“Why didn’t you stay on the road?” exclaimed Chad quietly from where he sat on the horse behind Riyan.
“We can lose them in the hills,” replied Riyan.
They leaned low in the saddle as they fled through the hills. A short time ago, three bandits accosted them and it was only through great luck that they managed to get away. Now the bandits were hot on their trail. Riyan had turned off the road and begun heading through the hills.
“Are they still back there?” asked Riyan.
Chad glanced back and saw that they had only a couple hundred foot lead on them. “Oh yeah,” he replied. “I think they’re gaining.” Which wasn’t too surprising seeing as how Chad and Riyan were riding double and the bandits were not. “We’re not going to be able to stay ahead of them.”
“I know,” Riyan acknowledged. Not too far ahead of them stood the treeline where the forest began. He hoped that if they could make it to the trees before the bandits closed the gap, they might have a better chance of escaping. Chad saw where Riyan was taking them and silently agreed that it was their best shot.
They didn’t even consider putting up a fight since all they had for weapons was the sling that Riyan always carried with him and a couple belt knives. At the moment the sling was buried at the bottom of his pack.
The bandits on the other hand were equipped with swords, knives, and one even had a shield secured behind his saddle. Any stand they were to make against such armed men would prove futile.
Keeping low in the saddle, they urged their horse in maintaining as fast a pace as it could. The bandits behind them continued to slowly gain ground until they reached the forest. By that time the gap between them had been reduced to a mere hundred feet.
Riyan maneuvered between the boles of the trees but initially was unsuccessful in putting any more distance between themselves and the bandits. From behind they heard one of the bandits yell, “Give it up! You’ll never get away!”
Ignoring him, Riyan continued to push deeper into the forest.
Overhanging limbs started striking them as they raced between the trees, and bushes were beginning to impede their progress. When their forward momentum began to diminish, Riyan started to think this hadn’t been such a smart idea. Fortunately though, the bandits behind them were just as hampered in their movement through the forest as they were.
Riyan finally came to the conclusion that escape was going to be impossible. So it was time to get creative. “Get my sling out of my pack,” he hollered to Chad. Then he ducked just as a thick branch loomed up in front of him. Behind him, he heard Chad grunt when he wasn’t quick enough to avoid the branch.
“I’ll try,” he said as he rubbed the red spot on his forehead.
As they maneuvered between the trees, Chad untied the top of Riyan’s pack and began digging through it until he felt one of the straps of the sling. “Got it,” he said just as the horse jumped over a fallen log. Chad hadn’t been prepared and was almost thrown from its back. When he felt himself sliding off, he grabbed onto Riyan with a death grip and managed to right himself.
Handing the sling to his friend, he said, “Here.”
Riyan reached back and took the sling. “Now, get five of the gold coins out.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Just do it!” Riyan insisted. He felt Chad begin to rummage through his pack again. While he dug out the coins, Riyan began scanning the forest ahead of them for what he wanted.
“We better do something quick,” said Chad, “they’re almost upon us.”
Riyan turned his attention from the forest ahead to the bandits behind. What had been over a hundred feet lead, has shrunk further to three quarters of that. “I know,” he replied. “Working on it.”
He turned back to the forest ahead and finally saw what he was looking for. “There’s a clearing up ahead,” he told his friend. “Once we’re halfway through it, toss the gold coins to the ground. Make sure they land somewhere visible.”
“You think they’re going to stop for the coins?” he asked.
“With any luck, yes,” he replied. “We’re almost there, get ready.”
Chad looked over his friend’s shoulder and saw the clearing approaching. Through the trees it appeared as a beacon of light in the dark forest seeing as how the sunlight was able to breach the canopy of leaves.
Riyan braced himself as the horse leaped across another fallen log and entered the clearing. It wasn’t big, just a small area where it looked like wild animals came to graze. The clearing was primarily covered with grass though a few wild bushes sprouted here and there. “Now Chad!” hollered Riyan as they came to a spot slightly more barren than the rest.
Chad tossed the coins so they landed upon and around the barren area a split second before the bandits entered the clearing behind them. Then Riyan and Chad reached the far side. They glanced back and saw that two of the bandits had indeed stopped to pick up the coins while the third continued the chase.
“It didn’t work!” hollered Chad.
