by Cox, Craig
"You alright, kid?"
Braden was still in shock, he thought he had been killed. He just nodded in reply. The sailor put a hand on his shoulder and smiled.
"It’s over now, the bastards ran. They lost too many, I guess their captain didn’t think we were worth it."
Braden slunk back down against the rail, his sword hung in his hand to the side. The burning in his chest was gone now, he felt cold and tired. At the sound of people coming up the stairs, he raised his head and gripped his sword tighter, the captain came into view, he relaxed again resting up against the rail. The man strode onto the bridge his right arm and face splattered with blood. Behind him came two more sailors and finally Alex. His friend looked wide awake, the adrenaline still flowing through his system. The captain looked down at the two dead pirates then to the blood trail and two swords lying on the ground.
"Your handy work, First Mate?"
"No Captain, it was the kid's."
The Captain looked over to Braden, he probably wasn’t in the best of shape. He knew he was covered in blood and looked exhausted from the nights fighting.
"Well, it seems it was my good luck that brought you on board, young man."
"Luck didn’t have anything to do with it Captain, the kid has talent with a blade, he killed those two in a blink of an eye then held off another one whilst I was able to get to him from behind."
"Can you stop calling me kid?"
Stephen just smiled back at him, as Alex came over to his side.
"Well, luck or skill, I owe you something for saving my First Mate's life. How about you eat with me tomorrow night? I'll get the cook to rustle up something special and I’ll open a bottle of Dorian Wine."
"Wine sounds good to me."
Chapter XIV
Braden
Talbot was a noisy town, it was the port which fed the capital with the luxuries from across the inland sea. As the boat got closer to the town the sailors began to move quicker, the main sails had been pulled up hours before and they had been sailing on just the trysail at the bow of the ship. As they wrapped up the final sail, the captain slowly eased the ship towards the main dock. Talbot sat on the corner of the river, the town’s docks had been cut into the river’s edge, creating a perfect manmade harbour, half way up the river to Alton. Braden watched as smaller boats set off to head further up the river. Some could make it all the way, but he knew the price of just one ticket was more than they had all together. The expenditure, the traders used to get their silks, jewellery and other exotic pieces to the capital before the competition, had made the prices soar, according to Stephen. He had told Braden of the riches, some small boat owners had made on the back of the booming trade. A few years ago during the summer hundreds of small boats had moved up and down the river at the same time. After a few fatal capsizes, the crown had stepped in and issued a law, making it illegal to transport goods any further up the river than Talbot, without a permit. Stephen had made the point that it had benefitted the crown more than anyone else, as they had found a new way to tax the merchants, who paid their wages. The shouts from the men at the dockside, broke Braden’s lack of attention, and he realized at the last moment that the men had thrown a rope up to him. He leapt forward catching it just before it disappeared over the side and into the water. He began pulling it tight as another sailor came over and grabbed hold. Four lines had been cast onto the boat, each with two men pulling them. The boat slowly inched against the dock, a loud bang and shaking of the deck, confirmed they were alongside. The sailor pulled the rope from Braden’s hand and quickly tied the end to one of the ship’s holding places. He patted Braden on the back before jogging off to another job. He watched as the gang plank was raised over the side before falling down onto the dockside. It was quickly secured on both ends before the first men were across helping the ship’s crew unload. He watched Alex, Troy and the wheelbarrow appear from below, they were both squinting at the sun and Magnus fidgeted under the clothes. He had no idea. how they had managed to keep a lion cub quiet in a tiny cabin for this long, without alerting anyone. It was an extraordinary feat and Braden remembered to thank Troy for all his help.
“So my friend, from here on we walk.”
Braden looked up to see his friend smiling down at him.
“I could do with stretching my leg and I think Magnus will say the same.”
Alex was the first to step onto the gang plank, he helped lift the front of the wheelbarrow so that Troy could get it over the lip. Braden watched them go down first, but then had to wait, as two other men, came up the ramp and onto the ship. As they waited, he spotted the Captain walking down towards them.
"Captain, I want to thank you again for having us and for the extra cloaks."
Braden placed his hand on the cloak he held under his left arm, the captain had given one to all three of them as thanks after the pirate raid. He had spotted the fact they were all underdressed for travel and had offered them the gift. Braden reached out grabbing the man’s hand before giving it a shake.
“The pleasure was mine and there is no need for thanks, you saved my first mate's life and potentially the lives of a fair few more of my men and my own by killing those pirates so easily. I think you will do well in the city guard."
Braden thanked him again before wishing him and the crew goodbye and leaving the ship.
“Thank the gods, I thought he had found out about Magnus.” Alex said, when he reached the bottom.
Braden chuckled, they had made it to Talbot, the longest stretch of the journey was over. It would only take another three days to reach the capital. He looked up the river in the direction of Alton, he was so close yet a part of him didn’t want to carry on, anymore. It was easily overridden by the deep desire to find out why his father had left his mother and him.
