by Scott Moore
“It is heaven,” he said.
It took all he had not to dive at the table, scooping the food into his mouth.
“Just grab a bowl and let’s get out of here,” Mollie whispered.
Malik moved forward to do just that, but a man stepped in front of him. Malik figured he had been made, but the gentleman did not look to be angry.
“I suggest you try the pulled pork,” he said, grabbing a spoon for himself.
Malik looked around trying to see if there had been some sort of mistake. Had they wandered into a party of some sorts? He did not see anyone else around them.
“Excuse me, is this your food?” he asked the man.
Food spilled from the man’s mouth as he replied, “This is for anyone. You see the real rich farmers come from across Luberg for the famous food here. They buy so much, but they can never eat it all. The good thing about the rich, is they are too proud to take anything that is left over. The owners of the restaurants gather the leftover food and put it on the table for folk who can’t afford it,” he reached for another spoonful of the meat.
Mollie and Khris stepped up beside Malik hearing the man’s words.
“Do you think he is telling the truth?” Khris asked under his breath.
Malik stepped forward without a reply. He grabbed a spoon for the same meat the man was stuffing into his mouth. He made a sandwich and took a huge bite. It was dry, old, and cold but it was the greatest thing he could ever remember tasting in his life. After two days of not eating, he could have eaten a shoe and felt blessed by the Saints.
Mollie and Khris did not take long to follow his leap of faith. They shared a standing meal with a stranger.
“You look familiar,” the man said before Malik finished off his last few bites.
“I get that a lot,” Malik said, “I think it is just my face.”
Malik put down his fork and nudged Mollie on the leg. She nodded and in turn nudged Khris. All of them got up at the same time.
“I think it is more than that,” the man said, really staring at the three of them now. “It is on the tip of my tongue, but I just don’t know where I have seen you all before,” he said.
“We have to go, thank you for helping us with the food,” Malik said.
The three of them walked briskly away from the table, leaving the man behind. They said nothing as they raced back down the paths they remembered taking. It was not until the last path that they saw the poster hanging on the bulletin board. It was not an exact, spot on depiction of them, but it was as close as one could reasonable get never having seen their faces before.
“That is us,” Khris said, stating the obvious.
“Do not stop and stare at it,” Malik said, turning away from the rendering.
Mollie pushed Khris forward and Malik followed. They would have to get the mules and make their way out of the town. Mollie had grabbed a bowl from the table before they left, but she was planning to feed it to her little pet upon return.
There was no rhyme or reason to getting in and out of the buildings. There were no guards guiding some in, while allowing others to exit. It was a mad free-for-all. Malik had to push his way out of the town, much harder than he had pushed his way in. He could not imagine that all the rich farmers, merchants, and business owners enjoyed this mad dash.
Malik glanced back over his shoulder to make sure Mollie was pushing through without too much trouble. She was still holding on to the bowl of food, as if it were her only lifeline to the world. Khris was slogging along behind her, looking more dejected than he had before the meal.
Malik turned back, slipping through the last pocket of in-rushing people. He took a deep breath, letting it out of his nose.
“That was a shit show,” he said when Mollie exited the throng of the crowd.
Mollie nodded her head, taking a deep breath as well. Malik started to walk away, but Mollie extended her arm to stop him.
“Where did Khris go?” she asked, looking around.
“He was just right behind you,” Malik said, with only casual interest in Khris’ location.
“Do you think something happened to him?” Mollie was standing on the tips of her toes, trying to peer over the crowd.
Malik scanned the incoming and outgoing people but did not see Khris amongst them.
“He probably went back to find that stupid messenger. His mother doesn’t care about him though,” Malik said.
About the end of Malik’s sentence Khris stumbled forward from a large pocket of outgoing strangers.
He looked disheveled, his hair a mess, and his face beet red. Mollie moved over to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
“Are you okay?” she asked, concern coating her tone.
Khris looked up. Malik could see the tears in his eyes.
“My mom does love me,” he said.
Malik looked away, feeling the heat rising in his face. He had not really meant for Khris to hear those words from his mouth; even if he supposed they were true.
“You may also like to hear that those posters have attracted some undesirable men and women. One of those men caught me by the collar. He didn’t look all too happy to see me. All he said was that I was coming with him. I pulled away, and luckily my shirt collar ripped. I pushed as fast as I could through the crowd and I think I lost him, but I don’t think we should be standing around,” Khris said over his sobs.
Mollie looked back to Malik, panic in her eyes. Malik was really starting to hate this. Every time they entered a town, village, camp it ended in them running.
“Well let’s get moving then,” Malik said.
They grabbed the mules from the post they had left them at. Malik was pleased to know that at least Sally and Callie would never change on him.
“We have to go get Egg,” Mollie reminded him as he turned the wrong direction.
Malik had secretly hoped she would just forget the beast in her panicked state. She was not going to budge on the topic though.
“We have to hurry,” Malik answered.
