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Of Bandit Trapping

„Are the men in position?“

“Yes, ready to go at your signal.”

Reirrak and Ria were hiding in a small copse not far from the entrance to yet another cave in a cliffside. This one was smaller and lacked the maze of escape tunnels the other had, surely a worse hide-out, but still good enough for Ria to have used it from time to time. Even if it was a worse hiding place, it was better guarded and would not make for an easy approach. The ground in front of the cave had been cleared of any trees and even small shrubs in a wide hemicycle making sneak attacks impossible as the guards where watchful. Had the first camp been as well watched as this one, they would have had one hell of a time to get it into their possession, Ria mused. At least these too had forgotten to post any watch outs on top of the cliff. Bad mistake, very bad, she grinned.

“OK, no point in delaying further, let’s take hold of this second camp too”, she whispered. They scrambled back to their horses and mounted, then Ria let out a wolf’s howl, urging her horse forward, the half of the thirty men hidden behind the tree line barging into the clearing at the same time. Riding fast, they saw the guards topple as they were shot from the cliff above. Her best archers, she could rely on them, she thought satisfied.

In a moment’s notice, striking them down ad they came. But more and more bandits came out of the cave, pressing them hard, and their first arrows found their target.

“Break! Back to the woods men!”, Ria bellowed and they turned, slowed down by the ever attacking bandits, at least they did not dare shoot, for fear of hitting their own men.

“Attack men, attack! They’re fleeing, don’t let them escape!”, this bands chief exclaimed, hurrying after them, smelling victory. Suddenly, about midway to the field, a volley of arrows came from the fifteen men she had placed on top of the cliffs, at the same time, she reined in her horse and the men around followed.

Suddenly attacked from both front and back, the chieftain tried desperately to get his men back to the cave, where they might stand a chance to take a fight. “Back! Back! It’s a trap!”, turning around, his eyes widened in fright as the rest of the men that had been hidden in the trees cut off his retreat.

“Lay down your arms!”, Ria’s voice sounded out, “lay down your arms and we will be indulgent.”

Panicked, a few tried to run for it, but were cut off by Ria’s men. Seeing this, none of them was heroic enough to attempt to take a last stand.

“Excellent. I see that there’s still some sense left in you after all.”

“A trap! You trapped us!”, the chief growled, full of scorn.

“Yes I did.”, she laughed.

Soon, the bandits were all securely tied up and they set camp for the night. They had few wounded and nothing grave. Thus, midday next day found them on their way back to their main camp which they reached two days later.

“Look at our catch”, Ria called out when the five men they had left behind showed themselves. “Any problems?”

“No, none whatsoever, the prisoners are still well secured.”, Dregmore answers. A broad man from the west beyond the Steppe kingdom, he handled the axe like none other and was just the right man to keep the prisoners on their best behaviour.

“Well, let’s take those inside too. They’ll go into the bigger cave to the right I showed you, don’t want too many of them together with only you five as guards. It has been cleared out, yes?”

“Yes, of course. Are you planning to leave us in charge during your next raid too?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you so you may see some action.”

Handing her horse to Mandol of the Steppe, she walked over to Reirrak. “So, what does my second in command say now?”

“I say I still don’t like your idea of going after the camp to the east already tomorrow.”

“Neither do I, but the longer we tarry, the better prepared they will be. That chief never stopped boasting about how we would bite our teeth out on K’rek, and I do believe he’s not altogether wrong.”

“True, only too true, but this will leave, how many do we have now?, close to two hundred bandits under the vigilance of only five men.”

“They can’t escape…”

“I’m not worrying about them to make trouble”, Reirrak made an impatient gesture, “What if there’s an attack?”

“They are deep enough into the maze not to be easily found and the place I chose for them can be easily defended. One man could hold an army back in there! Please, listen me out.”, she stopped Reirrak. “There’s more to it, I’ll have them locked in so nobody can reach them.”

“How? And what if all of us fail during the raid.”

“I won’t lock them in so they can’t get out!”, she was furious. “Do you think I have no heart? I’ve been doing my best to avoid casualties so far, and you think I’m going to lock them in without the chance to escape?”

“I’m sorry, sorry, but how will we manage to lock them in so they can still escape?”

