The Veneer of Injustice

Part 3

Earth Moon 8, 1527 C.Q

Whispering a spell that would cause the soles of my boots to stick lightly to the tree's branches, I rose to my feet atop the tree branch. Dipping one hand into a large pouch clipped to my belt and the other into a pocket stitched onto the side of my quiver, I pulled out my thick cotton sling, which I had personally made and spelled, and a large, rounded river-stone.

The caravan, approaching in a blaze of torchlight, proceeded upwards past my position to the dark, heavily guarded entrance to the dungeons, which penetrated the curtain wall on the left side of the castle. If the guards reached that far, a successful rescue would become almost impossible.

I took a deep breath and readied myself. The middle of the caravan was passing by me, and the last soldiers came into view.

I slipped one stone into the sling and pointed it to where I expected the last soldiers to be when I would shoot.

The last soldiers reached the spot at which I was aiming, in the center of the road and a foot to the left of my position.

I shot the first stone at the back of the guard's head. My aim was perfect.

Before the first guard, positioned at the bottom-right flank of the caravan, could begin to fall and his fellows notice, I shot the next.

The first guard slumped over, the second began to lean to the side, and I shot the third, the guard who rode at the rearmost of their formation. As he, too, began to slump, the two to his left began to look around. Before they could raise an alarm, I shot two stones in quick succession and knocked them out as well.

The last of the soldiers and arrestees disappeared out of sight. I had only a few moments until one of them realized that their rear was unguarded.

Murmuring a soft spell that invoked my element, the fierce wind, I crouched, bunching my muscles, and jumped. The air facilitated my movement and bore my weight as I leapt from tree to tree, and I trusted instinctively that it would not let me fall. As I had trained to do since I was a child, I simultaneously pulled out more stones. The moment that more guards entered my view, I began to shoot, first at the rearmost six of those holding shackles and then at the guards on either side, a total of six. The first four of this second series of hits went unnoticed, but then the guards began to look at and speak to each other frantically and scan the trees while the arrestees attached to unconscious forms stood stunned. They would soon enough learn that Hannes' latest attempted countermeasure against the Just Knight was to have each guard carry the only key for the shackles of the arrestee whom he was specifically escorting. But, regardless, I would return for them once all the guards were defeated.

Then finally one of the guards spotted my movements, pointed, and cried out, just before my stone hit his torso. Yet his cry had done its work – the guards ahead of him, who had already passed on the message of the attack, turned towards my position before I could take the next leap.

I shot two more stones in quick succession at the now-rearmost guards holding shackles.

The four guards on horseback closest to me drew their swords and charged.

Eleven on horseback down, fifteen to go. Eight on the ground down, sixteen to go. As expected, I thought as I put away my sling in its pouch and drew my own sword. Again crouching, I leapt forward from the tree toward the ground with my spell still in effect. I added to its power and used the air to slow my forward motion just slightly. Then I angled a foot forward and aimed myself at the nearest guard's side. Controlling my momentum and having the air absorb the excess, I kicked him from the saddle just as I flung my other leg downwards and used the horse's side to anchor and settle myself atop his back. The kicked guard was unconscious upon impact with the ground. I immediately nudged his foot out of the stirrup so that he would not be dragged by the galloping horse.