“It worked well enough,” countered Riyan then they were back in among the trees. “Here,” said Riyan as he handed the reins to Chad.
“What are you planning on doing?” Chad asked.
“Something stupid I’m sure,” was the reply. Riyan saw a thick branch hanging across their path two feet above their heads, it was perfect. Just before they drew close to it, Riyan took his right foot out of the stirrup and placed it on the saddle beneath him.
“You’re crazy!” Chad yelled at him when he realized what he was about to do.
Ignoring his friend, Riyan braced himself and then leaped from the back of the horse when they reached the branch. He sailed through the air and grabbed the overhanging branch. The force of his impact scrapped several inches of skin off his forearms before he was able to stop himself.
A quick glance back showed the pursuing bandit drawing his sword as he looked at Riyan hanging from the branch. Swinging up, he got on top of the branch just as the sword struck the wood right where he had been hanging a moment before. As the bandit pulled the blade from the branch, he reached for another one higher up in the tree and pulled himself even further out of the bandit’s reach.
He glanced down at the bandit who was still at the bottom of the tree, then off to where Chad was disappearing in the forest. At least he got Chad out of this, now to save himself. Taking his sling out from where he had stuffed it in his shirt, he contemplated what he was going to do. From the direction of the clearing he could hear the other two bandits making their way towards their partner.
The only ammunition he had for the sling were the coins in his pack. Reaching into it, he pulled out one of the copper coins they had found in The Crypt. Placing it in the cup of his sling, he steadied himself against the tree’s trunk as best he could. In all the times he spent practicing this sort of thing while watching the sheep, he never once tried it from the top of a tree. If he ever gets out of this and has the time, he may put in some practice.
“Come on down,” the bandit said from atop his horse. “You got nowhere to go.” Either the bandit didn’t realize that Riyan had a sling, or he didn’t care, for he made no effort to avoid the attack.
So Riyan got the sling up to speed quickly then released the coin. It flew down and struck the bandit in the face. With a cry, the bandit fell of his horse backwards. Blood flew everywhere and when he stood back up, Riyan could see the coin embedded where his nose once had been.
The man was shrieking in pain as blood poured from the wound. Riyan didn’t want to give him a chance to recover so he got another of the coins into the sling’s cup and launched it. This one struck the bandit in the side of the head and when he fell to the ground, he didn’t get back up.
By this time the other two bandits had arrived. They saw their partner lying on the ground dead. Then they turned their attention up to where Riyan stood in the tree. “We’re going to gut you kid!” one of them threatened. Dismounting, they went to the base of
the tree and began climbing up.
First one began to climb, then the other. From his position, Riyan was unable to get a good shot at them. They were much too close to the trunk for his shot to be effective. There were too many branches in the way too.
Then from out of the forest behind the men climbing the tree, Riyan saw Chad approaching. In his hand he held a four foot branch, one end was sharp and jagged from where Chad must have broken it off. Unnoticed, he came up behind the bandit closest to the ground and with all his might, stabbed him in the back with the branch.
The years of hauling grain sacks and barrels of flour at the mill paid off. For when the stick struck, it pierced the man’s back and went all the way through, exiting from the other side. Blood spurted out of the man’s chest as the jagged end of the stick emerged. The man didn’t even cry out, the blow must have killed him instantly.
As the man fell from the tree, Chad jumped backwards to avoid the dead man collapsing on him. Then from above he heard the last bandit yell as he leaped from the tree towards him. Backpedaling quickly, Chad got out of the way.
The man landed with sword in hand. Chad could see the hate for him burning in his eyes. Giving out with an inarticulate cry, the man charged with his right hand holding the sword high. He could see the man intended to cleave him in two. Chad kept moving backwards until his heel hit a root and fell to the ground. There was no time to do anything but brace for the sword stroke that would end his life.
But just before the sword fell, the bandit cried out and sank to his knees. His left hand reached behind him as if he was trying to get something. Chad watched quite perplexed until he saw something shiny fly from the tree wherein Riyan stood and strike the bandit.
This time the blow knocked the bandit to the ground and he laid there crying out in pain. Chad could see the man’s back was covered in blood and obviously was in a lot of pain. He glanced up to see Riyan hop down out of the tree. Riyan stopped next to the man with the stick through his back and pulled the stick free.
