Shades of the Past_ Book Six of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [50]
With the last crystal in her sling, she winds it up and lets it loose toward the approaching cavalry between them and the beacon. “Stop!” she cries to the others and they quickly bring their horses to a halt. Hitting the ground, it lands a good twenty feet in front of the leading edge of attackers.
The approaching cavalry comes toward them rapidly and passes over the crystal lying on the ground.
Ka-Boom!
Horses and men go flying in another massive explosion. “Now!” she cries. “Ride hard!” Kicking her horse in the flanks, she gets it back to a gallop and races through the dead and dying.
Ceadric comes along beside her as they clear the area devastated by the explosion. Before them, no more than a hundred yards away, the glowing crystal beckons.
In the moonlight from above, they see the foot soldiers that had fallen behind the cavalry moving toward them at a run. A third is moving toward the glowing crystal by the bank of the river.
“We’ll hold them off,” Ceadric tells her. “You get your people across.”
“But once we start, there’s only a limited time before the bridge will disappear,” she replies.
“Just do it!” he yells. Then to his men he hollers, “For Black Hawk!”
A cry erupts from his men as they break off from Delia and her band to engage the enemy. “They’ll be killed!” Shorty exclaims.
“Let’s move,” she tells him. She veers to move directly to the light in the distance. It isn’t long before the sound of Ceadric and his men engage the foot soldiers heading for the beacon.
Upon reaching the light, she says, “Golden Gate.” The shimmering bridge once more springs into being. “Now hurry across,” she tells the others. “It won’t last very long.”
As the others move to cross, she takes Devin by the arm and asks, “Can you swim?”
Halting his horse, he turns to her and replies, “Yes, why?”
“I need you to do something,” she says.
Leading his men against the enemy, Ceadric realizes this will probably be his last fight. Sword falling, he takes out another soldier and quickly brings it back around to block the hack from another.
He needs to slow the advance of these soldiers to allow Delia a chance to activate the crystal and get across. With any luck, he and his men will be able to disengage and make it across as well.
They stall the enemy for several minutes then he glances back to the river. Seeing Delia and her group beginning to cross he hollers, “To the river!” As one, his men break off and race for the river. Several were unable to disengage successfully and were cut down before they could get away. Using the light ahead as a guide they race for their lives, which may very well be the price if they fail to make it in time.
As the light draws closer, he sees young Devin standing there with the light held aloft in his hand. He’s waving them to hurry as he shouts, “Twelve…eleven…ten…”
Ceadric hears him coming ever closer to one and pushes his men even faster. The first rider hits the bridge as Devin says, ‘Six’. On the far side of the bridge Delia and her band are lined along the banks with slings in hand, her two archers are there as well with arrows knocked and ready. At ‘Four’ Ceadric’s horse races onto the bridge. As Devin reaches ‘Two’, the last of his men hit the bridge and begin to cross.
The last five are still over the water as Devin says, ‘One’. A second later the bridge disappears. Men cry out and horses scream as they fall into the river below.
Once the bridge disappears, Devin moves to collect the bridge crystal lying on his side then places them in a pocket. A noise behind him causes him to turn just as enemy soldiers appear out of the dark before him. Turning back to the river, he races for the water and before he jumps from the shore into its raging depths, he hears Delia holler, “Now!”
Slings twirl and bowstrings twang as the enemy begins falling behind him. As closely as the soldiers are packed together, if a slug thrown by a sling misses one it’s sure