Brian Pratt - The unsuspecting mage

Anxious to leave the Pass behind them James says, “Let’s get going and pray we are not seen as we exit the Pass.” He uses a stick and scatters the fire, kicking sand over it with his foot until it’s completely out.

They push the boat to the edge of the river until it just begins to float, then Miko hops in. Once he’s seated with the oars at the ready, James gives the boat a final push as he jumps in and they float out onto the river. Miko extends the oars and maneuvers them toward the middle of the river. Once the boat is in position, he pulls the oars from the water and allows the current to carry them downriver.

The night slowly deepens until only the light from the stars above illuminate possible obstacles in the river. They keep a vigilant lookout ahead of them, as well as listening for any changes in sound that may indicate rapids or a possible waterfall. Riding an unknown river in the dark makes James uneasy, but feels the risks are worth it if they can make it through the Pass undetected.

As fortune would have it, a quarter moon peaks over the tops of the mountains, giving them more light with which to spot rocks jutting from the surface. After floating for some time, they make their way around a bend and James realizes the river is growing wider. He begins to relax, as that usually means a gentler river and less chance of coming across any rapids.

They drift along for another hour or so when Miko whispers, “James, look up ahead.”

Snapping awake, he realizes he dozed off for a few minutes. Ahead of them can be seen the light from several fires on the shore to their right. Silhouettes of many men move among them.

“It must be the checkpoint at the end of the Pass,” he whispers to Miko. “Let’s be quiet so they won’t know we are here.” Taking the oars he slowly edges the boat over to the left side of the river, putting as much distance between them and the men on the shore as possible. When he has moved them as close to the shore as he dares, they lay low in the boat and watch the men on the shore as they drift silently by.

Wisps of conversations drift from the camp, but they are too far away to accurately make out what is being said. There looks to be about fifty men around those fires and most are wearing armor. From what is revealed by the flickering campfires, it looks like they have constructed defensive fortifications across the road.

“I doubt if that would hold out anybody,” Miko whispers to James as they drift past the end of the encampment and come to the fortifications.

“So do I,” he agreed. “Maybe it’s just to delay an attacker until they get further back into the mountains. Though from what we’ve heard, it’s unlikely the Empire will move against Cardri, at least not for a while.”

They continue to drift until the fires from the encampment can no longer be seen. The silhouette of the mountains against the night sky shows that they, too, are beginning to drop away, becoming rolling hills. Deciding that they are far enough away, James takes the oars and brings them to the northern side of the river, opposite to the side the encampment they passed was on.

Beaching their boat among a patch of bushes, Miko helps him pull it further up the shore away from the water and hide it. “Let’s get some sleep before the sun comes up. Then we can see where we are and decide whether to follow the river or continue overland.”

Miko lies down near the boat beneath a large bush with reddish, purple flowers. Using one of the bags for a makeshift pillow he says, “Sounds good to me.”

James gets comfortable in the shelter of another of the flowering bushes and soon both are asleep, exhausted from the long day.

The morning dawns sunny and clear. The temperature has already risen quickly, foreshadowing the hot day to come. Once awake, James peers from beneath the bush to discover where the river had brought them. Off to the west rise the mountains they passed through the day before, still close enough to be imposing. On the opposite side of the river lies a road matching its course as it makes its way from the mountains. On this side, grass covered hills roll northward with the occasional trees scattered about.

“Looks like if we stay on the river we’ll continue to follow the road for a while,” he observes.

“Good,” replies Miko. “I would just as soon not walk.”

“Me too,” agrees James. “Let’s get the boat back onto the water and continue further down to see if there’s a town where we can get a couple of fast horses.”

Putting their things back in the boat, they push it to the water’s edge where Miko hops in first. James pushes the boat the rest of the way out onto the water before jumping in. As the boat floats away from the shore, Miko takes the oars and brings them to the middle of the river. Adding his efforts to that of the current, he keeps a steady rhythm with the oars as they move along.

They hadn’t gone very far before a column of dust is seen rising up to the sky to the east. As they steadily move toward it, they are soon able to tell the dust plume is the result of hundreds of men marching eastward along the road with a wagon train trailing along behind.

When James realizes they will shortly be drifting past an army on the move, he takes the oars from Miko and brings them quickly to the north shore, beaching their boat. “Think that’s the Empire’s army?” he asks Miko after they get out.

“Could be,” he replies, staring at the men in the distance. “Hard to tell from here.”

“I think it would be wise to assume they are the Empire’s for now,” James suggests. “We better leave the river and head overland.”

Miko takes the bags from the boat as he says, “Yeah, let’s hurry and get out of here.” When the bags are situated about his person, he looks back at the soldiers and asks, “Wonder where they’re going?”

“Don’t know, but we better find some horses soon or we’ll never get ahead of them and beat them to the City of Light.” Picking up his backpack, he slings it across his shoulder and sets out to the northeast, angling slightly more north than east to begin putting distance between them and the soldiers.

As they walk James scans the ground and gathers several fair sized stones, placing them in his pocket.

Miko sees what he’s doing and asks, “Expecting trouble?”

“Never know,” he replies as he bends over to pick up another, “but it’s best to be prepared.”

“Wish I still had my crossbow,” Miko says, thinking of the crossbow left under the stairs with the rest of their things in the abandon keep.

Nodding, James hurries them along.

They travel for no more than half an hour when dozens of people appear on the horizon ahead of them. Some are running but all are making the best speed they can. Several have small children in tow, others are burdened with bundles either tied to their backs or carried in their arms.

“Must be refugees fleeing from another town the Empire has taken,” James guesses. “Or is about to.”

“What’ll we do?” asks Miko, obviously concerned seeing as how the refugees are heading their way.

Coming up behind the fleeing people and riding hard to overtake them are six riders wielding clubs. As the riders reach the stragglers, they strike them in the head with their clubs, felling them. Then they leave them where they lie as they race to the next fleeing refugee.

Behind the riders roll three wagons, each trailing a line of naked people, both men and women of varying age. Out in front of each wagon walk two people who, when they come to a felled refugee, start slapping or hitting them until they regain consciousness. Once they’ve regained consciousness, they are pulled to their feet, stripped of their clothes and then have their hands tied behind them. After that they are taken and added to the line of naked people behind the wagon.