's, soon caught up with Scourge and the others. As they did, the rode out of the ravine and into a field.
Scourge yanked his horse hard left as he saw the men at arms lined up on the field, then charge. The others took his lead, but with one horse carrying twice the load and with two riders hit, Scourge knew they weren't going to get away. He and Gylith turned and prepared to fight, when a large dragon swooped down on the men at arms. Scattering like flies, they ignored their intended target and sought shelter from the dragon. Scourge turned uncomprehending towards Gylith, and noticed Greytan in a trance and chanting. A spell, Scourge thought, and turned the group away and ran at full speed.
Teller watched them burn the pyre still in a trance.
Scourge turned and watched Tellar in his splint. She died when she had helped him not fall out of the saddle. She died for a complete stranger and a hopeless cause. "I won't do the same," Scourge thought, "Not for her. Not for anybody".
They lit the pyre, using Greytan's magic, and rode off in silence. Tellar silently swore revenge as she burned. Silently, the group rode through the dark, each wrapped in his own thoughts. Tarren and Antere had taken the lead, scouting the way, while Scourge and Gylith tended to Tellar and the now sleeping Greytan. The illusion had taken a lot out of him.
The group knew not where they headed, merely that it was away from their intended route. Scourge had been out voted on retreat, for now at least. They would find a place to camp and wait for Greytan to awake. The others were sure he would know what to do. He was a wizard.
Scourge laughed softly to himself. Wizard my foot, just an old bungler entrusted with the most powerful artifact ever. How could someone entrust something like that to a nobody like Greytan? Sure, he had his powers, but he was weak kneed and frightened easily. It was almost as if that were arranged too.
Scourge shook his head. This was too much intrigue for someone used to just swinging a sword and winning fights. Let Tellar piece this one out.
Tellar sat upright, and motioned for everyone to stop. Scourge and Gylith quickly drew their weapons and looked at Tellar. He pointed at a small copse of trees about a hundred yards out.
"Saw some movement. Could just be Tarren or Antere." Tellar
whispered into Scourge's ear. Scourge motioned for Tellar and Greytan to move into the woods a little, out of the moonlight.
Scourge sat stock still on the border between the field and the woods. The moon was out, but not nearly full, so visibility wasn't the best. Slowly, from the copse, two riders emerged. Scourge relaxed as he recognized the one wave the signal.
"Its just Antere and Tarren, all is ok." Scourge turned back
towards the field, to return the wave.
The woods on the other side exploded into flurry of movement and noise, and signal call died on Scourge's lips as riders erupted at full gallop towards Antere and Tarren. The two riders also saw and heard, and urged their horses forward, racing up the treeline, flying past Scourge and the others.
Gylith had already pulled down Tellar and Greytan, and tucked them into the brambles. Then he pulled down the two horses, and held them. The horses sensed the fear, and fought, but the bear man had them pinned. Scourge ducked behind a tree as the riders, almost twenty Scourge guessed, thundered by. Quietly, Scourge swore. Two more deaths to add to the toll.
Antere led the way at break neck speed through the woods, Tarren at his heels. Deftly and stoically, Antere dodged tree after tree, laying as low as possible. With a quick glance back, he saw his companion not faring so well. Tarren was gripping the reins hard, eyes closed, and laying on the animals neck. He was very afraid.
Antere scanned the region, best he could. He had not spent much time in this region, and knew next to nothing of it. The pursuers were closing, Antere could tell by the growing sound of the hoofs. They would not be able to outrun them, they must fight or hide.
A man in all black led the pursuit, using keen night eyes and a touch of magic to track the fleeing horses before him. The others in the group followed him unerringly, calmly, like shadows armed to the teeth.
The black man pulled his horse to a stop, and glanced about,
finding the trail, he sped off. The quarry would not escape again.
Antere's heart froze as the rider pulled to a stop, and began beating again only as the man turned to a new track, right after the horses that he and Tarren just loosed. Tarren was shaken badly, he was not used to riding woods at night, nor pursuit. Antere guessed this was the first time the young man had ever left the confines of the city for duty.
Antere slowly lifted himself upon the branches of his precarious tree perch, and whispered that they must go. Tarren nodded, and they gently lowered themselves to the ground. It would not be long before the horses would tire and be caught, they must hurry. The two men disappeared into the underbrush, heading for the others.
Gylith quietly walked over to Scourge.
"We must leave friend. There is nothing for them we can do. If they escape, they will find us. But to remain is dangerous, the riders may return."
Scourge looked about to reply, but changed his mind. Moving would be better, perhaps. He nodded agreement. They made quick preparations and left. Gylith marked a tree, low to the ground, in case Antere or Tarren found their way here. Greytan awoke as the horses walked single file under the rising sun. It was early morning, and a quick glance at the others showed Scourge and Tellar napping in their saddles while Gylith kept watch, his huge ax laid across his knees.
"Gylith, where are we?" Greytan's head swam. He remembered little, save the illusion he had conjured. So much power needed to fool so many minds.
"I truly know not, Greytan, save we are south of where we started. I wish Antere was here to help ... and Tarren."
Greytan glanced around, and noticed they were in fact missing.
Gylith slowed his horse and came up even with Greytan's.
"We were attacked last night, by the men at arms."
"Surely not the same ones Gylith."
"I know not Greytan, only that they were after us. Antere and
Tarren were scouting at the time, just returning as a matter of fact. As they crossed the open field, the men at arms charged. Antere and Tarren led them away while we hid in the bushes."
Greytan gasped. If only I had been awake, Greytan thought, another spell...
"Worry yourself not friend wizard, there was nothing we can do except pray." Gylith dropped from his horse and walked to a nearby tree. With a soft swing of his ax, he marked the base of it.
"Gylith, we must go to Lhuim. I need to speak to a friend. He will surely know what to do."
"If only we knew where we are Greytan, then finding this Lhuim would be much easier."
"Tellar would know. When he wakes, we shall find out."
"Yes, perhaps. And there is a good spot for a rest, I surely need it." Gylith led Greytan and the others into a particularly thick stand of trees and started unloading their gear.
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