Chapter 14

Evin cried silently into his hands. Alone in his tent, away from the other Riders, he had finally broken down, giving in to tears of fear, exhaustion, and worry. This whole day had become Evin's nightmare.

The forest had kept the Rabbits dry from most of the heavy rainfall pelting down on them. The mood was fairly relaxed as the Riders huddled near the small fires to keep warm. Evin had given himself look-out duty for the night to keep himself occupied so that his thoughts would not continue wandering back to Miri. He felt that there was something wrong.

The trouble began when Alisca, a rather new female Rider, did not come back from collecting more twigs and branches for the fire. The tell-tale signs of glowing strings of webs confirmed Evin's suspicion. Spidrens. He immediately alerted all Riders.

He couldn't lead his own group to Alisca's rescue, as Lady Lessa needed to report directly to him upon her return. However, Miri could certainly manage commanding half the squad in a search and rescue mission, although he hated to put her in danger. In the end, Evin's heart gave way to his sense of duty, and he sent his love off to find the spidren's nest.

Before going, Miri received a long lecture on scouting, and was told that she must first identify the target and then carefully plan the attack – "Look at all the advantages and disadvantages," repeated Evin over and over. As she left his tent, Evin grabbed Miri into a fierce hug and kissed her fervently.

"If you get yourself killed, I will never forgive you," whispered Evin as he squeezed the air out of Miri prior to releasing her.

"Aww," Miri said. "You're so sweet, Evin, and I promise I'll come back to you."

She smiled, gave a little wave, and left quickly to mount her horse.

The rainy night gave way to a frosty morning in the few hours of Miri's departure. Evin passed his watch duty onto Isaac and wandered off to find any scraps left from breakfast when a messanger came from the Rider group Hemlock.

A tired, mud-covered man in his early twenties rode into the camp and nearly fell to the ground from the saddle as his horse stopped suddenly. Quick reflexes enabled Evin to prevent the fall. The man was bleeding from a gash on his right side, and his speech was slow due to the loss of blood.

"We were...attacked by...spidrens...full force...villages burned...girls taken." The man gasped as the healer Danric began to rip off his shirt and clean the wound. "Called for help from Wolves ... but cut off...river swept bridge away."

"Damn," muttered Evin under his breath. "No wonder I've had no word from the others."

With the help of Danric, Evin moved the Rider into the makeshift healer's tent.

As Evin laid the wounded man on the bed, he grabbed a handful of Evin's shirt. "Must tell you, Commander...Wolves in trouble...Tusaine spies...found out... don't know how...communication stopped...sent me...to warn you." The Rider's breathing evened as Danric soothed him into a deep sleep.

"You did your duty, so rest and heal," replied Evin quietly.

"The wound is not deep, and luckily there's no infection. Mostly he's just tired from riding hard,"reported Danric once they stood outside the tent.

"That's good news, I only wish he had brought better as well." Evin felt trapped. His decision was not easy, but there was little time to make it in. He would have to leave the camp with less than three people to defend it, and hope that Miri returned from investigating soon. He cursed himself at forgetting to give Miri a summoning stone, but there was no time for regret. "I suppose you know I have to go?"

"Of course," retorted Danric. "It's not as if I was thinking that you would put on your slippers and go for a midnight stroll."

Evin grimaced at Danric's sarcasm. "I can only leave Isaac and Grace with you. There should be no trouble around the camp, hopefully. Here..."Evin dug into his left pocket and pulled out a stone charmed with a speech-spell. "In case of an emergency, contact me." Evin placed the stone in Danric's open hand and nodded a farewell.

Striding into the middle of the campsite, Evin whistled loudly to gain the attention of the Riders. "A large group of spidrens has attacked villages near Hemlock's position. We move out in ten minutes, we need to back-up Hemlock, and hopefully make contact with the Wolves." Evin looked each of his Riders in the eye. "We ride to fight."

The delay of the missing bridge postponed the Rabbits for another two hours as they had to guide their horses through wet, rocky terrain. However, soon they were riding along flat ground, quickly making up for lost time. Before midday, they entered a half-burnt village. Everything was quiet. The only sound that could be heard was that of a small child crying.

