To Be Chosen (61 page)

Two bats, Piper and Squeal, both females, showed Daniel an entrance to Gell’s nest on the southeast side and flew in. They hid among the colony of bats in that cave and showed him a similar image to the one given by Longwing. The other two bats, Peeka and Sly, female and male respectively, found a third entrance on the southwest side of the nest, and the pair hid among the community of bats occupying that entrance. The image they sent to Daniel was like the others, except this cave had a thick carpet of guano all over the floor. The others had little, meaning they were cleaned on a regular basis, and those entrances were used more frequently. The guano filled cave would be the best way for him to enter. He thanked all of the bats and began to dress. Breakfast was cooking.

Jonah stabbed a slice of salted pork, forked it into his mouth, and then took a sip from his canteen and swallowed. “We arrived here so quickly, thanks to your Aakacarn friends, I believe it is possible we may actually be ahead of the thieves. That is, if they are still coming this way after being double crossed by one of their own.” He clearly still believed the mission was to bring Serena and her band to justice.

Daniel knew exactly where the Aakacarns were. His animal spies were watching them even now. The one who assaulted him somehow backtracked, managed to pick up Jak’s trail, and was now leading Serena and her band. The young man might even be good enough to lead them to Taltin’s ashes. All of them deserved to pay for the crimes committed in Ducuan, but rescuing Sherree came first, along with bringing Serin Gell to account. That man’s bill was way over do.

Simon and Samuel were sitting in the circle along with Tim, Gina, and Daniel’s parents. Silvia and David were eating alone, likely because of the presence of her cousin. Daniel hoped the Teki would reach an accommodation. Their behavior was beginning to annoy him. “Jonah, your assessment makes sense,” it did given the information the man had, “the actual assailants are likely south of us, but their leader is definitely north. We will confront him directly and then deal with his underlings.”

The Ducalin nodded his head, thank goodness, that meant he would not argue. “Your two friends here are the only reason I believe we have a chance. You are the Chosen Vessel and have obviously drawn them, for the time being, into your service. It seems to me the options are to continue on or wait here hoping his underlings will come to us.”

“My son has chosen the option and decided our course. I don’t see the point of discussing the issue further,” Ronn Benhannon stated firmly.

Daniel was pleased to have his father’s backing, even if it was not needed in this case. He noticed Keenan approaching the circle. “Sergeant, we will be leaving in half a mark, send out the scouts. Be sure they know raiders have been reported in this area
and to be on alert for them.”

“I forgot about that,” Jonah admitted.

“That is why my son is in command,” Miriam Benhannon stated with smugness in her tone, and with her chin up.

“No doubt,” Jonah replied in a neutral tone of voice, seeing as her son and husband were watching him carefully.

“It will be as you say, Sir Daniel,” Keenan replied and went to carry out the order.

The procession began and Daniel continued his scan while leading his company through the forest with birds chirping, most of which were not of his swirl, and the sunlight filtering through the leaves above. They were riding in the shade for the most part except when passing through clearings. The day was cool. Dusk the panther let him know
the raiders have broken camp and are on the move.
She followed them stealthily from a distance. A quarter of a mark later slender Manny Kenton came riding back to the company, straight to his commander. Sergeant Keenan and Corporal Carlin raced from the back of the columns to the front at seeing the scout’s hurried approach.

“Sir Daniel, the Serge told me you ordered us to be on the look out for raiders. Well, I just saw twenty-five of them heading right for a village two spans north,” Kenton reported just as Jonah and Sergeant Zaccum rode forward along with David and Silvia.

Daniel did not need the distraction from the task at hand. The bigger chore was across the border, but he could not ignore this new one. The Chosen Vessel has three choices, ride away, stand and watch, or do something to help. Every person had the same choices when it comes to lending a hand. He knew for him the choices would come more frequently than for most people and probably right when he was in the middle of something critical.

