Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (18 page)

Jiron nods and turns his attention back to
trying to find the best path along the stream. The trees here have
grown closer together and the way through is not readily evident.
Even though he’s not a woodsman, he seems to be able to make due
and find the way.

They continue on for the rest of the day,
the stream they’ve been following slowly dwindling down to nothing.
When the sun begins its descent toward the horizon, they make camp
and spend some time accumulating enough wood to last through the
night. It’s going to be getting really cold when it gets dark and
they need to be prepared.

James brings down a large animal, something
like a deer, and they slice it up. They cook most of it in order to
be able to carry some of it with them the next day. This going on
roots and fruit is fine for a while, but a man needs meat to keep
up his strength.

The following morning, they can see the
mountains still continuing to rise to the north. Miko dreads more
of the climbing and the cold but does his best to keep his mood up.
He doesn’t want to become a burden for the others. If the truth be
known, he feels he’s actually doing better than James who seems to
be really struggling with it, what with his leg and all.

This day is more of the same as yesterday,
trying to find a way through the mountains while still maintaining
a northerly direction. Once they had to backtrack almost two hours
when Jiron had steered them into a box canyon. They debated whether
to attempt to scale the walls of the canyon or backtrack, but soon
realized they were ill equipped for such a feat and wouldn’t be
unable to make it without serious injury.

Their mood was somber as they had to retrace
land they’d thought was already behind them. Once out of the box
canyon, they pick up what James calls a game trail and the going
becomes somewhat easier for a mile or so before the trail
disappears again.

That night, they’re fortunate to find a cave
they can use for shelter. Building a roaring fire to keep the cold
at bay, they rest and relax while the carcass of a small animal
roasts on the fire. Miko gets credit for this one. He spotted it
while out collecting firewood and brought it down with the
crossbow. To everyone’s surprise, as well as his own, he hit it. He
was forced chase it down since it hadn’t been killed outright.

He definitely felt part of the group when he
brought it back to camp and got the congratulations from
everyone.

Once dinner is over, they set up a schedule
for watches and Miko takes the first one while the other two sleep.
The night passes quietly.

After another two days of trudging through
the mountains, everyone has toughened up and the arduous trek is no
longer so bad. Even Miko has stopped complaining as his muscles
toughen up and James’ leg is no longer hurting as badly, just the
occasional throbbing.

When darkness begins to fall on the fifth
day since leaving the lake area, they crest a ridge and look down
on a small valley nestled between two peaks. It levels out for a
while before rising on the other side.

“Good place to spend the night,” James
says.

Jiron nods his head and they begin making
their way down to the bottom. As the light fades into twilight,
they reach the floor of the little valley and are surprised when
they come across a fire ring sitting in the middle of a
clearing.

“Wonder who was here?” Miko asks, looking
around.

“Whoever it was, they haven’t been here for
quite some time,” James assures him. “Probably hunters use this
place in the winter.”

“Doesn’t really matter,” Jiron says.
“They’re not here and it’s a good place for us to camp for the
night.” Turning to Miko he says, “Go get us some food master
hunter.”

Taking his crossbow, Miko replies, “Sure
thing.” Then he moves quietly out into the woods looking for
dinner.

“Think he’ll get anything?” James asks
him.

Shrugging, Jiron replies, “He has the last
two out of three times. He seems to be getting better with it,
though.”

“True,” he agrees.

They get the fire going and have lots of
wood stockpiled for the night when they hear Miko crashing through
the forest toward them.

James smiles at Jiron and says, “He’s not
going to find anything if he keeps making all that noise.”

Suddenly, Miko bursts out of the trees and
runs into camp. “James!” he cries out.

Jiron is about to make a comment about the
‘great hunter’, when out of the brush behind Miko emerges a large
bear-like creature. A crossbow bolt is sticking out of its
hindquarters. When it sees them, it lets out with a roar and
charges straight for them.

