Soar

Chapter 25

We saw smoke to the east on our sixth day out. Two of the riders had birds like Sverrhu. These were sent to investigate, and they returned later with the message that a village had been attacked. Some of our soldiers were there now, tending to the aftermath. The rest of the day passed in solemn silence.

"We never reach them in time," one of the women muttered that evening as we gathered around the fire. "Umreo is always there before we have time to act. Why are the guards not stopping him?"

A man spit into the fire. "They are spread too thin. We ought to pull more from the south and bring them here."

"We ought to face Umreo outright instead of allowing him to continue like a common raider."

"We are not ready for a direct attack," Erizar said. "Besides, most of the villages are emptied now, the people moved to the strongholds."

"But not all," the woman said.

Erizar met her gaze. "No. Not all."

One of the horses whickered. A few people glanced up, me among them. There was a lilght away to the west: the red light of fire.

"Look!" someone said, and we all jumped to our feet.

"Another raid?" a man asked.

"There is no village there," the first man argued.

"Then what?"

"Could it be travelers?"

A noise reached us, carried by the wind, as the firelight danced and faded: dragon cries. Two of the men rode out to get a better look.

"There's nothing there," Erizar muttered. "Nothing but trees."

"Would anyone be traveling from that direction?" one of the women asked. "Umreo is not above attacking travelers."

Erizar shook his head. "Any villages that would use the roads there have been cleared. I led some of them myself."

The riders were met with a clamoring of questions by the time they returned.

"Dragons," one man said, swinging down from his saddle.

"We know that," Erizar said with forced patience. "But they aren't just setting fire to the woods, are they?"

The man shook his head. "It looked like two groups. The trees were burning, but that wasn't the purpose."

"They must have met one of our patrols," the second rider said.

His companion shook his head again, more firmly. "They weren't our dragons. Not that I could tell."

"Then who could they be?" someone demanded. "Unless Umreo's forces are fighting among themselves."

"Would that we were so lucky," Erizar said. "Did you notice anything about the second group?"

The man's brow furrowed. "Yes. Once, during the battle, someone jumped from one dragon to the back of the other. It looked like his armor was red, though that may have been the fire. Never saw a man do something like that."

Erizar frowned thoughtfully but said no more.

It took us two weeks to reach Lynarrun, which was little more than a stone wall surrounding a tower, a well, a stable, and a low, long building. Years ago it had been a guard post; one in a series of outposts spread across the reaches of Shaderi land. Many of them had fallen into disuse over the years but were being revisited as this new war worsened.

We were to spend the whole summer and autumn at Lynarrun, relaying messages back and forth between two other outposts, one south and one north. Twice groups of villagers passed by and spent the night in the relative safety the soldiers provided. They were making their way to the nearest stronghold city, seeking refuge from the pressing threat of Umreo's relentless assault.