Heirs of the Enemy (65 page)

Carry them to safety, Aeron. Keep them away from here, but do not obey them.

They will be safe, Clint. Hurry to the north where I will be waiting.

The unicorn immediately turned and galloped away, the sergeant staring in wonder. Clint rushed through the tether lines, bringing his sword down on each of them. With the horses free from captivity, he shouted loudly, chasing the horses towards the campsite. The sergeant drew his sword and looked as if he was going to follow the horses back into the campsite. Clint grabbed his arm.

“There is no hope in that battle,” Clint said softly. “Over half of the men were dead before I woke up. There is no one left alive now.”

“Then we should have kept two of the horses,” frowned the sergeant. “How are we getting out of here?”

“We aren’t,” answered Clint. “We are going to hide. Move silently towards the Barrier.”

The men sheathed their swords and moved westward as fast as they could without making noise. Behind them, the fighting had stopped. Franco stormed around the campsite.

“Where are the women?”

“They were on the southern edge of the campsite,” answered one of the assassins. “I came in right past them. They had no guards attending to them.”

Franco strode angrily towards the southern edge of the campsite. He halted when he saw one of his men dead with a strange object embedded in his face. He bent down and pulled the metal star from the man’s face. He stared at the star with curiosity. Wiping the blood on the dead Badger’s clothes, he shoved the star into his pouch. On his way to the southern edge of the clearing, he found two more stars, and each time he paused with curiosity. He took both of those stars and added them to his pouch. Reaching the area of tether lines, he knelt and studied the ground. While he stared at the ground trying to decipher the tracks, one of his men approached him.

“They are all dead, Franco.”

“No, they aren’t,” scowled the head Badger. “The women got away on a horse, and there are two men on foot. I want five men immediately sent northward after the women. Then I want twenty men to head westward after the men.”

“Twenty? We will not have enough men left to gather up all the horses.”

“I don’t care about the horses,” shouted Franco. “Follow my orders. The remainder of the men are to rest. I want fresh troops to move the women into Elfwoods when they are found.”

Franco watched his man retreat and then he turned around and walked to the nearest dead Federation soldier. He knelt and examined the body. There was no insignia on the man’s uniform, so Franco pulled the man’s pack off of the body. He dumped the contents on the ground and sifted through it. Among the items he found were two insignia patches. One was for A Corps and the other was for V Corps. He frowned as he tried to figure out the significance of what he was looking at. He picked up the two patches and shoved them in his pouch next to the stars.

* * * *

As soon as the sunlight faded from the sky, Clint pulled himself up onto the ledge, Sergeant Treman followed.

“Lie flat,” ordered the general as he stuck his finger in his pocket and woke Peanut. “The idea is to be able to see people approaching this position without revealing yourself.”

“I never reveal myself,” chirped Peanut as he climbed out of the pocket and landed on the rock ledge.

Sergeant Treman’s eyes grew large as he stared at the tiny man, but he did not speak.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” chuckled Clint. “I have a mission for you, and it is urgent.”

“Urgent is my middle name,” quipped the fairy.

“You only have one name. Now be quiet and listen. I need you to find Colonel Hardi’s men. Tell Colonel Hardi that he is to return to the caves and hide. Our group has been destroyed, and the remaining Badgers are hunting for us and the women. I do not want the colonel’s men found. If necessary, they are authorized to move further northward. Tell Morro that I want him and Minitari to find the women somewhere north of here. They are riding on Aeron, and I am sure that the Badgers will be chasing them. He is to use Aeron and Minitari to get the women to safety. Getting them to Despair is no longer an option. Once he has done that, he is to use Sparky to find Sergeant Treman and myself. We will need a way to get out of here. Have you got all of that?”

“What of the rest of your men?” frowned the fairy.

“They are dead. Carry the message with great haste, Peanut. I may need your skills before this night is out.”

A look of profound sadness filled the fairy’s eyes. He offered no quip as he saluted and shot into the air.

“Tell me that I am dreaming,” the sergeant said softly.

“You are going to learn some things this night that must not be revealed,” replied Clint. “The fairies are but one of them.”

