by Eric Vall
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. She had a point. Multiple points in fact.
“Fine,” I relented with a sigh, “but I’m dulling Big Guy’s blade for this exercise.”
Aurora nodded in approval, and then she strode across the clearing to stand several feet in front of my animatron. She drew her silver sword from the sheath at her hip, and then she took a fighter’s stance.
“I’m waiting,” she called to me with a grin.
“This should be interesting,” Cayla giggled from beside me. Stan perched on her shoulder and swung his legs back and forth as he looked from me to Aurora.
“That’s one word for--” I started, but then Aurora’s voice cut me off.
“Too slow,” she shouted with a laugh, and then she darted forward and swung her sword in a great arc toward Big Guy’s pointed head.
I reacted on reflex. My magic simply exploded out of me, and I barely had time to form the thought of what I wanted to do when Big Guy suddenly jerked his left arm up. The sword shot out of its gauntlet, and the two blades met with a screech of metal and a shower of sparks.
“Nice block,” Aurora remarked with a sharp grin. Then she jumped back, took a running leap, and vaulted over the machine’s head. “But can you block this?”
She swung her sword again, and I gritted my teeth as I sent out another burst of power. Big Guy lurched into motion and spun around on his tracks. As he came around to face Aurora, he jammed his left arm beneath the shield on his chest, sword and all, and extended it out before him. Aurora’s sword met the metal plate with a loud clang, and then I brought Big Guy’s right arm up and aimed the crossbow directly at her head. There was no nocked arrow in the track, but if there had been, and if the half-elf had been a bandit, the animatron would have won this round.
Aurora stepped back with a smile and lowered her sword.
I released the connection to the machine with a gasp, and my vision swam with bright spots. Cayla brushed up against my arm and said something to me, but her voice was muffled by the roaring sound of my pounding heart.
“You have good and quick reflexes, Mason,” Aurora called to me as she twirled her sword in hand.
“Thanks,” I rasped, “though you could give a guy a little warning.”
“There are no warnings in battle,” the half-elf replied sagely, and then she slid back into a fighter’s stance and turned back to Big Guy. “Now, let’s do that again, and again until you can control him without nearly blacking out.”
Before I could respond, the Ignis Mage lunged into action again, and I groaned as I summoned up my power for what was sure to be a long and grueling day.
We took a break mid-afternoon so that I could rest and refuel.
“You are one grueling taskmaster,” I grumbled to Aurora as I lowered my sore and tired body to sit at the base of one of the clearing trees.
“I take that as a compliment,” the half-elf replied with a smirk. Then she bent over and extended a canteen to me. “Here. Drink some water, and I will fetch you a snack. You did good today, Mason. Big Guy is a formidable opponent.”
“Thanks,” I said around a yawn. I guzzled down the contents of the canteen, and then I leaned back against the tree and closed my eyes. “I’m just going to rest here for a minute.”
“Sounds good,” Aurora laughed, and then I felt her lips brush across my brow. “Sweet dreams.”
“‘M not gonna sleep,” I murmured even though I could already feel myself slipping away. “Just restin’ my eyes.”
“Uh-huh,” I heard Aurora mutter, but then the world became hazy and muffled around me. My body felt equal parts light and heavy, and the sunlight was warm against my face.
A moment later, something shook my shoulder.
“Mason, wake up,” Aurora’s voice said, and there was a sharp edge to her tone.
I blinked open my eyes groggily and looked around in confusion. The sky was bathed in fiery oranges and reds, and the shadows of the clearing had grown long and dark.
“Sorry,” I muttered as I looked back to the half-elf. “Must have dozed off.” I tried to smile, but then I caught sight of the expression on Aurora’s face, and my drowsiness evaporated as I sat up straighter. “What? What is it?”
“We have been found,” the Ignis Mage replied quickly.
I furrowed my brow in response, but then a strange noise reached my ears. I turned in the direction of the road that led to the clearing, and I stared hard at the stone wall that cut across it and barred all entrance.
“What is that?” I asked as I pressed myself back against the tree and slid to my feet.
