Ties of Blood (20 page)

William looked up and gave a sad chuckle. “You made your point. A child could kill me. I promise I will take my practice more seriously. Just do me a favor and don’t ever tell anyone about me getting beat by a child. I don’t think my ego could take that big of a beating.”

Laughing Eloen sat down next to William handing him a mug of ale. “I wouldn’t worry about that William. I don’t want to be known as the woman who married a man after her daughter kicked his rear.”

CHAPTER XX

The days were passing quickly and Copperstone was nearing. William had said they would reach it within a few days. William had started taking his training more seriously and had progressed some but it was painfully obvious to Eloen that he had little natural talent with the blade. William had tried to bring up the details of the wedding, but Eloen was more concerned with what would happen after it not during.

They had stopped for the night in the only forest Eloen had seen in Abla. The sun still had a few hours when they had spotted the trees but Eloen had insisted that they go ahead and stop. It had been a long time since she had seen so much green in one area and she wasn’t going to let it go to waste. If William was in that much of a hurry he should have ridden a horse.

While the others set camp Eloen disappeared into the trees. It didn’t take her long to walk the entire perimeter of the small forest it was more of a large grove than anything but she would take what she could get.

When she was far enough away from the others that she could no longer hear their idle banter Eloen found a nice spot and sat lay down on ground. The area was still mostly rock so it wasn’t that comfortable but the sight of the sun shining through the leaves was worth the slight discomfort.

Eloen wasn’t sure how long she had laid there before she started hearing voices coming in her direction. She figured it must have been Ballard and Darryl looking for her. Didn’t they understand that every now and then she wanted time alone so she could work her way through her own thoughts. She started to rise from her resting place until the tones of the voices came closer and she noticed that they were not from anyone she knew. It was a possibility that they were those of the two soldiers who drove the coach as she had not spent a great deal of time with either but it sounded more like a small group of men than just two.

Rolling over on her stomach Eloen crawled along the ground in the direction of the voices. They were speaking silently and while she could hear them she still couldn’t make out the words they were using. After a few painful moments of crawling on the ground the words of the strangers reached her ears.

“”
You’re sure their stopping for the night Alan? I don’t want to make a break for the horses in the dark because you thought they were stopping.” A voice said in the distance.

“I told you, they stopped up ahead. We won’t get a better chance than this. The trees will cover our approach and once they’re asleep we can take them out without a bit of trouble. Easiest five hundred gold we ever made boys.” Another voice answered the other.

Eloen still couldn’t see the men but she counted at least eight different voices though it was more than possible that there could have been more. Slowly and as quietly as possible Eloen got to her feet keeping crouched down. She moved as fast as she dared afraid she would alert their would-be assassins of her presence.

Suddenly the small forest felt much larger as she was forced to move slowly. Each moment that passed was longer that her friends were in danger. She had to warn them but the best chance they had was preparing for their attackers without them knowing.

Eloen exited the woods slightly down from where they had made camp, but that mattered little now that she was out in the open she could move more freely. Even if the men in the forest saw her they most likely wouldn’t think anything of her brisk walk back to the camp.

Her heart pounding she walked as fast as her legs would carry her without breaking into a full run. When the sigh of Darryl and Brenda going through their daily practice came into view she had to hold back the urge to yell out a warning. Instead she continued on to where the two worked and called for them to follow her back to where the others were gathered around an already burning fire.

Darryl face looked worried but he held his tongue until everyone was gathered. Eloen leaned over to Ballard who sat on her left. “Men in the forest at least eight, armed and looking for us.” She whispered. She saw Ballard’s eyes widen at the news but as he was trained her lent to William who sat next to him and repeated the message.

“What?” the prince nearly yelled as soon as Ballard told him the message.

“I told you Your Highness we don’t have any more wine.” Eloen said defensively though her eyes gave him an unspoken message. A message that promised world of pain if he didn’t control himself.

“That will not do. I can’t wait until we reach civilization again. I can’t spend another day drinking this swill.” William said trying his best to keep his voice haughty though Eloen could still hear a slight quiver in his voice.

Eloen could tell that the prince wasn’t really scared he was feeling the rush of blood that normally happened to those getting ready for battle. Most veterans learned to control the rush of energy and restlessness that came with the battle jitters. She knew that if the prince didn’t calm himself he would tire himself out well before he even lifted his blade.

When the message was passed to Brenda the little girl hand that sat idly on the hilt turned white as she griped it with all her might. Eloen was worried she might yell or cry but she was taking it well. She wasn’t really that surprised Brenda was taking it so well. From what she had seen of the girl she wouldn’t be surprised if Brenda wanted to join in the battle though there was no way she was going to let that happen.

It was slow to pass along strategies since they had to whisper them in a circle and most the time when they came back to her something had been missed. After the seventh time it finally came back to her in the same manner she had sent it. It was a simple plan. The prince and Brenda would spend the rest of the time until the attack in the coach. The two soldiers would stand guard to make sure no one was able to get to them without a fight. Ballard, Darryl, and she would switch between guarding and pretending to sleep.

The worst part of the plan was the wait. Eloen would have preferred to go and hunt down the hunters but with the prince and Brenda to protect that wasn’t a possibility. Eloen, Ballard and Darryl passed around their extra magically enchanted armor to the others. At first they were skeptical but once they were showed how they worked they were more than willing to wear them.