“What are the others?” asked the sergeant.

“Aeron and Minitari are unicorns. They have the ability to fly. That is why I insisted on putting the women on Aeron. He will keep the women from being captured by the Badgers, but even unicorns must sleep sometime. That is why I have called for Morro’s assistance.”

“Who are you, General Forshire? You must know that you have the undying devotion of your men, but you are no Federation general. Who are you really?”

Clint looked at his sergeant and smiled thinly. “It is time we remained silent. The Badgers may be approaching us at this very moment.”

“The women are just ahead,” Sparky said excitedly. “Are you going to let them see a flying unicorn?”

Morro frowned. “No, that would not be wise. It is bad enough that I shared your secret with Colonel Hardi. I will reveal no more secrets. Can you keep all three of them asleep at the same time?”

“They already looked tired,” mused the fairy. “I think I can do it.”

“You think?”

Sparky puffed out his chest with pride. “I can do it. It is not much of a challenge.”

Morro smiled inwardly. “Then get to it, master magician. I want to get those women away from here before the Badgers close in.”

Sparky saluted stiffly and then darted away. Morro ran his hand gently over the flying unicorn. He cast his thoughts to his partner.

It is time to return to the ground, Minitari. I want to make sure that the women are asleep before you show your wings again.

You are wise, Morro. The little people can be boastful at times. Where are we taking the women?

I do not know, but we need to get them somewhere safe and do it quickly. I do not like the idea of Clint fleeing from the Badgers on foot.

The unicorn banked sharply and glided towards the ground. For a brief moment, the treetops sped past as the unicorn maneuvered into a large clearing and then they were on the ground. Minitari left the clearing and moved through the trees without instructions from Morro. A few minutes later, they entered another large clearing. Morro glanced at the three women and Aeron, the darkness of evening already making it difficult to see. The two younger women were still sitting upon the unicorn, their heads bowed in sleep. The older woman was stretched out on the ground, her eyes closed.

“What happened, Sparky?” asked Morro.

“She fell off,” frowned the fairy. “It was not my fault. I thought it was impossible to fall off a unicorn.”

Aeron snorted.
When we are flying that is true, but I cannot dip lower to balance them when I am on the ground.

“Levitate her up to me, Sparky” ordered the elf. “We have no time to lose.”

The fairy immediately levitated the unconscious woman, lowering her onto Minitari in front of Morro.

“To the air,” ordered Morro.

Both unicorns spread their wings as they raced across the clearing. With a mighty leap, they were airborne and skimming the tops of the trees.

Aeron tossed his mane with a flip of his head.
Where do we go?

Morro had been pondering that question since receiving Clint’s message. He knew that they were supposed to be delivered to Despair, but the Ranger had been clear that such a destination was no longer a possibility. Clint’s message also expressed concern for the rest of A Corps, so hiding the women in the same caves as the soldiers made no sense. The elf knew that every minute in the air brought the chance of exposing the abilities of the unicorns, so he made a snap decision.

“To Tarashin.”

The unicorns banked immediately, spiraling upward into the night sky to gain the height necessary to cross over the peaks of the Barrier. Even though the Bloodwood was near the southern edge of the continent, the chill grew brisk as they gained altitude. As they climbed above the mountain peaks, a blast of frigid air slammed into them. Morro began to shiver as the cold enveloped him. He wrapped his arms around Janay to keep them both warm, fearing the effect the cold might have on the emperor’s daughters. He began to have second thoughts about heading towards the dwarven land of Tarashin, but the blast of cold air suddenly diminished as the unicorns tilted downward, gliding out of the worst of the frigid wind.

The sides of the snowy peaks sped by as the unicorns banked first one way and then the other, weaving their way between the lesser peaks of the Barrier. Still shivering from the cold, Morro sighed with relief as he saw the ledge of Tarashin come into view. The unicorns glided to a halt upon the ledge and several dwarves immediately appeared.

“Are ye bringing gifts now, elf?” laughed one of the dwarves.

“Karicon!” Morro greeted his dwarven friend. Turning suddenly serious, the smile fell from his face. “We need to get the women to the Doors. I have a fairy keeping them asleep, but I need him elsewhere.”