Jiron jumps to his feet, knives in hand as
the bear approaches. Miko runs past them and then comes to a halt
at the other side of the camp. He turns and watches James and Jiron
as they confront the beast.

James lets out with a blast of energy that
strikes the creature in the side. It doesn’t even slow the
creature, it just seems to make it madder.

Jiron steps backward, not wanting to close
with it. His knives would be ineffective against such a brute.

Crumph!

The ground just in front of it erupts and
throws it off its stride. A slug flies from James’ hand and hits it
in the side, lodging against a bone.
Damn! This thing is
tough!

Creating his orb, he tosses it in front of
the beast and causes it to explode in blinding light.

The creature rears back, crying out in fear
from all the unexpected attacks and then runs off into the woods.
They can hear its cries as it continues to move further away.

As one, they turn to Miko who says, “I
didn’t even see it. I swear!” He looks back and forth between them
and then continues, “I was aiming for a small rabbit. When I fired,
it moved and the bolt flew past and into some bushes. I guess it
was sitting on the other side of the bushes and got hit. It sat up
and roared. Then it saw me there and started to chase me!”

They both continue to give him stern glares
when suddenly, James starts chuckling. Then Jiron joins in until
they’re both laughing.

“It’s not funny!” Miko yells. “I could have
died!”

Which only makes them laugh all the harder.
When they finally settle down, Miko is quite put out by them and
sits down in a huff. “You guys don’t care,” he says, dejected.

Sobering up, James goes over to him and
says, “Of course we care, but the whole situation was just too
funny.” He can’t help himself as he breaks into another smile.
“Don’t feel bad.”

“It’s just that I didn’t get anything for
dinner,” he tells him.

“That’s okay, we still have plenty of meat
from last night,” he assures him. “And I think there are still some
fruit and roots from Lyria’s as well.”

When he sees they’re not really disappointed
with him, he begins to smile a little.

They break out their rations and sit around
the fire as they eat their dinner. Here in the mountains, when
night falls, it falls fast. It’s not long until they’re in full
night with only the stars and the almost full moon overhead to give
light. They keep the fire going through the night in order to keep
warm. Here in the mountains, it gets very cold when the sun goes
down.

Early the next morning as they are getting
ready to continue on their way, James looks to the east and sees a
band of horsemen coming through a gap in the ridge. “Jiron!” he
exclaims, pointing over to them.

“Let’s move!” Jiron hollers as they quickly
run to the west, hoping to avoid detection. But that hope is short
lived when they hear a horn, blaring. They glance back toward the
horsemen and see them moving quickly in their direction, one of the
riders is pointing to them.

Running through the trees as best they can,
James tries to find a place to defend as he knows escape is no
longer an option. They come to a steep side of the cliff where they
can put their backs to as they face the oncoming horsemen.

The horn blares again and the riders come
into view as they make their way through the trees before them.
These horsemen aren’t part of the Empire’s forces, they wear
leathers and most have short curved bows. Several of the bowmen
have arrows knocked and aimed as they use their knees to steer
their steeds.

“James!” Miko cries out. “What are you
waiting for?”

The horsemen, though targeting them with
bows, don’t feel necessarily evil or dangerous. So he holds back
and waits to see what they’ll do.

At the horsemen’s approach, Jiron draws his
knives and Miko brings up his crossbow. James puts his hand on the
crossbow and lowers it back down. He steps forward, holds his hand
up and says, “Greetings.”

Two of the horsemen exchange looks and one
of them replies, “You are trespassing in Windrider territory.”

“Our apologies,” James says with sincerity.
“We did not know that this area belonged to anyone.”

“None are allowed here,” the rider explains.
“You must turn around and go back!”

“James!” Miko exclaims.

“Shut up!” he says to him. Turning his
attention back to the rider he says, “There must be some way that
we could be allowed to continue.”

