The Pool And The Pedestal (Book 2) (27 page)

The moon was full and bled its quicksilver light through the trees into the glade below. The Northern Guardsmen posted two sentries outside the camp on the hillside.  Vieri felt two sentries were too few in a war zone, but the Zodrians camped far from the Ulrog Horde and grew confident in their safety. Such a wide gap in their security was a glaring mistake. These Guardsmen may be leagues from Ulrog, but they practiced folly by neglecting thoughts of special enemies such as Vieri.  The assassin would happily exploit this mistake at great cost to the boy.

It had taken incredible concentration, but Vieri kept an eye locked on the boy. When the sun dipped below the horizon and the hazy light of dusk faded, Vieri followed the shadow of the boy while he moved about the encampment. Hopefully the assassin’s eye hadn’t strayed and locked on another in the half light. Finally, the boy bedded down in the encampment. Vieri marked the location. The bright moon would help the Windrider navigate through the trees, but its light was more of a curse than a blessing. Vieri hunkered down on the cold cliffside. The assassin would wait until the soldiers below were in a deep sleep, then Vieri would attack.

Kael woke from an unusual dream. Eyes had been staring at him. The sharp, penetrating eyes of a hawk or some other bird of prey. The boy shivered under his blankets. The fire had died down and the Northwest wind cut through the brush surrounding the camp. He rolled from his side onto his back and stared at the trees above him. The full moon set the rushing clouds aglow in a silvery light. A gust of wind snapped a tree limb , sending an eruption of martins into the night sky.

“Birds.” scoffed a groggy Kael.

The boy rolled back over and drifted off to sleep. His mind failed to register the growing speck circling high above the campsite. It floated in the gusting winds, methodically descending toward the encampment below. The sentries posted on the roadside fought sleep and kept their weary eyes trained on the road to the North. The road toward the danger from which they hastily retreated. The night sky held no interest for them. They spent far to many nights in recent months lying on their backs staring into its vast emptiness.

The black shadow spun a long slow circle just over the tops of the giant Elms, rising and falling on the steady night breezes rolling across the Northern plains. The shadow floated for a moment longer, then plunged through a gap in the glade’s canopy. With precise physical control huge wings snapped inward as the figure straightened upright and alighted upon the dusty ground in a full sprint.

Vieri was confident of the assessment of the camp from above. The assassin’s only access to the camp was a gap in the treetops some fifteen yards from the boy’s resting place. Vieri moved quickly toward the boy, quietly skipping over sleeping Guardsmen. The target lay oblivious to the danger. Vieri closed to within three strides and drew a long, curved dagger from the folds of the cape.

Kael had difficulty returning to sleep. He felt uneasy. The boy rolled to his side and his eyes slid open. The moonlight sliced through the trees creating odd shadows that played in the breeze. Kael became aware of a darkness more dense and substantial than the rest. It moved toward him. A glint of steel flashed as the shadow passed through a beam of moonlight. Alarm rang in Kael’s head.

Vieri needed to pass one more slumbering bundle for the task to be complete. The killer leapt. The bundle at the assassin’s feet rose unexpectedly and met Vieri with a thud. The Windrider was knocked hard to the ground.  Vieri gasped and couldn’t breathe.  The bundle sprouted hands and they locked onto Vieri’s arms. Vieri kicked hard and solid contact rewarded the assassin. The bundle’s hands loosened for a moment and the assassin slipped free.

Vieri twisted and spun. The assassin stood and chanced a quick look in the boy’s direction. The hulking Keltaran rose from his sleep and threw himself  on top of the boy. Other slumbering bundles shifted and moved. The assassin’s blade was lost, and with it the Windrider’s ability to finish the task cleanly and efficiently.

The bundle rose and before the blankets even fell to the floor of the glade, Vieri knew they contained the gray haired Guardsman. Once again he upset the plan. The boy’s death was nearly impossible now, and Vieri risked capture. A Borz assassin is nothing if not patient. Another opportunity would come as long as Vieri escaped capture tonight.

The Windrider turned and sprinted toward a large gap between the posted sentries. These foolish Zodrians, thought Vieri. Confusion is my ally. The assassin ran toward the brush line barking commands like a Zodrian drill sergeant.

