Chapter 112 - The Road Back (4 Of 4)

The bandit horse galloped fast, but the animal was already exhausted. The bandits must have ridden them hard.

Sweat dripped off the horse's dark flanks and its breathing came in puffs of steam.

Krow spotted the herbalist carts at the same time that red flickered on his Map.

He reined the horse in, ignoring the lookout who tracked him with a nocked arrow.

The scout-mark on the Map was ahead of them.

Obviously an ambush.

But they were also…underground? Krow exhaled a breath.

He'd left out the spirit-worm to scout for more of those pebbles as they traveled. It was only luck that it passed through the correct section of tunnel and managed to detect the rest of the bandit riders.

"It's Krow!" called one of the herbalists.

He blinked at the sound of his name, then waved sheepishly.

The sound of the horse approaching obviously had alarmed them. The tenseness of the group, now that he was paying attention, could be felt from where he was.

He jumped off the horse.

Jarihar skidded to a stop near him. "Nice armor, did you buy that in Rakaens?"

"No." He'd checked out the local shops though. Fairly good selection; unfortunately, he didn't have the drax for the good pieces. "Things are good?"

"We caught two of the bandits. They're younger than Menrike, can you believe it? But where'd you get the horse?"

"Regular bandits. Nothing like your baby bandits at all."

Jarihar scoffed, crossed his arms. "Bandits are bandits."

"And it's not over yet." The scout-mark hadn't moved from its place, but he was a bit uneasy. He was still getting used to the ghost-stones – he hadn't fully tested them.

And he did search out ghostcaller guides. There was only one and it was a negative review.

Hulach came up beside Jarihar, patted the horse. "Found the rest of them, I see?"

"I fought a group," Krow agreed. "But I don't think they were with the children. There's a camp…" He pointed in the direction of the children. "that direction. Young children. The only adult is injured."

"There are two groups of bandits?" Jarihar was dubious.

"The bandit captain who owned this horse might have recognized me. He said he was told that Cerkanst hired a mercenary as protection."

The other two's faces tightened.

"I didn't get all of them," Krow continued. "But apparently there's a tunnel nearby? It leads ahead."

Hulach came to the same conclusion. "Naekrin's Cave. An ambush."

"You know about the tunnel?" Krow was surprised. A security hole like that… "Why hasn't it been blocked?"

Hulach sighed. "It has. Most of the obvious entrances anyway. It's not actually a cave."

No?

"It's part of a network of mining tunnels through this section of mountain." Hulach continued. "Most of the tunnels are local knowledge, something that kept the villages around here from being wiped out in the ancient wars against the plains. We have long memories."

Jarihar nodded. "That's why no villager would tell anyone who didn't already know about those tunnels."

"It's not unusual that bandits would find them and use them. That's why Rakaens has a regular Guard recruitment. Bordertown Guards are sent on long patrols to root out unwanted tunnel inhabitants."

"Naekrin's Cave opens one kilometer ahead." Jarihar pointed out. "We should attack."

Ah. The scout-mark hadn't been a kilometer in front of them.

The ambush hadn't been set up yet.

"I'll go," Krow nodded.

"I'll go with you," Jarihar smiled, slight excitement in his eyes.

"No."

"It's a good idea," Hulach interjected. "The cave mouth is a bit difficult to find. And some of the others, with one of the archers."

"You only have three." Krow pointed out. "Just Jarihar will be fine."

"If it's as you said, the danger behind has been neutralized and it's more dangerous ahead. We already cleared the tree. We just have to deal with the children and we'll likely meet you ahead."

Krow relented. "Not the archer though. I already have my guns."

No sense in turning away a guide and people to protect that guide. An archer would come in handy in ambushing the ambushers, really, but three archers were barely enough to protect the carts.

Wait, could his ghost-scouts find a location if he only had the name?

Probably not.

Ghostcaller was one of his tinker subclasses – he was stuck in apprentice-rank territory and that didn't give advanced skills. 

"Oh, also, there are several bandit corpses on the mountain behind. Just follow the road. Can someone help with that? They really didn't tell me much. There might be a clue to who sent them."

Krow had been in too much of a hurry to search them.

All this over a single supply contract with a major apothecary?

Vicious.

Hulach stayed behind.

Jarihar, Tharjan, and four others went with Krow.

With their speed, a single kilometer was traversed in minutes.

Krow cautiously circled the cave opening.

He dismissed the spirit-bird and sent out the spirit-snake.

The cave mouth was indeed difficult to find. It was overhung by vines and mossy branches. Not very large. If Krow hadn't been led toward it, he wouldn't have found it.

There was no-one in sight.

He smiled, waved at the others. 

