Shadow Dance...Chapter Nine

Shadow Dance...Chapter Nine

The next three days were spent tending to Jaconis’ and Halin’s wounds. While Namir and Hessa were busied with that, Nurn and Aves foraged for food and supplies. Hessa had deemed it necessary that Jaconis and Halin sleep in actual beds instead of on the cold moist soil they had found. Nurn tried to convince her that they would be fine if he collected some branches that they could lay on, but Hessa refused the idea. Instead both Aves and Hessa insisted that they build a shelter for all of them to stay in while the two healed. So the fourth day found Namir and Nurn gathering wood. Two nights later the two of them had managed to make a shelter sturdy enough to block the light gusts that came with nightfall. The nights, though chilled, were warm enough with the added heat from the fire and the days of convalescence passed slowly for everyone.

After these six days had passed fairly uneventfully, Namir fully gave up on finding the carriage and rest of their provisions. Instead he told Nurn and Aves that he was going to send word to Armani as soon as they reached Hornshir to inform him of the loss. Namir made sure not to let either of them hear his resignation that they might not even be able to make it to Hornshir in their present condition.

The rest of the journey to Hornshir was more brutal to them than days lost to healing and survival had been. Thankfully both ladies decided to bath in the river before they had set off at dawn. This was on of the only pleasant occurrences. The main issue was their speed of travel since Jaconis needed to rest frequently, as did both Halin and Aves due to their injuries. The only thing that seemed to go in their favor was that no further incidents happened on the trek, not even when they found a good spot to ford the river. Although it did take them a considerable amount of time to cross it.

As they trudged along the track that they had been able to find once they had reached the far side of the river, the hours gave way to days and from what any of them could tell they were no closer to arriving in Hornshir. Jaconis’ constant complaints only served to shorten Namir’s patience and make the days seem longer than they really were.

They spent five more miserable days staggering in the sweltering heat. Not only were they hot and tired, but they had run out of rations. Although Nurn was an excellent hunter, even he had a hard time finding enough for them to eat while they traveled through the sparse forests along their path.

On the eve of the twenty-first day on the road, the sixth day since the attack, they arrived at the gates of Hornshir. The thick dirt encrusted walls loomed above them as the sun slowly sank behind the hills to their left. Hornshir’s black gates had been closed and bared for the night to prevent any of the wandering criminals from getting into the city to cause havoc. An occasional flicker of torchlight played across the ramparts some thirty feet above them and the smooth walls offered no real means of access. They had been constructed to ward off any unwanted entry in times of war and all of the stones were perfectly aligned to create one sheer surface. Campfires dotted the plains just outside the walls. They sent their flickering light across the low plains like fireflies in the gathering gloom.

“Now what are we going to do?” Halin looked at Namir inquisitively.

“There is nothing that we can do, but wait. Let’s build a fire and settle in for the night.” Namir motioned towards the nearest stand of trees. “We should camp over there; I don’t feel comfortable camping out here in the plains with no cover.”

Nurn nodded his approval and agreement. As soon as they arrived in the cover of the trees, Nurn busied himself with building the fire for them to stave off the chill of the early spring night. After the fire had been built Namir helped Halin and Jaconis over to it, while Aves was lead over by Hessa. Once everyone was settled Namir started unpacking the last of their provisions as Hessa started readying the water and the few herbs she had managed to gather along the road.

“This won’t go far.” Aves voice was tight and her young face was creased with too much worry for her young age.

Namir walked over and looked over the scarce remains of their provisions. “Nurn, we need to gather food.” He called over his shoulder easily.

“Will the others be safe?” Nurn inquired as he strode over to Namir’s side.

“This close to Hornshir’s walls…they should be.” Namir replied as he thought about how far they actually were from Hornshir. “Besides, there are other encampments nearby. I’m sure that if anything happened to them, the people at the other fires would help.” Namir reassured Nurn as he motioned towards the other fires spotting the hillside as well as the plains surrounding Hornshir’s gates.

“Fine, then let’s be off. The sooner we leave, the sooner we will be back.” Nurn grunted tersely, securing his knife to his hip.

Namir turned to Hessa and Aves before Nurn and him left and instructed, “Cook up the rest of the provisions and divide the meal between you four, Nurn and I will come back with food to eat for breakfast.”

“What will you and Nurn eat?” Hessa asked quietly almost afraid to hear his reply.

“We will eat what we catch.” Namir forced a smile to his lips. “And if we find nothing tonight then a little fast won’t hurt either of us until we can get into Hornshir tomorrow.”

