Post by Dark Eclipse on Nov 12, 2006 22:48:14 GMT -5
Dirk looked quickly up in dismay. A drop of moisture touched his nose, followed by two, then three. Soon the sky was lightly drizzling, but it would soon be more. He was certain of that.
“Ride! The dirt will become mud, and boulders may turn loose and tumble on us! Make haste!” Dirk shouted behind to his troop.
“Any opposition will have the same problems, sir! The Renegades would not dare attack us now.”
Soren, Dirk's second in command and childhood friend, advised. He was a natural tactician, and a decent fighter as well. He lacked the real muscle to be a brawler though.
“Yes, but I still want to get out of this cursed mountain pass... The convoy could not have passed without coming through here, so I intend to wait in ambush at the entrance at the other end of the pass.” Dirk replied.
Soren, nodding in satisfaction, suddenly started as his horse caught his foot in a small thicket. The horse whinnied and bucked fiercely, and Soren lost his balance. He toppled to the ground in a mess of grass and mud. As he got up, some of the troop laughed lightly. Dirk bid them onward again, and as soon as Soren remounted they departed in haste. Galloping was not easy in the pass, especially with the rain and rough terrain, but they managed.
“Sir, when are we going to get a real mission?” one of the troop answered. Despite having spent a whole month as the troop’s leader, Dirk could not quite put a name to that one.
“These are real missions. Without supplies, their war effort will falter.” Dirk replied.
The soldier pulled up beside Dirk now.
“Do you really think harassing supply convoys is really soldier duty? I got my sash two years ago, I deserve real duties! I know you are not really satisfied either.” he said, a twinkle in his eye.
“Maybe I am not. But it is not my place to question the Supreme General.” Dirk replied.
The troop consisted with no more then a dozen-and-a-half men, hardly a force to be sent into battle. They were too small to even be considered a regiment; they were mainly used as scouts and such. They only got leftovers from all the rest of the League, but even one man was enough to make Dirk happy.
“Besides, my contact says that this convoy is special. It is being guarded by a Shruki troop as well. This will not be our first real battle, but I think it will be more challenging. We dare not engage in this weather though.” Dirk addressed the men, who had made their way out of the fifty miles of the mountain pass “Demon’s Mouth”. They were right to name it so. Sharp rocks lined the edges of the entrance and exit, and it was always risky just to pass through.
However, they were hardly even out of the pass before they heard voices in the distance. They dove in the shrubbery in wait, tethering their horses to trees and hoping they did not give them away.
A sound of beats came up the hill. No one could tell if it was the turning of wagon wheels or the beating of a sprinting horse. Either way, the sound was so loud and fast and sudden, that Dirk could not place it.
“We could jump him and have him surrounded, but if it were a lone rider on a horse, he could break our ranks easily. He could be an ally.” Soren whispered.
“Bows.” Dirk whispered back, and Soren gave a slight signal, only noticeable to the men on Dirk’s side of the bushes. The drawing of bowstrings sounded almost silently, but it was enough for the other half of the force to hear and draw as well.
And then the rider came into the clearing.
He was not a rider at all. In fact, the four hooves were his own, not that of a creatures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feric rushed by quickly, barely noticing the smell of men on either side of him as he entered the so-called Cursed Pass. Feric would brave anything though, and this "meager errand" would earn himi quite the amount of honor.
Grunting, he sped into the pass, banishing the other men from his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dirk shook his head and Soren gave another motion. The men rested their bows.
No matter who it was, one could never fire upon a Centaur. Such would be an unspeakable crime. At least, among the League. It woudl jeopardize the already tipsy alliance that htey had with the Centaur at the moment.
Besides, the Centaur was in such a hurry that he seemed not even to notice that he was entering the Demon’s Mouth.
