The Scarlet King (32 page)

Jason responded, "She has been much abused,
but if I sat with them I think she would be willing."

Heather responded, "I will have Betty work
with her to get adequate clothing, and have the young priest who
accompanies us work with you two."

The discussion turned towards her plan, and
after listening Jason complained that she again was taking too
great a risk. Heather but shrugged her shoulders, saying, "We have
all taken great risk." She then added, "I need you and Captain Cook
to stand by close enough for a light signal—either the mirror or
fire. “For things may not go as I have planned, and we will need
rescue."

When the discussion was finished Heather went
below to find Betty and the young priest. Betty was busy working on
cloth and Heather knew without asking that she had already started
on the clothing for the stranger. The young priest was suffering
slightly from the sickness of the sea despite the relative calmness
of the sea. He had questions about the nature of the stranger’s
language, but Heather said, "I know not but wish you to learn and
to teach Jason."

The sun had almost completed its journey
across the sky before Captain Cook sailed into the small cove and
dropped anchor. They began to immediately offload those of the
Forest. They were traveling light with only a few days’ supplies,
for the battle would be quickly decided. Either they would need to
flee to the sea or there would be time to resupply. About two
thirds of those of the Forest moved out quickly, with Daniel and
Jeremy to set up the trap Heather had planned. Those remaining
traveled slowly, for Heather yet had difficulty in walking and
frequently was carried. They had traveled about half the distance
to their point of attack when one of the scouts returned, leading
Heather's great white horse.

They paused for a rest while Heather and her
horse became reacquainted. They traveled much quicker now but
needed more work to cover their trail. When they finally arrived at
the river, they crossed the ford and then moved upstream to high
ground from which to further plan the attack. The trail was steep
and rocky and the horse had difficulty with the stones and the
narrowness of the path.

They set up a small camp and scouts began
patrolling the area. Heather ordered a rest period for those not
scouting. It was a moonless night with only the light of the stars,
but from her vantage point Heather could make out the greater
blackness of the land around her. She tried to rest but her mind
was too active. When the sky to the east announced the arrival of
the morning with a graying of the eastern sky, her anxiety settled
itself somewhat, for the decisions had been made. Now it was up to
the God of the Sacred Water. It was a glorious sunrise, with the
progression from a few bands of pink to a glorious banquet of
colors as the sun began to creep over the horizon.

Heather could make out a few of the Forest
moving in and out of the boulders. The sun was not yet free of the
horizon, and the sound of trumpets was easily heard as those of the
Red began their attack on the western front. She sent some of those
of the Forest to act as guides to those of the Red as they began
their retreat. Those who had arrived in the black ships from the
East had broken camp, and began moving to the eastern front as
reinforcements against the army of Don the Great. The surprise
attack from the rear caused major confusion as the remaining troops
were quickly overrun. The inertia of the main column of enemy
troops took some time to reform and create a defensive position.
Those of the East suffered great losses initially, but as they
reorganized, their greater numbers stopped the advance of the Red
Army.

From her perch on the high ground Heather
watched for any signs of the mounted troops approaching. It was
midmorning before the dust cloud of fast-moving horses could be
seen. She had a light signal sent to those of the Forest who were
with the Army of the Red. As was planned, the commander of the Red
ordered an emergency retreat and followed those of the Forest who
guided them to the ford. By the time they were descending the hill
towards the river, the thunder of horses could be felt shaking the
ground. Heather had wanted them to appear somewhat disorganized,
which the commander of the Red found easy to do, for the fear that
the mounted troops instilled was most real. He did his best to
organize the defense line but found himself pinned between the
river and the approaching enemy.

From her perch Heather could see the dust
cloud approaching from the fast-moving mounted troops. When they
arrived at the down slope leading to the ford, they stopped—and
Heather feared that her planning had failed. The troops disappeared
back behind the edge of the downslope just out of sight. For a
moment there was silence. With a sudden fury they reappeared and
began a gallop down the slope in attack formation. Her instructions
to Jeremy had been simple: "Let the lead horses pass and then
spring the trap."

From her vantage point amongst the rocks
Heather watched in a mix of fear and anticipation. The first few
horses passed through the trap as planned, and then suddenly horses
began screaming and riders were thrown to the ground. Those in the
rear of the attack column tried to rein their horses in.

Daniel was hidden amongst the rocks ready to
strike the fire for the powder. As the horses began thundering by,
he realized that they were powerful enough to disrupt his carefully
buried lines of powder. He became so nervous that he had trouble
striking the flint to start the powder on fire. He needed his
explosion to occur while the mounted troops were bunched up and
before they could reorganize.

When he finally struck a flame in the powder
and the smoke moved forward, he retreated further into the rocks.
They had discussed a complete retreat, but he was unsure of the
powder so he stayed close enough that he could relight it if
needed. The powder trails seemed to burn slower than he remembered,
and his anxiety about failing increased. The mounted troops were
reorganizing and this opportunity was quickly fading.

Daniel was thinking hard about what else he
could do and failed to keep himself completely hidden. A call went
up from one of the troops, who began pointing towards Daniel. At
this point all Daniel could do was flee the area and worry not
about the powder. He took off running upriver in amongst the rocks
along the bank. Three of the mounted troops peeled off from the
main group and began their pursuit. They had no sooner left the
area of Heather's trap when Daniel's powder erupted in a great
explosion, which hurled rocks and dirt over the mounted troops.
Many were knocked free of their horses just from the concussion of
the explosion. The flying debris injured or killed many others, and
the sound of horses screaming from their wounds permeated the
valley.

