Immediately the room came alive. Matt leapt up and started giving orders. Elessar ran out the door to relay the orders and add a few of his. Mimi was silent. Takeru leapt and looked at Tai. Tai was watching Matt. Willis pulled out a map and spread it on the table.
"They were arrayed in a half circle, behind these hills."
Izumi looked at Willis. "If they were behind the hills, how could you see them and their number?"
Willis looked up briefly. "I saw their spears and heard their horses. From what was told to me and what I could see, they left a very small avenue for escape on their left flank, here." He announced, tracing his finger on the map.
This time Tai cut in. "Who told you what?"
"An eagle told me how they were positioned and their exact number."
"An eagle told you?" Takeru asked.
"Yes. I learned a little of their language from Cody. There is a trench that we can march through without their hearing or seeing us, right here." Again, Willis traced his finger on the map. "That's not the problem that I see."
"What is the problem?" Jyou asked. Willis turned and grabbed another map. "What is the problem?" Jyou asked again, more forcefully this time.
"We can sneak past the force behind us. But sneaking out of the fortress, without the force in front seeing us, that will be the problem." Willis informed them, showing the fortress's position, the enemies position, then the point where the trench starts. It was a fair distance. A few could make it without being seen, possibly. But their whole band? Not likely, even in the dark.
Matt turned. "Mimi, could you help us?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes, I could."
"Tell everyone to prepare to leave. The enemy will not think it strange that we are scurrying about. Just do not bring anything into the open. Pack everything inside. When it falls dark, then we can saddle the horses." Just as Matt finished, Elessar ran back in.
"The leader is here and he wants to speak." Elessar announced.
"Elessar, Mimi, Willis, come with me. Ambassador Izumi, Prince Taichi, would you like to accompany me?"
"Yes I would. Jyou, stay here with the girls. Takeru, follow me." Together, the band walked to the ramparts. Elessar guided them to where the leader awaited. He was sitting on his horse, waiting with ten other men, and one woman. Immediately, Mimi's eyes locked on her and did not let go.
"Yamato Ishida." The leader stated it more then asked.
Matt made a slight bow. "I am at a disadvantage."
"Daisuke Motomiya."
"Lord Daisuke, I am surprised that you did not send a messenger."
"I would not insult you in such a way." Daisuke answered courteously.
"I assume that you come to offer us terms of our surrender?"
Daisuke shrugged. "I expected to come and hear how you will not surrender."
Matt gave him a curt nod. "Rightly so. Has Thern declared war on Fere as well? You do know, we are inside Fere."
Before Daisuke could reply, one of his men shouted. "Fere will fall, just like Eladan did!" Daisuke hung his head and shook it.
"Do you recognize me, Lord Daisuke?" Tai asked.
"Yes, I do."
"If you attacked this place while me and my men are inside, you would be declaring war on Fere. Is your king ready for that?"
"I admit that I cannot anticipate what my king would have me do. However, if you hand over the renegades, we will leave peacefully." Daisuke bargained. Matt and Tai looked at each other.
"I will not. They must pay for crimes committed in Fere. Therefore I must take them back. And what are your plans?"
"I do not know. But you will be made aware of them soon." Daisuke replied as he rode off. His men followed. But the woman lingered, still watching Mimi. With regret, she rode off. Matt glanced at Mimi.
"She's a druid, Matt."
Matt cursed inwardly. That made things doubly difficult. Much more difficult then he liked. But him and his people could pull it off. Of course they could. Just because a druid was here did not mean that they couldn't escape. But it did mean the king probably knew about Mimi. The only way that could happen would be if there was a traitor with him. No, that thought would only cause mistrust and division. Right now, he needed unity more then anything. Outwardly, Matt kept his face remarkably calm while the whirlwind of thoughts blew through him. Elessar knew his leader well enough to catch the hints, though.
"We will not wait for it to become completely dark. We will leave as soon as a fog covers us." He announced and walked off the wall. To Tai, Takeru, and Jyou, who followed him, the order seemed to have been thought from folly.
"Fog? What fog? And why risk such a move until it is fully dark." Tai asked.
Elessar turned to him. "Do you not understand? She is a Druid. She may know what we will do. We must leave as soon as the fog settles." By the time Elessar had finished, they were on the ground, with the others around them.
"The messengers, they will bring my father's troops here. If we are not here, they will not know where to look." Kari objected.
This time, Ken answered. "Which is better, for them not to find anyone, or them to find us dead?"
"Mimi, bring in the fog slowly." Matt ordered. Mimi nodded and walked off to a place of her choosing. "When she thinks the fog is heaviest, she will come back. We must be ready by then. Willis, Cody, Michael, Ken, make sure all items are packed securely. Elessar, have your men that are in the base prepare themselves. Tai, if you could order your men to get ready to move." Tai looked at Jyou and nodded. Jyou walked off to order his troops.
"Elessar has his own men?" Takeru asked.
"Yes. While our name is Runya,"
"Red Fire." Takeru translated to Tai.
"Him and his men have taken the name The Black Watch. I know not where he has found them, or if they found him, but he has trained them excellently. Their loyalty is unending, their bravery unmatched, and their skill untold. He only has a small party here in the fortress. Most are located around groups of the Remnant." Matt explained to his companions as they entered to his room.
"The Remnant?" Tai asked as Matt started grabbing various items.
"Those left from Eladan that have enough strength and will to fight when need be."
