by Dante King
“This is a bold plan,” Zito said, shaking his head as if in disbelief. “You want to give yourself, give us, to this Hullbeck guy? Turn us all into slaves?”
“That’s exactly what I want to do,” Ben said. “I know it sounds extreme, but it’s the only chance we have to get to the tower.”
“I still don’t know about that,” Zito said. “We’re a small group—I bet you anything we’d be able to slip through without anyone seeing us.”
“Ben is right,” Shrike said, breaking her silence. “There’s a great distance between Moonbright and the other tower. The Black Army has been increasing the frequency and sizes of their patrols by the day, if the talk of the soldiers in town is any indication. The odds of us making it all the way there without being seen or eliminating whatever patrol we came across are slim.”
“Feh!” Zito said. “I’m sure we could do it. Sure sounds a hell of a lot better than making ourselves slaves.”
Ben could see that, while the group was at his side, there was still hesitation about the plan.
The plan itself was simple. Shrike would “lead” the group back to Moonbright, where she would offer Ben and Zito as additional slaves in order to atone for running away. Once there, Ben and the rest of the group would find some way to be transported to the tower of The One Who Rules all. At the tower, Ben and his group would find out everything they could about the leader of the Black Army, using their recon to begin a campaign to liberate the towns, starting with Moonbright, and enlisting their numbers against the Black Army.
It wasn’t going to be easy to pull off, but Ben knew they had no other option against the Black Army. Ben’s numbers weren’t enough to defeat The One Who Rules All in a stand-up fight, and it was only a matter of time before the Black Army attacked. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
They traveled further and further away from the tower, the path toward the river taking them through the forest and to the rolling greens beyond. Soon it grew dark, the silver of the moon above the only light.
“We must stop,” Melody said as they reached the crest of another hill.
The group paused.
“Already?” Zito asked.
“There’s a bit of a trip ahead of us,” Melody answered, “but the important thing is that we’re on the road. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to need all the energy we can muster.”
Lexi nodded. “Correct. This Hullbeck… he works his slaves hard. It’s going to be difficult just to keep up with the work, let alone pulling off this plan on top of it.”
Ben turned his attention to the horizon. They’d made good time, and if they left first thing in the morning, they’d be able to reach Moonbright by noon, at the latest. All the same, he hated the idea of wasting even a moment when Shrike’s people’s lives were on the line.
As if sensing his hesitation, Shrike spoke. “I’m confident that we’ll reach the rest of the way in time. And Lexi is right—we’re going to need all the energy we can get.”
“Right,” Ben said. “Let’s find some decent shelter and get a good fire going. Then we can enjoy our last night of freedom for a while.” Grim chuckles sounded from the group.
They went to work. After a bit of scouting, they found a small pond shrouded by a copse. Once they were settled, Ben shifted to his bird form and flew circles in the sky around the camp. From high in the air but far enough away that he wouldn’t be spotted, Ben was able to spot Moonbright, a small-ish town clustered in the bend of the river. The town was in a small valley, the light of the moon seeming to put a spotlight on it and making it clear where it got its name.
He let his eyes linger on the tower for a time, the place so close yet so far. All the land between his tower and the other was up for grabs, Ben understood. It was only a matter of time before the soil was soaked with blood. It would be a long, long journey before he could become the sole ruler of the land, but he was ready. He’d do whatever it took.
The group had a fire going by the time he landed, food roasting on the flame. Ben ate, washing it down with a bit of water, his eyes growing heavy from the long day behind him.
Ready for sleep, he tucked his hands behind his head and rested on his bedroll, not even opening it before he drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Ben was awoken by Melody a few hours before dawn.
“There’s a squad of the Black Army approaching,” she whispered to him, and his eyes shot open. “What would you have us do?”
Ben’s mind raced to consider his options. It didn’t take him long to formulate a new plan.