Karicon called back into the tunnel and several more dwarves appeared. They gently took the women off the unicorns and hurried into the tunnels with them.
 
A moment later, Pebble appeared. Morro dismounted and addressed the fairies.

“Pebble, keep those women asleep. I will join you at the Doors in a minute.”

The female fairy nodded wordlessly and darted back into the tunnel.

“Sparky, I need you to guide the unicorns to Clint. Waste no time in getting to him. His life is in danger.”

Morro did not wait for a response. He turned and ran into the tunnel. Using his gift of speed, the elf rushed through the tunnels and arrived in the large chamber just after the women. He pushed past the dwarves and opened the Door to Herinak.

“Bring them through,” ordered the elf.

Morro stepped through the door into Sidney Mercado’s office to find Sidney sitting at a desk. The merchant looked up in surprise.

“Is anyone in your sitting room?” Morro asked.

“There should not be,” Sidney answered with a frown as he rose and moved around the desk, “but I will check.”

Sidney opened the door to his sitting room and waved for Morro to follow him. While Morro waved the dwarves into the room, he followed the merchant. Sidney locked the door to the corridor so that no one would walk in unannounced. He then turned to see the dwarves carrying three women into the room. One of the dwarves placed Janay’s body on the couch. The other two dwarves looked around in dismay.

“Put them in my bed,” Sidney offered as he waved towards the other door leading off his sitting room.

“We will need another fairy,” frowned Morro. “Pebble cannot keep them all asleep if they are in different rooms.”

Sidney nodded and woke up Pixy. He instructed her to keep the women in his bedroom asleep as the dwarves returned to Tarashin.

“Who are they?” asked the merchant.

“They are the emperor’s family,” answered Morro. “Clint rescued them from the Badgers, but his A Corps men were wiped out. He cannot get them to Despair. He needed a safe place to keep them.”

Sidney raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he did not voice any objections. He moved to the door to the corridor and unlocked it. Without a word, he exited the suite and returned moments later.

“They are making up the suite across the hall,” the merchant announced. “They will move a bed into the office so that there are two bedrooms. Where is Clint?”

“He is hiding with his sole remaining man, Sergeant Treman. I have sent the unicorns to save him.”

“Tell me what happened.”

* * * *

Sergeant Treman felt the general place his hand on the sergeant’s forearm in a quieting way. The sergeant nodded in acknowledgement of the need to remain silent. He listened carefully, but he could not hear what had alerted the general. The general slowly slid his pack off and opened it. From the pack, he took a short quiver and strapped it onto his waist. The sergeant watched curiously as the general extracted a reed and a quill from the quiver. The quill was slipped into the reed, and the general moved stealthily towards the edge of the ledge they had been hiding on. Then the sergeant heard the noise. It was faint, but it was unmistakable. Someone’s boot had scuffed a rock not far below them.

Clint slowly inched across the flat rock ledge, being careful not to make any sounds. Knowing where the head of the Badger would appear, Clint brought the reed to his lips and waited. He heard a soft grunt as the enemy pulled himself up. A moment later, the head appeared. Clint blew the quill into the man’s face and immediately reached and grabbed the man’s hair. Straining to hold the weight of the Badger’s body with only one hand. Clint shoved the reed back into his quiver so he could use both hands. He did not want the body to tumble down the side of the mountain.

Sensing the general’s dilemma, the sergeant quietly moved across the ledge. He reached down and grabbed the man’s arm. With agonizingly slow movements, they managed to pull the body onto the ledge. Sergeant Treman lay back, staring up at the black sky. He listened intently, trying to hear any other Badgers attempting to climb up to their hidden perch.

“I think he was alone,” General Forshire said softly, nodding towards the Badger’s body.

“Where is your fairy?” asked the sergeant. “Couldn’t he tell us who is out there?”

“He could, but I sent him to make sure that the women were taken to safety. He will return soon.”

“Where will Morro take them?”

“I am not sure,” sighed Clint. “Morro is resourceful. I trust him with the women. Wherever he takes them, they will be safe.”