Unicorns' Opal (4 page)

The Rangers reassembled at the top of the hill and quickly established a cold campsite. Alex disappeared while the camp was being set up and returned just as Jenneva and Niki were breaking out the rations for the evening meal.

“Did you notice all the tracks when we came up here?” Tedi asked.

“Yes,” smiled Alex. “The only tracks on the other side were made by us. I would say that several dozen men turned around here this afternoon. They came in from the east and they left to the east.”

“What do you suppose that means?” Arik asked.

“I’m not sure,” Alex answered. “It could be a number of things. This could be a turn-around spot for a patrol or there could have been indecision in what they’re orders are supposed to be. I know one thing for sure. There are no troops out here that belong to any government. They were either bandits, which I doubt, or Dark Riders looking for us.”

“Why couldn’t they be bandits?” queried Niki.

“Because there is nothing to steal out here,” chuckled Alex. “With no governments around, they also would not need a base this far from something to steal. I think it is safe to say that several dozen Dark Riders turned around here this afternoon. It is probably the same group that Prince Midge saw earlier.”

“Do you think they will come back tonight?” Fredrik questioned.

“I don’t know,” Alex admitted, “but we will have sentries tonight, one on each approach in two shifts. Fredrik and Tanya will take the first shift. I suggest we get as much sleep as we can hold tonight. Tomorrow is going to be another long day and I want to move out before the sun rises.”

***

Pixy and Nixy sat in the upper reaches of the Father Tree and watched the Dark Riders from Kantor approach. The rest of the fairies had left in the morning with Queen Mita and Pixy and Nixy had volunteered to stay behind to notify the villagers when it was safe to return. The Dark Riders were making no effort to be quiet and their voices reached the two fairies clearly.

“They were here all right,” one of the Dark Riders bellowed. “They left going south sometime today, probably this morning. Seven horses, I mark it.”

“We did not suspect that they might head south,” intoned another. “There is a group coming in from Kalamaar, but it will be some time before they even get close. If we don’t follow them, they may get away, and I wouldn’t want to be the one to report that.”

“Heading south could be a ruse,” cautioned the first Dark Rider. “We should link up with the group coming in from the east before turning south. I would have expected them to be here at the same time as us.”

“Enough!” shouted a third Dark Rider. “We have more than enough men to cover both choices with only seven opponents. Twenty men will follow the trail south and twenty will come with me to the east. Whichever group sights them will send a rider to alert the other group. Now, get on your horses and earn your pay.”

***

Zorn stood staring at the body of the Black Devil, while Arpal and Quilo argued about how many arrows it must have taken to down him. Zorn shuddered when he thought of having an arrow pass through your gut while flying over the enemy. It was not a pleasant way to die and Zorn wondered if he had divulged any information before dying. The trail they had been following was getting tougher to read every hour. His opponents were obviously doing whatever they could to hide their tracks and they were pretty good at it, but hiding all signs of seven horses passing was practically impossible.

What really puzzled Zorn was the path they were taking. The track south had been an obvious attempt to lead them into the middle of nowhere, but then they had headed due east which led to nothing. As if that were not bad enough, the rest of the day they had maintained a northeasterly track. The Prophecy Children had wasted an awful lot of time for no apparent reason. More puzzling was the note from Dalgar’s supposed spy. The enemy had not turned southeast like the note said. If they were planning on hiding in the mountains, then why were they spending the day paralleling the mountains and far enough away that they would never reach any place to hide if they were seen. The part about the unicorns’ opal made no sense at all, and now they had found the body of a Black Devil whom Zorn did not recognize. The only tracks leading to the spot were the same tracks that left, so the Black Devil had to have been flying overhead.

“Mount up,” Zorn called to the two buffoons who were assigned to him. “The only possibility that makes sense is that they are trying to head for the pass and don’t want to be in view of anyone in the mountains. We are going to get there before them and let them come to us.”

Zorn turned from the track they had been following. The Black Devils would make much better time now that they didn’t have to look for signs of the track and Zorn had no fear of anyone in the mountains seeing his party.

