Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 16:38:53 +1300
From: arthur carkeek <artcart65@gmail.com>
Subject: At Days End Chapter 7

				AT DAYS END

				 CHAPTER 7

				 BY ARTHUR


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Kros and Grega stopped long enough to do one final check of their
equipment, Kros also carried, apart from the obvious rifle and side arm,
his combat knife on his left side, the double barrelled shot gun tucked
into his pack and the small pistol in his jacket pocket, their food was
limited to three days of bread and dried meat.

Kros had also added extra dried meat in his pack along with a small bottle
of green pills that had been stored in the cellar of the cabin, he had not
used them before but the man he had spent time with had told him about what
the pills could do if they were ever needed, the label on the small plastic
bottle had long since rubbed off and the bottle itself was scratched and
faded.

Once checked the boys turned towards the barrier gateway, by now the sun
was low, it was the right time to make a start, Danil and Davi were
ensconced on top of the rim and would keep watch over their home while the
other two would take to the sandy wastes and work their way around the mesa
and black mountain.

Once outside the barrier and emerging from the narrow defile, Kros and
Grega set their faces towards where the enemy were camped, tonight they
would walk or trot to a place they could safely lay an ambush for one of
the search parties, the two boys discussed their strategy as they moved.

Kros had the suppressor fitted to his new rifle; he would take up a place
closer to where they thought the searchers may go, Grega would stay further
back as cover for Kros if he had to retreat in a hurry, a possibility that
was almost a certainty.

They had talked over the most pressing part of their ambush; it was to take
out the dogs or their handlers at the first opportunity, without the aide
of the dogs and trackers, the Priests would lack the tracking abilities and
the boys would have a freer rein.

The two boys had walked or trotted until midnight before they picked up the
scent of wood smoke, in the distance they could just make out the faint
glow of several dying fires, the camp was now no more than an hours run
from them; it was time to start to make preparations for the next days
fight.

Kros and Grega sat down with their backs to the high cliff of the black
mountain, as Grega began to chew on some smoked meat and swig from a bottle
of water, Kros took some of the extra meat from his pack and soaked it for
a short time in a little water until it was rehydrated, once it was a
little softer he took his knife and cut several slits into the side of the
thick cut of meat, once completed, he slipped three of the small green
pills, one in each slit, into the meat, once he had eight pieces done he
wrapped them in a piece of deer skin and placed them back in his pack for
later.

Although the two boys could not see any of their foot prints in the dark,
they hoped that they had been careful enough not to leave any to be
followed, they had stayed as close to the cliffs all the way where the
going was solid rock and shale, it would not cover their scent but they
hoped it would give them the time they would need to at least perform the
first part of their plan.

The boys dozed for a few hours and then were up and moving two hours before
sun rise, when they were closer to the camp, Grega took up a position that
was well hidden and well protected while Kros took off towards the camp in
his long loping stride, with luck he would be close to the camp site within
half an hour and would then have at least one more hour of dark to get back
to Grega.

Kros quietly made his way as close to the camp as he dared, in the darkness
lit only by a half moon, he crouched down and looked into the camp, most of
it was blurred by the darkness but he could make out the dim figures of
sleeping men around the dying embers of the cooking fires, there was a
distinct chill in the early morning air, as he slowly crawled closer, Kros
heard the first soft, deep throaty growl of a dog warning, Kros immediately
went to the ground on his stomach.

With the soft growl still in his ears, Kros crawled backwards and away from
the camp, once he thought he was clear enough, he slid his pack off his
shoulders and searched blindly with his hands for the deer skin bundle,
once he had it unwrapped, he began to move on hands and knees in a half
circle around the camp leaving one piece of dried meat in each of eight
spots at about ten feet apart, his next part was to be very tricky and
would take all of his long learnt skills.

With the meat traps laid, Kros moved through the dark towards where he
thought the two upper lookouts were, he knew they would be difficult to see
in the dark but, with the aide of his cope he was certain, that given time
and his superior eye sight in the dark, he would eventually spot them, he
only hoped it would be in time to have space to get back to Grega.

The night around him was strangely silent, none of the usual night sounds
could be heard, even the crickets had gone to ground as though they knew
something terrible was about to happen.

Kros surmised that he had a little over an hour before the first hint of
light would show in the dark sky, with the consummate ease of long practice
and the lessons learnt from being alone in a wild land, Kros made his way
to a place as close to where he thought the two upper guards maybe
positioned.

It took less time than he thought he would need, as he lay in the soft sand
a little out from the towering cliff of black shiny stones, Kros's sharp
eyes saw a very faint glow on the hills side a little distance along from
where he lay and high enough up the cliff for the two guards to be sitting.

Kros brought his rifle up to his shoulder and scanned along the mountain
side, at first he saw little but dark shadowy shapes in the early morning
darkness and then, again the faint glow which seemed to start out as little
more than a spark then grow into a stronger glow, Kros smiled to himself as
the answer came to him, one of the guards was smoking a pipe, it was all he
needed to fix their position.

Kros began to move to a better angle, in a few minutes he could now see the
two guards, one was sitting under a low bush with a pipe in his mouth, the
other was leaning back against a large black rock, his head on his chest as
though asleep, it was perfect, Kros began to settle his scope on the
smoker, the other would not be aware of his shot until far too late, with
the aide of the suppressor, even the guard should not hear it.

Kros lined up the dark patch just above where the softly glowing pipe could
be seen, he could not make out the features of the Priest but the dark
outline of his head would be enough at this range, Kros squeezed the
trigger and felt the sharp recoil along with the louder cough of the
cartridge as it fired, through his scope, Kros watched as the pipe fell to
the ground and the guard slumped without a sound towards the ground, not
waiting for anything else, Kros lined up on the sleeper just as the Priest
began to lift his head, it was enough for Kros, the rifle coughed once
again and the second guard slipped silently sideways, it was time to get
out and make his way back to where Grega waited for him, the first part of
their plan had been accomplished.

Even though Kros had a good sense of time and distance as well as his
sharper eye sight, he almost missed Grega, even though it was now starting
to get the first faint hint of daylight in the sky, it was only a very soft
hiss that alerted Kros to where Grega lay hidden.

