The other two members of the crew stood at the stern rail, one on each side of a barrel of oil. They carried bows and had scores of arrows readied to shoot at pursuing ships. If the Sprite were chased, the barrel of oil would provide for flaming arrows to keep the enemy at bay while the captain tried to outrace the pursuer.
Captain Mynor was excited at finding the Island of Darkness. He had plotted the course of the Khadoran ship that had sighted the sailboat carrying the elves. He had then used that information to chart a hypothetical course for the sailboat. Backtracking along that hypothetical course from Raven’s Point had brought the Sprite to its current position. Now that land had been sighted, the captain was thrilled. He knew the possibility existed that the Motangans would attempt to attack the Sprite and capture the crew, but Captain Mynor had other plans for the voyage. He was prepared to lure the Motangan vessels far out to sea and then outrace them back towards the island. No matter what happened, he was determined to properly place the Island of Darkness on the charts for Khadoran seamen.
* * *
Emperor Marak’s party rounded a bend in the trail and saw Eltor in the distance sitting stationary on his horse. The party immediately halted. Mistake swiftly wove an air tunnel and directed it towards Eltor.
“Speak softly,” she ordered the elf. “Why have you stopped?”
“There are several people in the forest between us,” Eltor answered. “They are on your left about halfway between us. They let me pass by, but I did not think I could turn around to warn you. I figured that you would stop when you saw me sitting here.”
Mistake repeated the elf’s words to the Emperor. The Torak used hand signals to order the party to dismount. They tied their horses to trees and huddled at the edge of the trail.
“MistyTrail,” ordered the Emperor, “I want you to swing around to the left to get behind those people. We need to identify them before we attack. Can you do that without being seen?”
“Easily,” grinned the Sakovan. “I will use an air tunnel to let you know who they are and how many there are.”
The Torak nodded as MistyTrail slipped into the woods. He turned to the Chula shaman.
“We need some type of distraction to keep their interest away from MistyTrail,” he said. “What can you do?”
“I can provide a distraction for her,” the Chula grinned, his whiskers dancing from the movement of his lips.
Without any further explanation, Axor slipped into the woods. Everyone was watching him as he slipped behind a tree. They were expecting to see him move further into the forest, but they never did. Instead, a large tiger moved silently through the trees towards the supposed position of the hidden people.
“Where did he go?” Caldal asked softly. “Does he know there is a tiger in the forest with him? He may get eaten before he distracts anyone. Perhaps I should go help him?”
“Remain here,” ordered the Torak. “A Chula shaman is very much at home in a forest. He will not be attacked by any tiger. Everyone ready your bows.”
The tiger moved slowly, its nose sampling the air with every step. Within a few minutes it had sighted the first of the humans. The tiger watched the human for several moments before circling behind the man. It saw three more humans as it crouched low among the underbrush. Suddenly, it smelled MistyTrail. The tiger moved deeper into the brush so she would not see it.
“I see four men,” MistyTrail reported softly through the air tunnel. “I cannot tell if they are hellsouls or not. What should I do?”
Emperor Marak thought for a moment before answering. “Stay hidden where you are. We are going to start moving forward to see what their intent is. If they attack us, attack them. Try to drive them onto the trail.”
“I shall do as you say,” replied MistyTrail.
“This is important, MistyTrail,” cautioned the Emperor. “Do not under any circumstances attack a tiger. Do you understand?”
“No,” admitted MistyTrail. “I don’t think there are any tigers in these woods, but if I see one I will not attack it.”
“That goes for all of us,” the Torak announced to those around him. “Mistake, inform Eltor of our plan. Also let him know about the tiger.”
Mistake nodded and wove an air tunnel to Eltor. She passed along the Emperor’s message. When she was done, the party mounted their horses. The Emperor waved his hand at Mistake and Caldal indicating that they should lag behind somewhat. Gunta and Halman moved to Marak’s left side to shield him from any attack. They rode slowly along the trail.
Suddenly a mighty roar was heard throughout the forest just as the attackers made their move. The tiger raced forward and leaped onto the back of one of the humans. Its powerful jaws opened wide and its teeth sunk deep into the man’s neck. The man screamed loudly as he fell to the ground, his hands trying to reach behind himself to grab the tiger. The tiger snapped the man’s neck and growled again. Several arrows were fired at it, but the tiger darted to one side. The arrows slammed into the fallen man. While the archers were reaching for more arrows, the tiger charged them with a mighty roar. Two of the men instantly turned and ran. The third tried frantically to nock his arrow as his eyes were focused on the charging beast. He failed.
The tiger leaped at the man, knocking him to the ground. The man’s arms grabbed the tiger and tried to hold his mouth away from him, but the tiger was too powerful. The tiger’s teeth snapped closed on the man’s throat. The man’s scream instantly died.
When the two attackers ran out of the forest, a hail of arrows struck them down. Emperor Marak leaped off his horse and ran towards the bodies. He unsheathed the Sword of Torak and brought it down on the first body. It disappeared in a puff of smoke. He repeated the procedure on the second body.
Suddenly the tiger appeared. It dragged a body out of the woods and dropped it on the road. It immediately turned and reentered the forest. Emperor Marak brought his sword down on the new body and watched it disappear.
“I do not believe this,” Caldal said as he watched the tiger reenter the forest. “Is that beast actually helping us?”
No one answered as MistyTrail dragged another body out of the forest and dropped it on the road. The Torak dispatched the hellsoul and sheathed his sword.
“That tiger is quicker than me,” frowned MistyTrail. “I already had the air tunnel woven when he suddenly attacked. I guess I should be thankful.”
“We should all be thankful,” smiled the Emperor. “Those of you who did not chose a sword for your weapon must get one. If decapitation is the key to vanquishing these creatures, you will need a weapon that can accomplish that. Knives and bows will not help to destroy them. That will only slow them down. We will go shopping when we get to Meliban.”
Unseen by the others, Axor walked out of the woods where his horse and MistyTrail’s were still tethered. He untied them both and walked along the road to rejoin the party. Caldal stared at the Chula shaman with questioning eyes. Axor ignored the gaze and handed MistyTrail the reins to her horse.
“We have expended enough time here,” announced the Emperor. “Let’s ride on.”
* * *
Rejji and Bakhai rode into the city of Meliban. Thousands of workers were moving to and fro as the city expanded outward. Rejji swelled with pride for the Fakaran people as he saw how far the development had progressed. The city center was fully developed, and the marketplace was filled with buyers and sellers. Everyone shouted and waved as they noticed the Astor riding through the city.
Rejji rode straight for the administration building. The brothers dismounted and tied their horses to the rail outside. They marched up the steps and into the building.