"Went pretty well," comments Jiron.

"Yeah it did," agrees James. "Let's move to the caravan and see about the prisoners. We need to get out of here before too much longer."

Illan nods as he says, "I agree."

As everyone gets under way, James glances to Brother Willim and then nods to the thorn barrier. "Is that going to last awhile?" he asks.

"Maybe," he replies. "It's real so it could thrive here if it's the will of Asran. Though I doubt it, too dry."

Working their way around the thorn hedge, James, Illan and the rest make their way across the recent field of battle to where a score of Ceadric's riders guard those who survived their a.s.sault. When they arrive, Illan directs Ceadric to have his men gather what supplies they require before destroying the wagons.

Ceadric gives him a 'Yes, sir,' then orders two of his junior officers to take care of it.

"Take what rest you can," Illan announces to the others. "We leave in under an hour."

While the group from The Ranch dismounts and begins distributing rations among themselves for a quick meal Illan, Ceadric, Jiron and James go to where the prisoners are being held.

The men being guarded are a sad, dejected looking lot. A dozen civilian drivers plus over a score of soldiers sit in a group off to one side. "Sergeant!" Illan barks upon approaching.

One of the soldiers guarding the prisoners steps forward and asks, "Yes, sir?"

"Release the drivers," he tells him. "Get them out of here and moving on the road north."

"Yes, sir!" the sergeant replies with a salute and with the help of two other Raiders soon has the drivers free of their bonds and heading down the road. When they don't move along fast enough, some of the Raiders decide to hurry them a bit with the broad side of their swords.

Illan turns to the remaining soldiers and asks, "Who here understands me?"

The prisoners return blank expressions, all that is except one. A soldier in the center of the group hesitantly says in heavily accented northern, "I can."

"You know who I am?" he asks.

"You are the Death Hawk," he replies, venom dripping from his words.

"Death Hawk?" James asks as he turns to Illan.

"That's the name they gave me," he says then turns back to their prisoner. A look of stony defiance is set in his face as he stares back to him. "What can you tell me of the defenses at Al-Zynn?" At this time one of the two bands of riders that had set out after the fleeing riders returns.

The soldier simply stares back in silence.

The leader of the band comes to a stop before Illan, snaps him a salute then says, "Got 'em all."

"Excellent," Illan tells him. "Have your men stand down until we leave."

"Yes, sir," the rider replies. He gives Illan another salute before he and his riders move to the pack horses to retrieve some food and drink.

Turning back to the prisoner, he asks, "Now, what do you know of Al-Zynn?"

"I'm not telling you anything!" the soldier states defiantly. "Though it's sure to mean my death, I will never help one who so ravaged the Empire."

"Al-Zynn?" Jiron asks Ceadric.

"Al-Zynn is a major city that holds the Empire's stockpile of weapons and supplies for its northern armies," he explains. "During our last campaign here, we planned on razing it to the ground. But before we could get close enough, the Empire brought in too many forces to defend it and we had to go elsewhere. At the time we didn't realize it but that marked the beginning of our retreat from the Empire."

Nodding over to Illan, he adds, "The fact that he wasn't able to take it has gnawed at him since then. He means to head there and take it before they're able to bring in sufficient forces to stop us."

Jiron glances over to James who nods in agreement.

At this time the second band of Raiders shows up from their pursuit of the fleeing Empire riders. The lead rider comes forward at a gallop and says, "Black Hawk! A force of over four score riders may be on the way."

"What happened?" he asks.

"We gave chase and took down all but half a score when another force appeared. Those we were chasing joined up with them so we returned as fast as we could to give you the news. There were too many for us to effectively deal with."

"Very well," he says. To Ceadric Illan says, "Get ready to ride." After a brief glance to James, he adds, "And kill the prisoners."

"Yes, sir," Ceadric says then signals several soldiers to aid him as he draws a knife and begins slitting their prisoner's throats. The first one he comes to is the man who they were questioning. Taking the prisoner's hair in one hand, he pulls back the head and cuts his throat before moving on to the next one.

