Brian Pratt - The unsuspecting mage

“I don’t think they know our names,” Miko says in his defense.

“True, but they know what we look like and they know where we are going.” Shaking his head, he continues, “Miko, you need to learn when to talk and when not to. Our lives could very well depend on it.” Pausing for a moment, he looks in Miko’s eyes to see if he’s gotten his point across, “Okay?”

Feeling like he’s let his friend down, Miko hangs his head and says, “I’m sorry James. I’ll try to do better.”

“Don’t say try,” James replies kindly, “try means you expect to fail.” He puts his hand on Miko’s shoulder, gives him a smile and then turns his horse and kicks it into a gallop.

Miko silently vows silently to himself not to let James down again as he races after his friend.

Figuring the Empire’s forces are to the east and south of them, James bears even further to the north. The terrain slowly turns from hills to a rolling plain, tall grass waving in the summer breeze.

They make good time for several hours, when Miko suddenly yells “James, look!” as he points to the south.

James looks and they can barely make out column after column of soldiers marching toward the northeast. The dust they’re kicking up must be visible for miles away.

“They must be heading for the City of Light,” observes Miko. “Think it’s the same ones we saw earlier?”

“Doubt it,” states James. “We better hustle if we’re going to be able to reach the City of Light and still have time to get out before they arrive.”

James angles them now almost due north and they ride quickly until the soldiers are no longer visible on the horizon. They then go no more than a couple more miles when out of the north appear a score of horsemen heading south, right for them.

James immediately veers to the east and brings his horse to a gallop, trying to put distance between them, hoping to remain unobserved.

Looking over his shoulder at the riders, he sees them turning to give chase. From behind he hears Miko cry out, his horse has put a foot in a gopher hole and snapped its leg. Crashing to the ground, Miko is thrown off the horse and sails through the air before landing hard upon the ground.

James quickly turns and races back to where Miko is getting to his feet. Reaching down a hand, he swings the boy on the horse behind him. Looking northward again he sees the horsemen approaching fast. He kicks his horse in the side and they race toward the east, the riders continuing to follow.

“James!” Miko hollers. “They’re gaining.”

“I know,” he replies. “We’re not going to outrun them, not riding double.” Regardless, James continues to ride hard, prolonging the inevitable.

Miko starts shaking James’ shoulder, “James, I don’t think they’re the Empires’ soldiers.”

“Are you sure?” he asks.

“Yes,” Miko responds. “Their uniforms are different than the ones we saw marching earlier.”

“Madoc’s?” James asks over his shoulder.

“Could be,” he replies. “They’re not from Cardri.”

James slows his horse to a canter then turns to face the oncoming riders, finally bringing them to a stop. They both dismount to wait for the riders to approach.

Upon seeing them dismounted and waiting for their arrival, the riders slow their advance to a trot. When they reach James and Miko, they encircle them while two men with crossbows take aim and wait. One of the riders, an officer by the embroidery on his uniform, comes forward and asks, “Who are you and what business do you have in Madoc?”

“Then am I safe in assuming that you are not of the Empire?” James asks hopefully.

“That is correct,” the officer replies. “Now answer the question!”

“My name is James and this is my traveling companion Miko. We are on our way to the City of Light with a package to be delivered to the Great Library.”

“What package is so important that it requires you to pass through a war zone?” the officer asks.

Shrugging, James says, “I don’t know, only that the Custodian of the Royal Archives in Cardri requested that we deliver it.”

The officer signals for his men to stand down and the crossbowmen to lower their crossbows. “Let me see this package,” he demands.

James reaches into his backpack and brings out the package bearing the seal of the Archive Custodian. He hands it to the officer.

The officer takes it, examining the package as well as the seal and then hands it back. “Okay, so you have a package bearing the seal of the Royal Custodian, but there is no proof that you are the couriers.”

“Well, no, that’s true,” James admits. “But I assure you that we are.”

Miko nods agreement.

“I don’t have the time or the manpower to deal with you right now,” says the officer, “so I will take you at your word. A spy from the Empire would have a more plausible reason for being here than that. Now,” he continues, looking intently at James, “on your way from the Pass, did you see anything of the Empire’s forces?”

Nodding, James tells him of seeing the columns of men they saw before leaving the river.

“Damn,” the officer exclaims, “we were hoping they hadn’t moved that far yet. What else?”

His men crowd around to hear what James has to say. “We ran into people fleeing the fall of a town called Pleasant Meadows,” he tells them, though leaving out the part he played in their escape. At the mention of Pleasant Meadows, several of the officer’s men curse and James can see anger and sadness appear on many faces.

“And then not too long ago we saw another army heading northeast,” he adds.

“Dire news indeed,” he says. “You may go on your way, though be careful. If Pleasant Meadows is taken then they are most likely continuing up the road to the City.” Pointing east the officer says, “They will be using the road due east of here, so if I were you I would make almost due north and hope to swing around them.”

“Thank you sir,” James says, and then looks over to Miko’s horse that’s lying on the ground, in great pain. “What about our horse?” he asks the officer.

The officer looks over at the horse and then gives a signal that’s followed by two crossbow bolts striking the horse, one in the head and the other in the chest, bringing an end to its pain. “Hate seeing a horse suffer so,” he says. Then to James he continues, “Can’t spare one for you, sorry. You’ll just have to make due with what you have.”

He signals his men and then mounts up. “Good luck,” he says to them before he and his men ride off toward the south at a gallop.

“Grab our stuff;” James tells Miko. “We’ll have to ride double, at least until we can acquire another horse.”

Miko collects the few bags he had on his horse and takes them over to James’ where he secures them behind the saddle. James mounts, then reaches down a hand and Miko swings up behind him. “Still better than walking, eh?” he says as they begin heading northward.

“A little bit,” Miko replies. “How far do you think the City is from here?”

“I’ve no clue,” says James. “Maybe a couple days, more if we have to detour around any of the Empire’s forces.”

They make good time, even riding double. The ground continues leveling off until it’s fairly flat, with tall grass swaying in the summer breeze. They continue their course for another two hours when they see an unusually large congregation of birds off to the east. Curious, James angles eastward to take a closer look.

There they find around fifty of the Empire’s forces, dead and bloating in the sun. The birds squawk and take to the air as they come near. The smell of rotting corpses is nauseating so they keep their distance.