“We can at least listen to him” Erin said. “Those boys back there seem too immature to keep anyone safe.”
Allen had them follow him around the side of his building where he exited from by making a small slit in a wall. Allen climbed inside first and waited until the women tried to get in. None of them brought anything except their armor and weapons with them and kept them clutched in their hands at all times.
“First thing first” Allen said as he made the wall whole again. “You don’t tell anyone about how we patrol, if you do then you are no longer welcome here, I don’t care what McDonald or anyone else says.”
“What do you mean?” Allie asked.
“I am talking girl, do not interrupt me” Allen replied. “If you want to run off with those fools then do so.”
“She doesn’t” Erin said quickly.
“Good” Allen replied. “Now follow me.”
“How long has this been here?” Erin said as she followed Allen down the stairs through the trap door. “Is this where the mages hide?”
“I made this” Allen replied as he closed the trap door. “When you patrol you will do it down here. All I want you to do is tell me whenever you feel a mage nearby. If any of you do then I want all of you to try and flock to a point underneath that mage.”
“We can drain them from underground!” Erin said excitedly.
“And no one will know you are here” Allen said. “I will handle the actual fighting portion, Valerie has you both some rooms set up. You can take off your armor and get comfortable, you are going to be here for a few months at least.”
“A few months?” Allie said worried.
“You can always leave and go back to whatever it was you were” Allen replied.
“She wants to stay” Erin replied. “How does this place have a wooden floor and so much lighting?”
“A lot of hard work” Allen replied. “It is still work in progress, the floor is only wood in some places. Any other questions you have can wait until you meet Valerie, she will tell you the rest of the rules. I have been working all night and I am tired. If I were you two I would try to get some rest as well, most of our work is done at night.”
“They are going to attack either today or tomorrow” Erin said.
“Well I am going to attack tomorrow” Allen replied. “I left signs up everywhere and some homeowners took it upon themselves to deface them. That was a bad mistake I don’t think they would do again.”
CHAPTER 9
“I feel something!” Valerie shouted loudly. “Allen I can feel them!”
“Where?” Allen said looking at Valerie.
“They are that way, not at the gate yet” Valerie said. “They are moving slowly.”
“Trying to sneak up on the guard sheds” Allen replied. “When I changed the wall I didn’t take into account how it would block the view of someone coming down the road. Maybe it is a good thing, I need to get you closer to the action.”
“There is more than one of them” Valerie said. “I just felt the pull get stronger.”
“Finally” Allie said as she ran over towards the group. “I have been missing this, I need this magic.”
“Careful Allie” Valerie replied. “I like it to but remember what you were taught, this should not be used for pleasure, only to do a job.”
“Whatever” Allie said. “I need more of this, I need more. This is the only good thing that has happened to me in a while.”
“Just try to stay underneath them” Allen replied. “The thing about flaming arrows is that they work both ways at night. It lets you home in on your target but also lets your target home in on you.”
“What does that even mean?” Allie said annoyed.
“It means that we know there are mages here” Valerie explained. “And that the mages know we are here as well.”
“If I were them I would withdraw and come back with more men” Allen replied. “I would attack with the sole purpose of finding mage killers and eliminating them. It is the reason I want this place kept secret. Soldiers would either seek to flee inside of here or try to protect the entrance. Either way it would alert the enemy to where we are hiding.”
“We need to help those men like they helped me” Allie said.
“We will” Allen replied. “By doing our job and letting them do theirs. If they were all down here then who would be protecting the city? Who would be protecting the command post? Our job is to find and eliminate mages, that is the job you will do. You have been a little combative since I met you, I do not ever want you to think that I would not kill you without a moments hesitation.”
“W-what?” Allie asked shocked.
“I am sure you heard and understood me” Allen replied.
“You would hit a woman?” Allie asked.
“So that’s what it is” Allen said shaking his head. “You are used to talking crazy to people because you don’t believe they would hit you. I would kill you in a heartbeat if I think your actions are harming my agenda. My mission is to hold this town until the mages are dead then go deeper into Atropia to protect the Queen. You do something stupid and I will judge it as actions harming the Queen and will kill you and any man dumb enough to fight for you.”
“I wouldn’t test him” Valerie replied. “I wouldn’t test him at all if I were you.”
“Enough of this, can you still feel the mages?” Allen asked.
“Yes but they are splitting up” Valerie said. “I think they are trying to find out where we are. Right now they probably think we are somewhere in the cluster.”
“I will reinforce our entrance” Allen replied. “You will be trapped for a while but at least no one will be able to discover anything.”
“I have a mage!” Erin said breathless as she ran up. “You have mages too?”
“Where was your mage at?” Allen asked.
“A couple of tunnels over” Erin replied. “The pull was very strong for a second, I think they may have some kind of tunnel as well.”
“Pit” Allen replied. “Valerie and Allie stay draining the mages from below. Erin show me where you felt the mage at and return here.”