Greg had not spent his time idly sitting around waiting, he had used it
wisely and constructed a good hide for the two boys, it was a shallow
hollow close into the side of the cliff and partial dug under it, with the
excess sand being used to build it up at the front so you would have to be
standing right on top of it to make it out, from even a short distance,
there was nothing there but a low pile of loose sand and the towering cliff
face.

Kros checked for any foot prints as he jumped over the sand pile and landed
beside the smiling Grega, both boys were now under the base of the cliff,
and tucked back a little underneath it where Grega had excavated the
hollow, Kros smiled at Grega and removed his pack for comfort, they would
spend most of the next day here as long as they were not found out in the
furore that was sure to erupt later in the morning.

Kros and Grega did not get too see the results of Kros's foray but they
were told later by Danil of the events that morning, as the two boys, after
eating and settling down to doze for a couple of hours, were almost asleep,
they heard far off in the distance, what sounded like a dog fight, the yaps
and loud barks carried to their ears in the still morning air, Kros looked
at Grega's enquiring eyes and smiled.

Danil, after they returned to their canyon days later, was to relate to
them the uproar in the camp as the sun rose that morning.

"It was like a big circus, first the dogs started to bark and pull on their
lead ropes until the owners let them free, like four legged bullets they
all took off to just outside the camp site, once there they started to
fight amongst themselves, as each dog won he would take something from the
ground and the others would run off to another place and it would start all
over again. It took me a while to make out that they were all eating
something, when they finished whatever it was they ran back to their owners
and started to lap up water set out for them and eat some more." Danil
paused at this point to get his breath, he then continued.

"The rest of the camp paid little attention to what the dogs were doing
except the owners, but the dogs would not listen to them until they had
finished whatever it was they were doing, then the shit really hit, one of
the Knights called for the two guards to come down for breakfast, I could
see the guards asleep by a bush but, even after the Knights yelled really
loudly, the two didn't move so they sent another Priest up to wake them,
that's when it got really interesting, the two guards were dead, all the
other Priests ran for their guns and started to look all around, the
handlers also were looking afraid, then the first of the dogs started to be
sick, five minutes later and all the dogs were really ill, it was only
about ten minutes after that that the dogs just fell over and foamed a lot
at the mouth then lay still, the camp was now in a real uproar, the Priests
were all running around, the handlers looked to be almost crying, it was a
real mad house. It took me a little while to realise that you two must have
raided the camp during the night, Davi and I had a real giggle over what
was going on, they looked like a lot of chickens with no heads."

Danil continued.

"When they all got settled back again, one of the Knights stood and started
to give orders, the handlers shook their heads and started to bury all the
dogs, it appeared that the handlers did not want any more part of what the
Priests were doing so they must have been told to stay and guard the camp
while the Priests went out to look for you. After all the Priests got their
horse, they broke up into their groups of eight, they then spread out in
different directions and began to search for you, that's all we saw that
day except for the handlers guarding the camp and they seemed to look very
nervous for the whole day."

Kros and Grega managed to get quite a bit of sleep, as always, Kros slept
with one ear to the ground in case they were approached to closely, this
was the time all his knowledge would be needed to keep them both safe, the
two boys had set their target for the next night and would need as much
rest as they could get during the day, as long as they were not disturbed
by the searching Priests.

The first indication of the Priests search came just after midday for the
two sleeping boys, it was Kros's sharp hearing that heard the horses in the
soft sand not far from where they lay in hiding, being very careful not to
make any sounds, Kros nudged the sleeping form of Grega next to him, as
Grega awoke he saw Kros with his finger up to his lips in the gesture of
silence, Grega too, soon heard the horses, now closer to their hiding
place.

Much to the surprise of the two boys, the eight Priests seemed to be
grumbling about not seeing anything all morning, as they neared where the
boys lay, one called for a break in their search, all agreed willingly, it
had been a fruitless day so far, those that had attacked their camp in the
night had not left a sign they could find, the Priests knew they had to be
around but there was just no sign of them, they were like ghosts and these
hot burning wastes did not leave the Priests in a good humour.

By the sound of the Priests voices, they stopped no more than fifty yards
from where the boys lay, by the sounds coming to Kros and Grega, the men
were stopping to eat and rest, Kros took a handful of sand and rubbed it
into his hair, once done he slowly and carefully lifted his head until just
his eyes broke over the pile of sand in front of their hideaway.

His scan took no more than thirty seconds before he shrank back down beside
Grega, in a soft whisper he related what he had seen, all the Priests were
looking out towards the wastes and not one of them was looking at the
cliffs, for now the boys were safe as long as they stayed down and very
quiet, which is exactly what they did, two hours later and they heard the
Priests move off along the cliff, another hour passed and the group came
back along the same path they had made but this time they were heading
towards their camp site, both boys breathed a sigh of relief, they still
had a couple of hours before they could move out and start on their next
plan of attack.

In the last rays of light, the boys checked over their weapons to make sure
no sand had got into anything important, the plan for the night was to put
as many of the Priests on foot as they could, without the dogs to warn the
camp, they stood a good chance of at least getting some of the horses, it
would not be easy as there was a very good chance the horse would be spread
out and well guarded but, for every Priest they put on foot, it was one
less they had hunting them.

It was full night by the time they got close to the camp, it was still a
good five minutes away but they could see the fires and the shadows of the
Priests around them, they had built the fires up higher, it was obvious
they were not happy with their position, the boys stayed in the dark and
watched, their target tonight would be the horses, they knew they could not
hope to get them all, there were just far too many for two boys to handle
and at the same time stay quiet.

They lay and watched as the night drew in, the faint light from the half
moon helped them to see the layout, by the way the horses were set out, the
Priests had learned from past experience that they could not take chances
with their animals, the horses were set out in five lines, a stake was
driven into the ground and a rope tied between each end with the horses
unsaddled and tied at intervals along it, there was a fire going that lit
up most of the area except the two outer lines, they were in partial
darkness, around the fire sat or stood four of the handlers, it looked as
though they had been relegated to nothing more than camp guards.

