| |
NIGHT HAD FALLEN. THE crescent moon shone on an Inquisition patrol camped on a small rise near the main road. Finn sat at the tree line, hidden in the shadow of a pine, observing the camp. They were prepared for trouble, even this deep in Inquisition lands. They had set up a defensive perimeter around the camp and guards stood on high alert, watching the open space between the camp and the forest. There was no way he could approach unseen.
He'd been unable to get the image of Henge trying to talk sense to the Inquisition out of his head. The Inquisition wouldn't just kill him; their leader, Ragnur, knew how to play on people's emotions. He would make a spectacle out of it. So instead of going to Trolldalen, Finn had turned around and gone after the Manhir. But he'd been too slow. Henge was already tied down in the center of the camp, surrounded by guards, before Finn had caught up with him. If only he had found more Manhir in that quarry, then he could have easily run in, freed Henge, and run out again.
Finn rubbed his chin. Hmmm. The patrol didn't know he'd found only one Manhir. If he created enough confusion, he could use that to reach Henge and free him.
Finn moved deeper into the forest, until he found a dead pine tree about fifty paces from the forest's edge. He gathered several armloads full of kindling and dead branches and piled them around the base of the tree. Then he hunted up a couple of pieces of flint, and used them to spark a fire at the base of the pine before heading back to the forest's edge, where he waited patiently for the fire to grow.
It didn't require much patience. The fire spread fast through the pine's dry branches and flammable resin. In moments, the flickering light of the flames reached the edge of the forest. Soon, the flames had crawled to the top of the dead tree. In the camp, a guard stirred and said something to his companion. He'd spotted the light of the flames as well. This was Finn's cue. He tousled his hair, jumped up, and ran out of the forest, arms flailing. "Help! Help!"
The guards raised their spear and shield. "Incoming!" one of them shouted over his shoulder.
"Halt!" the other shouted at Finn. "Identify yourself!"
Around the camp, soldiers leaped to attention. Two more came running over as Finn ran up to the camp and dropped to his knees in front of the guards. "Praise the gods I ran into ya! Please help!"
"What's going on?" one of the guards asked. "Who are you?"
Finn looked up. The guard's face was hidden underneath his leather helmet. "They's monsters out in them woods. They et me friend!" Finn sobbed and drew in a deep breath. "They been chasin' me all day. Ya gotta help me."
By now, a small crowd had gathered round Finn. The original pair of guards looked at each other and nodded. The tallest grabbed his horn and blew the signal for enemy approaching, and the camp became an anthill of activity. Soldiers appeared out of tents and came running over, armed with spears or axes and shields. The short guard offered Finn an arm and helped him get up. He pointed to the center of the camp. "These monsters," he asked, "did they look like that?"
Finn jumped back. "Ya got one!"
"Don't worry, we've got him tied up good," the guard said. "He just wandered in here. Where did you see these monsters last?"
Finn turned. The fire he'd started was now blazing, casting dancing shadows all over the clearing. He pointed to the fire. "That direction. They was maybe five of 'em."
A captain, denote by his crested helmet, arrived at the guard post. The short guard filled him in on what Finn had said. "Defensive line!" the captain ordered. "Spears to the center, war hammers on the flanks. and bows in the rear. On contact, we spread out and surround these Manhir." Soldiers milled around, forming up. The captain turned to Finn. "You, sir, stand back. We can't have civilians in the way."
Finn nodded. He forced himself to stroll toward the center of the camp, combing his fingers through his hair, straightening it up. Everybody was getting ready for a fight. Two soldiers ran past; to one side, soldiers were clearing space for the field surgeon. He passed a deserted cooking fire. The smell of roast elk reminded him he hadn't had a proper meal since lunchtime. He spotted a hatchet for chopping firewood next to a pile of kindling; that would be useful for cutting Henge loose. He grabbed it and hurried on.
Henge lay on the top of the rise in the center of the camp, face-down on the grass, arms and legs spread wide. Ropes ran over his back, arms, and legs like a spider's web, tied to thick stakes, securing him to the ground. Four guards stood watch around him, peering in all directions, clearly made anxious by the confusion.
Finn quickened his pace and came up to the first guard at a trot. "The captain needs your help! Quick, all of you!" Finn pointed at the burning forest with the hatchet. "There's multiple Manhir coming, and we need everyone who can fight on the front lines!"
"We got orders to guard the monster," the guard said, scowling. "We ain't to move under any circumstances."
In the forest behind Finn, a burning tree crashed to the ground. The smell of wood smoke intensified. "You know that plans change as soon as you make contact with the enemy!" Finn shouted. He drew himself up and assumed his best shouty sergeant's voice. "You've been given your orders, soldier! Now obey them!"
The guard snapped to attention at Finn's shout. He looked over to his comrades; they gave him a nod, and the four of them ran toward where Finn pointed.
As soon as they'd left the clearing, Finn hurried towards Henge's head. Ugly scratches marked his face and upper back. The soldiers had been cruel.
Henge opened an eye and looked up at Finn. "You were right."
Finn nodded and said, "We haven't got long before the captain realizes something's wrong." He chopped the rope near Henge's head with the hatchet he'd picked up earlier. "As soon as you're free, we make a run for it."
Finn hacked at the ropes around Henge. The three tying Henge's left arm to the ground were the first to go, which let Henge push himself up on that arm. Finn hacked through two more ropes around Henge's middle, and with a heave, the big stone creature pushed himself off the ground, snapping the remaining ropes.
