Herschel.
Panic tried to set in as he squeezed himself down the familiar tunnel, following Darian. They burst into the bunkers hidden along the way, finding them all empty. It was almost as though the place was deserted…
They paused to clear a weaponry, and Herschel slipped into the room. The room was empty, no guards. He scanned the racks. They were empty… He hurried around them to the armor racks. The men’s armor was gone, yet the horse armor remained.
“They know we’re coming.” Herschel whispered, heart filled with dread. That got the other warriors’ attention.
“What?” The group leader asked.
Herschel turned around, heart hammering. “They know we’re coming! Their weapons are gone, but horse armor remains. They didn’t just desert the place, they wouldn’t have left that behind!”
Now everyone was shuffling around, panic quickly forming. “We need to get out of here!”
“-need to warn the others-”
“-How could they-”
“Everyone just stop!” The leader ordered, hands raised to get their attention. Everyone quieted down, looking to him for guidance.
“We are not going to panic. We need to keep moving ahead. There is a total of eighty warriors, counting Thaddias’s men, we should be fine. Now until we know we’re in trouble, we can’t just call it off. They shouldn’t know where we’re attacking from, or our numbers, so we still have the element of surprise.”
Herschel glanced around, finding the others beginning to nod. How can they believe that? If they figured out that we’re coming, how hard would it be for them to figure out everything else?
He waited until they were moving again, then turned to Darian. He spoke in a low whisper. “Is he serious? If they know we’re coming-” Suddenly his master’s hand was covering his mouth, silencing him.
Darian leaned close to his ear. “There must be something else at play here, our leader would never do something like this otherwise. Trust him.”
Herschel nodded, and was released. Something else at play? If that’s true, then Caspian must have been expecting trouble. Why would he… A thought hit him, turning his stomach. He expected to be betrayed. But by who? Me? He swallowed nervously. Well I didn’t, so who did? The only other person he knew had connections to the barbarians was Tamar, but that didn’t make sense… Why would she betray them?
* * *