Then he carried it over to where Chad stood over the man writhing on the ground. “Can’t let him suffer,” Riyan said. Even though the bandit would have most likely killed them, he couldn’t leave the man to suffer. So taking the stick in both hands, he held it aloft over his head for the briefest moment before plunging it into the man and silencing his cries.
“You okay?” Riyan asked as he turned to his friend.
“Yeah,” nodded Chad. “You?”
“Just a few scrapes,” he said.
“What should we do with them?” Chad asked as he gazed at the dead bandits. Then it suddenly hit him. He and Riyan had fought off three vicious bandits and prevailed. “Our first real battle,” he announced.
“I guess you could call it that,” agreed Riyan. Grinning, he patted Chad on the back. “We make a great team. And as for what to do with them? I say leave ‘em for the animals.”
“No point in letting their horses and equipment go to waste though,” suggested Chad.
“Absolutely not,” agreed Riyan. “To the victor go the spoils.” So while Chad went to retrieve Riyan’s horse from where he left him, Riyan went about gathering the three bandits’ horses together. Then he went to one of the bandits by the tree and removed the man’s sword belt from around his waist. Strapping it on around his own, he pulled forth the sword and felt every inch the hero.
The sword itself was a rather plain sword, more for utility than anything else. It had a straight blade that would be considered a longsword, with a plain unadorned crossguard and hilt. Still, it was the first sword Riyan ever held and he felt great holding it.
When Chad returned with the horse, he found Riyan swinging the sword back and forth with a grin on his face. Chad of course had to have one for himself, so he went and removed one from another and strapped it around his waist. It definitely took some getting use to, the scabbard kept trying to trip him up and the whole thing weighed quite a bit more than he expected.
“These might come in useful,” Riyan finally said after sliding his sword back in the scabbard. He pulled the hand away that he was using to guide the blade as it slid into the scabbard. Blood was welling from a cut he gave himself as the sword was sliding in.
“If we don’t kill ourselves with them first,” agreed Chad. “We don’t know the first thing about using a sword.”
“What’s there to know?” asked Riyan. “You get close to an enemy and stick ‘em.”
Chad looked at his friend doubtfully, “I think there’s a bit more than that to it.”
Riyan grinned and shrugged. “Let’s see what they have on them and then head home.”
Other than a few copper coins and a single silver, the bandits didn’t have much of what you would call treasure on them. Riyan was disappointed. For in the sagas bards always told, whenever the hero killed a bandit or some other foe, the dead usually held a magical item or maybe a map, something. Needless to say, he was a bit put off. He did use one of the bandit’s knives to remove the coins from their bodies that he slung at them. That part was a bit ghastly but he didn’t want to leave anything behind. They also retrieved the gold coins they had dropped in an attempt to slow the bandits down.
“At least we aren’t going to have to ride double anymore,” Chad stated.
“Thank goodness,” replied Riyan. “No offense but I was getting tired of you hanging onto me.”
“Oh and like I enjoyed smelling your wonderful odor for so long?” The two friends stared at each other until they both erupted in laughter. “Let’s get out of here,” he said.
They mounted, then each took the reins of one of the two remaining horses and tied them to the rear of their saddles. Once the two spare horses were secured, Riyan began leading them out of the forest. Chad suggested they take the back way to Riyan’s house so no one in town would see them arriving with the horses. Just their luck they would run into Rupert who would probably take them.
It was a little before dinner when they finally arrived at Riyan’s home. Needless to say, when Bart and Riyan’s mother saw them arriving with three extra horses and swords at their hip, they knew something must have happened. So while they were putting the horses into the barn, Chad and Riyan explained what happened. They didn’t go into detail as to why they had been in Wardean, and they definitely made no mention of the coins or the King’s Horde while Riyan’s mother was with them.
Then it was Bart and Riyan’s mother’s turn to tell them of the man who showed up to kill Bart. It was well past dinner before both parties had finished relating their different adventures.
Riyan’s mother mentioned that Freya had stopped by but didn’t say much more than that. Later that night after Riyan’s mother had gone to bed, the three friends stayed up late in the front room. It was at that time when Bart told them of the conversation he overheard Freya and Riyan’s mother have.
“So they won’t be getting married for a year,” he summed up once he was finished.
“That might be enough time,” Riyan said as he glanced to Chad.
“Time for what?” asked Bart.
