Chapter 37 Declan #2
It took the better part of the afternoon and half of the next day to reach the station. By the time the stilted shack came into view, the sun was setting over mountains that were already well shaded, and we could barely make it out when I held up a fist.
I motioned to Ayden, who circled wide to the opposite side of the building. I waited another moment before whispering to Keelan, “Something’s not right. There should be a fire going, and those look like arrows in the ground over there.”
I pointed to the ground twenty yards from the base of the station.
“Keep everyone here until I come back,” I whispered before creeping forward.
I edged toward the base of the station and climbed the ladder. Ayden took up a position at the ladder’s base, an arrow nocked and ready.
The angry buzz of flies greeted me as I stepped inside. The scent of rotten meat nearly made me gag. I wrapped my cloak about my mouth and nose before stepping fully into the room.
It was empty and eerily quiet.
The hearth was dark and cold.
Nothing stirred.
I crept toward the center of the room.
A Ranger lay sprawled face down on the floor in a pool of dried blood.
One arrow had pierced his neck, its head sticking completely out the other side.
Another was lodged in his upper chest near his shoulder.
The glass of the one window was shattered, and shards were scattered everywhere.
The Ranger’s bow had fallen by the window and was now lodged behind a rickety desk.
Furniture was overturned, and the two lamps used to light the cabin had been smashed.
I stepped out and said, “Broken arrow,” the code phrase for a fallen Ranger.
Ayden’s eyes widened, then closed. I knew he spoke silent words of peace for the fallen man’s passing; still, his thoughtful moment of reflection in the midst of such a scene surprised me.
I motioned for the others to join us.
Despite their experience, Keelan, Sil, and Ridley flinched at the scene. Atikus remained by the door.
“No sign of Tiana?” Keelan asked as he surveyed the scene with his inspector’s eye.
“No. Looks like somebody put up a pretty good struggle, though,” I said.
“His name”—Ayden nodded at the fallen Ranger—“was Donny.”
“I’m sorry.” Keelan winced. “I didn’t mean—”
“Right.” I started toward the door. “Keelan, investigations are your thing. Why don’t I go look for some firewood while you inspect, see if you can figure anything out? Atikus, would you send word to HQ that we lost Donovan Wilk and ask for a team to come recover his body? He has friends down there.
They’ll want him burned or buried. Ayden, would you come with me, please?”
Ayden and I made our way down the ladder, then began walking deliberate circles around the station, looking for anything that might aid our search.
A quarter hour later, Ayden froze near the edge of the clearing and motioned for me to join him.
With one glance, I turned and sprinted back to the ladder.
“Keelan, bring your tracker. We found their trail,” I said through labored breaths. “Let’s go, now!”
Keelan made for the door, calling over his shoulder, “Ridley, pick up where Sil left off. Sil, you’re with us. Atikus, with your memory, can you take a snapshot of the room, all the details?”
“Of course. My Gift will pick up everything in sight. Anything under an item or covered up won’t get captured, though,” Atikus said.
“Do it, then join us outside.”
Keelan and Sil descended the ladder and strode across the clearing to where I kneeled about ten paces from the northeastern side of the station, staring at something on the ground.
“Sil, come look at this.” I pointed. “Looks like they were in a hurry—or struggling with your Healer.”
Sil studied the area, looking from different angles. Saying nothing, she walked into the woods, focusing intently on debris before taking each next step.
“Behind you,” Ayden said, following her with his bow nocked.
After twenty minutes, they returned to the group.
Sil reported, “Their trail is pretty obvious. They were hurrying through the woods without any care of hiding it. There are three sets of footprints in places, sometimes only two with long stretches of bent and broken twigs, indicating they were dragging the third. About thirty paces in,
the group stopped and rested. There are a few flattened places in the foliage where they made their camp. From that point, there are only two sets of prints and no more drag marks. They probably carried her the rest of the way.”
She looked to Keelan. “Sir, they’re headed for the border, I’d guess to Huntcliff. The main road is just over that rise in front of us. It’s weird, though. They’ll have to take a kidnapped girl through a border checkpoint without raising suspicion.”
“Actually, it makes sense,” I said. “Their magic masked the Healer’s presence from me when I stopped them.
I couldn’t see or hear her at all, and you claim she was right in front of me.
