Aela (14 page)

Eena and her men were sitting on the ground, in an open area somewhere deep in the forest. ‘How many men have we with us that are not wounded and are fit enough to still fight?' demanded Eena.

‘There are four army units with most of the men able to bear arms and are capable of confronting the enemy,' quickly replied Ardu.

‘Where did we go wrong Ardu? We had victory in our grasp. I even had the Sacred Sword in my possession. Now Uthor and his men occupy my kingdom, Juno must be laughing at me for being so stupid to be taken by surprise by Uthor and his army. Here I am, skulking in the forest with a wounded and beaten army of men, no food and general supplies or fresh weapons to give to my men. What am I going to do?'

Then a sudden thought came to her, she could form an alliance with Brude against Juno and together with their combined armies they could defeat Juno. She could then get back her territories and she and Brude could divide Juno's kingdom equally between each other. Of course she would make sure that she obtained possession of the Temple of the Sun, plus the Sacred Sword and glory would be hers.

She speedily conveyed her plan to Ardu in great detail and he quickly generally agreed with it. But he added, ‘I like the idea but we must come up with something extra that will make Brude want to ally himself with them rather than Juno.'

There was silence between the two as they pondered the next step. ‘If only I had the Sacred Sword in my grasp as well as Aela and Rom as my prisoners, then I would have something to bargain with Brude,' exclaimed Eena.

Ardu nodded his head in agreement, ‘But where is the Sacred Sword and how are we going to find Aela and Rom? Somebody must be helping them to hide in the forest.'

Just at that instant there was a commotion in the background and raised voices could be heard, a general scuffle was occurring in the bushes, near where Eena and Ardu were standing.

‘Let me go, let me go, I want to talk to Eena your leader, I have important news to give to her. Take me to her at once!'

Two guards came into sight, holding between them a dishevelled, squirming figure, which they promptly threw on the ground on seeing Eena and Ardu standing in front of them.

One of the guards stood over the person holding a sword to his throat, muttering in low tones, ‘If you move I will thrust the sword through you.'

Instantly the figure became still and a pair of dark eyes stared up at the guard.

‘What have you found, Naren in the bushes? Let me have a look!' ordered Ardu.

Ardu stepped forward and stared down at the huddled figure on the ground. ‘Ah, we have a welcome prize here, it is Croan, Juno's spy Eena, We will be able to obtain important information from him of Juno's plans, even if I have to squeeze it out of him with my bare hands,' threatened Ardu.

‘You don't have to hurt me, I am willing to tell you Juno's plans to conquer your territory as well as take Brude's lands. He told his people that Eena has stolen the Sacred Sword. Thus he roused the people's anger and he arranged to send his army with Uthor in charge to fight you in battle.'

‘We know all that,' Ardu impatiently exclaimed, ‘What fresh information can you give us that will be to our advantage?'

‘When the Sacred Sword was stolen by you Ardu and your men, another replica sword was made by his sword maker and Juno had it hung in the inner sanctum of the Temple of the Sun. He feared for his life, as he is the Keeper of the Sacred Sword and he had failed in his duty to protect it. He wasn't sure whether the people would turn on him and kill him, as he has made many enemies amongst them with his cruel rule over them.'

‘So there is a fake Sword in the Temple of the Sun? But it looks the same as the real thing,' muttered Ardu to himself. ‘Now if we could seize this Sword, we would have an advantage over Juno. Then you Eena, can be presented to Juno's people, as the saviour by rescuing the Sword for them. Thus you can depose Juno and take over his kingdom. Victory is yours Eena, once more. Then you can confront Brude with the combined forces and defeat him and his army,' triumphantly stated Ardu

‘I like your plan Ardu, but first we must seize the replica Sacred Sword from the Temple of the Sun. Bring my horse and assemble the men to be ready for battle. I think we need to strike immediately, we have no time to lose,' replied Eena.

So there was frantic activity as Eena's army was assembled, to march towards the Temple of the Sun. This scene was not lost on Croan, who was watching from a near distance, as he tried to work out in his mind what advantage he could gain out of this situation. and who to ally himself with, Eena or Brude or Juno. Croan's main concern was, he wanted to be on the side of the victorious army whatever the outcome of the impending battle.

‘But there are so many risks involved Ardu, so many things can go wrong with this plan of yours,' said Eena

‘Well we just can't do nothing, we must take advantage of the moment, or otherwise all will be lost,' impatiently uttered Ardu and began to march up and down in front of Eena.

‘Oh do stop, you are making me nervous Ardu. You Croan, can stand a bit further away from us whilst we are discussing the next move. Go and get something to eat at the next campsite. Ram take him away and feed him, but don't let him out of your sight. Come with me Ardu whilst we refine our plans, as this time we must not fail.'

Ram led Croan away to the nearest campfire, where there were a group of warriors sitting around eating and drinking.

Turning to Ardu, Eena stated,' We must not fail this time otherwise all is lost. I also had a sudden idea, why not use Croan to lure Juno into a trap. My instinct tells me not to trust that man. He just wants to be on the winning side all the time and he has no loyalties to anyone other than himself.'

‘I absolutely agree with you Eena,' replied Ardu. ‘We must be very careful, as we do not want to arouse Croan's suspicions that he is being used.'

‘First we must send out scouts to find out what Juno is doing with his army and then we will set a trap for him with Croan's help,' stated Ardu. ‘I will now go and organise the scouts and then we shall have to wait for their return with the information on Juno's whereabouts. Especially if we can somehow find out his plans of how he is going to attack us again.'

With these words, Ardu strode off, leaving Eena with her own thoughts of how she could further turn the present events to her advantage.