"We're leaving!" Illan hollers, loud enough to be heard by everyone. "Mount up!"

It takes but a moment for everyone to get in the saddle and when all are ready, Illan leads them with all speed southward.

He was sure he was a dead man when his hair had been pulled back and saw the glint of the knife out of the corner of his eye. Somehow the knife failed to penetrate his throat and missed the jugular. Still bleeding from the cut encircling his throat, the soldier feigns death as Black Hawk and his men ride away.

When the sound of their horses begins to fade away in the distance, he rises to a sitting position and glances around at his comrades. None but he remains alive. Tearing a strip of cloth from the shirt of a dead friend lying nearby, he binds it around his neck to stem the flow of blood from the thankfully shallow cut.

The caravan he was escorting had been on the way to resupply those fighting the Kirkens. They will now be sorely pressed to remain effective without the much needed supplies. Getting to his feet, he stumbles among the bodies in a futile search for another survivor but only manages to reaffirm what he already knew to be true, he alone survived.

Just after he finishes checking the bodies of his comrades, the sound of approaching horses alert him that others are approaching. At first afraid that more of Black Hawk's men were nearing, he lies down and pretends to be another of the dead. But when the riders draw closer he sees they are from the Empire. Returning to his feet he waves them down.

"What happened here?" the commander in charge of the riders asks. Among those riding behind him, the soldier notices several riders who had been among those guarding the caravan.

"They slew everyone," he explains. "Somehow, the man who cut me did a poor job." He lowers the cloth to show the commander his wound.

"How many were there?" the commander asks after taking in the scene.

"Hundreds," replies the soldier. "But commander!"

The tone in the soldier's voice causes the commander to turn his attention once more upon him. "Yes?"

"They are planning to take Al-Zynn!"

"Tell me everything," he commands.

Chapter Thirteen.

Leaving the scene of carnage behind them, they head fairly due south as fast as the horses can carry them. Illan glances over to James where he's checking his mirror and asks, "What are they doing?"

Glancing up from the mirror, he says, "They just reached the dead soldiers. The one we left alive is talking to the commander."

"Think they'll take the bait?" Jiron asks.

"We were pretty convincing," Ceadric says.

"Thought you had actually cut his throat for a moment," James tells him.

"So did I," he admits. "Then I saw him move his hand up to his throat and apply pressure to stop the blood flow while attempting to appear like he was dead."

James returns his gaze to the mirror then says, "Looks like they did." He glances to Illan and adds, "Riders are moving at breakneck speed in all directions. The majority are heading south, just to the east of us."

"Makes sense," Illan says with a nod. "That's the general direction of Al-Zynn."

"We'll have everyone after us in no time," comments Ceadric.

"That's what we wanted," states James. He hated to kill those soldiers in that fashion but as Illan explained to him, there was no one to spare to escort them back. No sense letting go soldiers who will only try to kill them later on.

"With any luck all their forces will converge on Al-Zynn," Illan says.

"Would make things easier, that's for sure," Jiron says.

While they ride, James periodically checks his mirror for any hostiles ahead which they may have to deal with. The area to the south is clear for the moment. Moving the image back to the force behind them, he finds several enemy scouts keeping an eye on them. Scrolling even further to the north, he sees the force that had been heading toward Al-Zynn now turned to follow them. The scouts must have reported their position and the army moved to follow.

"They've turned to follow us," he says, "and are keeping their distance."

"I would too if I were in their position," Illan states. "They don't have the numbers to take us on. We don't have much to worry about unless they are joined by another force."

"Should we attack them?" asks Jiron.

Shaking his head, Illan says, "No. They're cavalry and would just run away."

"Then what should we do?" he asks.

"Just as we are," replies Illan. "Let them follow and think we are oblivious to the fact they are there." Shrugging, he adds, "Nothing else to do I'm afraid."

None like the fact of enemy soldiers following them, but as Illan said, what can they do about it? James keeps a watch on the pursuing force the rest of the day, worried they may try something. But his worries are for naught as the enemy force continues to maintain a discreet distance.

