Ossendar: Book Two of the Resoration Series (48 page)

Garrick as usual, noticed nothing. He just kept droning on and on, but luckily Derek had learned to ignore the man, which was not an easy thing to do.

Sighing, Derek turned back around and surveyed the road. Can't wait much longer, got to do this quick. Even though there were several hours until they should reach the Baron's estates, they couldn't wait near that long and it was because of the increasing number of farms and manors. The peasants may run and hide in Delamar, but if a noble looked out his window and saw a sword fight between six people, then the guardians would definitely have to face a judge, and probably the executioner, as well.

This part of Delamar was getting hillier, perhaps a quick strike as soon as they crested a high hill. Garrick would have to be first to go, there simply wasn't any way to get to Orvall, quickly. Maybe he could take out Garrick without Orval even seeing. Maybe, but somehow he doubted it. As much as he dis-liked Garrick, he loathed Orval, and he felt bad about the upcoming betrayal. If he could have found a way to get to Orval first, then perhaps he could have convinced Garrick to ride away and forget them. Probably not, but he would like to have tried. Frowning, he began seriously searching the road for a suitable place.

In addition to getting hillier, there seemed to be fewer farms along this stretch of the road. Perhaps, it was because of the difficulties of farming in hilly terrain, especially when the nice flat grasslands were so close. Regardless of why there weren't many farms, the fact that this area was hilly and lacking farms only increased Derek's sense of urgency. The perfect spot had to be around here, he just had to find it.

The road was definitely sloping up now, and woods were growing on either side of the road. The woods were mainly pine trees and showed signs of having been cut back from near the road. After traveling through the grass lands for so long, the trees were a pleasant sight. If not for the upcoming fight, Derek was sure that the trees would have relaxed him. But as they would soon be fighting two swords masters, the trees did not do much for him. Looking ahead, he noticed the road curve upward and to the west. It peaked right next to an old dead chestnut tree. The leafless tree stood right next to the road, and was kind of eerie. Perhaps an omen? Derek thought. That spot seemed like the best he could hope for, wait until they crested the hill, and try to quickly and cleanly take out Garrick. And then? Then, hope and pray.

It took about ten minutes for them to reach the beginning of the hill, and then several more to reach the peak. Derek, of course, reached it first. Right before cresting the hill, he looked back once more. Everyone was in the same position, but both Kara and Trestus caught his eye and he knew that they would be ready. Still turned in his saddle, he glanced quickly at Orval. He still had his hand resting on the sword, but he was staring off in to the trees. Perhaps this would work out.

Starting to turn back around, he suddenly noticed that the droning voice of Garrick had finally stopped. Glancing at the man, he was surprised to see Garrick watching him, all the while wearing what looked like a wicked smile. Why had he stopped talking, and started staring. Did he suspect? Panic flooded Derek; his whole plan depended on taking out Garrick before Orval knew. He had been more worried about Orval finding out what was about to happen than Garrick. Was that a bad judgment on his part? Steeling himself for whatever happened, he resigned himself to the upcoming fight.

Just reaching the top of the hill, Derek turned back around, facing forward. Taking a deep breath, he tensed, preparing to strike the first blow, but he suddenly saw what was in front of him, and pulled his horse up short. He heard Kara and Garrick pull their horses up behind him.

About twenty men stood in a semi-circle, effectively blocking the road forward. Each of the men held a sword at the ready, like they had been expecting them to ride over the hill. Judging by the way they held the swords, they knew how to use them, although Derek doubted that any of the men were even close to Orval or Garrick's skill level. This was bad and getting worse by the moment.

The worst part, were the three figures sitting on horses just beyond the semi-circle of warriors. On the left-most horse sat a warrior. He had a dark complexion and would have fit right in here in Delamar. Although difficult to tell with him sitting on a horse, he seemed short but muscular. He had long black hair that reached down to his shoulders and a long hanging down mustache, a single gold hoop hung from his right ear. A sword hilt stuck up over his left shoulder, and he wore a grim pitiless smile. It was a smile that held no mirth and chilled a person to their toes. He didn't wear a cloak, but instead wore a long sleeved woolen shirt, and loosing fitting trousers.