Simon and Samuel rode to the front of the procession along with Daniel’s parents. The sandy-haired accomplished spoke first. “Please allow me to project a map of the area, the Willow Guild has the most accurate of all the guilds,” he said and then projected a life-like holographic map of the area, containing the village of Cana, complete with log houses, and the trees, grasses, ponds and plants of the area.

Daniel signaled a halt. “Manny, show us where you saw the raiders.”

The scout pointed half a span north of the village. “I saw them right there. My guess is the villagers will be under attack pretty soon.”

Quicker than most cavalry units could ride, was Daniel’s assessment, but their horses did not have the benefit of having Vitality cast upon them. He eyed his Sergeant and Corporal. “I’ll hear your Recommendations.”

Keenan did not hesitate. “The raiders will be at
Cana by the time we get there. Since we know where they are going to be, I suggest we divide our force. Half should circle round and come at them from the north and the rest straight at them from the south. Our archers,” he paused, looking at the four mountaineers and Silvia before continuing. “Should stay clear of the blade action and let loose at targets of opportunity.”

His idea sounded good. Daniel was about to order it to be done when his father spoke up. “Good plan but I think you should allow us archers,” his gaze included Silvia, “to get in close and take out as many as we can before you swoop in for the blade to blade work.”

Zaccum leaned forward in his saddle. “That sounds possible, but can you get close without being seen?”

Ronn Benhannon smiled, it was a patient smile. One might as well ask a salmon if it can swim as ask a Ducaunan mountaineer if he can sneak up on his prey. “I’m sure we can manage it.”

Daniel straightened in his saddle. “We attack. The archers will move in stealthily, their arrows flying at the raiders will be our signal to move in, left column with Sergeant Keenan, right Column with me. Move out!” He commanded, and had every man pass by him while he secretly placed a shield spell on their helmets and chain mail. None of his people were riding into battle unshielded.

---------------------------

Jessie Dusavil sat in his tree fort among the branches of the grand oak on Holly’s Hill. He had been there since the sun first arose above the horizon. This was the place to be when he was in trouble, which was most of the time. Just because he was ten did not mean he could not tell a panther from a bobcat. Everyone yelled at him last night when he told them about the huge panther, black as night, prowling in the hills above the village. Just because he enjoyed a good prank now and then was no reason to ignore him when he was telling the truth!

Holly’s was the highest hill in the area, and the grand oak at the top towered above everything in the region, which is why he chose to build his fort in it. He could see the village below, his mother and father working around the log house the family lived in, and both of them keeping an eye on his little sister. Emma was playing a short distance from his parents and was too young yet for chores. They all knew where he would be. His fort was not exactly a secret, seeing as t
he whole village knew about it.

He noticed a flash out of the corner of his eye and turned. Coming from the north, just topping Jappen’s Hill, was a large group of riders. Each man had a short bow and a saber. Jessie sprang to his feet, bumping his head on the roof. “Ow!” he shouted and rubbed his head. He remembered cavalrymen from
Fort Casum warning everyone in the area to be on the look out for raiders. He grabbed onto his emergency pole and slid down to the ground. Up until now the only emergency was when his parents called and he had to get down and be home in a hurry.

He hit the ground and took off running faster than he ever had in his life, mostly because it was down hill. He had to warn everybody. His breath came in gasps by the time he was half way to his house. Joel Kaneim was plowing a furrow with his mule. “Raiders are coming!” Jessie called to him and kept going while the man plowed on. He ran past Joanni Koppler. “Raiders are coming!” She ignored him too, but he kept running straight into the village and shouting, “Raiders are coming!” Nobody paid him any mind, except his parents.

“Jessie Joe Dusavil, you stop making a spectacle of yourself right this instant!” his mother scolded, all red-faced an angry.

His father grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. “You listen to me boy. Folks around here are weary of your pranks. It isn’t right to keep trying to scare people and it sure isn’t funny.”

