Brian Pratt - Trail of the Gods

From before them, a horn sounds and the officer in charge of their squad hollers, “Ready bows!”

The other archers remove their bows from behind their backs and put arrows to string as they await the command to aim. Aleya follows suit. Standing there with her sole remaining arrow to string she tries to discover what’s happening.

From the south the forces of the Empire approach their lines, stopping a hundred yards away. Leaders from both sides ride out, meeting for a parley in the middle. Whatever is said between them, she’s much too far away to be able to hear. But she has a fairly good idea what they’re talking about.

“We’re in for it now,” she hears one man next to her mumble.

The leaders stay out there for a good ten minutes before each turns about and heads back to their lines. When the Cardri general reaches the fore of his men, he stops and turns back around to face the Empire.

“What’s going on?” one archer asks.

“Quiet!” yells their officer as he glares back to them to search for the one who spoke. When they all remain quiet, he turns his attention back to the front.

The two lines face off with each other, neither one doing anything to provoke the other. Unable to get a good view of what’s exactly going on due to the foot soldiers in her way, she waits silently and tries to figure a way out of there.

From ahead of her, the foot soldiers begin muttering and some even gasp. Through the gaps between them, she sees the lines of the Empire’s forces opening up and a large man in dark armor emerges from between them. Riding forward, he moves toward the Cardri lines. The Cardri general and his retinue begin moving to meet him in the middle.

The sight of the man in armor sends a shiver coursing through her, though she can’t really explain why. Just looking at him causes her anxiety to increase.

When the two parties meet, the brief glimpses she’s able to see through the lines ahead of her show both sides are arguing with the other. From what she’s able to see, it looks like the man in armor wishes to move his forces into Cardri territory but the Cardri general is denying his request. There can be only one reason the man in armor wishes entry into Cardri. James!

The two sides argue for several more minutes before the man in armor turns and moves back to his side. A sigh of relief seems to ripple through the ranks of the Cardri soldiers. Aleya, too, is relieved that conflict may be averted.

When the man in armor returns to his side, Empire horns begin sounding and their forces begin to withdraw.

The Cardri general resumes his place at the fore of his men as he watches the Empire’s withdrawal. Once their forces have withdrawn a sufficient distance, the order is given for the Cardri forces to stand down.

Aleya replaces her arrow in her quiver and slings her bow across her back. Her worry is no longer about the imminent attack from the Empire, but how to extricate herself from the Cardri forces. If found out, it could be just as bad for her here.

“Form up!” the officer in charge of her squad yells. She comes to attention when she realizes everyone else has. Similar commands resonate up and down the lines as the various officers prepare their squads for the return march to Kern.

“Left face!” her officer yells again. A little slower than the rest, she turns to her left and waits with the others for their turn to march. Once the squad before them begins to move, her officer yells, “Forward, march!” Half of the Cardri troops remain behind in case the Empire’s forces try anything.

Her squad begins marching their way back to the large fortress sitting just south of them. She maintains her spot in the ranks as they march ever closer to the gates of Kern. Wanting nothing more than to break ranks and get out of there, there’s no way she could do so without being uncovered.

The squads marching ahead of her, one by one, make their way through the gates into the formidable fortress which guards the southern border between Cardri and the Empire. When at last it’s her squad’s turn to enter, she almost bolts out of line in panic, but her courage holds steady and she marches through the gates.

They pass through the long entry tunnel through the walls. In the ceiling above are many murder holes where defenders could drop stones or burning oil down on any attackers caught within. The other side of the entry tunnel opens onto a large courtyard where the other squads are getting into formation.

Her squad is brought to stand in a similar position as they had back at the battle lines. Once all the squads have entered and formed ranks, the command is given to fall out but to remain close in the event the Empire’s forces should move to enter Cardri.

As her squad breaks up, Aleya, still having the cloth wrapped around her face, quickly moves away from the others and makes for a corner of the nearest building bordering on the inner wall.

“Wonder what all that…” one of the archers next in line begins to say something to her but stops when she walks away from him. Feeling somewhat affronted that she would just walk away while he was talking, he says a few choice words at her back before turning and beginning his conversation again with another who’ll stick around to listen.

Upon nearing the wall, she glances around and when she’s sure no one is looking, removes the cloth from her face. Placing it within the pouch at her waist, she then removes her cloak and wraps it around her bow and quiver.

The gate is not very far from where she stands, soldiers fill the fortress’s courtyard but so far none seem to have noticed her there among them. With her tunic off and her bow hidden, she looks just like another one of the servants moving around the courtyard performing various duties.

Holding her head up and trying to calm the shaking that seeks about ready to consume her, she steps away from the corner. The soldiers and civilians within the courtyard pay her no heed as she makes her way toward the gate.

As she crosses the courtyard, she hears fragments of conversations going on around her. None pique her interest until she hears two footmen talking about how during the worst of the storm, horses ran amuck in their lines. She slows down to try to hear what they’re saying.

“The riders were never found?” one asks the other.

“No,” the other replies. “In fact, one of the horses managed to impale itself upon Loen’s pike. I hear they’ve got search parties hunting for them all over the countryside.”

“Think we’ll ever know what really went on out there?” the first one asks.

Shaking his head, the second one says, “Doubt it. You know they never tell us grunts anything and by the time the rumor mill has ground it out, it’ll be so far from the truth as not to be believed.”

“True,” the first one replies. They start moving away from her and the rest of their conversation is lost in the buzz of the courtyard.

Resuming her way toward the gate, she begins thinking over what she just overheard. At least James and Jiron haven’t been caught yet. As she reaches the entrance to the inner portcullis for the gate, she quickens her pace slightly. Moving through the confining passage through the walls, she almost breathes an audible sigh of relief when she at last reaches the far side.

She begins moving back out into the daylight when a hand grips her shoulder from behind. Startled, she cries out as she jumps three inches in the air. Her cloak wrapped bow and quiver slips from her hands and falls to the ground. Turning around quickly, she looks into the face of one of the foot soldiers.

“Sorry, miss,” he says as he bends over to pick up her package. One end of her bow slips out from beneath the cloak as he hands it to her.