Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [73]
He had moved his men across the river to patrol the western bank. Earlier they spied their quarry and sent a man north to raise the alarm while the rest of them backtracked to the ford.
Once across, they continued the pursuit halfheartedly. Ragni had no desire to confront a mage who could bring down mountains, but dare not show this to his men. They entered the foothills, moving quickly for a little over an hour.
One of his men cries out from a hilltop where he’d been scouting. “I see their campfire.”
“They took the time to camp when they knew we were giving chase?” Ragni muses to a nearby rider.
“Either they’re sure of themselves, or stupid,” the rider replies.
Nodding his head, Ragni motions for the scout to return to the group. Once he’s returned, Ragni says, “Use bows and take them unawares, we cannot let the mage have time to cast a spell.”
His men all nod and get their bows out and ready. When all are set, they move as one around the hill toward where their quarry has their camp.
As the camp comes into view ahead of them, he sees their quarry sitting there relaxed around the fire, meat sizzling as it cooks over the fire. Off to one side are their horses tied in a picket line.
He signals his men to quietly surround the camp, using animal calls to one another, letting him know they’re in position.
Once he’s heard the last call, telling him all are in place, he gives out with the call to signal the attack. Arrows fly into the camp as they simultaneously fire at the enemy. They drop their bows as they draw their swords and follow the volley of arrows into the camp.
Suddenly, a light encircles them and golden bands arc toward the sky where they meet above the center of the camp.
His men cry out and try to leave but soon realize they are trapped in a cage they can’t escape. That’s when Ragni realizes the mage is facing them. He’s shocked to see all their arrows in the ground, each one having missed their mark.
The mage says, “To follow is to die. Turn around and go home!”
Then the mage, his companions and the horses all begin to change. Their features turn into demonic visages and their hands become claws with long, sharp nails. They begin howling and growling as they advance upon them.
His men cry out with fear, pressing themselves as far away from the demonic creatures as they can. Two of them, warriors tested through many battles, faint dead away as the creatures come closer. Then suddenly, the creatures swell to twice their original size as they let out a roar of ear shattering intensity.
Then with a blinding flash of light, the creatures, the camp, and the cage disappear.
From a nearby hill, Jiron gives a quiet chuckle as he sees what’s going on over there. “Man you’re good,” he tells James.
James doesn’t respond, just continues watching, hoping it’ll be enough to dissuade them from continuing.
When the light flashes and all becomes still, he holds his breath, hoping it worked. Then suddenly the men down there erupt in a flurry of motion as they wake up the ones who fainted and run back to their horses. They mount quickly and he sighs with relief when they turn and race south just as fast as their horses will go. For these men, the chase is over.
Once the riders have moved through the hills and are once again out of sight, James stands up and makes his way with the others back down to where their horses are picketed.
“That should discourage any pursuit from them for awhile I would think,” announces James.
Laughing, Miko says, “I would think so. I thought they were going to soil themselves when we turned into demons.”
“How did you manage that, anyway?” Jiron asks.
“Can’t really explain,” replies James. “Has to do with light and perception.”
“It was effective anyway,” he says.
“Doubt if it would fool any serious mage,” he tells him. “Abula-Mazki wouldn’t have been fooled, I’m sure.”
Once they’re mounted, they head north again. Even though the pursuit from the south is stalled, if not stopped completely, there’s still the rider who’d raced north. James wonders what he is up to as they