Ossendar: Book Two of the Resoration Series (60 page)

Enton smile changed, his look took on a more worried expression. “You will let me come back. Won't you? I have apologized, and I would like to make it up to you, although I did just save you.”

Heather eyes narrowed, Enton had been doing pretty good until he mentioned saving them. He was already trying to bully her again. That wasn't going to happen, not again. “I'm sorry, but I already ordered you back to Telur. You will have to face charges for your insubordination.” She shook her head, “I'm sorry.”

Enton's jaw dropped and his eyes bulged. “Charges? What.. What do you mean?”

Heather laughed, she couldn't help it. The look on Enton's face was unforgettable.

“What's so funny?” Aaron asked, he was standing now, but still rubbing his sore legs. He was staring at Heather, a smile on his lips. “It's good to hear you laugh again.”

Heather smiled back, “It's good to laugh.” She glanced around, and let the smile fade from her face. “Enton just apologized for his behavior prior to
Tyler
's Junction. He has also asked to rejoin us.” Enton looked somewhat embarrassed at her words, but she ignored him and focused on Aaron and Mikela. “I have decided to let him come with us.”

Enton smiled, as did the other two.

“But there are going to be conditions, certain penalties will be imposed for the right to come along.”

Heather's words wiped the smile off of Enton's face. “Penalties? What do you mean?”

A delighted smile played across Heather's face, “You know, penalties, like extra chores.” There was an almost dangerous tone to her voice now, “And I don't want to hear one word of complaint.” Oh, how she was going to enjoy this. She noticed Aaron trying hard not to smile, but Mikela wasn't even bothering try to hide her smile, the tears still wet on her cheeks. “Do you understand?”

Enton looked a little sick, his coloring was definitely off. “I understand.” He paused, “You are going to have some fun with this. Aren't you?”

“Oh, yes.”

Mikela cleared her throat. Heather and Enton were staring at each other, and Mikela was suddenly afraid that a disagreement might start again. “Shouldn't we get moving? I mean, won't the wagon drivers check on us fairly soon?”

Heather got to her feet, a little shaky at first. “You're right. Enton, I need you and Aaron to go get our weapons and things.”

“No.” Enton said, but seeing Heather's eyebrows shoot straight up, he quickly amended his words. “What I meant to say is that I already got your things on my way in, tonight.”

Heather nodded, “Good thinking. Do you have a plan for getting us out of here then?”

Enton nodded, “Yes. I have been watching the camp for some time now, and I have their guard rotations memorized. They haven't changed them in the two weeks that I have been watching.”

“Good. Let's go.”

Derek looked around at the soldiers riding along with them. Besides the guardians, there were fifteen soldiers accompanying them on their escape, sixteen, counting Keenan. They had reached the bottom of the mountain without so much as a sideways look from anyone, and Keenan had made a show of leading the prisoners west along the tree line. They had stopped in a small clearing, almost as soon as they were out of sight of the soldiers, and the promised horses had been waiting for them. That had been two days ago, and they had been traveling west since then.

They were pushing their horses, pushing them almost past the point of exhaustion. Riding along the base of the mountains, until this morning, when they had turned north westward. After leaving the mountains, the land had started out flat with a few scrubby trees, but the trees were starting to get closer and closer together. The scrub trees were turning in to a forest of evergreens, and it was getting a bit hillier.

They crested a small hill and started down the far side. A small brook wound along the base of the hill. Derek pointed to the creek, “Let's stop and water the horses.”

Keenan didn't even look around, “No. We have to keep moving. We don't have the time.”

Derek nudged his horse up next to Keenan's, “If our horses drop dead from exhaustion, then they won't be of any use to us.” He spoke quietly, thinking all the while that he would hate for someone to contradict him in front of his soldiers.

Glancing over, Keenan rubbed his face and sighed. “You're right, of course.” He raised his hand, just prior to them reaching the water, and then wearily slid from his mount.

