"Korazan," James says after they get going, "anyone heard of it?"
"No", Delia replies, the other just shake their heads no.
"It must be within the Empire," he guesses, "at least we have a destination now."
"How do you know if they're actually being taken there?" Cassie asks.
"Don't," James replies, "but it's all we have to go on."
The rest nod in agreement.
They continue on, eating in the saddle to save time. A couple more times before nightfall, they see riders off to the east. Angling more to the west each time to avoid being seen, they find themselves gradually being pushed more and more westward. By the time night begins to approach, they begin to be able to see the Silver Mountains off in the distance to the west.
"Didn't realize we had been going so far westward," James says when they stop for the evening.
"What do you mean?" Jiron asks.
He points over to the mountains in the west and says, "That's the Silver Mountains, they run the length of the border between Cardri and Madoc."
"Are we going away from Korazan?" Cassie asks him.
"Can't say," he explains, "since we have no idea where it is."
"Oh, right," she says a little embarrassed.
"But I would think that the further we are to the west, the less of the Empire's soldiers we will encounter," he reasons. "Of course, that assumes that the Empire and Cardri haven't gone to war yet."
"Think they have?" she asks.
"Doubt it," he assures her. "The Empire probably has all it can handle with Madoc right now."
"I hope so," she says as they get settled in for the night.
Chapter Four.
The morning dawns cloudy, a relief from the sun that had been beating down on them throughout the day before. It takes them little time to be ready to go and soon are off, heading south to find Korazan.
Throughout the morning hours, they are able to hold a fairly southern course, only once having to travel westward to avoid roving patrols. About midday they begin to see a large river flowing from the northwest to the southeast. It spans several hundred feet and runs deep.
As they approach the banks of the river, James looks both upriver and downriver but is unable to see any bridge that they may use to cross. There is also no place along the course of the river shallow enough to allow them to ford. He turns to the others and says, "It appears we have a problem."
"Can't we go down one way or the other until we find a way to cross?" Cassie asks.
"That's what we're going to end up having to do," he replies. "The question is, should we go that way," he says as he points upstream to the northwest, and then points downstream, "or that way?"
"If we go downstream, that will take us closer to Korazan," Tinok says.
"And closer to the Empire's forces," Jiron concludes.
"It's probably safe to say that any bridge to the east of us will be used by the Empire," warns James, "possibly even guarded."
"Then we go west?" Delia guesses.
"But how far will we have to go and will it take us too long to get back?" Jiron questions. "If we spend too much time going west and then have to backtrack, we may be too late to save Tersa."
"Let's go west for a day, and if we don't find anything suitable, then we'll turn around and go east," offers Tinok.
"A day!" Jiron exclaims. "I'll not waste two whole days when Tersa is being marched to the slave markets!" He looks around at everyone defiantly and says, "I go east! You can all do what you want!" He then turns his horse eastward and gallops away, not looking back to see if they are following.
Tinok looks to James and says, "I guess we go east."
"It would appear that way," he replies. They all turn their horses and gallop after Jiron.
They follow the river for several miles before a town begins to come into view along the river ahead of them. It sits on the north bank of the river and at the southern edge of town, a bridge spans the river. They see several figures moving in and around the town, plus several upon the bridge itself. They pause only a moment before turning back toward the west and ride until the town is once again out of sight behind them.
"That bridge would be perfect to get across," James says. "But it looks as if there's guards posted on it. I think we should wait for night and see if we can't find a way to sneak across."
Indicating Jiron and himself, Tinok says, "We can take out the guards before they even know we're there."
"But that would tell everyone that there are hostiles in the area," James counters, "then they would be searching for us. If we can sneak across somehow," pausing for effect, he looks at Tinok and says with emphasis, "without killing anyone, then we may be able to get further south before they even know we've been through here."
"Can we sneak across?" Cassie asks.
"Won't know until tonight," James replies. "Let's find a spot away from the river where we can have a bite to eat unobserved while we wait for dark."
"Why do we have to move away from the river?" Cassie asks.
Sighing, James explains, "In the event that someone is traveling down the river, we don't want them to alert those in the town as to our presence."
"Oh," she says.
They move about a half mile away from the river and find a spot near a hill that provides them some cover. They keep watch for anyone coming and remain undisturbed until night has fallen and they're ready to make the attempt to cross the river.
Once night has deepened enough that the only light is that of the stars, they mount up and ride back toward the river. They follow it until the town's lights appear and then come to a stop. Jiron says, "I'll go and scout the town, then we can decide what to do."
"Alright," James agrees, "but be careful."
He gives James a look that says, 'Of course', and then disappears in the night as he heads for town. Twenty minutes go by before they hear his return.
"Well?" James asks when he rejoins the group.
"Looks to be about twenty soldiers garrisoned there," he explains, "with four on duty at the bridge and two walking patrol within the town itself. Most of the others are gathered in a tavern located near the center of town."
"Is there a way to create a diversion that would draw off the guards at the bridge?" Tinok asks.
"Maybe setting fire to a building or two," he says, "that may do it. Unless the guards at the bridge have an extraordinary sense of duty and remain there."
"Most likely they are bored and would leave just to see what's going on," James suggests.