The Dark One was in a foul mood as he paced around his study. He should have heard of the Children’s capture or death by now, but no one informed him of any successes and Sarac knew that could only mean that there weren't any. Everyone would be tripping over each other to bring him good news, but only Lattimer had the courage to bring him the bad news.

“Lattimer!” called Sarac. Bad news or not, he must know what was going on. Forgetting what he was doing, Sarac passed through the cursed sunlight again and kicked out viciously at a pile of books on the floor in reaction, sending them flying into the wall. His light skin did not fair well in the harsh sunlight, but he didn’t want to cut off the breeze by boarding up the window.

Lattimer was Sarac’s closest confidant and he strode quickly into the room. “I’m afraid there isn’t much new information from the field,” Lattimer stated frankly.

Lattimer was also the only Black Devil who did not scrape and bow to the Dark One. Sarac wasn’t certain if that was what he liked about Lattimer or if he put up with his aide in spite of his lack of protocol. Sarac threw himself down in his chair, sending his long, black hair flying over the chair back.

“The man we sent out to scout from the air never returned,” continued Lattimer. “We have had several other reports come in, but they tell us little. Do you wish to bothered with them?”

Sarac tugged on his long, black mustache and sighed. “Yes, Lattimer, if it’s not too much trouble to inform me about what my forces are doing.”

Lattimer looked across the desk at Sarac’s black eyes boring into him and continued without any visible sign of fear or irritation. “Very well,” Lattimer stated. “The southern pass through the West Mountains is blocked by one hundred Dark Riders and six Black Devils. Forty Dark Riders and one Black Devil man the northern pass. This is the group that was supposed to meet up with the detail out of Kantor.”

“Why aren't they any farther than the pass?” snapped Sarac.

“They did go farther,” Lattimer explained. “They made it almost to Dani before deciding it was better to block the pass. They feared the enemy would get around them and figured if the Children were still west of them that the detachment from Kantor would already have them in their possession.”

“What makes the Field Commanders think they can change my orders?” growled the Dark One.

“Actually,” Lattimer offered, “the Dark Rider in charge, Xerog, I believe, discussed it with Calastano and they agreed. I think it was a wise move based on the other reports.” Lattimer paused to see if Sarac would object some more and when he didn’t, Lattimer continued. “The group from Kantor found the spot where the enemy was camped for some time. They left a very obvious trail southward, so the Commander split his forty men. Half will follow the track to the south and the other half will continue east as planned. The forces from Kalamaar number around three hundred with a score of Black Devils, but I am afraid they will be too late to be of help.”

“But you said they were heading south,” interrupted Sarac. “How can they be too late if they are riding toward each other?”

“Dalgar sent three of his Black Devils out from Kantor before our group left,” commented Lattimer. “They have already determined that the trail south was a ruse. They were tracking them northeast all day and figured that they would be heading for the northern pass, so Zorn and his people will be meeting up with Calastano.”

“How did Dalgar manage to get his men out of Kantor before ours?” questioned Sarac.

“I can only assume that he sent his own people out as soon as he notified us,” Lattimer guessed. “By the time we got word back to Kantor, Dalgar’s people would have had a healthy start. It would appear that unless they continue northward, we have them surrounded. It should just be a matter of waiting.”

“I hate waiting!” yelled the Dark One. “I have waited in this damn castle for seventeen years for these Children to be found. I don’t wish to wait any longer. Another month in this prison and my skin will start to sprout mold.”

Lattimer waited patiently for Sarac’s temper to ease. He knew better than to talk when Sarac was like this. Other people had died for not remembering that particular lesson.

“Can they get out of this trap, Lattimer?” Sarac asked calmly. “Is there any chance that our plan will fail?”

“There is always a chance that any plan will fail,” explained Lattimer. “I think Garth and Kalina Shado are still with the Children. He killed thirty Dark Riders and a Black Devil in two separate attacks down near Lorgo a couple of months ago. I don’t think it will happen again, but it is certainly possible.”

