Wolfe Pack (17 page)

He nodded a little petulantly, he didn't like the idea of being given orders by a girl.

“Now listen up everyone, these two will ride in early this evening while the moon is low, they can take care of the three sentries along the trail and we are going to disperse into pairs out here.” He looked around the others to make sure they understood then went on, “Your job will be to ride in from the flanks once you see these two hightailing it out of the valley. Attack with the idea of taking out one of their number and then retreating fast again. That way they don't get a chance to see how many of us there are and won't know which direction to go. If they split up it makes our job easier. We want to inflict casualties but not take any alright?” The team nodded but Keera spoke up,

“What happens afterward? Where do we rendezvous?”

“That's a good question, it is likely we will get split up and we can't stay anywhere near here, this place will be like a hornets nest for awhile. Alright let's do this, we stopped at a creek early this afternoon and is about four hours ride away, that should be a safe enough place to regroup. Are we agreed?”

Again the rest nodded and replied with 'agreed.' Now all they had to do was wait for dusk and take their positions, it wouldn't be far off, the sun was very low in the sky already. Wollfen walked over to where Justin had sat himself up against a tree and he knelt down on his haunches,

“So tell me, do you really think you are up for this? There is going to be some killing, you haven't done that before.” Justin didn't hesitate in responding,

“I will be fine, I used to see wagon trains come through and stop from time to time and they usually had a dead person with them, sometimes it was because of sickness. Sometimes because the wagons had been attacked in the night. I even watched one man die of his wounds once.”

“I know you are good with a bow Justin, but what about that sword you have now? Have you had much practice?” He nodded and smiled,

“Yeah Keera has been showing me a lot, talking to me about how to move and whatnot while we are riding and when we take breaks she has been sparring with me. I think I will be okay.”

Wollfen was a bit more realistic, it had only been a few days since Justin had met Keera,

“I don't want you facing off in a sword fight Justin, only do it if you are cornered. If you can, you run, do you hear me?”

He nodded slowly, he did it to keep Wollfen happy more than anything.

“I will.”

“Good man, well go grab Keera and make sure you two have got everything worked out.”

Justin got up and walked off, Wollfen watched him go. He liked him and now in retrospect wished he hadn't joined his team. He didn't want to see the young man die in battle.

Darkness was falling and he signaled everyone else to prepare, he knew it would take time for Keera and Justin to sneak in but they would be coming out of that valley fast. The team mounted their horses and paired up, Keera gave a wave as the two of them rode off towards the valley, Kane had given them good instructions on where to find the sentries.

Wollfen looked to Dark,

“So, are you ready?” She smiled and waved a dagger,

“My crossbow is well oiled and I have a full quiver of bolts, just point me in the right direction and I will do my share.”

He gave a smirk at her comment, that was an understatement and he knew it. Well he guessed he would see first hand just how much of the old Nightclan spirit still dwelled within her.

They waited about fifteen minutes and then rode on toward the valley, the group split off into two pairs on either side of the road taking up positions a couple of hundred yards out. Kane and Solynne took the side that the two soldiers were on, Wollfen and Dark had one flank all to their own. They would wait here until they heard the chase was on then ride parallel to the road in the same direction as Keera and Justin would be riding. Then ride in, fire off a crossbow bolt and retreat again. Depending on how the bandits reacted and how many there were they may repeat the process. If they were very lucky they might be able to take down the lot.

Justin and Keera were moving along stealthily sneaking up on the last sentry on the right, the other two had already been disposed of. She leaned over to his ear, her lips brushing it, then she whispered in an almost inaudible tone,

“I'll take this one.”

He waited and watched as she crawled forward inching slowly closer. It took her about five minutes to cover the last two yards and then she was up in a flash, hand over the man's mouth from behind plunging her dagger into his lower back. The man jerked and there was a muffled cry, then he went limp and she slowly let him sink to the ground. Justin couldn't help but admire her in action, she was some woman. She was nothing like anybody he had ever seen before.

The two of them made their way back to their horses tied up at a branch and mounted up. They quietly rode without a word up the valley toward where the cave was supposed to be. It was dark in this valley as the moon still hadn't crested the ridge. Then they noticed a glow up ahead, that must be the cave, the two of them readied their weapons, Justin had his bow with an arrow notched and Keera had her crossbow set and ready to go. They moved closer and Keera let out a low whisper,

“Shit! Two more sentries at the entrance!”

Justin didn't hesitate letting fly with his first arrow and then notching another, even before the first arrow had found its target he had pulled back and was releasing the second. Both arrows found their mark and the two men crumpled to the ground with only a little noise. As they approached Keera was almost in shock, the two men were both hit in the neck, she looked at Justin. He really knew his craft when it came to using the bow. She leaned in close to his ear again,

“Do you know how turned on I am right now? I'm getting wet down below.”

Justin stared back open mouthed and wide eyed then his thoughts snapped back. They were still sitting on their horses at the entrance of the cave, there was a shout from inside and the two of them let fly with their weapons, Justin got three arrows off and Keera managed a bolt from her crossbow. Then they turned and bolted, there were cries from behind them as they retreated and neither of them looked back. They could hear the commotion growing as the bandits poured outside and there were shouts of anger.

It was only a minute before a good ten men on horseback were giving chase as the two left the valley, they gave a look to either side as they galloped along but couldn't see any of their companions, they sure hoped they were there. Covering about four hundred yards more the two of them heard a cry and more shouting, Keera had a quick look and saw a riderless horse. Then she turned back and focused on the road ahead, the bandits were not slowing at all.

