The Jongurian Mission (38 page)

It was still more than an hour before they were within reach of the beach.
The waves picked up as they neared the sandy shore and drove them in. Sam was able to guide his boat into the shore without a problem, and they pulled it up high enough so that it was out of the waves with no chance of being pulled back out to sea. They didn’t know where they were and might still have need of the boats, they figured.

Trey didn’t fare so well.
His boat got spun sideways in the raging surf and flipped, causing the men and all the contents to spill out into the waves. The others rushed into the water to help them ashore and to grab as many of the sacks of provisions that they could, but several washed further out to sea. They were in no state to try and retrieve them; they had used all their strength through the night just getting this far. They managed to pull the boat up into the surf and flip it over, then drag it up onto the beach next to the other. After that it was all they could do to stagger off of the beach to the edge of the forest and out of the rain. Once there they collapsed from exhaustion and quickly fell asleep.

TWENTY-ONE

The rain had stopped falling when Bryn awoke but the sky was still drearily overcast with thick grey clouds
, and the wind continued to blow hard and cold. Pader, Conn, and Iago were busy walking around the edge of the forest collecting what dry wood they could find, while Halam and Willem used a flint and steel to urge a fire into existence on a dry patch of ground just within the forest’s edge. It was more jungle that forest, really. Trees, most of which were unfamiliar to Bryn, crowded together while below a thick tangle of undergrowth covered the forest floor. Several thick vines hung down from the trees while overhead the light was barely able to penetrate through the thick growth.

The waves continued to crash onto the sandy beach in front of them.
They appeared to have landed in a large, naturally-occurring bay. The land swung inland over several leagues in a round bowl-shaped formation and Bryn was able to see the points far away on either side stretching far out into the ocean.

Halam managed to strike a spark on some dried grass and twigs and soon a large fire was burning.
The men all eagerly gathered around, holding out their hands to the flames to get warm and dry.

“Do you think it
’s such a good idea to have a fire this close to the shore?” asked Millen, who was shivering a great deal. “What if another Jongurian ship sails by and sees us?”

“Maybe an Adjurian ship will sail by,” Rodden said.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Pader replied. “No Adjurian ships have sailed this far east for twenty years. It’ll be another week before our absence is felt in Dockside, and then it will be a few more days before they think that something may have gone wrong.”

“So are we to just sit on the beach until then?” Iago asked.
“Doesn’t seem like the best plan to me.”

“The chances of an Adjurian ship coming this way, even if they do think us missing, are slight,” Willem said.
“As to a Jongurian ship seeing us, I think that’s all too likely. Until we figure out what we’re going to do, I suggest we move further into the forest. It’d also be a good idea to pull those boats up further onto land, or at least cover them up somehow.”

“I agree,
but first things first,” said Halam. “The most important thing for the moment is getting warm. We’ve got to get these clothes dry. The last thing we need is to get sick.” He looked over at Millen when he said that. The Fallownian didn’t look to be improving any. His initial seasickness had turned into something far worse over the course of the night spent in the cold rain. He was coughing and shaking considerably.

“It won’t take long for the Jongurians to realize they lost two ships chasing after our one,” Sam said.
“That’ll tell ‘em that some type of battle took place. Two ships don’t go missing if their prey outran them. I’d give it another day before we start to see ships dotting that horizon and poking their noses into this bay.”

“Aye,” Halam agreed.
“I wouldn’t doubt that they’d tell all of the fishing boats in the area to keep their eye out for us as well. It’d be best to get those boats moved and cover up the drag marks in the sand.”

“Maybe they’ll think that we all went down with the ship,” Rodden said hopefully.

“That’s a possibility,” Pader admitted, “but I don’t think they’ll be satisfied with that idea for long. The chance that some of us survived and made it to land is too great. If any of us were to get back to Adjuria with the news that we were attacked by a Jongurian ship while on a peaceful trading mission, well, the Jongurians wouldn’ want that to happen, let’s just say that.”

“I don’t think they’ll spend too long searching the sea,” Trey added.
“There’s only so far a small lifeboat can get. When they get done searching that area they’ll turn their attention to land. It’d be best if we were long gone from here by then.”

“But we have no idea where we even
are
,” Rodden pointed out.

“We should be somewhere around Bindao or the Dongshui River,
at least according to what Edgyn told me last,” Halam said. “We can’t be sure which, but if we continue to head west, staying well-enough inland but within easy reach of the sea, we’ll eventually reach a river or a city.”

“Bindao is the last place we need to go,” Conn pointed out.

“I agree,” Halam replied. “But if we run into the city, we can edge around it. We’ll find no support there and most likely’ll be put to a slow death if spotted.” He turned to Sam. “How far east do Adjurian fishing boats go these days?”

Sam thought for a moment before speaking.
“They’ll often head out to the end of the Isthmus, and perhaps a little farther if their holds are not yet full.”

“So if we make it to the
Isthmus we have a good chance of being spotted by a friendly ship,” Halam said, looking at the weary faces around the fire.

“The
Isthmus
? But that’s got to be hundreds of leagues away, and over the Xishan Mountains besides,” Millen anxiously said.

“Does anyone else have a better suggestion?” Halam asked, but no one responded.
“Alright, it’s settled then. We’ll head west, for now at least. We’re lucky that the only major city is Bindao, which we can stay clear of. Any smaller towns or settlements along the way we’ll have to watch out for and avoid. I think our best bet will be to stay near the coast where the land will be flat, but then we’ll also have to be on guard against Jongurian patrols.” He looked over at the pile of sacks, bundles, and travel packs they’d taken from the ship and gotten ashore on the lifeboats. “What do we have for supplies?”

