by Justin Sloan
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” she demanded.
He smiled and leaned into her, bending until his head was on her lap. He let sleep take him again. They never should have tried for the Fortress of Stirling; they had learned their lesson. This wasn’t going to be a simple war with two sides standing against each other. They would need help.
They would find another way, but for now he needed rest. They were safe, and that was the most he could ask for.
CHAPTER EIGHT
While Bale and the others seemed to grow more annoyed by Rose’s talking the longer they walked, Lannis found himself liking her. Maybe it was because he was riding while they walked—they were likely growing weary.
Stopping to feed the horse and let the paladins get some rest, Rose gave them a few seconds before taking a seat next to Bale and starting to talk again.
“Let me get this straight. Half the paladins now work with this group of sorcerers, the very type of people you were at war with and proclaimed to be evil for so long?”
Bale grunted as he took a bite of venison.
“Much more than half, actually,” Gerin corrected her. “Only seven of us escaped.”
“Fled, is more like it.” She smiled, and Lannis knew she was being a pain on purpose. “Retreated, instead of leading the charge against the sorcerers.”
“We were following our High Paladin,” Gerin argued. “How were we to know?”
“To know you were fighting alongside sorcerers who were part of—how did you word it—a dark secret society?”
Bale swallowed, then glared at her. “Aye, something like that.”
“And you fought against the very people we hope to join up with?”
“Thanks to this one,” Gerin said, nodding at Lannis.
“But Alastar was among them,” Bale countered. “He had the Sword of Light; even used it to kill Sir Gildon. I’d be willing to bet he’s still alive.”
“It wasn’t glowing green,” Gerin countered. “How do you know it was the actual sword?”
Bale considered that, and shrugged. He’d seen the green stone, the jade in the hilt. The length of the blade… but the man had a point.
“And you’d all swear allegiance to him?” Rose looked skeptical. “What makes you think he’d take you in?”
“Not so much swear allegiance as join him to fight on the side of the righteous, but…aye, that’s about right.” Bale bit off another chunk of venison and continued as he chewed, “You’ve sure got a lot of questions.”
“I want to make sure I’m not walking into a death trap,” she countered. “And from the sound of it, I’m not convinced.”
“You can always turn back.”
“Not true; this one needs me.” She nodded toward Lannis. “Isn’t that right?”
He shrugged. “Aye, it’s definitely nice having you around.”
“See, he said he can’t live without me.” The others chuckled and she smiled as she found a bite for herself. “In all honesty though, how do we know we’ll find them? I mean, what are our chances?”
“In a land like this?” Bale shook his head, staring off at the hills in the distance. “Not great.”
Lannis stood and stretched, breathing in the fresh air. Only, something wasn’t quite fresh about it. A hint of…smoke?
Gerin and one of the other paladins noticed at the same time and were at his side a moment later, eyes searching their surroundings.
“That way,” Rose said, pointing to where they now saw the faint plumes of smoke barely visible.
Soon they had packed up and moved out, heading for the smoke that was now fuller and much more pungent. Lannis felt his stomach rumbling at the fact that all they’d eaten were a few bites of the dried meat, but his excitement outdid that sensation. Right now he just wanted to find out if the smoke was in any way related to Kia’s group. The sooner they met up with them, the safer both parties would be.
As they reached the top of the hill they saw a sight he certainly hadn’t expected, though now that he saw that the paladins’ swords were already drawn, he realized they had. He had hoped to find Kia and the others maybe around a large fire, but instead there was a small village. The hut in the middle was burning, there were at least two men dead, and more men were causing trouble, bullying a couple of others. One even held a sword to someone’s throats.
“Enough!” Bale shouted, and the troublemakers paused to glare at the paladins as they made their way down to them. “Who’s in control here?”
“It’s our village,” a man said, promptly earning himself a punch upside the head and a kick to the ground.
“Ours now though,” the attacker said. He was a large man with two shocks of bright red hair, a bald patch down the middle, and a large mustache that matched. He pointed at Bale with a mace and said, “You’d best be moving along. This isn’t in the realm of the Saint.”
“Lucky for us, we’re a little confused about where we stand on that. Unluckily for you, we still feel fairly strongly against villages being attacked and men and women being hurt.”
“Please,” the man with the sword to his throat shouted, and the attacker pulled back to strike.
Lannis was quick, taking a piece of venison jerky and throwing it, then focusing on his wind magic to propel it forward so that it lodged in the attacker’s throat. The man’s eyes went wide and he took a step back, choking, and dropped to his knees, sword clanging to the stones beside him.
There wasn’t even time for the others to express the surprise their eyes showed, because the men below immediately charged—well, all but the choking one, who was now on all fours trying to pound on his own chest.
“Thanks, kid,” Bale muttered as he moved forward to parry the first attack. He stepped to the attacker’s side and smashed his nose in with the hilt of his sword, then brought him down. The next he kicked and tried not to hurt, but he was forced to cut off the man’s sword hand when presented with a relentless attack.