There was a scream this time and another bandit fell, but this time neither Justin or Keera bothered to look, the bandits were actually closing the gap. Then there was another cry but still the bandits came on. This is getting hairy, Keera thought. She looked across to Justin who was grinning widely, she couldn't believe it, he was having fun! She gave a quick look behind her, damn it, they were fifty yards behind and closing, they had to do something. She called out to Justin in a loud voice,

“We have to split up and double back onto our companions! That will give them a chance to take the rest down! Do you understand?”

He nodded with a big smile and turned off the road to the left, she did the same to the right and galloped off through the woods in a slow arc to bring the chasers about. She only hoped that the timing was right.

Finally she was heading back the way she came but off the road and she could see riders up ahead in the darkness, they were closing fast and she raised her hand, it was Wollfen and Dark. As they flashed past she cried out,

“Three on me!”

It was only seconds before the bandits clashed with the other two, Wollfen and Dark both let off a bolt and two of the three riders fell from their horses, one was clutching his stomach as he hit the ground and the other was already dead. The third swung his blade hard at Dark but she dropped her crossbow and slid down onto the side of her horse as he careered past. Then she was up again turned her horse around to give chase, the bandit too had also turned, he was showing no fear and swung again at her. This time she had her sword out and was swinging in reply, the two blades clashing with a loud ring.

Wollfen fired off a bolt but unfortunately he hit the bandits horse causing it to falter. The man fell from his saddle and rolled on the ground then disappeared into the underbrush. Dark in the heat of the moment dismounted and gave chase, Wollfen called out to her,

“Dark! Let him go! It's too dangerous!”

He dismounted too and quickly walked into the surrounding woods and then stopped perfectly still, listening carefully for any sound. There was none, the silence was unexpected, a deadly game of cat and mouse had begun.

Wollfen sighed quietly, he knew there was nothing he could do, he had no idea where either of them were. So he stood there scanning the greenery hoping to see something. Then all of a sudden there was movement to his right only six feet away and he turned. Just in time to see Dark spring up with her dagger and catch the man who had also jumped up. Her blade bit deep into his abdomen and the man gripped onto her shoulders but he couldn't do anything, the strength went out of him and he fell back clutching himself. Wollfen walked over as Dark knelt and in one swift movement she drew her blade across the side of his neck causing a gout of blood to shoot out,

“Dark! You didn't need to do that.” She looked up at him,

“Aren't we supposed to be killing them?”

He shook his head and sighed,

“Well, not in cold blood no.”

She gave him a look and wiped her blade  on the dead mans shirt.

“He would have done the same to me without a second thought, I didn't know you were so soft Wolf.”

“I'm not going to argue the point right now Dark, but we are going to have to talk about this later. Right now we have to see to our companions.”

The two of them mounted up as Keera returned and drew in beside them, she informed them immediately of what was going on,

“Justin was doing the same thing as me on the other side, seeing that you had three on this side he must have been followed by the remaining four. We need to find him and the others fast.”

They agreed and immediately rode straight for the road crossing it over and then heading back towards the valley, it was a dangerous thing to do but if Justin was in flight then who knew how far he had traveled?  After a minute it was obvious he was nowhere in this direction so they doubled back and continued on looking. Again there was no sign of him but they kept looking for another ten minutes, but where he could be they didn't know, in fact there was no sign of the bandits anymore either. And what of the other companions? Had any fallen? Were some or all of them heading back to the rendezvous point?

“So what do we do? Do we keep riding around in circles for the rest of the night?” Wollfen looked to Dark after she spoke, he was shaking his head and thinking,

“I don't think there is much we can do, Justin may have lost them and be returning to our agreed meeting place, or maybe the others took the bandits out.” Keera wasn't so sure,

“I think if the last four bandits had been taken down we would have found something. We can't just abandon Justin.”

“I know Keera but there's not much else we can do, we need to regroup and see where we are at then decide what to do next.”

She sighed at his words, she knew what he was saying was right but she was worried for him, in fact she realized she cared a lot for him.

“Well let's get going, if he isn't there then we have to work out what to do next and fast.”

“I agree Keera.”

The three of them spurred their horses on and rode back toward the west.

In the meantime Justin was riding hard with the three bandits still on his tail, he had become lost in the woods and couldn't get his bearings at all, he wasn't good at looking at the stars to see where to go. He had grown up and lived on that same farm all his life. He knew things were getting desperate, while he had managed to keep the bandits at a distance his horse nevertheless was getting tired and there was a lather of sweat covering him. It was only a matter of time before they caught up and there was no way he could take on four of them and win.

He had tried turning in his saddle and firing off his bow at the pursuers earlier on and initially had success in bringing one of them down, but the horse would slow down and he had to keep spurring it on. He couldn't do that turned in the saddle so he had to give up firing his bow.  What was he to do? This had started off being exciting and he had enjoyed it at first but now the reality of what could happen was hitting home and he didn't want to die.

All of a sudden two crossbow bolts flew past either side of him and two of the men behind fell from their saddles. The third man immediately turned and fled back in the direction they had come. Justin looked back to where the bolts had come from, two women on horseback came racing out and passed him pursuing the retreating figure. He too turned and attempted to follow but his horse was slowing up, he couldn't keep up their pace. Finally he managed to catch up as he spotted the blonde woman fire off another bolt catching the last bandit in the back. The two had pulled up and were looking back as he approached, the brunette was a striking figure with two short swords strapped to her back.