“It is a horse,” she said as her eyes darted to the wall. “A horse and a rider. They’re coming up the trail toward us.”
My eyes widened, and I snapped my head to the side to look for Cayla. The princess was standing near our banked fire with her hands clasped beneath her chin and her gaze trained on the stone wall that protected us.
“Cayla, come over here,” I ordered as I pulled my revolver from the holster I always had strapped to my waist.
The princess jogged over to my side, and worry began to bloom in her ice-blue eyes.
“Do you think it’s Dred?” she asked as she bit at her lower lip.
“We’re about to find out,” Aurora said, and fire sparked to life in her hand. “They’re coming around the last bend now.”
The three of us turned to face the road, and I contemplated activating Big Guy, but I wanted to wait and see what we were dealing with first.
As we all held our breath, the sound of the horse and rider finally reached the stone wall. I held my breath as we all waited to see what the rider would do next, but we didn’t have to wait for long.
“Flynt!” a voice bellowed into the twilight, so loud that roosting birds leapt from their trees in flight.
I looked to the women beside me with wide eyes. I recognized that voice.
“Mayard?” I called incredulously as I lowered the revolver and stepped toward the road.
“Yes!” the voice shouted back. “This is Captain Norick Mayard, now open this godsdamned wall!”
The captain’s tone was sharp, and a shiver raced down my spine as I hurried forward and summoned my magic to the surface. A moment later, the section of wall across the road began to rumble, and then it collapsed into sand.
A horse sprinted into the clearing, and Mayard yanked on his reins as his wild eyes darted around the meadow before they landed on us.
“Flynt,” he gasped as he struggled to dismount from his horse. It was only when he landed unsteadily on his feet that I noticed the splatters of blood on his armor and the awkward way he held his right arm.
“Norick, what happened?” Cayla asked as she rushed forward toward the injured man. “You’re hurt!”
“I’m fine,” Mayard grunted as he waved off the princess’s worried hands. “Just took an arrow to the shoulder, but I dealt with the shaft, so it’s fine.”
The captain’s face was pale, and his words were slightly slurred, but when he met my eyes a fire hotter than any forge burned in their depths.
“What happened?” I asked again as a feeling of unease began to bloom in my chest.
“Camus Dred has invaded Eyton, and he has taken King Davit captive,” Mayard replied curtly, and I had to hand it to the man, he got to the heart of the matter quickly.
“What?” Cayla gasped as her hands flew up to cover her mouth. “What do you-- No, that can’t be possible. How is this possible?”
“I don’t know,” the captain snarled, “they must have somehow snuck into the city. But then last night, around midnight, bandits flooded the castle. Most of my men were asleep. We were ambushed, we couldn’t fight back. I tried. I ran to the armory with a few good men and pulled the guns out, but Dred’s men found us before we could properly load them. My guards and I held them off as long as we could but… the only reason I made it here to you is that Dred’s idiots thought I was dead once I took that arrow and pitched backward out a w
indow. Luckily there was a wagon of hay beneath me that broke my fall.”
Mayard took a deep shuddering breath as he came to the end of his rant, and he winced as he grasped at his more than likely broken ribs.
Tears spilled from Cayla’s ice-blue eyes, and she pressed her hands harder against her mouth as if she were trying to stifle a building sob. Aurora walked over and slid her arm around the princess’s shoulder, and the raven-haired maiden turned her head into the half-elf’s neck and shook with her grief.
Rage spiraled through me, and I looked back to Mayard.
“You’re sure the king is alive though?” I asked because I had to.
The captain nodded. “Yes. I am positive. For now at least. As I made my escape, I overheard one of the bandits say that Dred plans to hang Davit at dawn and declare himself king.” His eyes slid to Cayla. “And also force the princess to marry him.”
My fists clenched at my side as magic and rage eddied in my chest.
“Over my dead body,” I spat.
Chapter 14
Ten minutes after the captain rushed into the clearing, he and I sat around our doused fire while I administered a little first aid.