As soon as debris quit falling from the sky,
the commander of the Red commenced his attack. The ferocity of the
explosion seemed to stimulate his troops. They charged uphill not
to the sounds of trumpets, but to the roar of the soldiers’ cries
of aggression as they moved to defend their homeland. The network
of ropes slowed their progress and some of the mounted troops
escaped; those who were not quick enough succumbed to those of the
Red.

Heather's attention had already shifted to
the three mounted troops who had left the main group and were
headed upstream along the bank. When she realized they were
pursuing Daniel, she remembered not her injured foot as she ran to
where her horse was hidden. She yelled that those of the Forest
with her should follow, and she took off at a dangerous gallop down
the narrow trail.

She mostly just held on as the horse
navigated the steep trail, but as soon as the trail leveled she
unsheathed her sword. She could see that Daniel was soon to be
overrun and urged her horse on. Those of the East were
concentrating hard on their quarry and paid no attention to the
approaching horse. Daniel darted behind another rock, which caused
the pursuers to pull up and change directions, which allowed
Heather to close the distance between them.

It took a moment for the three from the East
to recognize that Heather was not of their troop despite her horse.
The closest turned and began positioning his lancet for an attack.
Heather bothered not with traditional battle and instead raced by,
only to stop and turn, using a quick thrust of her sword to the
horse’s hamstring. The horse screamed, but Heather's horse had
already turned and was rearing up on its hind legs, striking
another of the horses with his front hooves clad in cutting edges.
This attack managed to dislodge the rider, who was partially
trampled by the sparring horses.

The third of the mounted troops had turned
and prepared and was ready for Heather. Heather pulled her horse up
short, and the one from the East charged with his lancet leveled.
Heather met the charge using her sword and all her strength to
deflect the lancet. The strength of the attack all but overwhelmed
Heather and severely twisted her shoulder, so she shifted her sword
back to her right arm. When the one from the East stopped and
turned his horse preparing for another charge, he was just opposite
Daniel, who was hiding behind the boulder.

Daniel reacted using the only weapon he had,
a broken tree limb. He charged out from behind the rock and
attacked the horse in one of the few places without armor. With all
his strength he shoved the stick into the horse’s rectum. The horse
responded with a scream and reared up to its full height. This
unexpected movement dislodged the warrior riding on its back as the
horse fled.

Heather wasted no time and brought the
strength of her horse and sword to the warrior who wisely decided
to fight no more and lay passively on the ground. Jeremy and the
others of the Forest had been running hard and had arrived just in
time to witness Daniel's attack. Jeremy was laughing so hard he had
trouble talking. When Daniel asked him what was so funny, he
replied, "Who but our mighty healer would think of attacking a war
horse by shoving a stick up its arse?”

Daniel’s response was, "It worked, did it
not?"

Jeremy had to agree but still could not
control his laughter. Heather spoke up, saying, "I would we secure
this area and the prisoner. We need to move to higher ground."

Those of the Forest, in their apparently
disorganized fashion, began moving back across the river to the
higher hills to the east. Not until they had found a defensible
position did Heather stop and allow Daniel to examine her shoulder.
It had already swollen considerably, but he could feel no break in
the bones and the joint seemed intact. He used one of his cloth
bandages to try to support the arm. Heather was obviously in
significant pain but complained not.

From their temporary camp, scouts went out
and brought back reports. As nightfall approached it was obvious
that those of the Red had succeeded in turning the tide of the
battle. Those from the East were now being pushed hard from both
fronts.

Those of the Great City watched from the
protection of the walls and knew not exactly what had happened. The
citizens knew that the bombardment of the walls was much reduced,
but they understood not the risk that had been taken. The Scarlet
King and those of his war cabinet had likewise stood on the parapet
and watched the battle unfold. The one called the Pet Bird by those
of the Forest spoke up, saying, "It is about time we
counterattacked. I would have done this before so much destruction
of our walls and city had occurred. I do not know why our commander
had to wait so long. We could've easily done this without the help
of the strangers."

The Scarlet King listened to the whining, and
despite the confusion of his mind he knew that it was the One with
the Golden Hair and those of the Forest who had changed the course
of the battle. He spoke up, saying, "We owe our survival to those
of the Forest and their spirits. I would not have any one speak
against them."

Chapter 16

Only after Heather had satisfied herself that
their camp was safe did she relax enough to fully appreciate the
pain in her shoulder. She had those of the Forest rotate their rest
periods and scouting activities. She asked Jeremy, "What chances
would there be of finding some game to supplement our diet?"

He replied, "Edna is already preparing a hunt
and I and a few others will join her. Hopefully we will have fresh
meat for the evening meal." As an afterthought he added, "A glass
of ale would go awfully nice with some fresh meat."

Heather smiled her little smile and responded
not. Daniel was busy fussing over her shoulder, which seemed to
make the pain even worse. He finally announced, "You will heal but
it is going to take time." His face was in a deep frown; he
continued, "Your time as a warrior has come to an end, for neither
of your arms can fully handle your sword."

Heather responded not for some time as she
considered his words. When she spoke it was in a quiet voice. "I
expect your words are true, but we yet have much planning to
do."

For a short time they were quiet together,
enjoying the peace of their camp in the presence of one another.
The sun was getting low in the sky when Edna and the others
returned carrying several sheep. She explained, "Seems those of the
East have destroyed the farms and those animals which escaped are
now wild."

The scent of roasting meat improved
everyone’s spirits, and those of the Forest enjoyed much their
campfire. Scouts and sentries came and went so all could share in
the celebration. When everyone had eaten their fill the stories
started. As always Jeremy played the role of chief storyteller,
repeatedly raising his hand as if he held a large mug of ale. He
recounted first the snare trap they had created and then Daniel's
explosion.