I took the silence to address the sheriff. “I paid for my kids’ contracts and then some.”
“That’s not what Jareb says, and he has witnesses.”
“I’ll bet he does,” muttered Ira.
“My word means nothing then?”
No one said anything, but I guessed they didn’t need to. The silence said a multitude of things.
My ears caught the whispering of Myra’s voice as she spoke to calm Zadok.
I knew that if I went along with the sheriff, I’d likely hang or at the least spend Molak knows how long in the town jail. Either scenario would condemn the kids to return to Jareb’s land where he’d continue his mistreatment of them. Probably worse than before.
I sucked in a breath.
“Tyrus?” asked Dekar, pushing me to make the call.
“Counting them out,” I said. Ira and Dekar relaxed, waiting for assignments, not doubting for one second that despite having a disadvantage in numbers, we’d win. A man might think he knew how to use a sword from running drills on a post in his barn or sparring with a neighbor, but none of that meant anything in a real fight. I’d take a veteran of war over a town champion any day.
Everyone else looked confused as I fired off orders. “I’ve got eleven first.” By eleven, I meant the mage. “After that, I’ll move to ten, nine, and maybe eight. Shouldn’t be hard considering their state.” After all, Amalek was on crutches. “Ira, one, two and four since I don’t expect three to do anything but run.” Three was the mayor. “Dekar, five through seven.”
I looked at our opponents. Despite the cold air, a sheen of sweat appeared on the faces of most. Several looked jumpy. They had probably expected us to lay down arms on account of their numbers. Jareb and his two friends had worn the ugliest smiles imaginable, obviously finding the situation comical until they also realized we planned to stand our ground.
“On three?” Ira asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “One.”
We charged before I said “two,” throwing our opponents off guard. I made a beeline for the mage, who was once again trying to work some spell on me. The faintest tingling sensation tickled my ears. The fact that I felt anything at all meant it was likely her strongest spell.
Jareb’s eyes and the lazy way he held his weapon betrayed the confidence he felt in stepping in front of me as I ran toward her. Obviously, he expected the mage he had with him to do her part. Obviously, he was an idiot.
I dodged his swipe at my head and slammed the hilt of my sword into his face. I heard a crack, followed by a wheeze and gasp. Blood sprayed once more as he fell backward.
The mage’s eyes widened as I continued toward her. She yelped, turned tail, and sprinted off into the brush. I opted to let her go, in part because I doubted she’d be back any time soon and also because Jareb’s two friends, Kush and Amalek, had made it over to me.
I kicked out Amalek’s crutch before he could raise his blade. He fell.
Kush came in fast, hoping to make up for his friends’ failures. He spat angry curses, wanting to seek retribution from our confrontation yesterday. His anger made up for his sloppy blows. He moved with such strength I backed away and deflected the first half-dozen strikes. He overreached himself on the seventh, raising his arm higher for what he probably imagined to be some act of intimidation before raining down a stroke with all his might. It never came as my blade sank into his side just under the armpit.
I walked over to Amalek as he tried to rise and kicked him in the face. He fell back next to Jareb. Both rested, motionless, unrecognizable and covered in blood.
It was too good for them.
With my three men down, I turned my attention to Dekar and Ira. They stood over four injured men. Ira had a sword raised, ready to plunge downward.
“Wait!” I called out.
Dekar grabbed his brother’s arm as it started to descend.
Ira looked up, confused “What the heck, Ty?”
“Just wait.”
I looked over to Myra and Zadok. Both stared in disbelief. Zadok especially seemed unsure about what to make of things. I doubted that the ugly clash of steel reflected anything he had heard before in his fairy tales. There was no chivalry and majestic sweeping of blades, no swearing of long-winded oaths in real life.
“Myra. Myra!” I repeated, louder. She blinked. “Are you both all right?”
She nodded.
“Good. Stay there a moment.” I turned back to Ira and Dekar. “Where are the others?”
“You were right about the mayor running,” said Ira. “However, the sheriff and one of his deputies decided to join him when they saw things get out of hand.”
“Figures.” I nodded to the four groaning bodies. “Let them be and let’s get out of here.”
Ira gave me a confused look. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. We’ve made our point.” I thought of some of the accusations consistently made against me and others from the army. “We defended ourselves and won. We’re not cold-blooded killers.”
“You know they’ll just likely be part of some party coming to hunt us down inside of a couple of days.”
I knew he was probably right, remembering a lesson my old drill sergeant once told me. ‘Never let your enemy live, unless he’s living in chains.’ However, when I looked over my shoulder and saw the looks on Myra and Zadok’s faces, I couldn’t bring myself to kill the men lying helpless on the ground.
I knew I’d likely regret the decision.
“Let’s just go.” I faced my kids. “Hurry and jump in the back of the wagon.”
Myra led Zadok by the hand, making as wide a circle as possible to avoid the men on the ground. She reached the wagon bed and climbed in back. I piled in behind them and took a seat.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“It was so much different than I thought it would be,” said Zadok in a monotone voice.
I nodded while blowing out a slow breath, scanning the bushes in order to make sure that mage hadn’t found the nerve to return. I neither saw nor heard anything. “That’s usually how they all go.”
