Richard Tuttle - Web of Deceit

“They are running along this ledge!” shouted Bakhai. “They do not care how many men they lose as long as they catch us. We can never hope to lose them. They will catch us.”

Mistake ignored the warning and continued at the fastest safe pace she could maintain. Occasionally, she looked across the void and saw the line of soldiers still entering the alcove. Suddenly, the rear of the line of Jiadin halted at the first bend and a tall lean man with long flowing black hair, glared across the alcove at them. Mistake caught his eyes across the distance for an instant and immediately broke contact and returned to watching the trail before her. Still the contact troubled her.

All of a sudden, the mountain trembled and Mistake halted and hugged the rock wall. More screams echoed through the alcove as some Jiadin fell to their deaths. Streams of pebbles cascaded down from above.

“What in the name of Fakara was that?” Rejji shouted.

“Whatever it was,” warned Bakhai, “the Jiadin are getting closer. We have less than an hour lead on them now. If they keep running, they will catch us sooner.”

“If they don’t fall,” answered Mistake as she let go of the wall and started moving forward again.

She glimpsed across the canyon and saw the dark Jiadin raising his hands. The mountain shuddered again and Mistake hugged the wall as the shower of pebbles rained down on them. Only one scream came from the Jiadin army this time. Mistake took the few moments she was hugging the wall to look past Bakhai at the head of the Jiadin army. The trembling of the mountain had not even stopped before those in the lead started running again. She turned and started walking. As she walked she kept her attention divided between the trail before her and the tall, dark Jiadin across the alcove. When she saw his arms rise, she shouted.

“Hug the wall!”

The trembling was much stronger this time and several screams came from the chasers. The rocks that fell were larger and more numerous also. Mistake looked at the trail before her and saw that they were almost at the last bend and would soon be out of the alcove. She turned and pushed forward, hoping to round the bend before the next tremor hit. The dark Jiadin had other ideas as his arms went skyward again. Mistake shouted a warning to her friends and hugged the wall again. The trembling this time lasted for several minutes and at least a dozen Jiadin fell to their deaths. The fall of debris was also worse and a fist sized rock hit Mistake’s shoulder. She grit her teeth as the pain jolted through her body. Worst of all, she felt the ledge under her feet move and looked down to see a crack that had not been there before.

“The tremors are getting worse,” Rejji said. “If they get any worse we will be tossed off this mountain.”

“They are getting worse because he is getting more desperate,” responded Mistake. “We only have a little ways to go and we are out of this alcove.”

“What do you mean?” quizzed Rejji. “Who is getting desperate?”

“The Jiadin’s wizard is getting desperate,” answered Mistake. “The tall one with the long flowing black hair.”

“You mean this is magic?” asked Rejji. “They are trying to kill us with magic?”

“Unless he just happens to raise his arms before each tremor,” replied Mistake. “Let’s get out of this alcove.”

Mistake rubbed her shoulder and started walking again. She found herself staring at the Jiadin mage, waiting for his arms to go up, and forced her eyes back to the path before her. She heard loud arguing across the void and ignored it as she saw the last bend ahead of her. The sunlight flooded her body as she made the turn to head eastward again. The Jiadin mage was now directly behind her and she could not afford to turn and watch for his arms rising, so she kept her eyes glued to the ledge in front of her. Her shoulder ached and she tried to force the pain from her mind. The ledge before the trio stretched out in front of them as far as they could see, always rising. Mistake began to wonder if it went on forever.

The next tremor came without warning and was the most severe of all. The shaking threw Mistake to the ground and she felt her legs starting to slide off the edge as the mountain continued to tremble. Her fingers scrambled for some crack or crevice to cling to, but she found none. Just as she felt she was about to be dragged over the edge, she felt a hand grasp her leg.

“Try to crawl a little forward and get your thighs back on the ledge,” called Rejji.

Mistake tried to crawl forward as the shower of rocks began cascading down. The pebbles bounced off her back, but luckily none of them were very large. The trembling continued and she felt it would go on forever. She ignored the shower of rocks and inched forward as Rejji pulled her legs onto the ledge.

“Thanks,” Mistake gasped as a huge rumble rent the air.

She lifted her head and saw a giant slab of the vertical rock wall separate from the mountain. Less than two hundred paces before them, the slab slid down as if in slow motion. Tons of rock slammed into the narrow ledge and a great cloud of dust rose into the air. The ledge the trio was on bounced and bucked and they clung nervously to each other. For several moments rock cascaded down the side of the mountain. Finally, the trembling stopped and the wind caught the cloud of dust and tossed it away.

The trio remained still for a moment after the shocks subsided and eventually rose to their feet. Mistake gasped as she gazed upon the trail ahead. A large portion of the ledge had been sheered off the face of the mountain and descended into the abyss with the slab.

“That ends this journey,” she sobbed. “I am so sorry for making you bring me here. We should never have come.”

Rejji helped Bakhai pass him on the trail and then pulled his sword.

“Go to the break in the trail,” ordered Rejji. “See if there are enough rocks there to throw at the Jiadin as they come around the bend. If we can force the Jiadin to retreat, maybe we can get out of this.”

“They aren’t going to leave,” sobbed Mistake. “That wizard does not even care how many of his own men die, as long we die.”

“I will go,” volunteered Bakhai as he stepped carefully past Mistake. “I cannot think of any better plan.”

Rejji stood nervously as he waited for the first Jiadin to round the bend.

“They won’t be here for a while,” offered Mistake. “Rest while you can. Bakhai said they were almost an hour behind us.”

Rejji nodded and sheathed his sword. “Maybe there is another break in the ledge behind us,” he offered. “Maybe they can’t even get to us.”

“Come here!” shouted Bakhai. “I found something.”

Mistake and Rejji made their way to where Bakhai stood on the edge of the broken ledge. The sheer rock wall of the mountain had been torn away revealing a small cave where the ledge used to be.

“Maybe we can hide in there and they will think we fell with the ledge,” offered Bakhai. “After they leave, we can make our way back to the bottom of the mountain.”

“That is quite a leap to get in there,” frowned Rejji, “and an awful long fall if we miss.”

“What other choice do we have?” retorted Mistake. “I don’t think throwing rocks at the Jiadin is going to prolong our lives much. Even if they suspect we are in there, they will have to make the leap to find out. They can only do that one at a time.”

“All right,” agreed Rejji. “We will need a running start to make it though. Let’s back up and give Bakhai some room.”

The trio moved back several dozen paces. Bakhai cleared loose rubble from the trail on his way back.