Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [75]
“We’ve got company!” he hollers.
Spurring their horses on to even greater speed, they fly alongside the river. The hills on either side of the river begin to rise and James realizes they’re entering a canyon of some kind. Not as big as the Grand Canyon back home, but large. As the sides of the canyon continue to rise, he’s quick to realize that if they sent forces to the other side, they may very well be trapped.
The ground becomes rockier and less stable the further into the canyon they move, forcing them to slow their speed. Behind them, the foot soldiers have entered the canyon as well and are following about a mile away.
Progressing still further into the canyon, they come across a series of wooden stakes with wooden crossbeams. Skulls and bones hang from them as well as pieces of leather, which James thinks might be skin.
“What is that?” Jiron asks.
“I’m not sure,” James replies. “It can’t be good though.”
As they pass the structure, James begins to see others scattered about the floor of the canyon as well. Some not very large, though a couple are even bigger and more complex than the first one they encountered.
“This might be a burial ground of some sort,” he tells them.
“Burial ground?” Miko asks.
“Yeah,” he says. “It just feels that way.”
Nervous, Miko looks around.
“James, look,” Jiron says, directing his gaze back to the soldiers following them.
James glances back and sees the soldiers have stopped at the first of the stakes and skulls.
“Seems as if they are reluctant to enter,” Jiron observes.
“Hope so,” James says.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be here either,” Miko says as he glances around the canyon nervously.
“We have no choice,” James tells him as they continue on further into the canyon.
They keep glancing behind them and still the soldiers remain there at the stakes, unwilling to enter the canyon. The further into the canyon they move, the more of the burial sites they see. Some now actually have full skeletons laid out upon them. All the bones are human.
Miko is getting more and more nervous the further they go. The canyon is absolutely silent, not even the familiar sound of birds or animals can be heard, only the rush of the river flowing by makes any kind of noise. But even that has a hushed quality to it, as if it dares not disturb the peace of this place. With the sun already having moved past the lip of the canyon, the lengthening shadows give the place an even more eerie feel.
They proceed onward, further into the canyon for another hour or so when James decides to pause a moment to dig out a pool by the river to look for pursuit.
“Do we have to stop?” asks Miko, who is getting very jumpy.
“Yes,” replies James. “It will take just a moment. I want to do it before it gets dark and I’ll no longer be able to see anything.”
Once the pool is filled and the surface has stilled, James begins to see what the forces behind them are doing.
The image shimmers a moment and then they see themselves by the river. He scrolls the image south until the soldiers who stopped at the boundary are in view. A large force of foot and horsemen are gathered together. Bringing the focus closer, they are able to see two men arguing animatedly. One of them is Abula-Mazki. What I wouldn’t give for a little sound.
The two men are obviously at odds over what they should do. From the way Abula-Mazki is gesticulating, it would seem he wants them to follow into the canyon. The other officer is adamantly refusing.
In an enraged fit, Abula-Mazki stretches out his hand and they see the officer fall to the ground. Abula-Mazki then turns to the others assembled there and begins talking. The death of their officer must have given them the impetus they needed, for they begin to hesitantly move into the canyon.
“They mean to follow us then,” Jiron says from over his shoulder.
“It would seem so,” agrees James.
“What’s at the other end of the canyon?” Jiron asks.
The image moves quickly until it reaches the northern end and they see another large force of men waiting there. They seem to be settling