Shepherd's Quest: The Broken Key #1 (27 page)

“I’m surprised we’ve made it this far,” commented Chad. “This area doesn’t seem too densely settled by them.”

“Thank goodness,” Riyan said nervously. Aside from that one settlement on the southwestern shore of the lake, the forest has been fairly empty of them.

“You’re not worried are you?” asked Bart with a grin. When Riyan only glared at him he added. “This is the meat and bones of adventuring.”

“I’m having the time of my life,” replied Riyan rather unconvincingly. To be honest with himself, he had to admit that this wasn’t exactly the glorious expedition that he had anticipated. He also hadn’t planned on being scared most of the time either. But the last thing he was going to do was admit that to Bart and Chad.

“Me too,” agreed Chad. Only from the way he said it, it sounded like he genuinely meant it.

Once night had settled in enough for the stars to begin filling the sky, they mounted their horses and returned to the shore of the lake. The trees weren’t nearly as dense there so it made for an easier ride.

They followed the edge of the lake for several hours almost due north before they reached the point where the shoreline turned back to the west. Another hour of riding brought them to a large river flowing into the lake.

“Think this is the one?” Chad asked.

Bart considered the size of the river and nodded. “It has to be,” he stated. “Couldn’t imagine another river of comparable size in the area.”

“Can we ford here?” Riyan asked. Then he took a better look at the river and saw that it was over a hundred feet wide and moving quickly.

“Can’t tell just how deep it is here in the dark,” Bart said. “It might be a good idea to follow it north a ways before we attempt to cross.”

“Would be shallower,” agreed Chad.

So with Bart once more in the lead, they turned northwards and followed the river as it wound its way through the forest. Along the way they came across several smaller tributaries that flowed into it. By the time Riyan figured midnight had come and gone, the river had narrowed to only about fifty feet. It was still a bit too wide to attempt to cross.

When the sky began to lighten several hours later, the river was still around fifty feet across though it didn’t look nearly so deep as it had earlier. “Let’s find a place to hole up until nightfall again,” suggested Bart. They kept a lookout for a thickening of the trees and a short time later came across one that was slightly better than the previous night’s.

After they entered the thicket and were settled in, they left their horses in the thicket and worked their way back to the river. They wanted to see if this might be a good place to ford come nightfall.

They stayed within the treeline until the sun’s rays were seen hitting the tops of the trees. “Alright,” Riyan said. “Let’s find a place to cross.” Once they made sure that the area was clear of goblins, they moved to the bank of the river.

First thing they did was to fill their water bottles. After that they started moving upriver and searched for a place to ford. They needed to find an area where the river widened. That would indicate the water’s level would be lower and thus make the crossing easier.

A half hour after they began hunting for a place to ford they came to a bend in the river. At that point, the river widened to a width of about a hundred feet again. They knew this was the place to ford, not only because the water would be shallower, but because of a road that emerged from the trees on their side of the river and went to the bank of the river. On the other side they saw where it resumed before reentering the forest.

“A road?” asked Riyan.

“Looks like it,” said Bart.

“Why would goblins have a road?” he asked.

Bart turned and looked at him like he was an idiot. “Probably for the same reason we have them,” he explained. “To get from one place to another.”

“But, they’re goblins,” stated Riyan.

“So?” asked Chad. “They need them too.”

Riyan couldn’t argue with that logic. It was just so unexpected to discover them to have roads, and well maintained ones if the one they saw in front of them was any indication.

“If there’s a road then that means they could be around,” Bart said. “We better get back to the horses.”

Turning around, they returned to where they left their horses. There they had a meal of rations and settled in until dark. Watches were in the same order as the previous night with Bart taking the first one.

Throughout the day nothing much happened. They slept, took turns at watch, and when the sun began its descent to the horizon, made ready to leave.

When the stars were out and the forest was once again dark, they left the copse of trees and followed the river back to where the road forded the water. As they drew near the road, they slowed to a crawl. Due to their uneasiness about being in this area, every sound of the forest seemed to herald the approach of goblins upon the road. When at last they came to the bend in the river and saw the road in the moonlight, Bart brought them to a sudden halt.

“Wait here,” he said as he dismounted.

Chad was about to ask him why they stopped when he waved for him to be quiet.

Moving forward, Bart edged closer to the road. He had heard something and wanted to make sure it was safe before they rode to the ford. Before he made it to the road, he heard the sound of rapidly approaching horses coming down the road on his side of the river. He froze for just a moment before dodging behind the trunk of a nearby tree.

He peered around the trunk and saw half a dozen goblin riders appear riding small ponies. They slowed their ponies to a walk as they came to the bank of the river. While they crossed, Bart got a good look at them. Each had on what looked like leather armor with a shortsword at their hips. Across the back of each rider were small curved bows and a quiver of arrows.

Bart stood there in the shadows as the riders forded the river. It wasn’t until they had crossed and disappeared into the forest on the other side did he turn around and head back. When he reached where the other two were waiting for him, he told them of the riders.

“Ponies?” asked Chad. When Bart nodded, he added, “At least our horses would be able to outrun them in an emergency.”

“That’s true,” agreed Riyan.

“Come on,” Bart said as he swung up into the saddle. “We better get across before more show up.” Leading them forward, he brought them to the edge of the road. There they paused for just a second to listen for any other approaching riders. When they failed to hear any, Bart turned toward the river and headed for the ford.

They took the crossing slowly. The water didn’t reach much more than a foot up their horses’ legs and wasn’t flowing all that rapidly. It was an easy crossing and once on the other side they kept to the road. It was risky to keep to the road, but they felt that if they stayed alert for approaching riders, they would be able to leave the road in time. Besides, they could make much better time on the road than if they slugged their way through the forest.

