The ambush along the Blue River turns a tense pursuit into a direct attack on Tiuri and the letter he carries. Surrounded and wounded, he fights to keep the message from the Red Riders; Ardanwen’s intervention and the Grey Knights’ defense save him, while the attackers’ retreat leaves a prisoner to question.

Background and Opening

The party had been riding quickly, pausing now and then to ask about the Red Riders or search for their tracks. As the day advanced, the route narrowed between rocks and the river, with a dark pine forest opposite the road. Tiuri watched the woods warily, imagining them as a place where the Red Riders could hide. The road remained empty, and the riders spoke little. Late in the afternoon, a sudden shout rose from the forest on the right. Bendoe checked his horse and reached for his sword; the others halted and took up their weapons. Arwaut spotted a man in red sitting in a tree, while Ewijn saw movement among the trees. Bendoe rode into the shallow but fast-flowing river, followed by Arwaut and the squires. Arrows flew from the forest but hit no one. At the same moment, a man leapt from the rocks on the other side of the road and landed on Tiuri.

The Attack on Tiuri

The first attacker landed on Tiuri from the rocks opposite the forest, striking him from behind and locking both hands around his neck. Ardanwen reared and neighed as Tiuri tried to shake the man off. More attackers seemed to be jumping from the rocks; horse-hooves, shouting, and the clash of weapons crowded the confusion around them. Tiuri later could not clearly recall those seconds, which had seemed to stretch into hours, but he understood at once that his assailant meant to kill him and seize the letter.

With neither man able to reach a weapon, Tiuri wrestled until he forced his first opponent down and held him there. He had only just seen the man’s cruel face when a cry alerted him to danger. Tiuri sprang up and drew his sword, but another attacker seized him from behind. This time he anticipated the grip at his throat and dropped backward, catching the man by surprise. The reprieve lasted only a moment: the first attacker rose, another joined him, and together they tried to pin Tiuri’s hands and tear at his clothes. The letter remained their objective, and Tiuri’s desperate resistance was the only thing between them and it.

Ristridin’s horn sounded amid the fighting, and Tiuri called for help. Then a blade stabbed his left upper arm. His vision darkened, but he kept struggling; although he felt he could not hold out much longer, the attackers had not yet taken the letter. Suddenly they released him. Tiuri lost consciousness, still fighting to protect the message.

Rescue and Immediate Aftermath

Tiuri regained consciousness when someone seized him, and he sprang up with a cry, one hand going straight to the place where he had hidden the letter. Ristridin identified himself and told him to stay down. The fighting had stopped; Tiuri could hear only distant voices. His first relief was not for his wound but for the message: it was still there. Ristridin examined the cut in Tiuri’s left arm and judged it not serious. With Ilmar bringing water in a helmet, he washed and bound the wound, helped Tiuri to the roadside, and gave him a few swallows of spiced wine.

The ground nearby showed the cost of the attack. Two Red Riders lay dead close to Tiuri, and another motionless man was not dressed in red and did not belong to the Grey Knights. Ilmar tended the restless horses. Ardanwen came to Tiuri and nuzzled him; Ristridin explained that the horse had kicked dead a rider who was about to strike Tiuri with an axe. Tiuri stroked Ardanwen’s nose as he tried to make sense of the confusion. Ristridin told him that several attackers had overwhelmed him and that the Grey Knights had reached him just in time. He left his horn with Tiuri and instructed him to sound it if danger returned.

Ristridin stayed beside Tiuri rather than joining the pursuit. He estimated that the Red Riders had numbered no more than twenty, with five dead, and said Tiuri was the person in greatest danger. The attackers had fled when they failed to seize him, but Ristridin would not leave him alone. More than an hour later, the Grey Knights returned: all nine were present, bringing a captive with his hands tied behind his back. Bendoe reported that they had killed six and taken one prisoner; the remaining Red Riders had escaped. Darkness had prevented the pursuers from finding them. Bendoe’s usual gruff concern softened as he congratulated Tiuri on escaping with only a flesh wound and acknowledged that the Red Riders had specifically targeted him.

The Pursuit and the Captive

The attack did not begin as an open battle: the Red Riders had plainly tried to avoid a fight, and the clash came only when the Grey Knights caught up with them. Some used the pursuit to escape, and darkness finally made it impossible for Bendoe and his companions to find the rest. They returned with six Red Riders dead and one prisoner, while the others remained at large; Bendoe nevertheless declared his intention to pursue them again.

After the party had eaten, Ristridin questioned the captive. The man was initially unwilling to speak, but the Grey Knights’ threatening looks soon loosened his tongue. Ristridin began by asking where he came from and whether he was one of Eviellan’s men. The question placed the ambush within the larger suspicion of Eviellan involvement, but the account here does not give the captive’s answer.