Marceline shouted at Gotef: “Take them!”
He shouted orders in Kridic. Every Kriden gathered ran for the towers set along the wall to overtake the rangers. Even those that were unarmed showed no hesitation in following the orders given. The rangers ran along the length of the wall, making for the corner furthest from the fortress. They stopped briefly, apparently to discuss something. Then two took aim at her again while the rest turned and fired on the Kridens swarming out of the towers. Marceline smiled. They knew what she was. They had to take the chance to kill her, even if it cost them their lives. They knew they wouldn’t get another opportunity like this.
She smiled wider as she saw the arrows fly from the strings again. She lifted her hand and attempted to summon the cold as before. But it wouldn’t come to her. Marceline scowled and tried to force it out, but without a response she was simply a target. One of the arrows planted itself in her thigh. The other went wide to the left. She grunted and fell to one knee. With gritted teeth, she gripped the wound and cursed.
Fickle abomination, she thought. Never here when I actually call for you.
She gripped the arrow and broke the shaft before pulling it out the back side of her thigh, causing pain to shoot through her leg. Looking up, she saw the rangers disappear over the wall. She didn’t know how they had climbed the stone walls, but they had been smart enough to ensure they had a way down again. Then she caught slight movement out of the corner of her eye. A sixth ranger was attempting to pick the lock on Angela’s chains. The five on the wall had been a diversion for this one to rescue their only living ally. She locked eyes with the ranger and felt it again, the fickle cold urging her to act.
Marceline lifted her hand and forced the cold out through her palm, sending it in a wave to crash into the man’s head as he crouched just over Angela’s shoulder. The wave struck him and sent him flying back as his neck was snapped. Angela screamed. Marceline took a deep breath as she stood, the pain from her thigh surging along her body, but she ignored it and strode over to the girl. Angela looked at her with a fresh surge of fear in her eyes.
Marceline knelt and gripped her chin again. “Angela,” she said. “What if I told you that you never had to be afraid again?”
The look on her face turned from fear to confusion, then back to fear as she tried to understand the question. Marceline reached behind her back and drew a short and slender knife. She brought the tip to rest on the girl’s forehead and looked into her eyes again.
Marceline lifted the girl’s chin with a single finger. “At this very moment,” she said, “what do you want more than anything in this world?”
Angela spoke through her tears: “I don’t want to die.”
“What will you give?”
“Anything! Please just let me live!”
Marceline felt something new: warmth. A warmth that grew to a blistering heat, resting on the back of her hand, gripping her tighter than anything she’d felt in a long time. She was accepted. She directed the warmth into the tip of the blade and let it guide her hand as she slowly carved a rune into Angela’s forehead.
Chapter Twenty-one
10th of Landring, 27th year of the Fourth Age
Griffon had her back to the fort, her knife in one hand and a small hunk of wood in the other. The last two days had been uneventful. Out of sheer boredom, she had decided to try her hand at wood carving. After a dozen or so cuts along her hands and fingers, she came to the conclusion that she was awful at it, but pressed on regardless. The constant motion of cutting away small pieces helped calm her and gave her something to focus on besides hitting someone or dwelling on her family in Forge.
Movement flickered in the corner of her right eye. She turned to see Daniel making his way over. He spoke before he stopped walking: “I have an idea.”
She sighed. “Is it a good one?”
He paused before answering: “Probably not.”
After he didn’t continue, she raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to tell me what it is?”
Again he took a moment to consider his answer. “Well, you’re a big part of it, so I kind of have to.”
“I’m not going to like it, am I?”
“You’re going to hate it. Come on.”
He led her through the fort and to the roof where Clara, Lace, and Zachery were already waiting patiently. Griffon took her place in the group while Daniel stood in front of them and pointed toward the forest. “So, here’s what I’ve got,” he said. “They have to win by capture now and they already have two of our members. We need to win by elimination. Or we can try to go for their flag.”
Griffon rolled her eyes. “We know that. What’s your point?”
“My point is,” Daniel continued, “why not try for both at once? We rescue our two teammates while at the same time trying for the flag, taking out whoever we can as we do it.”
“I don’t follow.”
“We break out Robin and Robert while at the same time trying to get the flag.”
Zachery frowned. “To do that,” he said, “we need to get inside and they aren’t just going to let us walk in.”
“What if they take us in?”
Griffon didn’t quite follow. “Why would they let us in?”
“They capture one of us.”
“You want to give them more of an advantage?”
Daniel pointed to the knife at Griffon’s belt. “They have to tie us with rope,” he said, “and we have a hunting knife. So we hide the knife on someone. Let that person get captured and in the middle of the night he cuts the bonds while most of the other team is sleeping. Then we suddenly have three people inside the fort with none of the others are aware of it.”
Clara smiled and shrugged. “It’s simple,” she said, “but more often than not, simple works the best.”
