The Rift in the Domain- The Auranos Stories Book 2

Chapter 21 - Ambush

That day I had four near-heart attacks, gave three speeches, dropped two (yes, two) flaming chairs, and evacuated one town.

...and a partridge in a pear tree.

That was a tiring day. The Nightshaders were all on board with our plan- so much so that most of them piled their personal belongings onto a bonfire in the middle of the town.

"We'll never be coming back," Thunder explained, eyes glittering in the light of the roaring conflagration. "And you can bet, surer than a knife is sharp, we won't be leaving our stuff behind for Shadow's soldiers to pillage."

"That's... incredibly honorable," I said solemnly, watching a table be swallowed by the blaze. "I mean- thank you."

"Not much to thank us for," Thunder said, looking at me sideways. "'Ere isn't much here worth more than the fire it's feeding."

And with that cynical word, he left to help his neighbors carry their own wares to the fire. I tried to join in, but I was running on two hours of sleep... and, you know. I dropped two flaming chairs.

The scouts, meanwhile, were getting closer, as far as we knew. Eclipse brought news that a group of our rebels from Wells Town claimed to have seen dark troops on the horizon, only to have them vanish minutes later. Whether this was paranoia or something more I couldn't tell, but by my first heart attack of the day I knew we'd have to keep moving.

Out across the plains we continued, trudging through the knee-high grass until it thinned into dusty desert. We always followed the Sunfall River- come hell or high water, it could lead us to Kaonon. This proved dangerous- the river cut straight through the desert, where the weakest among our rebels would be seriously susceptible to heat. But it was also the fastest way to the city, and deviating could allow the scouts to catch up to us.

Deciding between cutting straight south and missing the desert altogether and following the river was a fast decision. Even if Shadow's scouts caught up to us, the real regiment was still fairly far behind. If a troop of over ten thousand people couldn't hold off a few dozen scouts, we'd be doomed before we started. So we took the risk and turned southward, keeping out of the worst of the heat.

The scouts, however, were closer than we had anticipated.

"Abigail!" Someone's voice cut through the quiet night like a thunderclap. It shot through my dreamless sleep and sent a shiver down my spine.

"Wha-" I groaned, still only half awake.

You have to get up! Yraak commanded as I rolled out of bed sluggishly. There seemed to be a fog around my head.

Abigail, this is important, Jal added. Something about the two of them galvanized me- I jumped into my tunic and strapped on a cape, tucking and rolling to get out of my tent.

"What's going on?" I demanded, rubbing my eyes. The others were already up- shouts rang out over the sleeping heads of our traveling party.

"Scouts- a few dozen have attacked our left rear," Eclipse said quickly. He was far more awake than me, shaking like a leaf as he shifted his weight from foot to foot outside my tent.

The second metaphorical heart attack started.

"Ah... go back there and find any fighters in the vicinity," I ordered, brain kicking into overdrive. I handed over the compass in my pocket. "Oh- uh, take Yraak's talisman- he can help. Get... get them... ah-" I stammered. These people needed me to lead, to have some sort of plan. Why was I freezing up now? I took a deep breath, mentally kicking myself as I gritted my teeth. "Okay, okay. Have them... defend what they can, and tell them we're on the way."