Kros began to whisper quietly to Grega on what they should do and when to
do it, Grega nodded his assent and they settled deeper into the sand to
wait, they did not need to worry about their tracks back to the camp, they
had simply trotted along in the prints left by the Priests horses earlier
that day, unless the Priests had an experienced tracker, they would never
be able to back track the boys to their hidden canyon.

The night moved on, Kros and Grega watched the fire grow smaller as the
guards on the horses began to tire in the silent night. It was now early in
the morning and all but one of the guards were now laying asleep around the
embers, the single guard was hunched over the fire for warmth as the desert
sands grew colder and colder, Kros nodded to Grega, both boys began to move
silently on their stomachs towards the lines of horses, their objectives
were the two outside lines, if the opportunity arose the would try to at
least release the other three lines so those could have the chance to
scatter in the darkness.

Kros went for the three closest lines, hopefully he could cut them all free
while Grega took hold of the last two which were now almost in total
darkness as the fire had grown to a small pile of embers, as he crawled
closer, Kros heard the soft sounds of gentle snoring, he smiled to himself
as he realized the last guard had also dropped off.

Ten minutes later and all three close in lines had been cut, each horse had
also been freed from the long holding line, Kros went in search of Grega
who had silently led the two ropes of eight horses on the outer strings to
a safe distance, Kros had little difficulty finding him in the dark as the
long string of horses stood out even in the dark night.

Kros jumped onto one of the lead horses and took up the rope offered by
Grega; both of them now had a string of eight, all the others were milling
around now loose from their own ground ropes, Kros nodded to Grega as he
took his sidearm from its holster, Grega doing the same, with a loud yell,
both boys fired shots into the air and dug their heels into their new
horse, with the wild whooping and fast fired shots echoing in the still
night, the loose horses startled and ran off into the dark as the two boys
took off towards the far off canyon of their first home, behind them they
heard the first loud shouts of the sleeping camp, keeping their heads low,
they spurred their own horses to more speed, those tied behind them could
only follow along.

The ride was hard and fast, as they drew closer to the canyon the boys
slowed their horses to a trot, they were all blowing hard and the boys did
not want them to drop dead, not long before first light, the narrow cleft
showed in the dim light, with the horses now settled down after their hard
ride, they trotted quietly into the defile, they would have to pull out the
large bush once again to get their prizes into the valley, there would be
enough water for them but feed would have to be cut from the other valley
and brought through the small passage, the extra horses would take a lot of
looking after but it deprived the Priests of their use.

The boys had no idea how far the other horses would scatter, hopefully a
long way, the Priests would have little option but to try to track them
down as they were now all afoot and would need what horses they could find
to get out of the wastes alive, Kros did not think that the Priests would
have the stamina or the knowledge that Kros had in surviving in the bad
lands.

By the time the sun was two hours old, all the captured horses were inside
the canyon, Kros and Grega were working on the large bush to put it back in
front of the gate, once this was done and the gate closed and locked, the
two boys ran for the end of the valley as the horses drank from the small
pond by the cabin.

After wriggling through the small crack and into the new valley, Kros and
Grega set about cooking some hot food, the first in over two days, they did
not forget the two boys up on top of the ridge, after eating their fill
they packaged up a large amount and Kros set off on a fresh horse for the
ridge top to feed Danil and Davi, he took with him an extra skin of fresh
water.

While Kros was gone, Grega set about cutting the long grass close to the
cabin, he soon found it was going to take a long time to get enough for
sixteen horses and so sat down to think things over, there had to be a
better way to cut a large quantity without so much effort, spying the
length of steel they had used as a stone cutter, Grega built up the fire
until it had a pile of hot coals, he then lay the length of steel in the
coals and watched as it began to heat up.

It took some time, but eventually he thought it was hot enough, holding one
end with a thick piece of cow hide wrapped around his hand, Grega got the
hammer and began to pound as hard as he could on the heated metal, slowly,
and with more heating, he began to turn the piece of steel into a longer
length, he had seen this sort of thing in the blacksmiths shop but never
tried it himself, when he though he had enough and the curve looked as
close to what he wanted as he could get, Grega then tried to work an edge
on the inside of the curved steel.

It took Grega some time to get what he was looking for, as he finished the
last of the sharpening with an old rusted file, he heard the galloping
hooves of Kros's horse returning, the boy was just in time to help him
finish the rough looking scythe, for another two hours, the two boys
experimented and adjusted the hand made scythe until they were satisfied
that it would work, the wooden handle had been just as hard to shape as the
blade had been, when they looked at their new tool they smiled at each
other, the scythe would not win any prizes for perfection, but after trying
it out it did do the job reasonably well, Grega set about cutting more
grass while Kros bundled it up into thick sheaves and tied them around the
middle with a length of thin string, By the time night was close, they had
more than twenty sheaves ready, taking a long length of rope, Kros crawled
through the tunnel letting the rope out behind him, just over half way he
felt the tug on the rope, Grega had to join another rope to make it too the
end, they had left enough of the string on the sheaves to tie onto the
thicker rope, Grega would tie the bundle of sheaves on about a foot apart
as Kros pulled the rope through, they hoped they had enough rope to get
them all on.

For an hour after dark they worked to get the new horses fed, Kros had to
brace his feet against the cliff face to get enough leverage to pull the
long line of sheaves through the crack, once they were all through, Grega
crawled through and helped Kros to spread all the grass out for the waiting
horses, finally finished, the two boys worked their weary way back through
the crack for the last time, with luck the grass would last for a few days,
if they managed to get rid of the Priests they could then take the new
horses up and over to the new valley home, until then they would have to
feed them through the crack like today.

Kros and Grega cooked another hot meal; they would rest for the night and
then go up to see what had happened in the camp below the black mountain,
it would give Danil and Davi a chance to take a break from their watching
duties, now the Priests were on foot they could afford to rest a little.

The next morning and, after another hot breakfast, the two boys set out for
the ridge top to relieve the others, they would stay up there for the rest
of the day and the next night, giving both Danil and Davi a chance for some
comfort.

Once they were on top of the ridge and, after giving the younger boys a hug
and complimenting them on a good job, they sent them down to rest while
they took over, the first thing they did was to carefully inspect the camp
below the mountain, it did not take them long to see that the Priests had
already managed to recapture five of the horses, of the rest there was no
sign, with luck they would by now be well on their way back to their home
paddocks, the Priests were now mainly on foot.

