"As do I," said Brandt, the one she recognized as Erec's friend. "It is Alistair, is it not?" he asked. “Erec's new wife?”
She ran towards him, in tears, and clasped his hands.
"Please, my lord, help me. It is Erec!”
"What has happened?" the Duke asked, alarmed.
"He lies in grave danger. Even now he faces a hostile army alone! He would not let me stay behind. Please! He needs help!”
Without a word, all the knights jumped to their feet and began to run from the hall, not one of them hesitating; she turned and ran with them.
"Stay here!" Brandt exhorted.
"Never!" she said, running behind him. "I will lead you to him!”
They all ran as one down the corridors, out the castle doors and to a large group of waiting horses, each mounting theirs without a moment's hesitation. Alistair jumped on Warkfin, kicked, and led the group, as anxious to go as the rest of them.
As they charged through the Duke’s court, soldiers all around them began to mount horses and join them – and by the time they left the gates of Savaria, they were accompanied by a large and growing contingent of at least a hundred men, Alistair riding in front, beside Brandt and the Duke.
"If Erec finds out that you ride with us, it will be my head," Brandt said, riding beside her. "Please, just tell us where he is, my lady.”
But Alistair shook her head doggedly, pushing back tears as she rode harder, the great rumble of all these men around her.
"I would rather go down to my grave than abandon Erec!”
Chapter Three
Thor rode warily on the forest trail, Reece, O'Connor, Elden and the twins on horseback beside him, Krohn at his heels, as they all emerged from the forest on the far side of the Canyon. Thor's heart beat faster in anticipation as they finally reached the perimeter of the thick wood. He raised a hand, motioning for the others to be silent, and they all froze beside him.
Thor looked out and surveyed the great expanse of beach, of open sky, and beyond it, the vast yellow sea that would take them to the distant lands of the Empire. The Tartuvian. Thor hadn't seen its waters since their journey to The Hundred. It felt odd to be back again – and this time, with a mission that held the fate of the Ring.
After crossing the Canyon bridge, their short ride through the forest in the Wilds had been uneventful. Thor had been instructed by Kolk and Brom to look for a small ship moored on the shores of the Tartuvian, carefully hidden beneath the branches of an immense tree which hung over the sea. Thor followed their directions exactly, and as they reached the wood’s perimeter, he spotted the ship, well-hidden, ready to take them where they needed to go. He was relieved.
But he then saw six Empire troops, standing on the sand before the vessel, inspecting it. Another soldier had climbed on board the ship, docked partly on the beach, rocking in the gently lapping waves. There was supposed to be no one here.
It was a stroke of bad luck. As Thor looked farther out at the horizon, he saw the distant outline of what appeared to be the entire Empire fleet, thousands of black ships flying the black flags of the Empire. Luckily they did not sail toward Thor, but in a different direction, taking the long, circular course to bring them around the Ring, to the McCloud side, where they had breached the Canyon. Luckily, their fleet was preoccupied with a different route.
Except for this one patrol. These six Empire soldiers, probably scouts on a routine mission, somehow must have stumbled upon this Legion ship. It was bad timing. If Thor and the others had just reached the shore a few minutes earlier, they probably would have already boarded it and shoved off. Now, they had a confrontation on their hands. There was no way around it.
Thor looked up and down the beach and saw no other contingents of Empire troops. At least that was in their favor. It was probably a lone patrol group.
"I thought the boat was supposed to be well-hidden," O'Connor said.
"Apparently not enough," Elden remarked.
The six of them sat on their horses, staring at the ship and the group of soldiers.
"It won't be long until they alert other Empire troops," Conven observed.
"And then we’ll have an all-out war on our hands,” added Conval.
Thor knew they were right. And that it was not a chance they could take.
"O'Connor,” Thor said, “your aim is the best of the bunch. I've seen you hit from fifty yards out. See that one on the bow? We’ve got one shot at this. Can you do it?”
O'Connor nodded gravely, his eyes fixed on the Empire soldiers. He reached deliberately over his shoulder, lifted his bow, placed an arrow, and held it at the ready.
They all were looking to Thor, and he felt ready to lead.
"O'Connor, on my signal, fire. Then we’ll charge for the ones below. Everyone else, use your throwing weapons as we get close. Try to get as close as you can first.”
Thor motioned with his hand, and suddenly, O'Connor released the string.
The arrow sailed through the air with a whooshing noise, and it was a perfect shot, its metal tip piercing the heart of the Empire soldier on the bow. The soldier stood there, his eyes opening wide for a moment, as if he did not understand what was happening, then he suddenly stretched his arms out wide and fell forward, face-first, in a swan dive, landing with a splat on the beach at the feet of his fellow soldiers, staining the sand red.
Thor and the others charged, a well-oiled machine in sync with each other. The sound of their horses’ galloping gave them away, and the six other soldiers turned and faced them. The soldiers mounted their horses and charged back, preparing to meet them in the middle.
Thor and his men still had the advantage of surprise. Thor reached back and hurled a stone with his sling and hit one of them in the temple from twenty yards away as he was in the midst of mounting his horse. He fell back off of it, dead, the reins still in his hands.
As they neared, Reece threw his ax, Elden his spear, and the twins each their daggers. The sands were uneven and the horses slipped, making throwing the weapons harder than usual. Reece's ax found its mark, killing one of them, but the others missed.
That left four of them. The lead one broke out from the group, charging right for Reece, who was weaponless; he had cast his ax but not had time to draw his sword yet. Reece braced himself, and at the last second Krohn leapt forward, bit the soldier’s horse in the leg, and the horse collapsed, its rider falling down to the ground and sparing Reece at the last moment.
Reece drew his sword and stabbed the soldier, killing him before he could regain his feet.
That left three. One of them came for Elden with an ax, swinging for his head; Elden blocked it with his shield and in the same motion swung his sword and chopped the ax handle in half. Elden then swung around with his shield and smashed the attacker in the side of the head, knocking him from his horse.
Another soldier pulled a flail from his waist and swung its long chain, the spiked end suddenly coming down for O'Connor. It happened too fast, and there was no time for O'Connor to react.
Thor saw it coming and charged forward to his friend’s side, raising his sword and slashing the chain of the flail, before it hit O'Connor. There came the sound of sword cutting through iron, Thor marveling at how sharp his new sword was. The spiked ball went flying down harmlessly to the ground and lodged in the sand, saving O’Connor’s life. Conval then rode up and stabbed the soldier with a spear, killing him.
The final Empire soldier saw he was badly outnumbered; fear in his eyes, he suddenly turned and took off, racing down shore, his horse’s prints leaving deep impressions in the sand.
They all set their sights on the retreating soldier: Thor hurled a stone with his sling, O’Connor raised his bow and fired, and Reece hurled a spear. But the soldier rode too erratically, the horse dipping in the sand, and they all missed.
Elden