“We let them take us,” he said. “Maybe we can circumvent Moonbright altogether and get straight to the tower. Have everyone pretend to continue sleeping.”
Melody seemed unsure about this, but she nodded all the same and went to inform everyone else.
Ben kept his eyes half-closed until he heard the sound of boots crushing leaves underfoot.
“Look at ‘em,” a voice came. “They’re perfect.”
“A whole group of travelers just waiting to be put into chains.”
“The lieutenant’s going to be happy about this.”
Ben slowly peeked through one half-open eye. Around him was a squad of soldiers, at least a dozen if not more, all dressed in black armor with only their sneering smiles visible in the opening of their curved helmets.
The foot of the nearest soldier came down on Ben’s wrist, pinning it to the ground so he couldn’t grab his blade. The soldier pressed hard, hard enough to make Ben cry out in pain.
“Not so fast,” the one standing on his arm said. “And don’t get any funny ideas—we’ve got the rest of your group taken care of.”
Ben glanced around to see that the soldier spoke the truth. Melody and Lexi and Zito and the rest were there, all awake, all with a soldier standing before them, armed with swords and spears.
“Now,” the soldier standing over Ben said. “Here’s the deal—I’m going to be really nice and get off your wrist. When I do that, you’re going to sit up nice and quietly, not making any sudden movements. Then, you’re going to tell me who the hell you are, and what you’re doing in Black Army territory.”
Ben bit his tongue, not wanting to tell them it was his territory. As the thought occurred to him, he realized something—their question meant they didn’t know who he was.
“Yeah,” one of the other soldiers said. “And tell us what the hell humans are doing traipsing around with these disgusting monsterkin.”
“’Disgusting’?” Melody shouted. “How dare you!”
The soldiers laughed. Ben’s eyes tracked up to the soldier standing over him, and he noticed that, while his armor was the same as the others, a series of small, red gems were in a straight line on the upper right of his breastplate. None of the other soldiers had this ornamentation.
This is probably the guy in charge, Ben thought.
“Alright,” the one standing over Ben said. “This group is allowed one little outburst like that, but if I hear any of you say a peep that we didn’t specifically ask for, we’ll take a finger from one of you for each unwanted word. Got it?”
Ben nodded. He wanted nothing more than to summon one of his spells and kill the soldier on the spot. He had no doubt he could do it but making a move like that would put the rest of the group at risk.
“Now, about our deal?” the leader asked. “This is one of those times when you’re allowed to speak.”
Ben hated playing the game by the soldiers’ rules, but until he could attempt to enact his plan, he had to do so.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “Just as long as you don’t hurt anyone in my group.”
“Fine.” The soldier took his black, armored boot from Ben’s wrist and stepped back. “But it’s your little group I want to know about. I see four monsterkin, two beasts, and two humans. Now, far as I know, there’s only monsterkin in this part of The One Who Rules All’s territory. What the hell are you two doing here?”
His eyes, dark and narrow under the slit of his helmet, zipped back and forth between Ben and Zito.
Ben racked his brain trying to come up with an answer, but he didn’t get a chance to speak.
“’What the hell are we doing here’?” Zito asked, indignation in his voice. “What the hell do you think we’re doing here?”
Oh no, thought Ben as he realized Zito was taking the lead on their fake story. Don’t screw this up.
“We’re two humans with a group of monsterkin,” Zito said. “We’re obviously slave catchers hired by The One Who Rules All to find runaway slaves! Why else would we be in this backwater part of the continent—for fun?”
“Easy, old man,” the one in charge said. “You start getting irritable, and I’ll knock the wind out of you.”
“Well, how else do you want me to respond?” Zito asked. “We’re busy men! And we’ve got a whole group of these monsterkin to get to Moonbright and here you all are, messing with our beauty sleep!” He let out an annoyed noise. “I swear, when we spoke to Hullbeck, he promised us that none of you Black Army goons would be getting in our way. And now, look at this!”
