Legend of the Swords: War (29 page)

“But what about tomorrow?” Hesiod continued, dropping his voice. “They still outnumber us. We lost one of our Singers today.” Renek drew in his breath sharply.

“Yes,” Hesiod nodded. “Exhaustion. He killed himself to keep that lightning barrier going as long as he did.” He sighed. “So we lost one of the Sorcerers, and they’re the only thing keeping us from total annihilation.”

Renek nodded, but didn’t say anything.

Hesiod leaned in close. “I think we’ve got to go get those swords,” he whispered. “They’re our only chance.”

Renek nodded, making his mind up. “When do we leave?” he said, swinging his legs out of the bed and sitting up.

“Tonight, after dark,” Hesiod said, smiling in satisfaction. “I’ve got a pack of food for each of us.

“It will be dangerous,” he added. Renek raised his eyebrows.

There was a clap at the tent.

“And today wasn’t?” Renek said quietly, sighing. “I’m afraid it’s more dangerous to stay here, at least in the long run.” His eyes narrowed. “Especially with James as commanding officer.”

More loudly, he called “Who’s there?”

A foot soldier drew the curtain aside. “Sir, if it please ye, there are some of us out here that wants to say thank ye for gettin’ rid of those rock things.”

Renek nodded, and motioned for him to come inside. The man stepped in, followed by two dozen more. Renek’s eyebrows rose, and Hesiod laughed.

“Is that
all
you have, soldier? We have at least enough space for another half a man.” The old politician laughed sarcastically, though he smiled broadly.

“Oh, no, sir,” the man said, wide-eyed with sincerity. “There be an hundred more of us outside. There was too many. We drew lots to see who would come in first to see if he were all right.” He turned to Renek. “You do be all right, don’t you?”

Hesiod laughed again, clapping the man on the shoulder.

*   *   *

They arose several hours before dawn, and rode out of the camp as quietly as they could. They even muffled their horses’ hooves, and timed their departure so that they would have a smaller chance of being spotted by one of the several guards.

They rode towards the mountain to their west and south. The army had at least managed to meet the Triols early, far to the east of the suspected location of the chamber where the swords lay.

They had decided to ride the horses out, and had brought two “extra” horses that had been being used as pack animals. That way they could trot longer without resting the horses.

As the sun rose, casting its light onto the lands below, Hesiod paused to look behind them. The camp was already just a smear on the valley below.

“We’ve come far," he said, nodding to Renek. “Hopefully we won’t be missed for hours.”

Renek snorted. “I don’t doubt that we’re already missed.”

“The question is, are they going to come after us?” Hesiod quietly mused.

Renek snorted again. “If we’re lucky, James will stay behind.” He turned his horse around, and began to walk up the hillside again.

“Laggard,” Hesiod said, grinning, as he passed Renek at a trot.

*   *   *

By midday, it was clear that they were, in fact, being followed. A small group had broken off from what was clearly a battle between the main forces. A small dust plume marked their location despite the distance.

“They’re riding hard,” Hesiod said. “Think it’s Triols following us, or our own men?” He grinned.

Renek tilted his head to the side for a moment, considering. “I hope that they’re Triols,” he muttered. “We should be visible to them the same way they’re visible to us.”

“Harder to see us in the hills, though,” Hesiod interjected.

“I suppose.” Renek nodded. “But, in reality I doubt they’re Triol. They’ve come quite a ways, and I think that means they left a while ago.”

Hesiod grunted. “I fear that you’re right. We should ride. That little display the men put on for you last night probably angered James a great deal.”

Renek nodded, and they galloped a little while.

*   *   *

“Even switching horses frequently, the horses can’t keep up this fast of a canter for too long,” Renek said, sweat pouring down his face. “I’m not sure that I can, either.”

Hesiod grunted and slowed his horse to a walk. “They’re catching up with us. I’m not sure how they’re doing it … we’re going fast.” He mopped his brow with a handkerchief.

“They’ve closed almost half the distance. It is strange.” Renek twisted in his saddle to look back at the group. “From this distance, it’s hard to tell, but it doesn’t look to me like they have extra horses.”

