Welcome back!
For those of you reading The Runesmith Chronicles for the first time I recommend going back and starting with the first book The Runesmith Chronicles (it's actually Oni and the Farmer but it's too late to change it here :P). Mostly so you have a better understanding of how things like the magic system works and what's going on as I often reference earlier chapters.
I update my Bio with the latest Chapters and projects I'm working on each time I put up a new post.
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Enjoy!
Blu
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Edited/Proofread by: oldfart and 2muchdiggity
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Chapter 26
"Of all the rotten luck," growled Kal.
Sera clung tightly to his back as he used the haste rune to keep pace with Velt and Graff, their animal-shifted arms and legs speeding them through the bare forest far faster than the gorgon could hope to keep up.
Behind them twenty Lantaran soldiers gave chase, hooting, yelling and banging their swords against their shields.
"They're driving us!" he called out to the fox and rabbit. It was a common hunting tactic, flushing the game, pushing it toward another set of hunters. The strategy made sense as many animal-type monster girls could easily outrun the band of humans on foot. Kal was amazed that such a large group managed to remain quiet enough to catch them unaware, but if this was their plan there was no necessity for bothering to get close to their prey. "There's probably more of them waiting at the edge of the forest!"
"What do we do?" asked Velt as a tree passed between them.
"Turn!" he called out, angling their path toward the southwest. "Now run as fast as you can! We can't come out right on top of the second group of soldiers!"
A bellowing shout came from the soldiers behind them. Kal couldn't make it out but he had a feeling they were updating the men waiting for them.
"How much further to the forest edge?" he asked the fox once the group of humans had fallen behind far enough they couldn't be seen, though they were still making quite a racket.
"It' been years since I've been this deep into human lands but guessing by the smell, it's not far," she replied.
"Good," he looked behind them and couldn't even see a flash of steel from their pursuers, "Follow me," said the mage, turning due south.
"What? Why?" Velt asked.
"Because they signaled those at the edge of the forest that we changed direction and if we keep on this path we will run right into more soldiers. This won't throw them off for long, but it might be enough to let us make it to the wall," said Kal. From his back, Sera grunted in complaint as he quickly avoided a small tree in his path.
They slowed to a jog and the mage sent Ria out to gauge the distance to the forest edge and look for any sign of the second group of soldiers. The news she brought back didn't improve Kal's mood.
"They're all mounted," reported the sprite. "The good news is that you can see the wall from the forest edge. But there's a lot of open ground to travel. Beyond the trees there is nothing you can use for cover."
"Understood, I'll see if I can make us some." He looked over at Velt and Graff, "I'm going to make an illusion that should hide us, but be ready to run. Making an illusion then moving the things in it is easy. However, I've never tried to get an illusion to move with me over a long distance. This could go horribly wrong or not work at all."
A short while later they arrived at the treeline and Kal began setting up the illusion. Looking out at the distant wall, he asked Velt, "Do you have a way to get over that?"
Graff answered, "I should be able to jump that high. Velt is an excellent jumper too, but not quite as good as I am. If I get on top first I should be able to help her up."
The mage nodded. "Okay, I think that's it," he said, looking at the illusory scene of a bunch of grass whose blades got smaller the closer to the top they were. He wasn't as worried about the design as he was about the color. As long as that matched fairly well they should have the best chance for passing by unnoticed.
They could see three of the mounted patrolmen a short distance to the north of their position. Spacing themselves evenly along the forest edge, they had arranged themselves in a manner where there was enough area for a monster girl to believe she could escape, but a whistle or yell from one of the soldiers would bring the rest running. As quick as Graff and Velt were, they couldn't outrun a horse at full gallop.
Crouching down behind the illusion, the fox and rabbit were out front while Sera and Kal brought up the rear. It took a surprising amount of concentration to move the curtain of faux grass without it flickering or disappearing. Kal discovered that if they crept along slowly he could maintain the image with a little bit of effort.
It seemed to take forever to get to the road. Velt and Graff had no problems since they were on all fours but Kal and Sera's backs were already complaining loudly from being hunched over for so long.
As they came to the edge of the road Kal switched the illusion from the static image of grass and began changing the front edge to match the dusty tan of the path in front of them. The spell flickered multiple times, flashing white, black, and even disappearing for a moment before finally settling on a large rectangle of the tan color he had been aiming for. Apparently, the spell did not appreciate trying to change the image while moving it at the same time.
All four of them held their breath, their eyes widening when they heard off in the distance, "What the hell is that?"
Looking to the side, Kal realized what the tan rectangle must look like from the soldier's point of view.
He turned to Velt and Graff, his haste rune already spinning up. "Run."
