“Yes, sir,” he says.
They get fires going and cooks begin working on dinner. Bedrolls are laid out nearby and it isn’t long before everyone has had a quick meal. Other than the sentries and the scouts riding the perimeter, everyone turns in early, well before the setting of the sun.
Before climbing into his bedroll, James checks the status of the various forces before and behind them. The one behind has stopped and made camp as well, the forces by Al-Zynn still look to be on alert and ready. He grins as he puts the mirror away and then lies down to sleep.
It isn’t long before a tired looking Devin awakens him. “Illan said it was time,” he says. When he sees James stirring and then gives him a nod, he gets up and begins to prepare James’ horse for travel.
With eyes longing to close after such a short rest, James sits on his bedroll as he tries to come completely awake. The camp is a flurry of activity as everyone readies themselves for travel. Despite the hustle and bustle there is relatively little noise as they ready for a quick push to the west to take the enemy by surprise. If they can get away without anyone noticing, by the time sunrise comes they’ll be many miles away before the enemy realizes what happened.
Earlier, Ceadric had some of his men comb the countryside surrounding the camp in an attempt to locate any of the enemy who may be keeping an eye on them and take them out. A few men with fast horses will remain to keep the campfires lit and to give the overall appearance that they are still here.
Despite the number of men and horses being prepared for travel, the noise level remains subdued. Unless an enemy scout is close, they may not notice anything out of the ordinary. The number of campfires they usually have were reduced by two thirds to lower the light level in the camp in the hopes of keeping their move more secret.
Illan appears out of the dark and walks toward him. “We will be ready to ride shortly,” he says as he comes to a stop near him.
“Any sign of enemy scouts?” James asks as he gets to his feet. Once up, Devin comes and collects his bedroll to secure it behind his saddle.
“Ceadric reported that a half dozen or so were taken out earlier,” he replies. “He thinks they got them all.”
“Let’s hope so,” James states. Glancing around the camp, he sees indistinct shadows moving about as the men make ready to ride. A horse rides close and Delia comes to a halt before him.
“Our folks are ready,” she tells him then glances over to where Devin is finishing securing his bedroll. “That is, when he has your equipment stored.”
“Good,” he comments with a nod. Terrance appears with a plate of rations which he takes with a ‘Thank you’ and commences to eat. To Illan he asks, “How far is it to Korazan?”
“A day or so,” he says. “Are you sure you still want to go through with your plan?”
Nodding while chewing a mouthful of food, James then swallows and says, “Yes. A nation the size of the Empire can lose soldiers and hardly bat an eye. But you mess with its economy and they’ll feel it.”
“As you will,” replies Illan and then his attention is taken by the approach of two of Ceadric’s men.
Finishing his meal, James walks over to one of the campfires set away from the tents where some of those from The Ranch are congregating while they await the order to get underway. Terrance is one and he hands his empty plate back to him.
Stig looks up at his approach and grins. “Is it time for a little payback?” He has his mace in one hand while absentmindedly thumping it in the palm of the other.
Of all those associated with James on this venture, only the pit fighters whom he had bought out of slavery are completely in favor of taking out the slaver compound. The indignity and abuse they endured while in their hands demands retribution.
“Shouldn’t be too much longer,” he replies. They stand there sharing the fire until the word comes a few short minutes later that all are ready. Devin approaches him with his horse in tow and holds the reins while he mounts. Once mounted, James begins moving toward where he knows Illan will ride at the head of the column.
He doesn’t get very far before the force begins to move away from the campfires still burning in the dark without a word. James glances back to the men left behind to maintain the illusion they are still there as they walk to and fro in the fire’s light. Returning his attention back to the fore, he quickly moves through the riders to join Illan and Brother Willim in the lead. The rest of the Hand of Asran rides further back in the column with the others.
As the campfires disappear further into the distance behind them, his anxiety peaks as he waits for any indication the move has been found out. But as minute after minute passes uneventfully, he begins to relax.
A force this size doesn’t exactly move silently and the noise from the horse’s hooves seems to reverberate throughout the night. The tack on the horses prone to jingling has been muffled with cloth to prevent it from making any sound.
They ride in silence for several hours, scouts reporting in periodically only to report that no other forces have been sighted ahead of them. When the sky begins to lighten and still no sight of the enemy has been made, James realizes they may have just pulled it off. By now, their pullout had to have been detected by the enemy. The enemy scouts that were posted around their encampment will not be reporting back in and by now others have most likely been sent to investigate. The men who were left behind to make it appear they hadn’t left were to leave and race to catch up when the sky first began to lighten.
“Should be to Korazan by early tomorrow if we keep a steady pace,” Illan says, breaking the silence. He glances to where James is riding beside him and asks, “Can you check for hostiles?”
“Sure, but they’ll know where we are,” he replies.
Shrugging, Illan says, “Doesn’t matter much now. They know we didn’t go north or south, east would be pointless, so they’re going to send everything this way. Probably will try to crush us quickly with all they have.”
“Alright,” agrees James and then reaches for his mirror.
“Scouts say there’s a road ahead of us a mile or two running north and south,” he says as James gets his mirror into position.
Nodding, James gazes into the mirror and lets the magic flow. The image clarifies and he sees their force from a bird’s eye view. Scrolling the image, he first looks to the west to see what’s ahead. It doesn’t take long to find the road that the scouts reported. “There’s traffic upon it,” he says to Illan. “Regular people and a few caravans.” Glancing to Illan he says, “I don’t think they were expecting us to move this way.”
With a grin, Illan replies, “Good.”
Returning his gaze to the mirror, he scrolls the image still further. As the image moves further from his position, the drain of magic increases. “Doesn’t look like anything ahead of us will present much of a problem,” he says. “There are a few forces on the move but nothing we can’t handle.”
Moving the image, he begins to scan clockwise. To the north rides a band of horsemen heading in their direction, looks to be two score doubtful if they would even try anything against so overwhelming an army. About an hour behind them to the east he finds those riders they left behind at the camp riding hard to catch up. Two to three hours behind them follows the force from Al-Zynn, easily twice the number of those riding with James. The force is entirely made up of cavalry, three brown robes ride with them.
“Our riders made it safely away,” he tells Illan. “They’re about an hour behind us.”
“That’s good news,” he replies.
From behind, Ceadric asks, “What about the force from Al-Zynn and the one that was following us?”
“The army from Al-Zynn rides several hours behind our men, and they’re twice our number with three brown robes,” he says as he scrolls the image to locate the force that had been trailing them. “The others are moving to join with them.”