"Probably," Jiron says. Looking to Tinok, he says, "Wanna come start some fires with me?"
"Every boy's dream," Tinok replies with a smile.
"Now make sure it looks like it could've been an accident, or the search may be on," James cautions.
"Do the best we can," Jiron says. "When we're done, we'll meet you back here."
"Good luck," Delia says.
"Be careful," Cassie says with concern.
"We will," Jiron assures her, and then he and Tinok run off toward town.
James mounts his horse after some time passes and advises the girls to do the same, "We may need to be ready to move fast should they return with soldiers in pursuit."
They sit on their horses and wait. "Where are they?" Cassie asks after an hour has gone by, concern in her voice.
"Don't worry," Delia assures her, "they're just taking their time to make sure they are not caught."
"I hope so," Cassie says.
Me too, Delia says to herself as she watches the town for their return.
Suddenly, two shadows approach. "Get ready," they hear Jiron say as he mounts his horse. Tinok mounts his as well.
They all sit and wait, but nothing happens.
"What did you do?" James asks.
"We found a stable where they had most of their horses," Jiron explains. "A guard was there sleeping in a pile of hay, with a bottle of wine lying next to him."
"Yeah," Tinok says, chuckling a little. "We took one of the lanterns down, lit it and laid it beside him on the hay. The hay was just beginning to smolder as we left."
"But he might burn to death!" Cassie gasps.
"Fortunes of war," Jiron says, with little feeling.
"Besides, it'll look like an accident," Tinok explains. "It'll look like he got drunk and was careless."
"And with their horses in danger," Jiron says, "they'll want everyone to help with putting the fire out, which should draw the men off the bridge."
"Let's hope so," James says.
Suddenly, from the north side of town, a reddish glow blossoms as the stable catches fire. Even from this distance they can hear the horses neighing in terror. From within the town, they hear the cry as the soldiers move to combat the fire and save their horses.
The men on the bridge turn and see the flames reaching high in the sky as the fire roars to life. As one, they race away from the bridge and head for the inferno at the stables.
"Now's our chance," James says, once the guards have left the bridge. Getting their horses moving quickly, they make their way toward the bridge and race across it to the other side without anyone raising the alarm.
A road crosses over the bridge heading south. They follow it for some distance before James slows them down to prevent a horse from accidentally putting a hoof in a hole and breaking its leg. They continue to follow the road for another mile or so before deciding to pull off a ways and make camp within a small copse of trees. A quick meal of cold rations and then they turn in. Jiron, Tinok and James all taking their turn at watch.
Next morning, they're on the road again before the sun has risen very far above the horizon. James uses his compass and with relief finds that Miko is now a little to the north of east now, instead of south of east. We're ahead of them, he thinks to himself with satisfaction. To avoid encountering Empire soldiers, they move off the road to the west and run parallel to it.
The Silver Mountains are also getting closer on their right as they proceed south. It's not long before they are close enough to be able to make out the individual trees covering the mountain's slope Over the course of the next couple hours, they see several columns of troops going north on the road to the east of them, before James quickly moves them further west to avoid detection. An hour before midday, they begin to see another road running along the base of the mountains as it meanders through the foothills. Currently no one is traveling upon it, and since the one to the east had troops moving upon it, they decide to use it. If they move any further west they will be riding along the slope of the mountain.
"Should we even be on this road?" Cassie asks, nervously.
"There's no one on it," James explains, "at least not right now. If we were to go further east, then we run the risk of meeting troops going north. If someone comes, then there's always the mountain."
She looks over to the mountain but doesn't look too happy at the prospect of going there.
Early afternoon, they pull off the road to have some lunch and to rest the horses. They find an area to the west, behind some of the rolling hills, which will keep them out of the view of anyone who may be traveling upon the road.
"How are we going to get to Korazan?" Delia asks.
"What do you mean?" Jiron asks.
"I mean, how will we get there without being seen?" she clarifies. "Once we cross the border, we're going to stand out as northerners, we don't even know the customs."
Jiron and James look at each other and James says, "Well, I hadn't actually thought that far yet."
"Did you think we would just ride in, find them, and then be allowed to ride away free and clear?" she asks incredulously.
"I'm sure we'll figure a way," Jiron assures her.
She looks at them and says, "You're both going to get us all killed if you don't do a little planning ahead."
"How?" asks James. "It's true we don't know the customs, but there's no way to learn before we get there anyway. We may stand out now, but once there, we can acquire clothing that will enable us to blend in."
"Besides," Jiron adds, "are they really going to be expecting a group, such as ourselves, to be up to mischief? I'm sure we can wing a plausible reason should one be needed."
"Then you better think fast," she tells him.
"Why?" Jiron asks.
She points behind him to the six riders wearing Empire uniforms who are approaching their camp from the foothills, three have crossbows loaded and aimed at them. One who looks to be the officer in charge of the group comes toward them, flanked by the remaining two.
They all stand as he approaches. "Well, what do we have here?" he asks with a smile, coming to a stop a few feet away.
Cassie clings to Delia while James steps forward to speak, "Just some friends out having some fun is all."
"I see," he says, a small smile playing across his lips. "And what kind of 'fun' would bring you to this area?"
"We we're camping up in the mountains and had come down to get some more supplies," he explains. "We ran out."