As fox and rabbit bolted for the wall, he dropped to one knee and let Sera vault onto his back before tearing off after them. Shouts came from the direction of the mounted patrolmen, but he ignored them.
"Eight horses in total. Two are readying bows," Sera said far more calmly than her rapid breathing implied.
"Let me know if they nock an arrow and raise their bows."
"An arrow is nocked..."
Ahead of them, Graff put on a burst of speed and leapt for the top of the wall.
... raising," said Sera nervously.
"Hold on tight." Kal glanced back just in time to see two arrows sail high into the air as the archers lobbed them in the direction of the rabbit. The featherfall rune came to life and he pushed the magic into the gorgon on his back while at the same time the strength rune shone brightly as he leapt into the air, positioning himself and Sera between Graff and the oncoming arrows.
As Graff reached the top of the wall and flopped onto her stomach, Kal activated his shield rune above her. He quickly saw that both arrows would pass to one side of him, well out of reach of the magical shield. Gritting his teeth, he poured an excessive amount of energy into the rune expanding the shield to many times its normal size. The sound of arrows crashing into the magical barrier was accompanied by the pop of burning leather as the rune heated up.
Velt ran up the side of the wall and grabbed Graff's outstretched hand. Within seconds they were both on top of, then over, the wall and running in the tall grass of the plains. Meanwhile, Kal was dropping back to the ground, but on the wrong side. He was so close, and if he could just get a foot onto the front edge, momentum would probably carry him safely the rest of the way.
His foot came down on something solid but invisible. Stumbling, the other foot also stepped on something as Sera cried out in surprise. A third step also seemed to be caught by thin air while the fourth dropped him down onto the very back edge of the stone barrier below him. A quick hop to the ground and he was chasing after the fox and rabbit.
"What the hell just happened?!" yelled Sera making him wince since her mouth was right next to his ear.
"I don't know, we'll figure it out later!"
"How can you not—" the gorgon turned her head to look behind them. "Archers up on the wall. Foot soldiers are climbing up too."
Kal growled in irritation. They made it over the damn wall, couldn't they just leave his party alone. "Stopping," he warned her, "I need you to get down."
Graff and Velt were well out of the archer's range but he and Sera were not. Kal raised his shield but they were on the edge of the archer's range and neither of the shafts came close to their mark. In response, a small purple rune lit up as Kal made a motion as though drawing a bow. Unlike the men on the wall currently nocking another shot, his arrows flew straight and true until the spell ran out or they got too far away. A soldier dropped to the ground on this side of the wall and immediately dove to the side as a shower of sparks rained down on him from where Kal's arrow impacted the stone. Two more arrows struck the wall just below the archer's feet, sending them sprawling across the top of the barrier. A second later another two bolts streaked above them as a strong incentive to stay down.
Kneeling so Sera could resume her perch, Kal used the moment of confusion among the patrol to bolt after their companions.
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A few hours later, Sera noticed something through one of her serpents. The patrol hadn't given up as Kal had hoped. The mounted soldiers had run to one of the gates in the wall and were continuing the chase, leaving those on foot behind. Unfortunately, their group's passage pushed over and broke the grass, making for an easy trail to follow. Darting behind a small rise, Kal used the speed rune to make it look as though they had continued in a straight line. Another small illusion gave an impression of a trail stretching off into the distance. It wasn't a great illusion, but it didn't need to be either.
Quickly and more thoroughly, he covered their path from the decoy trail to their hiding spot. The mage then erected another illusion, this one mimicking the grass around them. Since it was stationary, he was even able to make stalks in the image look like they were waving in the breeze.
As Kal hoped, the mounted soldiers went barreling through his illusion to be faced with an ocean of grass with no sign of what direction their prey had gone. Cursing, the patrol leader had his men canvass the area. After only a few minutes he called off the search and they began making their way back toward Lantaris.
"You have to admire their persistence," whispered Velt.
Kal grunted in agreement as they watched the line of receding soldiers. They decided not to move until their pursuers were well out of sight.
"From Sera's description and what I've seen, you could have dispatched them easily. Why didn't you?"
"The short answer is that I don't like killing unless necessary," he answered in a low voice. No sense in taking a chance on the wind revealing them to a sharp-eared soldier. "I felt we had enough of an advantage to make killing them unnecessary. Other than that, I have made a very powerful friend in Lantaris who feels he owes me a favor. I'm sure that favor would vanish if I killed some of his men. In essence, to kill one of them I would have had to take out the entire company so he never found out."
A chill ran down Velt's spine, "From how you said that I get the impression that wouldn't be outside your abilities."