“Easy, we collapse the small tunnel leading to the two caves … please listen… so nobody can get in that way. But they will be able to get out, there’s a small tunnel in the right cave trough which they’ll be able to surface somewhat farther north. From there, it’ll be easy for them to make it to Stanhelt.”

“Good plan, there’s just a small flaw in it, we’ll have to get all of them out that way once we come back.”

“No, we won’t, all we have to do is to collapse the ceiling of a tunnel that runs just beneath it.”

“Do you always have an answer to everything? Perhaps I should stop questioning you in such a way.”

“No, don’t, it’s always good to have somebody with whom to talk a plan through. But I must scold you for not being throughout in your questioning, you didn’t ask how I would collapse those tunnels.”

“Well, go on …. Ah, I see : How are you going to collapse the tunnels?”

“Fireworks.”, she grinned.

“Fireworks?”

“Yes, the mixture they use in fireworks is quite explosive, I’ve used it to bring tunnels down before. And, before you ask, I know how to make it, and I know the right spots in those caves to find the necessary ingredients. The Red didn’t mostly camp here on just a whim.”

And so indeed, they proceeded, locking in five men, who had been slightly injured, provided with enough food and water for two weeks and proper instructions for their escape. Breaking camp once more to tackle K’rek’s camp, Reirrak had one last question: “You did check the escape route is free, did you?”

“Of course I did, but better ask once too many than once not enough.”

Evening Camp

The tunnel collapsed with a loud crash, filling the air with dust. Lighting a torch, Kellen looked at the now blocked tunnel.

"Well, we're safely locked in now. I only hope they don't take too long."

The four other men nodded their agreement, none of them felt comfortable in these caves. Ria had schown them the exit tunnel and had assured them that the rock was so full of holes that they wouldn't run out of air. Still, they would be glad once they were out.

Kellen looked around, trying not to seem too uncomfortable, as he was in charge now. There wasn't really much to do bt wait and get watch over the bandit's children when the prisoners were fed by them. Still, he wanted to be out of this hole rather sooner than later.

*****

Meanwhile, the rest of the men followed Ria to a dense wood in which they set up camp for the night. Tomorrow, they would make a late start and try to tackle K'rek's camp shortly after midnight. After the men wer all settled and guards set, Ria joined Reirrak who sat by his own on one side of the fire.

Sitting down beside him, she was silent for a moment, studying him as he sharpened his sword.

Eventually, he asked "So, what do you want to tell me?", without looking up.

"Why do you try to get yourself killed?"

"What?", he looked up, startled, expecting her to be grinning at him for making a joke, but she seemed dead serious. "Who gave you that idea? You're joking, are you not?", he asked doubtfully.

"I'm not joking, Reirrak. I saw you fight, you're trying to get yourself killed. I was wondering why you had come, now I know."

Reirrak was momentarily speechless. "I... How did you get that idea? I'm not trying to get myself killed.", he was upset now.

"Why did you join this expedition then?"

"I had grown restless, I wanted to see some action. Is that so unusual?"

"No, but why have you grown restless? I say it is because you were even then looking to leave this world."

"You are wrong."

"I'm not. Just being restless isn't enough to explain why you came. You're commander of the royal guard! You don't just leave that post without a good reason, you know your responsibities." More softly, she added "It's not that I'm not glad to have you as my second in command, but I would be sad if I lost you."

Reirrak looked down at his sword, then back up. "Very well. You asked for it. I came because of you. To watch over you."

"You know very well that I can look after myself.", she replied stubbornly.

"Can you? ... Red.", he raised an eyebrow.

Now it was Ria's turn to look away, taken aback by this sudden change in their conversation. She had come to talk about him, not about herself.

As she kept silent, Reirrak softly said, "You don't deny it?"

"There's no use denying what you know since that first day in the training room." As he kept silent, she continued. "You didn't give me away then, I don't think you will give me away now. Will you?", she turned to face him.

"No, I won't. I believe that you have changed. But I could not entirely trust you, not until I saw you fight those bandits with my own eyes. I was afraid that maybe you would...", his voice trailed off.

"..that I would go back to my old ways.", she looked away once more, sad now. "It might have happened, you know. But I don't think it could still happen now. I hope."

"I will keep your secret", Reirrak offered, moved by her frankness and her sadness.

"So, you think i is right I don't deliver myself onto justice? I... I thought about doing it, but they would hang me, king's sister or not. I don't want to die. I can do more for my people alive than dead, perhaps righten at least some of the wrong I have done."

