The Forest at the Edge of the World(154)
Six more.
---
“To the west! The west!” the man whispered hurriedly as he came upon three other companions. “He’s taken down five, chased one to the soldiers.”
Two of the men in white and gray mottled clothing looked at each other in surprise.
“Impressive,” one of them said, “but he’ll never get everyone.”
“Agreed,” said another. “It’s time. The rest should already be on the move.”
The three other men nodded, stood up, and ran towards the west.
---
Perrin had been walking for ten minutes now, but saw no one else. He kept fighting down the fear that they’d slipped past him and were on his way to his house. But there were soldiers there, too, walking in quiet patrols through the neighborhoods. Another four would be dispatched to watch over his home specifically. Karna would have understood the three short whistles telling him the Guarders were in the forest, and this was not, repeat—not an exercise.
He nocked another arrow and held up the bow, stepping past boulders and staring into dark shadows.
---
They were in the clear, and they knew it. While the large man in white was wrestling one of their own in a ravine, their group of four in black moved above them, heading east before they turned south.
They still couldn’t understand where the man like snow had come from, but that didn’t matter. There was a mission to accomplish.
That’s why they each stopped short, staring in astonishment at what blocked their path.
“What . . . what . . .” one of them stammered, but the other three had already turned and were running, chased by what appeared to be a mysterious hoard of men, dressed in gray and white.
They all ran west.
---
Perrin continued to step cautiously, looking down the shaft of his arrow. He twisted and strained to hear any sound. He’d already pushed back his furry hood and slipped the knitted cap up off his ears. Some time ago he lost Mahrree’s white scarf, but she never wore it and wouldn’t miss it. He was filled with a raging heat so strong he was surprised the snow didn’t melt around him.
Six more.
They could be anywhere, within miles of his position. The longer he walked the more helpless he felt. They were gone, maybe even snuck past Neeks and Karna and the ninety soldiers patrolling between here and his home. All it would take was one determined, fierce man.
Mahrree better have put those iron bars back up in the windows. He’d have some angry words with Hycymum in the morning if—
Sure.
If a Guarder made it through, and the window and door reinforcements weren’t in place, and his family were dead, yelling at his mother-in-law would be the first thing he’d do.
He shook that off, along with the thought that he should have run home and checked the windows and doors himself. All he could do now was watch, listen, pray, and hope that—
He blinked, and blinked again.
Two more men in black, running parallel to his position, were about to skirt the trees below him. He didn’t wait for the moment, but released the arrow. A shout of agony told him he hit his target, but only wounded him.
“Go, go!” shouted the downed man, and Perrin quickly grabbed another arrow.
He let that one fly blindly, and it sailed without striking anything. Scanning the area for the unseen companion, he snagged another arrow out of his quiver.
A sound behind him spun him around. It was the other man in black running erratically, as if unsure whether to pursue his partner’s attacker or head towards the village. Perrin ended his wondering with an arrow to his belly. A second arrow quickly followed to put him out of his misery.
“Eight!” Perrin whispered in momentary triumph, then looked back up to the man he had injured. Seeing no more movement, he jogged over to the site and noticed the man was obviously dead. Perrin stepped closer and saw where the arrow penetrated his body. Oddly, it was protruding out of his thigh—not a life-threatening hit.
Baffled, Perrin pushed over the man with his boot. When he saw his chest, he jumped back.
The man in black was lying in a fresh pool of blood, stemming from a chest wound.
He’d been stabbed.
---
Grandpy Neeks was right on top of the black shadow as he bolted from the forest. Quite literally on top of him. His horse had been acting skittish, and when the two figures in black broke in a dead run from the trees, Grandpy’s mare reared and threw the master sergeant right on to the Guarder, sending them both sprawling into the snowy field.
Neeks acted as quickly as the startled Guarder. He had his long knife out from his boot slightly faster than the Guarder pulled his jagged dagger. Although Grandpy earned a nicked cheek and a gash in his arm, half a minute later the man in black was bleeding from an incurable throat injury.