The boys also took note that the five horses were now tethered very close
to the tents of the Knights, it was easy to see who had seniority in that
camp, even from their greater height, the two boys could see that the dog
handlers were not happy about being out there, they all huddled close to
each other and well away from the black clothed Priests, there was now
obvious dissention in the camp, it all went to make the boys hold stronger.

As they watched intently below them, Grega and Kros talked over what they
could do next to disrupt those below, sooner or later, the large number of
men would run out of food and water, although, while there was a thin
stream of water coming through the side of the black cliff face, there was
not enough to keep every person as well as the horses, fully watered, Kros
wondered if the Priests would try to climb the mountain in search of
relief, it was a definite possibility as they grew hungrier and more
thirsty.

There was little action in the camp during the night, although the boys
took notice that they now had alert guards during the full darkness, the
five horses had not been increased by any others, even though they had gone
out to look for more, the five Priests had returned empty handed, they
would soon be getting desperate.

Grega was on duty the next morning and watched as one of the Knights looked
carefully up at the high cliff they had camped next too, this man was not a
fool, none of them were, but out here in the wastes, they were at a
disadvantage against anyone that knew their stuff like the boys they had
been chasing now for nearly a full year.

Grega nudged Kros awake as he saw a group of six Priests begin to put small
back packs on, the direction of their gaze told Grega they were going to
try to get to the top of the cliff, perhaps just to look around but it was
a chance they could not afford to let them have, once on top they would
soon see the valley on the other side.

Kros watched with Grega, behind them they could hear the soft clop of the
other two boys arriving after their short break below in the cabin, they
would soon have all four of them together to defend the ridge, once it
started, they knew they would have to stay and defend their new home, when
the Priests saw that the boys were right here, they would try to attack in
force and capture or kill their long hunted prey.

The six Priests started the climb, it was obvious to the watchers that, as
yet the men below had not seen any of the small game trails leading to the
top as they continued to scramble and scrabble among the black glass like
debris of the lower slope, Grega told Davi, as he was the smallest, to
wriggle along to where they had set up the deadfall of rocks and to check
that the trap could be sprung when needed, it had been in place for many
months and they did not want it to fail when they needed it the most.

It took the six men nearly an hour to finally find a game trail leading up
the steep mountain side, below them in the camp, the boys could see the
rest of the large party standing and watching the very slow progress of the
first attempt, Grega whistled just loud enough for Davi to hear, it was not
worth releasing the deadfall for just six men, he signalled for Davi to
crawl back to their hiding place, the younger boy quickly slithered back
and settled down with the others to watch.

Grega told Kros they could not afford for the six men to get too high, it
was nearing the time they would have to take action, even though it would
mean they were going to be revealed and the fight would be on.

The boys watched and waited, they had decided to let the men get high
enough where they had no retreat and, preferably in a dangerously narrow
place on the trail, they spied a section of the trail they were on that was
straight and very narrow, if any of the men slipped and fell over the side
they would be killed by the fall on the hard sharp glass like rocks below
them.

Grega eased his heavy rifle up to his shoulder while Kros did the same, the
rifles of the other two did not have the range to make any difference, when
the six men got to the long straight part of the trail, Grega and Kros
opened fire, the first two Priests crumpled to the ground, the third one
jumped and slipped on the glassy rocks and went over the side with a loud,
long scream of terror, the other three looked up in fear as the two boys
fired again and shot the next two men, the third turned in a panic and ran
for his life, he was not fast enough as Grega fired for a third time and he
fell off the side and tumbled head over heels down the mountain side, his
body like a rag doll as it hit and bounced its way over the sharp rocks.

Below in the camp, all was pandemonium as the shots were faintly heard, the
suppressors making it difficult to hear but the sight of the bodies falling
made it quite clear they were under attack from above, the two boys eased
back and replaced the few shells in their rifles, this was the start of
what they knew would be a long and difficult fight.

Kros asked Grega if his night vision battery was fully charged, Grega held
up both batteries and nodded, they would be needed before long, they had
little doubt the Priests would try a few more times during the day but then
probably wait for dark and try again, their prediction was proved right as,
far below, a number of Priests raised their own rifles and started firing
blindly at the top of the ridge, it was obvious they had no real idea where
the boys were but tried never the less, if nothing else they hoped it would
keep the defenders heads down while they tried to get more men up the
mountain.

The boys were well aware their place was easily defended against day time
attack, it was at night they would have to be really alert, only Grega had
the night site, they would have to depend on him during the dark hours,
without a full moon the others would be partially blind as the men in dark
robes against a dark background would be hard to see.

Half way through the morning, the Priests sent another attack, this time
there were more than fifteen men in the group, the boys watched as two or
three would try to run for a short distance then lay on the ground as those
behind made a dash, as each group ran forward, the others would fire up at
the top of the ridge, most of the shots landing far away from the hiding
boys.

Each group would leap frog the one in front, it was an effective way to
make ground and only put three or four men in the firing line at any one
time, the boys waited patiently as the small groups worked their way up the
trails, none of them used the same game trail, it spread their attack out
along the side of the mountain and hopefully made it harder for the
defenders to pick targets.

Nearly half way up the mountain side and the men had not been attacked,
only their own rifles were in use, they began to get a little sloppy at the
lack of return fire, in their heads they began to think they had shot the
defenders with all the random firing, the four boys stayed hidden behind
their low wall of rocks and watched through the cracks as the Priests grew
bolder.

The boys waited, soon the Priests got to the place where they had nothing
to hide behind, those in front could now see that the only cover was a
rough pile of old logs up on the side of the mountain above them, they
would have to try to make it there before they continued on, the hot sun
was taking a toll of their legs, they had been too used to riding and the
steep climb along with the nervousness of being under the barrels of an
unseen enemy, brought a new tiredness to them, their heavy black clothes
only made it that much harder, half way and they were already close to
exhaustion, the boys felt they had waited long enough.

