Ravenwild: Book 01 - Ravenwild (33 page)

It took only an hour to cross, at which point he gently shook his new partner-in-adventure awake, and they made their way ashore. Silver was waiting for them, tail wagging furiously, and they each took turns patting and scratching her massive head. Jared took a quick inventory of their supplies: two waterskins that he had fortunately left in the tiny boat the last time he had used it, two of Diana’s daggers, and one stout knife that he had snatched from the countertop during their hasty departure from the cabin. He passed the waterskins to Diana who, after she had sheathed her broadsword, bent to fill them without being asked. He picked up one of the daggers that had slipped from her boot and nodded his approval. They would be fine. He wished they had flints for starting a fire, but they could pick these up on the way to wherever they were going. He thought for a second. Where
were
they going anyway? Oh well, somewhere in the general direction of away from where they were now would have to do. So, quickly but quietly, they moved into the embrace of the trees and tried their best to simply blend in.

It was a grueling flight away from the mountaintop from which they had launched. Doreen had a fuzzy memory of the last time she had made a similar descent, being chased by a Troll war party, but she seemed to recall that one had been a long, gentle glide. This time, with the added weight of the doctor and Daria, and the huge winds, it had been a long, drawn-out series of tipsy, jerking, tilting, plummeting bursts that ended with a modified crash onto the flatland. Nonetheless, they were extremely fortunate that the strong headwinds into which they had wildly leapt had afforded them a prolonged, if tumultuous, flight, thereby putting considerable distance between themselves and the Troll forces that were surely after them by now.

“Is everybody all right?” called out Erik as he went about the business of securing the underwings to the bellies of Spirit and Cloud.

When all answered that they were unhurt, Erik ordered them to mount up and off they rode. Doubled up as Doreen and the doctor were, Erik held the horses to a brisk canter, knowing that they had miles and miles to go, and he didn’t want to tire the mounts out too quickly. He knew they were in for a long, punishing ride.

The first hour passed with not a single word spoken, then the second, and the third. They alternated carrying the doctor in order to equally distribute the workload between the horses, while Daria jogged contentedly along behind them. At times she seemed to be humming.

By now the horses were fully lathered, but their breathing was steady, and it appeared for the first time since they had escaped that there might be hope for them to make it to safety after all. There was still no sign of the mountains that marked the border between Slova and Ravenwild, but Erik was confident that they were headed in the right direction. If only the horses could keep up the pace.

He had noticed shortly after landing that no waterskins had been fastened to their mounts. This was less than good.

“Everybody look out for water,” he called out. “The horses will need to drink soon, or we will have to slow them to a walk.”

“That is so Human,” remarked Daria.

“Say again,” said Erik.

“To tell us to
watch
for water. Lad, I will smell it long before we see it.”

He managed a wry smile, and on they pushed.

The next hour passed, and another, and they neither smelled nor spied water in any form. The breathing of the horses now began to grow labored, slowly at first, and then faster and faster until it became obvious that they were going to have to slow their pace or their mounts would fail. Erik reined in Cloud and Doreen did the same. The doctor jumped off, as did Erik and Doreen.

“Perhaps you might carry me,” he joked to Daria.

She smiled broadly, replying, “You would like that, wouldn’t you.”

Since Doreen couldn’t come up with any words that seemed to fit, she held her tongue.

They walked for another uneventful hour when the doctor called out, “Look, it’s getting green. There must be water up ahead.”

Daria sniffed at the air and nodded.

“That would probably be the Oakes River,” offered Erik. “Hopefully, because it will mean we are over halfway to the border.”

He mounted up and waved the doctor up behind him. Doreen mounted up as well. Daria jogged effortlessly along behind them as they moved at a slow canter through the thickening vegetation.

Soon, the smell of water was obvious to all, and Erik reined Cloud into a walk. Stephanie followed suit. The horses became edgy, wanting to bolt for it. Hour after hour of hard running had given them an enormous thirst, and the need to quench it burned inside them hot as a flame. They pranced and twisted all about, and although they were highly intelligent animals who knew better than to rush recklessly into any place in enemy territory, they nevertheless were invigorated with excitement in the anticipation of a long and satisfying drink. Their enthusiasm was palpable and caused Erik to grin. He looked at Doreen, who wore the face of a battle-hardened soldier, and said, “Water. Straight ahead. Oakes River. I would bet your life on it.” He was trying to make a small joke. Doreen saw no humor it in it whatsoever.

“My Lord Prince,
my
life is not
yours
to bet.”

The doctor dismounted and took the hand of Daria. “Go on,” he called, offering up a broad smile. “We’ll meet you at the river.”

Daria smiled as well as they started to fall behind. “Indeed,” she murmured softly.

It was a blessed moment. So simple in its purpose: To jog to a river’s edge and get a drink, and quench a thirst on a beautiful day, hand-in-hand with the one you love more than anyone else in the world.

It was a moment that might give a person hope for an entire lifetime.

But it was not to be.

It was not at
all
to be, as an entire battalion of Trolls suddenly materialized directly in front of them out of the vegetation. A stand of Poplar trees turned into at least fifty troops, a hundred feet away, who stared menacingly at the four of them.

