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Back to the previous chapter: Escapes
First Draft
The watchman stood on the wall of the Arabel Cinlu Citadel, next to the front tower. The watch commander had ordered him to blow the alarm horn without elaborating why, but the watchman was not about to ask. Any use of the alarm horn was serious. He took a deep breath and blew again, thankful that the mouthpiece had warmed in his cupped hands. The chill in Arabel Cinlu's valley was sharp this evening, even so soon after sunset.
The low, mournful call of the horn rolled over the city of Arabel Cinlu, past the homes and reputable businesses of the main road through the city, over the still-empty marketplaces, through the sleazy warrens, and on past the river. The watchman waited, holding his breath, for the quiet echo of the horn from the opposite valley wall. When he heard it, he blew the horn again.
In the streets below, watchmen turned towards the citadel. Some immediately started jogging for the dark, walled compound; others watched curiously until they heard the horn beckon once more. Soon the city's watch was gathering within the grounds of the Citadel.
The head of the night watch called up from the grounds, "Enough! Join us."
The watchman entered the tower. He carefully placed the beaten horn on its wooden cradle next to the doorway, then walked down the curving stairs to the ground floor. He stepped into the citadel grounds, joining forty or so of his peers.
There was a second group of men in the grounds, standing separately from the men of the night watch. This second group remained in the shadows near the large warehouse-like building that had a tunnel in it, quietly observing the watch.
The head of the night watch took several steps towards this group. "M'lord, the watch are now gathered."
One of the men in that group stepped forward. Even when he was bathed in the light of the three-quarters moon, his face was black. He had silver hair that glinted in the cold moonlight, but otherwise his skin and clothes were as dark as the shadows.
When the man spoke, he had a voice that was at once musical and threatening. "I am Lord Lotyas Silverthorn. The City Council were kind enough to grant me permission to borrow your services this evening. Several people have stolen some valuables from a noble's home. These goods must be recovered, and the thieves brought to justice. We know the appearance of two of the guilty.
"One man appears to be a captain of a ship. He has dark hair, with beard and mustache. He bears a bastard sword, and he is not wont to elaborate speech. The other is very tall, with yellow hair. He carries a unique greatsword. Both of these men, as well as their companions, are extremely dangerous. You are well-advised not to apprehend them without assistance.
"My men," the drow gestured to the men standing in the shadows, "will escort you. You will be conducting searches of every building in this city. You will obey any orders my men give as if they came from me directly. We will not tolerate anything less than full cooperation. There is a reward of one gold coin to each watchman who finds these people." To the watch commander, the drow added, "You will split the watch into teams of three. Each team will have one of my men go with them."
The commander turned to his men. "You heard the orders!"
The watchmen started grouping up with the drow. They soon were hurrying out of the citadel, splitting up to cover different regions of the city.
The party stopped in Yeti Pass to look back at the city. The town watch had left the citadel, and they were now splitting up throughout the city. The watch was conducting a house-to-house search, starting with the inns on the main road and quickly branching outward. One group of four was jogging north, towards Yeti Pass.
"They must have spotted us," Eric said.
"We could set up an ambush," Adria proposed. "The treeline is only a mile from here." She pointed north, at the far side of the pass.
Eric glanced towards the moon. With the patches of snow on the ground and a clear road, there was too much light to stage an ambush in the open.
"Agreed," Eric said. "We do not want them to find us and report our location." He turned his horse towards the treeline and rode onward.
Once the party reached the treeline, they stopped and dismounted.
"We should set up a merchants' camp," Eric said, "with a small fire. It might distract them from the ambush. We could set it up over there," he pointed to the right, "and put the ambush over here," he pointed to the near side of the road.
"I'll gather wood for the fire," Rishala offered.
"I'll help," Breanna added.
"Kasey, help me set up the ambush," Sturm instructed. The Sun Knight walked into the trees, looking for a location that would provide adequate concealment. Kasey followed the other knight, one hand clenched to his stomach as he fought the continuing waves of nausea that he had been feeling since the lich had cast a spell on him. Adria followed the two knights, determined to help with the ambush she had suggested.
Eric looked towards the pass behind them. He kneeled next to his horse, watching for the party's pursuers. Bilbus led his horse towards what would become the merchants' camp, found a good tree to use as a hitching post, secured his horse, and started looking back into the woods. Broedrick collected the spare horses and led them to Bilbus's. He stayed clear of the menacing horse the Church Knight rode.
Adria found a group of trees. "Here's a spot," she suggested. "We can see the pass clearly."
"M'lady," Kasey said carefully, "while it is a good location, it does not have enough room for more than one person, and that one person has no easy way to leave that location, should it be spotted too soon."
Adria looked at the clump of trees. "I guess you're right." She followed the knights farther along the tree line.
Rishala dropped an armful of smaller branches into a pile. He started arranging them to light, glancing sidelong at Bilbus, who continued to stare into the woods, away from the pass.
He could resist asking no longer. "Bilbus, what are ye doing?"
