Last week in Chapter Eleven of my Very First Novel, our heroes had nearly reached the city of Mirk when they came under attack by an even larger patrol of Tara Raiders! Again! Is this a purely random coincidence or could this be a pattern, a…series of unfortunate events? (Trust me, that won’t be the only incredibly obvious allusion you’ll read today). To find out, read on!
To Sean, charging the ridge alongside Conrad, it was as if time had shifted into slow motion. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lucy on the left firing like mad into the patrol. On the other side, Dwayne was twirling his slings like a drum major's baton. Sean heard a fierce shriek from up ahead. as Luther dropped upon the patrol. Sean found himself scrambling up the ridge, just behind Shenan, who had a mad light in his eyes as he anticipated battle. Then, the four were storming the ridge head-on closed in battle with the Tara Raider patrol!
Sean was surprised by how distracted and unprepared the patrol seemed to be for their assault. Later it would come to him that, like in The Last Battle when Tirian had Jill Pole attack from the left and Farsight from the right while he attacked the center of the Calormene force, Conrad's tactic of having Lucy attack from the left, Dwayne from the right, and Luther from behind had helped his group enormously. Very few soldiers can successfully defend against a charge from the front if they are being shot at on the right and left and attacked by a giant white owl from behind. (Not that many other soldiers besides in Sirilan are attacked by giant white owls from any direction)
During the days of their journey to Mirk, Dwayne had given the three kids a lot of training with their new weapons. Sean had become quite skilled in the use of his rapier. But now, all of that meticulous training fled out of Sean's mind. He closed his eyes and slashed wildly with his blade, hoping that none of his friends was in the way.
Alexan and Shenan stood back-to-back, Shenan using quick, hard, curving strokes with his scimitar, and Alexan weaving deadly patterns in the air with his rapier, up, down, and sideways, like a skilled artist wielding his brush. Dwayne had thundered in on the right, and was now lashing out hard with his powerful fists, sending Tara Raiders flying like paper dolls in the breeze. Luther was striking hard and fast, slashing and ripping at the Tara Raiders with beak and talon, then darting away and coming back to the attack from another angle.
Lucy was in trouble. She had hrought down one Tara Raider and wounded two others with her arrows, then. when Conrad's group closed with the patrol, she had whipped out the keen dagger and rushed into the fray. She tried to fight her way to the rest of the group, but she was confronted by two snarling Tara Raiders who wielded long spears. The long, deadly metal-tipped poles far outreached her small dagger. As they rushed her, Lucy neatly sidestepped, then brought her dagger down hard on one of the spears. The razor sharp blade cut a deep notch into the thick wood of the spear, but the Tara Raider gave a quick twist to his spear and the shining dagger went flying into the air. Lucy suddenly found herself unarmed, except for her bow and arrows She started to reach behind her to where she had strung her bow across her back, but the Tara Raider lashed out with his spear and neatly tripped Lucy. She lay flat on her back, as the second Tara Raider, a lean, dark wolf, advanced menacingly, brandishing his deadly spear. The wolf raised the spear high over Lucy.
lust as the wolf started to bring it down, Conrad came rushing in! He struck hard at the spear as it came down, slicing it clean in half with one mighty blow. As the wolf turned on Conrad, brandishing his claws and snarling viciously, Conrad raised his sword and attacked. For a moment, everything seemed a blur to Conrad, a blur of dark fur, slashing claws, flashing sword, frenzied growling, and his heart pounding in his chest like a chorus of crazed jackhammers. Then the blur cleared, with Conrad sweating and exhausted but unharmed, and the wolf, dead at his feet.
The wolf's death turned the tide. He had been a renowned fighter; not really part of the patrol, the wolf had been a specialist fighter high in the ranks of the Tara Raiders. The wolf had been assigned to the patrol after their humiliating defeat two weeks earlier. He had been ordered to whip the demoralized patrol back into shape, and reorganize them into a real fighting patrol of Tara Raiders. Now that he had been slain, the tenuous control he had established unraveled like a spool of thread. The Tara Raiders, or what remained of them, panicked and fled, running as fast as they could, in all directions. Within seconds, Conrad and his friends stood alone on the ridge.