And so, Dirk and his troop just waited for the convoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The men had made themselves comfortable, but not a noise was made. Three of the men who were usually more laid back than the others were managing to play cards without speaking and barely made a sound. The ambush was still placed, but while they waited, they could be laid back. Dirk did not suspect that anyone would come down the trail for some time. The rain had stopped, but the sky it revealed was darkening into dusk, and no sensible commander he knew would continually traveling at night.
Soon night fell. Each man had a pair assigned to him for when they were out at night, one watching and the other resting. It was Soren’s turn to watch and Dirk’s turn to sleep.
After longer yet, Soren’s eyes began to twitch. Dirk knew that Soren's eyes would twitch when he was either afraid or tired. In this case he was most likely tired.
“Go to sleep.” Soren whispered.
“No, I’m wide awake. I’ll take watch, you go to sleep.” Dirk whispered back.
“Very well, sir.” Soren said, laying down onto his blanket. Soren never slept covered, no matter how cold it was.
Every night that he could, he would sit out and stare at the stars, noting each day when a star would leave his view, or a new one would come. He never hoped to count the stars, but it was something to do when he was on a dull watching position or such. Today the trees blocked most of his view, but he noted that overnight a whole constellation (Nynam, the first Goblin King) had seemingly vanished. He was no expert in astrology, but that was not a good omen. He knew that much.
The constellation Preces, the most “lucky” thief of legend had appeared in the sky to the East. Like the sun rose and set, Preces’ constellation appeared in the East and moved toward the West, where it would eventually vanish. Dirk knew for sure that this was a good sign in Astrology, and meant that he who saw Preces just as he appeared would be successful in his tasks, and he who saw Preces as he left would be able to escape any harm or undoing.
Other notable Constellations in the sky (to Dirk anyway, not necessarily to astrologers) included Tahar, a famous Centaur warrior of old; Tethra, a rogue nymph whose winds felled all who stood in the way of her mischief; Nadia, a queen (when kings and queens still were the rulers) who, despite being the first and only female ruler, led the humans to victory time and time again during the Great War of the Races; and finally, Lilt, the giant Golden Dragon who once ruled the skies of the entire world. The other stars seemed random, but Arlem could always spot something new when he tried.
“Ride! The dirt will become mud, and boulders may turn loose and tumble on us! Make haste!” Dirk shouted behind to his troop.
“Any opposition will have the same problems, sir! The Renegades would not dare attack us now.”
Soren, Dirk's second in command and childhood friend, advised. He was a natural tactician, and a decent fighter as well. He lacked the real muscle to be a brawler though.
“Yes, but I still want to get out of this cursed mountain pass... The convoy could not have passed without coming through here, so I intend to wait in ambush at the entrance at the other end of the pass.” Dirk replied.
Soren, nodding in satisfaction, suddenly started as his horse caught his foot in a small thicket. The horse whinnied and bucked fiercely, and Soren lost his balance. He toppled to the ground in a mess of grass and mud. As he got up, some of the troop laughed lightly. Dirk bid them onward again, and as soon as Soren remounted they departed in haste. Galloping was not easy in the pass, especially with the rain and rough terrain, but they managed.
“Sir, when are we going to get a real mission?” one of the troop answered. Despite having spent a whole month as the troop’s leader, Dirk could not quite put a name to that one.
“These are real missions. Without supplies, their war effort will falter.” Dirk replied.
The soldier pulled up beside Dirk now.
“Do you really think harassing supply convoys is really soldier duty? I got my sash two years ago, I deserve real duties! I know you are not really satisfied either.” he said, a twinkle in his eye.
“Maybe I am not. But it is not my place to question the Supreme General.” Dirk replied.
The troop consisted with no more then a dozen-and-a-half men, hardly a force to be sent into battle. They were too small to even be considered a regiment; they were mainly used as scouts and such. They only got leftovers from all the rest of the League, but even one man was enough to make Dirk happy.