In a hushed voice, Bilbus replied, "I'm looking for Yeti. This pass is called Yeti Pass for a reason."
Rishala bit off a retort, focusing instead on starting the fire. Once the kindling had started burning, Rishala left to find more wood. Breanna and Adria joined Bilbus at the fire several minutes later.
"Got tired of helping?" Bilbus asked his wife.
Adria snorted. "They didn't like any of my suggestions." She held her hands close to the fire, enjoying a warmth that she hadn't had in well over a day. She yawned.
"Bree?" she asked. "Maybe you need to make some strong tea to help us stay awake."
Breanna stifled a yawn of her own. "That sounds like a good idea." She left some branches near the fire, then left to go to her horse and get some tea.
By the time she returned, Kasey had joined the others at the fire. He was carefully holding a flask over the fire. He opened the flask and took a drink. "Maybe some warmed brandy will help," he said to no one in particular. He held the flask over the fire again.
"It's times like this that I miss my crossbow," Bilbus said as he stared at the Church Knight. Kasey had destroyed Bilbus's crossbow months ago when he used it as a club to strike a Sun Knight Inquisitor in the Dales.
"Did you need mine?" Kasey offered.
"No, that's all right," Bilbus said.
Adria sighed as she continued to warm her hands. "Maybe I should help Eric and Sturm keep watch. I can see in this light better than either of them."
The rest of the party huddled near the fire, nursing it as it gained strength.
Several minutes passed. Bilbus heard some rustling in the brush on the far side of the fire. He almost dismissed it as Rishala gathering wood, but he heard the Caledonian curse after stumbling somewhere behind him.
Several more branches moved, as if someone had brushed against them. Bilbus could see no one in the trees.
Leaning towards Kasey, he said, "Hey, Kasey. Remember that one time..."
Some more branches moved. Bilbus was staring right at something, but he could not see what was there. "Kasey! Plan 'C'!" Bilbus pointed towards the disturbance.
The Church Knight dropped his flask in the snow. In a fluid motion, he sprang to his feet and charged towards the trees, drawing Caladbolg as he did so.
Bilbus rushed behind the knight, drawing his adamantine sword as he followed the knight towards their unseen watcher. Breanna looked around in alarm, putting a hand on her rapier, but elected to stay by the fire. Broedrick looked at her, confused.
Kasey charged into the dark forest, unsure of who his target was. He realized belatedly that he could see a glowing arrow heading straight for his chest. The knight dived to the ground, avoiding the arrow.
Bilbus saw the glowing arrow. He recognized the ghostly light of a drow arrow. The Yeti are in league with the drow! They have drow bows! That arrow is going to hit me!
Bilbus reached for the arrow with his free hand, hoping to grab it in midflight. His timing was off, and the arrow painfully pierced his arm. Bilbus cursed loudly.
Kasey was on his feet again, charging the unseen assailant. He held Caladbolg in one hand as he reached for a throwing axe hanging from his belt with the other hand. Whatever his quarry was, it was now fleeing. Low branches and brush shook as the invisible attacker ran, giving Kasey a path to follow.
Eric, Adria, and Sturm all heard the bowshot in the trees behind them, followed soon be Bilbus's shouted expletive. All three turned towards the trees. Sturm drew his longbow, quickly stringing it as he searched the darkness for a target. He could hear someone running in the trees, with two others pursuing. He fired an arrow blindly towards the lone runner, and was soon satisfied by a startled yelp.
Eric readied his long bow and quickly fired into the trees. He heard two of four arrows hit trees, but the other two struck someone, judging from the cries of pain and sounds of someone stumbling. Eric loosed another arrow into the trees as a sparkling green flame shot into the air near where the invisible attacker was.
Adria snapped her head towards the pass. Three figures were a half mile away. They had managed to approach unseen almost halfway to the tree line. The three figures stopped and straightened when the green flare arrow shot upwards. They turned and started jogging back towards Yeti Pass.
Kasey stopped over the body. It had appeared after a fourth arrow had struck it, and it stumbled and fell to the ground. Unfortunately, it had fired a signal arrow into the sky just before the last arrow hit it. The body was that of a drow, wearing black leather and a black cloak. His bow was in the brush near the body. Kasey grabbed the bow in one hand and the collar of the dead drow in the other, and started walking back towards the fire.
Along the way, Adria and Eric approached. Adria quickly sorted through the drow's arrows until she found another one with the ignitable flare head on it. She lit the flare, and, using her bow, shot it upwards. It burned a brilliant red. Breanna ran over to the gathering.
Eric glanced towards the fleeing men. "Nothing. It was a good idea, but they are still running."
Bilbus glanced towards the pass. "They are on foot. We have archers with horses."
Breanna cast magickal shields on Eric and Adria as Kasey ran towards Farran. Eric and Adria soon raced to their own horses. The three galloped out of the trees, pursuing the three men who fled towards Yeti Pass. Seconds later, Sturm joined them.