The front Priests were now just inside the range of the smaller rifles,
although Danil and Davi would have to take their time and aim slowly, they
may have a little success if they were careful, for Grega and Kros the
shots would be easier now they had let the men get a little closer, Kros
would start with those about midway along the file of now careless men,
those in front were for Danil and Davi, Grega would look after the rest at
the rear, with the narrowness of the trail there was also the chance of
some falling to their deaths on the sharp rocks far below.

At a signal from Grega, all four boys rose just far enough to get a good
sight of those below, almost as one, they fired at their chosen targets,
three men fell and rolled off the side of the trail, the fourth cried out
in pain and grasped hold of his left arm as he went to his knees, those
behind looked up in fear as the second shots rang out in the stillness of
the mountain side, two more men fell, there was now panic as those
remaining realized they were caught out in the open.

Those with a faster reaction time began to fire at the small targets higher
up the mountain as others looked in vain for cover, the higher angle of
their ambushers made it very difficult for those below to hit them, the
boys ducked for cover as the sporadic fire rattled on the rocks around
them.

From far below in the camp of the Priests, others tried to fire upwards and
cover those caught out in the open, the air sang with the reports of the
battle going on, safe behind their rock wall, the boys waited and picked
their shots, Danil and Davi stayed down and peeked through the small cracks
in the wall, Grega and Kros took their time in aiming at the open targets,
from those caught on the open trails it was now a matter of escaping with
their skins in one piece as those above continued to fire with an accuracy
that was chilling, each shot was scoring a hit, they were being cut to
ribbons out on the open trail.

As if a signal had been given, and under the barrels of those above, the
remaining four Priests decided to take to their heels and hope for the
best, rising as one they turned and ran back down the trails, only two made
it to some small rocks for cover, the boys settled back down, the first
full attack had been won, now it was going to be a matter of wait and see,
there was little doubt the Priests would now wait for nightfall, it was all
they had left.

With still more than six hours of daylight left, Grega sent Kros and Danil
back to the cabin to organize some hot food and to check their ammo, the
two boys decided it was better to take all four horses with them, if they
had to fight a rear guard the horses would only be in the way, they would
leave them hobbled at the bottom of the track in case they needed to run
for the cabin.

Kros and Danil got too work cooking a huge meal, as they worked Kros
decided to make a small plan of his own, once the food was done and both
boys had filled themselves, Danil would take the rest back to Grega and
Davi, he would stay there while Kros took off back out of the other canyon
to stir up a little trouble in the rear of the Priests camp when dark came.

After Danil had headed back to the others, Kros set about readying his
weapons, tonight he was going to be alone, a position he was more happy
with, he would use one of the other horses to get as close to the camp as
was safe then wait for dark, if or when he heard an attack from above the
camp, he would act, with all of the Priests watching the ridge top he could
cause a lot of havoc behind them and then once again disappear into the
darkness.

An hour before dark, Kros left the second valley, with the large bush at
the gateway still in loose ground, it was easy to get the horse through,
leaping onto its back he rode off at a canter, once close to the Priests
camp he would slow to a walk then hobble the horse close to the cliff while
he went further on foot, it was a daring plan but he was sure it would
cause only problems for their attackers.

Kros's plan went without a hitch, by nightfall he was lying close to the
camp where he watched the Knights organizing another attempt at going up
the mountain, with his body partially buried in the soft sand outside the
camp, he could easily hear the plan of attack, Kros smiled as he listened
in to their plans he also made some of his own.

The Priests and their dog handlers, now minus their dogs, had been camped
out in the hot sun for a number of days, their food must have been getting
short and he well knew that the water was very limited, he could just make
out the demeanour of the handlers, and they were not happy at this turn of
events, as they were not Priests, they were well down the food chain and
got only leftovers when a meal was served, by the soft grumbles coming from
them, Kros knew it would not take much for the handlers to desert the camp
and leave the arrogant Priests to their fate, Kros was about to help them
make up their minds about leaving.

The camp had been set up in the usual fashion of travelling Priests, the
Knights in three large tents at the centre, ordinary Priests in smaller
four man tents close by and finally a row of two man tents for the
handlers, all of the tents were arranged around a central large fire pit,
with the loss of the five horse lines there was no need for the outer guard
fire.

Kros set his sights on the central tents of the Knights, if he could get
too them and do some damage it would unsettle the others, if by chance he
got time to do even more damage then he would, the less equipment the
Priests had the less likely they would stay around, hunger and thirst were
a mighty weapon.

Kros waited as the darkness got deeper and the shadows from the pale moon
left dark spots for him to hide in, as he waited he watched as the Priests
readied themselves for the upcoming climb and battle with those above, this
time Kros took note of the three Knights that would lead the attack.

It must have been two hours after dark when the Priests began to move, Kros
noted that all the others were now on the other side of the camp away from
where he was partially buried in the sand, they were all watching the
column of black clothed Priests start their climb, Kros waited and watched.

Some little time later, Kros could barely make out the shadowy forms of
those climbing, the heads of others still on the firm ground were now all
turned upward, it was now time for Kros to add to their discomfort, with
the silence of a desert creature, Kros wriggled out from under the sand, he
then slithered like a sand snake through the camp as silent as the shadows
around him.

Kros made the centre of camp with ease, lying between two of the Priests
tents he waited for his chance, from above on the dark mountain side, Kros
heard the faint echo of a shout, all those on the ground were now totally
engrossed in what was going on up above them, Kros rose from the shadows
and silently ran for the fire, grasping two or three burning brands in each
hand, he scooted for the large Knights tents.

Kros threw a burning brand into each of the larger tents and then with the
remaining brand, started on the four man tents, Kros made another dash for
the fire and scooped up more burning wood and again threw them into the
other tents, as a last defiant act, he used a nearby spade to scoop up a
full load of hot embers and threw them with all his might at the handlers
tents and let out a loud yell as he sprinted for the darkness.

As Kros ran, he glanced over his shoulder, he wanted to be on the horse and
well away before they got too close to him, he could see the fires taking
full hold on the tents, the mass of men at the base of the cliffs were now
in disarray as they tried to look out into the desert for the culprit and
take care of the fires as well, both were a lost cause.