Well, at least they didn't get everyone, thought Evin and silently asked the Mother to watch over the survivors. As Evin surveyed the area, he saw signs that the villagers had put up a good fight against the invaders.

"Commander!"

Evin swung his horses to the left, towards where the noise came. A small female with blonde hair waved furiously to get his attention. He led the rest of the Rabbits to second command Gina Redfoot of Hemlock. He dismounted, and, looking at Gina, saw blood trickling sluggishly down her forehead.

Noting his gaze, Gina waved away his concerns, "It's not as bad as it looks. Berg has taken half the group on a scouting mission to locate the nest of spidrens. We gathered all the villagers into the main square and armed them as best we could. The rest of us are either on look out, setting up booby traps, or healing. I waved to stop you heading into Jen's pit fall." She smiled crookedly.

"Any more attacks since nightfall?" queried Evin.

Gina shook her head. "The spidrens only came once, sir. A hit and run attack, but they managed to escape with three women before we could arrive. After that, any spidrens left were handled pretty neatly, although some men from the village got too hot-headed. There were several casualties."

"Any from Hemlock?"

"Only one, sir. Trent broke his arm. He landed badly after saving a child. Miri met up with us just after we'd sent for reinforcements. Thanks for sending her to help."

Evin went cold inside. This was not good. "Gina, I just got the news. After I'd sent Miri. Where is she now?"

"She went off into the direction of the Wolves, since Breg had enough men to hunt for the nest."

Evin sighed, silently cursing Miri's strong sense of duty. If I get my hands on her, I will... will..will...kiss her? "Right. Gina, do you need any more help?"

"No sir. We've got everything covered."

"Then if you're sure, I want to catch up with the rest." As Evin turned to face the Rabbits, each one expressed their willingness to ride on. After all, at the moment there was nothing here for them to do. "Are there any obstacles caused by the rain on our route?"

"No sir, not as far as I know. Good luck and Mithros go with you, Commander." Gina saluted as Evin spun his horse around and gave the signal to move out.

Sheltered by a small wood, Evin descended on the town close to the location of the spidrens' lair late in the afternoon. As far as he could see with an eyeglass, there was no evidence of fighting. The Riders would attack away from the town to protect the villagers,but where?

Evin slid down from Sunshine and unwrapped a map, drawing a small key dangling on chain around his neck, and touched the town labelled Furntown. The map produced a detail layout of the immediate landscape. Examing their position, Evin concluded that he would find the Wolves and Miri towards the north beyond the town. The quickest route would be to ride right straight through the village, and that was what he planned to do. Luckily, this was the same town Lady Lessa had been sent to collect the information. Hopefully, his group would run into the Lady as they rode through the town.

Evin raised his voice to attract the attention of his group."Listen up, everyone. From the look of Furntown, we can assume that the Wolves have drawn the spidrens to the north. So we're heading to the town, hopefully finding Lady Lessa of Queenscove as we ride through, and then meet up with the Wolves on the other side. Let's head out."

Hooves echoed through the quiet streets of what should have been a busy town. As they rode through the square, Evin was able to take a sigh of relief as he saw Lady Lessa standing by two men, a stringed bow in her hand. She looked exhausted and very pale, but when Evin dismounted, she smiled wearily at him.

"Don't worry about me," she said, waving aside his concerns. "I have all the intelligence stored up here, and as an added bonus, I've run into Thom of Pirate's Swoop, the Lioness' son, who has agreed to help us with his Gift." She indicated the young man on her right who nodded a greeting to Evin.

"Where are all the town-folk?"asked Evin.

The older man who had been standing quietly on Lessa's left ventured forward. "I am the town's headman. My people are hiding in the caves to the west. The only people left are our own fighters."

"Are there many?"

"Enough to hold off an attack until our Lord can send his men. Your Riders took the worst of the fighting away from the town. We are grateful." The small man bowed slightly in thanks.

"You should head straight to the others,"Lessa broke in."They will be tired, and I'm sure seeing...everyone will ease your mind." The familiar twinkle returned to her eyes.

"I'll leave half the group here," murmured Evin, half to himself. "Just as a precaution. In case other spidrens return."

