Chapter Two
They camped at the first place where The Hawk expected trouble, but
nothing happened. At the second place, also, and, the third, there was
no hint of danger. As they marched towards the fourth The Hawk was
visibly disturbed.
2 "Never," he warned, "have the bandits attacked anyone beyond this
point. I want everyone ready tonight. If it is not here, then they have
found us out, and they will not attack us at all. I want
everyone to bed early. Get a few hour's sleep, then everyone is to be
up and ready."
3 His words were obeyed. As soon as the tents were up, though the camp
seemed busy, almost everyone was already napping. By the time full
darkness came, music drifted from the tents, and laughter floated
across the air, but in reality men, one at a time, were putting dummies
in their bedrolls, and quietly slipping from the outer tents to the
inner ones. There, they laid down next to their weapons to wait.
4 The waiting ended a little after midnight. Two guards on one side of
the camp were struck down as they walked their patrol, and a large body
of
Men moved up towards the camp. With a great cry they rushed the outer
tents, burst inside, and began to furiously beat the figures in the
bedrolls with their swords.
5 Meanwhile, outside the tents, those left to keep any from escaping
had problems. The sides of the inner tents flew up, and bow-people
found their marks with horrifying accuracy! The bandits fell before
they had any idea what was happening, and The Children of Spirit were
pouring out of the camp and surrounding it before the rest of the
bandits realized they were attacking straw dummies.