As Kros leapt onto the back of the horse and turned its head for home, he
could just make out the chaos of the camp, it looked as though the tents
had all caught fire, they had been so dry that even the smallest of sparks
could set them off, with no water to fight the multiple fires, the Priests
would be totally tentless; Kros rode away well satisfied with his night
time raid.

On his return to the gateway, Kros could not replace the large bush, all he
could do was close and lock the gate and hope for the best, even if found,
the gate would be a hard nut too crack with only a few Priests on foot,
Kros released the horse and made for the crack, even in the darkest of
night he would easily find it, once on the other side he quickly sated his
dry throat, He then checked his weapons, caught another horse, and rode for
the ridge trail, he may be needed up there when the Priests arrived to take
their revenge for the loss of their camp.

Kros arrived at the small rock barrier in time to see the other three boys
getting ready, as Danil and Davi could not see the men clearly in the dark,
all the shooting would have to be left up too Grega, they had instead
crawled to the other means of defence, Davi was near the large rock that
would release the deadfall, all he had to do was knock out a smaller number
of stones and the logs and rocks would roll down on those below, Danil was
lying hidden just above an outcrop of rock that hung slightly over the main
trail, beside him he had the ten bags of grey dust, Kros made for his side
as silently as he could in the dark.

Kros looked over the edge of the outcrop and was surprised at how easy it
was to see the on-coming Priests, their black robes actually stood out from
the dark shadows quite well, with his night-scope, Grega was easily able to
make out his targets, in the time it had taken Kros to cause havoc in the
camp and return, the attackers had made it high up the trail, they were now
just edging onto the widest part where it became a single track, just ahead
of the leaders was the small outcrop where Danil and Kros waited, the bulk
of the force was now almost directly under the deadfall.

Kros and Danil checked their side-arms and got ready for Grega's first
shots, he was going to aim at those in the rear, causing the others to try
to push forward and to the top, Grega opened fire, his shots echoed around
the mountain side as he took toll of the men at the rear, at the same time,
Davi began to kick the smaller rocks and stones out from under the pile of
logs, in no time at all there was movement, then came the sound of cracking
as the first logs gave way, the deep foreboding rumble of the deadfall
alerted those below but it was already far too late, for those in the lead,
it was nearly as bad, as they looked for cover from the firing above, the
air around them seemed to become a grey impenetrable mist that filled the
eyes and mouths with a chalky dust, partially blind, three of the Priests
stumbled off the trail and began the long fall down the side of the
mountain, of the two Knights that were left, the first one fell under a
veritable hail of small arms fire from above.

The muted crack of Grega's rifle filled the still night air, Davi had
slithered his way back beside Danil and Kros and was trying to help out
with his small pistol, the chaos he had caused with the deadfall did not
seem to affect him in the least as he fired off the last bullet at the dim
shape of the last Knight.

Finally it was Grega that hit the Knight, as silence filled the side of the
mountain; the boys looked down at their handiwork, of the twenty or so
Priests that had attempted the attack, only three could be faintly seen
trying to make their way back down the trail, one was limping badly with
the other two trying to support him, the boys let them go, there was still
the possibility that the three could fall over the side in the dark, the
four boys sighed with relief, attempt number four had been unsuccessful.

The boys took turns sleeping for the rest of the night, there were no more
attempts to take the ridge by the Priests, in the first rays of dawn, the
boys got a clear view of the camp below, as they looked over the burnt
remains of the camp, the boys made out the results of Kros's raid.

Not a single tent was left, it seemed that the first fires had jumped and
set the rest alight, with no water to fight the flames, all the other tents
had succumbed, all the Priests and handlers now had nothing for protection
from the hot sun or cold nights, they were also now cut down to less than
twenty five men, in the morning light, the boys could not see any sign of
the last five horses, they had no idea that Kros's fires had scared them
and they had fled into the wastes leaving the Priests once again on foot.

Kros volunteered to stay and keep watch while the three brothers went back
to the cabin for hot food and rest, they had little doubt that the Priests
would try another frontal attack, their camp was now just piles of smoking
embers, all their food stocks were gone and they had only the few back
packs, their weapons and the limited amount of water from the small spring
in the cliff, with the sun beginning to rise it would soon take its toll,
Kros settled down to watch.

As the day wore on, even from his lofty perch, Kros could almost feel the
sense of despair from the burnt out camp below, the Priests had tried
rummaging through the ashes for whatever they could find, which was very
little, the handlers looked as though they had no further interest in what
was going on and all they wanted to do was return to their homes and get as
far away from this deadly mountain as they could.

The Priests however, had been given their orders and they were not about to
disappoint their bishop or leaders in the church, they had the boys
whereabouts and they had to find a way to finish them off, there was not a
doubt in any of the Priests minds that the boys were not going to be taken
back alive, the loss of so many Priests could have only one answer, they
were now only spurred on by religiously motivated revenge, the boys would
have to pay with their lives for what they had done and the Priests would
make sure those deaths would long, hard and as painful as they could make
them.

Late in the afternoon, Kros was rejoined by the three brothers, they had
brought hot food and fresh water for him, as he sat back well out of sight
of those below, Kros listened to the brothers talking, even little Davi now
knew there was no going back, they would have to completely destroy the
Priests so no one would know where they were, although the dog handlers
were only ordinary men, the boys had to debate if they also would have to
be killed so no mention of their home could get out, it was the one thing
they could all not agree on, the handlers had taken little part in the
attacks, all they had done was look after their dogs and now even they were
no longer around, the decision on the handlers would have to wait until
they had destroyed the Priests.

Plan after plan was brought up, discussed, and put aside, the boys had to
find a way to bring this fight to an end and quickly, the longer they
waited, the more chance of one or more of the Priests getting away to call
for reinforcements, they could not allow that too happen, finally, in the
very late hours just before midnight, the boys came up with a plan they
could only hope would work.

So far they had sat back in their barricades and waited for the Priests,
both Grega and Kros thought it was time to take the fight to them, for this
they would have to take the bull by the horns and hope for the best, the
plan was for all four of them to go together, they would make their way
down the trails and settle themselves in close to the base of the mountain,
being somewhat smaller than the Priests, they should be able to conceal
themselves in the myriad of bushes and jumbled rocks on the lower slope,
from there they would open fire on the camp at first light when the men
would still be half asleep.

