Terry W. Ervin (50 page)

When the drop master waved, I turned, ran down the ramp, and leapt into the wind-filled darkness. Instead of yelling I focused on counting slowly through chattering teeth. “One…two…three…”

By the time I reached forty, I wasn’t sure if the air temperature had risen. I couldn’t stop shivering. Maybe I’d sped up my count, but it didn’t matter at the moment. I pulled the cord and the parachute opened, jolting me as it slowed my descent.

Just like my first parachute drop, I saw the road running like a ribbon through the trees. The wind elemental directed my chute towards it. I looked up into the partly cloudy night, but my parachute blocked any sight of Lilly or Roos. I hoped they hadn’t pulled too early. Or too late.

I bent my knees and relaxed just before reaching the ground. I hit, the additional weight of the bomb causing a hard impact. I rolled to my hands and knees, and stood. Above me two chutes neared the ground. I flexed my numb fingers, returning warmth to them before detaching my chute and gathering it. Just like last time. Except this drop I was the veteran. I knew the countryside and the dangers. Independent and brave as they were, Lilly and Roos would be looking for me to lead.

We moved north, skirting along the gravel road packed hard from travel. The terrain was just like I remembered it; the road wound along a valley pass between steep hills and low mountains. The valley floor was lined with scrub brush and littered with occasional thickets and pines. Stunted trees and scrub pines clung to the rocky hillsides.

We spotted the first goblin patrol fifteen minutes after landing, fortunately before they spotted us. Two dogs trotted alongside the twelve goblins. Furry, with compact noses and pricked ears, I guessed they were more alert to sound than scent. While a complicating factor, at least they weren’t mudhounds.

As another anti-infiltration measure, the enemy had erected wooden platforms where the narrowing press of steep hillsides with the trees and undergrowth cut away provided unhindered view of the road. They were tripod affairs with a small flat surface above where the logs crossed. One goblin sentry sat there, forty feet up, while three others sheltered inside patched tarps strung around the base. The combination of patrols and watch platforms greatly slowed our progress, forcing us to backtrack and scale less steep hillsides to work our way around while increasing our chance of being spotted.

As sunrise approached we took shelter fifty feet from the road in a tight stand of evergreens surrounded by ground pines. Several white pines, toppled either by storm winds or brute giant strength, lay between us and the road.

Roos took a sip from his canteen. “Friend Hawk,” he whispered, “the towers will complicate our retreat after laying the bomb.”

“We could move off the road,” suggested Lilly.

“We have time,” I said. “And there’s no reason to believe that the enemy doesn’t patrol the countryside.”

“Friend Hawk, ye should allow us to bear the bomb.”

“He’s right,” nodded Lilly. “It’s heavy. It’ll wear you out.”

“We already discussed it. When I get tired, I’ll let you know.”

“No you won’t,” said Lilly, barely whispering. “So you sleep first. You too, Crusader.”

“Friend Lilly, ye have led the way, scouting ahead and back. Ye should sleep first.”

Looking up and sniffing, she said. “It’s going to rain.”

“No tent for shelter,” I lamented.

Lilly shrugged. “Only place we passed that offered concealment and better cover was near one of those zombie caves.”

Roos offered Lilly a drink from his canteen. “Thanks,” she said, lifting it from his hands. “I promise I won’t kick you too hard if you start snoring.”

The thunderstorm arrived three hours later, drenching the countryside, and us, before passing southeast.

We shared dried apple and pear slices, and a raw potato while waiting for nightfall. Each of us lost in our own thoughts. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t come up with a detailed plan to escape. I hoped that the devastation of the bomb and the chaos that followed would provide ample opportunities.

When the sun fell low enough, causing the western mountains to cast shadows across the road, we began to move. By then our clothes were merely damp and uncomfortable. Neither Roos nor Lilly grumbled, but I suspected they too missed the comfort of a warm fire.

Advancing along the road from ditch to thicket, we made slow but steady progress. About an hour into our travel we abandoned the road and watched from concealment behind a rock outcropping while a company of raucous goblins passed southbound and out of earshot.

Thinking about the few intense moments earlier in the day I whispered, “Good thing those couple of giants hauling empty wagons went by during the storm. If we were caught out here by them.” I didn’t have to finish.

“True, friend Hawk, but that also means tomorrow the goliathans may return hauling panzers.”

“You’re always full of good news,” whispered Lilly. “Stay here. I think I hear something.”

Ten minutes later she returned. “Good news, and bad news.”

“Okay,” I said quietly, “let’s hear it.”

“Around the bend I spotted light a ways off. Glowing, like a village lit up by torches during a celebration, only whiter. It’s gotta be the stronghold. It’s big.”

“Is that the good or bad news?” I asked.

“Good news. Bad news is there’s another watch platform a quarter mile away. Four ogres are busy bullying a bunch of goblins.”

“How distant are the lights?” asked Roos.

She thought a second. “A mile, maybe a little more. It’s almost a straight shot north east.”

“I didn’t think we were that close. What time is it?”

Roos pulled out the pocket watch and held it to catch moonlight. “Ten thirty.” Slipping it back into his pocket, he added, “Full moon two nights from now.”

“I know, Crusader,” Lilly said flatly. “What’s the plan, Flank Hawk?”

I thought a moment, weighing options. “I’d like to get past this watch platform. But we can’t get too close to the stronghold. There was a place a few hundred yards back that might be suitable to hole up. That thicket near the spring that runs down the hill. It’s off the road, on the east side, downwind if the giants should come by.”

“Friend Hawk, fresh water draws many things, including thirsting lesser imps and heathen brutes.”

“I know. It’s not a good choice, but tomorrow might be a good night to infiltrate the stronghold and get a look around. The further away our base camp is, the less time we’ll have to scout.” I looked from Lilly to Roos. “We’ve been lucky. The closer we get, the larger and more frequent the patrols.”

