Shepherd's Quest: The Broken Key #1 (21 page)

Lying back on the bed, his mind wandered to what Chad and Riyan were doing now.

“Why didn’t you stay on the road?” exclaimed Chad quietly from where he sat on the horse behind Riyan.

“We can lose them in the hills,” replied Riyan.

They leaned low in the saddle as they fled through the hills. A short time ago, three bandits accosted them and it was only through great luck that they managed to get away.

Now the bandits were hot on their trail. Riyan had turned off the road and begun heading through the hills.

“Are they still back there?” asked Riyan.

Chad glanced back and saw that they had only a couple hundred foot lead on them.

“Oh yeah,” he replied. “I think they’re gaining.” Which wasn’t too surprising seeing as how Chad and Riyan were riding double and the bandits were not. “We’re not going to be able to stay ahead of them.”

“I know,” Riyan acknowledged. Not too far ahead of them stood the treeline where the forest began. He hoped that if they could make it to the trees before the bandits closed the gap, they might have a better chance of escaping. Chad saw where Riyan was taking them and silently agreed that it was their best shot.

They didn’t even consider putting up a fight since all they had for weapons was the sling that Riyan always carried with him and a couple belt knives. At the moment the sling was buried at the bottom of his pack.

The bandits on the other hand were equipped with swords, knives, and one even had a shield secured behind his saddle. Any stand they were to make against such armed men would prove futile.

Keeping low in the saddle, they urged their horse in maintaining as fast a pace as it could. The bandits behind them continued to slowly gain ground until they reached the forest. By that time the gap between them had been reduced to a mere hundred feet.

Riyan maneuvered between the boles of the trees but initially was unsuccessful in putting any more distance between themselves and the bandits. From behind they heard one of the bandits yell, “Give it up! You’ll never get away!” Ignoring him, Riyan continued to push deeper into the forest.

Overhanging limbs started striking them as they raced between the trees, and bushes were beginning to impede their progress. When their forward momentum began to diminish, Riyan started to think this hadn’t been such a smart idea. Fortunately though, the bandits behind them were just as hampered in their movement through the forest as they were.

Riyan finally came to the conclusion that escape was going to be impossible. So it was time to get creative. “Get my sling out of my pack,” he hollered to Chad. Then he ducked just as a thick branch loomed up in front of him. Behind him, he heard Chad grunt when he wasn’t quick enough to avoid the branch.

“I’ll try,” he said as he rubbed the red spot on his forehead.

As they maneuvered between the trees, Chad untied the top of Riyan’s pack and began digging through it until he felt one of the straps of the sling. “Got it,” he said just as the horse jumped over a fallen log. Chad hadn’t been prepared and was almost thrown from its back. When he felt himself sliding off, he grabbed onto Riyan with a death grip and managed to right himself.

Handing the sling to his friend, he said, “Here.”

Riyan reached back and took the sling. “Now, get five of the gold coins out.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Just do it!” Riyan insisted. He felt Chad begin to rummage through his pack again.

While he dug out the coins, Riyan began scanning the forest ahead of them for what he wanted.

“We better do something quick,” said Chad, “they’re almost upon us.” Riyan turned his attention from the forest ahead to the bandits behind. What had been over a hundred feet lead, has shrunk further to three quarters of that. “I know,” he replied.

“Working on it.”

He turned back to the forest ahead and finally saw what he was looking for. “There’s a clearing up ahead,” he told his friend. “Once we’re halfway through it, toss the gold coins to the ground. Make sure they land somewhere visible.”

“You think they’re going to stop for the coins?” he asked.

“With any luck, yes,” he replied. “We’re almost there, get ready.” Chad looked over his friend’s shoulder and saw the clearing approaching. Through the trees it appeared as a beacon of light in the dark forest seeing as how the sunlight was able to breach the canopy of leaves.

Riyan braced himself as the horse leaped across another fallen log and entered the clearing. It wasn’t big, just a small area where it looked like wild animals came to graze.