"Mimi's not wasting any time." Takeru commented as he glanced out the window. Already, a slight fog was mixing with the setting sun.
"No, she's not. And neither must we."
As far as Matt could tell, everyone was in the courtyard. All of his men were, at least. Tai looked around and nodded. That was everyone except for Mimi. The fog looked at its thickest. The enemy could not see them, even with an eyeglass. But it was the druid that worried Matt. She might just know what was going on. The leader mounted his horse as he saw Mimi approaching. She wearily mounted her own horse. Mimi took one look back to where she knew her opponent was waiting. Then she followed Matt out the back of the fortress.
Davis was still brooding in his tent. Would his king grant him permission to attack the prince of Fere? He guessed not, but his king did not know that the prince had put in his allegiance with the renegade band. The captains he had brought with him were undecided as well. Some said attack, some said wait for the messenger to return. He had already sent a messenger to King Polarth to request orders. While he had them surrounded, there was no need for haste. He glanced over at one of the two people in his tent. Lalt was one of those that pressed for attack. He said that if they killed all in the fortress, there would be none to report what they did. Yolei, the other adviser in his tent, added that they could claim they had no knowledge the prince was there. After all, what was the prince doing in a fortress of a renegade band?
It was a good two days ride on a fast horse to and from his king for orders. He would wait. But this fog made watching impossible. He had sent several men down to the fortress to make note of the archers' positions on the wall. They should be back soon.
"Lord, I feel that even waiting for the spies to return is folly. Time is their ally and our enemy. We must move quickly." Yolei voiced her dreads.
"I agree. Something feels wrong about this." Lalt agreed.
"We will wait. It would be foolish of them to make any move for days. They think that those two messengers we killed will bring reinforcements. Why would they move?"
"That woman that was with them on the battlement, she knew the ways of magic. She knew that I was her enemy. She would have told her leader."
"And if her leader was a man as myself or yourself, he would have decided on a course of action." Lalt added to what Yolei had said.
"And he has proven himself to be a man such as you or me, is that it?"
"Yes, that is it." Lalt concurred.
"Sir, the spies are back." Announced a man that had slipped in.
"Send them in." Davis ordered. The man nodded. Soon, two men came in. "What did you see?"
"Nothing." One of them bluntly said.
Lalt balked. "Were you not close enough to see? Surely the fog was not that thick."
"No sir, we could see enough to know that they didn't post any archers on the walls."
"Didn't post any archers? That would mean that they are not afraid of attack. Perhaps they are too secure, too smug." Yolei murmured.
"That, or they have no fear of attack since...Inoue! Come with me!" Davis ordered as he leapt from his chair and ran out of the tent. The fog instantly swirled around the trio. Davis turned to her. "Get rid of this fog!" He thundered. She closed her eyes and placed her hands together, in front of her. Then she opened her eyes and pushed. The fog flew away as if it was a sheet being pulled rapidly back. Davis grabbed his eyescope and centered in on the camp. It was as he feared. "Lalt! Get everyone ready to ride!" He ordered as he looked at the surrounding landscape. He found them. They were almost past the five hundred he had hidden behind them. He had underestimated them. Davis rarely did that. "Call out our forces there!" He ordered to no one in particular. Nevertheless, a horn blast rang out, one long one, followed by two short blasts. Davis could see the renegades starting to run.
"Davis! Your horse. Are they running?" Lalt asked as he rode up beside him, holding Davis's own horse.
"Yes, they are. They used that fog to confuse us. It seems there is a small valley next to our men back there. That is where they are." Davis relayed as he pulled himself up. "Yolei, send messengers to our men, and tell them to pursue with three hundred. Have the other two hundred go through the Forest of Singollo and cut them off." Yolei nodded and pulled away as Davis and his force thundered after the king of Eladan.
When the horn sounded, the Fere and Eladan force surged forward as one. Secrecy forgotten, it was speed against speed as they raced on. The horses of Eladan were among the fastest ever, but the horses of Fere were trained for war rather then speed. However, their stamina was high, and kept stride with Eladan. Each horse strived to take the lead. By instinct, they knew there was an enemy chasing them. They didn't want to be captured, nor wanted their masters to be captured. Matt was always in the lead, with his brother and Tai close behind him. For two days and nights they rode without stopping. They finally did so at Mimi's bidding.
"They sent many of their force around us, through the forest."
Matt looked behind them before speaking. "We could go to the east, through the plains and try to reach Garh."
Izumi shook his head. "And do what? Bring more enemies for them to fight? No, I advise against that."
"We can turn to the Mountains of Culdae, and pass through Daeloth-din." Elessar said. A quiet settled over the whole group.
Jyou turned to Elessar. "You would suggest that we go through the Caves of Silent Horror? We would never make it out to the other side!"
"Do you see another way?" Elessar asked spitefully.
Jyou shook his head. "No, but even if we did make it out, we could not possibly take two hundred men through those winding caves."
"With that, I agree." Elessar concurred.
"Sir, I could take one hundred and fifty men and cut across the path that only we know about." One of Elessar's men suggested. Elassar looked at Yamato.
"It is risky, so not all of us can go. Prince Taichi, if your close friends would stay with us, and the rest go with Maeglin, we may yet live through this." Yamato suggested. Taichi nodded and gave the order, for once not questioning the king of Eladan's reasoning. Yamato led his group into Daeloth-din, both fearing it and honoring it as their salvation.