Chapter 44: Act 1: Chapter 34
Thirtieth day, Ninth Moon, 250 AC
The rustling of leaves was the only sound our passage made.
The three of us, and Mimi, were stalking alongside the road on the way back to Redbridge while keeping an eye out for any more Ironborn. It seemed they hadn't sent any reinforcements or set out any patrols, which while lucky for us, did little to help my own anxiety.
As we moved through the dappled sunlight, I tried to picture it as a simple hunt. I was just going looking for a deer, or maybe even a squirrel. A nice, small, friendly squirrel.
As we approached the first of two bridges we needed to cross, our pace slowed to a crawl. Eventually, we began to actually crawl forward so that we could examine the other side of the river.
We were southeast of the village, and still a way out, so there shouldn't be any guards at the bridge, but we weren't taking any chances.
Koryn looked back at me and whispered, "Looks clear. You want to run first?"
I nodded and replied, "Cover me?"
At his nod, Koryn and Zane both nocked an arrow and rose to a crouch.
With my heart thumping in my chest, I rose up onto my feet and starting to sprint across the bridge. My feet thudded loudly in the silence, but I could barely hear it over my chest.
As soon as I reached the other side I dove into the trees and waited a moment. I wasn't shot, and I didn't hear anyone shouting.
I nocked an arrow of my own and looked around. No one was there.
Feeling a bit foolish I stood up and waved over to where I knew Zane and Koryn to be. They joined me a moment later.
We continued along the road as it began to turn north, but we slowed our pace as we got nearer to the village. By the time the bridge was in sight, we were constantly crouched and moving from tree to tree.
What I wouldn't give for a bird's eye view of the situation. Unfortunately for us, Violet had been mostly unsuccessful in using her skinchanging abilities on animals other than dogs so far. She had some minor abilities with different animals, but nothing like her skill with dogs.
As we approached the second bridge, we found our first patrol. Two men stood guarding the road, but not really paying attention, as they were quietly talking to each other.
I looked to Koryn and Zane and whispered, "Zane you take the one on the right; Koryn the left. I'll take care of any misses, but we'll have to sprint over to them if they don't die immediately."
At their nods, we nocked our arrows and they drew their back and loosed. Their arrows flew true; Zane's hit his target in the chest and the man went down with a cry, while Koryn's arrow hit his target, but on an angle, and bounced off the man's armor.
The man gaped at us and shouted, "ATTAC-"
His cry for help was cut off by my follow-up arrow, and he went down without further protest. By the time I got to my feet, Zane and Koryn were already across the bridge and silencing the last man.
We waited a moment, to see if the man's cry for help was heard, but we heard and saw nothing.
Zane said, "You two ought to grab the bodies and drag 'em off the road. I'll keep watch."
The man who went down to Zane's arrow was wearing shitty armor, that included a chainmail vest, but was made of butted links instead of riveted. I ignored that while I searched the rest of his body since the armor we had stripped from the ones on the farm had been better. I found a few coins and trinkets, but nothing else of value; Koryn received about the same.
As we reached the outskirts of the village, we remained inside the tree line while we waited to see if there were any patrols. While we waited, we got Mimi to sneak into the village to see if she could find where the villagers were.
We ended up waiting for about half an hour before Mimi returned, and we did not spot any patrols during that time.
When Mimi returned I unrolled my map and asked, "Can you point out where the villagers are?" She placed her paw over the tax barn. "How many are there?" She shook her head, indicating she didn't know. "Guards?" She tapped her paw twice in front of the barn. "Where are the rest of the Ironborn?" She tapped the village center and a spot along the shoreline. "Are the ones on the shore guarding the boat?" She nodded. "How many?" She tapped her paw ten times.
Koryn let out a low whistle. "Damn. That's a lot."
I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, so that's five at my farm, two on the road, two guarding the villagers, ten at the boat, and more at the village center. So how many in total do you think? Maybe 50 men?"
"Probably. They normally leave a good chunk back at the boats, so that sounds about right," Zane replied.
"If we attack the boat, the ones in the village will know. Same if we go the other way. How can we get them all?" Asked Koryn.
Mimi let out a little whine and placed her paw on the map a little bit further down the shore than where she indicated the boat was. She then rolled over and played dead.
"Are you saying there is a grave there? Of Ironborn?" I asked. She nodded, so I continued, "How many?" She tapped six times. "Okay, so they have probably 37 people? And there are another 13 dead. Were there a lot of villagers in the barn?" Mimi gave a little shrug. "Sort of?" She nodded.
"Damn, okay. We need more people to attack with us," I said, grimly. "How's this for a plan? Koryn and Zane, you both go and spend the next hour combing through the woods. See if you can spot anyone to help us and send anyone else you find the sunset cliff. Meet back here in an hour. I'm going to take a closer look at the village and see if I can get a better guess on numbers and layout. Depending on that and how many people you round up, we will either go to the barn to free and arm the villagers and then attack the Ironborn, or the three of us do that while the men you gather attack the ones at the boat."
Zane shrugged. "Sounds like a plan."
"So, if we don't have enough people, we just ignore the boat guards for later?" Koryn asked, worriedly.
"About all, we can do. I mean, if we can manage to fight off the twenty or thirty people in the village, what's another ten at the boats later?" I replied.
Zane snorted. "Aye, true enough."
I smiled. "So, meet back here in an hour? If any of us gets captured, we still go ahead with the plan. Just pretend you are a guard for a merchant coming in from the north. They might end up sending men there and make it easier for us."
At their worried faces, I quickly continued, "Don't worry. We'll be fine."
Koryn rolled his eyes. I guessed it seemed hypocritical to say that, as my hands were clenched so hard around my bow that they were white.
Mimi and I watched as they went back into the forest and out of sight.
"Ready?" I asked.
Mimi nodded and led the way into the village.
I hugged the walls and moved slowly, listening out for any movements, but all I could hear was the odd outburst of sound coming from the village center.
A few buildings looked blackened by fire on the south side of the village, but nothing overly serious.
As I edged my head around the corner of the building, I looked into the village center and was disturbed by what I saw.
The Ironborn had a large bonfire in the center going, and they looked to be roasting pigs and chicken. Next to that was a large pile of stolen items: cups, jewelry, food, and whatever else they thought looked valuable. A few houses closer to the shore seemed burned down completely, with another still on fire. The Ironborn appeared to be preventing the village from burning down around them, but little else. There were also a few dead bodies on the ground, that looked like village women, that were strewn upon the ground, some in varying stages of undress.
My stomach was burning with fury, as I counted all of these fuckers I could see. There seemed to be 23 around the fire, and it seemed like no one was coming or going from the center. Judging by the size of the pile, they had already emptied the village.
It didn't look like we had a lot of time. Once they finished eating and drinking, they would probably realize that they were missing men and that I hadn't been dragged in yet with my supposed hoard of gold.
I snuck around the village the long way to reach the tax barn and saw the two guards leaning against the wall in front of the door. They didn't seem to be too alert, but they did look to have decent armor.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get a count of the villagers locked inside. The barn itself was made so that there were no holes or windows, so I couldn't peek inside.
With the noise from the Ironborn in the village, and the barn being out of their line of sight, our plan seemed to be possible after all.
There was a little kernel of hope in my chest as I left the village in the same manner that I entered.