Moments later, the three men realized they were being pursued. They turned and let the horses approach. When their pursuers were four hundred paces away, they started firing arrows high into the sky. The party could barely see the dimly glowing arrows as they shot into the darkness above.
Farran screamed as the first arrow pierced deeply into his chest. The kelpie-horse stumbled, dumping Kasey to the ground. The Church Knight rolled for several paces.
Another arrow plunged into Eric's horse. Though not as serious of a strike as the one that hit Farran, it still startled the horse enough that it reared, throwing Eric. As the Karasimian explorer fell to the ground, he loosed a countershot of his own into the night sky. The jarring landing on the hard ground kept him from seeing whether the shot found its mark.
Adria glanced to her sides. She saw Kasey rolling on the ground to one side, Eric landing hard to the other. Behind her, Sturm had quickly slowed the pace of his horse. There were still arrows in the air. Adria rolled off one side of her horse, falling hard to the ground and tumbling. She heard three sickening thumps of arrows striking nearby and the scream of her horse as it fell to the ground and slid.
Adria painfully crawled towards the still mass of her horse. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder where she had landed, but it did not feel broken or dislocated. She placed the horse between her and the archers, her twinge of guilt passing quickly as she placed a hand on the horse's side. It was no longer breathing. She slowly crawled alongside the dead horse, finding the three arrow wounds. The two in its back had punched through the saddle. Had Adria remained on the horse, both of them would have struck her instead. The third arrow had plunged through the horse's head.
She risked a glance over her horse's abdomen towards the archers. They were fleeing back up the pass at an unnaturally fast speed. She looked back towards her companions. Kasey was crouched next to Farran, inspecting the horse's chest. Eric was on his feet, watching the archers flee. Sturm was collecting Eric's horse, which had stopped running shortly after it had thrown Eric.
Sturm returned Eric's horse to him. "I'd better help break camp," the Sun Knight said. He started riding back towards the trees.
Eric led his horse to Adria. The two quietly removed the saddle and tack from the horse, placing it behind Eric's saddle on his own horse. He then helped Adria climb onto his horse, which he led towards Kasey and Farran.
Breanna and Bilbus had returned to the warmth of the camp fire. Breanna held a poultice against Bilbus's arm, directing Heka into the herbs to accelerate their natural curative properties. The mountebank winced, then took a long drink from Kasey's discarded flask of brandy.
Rishala ran towards the camp. "Break camp! Break camp!"
Bilbus looked disparagingly towards the Caledonian and took another sip of brandy.
Breanna looked through the trees towards the pass. She shrieked when she saw only one horse standing, and the unmistakable mounds of two others on the ground. Sturm was riding back towards the trees, but the others were still out there.
Breanna rushed to Star and climbed on. She yanked the reins to one side, turning the horse sharply towards the treeline, and kicked hard. Star leaped into motion, racing headlong towards where her friends had gathered, near one of the downed horses.
Broedrick watched her race away, then looked around the forest. Drow hunted the people he was helping. If they caught him, they would execute him without a thought. A part of him recoiled in horror at the thought of standing up against the drow, but he reminded himself that the drow were no friends of humans. He had been little more than a tolerated, subservient thing in their eyes. If these people could stand against the drow, so could he.
The trees in the forest were nothing like the tall mushrooms of his home, and the chill in the air was impossibly cold, despite the heavy coat he wore. And the glowing bluish-white disc above in the ceiling -- sky, he corrected himself -- was far brighter than any of the fungi or insects of Erelhei Cinlu. Still, the descriptions of the sun had left him with the impression that it should have been brighter. He wanted to ask his companions about this discrepancy, but they were busy breaking down the camp and making ready to leave. Broedrick helped them.
Kasey carefully removed the arrow from Farran's chest, ignoring the threatening snarls coming from the wounded kelpie. The Church Knight studied the wound, realizing that he had no idea how to help the warhorse. He looked up as Breanna stopped next to them.
"He's hurt," Kasey said as Breanna grabbed her healer's bag.
"We need to get out of here," Adria said, glancing nervously towards the pass.
As Breanna kneeled next to Farran, she said, "Rishala, Bilbus, Sturm, and Broedrick are breaking camp. Once I look at Farran, we can go."
Once Breanna had placed a poultice on Farran's wound and pushed some Heka into it, she went to each of her friends, healing them as well.
As she held a poultice against one of Eric's wounds, she quietly said, "My Lord, you really must stop coming back to me with all of these additional holes." She glanced up at him. "But I'm glad you came back." She then channeled Heka into the poultice, activating the healing powers of the herbs.
The effort, coming on so many hours of travel, left her drained. She swooned as she put her healing bag back into her saddlebag.
Eric inspected his horse. "He's still too badly hurt to ride. We'll have to walk."
Kasey, Eric, and Adria walked back towards the trees. Breanna rode next to them, keeping Star's pace slow to match her friends on foot.