"I'm sure you can", he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she drew away. "You know", he continued, "there's no need to continue pretending to be Theo's sister with me."

"But I am Theo's sister. I always was, though I did not know it until you caught me."

"You are...", he looked at her in surprise. "I guess, I guess it makes sense.", he admitted.

"I... I know now why you came. It certainly makes sense now,you leaving your post. But, Reirrak, but this does not change the feeling I got from watching you fight."

Reirrak grimaced, "Ria, please, why won't you admit you were wrong?"

"All I say is that I have seen men fight the way you did before. They are violent, reckless, daring, they survive situations that would be fatal to most others. They are among the best fighters you can have, but you won't have them for long. They claim not to want to get killed, but they do, yes they do. Believe me, they fight well, better than most, yet death takes them early and swift."

"I'm not like that!", Reirrak protested.

"That's what they always say, they don't want to admit that they are looking for dead, but they are. You are, even though you do not admit it to yourself. I do not know why, and if you don't admit to yourself that you are seeking death, none will ever know. Please, Reirrak, think about it, I beg you. You should not die yet, please be careful. I would have left you behind if I had but found a way to do so."

Reirrak gave here an incredulous look. "You really believe this, don't you?"

"I see what I see and you'd better believe me if you." Looking into his eyes, she sighed. "Just give it a thought, will you?"

"I will, I will", if that was what she wanted to hear, well he saw no reason why he should not tell her what she wanted to hear.

Mysteria gave him an odd look, clearly not convinced that he would think about it. Then she gave a resigned sigh and went to her own sleeping place. Reirrak watched her go, then shook his head. Kill himself! Women really got strange ideas sometimes! He resumed sharpening his sword and put the conversation out of mind.

K’rek's Hold

Slowly, Ria moved a branch out of her line of view, careful not to make any hasty movement. There it lay in plain view, K’rek's hold that had once been one of hers. Reirrak crept up alongside her took a good look at the camp. Perched atop a cliff, it was surrounded by sheer rock faces on three sides, leaving only the north free for a possible approach.

Rocks barred this side of the camp and although they looked like a natural barrier, they had been piled there on purpose, making horseback attacks all but impossible. Beyond the rocks lay the camp, parts of it being crude huts made of stone that fitted into the landscape so well they were near impossible to make out, parts of it located in natural caves, smaller here than in the other camps and not interconnected.

A few guards could be made out here and there, wrapped in grey cloaks and immobile, they were almost impossible to see clearly. The rest of the camp seemed quiet, but Ria doubted that they were not prepared for an attack. If they wanted to have a chance, they had to move quickly, she decided, letting the branch slowly swing back into it's place.

Retreating some way back, Reirrak finally asked her, "So, what are your plans? An all out attack seems to be a bad idea."

"Indeed, even more as they have added more stones to the defenses. We need to draw them out into the open, where we can pick them off with our arrows, but it won't be easy to get them to leave, not if K'rek has got any sense."

She stepped back to the bush and looked at the camp again. Everything was still quiet.. too quiet. The guards hadn't moved at all. It was not that they had simply stayed at their place, they had not even changed their stance!

"Reirrak, gather the men, we're riding!"

"What? Didn't you just say an all out attack.."

"We're not attacking an empty camp! They're gone, there's nobody in there, look." She notched an arrow and aimed at the nearest guard. It was a long shot, but well aimed and the arrow struck home but the guard did not so much as move. "See, straw decoys, nothing else. To make us loose time, and we've already lost more than enough." She began thrashing through the bushes, back to her men.

Reirrak cursed silently and followed her as fast as he could. "Where have they gone too? Our camp! They have gone to our camp!"

"That's what I fear. We're riding, everybody mount! The camp is empty, we have to intercept them before the reach ours! Follow me and keep your weapons ready!"

They rushed off into the night, Reirrak catching up with Ria. "I hope you have a plan.."

"Sort of, it depends on how much headway they have. We might be able to intercept them at Eagle's Gap.", she looked worried. "We must intercept them before they can settle down in our camp or they will be near impossible to drive out!"

"They should be almost triple our number, so I hope that' a good fighting ground for us."

"It is the best I can find, but it will be bloody.", her voice was tight. "We have to win! Else everything was for nothing. It'll even be worse than before because they will regroup under K'rek's command then."

