Cursed: Traitor's Trail

Chapter 20 Part 1

Jaob crouched over the small undulations on the ground. With his forefinger, he traced the fine indent that marked the passage of rodent feet, many rodent feet. Some of the tracks, especially toward the edge of the trail, looked older, formed perhaps a day or two ago, their edges blown in. But others were fresh. The ones he looked at in particular, he even picked out the tiny imprints from the animal's claws. They were fresh, but elongated, as though the mice that made them scurried at their fastest speed.Jaob frowned. Lon was right. The Magi definitely passed in this direction. But was it the Magi alone, or did they have unwanted company? It was impossible to tell who the riders were from the tracks. Bane might be able to do it, but Bane had disappeared two days ago in an attempt to help at New Hope.Habit forced him to glance at the sky again, but it was empty, no dark form glided over the slopes to join them. He should have returned by now, and Jaob wished that he had, especially because he didn't know what he trailed. Two groups of his people? Or one group being driven by enemies? Worse, what if it was a group of Magi captured by the king's men?"If the king's army follows them, they might need our aid," Lon said, following his line of thought. He stood to the side, having studied the trail already. He wore, again, his extensive blade collection. Why did one man need so many? It wasn't as if he could use them all at the same time. Bane only carried his sword and a dagger. Jaob sighed, Bane was occupying too many of his thoughts."Yes, there is no choice, we must move forward. I just wish we knew what we rode into."Lon nodded. "And where the other Magi are, even if both of these sets are our people, not enough have passed through here to account for all of New Hope."Jaob looked at the trail again. They followed it for half a day without coming across anyone, friend or foe. Was there another group behind them? Some that had been slowed for one reason or another? The whole situation, his entire life, had become a series of disasters."What is that?" Lon pointed out to the horizon to the west. Jaob should have known better than to get his hopes up. He turned, half expecting Bane to come soaring over the rise on his demon. The man might be able to tell him what in the demon pit was going on.What he found was an ominous line of soldiers in gleaming armor. The sun lowered behind them, making it difficult to see anything except their silhouettes. This time, the warriors did not seem odd...at least not in the same manner as the illusion. They did appear to consist of a number of injured men. A few leaned to compensate for leg splints and more than one arm was in a sling. It was likely his imagination, but to him, they looked angry as demon spit."It looks as if they encountered some trouble," Lon noted."Yes. We had best get back to the others.""If so many are weakened, why do they not return to the king defeated? Why risk death like this?"Jaob frowned. There was a lot he might say to that. "The king is not overly tolerant of failure," he said, but he couldn't keep the bitter note from entering his voice. "Likely this is the most pleasant death they face.""And will we give it to them?" Lon turned and studied the force again; he fingered a blade at his side.Jaob warred with indecision. They had battled the villagers for their persistence. These king's warriors were even less likely to give up. If what he knew of Theron applied to how the king ran his army, they would fight to get the Magi against any odds.He did not like the thought of what would effectively be a second slaughter. Such decisions might be required of a leader, but he still struggled with the guilt of the last conflict. Besides, they did not have time for a battle of desperation. Ending the villagers took far longer than he guessed, with the result that he and the men were still searching for their people two days later when they might have found them much sooner.Found them and protected them. He glanced at the trail again. If another unit of the king's army followed the evacuees, the Magi would need help. They couldn't waste their strength with this.Unfortunately the king's men were approaching despite Jaob's internal protests.The men had spotted the Magi and descended their hill quickly. Their black forms left the glare of the sun to become highlighted by the hill of dust behind them, blades unsheathed, prepared to win or lose with grim determination."There is not time for this battle, not if one of these," Jaob gestured to the sets of mouse-prints before him, "belongs to another unit. We cannot stay here while whatever is left of our people get run down.""I doubt they will listen to your reason." Lon cocked his head toward the king's men."They do not have to, but you do." Lon looked at him curiously. "I will use my powers to stop their progress and erase the trail of our people, but I will need you to guide my mount, and lead the men in the right direction."Lon blinked away his surprise. "Of course," he said, at last."Let's get to the mounts then. There is about to be a violent storm in this area."