Shades of the Past: The Morcyth Saga Book Six (52 page)

The wagons rolling along behind him are
filled to brimming with water and food for the horses and people.
It’s unlikely they will be able to forage for anything else from
here on out. No more towns lie between where they are and Madoc.
Any that used to be here were destroyed when the Empire came
through last year.

Riding behind his banner are still over five
hundred Raiders, those are all that’s left from the many battles
fought since they first entered the Empire. The slaves number close
to a thousand; three hundred crossbowmen, five hundred bearing
weapons of one type or another, and the rest is made up of the
women, children and elderly. The elderly are suffering the trip the
most. So far he’s had to leave close to a dozen on the side of the
road in a shallow grave after they died from the exertion of the
trip.

His mind wanders while he rides, wondering
where James is and if he’s even still alive. Did this crazy plan
work? Are Madoc’s forces even now pushing the Empire out? But
what’s most on his mind is the threat of attack. They’ve been
extremely lucky so far. How long is that going to last though? The
closer they come to the border, the more likely that they will be
hit and hit hard!

“Sir!” a scout cries as he rides up from the
south.

“Report,” Illan says as the man draws
near.

“A score of riders comes from the south,”
reports the scout. “They don’t look like soldiers, rather
civilians.”

From where Miko rides next to Illan he asks,
“What were they wearing?”

“Most had on robes of one kind or another,”
he replies.

Illan glances to Miko, he understands the
significance of that. “How far away are they?”

“A day, maybe more. They are moving only
slightly faster than we are,” he explains.

“Very well,” replies Illan. “Return and keep
an eye on them. If they should begin moving faster, return to let
us know immediately.”

Giving a smart salute, the scout says, “Yes,
sir.” Then he turns his horse and gallops back to the south.

“Mages you think?” Miko asks though he
already knows the answer.

“Would think so,” Illan states. “Moving slow
though, that bothers me.”

“Why?” questions Miko.

Illan glances to him and says, “It most
likely means they’re pacing us until other forces arrive then all
will attack together.” After a moment he adds, “Tell Ceadric and
Delia I want to talk to them. Oh, and have Brother Willim come
too.”

Miko gives him a nod and then goes to find
them.

Ceadric is the first to make his appearance.
“What’s up?” he asks.

“Tell you when the others join us,” replies
Illan.

They wait for several more minutes before
first Delia joins them then Miko returns with Brother Willim in
tow.

Continuing to ride, Illan has them move ahead
of the column so he won’t be overheard. “Scouts have reported a
score of mages approaching from the rear,” he tells them.

“A score?” asks Ceadric in surprise. “They’ve
never committed that many at one time.”

“You must be causing them difficulties for
them to commit so many,” suggests Brother Willim.

“Indeed,” replies Illan.

“Are they close?” Delia asks.

“Right now they’re about a day behind and are
pacing us,” he replies.

“We think they may be waiting for
reinforcements before attacking,” pipes up Miko.

Illan nods. “That’s right.” To Ceadric he
says, “Send scouts further out. We need to know what’s on the way.
The scouts currently behind us are keeping an eye on them and will
let us know if they make a move to quicken their pace.”

“That would mean whatever they are planning
is about to happen,” comments Ceadric.

Illan nods to Ceadric who moves to get the
scouts underway then turns to Miko and Brother Willim. “Can you
handle them in the event of an attack?”

“Twenty?” considers Brother Willim. “I don’t
think so. It would depend on how strong they are.”

“I’m not sure what I can do against magic,”
admits Miko. “The Star works well against otherworldly creatures,
but flesh and blood?” He pauses a second before continuing, “I just
don’t know.”

“Whether or not we can readily defeat them is
immaterial,” states Brother Willim. “If we wait for other
reinforcements to arrive the situation will only get worse. I say
we turn back and deal with them now while our chances are the
highest.”

“I agree,” says Delia. “The longer we wait
the worse it will become.”

