“Korazan?” Jiron asks intently, “where is it?”
“Don’t know,” the man says, weakly, “somewhere to the south…I…think.” The man takes one last light breath and then death takes him.
“Poor man,” Delia says sadly.
“At least he didn’t die a slave,” Jiron says. “We should bury him before we go.”
“I agree,” Cassie says. She gets up and looks around until she finds a rock. Then she begins to scrape out a grave for the man. The others find rocks and sticks and before too long have a fair sized grave dug. Jiron and Tinok carry the man over to it and lay him respectfully within. They cover him with the excess dirt and when they are done, mount up and ride on.
“Korazan,” James says after they get going, “anyone heard of it?”
“No”, Delia replies, the other just shake their heads no.
“It must be within the Empire,” he guesses, “at least we have a destination now.”
“How do you know if they’re actually being taken there?” Cassie asks.
“Don’t,” James replies, “but it’s all we have to go on.”
The rest nod in agreement.
They continue on, eating in the saddle to save time. A couple more times before nightfall, they see riders off to the east. Angling more to the west each time to avoid being seen, they find themselves gradually being pushed more and more westward. By the time night begins to approach, they begin to be able to see the Silver Mountains off in the distance to the west.
“Didn’t realize we had been going so far westward,” James says when they stop for the evening.
“What do you mean?” Jiron asks.
He points over to the mountains in the west and says, “That’s the Silver Mountains, they run the length of the border between Cardri and Madoc.”
“Are we going away from Korazan?” Cassie asks him.
“Can’t say,” he explains, “since we have no idea where it is.”
“Oh, right,” she says a little embarrassed.
“But I would think that the further we are to the west, the less of the Empire’s soldiers we will encounter,” he reasons. “Of course, that assumes that the Empire and Cardri haven’t gone to war yet.”
“Think they have?” she asks.
“Doubt it,” he assures her. “The Empire probably has all it can handle with Madoc right now.”
“I hope so,” she says as they get settled in for the night.
Chapter Four
The morning dawns cloudy, a relief from the sun that had been beating down on them throughout the day before. It takes them little time to be ready to go and soon are off, heading south to find Korazan.
Throughout the morning hours, they are able to hold a fairly southern course, only once having to travel westward to avoid roving patrols. About midday they begin to see a large river flowing from the northwest to the southeast. It spans several hundred feet and runs deep.
As they approach the banks of the river, James looks both upriver and downriver but is unable to see any bridge that they may use to cross. There is also no place along the course of the river shallow enough to allow them to ford. He turns to the others and says, “It appears we have a problem.”
“Can’t we go down one way or the other until we find a way to cross?” Cassie asks.
“That’s what we’re going to end up having to do,” he replies. “The question is, should we go that way,” he says as he points upstream to the northwest, and then points downstream, “or that way?”
“If we go downstream, that will take us closer to Korazan,” Tinok says.
“And closer to the Empire’s forces,” Jiron concludes.
“It’s probably safe to say that any bridge to the east of us will be used by the Empire,” warns James, “possibly even guarded.”
“Then we go west?” Delia guesses.
“But how far will we have to go and will it take us too long to get back?” Jiron questions. “If we spend too much time going west and then have to backtrack, we may be too late to save Tersa.”
“Let’s go west for a day, and if we don’t find anything suitable, then we’ll turn around and go east,” offers Tinok.
“A day!” Jiron exclaims. “I’ll not waste two whole days when Tersa is being marched to the slave markets!” He looks around at everyone defiantly and says, “I go east! You can all do what you want!” He then turns his horse eastward and gallops away, not looking back to see if they are following.
Tinok looks to James and says, “I guess we go east.”
“It would appear that way,” he replies. They all turn their horses and gallop after Jiron.
They follow the river for several miles before a town begins to come into view along the river ahead of them. It sits on the north bank of the river and at the southern edge of town, a bridge spans the river. They see several figures moving in and around the town, plus several upon the bridge itself. They pause only a moment before turning back toward the west and ride until the town is once again out of sight behind them.
“That bridge would be perfect to get across,” James says. “But it looks as if there’s guards posted on it. I think we should wait for night and see if we can’t find a way to sneak across.”
Indicating Jiron and himself, Tinok says, “We can take out the guards before they even know we’re there.”
“But that would tell everyone that there are hostiles in the area,” James counters, “then they would be searching for us. If we can sneak across somehow,” pausing for effect, he looks at Tinok and says with emphasis, “without killing anyone, then we may be able to get further south before they even know we’ve been through here.”
“Can we sneak across?” Cassie asks.
“Won’t know until tonight,” James replies. “Let’s find a spot away from the river where we can have a bite to eat unobserved while we wait for dark.”
“Why do we have to move away from the river?” Cassie asks.
Sighing, James explains, “In the event that someone is traveling down the river, we don’t want them to alert those in the town as to our presence.”
“Oh,” she says.
They move about a half mile away from the river and find a spot near a hill that provides them some cover. They keep watch for anyone coming and remain undisturbed until night has fallen and they’re ready to make the attempt to cross the river.
Once night has deepened enough that the only light is that of the stars, they mount up and ride back toward the river. They follow it until the town’s lights appear and then come to a stop. Jiron says, “I’ll go and scout the town, then we can decide what to do.”
“Alright,” James agrees, “but be careful.”
He gives James a look that says, ‘Of course’, and then disappears in the night as he heads for town. Twenty minutes go by before they hear his return.
“Well?” James asks when he rejoins the group.
“Looks to be about twenty soldiers garrisoned there,” he explains, “with four on duty at the bridge and two walking patrol within the town itself. Most of the others are gathered in a tavern located near the center of town.”
“Is there a way to create a diversion that would draw off the guards at the bridge?” Tinok asks.
“Maybe setting fire to a building or two,” he says, “that may do it. Unless the guards at the bridge have an extraordinary sense of duty and remain there.”
“Most likely they are bored and would leave just to see what’s going on,” James suggests.
“Probably,” Jiron says. Looking to Tinok, he says, “Wanna come start some fires with me?”
“Every boy’s dream,” Tinok replies with a smile.
“Now make sure it looks like it could’ve been an accident, or the search may be on,” James cautions.
“Do the best we can,” Jiron says. “When we’re done, we’ll meet you back here.”
“Good luck,” Delia says.
“Be careful,” Cassie says with concern.
“We will,” Jiron assures her, and then he and Tinok run off toward town.
James mounts his horse after some time passes and advises the girls to do the same, “We may need to be ready to move fast should they return with soldiers in pursuit.”