Once everything was set in place all that was left was the wait for the enemy to attack. There was nothing worse than enemies who made you wait around. Couldn’t they be more considerate and attack once you were ready for them and not make you wait around all day. It was simply rude.

To pass the time Eloen started carving on a small piece of wood she had gotten from the edge of the woods. She had never been that good at carving but she had always found that the concentration it takes always kept her mind at easy while she was waiting on a battle. She wasn’t sure what she would make but she seldom did she just cut away at the wood until an idea hit her.

The day passed and the sun fell behind the mountain. The mood was covered so darkness soon enveloped the area. It was hard to see anything much less people moving in the darkness but she knew that could be used to her advantage.

It took a while to locate Ballard in the darkness but when she did she was happy to find he had the same idea. Ballard was piling piles of sticks in small bundles in a circle around their camp and coating them in some of the oil they had for the lamps. It was an old trick one they mainly used in Farlan on packs of wild animals but it was one that had proven itself time and time again.

Secure in the knowledge that her two companions had everything in order Eloen laid down in her mat and pretended to sleep. Most people had a hard no trouble staying away when a battle was looming. In fact most had a hard time sleeping even when they were offered a reprieve. Eloen was blessed with the ability to sleep no matter the circumstances though at times like these is was a disadvantage as she had to fight to stay awake.

As the night slipped by Eloen passed the time by counting the stars in the sky. There were plenty and stars to keep her busy. They were a myriad of color and kept her thinking if there might be someone else out in the vast darkness doing the same thing.

Everything had been happening so fast lately that the simple luxury of enjoying a starlit sky had been lost. Eloen nearly laughed that the first time in a long time she had a chance to stargaze was while she was waiting to be attacked. “Hurry up and wait.” Seemed to always be the motto of being a soldier. She had heard the saying many times but other soldiers and even hear it given as an order by some officers though at those times it was done more as a joke then a real order but that didn’t change the fact that most of the time was spent preparing then waiting afterword for it to be needed. Thankfully it didn’t take too long for the enemy to attack. Most likely they were as bored and eager to start the battle as she was.

They came in silently creeping across the ground in hopes to catch their prey unaware. She couldn’t see them but in the quiet night their footsteps sounded like thunder strikes to her trained ears. Eloen held her bare sword close to her side in one hand and the edge of her blanket in the other waiting for the battle to commence. She hadn’t heard the sound of steel on steel yet so that meant her companions had yet to engage either. Her heart was pounding in her chest as the footsteps moved closer to her.

Suddenly the area was bathed in light as the ring of fires was ignited. The sudden flash of light momentarily blinded her. When her eyes refocused she found that the attackers were in disarray as Ballard and Darryl wet to work on them with the merciless precision of trained warriors.

Eloen jumped up from where she lay finding one of the men only a few steps away from her. She was able to catch him off guard and quickly run him through. Looking around she noticed a lot more enemies then she had figured on. They were easily outnumbered ten to one and no matter how surprised they were it wouldn’t be long before Eloen and the others found themselves hard pressed against such overwhelming numbers.

Eloen was soon engaged by two of the attackers and was forced backwards toward the coach. Eloen leaned to the left to escape a blow to the head while her sword came up to block another blow that was aimed for her leg. Spinning to the side Eloen slipped her sword to the side catching one of the men in the side cutting a gash but it wasn’t deep enough to take him from the fight. Eloen was forced to go back on the defensive working hard to keep the two blades that sought her life at bay. When one of the men overstretched she took advanced and moved in close putting the palm of her hand on the hilt of the sword and forcing it though the man’s armor and into his chest.

As soon as the man went down Eloen had to jump back leaving her sword stuck in her other opponent. Pulling one of her longer daggers out Eloen tried to circle around back to where her sword but her other aggressor wasn’t going for it. From the corner of her eye she could see others moving to where she as at. She was forced to abandon her weapon and try to make it to the coach.

Turning toward the coach the situation didn’t look any better. One of the soldiers was already down and the other was pressed hard fighting off four attackers. The man was already bleeding badly from various cuts. Forgetting about her own attackers that were closer now Eloen broke into a dash into one of the unsuspecting men attacking the lone soldier burying her dagger into his exposed neck. As the man fell forward into his companion Eloen acted quick and plucked the sword from the man’s lifeless hand as she tucked into a roll coming up next to the soldier.

As soon as she was on her feet Eloen stuck at the nearest enemy but he was apt enough to get his blade up in time to block her attack but he didn’t expect her to follow through with the dagger now held in her off hand that cut a deep line in his forearm forcing him to yank it back leaving her sword open to make a quick cut to his exposed skull.

Eloen and the soldier were soon surrounded by no less than nine men. Even with her skill strikes got though her defense though luckily her magical armor was able to deflect most of the attacks though she had sustained a shallow cut on her left arm. The soldier didn’t fare as well as he now lay dead though he had been able to take two of the enemies with him.

Eloen found herself pushed back and tiring. Most of the enemies had fallen to her one at a time but she was still outnumbered with four men still pressing the attack. Her heart nearly stopped as one of the men broke away from their encounter and made his way over to the coach door. She watched as he flung open the door but her view was obscured a second later as one of the men pressing her came in with a strong overhand attack knocking her own sword into her forehead cutting a deep gash over her eye.