“Oh,” said Lilly, “I almost forgot. I saw one patrol of four goblins go up the western hill, opposite the tower.”

Trying not to sound critical, I said, “That’s kind of important, Lilly.”

“I know. I got distracted by the question about lights. What do you want me to say?”

I bit my lip, knowing this was where being in charge got tough. “Here’s the plan. Lilly, I want you to find a way around the platform ahead. If you can, try to find a place for us to hole up. Roos and I will go back to that thicket and see if it is suitable as a fallback position.”

“No problem. You guys carry too much gear for stealth anyway.”

“Meet back here by midnight. That’ll give you plenty of time.” I took hold of Lilly’s shoulder before she scurried off. “No risks. Be careful.”

“Being here is one big risk.” She pointed to Roos. “He’s the firepower, you’re the brains. I’m just here to keep you both out of trouble.”

“Get going,” I said, “before you say something that gets you in trouble.”

“What do you think?” I asked Roos.

He checked the pocket watch again. “Thirty minutes after twelve.”

“She should’ve been back by now. Even if she ran into patrols, it should’ve taken an hour at most.” I peered around the rock outcropping we’d returned to after checking out the thicket near the trickling stream. “Maybe I should’ve gone with her. Or gone myself.”

“Nay, friend Hawk. Ye chose correctly.” He shifted from crouching to a kneeling position. “If any of us can slip past a vigilant enemy, it is she.”

“Fifteen more minutes and I’m going to look for her.”

“Do ye have the skills to track her? And if ye discovers Lilly has been captured, what will ye do?”

“I don’t know,” I said, truly wondering. “It would depend.”

Roos sighed. “Responsibility is a weighty load for one so young.”

“What would you do?”

He removed his forage cap and wiped his brow. “I would do as I felt the Lord directing. As for ye, Friend Hawk, follow thy mind before thy heart.”

I thought about what he said. “She is only one person. If I don’t place the bomb, how many thousands will die?” Settling on the right thing to do was agonizing and my mind raced, trying to come up with other options.

“If thy friend does not return, it may be that she has fallen to capture. If so, the enemy will not likely put her to death immediately. After placing the bomb I will join ye in seeking her out.”

Just then I detected movement on the hillside behind us. Roos heard the rustle of branches as well. I slid closer to the rock pile and pressed my back against it, wishing once again I had my crossbow. Roos drew his knife rather than his revolver or saint-blessed saber. If used they would announce our presence to the enemy. I was counting on the Crusader’s firepower to break through enemy resistance once the bomb was set.

I spotted shadowy movement from tree to tree about fifty yards up the hill. It was Lilly or a lone goblin separated from its patrol. I didn’t think a souled zombie would be patrolling alone. If it got closer and smelled like rotting flesh, I’d know.

“Crusader, don’t shoot me,” hissed the figure as it clambered down the side of the hill. Stopping and crouching at the bottom, Lilly observed the road and far hillside before hurrying to us.

“What took you?” I asked. She smelled like a mixture of smoke, pig manure, and the liquid we helped pump into the Hercules. “What’d you get into?”

“Not here,” she said excitedly.

“Did you find a place to shelter?”

“No. I scouted out stuff even better.” She looked around and smelled herself. “How about we go back to that stream, let me clean off and I’ll tell you.”

“The thicket near it is okay,” I said. “We’ll hear what you have to say there.”

We made it without incident. While Lilly washed herself and her clothes in the stream, Roos and I watched for patrols.

“What do you think Lilly found out?” I whispered to Roos.

He shrugged. “Thy friend will say when she is ready.”

“You think I should have asked the Colonel Ibrahim for a crossbow?” That question caught Roos off guard, but it had been on my mind. “What if that hadn’t been Lilly on the hill, or something was following her?”

“He gave us food, but offered nothing else.”

“I know. We spent most of our time locked up under watch, and even blindfolded. That makes me think he would’ve said no. But I could have insisted it part of the deal.”

Roos patted me on the shoulder. “Friend Hawk, ye did well to get us this far. The weapon ye now bear shall strike a strategic blow to thy enemy’s foul ambitions.” He gripped the stock of his rifle. “My weapons will see that both ye and Lilly shall escape retribution.”

“I’d still feel more comfortable with a crossbow.”

After circling around and disguising her tracks as best she could, Lilly followed Roos and me into the thicket. Even in the faint light, I could see her shivering with her wet shirt clinging to her body. Roos tossed his blanket over her shoulders.

“You smell better,” I whispered, sitting down next to the backpack carrying the bomb. In the center of the thicket was a hollow where we could sit upright. “Probably better than Roos or I do.”

“I got most of it off,” she whispered back, “but I think it stained the shirt you gave me.”

“When this is over, we’ll worry about clothes. When we get back to Keesee, Prince Reveron…” Then I stopped, remembering the last time I saw Prince Reveron, weak and wounded. “Grand Wizard Seelain will see to it. She knows about things like that more than any man.”

“Would ye care for some food?” asked Roos, preparing to open his backpack.

“No,” she said.

I tried not to appear anxious by huddling too close. “What got on your clothes? What did you see?”

Barely harnessed excitement filled her voice. Still she spoke just above a whisper. “First, I got around the ogres and watch tower by going up the west hill. I ran into the trail those four goblins took that I told you about. Anyway, I followed it for a while. Good thing we didn’t go much further tonight.”

Knowing she wanted me to ask, I did. “Why?”

“They have goblins along the ridge watching the road. That’s part of the reason I didn’t find a place. I was coming back when I saw another path. I took it and it doubled backed north. It took me above two goblin positions. Only by thirty yards or so, and a couple of times, if they’d have been looking, I was in plain sight.”

“So?”