Chapter 14

Erin, and her perhaps not so merry band, had not been the only busy ones this morning.

To the south, near what is the mortal town of Astoria, Oregon, Roland and his war party, for that was what they had become, with nearly fifty knights, each accompanied by at least a squire or two, and over two hundred men-at-arms, having given up all pretense of ‘an outing in the woods’, had begun to position themselves to the best advantage having scouted out the most likely ambush locations near the Astoria Bridge and the crossing into Oregon proper on the way to the Court de le Mer, in mortal Cannon Beach, Oregon. They knew they could call on the levies of the Prince de le Mer, as he was both a strong ally of Arthur, and a likely suitor for Erin’s hand. Prince David had already sent more than 300 men into the field in the event they would be needed to either reinforce against an attack or effect a rescue, depending on whatever was making Emory so damned twitchy! By the way, where the hell was Emory Pen Dragon anyway?

Richard, was wondering the same thing, though he was considerably closer to the Duke. Emory was currently casting a magical ward in an effort to see through the smoking fog of portents, hoping against hope for some sign or shifting in the lay lines that would help him be in the right place when needed. Emory had muttered something about requiring Mordant or Morgana to either “Shit or get off the pot...”, as the ward has finally closed up to create a bubble shaped distortion In the pouring rain, while Richard stood guard outside the warding circle, he would sporadically brush water out of his eyes while he kept a careful watch for any physical threat to his Grace. Pretty much everyone involved in these efforts had already decided that neither Mordrant nor Queen Morgana were going to simply go away and go sit in a corner ... or Richard’s current mental fantasy of sit in a corner and play with razor blades!

The ward suddenly collapsed while Richard was puzzling how that might work, and Emory burst forth with clear eyes and a determined set to his jaw. “Things have settled! Mordrant and his jackals have set up an ambush site just outside of Astoria near the high school! We must get word to Roland and our allies about the location, and then head there with all possible speed. With luck, we’ll get there the same time, or slightly before the Princess and her party arrive as well. Get word to her traveling party and then let’s be about it!” Emory said, as he strode, cloak billowing in the wind despite the rain, toward the SUV he and Richard had been driving around in a seemingly random pattern as Emory searched for and then found the strong magic lay lines in the area upon which to cast for insight. Apparently, he had been successful because his face was no longer clouded, and he was wound tighter than a spring. A very dangerously coiled spring! Richard grabbed the tactical radio inside the SUV and quickly relayed all that he knew to both Roland and the Princesses’ security detail over a very secure and encrypted channel. As the Duke was want to say, repeating another mortal phrase he had picked up somewhere, “The game is afoot!”

When Roland received word from Emory, via Richard, he whistled a shrill whistle and his officers quickly but calmly gathered around a field table in the center of their camp, which was already in the processing of being struck and loaded away for rapid travel. He and his officers quickly reviewed the tactical map of the area around Astoria, making note that of the three ways that Princess Erin could have taken to get to the Court de La Mer, two of them took her through Astoria, while the third added both time and distance to an already long trip. It made tactical sense that Mordrant, without access to her route, would have put all of his eggs into a basket with the best chance for success. They also had to assume that neither Mordrant nor Morgana would connect the wandering around of Roland and his command with the visit of the princess royal for Beltane at the Court de La Mer. Roland’s communications team had confirmed the relay and immediate response from Prince David confirming both the intelligence about the possible (likely?) ambush, and that he was currently mobilizing to seal off the southern end of the counter-ambush they had planned. Presently, it appeared that Mordrant was most likely in for a very nasty surprise when he tried to throw his little surprise for Princess Erin. Roland smiled for the first time in several weeks in the field with relish as he considered just how to welcome Mordrant and his ‘mother’, Morgana, and just how to punch their ticket straight to Hell! Orders were quietly and efficiently given, followed by the command all had been waiting for to “Mount up”.