“Son of a mangy bitch!” swore Amos. “Can’t anything kill that dungeater?”
Guy looked about. “I don’t know, but now we have other worries.” He began to climb down, and they discovered that the entire cavern had collapsed beneath them. Where the cave mouth had been, only a mass of rubble extending out into the gully could be seen. They picked their way through the debris, passing beyond several collapsed stone redoubts that had protected the city from attack from above, and at last reached the wash leading down into a canyon where horses were hidden.
Guy said, “The first four or five canyons will have been picked clean by those first to flee. If we’re to find mounts, we must look farther out.”
Arutha nodded. “Still, we have a choice: west toward Yabon, or east toward Highcastle.”
“Toward Yabon,” answered Guy. “If help’s coming, we have a chance of meeting it along the road.” He scanned the area, looking for some sign of which was the most likely direction to travel. “Whatever units Murmandamus had up here will likely be disorganized now. We may yet get free of them.”
Amos chuckled. “Even his larger companies will be reluctant to stand in the way of a rout army. It isn’t exactly healthy.”
Guy said, “Still, if they find themselves cornered, they’ll fight like the rats they are. And at first light there’ll be thousands of reinforcements up here. We have only a few hours at best to get away.”
The sound of movement from the canyon caused all to draw weapons and move back into what little shelter was provided by the fallen rocks. Guy signalled for everyone to be ready.
They waited silently, and from around the corner a figure emerged. Guy sprang forward, halting his blow in midair.
“Briana!”
The commander of the Third Company looked slightly dazed, blood flowing from a cut upon her temple. Seeing Guy she relaxed. “Protector,” she said with relief. “We were forced to turn back. There was a patrol of trolls at the lower end of the canyon who were attempting to flee back to their own lines. We seemed to be fighting to get past each other. Then the explosion . .. we were showered with rocks. I don’t know what happened to the trolls. I think they fled . . .” She pointed to her bleeding forehead. “Some of us were hurt.”
“Who is with you?” he asked.
Arutha stepped forward as Briana shook her head to clear it, then motioned, and into the glow from the conflagration in the city came two more guards, one obviously wounded, and a dozen or more children. With wide, startled eyes they regarded Arutha, Guy, and the others.
Briana said, “They had been trapped in a draw by some Dark Brothers. Some of my soldiers killed the Brothers, but we were separated. We’ve been finding stragglers for the last hour.”
Guy counted. “Sixteen.” He turned to Arutha. “What do we do now?”
Arutha said, “Every man for himself or not, we can’t leave them.”
Amos turned, alerted by some approaching sound. “Whatever we do, we’d best do it somewhere else. Come along.”
Guy pointed over the rim of the draw and he and the others began helping the children climb. Soon they were all above the canyon rim and moving off toward the west.
Arutha was the last to reach the rim, and as the others vanished out of sight he dropped to his knees behind an outcropping of rock. Into view came a company of goblins, moving cautiously as if expecting attack at every turn while they attempted to return safely from their lines. From their bloodied appearance, it was clear they had already encountered some elements of the Armengarian rout. Arutha waited until he was sure the children were safely along, then took a rock and heaved it as far past the goblins as possible. The stone sped unobserved through the dark and clattered behind them. The goblins spun around and hurried along, as if fearing attack from behind. Arutha ducked along the ridge, running in a crouch, then jumped down to the next trail. Soon he overtook the last of their party, the man called Shigga, acting as rear guard.
Shigga motioned with his head. Arutha whispered, “Goblins.”
The spearman nodded and they moved down the trail, following the band of tiny fugitives.
FIFTEEN - Flight
Arutha motioned for a halt.
Everyone, including the children, moved against the rocks, hiding from possible observation. The entire party crouched down in a gully, one they had been following for the night. Dawn was approaching, and after the fiery destruction of Armengar, the hills behind the city had become a no-man’s land.