“How many men does Dred have?” I asked Mayard as I fashioned a spare shirt of mine into a sling for his broken arm. Around us, Aurora and Cayla worked to pack everything up as quickly as possible, and above our heads, the moon rose white and full into the night sky.
“Hard to tell,” the captain grunted as he eyed Big Guy warily. The animatron was still frozen in the middle of the field where I had left him today after our training. “It was all chaos and blood and fire last night. Maybe a hundred?”
“And were they all in the castle or spread out across the city?” I leaned forward to loop the makeshift sling around his neck, and he winced as he slid his arm into the hammock.
“Most of them were within the castle,” Mayard grumbled, “though they had a few sentries posted at the city gate that I had to cut my way through. By now that whole of Eyton is probably overrun.”
“I doubt it,” I replied as I sat back on the log we were perched on. “The capital is too big an area for a hundred men to hold, even if none of the citizens fought back. Dred would most likely hole up behind the castle’s heavy fortifications.”
“Great,” Mayard growled.
“Actually, it’s perfect,” I said as a plan began to take form in my mind.
“How is anything about this situation perfect?” Mayard snarled.
“Because Dred won’t know we’re coming until we’re right on top of him,” I explained as my heart began to pound with adrenaline. “We’ll sneak into the city, move through the streets of Eyton as quickly and quietly as possible, and then we’ll storm the castle. We can send Big Guy ahead of us and use him as cover and our infantryman while we mow down every bastard in our path.”
“Who the hell are you talking about?” the captain asked with a sharp frown.
“Big Guy,” I repeated as I gestured to the animatron in the middle of the meadow. “My newest creation. He’s got a sword on one hand, a bow on the other, and a four-foot shield strapped to his chest. I can control him with my magic.”
The captain’s eyes were wide as he looked over the machine.
“Truly?” he asked, and his voice is laced with doubt.
“Yes,” I replied with a firm nod. “I’d give you a demonstration, but I need to conserve my energy. I trained all day fighting against Aurora though. I’m confident I can put some stupid fucking bandits in the dirt.”
The captain snorted with derision. “Well, even if I believe you, your machine is a little conspicuous. It’s six feet tall and bright silver. And I’m not even counting the loud and infernal contraption you ride.”
“We’ll leave Bobbie behind at the city wall and make our way through Eyton on foot,” I said as I slapped my hands against my knees and slid to my feet. “I can’t change Big Guy’s size, but if we stick to alleyways and side streets, we may go undetected. But when stealth is no longer an option, we go on the offensive.” I extended my arm down to the seated captain and flashed him a confident smile.
Mayard frowned as he considered my hand, but after a moment’s hesitation he took it and let me help him to his feet.
“I don’t know what good I’ll be,” the captain grumbled as he half waved his arm in the sling, “but I’ll do whatever I can to free my city and my king from the tyranny of Camus Dred.”
“You’re a good man, Norick,” I remarked as I clapped him on the soldier, “and an even better soldier. With us working together, by this time tomorrow we’ll have the king back on the throne and Camus Dred six feet in the dirt.”
A sharp and hungry smile spread across the captain’s blood-spattered face. “I’ll be the first to admit I had my doubts when Princess Balmier showed up at the gates with you in tow, Mason Flynt, but now I believe the gods must have been smiling down at us.”
“Well,” I chuckled, “I don’t know about the gods in general, but I know one goddess in particular was. Now, come on. Let’s round up the girls and go kill us a false king.”
Mayard nodded firmly, and then we started to set the wheels in motion.
Half an hour later, Aurora, Cayla, and I slid onto the back of Bobbie while Mayard struggled to mount his horse. I couldn’t operate Big Guy and drive Bobbie at the same time, so the animatron was loaded into our little cart trailer behind us.
With the moon high above us, and danger stretched out before us, we all shared a silent and tense look, and I could practically hear the wordless prayer we all sent to the heavens.
Let this plan work.