The clearing was primarily covered with grass though a few wild bushes sprouted here and there. “Now Chad!” hollered Riyan as they came to a spot slightly more barren than the rest.

Chad tossed the coins so they landed upon and around the barren area a split second before the bandits entered the clearing behind them. Then Riyan and Chad reached the far side. They glanced back and saw that two of the bandits had indeed stopped to pick up the coins while the third continued the chase.

“It didn’t work!” hollered Chad.

“It worked well enough,” countered Riyan then they were back in among the trees.

“Here,” said Riyan as he handed the reins to Chad.

“What are you planning on doing?” Chad asked.

“Something stupid I’m sure,” was the reply. Riyan saw a thick branch hanging across their path two feet above their heads, it was perfect. Just before they drew close to it, Riyan took his right foot out of the stirrup and placed it on the saddle beneath him.

“You’re crazy!” Chad yelled at him when he realized what he was about to do.

Ignoring his friend, Riyan braced himself and then leaped from the back of the horse when they reached the branch. He sailed through the air and grabbed the overhanging branch. The force of his impact scrapped several inches of skin off his forearms before he was able to stop himself.

A quick glance back showed the pursuing bandit drawing his sword as he looked at Riyan hanging from the branch. Swinging up, he got on top of the branch just as the sword struck the wood right where he had been hanging a moment before. As the bandit pulled the blade from the branch, he reached for another one higher up in the tree and pulled himself even further out of the bandit’s reach.

He glanced down at the bandit who was still at the bottom of the tree, then off to where Chad was disappearing in the forest. At least he got Chad out of this, now to save himself. Taking his sling out from where he had stuffed it in his shirt, he contemplated what he was going to do. From the direction of the clearing he could hear the other two bandits making their way towards their partner.

The only ammunition he had for the sling were the coins in his pack. Reaching into it, he pulled out one of the copper coins they had found in The Crypt. Placing it in the cup of his sling, he steadied himself against the tree’s trunk as best he could. In all the times he spent practicing this sort of thing while watching the sheep, he never once tried it from the top of a tree. If he ever gets out of this and has the time, he may put in some practice.

“Come on down,” the bandit said from atop his horse. “You got nowhere to go.” Either the bandit didn’t realize that Riyan had a sling, or he didn’t care, for he made no effort to avoid the attack.

So Riyan got the sling up to speed quickly then released the coin. It flew down and struck the bandit in the face. With a cry, the bandit fell of his horse backwards. Blood flew everywhere and when he stood back up, Riyan could see the coin embedded where his nose once had been.

The man was shrieking in pain as blood poured from the wound. Riyan didn’t want to give him a chance to recover so he got another of the coins into the sling’s cup and launched it. This one struck the bandit in the side of the head and when he fell to the ground, he didn’t get back up.

By this time the other two bandits had arrived. They saw their partner lying on the ground dead. Then they turned their attention up to where Riyan stood in the tree. “We’re going to gut you kid!” one of them threatened. Dismounting, they went to the base of the tree and began climbing up.

First one began to climb, then the other. From his position, Riyan was unable to get a good shot at them. They were much too close to the trunk for his shot to be effective.

There were too many branches in the way too.

Then from out of the forest behind the men climbing the tree, Riyan saw Chad approaching. In his hand he held a four foot branch, one end was sharp and jagged from where Chad must have broken it off. Unnoticed, he came up behind the bandit closest to the ground and with all his might, stabbed him in the back with the branch.

The years of hauling grain sacks and barrels of flour at the mill paid off. For when the stick struck, it pierced the man’s back and went all the way through, exiting from the other side. Blood spurted out of the man’s chest as the jagged end of the stick emerged.

The man didn’t even cry out, the blow must have killed him instantly.

As the man fell from the tree, Chad jumped backwards to avoid the dead man collapsing on him. Then from above he heard the last bandit yell as he leaped from the tree towards him. Backpedaling quickly, Chad got out of the way.

