Chapter 14

When I entered the back of the tent, I waited to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness inside. There was no candlelight, nor was there any furniture to speak of. There was a two-foot-thick post in the center of the tent, a rope that was binding the prisoner and nailed to the back of it. The whimpers of a woman came from the other side, I recognized it immediately to be Liza and felt thrilled that it was her. I quietly made my way towards the post and quickly covered Liza’s mouth before she could scream and alert the people outside.

“Liza, it is me, Davik,” I said quietly in her ear hoping to defuse the situation before she made too much noise. “I need you to be quiet. I am going to cut you free, then we are going to move to the back of the tent. The next patrol should be along in a minute or so, and once they pass, we are going to make it to the forest and to a friend I have waiting there.”

She nodded slightly, and I pulled out my knife, making quick work of the ropes. Once free, she pounced on me and drove her tongue in my mouth. I did my best not to respond while trying to get her off me - she realized her error and blushed a little for her outburst. We made our way to the flap and stopped as I listened for the sounds of the passing patrol. After a minute or so, the patrol passed by, his torch light coming through under the tent. Once the light had dissipated and the sounds of his footsteps passed far enough away, I peered out to see if he was gone. I sent her out and kept watch as she made her way to Nikos, a few snaps of twigs filled the night. I dashed out, as light on my feet as I could, and closed the distance between us. I seized her and pulled her down to the ground next to me. As I feared, the light had returned and the patrol moved to locate the sound of the noise. I could hear the crunch of his steps as he neared where we were hiding. I hoped that the density of the bushes and the long grass surrounding us would mask our presence enough that he would not notice us, even with torchlight. His steps moved ever closer, and we both held our breath as his feet moved to less than half a meter from where we were hiding. After a few moments, moving his torch as he looked around, he began to head back to the camp.

A sense of relief washed over me, and I sent Liza out ahead of me and followed quickly soon after. While she was not as good as me or the others, she made little noise as we followed Nikos. He gave a nod as we approached, and we moved deeper into the forest, heading north west for ten minutes. Nikos then showed her how to get up into the tree and tie herself to it. We watched as she tied herself as well as performed the necessary moves to quickly free herself if it became necessary. When we were confident she would do ok, we told her that we would be returning to the camp. She was scared to be left alone, but I assured her that I would be fine and back very soon. Niko also handed her his bow and arrows, just in case. She had been given enough training with Trina by Clive and Trent to be competent enough to protect herself.

When we were confident that she would be ok, we drew our weapons and made our way towards the camp. Nikos had his sword out, but wished he had his bow with him. We returned to our spot near the tent and Nikos gave his owl call - if I had not been next to him, I would have sworn it came from the animal. We heard a reply and Nikos gave me a nod, confirming it was Gavin and correct.

“I am going to hide in the tent,” I told him. “I want you to move to the south. Once you are in position give the call and, when Gavin returns the call, that will be our cue to attack. I will grab the guard before he knows what hit him. Gavin will see this and start laying cover fire down. You try and take out one of the patrols as I bind up the guard for questioning later.”

He nodded and headed south as I waited for the guard to pass, giving me my chance to get into the tent. He was moving much more slowly and taking his time searching the area as he went. No doubt the noise had made them suspicious that something might be moving outside of the camp. They might believe it was me, or it could be a predator - either way, they needed to be a bit more alert. I cursed at myself for the blunder we had made, but after a few moments, my opening came, and I darted inside. I stayed in the corner until I was sure there was no one in the tent waiting for me, then I waited for Gavin’s call. I was not disappointed, as a few minutes later I heard the call and return for two owls, telling me that we were all ready. I did my best imitation I could of Liza moaning in pain and hoped that the guard took the bait.

“Keep it down in there,” yelled the guard, “if I have to come in there, I will make you sorry, woman! I will make sure that each of us uses you until your mind breaks!”