The road entered the forest a short ways before turning to the right and began following the river northward. They continued to follow the road, all the while very aware that a band of six armed goblins had passed this way just before them. An hour later the road began to turn more westward, leaving the river behind.

They followed the road to the west for a short distance until they were certain it wasn’t gong to return to its northerly trek. “We’re going to have to leave the road if we wish to continue following the river,” Bart announced.

“Nothing for it I guess,” Chad said.

As they began to turn and head into the forest, the night erupted in a bright flash of light to the west, followed a split second later by the sound of an explosion.

“What was that?” exclaimed Chad as they looked to the west where a glow blossomed into the night.

“I don’t know,” replied Riyan. “But I think we best get out of here.”

“I’m with you there,” agreed Bart.

They kicked their horses into motion just as a cry ripped through the night. “That wasn’t a goblin,” Riyan said as he came to a stop.

“No,” replied Chad, “it wasn’t. Sounded more like an old man’s.”

“He may need our help,” Riyan said. All thought of danger to himself vanished when he realized another needed help.

“We don’t know that he’s even still alive,” argued Bart. Just then, a crackling sound followed by another explosion broke the stillness of the forest.

Riyan turned his horse and bolted down the road towards the glow in the distance.

“You’re going to get us all killed!” hollered Bart after him. Then to Chad he said,

“Every goblin within miles will know something’s going on.”

“Can’t let him face this alone,” Chad said as he kicked his horse into motion and raced after his friend.

Bart mumbled a few choice words under his breath before he turned his horse and quickly followed after.

Riyan raced down the road as the glow progressively grew larger. When he came close enough, he discovered the glow to be a fire. The trees were beginning to catch and the fire looked like it was about ready to grow out of control.

Zzzt! Zzzt!

From out of the forest near the growing fires, the sound came to him. He looked to see what it was, but the smoke was obscuring the area quite badly. He turned off the road and moved into the forest as he began working his way around the fire to whoever was there. Behind him, he heard Chad and Bart arrive and begin to follow him into the trees.

Zzzt! Zzzt!

The sound came again, this time he could hear a goblin cry out in pain.

Moving quickly, he finally worked his way around the spreading flames and could see the combatants. A dozen goblins were ringed around two figures as they loosed arrows from their bows.

A circular glow surrounded the two men who were being attacked by the goblins.

One was an older man, the other was a youth about Riyan’s age. The glow surrounding the two men deflected the goblin’s arrows. The older man gripped a gnarled staff in one hand and was dressed in a robe that glowed with sigils of power. Obviously this man was a magic user.

Zzzt! Zzzt!

The man sent two red bolts of energy flying from the hand not gripping the staff into the body of one of the goblins. The goblin was thrown backwards off his feet and hit the ground hard. He didn’t get back up.

Riyan assumed the younger man must be the magic user’s apprentice. He saw him wave his arms and suddenly two of the goblins were encased in a greenish substance that allowed them no freedom of movement. At the same time, a yellowish light surrounded three more of the attacking goblins. The older magic user had his staff pointed at them and the tip glowed yellow for a brief moment before returning to normal. Riyan watched as the three goblins became immobile and toppled to the side.

Realizing the two humans down below needed his help, he quickly dismounted and pulled his sling from off his belt. Bending over, he picked up four stones just as Chad and Bart came to a stop behind him. The heat from the fire was intensifying as the flames began engulfing more of the forest.

“We can’t stay here,” Bart urged him. “The fire is growing out of control.”

“Then leave,” replied Riyan. Turning to the battle, he started working his way closer as he put the first stone in the sling’s cup. There was no way he could turn his back on fellow men. The horrors of being captured by goblins that have plagued him since leaving the pass were no fate he could leave anyone to face.

Through the trees and smoke, he kept his eyes on the goblins as he moved into a better position. A crack of a branch beside him announced Chad had joined him. He had his sword out and his face was grim as he nodded to Riyan. “Let’s go do this,” he said.

He finally reached a point where his stones would be less inhibited by the limbs and trees. Bringing his sling up to a quick spin, he launched the missile towards the nearest goblin. The stone flew true and struck the goblin in the side of the head. The blow knocked it off its feet and to the ground. “Good shot,” he heard Chad mumble next to him.

Then another goblin suddenly put his hand to his neck and pulled one of Bart’s darts from out of its flesh. The creature glanced around before suddenly dropping to the ground.

The other goblins soon realized the magic users had help and scattered. Those that were trapped by the green goo and lying frozen on the ground were left behind.

“Look out!”

Riyan heard Bart yell as he rushed into the clearing. He was waving his arms and shouting a warning for the magic user and his apprentice to get out of there. Then a tree engulfed in flame that was leaning heavily towards the magic users suddenly gave out with a thunderous crack. Its trunk split and the upper branches fell towards the magic users.

The older of the two saw the fiery hell coming towards them. Moving quickly, he grabbed his apprentice and threw him out of the circular glow surrounding them. The apprentice hit the ground and scrambled away as the tree landed on top of the protective glowing shield in a shower of sparks.

“Master!” the apprentice yelled as he came to a stop and saw his master trapped beneath the burning tree.

Upon striking the circular glow, the trunk of the tree broke in two at the point of impact. The fiery brands the impact sent flying began smoldering in the dry brush of the forest’s floor.

“Bart!” yelled Chad as two of the goblins returned with their short swords drawn.

Bart turned and saw them appear at the edge of the clearing as they charged forward with bestial cries. He threw one of his darts and struck a charging goblin in the chest. The goblin took two more strides before he fell to the ground. The other goblin continued its attack.

Drawing his knife, Bart braced for the attack knowing his end was near. Then all of a sudden, Chad bowled into the goblin and knocked him to the ground. They both got back to their feet quickly and faced off against each other.

Bart opened the rolled leather that contained his darts and started to pull out another.