Glancing to the sky, Illan says, “It’s still
an hour before noon. Let’s wait a couple hours to see if Ceadric’s
scouts find anything. If not, we’ll turn around and attack.”

“And if they do?” asks Miko.

“Then we’ll adjust our plans accordingly,” he
replies. “Return to your people and be ready.”

They break up and return to the column. Illan
resumes his place at the head while the others rejoin their groups
to inform them of what’s going on.

With a possible attack imminent, Illan has
the column tighten up and posts Raiders on either end. They stop at
noon for a brief rest and lunch break, can’t afford to have
everyone tired and hungry if the battle should begin soon.

They no sooner come to a stop and begin
handing out rations than a rider comes galloping from the
northwest. At the sight of the fast approaching rider, Illan and
the other leaders move to greet him.

“Milord!” the rider cries out as he comes to
a stop before Illan. “There’s a force of foot and cavalry on the
other side of the river to the west. They were about to cross over
a bridge when it suddenly exploded and collapsed!”

“James!” cries Miko in jubilation. “It has to
be.”

“Did you see three riders racing away from
the bridge on this side?” Illan asks.

Shaking his head the scout replies, “No. The
whole area was so packed with refugees fleeing your approach that I
didn’t notice, we weren’t that close. I left Gouric to keep an eye
on the army across the river. When they could no longer use the
bridge, they began moving north.”

“This changes things,” observes Miko.

Nodding, Illan says to the scout, “Return and
let us know when and where that army makes it to this side of the
river.”

Giving Illan a salute, the scout turns and
races back the way he came.

“Ceadric, send out scouts to see if they can
find James and let him know where we are,” he says.

“Yes, sir,” replies Ceadric who immediately
moves to comply.

“Could that have been the force those mages
are waiting for?” asks Miko.

“Possibly,” states Illan. “But I’m not
willing to bet on it. However, I think before we begin any attack
on the mages we should wait until James rejoins us.”

“That would be a good idea,” states Miko.

As a dozen men race off to the north to hunt
for James, Illan keeps the column moving ever closer to Madoc.

Ever since they crossed the river, James and
Jiron have holed up in an abandoned farmhouse. Their horses were
all but collapsing after the grueling race they ran to the river.
Outside, the moon has risen and its light casts shadows across
night’s landscape.

Before darkness set in he used his mirror and
found Illan and the others already setting up camp for the night.
Still several hours to the south, he and Jiron had decided to rest
through the night to give their horses a chance to recover their
strength before rejoining the others.

The force they left on the far side of the
river had reached a bridge two hours before dusk and crossed over.
They then moved south a couple more miles before stopping. When
they crossed the river, a rider was dispatched to the fort. Shortly
after his arrival forces from the fortress began moving to join the
others. Now together, the two forces number close to ten thousand
men.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, another force
was sighted moving toward Illan from the east. Composed of cavalry,
they numbered in excess of two thousand. The good news is that
there didn’t look like a mage was traveling with either force. It
would be bad enough with just that many men, but throw a mage into
the mix and James isn’t sure how well it would go.

His supply of crystals is now gone. Whatever
is left with Delia and Illan is all that remains from the supply he
brought from The Ranch. He fervently hopes they didn’t use all of
it, they’ll need it when they encounter the forces moving to
intercept them.

The farmhouse they are using has been long
abandoned. The roof has collapsed on one side and the walls look
like they will collapse at any time. The door that once stood in
the doorway has long since disappeared. Jiron stands at one of the
two windows and gazes out into the night. James lies back on his
blanket and stares at the stars shining through one of the many
gaps in the ceiling.

“They’re going to attack tomorrow,” Jiron
says. Worry for his sister and friends gnaws at him.

“Our horses should be sufficiently rested by
morning,” James tells him. “We’ll rejoin them before the
battle.”

“I hope so,” he stresses.

“If we get through this battle, we’re home
free,” says James encouragingly.

“I just wish Tersa had remained with Roland,”
Jiron sighs as he turns from the window to glance at James. “What
was she thinking?”