My anger mounted, but I made another moan, slightly louder this time, and waited for him to come in. He burst through the front of the tent, his anger apparent on his face as he looked for Liza. It took him a minute to realize she was not there anymore and did not see me until it was too late. I clenched my hands together and clubbed him in the back of the head. He was knocked out cold, and I did not wait as I bound his hands and feet like he was an animal. I then used a rag from my pack to gag him: I could not let him have the chance to warn his comrades. As I was binding him, I heard someone scream that they were under attack and heard arrows flying past the tent. Gavin had taken the guard’s disappearance as my signal and began laying down fire from the trees. From where he was perched, there were a few limbs he could transfer to, thus making him harder to locate. His attack had scattered the rest, as they tried to return fire and locate where Gavin was.

I drew my sword and headed through the front of the tent, and found Nikos fighting with one of the kidnappers. Another one of the patrollers was trying to return fire at Gavin but could not figure out that the arrows were being fired from the trees. The injured man had an arrow in his heart, no doubt the first arrow Gavin let loose. The other one, the man who had treated the injured man, had an arrow in his eye, which left one man unaccounted for. I heard movement in the area behind the tent and darted through the hole to find the last guy running from the camp. He was heading right towards Liza and I rushed to catch him. I had nothing to worry about as an arrow pierced his throat before he got close enough to where she was hiding.

I returned to the camp and found Nikos and Gavin cleaning up the bodies - they had not even known what hit them. No doubt the soldiers would come out here, claim their goods for the town and disperse it where it was needed. All that was left was to talk to the leader and find out who had sent him to do this.

“Excellent work, my friends. That went better than I had expected, but the element of surprise was what helped us to win so decisively.”

Nikos nodded and said, “Yes we were very lucky tonight. When you almost got caught as Liza was escaping the tent, I thought it was all over. Thankfully, he did not notice you, and Gavin, your cover fire when the guard entered the tent was brilliant.”

Gavin smiled, shaking my hand and said, “Thanks Nikos, I figured it was the best time to disorient them, since they looked to be worried something was in the forest. You are very right, Davik, that went very...”

Gavin never got to finish his sentence as an arrow pierced his skull, the arrowhead bursting through his forehead, between his eyes. Nikos and I darted for cover as we watched Gavin’s lifeless body drop to the ground. The arrow had come from the north west, but no telling how far with all the vegetation and the lack of ambient light. Nikos placed himself between a barrel and the main tent, giving him cover from the direction of the initial arrow. I dove south, putting myself between two tents. Three more arrows flew through the night, missing us just barely. We could hear the movement of our attacker through the forest, it was loud and clumsy. Nikos made a dash and grabbed the bow from Nikos’ corpse and returned to his cover. He looked frantically for arrows and found a half-full quiver next to a tent nearby. He dashed over to grab the quiver and received an arrow through his thigh for his efforts. He was successful retrieving the ammunition, but he was now stuck where he was, as he could end up injured further, or dead. The noise was coming closer, but I could not flank without being a ready target. I was thankful that we had left Liza in her perch, as she would be a distraction had she come with me. As the sounds of footsteps moved closer, I tried to think of a way out of this, but I couldn’t. More arrows flew by, two nearly hitting me as they pierced through the cloth of the tent unhindered. A few more flew towards Nikos, but they either hit the tent or the crate. I hoped that our prisoner was not injured by any of the arrows that had gone in.

Our assailant had shot nine arrows. If his quiver was standard, like mine and the men who came with me, then he would have another fifteen left. While that did not seem like much, it still gave him an advantage. Nikos had not fired back, and I wondered if he was too badly injured to return fire. Another five arrows rained down on us coming from the west and they missed us, leaving them with only ten arrows left. The footsteps were moving southwest, and I made sure to turn so that they would not make it behind me. They had to be only a few meters away from the camp, as the next three arrows came with much higher velocity. I had to dive out near the fire to ensure I did not get hit and a fourth just missed my head. Six left and I made my way west to a nearby tree, putting it between me and the enemy. Still no sound or movement from Nikos, and I feared the worst, that he had succumbed to his wound and I was on my own. I heard the impact of two more arrows hitting the tree and a third skimming by, nearly grazing my shoulder. The footsteps were loud and close. I had to go on the offensive before he had a chance to collect some arrows from the camp. I rushed around the trunk, heading southwest, hoping to come up behind the guy. I tried to make my movements as quiet as I could and was surprised as an arrow whizzed past my head, almost grazing my ear. I ducked low and continued to press forward. Only two more arrows and I would have a chance to end this.