Trail of the Gods_ The Morcyth Saga Book Four - Brian S. Pratt [128]
Oh how I wish you were here now, father. But that can never be, he was one of those who died when the Empire arrived that fateful day at Mountainside. Some of the men, her father included, tried to fight them off, but there were simply too many of them. If she hadn’t been on one of her solitary hunts up in the mountains at the time, she most likely would have died with him. There are times when she wishes she had.
Her mother she hardly remembers at all, having died when she was young. But from the stories her father told her, she must have been a strong woman. Had to have been to keep him in line as her father always liked to joke about.
She hears Jiron returning down the road and turns with a smile which quickly vanishes from her face. It wasn’t Jiron she heard but soldiers of the Empire. Three of them are coming toward her, their longswords out and ready. One of them says something to her in their language, most likely commanding her to ‘not do anything foolish’.
Screaming at the top of her lungs, “Jiron!” she quickly grabs her bow and an arrow out of her quiver. Backing up, she puts arrow to string and threatens the approaching men.
They come to a quick halt when the arrow points at them. Her quiver of arrows is now between her and them, all she has is the single arrow currently in her bow. She could easily kill one but the other two would be on her before she could do anything.
One of the men puts his sword away and holds his hands up in a non-threatening manner. His voice becomes soothingly as he begins inching his way closer to her.
Three? Is that all they sent from the forces by Kern? Can’t be, but there are no others behind them. A noise behind her causes her to quickly glance backward and she sees a soldier scramble over the edge of the cliff.
They’re climbing up from the valley below! What could possibly have forced them to dare such a treacherous climb?
Other men can be seen on the top of the ridge as well, moving toward where she holds the three men at bay. She glances from the three men then to the others approaching. Four others are on their way toward the standoff.
Suddenly from behind the three men, a fast moving shape comes out of the forest, and light glints off of a blade in each hand as Jiron stabs two of the men in the back, severing their spinal columns.
She lets fly her arrow and takes the lead soldier who had been advancing upon her square in the chest. The man flies backward from the force of the arrow and lands atop the other two men, dying on the ground.
“See to James!” Jiron cries as he moves to attack the others advancing upon them from the edge of the cliff.
She sees him, a man with two knives, facing off against four men with swords. Such courage! Moving quickly, she reaches the campsite and her quiver of arrows. Taking up position next to the still unconscious James, she slings her quiver across her back and puts arrow to string.
To her surprise, when she turns to aim at the men Jiron is fighting, one of his attackers is already lying still on the ground. Lining up another of his attackers, she releases her arrow and strikes him in the chest, spinning him around. Before he even falls to the ground, she has another arrow knocked and released, taking out another man.
Left with only one opponent, Jiron launches into a series of lightning fast attacks which the soldier is ill equipped to defend against. As his knives dance, blood starts flowing from many wounds until he manages to sink his blade into the soldier’s chest. Kicking out with his foot, he knocks the man off his knife then quickly turns and surveys the area.
A cry by the cliff edge draws his attention as an arrow strikes a man who just gained the top and knocks him backward over the side. His screams gradually diminish as he plummets to the ground far below.
“Get the horses!” he hollers to Aleya as he moves to James. Kneeling down next