B008P7JX7Q EBOK

by Ijaz, Usman

  “How do you want to do this?” he asked. “We can’t simply rush in there with guns blazing.”

  Alexis smiled bitterly. “Why not?”

  Michael stared at him as though wondering what sort of madman he had gotten himself caught up with. “Now you are thinking like a fool. I will circle around and come from the west, and you ...” He let out a vexed breath as he saw Alexis‘s face. “Well, you’ll do whatever you wish. It is plain on your face.”

  Alexis simply nodded. Michel turned away.

  Alexis turned and darted towards the rear of the crowd as Michael headed down the street.

  4

  His throat was on fire and his chest burned. His head ached and pulsed as though it wanted to rupture. He could feel his eyes growing painfully larger, wanting to fall out. There was a drumming in his head, like that of a madman, and he knew that it was the blood in his head. He could feel the rope around his neck every time he tried to inhale futilely. There was no energy left in him to struggle.

  It was as though he was in another world than the people that watched him. He could see them, perhaps not clearly, but he could see them. Yet he was deaf to their world, and fading from it with every moment that passed. His thoughts, however, seemed to come with a vivid clarity that was surprising and frightening.

  I’m suffocating to death, Adrian thought, and then, God, this is what Connor must have felt as he was .... He rolled his head to the side as far as he could, and saw Connor hanging limply from the noose, eyes wide open, seeing nothing, and his dry tongue protruding a little from between blue lips. I’m sorry, Connor, Adrian thought, and wanted to weep, but found that he couldn’t. His eyes drifted toward the crowd, which faded in and out of reality, into a sea of faces that distorted into indiscernible blurs. He looked to Wendyl, and met the man’s insufferable eyes as they stared into his own. A smile seemed to hover over the fat lord’s lips, and this at least seemed to be a real smile. He was enjoying this whole ordeal.

  Adrian felt weariness creep in like a thief in the night, and thought how he had never before felt such a strong need to simply go to sleep. The pain around his throat began to subside. The burning around his bound wrists didn’t even announce itself any longer with small twitches of pain. Dark flowers began to bloom before his eyes, and with every slow wink the world faded away some more and was replaced by darkness. There seemed to be an everlasting darkness around the edges of his vision now, and he realized that his eyes were closing as the darkness clouded his sight. Before the blackness claimed him Adrian saw the crowd as indistinguishable faces, and thought he saw a black figure darting through them towards the dais.

  Darkness closed in on him, and Adrian let himself go.

  5

  Alexis struggled his way through the thick crowd. It was like fighting his way through a dense forest, but they yielded to his shoves and parted before him. The sight of his guns helped as well; the people looked at him and then at the guns and pushed away from him. Over their heads Alexis could see the top of the gibbet and the taught ropes trailing down. He forced himself to move faster.

  When he burst out into the small clearing around the dais he took only a moment to register everything. His eyes skimmed over the surprised guards and went directly to the boys, hanging listlessly. Alexis raised his right gun and squeezed off two shots. The ropes holding the boys’ snapped and they fell heavily to the wooden platform.

  The sound of the shots in that eerie quietness was deafening. Horrified screams erupted from those at the front, screams that the sight they had been witnessing had not dragged out, and wondering murmurs arose from those farther curious to know what was happening. It all sounded like the unintelligible gabble of geese. The crowd broke then, like a dam, those in the forefront turning and pushing and shoving in whichever direction they could.

  “Get him, you idiots!” a voice screamed above the noise of the mob.

  Alexis turned to see Wendyl pointing towards him, and saw the Sune Guard running down the short steps of the dais. It didn’t matter; he wouldn’t be stopped now. He raced towards them, raising his guns as he did, feeling the blood rush through him. The first man fell back before he even had his sword cleared from his scabbard, a dark hole blooming in his chest. Another fell with a wounded leg. The rest stopped where they were, looked uncertainly to one another, and then, deciding perhaps that it was simply not worth it, disbanded and joined the crowd in their frenzy to get away as quickly as possible. Alexis barely saw them.

  He ran to the boys, noticing that Wendyl had already joined the fleeing mob, and knelt beside them. He placed his smoking guns aside and undid the ropes from around their necks, horrified at the swollen scars left behind on the skin. He bent an ear to first Adrian’s chest and then Connor's.

  He has to live! He can’t die! I won’t let him die!

  There was nothing.

  For a moment the Legionnaire could do nothing but stare at those faces. The glazed and bloodshot eyes that looked out seemed accusatory to him. His mind raced for a solution. He closed his eyes and took three deep breaths, as he had been taught long ago, and it helped to calm his nerves and his mind a little.

