D. MacHale - Raven Rise

“Now what?” Alder asked as calmly as if we were planning a picnic. The answer came in the form of a shout from the direction of the sea. We turned to see a dozen Bedoowan knights with cross-staves, sprinting directly toward us from the ruins of the castle.

“We get gone,” I said, and ran toward the village.

We both knew the best place to escape to would be the village. With any luck we could get lost within the labyrinth of huts. We needed time to think and to plan.

“The armory is on fire,” I said as we ran.

“Perhaps it will destroy the weapons as well.”

“The building was empty, Alder. The weapons are in play. The war is about to begin.”

Alder’s only response was a quick, dark look.

We hit the village and sprinted along the narrow streets, winding our way on a route we thought would be impossible to follow. There weren’t many people around. They were either out in the fields to work the farms or marching over the mountain to work the war. Alder pointed for me to run down a narrow alleyway of huts. We moved quickly until we came to a central, open courtyard. “Stop here,” he ordered.

We both leaned against one of the wooden buildings to catch our breath.

“The tak mine,” I said, gulping air. “Maybe we can still take it out.”

Alder shook his head. “It would not matter,” he said gravely. “The Bedoowan already have all they need. Once they see the power it gives them, they will never be denied again. If we buried the mine, they would only dig it out again. We cannot turn the clock back.”

I hated to admit it, but he was right. The damage was done.

“It is too late for Denduron,” Alder added. “We cannot stop an army.”

Alder dropped his head in defeat. This was the new turning point for Denduron. The first domino was about to fall, and there was nothing we could do about it.

“I’m sorry” was all I could say. It was a painfully inadequate apology. After having saved it once, Alder’s home territory was now lost.

He frowned. “We cannot let the events that happened here stop us.”

“Agreed,” I said quickly. “I’m not giving up. Not again.”

“Perhaps the Convergence has not yet touched other territories,” Alder offered. “There may still be hope.” I nodded. “We’ve got to get to the flume.”

Zing! An arrow nearly hit me in the face. It stuck in the wall of the hut where we had been resting, not a foot from my head. Alder shoved me out of the way. I hit the ground, rolled, and came up running. We sprinted for a large wooden structure on the far side of the clearing.

Zing! Zing! Arrows flew around us. I swear I could feel the ripple of air as they sped past. None found their mark, but I didn’t think we could dodge them for long. Alder leaped through a large wooden door, into a dark room that my nose told me was a stable. He knew exactly what he was doing. Horses were lined up along the far wall, all with simple saddles and halters.

“Can you ride?” Alder asked.

“Can you keep up with me?” I answered.

I grabbed what looked like a leather saddlebag. I still had the rest of the tak brick I’d used to blast open Alder’s cell. No way I could hold it while I rode, but I didn’t want to give it up. It was the only weapon we had. I quickly but gingerly slipped the chunk of explosive into the bag and tied it to the saddle of a deep brown horse. Alder was already up on his own horse, ready to go.

“Hurry, Pendragon,” he said calmly. Alder didn’t know how to panic.

“Right behind you.”

Alder kicked his ride. The animal responded and bolted for the door. I did the same, clutching my legs so hard I was sure I’d crack ribs. Alder blasted out the door just as the Bedoowan knights arrived. I don’t think they were expecting to face two charging horses, because they scattered in surprise, jumping out of the way to avoid being trampled. I didn’t know where to go. Alder did. I stayed focused on the butt of his horse, urging my own to stay close. Clods of dirt and gravel were kicked up by Alder’s animal. I didn’t care. I didn’t care if my horse cared. We weren’t about to stop. I cringed, expecting to get hit with an arrow from behind. Alder smartly rounded a hut to put a barrier between us and the knights, then galloped on a course directly away from them.

Turned out it wasn’t the knights from the stable that we had to worry about.

Alder’s horse was faster than mine. Or maybe it was because Alder was a better rider than I was. As we broke into the open, he quickly pulled way ahead. In no time there was a gap of about twenty yards between us. Another patrol of knights appeared far off to our left. They were too far away to do anything but shoot arrows, but that was enough. A wave of missiles flew in front of me like the swarm of quig-bees from Ibara. Most missed. One didn’t. Alder’s horse took an arrow square in its left flank. The animal whinnied and reared up. Alder wasn’t ready for that. He rolled backward, falling off the horse and landing square on his back. Alder’s horse wasn’t hurt badly, because it continued to run. The animal would be fine. I wasn’t so sure about Alder.

I shot a look to see the group of knights about fifty yards away and closing. They weren’t moving all that fast-they were busy fumbling to reload their bows. It wouldn’t be long before another round of arrows would be incoming. I hadn’t slowed down. In seconds I would be next to Alder. What would I do? I was an okay rider, but I wasn’t a circus guy. It wasn’t like I could lean down and swoop him up off the ground at a full gallop. I only had a few seconds to make a decision. I had no idea what to do.

Alder solved the problem. When he hit the ground he never stopped moving. He did a complete backward somersault and landed on his feet. It wasn’t like he jumped up with a “Ta da!” or anything. He was shaken and looked pretty wobbly. His balance was obviously off as he struggled to stand straight. But he was aware of everything that was swirling around him. I knew it the instant he glanced over his shoulder, looking for me. He knew where he was. He knew where I was. He needed a ride.

I slowed my horse, not sure how to get Alder on board. Again Alder took care of it. He was a knight. A soldier. He knew horses. He grabbed the back of my saddle and vaulted onto the rear of my horse.

“Go” was all he said.

I kicked my horse and launched back into a gallop…as another wave of arrows arrived. The knights’ timing was off. They were aiming at where we were, not thinking we’d be moving so fast, so quickly. The missiles flew behind us. None came close. We were gone.

“Head for those trees,” Alder said, pointing to a stand of pine trees far ahead. We weren’t moving as fast as before. Two riders on one horse tends to slow things down. Didn’t matter. We weren’t being chased. I maneuvered the strong horse into the trees, but kept moving forward, trying to get as much distance between us and the Milago village as possible.

“You okay?” I asked Alder.

“I have been thrown worse than that” was his understated answer.

The guy was amazing. Nothing got to him. He could be hit by a bus and he’d shrug it off as if it were a tricycle. That is, if there were buses on Denduron. Or tricycles. Whatever. I was glad we were together. I knew that no matter how the final moves of the battle with Saint Dane would play out,

Alder would be by my side. And why not? He didn’t need to be on Denduron anymore.

Neither did I. Denduron was lost. A victory had turned into defeat. What we needed to know was, what other territories were in danger of turning. Zadaa? Eelong? Everything we had done was thrown into doubt because of Saint Dane’s Convergence.

As we climbed the mountain together on the back of that horse, I realized there was yet another concern. I don’t know why it took me so long to get it.