Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (28 page)

At that, the assembled warriors break into a
cheer. “They don’t much care for the Grey Wolf Clan,” Jiron tells
him.

“Yeah,” replies James, “I kind of gathered
that.”

Next to Jiron is seated a wizened, old
Parvati, heavily tattooed. “This is the Chief of the Eller Tribe,”
he says to James.

James gives the man a bow and the chief
gives him a slight nod of his head in return. “Welcome to our
village, friend of Shynti,” the chief says to him.

“Thank you, Chief of the Eller Tribe,” James
replies.

The chief says, “It’s been long since a
Shynti has earned the right to walk among us. We are honored.” The
warriors give a murmur of assent. He gets up from the ground, all
the other Parvatis there rise as well. Motioning for them to follow
him, he moves toward where the women have set up the feast.

“When you leave tomorrow, we’ll send an
escort with you so you will have no trouble as you pass through our
land,” he tells them.

“You are very generous,” Jiron replies.

He waves away the comment, leaning toward
Jiron, he continues, “Many have asked to accompany you, actually.
This way, it makes it seem an honor to them as well.” He gives
Jiron a brief smile then resumes walking toward the feast area.

The feast area is a large cleared area, with
dozens of large mats on the ground. Several fires burn in pits
throughout the area to give light and warmth, already it’s getting
cold. The chief leads them to a large mat at one end, and the other
warriors along with the women and children, settle upon the
others.

James looks out to a veritable sea of faces
as he gazes over the Parvatis come to honor Jiron.

They sit there for several minutes as the
last of the Parvatis come and take their seat. Then the chief
stands up and begins talking to them. Though they can’t understand
what he’s telling his people, the response from the crowd is
positive, with several cheers erupting during the telling.

When the chief is done, he sits back down
which signals for the feast to begin. Women and older children
begin bringing food to the assembled people. The fare is plentiful
and James is happy to see vegetables mixed in with all the meat.
The chief looks at him as he loads his plate with just vegetables
and James tells him, “I’ve had nothing but meat for days. These
remind me of home.”

The chief gives him a grin and nods his
head.

The veggies are good, not to the standard of
his grandmother, but still good. Midway through the meal, the open
space in front of the chief’s mat is the scene of acts of skill.
Wrestling, fighting, and swordsmanship are all displayed to the
Shynti.

“They’re really quite good,” Jiron tells
James. “Better than any from the pits, but don’t tell Scar and
Potbelly I said that.”

James smiles and shakes his head, “My lips
are sealed.” Then he notices a stir of commotion coming from the
far side of the feasting area. A runner dodges around those on the
mats as he makes his way to the chief’s mat.

When he stops in front of his chief, he
begins talking quickly and animatedly. James watches the reaction
of those hearing him, and at first there is silence, then there is
annoyance, then anger. Some begin standing up and shouting.

The chief stands up and hollers to them,
bringing quiet to the feasting area. He shouts out a series of
orders and warriors jump to their feet as they quickly run out of
the area.

“What’s going on?” asks James.

The chief turns to him and says, “The Grey
Wolf Clan has dared to pass our borders and now are moving here. At
least two other clans are with them.”

James knows why they’re here, and he glances
to Miko and Jiron. The looks on their faces show they understand as
well.

“What are you planning to do?” Jiron asks
him.

“Tell them to leave, or make them,” he says
with determination.

“Will they?” asks Miko.

The chief glances at him and with an evil
grin says, “I hope not. But we will not be the first to shed blood
this night, if they leave. If not, WAR!”

He gestures for a young Parvati, a lad of
around Miko’s age to come over, “Jobi here will take you along the
road north. If war comes here, you should not be.”

Jiron holds out his hand and says, “Thank
you, you and your people. True friends you all have been and glad
am I to bear the name of Shynti.”

The chief takes his hand and gives him a
brief nod. After giving the lad some instructions, he turns and
begins calling his warriors to him as he moves to meet the Grey
Wolf Clan.

