“Understandable,” states James.
“Last night we were talking,” he tells James, “and we came to the conclusion that any forces down below us are going to be looking for us to come down off of here.”
He thinks about that as they ride in silence a minute and then says, “Any ideas on what to do about that?”
“Not really,” he replies.
Aleya joins the conversation and adds, “We won’t really know what to do until we find out where they are.”
James nods his head, “True. Hopefully we’ll see them before they see us.”
“I’ve only got six arrows left,” Aleya speaks up.
“Can you make more?” James asks her.
“Sure,” she replies. “It’s really not that difficult, just time consuming. To fletch sufficient numbers, I’d need several hours and more arrowheads.”
“Which we’re not going to have,” he says. “Can you fight?”
“I never really had occasion to before,” she says. “My father said my bow would deter anyone from bothering me.”
Jiron glances at her and says, “Just stay near me and I’ll protect you.”
“I may just do that,” she replies, giving him a smile.
The trail continues its descent through the trees, at one point they came across an overgrown pile of stone that looks to have once been a building at some point. The ceiling has long since caved in and grass and trees are growing in amongst the rubble. James notices the architecture is somewhat similar to that which was found in the valley on the other side of the ridge.
Knowing the soldiers behind them are most likely still in pursuit, they decide against stopping, except for the most immediate calls of nature. When noon rolls around, they break out rations and eat in the saddle. By this time, they’ve come quite a ways down from the top, the exact distance is hard to tell due to the thickness of the forest.
Jiron has begun to regale her with tales of their exploits as they make their way through the forest. He was just beginning the one where they had gone through the underground caves in the Merchant’s Pass when a crossbow bolt embeds itself in a tree right next to him.
Another one flies out and strikes James’ horse causing it to rear and throw him from the saddle. Then all hell breaks loose when a cry goes up from ahead of them and men begin swarming toward them out of the forest.
Crumph! Crumph!
Two massive explosions send men, dirt and trees up into the air. Jiron comes over to where James is getting up off the ground and reaches down a hand.
Taking the proffered hand, James vaults up behind him on his horse and with Aleya riding next to them, turn off the trail and begin racing downhill through the forest. “If we can make it out of the forest and into the hills, we may be able to reach Kern before they can get us.”
“Are you sure?” Aleya shouts.
“About that, yes,” replies Jiron. “About getting to the hills before they catch us, no.”
Either way, they’re making a run for it.
Moving as fast as the terrain and trees will allow, they race for their lives. Jiron swings around a rather large tree blocking their way and runs directly into a patrol of six soldiers. Riding straight through them, he hears his horse cry out as a soldier slashes out with a knife and cuts a deep gash along its left hindquarters.
Aleya stays right with them and they soon leave that patrol behind. His horse begins faltering and glancing back at the wound, can see where the blood is flowing freely down the horse’s flank. He realizes his horse isn’t going to last much longer and brings it to a halt.
“What’s wrong?” she asks as Jiron and James begins dismounting. Then the horse turns and she sees the deep gash and the trail of blood flowing down its side. Nodding, she dismounts as well.
“Looks like we’re on foot from here,” states Jiron. Looking to Aleya he adds, “There’s no way your horse will support all three of us for long. Go ahead and get out of here, there’s no sense in you dying too.”
“You’ll stand a better chance with an archer than just by yourselves,” she tells him. “You aren’t getting rid of me so easily.” She sees the protest building behind his eyes and adds, “Besides, where am I going to go?”
Giving in to the logic, he gives her a grin as he replies, “I was hoping you’d say that, but I had to give you the option.”
“Can we stop all this jibber jabber and get out of here?” James asks impatiently.
Heading downhill, they make their way as fast as possible through the undergrowth of the forest. Aleya keeps one of her remaining arrows in hand for a quick draw should the need arise.
Up the hill behind them, they can hear the sound of many people crashing through the forest in pursuit. Horns begin sounding behind them and are soon answered by horns both in front of and all around them.
“They’ve got us encircled!” Jiron exclaims.
“Continue down,” insists James. “It’s our only chance!”
Rushing headlong toward the waiting soldiers they each know must be down there, James suddenly notices a stream that abruptly appears out of a clump of fallen trees. Not understanding why it should nag at him, he comes to a stop.
“What’re you stopping for?” Jiron asks as he comes back to where James is standing near the fallen trees.
“This stream is flowing out of these trees,” he says. “But it doesn’t flow into them.”
“So?” he asks, scanning around for hostiles.
James begins making his way to the base of the pile as he continues, “Doesn’t it seem odd for a stream to suddenly appear like this?”
“No,” replies Aleya, joining in. “It’s probably being fed by an underground spring.”
“Maybe,” replies James. He hears Aleya’s startled intake of breath as his orb materializes in his hand. Holding it out, he peers within the pile. “It looks like there may be space enough in here for all of us. Maybe we could hide until the coast is clear.”
Aleya suddenly stands up, draws back her bow and lets fly an arrow. A soldier further up the hill cries out as the arrow impales itself in his side. “They’re coming!” she cries out as she draws back another arrow and lets fly.
Crumph!
The ground further up the hill by the advancing soldiers erupts, slowing the advance and filling the air with a great cloud of dust. “Come on!” James cries out as he extinguishes his orb and then works his way within the pile of fallen trees. The others follow and Aleya just clears the outer edge before soldiers begin racing past.
From their hiding spot, they see dozens of soldiers running past in pursuit. Holding still and remaining quiet, they pray the soldiers don’t think to look within the pile. After the last soldier disappears into the forest, they breathe a collective sigh of relief.
“Let’s give it a minute before we leave,” whispers Jiron. “Give them a chance to get further away.”
“Good idea,” says James. He sits there in a most uncomfortable position as they stare out at the forest, trying to ascertain if anyone is about. Aleya is between him and the outside, and again something doesn’t seem right.
Her hair is blowing as if in a slight breeze, but the pile they’re in should block any breeze from getting to them. He wets his finger and then holds it out to determine where the breeze is coming from. In amazement he realizes the breeze is blowing out from the rear of the pile. Which should be impossible as the rear of the pile is against the side of the mountain.
His orb springs to life and he looks closely at the far side of the pile. The stream is originating from there as well. Moving carefully, he starts working his way further to the rear of the pile.
“What are you doing?” Jiron asks as soon as he begins moving.
“Just wait here a sec,” he tells them. “I want to check something out.” Moving carefully so as not to disturb the integrity of the pile of trees, he makes his way further toward the back. After a few minutes of slow moving, his orb finally illuminates an opening, three feet in diameter, which is the source of the water. The breeze which had ruffled Aleya’s hair is also coming from there as well.