The middle rider had to be a magician, judging by the staff resting across her pommel and several books tied to the back of her saddle. She wore a long grey cloak that covered her almost completely, except the cowl was not raised, and her face was clearly visible. She was a beautiful woman, high cheek bones, light colored skin, full lips, and long jet black hair, but her beauty was marred by an unmistakable coldness. She had an arrogant sneering look about her.

The rider on the right looked every bit the way a lord should look. He was tall, with chiseled features, and piercing blue eyes. Shoulder length blond hair framed a face that would have made any woman swoon. He wore grey trousers, and a loose fitting white shirt. A sword that was slightly curved rested on his hip. He stared at the newcomers with a piercing knowing gaze, as if measuring each of them. A sense of deadliness radiated from him.

Derek realized with a jolt, that he had seen at least two of these people before. The warrior on the left and the magic-user in the middle had been at Fort Mul-Dune, he was sure of it.

“What is this?” A voice called out from behind Derek. It took a moment for his to realize that it was Orval's voice. Derek glanced over his shoulder, not surprised in the least to see that Orval already had his sword drawn. But something else did surprise him. Even farther behind Orval, another ten or so men had emerged from the woods on either side of the road, and they were hurrying to block the road.

“Look out, behind you!” Derek called out. For a second, he thought that Orval would not look back, seeing how he so miss-trusted the guardians, but he finally did glance over his shoulder. The sight of the men running to the road was enough to make Orval swing his horse around.

Confusion reigned amongst Derek and his companions. Orval and Trestus had both swung their horses from one set of warriors to the other and then back again, seeming confused about what to do. Kara sat her horse staring at the warriors and riders on the road in front of them. She also seemed confused, or perhaps scared? It was hard to tell, but either way was understandable. Enstorion and Garrick both sat with their horses facing the way they had been traveling, while both men looked forwards and backwards. It struck Derek amusing, that of the guardians, Enstorion seemed to be the calmest during the ambush. And ambush it had to be, but how could the enemy have found them in Delamar? And why were the three riders, who had been at Mul-Dune, here?

Shaking his head to clear it, Derek pulled the reigns of his horse turning it back around the way they had come. With twenty or so warriors in front of them, and only around ten behind them, going back the way they had come was the obvious choice. “Quickly! Go back! Go back!” Derek shouted at the riders behind him.

Orval and Trestus both swung their horses to face back down the road, they both had drawn their swords. Their confusion was gone and both appeared to be ready. Enstorion calmly turned his horse, and pulled the pack horse around with him. Garrick still seemed to be the calmest of them all. Still smiling, but strangely he had not drawn his sword.

Kara, though still sat facing forward, watching the three riders. Spurring his horse directly at her, Derek managed to get her moving, as she jerked her horse to her right to avoid a collision. “Get moving!” Derek called, as he moved past her, not waiting to see if she did or not. There simply wasn't time. This ambush was planned and they had to expect the guardians to make a run for freedom.

Trestus moved his horse nearer to Orval's and glanced over his shoulder. Derek and Enstorion both were moving quickly up behind them, but Kara had just now got her horse turned and was lagging behind. Then he caught sight of Garrick, and his forehead wrinkled in confusion. What was the man doing? He sat his horse watching both the guardians and the attackers. Just watching, like a spectator watching a street play. He pushed the curiosity away, it was Garrick's call. Let him stay behind if he wanted to. Still, he hadn't expected one of the two swordsmen to freeze in the middle of a fight.

Pausing another moment to allow the others to get closer, then he turned back around facing the smaller group of attackers. Tensing, and sensing that Orval also was ready, he kicked his horse forward.