The man landed with sword in hand. Chad could see the hate for him burning in his eyes. Giving out with an inarticulate cry, the man charged with his right hand holding the sword high. He could see the man intended to cleave him in two. Chad kept moving backwards until his heel hit a root and fell to the ground. There was no time to do anything but brace for the sword stroke that would end his life.

But just before the sword fell, the bandit cried out and sank to his knees. His left hand reached behind him as if he was trying to get something. Chad watched quite perplexed until he saw something shiny fly from the tree wherein Riyan stood and strike the bandit.

This time the blow knocked the bandit to the ground and he laid there crying out in pain. Chad could see the man’s back was covered in blood and obviously was in a lot of pain. He glanced up to see Riyan hop down out of the tree. Riyan stopped next to the man with the stick through his back and pulled the stick free.

Then he carried it over to where Chad stood over the man writhing on the ground.

“Can’t let him suffer,” Riyan said. Even though the bandit would have most likely killed them, he couldn’t leave the man to suffer. So taking the stick in both hands, he held it aloft over his head for the briefest moment before plunging it into the man and silencing his cries.

“You okay?” Riyan asked as he turned to his friend.

“Yeah,” nodded Chad. “You?”

“Just a few scrapes,” he said.

“What should we do with them?” Chad asked as he gazed at the dead bandits. Then it suddenly hit him. He and Riyan had fought off three vicious bandits and prevailed. “Our first real battle,” he announced.

“I guess you could call it that,” agreed Riyan. Grinning, he patted Chad on the back.

“We make a great team. And as for what to do with them? I say leave ‘em for the animals.”

“No point in letting their horses and equipment go to waste though,” suggested Chad.

“Absolutely not,” agreed Riyan. “To the victor go the spoils.” So while Chad went to retrieve Riyan’s horse from where he left him, Riyan went about gathering the three bandits’ horses together. Then he went to one of the bandits by the tree and removed the man’s sword belt from around his waist. Strapping it on around his own, he pulled forth the sword and felt every inch the hero.

The sword itself was a rather plain sword, more for utility than anything else. It had a straight blade that would be considered a longsword, with a plain unadorned crossguard and hilt. Still, it was the first sword Riyan ever held and he felt great holding it.

When Chad returned with the horse, he found Riyan swinging the sword back and forth with a grin on his face. Chad of course had to have one for himself, so he went and removed one from another and strapped it around his waist. It definitely took some getting use to, the scabbard kept trying to trip him up and the whole thing weighed quite a bit more than he expected.

“These might come in useful,” Riyan finally said after sliding his sword back in the scabbard. He pulled the hand away that he was using to guide the blade as it slid into the scabbard. Blood was welling from a cut he gave himself as the sword was sliding in.

“If we don’t kill ourselves with them first,” agreed Chad. “We don’t know the first thing about using a sword.”

“What’s there to know?” asked Riyan. “You get close to an enemy and stick ‘em.” Chad looked at his friend doubtfully, “I think there’s a bit more than that to it.” Riyan grinned and shrugged. “Let’s see what they have on them and then head home.”

Other than a few copper coins and a single silver, the bandits didn’t have much of what you would call treasure on them. Riyan was disappointed. For in the sagas bards always told, whenever the hero killed a bandit or some other foe, the dead usually held a magical item or maybe a map, something. Needless to say, he was a bit put off. He did use one of the bandit’s knives to remove the coins from their bodies that he slung at them.

That part was a bit ghastly but he didn’t want to leave anything behind. They also retrieved the gold coins they had dropped in an attempt to slow the bandits down.

“At least we aren’t going to have to ride double anymore,” Chad stated.

“Thank goodness,” replied Riyan. “No offense but I was getting tired of you hanging onto me.”

“Oh and like I enjoyed smelling your wonderful odor for so long?” The two friends stared at each other until they both erupted in laughter. “Let’s get out of here,” he said.

They mounted, then each took the reins of one of the two remaining horses and tied them to the rear of their saddles. Once the two spare horses were secured, Riyan began leading them out of the forest. Chad suggested they take the back way to Riyan’s house so no one in town would see them arriving with the horses. Just their luck they would run into Rupert who would probably take them.