Raiding party 9

Chapter 65

Blundering In the dark Carley called a halt, after hours of hiking reskeme was exhausted and flopped to the ground. His legs throbbed as he shook in exhaustion gasping for breath. Reskeme said," how much longer?" Carleys ragged breathing drifted to his ear gasping she said," until until we catch up with the army"

Reskeme had his doubts but was willing to push forward. Carley said," if the enemy is sneaking behind us they will be able to crush the fortress and attack the nearest cities and towns. On the other hand, if they are trying to flank our army we need to prepare for the assault or we will be butchered."

Reskemes heart raced, he felt frantic as he realized ardivar was back in eagles fortress the crafty demon would probably be fine but it still made him shiver thinking the familiar might die. He frowned to himself, the damned demon would probably hiss in laughter at him if it knew he was concerned for its wellbeing.

Taking deep drinks of water he tilted his head back draining the remaining liquid in his water skin. He gasped and choked, he coughed out the water spitting the water from his lungs. Coughing reskeme cleared his throat before clambering to his feet.

After Carley and dusty rose to their feet Carley dug out a small belt knife and an odd jagged rock before she struck them together sending sparks shimmering in the dark. She struck again and again each shower of sparks lighting the clearing. Carley said," I would normally not allow a torch but if we walk down this steep bank in the dark one of us will break our necks."

She struck again and the small torch flickered to a flame exposing their surrounding in detail. He squinted, his eyes watered and burned for a moment before settling and returning to normal.

They slowly hiked down the steep mountain face, Carley kept a slow pace even with the torch. Reskeme didn't mind, he wanted to get word to the commander but it could wait for them to get to the valley below.

Another hour of slow descent and they reached the forest floor the steep grade levelling out to a more even surface. They put out the torch and went to the middle of the valley. Once they found the path of the army it was only a matter of catching up. The rush of water and the clatter of feet on hard dirt filled the night air.

All reskeme wanted to do was lay down and sleep, yawning he wiped his eyes, the path stood out perfectly, every rock and stick in outlined and defined even in the dark. Reskeme was in the lead and caught dusty out of the corner of his eye as he trips on a big rock and stumbles. smiling reskeme put his arms behind his head and hummed to himself. He could tell his squadmates didn't share his ability to see well in the dark, just as dusty had Carley would occasionally stumble.

Reskeme was starting to think he was fortunate to be a demon, he didn't like his appearance but he loved seeing in the dark, after all, it was dark almost half of the year. Walking at a brisk pace Reskeme finally picked out the thunder of rushing water after almost an hour walking on the road. the steep hill was much less difficult to traverse after the army passed, He wondered at that, the human army left a trail that even a moronic rat could follow.

on the air Reskeme caught the haunting melody of a Darva howling down the valley, the clatter and rattle of the trees drowned it out settling to a soft note. He shivered, it must have just been the wind or a trick of his tired mind.

He pushed aside his wandering thoughts, the thunder of the falls slowly faded as he walked across the open clearing and into the trees. Under the trees, Carley and dusty stayed close as they could only follow reskeme and hope he could see where he was going. Pesky humans, he guessed being a demon did have its perks, Maybe he didn't need to find a way to remove this curse, after all, if he did he wouldn't be able to see anymore in the dark.

He paused when he came to the realization he might lose his magic, shaking his head wildly reskeme decided that being a demon might not be the worst thing, it wasn't so bad if he kept his illusion amulet on. His wandering thoughts came to a crashing halt when a stern voice shouted "Halt! don't move or we will shoot." Reskeme froze the faint rustle of bushes and the man's stern voice held him still.

Dusty said," why are you stopping us? we clearly aren't Darvan scum." Carley said," don't provoke them Dusty they are clearly the rear guard." The Stern voice said," well we don't have all night, state your business or piss off!" Reskeme took in long breaths, he wanted to rest but he needed to wait for the sergeant to speak, as a private he was told to keep his mouth shut and listen.

Carley said," I'm Sergent Carley, this is my squad, we were sent by Commander Hernair to scout the northern valley, we have an urgent report." The man's tone changed to interest as he said," don't move I'm going to light a lamp and check you out." Reskeme shielded his eyes as a small lamp was struck and a tall man with a coal-blackened face strolled from the forest.

The man glanced over them and seeing nothing amiss waved them onwards, Carley asked," why the caution?" The soldier said," we have been seeing deserters, a recent run-in with a darvan ambush killed 9 of us and injured at least 20 more." "Not to mention the damned howling, the damned things have been trying to sneak past the watch and throw javelins at our soldiers all night."

Carley said," thanks for the news, we must report to the commander." The soldier said," what news do you have?" She said," not good, I don't dare give you the news without the commanders' permission, I could be in the shit." The soldier scowled but nodded his head, he was clearly annoyed but the chain of command couldn't be ignored.

Reskemes spears clanked as he walked past the rear guard, the man blew out his light and walked back into his hiding spot. Reskeme couldn't even see him hiding in the bush, his vision wasn't good enough to pick out the man's frame unless he knew right where to look. Crinkling his brow reskeme scanned the area as they passed through the hidden gauntlet, these soldiers were good, even in the dark they hid well blending in with their surroundings.

Reskeme grumbled, his dragging feet feeling like lead as the tents of the army came into sight through the trees, his eyes felt like they were weighed down by stale bread and his legs wobbled from the long hike. Judging by the moon in the sky he guessed it was 2 hours past midnight. In a haze he followed Carley not even caring about the remaining picket line, That's what Carley was for after all. He stumbled to a soft looking tree as Carley left to deliver the report to the commander.

He lay under the tree and wrapped his cloak around himself falling asleep as soon as his head hit the soft roots. Reskeme felt his side being stabbed by something pointy, rolling over he turned away wrapping his cloak tighter. His breath left him as something solid hit his side removing all of the breath from his chest and none too gently.

Opening his eyes and grasping his chest Reskeme stares down at a rock the size of his fist laying by his chest. Glancing up he stares into the eyes of a man in a long robe, the details of the man's face coming into focus as his eyes adjusted to the dark. Reskeme said," Master Kellar, why did you have to do that?" Kellar said," we are going, get up or you will be left to the enemy."

Reskeme said," are we still attacking the enemy?" Kellar scoffed, He said," no we are going to try and escape the enemy before they can surround us, If the reports are right there is a large force sneaking behind us to destroy the fortress and enter through our lines." Kellar sounded worried he said," we may already be surrounded they are being much too quiet for my liking, a force of over 200 was spotted moving down the valley to cut us off.

Reskeme clambered to his feed and said," isn't that what we wanted?' Kellar sighed He said," we wanted to engage in battle, yes but the second army of darva was unexpected, those crafty basterds pulled one over on us." Reskeme said," I have seen them travel, there is no way we can outmarch them."

The bustle of the camp came to his ears he turned to see the soldiers already packed and moving, the army retreating in the black of the night back the way they had come. His drowsiness fell from the forefront of his mind, his body popped and he groaned as he stretched his arms over his head. Kellar turned and reskeme felt a shiver as a howl tore through the night sky behind the retreating army. His heart quickened and fear seeped in as a howl on the other end of the valley answered cutting the night with its haunting note.