Allen took off running along with Erin until she led him to the point she thought she felt the mage. Allen shook his head as he placed his hands on the walls of his tunnel and could feel an empty space two arms lengths away. There was another tunnel and probably was used to sneak things in and out of the city. Allen couldn’t feel anyone inside of the tunnel though and joined his tunnel to that one then closed it off. This tunnel had two torches he could see off in the distance which gave the place an eerie glow. Whoever passed through here would find it hard to return, Allen blocked the path behind him separating the enemy tunnel in two pieces as he walked on. Allen was at the end of the tunnel quickly, it led to a house. Allen blocked off the exit and listened as he could hear people above him.
“When are they going to attack?” a male voice said. “The mage killer is somewhere close, I felt her!”
“But can you feel her now Terrence?” came a gruffer male voice. “Those women have been scared out of their minds, she probably ran once she noticed a pull.”
“There are other mage killers here now though” the mage Allen knew was now named Terrence said.
Allen did not listen any longer to the conversation, anyone above him was the enemy and the enemy did not deserve any fair play. Allen pulled with all of his magic and could feel the pillars holding the house above him give way, it was sudden the way the house fell in on itself and from the shouts and screams Allen could tell there were injured people above him. Allen couldn’t leave anything to chance though, and pulled a body through the floor above him. He could tell it was the mage right away, the man was around his age but was far thinner. A piece of wood had already pierced his heart and his head looked caved in slightly. Whatever landed on him did the job, Allen put the man over his shoulder and walked back to his tunnels, fixing everything he had done along the way. He would follow it i
n the morning and let McDonald know where the enemy was coming from. Allen got inside of his tunnels and sat the dead mage down, he needed to find the mage killers and make sure none of them did anything stupid and that they were not in trouble.
“How is it going?” Allen said as he found the women down a side tunnel.
“They have separated” Erin said. “I decided we should stick with one of them and leave the other. We were just about to leave, I don’t think this mage has much magic and the other one is probably at less than half.”
“Did you find the other mage?” Valerie asked.
“I did” Allen replied. “I just have to get rid of his body.”
“You killed him?” Allie said fearfully.
“What did you expect me to do, have lunch with him?” Allen asked. “Where is the mage at now?”
“Outside of our reach” Erin replied. “I feel him or her getting further away, we need to find the other one.”
“I will stay here” Valerie replied. “Whenever I can’t feel him I will find you Allen.”
“Let’s go” Allen said.
Allen followed Erin and could hear the sound of men screaming through the ground. Allen looked back at Erin you pointed directly above her. Allen pulled out his sword when Erin grabbed his arm.
“The mage is leaving” Erin said. “And very quickly.”
Allen looked up and let the ground beneath him raise him and the ground above him parted. Allen closed everything up behind him and ignored the screaming men as he ran over to his shelter and let the rock and mud slide over him. Allen was huge now, this was the biggest suit of protection he had ever made. Gorgan soldiers screamed and started firing on him, Allen ignored the archers and ran towards the gate. The wood parted for him as he ran through it, Allen could see there were men fleeing towards the forest and followed them. The first man he caught up to quickly, he stomped on the man as he ran by. Allen was unsure if he killed him but knew the blow had to hurt. A fireball shot out at him, Allen batted it away with his left hand and zoomed in on the caster. The mage never saw what killed him, Allen used a trick he had done sparring against mages in Gorgas but made it far deadlier. The ground just behind the mage shot up two feet while the ground in front of him collapsed. The mage fell forward into the shallow hole where he was held tight by the ground. Allen stomped on the mage’s head a few times and was sure he had killed the man. Allen was attacked from all sides as men and at least one woman tried going hand to hand. Allen would have laughed if he wasn’t in a hurry to get home, he was twice as tall as any of them and three or four times as wide. Allen grabbed the dead mage by the ankle and took off running towards the city, the traitors were angry but they were not stupid. Allen went through the wall and tossed the dead mage down as the Gorgans fired on him. Allen ignored them and went over to where the trap door was and had his suit reform into a shed as he fell through the floor.
“Allen!” Valerie said. “Allie has been trying to open the trap door.”
“You locked it!” Allie screamed. “Where did you go?”
“Why were your trying to open the door?” Allen asked.
“There are men dying out there!” Allie screamed. “Why you are hiding in here!”
“Erin” Allen said looking at the other mage killer. “I want your sister out of here. If I find her in these tunnels again it would not end up nice.”
“Allen she was just worried” Erin said.
“You heard me” Allen replied. “You are still welcomed, she is not.”
“I have been trying to stop her” Valerie replied. “She struck me.”
“You are out of here now!” Allen said as the ground rose up from under Allie and brought her above ground. “If I were you I wouldn’t come back.”
“She is my sister” Erin said looking at Allen.
“You can go with her if you want” Allen replied.
“I have to” Erin said.