Once Namir was ready, the two friends made their way into the sparse forest. The two of them easily falling into step with each other and soon they were moving like shadows as they flitted from one tree to the next. Silently they stalked through the forest as they tracked anything that moved. The long hours that they had spent as children hunting in the forests around Ellsted and amongst the town’s nighttime streets now proved their worth as Namir and Nurn moved in complete unison. Even Nurn’s large frame moved nimbly through the undergrowth without disturbing the brush lining the paths they were walking down. Several unproductive hours passed as they hunted in vain. After three hours passed they decided to increase the range of their search. They would move farther from their camp, but they both swore they would try to reserve enough strength to sprint back to their companions if they heard the slightest sounds of a fight.

Nurn was moving ahead of Namir when something about the trail caught Namir’s eye. He stopped and waited until Nurn noticed that he was no longer moving. Only a few moments passed before Namir was able to direct Nurn’s attention towards one of the side trails. Nurn’s black eyes glinted in the dark as he walked back to Namir. The way the light reflected off of his golden skin at night made Nurn’s eyes appear to be bottomless holes in his skull and Namir had always found this a little unnerving. Nurn’s face did not change as he saw the tracks that Namir indicated. Instead he bent down low and looked them over. When he stood back up he looked at Namir and signaled that they were definitely wheel ruts. They quietly conferred with each other through the use of signs as they decided to follow this new path. Nurn lead as they started down the new path like wraiths eager for a kill. Anxiously they darted from one side of the path to the next as they snaked their way along it silently. Halfway down the path they switched positions. Namir took the lead to act as a scout with Nurn following behind to ensure that no one came at them from behind.

They had followed this new path for about a half an hour when Namir stopped and motioned for Nurn to approach him. As Nurn ghosted over to him, Namir pointed to a carriage in the clearing ahead of them. “I think that it is our carriage.” Namir breathed lightly as he allowed the slight breeze to carry his words effortlessly.

Nurn looked into the clearing and nodded. Not fifteen paces from where they were was their carriage. Nurn closed his eyes and listened for a moment making sure that he heard the horses as they whickered softly no too far away. After Nurn had satisfied his sense he pulled his knife free from his belt and pushed it into the ground silently. Seeing Namir’s confused look he motioned for Namir to do the same with his own. When Namir let go of his knife, Nurn deftly rubbed dirt onto the blades as he pulled them one at a time from the ground. He eased the dirt into his hands and quickly worked it into the highly polished steel to remove the gleam from them. Namir smiled fully appreciating the way that his friend thought as he watched Nurn’s labor. Once he was finished, Nurn motioned over to the carriage. “I’ll go get the horses and bring them to the carriage, while you take care of the supplies.” Nurn’s voice was like settling gravel as he spoke quietly.

“No.” Namir whispered as he shook his head from side to side. “First we need to make sure the people who attacked us won’t be able to do so again.” Namir saw the flicker of hate in Nurn’s eyes as he nodded in agreement. “We will both move in together. We’ll enter their camp from under the carriage so that we can surprise them easier.” Nurn nodded his ascension again and then they melted into the shadows once again.

Namir scurried under the carriage as quietly as possible and scanned the area on the other side of it as Nurn moved to his side. Namir was so surprised by what he saw that he had no idea Nurn was there. As he waited for Nurn to arrive he looked over the empty camp one more time. He was completely baffled. There were no tents anywhere, not even a fire pit had been dug. It was as if the thieves had started setting up their camp and then decided to just leave their carriage and horses behind.

Namir was so engrossed in searching the camp with his eyes that he almost cried out when Nurn placed a hand onto his left arm to get his attention. Namir looked apologetically at Nurn as he gestured that they were alone in the encampment. The two of them moved out from under the carriage slowly as they surveyed the clearing again. Nurn checked the carriage to make sure that no one lay in wait for them, while Namir checked to see if there was another campsite close by that they had not noticed. Neither of them felt the eyes that watched their every move as they performed their search.

“There is no one here,” Namir confided after a few moments of searching. His voice caught somewhere between a whisper and a bark.

“Here either.” Nurn agreed, speaking a little louder than Namir had. “Though all of the supplies are here, as are the horses.” Nurn shook his head confused. “It almost looks like the horses just wandered here of their own accord, but it makes no sense.” Nurn’s voice crept from a gravelly whisper back to its normal volume.

Namir sighed. “I don’t understand it either.” He shrugged. “Let’s get the horses hitched up and go back to the others. We have been away long enough hunting for food and the provisions will ease our hunger as well as everyone else’s fears.”