“Ulrog are in the perimeter. Keltaran! They are upon us!”

Cefiz heard the shouts but ignored them. The black shadow that issued them ran North, out of the glade. Guardsmen jumped from their bedrolls and produced weapons, but the small shadow fooled them as their eyes searched for the hulking figures of Ulrog and Keltaran. None noticed the diminutive black wisp sprinting past them in an attempt to flee. Cefiz threw the remainder of his blankets to the ground and charged after the assassin.

Vieri plunged hard into the brambles and thickets surrounding the campsite. The Windrider’s arms were tucked in closely so as not to snag the silk of the suit on the bushes. The Zodrians were clueless and so predictable. All save one. Vieri glanced back. The gray haired soldier followed, but he was too big and slow. He won’t catch a Borz Windrider of the Shan tribe, thought Vieri. The assassin broke from the thickets thirty yards down from the crest of the great hill straddling the supply road.

A Zodrian sentry rumbling down from the hilltop shocked Vieri. The Zodrian held a drawn saber and was only three strides away. His eyes went wide at the sight of Vieri. 

The sentry raised his blade and lunged forward.

His reactions were quick, but he had never faced a Borz Windrider of the Shan tribe. The wings on Vieri’s suit flipped open as the Guardsman’s blade slashed through the air. The assassin leapt. The silken wings snapped backward and filled with the stiff North wind that scoured these lands. It was enough. Vieri quickly rose from the earth above the startled Guardsman. He tumbled off balance and plunged past the assassin. Vieri delivered a powerful heel kick to the face of the  shocked sentry. His head snapped backward and he crumpled to the ground unconscious.

Vieri flipped through the air and ripped the wings inward. Deftly the assassin alit upon the dusty hillside.  The Windrider realized there was little time before others would be drawn to the site and continued a sprint to the hill’s crest. Chaos erupted in the camp below. Excellent, thought Vieri, it will help cover my escape.

Cefiz broke through the thorny brambles as the assassin hovered in the air above one of the sentries. The man had no chance. The sentry committed with his saber and exposed his head to the assassin’s kick. He fell to the ground with a thump. The Borz landed almost gracefully and continued a sprint toward the top of the great hill. Cefiz lurched from the bushes and scrambled after the Windrider.

Vieri knew safety lay at the top of the hillside. The assassin felt the cool night breeze surge across the black mask. For a moment Vieri drifted into revelry. This hill was not unlike the massive dunes of the Borz homeland where young members of the Shan tribe first learned to ride the wind. Vieri and the others would race to the top of the dunes and launch themselves from the heights. They would rise on the heated currents of the desert air and the sands would stretch out below them.

Cefiz ran low and snatched the sentry’s saber from the ground as he raced past his disabled countryman. Its blade raked the hillside with a metallic scrape.

The sound of metal on rock snapped Vieri’s mind from memory. Worried, Vieri chanced a glance back to see the insufferable gray haired Guardsman. He glared at Vieri from fifteen yards behind. He clenched his teeth as his legs churned up the steep hillside. He had retrieved his comrades saber and held it tightly in his right hand. Vieri would never give him the chance to use it. This Zodrian was no match for the speed  with which Vieri could crest a dune, let alone a Northern hill that didn’t betray your footing with shifting sands. The assassin ascended halfway up the hill and felt the cool North wind stream over the summit. Anger filled Vieri. Cheated from the target once more by this Guardsman. Vieri pushed on and called back to the pursuer.

“You’re a bane to my existence, Guardsman! Go back to your pots and pans and leave me to my business!”

Cefiz nearly stumbled as the woman’s voice floated back down the hill toward him. Lilywynn had said many of the Borz’s finest warriors were women, but the lieutenant never thought of this assassin as anything other than an enemy. She was near the top now. He knew the outcome of this chase, but he wouldn’t give up.

“I’ll leave no servant of Izgra to their business, Windrider!” snarled Cefiz. “Their only business is death!”

The assassin’s head jerked back and she glared over her shoulder just as she topped the hill. The night wind swirled around her and once again the midnight wings unfolded before Cefiz. Venom poured from the eyes behind the silken mask, as the Windrider gave Cefiz one last look then ran down the far side of the hill from the Guardsman’s sight.

