Chapter 106: The Ambush
The night was pitch-black, yet the moonlight was bright enough to make out every detail on another person's face.
The messenger felt his body shaking like a dead leaf in the wind. If Suleiman's two soldiers hadn't been supporting him, he felt he would have collapsed at any moment. But he wasn't grateful. The cold touch beneath their clothes seeped through his coarse garments, reminding him of the price he would pay for saying the wrong thing.
Escorted by the Mountain Brotherhood, they traveled in silence, moving quickly and quietly like a mountain breeze.
The first bandit camp stood on a high slope. A few sharpened stakes formed a crude fence, and firelight flickered behind it, revealing several lazy silhouettes.
The two soldiers holding up the messenger tried to make him stand straight, but it was no use. He was limp as a rag doll.
The messenger took a deep breath. To save his life, he tried to steady his voice and keep it from trembling and giving him away. But when he spoke, fear still left his voice hoarse and warped. "Open the gate!!!! It's me!!!!!"
A head poked out from behind the fence. After recognizing him in the firelight, the man muttered, "Sir? Why are you back so soon?"
"Lord Leger's orders. The groups in the High Mountains must join up, or they won't be able to threaten Suleiman... the... d-damn... Black Lion." The messenger recited the words he'd been forced to memorize, each one scraping his throat like a knife.
The heavy wooden gate creaked as it slowly opened inward, leaving a gap just wide enough for one person to pass through.
The soldiers supporting the messenger suddenly shoved him forward. Off balance, he pitched straight ahead with a cry of pain. The