All were dressed for combat, and all immediately set out on a dead run straight towards them. In an instant they were looking at hundreds of Trolls whose only thought was killing or at least capturing them. Knowing personally how the Trolls took great pleasure in the torturing of their captives, Erik would rather a quick death than another stay in the horror of the dungeons of Ghasten.

He wheeled Cloud in a wild about-face and away they raced. The nearest Trolls threw spears and several archers let fly with a volley of arrows, one of which found its mark.

Doreen felt a searing pain as one of them tore into her right lower flank and ended up protruding from the front of her blouse out from under her body armor. Knowing that there was nothing she could do about it at the moment, she hung on and rode. With one last spike of adrenaline, the horses raced away from this certain death, their hoofs thundering even as the sound was softened by the plant growth. The Trolls gave chase, their battle cries deafening as they surged forward.

They encountered the doctor and Daria as soon as they were out of view of the troops rushing madly after them. Daria helped to throw the doctor onto the back of Spirit, then ducked down in a thicket out of sight as the soldiers once again burst into view. Their archers let loose with another barrage of arrows.

The doctor slumped forward, then slid from the back of Spirit, one of the deadly projectiles having struck him in the neck. In a grisly display of gushing blood he fell crazily, all the while hanging on to the vicious dart that protruded from the wound.

Doreen felt him slide from the horse's back and cried, “No!”

“No! No! No!”

He mercifully slid into unconsciousness as soon as he hit the ground, the massive loss of blood causing him to crumple.

And die.

It was an insane mad dash for freedom. It lasted for hours. It was as amazing a display of strength and courage as has ever been witnessed in a war, but in the end the Trolls won the chase. It was inevitable. The Trolls could run at a full gallop for hours at a time, and while their gallop in the short run was no match for that of the horses, the horses could not keep up this blistering pace. It is amazing that they kept it up for as long as they did. So, despite the fact that for the better part of an hour they put considerable distance between them and their pursuers, in the end the horses succumbed to plain exhaustion. Cloud went down first. It was a magnificent fall, from a hard gallop to a flail animal in an instant. Erik was flung wildly off. It was a wonder that he did not break his neck. Spirit simply slowed to a stop and eased her way to the ground, but Doreen knew it was over for her glorious and splendid beast when her eyes rolled and she gave one final gasp... and stopped breathing. Her poor heart had given out. She felt a sadness as deep as she had ever felt anything, but really had no time to feel it as she dashed towards Erik, only to find he was dashing towards her. They had a good head start thanks to the horses, and now they intended to do something that no Human had ever before done. They were going to outrun the Trolls.

They took off, running as fast as they could. It became evident that Doreen was the better of the two runners, with Erik laboring hard to keep up the pace.

Within the hour they could hear the Trolls advancing on them, now only a few hundred yards behind.

In between gasps Erik grunted, “We need … to split up.”

Stephanie nodded.

She motioned ahead with her hand. They could now see the faint outline of the mountains that marked the border.

“Go!” cried Erik, pulling up. “Make … the mountains. It’s your … only chance!”

Doreen started to slow. Erik had nocked an arrow and was clearly going to try some sort of standoff to buy her time. She stopped as well.

His breathing ragged, and his face drawn, his next words were barely comprehensible.

“Go … If you don’t, we … will both surely … die here. Go now. I can’t … keep up with you. You can … make it.”

Doreen looked at him. Then she looked at the mountains, merely shadowy silhouettes in the distance.

“Go!” he croaked. “If you don’t, it’s all for
nothing
!”

Doreen retraced the few yards that separated them. She put a hand to his face and looked deep into his eyes. Erik seized the moment by forcefully yanking out the arrow that was even now protruding from her flank. She had completely forgotten about it. The wound started to bleed freely again.

“Keep pressure on that while you run. Go now. Go.”

Doreen turned abruptly and started to sprint towards the distant peaks.

She did not look back.

Chapter 14

Blake pressed close to the giant tree. In the darkness, he had made the terrible mistake of stepping on a tiny branch that had popped like a pistol shot. He knew from his years of deer hunting in Connecticut that such a noise was made by only two things: a man or a deer. He hoped fervently that there were creatures wandering about these woods that would make such a sound, and that it would be overlooked by the Gnomes in the camp less than fifty feet from him, but logic told him this was probably wishful thinking. All the years he had trained and practiced with the military in the art of sneaking up on an enemy undetected were now out the window. He cursed himself under his breath. Still, he might get lucky. Surely there must be animals in these woods that might make such a noise. He tried to recall what Rolan had said about the dangerous animals that they might encounter, but found he couldn’t remember.

He never knew what hit him, which ended up being a rock the size of a golf ball flung with lethal accuracy from the hand sling of a Gnome. It struck him behind the ear, and he fell like a sack of dirt.

The Gnomes cried out with delight as they pounced on him. “Are these Humans stupid, or what!” one of them howled. In a matter of seconds they had him bound securely. They dragged him into the camp, dumping him at Jessica’s feet.

“Look, pretty Human lady,” one growled, “your rescuer is here.”

“Doesn’t look like he’s going to be doing much rescuing soon,” called out another.