Ben's NaNoWriMo Log

Chapter 15 added Sep 23, 2005
There were ten miners walking alongside the heavily laden wagons, five on each side. Along with the caravan master, two drivers, and Sarah and her friends, that made a grand total of sixteen people. Every one of the miners was carrying a sword, axe, or pick, and the drivers carried both swords and crossbows laid across their laps. Walking behind the wagons and off to one side, Sarah and Molly watched the hills on either side. "Who exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" asked Sarah. For all her bluster that morning, she didn't really know much about guarding caravans. Molly, fortunately, had been trained in such things, at least in theory. "I imagine there are any number of miners whose claims dried up or otherwise weren't successful. Rather than start over, some of them probably resorted to banditry." As if to prove her point, a dozen heads appeared from behind the ridge on the right side of the road. Before Sarah and Molly could draw their swords, four crossbows sang from the top of the hill, striking two of the miners on that side of the caravan. The other eight men swarmed down the hill, swords waving in the air as they charged. The miners fumbled for their weapons, moving to the far side of the wagons for cover against the crossbows. The first reaction of the wagon drivers, however, was to escape. The wagons lurched forward as they urged the horses to a faster pace. In their haste, however, the drivers didn't notice the log that had been laid across the road. The horses jumped it easily, but the first wagon hit it with an axle-snapping crash. The second team of horses turned to avoid the grounded wagon, causing the second wagon to tip over sideways. The horses strained at their harnesses, trying to free themselves from the wreck. Meanwhile, steel rang on steel as the bandits and miners crossed swords. Molly and Sarah came in on the bandits' flank, drawing them off one or two at a time. The miners outnumbered their attackers in the melee, but they lacked any sort of formal training and were doing their best just to stay alive. A few of them were running toward the wagons, either to take cover or make a run for it with their goods. Sarah stood at Molly's side as they faced off against two of the bandits. She slashed and stabbed, scoring a few minor scratches on her opponent. The techniques that Molly had been drilling into her came back in a rush, and she put them to use as best she could. She was doing little better than the miners, but despite the obvious threat of the bandit's sword she felt a certain thrill in the heat of battle. As Sarah finally got past the bandit's guard to cut a gash across his ribs, she heard the twang of crossbows from up on the hill again. She glanced in that direction, expecting to see death winging its way toward her. Instead, she saw crossbow bolts flying up into the air as if blown by a great wind. She turned behind her to see Syphar with his hand held in the air. "Quick! Attack while they're reloading," he shouted. Molly pulled her rapier from the chest of one falling bandit and put it in the path of the sword whistling toward Sarah's head. Sarah's stomach clenched as she realized that her distraction had almost cost her her life. "Go," said Molly. "I'll handle these guys." Recovering quickly, Sarah sprinted up the hill. As she reached the top, the man before her dropped his crossbow and reached for his sword. Before he could get it free of its scabbard, however, Sarah stabbed her rapier between his ribs. Part of her was horrified by the dark blood welling up around her blade, but she didn't allow herself to be paralyzed by her emotions. She yanked the sword free and ran along the ridge toward the next bandit. He had already drawn his sword, but he was unprepared for the fierce blow that knocked the weapon aside. Sarah reversed her blade, slashing the man across the shoulder and throat on her return stroke. As she prepared to move on down the line, she saw the other two crossbowmen running down the hill and away from the battle, their weapons forgotten on the ground behind them. Sarah lowered her bloody blade and looked back down at the road. Molly stood amid several prone bodies, sending another bandit to the ground with a swift thrust to the chest. The others were fleeing across the hills, unwilling to continue a losing battle. Several of the miners had sustained wounds, but they were all still alive. As they went to right the wagons, Sarah made her way down the hill toward Molly and Syphar. She looked at the bodies on the road and sprawled on the hilltop. "I... I never..." Molly laid a hand on her shoulder. "I know. I've never killed a man before either." Sarah could see a subtle shakiness through Molly's practiced composure. "Look over there," she said, pointing toward the miners struggling to right the toppled wagons. "Don't think about the lives you took. Think about the ones you saved." Sarah nodded numbly. She mimicked Molly, wiping the blood from her blade on the clothes of one of the dead bandits before putting it away. Syphar went to help get the wagons moving again. No one questioned his claim of being a wainwright after he somehow fixed the broken axle without any tools. Molly dragged the bodies of the bandits off to the side of the road, relieving them of their money and weapons in the process. They weren't wealthy men -- else they wouldn't have been bandits in the first place -- but their coin would buy a roof and meals for a while. The rest of the trip was uneventful, and by the time they reached the outskirts of Luni, Sarah's spirits had lifted again. The caravan master paid them as promised, thanking them profusely for their aid. Molly made sure he remembered their names, false though they were. A sellsword's reputation was her livelihood, as she informed Sarah. Sarah had begun to resign herself to an entire country of boring little towns, but the great city of Luni gave her hope that Ahandria might be a civilized place. Nestled within the edge of the Tanglewood on the slopes of the Cappelori Mountains (as they were called from this side), Luni was a large and vibrant city. The city wall was thick, built with logs and filled in with stone; not the best defense in the world, but certainly sufficient to keep out small time raiders. The buildings of the city themselves were mostly single story affairs, like they had seen in the other towns they had come through on the way there. In Luni, however, the stone and wood structures were plastered and brightly painted, making it seem as though the entire city was preparing for a festival. Exposed beams on the outsides of buildings were carved in fanciful shapes, and those too were decorated with paint and gilding. The sprawling city was very different from Crown Bay, but it seemed a place that Sarah could call home.
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