That same magic might be what they’re counting on to get them into the Kingdom without trouble.
Any search will turn up empty, confirming whatever the Kingdom soldiers are led to believe.
“Our biggest problem is beyond the border. Once they get through Huntcliff, they could go anywhere. The Kingdom is huge; we’ll likely lose them for good.”
“We have to try. Dec, can I speak with you a moment?” Keelan placed a hand on my shoulder and steered me some distance from the others. “Is there a way into the Kingdom other than through the pass at Huntcliff?”
“There are several, but getting to those entry points will be a problem. Other than the road on the pass, the mountains are pretty steep. Getting over them and through to the other side is dangerous, even for the best climbers. Ayden nearly broke a leg on Black Bluff last summer.
If the Kingdom really is up to something, I bet they’ll have patrols all over the base of the mountains. All of our reports from their side went dark months ago, and we have no actual intelligence to help with a plan.”
Keelan’s eyes narrowed, as if he spotted movement in the distant forest, past the road. After a heartbeat, he whispered urgently, “Everyone down.”
We all dropped, except Atikus, who cocked his head at Keelan, not comprehending the sudden change.
“Atikus, get down. Now!” Keelan whispered. “Man in a Kingdom military uniform moving through the woods. He’s scanning back and forth, bow in hand, nocked.”
I signaled for the group to lie flat and not move as I edged carefully to the top of the rise. What I saw made my heart catch. I crawled back, again sending Ayden in a different direction, then signaled for the others to follow in silence.
When we were back in the clearing beneath the Rangers’ Station, I whispered, “Keelan, the scout you saw in the woods was one of several I could see from the ridge, all walking in a line about a hundred paces apart from each other heading southwest toward Grove’s Pass.
I couldn’t see anyone on the road, but the Kingdom isn’t scouting the area for the fun of it. We need to warn the Captain.”
“What are they up to?” Keelan asked no one in particular.
“We’ve had troubling intelligence of movement on their side of the border. Traders, back when they could actually get through, described formations of tents popping up in the fields around Huntcliff. We initially thought they were just reinforcing their border or running some sort of exercise,
but those scout movements look offensive. I’d wager they’re testing our defenses, at least trying to identify what we have out here.”
“Atikus, can you send word to the Captain-Commander, Arch Mage, and Declan’s Captain right now?” Keelan asked. “Whatever’s going on, they need to know.”
“Of course. It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.” Atikus disappeared into the station.
I turned to the others. “We need to learn if this really is the start of a military operation. After so many years of peace, we barely have a standing army.”
Sil spoke up for the first time since they spotted the incoming army. “Lieutenant, if we can get anywhere near a bird or some other animal, I may be able to help without putting any of us in direct danger.”
“Your mountain, your call,” Keelan said to me.
I nodded. “It’s a good idea, but I suggest we abandon this station as quickly as possible. The scouts will find it before too long, and I wouldn’t bet on a friendly meeting. Our best advantage right now is that they don’t know we’re here.
“Kee, we need to climb. They won’t be looking on the mountaintops once they’ve cleared the lower areas around the road, and the height would help with finding the birds Sil needs. We’ll still need to be careful to stay out of sight. They may not be looking up,
but movement is easy to spot up there where the trees thin out.”
As Atikus emerged from the station, Ayden returned. His breathing was heavy as he spoke. “More scouts walking in pairs, bows at the ready. They’re searching or testing. I am not sure which, likely both.”
“We need to move, now,” I said. “We need speed and silence, two things the mountains rarely offer, especially this time of year. If we get split up, stick with either Ayden or me. We’ll be able to find the others. Do not go on your own.”
The initial hour of the trek passed easily but grew intense as we started our steep ascent to the top. Atikus’s breathing became labored, forcing us to stop and rest frequently.
Four hours later, we stood about two hundred paces from the peak of the neighboring mountain.
We hadn’t seen another patrol for some time, allowing everyone to relax a bit.
The mountain on which we stood was one of the shortest in the range, but the view was still breathtaking.
As far as we could see, emerald mingled with flashes of gold and orange.
Peaks of the taller surrounding mountains sported snowy caps and were shrouded in a mist that shimmered with shades of dusky purple and gray.
Keelan smiled as he sucked in the crisp air. A white plume billowed from his lips as he exhaled.