Gerin had taken on two of them and the other five paladins were confronting a new group of attackers who had emerged from behind and within the other huts.
Rose turned the unicorn away and they rode a few paces farther until more men emerged from the trees. Suddenly Lannis found himself wishing they hadn’t come this way at all.
“Hold tight,” Rose commanded, then rode down one of the men. On the other side, the men were closing in on them, so Rose leaped down, pulling a knife from a sheath at her waist.
She turned on each of them in turn, ready.
“Any more tricks up your sleeve?” she asked Lannis.
He glanced around at them, then at the unicorn. Sure, he knew it was just a horse, but maybe they wouldn’t.
“Come on, Uni, show them your magic.” He leaned in close, burying his head in the unicorn’s mane so that they wouldn’t see his eyes go black, and sent the wind spiraling around the unicorn’s head and horn. It picked up twigs and leaves, and was enough to startle the unicorn so that she rose on her hind legs and whinnied.
“Forget this,” one of the men said, and he and several others nearby broke ranks and ran off.
In the confusion, Rose didn’t hesitate. She leaped forward and slit a man’s throat, then spun and plunged her blade into the gut of another. That only left one, but he was coming at her with a club.
Lannis couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, so he sent his barrage of wind and debris at the man. Rose saw what was happening and moved for the attack, but this man wasn’t so easily distracted.
He ignored the dust and whatnot getting into his eyes and charged. His momentum took her to the ground and the two were rolling, sword and knife cast aside. Her knee hit his groin and his punch made her spit blood, but then she headbutted him, rolled him over, and slammed the meaty edge of her hand into his throat.
With a gagging sound he reached for her, but Lannis was there to slam his boot into the man’s face. A boot from a kid might not do much, but the man was already hurt and this cause
d him to cringe long enough for Rose to grab his sword, lift it high, and bring it down into his midsection with a shout. She was completely pissed off.
She rolled over and Lannis went to her side, checking to see if she was hurt.
“No wounds that I can see,” he commented with relief.
Rubbing her jaw, she smiled. “Nothing major, anyway.”
A grunting sound came from nearby and they both popped up in time to see a man crawling toward them—the one with the red hair and bald patch. His face was a mangled mess, blood dripping from a busted nose and covering his yellow teeth as he opened his mouth to say something. At that moment, a sword came out through his chest.
He fell forward, Bale on the other side of him pulling the sword out.
“It’s done,” Bale stated, turning to look at the bodies of the attackers. “Approximately thirty in all. Not a scratch on us, or none that are lethal, anyway.”
Lannis stared at the carnage, at first horrified, but then saw the villagers running to each other, embracing and crying for joy at being saved.
What had happened here today had to be done. There was no way around it.
They didn’t linger. The villagers offered them a reward, but the paladins had no need for it. All they accepted were some apples and carrots, and Lannis was very pleased to have them. So was the unicorn. Bale had asked if they had seen a group that could make the description of Kia’s, but they hadn’t.
Soon Lannis and the others were on their way again, and while it was somber at first, soon they caught Bale smiling at Rose.
“What?” she asked.
“I saw a bit of your skills back there,” he replied. “You know how to handle yourself.”
She scoffed. “A lady doesn’t live on her own in a world like this unless she knows how to cut a fool.”
He laughed at that. “Very eloquently put.”
“While we’re on the topic of eloquence and manners,” she turned back to Lannis, “do you think it was very gentlemanly of this barbarian who claims to be a paladin to have killed that man in front of me like he did?”
Lannis chuckled, finding it awkward but funny to be in the middle of their little game. “Not at all, my lady.”
“You see?” She turned back to Bale. “Next time, do your bloodletting outside of my area of sight.”
Bale laughed. “I’ll be sure to do that.”
Lannis had heard about flirting, and started to wonder if that’s what this was. If so, they were really bad at it, he thought. He did his best to tune them out for the next portion of the ride, as he found himself very drained.
As sleep took him, he turned his head and rested it against Rose’s back. He welcomed the dreams of days in the village, men and women dancing around the bonfire.
He woke with a jolt after nightfall, and saw that Rose was in the process of lowering herself from the horse. She noticed that his eyes were open and held a finger to her lips, then motioned for him to follow.
“What is it?” he whispered.
She shrugged, turning to Bale for an answer. He stood at a small ridge, sword in hand. The other paladins had spread out as well, and were peering over the edge.
“Remnant,” he said, and the word sent a chill up the boy’s spine.
He crept over with Rose, and together they found spots to see from. Sure enough, remnant were moving across a swampy grassland, some tripping and falling along the way, as if in a hurry to either be somewhere or escape whatever was behind them.
“They’re scattered,” Gerin hissed from the other side of Rose, “which gives me reason to believe they’re fleeing.”
“An army?” Lannis asked hopefully.
“It could be Alastar and this friend of yours,” Bale agreed. “Might not be, but chances are as good as not, I’d think.”
They lingered to watch the creatures run by, then slowly pulled back, making their way in the direction where the remnant had fled from. As the night wore on, it became clear they weren’t going to find them anytime soon. Instead of wandering in the dark, they agreed it was best to set up camp and look again in the morning.