CHAPTER 6

The Pause

T
here was a calmness spreading over the forest that night, as if the earth sighed with relief, knowing at sunrise, not only animals, but birds and insects would be stirring again. Humans would be on the restless prowl, pitting their strength and power against each other. Silently the scouts walked their way through the trees, being very careful not to make a sound. Every now and again, the head scout, Ayab paused to listen for any unusual noises ahead or around of him. It was during this period that the other men would stop and stand like statues, until they got the signal from Ayab to move on again.

Just in front of the party, there was a faint sound of horses blowing their nostrils, as they too, were picking up the scent of the scouts. All men stood perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe. A quick signal by Ayab was given for everyone to lie flat on the ground and not to move any muscle of their bodies.

Then Ayab wriggled his torso on the ground, moving slowly forwards through the undergrowth, so he could determine whether the enemy was directly in their path. Whilst parting a few branches, Ayab found himself looking down a shallow embankment, where there were a number of horses tethered by their reins to the overhanging branches of a clump of trees. He looked around to see whether there were any movements of soldiers, but to his relief, there did not appear to be anyone near the animals.

He then began to move closer, by slowly crawling along the ground again, and carefully parting any bushes that were in his way. Suddenly, a guard appeared standing near one of the horses, so Ayab lay still for a short time, with his face flat on the earth. When he thought it was safe to look through the shrubbery, towards where the horses were tethered, Ayab raised his head but he could not see any guards nearby. Ayab continued to look in that direction for some time, before he started crawling forward again.

Very soon, he heard the soft murmur of voices and he could see a group of men sitting in a rough circle talking to each other. One of the men stood up, stretching his arms and legs.

‘I will go and relieve Nua from sentry duty and don't drink all the wine whilst I am away.' He walked off towards the direction of where the horses were tethered and the other soldiers continued talking and drinking wine.

Ayab was determined to move closer, so that he could hear more clearly what the men were saying to each other. But he must be extra cautious, as the horses could pick up his human smell and all would be lost if he was discovered. So, instead of moving forwards, Ayab decided to take a circular route, crawling on the ground, slowly getting closer to the group of men, so he could hear their conversation once more.

By the time he was in earshot of the group, Ayab was exhausted and he had great difficulty breathing quietly. So he placed his fists in his mouth in order to deaden the sound of his breathing.

Suddenly he felt the heavy pressure of a hand grabbing his right shoulder and a voice shouting in his ear, ‘And who are you, and what are you doing here?'

Ayab could feel the sharp edge of a sword digging into his flesh at the base of his skull. ‘Don't hurt me, my name is Ayab and I come in peace.'

‘That is hard to believe, sneaking up to our camp sliding on your belly like a snake, as though you were planning an attack on us.'

Ayab was roughly hauled to his feet and marched towards the other soldiers sitting around the fire. ‘Look what I have found lurking in the grass, spying on us!'

Everyone stared at Ayab with hostility and suspicion, ‘Let's kill him now,' said one of the soldiers.

‘That is not a bad idea, but first we must find out why he is sneaking up on us and whether there are further warriors hiding nearby to attack us. Your name is Ayab and who do you belong to – Eena or Juno's side? Speak or I will kill you now with my sword.'

Ayab was in a dilemma, as to what to say to this question, as his main concern was to not to be killed. ‘I come in peace my friends.'

There was a loud burst of laughter coming from the men. ‘Do you really think we are going to believe you, speak the truth now or I will plunge my sword into you' yelled one of the soldiers in his ear.

‘I am an advance scout for Brude's army, and who do you belong to Eena or Juno's side?' stated Ayab.

There was a silence amongst the men as they heard these words. ‘We are Eena's men,' said one of the soldiers. ‘We were recently defeated by Brude's army and we have taken refuge in the forest until Eena and Ardu work out a plan to storm our Cave and retake our territory again.'

‘Perhaps I can help in this matter,' Ayab hastily replied. ‘Take me to Eena immediately so we can work something out.'

The soldiers exchanged significant looks and they then nodded their heads in unison. One of them replied, ‘Come with me Ayab and I will take you to Eena and Ardu. But first I must blindfold you, as I do not trust you at all.'

A piece of cloth was produced by another soldier and this was placed over Ayab's eyes and then tied behind his head. The men broke camp very quickly and Ayab was guided by a soldier placed on each side of him, as they proceeded to walk through the forest once more.

Not very far away, Eena and Ardu were encamped with the remains of their army sitting around numerous small fires, talking in low whispers amongst themselves.

‘Ardu, we must do something, very soon otherwise my men will lose heart and desert me.' complained Eena.

‘I know all that. I need more time to think out the next strategy,' Ardu impatiently replied. ‘We are fast running out of food and we have no means of knowing what Brude's next move will be with his army. He may be tracking us down at this very moment.'

There was a sudden movement near one of the group of men and someone was seen running through the trees shouting, ‘Eena, Eena, and Ardu we have taken a prisoner and he has important news for you.'

Very soon Ayab was standing blindfolded in front of Eena and Ardu.

‘Who is this man?' demanded Eena.

‘My name is Ayab and I am one of Brude's advance scouts,' replied Ayab.

‘Take off the blindfold immediately, so I can have a close look at him.' commanded Eena. Eena carefully scrutinised Ayab's face. ‘I do not know this man. How do I know you are telling me the truth? You could be a spy for Juno.'

‘No I am not a spy for Juno I am in the advance party for Brude,' stated Ayab.

‘Where are you going? Why are you in the advance party? What is Brude's plan?' retorted Eena.