Chapter 11: Captured

Their first impression as they rode into StarVillage was of crowded, bustling activity. Tents were pitched in open spaces between sod and timber huts. Women and children were everywhere underfoot. Groups of armed men rode by on urgent errands, giving the village the feeling of an armed camp.

"All right, off your ponies," their guard ordered. "You can walk the rest of the way. Your animals and weapons will be waiting for you. If you still need them, that is."

The press of humanity grew as they approached the center of the village, but here was none of the crying for alms, the shrill hawking of wares, and the silent presence of naked slaves that they had seen in Talai. The crowd was made up of individuals who knew what they were doing, who had no attention to spare for lesser matters. At last the clustered buildings gave way to an open area. In the center, seated on a heap of rubble that looked suspiciously like it had once been the circular foundation of one of Kathool's temples, was a man whose barbaric splendor of garb and weapons caught every eye.

"Hey, Orzad!" The leader of their guards shouted unceremoniously as soon as he was near enough. "Here's a guy, claims to have made it past the Green robe patrols. Says he has news, and a message for you."

"Bring him over." Closer at hand, Orzad was only a little above medium height, past the prime of life, but still active and strong. "What's your name, and who's the message from?"

"My name's Shantar. The message is from Nurm the Trader."

"Shantar, huh? Yeah, I've heard of you. Trouble maker. Kicked out of HighVillage for a bunch of different reasons. If half of what I've heard about you is true, I can use you around here. If the rest is true, you'll end up with a knife in your back, some dark night. Well, that's your lookout. What'd Nurm have to say, and what's your news?"

"The news is that King Khamul and Sholim are into it in Talai, but from what we saw on the way here, the fighting has already started. That was the day before yesterday that it started down there. Nurm said to tell you that he's pulled all of his people out of Talai, and that they've holed up until the fighting's died down."

"Good enough. I'll want to talk to you later on about some other things. Mork!" He spoke to the man who had brought Shantar and his friends to him. "See that these men have a place to bed down, then put them in one of the patrol units. They don't look like they need any more training."

"C'mon, you guys." Mork was all smiles, now. "You can join up with my outfit. I know a hut nobody's using right now."

"Why not?" Gortai eyed him suspiciously. "Too many bugs?"

"Nah, nothing like that. It belonged to the local priest of Kathool before we ran him outa here. Some of the boys are kinds leery of it."

"We'll take it!" Shantar laughed. "Maybe he sent all the bugs 'to serve Kathool'."

Mork's unit was taking its turn at patrolling the area around StarVillage. The next few days found them spending a lot of time learning the layout of the village, along with the surrounding hills and ridges.

"Another ten day of this, and we'll know every rock around here by its first name," Gortai grumbled after a long day on foot an horseback amid the surrounding hills. "And, that misbegotten priest didn't take all his bugs with him when he left, neither."

"You're just getting soft in your old age," Shantar jeered. "Or maybe you'd rather be back in Nurm's house, with all its hot water and pretty girls to help you get dressed."

"And undressed," Gortai answered back, grinning. "Yeah, magic does have its good points."

"Hey, you guys!" Mork stuck his head in the door of their hut. "Good news!"

"What kind of good news?" Ch'Dan spoke up unexpectedly. "We gonna be doing night patrols around the village square?"

"Naw, why'd we be doing that? We're going on a scout down to the lowlands for a few days. We'll start out at the end of the third watch, so turn in early and get what sleep you can."

Even in the comparative warmth of their hut, their breath made puffs of white as they checked their weapons and other gear. The Great Moon was just setting as the night began its last quarter. The only light outside the circle thrown by their tiny oil lamp came from the stars that clustered thickly overhead. Already other patrols were setting out, slipping away to perform their appointed tasks, but theirs was the only one that was headed toward the area near Weilin.

"Orzad got word that there's a bunch of King Khamul's soldiers headed that way," Mork explained as they rode along. "He wants to know what happens when they run into Sholim's army. Of course we'll do any mischief we can along the way, but remember that it's information we're mostly after."

As they moved carefully along little known trails, they might well have been riding through a completely deserted countryside for all the people they saw. As they neared the coastal plains they became even more cautious, realizing fully that they were in a hostile land where every hand was against them. Fast side trips by individual scouts brought the news that the land was nearly deserted. Empty farms and neglected crops were the rule, not the exception.