The sun droops to the horizon with the coming of night and James announces that other than the force following them, there are no others close enough to pose a threat. Illan calls a halt and they set up camp.

They keep a wary eye on the force behind them and through the mirror see that they too have set up camp. Once the tents are up and the fires built, James calls a meeting of the leaders to fill them in on just what they are planning to do.

Once they've gathered together, he says, "We've done well so far." Glancing around the group, he can see their grins and nods of agreement. "Tomorrow we set a moderate pace somewhat directly toward Al-Zynn, continuing to act in the manner we have thus far, destroying caravans, attacking small forces should the opportunity present itself. Though since riders were dispatched by the force behind us and are now to the south of us, possible encounters we can win are going to disappear as word of our approach spreads."

"But if we don't set a fast pace aren't we likely to face even more forces at Al-Zynn?" asks Brother Willim.

James turns to him with a grin and says, "We're not going to Al-Zynn. We simply want them to believe that we are so they will move all their forces to its defense."

He returns James' gaze with a confused one of his own. "Then where are we going?" he asks.

"Korazan," James replies. "From the intelligence gathered by Lord Pytherian's agents, there's a large stockpile of supplies and weapons there."

"Not to mention hundreds if not thousands of possible recruits in the fight with the Empire," states Miko from where he sits by the tent flap. When Brother Willim appears to not understand he says, "The slaves."

His head nods as understanding dawns on him.

"We have never intended to face the brunt of their forces," explains James. "We are simply here to create unrest, do some damage so they will pull their forces from Madoc in an attempt to get rid of us."

"But there will be very few slaves who know how to fight," Brother Willim says.

Miko nods his head and says, "True. But you don't need much skill to wield a crossbow, the preferred weapon of slavers. You have a couple hundred bolts flying toward a ma.s.s of soldiers and no matter how inept the crossbowmen are, it's bound to be devastating."

"Korazan is a big city," Illan says, drawing every eye to him. "We aren't necessarily planning on taking it, just the slaver compound on the outskirts. If the opportunity presents itself, we may do more but that will be determined when we get there."

Delia glances from Jiron and James. "You both have been planning this since we were last there haven't you?" she asks.

"Slavery is abhorrent," James replies. "And yes, when I first thought to enter the Empire to draw their forces back to the Empire, I wanted to make a stop there to free what slaves I could."

"They deserve no mercy!" blurts out Miko who lived as a slave for a time. The horrors he witnessed during his slavery still haunt him at times.

"How can one who bears the Star say that?" questions Brother Willim. "We priests are here to serve men, not kill them."

Miko turns his attention to him and says, "Be that as it may, no slaver should ever be allowed to live and propagate their trade." He glares at Brother Willim a moment then continues. "Besides, I'm not a priest in the strictest sense of the word and I have no compunction whatsoever about the death of a slaver." Ever since he first came to possess the Star, his vocabulary has changed slightly. Words he never before used have begun to creep in.

Brother Willim gazes into his eyes a moment and then shakes his head sadly.

"I concur," adds Jiron. His sister Tersa had been a slave for a time and to him that deserves some payback.

"Where do we go after Korazan?" Delia asks.

James glances to Illan and then says, "Illan will take the slaves and his Raiders back to Madoc. The rest of us will proceed a little further into the Empire. With any luck we'll draw all the magical types after us, leaving only the ordinary soldiery for Illan to contend with."

"Where are we going?" she asks.

"I'll tell you that once we split with Illan," he says. "Too many things may happen between here and there and I wouldn't want one of us to be captured and interrogated." When he sees the worry in her eyes, he adds, "Don't worry, that isn't likely to happen."

"I hope not," she says, worried.

"The force behind us seems content merely to follow along behind us," Illan states. Then to Ceadric he says, "Be sure to post extra sentries through the night. We don't want to be taken by surprise."

"Already done," he replies.

"Good," says Illan.