Refuge: Kurt's Quest (12 page)

“And we captured their long ships intact,” said
the Marshal, hands on his hips as he surveyed the boats in the light of the
rising sun.

“I think we can cram maybe eighty men into
each,” agreed the Master Assassin, looking over the ships, which, unlike the
ships that had brought the mostly Ellala force here, were made to sail in many
conditions, including the narrow waters of a fjord.  “Ferry them back down with
twenty men each, then back up with a full load, and we’ll have everyone where
we need them.”

The Marshal looked up to the lightening sky
with an expression of concentration.  Crunching the numbers which the Assassin
had already gone over.  They had nine hundred and sixty men and women on the expedition,
three hundred and twenty to a ship.   They had lost twelve men assaulting the
camp, minor losses considering the disparity of numbers, made possible by the
complete surprise they had achieved.  When they finished the ferrying, they
would have five hundred and sixty of their people at the head of the fjord,
leaving three hundred and eighty eight to watch the ships.

“I wish we could take more,” said the Marshal,
a scowl on his face. “But we haven’t the time.”

“We will need the ships to return home,” said
Glassini, looking back out to sea, where the three ships rocked at anchor a
couple of hundred meters offshore.  “It would not do to not leave sufficient
people here to protect them.”

“That is true,” said the Marshal.  He turned
and started to shout at the rest of the people, while the long boats rowed back
out to the ships to pick up more soldiers.  “Get those long ships ready.  We
move out in an hour, as soon as we get them fully loaded.”

He turned back to the Assassin.  “You will
accompany me in the first ship, along with the rest of your people.  You may be
needed as soon as we get there.”

Glassini gave a head nod, dreading the job that
might be ahead of her.  Killing adults was one thing.  But children?  Even a
cold blooded killer like herself blanched at that thought.

*     *     *

The sea eagle flew over the camp, its sharp
eyes taking in every detail.  Some of the men below, those still occupying the
burned out spot, their pitched tents taking the place of the almost totally
destroyed long houses, looked up at the bird.  There were more men in the ships
sitting a couple of hundred meters off the opening to the fjord.

If there had been magic users below, they might
have been able to divine the true purpose of the raptor.  All of them were
gone, and there was no sign of any magic from the camp, and very little from
the ships.

“They’ve taken a reaver camp,” said Garios,
sitting on the stern deck of the ship with his eyes closed.  He saw what the
bird saw, having used a spell he knew, one of the few from the Pantheon of Life,
to possess the bird.  “There are men on the shore, some more on the ships, but
it feels like many are missing.”

“Any idea where they went?” asked Kurt, sitting
next to the Dwarf.

“The long ships are gone,” said Garios, willing
the bird to fly higher, almost to the limit of its upward reach.  He spotted
movement on the water, about twelve kilometers up the fjord.  “I’ve spotted
them.  They’re using the long ships to move up the fjord, probably to the end.”

“So I guess that takes that approach from us,” said
Jackie.  “There’s no way we’re going to fight our way past those three ships to
gain access to the fjord.” 

“So we need to find another way,” said Kurt in
a growl.  “Overland, to where we can pick up their trail.”

“Do we have to follow them?” asked Drake. 
“We’re not sure they know where the place where this, crown, is either.”

“They have a better idea than we do,” said
Kurt.  “So I think following them, while casting about a little on our own, is
the best bet.”

“We have something they don’t have,” said
Fenris.  “White Paw.  He can sniff out things they can’t.”

The three argued the point while Garios flew
the bird inland to the south.  He found a long valley over the ridge line that
bordered that shore of the fjord.  It curved further south, about ten kilometers
away from the fjord at its mouth, until it ran to the sea, to a small cove that
looked perfect for harboring the galley.  He flew the bird back to the east,
looking over the ground, seeing where the valley curved back to the north,
until it reach the fjord near a flat area of farms and houses, to a small
village on the waterfront.

“I think I’ve found our way,” he said, flying
the bird at its maximum speed toward that open area.  “There’s a cove ten
kilometers south of the fjord, with a valley coming down to it that will lead
up to where the enemy is right now.”

“And where is the enemy?” asked Kurt.

“From what I can see, they are many more people
in that village than it can accommodate,” said Garios, as the bird flew to
within ten kilometers of the village, its sharp eyes picking up details that
would escape even an Ellala.

The Dwarf could hear the Captain in the
background, calling out new orders to the steersman to put them on a heading
for the cove the Dwarf had found.  They were still a day out, and would
probably reach that spot sometime this night.  Which would give the forces of
the Empire much more than a day’s head start.  He concentrated on his bird,
which was starting to stray from its flight plan, exerting some of its own will
once again.

An hour of struggle later and he was almost over
the village, and what he saw through the bird’s eyes was not conducive to
hope.  There were hundreds of Ellala down there, and an armored Ogre who looked
like he meant business.  And a lot of bodies, some stacked up, others being
burned in fires.  Some of the bodies looked too small, and it was with shock
that he realized that they were the forms of children, some being lifted into
the fires while he watched.

“May the Gods damn them,” he cursed under his
breath.

Someone looked up at the bird, someone who
could see it in the distance for what it was.  Garios felt death energy hit him
through the bird, which screeched and struggled.  Garios found himself kicked
out of his ride, with the last impression that the bird had twisted in the air
and was diving away, evading the magic.

“What happen?” asked Kurt.

“They have a powerful death mage, and he
discovered I was possessing the bird.”

“What did you see before that happened?”

“Terrible things.  Our enemy is there.  And we
must destroy them.  Find the crown or not, these Ellala and their servants must
die.”