When they reached the false campsite ten minutes later, Bilbus was sitting next to the covered campfire, imperiously ordering Rishala to ready Bilbus's horse for travel. The mountebank swayed a little as he spoke, and he took a long draw from Kasey's now-empty flask of brandy.
"I'll tell Adria you're acting this way," the Caledonian threatened.
Bilbus turned at the sound of approaching horses. "Oh, you're back. Did you get the Yeti?"
"No, Bilbus." Eric shook his head slowly. "And they weren't Yeti. They were drow. They escaped, and they're going back to report our location. We need to move."
"You didn't get them?" Bilbus asked disbelievingly. He stood quickly, and stumbled a pace.
"They were using magick. I know I shot one of them, but it didn't affect him."
"That's bad. They will probably be chasing us." Bilbus stopped to think. "The mountain lake that feeds the River Llwelyn is just a few miles from here. We could build a raft to float down the river. We'd have to leave the horses, but chasing the horses might distract them for a while."
"Farran won't leave," Adria reminded her husband. "And we'd have to build a large raft to carry him, too."
"Yeah, but he can swim," Bilbus reminded the blonde assassin.
Eric stopped and glanced towards the west. "I think we are about two day's journey to Hold Asam, where Sir Atenburg and the Tree Eaters orcs are, if we cut overland and stick to the foothills of the Middle Ranges."
Bilbus shook his head. "Uh-uh. The Middle Ranges are full of orcs. There's a reason why this road stays along the riverbank and away from the foothills."
"This is an argument we can have while we ride," Rishala reminded his companions. "Before the drow come back with reinforcements." He was already untying his horse.
Breanna glanced around the camp. "If I set up a trigger spell, Rishala, can you attach a fireflash casting to it?"
Rishala paused before climbing onto his horse. "No, I don't think I can. That casting is still a little beyond my abilities."
"Hmmmm," Breanna said pensively. She was exhausted, but she still thought she could manage. With a some effort and a great deal of concentration, she readied a fireflash spell that could be triggered if any of the drow tried to find Heka sources in the abandoned camp.
Eric, Adria, and Kasey each took a spare horse from Broedrick's set of spares, allowing Eric's horse and Kasey's to walk without the extra weight of a rider. As the party got underway, heading off the road towards the west, Rishala used healing magicks on the wounded people and horses.
The ride was quiet for over an hour. None of the exhausted party members felt like talking. Eric kept watch ahead of the riders, and Kasey kept watch behind, still fighting the effects of the magickally induced illness.
"Maybe we should find a cave," Kasey finally blurted. "We all need some rest. I think we've been going for over twenty four hours."
Eric called back from the front of the column of horses, "No, the drow could trap us in there and use that fireball magick on us."
Bilbus glanced cautiously towards the foothills. As he rode, he slung his backpack over his chest so he could rummage through it. Buried deep within the backpack were the shoulder boards orcs used to denote rank. The mountebank had earned them during the time he had spent with the orcs. Bilbus pulled them out and attached them to his armor. If any orc patrols found the party, he might be able to talk them out of a fight.
Vilas Tautheart bowed before Lord Silverthorn in the grounds of the Arabel Cinlu Citadel. When he rose, he stole a glance at the ancient stone buildings. They showed the crude workmanship of men, but Vilas could still see the unmistakable influence of the original drow structures that stood where this citadel was now sited.
"What do you report, soldier?" the noble intoned in the menacing singsong of his native drow tongue.
Tautheart had heard that Silverthorn had demanded command of the platoon who were chasing the humans. Lord Silverthorn's father had been killed on a mission to the Abovelands, and Lotyas sought revenge.
"Corporal Shadowsteel is dead. He signaled that the men you seek are part of the group we spied heading north over the pass, but he never returned. Four of their number charged us on horses. We set up a defensive line and loosed arrows at maximum distance. Three of them were felled, and the forth broke contact." Tautheart remembered that one of the attackers looked like a woman, a woman with stunningly golden hair. Had she had a proper skin color, she would have been a devastatingly beautiful drow.
Lotyas Silverthorn walked a few paces away. He turned back to Tautheart. "Very well. Have the humans call their men back here. We will take the entire platoon and pursue them."
Tautheart saluted and jogged towards the building where the night watch commander of the men waited.
Judging from the position of the moon, midnight had come and gone already. Adria blinked her eyes, trying to clear the sleepiness from them, but it helped little, if any. She peered at the hillside that the party rode near. In the darkness, she could see a darker spot on the hillside.
"I think I see a cave over there," she said, pointing towards the dark spot.
"I'll check it out," Eric offered. He rode towards the hill. He stopped his horse ten paces from the cave entrance, jumped down, and put hobbles on its forelegs so it would not walk away.
The explorer approached the cave, weapon drawn, and disappeared inside. He emerged minutes later, took the restraints off his horse, climbed on, and rode back to the party.
"It's big enough for us, but the horses will not fit."
"We could leave the horses out. Or maybe have Farran lead them somewhere?"
"There's not really forage out here this time of year," Eric said. "They will wander back to us to get fed."