Turning his head to look at his friend, James
grins. “Who knows what girls think?” he wonders. “She’s a strong
woman, in lots of way like her brother.”

“Headstrong and stubborn?” grins Jiron
back.

“Something like that,” he replies with a
chuckle.

From outside, the sound of a lone horse is
heard approaching the farmhouse. James immediately cancels his orb
as he gets to his feet.

“Stay here,” Jiron whispers as he pulls a
knife and moves to the open doorway. Gazing out, he sees a horseman
silhouetted by the moonlight. The man has come to a stop and is
staring at the house, probably trying to figure out why the light
went out. His hands remain free of weapons as he continues to
scrutinize the house.

Moving along the inside wall of the
farmhouse, Jiron makes his way over to the window on the opposite
side. Slipping through, he lands on the ground outside silently and
makes his way back around to the front. When he gets to the corner
he peers around to find the man still sitting there.

Suddenly, an orb flashes into being above the
man’s head, startling him. He draws his sword and makes to
flee.

“Wait!” cries out Jiron as he places his
knife back in its sheath. The man is obviously from the north.

James realizes the same thing and comes out
from the house. “We’re friends!” he hollers a second behind Jiron.
The orb above the man’s head winks out as another appears over
James’ shoulder.

“James?” the man asks.

Stepping forward, James nods his head.

Sighing in relief, the man says, “You scared
me out of ten year’s growth.”

“Sorry,” he apologizes.

“No harm done,” the man replies. “We’ve had
riders out looking for you ever since you blew the bridge earlier
today.”

“Are you from Black Hawk?” Jiron asks.

“That’s right,” the man says. “Was supposed
to let you know where he is.”

“We already know,” explains James. “Tell him
our horses are exhausted and we will be there in the morning. Also,
there’s a sizeable force a half a day away to the north. Another
one is closing on him from the east, at least two thousand riders
strong.”

“With the mages coming from the south this
could get bad,” the rider comments.

“Mages?” asks James. “What mages?” He glances
to Jiron and sees the worry in his eyes.

“Heard from another scout that had come from
the south that there are a score of them,” he explains.

“How close were they?” Jiron asks.

“Last I heard they were a day away,” he tells
him. “But that was this morning and at the time they weren’t making
any effort to catch us, just keeping pace.”

James thinks for a minute then says, “Tell
Illan to stay where he is and prepare for attack. We’ll get there
as soon as it’s light. Hopefully no attack will come before
then.”

“Yes, sir,” the scout says then turns his
horse around and gallops away into the night.

Jiron hears a sigh escape James. Glancing
over to him he arcs an eyebrow questioningly.

“A score of mages,” he says. “How am I going
to best a score of mages?”

“Remember what you did at the City of Light?”
he asks.

“Yes I do,” he replies with a nod. “But if I
do that, I’ll end up killing us all. That much power would surely
create an explosion of epic proportions. Our people would never get
away in time to escape the blast.”

“You always say that if you have time to
prepare, you can do anything,” Jiron states.

“I never said I could do anything, just that
it is easier on me,” he corrects.

Jiron looks at him with an expression that
says ‘stop nitpicking’. “What I mean is, you have all night,” he
clarifies. “Can’t you come up with something?”

His mind is frozen with the thought of having
to face twenty mages. He simply can’t get around that fact. Back
before they bolted into the buried city, the mages were kicking his
butt badly. These are most likely the very same mages. What has
changed other than he’s more tired now and has fewer reserves with
which to draw upon?

Shaking his head, he says, “I’m sorry. Maybe
it’s just that I’m exhausted.” He can see the disappointment in his
eyes.

Jiron stares at him for a moment. Finally
breaking the silence, he says, “Then you get some sleep. I’ll keep
watch.”

James lays back on his blanket with the
knowledge he’s let his friend down.
I’m only a man!
That’s
the problem with always coming up with clever strategies, everyone
keeps expecting you to be able to do it again, time after time.
Maybe a little rest will clear my mind.