The Outcast (Summoner #4)(88)
“Easy there,” Arcturus said as she jumped free and hugged him tightly. But soon he had to pry her away and take her hand, as the group had not waited for their reunion but continued their flight across the rolling hills of southern Hominum.
They were traveling in pitch darkness, for torches would make an easy beacon for any pursuers to follow. So they cursed and stumbled on, skinning their hands and legs on loose rocks as their route twisted into the untamed countryside, away from the pastures and fields.
Finally, Ulfr gave them a brief respite, lying down on his back and waving at the others to take a breather. The dwarf had pushed himself hard, for his shorter legs made him a poor runner.
“Where the bloody hell were you?” Sergeant Caulder panted as Arcturus and Elaine caught up with him.
“I cut loose the drawbridge,” Arcturus said, collapsing beside the veteran soldier.
“Damned fool thing to do,” Sergeant Caulder replied. “You’d have died if they’d made it through before you’d finished.”
“It bought us more time than we had,” Arcturus said, finally managing to pry his hand away from Elaine’s. “It will take them a while to get enough men across—and I reckon they’ll need to wait for at least fifty before they’re confident they could beat us. We might have a half hour’s start on them, depending on the number of swimmers they have.”
“We’ll see,” Sergeant Caulder grunted. “The dwarf won’t tell us where we’re going. But he says we’re close. I’ll believe it when I see it though. Even if we go underground, the dogs can follow us in. They’ll catch up with us eventually.”
“Could we head for Corcillum instead?” Arcturus asked. “They can’t have more than a dozen horses in Vocans’s stables. Enough to catch up with us, but not to beat us.”
He gestured at the thirty-odd soldiers sitting around them, groaning with exertion. They had been carrying their heavy shields, spears and crossbows, as well as the mail and surcoats they wore as part of their uniform. It slowed them down, but made them a formidable force.
At this rate, the lightly armored and armed rebel foot soldiers would catch up to them eventually. Sergeant Caulder’s words mirrored Arcturus’s thoughts.
“We’re traveling too slow; even their men on foot will catch us before we reach the capital. As for the cavalry, they’ll ride by us, and tell every damned rebel in Hominum to watch for our entry on the city’s edge.”
“So we’re going to be caught either way?” Elaine asked.
“That’s the long and short of it,” Sergeant Caulder said. “But maybe the dwarf can pull off a miracle for us.”
Arcturus didn’t have time to contemplate that, as Ulfr led them toward what appeared to be a steep hill, its side so sheer that Arcturus wondered why they didn’t go around it.
But then he saw it, as the cloud blocking the moon above finally drifted aside. A cave entrance, as wide and high as two men were tall, its depths shrouded in the darkest shadow.
“This is where we’re hiding?” Zacharias announced skeptically. “We’ve left enough footprints for them to follow us, even without hunting dogs. We might as well be sitting in an open field.”
“Just follow me,” Ulfr snapped, stomping into the cave. “And keep your mouth shut if it’s only going to spout idiocy.”
Zacharias gazed after the dwarf with malice, but did not respond. For a moment the soldiers hesitated, staring into the blackness. Then a light flared, a beautifully warm orange that drew the wet and freezing Arcturus forward like a moth to a flame. Ulfr held a torch high above his head, and in embrasures alongside him, other torches were held in sconces. He lit these with a sweep of his arm and motioned for the nearest soldiers to pick them up. Then he hurried into the tunnel.
“Come on!” Prince Harold ordered. “They could be on us any minute.”
“You trust this fool?” Zacharias moaned. “What are these sneaky dwarves up to, hiding torches in caves. They’re as bad as the rebels.”
“Then you can stay here and enjoy the rebels’ company instead,” Arcturus said harshly, taking a torch of his own and following Ulfr into the cave. He didn’t wait to find out what Zacharias would do. Instead, he relished the warmth that the flame gave off and ran headlong behind the dwarf.
Long, blunt cones of stone grew from the ceilings and floors, some even combining to form strange, middle-pinched pillars scattered along the way. Soon the escape party was straggled in a long line in the cave, following the glow of light from those ahead and slowing to make sure that those behind could still see theirs.
The path split more times than Arcturus could count, and Ulfr led them unerringly one way or the other. It was apparent he knew this place, though for what purpose, Arcturus could only guess.
“Ulfr, how much farther?” Arcturus called.
For all he knew, the rebels were already in the caves behind them. Though, with all these twists and turns, it was likely that the rebels would become lost—it was hard to track footprints along a stone surface.
Unless they brought hunting dogs with them of course. Arcturus hoped against hope that they had been in too much of a hurry to bring them—he had not seen, heard or smelled any when he had been inside Vocans.
But if they waited here, they would be found eventually, by dogs or the rebels.