"Follow me." Finn ran down the rise, away from the burning forest. Henge followed close on his heels.
"Thanks," Henge said as they ran.
They burst out from between the tents, and the ground levelled out. "We're not safe yet," Finn said. The forest was still a hundred feet away. If they could make it to the trees without being seen, they'd get away clean.
The fates were too cruel for that to happen. A shout went up behind them. The game was afoot! Adrenalin rushed through Finn's body, lending his legs an extra burst of speed. More shouts followed. Henge kept pace at his side, not even breathing hard. Boots thumped on the ground behind him. The whole patrol was in pursuit!
Finn reached the forest's edge, and a low-hanging branch smacked his face. He stumbled when his foot landed in an unseen hole. A crash behind him told him Henge also had trouble seeing obstacles in the dark forest, but at least he was still following. The land sloped upward, and Finn's legs burned as he pushed through the trackless undergrowth.
He glanced over his shoulder. Small shadows moved through the trees behind Henge's hulking one. They weren't going to lose the Inquisition soldiers this way; Henge was too easy for them to track. If he remembered correctly, there was a ridge farther up the hill, running parallel to the road. Henge's silhouette would disappear against the cliff. If they could get there ahead of the troops and turned towards Gilgin instead of away from it, then maybe they could throw off their pursuers.
Finn was panting by the time the cliff appeared. He turned right, sticking as close to the cliff as possible. The cliff curved left, higher up the mountain. With any luck, this would hide them from the soldiers behind them. The rough terrain gave him no time to check to see if they were still being followed.
A black mass appeared on their left. Another cliff. The forest shrank to a narrow gorge. This gave Finn only one way to go: forward. The noise from running feet behind him bounced off the gorge's sides. The Inquisition soldiers were close behind them... and then Finn was stopped short by a wall. The gorge was a dead end!
There had to be a way out; there always was. Finn felt the cliff for handholds, but couldn’t find any in the dark. "Can you get us up this cliff too?" Finn asked Henge between breaths.
"It will be slow going," Henge replied. "I can't see well enough to find handholds. But I will try." Finn heard Henge drop to one knee. "Climb up my back, like before."
Bright lantern light lit up the gorge. "Freeze, or we'll shoot!"
Finn lifted his arm against the light. A line of soldiers stood an easy bowshot away from them, blocking the exit from the gorge. Several of them had their bows raised, arrows nocked and aimed right at Finn. Four others held double-sided war hammers, eyeing Henge. The captain with the crested helmet stood to the side of the group. "Surrender now, and you'll live long enough to be tried," the captain said. "Make a sudden move and you die."
Finn slowly raised his arms. He whispered at Henge. "What do you think?"
"I think we die either way," Henge whispered back. "I'll go first and block the arrows."
Finn looked at the hatchet he was still holding in his hand. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it was better than nothing. He nodded at Henge.
Henge sprang in motion, thundering down the hill like an angry avalanche. Finn ran behind him. Arrows sprang off Henge's body without causing any significant damage. As another volley of arrows bounced off him, Finn raised the hatchet and ran from behind Henge, making for the nearest archer.
Finn's target nocked an arrow to his bow; he would get one more shot. But bows were lousy close-contact weapons, and Finn said a quick prayer that the archer would miss in the dark. What he didn't expect was for the archer to stumble forward and fall face down, for no apparent reason. Another one fell, an arrow sticking out from his back.
Oh.
The soldiers looked at their fallen comrades, then back up at the charging Manhir barreling towards them like a rock rolling down a mountain. Another soldier went down to an arrow. This was too much for the soldiers; they broke and fled.
Finn and Henge slowed to a stop. "What happened?" Henge rumbled.
Finn scanned the surrounding forest. The lantern had ruined his night vision, and all he saw was formless shadows. "I'm not sure."
A voice came out of the dark. "What are you?"
"I'm just Finn," Finn answered.
"Not you," the voice said. A shadow detached from a tree and walked towards them, resolving into a man holding a bow. He was shorter and broader than Finn, and wore an unmarked set of leather armor reinforced with metal studs. "That." He pointed at Henge.
"I'm Henge. The last remaining Manhir, it seems."
The nab whistled through his teeth. "Whoa-ho, a Manhir. No wonder that patrol was so eager to get you."
"And who are you?" Finn asked.
"Your salvation," the archer said. He bent over one of the fallen soldiers, pulled the arrows from the soldier's quiver, and added them to his own. He grabbed a coin purse from the other dead nab.
"Well, Salvation," Finn said, "what brings you out here in the middle of the night?"
"I'm here to rescue you, of course."
"But why?"
"I was curious. I saw the patrol take Henge, and then your escape with him. Any enemies of the Inquisition are my friends."
The light dawned in Finn's head. "You're with the Rebellion!" he exclaimed.
"Ha! I'm not with the Rebellion, I am the Rebellion."
"Rebellion?" Henge asked.
"We fight against the Inquisition's oppression. We strive for freedom in the lands and equality for all people. And I am Gudmund Eindridson, leader of the Rebellion." Gudmund sketched a bow.
"Thank you for your help, Master Eindridson," Henge said humbly.
"We should get moving," Finn said to Henge. "They're bound to come back. I want to be far away when they do."
"Where are you heading?" Gudmund asked.
"Away from here. The Inquisition is bound to come after us in force now."
"Come with me," Gudmund said. "We can hide you from the Inquisition."
Finn looked at Henge, who shrugged. "It's as good a plan as any, I guess," Finn said.