Lace nodded and asked, “Who do we let get captured?”
Daniel scuffed his foot along the rough wood of the roof. “Well, if I had to pick, I would want Griffon inside. She’s the best fighter on our team, so if something went wrong, hopefully she could at least use her elimination.”
Griffon wasn’t thrilled at the idea. “So you want me to lose a fight and get captured . . . on purpose?”
“It’s only one fight,” Daniel said, “and in turn, you would further our chance of not going home after all this.”
Griffon realized Daniel knew how much she hated losing. She had displayed as much during previous exercises. He was taking advantage of that. But he was also right. They had to win or they wouldn’t be here much longer.
“You’re right,” she said. “I do hate this plan.”
Clara placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Griffon, this could be what we need to win.”
Griffon considered the idea. No matter how much she tried to change her mind she still hated the idea. But in the end, she relented. “What would I do when I’m inside?” she asked. “Even if I get them free, we could only take out three people.”
Daniel turned to Lace. “How far can you jump?”
She wrinkled her forehead. “Excuse me?”
“Behind their fort is a tall tree with a few large branches coming pretty close to their roof.”
“Right, I remember seeing it.”
“You’re pretty small,” Daniel said. “I think most of those branches could easily support your weight. If Griffon and the others cause a commotion inside while I and a few others do the same outside, hopefully the lookouts will go down to help or at least look away from the flag. Then you can jump from the tree to the roof, grab the flag, and make your way back before they even know it’s missing.”
“Suddenly it’s less simple,” Clara said with a groan.
Lace raised an eyebrow. “What if they see me in the tree?”
Daniel shrugged. “How often do you look up?”
Griffon knew
what he meant but it took a moment to register for Lace. “Up?”
“The branch I’m thinking of looked about eight feet above the roof and six feet away,” Daniel said. “What are the odds they’re going to look above them while on watch?”
Griffon sighed and crossed her arms. “So let me get this straight,” she said. “You want me to lose a fight and get captured on purpose, use a knife that they hopefully don’t notice, cut my ropes, then distract them long enough for Lace to jump out of a tree so she can grab the flag and run away?”
“Yeah,” Daniel said, “that’s pretty much it.”
Griffon stared at him. “Did you eat a bad mushroom?”
Zachery laughed lightly. “Oh, come on,” he said, “it’s not that bad of an idea. It could work.”
Griffon threw her hands up in defeat. Even if she wasn’t the one sent to get captured, they would still go through with the idea, so she might as well give in. Having her inside was their best chance. “Fine,” she said. “When?”
“The sooner the better,” Daniel said. “I was thinking tonight, Griffon and I could head over there to ‘scout,’ let them see us, and then while we have them occupied trying to grab Griffon, Lace will climb the tree and wait for Griffon to be taken inside and cause a distraction. While that’s happening, I’ll go back for Zachery and a couple others and we can sit outside across the pond. When it all starts we can rush over and help with the distraction.”
Griffon sighed deeply. She wasn’t looking forward to any of this.
“This plan is stupid.”
Daniel chuckled at Griffon’s comment. “You agreed to do it.”
“It’s still stupid,” she huffed.
Griffon lay on her stomach next to Daniel beneath a broken tree trunk with trails of moss hanging from its sides like curtains to hide them from view. She fidgeted with the knife tied tightly around her forearm by a pull knot as they waited. They’d been here for just over two hours. Lace was waiting for them to start a commotion to give her a chance to scale the tree just behind their fort. Likewise, they were waiting for the chance to get noticed by someone without making it painfully obvious that they wanted to be noticed. This was drastically more difficult than Griffon had thought it would be. After the first hour, she was ready to simply jump up and shout at them to come and grab her to get it over with.
“You ready for this?” Daniel nudged her with his shoulder.
“No. But it’s not like waiting any longer is going to help.”
They crawled back to the other side of the log and started to head in the direction of their own fort. They stayed close to the edge of the pond but out of sight for the moment. They had already decided on the spot where they would stage their sighting. It was an area with a gap between the trees, large enough for them to be seen if they stood in just the right area but with enough cover so that it would make sense for them to be passing through it on their way back. In the area was an exposed root, perfect for her to “trip” on. She hated to admit that having her trip and curse loudly enough for the others to hear was something that was entirely plausible.
When they reached the spot, Daniel made his way to the other side of the gap and nodded at her. She frowned one last time and glared at him before sighing and taking several steps forward. She had asked if this part of the plan was entirely necessary. Everyone save for her had said for the sake of fooling the other team, it was. At this point, she was sure they just wanted to make her look like a fool. She “tripped” and hit the ground harder than she had anticipated. Even though she’d planned to shout out, she did so simply on reaction alone, surprising herself.
From the ground, she glanced at the fort through the gap and saw the lookout facing in their direction and pointing toward them. Daniel rushed to her side to help her up. They started through the forest with Griffon faking a limp, allowing the others an easier chance to catch up. When they heard several people crashing through the underbrush, Daniel looked at her and grinned.
