Chapter 21: Scouting to the South!
-----Soon Sol reemerges from the barn wearing his full armor. He then hoists himself into the saddle and Thunder carries him back toward the village square.
-----There, Jeilin mounts up on her own steed with the help of some of the onlookers from the freed prisoners.
-----Raven kisses the huntress and tells her, “I think we’ll only be gone a few hours.” Rinda nods to him and waves as the three prepare to ride out. They pause momentarily until they see Whisper waiting for them on the south side of the square.
-----“May you see the favor of the Hunter!” Rinda says as they head in the direction of the wood elf. Leaving his own horse behind, Whisper climbs into the saddle behind Raven. The elf appears to be more loaded down, especially with three orcish spears he carries.
-----As they ride past the buildings toward the river, Raven says to Whisper, “I’m not sure I know what you have in mind with the spears, but you’ve got my interest.”
-----After a few moments, the hunter looks over at Sol and says, “Not sure if you heard what Roderon and the other scout said before they left, but they sounded to me as if we may see some of Lord Howrun’s riders to relieve us in the next day.”
-----They quickly come to the place where the land starts to descend to the river bank and the trail leads on to a stone bridge fording the river. Off to the right of the trail a low line of shrubs provides excellent cover for Dilton and his band of ten warriors.
-----“Mistress Jeilin,” Dilton says as pleasantly as he can in his raspy voice, “where ye be off fer?” He taps the hilt of his sword with his hand as he runs his other hand across the stubble of hair on his head. The other warriors stand behind the rough hedges and scan the land beyond the river.
-----“We thought we’d scout south of the river,” Raven replies before the star priestess can respond. “Have you seen anything moving in the south?”
-----What smile there was on Dilton’s face fades a bit as he concentrates. “Aye, we seen a bit o’ movin’.” He then points south where the trail across the bridge would lead. About a mile away a small hill rises. Just to the west of the hill there is a large field of brambles. “There in th’t rough patch, we seen some things movin’ ‘bout early on. We couldn’t tell if’n they be animals or enemy.”
-----Raven’s eyes narrow as he stares off in that direction. “Hmm,” he begins, musing, “could be a good place for an ambush.”
-----Turning toward the others, he says, “We’ll dismount just on the other side of the bridge. That’ll give us a chance to first check for tracks.”
-----With well-wishes from Dilton, the small company rides toward the bridge. As they go, the tall grass gives way to the sandy bank. Raven snorts a laugh and points to the ground around them.
-----“No doubt they came this way,” the ranger says, pointing out what looks like dozens of footprints heading toward the bridge and different points along the edge of the water.
-----The company travels across the stone bridge with no problem. Here, in the afternoon, a gentle breeze blows across the water forming small waves. The heat of the day continues to build as there appears to be no break in the clouds overhead. The riders move slowly and cautiously across, keeping their eyes on their surroundings.
-----As they reach the other side, Raven calls a halt and jumps down to inspect the ground. Not surprisingly, the ground here reveals many tracks leading from the bridge. During the next few moments, Raven continues to search the ground moving away from the bridge. He finally turns and tells the others, “There are tracks leading in all directions. It looks like there were hobgoblins and orcs that were making for the brambles. There are more tracks heading for that hill to the south and I even see some horse hooves that are heading toward the southeast.”
-----Where the party waits, the river is to their backs while the bramble field is about a half mile to the southwest. At about a half mile to the south, a small hill rises and to the east and southeast the land appears to open to flat plains.
-----Raven looks at his three companions and asks, “Where do we want to go to from here?”
-----Jeilin gently coaxes her black horse, Shakalee, to a standstill. Reaching inside her cloak, the Zanyrian girl then takes out a small, worn-looking spyglass and looks through it at the three directions indicated by Raven; southwest, south, and for the longest time, southeast, where the riders have gone.
-----Sol appears to be content to wait for Jeilin to say if she sees anything or not, but at the last moment turns to Raven and asks, "Can ye tell how recent all three sets o' tracks are? As in if they were made at th' same time, or if they came at different times..."
-----“I would say that these tracks were made hours ago,” Raven says with a nod, before casting his eyes ground ward again. “The most recent would have been made very early before sunrise when you led the prisoners back into the village.”