Egg was exactly where they had left him, curled in a ball, waiting for Mollie to return to him. Malik thought that, just maybe, Mollie and Egg had an unspoken bond. Egg stretched, yawned, showing his small fangs, and then jumped into Mollie’s arms. Mollie offered the bowl of food to Egg, who sniffed it, then turned his nose away.
“Maybe they don’t eat,” Malik suggested.
Mollie did not look certain, but she did not force the matter.
“Keep the food anyhow,” Malik said.
There was no use throwing away a good bowl of food, just because Egg was a picky eater.
Mollie shoved the bowl into Malik’s chest. “You carry it,” she huffed.
Malik wondered why Mollie was mad at him. Then Mollie moved over to Khris, putting her hand between his shoulders. She said something that Malik could not hear. Khris shrugged, trying to keep from sobbing louder.
Malik did not feel sorry for Khris. They had all lost something. He was no different than they were. Mollie and Malik did not cry because of their position in life. Malik turned his attention to the bowl, trying to keep his thoughts from Khris.
Mollie had taken a bowl of green slime. Malik dipped his finger into the concoction and pulled it out, tasting it. It was bitter and smelled funny. Malik figured he knew why Egg did not want to eat it, but he kept it anyway. When he was starving later, he would hate himself for throwing it away.
Egg guided them toward another path, this one off the main trek. Malik was not sad to leave the road behind. He just hoped that meant no one would be able to follow them. If Khris had been telling the truth, then he wanted nothing to do with those kinds of people.
When they stopped for the night, Mollie insisted that they did not start a fire. Malik wanted to argue, but he saw the reasoning behind it. A light here was a beacon, and they were trying to hide. Khris did not care either way. He pulled out his bed roll from Callie that he had inherited from Abrie and curled up in a ball.
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br /> “I guess he is not taking first watch,” Malik laughed.
Mollie did not join him.
“You should lay off of him,” Mollie suggested.
“He will toughen up. It is a tough life on the road,” Malik said.
He did not know where the words came from. He had frozen in all his real fights in life. He was not a warrior, or a hardened traveler. Abrie had always kept him clothed, fed, and most nights warm. The bravado was a show for Mollie, but he could not turn it off.
“I will take first watch, go to sleep, Malik,” Mollie said, moving away from him with a look of disgust across her face.
Malik thought about trying to make the situation better with her. He thought about apologizing to Khris, even if he did not mean it. Instead, he grabbed his bed roll and closed his eyes.
Chapter 22
Visitors
Mollie woke Malik up for second watch with a hard push to his shoulder. She did not exchange greetings with him; she grabbed her own roll and went straight to sleep. Malik figured she was still mad at him over Khris.
Egg sat down beside Mollie’s back, staring at Malik as he watched the camp.
“Stop judging me, your mother eats people,” Malik said.
Egg blinked and turned his head away.
“That is what I thought, monster.” Malik felt silly arguing with Egg, but something told him that Egg understood everything they said.
Malik stood up, stretching the sleep from his body. Watching the camp was boring and the hardest part was fighting sleep. So, he started to pace around the two sleeping bodies of his companions. Then he stopped to stare at the stars and dream of what it would be like far away from where he was.
Then he imagined Abrie and could almost hear him talking inside his head. Malik stopped pacing. The voices were not inside his head. He could clearly hear voices somewhere out in the darkness. He held his breath to hear better. There was one man out in the shadows of the night, but more than likely there were at least two.
Malik tiptoed over to Mollie and pushed her shoulder lightly. Mollie’s eyes shot open and Egg jumped up, claws and teeth poised. Malik could see the killer in him in that moment but did not comment on it.
“There is someone nearby. I don’t know if they are hostile or friendly, but I can’t imagine we have too many friends around here,” Malik whispered.
Mollie wiped the sleep from her eyes, looking out into the dark. Malik knew she could see nothing more than he had seen. Just a blank wall staring back, hiding what was beyond.
“We need to wake up Khris,” Mollie said quietly.
Her eyes did not flicker. Malik moved over, on his knees, and pushed Khris awake. He jerked to a seated position, fear prevalent in his eyes.
“Stay quiet,” Malik said, offering him nothing else. He moved back to Mollie, who was still watching.
“See anything?” Malik asked.
Mollie shook her head. “I don’t see anything, but Egg can sense them,” she said.
Malik wondered if Mollie thought that was a normal thing to say. He looked down at Egg, who was still baring its teeth and holding up its oversized claws.
“How do you know that?” Malik asked, curious to how Mollie would answer.
“I don’t know, Egg just told me somehow,” she answered.
Malik hoped that Mollie was not taking this moment to crack under the pressure.
“What do you mean he told you? Like he talked with you?” Malik asked.
Mollie shook her head. “No, at least not with words, I don’t know, Malik. I just know Egg can sense them. There are four of them. Three men and one woman,” Mollie answered.
Malik was still trying to figure out how Mollie had gleaned this information from a non-talking monster, but before he could further assess it, he heard the voice of a man very clearly.
“Are you sure it was them?” the man asked.
Malik thought the replying voice sounded familiar. He could almost hear it saying, try the pulled pork. Malik swallowed down a dose of fear.