Adria scrutinized the hillside. "I don't think I like the cave. If we stay here, we will be trapped if they catch up."
"Agreed," Eric said. "Let's keep riding."
An hour later, Breanna blurted, "The trees are talking!"
Kasey looked around. There were no trees near the party.
"Lady Breanna, what trees?"
"Don't you hear them?" Breanna nearly shrieked.
"What's wrong with her?" Eric asked, concerned.
"The exhaustion has caught up with her," Kasey guessed. "We had best find a place to rest soon."
The Church Knight brought his horse close to Breanna's, then pulled her off of her saddle and draped her in front of his.
A dull thump sounded from behind the knight. He glanced back to see Bilbus picking himself up off the ground and climbing back onto Acquisition 2. Next to Acquisition was Adria's horse. The noble woman had fallen asleep, keeping upright in the saddle with her head hanging forward.
Eric rode ahead towards a large stand of trees. He returned minutes later.
"There's enough trees to provide us some cover. We can set camp and give everyone a few hours' rest."
Once the party was in the trees, they tied their horses. Kasey and Eric were both holding up well despite the exhaustion, so they decided to keep watch while the party rested. They would sleep on their horses once the party was underway again.
Bilbus stopped next to each one and shaped some Heka into webs around both of them. "This will keep you from being surprised, in case the drow sneak up on us."
Once he had set the protective wards on both of them, the mountebank tied a hammock between two trees. He put his sleeping pad on it, then climbed onto the sleeping pad. He had not secured the knots, and he fell noisily to the ground. Exhaustion had such a grasp on him that he did not bother to get up and reset the hammock. He was snoring quietly within minutes.
As the rest of the party quickly collapsed into an exhausted slumber, Kasey and Eric kept watchful eyes on the darkness around them. The night was still, and the crisp cold of a late mountain winter made the temporary encampment unpleasant. Adria had snuggled close to Bilbus, and she had pulled one of their saddle blankets over her. Breanna had curled up near Eric and Kasey, also buried under a heavy wool saddle blanket. Sturm had laid out a sleeping roll, wrapped in heavy blankets as well. Rishala had wrapped himself in his great kilt -- he was wearing pants, but the wool kilt served nicely as a blanket, as well.
The moon was on its way down in the western sky. It might help hide the party, since it would be shining towards any approaching pursuers.
Eric sat lightly on his own saddle blanket to keep from sitting on the cold ground. His longbow was next to him, and he kept one quiver of arrows close. Kasey was a couple paces away, close enough that the two could keep an eye on one another in case one started to nod off. His greatsword lay in front of him.
Over four hours passed in silence. The sky had already turned gray in the predawn, and the blue of the approaching sunrise was quickly becoming apparent.
"Time to wake them up," Kasey said quietly.
Eric nodded and stood slowly, watchful eyes focused towards the east. Kasey likewise stood. The two went around the party, waking each of the party members. It took twenty minutes to break camp as the party tried to keep silent despite the exhaustion and darkness.
Once the horses were ready, Kasey asked Sturm, "Will you help bind Eric and I to our saddles, so we can sleep during the ride?"
As Sturm set about getting both riders bound, Adria glanced eastward. "Maybe we should set a trap, somewhere down the trail. If they tripped the trap Bree left at the pass, they may be wary of a trap here. But they can't be expecting one down the trail."
"I don't know if we will want to stop once we are underway," Rishala said. "Otherwise, I'd agree."
The party set out, continuing to follow the foothills west by northwest towards Hold Asam.
It was some time after midday when Breanna spotted a column of smoke rising to the right of the party's path, a few miles ahead of them. She watched it for a few minutes before she realized what it was. She glanced towards Eric, whose head was tipped forward and rolling with the motion of his horse's gait. On the near side saddlebag was the leather case that held his spyglass. Breanna leaned over and grabbed the case, then sat back up straight in her saddle. She quickly unwound the lashings that held the case shut.
Once the spyglass was out of the case, she pointed it towards the column of smoke. At the base of the column was a collection of buildings, maybe just over a dozen. It was an isolated village, and something there was burning. The outlying houses looked intact, but they blocked Breanna's view of the town center.
"There's a village over there," she said, pointing as she lowered the spyglass. "It's burning. Or there's a fire in there."
Rishala peered towards the trail of smoke. "We should see what is happening. If there's an orc raid, there will be people fleeing. It will be harder to follow our trail."
The party veered towards the village. As they got closer, they realized that the fire was not a building.
"Maybe it's a witch pyre," Bilbus suggested. "Maybe the Inquisitors are setting examples for the villagers." He rode up to Eric's horse and roughly shoved the sleeping rider. Eric woke up and reflexively reached for a weapon. "Put it away," Bilbus said. He described the situation.
Eric freed himself of the bindings and surveyed the village. There were fifteen buildings, all rough looking, as if they had endured hard winters and other trepidations. There were a few paths that suggested trails, but nothing as elaborate as wagon ruts or roads. This village was isolated, and it saw infrequent visitors.