  He did the only thing then that came to mind, drifting up from lessons learned as a child. He bunched his right hand into a fist and brought it crashing down on Adrian’s chest with all the force he could muster. The boy’s body jumped from the blow, but remained lifeless. Alexis placed his head against Adrian’s chest to listen for a heartbeat. His own blood pounding through his head made it all the more difficult to hear whatever weak heartbeat there might be. With a silent curse he bunched his hand again, and brought it crashing down onto Adrian’s chest.

  The boy jerked up so suddenly that Alexis nearly fell back. A harsh gasp escaped Adrian, like a drowning swimmer breaking the surface and swallowing one more precious gulp of air. Relief washed over Alexis so strong that for a moment he could do nothing but stare into the boy’s gray eyes. “You’re all right,” he said breathlessly. “Thank God.”

  Adrian attempted to speak, but all Alexis heard was a wheezy sound. “ ... Con ... Connor ...” Adrian raised one weak hand and pointed towards his cousin.

  Alexis’s gaze followed that finger, and he studied Connor silently, thinking how calm and dead the boy looked. He’s spent too long up there, he thought. Nonetheless, he moved to Connor’s side. He listened for a heartbeat, and was certain this time he heard nothing. Again he balled up his fist. He brought it crashing down on Connor’s chest. The boy’s body shook, but not from the breath of life but rather from the blow. Nothing. Again Alexis brought his fist down on Connor’s small chest. It felt like hitting something dead. Nothing. Again. Again. Again.

  There was nothing.

  “Please ... help him ...” Adrian whispered in a strained voice. Alexis looked at him and saw he had made it to a sitting position. He saw the tears running down the boy’s cheeks and turned back to Connor, wishing he could do something more.

  He raised his hand once more, and was startled by the sound of a gunshot. He looked up to find Michael standing across the dais with one gun leveled before him. Alexis’s head snapped behind them and he saw a man in a red coat fall to the street, gripping a crossbow in his hands.

  “This is what happens when you become careless,” Michael said as he headed towards them. “What are you doing there? The boy’s dead, now take the other and let us leave this place.”

  “No!” Adrian yelled, his voice raw and surprisingly strong. “We can’t ... leave him,” he added sorely.

  Michael frowned at Adrian, then at Alexis. “Move aside, and keep a watch.”

  Alexis stepped back from the body and moved to pick up his guns. He stood and looked around the plaza. The mob was still dispersing from the town square, and the noise they made nearly swallowed all other sounds. He kept an eye on everything around them, but he also watched Michael.

  Michael knelt besides Connor and placed two fingers bellow the boy’s jaw. He waited ... and shook
his head. He then placed both hands on Connor’s chest just below the breastbone, and pressed hard for a few turns, then pinched Connor’s nose and placed his mouth over the boy’s. Alexis could see the man blowing air into Connor’s lungs. Michael let up and began to press on the boy’s chest again.

  Alexis turned to watching the emptying town square. All the streets leading away from the square seemed clogged with people fighting to get away. Those on the rooftops had dispersed as well, but he saw some heads peeking over the abutments, no doubt thinking themselves safe up there. He watched the crowd, filled with an odd mixture of hope and fear. Adrian was safe, but the simple thought of Connor’s death made him wither inside. He doesn’t matter; only Adrian, he reminded himself, but it didn’t change how he felt. Behind him he could hear Michael’s struggles to save the boy.

  Alexis watched the crowd, and became aware of something peculiar at once. While many of the folk were trying to get far away as fast as possible, he saw some fighting the other way, fighting to enter the town square. He saw them coming through all the avenues leading out, all of them dressed in maroon coats. He concluded that they must be the rest of Wendyl’s personal guard.

  “We must--” he began, and was interrupted by a harsh, wheezing sound. Alexis whirled around to find Connor coughing on the ground, his head held in Michael’s arms, sucking in deep frantic breaths. He’s ... alive. How? For a moment he simply stared at the boy, unable to believe what he was seeing. He then turned to Michael and spoke in a dazed voice. “There are more of them coming.”

  Michael stood up and walked over to where he stood. Alexis pointed out the men to him. Michael nodded gravely. “So there are.”

  Alexis turned to the boys. Adrian sat besides Connor, with Connor’s head in his lap, and held his cousin’s hand in his own. “You’re all right,” he whispered softly over and over in deepest relief, and it sounded to the Legionnaire as though the boy found it hard to believe it himself. They are too weak to move on their own, he thought as he turned to face Michael. “And what do we do now? We’re surrounded from all sides.”

  Michael looked at him, and then at the boys. “We get them out of here, that’s what we do for now.”

  Michael walked over to where the boys sat and picked up Connor in his arms as though he weighed nothing. Alexis watched the backs of the crowd, and saw how much closer those red-uniformed guards were to breaking through. He went and scooped up Adrian.

  “Alexis … what are you doing?” the boy asked.

  “Taking you someplace safe,” Alexis told him.

