“Should reach Pyrtlin by this evening if we keep a brisk pace,” Illan announces during one of their breaks to rest the horses.
James nods that he heard while watching Delia working with her slingers. During most of their breaks she cycles through them, working with two or three at a time. Right now she has Devin, Orry and Terrance. Devin and Orry have taken to the sling with skill and are continuously improving both their marksmanship and their range. Terrance on the other hand struggles with just getting the bolt to go in the right direction.
“Again,” Delia says after all three of their stones find their marks. Two hit dead center the tree a hundred feet away while the third flew wide by a good two yards.
As Terrance sets the next stone in the pocket of his sling, Delia comes over and says, “Stay loose. Never take your eye off the target, not even for an instant.” Taking hold of one of his legs, she moves it away from the other. “Keep yourself balanced at all times,” she explains to him. “If you become unbalanced while you twirl your sling, the shot will not fly true.”
“Yes ma’am,” Terrance says as he grits his teeth and takes hold of his sling. Terrance, a younger son of a farmer had been excited when he became part of the new recruits at The Ranch last year. Oh sure, there was a lot he didn’t care for, such as the incessant drills and Illan yelling at you when you didn’t do it perfectly. But he feels like he’s found his place in the world. Farm life had always been pure drudgery to him, unlike his other two brothers who were able to find satisfaction in tending the crops.
Placing his feet just as Delia instructs him, he takes sight of the tree they’re currently using for a target. He takes a deep breath to relax and then starts twirling the sling over his head. All the others have managed to achieve the whining noise when the sling reaches a certain speed. Try as he might, he just can’t seem to get it.
“Just relax and let it go when the time is right, not before,” Delia says behind him.
He lets the sling twirl another second before sensing the time was right and releases the stone. The sling opens up and the stone flies rapidly toward the tree. He holds his breath as he watches the stone arc through the air only to fly a foot to the right of his intended target.
“Damn!” he curses under his breath.
Delia pats him on the back and says, “Better. You keep yourself balanced at all times and keep practicing and you’ll get it.” When he turns to look at her, she adds, “Four more tries then we’ve got to go.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says and then reaches down for another stone.
Delia turns to the two others and says, “Four more.”
“We heard,” Devin replies.
Leaving her trainees to their practice, she walks over to where Illan and James are standing, watching her.
“How are they doing?” Illan asks as she approaches.
“Better,” she says. “I just wish we had more time to practice.”
Thunk! Thunk!..Poof!
At the sound of the stones hitting the target, they turn to watch just as Terrance lets fly. His stone again flies wide, this time by a good four feet.
Delia sighs, “He’s simply not getting it.”
“He’ll be good enough for what I want him to do,” James assures her.
“I hope so,” she says. “In an actual battle it might be better to have him watch the horses.”
“We’ll see,” Illan says. “He definitely has the determination.”
They watch the next pass, and again he misses the target, this time by only a narrow margin. He turns to see them watching and James gives him a thumb’s up. Grinning, he bends over to pick up another stone.
When they began their practices on the road, they complained about not using the slugs in their belts. Delia had explained that she wanted them used to different sizes and weights. “What are you going to do in the heat of battle when all your slugs are used up?” she asked them. After that there was no more complaining.
“Time to go,” Illan says after the slingers have sent their final volley toward the tree. Out of the four tries, Terrance had managed to strike the tree once.
“Alright!” Delia hollers to her slingers. “Time to go!”
It takes but a minute for everyone to return to the saddle and begin heading down the road. The rest of that day, with the sun shining overhead in a cloudless sky, they make good time and reach Pyrtlin before nightfall.
Finding a suitable spot outside of town, they set up camp. Once all is settled in for the night, James turns to Delia and says, “Take a couple of your slingers and see about buying some rations.”
“Not a problem,” she says. Raising her voice, she hollers, “Moyil, Jace and Caleb, bring your packs, we’re going into town.”
Devin comes to James and says, “Your tent is all set up.”
“Thanks Devin,” he replies.
Delia picks up her own pack as well as several others and with the boys in tow, heads into town. Being a trader, she is the logical choice for this particular duty.
As she heads into town, James walks over to his tent. “You lyin’ piece of horse dung!” Scar’s voice reaches him from where the fighters are bivouacked. He glances over to where his voice came from and sees him standing with hands on hips facing Uther. He pauses a moment to see what’s going on.
“I ain’t lyin’!” Uther insists. “We really were asked by the High Lord of Jearinan to go on a hunting trip with him. You see, it was after we had rescued his daughter from…”
James shakes his head and continues on to his tent. Will that ever end? He has no clue where Jearinan is or if there is even a high lord. Someday he’s going to investigate some of their outrageous claims, just to see if they are in fact true.
As he enters his tent, their bickering continues. At least it’s good natured, neither takes the insults and accusations of the other seriously. James assumes it’s just part of the fun. Inside he finds his cot already put together but not much else. The first night Devin was assigned as his helper, he had practically unpacked everything he brought with him. It took almost two hours before everything was repacked securely. From that point on, he told Devin to only put up the tent and cot, that if he wanted something more, he would get it himself.
Lying down on his cot, he passes the time until dinner has been prepared by thinking of what lies ahead. He seems to have ample time to do nothing but think lately. Since he’s the one in charge of this expedition, no one is letting him do anything. He supposes they would even delegate someone to wipe his butt if he let them. Well, perhaps not that but he’s been removed from cooking detail, sentry duty and all the other daily little chores which must be done. All he has to do is get on his horse in the morning and off at night.
He has a fair idea of how to convince the Empire to leave Madoc. With any luck it will actually work. First order of business is getting Pytherian and the Ruling Council of Madoc to agree to reconstruct the High Temple of Morcyth on the exact spot where it had resided before. That shouldn’t be too hard, if the agreement was to expel the Empire from the borders of Madoc.
The last time he was within the city of Lythylla, Councilman Rillian who was a member of the Ruling Council had worked with the Empire to open the gates for their army. Little love is lost between the councilman and James. He knows that should he still be a member, he will work to prevent any agreement against the Empire to come to fruition.
That is but one hurdle, the other is what the Empire may throw at him once he joins the fray. Aside from the mages and the priests of Dmon-Li which play a prominent part in their forces, there could be more of those creatures he faced in the pass on the way to Ironhold last fall. With any luck, there won’t be all that many of those available or even something worse. He does have some ideas on how to deal with them should they show up again.