There was also the fact that the Priests had been out in the sun totally
unprotected by their now burnt out tents, with the hot sun, lack of food
and minimal water, the boys thought the Priests would be ready for the
death blow, they would have to hit them hard and as accurately as they
could, at such a close range and with little cover to retreat to, they were
leaving themselves open to a hard hitting counter attack.

Kros led them down the mountain side in the dark, over an hour passed
before they settled on a place for their morning ambush, it was about one
hundred yards above the camp, for any of the Priests to attack them they
would have to climb up over open ground in the loose shale and detritus,
there was little cover below the boys, most of the small bushes that had
grown there had now been used for the camps fires, Kros settled out on one
side closest to the camp, between him and Grega at the far end, Danil and
Davi lay behind small mounds of black rocks, all four boys were almost
invisible to those below, Grega and Kros would target the remaining Knights
first, Danil and Davi, with their smaller rifles, would have to go for head
shots only, the small .22 would not be very effective in a body shot, their
targets were the ordinary Priests until Kros and Grega could help them,
they had all decided to leave the handlers alone unless they joined in the
fight.

The boys watched the dim outline of those in the camp, it seemed they had
not even put out guards or they had left the handlers to do the guard work,
they could be seen huddled further out in their own group, all looked to be
sleeping as well, the camp at this early hour of the morning was silent
apart from the odd soft snore from somewhere in the group of black clothed
Priests, the boys waited for the first rays of the new day.

The first glimmer of daylight showed in the East, the boys settled lower in
the small hides, extra ammo had been checked and put close to hand, from
the camp below came the first soft movements of those trying to get just a
few seconds more of sleep as the light brightened, the handlers seemed to
stay unmoved by the coming morning and still huddled close together, had
the boys known that the handlers only wanted to go home and forget all
about this disastrous trip, they would have felt better.

The last of the remaining Knights were slowly rising, as they tried to
nudge the other Priests out of their sleep, Kros and Grega decided to open
fire, all five of the Knights still looked as though they were half asleep,
by the time they realized they were under attack, there was only a single
Knight left and he was still trying to work out where the firing was coming
from, this short delay in his reactions cost him his life, Danil and Davi
had opened fire at the same time as the other two, they had a larger target
as the ordinary Priests were still in a group lying on the ground.

Kros and Grega turned their attention on the lazy Priests, some had
recovered and were trying to find cover, others could only sit and wonder
what was happening, the last thing they had expected was for four small
boys to attack them in their own camp, the confusions was total, as the
boys continued to fire into the open and defenceless camp, one Priests
after another fell to the boys accuracy it was like a hail storm of lead
into the camp.

The Handlers had watched on in horror, although they did have the good
sense to stay back from where the Priests had been which was now a killing
ground, as far as they were concerned, it was not their job, they had been
hired for their dogs not to try to kill some boys that had upset the
church, the Handlers stayed where they were and kept their heads down.

The Priests had been reduced to seven when they finally saw the
pointlessness of their position, they were out in the open with no cover,
the boys had the advantage of height and cover, it was a hopeless
situation, the senior of the Priests called out loudly so as to be heard to
those above in the attack force, he very much doubted that there were only
four boys in the attackers camp, the destruction they had caused over the
last few days was way beyond the ability of a few boys, the Priests thought
they had to have some adults with them, if so he could talk to them and
they could all walk away and one day return to wipe them out now that they
had their location, it was easier to deal with adults, they could be easily
manipulated.

The boys heard the loud shout from one of the Priests, they stopped firing
to listen to what he had to say, they had no intention of showing
themselves while even one Priest was alive, the penchant for treachery was
well known in all the lands, Grega, as the eldest, called back from his
hiding place, he sounded like the oldest so took up the role of leader for
now.

"What do you want?"

"There's been enough death, we want to return to our homes, there's little
point in us continuing with a fight we can't hope to win, all we ask is for
your mercy and to let us leave in peace?"

"How do we know you will keep your word, or that you will not return with
others next time?"

"You have my word as a Priest of the Holy Church."

"I see, wait there and don't move, I'll talk it over with my friends."

The boys had heard every word and Grega did not need to have a conference
about any of it but it would be a good idea to keep them waiting for as
long as possible, with the sun rising and the heat building, the Priests
would begin to feel the effects of hungry bellies sooner than usual.

The boys made them wait as the sun rose higher, the Priests began to
shuffle and felt the pangs of hunger, they had lost all their food in the
fires and were in no mood to fight on an empty stomach, they all knew that
if they walked away from here they would eventually have their revenge as
soon as they returned to their church and resupplied, next time the boys
would not know what hit them, the forces the Priests could call on would
annihilate the small group of boys and any adults with them.

The four boys took their time as they lay behind their barricades, they
took the time to eat a little bread and dried meat then take long swigs of
water before Grega decided to reply to the Priests request for release,
Grega stood up on his knees to better see the small group of Priests as
they huddled together surrounded by the now smelling bodies of their
compatriots.

"Priest, call the dog Handlers to come over, they are to collect every
weapon, including knives and hand guns, all the ammo and anything that can
be used as a weapon from you and the dead, they are to pile it all together
at the base of the mountain where we can see it clearly, any of you make
the slightest attempt at concealing or moving away, we will shoot you, now
call the Handlers."

The senior Priest did as he was told, he didn't like the fact of all of
them being totally unarmed but he had little choice, the Handlers, after
much coaxing, came forward and began to search the dead and dying for
weapons, over the next hour they gathered everything that could be used as
a weapon and piled it at the foot of the nearest small animal trail then
stepped back, well away from the group of Priests.

Now that the living had been made defenceless, the four boys stood up and
began to move towards the base of the mountain, the look of shock on the
faces of the remaining Priests as they saw four young boys come into view
almost made them wish they were still armed, it was only the thought of the
destruction that had been done by these same boys that stopped any move
towards the youths.

While Grega, Danil, and Davi had kept their rifles in hand, Kros had slung
his over his shoulder and produced his sawn off shotgun, it was better when
so close to more men, the change did not go unnoticed by the Priests, Grega
started talking again.

