The Unsuspecting Mage (51 page)

The river makes a turn up ahead and on the inner bend of the turn, there’s an open area, a sandbar really. As likely a spot as any to make camp, James uses the oars to bring them closer. When they get near and are about to be carried past by the current, he signals to Miko and they both leap from the boat. James keeps hold of the side until he’s regained his balance.

Miko on the other hand didn’t fare nearly as well. For when he jumps from the boat, his foot slips on a submerged rock and falls into the icy, cold water. He starts splashing and yells, “James! Help me!”

James looks over as he steadies himself and says, “Its not deep, just stand up.”

Miko’s thrashing begins to calm down and with a face red with embarrassment, he stands up and realizes he was only in a couple feet of water. Dripping wet and frozen, his clothes are soaked through and through. And with the sun behind the mountains, there is little to help him get warm.

With the bedraggled Miko’s help, they get the boat far enough up onto the sandbar so the current will be unable to drag it away. By the time the boat comes to rest, Miko is shivering quite badly and his teeth have begun to chatter.

Seeing his predicament, James collects some of the driftwood lying around and stacks it together. He uses a fire starter spell, catching the wood on fire and then begins placing larger pieces on top. Soon he has a fair sized fire going and Miko gets close, holding his red hands as near the flames as he can stand.

Now that Miko’s plight is beginning to improve, James hunts the sandbar until finding a stick approximately three feet long. He then takes his knife and sharpens one end of the stick to create a makeshift spear. Once it’s finished, he wades into the river and stands patiently waiting for a fish to swim by.

Miko shivers by the fire, its warmth slowly seeping back into his body. Not far off in the river, James stands motionless, his face a study of concentration as he searches the water for movement. Then, in one quick movement, James thrusts the stick into the water and pulls out a large wriggling fish impaled upon its end. Bringing his catch over to the campsite, James uses his knife to gut and scale the fish, then uses the same stick he used to catch it to roast it over the fire.

“How long are we going to stay here?” Miko asks after sitting quietly listening to the spit and sizzle of the juice dripping from the fish into the fire.

Thinking a bit, James turns the fish before answering. “Probably not until after dark and our clothes are a little drier,” he replies. “I want to get through the gorge and past any patrols that Cardri may have at the other end of the Pass.”

“Isn’t it going to be dangerous riding the river in the dark?” questions Miko.

“Probably, but if we keep our wits about us and listen for any changes in the sounds of the river, then we should make it through,” he says.

“Once through, we head for the City of Light?” he asks.

“That’s right,” answers James. “Unless of course the Empire’s army is in our way, then we’ll just have to see what choices present themselves and go from there.” He takes the fish off the fire and inspects it, deciding that it still needs more time and puts it back over the fire to cook longer.

“The first town we come to, we shall see about getting a couple of horses,” he tells Miko. “We’re going to need speed if we want to keep ahead of the Empire’s forces. Hopefully, they will not venture into the same area where we are planning to travel.”

“Yeah, let’s hope so,” agrees Miko.

Checking the fish one more time, he decides it’s fit to eat. Grabbing a couple large leaves from a nearby plant for makeshift plates, he divides the fish between them and hands Miko his share. While they eat, the sunlight continues to dim as the sun sinks lower and lower behind the mountains. By the time they finish eating, the first stars begin to appear in the sky and Miko announces his clothes are fairly dry, at least the part that has been facing the fire.

Anxious to leave the Pass behind them James says, “Let’s get going and pray we are not seen as we exit the Pass.” He uses a stick and scatters the fire, kicking sand over it with his foot until it’s completely out.

They push the boat to the edge of the river until it just begins to float, then Miko hops in. Once he’s seated with the oars at the ready, James gives the boat a final push as he jumps in and they float out onto the river. Miko extends the oars and maneuvers them toward the middle of the river. Once the boat is in position, he pulls the oars from the water and allows the current to carry them downriver.

The night slowly deepens until only the light from the stars above illuminate possible obstacles in the river. They keep a vigilant lookout ahead of them, as well as listening for any changes in sound that may indicate rapids or a possible waterfall. Riding an unknown river in the dark makes James uneasy, but feels the risks are worth it if they can make it through the Pass undetected.

As fortune would have it, a quarter moon peaks over the tops of the mountains, giving them more light with which to spot rocks jutting from the surface. After floating for some time, they make their way around a bend and James realizes the river is growing wider. He begins to relax, as that usually means a gentler river and less chance of coming across any rapids.

They drift along for another hour or so when Miko whispers, “James, look up ahead.”

Snapping awake, he realizes he dozed off for a few minutes. Ahead of them can be seen the light from several fires on the shore to their right. Silhouettes of many men move among them.

“It must be the checkpoint at the end of the Pass,” he whispers to Miko. “Let’s be quiet so they won’t know we are here.” Taking the oars he slowly edges the boat over to the left side of the river, putting as much distance between them and the men on the shore as possible. When he has moved them as close to the shore as he dares, they lay low in the boat and watch the men on the shore as they drift silently by.

Wisps of conversations drift from the camp, but they are too far away to accurately make out what is being said. There looks to be about fifty men around those fires and most are wearing armor. From what is revealed by the flickering campfires, it looks like they have constructed defensive fortifications across the road.

“I doubt if that would hold out anybody,” Miko whispers to James as they drift past the end of the encampment and come to the fortifications.

“So do I,” he agreed. “Maybe it’s just to delay an attacker until they get further back into the mountains. Though from what we’ve heard, it’s unlikely the Empire will move against Cardri, at least not for a while.”

They continue to drift until the fires from the encampment can no longer be seen. The silhouette of the mountains against the night sky shows that they, too, are beginning to drop away, becoming rolling hills. Deciding that they are far enough away, James takes the oars and brings them to the northern side of the river, opposite to the side the encampment they passed was on.

