The Serpent and the Unicorn: Books I and II

Chapter 5

Another two weeks passed without Tristan able to make much more of a note in his logbook than the various exercises and practice sessions through which he led his men. It was a welcome break in their otherwise eventful journey, but it could not last; peace never lasted long in these unquiet lands, especially during troubled times. One evening, as they were scouting for a campsite, they came upon a caravan of gypsies with their wagons parked in wide clearing through which the path wended. Aria gave a shrill cry of battle, before Tristan knew what had happened, she was charging into the fray, for vicious creatures, resembling apes but with a leathery hide and hideous faces, were ransacking the wagons and terrorizing the hapless gypsies.

"Goblins," snarled Tristan, "Bristol's group: use your bows, the rest of you draw your swords and follow me! Have no mercy on these fiendish things." The men acted immediately upon his orders, as half of them used their arrows to kill the things on the wagons while the rest slew or chased off the foul creatures threatening the clumped gypsies. The unicorn wanted to chase after the fugitives, but Tristan checked her; she hated goblins with a passion, she had run afoul of the awful creatures as a foal and never forgot. The mien of the freed gypsies suddenly went from utter terror to absolute joy, hugging and crying, through mingled tears and laughter they found that everyone was all right. Tristan's men had come upon them in time; if they could, goblins liked nothing better than to terrorize their victims before killing them. The monsters had only just attacked the caravan, and had been surprised by the sudden onslaught of the soldiers.

After retrieving what arrows they could in the failing light, Tristan's men assembled around their leader, said he proudly, "well done, all of you, you kept your heads and did your jobs during an unexpected encounter; this is what we have been training for! I am very proud of each of you, though we did surprise and overwhelm them, it was an excellent first battle." The men smiled appreciatively, exchanging pleased smiles one with another; it had been good to see their leader in combat, though they had hardly had time to notice anything save their own desperate actions, the brief glimpses they caught of him showed that he really did know what he was talking about, and happy were they that he was on their side.

The gypsies were delighted with their rescuers, insisting they spend at least a night with the caravan, to which Tristan readily agreed. There is nothing more boisterous than a caravan of excited gypsies and this was certainly no exception, for they received quite a thank you for their assistance, they sang and danced with their rescuers long into the night. The next morning, Tristan opted to travel with the caravan, which was headed in vaguely the same direction as they, and a little practice riding escort would be just the thing for his men. For nearly a week, they traveled with the gypsies, and as no other menace presented itself, he felt it safe to leave their new friends to their own devices while they headed back upon their original course. The gypsies bid them farewell as fondly as they had received them, for in their eyes there was no sadness in parting, only the joy of having met and the hope of future meetings. Tristan would miss these open and joyous people, reluctantly he turned Aria and followed his retreating men.

They rode on for another few days without incident and camped that night by a small waterfall that fed a creek that babbled gaily off into the darkness over a bed of colorful stones. Here he meant to stay for a day to rest and check their equipment and supplies. If he remembered correctly, there was a village a day's ride from here where they could restock. As they did not have to leave immediately in the morning, Tristan felt they could stay up a little later than usual tonight, for it was time he got to know his men a little better. Until now, he wished to remain simply their leader, he did not want them feeling all warm and friendly until he had established himself as such. Even now, he did not want them to feel that he was their friend and equal, but he did want them to know that he cared for man personally and was interested in them as individuals.