They quickly mount and again move to the road as they begin to return to the town. Off in the distance the town’s lights become visible. Jiron leads them to the west, maintaining a goodly distance between them as they circumnavigate the town.
As they pass around the town, they come across a road heading out from the town to the west. Not seeing anyone coming or going, they cross it and continue moving around the town. Several farms are scattered in the area which cause them to take it slow, having to thread their way through them.
A dog barks at them as they pass close to one farmhouse. The front door opens and they can see the farmer outlined by the light inside the house as he stands in the doorway. He yells something at the dog and looks out into the night, but fails to see them passing by in the dark.
The dog continues to bark and the man yells at it again. Giving a couple more barks, the dog finally becomes silent. The farmer stares out into the night for another minute before going back inside the house.
Upon reaching the far side of town, they pick the road up again and continue following it north. With the town now behind them, they’re able to once more make good speed.
The three quarter moon gives them plenty of light to see by. As it slowly makes its arc across the sky, they move ever further toward the north. As it reaches its zenith, a band of riders can be heard approaching quickly out of the night from the east.
A shout can be heard coming from them, James looks and sees them there in the moonlight, heading straight for them. A crossbow bolt flies past as one of their pursuers takes a shot.
“Move!” James yells as he kicks his horse into a gallop. The other two follow suit as they race away from the approaching riders. Glancing back, he sees the riders turn to follow them. He can make out at least seven in the moonlight, there could be more in the darkness behind them, he’s not sure.
“We’re not going to be able to outrun them,” announces Jiron.
James glances back and sees the riders are continuing to gain slowly. “You’re right,” he agrees. He brings his horse to a stop and turns to face them. Jiron and Miko do the same just as a bola flies out of the dark and wraps around him, pinning his arms to his sides.
Losing his balance, James tumbles backward off his horse and thuds to the ground. He snaps the bola in half with a thought just as Jiron and Miko fall to the ground, bolas wrapped around them as well.
Crumph!
The ground under the approaching riders explodes upward, throwing them in every direction. James draws his knife and soon has Jiron free as the remaining riders approach.
Jumping to his feet, Jiron takes the severed pieces of the bola which had bound him and throws them at the approaching horsemen. One flies wide, but the other half connects with the lead horse in the chest causing him to stumble and throw its rider.
A stone flies and takes the remaining rider through the middle, gore exploding out his back.
Jiron engages the man who had just been thrown from his horse, his knives easily deflecting the sword of the rider. From behind he hears James yell, “Need him alive!”
Concentrating now on the sword and less on attack, he bides his time. Suddenly, he sees the maneuver he was waiting for. When the rider thrusts with his sword, he locks his knives together around the blade and with a twist of his wrists, the sword goes flying.
The rider tries to turn and flee, but Jiron tackles him and puts a knife to his throat.
James comes up to them and asks the captured rider, “Who are you?”
The rider just stares back defiantly.
“You are not of the Empire,” he says holding a bola. “This, if nothing else, would indicate that. I have not seen anything like this in the Empire before.”
Continuing on maintaining a defiant demeanor, the rider lies there uncooperatively.
“Are you from the Kirken Federation?” he asks. “That would be my guess, perhaps a raiding party?”
The man’s eyes flinch just enough for James to know he’d hit the mark. “Let him go Jiron,” he says.
Not taking his knife away, he says, “But they tried to kill us.”
Looking at the man, James asks, “If we let you go, will you return from where you came and leave us alone?”
The man stares at James a moment, considering the voracity of his words. Then, he nods his head affirmatively.
To Jiron, he says, “Let him go.”
Jiron slowly pulls the knife away from the man’s throat. When no attack is forthcoming from him, he gets slowly to his feet, never taking his eyes off the Kirken soldier.
As the man stands up, James tells him, “We are not of the Empire, we are from the north and are currently at war with the Empire ourselves.”
“Madoc?” the man asks.
“He is,” James says, indicating Jiron. Gesturing to Miko and himself, he says, “We’re from Cardri.”
The Kirken says, “We thought you to be the Empire’s men.” He looks around at his men lying dead around him before returning his attention to James, “A costly mistake.”
“We would not want to count the Kirken’s as enemies,” James says.
The man nods, “You are not, and I’m sorry we attacked you.” He goes over to a horse and grabs the dangling reins. “I must return and tell of what happened here. You’re welcome to come with me.”
Shaking his head, James says, “No, we cannot take the time, I’m afraid.”
“As you wish,” he says. He rounds up the other horses and then places the dead upon their backs, securing them into place. Then he ties the horses in line before mounting the lead horse. Then with a wave, he’s off.
They watch him as he disappears into the night with the bodies of his dead comrades. “It’s a shame they had to die,” James says.
“Fortunes of war, I’m afraid,” Jiron adds.
“Why didn’t we go with him?” Miko asks. “It seemed like a good idea.”
“We don’t want to get caught up in someone else’s war,” he says. “We’ve got our own problems and duties.”
“What duties?” he asks.
“Have you forgotten so soon?” he asks, pointing to his pouch.
“Oh, right,” he says then drops to a whisper, “the Fire.”
“Exactly,” replies James. “We can’t risk anyone getting their hands on it or even knowing about it.”
Getting back on their horses, they begin moving once more toward the north. They travel for several minutes when Jiron asks, “Just what did they hit us with anyway?”
“It’s called a bola,” he explains. “It’s a length of rope with weights at both ends. They twirl it and then let it fly at their target. If they do it right, then the target gets wrapped up and entangled.”
“Those things seemed pretty effective,” he says.
Nodding, James continues, “I’ve known them to be spiked and even have metal wires running the length of the rope to prevent it from being cut.”
“Nasty,” he hears Miko say.
“It can be,” admits James.
They ride on in silence as they eat up the miles. In a short while, they come to where a new road forms going west, into the heart of the Empire. Staying with the northerly route, they soon leave it behind.
After midnight, they stop for a quick meal of old rations, plus some from the Parvati’s. “You know,” James begins, “this riding at night is a whole lot better than riding in the day.”
“Yeah,” pipes up Miko. “No one can see us passing by.”
“Exactly,” replies James. “Maybe we can keep this up till we reach Madoc.”
“Maybe,” Jiron agrees. “As long as we’re able to find a place to hole up during the day.”
From up ahead, lights of a town begin to be visible. This town is a lot smaller than the one they’d skirted around earlier in the evening. Jiron leads them westward around it, making their way again through the farms and homes along the outskirts.