“To find the rest of the key, and open the King’s Horde,” he stated quietly.
“King’s Horde?”
“Yes,” replied Chad. “It’s…” He and Riyan then filled Bart in on what they had learned from Thyrr.
Once they were done, Riyan said, “I intend to find the rest of the key and open it. With the treasure inside, Freya’s father would have to agree to let his daughter break off the engagement with Rupert in my favor.”
“There’s but one minor problem,” said Bart.
“What?” Riyan asked.
“You don’t know where the rest of it is,” he explained. “What we have could be the missing fragment from the whole, or it could be one of many scattered in a dozen different places.” He paused a moment as he glanced from one to the other. “From what you said Thyrr told you, people have been searching for this place for centuries.”
“I
know, but we have something they don’t,” he stated. “We have a part of the key. Plus we’ve been in The Crypt and seen the seal protecting the King’s Horde.”
“That’s true Bart,” added Chad.
He glanced at them both again and could see they were dead set to do this. Sighing, he indicated for them to follow and said, “Come with me a second.” Leading them to Riyan’s room, he went to the closet and removed the piece of the golden key from his pack. He showed them the map on the one side and the spot he believed indicated a town of some sort. “This is the only place on here that shows something other than geographic representations. It has to mean something.”
“Are you saying the rest of the key is there?” asked Riyan.
Bart shrugged. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But if we are going to go in search of the rest of the key, it’s as good a place as any to start.”
“But we still don’t know where the place is,” said Chad.
“True,” nodded Bart.
“There is a large map of the surrounding area in the Magistrate’s office,” Chad suddenly said. “Maybe we could see if this place is on that map.”
“Good idea,” agreed Riyan. “We could go down in the morning and take a look.”
Chad nodded and then grew silent. After a moment he said, “Somehow I need to figure a way to talk to my mother about the grinding stones and give her the coins they need.”
“I could find Eryl in the morning and discover whether your father will be at the mill or not,” offered Bart.
“That would be great. Then if he is, I could go pay a visit to my mother.” Chad felt better now that he was one step closer to helping his family and hopefully mending the rift that was between himself and his father.
Chad and Bart spent the night at Riyan’s place. They crashed in the front room while Riyan took back his bed from Bart. In the morning when they told Riyan’s mother that they were heading into town, she asked about the sheep.
“Your friend Davin hasn’t been taking them out much,” she said. “They really need to graze.”
“I know mother,” replied Riyan. “But this is more important right now.”
She gave him a look saying that she didn’t agree but wasn’t about to argue the point. He felt guilty. He knew that she counted on him to help with the sheep and he couldn’t help but feel that he was letting her down somehow. “I’ll take them out later this afternoon, okay?” he said.
“See that you do,” she said.
Feeling somewhat better now that she’s been mollified, he and the other two left and headed into town. Riyan thought about wearing his sword but decided against it. If he were to be seen wearing a sword around Quillim, it would have raised too many questions he wouldn’t want to answer.
The first thing they did was to hunt down Eryl. Finding Chad’s brother wasn’t too difficult and when asked, he told them that their father would be at the mill until lunchtime. He was working to prepare the wooden framework for the two wheels that were coming in later in the week.
“How’s mother doing?” asked Chad.
“Fine,” replied his brother. “She’s sad about all that’s going on. I hope things can work out again.”
“Me too,” Chad assured him. “I’m going home now to talk to her.”
“Good luck,” Eryl wished him.
“Thanks,” Chad replied.
They left Eryl where he was playing with several other youths of similar age and headed directly to Chad’s home. Despite what his father said, he still felt that it was his home too.
Making their way through the streets, they kept a lookout for Rupert but he and his three buddies were nowhere to be seen. Before they reached Chad’s home, another young man that lived in town saw them passing through and moved to intercept them.
“Bart,” the young man said. “There’s been a stranger in town asking about you.”
“Yeah, I heard,” replied Bart. “We just got back.”
“He was kind of strange,” Egrin replied. Egrin was the son of the local baker. He wasn’t as close to Chad and Riyan as he was to Bart, though he’s had more dealings with Chad due to the fact his father bought flour from Chad’s father.
Bart came to a stop as he talked with Egrin. “You two go on ahead,” he said. “I’ll catch up.”
“Alright,” Riyan said as he and Chad continued on towards Chad’s home.