As Aurora started up the bike engine and Mayard nudged his horse forward, I closed my eyes and whispered Nemris’ name. Ever since Mayard gave us the news, I had called upon the goddess in the back of my mind and begged for her help, but she never came, and that worried me. But now, as I took several deep and measured breaths, a wave of calm washed over me, like the surf on the beaches of Lake Michigan on a warm summer day. Then Nemris’ beautiful face flashed before my eyes, and I got the sense that she was with me and that she truly was smiling down on us.
I opened my eyes and reached out to grip the handlebars with a new sense of confidence.
My plan was going to work.
And Camus Dred would rue the day he ever came out of whatever hole he had been born in.
Without even a backward glance, I gunned the throttle and tore after Mayard out of the clearing as dust billowed in our wake. We left the resealed mine behind us and rode north toward Eyton. I overtook Mayard and his horse quickly, and then eventually we joined back with the main road. We stayed on the wide beaten path for a while until Cayla pointed out the side road we needed to take to wind around to the back of Eyton. The night was cool and clear around us, incongruous with the cloud of tense anticipation that hovered over our little party. The only sound I heard as the hill country gave way to plains was the roar of Bobbie’s engine and the occasional nervous whinny from Mayard’s horse half a dozen yards behind us.
We pushed ourselves as fast as we could, and two-and-a-half hours after we left the mine, Eyton appeared on the horizon, barely more than a smudged shadow dotted with torches.
Cayla squeezed her arms tight around me, and I could feel her racing heart as she pressed against my spine.
I kept my head on a swivel and my eyes peeled, but I saw no men lurking along the trail we traveled on, and my magic didn’t pick up on any booby traps. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and my knuckles blanched bone white as I clenched Bobbie’s handlebars tightly.
As we neared the back of Eyton’s high wall, the sound of the bike’s engine was nearly deafening on the silent plain around us, and I worried a random bandit walking along the parapets would hear us. But then I reconsidered the thought.
Good, actually. Let them hear the reaper approach. Let them think they had us beat. It would make our victory that much more satisfying.
&
nbsp; Finally, we arrived at the base of the city wall, and Aurora immediately cut the engine. The three of us slid silently off the bike, and Mayard painstakingly dismounted from his horse.
“Help me with the saddle,” he hissed quietly to me.
I nodded, and then together we unbuckled the saddle and pulled the bit and reins from the horse’s mouth.
“Go,” the captain grunted as he slapped the horse on the flank. The horse whinnied but then slowly began to amble away from us until his black coat blended into the night, and it disappeared.
“He knows to stay close,” Mayard whispered to my questioning look, “and this way he just looks like a wild horse roaming the plains instead of an obvious mount hitched to our entry point.”
“Good thinking,” I muttered, and then I turned around and faced Bobbie. “Sorry, girl. Gotta make you disappear too.”
I raised my arms and channeled a burst of power into Big Guy so I could unload him from the trailer. Once he was on the ground, I nudged Bobbie and the cart against the stone wall that arched up fifty feet above our heads. Then I used a little more magic to sink the bike and trailer into the wall before I paved them back over with rock. When I stepped back to survey my work, the stone looked just the same as it had been before.
“Ready?” I asked my team as we huddled up.
“Yes,” Cayla replied, and I saw worry and rage battle back and forth between her eyes. The princess had a rifle strapped to her back and one clutched in her hands as well as an ornate dagger sheathed at her waist.
“Big Guy is going to go ahead of us,” I explained as I locked eyes with the raven-haired maiden, “but I need you to guide me to the fastest route to the castle. It’s still all uphill though, and it’s going to take me a lot of focus and concentration.” I shifted my eyes to Aurora, then Mayard, and then back to Cayla. “I need the three of you to watch my back.”
“Always, Mason,” Aurora responded fiercely, and she tilted her sharp chin up with a steely resolve in her emerald eyes.
“Thank you,” I said with a strained smile. “Okay, this is how it’s going to go. Big Guy goes first, then me, then Cayla, then Mayard, and Aurora will bring up the rear. The name of the game is stealth though. We move quickly and quietly and try not to be seen. If we have to fight, kill without discrimination, but only use the guns as a last resort. The sound will carry all the way up to the castle.”