“There is none,” the rider asserts. He nods
over to the ridge to the north and says, “Had you crossed over,
your lives would’ve been forfeit. But you have not yet crossed the
sacred boundary, so I will let you live.” He pauses for a moment
and then adds, “If you leave, now.”

Suddenly, he feels Jiron’s hand on his arm
as he whispers, “James, look at their tunics.”

“What about them?” he whispers back.

“The beadwork,” he explains. “It’s the same
as on that necklace Lyria gave you.”

James looks closer and he slowly nods his
head as he sees the same pattern of shapes and colors as is on the
necklace.

He begins to reach into his pouch for it
when the archers begin to draw back their arrows at his movement.
He stops and says, “I have something I wish to show you, if I
may?”

Nodding, the rider holds up his hand and the
archers relax somewhat but still have their bows at the ready.

He reaches in and pulls out the necklace,
holding it out to the rider.

The rider gasps and takes it from him as
several of the others gather around to examine it, the archers
lower their bows a little bit more. After several moments of
exchanging words in their language, the rider turns to James and
asks, “Where did you get this?”

“It was given to us some time ago by a
lady,” he explains.

“What lady?” he asks, an odd expression
forming on his face.

“She called herself Lyria and she lived on
an island in the middle of a lake,” he replies. “The lake sits at
the southern edge of these mountains.”

His explanation generates more intense
discussion among the assembled riders. The bowmen continue to keep
their bows ready, but are no longer aiming them at James and the
others.

When the conversation ends, the rider turns
back to them and says, “We will take you to our camp.” Then he says
something to the bowmen who put their bows away. They put the
unused arrow in a quiver slung across their backs and then sling
the bow alongside it.

The rider turns his attention back to James
and says, “My name is Therin, sub-chief of the Windrider Clan.”

“I’m James,” he replies. Motioning to his
companions, he continues, “And this is Jiron and Miko.”

“So we will be allowed to travel in your
territory?” Miko blurts out.

“The lady has given you our token,” he says.
“So you will not be immediately turned away. But whether you are
allowed to live is up to our chief.”

“Live?” James asks.

He gestures to the southern ridge and says,
“Our camp lies beyond the ridge. If all is as you claim, you have
nothing to fear. If not, you’ll not live the day.” He speaks to one
of the horsemen and he quickly rides off toward the southern
ridge.

Turning his attention back to James, he
says, “Now, if you’ll all mount behind one of my riders, we’ll be
on our way.”

“It’s okay,” James assures Jiron and Miko.
“I think we’ll be alright.”

As Miko is mounting behind a rider, he says,
“I sure hope so.”

Once they are mounted, Therin leads them
toward the southern ridge. It takes them a half hour to reach it
and when they crest the top, James hears a gasp from Miko. Looking
out beyond the ridge, he sees a vast circular valley, surrounded on
all sides by mountains. James is reminded of a meteor crater, one
must have hit here some time far in the past.

The valley is filled with tents and horses.
Thousands of horses run free within the valley. “This is where the
Clans gather each year to ready the tribute to the Empire,” Therin
tells him as he rides along side of him.

“Tribute?” James asks.

“Of horses and gold,” he explains.

“How many clans are there?” he asks.

“Ten,” he replies. “But four have yet to put
in an appearance. The Windrider Clan claims the gathering area as
part of our territory, but during this time, all the clans are
allowed to come.”

“I take it you don’t all get along?” James
asks.

Shaking his head, he says, “No, not all.
Most work together for mutual benefit, to make the clans
strong.”

As they continue to work their way down the
side of the valley toward the Gathering, James looks out over the
tents, now able to discern the different patterns of the various
clans, each clan having its own unique pattern of color and shapes.
The tents, which at first looked to be randomly scattered about,
can now be seen as being grouped according to each clan.

Near the center of the gathering, James can
see tents bearing the pattern of the Windrider Clan. It’s by far
the largest group of tents in the valley, probably due to the fact
it’s their territory.