Kerric the Mercenary: Episode 11, Ambush Missed

Kerric's men wait for Corman to arrive, and wait, and wait.

A large group marched through the site Kerric’s men waited in ambush, mid-morning shadows dancing down the road beside them. Not only was this group headed the wrong way; they were arms-men in O’Tallen tabards. The soldiers were sloppy, not in formation, and looked to be little more than conscripts. Such would give Corman little trouble if they tried to interfere. Those men pass without ever knowing they had walked through without ever seeing Kerric’s men waiting to spring their ambush.

Slowly, the sun climbed higher. With the sun reaching zenith, five hours after setting up for the Ambush, Kerric knew that something was off. The sight chosen by Locklear was perfect. According to his best guess, Corman should have reached that point two hours after he and his men did.

Kerric dismounted Akrus and his warcat relaxed. Akrus could, and had before, held himself ready to pounce all day, but Kerric dismounting told him it was no longer needed. He stepped from his place of hiding and the others too dismounted their beasts and came out.

Kerric locked eyes with Tantos. “They scented you and know we hunt them.”

Tantos’ eyes narrowed. “Not possible,” he said, assurance filling his voice. “The winds this close to the Black Sand are constant and in that direction. I dismounted well downwind and approached on foot; and never entered their camp.”

Harkman asked, “Would DarkGate allow their branding, or would he need head to Wrenwood?”

“If he went to Wrenwood, it would only be to pay for branding and taking them on to Rimmington,” Kerric said, wondering why Harkman was trying to divert him from Tantos. He let him do so while he considered that. “Either is a possibility, though unlikely. Even if the Baron of DarkGate refuses to allow them to be branded there, he won’t take a stand against whoever is employing Corman and free them. All the nobles up here stay out of the business of the central nobility.”

His eyes found two others. “Locklear, Ownar, find out where they are. Do not let them scent you.”

In silence, both mounted up and headed into the woods, as the others returned to their Warcats, though none would go back to waiting to pounce now.

The sun crept across the sky and began toward the mountains. Too much time passed, and neither man was back. Something was wrong. It was barely possible for Corman to catch one of his men off guard and kill him, but not two. The sun dropped ever closer to the mountain peaks. He was considering cheating for the first time this trip, when his ears picked up the squawks animals make as Warcats pass some distance away. Kerric chided himself. He hadn’t been this impatient in years. His men were not the only ones who needed to regain their skills.

The two were not in the wood but riding at a sprint down the road. Locklear pulled up next to Kerric, “Your deductions were flat wrong. Tantos wasn’t scented. Corman never planned to come to Aring in the first place.”

Kerric could hardly believe his ears. He encouraged people to point out any error of his they found, but had he done it that bluntly at home, Kerric would have had to kill him as an example. From the way several shifted their weight, he knew some of the men thought he would do so now.

“Continue.”

“We cut through the woods, part way back toward DeSon to made sure to come up downwind of them on that woodcutter’s track. Corman had not doubled back that way, so we knew Wrenwood was out. We made our best guess as to where he could be on the DarkGate-Aring road and made for it at a full run. At that road, using all caution, we worked our way toward where that woodcutter’s track met that road; I to the west of the road, Ownar to the east. That took most of our time to do it right.”

He paused, then continued. “We passed that woodcutters track, sill without passing Corman. It took some study but picked up the trail there. It led to a different woodcutter’s track not far down the road toward Aring. We followed that just long enough that we knew they had passed that way that morning. Then we headed here as fast as we could.”

Locklear’s explanation was far from the only one possible. Kerric hoped he was correct. Offering it in such a confrontational manner would require he do something about it otherwise.

A woodcutter’s track met the Harin-Url City rode just north of Den on the far side of the wood. That was likely the other end of that one, but having never used it, Kerric could not be certain of it. He glared at the two recently returned men. One of them should have followed that group and confirmed their guess. “Mount up. We’re headed to Den.”

Episode 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10——12

For More of my fiction

Fictions Index

For a complete and free story click below