by Logan Knight
I climbed onto the back of the wagon and began rifling through the supplies. Among them were barrels of dried fruit and meat, both of which I rolled to the edge of the cart and carefully removed.
Crates of weapons were underneath, so I tossed a handful of swords and knives off the cart and carefully moved a crate of arrows among them before adding an armful of bows.
Then I noticed two barrels that looked different than the others. When I pulled the cork from one, the heavy, familiar scent of whiskey greeted my nose. It was a shame I couldn’t take it with us, but I needed to keep my head clear until the army was stopped or destroyed. Plus, whiskey burned, which would be useful in a little while.
Alena joined me a minute later. “Is this the stuff you want me to hide in the forest?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Everything I’m tossing over the side. Spread it out, though. If anyone finds some, I don’t want them to find it all. Let’s move quickly.”
Alena selected a new sword, sheathed it, and began hurrying armloads of supplies into the forest before coming back for more. A minute later, Nadia joined her and began to help.
Her black uniform, especially when accompanied by her long hair, was stunning. The clothing she wore had straps so she could adjust the fit and tailor it to her own body. It fit her curves perfectly.
When it looked like I’d selected all the supplies we could use, I hopped from the wagon and retrieved the bodies, tossing them on top of the leftovers. After the amulets were in place, I uncorked both barrels of whiskey and kicked them over, allowing them to soak the wagon, bodies, and leftover supplies.
The women and I retreated to the edge of the forest. When we’d all taken cover, I cast another fireball. It hit the wagon and exploded with more force than I’d expected. We had to scramble to get out of the way of the falling, burning debris.
“Wow,” Nadia said, “that was impressive.”
“It sure was,” Alena agreed as she slapped my ass and gave it a squeeze.
I laughed. “There isn’t time for that now,” I said to Alena. “We need to keep moving. Let’s go look at the army those supplies were intended for. We need to see what we’re up against.”
Alena led us back into the woods, and we hurried south toward the fortress and its nearby harbor. We stopped just before sunset.
“Looks like the army has taken over the fortress,” Alena whispered. “Those are their banners flying from the towers. I wish we could’ve leveled the place on our way out.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “It makes sense that the army is occupying it now. Someone has to man the prison and keep the fortress out of enemy hands. There’s a small hill on the other side of the road over there. The tall grass should keep us concealed, and I think we’ll be able to see the harbor from it. Let’s go.”
After making sure there weren’t any soldiers nearby, Nadia, Alena, and I hurried across the road. We lay down in the tall grass on the other side and crawled until we could see the harbor below.
The army was enormous. There were hundreds of torches and thousands of tents erected along the beach. Supplies were stacked in neat rows, and there were guards everywhere. Shouted orders and the sounds of hammers striking steel added to the enormity of the scene.
There were no ships at the dock, though, and when I squinted into the dim light over the ocean, I didn’t spot any sails.
“It doesn’t look like their transportation has arrived yet,” I whispered. “I’m certain this is the army the Xorians are sending to conquer the Kingdom of Dahan.”
“Does your kingdom have any defenses?” she whispered.
“They do,” I replied. “Our shoreline is small, and the waves are large. We have two defensive fortresses that will be able to sink a lot of their ships before they land.
“If they decided to land further away, it could be a twenty-mile journey to get to us. We have watchtowers, though, and we’d see them coming. Still, it’s a Xorian army, and they’ve got the advantage of whatever magic their amulets grant them. My people don’t know magic exists.”
“Then we have to do something,” Nadia whispered. “I am with you, Reese.”
“As am I,” Alena agreed.
“How many armies does Xoria have in this land?” I asked Alena.
“I’m not sure anymore,” she whispered. “There used to be a bunch of them here, but they’ve left and gone off to war. I’m thinking three. This one is from Stormbreak. There’s another one at Korsk, and I think there’s another one that roams around somewhere to the west. But that one is really just a bunch of smaller groups, I think. Why?”
“Because I think this is the army that captured me when I first arrived,” I said. “If they are able to disguise their ships like they did their soldiers, my people might let them sail straight into the harbor. In fact, the Dahani might think it’s the remains of my army returning to them. They’ll come out to greet the soldiers. They’ll bring food and beer, and they won’t suspect a thing. It’ll be a slaughter.”
“Can’t you just sink their ships with fireballs when they come in?” Alena asked.
“I could probably sink one or two,” I said, “but then the whole army would know exactly where I was. They’d rush us, and we’d have no chance of escape. Even if I managed to sink three of their ships, there’s no way my people could fight them. No, we have to keep them here or take away their advantage.”
“What do you want to do?” Nadia asked.
My original plan had been to return to the Kingdom of Dahan with Nadia, Alena, and all the information I could provide. I looked forward to seeing my friends again and rejoining the war effort with the remaining army. But circumstances had changed. Though I missed home, there was only one option left. “I’m going to stay in Xoria. I’m going to find their creature and either release it or kill it. Then I’m going to kill their god and end the war.”