Easy, Zito, Ben thought. Don’t give them a reason to do anything rash.
The man in charge scoffed. “That’s your first mistake—you let that puffed-up jackass make you think his word means a damn. He’s in charge of Moonbright, sure, but he’s still nothing but a disgusting monsterkin. Authority in the region still comes down to the Black Army. We alone execute the will of The One Who Rules all.”
“Well, fine!” Zito said. “You guys want to be in charge of these wastes, then so be it! But we’ve got these monsterkin to take back to Moonbright and you're not making it any easier!”
The soldier in charge turned his attention to Ben.
“Is that all true?”
Ben cleared his throat in preparation to speak. He’d never been one for lying, but he didn’t see any other option in the moment.
“It’s true,” Ben said. “We were promised a hefty reward for any escaped monsterkin we managed to bring back.”
The soldier scoffed, his eyes tracking over the women. “These freaks don’t know how good they have it. We give them food and protection, and all they have to do is work. And that’s still not good enough!”
As he spoke, Ben focused on him, scanning him for the cords of power he could affect with Drain. Ben’s skill with Drain had grown, and it didn’t take him much time at all to find the cords for strength and speed and intelligence. Using Drain to take one, or maybe even more, of them wouldn’t be difficult. The challenge would be what happened after. Once the other soldiers realized what had happened to their leader, there was no doubt they’d move.
Still a chance we can talk our way out of this, Ben thought. No need for a risky battle.
“So,” the leader said. “How much is Hullbeck paying you for your services?”
“What difference does it make to you?” Zito shot back.
The leader responded by slipping the first few inches of the sword at his hip out of the scabbard. The blade he pulled out was silver and straight, the color a startling contrast to the black of his armor.
“Answer the question,” the leader said. “Otherwise, I’ll take your head clean off.”
“Fine, fine,” Zito said. “Just easy with the death threats. Hullbeck promised us a thousand a head. But they all need to be in one piece—they’re going right back to work, after all.”
“Right,” the leader replied. “So, we’ve got four monsterkin and two beasts… that’s six thousand.”
“Not to mention the bonus,” Zito said, raising his finger. “For four of them, there’s a thousand extra.”
The leader nodded slowly, as if putting something together in his head.
“You,” he said, pointing to Shrike. “You’re an elemental monsterkin, right?”
“Yes.” Her voice was even and calm.
“Wait, a minute,” the leader said. “This is the one that Hullbeck couldn’t shut up about when we were in town—the one he really wanted back.”
“That’s right, sir,” one of the soldiers said. “He said he’d pay triple for bringing the fire elemental back.”
The leader thought more.
“That’s almost ten thousand…” He lifted his helmet enough to scratch his chin in thought. Then he turned to his men. “And we could split that eight ways, right? That is, after the boss takes double, of course.”
Even in the low light of early morning Ben saw the smiles form on the faces of the soldiers.
It was clear what they were planning.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Zito asked. “We caught these runaways fair and square!”
“Right,” the leader said. “But that doesn’t mean we have to be fair and square.”
“You take them, and I’ll go right to Hullbeck and tell him what you pricks did!”
Ben watched as the leader stepped close to Zito, this time taking his sword out all the way.
“Funny that you think we’d let you live to tell him—or anyone else.”
It was all the warning Ben needed to know the time for talk was over. He watched as the leader took the blade from his scabbard and prepared to swing it at Zito.
That’s when Ben cast Drain.
He found the leader’s strength cord, grabbing it in his mind’s eye and sucking every last bit of power that was in it. The leader’s eyes went wide through the slit in his helmet. He dropped to his knees, the armor clanging against the ground and his sword falling from his hand.