“It was them. It took me a few minutes to realize it, but it was them alright. Two boys and a girl, just like the posters,” the other man replied.
Malik looked back to Mollie who shook her head in disbelief. “We should have known better. He did us a favor and now he is coming to try to kill us,” she sighed.
Malik figured that was how things had been going for some time now. They had been saved by Timbre, just to be turned upon by Simbre hours later. Now the man, who had helped them fill their bellies with food, would now fill them with steel.
“How far could they have gotten then?” the first man asked.
Malik figured he did not expect a real answer. What the question told Malik was that they still had no idea they were so close to their target. Maybe they would just pass them by without knowledge.
Callie let out a bray that would have woken a deaf man in Opallum, miles away. Malik figured that was the end of his hope. They were pegged now, and the men and woman would fall down on them like vultures on the dead.
Mollie stood up, pulling her sword from the ground beside her. Khris cowered back toward the mules. Malik wanted to scoff at his fear, but he felt it ripe as ever too.
“Get your bow,” Mollie said.
Malik was shaking too bad to shoot a bow. His fingers would not listen to his directions at this point. Still he got up, moving toward Callie. He grabbed the case from the mule’s back, flicking open the clasps. He had to stop, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath before continuing the process.
“Come out and we won’t hurt you,” a man’s voice said.
Malik was not stupid enough to believe that. Mollie and Khris did not move to take up the offer either.
Mollie was holding her sword out in front of her. Was she going to attack this time? Malik grabbed the wooden bow in his hand and pulled the bundle of arrows up to his shoulder. He could not see a thing in the dark, but the bow at least provided a semblance of comfort.
“You do not have to make this any harder than it already will be. We have direct orders not to kill you. However, if you don’t cooperate, then I am sure you will be worth just as much dead,” the man said.
Malik would only be going with that man if he were already dead. He felt fire in his belly. He was going to fight for his life this time. He was not going to freeze.
The four bounty hunters came into view. All of them carried curved, sharp short swords. Malik’s resolve faded. He came to a new conclusion; they were all going to die. Mollie’s blade started to glow, first a light blue and then pulsing to red. Malik had meant to ask her about that the last time he had seen it, but it had never been the opportune time to ask; he figured now would not be that time either.
He tried again to control his building fear. He wanted to help Mollie if she fought this time. He wanted to poke all four of them with the sharp parts of the arrows.
When they came within range, Malik froze. It felt like he had been rooted to the ground with hog ties. He was telling his arms to draw the bow up, but they were not listening to him. He told his legs to charge forward to be by Mollie’s side, but they did not budge. He was fighting with himself when the first man leveled his sword at Mollie.
“Big sword for a little girl,” he said.
Mollie did not deem a response necessary. She jumped into the air, drawing the man’s sword up in response. In the air, she twirled to her right, extending her leg, and connecting it to the man’s lower jaw. Malik could hear the snap from where he stood. The man barely grunted before collapsing to the ground.
“A fighter?” another man said, stepping forward.
The third man joined him, to his left. The woman circled to the right. Mollie had been surrounded and Malik’s body was still not listening to him. Luckily for Mollie, she had another friend out there. Egg scooted in close to Mollie’s legs and gave pause to the three circling vultures.
“What is that thing?” one of the two men asked.
No
one had an answer.
“Just get the girl,” the woman finally chimed in on the conversation.
The two men nodded. They came in closer with their swords out before them. Mollie was going to have to do more than catch them off guard this time. She drove her front foot forward and slapped at the closest blade with her long sword. The sword grazed off the curved blade of the man and sent him a few steps back. Egg took the opportunity to leap, attaching itself to the man’s face.
“No killing, Egg,” Mollie yelled.
Egg clawed the man’s face twice and then slid down, shoving his claws into the man’s calf muscle. This man did yell, as he stumbled to the ground. He would not die, but he would not be standing for some time to come.
Egg sauntered back to Mollie who was fending off blows from both the remaining man and the woman. Mollie blocked two consecutive blows by tilting her much longer sword to the side. What once had been a dull glow was now vibrant and easily discernable. Mollie ducked a blow and brought the flat side of the sword into the man’s forearm. The man yelped but stayed on his feet. The woman took her chance to lunge forward but did not account for Egg. Egg stepped in front of her, extending its leg, and causing her to fall face first onto the ground. Egg jumped on her back, barred fangs, but then looked to Mollie for confirmation.
“No killing,” Mollie repeated.
Egg looked disappointed but did not kill the woman. Instead, Egg scurried down her legs severing her tendons by her feet. Malik flinched at the thought of the severe pain.
The final man looked at his companions, then to Mollie’s glowing sword, and finally to Egg.
“You win,” he said, backing away.
The last man dropped his sword and stumbled over something unseen behind him.
“Come on, I wasn’t going to kill you,” he pleaded.
Mollie stepped forward and shoved the pommel of her sword into the bridge of the man’s nose. With a sick crunch, the man’s head lolled back, and his eyes rolled into his head.
Mollie turned around to Malik and Khris. She did not comment on being the only one who had fought.