“What do we know about this Garth Shado?” Sarac inquired. “It seems that I have heard his name before.”

“We don’t know an awful lot about him,” Lattimer answered. “Other than the two recent attacks involving the Children, I think his name may have come up once or twice. Those episodes were more of the typical type of encounters. I think I remember that he killed two of our men last year. We didn’t pursue it because the men were trying to force themselves on a woman and it didn’t have anything to do with our affairs. The men were assigned to a city garrison at the time and were off duty. I think he was thought to be a bandit at that time.”

“So, he’s basically a nobody,” summarized Sarac. “Then why does he choose to get involved with the Children now? Maybe we can pay him to turn on the Children and give them up?”

“Perhaps he would accept such an offer,” agreed Lattimer, “but for our people to be able to present it, they would be close enough to kill him. I think we can save our money and just eliminate him.”

“Send a message to Majork,” Sarac ordered. “Tell him I want his goblins to be ready in case the Children get across the mountains. Have it done diplomatically, Lattimer. The goblin king must think he is offering to help, not being ordered to.”

“I am familiar with the goblin’s personality traits,” smiled Lattimer. “He will be begging for a chance to get his people involved.”

The Dark One waved his aide off and returned to pacing the floor of his study. Lattimer was correct, there was not much news to be heard.

***

Kaz quietly set down on a clear area of the mountain peak near the northern pass through the West Mountains and Alex swiftly dismounted. It was dangerous for Kaz to fly in amongst the mountains at night, but Alex was disturbed by the tracks found near the knoll on which the Rangers slept. The large group of Dark Riders had turned around for a reason and, if Alex’s guess was correct, he would find those men guarding this pass.

Alex threw several coils of rope across his shoulder and made his way towards a narrow gully below him. He had ordered Kaz to set down near one of the peaks so there would be less chance of an accident, which meant the Dark Riders guarding the pass would be well below him. He would still have to get much closer to the actual pass to verify his suspicions.

Alex found a trail after descending a fairly easy slope and turned towards the pass. The night air was cool and the stars twinkled brightly above. The moon was in its last hour, which meant Alex would have to hurry to use its light in order to see the Dark Riders. Alex loped along as quickly as he could yet still remain silent. Several times during the journey the gully he was using ended and Alex had to seek another path towards the pass.

Finally, the Ranger arrived on a cliff that overlooked the pass. Two hundred feet below lay the northern road through the West Mountains. In a wide area of the pass, just east of the summit, was a campfire with several men sitting nearby. Not far from the fire, several dozen men lay sleeping, confirming Alex’s suspicions. Alex searched for the sentries he knew would exist and found four of them, two on each side of the road, but only on the western approach. Alex frowned at the sloppy, haphazard approach to security. The Dark Riders were totally exposed to an eastern attack. If he still commanded the Targa Rangers, his men would simply climb over the mountains and attack from the East, wiping out the enemy force before the sentries knew what was happening.

Alex paused before leaving to look again at the men around the campfire. He subconsciously reached into a pouch and extracted the scope the elves had given him so long ago. Focusing on the men around the fire, Alex inhaled sharply. There were four Black Devils talking down there, when he thought there would be only one. He collapsed the scope and returned it to its pouch. Alex sat there thinking. Sarac must have known about the Children well before the clearing of the sky to have reacted so swiftly. There could be no further doubt about the Southern Pass being filled with Sarac’s men.

Alex rose and started the series of climbs necessary to get him back to Kaz. All the while his mind raced to figure out how Sarac could have known. The reports General Fernandez had shown him in Kantor would not have been enough evidence for Sarac to commit troops to this desolate area. If they had been discovered in Kantor, the troops would not be blocking the passes, but marching through them.

A sudden chill ran up Alex’s spine. If Sarac had known about the Children being in the fairy village before the clearing of the sky, then the forces he was expecting from Kalamaar and Kantor would be much closer than he had originally thought. The real threat to the Children could be coming from the south or the west and the men in the passes are meant just to contain them until the others arrive.