“Aye, that they will.” Nurn said as he went off to gather up the horses.

While Nurn gathered the horses and hitched them to the carriage, Namir did another quick check of their possessions. ‘It is all here.’ Namir thought to himself utterly confused. ‘Why would they go to all of the trouble of stealing our possessions and attacking us if they were just going to leave them here unguarded? It just makes no sense.’ Namir climbed out of the carriage as Nurn vaulted up to the driver’s boards.

The trip back to their encampment went slower than Namir had thought that it would. The darkness impeded them more than he had expected it to and Namir did not dare to light the lanterns in case the bandits were somewhere nearby. The two of them spent several minutes discussing the need of using the lanterns to make sure that the horses did not step into a hole or stray too far from the road. Nurn finally agreed with Namir after wards that although the lantern would allow them to travel faster, it would also make them more of a target in case the bandits actually were camped nearby.

Either way, Namir felt safer in the darkness. Namir had agreed with Nurn that he should walk in front of the carriage and guide the horses past the ruts and holes in the rough track, while Nurn sat on the boards guiding the horses. This made the trip extremely long and tedious. By time they made it back to camp it was nearing dawn and the fire has long since burned out. As they approached their camp they decided not to wake the others just yet. So instead they both worked on unhitching the horses and grooming them as quietly as they could manage. Once the horses were cared for, Namir and Nurn inventoried for a third time the goods to see if anything was missing as they each ate from the dried rations that had been packed in the carriage to sate their hunger.

“The cask of mead seems intact and untouched.” Namir revealed quietly.

“As are the knives and spear heads my father sent.” Nurn answered. “All of the bolts of cloth that Aves had stored with them are here as well. What of the grain?”

“It is mostly here. It does look like some was removed, but we have enough left to show Ellsted’s good intentions.” Namir replied as he replaced the grain cask’s lid.

Nurn put Tipin’s blades and the three bolts of cloth back into their place under the driver’s board as Namir retied the casks to the back of the carriage. Once these things were done, both of them made their way to their bedrolls hoping to get whatever sleep they could before they had to wake up and face the others. Without needing to discuss it with each other Namir decided to sleep in the carriage to ensure that it didn’t wander off somehow, while Nurn chose to sleep near the horses for the same reason.

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Morning had come way too quickly for Jaconis. His body ached all over and his head swam mercilessly. Worse still was that his stomach was cramped from hunger due tot e scant meal that they had eaten last night. Jaconis slowly lifted his aching head and saw the carriage sitting in the middle of the camp. ‘I wonder where they found the carriage.’ Jaconis thought as the realization of this discovery startled him fully awake. The horses neighed close to where he lay and he could smell the sweet aroma of Hessa’s labors at cooking breakfast. Aves had settled herself into the carriage with Halin close beside her, but Jaconis could not see Namir or Nurn anywhere. He knew his plans had gone drastically astray, but this new turn completely unnerved him.

“Where are the two heroes?” Jaconis asked sarcastically as he slowly propped himself up into a sitting position.

“Getting water for the horses,” Hessa answered as she stirred a pot of potatoes that was simmering over the fire. “I had to use the last that we had up here for our breakfast.

“Ho…Where did they find the carriage and the horses?” Jaconis asked hesitantly. To his dismay Hessa merely shrugged as she continued her cooking.

“Breakfast will be ready soon.” Hessa informed him without him needing to prod her for that bit of information as well. Jaconis grimaced as she completely ignored his previous question.

“Thank you.” Jaconis replied as if he was distracted by his thoughts. “And the supplies…are all of the supplies here as well?”

“I think so,” Hessa said curtly. “Is that all that you are concerned about, Jaconis?”

The tone in Hessa’s voice bordered on scolding which greatly amused Jaconis. “No. I am also concerned with how well your food will taste.” Jaconis smiled mirthfully into Hessa’s disapproving stare. “You were the only one to add stuff into the pot right? I mean Halin didn’t manage to put something more into it…did he?” Jaconis knew that his questions would irritate Hessa more than anything else he could do, so he indulged himself in it with wanton.

“You are truly impossible,” Hessa chided him. “But you’ll soon find an answer to at least one of your concerns.” Hessa ladled a couple boiled potatoes into a bowls for everyone and then added some eggs and bacon as Namir and Nurn walked into the camp.