Hesiod nodded. “They must have a Singer with them.” He, too, twisted to look back. “They can give some of their energy to animals. He must be getting tired, though—they can’t keep that sort of thing up all day.” He grimaced. “We might have a better chance if we split up.”

“Split up?” Renek asked, eyebrows raised.

“Yes.” Hesiod reached into his pouch and pulled out a pair of small rocks, about the size of the Kingdom’s largest coin—but about twice as thick. They had holes in their middles about half an inch across. He handed one to Renek.

“It’s so smooth,” Renek said, sliding his fingers over the stone. “What is it?”

“It’s a communications stone.” Hesiod smiled. “They’re fairly rare. They have to be found in a streambed. The hole has to be worn into the stone by the water, and then one of the Singer can link two of the stones.” He gestured at the stone. “Look carefully at the hole. Hold it up to the light.”

Renek held his stone up toward the peak in front of them, and gasped. In the middle of the stone, the hole showed the valley behind them instead of the peak. Then it blurred and changed to a miniature version of Hesiod’s grinning face. Renek at Hesiod, then back at the stone, then back at Hesiod. Hesiod was holding the stone about a foot in front of his face, and was looking into it, grinning.

“We can hear each other too,” Hesiod said. “This way, if one of us finds the cave, we can direct the other and meet up again.

“We’d better get going,” he added, glancing back at the approaching soldiers. “They’ll catch up with us by nightfall if they can keep up this speed.”

Renek’s smile faded. “Which way should we go?”

“You head west, around the base of the mountain, and I’ll head towards the peak.” He shrugged. “We’ll see if they follow you, me, or both of us.”

Renek nodded, and turned his horses to the west. “See you soon," he said, over his shoulder, as he held up the stone circle.

*   *   *

Hesiod had been right; the soldiers had slowed down a little while after the two had split up. They didn’t close any distance for the rest of the day.

Renek stopped for the night after traveling nearly to the western side of the mountain. As he was scavenging for scrub brush to build a fire with, he came upon some old bones. They were human-shaped, but much larger.

Huh. I wonder what happened to him.
Renek thought.
Giants are pretty formidable creatures.
After a moment, he shrugged and went back to gathering wood.

He made the fire behind a boulder so that it wouldn’t be as visible, and he waited until after full dark so the smoke wouldn’t give him away. He sat and warmed his hands before curling up on the ground.

“Renek.” He heard Hesiod’s voice, muffled and tiny. “Renek! All I can see is blackness!” Renek leapt up, opened his pack, and pulled out the stone Hesiod had given him.

“They’re following me, Renek,” Hesiod said as soon as Renek could see his face. “I don’t think they’re stopping to rest, tonight. I don’t think you should stop.”

“I already did,” Renek admitted, grimacing. “I suppose you’re going to tell me to get going, though.” He walked over to the fire, which was dying down, and started to kick dirt onto it.

“Yes, I am. I don’t know who it is, but I could tell that there were five of them.” He grimaced, and his head turned to the left. “No extra horses,” he added. “One of them must be a Singer.”

Renek nodded. “Then it’s almost certainly the prince, or the prince sent them.”

Hesiod grunted in agreement. “Nobody else would be able to ask the Singers to do something like this.”

“Not and have them actually do it, anyway.” Renek shrugged.

“Ok, I’ve got to go. I’m getting near the top of the mountain. I saw a cleft in the rock before the Sun fully set, I’m heading towards that.”

“Ok,” Renek said. “That sounds promising. I’m going to start climbing from this side. One of us will get there, anyway.” He put the stone into a belt pouch and climbed back up on his horse. He nudged the horse into a walk in the dark, directly up the mountainside. A few minutes later, he came to a small bubbling stream.

That’s odd. There must be a spring around here somewhere.
He dismounted to let the horses drink for a while and to fill his water skins.
Or maybe it’s snowmelt.
He thought, gazing up at the mountaintop in the darkness.

After the horses had drunk their fill, he mounted again and walked into the darkness.

*   *   *

He heard a muffled cry, as if from a distance, and stared into the darkness. There moon was crescent waning—setting in the early evening—and along with the starlight the night’s darkness was barely pushed back enough for him to walk the horses—there certainly wasn’t enough light to pinpoint whoever was making the noise.