Myra gasped. I turned. “Tyrus, you’re bleeding.”
I looked down and touched my side with a free hand. “Not mine.”
“Oh,” she said softly in recognition. “Shouldn’t you clean it up or something?”
“Later. Maybe I can find a place come morning to take care of that. For now, we need to get moving. Speaking of,” I began, realizing that neither Ira nor Dekar had climbed onto the front of the wagon. “Hey, let’s get a move on! We give the mayor enough time, he’s likely to come back with a mob.” I called out.
Ira snorted. “Funny you should mention that. Ty, can your kids fight?”
“What?”
Dekar said. “What Ira means is you might want to think up something quick.”
I cursed, stood, and looked past Ira and Dekar. About three dozen townspeople carrying everything from old swords to shovels and pickaxes walked toward us. None of them looked friendly. Worst of all they blocked our only way out of the area short of turning the wagon around, and maneuvering through uncleared terrain. Not exactly an ideal solution.
“Molak be cursed. We’re not taking them all out,” I said. “Quick, get in the wagon and take off.”
They both ran back. The mob didn’t speed their approach. I guess they assumed there was no need to rush with us pinned as we were.
Dekar called out as he climbed in. “They’re blocking us.”
“Then make them move,” I said.
“Now we’re talking,” said Ira, drawing his sword once again.
I had still had mine in hand and shifted the grip. I looked down at Myra and Zadok. “Climb underneath the seat quickly and tuck yourselves in tight.”
They did so without question just as Dekar seized the reigns and flicked them hard. The wagon lurched forward, nearly rocking me off my feet. We didn’t have a lot of room to build up speed in our charge, but my hope was that the sig
ht of the animals barreling down on them would be enough to have them second guess their decision to make a stand. Maybe they wouldn’t realize they could strike at the unprotected flanks of our horses. If they did gather themselves in time, my hope was that they’d strike the wagon, which could take the punishment.
The mayor was smarter than I was hoping. He screamed for everyone to hold their ground. Funny how he did so from the edge of the mob rather than the center. He probably thought he’d be safe.
Dekar angled the wagon toward him.
A series of loud, rapid pops followed by a magnificent burst of bluish-white light exploded in our path. Dekar veered the wagon away and pulled up on the reigns. The sudden stop pitched me forward and I just barely stopped myself from falling over the side. Several more pops sounded again, and the transfer portal closed.
I was still working hard at blinking and rubbing my eyes with my free hand when a woman’s voice yelled “Get Back!” in the direction of the townspeople.
Through blurry, yet slowly clearing vision I called, “Ava? That you?”
“Yeah, it’s me. You want to tell me what in the name of the gods is going on?”
My vision started to return, and I saw that she was standing in front of the mob all by herself. With wide eyes and nervous glances, none moved.
Ava wore white robes rather than her black leathers. In any other situation, I’d give her a hard time about that. She had her hands on her hips daring the crowd to try something stupid. None of them wanted to take that dare. They had most likely never seen anything like a transfer portal before.
The mayor might have been able to work the crowd into a big enough frenzy to stand their ground against a charging wagon, but I doubted he could convince them to attack a mage, especially since it was obvious she knew more than the few parlor tricks like the woman I ran off earlier.
“Long story,” I answered. “The gist of it is that our homecoming has been anything but what we all thought it would be. We had a bit of trouble early on that’s only gotten worse. We’re no longer welcome and the townspeople want to imprison me.”
“Been busy, I see,” she said.
“Yeah.”
People still looked for the mayor to take the lead, but unsurprisingly, I could no longer spot him. The sheriff seemed the next logical person to command the crowd, but he was as dumbfounded as the rest. Without a leader present, everyone just stood and watched.
“Where are Lasha and the kids?” Ava asked over a shoulder.
“I’ve got the kids covered in the wagon.” I paused. “Lasha’s dead.”
She flinched at that, eyed the crowd one last time and gave them her back as she walked toward us. Ava always liked to flaunt her power. “How?” she asked before giving Dekar and Ira a nod.
“Another long story.” It wasn’t the time or place.
“I’m sorry.”
I nodded. “What are you doing here?”
That question jolted her. “Gods, yes! I got distracted when I walked into this. We have to get out of here now! I don’t care where, but it needs to be far away.”
“No argument from me,” said Ira.
Dekar grunted in agreement. “That was our plan before the mob came along.”
I jumped as a giant burst of light from far off in the distance brightened like a hundred setting suns, bathing the land in a hue of red and orange. A towering cloud rose from the ground in the direction of Hol, widening as it ascended. A deafening roar that could only be described as the loudest thunder imaginable echoed, changing in pitch to a high shrill at the end. A warm, heavy breeze blew against my face as the shrill reached its crescendo.
“What in the—” I started only to be cut off by the moaning and wailing of everyone around me, including the horses.
The townspeople were on the ground, some convulsing. Ira and Dekar had fallen over in their seats, grunting and whimpering in pain. Ava had hit the dirt, limbs shaking like she was caught in a seizure.
I looked down to Zadok and Myra. “Are you both all right?”