“So…where did the two of you find it?” Jaconis pestered Namir and Nurn as they walked past him on their way to the horses. Jaconis started to grumble when he realized that the only answer he would get was Namir’s knowing grin and a derisive snort from Nurn. “I was just wondering,” Jaconis muttered darkly into his bowl as he scooped some of its contents into his mouth.

“Well?” Hessa asked, trying to hide her amusement at the reaction Jaconis received.

“Well what?” Jaconis spat, spraying some of his breakfast into the fire.

“Does it taste good enough for you, or are you going to spit the rest of it into the fire?” Hessa asked bluntly, getting more irritated with Jaconis as the morning progressed.

“Yeah it’ll do.” Jaconis muttered, completely losing his desire to make Hessa angrier.

“If it tastes half as good as it smells I’ll consider it a feast.” Halin added just to spite Jaconis. Halin slowly propped himself up in the carriage as Hessa brought over a bowl for him and Aves. Halin winced slightly as he took his bowl from Hessa.

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The morning passed too slowly for Namir. Between Jaconis’ complaints and Halin’s whining, everything seemed to take longer than it should have. “I know that Jaconis had something to with the carriage’s disappearance,” Namir confided to Nurn as they lowered the barrel of water that they had made into a water trough for the horses. “But judging from his questions this morning, I don’t think that he had anything to with us finding it.”

“Aye.” Nurn replied, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his arm. Already the temperature was rising and the sun had barely risen was far off. “Although I did doubt his involvement until this morning…to think that anyone would go to such lengths.” Nurn shook his head in confusion as he emptied a few more water skins into the trough.

“Jaconis is an odd one,” Namir agreed. “But I don’t think that he meant for everything to happen quit as it did.”

“What do you mean?” Nurn asked as he finished filling the trough. He moved out of the horses’ way as they came over to drink and he took a seat on a nearby stump.

“I think that Jaconis may have gotten himself in with a tougher group than he had anticipated to and that he is no longer the one making all the decisions.” Namir smiled as he thought about it. “I think it was his injuries that tipped that off to me. The later ones were nearly fatal, too fatal for even Jaconis to agree to sustain willingly no matter how much he wants to be the one to succeed.”

“True. But if Jaconis isn’t the person planning everything then who is?” Nurn’s question went unanswered, for as it rumbled through the undergrowth, they both heard sounds of something approaching their camp site.

“Wait here, I’ll go see what’s happening,” Namir barked as he raced over to one of the nearest trees and scaled it. Namir vaulted from branch to branch slowly making his way to a descent vantage point.

It took him a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the sudden exposure of light gleaming off of the dew-covered leaves around him. When they finally did he saw a dark seething area forming near the gates of Hornshir. Namir struggled with his thoughts about what it might be as his mind sorted through all of the possibilities. It wasn’t until Namir heard the cacophony of people striking their camps and moving in large numbers towards Hornshir that he realized the gates were open. Then it dawned on him that the seething area was the throngs of people trying to gain entry into Hornshir.

Namir shimmied down the tree as fast as he could manage to and then ran back to the clearing where he had left Nurn and the horses. Still panting from his exertion he motioned Nurn over to him. “We need to go or we may not get into Hornshir today either.”

“What do you mean?” Nurn looked at Namir confused. “What is coming that has you so anxious?”

“Nothing is coming.” Namir snapped as he gathered his breath. “What we hear is the lines of people trying to enter the city. They are being formed as we speak. The gate have been opened and if we delay too much longer the lines may be so long that we won’t be able to gain entry to Hornshir at all today. It amazes me that we didn’t enter the line as soon as we left Ellsted.” Namir brooded as he thought of the length of the line that he had seen.

“It can’t be that bad, but you are probably right. I’ll gather the horses and meet you back at camp.” Nurn offered.

“Aye. By the time that you get there I’ll have everything loaded and ready to hitch the horses up.” Namir informed him. “At least we will have the carriage to wait in.” Namir said over his shoulder as he vanished into the tree line again.

After a half hour of work, Nurn had finally managed to get the horses ready and back to camp. Namir proved true to his word, for as soon as he had gotten back to camp he told the others of the plan and started to strike camp. Namir had just finished stowing their provisions as Nurn led the horses into the camp. Namir had situated the others into the carriage so that Jaconis and Halin were sitting just behind the driver’s boards with Hessa and Aves facing them on the backbench. When Nurn made it to the carriage, Namir dropped from the boards and helped him to attach the horses to the carriage. After some quick instructions from Nurn, and some light hearted ridicule from Halin, Namir and Nurn managed to get the horses hitched up with little difficulty. Nurn then steered the carriage back onto the road leading to Hornshir.