“Hello?” he said cautiously. He was exhausted. It was the middle of when he normally slept, and he felt groggy. “Who’s there?”

There were sounds of a struggle. Swords clashing and yelling drifted through the night and to his ears.

“Where are you?” He yelled into the night, cupping his hands on either side of his mouth. “Are you in trouble?”

There was a hollow thwacking noise, and then the thump of a body hitting the ground. The latter sound was strangely loud, and Renek almost slapped his forehead and pulled out the stone that Hesiod had given him. There was no vision in the center, but he could hear a faint voice speaking. He quickly held the stone up to his ear.

“Well, we got one of them.” It was the prince’s voice. “You—tie him up.” Loud sounds of rumpling cloth came through the stone. “Can you determine what direction Renek is in?” James said.

His voice is fading…I hope he stays close enough that I can hear him.
Renek thought to himself. Despite the excitement of hearing his pursuers, he was still tired. He closed his eyes for a moment.

He heard a muffled reply to James.

“Well, you have said that you need to rest, Sorcerer,” James said accusingly. “If you cannot…” James’s voice faded.

Renek paused to consider.

Are they going to rest for the rest of the night?
He grimaced, wincing in tiredness. “Can I lie down for a little while?” He asked the circle of rock in front of him, lifting his eyebrows sarcastically.

“Did you hear that?” someone said through the rock. It was a bit muffled, but he could hear every word.

Ugh. That must be the soldier who tied Hesiod.
He grimaced again—more quietly, this time—and leaned on his horse’s neck, still holding the stone up to his ear.

“No, what?” another voice said through the stone.

‘I heard something. I mean, someone.”

Renek couldn’t hear anything.

“Hey, this guy’s holding something!” one of the voices said. “I don’t think he’s out!”

There was another thump, and then it went silent.

Renek slid off his horse gratefully, pulled a blanket out of his pack, and went to sleep.

*   *   *

He awoke, shivering, while it was still completely dark. He studied the stars for a moment.

The dawn star isn’t up yet. I hope that James isn’t either.
He searched for a star he knew, but couldn’t seem to find one.

He tried to sit up, but he had wrapped himself up in the thin blanket so tightly that he couldn’t move. He pulled his blanket out from under his right side, and managed to stand up. He stuffed the blanket into the saddlebag. The horse snuffled as he patted her on the neck.

“Good girl," he said. “I know you’re tired, but we’ve got to get moving.” He mounted and started walking, the other horse in tow, his bridle tied to his saddle. Renek stared up at the sky.

Ah, finally!The Lily is still in the sky
, he thought, spotting one of the seven flower constellations.
So it has to be before midnight, still. No wonder I couldn’t find anything, I was expecting it to be much later. I must’ve slept less than a half an hour…what’s that?
He thought as he looked back down from the sky.

There was a fire up ahead, flickering in the night, no more than a hundred feet ahead. He slipped off of his horse, and tied her to a bush, then crept forward towards the light.

About twenty feet from the fire, he could tell that there were two people sleeping in the circle of the fire, which was nearly burnt out. He crept forward a little further, hiding behind a bush, trying to get close enough to see their colors.

He whirled as he heard a small scuffing sound.

“You were right,” James said as he reached over the bush to grab Renek’s collar. “He went right for it.” The prince brought a dagger up to Renek’s neck. “Come with me, deserter.”

Into the Mountain

Prince James and his Singer tied Renek up quite tightly, then threw him next to Hesiod. They were just outside the light and warmth of the fire.

Hesiod rolled his eyes at Renek. “At least we’re not gagged,” he whispered, almost silently.

Renek nodded.

“All right, then,” James said. “You can have your rest now, Sorcerer. But we’re breaking camp no later than an hour past sunrise.” They had thrown Renek in such a way that he couldn’t see the camp, but Hesiod was watching.

“Thank you, your highness,” the man said. It took only a few moments before he started snoring loudly.

“Oh, for the gods’ sake,” James said. There was a thumping noise, and the snoring stopped.