But he then spotted six Empire troops, standing on the sand before the boat, inspecting it. Another troop had climbed up onto the boat, docked partly on the beach, rocking in the gently lapping waves. There was supposed to be no one here. Somehow, the boat had been discovered.
It was a stroke of bad luck. As Thor looked farther out at the horizon, he saw the distant outline of what appeared to be the entire Empire fleet, thousands of blacks ships, sailing the black flags of the Empire. Luckily they did not sail for Thor, but in a different direction, taking the long, circular course to bring them around the Ring, to the McCloud side, where they had breached the Canyon. Luckily, their fleet was preoccupied with a different route.
Except for this one patrol. These six Empire soldiers, probably scouts on a routine mission, somehow must have stumbled upon this Legion ship. It was bad timing. If Thor and the others had just reached the ship a few minutes earlier, they probably would have already boarded it and shoved off. Now, they had a confrontation on their hands. There was no way around it.
Thor looked up and down the beach and saw no other contingents of Empire troops. At least that was in their favor. It was probably a lone patrol group.
"I thought the boat was supposed to be well-hidden," O'Connor said.
"Apparently not enough," Elden remarked.
The six of them sat on their horses, staring at the boat and the group of soldiers.
"It won't be long until they alert other Empire troops," Conven observed.
"And then we’ll have an all-out war on our hands,” added Conval.
Thor knew they were right. And that it was not a chance they could take.
"O'Connor,” Thor said, “your aim is the best of the bunch. I've seen you hit from fifty yards out. See that one on the bow? We’ve got one shot at this. Can you do it?”
O'Connor nodded gravely, his eyes fixed on the Empire soldiers. He reached deliberately over his shoulder, lifted his bow, placed an arrow, and held it at the ready.
They all were looking to Thor, and he felt ready to lead.
"O'Connor, on my signal, fire. Then we’ll charge for the ones below. Everyone else, use your throwing weapons as we get close. Try to get as close as you can first.”
Thor motioned with his hand, and suddenly, O'Connor released the string.
The arrow sailed through the air with a whooshing noise, and it was a perfect shot, its metal tip piercing the heart of the Empire soldier on the bow. The soldier stood there, his eyes opening wide for a moment, as if he did not understand what was happening, then he suddenly stretched his arms out wide and fell forward, face-first, in a swan dive, landing with a splat on the beach at the feet of his fellow soldiers, the sand staining red.
Thor and the others charged, a well-oiled machine in sync with each other. The sound of their horses’ galloping gave them away, and the six other soldiers turned and faced them. The soldiers mounted their horses and charged back, preparing to meet them in the middle.
Thor and his men still had the advantage of surprise. Thor reached back and hurled a stone with his sling and hit one of them in the temple from twenty yards away as he was in the midst of mounting his horse. He fell back off of it, dead, the reigns still in his hands.
As they neared, Reece threw his axe, Elden his spear, and the twins each their daggers. The sands were uneven and the horses slipped, making throwing the weapons harder than usual. Reece's axe found its mark, killing one of them, but the others missed.
That left four of them. The lead one broke out from the group, charging right for Reece, who was weaponless; he had cast his axe but not had time to draw his sword yet. Reece braced himself, and at the last second Krohn leapt forward, bit the soldier’s horse in the leg, and the horse collapsed, its rider falling down to the ground and sparing Reece at the last moment.
Reece drew his sword and stabbed the soldier, killing him before he could regain his feet.
That left three. One of them came for Elden with an axe, swinging for his head; Elden blocked it with his shield, and in the same motion swung his sword and chopped the axe handle in half. Elden then swung around with his shield and smashed the attacker in the side of the head, knocking him from his horse.
Another soldier pulled a flail from his waist and swung its long chain, the spiked end suddenly coming down for O'Connor. It happened too fast, and there was no time for O'Connor to react.
Thor saw it coming and charged forward, to his friend’s side, raised his sword and slashed the chain of the flail, before it hit O'Connor. There came the sound of sword cutting through iron, Thor marveling at how sharp his new sword was. The spiked ball went flying down harmlessly to the ground, lodging in the sand, saving O’Connor’s life. Conval then rode up and stabbed the soldier with a spear, killing him.
The final Empire soldier saw he was badly outnumbered; fear in his eyes, he suddenly turned and took off, racing down shore, his horse’s prints leaving deep impressions in the sand.
They all set their sights on the retreating soldier: Thor hurled a stone with his sling, O’Connor raised his bow and fired, and Reece hurled a spear. But the soldier rode too erratically, the horse dipping in the sand, and they all missed.
Elden drew his sword and Thor could see that he was about to charge after him. Thor held out a hand and motioned for him to stay put.
"Don't!" Thor screamed.
Elden turned and looked at him.
"If he lives, he will send others after us!" Elden protested.
Thor turned and looked back at the boat, and knew it would take precious time to hunt him down—time they could not afford.
"The Empire will come after us no matter what,” Thor said. “We haven't time to lose. What is most important now is that we get far from here. To the ship!”
They dismounted as they reached the ship and Thor reached into his saddle and began to empty it of all its provisions as the others did the same, loading up on weapons and on sacks of food and water. Who knew how long the ship ride would take, how long it would be until they saw land again—if they saw land again. Thor also loaded up on food for Krohn.
They threw the sacks up high over the railing of the boat, landing on the deck above with a thump.
Thor grabbed the thick, knotted rope hanging over the side, the coarse rope cutting into his hands, and tested it. He draped Krohn over his shoulder, the weight of them both testing his muscles, and pulled up towards the deck. Krohn whined in his ear, hugging his chest with his sharp claws, clinging to him.