Not only was the line to get into Hornshir long, but it was extremely slow moving as well. After four long hours spent under the baking sun it seemed as if they had barely moved any closer to the gates than when they had started. However, once the gypsy caravan that had been holding up the line entered the city the line started to move.

They had just made it to the actual road leading into Hornshir when the breathtaking view hit them. Their first glimpse of the city beyond the gates was marvelous. Hornshir was made up of tall elegant looking buildings as far as they could see. These buildings were cut from slate and marble and, at a distance, had the look of being sculpted straight out of the living rock itself. These taller buildings were mired by short squat wooden shops that were as thrown together and run down as the taller buildings were elegant. The shops extended from the base of the towers almost all of the way to the walls. Protruding from these shops were the canvas tents of the free markets and the traveling sellers. These were mostly gypsies, but some were from other lands trying to sell their wares. Merchants of every type were hawking their wares, which ranged from vases to slavery and everything in between. The streets themselves were teaming with people and livestock of every type going in whatever direction that their whim fancied. Surrounding all of this were filth-covered cobbles, it was as if the inhabitants did not care about the cleanliness of their city at all.

“Not a sight for sore eyes,” Halin whined as much from the sight of the filth as from the stench that had hit him an hour before.

“Aye.” Nurn agreed. “That it isn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Namir inquired. “It is teaming with life! If that isn’t a good thing, what is?”

“Something cleaner maybe?” Jaconis shot sarcastically at Namir. The putrid scent had hit all of them an hour before and Jaconis had been complaining about it ever since.

“What say you, girls?” Namir asked them hopefully since he was obviously out numbered.

“It is different.” Aves offered tactfully.

“Well, I like it.” Hessa added. “Sure it smells foul and seems dirty, but that can be tolerated. Just think of all the possibilities that Hornshir holds for us. And those buildings…the tall ones…just look at how beautiful they are.” Hessa added amazed.

“I’ll be the first to admit that Hornshir is rather breathtaking.” Halin said jovially, as he pantomimed holding his breath. This caused everyone to laugh a little bit as well as helping the time pass somewhat smoother.

The sun was setting as they finally approached the gates. They were all talked out and completely worn out from the day’s wait. The growing consensus amongst them all was the hope that they would enter Hornshir before the gates were closed once again.

When Namir saw the guards inspecting every cart his breath caught in his chest. He knew that the feeling was unwarranted, but he could not help the sense of dread that passed over him as they moved closer to the front of the line. Even though there were still a few carts and people ahead of them, to Namir it seemed that the guards were intent on him and no one else. He could almost feel their eyes cutting into him. Namir suddenly understood why Carness didn’t want to have any other guards in Ellsted. It was because they made the place feel unwelcome instead of making it feel safe.

The dwindling light glinted off of the metal studs and accentuated the beep chestnut brown leather of the guard’s armor as he approached their carriage. “What business do you have in Hornshir?” The gruff voice barked at them. His hardened demeanor matched his studded leather armor perfectly, cold and devoid of compassion.

Namir spoke before anyone else had a chance to. “We are an envoy from Ellsted and we are here to speak with the mayor of Hornshir and his council.” Namir recited the lines that Armani had taught him before they had left verbatim.

“What if the mayor is too busy and won’t see you? What then?” A different guard had made his way to Namir’s side of the carriage as he asked his question. This guard wore all metal armor, slightly rusted and battered. His stride held more purpose and his voice was cracked from overuse.

Jaconis stifled a yelp as Hessa kicked him in his shin to keep him quiet. “Then we will wait here until he is either free to see us or until he changes his mind,” Namir replied coolly. “Although we mean to wait within Hornshir’s walls instead of without,” Namir directed this last bit at the second guard instead of the first one.

“You’re presuming a lot aren’t you?” The first guard said before he was motioned to silence by the second one.

“Is that a demand or a request?” The second guard asked.

“Both.” Namir replied. “We have wounded amongst us badly in need of a healer. I fear that they will not live long if we are forced to wait outside of these walls. I know that your guards patrol the land around Hornshir, but since we were attacked on our way here I doubt that our safety outside of these walls would be ensured.” Namir finished as if challenging anyone to refute him.

“Well said.” The second guard nodded. “What are your names?”

“What is yours?” Halin piped up before Hessa could restrain him like she had Jaconis.

Smirking the second guard laughed quietly. “I am Faris, captain of the guard, now may we continue the entry with no interruption?”

“Aye,” Halin replied quietly.

“Good. Now, what are your names?” Faris asked again.