Beaching their boat among a patch of bushes, Miko helps him pull it further up the shore away from the water and hide it. “Let’s get some sleep before the sun comes up. Then we can see where we are and decide whether to follow the river or continue overland.”

Miko lies down near the boat beneath a large bush with reddish, purple flowers. Using one of the bags for a makeshift pillow he says, “Sounds good to me.”

James gets comfortable in the shelter of another of the flowering bushes and soon both are asleep, exhausted from the long day.

_______________________

The morning dawns sunny and clear. The temperature has already risen quickly, foreshadowing the hot day to come. Once awake, James peers from beneath the bush to discover where the river had brought them. Off to the west rise the mountains they passed through the day before, still close enough to be imposing. On the opposite side of the river lies a road matching its course as it makes its way from the mountains. On this side, grass covered hills roll northward with the occasional trees scattered about.

“Looks like if we stay on the river we’ll continue to follow the road for a while,” he observes.

“Good,” replies Miko. “I would just as soon not walk.”

“Me too,” agrees James. “Let’s get the boat back onto the water and continue further down to see if there’s a town where we can get a couple of fast horses.”

Putting their things back in the boat, they push it to the water’s edge where Miko hops in first. James pushes the boat the rest of the way out onto the water before jumping in. As the boat floats away from the shore, Miko takes the oars and brings them to the middle of the river. Adding his efforts to that of the current, he keeps a steady rhythm with the oars as they move along.

They hadn’t gone very far before a column of dust is seen rising up to the sky to the east. As they steadily move toward it, they are soon able to tell the dust plume is the result of hundreds of men marching eastward along the road with a wagon train trailing along behind.

When James realizes they will shortly be drifting past an army on the move, he takes the oars from Miko and brings them quickly to the north shore, beaching their boat. “Think that’s the Empire’s army?” he asks Miko after they get out.

“Could be,” he replies, staring at the men in the distance. “Hard to tell from here.”

“I think it would be wise to assume they are the Empire’s for now,” James suggests. “We better leave the river and head overland.”

Miko takes the bags from the boat as he says, “Yeah, let’s hurry and get out of here.” When the bags are situated about his person, he looks back at the soldiers and asks, “Wonder where they’re going?”

“Don’t know, but we better find some horses soon or we’ll never get ahead of them and beat them to the City of Light.” Picking up his backpack, he slings it across his shoulder and sets out to the northeast, angling slightly more north than east to begin putting distance between them and the soldiers.

“Wish I still had my crossbow,” Miko says, thinking of the crossbow left under the stairs with the rest of their things in the abandon keep.

Nodding, James hurries them along.

They travel for no more than half an hour when dozens of people appear on the horizon ahead of them. Some are running but all are making the best speed they can. Several have small children in tow, others are burdened with bundles either tied to their backs or carried in their arms.

“Must be refugees fleeing from another town the Empire has taken,” James guesses. “Or is about to.”

“What’ll we do?” asks Miko, obviously concerned seeing as how the refugees are heading their way.

Coming up behind the fleeing people and riding hard to overtake them are six riders wielding clubs. As the riders reach the stragglers, they strike them in the head with their clubs, felling them. Then they leave them where they lie as they race to the next fleeing refugee.

Behind the riders roll three wagons, each trailing a line of naked people, both men and women of varying age. Out in front of each wagon walk two people who, when they come to a felled refugee, start slapping or hitting them until they regain consciousness. Once they’ve regained consciousness, they are pulled to their feet, stripped of their clothes and then have their hands tied behind them. After that they are taken and added to the line of naked people behind the wagon.

“Slavers!” James says in disgust. He stands there watching them for a moment as a woman carrying a baby gets struck in the head. As the woman falls, the baby goes flying out of her arms and strikes the ground where it begins crying piteously. The mother doesn’t lose consciousness and crawls over to her baby, wrapping her arms protectively around it. In a vain attempt at escape she attempts to crawl away. When the wagon comes, one of the men pulls the baby out of her arms. James can hear the woman’s scream as she tries to hang onto her child. The man strikes her across the face with his fist and rips the baby from her arms. With the mother’s pleas falling on deaf ears, the man returns to the wagon and hands the baby to someone inside. He then returns to the wailing woman, and dragging her by the hair, takes her to the rear of the slave line trailing behind the wagon. There she is stripped and put in line with the others.

“James!” Miko says as he pulls on his arm insistently, “we have to get out of here!”

Shaking his head, James says, “No.” He turns his head to look at Miko and says, “You don’t have to stay.” Turning back toward the oncoming horsemen, he reaches inside his pouch and grabs several of the stones he collected and holds them in his left hand. He then takes one in his right and starts walking toward the horsemen.

“Crap!” he hears Miko say behind him as the boy follows him into battle.

One of the horsemen is fast approaching a man who is carrying a bundle on his back. The man looks back and sees the horseman almost upon him. Tossing the bundle aside, he breaks into a run. The horseman closes with him and raises his club to bludgeon the man to the ground. Suddenly, something strikes him in the chest, going through the leather armor he’s wearing and blasting out the back. He looks at his chest for a moment in disbelief before toppling off his horse, hitting the ground dead.

Another horseman sees his partner fall and cries out alerting the other riders. He hooks his club to the saddle then draws his sword as he pauses, looking around for whoever it was that killed his partner. Seeing James standing defiant when everyone else is fleeing, he kicks his horse and charges straight at him, sword raised to cut him in half.

James cocks his arm and lets fly another stone, striking the charging rider through the forehead and blasting out the back of his head. Like a limp rag doll, the rider falls from his horse.