Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four (28 page)

“Then it’s the river for us,” James says,
not sounding too thrilled about the prospect of another dip into
the cold water.

“They have a camp on the other side as
well,” he says. “Though there are not as many, probably just enough
to keep the Empire from sending small parties around or through the
lines.”

“How about the river itself?” he asks.

“They don’t have that blocked off,” he says,
“but they do have watchers on the wall stationed close to the
river. I think they’re more worried about boats coming up the river
than out of the pass.”

“I would think so too,” agrees James. He
sits there and thinks awhile, knowing what he’s going to have to do
but dreading it. After trying and failing to come up with an
alternative plan, he says, “We’ll need to float down the
river.”

“There’re plenty of logs on the bank of the
river,” states Jiron. “We could tie a few together and use them to
keep us afloat.”

“We don’t have enough rope to construct a
raft,” counters James.

“I don’t mean a raft,” he explains. “I mean
just enough to hang onto while we float in the water. It’ll be
cold, but we shouldn’t drown.”

“Might work,” agrees James. “Do we even have
any rope?”

Jiron grins as he lifts his shirt and shows
him a coil of thin rope that’s wrapped around his waist.

“Where’d you get that?” he asks.

“Back in Trendle,” he tells him. “When I
knew we were going to hide the Fire, I got it. Knowing you, I
figured it would be needed.” James can sense that he’s grinning at
him in the dark.

“Okay, let’s do it,” he says. For the next
hour, they comb the bank of the river and locate several logs which
will work. Tying four of them together with the rope, they soon
have a makeshift raft.

“Ready?” asks Jiron.

“No, but let’s go anyway,” he replies.
Helping Jiron push the raft into the water, he follows it in and
takes hold with his good arm.

Jiron maneuvers them to the center of the
river and they float silently toward the barricade. The number of
men stationed in this area has indeed greatly swelled from before.
A large encampment with several buildings has sprung up where the
original site had been. The wall Jiron mentioned is thirty feet
high with a platform running along the top allowing archers an area
to stand where they can rain arrows down on attackers.

A thousand men or more are encamped on the
side of the river where the road leaves the pass and another couple
hundred on the other side. A hundred feet before they reach the
wall, a rope spans the river. Sitting next to the river by the main
encampment is a ferry which they must use to transfer men and
supplies from one camp to the other. “Looks like they mean to stay
here awhile,” whispers Jiron.

“I would have to agree with you,” replies
James.

Now coming to where the river passes by the
wall, they duck down in the water with nothing but their heads
above the surface. At the end of the wall is a guard set to keep
watch on the river but is currently talking to the man next to him.
As fortune would have it, he’s facing the other way, away from the
river.

The river takes them past the wall and into
Madoc, now Empire territory. Before the encampment behind them
completely disappears another one springs into view ahead of
them.

A vast army is spread across the plains.
Sprawling on both sides of the river, campfires by the hundreds can
be seen. Though no wall has sprung up to ward off Cardri’s men,
they do have a series of sentries stationed on the Cardri side.

As they approach the Empire’s encampment, a
soldier moves to the river and fills his canteen right when they
pass. James holds his breath as the makeshift raft sails past
without the soldier even noticing them. When the soldier gets back
up and returns to the camp, they both breathe a sigh of relief.

The river continues to take them through the
encampment, and they see a large series of tents on the pass side.
These tents are much grander and on a larger scale than the
hundreds of others that dot the landscape. These must be the tents
of the commanders of this force.

At the rear of the encampment is a great
host of horses, at least five hundred strong.
What would they
need with such a large force here? It doesn’t make sense, the
fighting with Madoc is much further north.

At last, the river takes them past the end
of the encampment and they pull themselves more out of the water as
they watch the light from the campfires slowly disappear behind
them.

“Why do you suppose they have such a large
army back there?” asks Jiron once they’ve put sufficient distance
between themselves and the Empire’s forces.

“I don’t know,” replies James. “It doesn’t
make much sense though.”

“Think they’re planning to invade Cardri?”
he asks.

“I don’t think so,” he says. “From
everything I’ve seen and heard the last few weeks, I don’t believe
they would be able to sustain a war with Cardri. They’re spread way
too thin.”

After floating another few minutes, James
indicates the north bank, “Let’s get out of the water.”

“But isn’t Saragon further south along the
river?” asks Jiron.

“Yes,” he replies. “But we’re too exposed
here in the river. When morning comes, anyone glancing in this
direction is sure to see us.”

“Good thought,” says Jiron and they commence
angling toward the northern bank. Dripping wet, they leave the
river and do their best to wring the water out of their damp
clothes.

“Shall we follow the river?” Jiron asks.

“I was considering it,” he says. “Though
let’s stay some distance away to avoid being seen. And first chance
we get, we’ll need to acquire some horses.” Looking to Jiron, he
asks, “How far is it to Saragon?”

He shrugs as he says, “Don’t know. Never
went very far out of the City of Light.”

Finished with emptying the water out of his
boots, James laces them back on before getting to his feet. The
squishing in his boots is a real problem. Besides being
uncomfortable and annoying, he’s afraid of getting foot rot.

“You ready?” he asks Jiron.

“Just a moment,” he says as he goes over to
their raft and begins untying the rope. Once he gets the logs
untied, he pushes them back in the river where the current takes
them and they soon disappear down the river. He ties the rope back
around his middle again and then turns to James, “Now we can
go.”

Setting out, they begin to move along the
bank of the river, steadily moving away until they can just barely
see it in the moonlight. Keeping the river on their right, they
make their way to the south for several hours before the lights of
a town appear ahead of them.

As they approach, they’re able to tell that
the lights they are seeing are coming from campfires spread
throughout what’s left of the city. The light reveals the city is
all but destroyed. A once sizeable town has been reduced to a
broken, charred remnant of its once former glory.