“Then I will ask McDonald to put you with the other mage killers” Allen replied. “I killed two mages today, I found the other one in the forest. I don’t know if they are going to strike again today but I doubt it. I have to show McDonald where the other tunnel is and give him the bodies of the mages. Valerie have you finished my signs?”
“Yes” Valerie replied. “Are you ready to hang them?”
“I am” Allen replied. “And tonight will be the perfect time, two dead mages and one secret tunnel house destroyed. “I am going to cause a decent amount of damage to the homes who took off my first signs and replace them with these.”
“Is that what you were warned means?” Erin asked.
~
“I’m bored” Valerie replied. “We haven’t had anything happen in three weeks. Well other than people trying to find out where we are hiding at.”
“You don’t think that it is fun hiding a place this big?” Allen replied. “Two or three soldiers have really tried and I have heard Allie try to lead them here but it was for nothing.”
“How is she doing?” Valerie asked.
“Back to being scared” Allen replied. “It is well known now for the enemy to avoid the north gate, the gate the rest of them patrol now is in danger. They have been attacked a few times, I think she took an arrow to the shoulder and was stabbed in the arm.”
“All of the others have been taking injuries, it is a wonder none of them have died yet” Valerie said. “Have you talked to Captain McDonald recently?”
“Not since I threatened to leave” Allen replied. “I warned him that I would continue doing things my way and that I have killed two mages and greatly reduced the attacks he was getting. I told him if he insisted, I would pack up and leave.”
“Have you heard anything from Jasper?” Valerie asked.
“I wanted to keep it from you” Allen asked.
“Is it true?” Valerie asked.
“I don’t know how you know but it is true” Allen replied. “He has been seeing Allie for at least a week. They are two scared people seeking comfort. Almost every night they go out, some archer takes aim at them and their security.”
“I have heard Erin begging for you to let her and her sister back inside” Valerie said.
“That won’t happen” Allen replied. “That girl is an idiot and now she can hang with the rest of them. Right now we are just lucky the citizens think that our troops are just looking for other tunnels.”
“I don’t know why they don’t build their own in other parts of the city” Valerie replied. “They can do the same thing you did.”
“They could” Allen replied. “It would take them a long time to do it though. It doesn’t matter now, I don’t think we have much longer hanging around this city, Macom is dangerous but the enemy is not as bold as they once were.”
“That and your signs have probably scared everyone in the northern end” Valerie replied. “I just worry about the rest of them.”
“Well then let’s visit” Allen replied. “It is the middle of the day and we have nothing to do. Maybe seeing those idiots will lift your spirits a bit, give you a chance to talk to people your own age.”
“Are you serious?” Valerie asked.
“Yeah” Allen admitted. “I am going a little stir crazy myself. I want this thing to be over with so I can go help out with the army instead of just sitting here. I haven’t heard any word on Mary, I think I am going to send her a letter. I need to hear from her that she is okay.”
Allen and Valerie went up to the surface, the sun hurt their eyes so they needed a minute to adjust to the light. Underground was too confining, Allen appreciated the fresh air and could tell Valerie did as well. Neither of them wore armor, they looked like any other couple walking down the street and even stopped at a vendor to buy a meat bun. Valerie pointed out one of his signs and Allen was happy to see it was still up. The house it was on had torn down the first sign and woke up to find many fist sized holes all over the front of their home. Allen pictured their surprise and the surprise of the other owners
, especially when he put up another sign warning them the consequences would be bigger.
“We need to find another place” Allen replied. “Just in case you need to flee you can have somewhere to run to.”
“For right now I am okay” Valerie replied. “Where is our horse?”
“On loan to the army” Allen replied. “The inn is just up ahead. They are about to serve lunch in a bit, we might as well get some ourselves.”
Allen walked into the inn and saw Barry. He was sitting alone and was drinking alcohol straight out of a bottle. His arm was in a sling and he looked like he hadn’t slept comfortably in a couple of days. Valerie shook her head as she walked over to him, Allen sat at an empty table but was close enough to overhear their conversation.
“Barry you look ill” Valerie said as she sat down. “Are you okay?”
Valerie!” Barry said looking up at her. “You are alive!”
“Of course I am alive” Valerie replied. “I haven’t even been in one battle since I got here.”
“So it is true, you are underground” Barry said. “Take me with you.”
“Allen would never allow that” Valerie replied. “Maybe when he leaves he will but for right now he doesn’t want anyone else down there. You shouldn’t have stayed with Jasper.”
“Jasper has been trying” Barry replied. “He didn’t know what he was getting himself into.”
“I don’t want to talk about him anymore” Valerie replied. “I am glad to see you are still well.”
“I am not well Val” Barry replied. “I have nightmares every time I go to sleep and at least twice a week I am attacked. The enemy mage is only there to tell others where I am. Twice I have went out and my entire personal guard was killed trying to protect me.”
“Are you eavesdropping?” McDonald asked as he sat down.
“You look more comfortable than I have ever seen you” Allen said.
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