*     *     *

“What was it?” asked Marshal Ellisandra of his
Death Priest, Jakisanda Millistara.

“Something was in possession of a raptor.  I’m
not sure what, probably some tribal shaman hereabouts.  But it was spying on
us, until I attacked.”

“Did you get the bird?”

“No,” said the Ellala in an ominous voice. 
“The damned thing got away.  But I don’t feel the presence of the other priest
either.”

“We are ready to move out, my Lord,” said one
of the officers, riding up on one of the horses they had appropriated from the
villagers, who had no worldly use for them.  They had thirty-four cavalry, that
being the number of serviceable mounts they had found.  His scouts.

“Look ahead through all the valleys then,” he
told the officer.  “But ware the local tribes.  From what the Nords said, these
mountains are full of Goblins and Grogatha.  If you find any in numbers refuse
combat, and bring the news back to the army.  I would have some prisoners, but
not at the cost of my people.  If you can capture a Goblin or two, do so.  We
can get a lot more information was a tortured prisoner than a corpse.”

The man saluted and rode off.  The Marshal
turned back to his Priest.  “I want you and the magic users spread out through
the column.  But I want you close, where I can direct your actions as needed.”

The Death Priest did not look happy at the
final phrase. 
Well, too damned bad
, thought the Marshal.  He was the
leader of this expedition, and the Priest would follow orders.

A couple of hours later they were at the edge
of the Nord village lands.  There were a few farms that his soldiers made sure
were clear, then a couple of empty wooden forts that guarded the high pass that
led through the ridgeline to the next valley over.  The forts had been hastily
abandoned by the few fighting men the Nord had left behind when the bulk of
their warriors had gone to the reaver camp.

I wonder how many other villages lost most of
their men when we destroyed that camp
, thought the Marshal abstractly as they
marched through the high pass.  He stopped for a moment to look down on the
fjord, his sharp eyes taking in details for kilometers up and down.  There was
another village all the way at the head, one they had ignored, since it must
have sent most of its warriors to the camp as well.  If there were any other
villages nearby, they were hidden by the mountains. 
It’s beautiful
, he
thought, looking at the snowcapped peaks towering over wooded lowlands.

As was normal, the trek down the pass was much
easier than the march up.  Soon his entire force was gathered in a kilometers
wide valley that ran parallel to the coast.  Scrying spells had shown that this
valley ran for scores of kilometers, but another valley ran into it about ten
kilometers to the south.  And that was his target.

[We are almost to the branch inland,] came a
mind transmission from his officer of scouts.

[Any sign of hostile indigenes?]

[We passed signs of a camp,] came back the
transmission.  [Looks like Goblins.  Twenty or thirty of them.]

[How long since they used that camp?] asked the
Marshal, knowing that the officer and several of his men were skilled scouts.

[Two, three days.  I’m willing to bet, my Lord,
that they were scouting out the pass to the Nord village.  They probably got
word of the men leaving to go to the reavers’ camp.]

The Marshal thought that over as he rode his
own horse at a walk, moving at the same pace as the infantry surrounding him. 
He had thought of turning this mount over to the scouts as well, but has been
of the opinion that one more scout really didn’t mean that much, while maintaining
his dignity as commander of the expedition mattered more.

[My forward scouts are reporting movement ahead
of them,] came the transmission of the scout commander.  [Do you want us to
move forward?]

We can’t afford casualties
, thought the Marshal,
knowing that he had a lot of territory to search with limited resources.  A
couple of men here and there might not mean much in the short run, but those
could be the men that would have found what he was looking for, but weren’t
around to do so.

[Stay where you are.  Send the assassins
forward to see what you face, and eliminate it if it isn’t too strong.]

[Yes, my Lord.]

If I have assassins with me, I might as well
use them, as long as there are some left when we find the temple.  And maybe I
can get rid of Glassini before she tries to follow her orders from the Emperor,
and tries to take me out of the picture.
 The Marshal had no illusions as to how a
confrontation between himself and the Master Assassin would turn out.  Even if
he had a full retinue of guards, he was sure she would only be slightly
inconvenienced by their efforts to protect him.

*     *     *

Glassini
Ellishanana moved silently through the shadows
at the edge of the valley, keeping to the wall of the mountain where there were
some thicker woods, if not very high.  Toward the center of the valley was
scrublands, short trees such as grew in this climate near to the arctic, interspersed
with low brush.  She could smell the stench of Goblins, the small humanoids who
seemed to plague so many of the wild lands of the world.  They were not a match
for any of the greater races, not even the Grogatha.  But they reproduced like
rats, and overran whole regions like the vermin they were.

Something moved ahead of her, and she crouched
low, letting her senses tell her what was ahead before she moved.  She could
hear low, grunting speech, an indication that there was more than one of the
creatures out here.  The sound of a stream of water hitting the brush told her
that one of the Goblins was urinating, which meant one wasn’t paying attention
at the moment.

The Assassin had both of her short blades out,
the curved long blade still in its sheath over her back.  She hoped that the
short blades would be all she needed.  If she had to draw the sword, she might
be in more trouble than she could handle.

The mental link transmission came through from
her other three assassins, and she processed the information and sent it on to
the scout commander, who was readying his men to come to her aid if needed. 
That done, she moved ahead, brushing through the bush without a noticeable
sound.

She saw the goblins well before they saw her. 
These were supposed to be sentries, but if they had been Ellala, they would be
facing execution for their lack of attention.  She actually took three quick
steps before any of the Goblins reacted.  One started to turn, and was halfway
around before the two blades both drove into his space at the neck and his
lifeless body dropped to the ground.  The second started to yell when one blade
took him in the mouth, the other to slash across his throat.