The fire came from the center of the village, an open area obscured by the largest building in town, which was still smaller than a modest inn. There was a crowd of villagers just visible past the end of the building, but no one noticed the party approaching. As the riders cleared the building, they could see the source of the smoke.
A modest, enclosed wagon burned. Three men stood nearby: two who wore maille shirts and carried swords, one who wore shabby finery. The side of the wagon had the king's insignia on it. A single ox had the harness to pull the wagon, but it was nowhere near the fire. It was being held by one of the villagers.
The other villagers, nearly forty adults, held the three men at bay with farming tools. Some looked warily at the party who approached on horse, but others kept their attention on the man and his escorts.
Bilbus muttered to Eric, "If we save the king's wagon, he may let me wear his crown."
Eric ignored his friend. To the crowd, he shouted, "What is going on?"
One of the farmers looked up at the Karasimian. "It's a tax collector."
Confused, Eric asked, "Is this a problem?"
The same farmer replied, "We haven't seen a tax collector in ten years. And now he wants back taxes, as well. The king doesn't do anything for us. Why should we give him what money we have?"
"But he protects you from orc raids."
"Ha! When we see signs of orcs around here, we have to tell the Sun Knights. The king's patrols don't go this far from Llwelyn."
Bilbus grinned. "Does anyone have a spare pitchfork?" Someone in the crowd threw one to him. He caught it single-handedly and jumped down to stand with the rabble.
Kasey snorted loudly, still asleep, and mumbled dreamily about a feast. Even with the noise of the crowd, he did not stir.
Eric decided to defuse the situation. "I will get the tax collector out of town. I will escort them back to Llwelyn."
Rishala grinned evilly. "We will take care of them in the woods."
The crowd debated the offers for a few minutes. They agreed to let Rishala take care of the tax collectors. Rishala and Eric bound the three men at their wrists with long ropes, then tied the ropes to three of the horses. To the cheers of the villagers, the party led the tax collector and his two guards away from the village.
Once they were a half mile from town, Eric stopped and untied the men. "Why has no one visited this village for so long? Collecting taxes every ten years, and expecting people like that to be able to pay the back taxes with no warning is unrealistic."
Sturm answered for the tax collector. "It is unusual for any of them to travel far from Llwelyn. The king does not hold much sway in this part of his kingdom, since he focuses his attention on Londoun and the court. The Sun Knights could take over this part of the kingdom with little effort, and many of the people outside of Llwelyn would support them."
Kasey awakened suddenly. He glanced towards the sun. If he had been home, it would have been time for afternoon tea. "I'm hungry," he said, yawning loudly. "Where's the food?" He immediately started rummaging around in his saddle bags, feeling for some of his trail rations. He found some dried, salted beef that he immediately started chewing on.
"Hey," Bilbus said with a slow realization. "We told them we're going to Llwelyn, but we aren't. If the drow show up and ask about us, it might send them on the wrong trail."
The party rode on until late afternoon. They were in a sparse forest that stretched for miles.
"We should set camp soon and get some more rest," Eric suggested. "We do not want to wear out our horses. We do not have enough spares."
They found a secluded glade and set up camp. Rishala and Breanna tended to the wounded; all had recovered thanks to a combination of Breanna's healing herbs and both Breanna's and Rishala's prayers. Eric and Kasey would once more keep watch while the rest slept.
Bilbus took some iron nails from a box in his saddle bags and started placing them around the camp. One of the many magicks he had learned in the orphanage provided protections from evil beings. He had not used the magick in years, but he thought he could remember how to weave the Heka.
The sharp pain in his head told him that he had not remembered the weaving. A backblast of magickal energy washed through him, causing a physical reaction. He moaned loudly, rubbing his head, as he stumbled back into the camp.
Rishala set up his own magickal warding, one that would give him magickal clairvoyance if any drow got close to the camp. A passive warning that he could use to find the approaching danger could be far more useful than a spectacular explosion, and it would not warn the drow that they had been detected.
The party soon fell into deep sleeps once more. Eric and Kasey, as well as the rescued tax collector and his guards, kept watch. The tax collector kept trying to pry information from his rescuers, but Eric was unwilling to tell him anything beyond that the party was being pursued by some evil men.
The two drow scouts crept quietly through the sparse foliage. They could hear the sounds of surface-dweller horses to their side, and the stench of the animals was impossible to ignore. Their riders were ahead and to the right, hiding in a clearing that was almost entirely surrounded by a thicket of scrub plums. Two of their number maintained silent watch, but neither noticed the scouts. The magicks they used concealed them from any but the most alert observers.
After several more painfully-slow paces, the scouts were able to see the human sentinels clearly. One was the large yellow-haired human that they were seeking. The other had dark hair and unusually-shaped eyes that almost looked elven. Lord Silverthorn had given them explicit orders not to attack the humans, no matter the ease. These humans had used some dangerous magicks, and they had escaped from Erelhei Cinlu after stealing a magickal spear from the estate of Baroness Eilservs, while the baroness was holding a ball. They were far too dangerous to dismiss as mere humans.
