Bakhai nodded and sprinted for the old shack on the river side of the town. Mistake turned and ran to the large tree on the forest side of town. She climbed the tree and gazed at the Jiadin army. The Jiadin had built a large fire and were lighting torches. She frowned as she thought of them riding up to the wall under a hail of arrows to try to burn the stockade. It did not seem to be an intelligent tactic for them to use. Her mind raced with thoughts as she tried to figure out what they were going to do with the torches, when suddenly she remembered the remains of Rejji’s village.
The Jiadin had burned every single building in Rejji’s town and it appeared that they were preparing to do the same here. Still, it made no sense to carry the torches when they hadn’t broken through the wall yet. As she was trying to figure out their strategy, two Jiadin riders appeared carrying long poles. Mistake shook her head in disbelief at the thought of the gates giving way to such a feeble attack as being rammed by poles carried by riders. Even as she shook her head, the two riders turned and charged the wall as battle cries rippled through the Jiadin ranks. The Jiadin immediately formed a column and raced after the lead riders.
Arrows flew from the defenders as the Jiadin charged, but the charge was so swift and sudden that many arrows failed to fell the riders. The two poles slammed into the gates and the doors flung open, throwing the locking bar and braces towards the village. The lead Jiadin streamed into the town and raced towards the line of huts, carrying their torches high. The defenders rained arrows down on the horsemen, but some of the Jiadin swerved once through the gates and began climbing the ladders to attack the bowmen. The defenders on the river side of the gates abandoned their positions and hurried to the waiting boats as they had been ordered to do.
Bakhai leaned out of the shed and began to fire his arrows to cover their escape. The defenders on the forest side were blocked from escaping by the steady stream of riders coming through the gates. Mistake jumped down from her tree and pulled a dagger with each hand. She raced towards the trapped defenders and threw a dagger into the back of a Jiadin climbing the ladder.
“To the forest,” she yelled loudly. “Run to the forest and hide.”
Her dagger caught the next Jiadin as he leaped from his horse to the ladder. The defenders ran to the end of the platform and jumped to the ground. Mistake killed two more Jiadin as she watched the trapped defenders run into the dense forest. She caught the scent of smoke in the air and turned to see the first huts going up in flames. She peered through the parade of Jiadin raiders and saw Bakhai firing arrow after arrow as the villagers behind him piled into the boats. She also saw two Jiadin riders converging on him from the direction of the town and knew that Bakhai would never see them coming.
Mistake filled her hands with daggers again and raced forward. She ran towards the steady stream of Jiadin warriors entering through the gates. She tried screaming a warning to Bakhai, but she knew her voice would not penetrate the roar of the pounding hoofs and the battle cries of the Jiadin. Without stopping, she hurled both daggers at the pair of Jiadin just coming through the gates and then ran into the path of their horses. One of the horses reared when its rider fell, but the other kept charging forward. Mistake threw her body forward in a dive between the horse’s legs. She felt the impact on her foot as the horse clipped her, but she managed to roll her body into a ball as she landed on the other side of the horse.
Mistake rolled to her feet and continued the race towards Bakhai. She grabbed two more daggers as she ran and screamed as she saw the first rider approaching Bakhai raise his sword. She hurled a dagger as she sped towards her friend, knowing the distance was still too great for her dagger to be effective. The dagger hit the horse hilt first, but the horse reared and the Jiadin fought to control his beast. Bakhai, alerted to the danger, dove out of the shack and brought his bow up. Mistake, still charging the shack, hurled another dagger at the rider and caught him in the cheek. Bakhai sent an arrow into the second rider and the Jiadin tumbled from his horse.
Mistake ran gasping into the shed and Bakhai swiftly followed her. He looked towards the town and saw the fires flaming from the huts.
“We should leave,” Bakhai said softly. “We cannot save the town now.”
“Everybody has worked so hard,” sniffed Mistake as she peered out of the shack. “There ought to be something we can do to make them stop.”
“They won’t stop until the whole town is destroyed,” frowned Bakhai. “Then they will sift through the ashes to find Rejji.”
“That’s it!” exclaimed Mistake as she craned her neck looking for the leader of the attack. “They are here looking for Rejji.”
“Well they won’t find him,” responded Bakhai. “At least that is something positive.”
“Quiet,” ordered Mistake. “Be silent while I do this.”
Bakhai shook his head and stared as his small friend as she wove the Air Tunnel to just outside the broken gates where three Jiadin warriors sat on their horses watching the town go up in flames.
“Ride, Rejji, ride,” shouted Mistake into the Air Tunnel. “Head for the mountains while they are busy with the town.”
The three Jiadin soldiers whirled towards the sound of the voice. They appeared confused and indecisive for a moment and then the one in the center started issuing orders. One of the riders charged towards the mountains and another rode into town, while the one who had given the orders sat and looked one way and then the other. Mistake watched while the Jiadin burning the town threw their torches at the nearest hut and rode towards the gates. The leader signaled his men and charged towards the mountains in pursuit of the phantom Rejji. Within minutes, the Jiadin emptied from the town and Mistake and Bakhai raced to the gates. Bakhai slammed the gates shut as Mistake studied the broken braces.
“The nails on the braces were sawed in half,” she scowled. “I wondered how they thought they could ride into town without engaging the men on the wall.”
“What do you mean?” asked Bakhai as he signaled the defenders in the forest to return.
“I mean we have a traitor in our midst,” spat Mistake. “These nails were purposely shortened so the braces would break off. Not only that, but the Jiadin knew it before they attacked. They broke the gates open with poles held by riders. I thought it was foolish at the time, but I know why they did it. Our stockade wall was worthless when they could just open the gates.”
The defenders from the forest ran to the gate and Bakhai told them to put out the fires if they could. He left the gates and strode over to the braces and examined them.
“How long do you think it will take them to figure out that they are chasing the wind?” Bakhai asked.
“I don’t know,” Mistake frowned as she gazed at the burning town. “Judging from the smoke, I don’t think they will bother coming back when they figure it out. They didn’t come here to loot; they came to destroy. I think they accomplished their mission.”
“Well I think we will seal the gates anyway,” declared Bakhai. “If they come back they will have to deal with the archers this time. Did we lose any villagers?”
“I don’t know,” answered Mistake. “They really weren’t interested in the archers much. They just rode past them except for a few and I didn’t see any of our men go down. I am not sure if the village was emptied though.”
“There were a few men setting traps,” Bakhai stated. “Other than that it was pretty much empty. I am going to get some real nails for the braces. Why don’t you contact Yltar and let them know what happened here. I don’t want Rejji running into the Jiadin by accident.”
“What about the traitor?” questioned Mistake.
“We will deal with that after we are prepared for the return of the Jiadin,” replied Bakhai as he turned and headed towards the town.
***