The Cavalier (34 page)

Kiln moved up beside Lambeck to see what had grabbed his attention. On the ground was a series of impressions that crossed the game trail, disappearing into the tall prairie grass that draped most of the high mountain landscape. They were tracks that looked like human feet but much larger and tipped with claws.

“Fresh tracks, maybe an hour old,” Lambeck commented, tracing the outline with his finger.

“Gnoll track?” asked Kiln, his expression cold.

“Yup. Must be some of One Eye’s vermin,” replied Lambeck.

“This far east? Seems unlikely,” Kiln replied in thought.

“It’s been a hard winter, maybe it’s a hunting party looking for food, or even a raiding party finally getting bold enough to claim our cattle and attack us.”

Jonas quietly moved next to the duo to find out what was happening.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Gnoll tracks,” replied Lambeck.

“Way up here?” questioned, Jonas. Just two years ago Jonas would not even know what a gnoll was, but he had learned at Finarth that they were tall furry creatures with dog-like snouts and mouths filled with sharp teeth. They spoke a guttural language and sometimes allied themselves with orcs or goblins. They were strong and formidable warriors but not very common.

“We’ve long known of a band of gnolls living several days west of here. The group is led by a big gnoll that we call Chief One Eye. It’s a small group that has not ventured close to us, as of now anyway. These tracks were probably made by a scout.”

“What are we going to do?” asked Jonas.

Kiln looked at Lambeck and smiled. “We follow the tracks and kill them.”

“Just the three of us?” Jonas asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

“More than enough for gnolls,” Kiln replied, standing up confidently. “Lead the way Lambeck.”

Lambeck guided them for several hours, stopping now and again to inspect a blade of grass or a smudge on a moss covered boulder. The clues were invisible to Jonas, but not to Lambeck, who was the best tracker in Kraawn according to Kiln.

It wasn’t long before Lambeck, who was a good fifteen paces in front of Kiln and Jonas, suddenly crouched, his body tense and alert, and motioned for Kiln and Jonas to stop. Lambeck slowly lifted a hand, drawing forth an arrow from his quiver and silently putting it to string.

Jonas and Kiln followed suit, scanning the countryside around them. They were standing in a beautiful meadow and just beyond them was a small glade of trees into which Lambeck was staring intently. It was dusk and the sun’s rays were beginning to disappear behind the tall Tundren peaks, casting shadows and pockets of darkness within the stand of trees. Lambeck scanned the pine trees for several seconds; Jonas’s heart was beating faster as the tension within him grew.

Then Lambeck motioned for them to follow slowly, advancing into the thicket of trees. As they moved into the glade, Jonas picked up the sounds of guttural laughter and growling ahead of them. He glanced at Kiln who obviously heard the noise as well. The sounds got louder as they quietly made their way through the pine trees. The ground was littered with a soft bed of pine needles that cushioned their footsteps, making their approach perfectly silent.

They moved up beside Lambeck who was squatting down behind a fallen log. The noise was now very clear, sounding like a large group of men talking and laughing, except in a language that Jonas could not understand and in voices that were deep and raspy.

Jonas and Kiln joined Lambeck, following his pointing finger with their eyes through a hole in the tree branches. Below them, in a moss covered clearing surrounded by trees and rocks similar to the ones that they now hid behind, were a group of mountain gnolls sitting around a small fire. Jonas had never seen a gnoll before and he stared at them with wonder.

They were built like men, but much bigger with bodies covered in dark brown fur. Their arms and legs were thick and strong and they stood on fur covered feet with toes capped in wicked claws. Their hands were also human-like, but with longer fingers tipped with sharp claws. Odd pieces of clothing, furs and leather, and miss-matching pieces of plate mail adorned their tall frames.

But it was their faces that held Jonas’s attention the most. Their heads were large and bony, with sloping foreheads and dark beady eyes sunken into a jutting brow ridge. Long snouts covered with short hair gave them a look similar to dogs. Yellow teeth lined their dangerous looking jaws, and the sounds that emerged from the beasts were loud, deep, and guttural. Gnoll features were all very similar and it was hard to tell them apart.

