Forest of Ruin (Age of Legends 3)

Tyrus glared at him. "I was merely looking."

"Don't. You'll call attentio

n to us, and there's nothing to see. Now may I suggest that since I view this situation most dispassionately, I should plan our next move?"

"What do you have in mind?" Moria asked.

He told them.

THIRTY-THREE

The farther they followed the wagon, the more anxious Moria grew, seeing the camp disappearing behind her and feeling as if it truly was disappearing, like a mirage in the desert.

They had to follow on foot, leaving the horses behind. They continued at a distance, until the camp vanished into the darkness and Gavril proclaimed they'd gone far enough.

Moria hurried on with Daigo, getting far enough ahead of the wagon and its two guards that she could slip into their path and collapse there. Well, fake a collapse. She sprawled on the trodden path they used as a road, her cloak abandoned in the long grass with Daigo. She'd left her boots there, too, so she was barefoot. Gavril claimed her skin glowed in the moonlight. She rather thought he exaggerated, but it was pale enough to be spotted in the darkness. She fanned her long hair out, too, in hopes that would help keep her from being trampled.

Eyes closed, she listened to the pound of hooves and the squeak of the wagon wheels, and with each passing moment, her heart beat faster and the urge to peek was almost overwhelming.

Daigo will protect me.

So she trusted, yet those hooves and that squeak grew closer and closer until she could hear the heavy breathing of the horses and she swore she could smell them and--

"Hold up!" someone called.

The horses whinnied to a halt, and Moria exhaled a soft sigh of relief.

"A pretty girl lying on the road?" One of the men snorted. "Clearly the local bandits have heard too many bard songs. You two head out. Find where they hide and take care of them."

This was exactly as Moria expected. The ploy was so hackneyed that no one would fall for it. She did peek then, since they did not truly think her unconscious. The man giving the orders was the wagon driver. He sent the warrior guards to find the bandits. Then he climbed down, approached Moria, and bent beside her.

"So, girl," he said. "You thought you'd take a wagon full of riches, did you?" He laughed. "You'd have been mightily disappointed. We've nothing in our wagon but a prisoner. You waylaid a supply wagon on the wrong leg of its journey."

Moria said nothing, just kept her eyes open enough to watch him.

"This might be an inconvenience," the wagon driver said. "But you'll repay us for that." He reached out and toyed with a lock of her hair. "Amuse us enough, and we'll bring you home. If you do not . . . well, there are brothels that will pay richly for a pretty Northern girl."

Moria leaped up then, not with her daggers, but simply jumping to her feet to run. The man grabbed her. She struggled about as hard as he'd likely expect from a girl, which was not much at all. He easily hefted her over his shoulder, with her weakly kicking and pounding at his back. Then he carried her to the wagon. As he opened the back flap, he froze.

"Release your hold on her," Gavril said. "Or I shove this sword through your neck."

Moria kicked the wagon driver's stomach as the first note of his call for help escaped. He fell back with an oomph and dropped her. By the time she got to her feet, Gavril had him on the ground, his sword at the man's throat. Daigo crouched beside him. At a motion from Moria, the wildcat took off for Tyrus, who was stalking the two warrior guards.

Moria searched for weapons on the wagon driver. While he did not appear to be a warrior, he had a blade, plus a dagger in his boot. She disarmed him and climbed into the wagon to search for something to bind him.

When she caught sight of a figure in the wagon, she readied for attack. Then she saw that he was slouched against the side, facing away, his hands bound behind his back and she remembered the driver saying they were transporting a prisoner. He seemed to be unconscious, and she was about to ignore him, but . . .

There was something about the prisoner. Something familiar.

Moria opened the flap and thrust out a torch she'd carried in her belt.

"Light this," she said to Gavril. And then added, "Please."

He cast a quick spell and lit it with his fingers. Moria pulled back into the wagon and took hold of the young man's shoulder. As she was about to give him a shake, something happened outside. Gavril snarled at the driver not to move or--

The wagon jolted as if one of them had fallen against it. Moria stumbled. The prisoner fell and jerked awake, his limbs flailing, one catching her in the leg before she pinned him with a bare foot.

"Ash?" Ronan stared up at her, blinking hard. Then he looked at the foot planted on his chest. "Moria?"