"No need." Thom spoke up. "My gift can shield the town if need be...for longer than Master Numair, actually. I've gotten better at shielding than him," Thom explained with a grin.

"And you said you matured!"quipped Lessa. Thom rolled his eyes at Evin, then shrugged, bringing a laugh to everyone.

Relief swept over Evin, though urgency to find Miri continued to fill his heart. Reassurance of her safety was the only guaranty of a peaceful sleep. Mounting Sunshine again, Evin gave the command for the group to move on. He waved to the remaining three figures until they disappeared around a bend in the road.

She was barely breathing. Her chest slowly rose and flattened again. With every breath, Evin worried that it would be her last. How could this happen? screamed his heart. Why in the name of the Goddess did she take that arrow?

They were back in the forest. All Rider groups were told to patch up the wounded and move out as quickly as possible. Evin had arrived right in the middle of a messy battle between the Riders against spidrens and foot soldiers from the Tusaine's army, though they were disguised as merchants. Evin moved his group to a position behind the enemy, hoping that when they attacked, hoping to surprise the opposition.

As soon as the Tusaine soldiers realised that their enemy had reinforcements, they broke away from fighting and started to flee, leaving the Riders to contend with the immortals. Throwing all their forced against them, Evin was pleased to note that the spiderns were falling back. He knew the rest would run into Hemlock, a group that had a war-mage in it. A simple spell would send the immortals burning into dust.

Through the mayhem, Miri had been able to manoeuvre her horse over to Evin and fight next to him, protecting his side. A long graze down her arm was the only wound Evin noted with relief as she smiled at him.

"Took you awhile, Commander," she said, grinning like a lunatic.

"I will lecture you long and hard about following orders, Miri," Evin said, returning her smile. "In private, after we've gotten ourselves out of this mess."

"Can't wait," teased Miri. She swiftly slashed a man who was running up to her, large battle-axe held high.

"Nicely done."

"Well, thank you Comman..." Miri's eyes locked onto a glint of metal speeding towards them. It was an arrow, apparently aimed at Evin. Without his command, the whole battle could go wrong. Very wrong. In an instant, Miri knocked Evin out his saddle, swung Raindrop around to shield his body, and was about to duck, but the arrow caught her in the shoulder. She fell to the ground, darkness swallowing her.

From the time of that fall, Evin had not left her side. He now sat next to her cot in the healer's tent, afraid that she would never wake up from the fever that seized her. After inspecting the wound, Danric determined that the arrow had been poisoned, and the poison had created a fever that took a strong hold on her body. They would have to wait to see the outcome. Hearing this news, Evin decided to remain camped in the forest once all the groups were together again. In total, eleven people were injured, however there were enough fit Riders to give Lady Lessa a guard on her ride back to Corus.

He continued to wait for Miri to wake, to speak, to do anything. Her face had paled dramatically during the ride back to camp. Now her only colour came from cracked lips as red as blood. Evin dipped a cup into a bucket of water, and with his free arm lifted Miri's head so that he could pour droplets down her throat. If anything happens to her, I will never be able to live with myself.

"Waiting here will only make it worst," came a deep voice from behind him. Turning around on his stool, Evin faced Thom of Pirate's Swoop."I suggest you get some sleep," Thom told him. "Danric is resting, but I will look after your lambs 'til morning."

"I didn't know you had the healing Gift," said Evin.

"Not much," admitted Thom. "But I've learned from my mother that even the smallest bit of healing magic can keep a life from the Realms of the Dead. I only know what she has taught me." He shrugged as he placed a cool hand on Miri forehead, and a light purple fire sprang to his fingers, weaving itself across her body. "She will soon be in a peaceful sleep. It would be better if you rested too. You still need to oversee your troops, Commander Larse."

Glancing up at Thom with his blood-shot eyes, Evin gave in. He noted in the young man's eyes a determination that his instructions would be obeyed without hesitation. Must have picked that up from his mother, mused Evin. "Come and wake me if there is any change." He stood and walked to the exist, and would have melted into the darkness if Thom hadn't asked, "Is this lamb special to you, Commander?"

"Yes."

Evin entered his tent and cried.