Jonas noticed that most of them carried swords and long crude spears. The ugly creatures brought a shiver of fear to Jonas as he looked down upon them. They were eating large chunks of cooked flesh that they were pulling from a side of beef that was roasting on a spit over the fire.

“What do you want to do?” whispered Lambeck, looking at Kiln questioningly. All three of them dropped down behind the log to quietly discuss their plan.

“There are fifteen of them,” Kiln said softly. “They are eating my beef which gives me reason enough to deal with them. Besides, they are more than likely a scouting party. We must take care of them,” Kiln said, looking at them both, his eyes intense and determined. “Jonas, you ready to test your skills?”

Jonas looked at them both, seeing already that they had made up their minds. “We’re going to attack all of them?” he asked.

“We are. I feel bad though, doesn’t seem fair does it?” replied Kiln with a smile as Lambeck let out a choked laugh.

“We’re just going to kill them?” asked Jonas.

“Jonas, they are gnolls,” Kiln said as if that was enough to condemn them. “They would attack and kill you in your sleep if they could. And it would be you over that roasting pit instead of my cattle. This group probably has orders to steal my cattle and to do reconnaissance on our home. It is a scouting party that is probably going to report back to One Eye with information on how to attack us. We cannot let that happen. It is better to attack this group now, while we have the advantage, and potentially stop any future attacks against us.”

“Well, if you put it that way,” Jonas said with an unconvincing smile as he began to pull arrows from his quiver. He tried to show some bravado but inside he was shaking with fear. He had never really fought anyone, or anything, in a premeditated fashion before. Any combat experience he had was derived from defending himself from attacks directed at him. It was one thing to fight back on instinct, but quite another to plan an attack against an unknowing, and formidable opponent. “What is your plan?”

Jonas silently crept through the trees, moving from trunk to trunk to get to the left side of the glade. Luckily for the men the gnolls were in a clearing that was completely surrounded by rocks and trees, and in the dead of night the three warriors could easily flank the scouting party. And the air was still; no breeze this night that would alert the gnolls with their smell, especially over the intense aroma of the cooking meat.
 

The plan was simple. On Kiln’s signal they would pepper the group with arrows from above and then move in quickly in the confusion and finish them off. Jonas was nervous; his heart was beating loudly in his head. But he also felt an excitement, a rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins as he thought about the battle to come. These beasts were gnolls, evil by nature, and it was a similar evil that had destroyed his town and his friends in Finarth. They were here to do them harm, and Jonas would not let that happen. At least that was the rationalization that Jonas used to convince himself as he neared his position on the left side of the glade.

He moved up behind a large rock and looked down into the clearing below him. The gnolls were about forty paces away, separated from the men by a gentle hillside of rocks and trees. It was a perfect spot. Jonas could fire his arrows into them and then leap down the boulder strewn hillside into the clearing with his sword in his hand. These beasts were huge and ominous, but Jonas had trained hard and he was ready. He was confident in his skills and eager to test them, but nonetheless his heart still beat with nervous energy and his hands were shaking. Jonas took a deep calming breath and withdrew three arrows from his quiver, leaning them against the rock that hid him. Then he nocked a fourth. He would need to make his shots count so they could even the odds before they jumped into the clearing with swords drawn.

Jonas looked down at the large creatures, waiting for the signal. He glanced at the gnolls nearest him picking out his targets. He remembered Lambeck’s teachings and began to take slow deep breaths, calming his nerves so that his aim was accurate.

He leaned out, spotting his first target. There was a large gnoll who had his back to Jonas ripping off a piece of flesh from a bone he was holding in his greasy clawed hand. The thing’s thick neck was exposed and that was the spot that Jonas focused on as he drew back his long bow. He breathed slowly, looking down the straight shaft and focusing on the little spot at the base of the beast’s skull. The signal would come soon, and Jonas waited, concentrating on the task at hand. Closing his eyes, he focused on his breathing and heartbeat. It took him a few seconds before he was in the state of Ty’erm. His eyes fluttered open and everything was much more acute. He could hear the crackling fire as if it was right next to him and all the sounds and movements seemed slow in his mind.
 