One of the scouts crept towards the camp for a closer look. He felt a physical resistance when he was about seven paces from the guards. Pushing against the invisible barrier, he felt a sharp pain. He backed to his comrade. He put his lips against one of the other scout's ears.
"They have a warding. I can not get closer without injury."
He felt the other scout nod his head. The two settled back to watch the sentries.
The party was once more breaking camp in the dark. As they readied to ride away, Rishala felt a brief sense of vertigo. He found himself looking down on the party from forty paces overhead. Once he got his bearings, he realized that his clairvoyance warding had triggered. He sent it eastward, watching the trees roll by underneath as if he were a bird. Once he was past the trees, he flew along the plains until he spotted a group of people approaching. They wore dark cloaks, and their silvery hair stood out against black skin. Rishala circled around them, counting their number.
He stopped concentrating on the magickal view and looked at his friends. "They're coming. I count thirty of them. They're four miles away."
Eric winced. Three had been more than a match just a day ago. "Let's go."
Bilbus looked at the fake spear they had taken from the Eilservs estate. "We could leave this in camp. Those drow probably do not know what the real spear looks like. We could rig this one to explode if they try to detect Heka on it."
Breanna set to placing the appropriate magicks on the spear. As she did so, Eric ordered the tax collector and his guards to head straight to Llwelyn. He pointed them towards the city, perhaps a two day walk from their current location, and sent them on their way. Once they had departed, he and his companions rode towards the hold once more in the darkness.
Bilbus quickly circled the camp, collecting the iron nails he had placed on the ground to form a protective barrier while he rested. Once he had them all, he ran to Acquisition 2 and climbed into the saddle.
As they rode, Bilbus quietly pulled on the Inquisitor tabard he had stolen months ago. He was not convinced that Hold Asam was still under the control of Sir Atenburg, and he thought the tabard might throw any Sun Knights he encountered off balance.
Once the mounted humans rode away, the scouts quietly pursued the three men on foot. It took only minutes to overtake them.
"Who's there?" one of the men -- one wearing shabby finery -- blurted when one of the scouts intentionally stepped on a branch.
"Draw weapons and die," one of the drow hissed in Cinlu-Kelltic.
"Cutthroats," one of the armed humans growled. He eased his hand towards his sword.
The other drow, behind the men, loosed an arrow at the human. It readily pierced through the man's exposed head, killing him instantly.
"Do either of you wish to join him?" the first drow hissed.
Both men raised hands slowly, fingers spread to show empty hands.
"You will follow me," the drow said, letting menace creep into his voice as he stopped whispering. "If you do anything threatening, my comrade will kill you without a thought."
Both drow let their concealing magicks unravel. In the dark of the foliage, it took the men a moment to spot them. The first scout walked back towards the abandoned encampment. He heard the clumsy rustle of the two men following him.
Once they reached the camp, the drow ordered the men to sit on a fallen log. As they waited, the drow circled the spear that had been left behind. It was the spear that had been at the baroness's mansion, or one very much like it. Lord Silverthorn would be pleased when the main body of troops caught up.
It took slightly over an hour for the rest of the drow to arrive. Half of them set a perimeter around the abandoned camp while the remainder rested.
Lord Silverthorn inspected the spear. It was the spear that the baroness had showed at the ball. Why had the men simply left it behind? Were they foolish enough to think all would be forgotten if they returned the spear?
"Corporal," Lord Silverthorn barked, "check for traps. This is too suspicious."
One of the other drow approached the spear. He dropped to hands and knees, circling the spear with his face just a foot away from it. He glanced towards Lord Silverthorn. "No physical traps." He reached towards the spear.
"Stop!" Lord Silverthorn shouted. "They know magick. It does not have to be a physical trap."
The corporal nodded. There was a surge of magick as the corporal shot Heka into the spear, feeling for any resonations of existing magicks.
The explosion was violent. The concussion knocked most of the drow to the ground, and flash-blinded all of them. The corporal and two of the other drow who were near him were thrown bodily away from the center of the clearing, their bodies falling limply to the ground. The human prisoners fared worse, the tax collector dead, the front of his body burned beyond recognition; the surviving guard was horribly burned.
Lord Silverthorn picked himself up from the ground. His ears were ringing so loudly that he could hear nothing else. In a blind rage, he stormed across the clearing to the human guard who still lived. He grabbed the man by the neck of the maille shirt and picked him up. With his free hand, the enraged noble drew a dagger and slashed the human's throat, so deeply that he nearly severed the head. He threw the dying human aside and looked around the clearing. Three of his men were down, and most of the rest had been wounded or stunned by the concussion.
"You!" the drow lord shouted, pointing at one of the drow who had regained his feet. "And you!" he pointed at another. "Go to the nearest Stone Fist encampment. Tell them I want a finger of orcs. You will bring them back here and follow our trail. These humans will not escape."
