Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [97]
Chapter Seventeen
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They find a small stream several miles past the town where they pause to allow Miko a chance to clean off the blood.
While he’s by the stream, James pulls Jiron aside and asks, “What happened?”
Shrugging, he replies, “I don’t know. I heard fighting and by the time I got near, the fighting was over and he walked around the corner.”
When he pauses a moment thinking about it, James asks, “What?”
“It’s just that, when I first approached him, he didn’t seem to be aware I was even there,” he explains. “When I took him by the shoulder and shook him, that’s when he became aware of me.”
They both turn to look at their friend over by the stream. James is worried about him, not sure what happened. Maybe he was just in shock over the fighting, he hopes that’s all it was. But how had he even survived?
When Miko finishes cleaning himself as best he can, they once more mount and quickly put distance between themselves and the town. He’s not sure when it will materialize, but James is positive that pursuit will be forthcoming, and soon.
As they ride, James keeps an eye on Miko but he seems his same old self and soon quits worrying about him.
The hills begin to fall away as they move further away from the town until they finally pass into grasslands once more. As the road starts to turn more to the west, James suggests cutting cross country across the plains in order to maintain a more northerly route. Everyone is in agreement with the idea so they turn off the road, making their way into the grasslands.
As they cross the grasslands, the moon begins to reach the horizon, what light it gave them about to disappear. Once it sinks below the horizon, travel becomes more risky as they only have the light from the stars to guide them. Like ghosts, they move silently in the night, hoping there are no holes or anything else for their horses to trip upon.
Throughout the night, they maintain a quick pace, pausing now and then to allow the horses to rest and grab a bite to eat. When dawn approaches and the sky begins to lighten, they find themselves still in the middle of grasslands. Off to the northeast, the lightning sky silhouettes a range of tall mountains.
“We’re pretty exposed here,” says Jiron.
“I know,” agrees James. “But not much we can do about it now.” He glances back to Miko and sees him asleep in the saddle. Despite being asleep, he’s somehow managed to remain on his horse. James cracks a slight grin at the sight.
They continue on as the day gradually brightens until finally the sun tops the mountains to the east. With the sun comes the heat of the day, James can tell it’s going to be a hot one.
As the sun makes its way up into the sky, they see a sizeable city ahead of them. This one is even bigger than the previous one. It even has a sizeable defensive wall. A small keep can be seen situated near its center. Not wishing to take the chance of being noticed by the men patrolling along the top of the wall, they turn east and move quickly toward the mountains in the distance.
They see many people moving outside the walls but none seem to take notice or even care that they’re there. Suddenly, horns can be heard coming from the city. They turn in panic, expecting soldiers to boil from the gate in pursuit. Instead, they hear answering horns sound from a large force of men consisting of both foot and cavalry approach the city from the east.
Turning south, they gallop until the city and army are no longer visible. They then slow a little to save the horses and again turn more easterly.
“Think that was a force coming back from Madoc?” asks Jiron.
“Maybe,” replies James. “Of course it could be one coming back from a battle with the Kirken Federation as well.”
“Either way, it would be best to avoid that city,” suggest Jiron.
“I agree,” Miko adds.
“We better head for the mountains and try to keep as much distance from those forces as possible,” James tells them.
“Good idea,” says Jiron.
Moving quickly,