Suddenly a gnoll howled, falling into the fire with a dark shaft protruding from the back of its head. The rest of the gnolls stood still, staring at their comrade in shock as his face burned in the hot fire.

Jonas released his shaft, reaching down quickly and sending two more arrows whistling into the night as his first arrow hit its mark. His target arched backwards, a bloody shaft erupting from its throat.

Everything happened quickly as arrows rained down on the beasts. The surviving gnolls immediately grabbed their weapons, leaping away from the fire to face the invisible threats around them.

Jonas pulled back his long bow sighting in his last target, a tall gnoll who had leaped up from the fire and drawn a wicked looking serrated sword. The beast roared defiantly as he ran toward the rocks where Jonas was hiding. Jonas looked down the shaft, leading the beast as Lambeck had taught him. He let out his breath, releasing the arrow smoothly. The arrow took the gnoll in the chest launching it hard onto its back. He was out of the fight, permanently.

One of the gnolls was not as stupid as the rest and it quickly grabbed a dead comrade throwing the body on the burning fire. Immediately the fire was smothered and the glade was blanketed in darkness.

Kiln released his last shaft as the light disappeared. The stars were out but the trees surrounding the glade blocked much of their bluish glow, making it very difficult to see if his arrow had hit his mark. He swore softly, drawing his long sword and hunting knife. Gnolls can see in the darkness, but he and his men could not. “Jonas, we need light!” Kiln yelled across the clearing.

Jonas had just drawn his long sword as Kiln screamed across the glade.
Light
,
they needed light
. Jonas had not drawn forth any light since the fight against the demon in Finarth, but they needed light now and so he had to try. Jonas prayed to Shyann and asked her for strength to fight these foes. He prayed for her light and concentrated on bringing it forth, just as he had when he fought the demon.

Jonas felt warmth rise up within him as Shyann’s power instantly erupted from his body. It felt like he was filling up with light and all he had to do was let it loose, and that is what he did. White light burst forth from his body slamming back the darkness in the clearing. His God Light was so bright that it easily covered the entire camp site.

The remaining six gnolls shielded their eyes from the light as the three men jumped down from their hiding spots.

Lambeck had seen more than fifty winters but he was still in better shape than most men half his age.
 
He had fought in different places all over Kraawn and he had been a hired tracker and hunter his whole life. The elements in which he lived had forged him into a tough fighting man and the gnolls below would not deter him.

He jumped easily over fallen logs and rocks with his long sword in his right hand. Jonas’s light clearly lit the scene for him and he thanked him silently as he charged the nearest gnoll.

The beast was covering its eyes with its hairy forearm and in its right hand was a large war axe. The gnoll was temporarily blinded but he was still able to make out the leaping form of the man attacking him from the woods. He got his axe up just in time to block the downward strike from his assailant, but he couldn’t block the man’s booted foot as it kicked him directly in the groin.

The gnoll howled in pain, instinctively lowering its axe and grabbing its injured crotch. That split second action was the gnoll’s last as he looked up just in time to take the swordsman’s blade in the face, splitting its shocked expression in two.

Kiln’s location was about five paces above the ground. He was hiding behind a tree that grew from the edge of a small cliff overlooking the clearing. It was a long drop, but Kiln was in the state of Ty’erm and he moved with the agility of an acrobat.

He jumped off the small cliff, landing hard in the clearing right beside two unsuspecting gnolls. As he landed he rolled forward, bracing and cushioning his fall. The roll took him right by one surprised gnoll who was holding a spiked mace in his hand and was turned away from Jonas’s light. Kiln came up to his feet smoothly, his long sword whistling in the air, slicing into the gnoll’s arm as the creature brought it up in front of him to block the lighting fast strike.