Chapter 12

It isn't so much of a noticeable difference in the land, as much as it is a feeling deep inside. Even though, there is that. The ground becomes rockier and it seems that the mountain chain is turning into the land. Or maybe it is just that the forest is closer to the mountains here, leaving only a sliver of rolling foothills.

"Details had long eluded me."

Now that Christopher is alone again, or at least as alone as he can be with his little sweetheart of a baby sister haunting him, Chaos, the little red fox, starts coming back around.

If Christopher still had the ability of rational thought, he might have thought it was quite amazing that a little red fox had followed him through two countries and into a third, and waited for him the whole time he was in the town of Herum back in his nation. If his brain still cared to reason things out, he might have thought that it was odd that Chaos was now accompanied by a golden eagle. At some other point in his life he would have found it curious that the little red fox and the majestic golden eagle seem to talk with each other now and again, when they think he isn't cognizant.

"In the moments of clarity that were becoming less and less frequent, I now knew that the only way out of this was death."

"Charge!"

Christopher kicks Shadow hard in the flanks, maybe a little too hard for he almost bucks him off before charging. They gallop full speed and Christopher is yelling at the top of his lungs as they go screaming down the little hill just inside the forest at another enemy caravan on a well-traveled trail. Christopher has his sword in his left hand and his newly acquired battle-ax in his right.

"It was a smaller wagon train, only four wagons with ten soldiers, but I was going to take no chances and show no mercy."

Shadow and Christopher ride right through the middle of the first group of six. Every one of them is dead or dying by the time they clear the other side. Their momentum is such that Shadow cannot swerve or slow up with any kind of authority, so he takes the lead and plows himself right into the remaining four mounted soldiers. They all go down in a heap of anger, sweat, fear and blood.

Just before the contact, Christopher had launched his battle-ax at the meanest looking of the four. He can swear that even above the screaming and the pounding of Shadow's hooves on the hard soil, he can here the rib cage shatter as his ax hits the enemy soldier squarely in the chest. Christopher rolls on his right and uses the momentum to get to his feet. He sees that one soldier is crushed underneath his still dying horse.

With a quick look around at the situation, Christopher notices that the remaining two soldiers must of done plenty of fighting with each other, because without any spoken words that he sees or hears they position him in the middle of them. Instead of waiting for them to get the complete upper hand, he charges the soldier in front of him, and their swords clang loudly as the enemy soldier side-steps his maneuver and sends him tumbling.

When Christopher jumps to his feet he had expected to see the two of them bearing down on him, but it appears that Shadow has crushed the skull of the other one. Even the last remaining enemy soldier notices that, so it gives Christopher the moment he needs to steady himself and parry away his sword swing. Christopher can tell immediately that he is outclassed, but doesn't really care. The enemy soldier is a bigger man than him, much thicker, so his movements are slower. Even though Christopher is finding it near impossible to deliver the killing blow, he has so far been able to dodge his.

When all else fails, just go for it. Christopher grabs his sword with both hands, directing the point at the soldier, and runs with full intentions of running him through. The enemy soldier easily spins and deflects Christopher's sword, and at some point he has put a dagger in his other hand, giving Christopher a two-mark cut on his left cheek. The son-of-a-bitch is smiling.

Christopher shakily and angrily sets his feet and prepares to charge again, and then he hears a clap of thunder. The smile fades from the soldier's face as Christopher sees a billow of white smoke rise off his back. He drops his sword looking confused and tries to reach back to rub his shoulder, but falls to the ground with a very dissatisfied moan.

"I was as confused as he was until I looked at the nearest wagon and saw an old lady with her newly freed hand outstretched in his previous direction. She smiled and lowered her hand. I tilted my head in wonderment and went to let this new group of slaves out."

Again it is all women and little girls. This time, however, instead of a wizard there is a witch.

Christopher tells her, "Thank you."

The gray haired witch replies, "You are most welcome, and thank you. I am Tabitha, and we are from Venloring being taken to Quadral as slaves, except for me, they would have sacrificed to their God in the belief that my magical powers would then be given to them."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Well, uh, well not long ago I freed another slave caravan with a wizard named Plume amongst them, and he is leading them north through the mountains to his hidden homeland and to safety. That might be the best for you also. Go northwest into the mountains and then eventually turn north, and you should find them, maybe."

"Yes, thank you again."

Christopher goes to go get Shadow so he can run down some of the other horses for these people to use, when he notices Shadow is limping.

The witch Tabitha puts some salve on it and says, "You should stay off him for a week or so, but it does not seem too serious."

Christopher is about to explain about the other horses when she lets out this melodic half whistle half song noise, and the remaining horses come to her. Even Chaos and Abyss, as he started calling the golden eagle, come closer, and he can swear they bow slightly to her. Then he remembers the connection Sarah had with the wild life around them. Whatever.

They ride off to the northwest; Shadow, Chaos, Abyss and Christopher walk and fly towards the east. They have only made it a couple of leagues when he starts realizing just how hard of a tumble they had taken back there, for he is sore all over. Christopher forces himself to walk several more stretches to get to a thicket and a creek area, or something to hide out in while they recuperate a little.

Christopher awakes to an explosion. Followed by another one and then another. The black forest lights up to show all kinds of imagined horrors as a huge storm rolls in.

Christopher quickly fastens a makeshift shelter to at least slow some of the downpour. Even the golden eagle flies underneath it. It isn't quite big enough for all of Shadow, but he at least gets his head and shoulders under it, and Christopher throws a rain parka that he had taken from one of the fallen over the rest of him. It occurs to him that he has been spending a lot of time talking to himself, so he figures he'll start talking to his companions.

"Even though they never talked back exactly, I could swear they were following my ramblings. Maybe that was one of the reasons they started looking more and more concerned."

Christopher hadn't noticed it before, because the eagle had never gotten close enough, but his predatory eyes that bore into him take on an eerie resemblance to Sarah's big beautiful soft brown eyes. Christopher thinks that maybe Sarah has taken on a bird form if she is allowed to have a new life, but amongst many of the flashes he can see Sarah's floating eyes off to the side. It no longer shakes him up.

"I started rambling to her, too."

Christopher thinks to wait out this storm, but it shows no signs of slowing. And much like his sanity, his patience is virtually non-existent.