Derek followed suit, wincing as he did so. He stretched and rubbed his back. “How far back do you think they are?”

Glancing back the way they had come, Keenan shook his head. “Not far. Not far at all.”

Derek followed Keenan's gaze, “I will not go back to that room.” His voice was cool and steady, in direct contrast to how he felt.

Keenan nodded, “I agree. I won't go there either.” He turned toward the soldiers, who were busy watering their horses a short distance away. “Obum, come here.”

One of the young soldiers hurried over. “Yes sir.”

“I think it's time, Obum.”

“Yes sir.” Obum replied, although he looked decidedly glum as he spoke. “I'll let the men know.”

Derek's brow wrinkled in confusion, but he waited until Obum had walked far enough way not to hear before voicing his concerns. “Time for what?”

“Time to split up.”

“Split up. What do you mean?” There was absolutely no way that he was leaving any of his fellow guardians. Not if there was a remote chance of one of them being caught again.

Keenan smiled, not noticing the sudden wariness in Derek. “It's been part of the plan from the beginning.” He motioned to the soldiers that were standing around. “There's a reason that there are twenty of us. You four and myself are going to go one way, and the others will split into three groups. Each group will have five riders.”

Derek nodded, relief flooding through him, Keenan never meant to split the guardians up. “That makes a lot of sense. If we have followers, then they won't know who to follow.”

“Glad you approve,” Keenan said rather dryly. “The best thing, though, is that we're all going in different directions, and the five of us are headed due west.”

“West?” Once again Derek spoke without thinking. He looked around quickly, not wanting to question Keenan's authority in front of his men. He lowered his voice and continued, “But Telur is more North than anything else. Why aren't we headed that way?”

The smile on Keenan's face slipped, “Because that is exactly what the men following us would expect us to do. Instead we will head west and eventually turn north.”

“And the five men that you are sending North?” Kara asked in a quiet voice. “Are you sending them to their death?”

Keenan was silent for a moment, “I most certainly hope not.” He nodded over at his soldiers, still watering their horses. “I picked the best men that I had for this mission, and if anyone can survive, it's them.” He paused for a moment, “I also have some surprises planned for our followers. I sent some troops out over the past week, and they will be waiting in ambush three days down the trail. All the men have to do is stay ahead of their pursuers for that long.”

“Thought of everything, haven't you?” Derek asked. He was impressed with the thoroughness of Keenan's plan.

“I tried,” Keenan answered shrugging.

“Okay, so we go west,” Trestus said, chewing on his bottom lip as he spoke, “Then what?”

“Eventually, we'll head north. Perhaps through Dalar, or maybe we'll go through Aramonia. I haven't really decided, but if we're running for our lives then that will help make the decision for us.”

Odum walked back over to the Keenan, “Sir, We're all ready.”

Keenan nodded, “Excuse me.” He said to the guardians and followed Odum back to the other assembled soldiers. They all stared at him, waiting for him to speak. 'They all look so young.' He thought to himself, and then he forced a smile. “Men, we don't have long, so I'll make this quick. This is a dangerous mission that I am sending you on, and your bravery honors you and your fellow Tizens. This mission isn't just to help me escape, but to restore out kingdom. Remember that. We must succeed, for our families. No longer will they have to hide and live in fear. If we succeed, then we can live in the open and not be persecuted.” The soldiers seemed to swell with pride at his words, their chests puffed out and they seemed less scared than before. Keenan held up three fingers, “Three days. All we have to do is stay ahead of them for three days. By now, the ambushes are set up and waiting on us. Make it to them.” He looked around and regarded the sober young faces staring back at him. “For Tizen!” He shouted, and the soldiers shouted “For Tizen!” right back at him.

Derek stood to the side watching. He found himself hoping that they made it through, not just for their own sakes, but for the sakes of the poor people who did live in fear. Glancing at Odum, he silently wondered how many of these soldiers were going to their deaths.