“Besides, my contact says that this convoy is special. It is being guarded by a Shruki troop as well. This will not be our first real battle, but I think it will be more challenging. We dare not engage in this weather though.” Dirk addressed the men, who had made their way out of the fifty miles of the mountain pass “Demon’s Mouth”. They were right to name it so. Sharp rocks lined the edges of the entrance and exit, and it was always risky just to pass through.
However, they were hardly even out of the pass before they heard voices in the distance. They dove in the shrubbery in wait, tethering their horses to trees and hoping they did not give them away.
A sound of beats came up the hill. No one could tell if it was the turning of wagon wheels or the beating of a sprinting horse. Either way, the sound was so loud and fast and sudden, that Dirk could not place it.
“We could jump him and have him surrounded, but if it were a lone rider on a horse, he could break our ranks easily. He could be an ally.” Soren whispered.
“Bows.” Dirk whispered back, and Soren gave a slight signal, only noticeable to the men on Dirk’s side of the bushes. The drawing of bowstrings sounded almost silently, but it was enough for the other half of the force to hear and draw as well.
And then the rider came into the clearing.
He was not a rider at all. In fact, the four hooves were his own, not that of a creatures.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feric rushed by quickly, barely noticing the smell of men on either side of him as he entered the so-called Cursed Pass. Feric would brave anything though, and this "meager errand" would earn himi quite the amount of honor.
Grunting, he sped into the pass, banishing the other men from his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dirk shook his head and Soren gave another motion. The men rested their bows.
No matter who it was, one could never fire upon a Centaur. Such would be an unspeakable crime. At least, among the League. It woudl jeopardize the already tipsy alliance that htey had with the Centaur at the moment.
Besides, the Centaur was in such a hurry that he seemed not even to notice that he was entering the Demon’s Mouth.
And so, Dirk and his troop just waited for the convoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The men had made themselves comfortable, but not a noise was made. Three of the men who were usually more laid back than the others were managing to play cards without speaking and barely made a sound. The ambush was still placed, but while they waited, they could be laid back. Dirk did not suspect that anyone would come down the trail for some time. The rain had stopped, but the sky it revealed was darkening into dusk, and no sensible commander he knew would continually traveling at night.
Soon night fell. Each man had a pair assigned to him for when they were out at night, one watching and the other resting. It was Soren’s turn to watch and Dirk’s turn to sleep.
After longer yet, Soren’s eyes began to twitch. Dirk knew that Soren's eyes would twitch when he was either afraid or tired. In this case he was most likely tired.
“Go to sleep.” Soren whispered.
“No, I’m wide awake. I’ll take watch, you go to sleep.” Dirk whispered back.
“Very well, sir.” Soren said, laying down onto his blanket. Soren never slept covered, no matter how cold it was.
Every night that he could, he would sit out and stare at the stars, noting each day when a star would leave his view, or a new one would come. He never hoped to count the stars, but it was something to do when he was on a dull watching position or such. Today the trees blocked most of his view, but he noted that overnight a whole constellation (Nynam, the first Goblin King) had seemingly vanished. He was no expert in astrology, but that was not a good omen. He knew that much.
The constellation Preces, the most “lucky” thief of legend had appeared in the sky to the East. Like the sun rose and set, Preces’ constellation appeared in the East and moved toward the West, where it would eventually vanish. Dirk knew for sure that this was a good sign in Astrology, and meant that he who saw Preces just as he appeared would be successful in his tasks, and he who saw Preces as he left would be able to escape any harm or undoing.
Other notable Constellations in the sky (to Dirk anyway, not necessarily to astrologers) included Tahar, a famous Centaur warrior of old; Tethra, a rogue nymph whose winds felled all who stood in the way of her mischief; Nadia, a queen (when kings and queens still were the rulers) who, despite being the first and only female ruler, led the humans to victory time and time again during the Great War of the Races; and finally, Lilt, the giant Golden Dragon who once ruled the skies of the entire world. The other stars seemed random, but Arlem could always spot something new when he tried.
