Tales of Riv'nar: The Chosen -- Book 2

Jax's objection was heard quickly after the plans were heard. “Not to rain on your little parade here but, I must decline?” Jackson quickly added to that. “You have made it quite clear that I serve no greater purpose here. Surely, there has got to be a better way?” It made the prince grin.

Turning a stare at the acrobat, the prince looked at him squarely in the eyes. ”I'll be going with you. It is not like I would send Kalus into such a situation without another. He has Aron, a mighty gryphon. I've seen that creature battle and it is formidable. Jax, it is the job of a ruler to see their citizens are protected.” Fredric looked at the fire from his seat as he sighs heavily. ”Amelia will be taking possession of my horse while I'm scouting with you. What stirred the attention of the king was from goblin ambushes beyond these woods in the meadow. For that reason we need to not falter in scouting for their location.”

It was hard for Fredric to relax and loosen up with the weight of the world on each of their shoulders. Perhaps it was only Darke and himself that shared that feeling, but it was certainly the reality of their situation. Needless to say, it was all that Fredric had came up with for a plan. It was not a complete plan nor was it a flawless plan but it was better than nothing and it at least got them closer to their goal. Fredric did want Jax to scout with him because a thief's perception and awareness of things would match well with a paladin's battle strength. They would make a good scouting team and it was the other reason Fredric had chose Jax in the first place.

Looking at Darke for a moment, the man seemed to be filled with his own thoughts. Last night had shown everyone how foolish a Riv'nar captain could be. It was not something that Fredric looked down on him for, quite the opposite actually. Darke was no more human than Fredric or Jax and their faults as a person is what made their relationship stronger with Fredric. The swordsman had talents just as Amelia and Jax. Talents there have been found most useful and actions of the previous night would not change that fact or Fredric's opinion of the man.

”Darke, I'll need to you keep a close eye on everyone else. We only have a single mage and I would prefer to keep him alive. Fredric closed his eyes and lowered his head to the ground. ”I would rather not see any of you fall. There is a good chance that an ambush will occur since I read no report back at Rourin of the goblins being slain. We must assume that they are still there. I can only imagine that they are skilled in keeping themselves concealed even from a gryphon's impressive eye sight. As Jax and myself move through the meadow ahead of everyone, Kalus will scan from the skies. The rest of you will wait several minutes after we have left.” The plan was risky, Fredric knew it. If they attacked Jax and himself, they would surely both die. If they attacked the other group on horse back, a similar result would happen. Fredric hated the plan but it was the only one he could think of.

Looking around the camp, Fredric could not read the expression on each of their faces. Raine was a little worried, Jax did not like the idea at all, and as usual Zephyr was as calm as a warm breeze. ”Does anyone have something to add to this plan?” Fredric scratched the back of his head while giving a drawn out sigh. The crackling and snapping of wood burning made Fredric think of home. It made him think of mother for a brief moment or two. He wished someone else had this task to complete instead.

The camp was dismantled quickly and smoothly, and soon Prince Fredric had turned to contemplating battle plans. The sun was rising. A faint breeze rustled the leaves and needles of trees. It looked to be perfect weather for travel. Kalus returned briefly to see to the gryphon, and when he returned the others were gathered around Fredric, taking note of his instructions.

Kalus stood with his hands on his elbows, listening intently as the plans were laid for the coming assault on Soryin's castle. When the Prince asked if anyone had anything to add, Kalus took a step forward and briefly held up a finger. "Would Soryin not have some ward or spell to prevent us from reaching the castle in the first place? I wonder if Magus or Zephyr could contrive a thing to counteract such a ward or barrier." If they talked about the possibilities now, then they might be more prepared when the time came.

Kalus paused to let the others mull over his suggestion, but then another thought occurred to him. "I would not want to fly anywhere near Soryin's castle without knowing the condition of its sky. If there are barriers and wards about, we should identify them and determine their covered area. For all we know, the air around the whole place could be a death-trap." He nodded several times. "Yes, no flying until we make sure the skies are clear."

"Also," Kalus added, "there may be any number of uses for Amelia's purportedly explosive vials. We should not overlook anything." Kalus didn't know how explosive the vials were supposed to be. He wondered if Amelia knew. Hopefully she'd mention something about it. After all, they were only eight people up against who knew how many goblins, and the dreaded warlock at the end of it.

The sentiment was there but it didn’t make him feel any more at ease. Sure it, would be to his benefit to have the prince by his side during a skirmish but Jax was eager to avoid such situations at all cost. Travelling with a heavily armored companion would only attract attention towards them. Who had heard of a stealthy knight? The further Fredric dove into his plan the less appealing the whole situation was beginning to sound.

”If I am to do this would it not make more sense for me to travel alone?” Jax’s asked not looking to meet the glare he was sure to get. “Let’s face it I might as well set myself on fire and run through the meadow ………

The acrobat’s voice dropped of as he began to think things through in his mind. Either way he was putting his life on the line unnecessarily. If Fredric’s plan had its risks the fiery young red head’s suggestion would come across as damn near insane. It would give the group the distraction they would need to navigate the meadow without interference from the goblins and make it to the castle. Jax was no hero but he could prove a valuable distraction.