The first drow saluted and glanced at the second. The second one nodded, and both left the camp, heading north at a run.
"The rest of you make ready to move, now! We hunt humans!"
Within a minute, the drow had stripped weapons from their fallen comrades. They ran west, following Lord Silverthorn as he pursued his quarry.
The party rode slowly through the forest. The sun was still two hours from pushing above the eastern horizon, and the trees broke up the moonlight enough that the trail the party followed was difficult to see. The riders were all exhausted, nearly to the point of collapse. The horses were at least as exhausted as their riders. Were any of the riders more coherent, they may have stopped just to prevent horses from dying underneath them.
A man's tenor voice called out in the darkness, "Halt!" In their exhausted stupor, none of the party members registered the command. Sternly, and somewhat louder, the voice insisted, "Halt!"
At the least of the column of horses, Eric stopped. His fellow riders spread out, lining up facing towards the unseen voice.
"Advance and be recognized," the voice commanded.
Bilbus glanced at Rhongomyant. There was a banner still tied around the spearhead. Holding the spear like a pennant in his left hand, with his fist covering the "I" of the Inquisitor's insignia on his stolen Sun Knight's tabard, Bilbus stepped Acquisition 2 forward a pace. Someone facing the party uncovered a lensed lantern, shining the light in Bilbus's face. After the darkness of the last several hours, it was blinding.
Squinting, Bilbus said, "Lord Hogain, of the Londoun facility."
The person holding the lantern shined it in each of the party's faces. When they held it on Kasey for several seconds, he asked, "What word of the dog Atenburg?"
There was the unmistakable sound of swords being drawn in the darkness ahead. Kasey counted eight weapons, at the least, separated enough to be eight different people. And the lantern held steady -- it was held by someone who did not just ready a weapon.
The lantern swept back past the party again, settling once more on Bilbus. This time, it tipped upwards to illuminate the banner that hung limply in the still air. Bilbus glanced up at the drow House Eilservs banner and laughed. The laugh sounded desperately maniacal. He tried to stop and snorted instead. In his exhaustion, he could not stop himself.
The men facing them were unimpressed. The voice who had been addressing them spoke up. "You will ride with us to the hold. We will let the commander decide what to do with you. Follow the knight with the lantern. The rest of us will be following you, so do not do anything stupid."
Bilbus stopped snickering. "Fine," he said, the exhaustion flooding his voice. "Is there food?"
"Yeah! Food!" Kasey managed to sound enthusiastic despite the hour.
Breanna giggled. "Make sure you follow us, in case we try to escape." The rest of the party laughed. Lowering her voice to a loud whisper, she said, "This way, the knights are between us and the drow."
"Start riding," the unseen knight ordered.
Once the lantern had been covered, Bilbus quickly shimmied out of the Inquisitor tabard and tossed it aside. The Sun Knights did not seem to notice.
The party rode through the forest for half an hour before they broke past the trees and into the fields that surrounded Hold Asam. The wooden palisades created a dark shadow on the hill ahead of them, and the lighter spots of white tents in a well-organized camp covered the gentle slope north of the hold.
"It's a lot better organized than the last time we were here," Eric commented.
"Yes," Sturm agreed. "I wonder if the Tree Eaters are still here."
The knight's patrol leader sounded surprised. "You know about the orcs?"
"We were here when they defected," Sturm said. "They were supposed to be waiting until we came back for them."
"They left weeks ago," the leader replied.
"Hrmm," Sturm muttered.
"That doesn't bode well," Eric commented.
The gate in the wooden palisade of the hold opened for the column of riders. Once they were all in the muddy grounds of the hold, the head of the patrol jumped to the ground. In the dim lantern light of the grounds, the party was able to see their captors. All of the knights wore Sun Knight tabards, but the tabards had been modified. Instead of just the stylized sun in the center of the chest, a sword had been embroidered underneath the disc of the sun. The hilt, crossguards, and base of the blade of the sword jutted below the yellow orb, and the tip and end of the blade above.
Sturm recognized the crossguards of the blade. It was the sword he carried, Gretorixmar, the sword of the founder of the Sun Knights, Sir Osmail Cunnick. Sturm shifted in his saddle, glancing about to see if any of the knights in the compound had noticed the similarities.
"Where is the duty officer?" the leader of the patrol bellowed.
A knight ran out of the house that served as the main building of the hold. "Sir Artgal, what news?"
"We caught these people riding in the forest towards the hold. They know about the Tree Eaters, and they say they were here when the Tree Eaters showed up. I think the base commander would like to talk to them."
"She won't like being awakened this early," the duty officer warned.
Eric blurted, "You might warn her that there are drow coming. They may be four miles away."
The duty officer looked at Eric, then at the rest of the party, then quickly went back inside the building to wake the base commander.
Back to the previous chapter: Escapes
Continue to the next chapter: Holds
Back to the Book IV Index.
Back to the Dark Mysteries Campaign Chapter Index.
Original Draft 28 August 2003
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