Willem, Pader, Sam, and Trey got up and began to move the pile about, opening and sorting as they went.

“It looks like we have a good quantity of hard cheese and harder bread as well as enough salt pork to last a while,” Willem reported after a few minutes.

“There are several sets of spare clothes, bandages, a few salves, some fishing line and hooks, a good quantity of rope, and some smaller miscellaneous items,” Pader replied.

“For weapons we have the four bows and their arrows, two hand-axes, two small swords, a dirk, and two daggers,” Sam said.

“Alright, let’s move all of those items besides the weapons into the few travel packs that we have.
We need to move as light as possible.” He turned to look at the men around the fire. “Who has the most expertise with those weapons?”

Iago stood up.
“I can use them all.”

“As can I,” Willem replied, and Pader said the same.

“Was never much with a bow but I’ve been in a few knife fights in my time,” Fess said.

“I used to hunt with the bow when I was growing up around the Baltika Forest,” Dilon added.

“Good,” Halam said when it was clear no one else would be speaking. “Iago, Willem, Pader, and Dilon, you men each take a bow and sheaf of arrows. We’ll need those for our food, so I hope you’re good shots. Whoever thinks they can best handle the swords and the dirk, grab them. Now, who else doesn’ have a weapon? Those two daggers and the hand-axes will go to you.”

The men rose from the fire and walked over to the piles.
Willem took the bow and arrows and grabbed one of the short swords while Halam took the other. Pader took one of the bows as well as the dirk, while Iago and Dilon grabbed the last two bows. Conn and Flint each grabbed a hand-axe and the two daggers went to Sam and Trey. Only Jal and Fess were without weapons, since Bryn, Rodden, and Millen still had the daggers that Iago had given them on the ship, so they took the heavier packs and swung them over their shoulders. The rest of their items were parceled out among the remaining three packs, which Halam, Sam, and Trey swung over their shoulders.

“Now, let’s get those boats pulled up as far as we can,” Halam told them.

They dropped their items back on the ground and headed back to the beach. Millen was in no shape to push a boat, so he stayed close to the fire. The rest took up positions on each boat’s stern, and on the count of three, pushed with all their might. The boats moved a few feet further, but it was difficult and they were forced to stop.

“They’re just too heavy,” Iago said as he spat disdainfully on the sand next to the boat.
“We’ll have to cover them with that canvas and as best we can.”

“Alright,” Halam said.
He wasn’t happy to leave the boats on the beach like this, but they had little choice.

“Bryn, Rodden, Conn, Trey, you grab some of those fallen tree branches and sweep away our footprints from the sand as best you can.
Make sure you do a good job getting those furrows from the boats covered up as well. As for the rest of us, we need to get that extra canvas out from the packs and do the best we can to hide these boats.” He turned to Jal. “You and Millen put that fire out and cover the ashes with sand. We’ll be heading out as soon as we’re done here.”

Bryn grabbed a suitably large branch with lots of leaves still attached and headed down toward the surf.
Thankfully they had all come ashore in the same area, so it was easy to cover the footprints up. Conn and Trey kicked sand into the two large furrows left from dragging the boats up the beach while Rodden followed them clearing away any sign of their passing. A few gulls cried and circled overhead and Bryn looked up for a moment to see them pass by. As he was returning his eyes to the sand he spotted a dot on the horizon. It was a large ship. Bryn dropped his branch and pulled the spyglass from his coat. Peering through it he saw that it had two masts and looked the same as the two ships that had chased them the night before. It was heading straight into the bay and judging by the sails and wake around the bow, it was coming in quickly. He put the glass back in his pocket and ran up the beach.

“A ship, a ship
!” he shouted as he ran, pointing at the ocean behind him. Rodden, Conn, and Trey stopped in their tracks and looked out to where he was pointing.

“A ship, and it’s coming straight into the bay,” Bryn said, breathing heavily when he got up to them.

They all four turned and ran up the beach toward the boats, yelling for the others to hear. When they got their attention they pointed out the ship.

“Bryn says it looks like the two that were on us last night,” Trey repeated when they got near the others.

Bryn handed Halam the glass. He looked through it, frowned, then passed it on to Willem.

“Aye, they’re Jongurian, I’d say.”

“It looks like they spotted the fire and are turning in to have a closer look,” Willem said.

“Let’s get that fire out quick and get into the forest,” Halam said.
“There’s nothing we can do with these boats now. Best to figure that they’ve spotted us and’ll be sending out men to comb the forest. We need to get as far from here as we can before that ship puts a boat ashore.”

They raced up the beach toward the fire.
Jal and Millen had kicked enough sand onto it to put it out, but the burnt wood still showed. It was no longer a concern; the men in those ships had already spotted the fire and probably the boats on the beach as well. Willem and Trey were the first to enter the forest, choosing an area with the least amount of branches, vines, and undergrowth to slow them down. The canopy was thick overhead so there was little light, especially with the clouds obscuring what sun there was.

Their long column of fourteen stretched quite a ways behind them.
Although Willem and Trey tried to move as fast as they could, the growth was so thick that any movement faster than a quick walk was impossible. They were constantly forced to step over fallen branches and tangled roots while at the same time brushing vines and tree limbs from their faces. Willem soon took out his shortsword and began to hack his way through the thick growth in front of him. It didn’t do much good; the blade had not been sharpened in some time, so most of the branches were just bent enough to be out of the way.

After they
’d walked for some time Halam called for a halt, and they turned to their left, then began moving again. While they wanted to get away from any men that may be following their path from the beach, they also wanted to stay close enough to the sea that they wouldn’t run into any settlements further inland. It wouldn’t do to flee from pursuers in their rear only to stumble upon them in their front.