“Mount up!” Keenan called out, and Derek, whose mind had been wandering, obediently headed to his well watered horse.

Chapter 26

Atock peered around the short stumpy tree. A small group of goblins were crouched about fifty feet away around the carcass of a large animal about the size of a horse. Whatever it was, it looked to have been dead for some time, but that wasn't stopping the goblins from ripping off chunks of meat. It turned his stomach to watch them eating the raw rancid flesh, but at least their attention was on dinner and not keeping guard.

It was the third bunch of goblins they had come across in the last two days. Atock thanked the gods above that the goblins were complacent and not keeping a good watch. The guardians had spotted them on all three occasions, and slipped by before the goblins could notice them.

There wasn't any reason for the goblin patrols to expect any trespassers here. No one came to Golt, and no one wanted to. It was a foreboding country, and countless stories told of the horrors of anyone who dared to travel its wastes.

Atock pulled back behind the tree and then slowly started crawling away. Crawling on his belly, the dust and the brambles trying their best to bother him, but he ignored them and just kept crawling.

It had been eight days since they had been chased from the valley by the fear of the dragon. The first few days they had traveled quickly enough. Coming away from the mountain, the terrain had leveled off into small hills and they had been able to ride between the hills without too much fear of being spotted. Short trees and bushes had also helped hide them. They traveled east and slightly north, following the mountain range, but not too closely, there could be spying eyes on the mountain side. Things had started getting worse about the fourth day. The hills that had been helping to hide them, had started flattening out and the trees were little more than knee high bushes. That had slowed them considerably, and yesterday morning they had been forced to lead their horses instead of riding them. The horses were too tall for the guardians to ride them in this flat terrain, as a mounted rider stood out way too easily.

Reaching a shallow gully, Atock climbed to his feet and looked backwards to make sure there wasn't any followers. Not that goblins were known for their stealth, if any of them had spotted him, they would have chased him down whooping and shouting. But there was nothing but grunts coming from the gorging goblins.

Staying low, Atock began moving quickly back the way he had come. After a couple of hundred yards, he paused again and listened for anything out of the norm, but there wasn't anything, so he picked up the pace.

It took Atock maybe twenty minutes to make his way back to Flare and Philip. They had stayed with the horses, while Atock had gone to scout the area.

Flare and Philip were waiting in the smallest of shelters, but it was the only thing they could find. A seven foot tree leaned over a small depression. It wasn't much, just barely enough to shelter the two men and the four horses. In fact, it actually wasn't enough to cover them, but it apparently had been good enough.

Glancing up at the clear blue sky, Atock squeezed down into the depression. A bead of sweat ran down his back. It was warmer here than they had expected, given the snow just on the other side of the mountain range. He flopped down and shook his head, “No good. There's another group of goblins out there, and there isn't anything to hide us.”

“Goblins! How many?” Philip said quickly, the concern showing on his face. “Did they see you?”

Looking disgusted, Atock shook his head. “What do you think? You don't actually think I would be lying on my back if the goblins had seen me. Do you?”

Flare stepped into the breach quickly. The last thing he wanted was for these two to start going at it again. Philip had been in a foul mood ever since their encounter with the dragon, and he and Atock had been arguing since that day. “How far away are they?”

Atock shrugged, “Maybe a mile or so, but their busy with dinner.”

Flare didn't even bother asking what their dinner was, he knew better. “Okay, how about the terrain? There has to be something to hide us.” He glanced northward as he spoke, wondering if the goblins were on the move yet. It was doubtful, as goblins were typically lazy, and too they had just eaten. The mountains were several miles away, but he could clearly see them. The range ran east-west, but this part of the range was bending southward towards them. It came to a point, just to the east of them, where the range jutted out, and then ran back north-eastward. Somewhere just beyond the mountain range point, lay the catacombs, and that made Flare's insides freeze. Several times over the past several days, he had found himself hoping that he wouldn't find the sword; hoping that this was all one big mistake.