One of the paladins went about setting up a fire, once they had all agreed that the remnant were far enough behind them that it wouldn’t catch their attention. Lannis found a spot nearby and situated himself so that he could fall asleep, but couldn’t’ help noticing the way firelight flickered across Rose’s face as she stared at him, her eyes glistening and moist.
“You stare at me like that sometimes,” he said. “Why?”
She wiped her eyes, turned away, and then looked back at him. “I had a son; not much younger than you, I’d imagine. He used to run out to the river and hunt for fire salamanders, so proud one day when he caught three and brought them home. Of course, I yelled at him and threw them away. I didn’t want them in my house. They were disgusting. And yet, I’d give anything to have that day back…to tell him how proud I am of him, to hold him…just hold him again.”
“I-I’m so sorry.”
“You remind me of him. That’s why I stare. I can almost imagine his eyes, so sad, then you smile and it takes me back to all the other times, the good times when he and I would laugh together. I’m sorry, I’m boring you. This—”
“No, please. My mother…”
She nodded, getting it. “When he was little, he used to just laugh for no reason, just because he knew it would make me laugh.” She held her face in her hands and Lannis was sure she was crying, but when she looked up she was laughing. The laughter vanished into a wistful smile. “Appreciate every minute you have on this world, you got that?”
He nodded. “I will.”
CHAPTER NINE
Now that everyone had recovered and Alastar had been able to make the rounds to heal those who had been injured in the quick battle of Stirling, they made their way to the tunnels and were preparing to split ways. While it made sense for many to go into hiding, Alastar was keenly aware that hiding wouldn’t be the way to end this war.
It was more than this knowledge that bothered him. These were their lands, and yet they were forced into hiding? It wasn’t right, and he would damn well be sure to do something about it. Breathing deep as he swore this to himself for the hundredth time that day, he clasped forearms with Stone, possibly for the last time.
“Keep them safe,” he ordered.
Stone nodded. “You know I will.”
Having made his farewells to everyone but the woman who mattered most to him, Alastar went over to Estair. Laird Summer stood at his approach, eyes narrowing, but Alastar just walked past him, ignoring his protestations.
“You dare—” the laird started, and Alastar turned, looking as if he might strike.
“Enough of you. I love this woman, and if I know how to interpret the look in her eyes, she feels the same. We will not be interrupted again.”
The laird looked at his men, debating, and then nodded before turning to walk off a few paces. He stopped there, still keeping an eye on Alastar.
“You’re really going through with this?” Estair asked.
He nodded.
“And all this talk of love? Stone and Tina are staying together. Shouldn’t you send others on this mission while you stay here to protect me?”
“Protect you?” He laughed. “The only reason I can even fathom leaving you here is that these people need you to protect them.”
“Aye, I know that. But still…if I insisted I come with you?”
“I’d welcome it, to be honest.” He felt himself blushing, but took her hands and held her gaze. “But it’s the weak part in me that says so. The part that puts country before self says that you’re needed here. You’re your own person, of course, so I know you’ll do what your gut says.”
“My gut’s as annoying as the strong part of you.”
He pulled her into an embrace and pressed his lips to her forehead, but she pulled him into a deep kiss. The warmth of her tongue sent a shiver down his spine and the weak part of him n
early took over right there. He wanted to say, “Screw the war, screw his role in it all.” He just wanted to stay here with her, like this, forever.
“I’ll be back when this is all over,” he said, stepping away even though it took everything in him to do so.
“And where will you find me?”
He frowned, realizing he hadn’t considered that. “If we’ve been successful, I’m sure your uncle wouldn’t mind me visiting you at his manor.”
She laughed. “Aye, not one bit. And if not…the afterlife?”
“No way! No matter what happens here, you and I are surviving. Everything else fails, meet me where we left the boat after Sair Talem. We’ll ride out of here, find some secluded island where it’s just the two of us.”
“If it comes to that, I’ll be there.”
With that, he turned to go. Rhona was waiting not far off. He frowned at the sight of Donnon and Kia there with her and was about to ask when someone shouted, “Paladins!”
Stone rushed to the nearest high point, a couple others at his back, and confirmed it. “I don’t know how, but they found us.”
“This is too fast,” Alastar noted. “It doesn’t make sense!”
He was there now too, watching. In the darkness they saw movement, more than half a dozen figures, and who knew how many others possibly moving in the shadows. A few of them had white armor that shone in the moonlight, and there appeared to be… No, no way!
“Is that a unicorn?” Alastar asked in a hushed voice.
“Shut up.” Rhona stood next to him, squinting.
“Right there.” He pointed. “The moonlight’s hitting something coming out of the animal’s forehead. I mean, they’re still some way off so I could be wrong but…”
“No, I see it too.”
“Let’s find out what they want.” Alastar motioned those nearby to join him. They leaped up and headed out with a roar. As they grew closer, it was clear the paladins weren’t going to attack. Instead they gathered around the unicorn, swords held in defensive stances.