Jessie was trying to catch his breath. Frustrated, he pointed to the north. “I was in my fort, I saw them coming. Really, I’m not joking.”

His father looked him in the eyes, like he could read into his head and know the truth. “Alright, I believe you saw something that scared you, let’s go see what it is.”

It was not the response Jessie hoped for but it was the best he was going to get, so he grabbed his father’s hand and started running, which was not easy since his father was way bigger and did not seem to be willing to move faster than a brisk walk. By the time they reached the peak of Holly’s Hill, the raiders were so close there was not going to be much time to warn the folks below.

His father stood with mouth agape and blinked six times before even taking a breath, and then his brown eyes narrowed, like they were doing a quick assessment. “We better get back,” he stated softly, and pushed him toward the village.

Jessie and his father ran down the hill, both of them shouting, “Raiders are coming!”

By the time they reached the village, Samwin Jenkonna, with gray in his hair and beard, was telling everyone who had a bow to go get it, which included just about everyone over nine years of age. The women were calling the little ones and gathering them in the community house. It too was made of logs but was big enough for the whole village to meet in.
Cana did not have a mayor but most people kind of looked to Mister Jenkonna when trouble was about to pay a call.

“Sam, I counted twenty men on horseback, each with a short bow and saber. We’ve been harvesting a week now. I’m not letting these men have our food,” Powel Dusavil stated firmly.

“None of us want to give our food away, but it may come to that. Go get the rest of your family and your bow and arrows. Food we can replace, our families we cannot, and know we will not abide these thieves harming our loved ones,” Mister Jenkonna replied.

Jessie turned at a shout from his mother. She had his sister in her arms and was running toward the community house. The raiders were charging into the village, people were screaming and running. There was no time to get his bow before his father picked him up like he was a sack of corn and ran along with the rest of the folks
into the community house.

The raiders swept into the village, some of them dismounting and entering people’s homes and Jessie could hear things being broken and smashed. Everyone who had a bow was at the windows ready to let fly at any raiders who came near the community house. Two of the riders lighted torches and tossed them into Jessie’s house, Miss Canndie’s, and old man Konnover’s as well, all were soon burning in flames. These men did not come to steal, they came to destroy everything we have, Jessie realized. There were more raiders than there were men in the village.

“Do something!” Jacob Kyler shouted as a torch was tossed into his log house.

Mister Jenkonna was shaking his head. “Only if they threaten us here, those things out there can be rebuilt. If we start shooting arrows at these men, they might just burn down this building with us in it.”

Jessie stared out the window and was surprised when an arrow flew into the throat of the raider about to toss another torch into Jacob’s house. A second raider died when an arrow flew into his ear and the point came out the other ear. A third one died with a miniature crossbow bolt in his right eye.

“Who is shooting those arrows?” Mister Jenkonna demanded to know, except even Jessie could see the arrows were not coming from the community house.

He glanced back out the widow and blinked, not sure of what he was seeing. A man on an ashen stallion, leading Royal Guardsmen right into the village, and wearing polished chain mail, a forest green sir coat, and light green pants. On his shoulders was a falcon with a lightning bolt clutched in its talons in a sky of blue. Over his heart was the emblem of the royal hawk in flight, matching that on his green lacquered helmet. His sword belt was black with a double row of diamonds studded around his waist. This was a Ducaunan Royal Knight of the Realm!

The lead raider charged at the Knight, who took up the challenge, his great sword at the ready. They closed, and quicker than Jessie’s eyes could follow, the raider’s blade was brushed aside and his head flew off and hit the ground rolling. The knight charged at another raider, who managed to shoot off an arrow, which the knight brushed aside with a flick of his sword and then went on and decapitated his opponent. Royal Guardsmen swung their broadswords against the sabers of buckskin-clad horsemen and it was the raiders that fell from their saddles. Arrows were bouncing off the chain mail of the Guardsmen. The battle lasted about a quarter of a mark. Eleven raiders were dead and fourteen wounded and taken captive.