“Braden.”
He hadn’t noticed his friend had come closer. Alex was walking right next to him and had lent in close so that they couldn’t be heard by the surrounding crowds.
“What are we going to do about Magnus? I mean I’m not the only one who has noticed that he is growing extremely fast, Troy pointed it out last night. We can’t keep him in the barrow all the way to the capital and even if we did, what are we going to do once we get there. I think the populous of Alton will notice a lion cub the size of a medium dog, walking around.”
“I hadn’t thought of it, to be honest.”
Braden hadn’t thought of much beyond getting to Talbot, he was taking it one step at a time. His mind had been concentrated on what they would do if Magnus had been found on the ship. Firstly, he needed to walk, it was cruel keeping him locked up in the cabin for the last week without forcing him to hide in the wheelbarrow for another four days. Perhaps they should just take the risk, maybe if they kept off the main road anyone, who saw him from afar would think he was a dog. That still didn’t solve the problem of the capital. He was racking his brain for a solution as they walked deeper into the crowded streets of Talbot. His eyes were fixed on the outline of Magnus in the wheelbarrow, under their shirts.
“Anyhow, we need to get something to eat first. Do you want to stay in town for the rest of the day or head straight on and camp out?” Alex said.
“Camping out will probably be better, we won’t have to hide Magnus then.”
“Good point, I was thinking pork? What about you?”
He smiled at his friend as they headed off towards the market area. It was full of stalls selling all kinds of food. It was aimed for the travelling merchants. Everything was sold in four day rations, from pork and beef to steamed vegetables and water. Troy picked out a sweet smelling stew complete with dumplings, which made their mouths water. Alex had found a stall selling smoked pork loins and he had been left with the job of getting the water and something for Magnus to eat. He returned to the group at the edge of the market with three bags hanging over his shoulders.
“Got the water, plus a little ale to keep us warm at night. And these.”
&nb
sp; He reached into the bag, pulling out two large warm bread rolls, throwing one to both of them. Troy dropped the wheelbarrow, causing a disgruntled Magnus to let out a loud meow which turned a few heads of the men, who were walking by. The boy took no notice, as he dived into the loaf of bread, half of it had disappeared before Braden had pulled out his own.
“We should probably get moving. Once we are an hour out of town we can dump the wheelbarrow and let Magnus out. We will stick to the smaller roads, at least then he can have some fun.”
Chapter XV
Ashe
Ashe sat with her feet dangling free beneath her, the wind blowing in her hair. She fidgeted from side to side, the feeling in her leg coming back again. She had been sat up in the tree, way too long for her body’s liking. The men chasing her must have gone by now, given up the chase or at least must be a mile or two away, but something deep down inside her told her to stay up there for a while longer. The sun was getting lower in the sky and it was beginning to get cold. Ashe rubbed her hands together, before whispering.
“Accio.”
A small flame erupted from thin air, between her palms It hovered an inch above her hands and let out a gentle heat which began to warm her through. She smiled down at the little flame, as it spluttered in the wind. Closing her eyes she leant back against the tree and pulled up her legs. Ashe was an Arcane, a wielder of magic. Less than a hundred existed across the continent. Whispers of secret cults hidden in the mountains always filled Ashe with a little hope, that she wasn’t completely alone in the world. Hundreds of years ago, Arcanes ruled the world, through the blood of the old Imperial family and their seven lesser Kings. However, once the empire fell the popularity and influence of the Arcanes fell with it. Over time as the number of Arcanes diminished, the prejudice and hate grew and had been the source of wars across the continent, for centuries and the common people, were no longer fond of their magic tricks. They became hunted by the common people and prized by the nobility for their power and links to the Old Empire, this was the world Ashe was born into, Arda was the least friendly of the four Kingdoms towards Arcanes. King Rupert was a direct decedent of the man who had overthrown and killed the last Arcane Emperor. Ever since, they had been unwelcome in court. Ashe had spent most of her life, moving from place to place keeping out of the way of people and hiding her talents from the world. She grew up without a mother and whenever she had tried to bring up the topic with her father it had caused the whole night and following day to be filled with painful silence. Her father was also an Arcane and had grown up the same, running. He had taught her simple spells, like the little fireball and another trick which allowed her to change the colour of a playing card. This is what had caused her to scramble up the tree a few hours ago. Ashe had spent a few days in Talbot, doing a few odd jobs in the day and fooling half-drunk men out of their money in the evening. Today, she had challenged a man who she knew, from the way he walked up to the table, had the cognitive abilities of a toddler. However, halfway through the game when she had used her magic to turn one of her cards to a different one, his eyes had sharpened. Next thing Ashe knew, she was running from Talbot, a group of eight men hot on her heels. She guessed that they intended to turn her in to the King, after they had their way with her. She was almost worth her weight in silver. Ashe cringed at the thought of being used by those men or by the King to increase their powers. Her father had taught her that her gift was to be used only to help the people and not to harm them.