The lad says, “We must hurry.” He leads them
back to their hut where their horses are still tied. Mounting, they
turn to follow the lad who goes over to where several other lads
are mounted and waiting. A couple of the boys call out greeting to
Miko, obviously they’ve met earlier. He mounts the remaining horse,
and then they move to the rear of the village.

The lads take an almost hidden path through
the trees as they lead them away from the village. They ride single
file as they follow the path among the trees and around the sides
of the mountains.

After a couple hours, the path takes them
near a small lake nestled in among the trees. Winding their way
around it, they come out upon the road and quicken their pace as
they turn north. They don’t travel far before a band of a hundred
Parvati warriors passes them as they run south. “They’re gathering
the warriors in case of war,” Jobi tells them.

“Think there will be?” James asks him.

“Probably, there is little love between my
people and the Grey Wolf Clan,” he tells them.

The road suddenly branches and Jobi takes
the road to the west which crosses a river coming from a larger
lake to their right. Shortly after they leave the lake behind them,
another band of warriors, well over two hundred strong, pass them
heading south.

James almost feels sorry for the Grey Wolf
Clan if they should fight the Parvatis. Almost. They continue down
the road, making as best time they can in the moonlight. An hour
after the warriors had passed them, a smaller road branches off to
the right, but Jobi continues leading them north along the main
road. The other boys with them trail along behind, perhaps acting
as guards.

The sky to the east is beginning to lighten
with the coming of the dawn. As they continue down the road, the
mountains begin to smooth off into rolling hills again. By the time
the sun can be seen in the sky, they’ve completely passed out of
the mountains and are among the foothills.

Jobi brings them to a stop and says, “This
is where we must leave you.”

“Thank you for bringing us through your
lands safely,” Jiron says.

“It was our pleasure,” he replies. “To the
north is the keep which guards the borders of the Empire and the
Kirken Federation. It’s to the east of the main road, so stay on it
and you should be fine.”

“Kirken Federation?” asks James.

“Several kingdoms to the east have banded
together to keep the Empire from conquering them,” he explains.
“Alone, they could never have halted the Empire, but together,
they’re very formidable. Hostilities have broken out between the
Federation and the Empire recently, but if you stay to the main
road, you should be able to stay clear of it.”

“Thank you again,” James tells him.

“You’re welcome,” Jobi replies.

“May your swords drink deep,” Jiron
says.

“May your knives drink deep,” replies Jobi
as he turns his horse as he and the other Parvatis gallop back the
way they’d come.

“Think this Kirken Federation would help us
out?” Jiron asks.

“The enemy of our enemy isn’t always our
friend,” James replies. “We’d better stay clear of them as
well.”

“Alright,” says Jiron. “Let’s move, we’re
getting closer to the northern boundary of the Empire.”

“I know,” replies James. “I’m a little
surprised to have made it this far.”

“Me too,” adds Miko.

They break into a gallop as they head down
the road to the north.

As the road continues northward, it stays
among the hills for several miles before beginning to ease back
into the grasslands. From up ahead, they see a group of riders
coming toward them.

Miko begins to turn off the road, but James
stops him. “They’ve already seen us,” he tells him. “If we run,
they’ll chase us just to find out why.”

He then turns to Jiron and says, “If we just
ride like we belong, maybe they’ll go right past.”

“Either way, they’re going to be here in a
few minutes,” Jiron replies.

“Just continue on and stay calm,” James
says.

Miko moves closer to James, with Jiron just
a few feet in front of them.

As the riders near, they can tell they are
part of the Empire’s cavalry. James watches them approach, his
heart beating rapidly and then they ride right on past. The riders
give them a once over as they go by, but fail to stop.

Once they’ve disappeared to the south, they
all breathe a sigh of relief. “Why didn’t they stop us?” Miko asks.
When James turns to look at him, he continues, “I mean, we don’t
look like we belong here.”