”Ladies you might want to avert your eyes”

Jackson let out a deep sigh placing his hands on his thighs as he pulled his aching backside from the rough log beside the fire. In one fluid motion he took off his robe and handed back to the dark mage.

“Thank you, I don’t think I will require this for my next performance. I leave you in much the same manner as I came.”

I wasn’t meant to be so dramatic but as the words left his mouth they certainly came across that way. Regardless he stood a better chance of surviving the situation alone than with any help these heroes would be able to provide. He had survived on his own in this world long enough that he was willing to test fate one more time. It was a gamble he had to take. They seemed to believe in what they were about to embark upon regardless of the odds.

Walking over to the prince’s mount he shuffled through the saddle bags pulling out four torches and a decanter of oil before returning to the baffled companions. Soaking the tar coated end of the sticks into the oil he thrust them into the fire. Instantly yellow flames roared forth along with it a heavy billow of black smoke. The demonstration had begun without any intervention as the fiery sticks rotated trough the air.

“You will know when the time is right.” Jackson insisted as he began to make his way out of the camp. “It's time to move people ! I can't guarantee how long I can hold their attention.”

Fredric glanced over at Kalus' direction to acknowledge him speaking. The strategic analysis the gryphon knight provided was important and exposed the holes in Fredric's plan. As the knight concluded his words Fredric smirked and thought it probably would shut the death mage up. It was not like Fredric actually held Magus in any sort of status as a military leader. Each of them had their part to play and it was something Fredric tried to carefully weigh as battle plans were made for a battle that might not occur in the first place. It was still better to be prepared for something that might come than to blinding fall into the trap.

”Kalus, excellent observation of my plan, however, we are merely making plans to cross the meadow for now. Our plans for the castle assault will come later.” Fredric said to the knight as he looked towards Amelia for a moment.

”How powerful exactly are these explosive vials? Are they strong enough to blow a hole through a castle wall?” It was the moment when Fredric got done talking is when Jackson decided to make a decision about the plan. Such reckless behavior and it probably would get them all killed faster than Fredric could.

Fredric stood the moment the acrobat thief began talking and started to leave the camp practically naked. ”Halt! We are not through with out discussions!” Fredric exclaimed wall balling both hands into fists from frustration. Jax was an asset to them whether he realized it or not. Each of them were towards their cause and while they would have personal disagreements it did not matter much when it came to their quest.

Taking a step forward, the prince looked squarely up at the naked man in controlled anger. ”If you want to play the role of a decoy, then I will not object to it. A plan must still be forged. If your ears not hear it then the mind will not know which steps to take after the first and second. Do not venture off and die a fool's death. We need you.” It was the prince's goal to keep the naked man in camp long enough to hear the rest of the plans.

It almost did not matter whether the thief needed to hear the rest of their finalized plans but it would not hurt for him to hear them. Being impatient would just get him killed from ignorance of their battle. The goblins had proven themselves to be crafty individuals behind an experienced leader. Fredric learned that by fighting against Dronus and his assault plans. Issuing a tactical retreat to regroup his forces, make his make force hit them directly and attack with archers from a flank. It was a good plan but their frontal attack took far to many loses to make combat worth continuing. If there was one goblin leader like Dronus then there were others. It was this assumption that made Fredric fearful because it meant that if Jackson was a distraction, it could also mean the goblin squad leader could pull a trick or two out of his bag of tricks and ignore the naked man completely and go after the real targets.

So many factors involved and there was limited time to make decisions. Fredric turned back around and sat on his seat, a log, and rested his elbows on the knees with hands cupped over one another. ”We have to consider the possibility that the person in charge of the goblins is just as craft as Dronus. All of you remember how his counter-attack almost brought him victory. Imagine what a squad of stealthy goblins under the command of a similar leader could do.” Illustrating the result was not needed, it was pretty obvious to them all what would happen.

Zephyr had come and taken a seat, where now everyone gathered. It was time to be serious. The task at hand was a serious one, and everyone needed to be in their best to provide hope for one another. Zephyr did that by simply just... sitting there. He had no look of worry or stress. Instead, he was rather calm, his brown eyes flitting from person to person before he finally just closed them, leaning his head back. He let the sound of nature take him; the soft rustle of leaves and the small 'scrip scrip' of squirrels in the trees, as well as the soft chirp of birds.

When Zephyr opened his eyes, he got an eye-ful. Of Jax, of course. He shook his head in silent disapproval, as the Prince then stopped the amusing young man. Naked tactics are uncalled for, Zephyr thought to himself, as he shifted a bit to listen up better. Stealth or no stealth, they needed to just be ready to attack. They needed to be sly to get far enough out to know who and where the enemy was. Then, they needed to go on. Fight it out, and destroy all that stood in the way.

Zephyr drew his finger over the smooth hard bark of the log that he sat on, that large callous finger bumping into a lady bug. He shifted as the tiny creature crawled onto his fingertip, and he brought it to eye level. He turned his hand as the little red and black bug scuttled onto his knuckle, spreading its wings but not moving, more like cleaning them or straightening them. Finally, the little bug took off and Zephyr finally spoke.

"I am ready when we are all ready. We know the strength of their previous attack. That alone gives us an understanding, if not an advantage."