"The Red all over again..", Reirrak gripped his sword tighter.

"Yes, the Red all over again...", Ria urged her horse on.

Eagle's Gap

After what seemed like an eternity, they reached Eagle's Gap from the south. Here, a little rivulet, flowing in a north-southerly direction, had carved a steep and narrow canyon into the rock. Eagles nested in the rock faces and had given the place its name. Reining her horse in and jumping from it, Ria inspected the canyon exit carefully.

"They have not yet passed! Deploy in the woods on either side of the exit and get some archers and a lookout on the rims of the canyon! Quick!", but there was no need to urge the men on.

"They might have passed without us finding a trace. They might have taken a different route.", Reirrak voiced Ria's own fears.

"All we can do is hope. This is the logical route, the others would be too slow to take.", she bit her lip. "If they have already passed, we've lost, so let's hope they will still come. It can't take long." She looked east where the first gray of the new day crept onto the sky. "At least we will have some light."

Looking around, she checked that the men were in position and alert. Reirrak and herself took a position in the woods on the right side of the canyon exit. Then, they waited, time dragging on and on. The men began to become nervous, afraid that the bandits had passed already. Ria sat on her horse, seemingly impassible. They had to come, she repeated herself, they had to.

Finally, the lookout man raised his hand, they were coming! The men were suddenly alert once more. Looking over at Reirrak, Mysteria readied her bow as he did the same. She nodded to him, face serious, she hoped that she would not find him death after all was over. He had not believed her the day before, but she had seen him seek death, and she believed her eyes.

Presently, the clatter of hooves could be heard and five horsemen emerged from the canyon, scouting ahead and surveying the surroundings. If they saw them, all would be ruined, the whole ambush set for nothing. After a cursory inspection, the small band's leader turned back and disappeared into the canyon. They heard him call out to the rest and soon more horses could be heard.

Ria notched an arrow, ready to shoot, the look-out raised a hand, telling her the enemy had nearly reached the exit. "Now!", she called out, letting her arrow fly aiming at one of the horses. The five horsemen went down almost immediately as her men imitated her, letting their arrows fly. Then they galloped forward and into the canyon, cutting the bandits of from the exit.

The ensuing fight was hard and bloody, the initial flight of arrows had taken its toll of bandits down, but there were still far too many to for comfort. Fighting on Reirrak's side, Ria rushed headlong into battle, praying that the bandits did not get their bows out before they reached them. Some did, but it was no use to them as Ria's men met them with cold steel.

Her horse went down in the first few minutes, she lost her sword, grabbing another one from a fallen bandit, dodging their blades as best as she could, she took them down one after the other. She didn't kill them, but she systematically knocked them out cold. Still, the battle seemed endless, more and more bandits attacking.

Her coat was torn, blood was flowing down her face from a gash, a hit to her chest had almost broken her a rip, but she fiercely fought on, as did her men. She saw them around her, some desperately fighting for their life, some bearing deep wounds but still not giving up, some beyond all mortal care. She caught a glimpse of Reirrak fighting as she had said he would, fiercely, violently, madly. Whatever he had said, he was looking for death, positively inviting him. She hoped he would not die. Foolish girl, she told herself, narrowly escaping a sword, we're lucky if we escape at all.

She lunged at an archer, half distracting from his shot, he was down in an instant. And then, there were no more bandits standing, no more of them attacking... Slowly, she took in the scene, the massacre. It pained her to see so many dead or dying, even if most of them were bandits. She counted her men still standing. Eighteen, only eighteen of forty-six, if she included Reirrak in that count, and some looked like they could barely stand at all.

"Listen!", she called out. "First look after your own wounds, then help our wounded. Jitzek, you seem more or less valid, you and I will watch the bandits. Do you hear me? The first one who attempts a move against my men gets shot!"

Taking up positions back to back, Jitzek and herself each surveyed half of the battle scene. "Once you have tended the wounded, tie up the bandits that are still alive, and make sure the rest is really dead." She looked over the grounds, not many, if any, bandits seemed to have escaped.

Now, where was Reirrak? She hoped he had made it, her eyes sweeping over the battlefield. There! Over there he was, half kneeling, half lying on the ground, clutching an arrow in his side, coughing blood. Don't you die, she thought, not before I get a chance to find out why you want to. She was about to call onto somebody to help him when Dregmore limped over to him.