There was no time to celebrate their victory. Dwayne's sensitive hearing picked up the sounds of running feet and paws, the clinking of metallic armor, and the shouts and cries of many angry voices. "C’mon, weh’ve gotta git outa heah 'fore them sehxty othahs fahnd out whut happened!" the jackrabbit warned. The seven companions quickly jogged off in a southerly direction, away from the rapidly advancing Tara Raiders
When the reinforcements arrived, they found a desolate battlefield, littered with dead and wounded Tara Raiders, and not a trace of the seven questors. The commander of the company, a large capable human soldier, barked a stream of officious orders at his fighters "All right, you lazy lot, spread out and search for survivors! You, Romack, take your squad and see if you kin track down the ones 'oo did this. Remember, milord Taradash wants 'em alive! Skentu, run back to Mirk, report to the Garrison Commander there and tell 'im wot `appened. Tell 'im to double the guards on the bridges. No one gets in or out without my permission! Rabbal, take two squads and deploy down the Sapphire river, check the banks for 'em. Cummon, get moving!"
As the company spread out and began searching, the patrol officer Barty stirred groggily on the ground. "’Ey, wot `appened?" he asked confusedly.
The commander stood over him, his voice dripping with contempt "Wot ‘appened? I’ll tell ya wot `appened! Yew got clobbered by a rock an' knocked out, whiles yer patrol got beaten by seven Sirian rebels 'oo got clean away after defeatin' a full Tara Raider patrol o' twenny trained warriors! If I were you, Barty, I'd get far away from 'ere 'fore Lord Taradash finds out ya let the seven Sirians 'is 'Ighness specially wanted get away!"
Barty decided to follow the commander's advice. He clambered miserably to his paws, picked up a fallen spear, and ran swiftly away, hoping fervently that he could get well away from Sirilan before Lord Taradash discovered his disappearance and sent Rakkla after him. Or worse, Cavancssa Montashleigh!
Meanwhile, on the banks of the Sapphire River south of the city, the seven companions sprawled exhausted in a small clearing. Conrad was much congratulated by the others for his able leadership in the battle. "Seh. All sayed that Conrad had poteyential. Didn't Ah say that, y'all?" Dwayne asked. They all nodded. "Now, Sean, you did all raht. but next tahm, y'should open yer ahs and pay 'tention to where yer slashin'. Ah noticed that ya missed the vermin a couple tahms when ya coulda hit `em, and there wuz a few tahms y' nearlah hit yer own friends. Still, y did all raht, for yer first combat," The jackrabbit turned to Lucy. "Now, Lusah, you did good too, but when yer fahtin an' yer opponent has superiah weapons, then y' need to be extra cahrful. Ya also need to look out fer y'feet, mahk shure yer opponent doesn't trip ya, and yer layin' flat on yer back whal he's comin' in to kell ya. Ya did reallah well, all thangs considered,"
The three kids felt a mixture of pride and humility at Dwayne's words. Humility, because they knew that they still had some things to work on before they could become real warriors like Dwayne, and pride because of the approval the jackrabbit had shown. There was a moment of silence, which was broken by Lucy's asking, "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, I think our original plan is out the window by now," Alexan commented. "Somehow I do not think it would be very beneficial for our health to return to Mirk,"
"Yeah, you're probably right," Conrad agreed. "They've probably put all the guards around the city on alert by now,"
"What I want to know is why there are so many guards around here!" Sean exclaimed. "Luther, didn't you say that when you visited there a month ago that they only had a few Tara Raiders guarding the city? Why do they have so many guards now?"
"I must confess that I have no hypothesis as to why the Tara Raider garrison is so numerous. When 1 last visited, the garrison consisted of a score of Tara Raiders and five Feline Legionnaires. Now, with at least threescore Tara Raiders defending one solitary overpass, and an unknown number of Feline Legionnaires and other Tara Raiders, it does make a puzzling question."
"Maybe so," Alexan agreed, "but 1 believe I know the reason for the increase of activity around Mirk. It's simple, really. The question, it seems to me, is this: What is so significant about Mirk, that Taradash would post more guards there? Out of all the cities in Sirilan, why would he reinforce Mirk, specifically? It can mean only one thing. Taradash knows."
