Trail of the Gods_ The Morcyth Saga Book Four - Brian S. Pratt [146]
“What’s going on!” hollers Aleya.
Beginning to recognize what James is doing, Jiron pulls a cloth out of his back and begins wrapping it around his face. “Cover your face!” he yells to her.
“What?” she yells back.
“Cover your face!” he repeats as he ties the cloth into place.
The wind continues to increase in intensity and dirt begins stinging her face as it’s whipped off the ground by the wind. Understanding finally dawns on her, she pulls a piece of cloth from her pack and wraps it around her face as well. She glances back to James and can see he’s still in deep concentration, Jiron has the reins to his horse in hand.
“Now!” yells James, his voice cracking from the exertion of trying to bend the winds to his will. The air between them and the lines is all but occluded by the amount of dust and dirt being picked up by the winds.
Turning to Aleya, Jiron yells over the roar of the wind, “Let’s go!” Getting his horse in motion, he begins moving to the left flank of Cardri’s lines in the hopes of bypassing them without being seen. As they go, the air continues to increase in density as the wind keeps slamming into the ground, drawing more and more dust into the air. In just a few more moments, the lines of Cardri’s soldiers can no longer be seen.
“Hurry!” James tells them, barely heard over the wind. “Can’t hold this much longer.”
Breaking into a gallop, Jiron continues to lead them toward where he believes the flank of Cardri’s forces to be. The dust in the air is providing them ample cover in which to hide and be able to sneak across the lines unseen. When he believes he’s passed their flank, he turns them due west.
Suddenly before them, the line of Cardri soldiers appears out of the storm. He’d miscalculated and had brought them directly into their lines. The men have their faces covered in order to protect their eyes from the flying dirt and fail to see them as they appear out of the storm.
Unable to stop, Jiron plows right into their lines. Men cry out and swords flash. Keeping tight hold to the reins of James’ horse, he continues forging his way quickly through their lines. With the flying dust adding to the confusion of just what is happening, he’s able to bring himself and James past the first group of men quickly.
A space of ten feet separates the footmen he just went through and the archers positioned behind them. Not having any choice, he continues on through their lines as well, knocking archers to the ground, all the while praying he doesn’t do any a serious injury. He realizes he can’t stop to see about their well being, he’d be taken for an attacker for sure.
The storm continues to rage, the dust now so thick he can’t even see the end of his horse’s nose. He finally realizes that he’s past the archers when after a minute’s further riding, he no longer comes into contact with any.
He slows to a stop and pulls James’ horse close. “We’re through,” he hollers. “You can stop now!” Whether James heard him or not is hard to tell, he’s slumped over in his saddle and is making no indication that he’s even alive let alone heard him.
Looking around quickly, he realizes Aleya is no longer with them. They must’ve been separated when going through the lines. “Aleya!” he yells but her name is lost in the roar of the storm.
Getting them moving, he just hopes she remembers to meet them at the inn like James had suggested. At the time he thought it was odd that he suggested that, he never did that before. Maybe he had already known what he was going to do when he said it.
The storm begins to subside and he picks up their speed as the ground before them becomes more distinct. Off to their right, the wall of the fortress is a dim shadow in the still swirling dust storm. Shapes can be seen moving around the area and he kicks his horse into a faster gallop in order to clear the area before the storm completely dies. Once he finds the north road on the far side of Kern, he breaks into