15
The creature that empowered the army to blend in with others had to be nearby. I wasn’t sure if there was a range to the magic, but I believed they kept their captive with them. It was the only thing that would ensure their victory. It was great motivation for keeping the creature safe.
Nadia, for instance, had been kept in the lowest level of the fortress. Although the guards had left to pursue us, they were no further than a single day of marching from her at any time.
The sun was going down, but there were too many soldiers in the area to search the beach for the creature. We didn’t even know where it was.
I decided we would have to get information elsewhere. Not all the soldiers would be along the beach. There would be small encampments nearby that wouldn’t be looking for a small group of people. Their job would be to watch for larger troop movements.
As more torches began to ignite, lighting the dark places along the beach, I signaled to the women that we needed to head back to the forest to try something else.
After checking both sides of the road to make sure we wouldn’t be spotted, the three of us sprinted across and crept into the growing darkness.
“What are we going to do?” Alena whispered as Nadia listened intently. “There are a lot of soldiers down there. I don’t think we can sneak through them.”
“We can’t,” I agreed, “but we might not need to. We have to find out for certain where the creature is being kept. Once we do, we can come up with a plan. If it’s on the beach, then that’s something we’ll have to deal with. But I don’t think it is. There’s too much going on down there—too much movement. If the thing was down there, it would have a contingent of soldiers protecting it. Those troops wouldn’t be able to move far, though. They’d be stuck there, and because of that, they would have stuck out like a sore thumb. I think we would have spotted them. Also, it would expose the creature to infiltrators, something this army is familiar with. Likely, the creature is being stored somewhere else, and they’ll wait to move it to the beach until the last minute. So, we’re going to sneak around a bit and eavesdrop on conversa
tions. Bored soldiers always talk, and often reveal secrets when they think they’re alone. If we can find one by himself, we’ll capture him, drag him away, and interrogate him. We’ll find out what we need.”
The women became quiet for a moment, and even in the dim light of the stars filtering through the forest canopy, I could see what they were feeling.
“The army of Xoria does not take prisoners,” I said. “They do not negotiate. They don’t care if the other armies surrender. They will keep fighting and killing until every single person is dead. This is the only way.”
“I believe you,” Nadia said. “And I trust you.”
“Me too,” Alena agreed. “Lead the way.”
“Okay, let’s head back toward the fortress,” I whispered. “Maybe we can catch the guards during a shift change, or find another group making a supply run. If we’re lucky, we can find that one bored straggler who doesn’t have anything to do. Likely, it would be a long time before anyone noticed he was missing.”
The women nodded, and Alena began to guide us through the forest, parallel to the road.
The first group we encountered was six soldiers. Each was holding a stick with some kind of meat skewered on the end of it over a small campfire they’d built.
“Any idea how long we’ll be gone?” the first soldier asked.
“As long as it takes,” another, older man said. “These things can’t be predicted. If the Dahani decide to fight back instead of dropping their weapons and accepting our offers of a quick death, it could be several months. We have enough supplies to last us that long, and we can always take what we want from the villages and towns we stomp. I hear they have good beer.”
The other men laughed, and two removed their meat from the fire to check it before they began to tear pieces off with their teeth.
I motioned for Alena to keep going. The soldiers at the campfire weren’t talking about anything I didn’t already know.
Further along the road, maybe a half-mile from the fortress, we noticed some soldiers breaking down a tent. There were four of them, and while one held a burning torch so the others could see, the rest worked slowly as they gathered supplies and lashed wooden boxes closed.
“How long until the tide comes in?” I whispered to Alena.
She looked up at the sky for a moment. “Probably three or four hours,” she said. “That’s only a guess. I don’t know for sure.”
“Then we have less time than that to eliminate the creature,” I whispered. “These guards are getting ready to leave. That means the creature will be moved to the beach soon. Let’s keep going.”
We slunk back into the forest and started moving again. We had to move slowly and make as little sound as possible. There were soldiers everywhere. Most were packing supplies, but others appeared to be on guard duty.
Commanders, it sounded like, were yelling at their soldiers. It was the same everywhere. They yelled and the soldiers hurried, but it was never good enough, and they could never do anything perfectly. If a soldier wasn’t early, he was late—there was no such thing as being on time.
More voices joined those we could already hear, but they were closer than the others as well. I tugged at each of the women’s arms, urging them to get lower and remain quiet while I pointed in the direction the sounds were coming from.
We were concealed in a thick patch of ferns whose long, broad leaves created a deep canopy and nearly complete darkness within. Unless we made an obvious noise, I didn’t think the soldiers would be able to spot us.
There were only six of them, but we were within shouting distance of many more. We watched in silence as they drew close, no more than five yards away. They gave our tangle of ferns a sour look and went around. I was ready to drop one with a magic arrow at the slightest hint any of them had noticed us, but I didn’t need to cast it.
After waiting a full minute, I whispered, “Time to move. We need to go further out so we can find the edge of their activity. That’s where we’ll find someone all by himself, ready to be captured.”