"All of you sit down with your hands behind your backs and facing away from
us, Handlers, I want you to search for some rope, as much as you can find,
when you have it, bind each Priests hands and then take one long piece and
loop it around their necks until they are tied all together."

The oldest of the Handlers looked at Grega, then asked.

"What about us?"

"That depends on what you do and whose side you're on?"

"What do you mean?"

"We four have talked it over, none of you have tried to help the Priests in
the fight, you've all stayed out of it, if you do what we ask, we will give
you some horses to go back home, as long as you never reveal our home you
will live, if you tell other Priests and they come looking for us, then we
will eventually find you and your families, you have seen what we can do to
the Priests, if we have too we will do the same to your families, even if
it takes a life time."

The Handlers nodded, the boys looked to be well capable of following up on
their threat, they began to search for rope, there were still the long
ropes from the cut horse lines and it took little time for them to gather
up the rope and begin to secure the Priests as they had been asked to do,
shortly after the Priests were tied tightly, their hands fastened behind
their backs and a single length of rope tied them together around their
necks, once finished, the Handlers stepped back and looked at the four
boys.

"What now?" asked the oldest Handler.

"We wait, one of us will go and get some horses for you, we will also give
you some food and water to get you back home, or part way there anyhow, for
now just sit over there in the shade and wait, the Priests can stay where
they are for now, the sun will do them good."

As he finished speaking, Grega nodded to Kros, the boy took to the narrow
trail leading up to the top of the ridge far above them, with luck he
should be back in a couple of hours, to ease the Handlers worries, Grega
tossed them his water bottle and the other boys rummaged around for the
last of their food stock, they would soon be back home and had no real need
of the extra, the Handlers fell on the food and water with a relish, it had
been a while since their last meal and the fresh water made up for the loss
of sweat while attending to the Priests.

The senior Priest called out to Grega after Kros had left.

"What about our dead brethren, they need to be buried properly?"

"Perhaps if you ask the Handlers nicely they will bury them, if not the
wild animals will soon finish them."

The Priest turned to the Handlers with an enquiring look, the answer was
soon obvious, after how the Handlers had been treated at the loss of their
dogs, they had little desire to help the remaining Priests, all the
Handlers just turned their backs and ignored the silent plea, Grega said.

"Looks like your Gods wild animals will feed well tonight."

Grega looked across at Danil and Davi.

"Go and check the pockets of the dead for any coin or other stuff we may be
able to use later, better check those seven as well, the Priests are known
for their greedy ways."

The two brothers did as their older one asked, it was not long before they
had a tidy sum of coins in a heavy purse which they put beside Grega then
sat and watched dispassionately as the sun slowly cooked the other Priests
in their long thick black robes, the lack of water was already telling on
the hungry and thirsty Priests, the Handlers sat back in what little shade
remained and waited patiently for Kros to return.

It was three hours before Kros made it back, with him he brought three
extra horses, giving the one he was riding and the other three they
handlers would have four horse to take them home, doubling up would only
make the trip a little longer, on the back of one horse were two large
water skins and a few bundles of dried food stuffs.

Kros dismounted and threw the lead rope to one of the handlers.

"Here you are, take these and you can leave, there's food and water for
about six days, it should just about let you make it home, remember what we
said, tell no one of our whereabouts if you value your families."

The handler took the halter rope and, along with the other seven, double
mounted the horses and turned away to the West at a walking pace, Kros and
the other boys watched and waited for them to get out of sight, half an
hour later and the doubled up horses were only small black dots on the
skyline.

Grega took the lead once again.

"We are going to release you one at a time, you will strip down to your
underclothes, when you are all undressed, we will release you to make your
own way out of here, any that we see from tomorrow on will be shot on
sight."

Grega went to the first of seven Priests, he released the mans hands and
waited until he had stripped down to his underclothes, once that was done,
Grega retied his hands and replaced the neck rope, at the sharp look from
the Priest, Grega said.

"I'm not going to trust all of you free at the same time; once all of you
are undressed you will then be released to go."

It took half an hour for the seven Priests to be relieved of their black
heavy robes and the shirts and pants under then, once all the Priests were
standing in only their underclothes and lined up with the hands rebound
behind their backs and the neck ropes tightly tied together, Grega told
them to move out.

The stripped Priests could not believe their ears, dressed as they were,
with no supplies and tied together in a single line with their hands bound,
they had little chance of surviving the sand wastes, if the sun did not get
them, then the frigid nights might, if none of those did for them then
there were always the wild animals that roamed the wastes, the boys stood
and watched dispassionately as the realisation of the situation that the
Priests now faced, Grega had the last word before the men could start to
complain.

"Move now, we will give you one hour, if you are still in sight we will
hunt you down and shoot you, just as you planned to do to us, now go."

Grega raised his rifle to his shoulder and took aim at the nearest Priest,
it was all that was needed, with their hands bound behind them and the
course rope starting to already burn on their necks, the Priests began to
stagger away from the small group of boys, the same boys that had defeated
the best they had to offer, what happened to them now was no concern to the
four boys, for the next half an hour they watched the roped line of Priests
stagger through the soft sand, when the captives were far enough away, the
boys turned to the fist trail leading back up the mountain, from the top
they would be able to see how far the Priests had got, none of the boys
held out much hope for the seven men, they were a long way from help and
the wastes were a bad place to be in their situation.

When the boys got to the top of the ridge, they stopped to look out into
the wastes, using their rifle scopes, they were able to make out the very
small dots of the Priests, even after only two hours, the men looked to be
in trouble, one figure was obviously in trouble and his friends had no way
of helping him, as they watched, the one figure fell to the sand, dragging
the others with him, if they lasted the rest of the day it would be a
miracle, there was still one hour before midday and they had a long day
left in the full force of the suns rays, on foot and tied as they were, the
boys estimated it would take the Priests at least ten days to make the
nearest habitation, the sun would make sure they did not make it.

The four boys turned their backs on the far off scene, they had a home to
go to, they would still keep a watch from the ridge every second day as
they had before, but now they felt a little more relieved that this danger
had been finished with, perhaps now they could live their lives without
further trouble, all they wanted now was peace and the chance to live as
they wished in safety.


END.

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