Tharjan came beside him, eyes alert. 

"There's no one here, yet."

Tharjan nodded. "Then we wait."

"There should be five of them, but I might be wrong."

"We'll be ready."

He pointed upward to a grassy ledge on the cliff overlooking the cave. "I'm heading there."

The spot had a view of the opening and much of the overall surroundings.

Tharjan understood.

Krow bounded up to his designated lookout and sniper spot. He watched as the others arranged themselves in semi-comfortable ambush positions.

He glanced at the red scout-mark on the Map.

Suddenly, it jumped. 

Startled, Krow tensed. The difference was about four hundred metres. 

What?

Why were the bandit riders the only one that had a moving scout-mark?

He shook his head.

Even more importantly, the enemy was less than a hundred metres away. 

Krow dismissed the spirit-snake. Would they have been spooked by the ghost?

He raised his arm, waved at the others below. 

The others tensed as he did, armed themselves, and melted more cautiously into the landscape. Krow drew his primary revolver.

They waited.

Only a few minutes later, there was movement in the cave mouth. A horse neighed.

The tunnels were large enough for horses?

In the distance, on the mountainside, an answering whinny.

They all froze.

Krow's eyes widened. If he'd thought the horses would betray that things with the first group hadn't gone to plan, he'd have shot them with their riders.

He hunkered down.

A rider came out of the cave.

They scouted around briefly, before bellowing into the opening. "It looks like the others haven't started yet!"

There was a murmur of voices, indistinct, slightly echoing inside the cave.

He laughed. "Don't be impatient, idiot! There's a prime spot nearby to jump them."

He guided his horse through a mossy and rock-strewn path.

The second came out, and the third. They followed the trail of the first. 

Krow breathed deeply, eyes on the cave mouth.

There should be two others.

Yes.

Two riders trotted out of the cave. "Finally! I thought I was going to die from the smell down there!"

The other ignored him, made to spur his horse faster.

Krow glanced at the first three.

They were in range of the others already.

He aimed.

Eight bullets sent in succession knocked the fourth rider off his horse. The fifth's horse screamed and would've bolted if not for the rider's iron control.

They made for the safety of the cave.

Krow leaped to his feet, aimed the secondary gun and sent three shieldbursts that the horse crashed into. He leaped down, shooting.

Six darkspears hit the bandit before the notification appeared.

[You've eliminated a Lvl 14 bandit and gained three (3) silver serpens! 6/10]

He bounded for the first bandit he downed, sent two bullets into the struggling man.

[You've eliminated a Lvl 15 bandit lieutenant and gained five (5) silver serpens! 9/10]

He whirled, reloading as he ran for the ambush site.

There was only one bandit left, and Krow was unneeded there.

[You and your allies have defeated a bandit attack! 10/10]

Defeated?

He moved closer to the huddle.

Oh. There was one still alive.

Krow leaned on a rock, rolled his shoulders. After all that anxiety, it was over in barely a minute.

"Who hired you?" Tharjan calmly regarded the last bandit.

The man spat at Tharjan's feet, ignoring the blood dripping down his temple and cheeks.

Tharjan was unfazed. "All the others are gone, even the band of riders on the road."

Still, the man was silent.

"Your leader died early. One of you betrayed him and told us where you were."

A flicker of disgust showed in the man's expression. "It had to be that newbie that he liked so much. I don't even know why captain allowed the brat to join."

Was he talking about Amonrei?

The bandit then spat again. "If everyone's dead, as you say, what's it to me?"

"You are still alive."

The bandit laughed. "You're to kill me, farmer? Oh, right, you have a butcher here!" He looked around. Abruptly, his expression changed. "I…no…"

There was a long silence.

Krow glanced up.

The man blanched. "He's here! He…tell him to stay away from me…"

"Who?"

The bandit chuckled. "Death's come for me. There's nothing to say now."

He looked straight at Krow.

Uh?

Krow wanted to laugh at the absurdity.

The guy couldn't mean him?

Tharjan turned halfway, blinked at Krow, then his attention returned calmly to the bandit. "I see what you mean."

The bandit's eyes widened. "You see him too? The Shadowed?"

What.

But Tharjan was nodding. "Perhaps we are all marked for death."

This bastard.

Did he want Krow to impersonate a priest of Takrul?

There was no way.

Krow shifted to ease his muscles. The bandit's eyes locked on him again.

The hit to the head had obviously done something to his eyes.

So Krow went with the flow. He leaned forward slightly, whispered in a voice that carried. "Speak."

To his surprise, the bandit started to talk.

He surreptitiously glanced at the rest of the herbalists, who were doing incredible impressions of stone faces.

Weeping skies.

He was not going to live this down.