We hadn’t moved more than a few feet when we froze in place. The sound of hooves and squeaky wheels told us a wagon was on the road. We turned toward it to look and listen.
It was another supply wagon with two soldiers on it. The bundled goods in the back told me they were soft supplies—likely spare sails for the ships or tents. From what I could see, they appeared to be too compact to fit any creature of significant size within. If they were on top of something to hide it, the poor creature would likely suffocate before they got to the beach.
One of the men seated at the front of the wagon was a captain, based on his uniform and the bright, red insignia on his armor. Even low-ranking commanders were favorite targets on the battlefield. If enough of our enemy’s commanders could be killed, it could cripple an entire regiment or even a division. It was worth going out of one’s way to make sure a commander died.
It was the captain’s lucky day, though. He wasn’t my target, and killing him wasn’t worth exposing my presence to the enemy. I had to save the surprise for the creature. If I died while destroying it, I could at least buy my homeland a little more time.
We waited for the wagon to pass before moving again. It was unlikely the captain would ever know how close he came to death.
“What if they are keeping the creature at the prison?” Nadia asked.
“I considered that,” I whispered. “I’d rather not go back a third time, but I will if I have to.”
We’d only traveled about a hundred yards when we had to stop again. There were voices ahead, and they were getting closer. There wasn’t a good place to conceal ourselves where we’d stopped, so we scrambled to hide behind nearby trees.
There were three soldiers walking through the woods. Based on the rabbits they were carrying, it looked like they’d been hunting. The first man carried one, but the others each had two and were giving him a hard time about it.
“Don’t worry,” the second man said, “everyone misses five or six times in a row once in a while.”
“Not me,” the third laughed.
“Go to hell,” the first soldier grumbled.
The other two howled at the first soldier’s embarrassment. They stopped when a voice from our right barked at them through the darkness.
“Where have you been?” the man bellowed.
The three soldiers snapped their heels together and stood at attention.
“We went hunting, Sir,” one of them said. “Fresh provisions, Sir. It’s hours before—”
“I know how long until the ships arrive,” the man growled. His demeanor and attitude made me believe he was another commander.
I might get a chance to kill one, after all.
The man who’d been yelling stepped out of the darkness. I’d been right—he was a captain, and he looked like he was flaming mad. I wasn’t exactly sure what the big deal was, though. Dahani armies usually hunted as we traveled, collecting food along the way. It allowed us to save our dried and salted provisions for later.
As he approached, one of the men glanced in the direction of the tree Alena was hiding behind. I had a suspicion he’d spotted her, so I prepared to cast a spell.
The man returned his attention to a spot somewhere far in the distance like the others were doing as he waited for his punishment.
“You were told to stay with the rest of the men!” the captain said. “All of you were told that. We need to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. I shouldn’t have to explain myself. You should follow your orders!”
The soldier who’d glanced at Alena’s tree looked again, but the captain caught him.
“Is what I’m saying not important enough for you to pay attention?” the captain sneered. “What are you looking at? Do you have another accomplice hiding behind one of these trees?”
Then he turned his back on his men and placed his fists on his waist. “Come out!” he called into the darkness. “Line up with the rest of these men! That’s a
n order!”
He scanned the darkness a moment before his eyes settled on Alena’s tree. She’d been spotted. The moment he opened his mouth to say something else, I sent an arrow into it and out the back of his head.
The soldiers looked stunned as they watched their commander fall. We were among them before any had recovered enough to move.
I dropped one with another arrow that hit him in his right eye. He’d tried to dodge but wasn’t fast enough. Alena killed the one in the middle with a single arrow.
The third screamed for help. He dropped a second later, gurgling his own blood as it pumped into this throat from Nadia’s well-aimed knife, but it was already too late—reinforcements were on the way.
Five more soldiers came crashing through the bushes, and though we might have been able to escape, it was just as likely we’d stumble into another group as we ran. Plus, there were only five—not a monumental task for my team.
These soldiers, however, were either better trained or more disciplined. They’d already pulled their shields from their backs, and their swords were drawn. When they saw us, they quickly formed a defensive line and stuck their blades out between the shield-wall they’d created.
“Flank them,” I whispered to the women. “I’ll keep them looking at me.” The soldiers’ eyes went wide when I drew my flaming blade. They ducked even further behind their large round shields, which they overlapped as a means of protecting the man to their right.
I twirled my blade once, leaving behind a trail of multi-colored sparks. It was enough of a distraction to allow the women to engage the soldiers with little resistance or warning.
Alena had positioned herself behind the bodies of those we’d killed earlier and had gathered some of the arrows she fired. She planted one in the shin of the soldier on her side, while Nadia threw a knife at another.
The one Alena had injured cried out and staggered back a few steps, which left the man next to him exposed for a second. It was long enough for her to fire another arrow, which hit him in his wrist. He dropped his sword but remained in position. I was impressed.