Trestus and Orval's horses both managed two steps before it happened. Both horses stumbled at exactly the same moment, stumbled and then went down sending their riders sprawling. Trestus hit the ground on his left side, the initial blow knocking the wind from him, but by far the worst part was the side of his head hitting the hard packed dirt road. His head bounced, and spots of color blossomed before his eyes. His head spinning, he fought to remain conscious.

Derek pulled his horse up as soon as he saw Trestus go down, scanning the ground; it only took a moment to see what had caused the collapse. An arrow stuck out of the left side of the neck of Trestus' horse. Time seemed to stand still as he stared at the arrow protruding from the dying horse. This ambush had been well planned, indeed. Knowing that the riders would charge back the way they had came, the attackers had placed bow-men in the trees on the sides of the road. Knowing that it was futile, he kicked his horse forward. If he could escape, then perhaps he could trail these people and free his friends.

Derek's horse didn't even make it two steps. At the first step, Derek felt two arrows slam into his horse, one of them brushing his right leg, he didn't even notice the pain of the arrow. His horse pitched after the first step, and then he too went down, sending Derek flying over the horses' head.

He flew through the air, his balance was all wrong and he knew he was going to land somewhat head down. He threw his arms out in front of him, hoping to break the fall; actually he was hoping that he wouldn't spill his brains all across the road. The sight of the ground rushing up at him was frightening, and he tried to twist his body so as not to land on his face.

He came down somewhat turned to the left, and his left arm hit the ground first. There was a loud CRACK, followed closely by a searing pain through his arm, and then his body hit the ground. The left side of his head bounced twice off of the hard packed dirt, and then his whole body went limp as unconsciousness rushed over him.

Enstorion saw the arrows hit both Trestus' and Derek's horses, and knowing that the horse couldn't possibly outrun the arrows and not wanting to take a spill like they had, he pulled his horse to a stop. An arrow flashed just in front of his horse, it almost definitely would have struck the horse if he hadn't stopped.

Remaining calm, his hand flew to a small bag that was tied to his belt. It was filled with a powder that he had used in spells only twice before. Both times it had made a powerful explosion.

“Stop!” A man's voice called out from behind him. Turning, he scanned the actions behind him. The attackers were quickly moving forward, but their swords were gone, and they carried cudgels. Obviously, they wanted to capture the guardians alive. The three riders had moved forward, and it was the blond one on the right that had spoken. The presence of those three would not have stopped him from his spell, but the sight of Kara did. She was still astride her horse with her hands hanging limply by her side. She sat ram-rod straight, with her neck stretched upwards to avoid the knife that rested along her throat.

Surprised, Enstorion took in the scene; he wasn't surprised to see Kara in trouble. She most certainly had not been alert lately, and she hadn't reacted quickly to the ambush. What surprised him was who held the knife, it was Garrick.

Garrick held Kara by the hair with his left hand, and rested the knife along her throat with his right. He wore an evil grin, and looked nothing like the man that had bored them to tears for the past week. Now, he looked like the deadly swordsman that Derek had believed him to be.

Slowly, Enstorion withdrew his empty hand from the bag at his waist. He wasn't sure that it was the right thing to do, perhaps it would be better for them all to die quickly than to be captured alive, but there was still hope as long as they lived. Something collided with the back of his head, and a blinding pain burst forth behind his eyes. He slid off of his horse, landing hard on his right side.

Groggy, Enstorion opened his eyes. Everything was blurry, and he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that he would be unconscious soon. One of the warriors carrying a cudgel stepped over him, and hazily he realized he had been hit over the head from behind.

The riders, the three that had been at Mul-Dune were still hurrying forward. The blond one on the right quickly rode up beside Garrick and pulled his right arm away from Kara. “I said stop. Did you not hear me?” He demanded, looking at Garrick. He had a deep commanding voice, one that wasn't used to be questioned.