Zito grinned. With speed that Ben wasn’t prepared for, he leaned over and pulled his blade, a simple short sword, from under his blankets and jabbed it forward, neatly putting it through the throat of the leader. Blood jetted out as the gurgles sounded from the leader’s punctured throat. With a smooth motion, Zito yanked the blade out, flipped it around, took it by the pointed end, and whipped it at the nearest soldier. The sword plunged right through the soldier’s eye, his hands weakly reaching to pull the sword out, then dropping to his side as the soldier collapsed.
“I swear!” Zito shouted as he rose to rush over to his blade. “Kids never learn!”
The old man moved so quickly that Ben was half-convinced he was capable of magic that Ben wasn’t aware of. Zito yanked the sword out of the dead soldier just in time for the rest of the Black Army fighters to surround him.
“Come on!” Ben shouted to the rest of his group. “Let’s go!”
His party rose, and Ben turned to Zito to see the blademaster pivot his body and leap into the air, using Whirlwind Strike. For a moment, Zito was a blur, his blade banging off the armor of the soldiers and sending them staggering backward. Once they recovered, Zito was in front of him, cleared from being surrounded.
“Now,” Zito said as he held the soldiers at bay. “I’m sure I could take all of these little pricks down with one hand behind my back, but don’t let that stop you all from joining the fun!”
Ben rushed over to Zito’s side, his scimitar in hand.
“That’s the spirit!” Zito shouted. “And the rest of you ladies!”
“Don’t boss me around, old man!” Melody replied as she gathered electrical power in her hands. “Or you might be on the receiving end of some friendly fire!”
She stuck her hand out, a crackle of electricity arcing from it and striking one of the soldiers. The soldier’s arms and legs shot out straight as the electricity hit him, charging through his armor. A low pop sounded as the intensity from the lightning caused the soldier to explode in his armor, red pouring out of the gaps as the armor collapsed.
“Wow!” Zito shouted. “OK, maybe I want to avoid getting on your bad side after all!”
Nipper leaped through the air, landing on the nearest soldier and bringing him to the ground. He chomped and bit at the soldier’s armor, the man inside shouting as he tried to take out his blade and fight back. He didn’t get the chance. Nipper opened his massive jaw and close
d it on the soldier’s head. Then, with a quick pull, he yanked the head clean off and spit it out. It rolled away and disappeared beneath the surface of the pond.
A few soldiers remained.
“Allow me.” Shrike strode past Ben and Zito, her skin shifting from the dark, hardened magma to the roiling and burning red. Her eyes flashed with anger, and Ben sensed that she was eager to exact justice against some of the soldiers who had enslaved her people.
The soldiers had drawn their blades by this point, all prepared to fight to the last. Ben watched as Shrike bent down and pulled a hunk of earth from her feet, forming it into a ball as she stood back up. Her eyes narrowed, she held the ball of dirt clasped between two palms, fire coursing down her arms and turning the wad of earth from dirt to a ball of pure flame. She pulled her arm back and threw the fireball, which sailed toward the soldiers and landed on the ground, exploding like a small bomb. The two soldiers caught in the blast were blown to pieces, limbs flying from their bodies. Shrapnel blasted into the other soldiers, hot rocks ripping through their armor.
One of the soldiers ran from the group, wielding his blade as he tried to get in a sudden attack toward the women. He let out a wild yell, his sword raised over his head as he prepared to stab Imogen.
Brock wasn’t about to let the soldier come close to his mother. He formed all the rocks that made up his body into a single one, then launched himself through the air toward the soldier. Brock slammed hard into the soldier’s chest, a dull clang sounding through the air as Brock bounced off him. The soldier dropped in a heap, a huge dent in his armor that suggested more of his bones were broken than intact.
Ben turned his attention to the few soldiers who remained. Zito did battle with one, coming at the soldier hard with a flurry of swings. The soldier was in no way capable of standing up to Zito, only managing to block a quick triplet of attacks before Zito drove the sword home upward into the gap underneath his armor at the top of his right leg. Blood poured out, and when the soldier was down, Zito finished him off with a quick jab through the neck and into the spine.