“Yeah,” said Myra. “Mostly just a sudden headache. But also warm and something like a tickling sensation across my skin.”
“Me too,” said Zadok.
“Sorcery,” I muttered as if a curse.
“What?” asked Zadok.
“That eruption was tied to a large amount of sorcery. You and your sister must have some level of resistance like I do to not be affected like the townspeople.”
“You mean we could fight sorcery?” asked Zadok, eyes wide.
I could only imagine the thoughts running through his head. Probably imagining himself fighting some evil wizard from his fairy tales. “We can talk about it later. Help Ira and Dekar by keeping a hand on them. Your resistance will also draw out sorcery from others. I’ll see to Ava.”
I jumped down and touched her forehead. It felt like fire, but then began to cool as I came in contact with her skin. I left my hand there and the shaking subsided slightly. Her eyes flicked open.
I checked on the townsfolk. They were all in bad shape, which from my point of view was a good thing. I didn’t need them trying to attack us now.
The faintest whisper came from below. I looked down and shushed Ava as she struggled to speak. “Just rest. We’re safe for now. Whatever you want to tell me can wait.”
She shook her head and swallowed. “I was trying to warn you about this,” she said in a low voice. “This is why I wanted you to leave.”
I frowned. “You mean you know what that was?”
She gave a faint nod. “The end of the world.”
CHAPTER 17
I always assumed that if the world ended, it would be immediate and filled with crazy visuals. Most people would be tortured and burned while a select few were whisked away to whatever afterlife ended up being the true one amongst the hundreds of religions in the world. All life would end in a matter of moments and those unlucky enough to see it happen would be kicking themselves for choosing the wrong god or gods to have paid homage to during their meaningless lives.
I wasn’t even close.
For a few short moments after Ava told me the distant eruption had been the end of the world, I thought I had been right. People writhed and moaned in pain. The hellish vision of dark clouds in the distance and the evening sky changing to hues rarely seen in the hour before a sunset seemed to only validate Ava’s proclamation.
No one around me was lifted up to some majestic afterlife, but that could be easily explained. Maybe no one around here had the correct god or faith.
I dismissed my natural inclinations, realizing quickly that as bad as things appeared in that moment, the progression of this possible disaster would probably take longer to develop than I expected it might. I reassessed what was going on with a clearer mind. The darkest clouds seemed to stay in place over the site of the explosion. I couldn’t be certain from this far away, but they didn’t appear to be spreading. At least not yet.
I swore.
The explosion had occurred in the direction of Hol. I remembered the conversation I had with Balak about the Geneshan artifact, and I suspected the Council of High Mages did exactly what they said they wouldn’t do and used it.
One more reason not to like them.
Ava had passed out. Though the shakes had lessened, her breathing remained erratic and her skin felt warmer than it should have. I kept a hand on her temple as I glanced over my shoulder to Myra and Zadok who tended to Ira and Dekar. My two friends had mostly come out of their stupor. I couldn’t say the same for the townspeople. We were certainly safe from an attack at the moment.
I raised my voice above their moans. “Dekar. Ira. Talk to me.”
“We’re doing better,” said Dekar.
Ira leaned over and retched near the front wagon wheel. “I’m all right now, Ty.”
“Do either of you have enough strength to get us out of here?”
“I can manage,” said Dekar.
“Me too,” said I
ra.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen, Pa,” Zadok said.
I turned my gaze to him. “Why not?”
Myra gestured to the horses. “That’s why.”
As if on cue, one of the mounts unsteady on her feet, slammed into the other. Both careened to the ground, snapping one of the harnesses and rocking the wagon in the process. We wouldn’t be using them or probably any other animals anytime soon.
“Can everyone walk?” I asked.
Everyone but Ava nodded.
“Good. We gotta get Ava somewhere to recuperate. You two could also use the rest,” I said, nodding to Ira and Dekar as they swayed on their feet.
“What about going back to our camp in the forest?” asked Zadok.
“That’s a couple miles away, son. Without the wagon, only me, you, and your sister have the strength right now to do that kind of walking. And that’s with me carrying your Aunt the whole way. I don’t even know if it’s safe to move her that much.” I glanced back at the sky where the eruption originated. Clouds swirled and lightning pulsed. It wasn’t getting any better. “Besides, no telling if that’s done. Getting indoors is probably the best move to make right now.”
“And if there’s trouble again?” asked Ira. He pointed toward the townspeople. Some tried to right themselves, but most didn’t have the energy to bother and lay helplessly on the ground.
“I’ll figure something out. Based on the way everyone’s acting, we got some time before that’s a problem.” A man cried out. “I doubt they got much fight left in them right now anyway. Grab what food and supplies you can manage. Meet me at the Hemlock Inn. It’s across the street from the theater. The kids know where to find it.”
I bent down and slid an arm under Ava’s shoulders, the other under her legs. With a grunt, I scooped her up, trying not to jostle her more than necessary.
Zadok helped Ira out the wagon, allowing the soldier to use his shoulder to steady himself.
Though I tried not to think about it, seeing my sister in her current state, long limbs swaying without resistance, scared me more than her prophetic statement about the world’s impending destruction.
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