Garinor assessed the situation and he believed that they needed to both distract this group of soldiers and alert the other Daggerfists to their presence. “We’ll split up, Song.”
“What! No way, Garinor, I couldn’t.”
But he was resolute. “We have to. I’m good at climbing trees so I’ll go up and throw things down to distract them. You said they have no bows, so they won’t be able to do much to me. And you can run off to the camp and let them know these fighters are on their way.”
“It’s a crazy plan.”
Garinor grinned confidently. “That’s why it’ll work. Come on, Song, before it’s too late. It’s the only way to really help.”
Song’s own indecision showed clearly on his face, but in the end he agreed to Garinor’s plan. They scrounged around for rocks and twigs, then Song watched as Garinor scampered easily up a tree and perched himself there, hidden among the branches. With a last farewell salute to his friend, Song darted off to alert the camp.
Garinor didn’t have time to waste. Half of the group was already past his location and if he waited too long then there would be no point in this line of action. He clutched a larger rock in his hand and he lobbed it into the air, determined for it to strike the opposite side of the pack of men. With a thud, the rock crashed onto one of the soldiers’ heads. He cried out in pain and his companions spun around, looking for the culprit, but they didn’t find any. Garinor kept himself from laughing aloud and pitched his next stone into the regiment.
One by one, Garinor tossed in his stones and twigs, causing confusion among the ranks. The woods lit with angry shouts and violent threats. With a careless throw, Garinor accidentally revealed his location. Half a dozen of the men broke off from the group and pursued Garinor up in the trees; meanwhile, the others continued their trek toward the battle, the sounds of which were starting to echo into the air.
Garinor looked around and leaped from one tree to the next, grabbing for branches in order to keep from falling to what would be a dreadful impact. Below him, the soldiers worked to deter his progress by following his own example. Some took to climbing the trees while others lobbed stones into the air, trying to catch the boy and knock him down. A few of the throws were well-aimed, and as the rocks pelted into him, Garinor gasped in pain, but he reacted by focusing his strength on remaining aloft.
As he went from tree to tree, the nimble boy worked his way up or down depending on where the branches lay. It wasn’t easy and the angry shouts below him didn’t help matters. He continued sending down his own projectiles, but his attacks were no longer effective.
A twinge of fear grew within him. There wasn’t any way he could escape from this path, especially as he noticed that the trees were thinning out and there were fewer options left to him. He would have to drop down, pull out his sword, and meet the prince’s men in battle. The modicum of defensive training with Song barely comforted him as he considered this course of action.
As he scrambled about, a loud rush of activity echoed from below. Garinor was too afraid to look. Perhaps the soldiers were cutting down his tree, or maybe they were devising some scheme to bring him down. At least two of the men were pursuing him up among the branches and his current perch wouldn’t be safe for long. To stay there would bring defeat and he knew he had to move.
Hand under hand, Garinor climbed down the tree, and as he did so he scanned the ground, trying to decide the best place to drop down. The other soldiers could easily encircle the tree, but if he could fall onto one of them and knock him out, that would improve his chances.
But as Garinor scanned the ground for a possible route, he was shocked by what he saw. The prince’s men were under attack. He vaguely recognized the attackers as the men from the outpost. They must have heard about the battle somehow and come to help. Perhaps Chief of the Daggerfists had sent a messenger whose path had not crossed his and Song’s. But there they were, dispatching the prince’s men with ease. Garinor dropped down and the two men in the trees surrendered themselves without a fight.
“Looks like we got here just in time,” beamed one of the outpost men.
“Yes, Dodger, but if you listen to that, you’ll hear that battle is on in earnest.”
Garinor added, “There’s a group of the prince’s men going to join that battle. Song went to alert the others, but maybe we should go help.”
Dodger raised his eyebrow. “Brave one, are you? Yes, you’re right, but you’re also wrong.”
The other man agreed. “Dodger’s right. We’ll go and help them out, but you can’t.”
“What!” Garinor protested. “But I want to help.”
“You’re not trained for battle, son, so it would be suicide to let you go in there. And if the prince’s army is converging on them, there isn’t much chance of us winning outright.”
“We can’t abandon them!”
“We won’t,” Dodger assured him. “But you and I are off on other business and the others here are going to join the party over there,” he gestured toward the sounds of battle.
Garinor didn’t like what he was hearing. “What business do we have?”
Dodger smiled. “If the prince takes over this group, then he’ll keep building up his army and he’ll go from place to place and overrun the Daggerfists altogether. But if we can get to the General’s camp unseen, then he might be able to scheme his way out of this.” He placed his hand on Garinor’s shoulder. “We’re not running. We’re messengers, and it’s my job to see us there safely so we can alert the main force.”
He had to be content with that. They broke off from the others and headed toward the north.
Dodger was well-suited to keeping hidden, even as the trees faded away, leaving only overgrown grass. He could run in a crouch and he was fast. Along the way, he kept his daggers in hand, ready in case one of the prince’s men surprised them, but they were lucky enough to avoid such conflict. When the sun had dropped out of the sky, Dodger carved a hiding place out of a nook between two boulders and there he and Garinor spent an uncomfortable, but protected, night.