“Pleasant Meadows,” James tells Jiron in a
hushed whisper.

“What?” he asks.

“Pleasant Meadows,” he repeats. “At least I
think it is. Miko and I had come across people fleeing the Empire’s
sacking of the city before coming to the City of Light. This town
ahead of us could very well be it.”

“I’ve heard of it,” Jiron tells him. “They
used to make good knives there, though it doesn’t look like they do
anymore.”

“No,” agrees James.

Patrols are riding the perimeter and
sentries can be seen positioned throughout the town. “Why would
they need all that for a town so far behind their lines?” asks
Jiron. “Unless there’s something there they’re protecting?”

“I don’t know, maybe” agrees James.

“Perhaps we should investigate,” suggests
Jiron. “It might be important.”

“It could also prove dangerous,” counters
James. “We don’t need to get ourselves killed without a good
reason. Besides, how would we even get in there? They have the
whole place cordoned off pretty well.”

“I don’t know,” he admits.

“Jiron, we have more important things to
worry about right now,” insists James.

“Okay,” he says as he looks at the town
longingly. His curiosity is definitely getting the better of
him.

“Now, let’s make our way around to the other
side, but keep your eyes open for an opportunity to acquire some
horses.”

Moving away from the river, they circle the
town, giving the patrols a wide berth. The opportunity doesn’t
present itself to acquire horses by the time they’ve arrived on the
other side of the town.

The sky begins to lighten as they leave
Pleasant Meadows behind. “We’ll need to find some place to hole up
until night again,” announces James.

“Haven’t seen anything yet,” Jiron
replies.

As they continue along, the sky continues to
brighten until the sun finally crests the horizon. They come across
an orchard and move within the trees to better hide themselves. The
fruit hangs heavy on the branches, testament to the fact that the
farmer is no longer around to pick it.

James pulls one down and munches on it as
they continue to move through the orchard, Jiron does the same.
From out of the trees ahead of them, a blackened structure appears.
Burnt down and destroyed, it probably used to be the home of the
farmer whose orchard this is. Fortunately it still has two of its
four walls remaining. “This could afford us some protection,” James
offers.

“True,” agrees Jiron.

They advance on the house slowly, keeping a
constant look for anyone who might still be in the area. Jiron
draws James’ attention off to the side where three skeletons lie,
their meat having been picked clean by scavengers. “Don’t think we
have to worry about the farmer coming back,” he says gravely.

James nods as they continue their approach.
In the corner of the house where the two remaining walls meet is a
dresser which seems to have escaped the worst of the fire. The only
damage it sustained was some scorching by the heat as well as some
damage when a crossbeam had struck it when the ceiling
collapsed.

It takes a few minutes, but they get an area
cleared away in the corner large enough for them to lie down and
get some rest. Taking turns at watch, they spend the rest of the
day there in the corner of that burned out farmhouse.

Having taken the second watch, Jiron walks
through the orchard around the farmhouse as he keeps an eye out for
intruders. A noise causes him to stop in his tracks as he cocks his
head, trying to locate where it had originated. The noise comes to
him again. He plasters himself against the nearest tree as he looks
off through the orchard.

Moving through the trees are five men on
horseback, soldiers of the Empire. And they appear to be heading
straight for the farmhouse where James is still sleeping. Moving
quickly, he races for the farmhouse, trying his best to remain
unseen by the horsemen.

Suddenly, a cry erupts as one of them
catches a glimpse of him running through the trees. A glance back
shows the horsemen quickly moving to overtake him. “James!” he
yells as loudly as he can. Dodging between the trees, he alters his
course to lead the horsemen away from the farmhouse. “James!” he
cries again.

A knife appears in his right hand as he
races through the orchard. From behind him, the men on the horses
are calling to him in their language, but whether or not they’re
ordering him to stop, he can’t tell.

His meandering flight through the trees has
succeeded in leading the horsemen away from the farmhouse. One of
the horsemen behind him cries out as he falls off his horse, his
right shoulder blasted away by one of James’ slugs.

The remaining horsemen abruptly come to a
halt as they try to discover from whence this new attack is coming
from. Jiron looks back at the horsemen and can see further behind
them where James is standing by the broken wall of the farmhouse,
as he cocks his arm back to unleash another of his deadly
missiles.

Now with both knives in his hands, Jiron
turns back and races to attack the mounted horsemen. The odds
improve again as another soldier is knocked off his horse by the
force of a slug blasting out of his chest.

The soldiers turn as one and race toward
James, intent on seeking retribution for the death of their
comrades. Their swords in hand and war cries on their lips, they
ride to kill this lone man standing by the burnt out farmhouse.

Jiron races behind them, falling behind as
he sees them rapidly closing the gap between them and James.
Another soldier is taken out as a slug exits what used to be his
skull, his companions don’t even stop. Hell bent on James’ death,
they kick their horses into even greater speed.

Crumph!

The ground under them suddenly erupts,
horses scream in terror as they’re thrown into the air. Bones snap
and break as the horses fall back to the ground, smashing their
riders beneath them.

Jiron reaches the scene, but the battle is
over. The soldiers lying under the horses no longer move as the
animals thrash and cry out. Taking up one of the soldier’s swords,
he’s quick to put the injured horses out of their misery.

He looks up to see James approaching. “You
okay?” James asks him.

Nodding, he replies, “I’m fine.” Looking
around at the dead men, he continues, “Wonder what brought them
into this orchard?”

“Who knows?” replies James. He goes over and
takes the reins of one of the remaining horses and says, “At least
we have horses now.”

“True,” agrees Jiron. Going over to another
horse wandering around, he takes its reins and walks back over to
where James is going through the pouch of one of the soldiers.
“Looking for something?” he asks.