Lucy felt an icy pang of fear. "Knows'? Knows what?" she asked, hoping against hope that Alexan didn't mean what it sounded like he meant.
"Knows about us! Don't you see? Mirk is at the mouth of the Sapphire River, the very river we were going to follow to find the Lost Island! Taradash had threescore Tara Raiders guarding the Eastern Bridge, the very one we were most likely to cross to enter the city! i may not be as much of a scholar as Luther, but don't you think the timing of the two attacks by the same patrol was just a wee bit coincidental? The first time we encountered the patrol, I had the impression that they were just an ordinary patrol, whom we'd been unfortunate enough as to run into. But the second time they attacked, it seemed more calculating, more like an planned military ambush than a impromptu attack by a lucky patrol."
"But how?" Sean asked. "The only people who knew about us were you four and Lord Ramsey! How could Lord Taradash find out about us when-"
"Ah, but you've forgotten, we aren't the only ones who know of the quest," Alexan reminded Sean. "Do you not recall when we left Rocklawn? Remember the stirring speech my dear father gave us, before we left? Remember the crowds of Sirians who watched us depart? They all knew of the legend, where we were bound, and what we intended to do."
"But they were all noble Sirians!" Shenan protested. "No true Sirian would ever betray us, knowing the object of our quest and the valorous cause for which we travel forth!"
"Right," Alexan agreed, "No true Sirian would. But I wonder, are we absolutely sure that every Sirian inside the walls of Rocklawn is for King Lawrence? Or more importantly, are we sure that none of Taradash's spies have gotten inside?"
"Of course not!" Shenan stormed. "None of Taradash's evil horde have ever breached the walls of Rocklawn! Father would not allow it! Surely he would-"
"My dear and rather headstrong brother," Alexan said with heavy sarcasm, "Have you ever considered that if one of Taradash's spies successfully gained access to Rocklawn, that spy would probably want to prevent us from finding out about it? I really don't think that a spy would announce his presence to all of us after he'd gotten in! That's why they're called spies, Shenan. They sneak in, spy around, and leave, preferably without us finding out!"
Shenan was about to protest in outrage when Conrad interrupted wearily. "Look, we've already had a fight between Sean and Lucy, plus Dwayne and Luther, can we try not to have a right between you two?"
Shenan looked a little sheepish. He turned to Alexan and they shook hands. Then Alexan turned to the rest of the group. "It does not matter how Taradash learned of our quest, the point is that he does know of it. We have been betrayed."
There was a moment of silence. Then, Luther started to say something, but Dwayne shushed him. The jackrabbit's ears were rigid, his nose was twitching, and his eyes were quickly scanning their surroundings for signs of the enemy. "What is it?" Conrad whispered.
"Ah'm not shure, but Ah thank it's best we git outa heah, and fast," Dwayne murmured quietly. "C’mon, follah meh," Without a word, the companions turned and followed Dwayne into a thick grove of trees, towards the south.
A few minutes after they had gone, Rabbal and his two squads came marching down the riverbank, searching diligently for the seven questors, unaware that their intended prisoners were already traveling swiftly farther downstream, towards the Southern Forest.
2023 me’s comments: First off, you’ll notice the grammatic error Alexan makes a few paragraphs back when he differentiates between “an planned military ambush” and “a impromptu attack”. I just noticed that now when I was transcribing this for this week’s post. The fault is mine alone.
Also, yes, the battle scene was very much inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia, as you no doubt picked up from Sean’s subtle allusion to the final volume in that series. Lucy’s fight with the wolf from which she’s saved by Conrad is also inspired by a similar fight in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, and at this point I’m surprised I haven’t got a great big golden lion bounding in yet. Fear not, though, I didn’t go quite that far. I don’t think. We’ll see, won’t we?
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this bit, and stay tuned for chapter thirteen next week, in which we finally meet the beavers! And oh, buddy, if you think you’ve seen animals with unique dialects now, you haven’t seen anything yet.
Cringingly,
Michael