The Will Of The Kings.

Farnbreths Might Part 5

The scene before Cral, Balor, and the others left them transfixed. Not one of them had seen anything even close to it. They were there to see Jago's cavalry spill over the valley's side and crash into the Sarris. They saw how quickly so many were destroyed, and how easily the Farnbreth cavalry turned to meet the late coming southmen riders. They all cheered when the Sarris were broken. No one could tear their eyes away from the grim spectacle. Had they been close enough to see, hear, and smell the true horror they may have run, rather than sat and watched.

All except Rook. He found his concentration beginning to wander, and a shiver ran down his back. He shook it off, intent on watching the battle, but he could not get rid of the feeling. As if someone was staring right at him, from somewhere out of sight. He tried to ignore it, the feeling was not unfamiliar to him and he was determined to shake it off. Balor saw that Rook was fidgeting but gave it little regard. Finally Rook could not help but glance over his shoulder.

"Are you ok?" Balor asked.

"Fine," Rook replied a little annoyed with himself. He knew no one was there, but there was something his subconscious was trying to tell him. Most of the time when he got this feeling it was something he had missed or forgotten. A job he was supposed to do or something only slightly out of the ordinary he had seen. Something he would have noticed if he was not completely focused on something else. His mind seemed to store these things away and then slowly bring it back to his attention. The thing that annoyed Rook was that it was usually something significant and that just made it all the more frustrating.

"No good" he said.

"What" Balor enquired his eyes still fixed on the battle.

"I've missed something and I will go mad if I don't find out what"

"Ok, let me know when you have worked it out" Balor said absently

Rook went and sat back down half way down the rock with his back to the others and the battle. He sat and thought hard, going back in detail through the day. By the time I figure this out it will all be over, he sulked to himself.

The others watched as the two armies broke away from each other. It was such a moment of pride for them all to see the great and the good of Farnbreth throw back the enemy, and it was plain to see this was just the beginning.

Rook sat and waited for inspiration, his frustration building. Then it came to him like a bolt of lighting through the building cloud. He stood up. Something he had seen on their way to find Cral. No! When they had caught up with them. It was building in his mind. Wait! Once they had made their peace not long ago, something he had seen, something that was now making him nervous. What had it been? The picture ran through his mind of when they had approached the rock, no! But when, what. The river. It ran east to west. On any other day the run of its waters leading the eye down to the lake would have been a quiet beautifull sight. That was it, something about the river, he thought, still not sure. He was pacing back and forth now and he was beginning to irritate the others

"Do me a favour, and shift your self away, your driving me mad" Fox said.

The others quietly agreed. Had Rook not been so intent on finding what he had missed he would have felt obliged to set Fox straight, but he let it go.

"The river" Rook whispered to him self as he stared down at it, scanning its length as far as he could see. Nothing. But just then as he looked back east there was something. The water running from the east was darker! You could barley distinguish it but it was. That was it! Rook thought but what it meant he had no idea. It could easily be the flow of the water whipping up the river bed.

"No good I'll have to take a look" Rook said to no one. He turned back to Balor "Don't move I'll be right back".

"I'll wait here" Balor replied, not taking his eyes off the battle.