Cefiz crested the hilltop and looked below to a huge, lush valley stretching out before him. A great black bird skimmed the treetops of the forest stretching across the valley. She moved fast and low, rapidly putting distance between herself and the campsite. Cefiz followed her with his eyes until she dipped into the tree line several leagues from the hilltop. The lieutenant frowned and turned on his heels to restore order to the camp below.

Vieri dropped into the woods below and delicately alighted upon the soft moss covered floor. She heaved from the exertion of her sprint up the hill and rapid flight across the valley. The gray haired Guardsman’s vigilance once again delayed her plans. Vieri admitted it was a trait she admired in Borz countryman, but in an enemy it was a danger she wished to avoid.

Vieri’s discovery of the group’s scouts was also upsetting. That young woman and her counterpart were a wrinkle Vieri hadn’t anticipated. The Windrider stripped the silken mask from her head and let her long, midnight hair fall across her shoulders. The sweat on her dark skin glistened  in the diffused moonlight. That Elven girl was able to roam the landscape virtually undetected. Vieri could never be sure if her next attempt on the boy’s life would be compromised. The Elven girl needed to be removed from the equation. But how?

Perhaps Vieri could find a way as they approached the Scythtar Mountains. If the group continued to head North, they would be in range of the Ulrog shortly. The Ulrog would certainly take care of the problem for Vieri. It would require the proper messages at the proper times. The Ulrog were known to be whipped into a frenzy easily.

The Elf girl’s stealthy ways were evident, but if cornered by the Ulrog she might not be able to extricate herself. A plan formed in the Windrider’s mind. Vieri must get the girl to stumble upon the Ulrog., but only after they were alert and waiting for an enemy.

Vieri easily predicted nearly every camp the old man’s group had chosen. She was confident the next camp would be equally self evident. Certainly if Vieri could determine where this group was going to camp, she could lay a trap for the Elf girl.

The Windrider smiled to herself. Rada would be proud. He taught her from the beginning, if the target is too heavily supported, remove the supports first. The Elven girl would be the first to fall. Then perhaps the gray hair must go. Unfortunate. He was an excellent soldier thought Vieri, but he aligned himself with the boy and that was his undoing. The Windrider stripped her silken suit from her lithe body and ran the short distance to her stowed belongings. Confidence welled inside her heart. She would make Rada proud and complete the task.

Cefiz stormed back into the campsite barking orders. Guardsmen were used to taking orders and the sight of Cefiz armed with a saber and carrying one of their fallen comrades shocked the group into action.

He ordered the group to tighten ranks and informed Sergeant Dravgo that his troop wasn’t actually under an attack, but infiltrated by an assassin. Dravgo ordered sentries to tighten a perimeter around the glade and Koe immediately called for role. All men were accounted for including the still groggy sentry. 

Dravgo interviewed the lad and all others who had seen anything unusual. At first several Guardsmen swore they saw Ulrog and Keltaran moving through the campsite during the confusion, but when pressed, their stories evaporated as their hearts calmed. Finally, Cefiz added his account to the night’s events.

Dravgo  suggested rope be strung across the widest gaps in the glades ceiling. Cefiz believed it was useless. The lieutenant felt the assassin would make no further attempt, but Dravgo insisted on the security measures. When all was finished the camp once again settled into a much needed, albeit restless, sleep.

Three days passed and Kael found himself slowly riding North into the heart of Ulrog country. The boy chuckled to himself. He hadn’t felt safe in the Hold of Zodra. How was he supposed to keep calm up here in the battle zone?

The group passed many Guardsmen on their travels North. Haggard and hollow eyes stared at their odd procession as they slowly moved North. Most often a small contingent of officers rode ahead to meet the party and determine its business. The sight of Granu caused each and every one to pause, but Cefiz always provided the proper passwords and news of the giant had reached the front-line.

The condition of the troops shocked Kael. Many were just skin and bone brandishing a saber. Kael wondered how such a group could possibly hold back the likes of what he had encountered South of the capital.

“Trying to hold territory this close to the Scythtar is madness.” stated Ader. “No place to collect food, no grazing land. The Guard gave up driving herds with the troops a century ago. Supply lines are stretched too thin. Much of the food that was not stolen by Udas and his ilk spoiled in transit.