It didn’t take them long before they arrived. Chad’s mother was outside drawing water from their well when she saw them approaching. Leaving the bucket sitting on the ground, she turned towards them and waited for her son to approach.
Chad was filled with uncertainty when he saw here. He wasn’t sure just how she was going to react to him after everything that’s happened. Coming close, he said the only thing he could, “I’m sorry mother,” and then gave her an embrace.
She returned it with feeling and when they broke it off, had tears in her eyes. “Oh Chad,” she said, “why did you go against your father’s wishes?”
He felt bad. “I was just trying to help,” he replied. “I didn’t mean to make the situation worse.”
“I know,” she said.
“How’s father?’ he asked.
“Not good,” she told him. Emotions got the better of her and it took a minute to get them under control. “He hasn’t changed his mind about you.”
“I realize that,” stated Bart. “How much are the two new grinding stones going to set him back?”
“Fifty golds,” she replied. “We had twenty saved against adversity and those are already gone. The magistrate was good enough to loan us the rest. He said that it wouldn’t do for Quillim not to have an operable mill.”
“Fifty?” he asked incredulous. That amounted to a veritable fortune by the standards of those in Quillim. He was surprised that his family had actually managed to squirrel away twenty golds.
She nodded. “I know. I don’t know how we’ll ever pay him back.”
Chad glanced to Riyan who nodded.
Before they left, they had placed all the gold coins they had received from Thyrr into his pack. “I have something for you and father,” he said. “To make up for what I did.” She looked at him questioningly. Then he opened his pack and showed her the gold inside.
When she looked inside and saw the shining golden coins, she had a sharp intake of breath. “Oh my,” she said. “How many are in there?”
“Fifty five,” he replied. “We found some gems up in the mountains while we were camping and sold them in Wardean. Me, Riyan and Bart have decided to give you and father what is needed to replace the grinding wheels.”
“You can’t be serious!” she exclaimed. “Oh Chadric.” Tears began to flow unbidden as she sobbed in happiness.
“Will father accept this?” Chad asked. “I know how proud he is about some things.”
“I think he will,” she said. “But it might be best if I tell him. If you were to be here he might get his back up and no amount of logic would sway him.”
“He can stay at my place,” offered Riyan.
“That would be best,” she said, “at least for now.”
So they went inside the house to take the fifty coins out of the pack. When Chad’s mother was about to pick up the water bucket to take it back to the house, Riyan beat her to it and carried the bucket inside for her.
Once inside, Chad removed the coins and stacked them on the table. “I hope this makes things better between father and me,” he said.
“I’m sure it will,” she replied. “But even with this it may take time for things to be as they were.”
“I know.” Chad gave her a hug before he and Riyan took off for the magistrate’s office. “Send Eryl to Riyan’s if things change and I can come back.”
“I will,” she said as fresh tears began to course down her face.
“I love you mother,” Chad said after another hug.
“I love you too,” she replied.
When at last she was able
to release her son, he and Riyan left and headed over to the magistrate’s office. Chad was awfully quiet as they made their way back through town. “You okay?” Riyan asked.
“Better,” he replied. “If my father forgives me then I will be.” He really didn’t realize how much he cared about the way his father felt about him until he lost his goodwill. Now he almost felt empty inside and knew that only regaining his father’s favor would fill it.
They encountered Bart who was on his way to meet them at Chad’s family’s home. “Everything go alright?” he asked.
“Won’t know that until Eryl comes with word,” Riyan replied.
“I’m sure it’s going to work out for the best,” Bart said reassuringly as they approached the Town Hall where the magistrate’s office lies.
When they entered the building, they stopped to see Ceci and asked her if they could see the magistrate.
“I’m sorry Riyan,” she replied. “He and Rupert went up to Yarix and won’t be back for three days.” Yarix was a small town less than a day’s ride to the north. It too was a small town of herders and farmers like Quillim.
“Thank you,” he said.
Once they were outside, Riyan said under his breath, “Three days!”
“Don’t worry Riyan,” Bart said. “We’re going to get in and see that map before then.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “Ceci isn’t about to allow us to go poking around his office while he’s out.”
“I know,” he replied with a grin. “But if you don’t want to wait three days, I do have another idea.”
Riyan glanced at his friend and asked, “What?”
Chapter Fourteen
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