“She’s long gone, Vinnie.”
The voice cut through the silence of the evening, she nearly screamed, as she realised how close the men where. Closing her hands together the flame disappeared before she moved closer to the tree and further out of sight.
“Yeah well, do we go back? I’m in the mood for some trouble-making.”
The group cheered which made Ashe even more afraid.
“Well, I saw a group follow us off the trail, maybe if they come this way we can get them.”
“Not kill them?” One of the group squealed.
“No, just rob them blind.”
They all laughed and began to move off to different sides of the path. The one, who wasn’t so sure stood at the base of her tree, she hoped he wouldn’t look up. It seemed to take forever, the sun hardly moved in the sky but to Ashe it felt like hours had passed. Her eyes darted from tree to tree to see if any of them had noticed her she could see five of them on this side and wondered where the others had gone. Finally, she began to hear people approaching down the path.
“So when are we going to stop to eat?”
“Soon, I want to push on a little bit more.”
So there were at least two, Ashe wished she could call out to them, or at least warn them somehow. She felt powerless, even with the power the magic gave her, she still couldn’t handle eight men especially as spread out at they were. As the unsuspecting strangers got closer, she could see the man below her become more restless, his face didn’t look happy or as if he really wanted to rob these men. He had probably just been dragged along reluctantly, extra manpower and probably a scapegoat, if something had gone wrong. She watched him tense and looked up to see three figures come around the corner and into her line of vision. They were two young men and a little boy, they stood no chance against the armed group. Ashe watched as they got closer, the thugs began to move slowly towards the road.
Just as the men were about to spring their trap, a scream broke the silence. In a split second the first of the young men dropped the bag he was carrying, and drew his sword, the blade shimmering in the last of the evening light. The big man next to him, pulled a large hammer over his shoulder and drew a sword from his hip, the two stood protectively around the young boy, who drew a little dagger from the bag that the young man had dropped. The thugs then broke into action, the scream had shocked some more than others, so only two men jumped onto the road first, they both wielded large sticks in both hands. The young man with the sword didn’t waste any time and stepped forward, he was so quick he had almost passed the first man and was onto the second, before the first even dropped to the floor. The next thug shortly followed, as the man with the sword turned to watch three men charge from the other side of the road. Both him and his friend turned to face the new attackers, the brown haired swordsman ran straight at the group. Ashe’s attention was drawn away however, as she watched the final three on her side, including the shaking man below her finally break out onto the path. Only the little kid had spotted them, the hammer wielding young man was grappling with one man as the brown haired one stood up against the leader Vinnie, the only thug who had brought a proper weapon. She could see the fear on the young boy's face, as he realised the other two couldn’t help, the look in his eyes finally forced her into action. Ashe flung her legs out over the branch and dropped down to the floor behind the group of men, she reached down around her and found a stone the size of er fist. What could she do with it? Maybe take out one man, then they would turn and attack her instead. She stepped up onto the road, the three men had begun to run towards the group. The little boy bravely held up his little dagger towards the men before he spotted her behind them. She panicked, dropping the rock she reached out both of her hands and screamed.
“Accio.”
A cone of fire shot out from each hand, circling around the men before meeting on the other side, just in front of the child. The men were encased in an inferno, they turned to look at Ashe, fear and terror in their eyes as they realised who she was. Ashe looked at the three men, she felt anger build up inside her. Men like these had chased and hunted Ashe and her father all their lives. She could feel the anger feed the flames, burning brighter and hotter. She screamed, the anger and hate built up over the years finally being released on the three men. Ashe saw the man who had been dragged along and who had been quivering at the base of her tree, fall to his knees, pleading for his life, his hands clutched in front of him looking straight at her. Finally, she realised what she was doing,
dropping her arms to her sides, the fires almost instantly disappeared with only a few smoking pieces of grass continuing to sizzle. She felt faint and lightheaded, she raised her hand to her head and tried to steady herself before she saw the three men lying down on the ground. Ashe couldn’t tell if they were dead from her first look, but she felt tremendous guilt flood over her and she fell to her knees. The pleading man was still staring at her, his lips were dry and cracked, his entire body looked as if it had been left out in the sun for weeks. He knelt there for a few seconds looking at her before he fell over to one side and slumped onto the floor next to the others. Ashe stood up and walked slowly towards the three men. She still couldn’t tell if they were dead. The road was charred black from the flames, she looked over to where the boy had been, but he was gone. Had he been caught in the flames as well? Ashe looked down at her hands, she was a killer, a killer of little boys. Turning round to see where they had gone, she felt a hand on her hair pulling her head back, her throat exposed. From the corner of her eye, she saw the shimmer of a blade, the falling sun behind it’s holder cast his face in shadow, she could see was the whites of his eyes and the bright light in his chest was almost blinding, he pushed the tip of his sword towards her heart. Ashe raised her hands to block the sword.
Chapter XVI
Alexander