She nodded, sighed, and pushed him away while pulling her wooden blade free. “Go!” she shouted. “I’m just slowing you down!”
Without a word, he gave her a reassuring smile before disappearing into the forest. She turned around just as three people broke through the trees and into view. It was Aaron, flanked by two other boys. Shade curse it, why him? She screamed at herself in her head when she saw Aaron. It was the first time she’d seen him since the game had started. She’d been trying to forget the fact that they were on separate teams. Seeing him also brought up the image of Alan’s face in her head. No matter who won this exercise, no one was going to be happy with the results.
Aaron quickly glanced down at her leg as she obviously favored her right over the left. He motioned for the other two to flank her while he stayed at her front.
“Come on, Griffon,” he said. “You’re hurt, so it’s just easier if you come with us.”
She shrugged. “Yeah,” she said, “but when do I make things easy?”
To her he looked almost sad for a moment. “Fair enough.”
She struck out for the boy on her right, who ducked low and barely avoided being hit in the shoulder. The boy to her left lunged forward to grab her, but she gripped the long handle of her blade with her second hand and pivoted on her “good” foot to bring it around and stab at his midsection. He had to skid to a stop and turn his whole body to avoid the tip and nearly fell into her as he did so. As she finished the motion, Aaron jumped in and gripped her left arm before she could reposition herself. Since it was the side she was faking the sprain on, when he tugged on her arm, instead of putting weight on her foot she simply let herself fall into him. He quickly looped his arms underneath hers, then laced his fingers behind her head to hold her still.
Aaron backed up to a tree to stabilize himself under her weight while she struggled for a moment before sighing and ceasing her efforts. They took a rope hanging from Aaron’s belt and started to tie her wrists. The moment they started, she worried they might notice the knife and ruin the whole plan. They had tied it around her forearm with a simple slip knot so hopefully once inside it would be easy enough to get to it and begin cutting themselves free. But given the fact it had to be within reach once she was inside, it was not a well-hidden item. But it was the best they could do. Several times, as they looped the rope, she thought they paused and she had a moment of panic. But when they stood and started to walk her back to the fort, her heart calmed and she inwardly celebrated. It was working so far. If everything else went as she hoped, they would be headed back to Vigil tomorrow.
When they brought her inside, she found the interior was as they had assumed, identical to their own fort. In the far corner, Robin and Robert were tied to one of the support pillars, their hands behind their backs. Robert perked up at the sight of her, while Robin simply glanced at her before rolling her eyes and leaning her head back against the pole before closing them.
Aaron led Griffon over and tied her to one of the rings at ground level, placing her back to Robin, before standing and looking at her with a concerned look. “Is your ankle okay?” he asked.
She smiled in spite of herself. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll just have to stay off of it for a few days.”
“Well,” he said with a short laugh, “that won’t be too hard.”
She struggled not to give him a sarcastic reply that would give away her intentions. Instead, she smiled at him as he turned and went up the ladder to the second floor, leaving the two boys that had been with him to watch their prisoners from the doorway. Out of every one of the trainees at Vigil, she thought Aaron would be the hardest for her to see go. It was true that she liked Daniel a lot in spite of his overall quiet nature, and Clara was one she could go to for help when it came to academic knowledge. Zachery was good for a joke and Alan was far cleverer then he let on. But Aaron had a gentle and caring nature that warmed her heart when he showed
how worried he was for someone.
She shook her head and tried to refocus. She looked around the room for anything useful, but other than the several baskets of food in the opposite corner there was nothing of note. She looked at the two boys in the entryway and noticed one of them had placed her sword against the wall. She would have to get that back quickly if she had any hope of being a suitable distraction after they escaped. For that matter, she would have to figure out how to arm Robin and Robert as well. With no other option at the moment, she leaned her head back against the pole and closed her eyes to wait.
Griffon slept, but only lightly, as she woke several times at the slightest sounds around them—a creak in the wood above as someone upstairs moved, a slight nudge from Robin as she adjusted to get more comfortable. After what must have been several hours, she seemed to snap fully awake and alert. She lifted her head and looked at the doorway. She recognized Alan leaning against the wall, looking out at the pond. She hadn’t seen him since the day she’d spotted him on top of the fort. It made sense, as he was the youngest and one of the least-skilled fighters out of all of them. His team would keep him out of combat as long as possible.
Her sword was no longer resting against the wall. A quick scan of the room revealed that they’d placed it on the rack across from her, along with several other swords likely belonging to the rest of the team. That would certainly make things easier. More than enough time had passed that she was sure Lace would be ready and in position to snatch the flag. Hopefully, Daniel and the others were ready as well. She nudged Robin several times until she snapped awake. She started to speak, but Griffon glared at her. Robin raised an eyebrow.
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