“Most people see what they think they’re
supposed to,” he tells him. “Since we were behaving normally and
not acting odd, they assumed we belonged here.”

“When they get further south and hear about
us, they’ll probably give the alarm,” says Jiron.

“Maybe,” he says. “Hopefully we’ll be
further north and not have to worry about it by then.”

They continue moving north and Miko glances
behind them every once in a while as he searches for the return of
the riders.

A little past noon, they begin to see a town
up ahead. It’s a fair sized town with a sizeable defensive wall.
Many people can be seen moving along the outer perimeter of the
walls, as well as guards walking along the top.

“We better steer clear of that,” Jiron says
while they pause to consider their course of action.

“But which way to go?” asks James. “To the
right looks to be hills but from what Jobi said, that may put us
closer to the keep. Around the left side looks to be just plains
with little chance to sneak by.”

“Let’s wait till dark,” suggests Miko. “Then
we could pass by and not be seen.”

Nodding, James says, “That would give the
horses a chance to rest as well.” Seeing how tired Miko is, adds,
“We could use one too.”

They turn around and head back down the road
several miles before turning off into the hills. When they’ve gone
far enough into the hills that the road is no longer visible, they
set up camp.

After the horses are staked out and they’ve
had a bite to eat, Jiron climbs the hill overlooking the road in
the distance. Lying down up there so as not to create a silhouette,
he keeps watch while the others try to get some sleep. Able to do
with little sleep, he doesn’t bother waking them up for a turn at
watch.

From his vantage point, he can clearly see
the road and it remains devoid of traffic throughout the rest of
the day. By nightfall, when he determines it’s getting dark enough
to conceal them, he returns to the camp and awakens the others.

They quickly mount and again move to the
road as they begin to return to the town. Off in the distance the
town’s lights become visible. Jiron leads them to the west,
maintaining a goodly distance between them as they circumnavigate
the town.

As they pass around the town, they come
across a road heading out from the town to the west. Not seeing
anyone coming or going, they cross it and continue moving around
the town. Several farms are scattered in the area which cause them
to take it slow, having to thread their way through them.

A dog barks at them as they pass close to
one farmhouse. The front door opens and they can see the farmer
outlined by the light inside the house as he stands in the doorway.
He yells something at the dog and looks out into the night, but
fails to see them passing by in the dark.

The dog continues to bark and the man yells
at it again. Giving a couple more barks, the dog finally becomes
silent. The farmer stares out into the night for another minute
before going back inside the house.

Upon reaching the far side of town, they
pick the road up again and continue following it north. With the
town now behind them, they’re able to once more make good
speed.

The three quarter moon gives them plenty of
light to see by. As it slowly makes its arc across the sky, they
move ever further toward the north. As it reaches its zenith, a
band of riders can be heard approaching quickly out of the night
from the east.

A shout can be heard coming from them, James
looks and sees them there in the moonlight, heading straight for
them. A crossbow bolt flies past as one of their pursuers takes a
shot.

“Move!” James yells as he kicks his horse
into a gallop. The other two follow suit as they race away from the
approaching riders. Glancing back, he sees the riders turn to
follow them. He can make out at least seven in the moonlight, there
could be more in the darkness behind them, he’s not sure.

“We’re not going to be able to outrun them,”
announces Jiron.

James glances back and sees the riders are
continuing to gain slowly. “You’re right,” he agrees. He brings his
horse to a stop and turns to face them. Jiron and Miko do the same
just as a bola flies out of the dark and wraps around him, pinning
his arms to his sides.

Losing his balance, James tumbles backward
off his horse and thuds to the ground. He snaps the bola in half
with a thought just as Jiron and Miko fall to the ground, bolas
wrapped around them as well.

Crumph!

The ground under the approaching riders
explodes upward, throwing them in every direction. James draws his
knife and soon has Jiron free as the remaining riders approach.