  The two Legionnaires carried the boys off the dais and across the square to the side alley where Michael said the horses waited. For a moment Alexis feared that Leah had left with the animals when the crowd had broken. Then he saw her standing at the rear of the alley holding the horses’ reigns, looking agitated and greatly relieved to see them.

  “Where have you been?” she demanded. “I have been running out of my mind thinking of what might have been keeping you. Are those the boys?”

  Alexis placed Adrian on one horse as Michael put Connor on the other. Alexis turned to face Leah. “Wait here for a signal, then take them out of here and down the street.” Then, in a softer tone, he advised, “If it all turns bad here, make your way to Gale with the boys and find my father, Galen Marshall. He will help you.” I hope.

  “What will you be doing?” she asked.

  Alexis looked at Michael.

  “Clearing a path,” said the other Legionnaire.

  6

  The folk in the streets were like rats running from the disturbance and bolting to their holes to escape being caught in the open. Alexis and Michael stood at the mouth of the alley, staring out both ways into the street. The red-uniformed guards were easy to pick out.

  “We only need to clear this street,” Michael said. “No need to tackle them all.”

  “All right,” Alexis said. “There are two coming from farther down the street.”

  “There are two more across the square and another one entering the square from the north.” Michael made a disgusted sound. “Whatever we do, it will draw their attention.”

  “I can handle these two, open a path for the boys and Leah--”

  “And I can hold off the others.”

  Alexis frowned at the idea. He didn’t like the thought of one man taking on more than twice his numbers, but he knew it was all they were left. “All right.”

  Michael clapped him on the back and Alexis turned to find the man smiling bitterly at him. “Lighten up, man. They’ll be telling stories about us for years to come in Grandal. There’s a sort of immortality in songs and stories.”

  “I don’t want immortality. I simply want to get out of here.”

  Michael only laughed.

  Alexis looked to the back of the alley. Leah sat on one horse holding Connor before her, and Adrian was slumped across the other, all of them looking at the two of them with apprehension. He turned back to Michael’s somber face. “Do you know who you’re helping save?”

  Michael turned to look at him, and Alexis made himself meet the man’s intense stare. “I know,” Michael said simply. “I don’t know how I feel about it, but if the King ordered you to escort the boy, there must be a reason for it. I suppose those two that died in Haven were with you, as well?”

  Alexis nodded.

  “Death seems to follow you everywhere,” Michael said gravely. “Let’s hope we can outrun it today.”

  Alexis looked around the alley and into the street. He cracked open the chambers to both guns and loaded them from the pouch at his belt. Michael did the same. “It should be now,” Alexis said.

  “‘Duty binds us tighter than any chain’ ,” Michael quoted, and dashed out into the open and began sprinting up the street.

  Alexis leapt around the corner and ran to meet the red-uniformed guardsmen.

  The guards were now out from the mob and making their way up the street at a fast trot. When they saw Alexis dash out from the alley they stopped abruptly, raising the crossbows they carried. Alexis saw them and changed direction without slowing to run behind the cover of a tall building. He peeked around the side and saw the street empty. A flash of red from an alley down the street, and he ducked back. The bolt struck the side of the building harmlessly and clattered to the ground.

  Alexis closed his eyes in frustration. He had no time for this! A gunshot from the town square caused him to open his eyes and look towards the sound. The gunshot was followed by another and shouts and yells. I can’t stay here!

  He looked around the corner once more, and as he saw a guard dash up from his place in the alley, he fired his gun and fell back against the side of the building. He heard another bolt strike the wall and fall to the cobblestones. Had he gotten the man? It doesn’t matter, I can’t let them pin me here.

  He dashed away from the building and darted across the street, seeing the two men further down come out of hiding, crossbows leveled. He abruptly changed direction in stride and ran towards the other side of the street, raising his gun and firing as he did so. His aim was true. One of the guards fell heavily back against the alley wall and dropped to the ground, trailing blood on the wall. The other ran back to the cover of the alley. Alexis changed direction immediately and dashed back across the street in a zigzag pattern that centered on the remaining guard. The man poked his head around the alley and shot his bow. Alexis pushed himself against a wall and saw the bolt go whistling by him. He ran straight towards the alley mouth, thinking to reach the man before he could reload his crossbow.

  From behind him came the sounds of two gunshots, closely following one another, but he didn’t let them distract him. He was breathing heavily and sweat had broken across his forehead as he neared the alley.

  The guard suddenly leapt out into the street, crossbow leveled in both hands. Alexis continued to run at the man, not allowing surprise to slow him down, raising his guns as he did so. The man shot the bolt, aimed squarely at h
is chest. On instinct, Alexis dove to his right and shot at the man in the same movement. He felt the bolt strike his coat and then rip right through it. He rolled to his feet and came up with both guns extended, but there was no need. The guardsmen lay on the ground, already dead. His life’s blood seemed only a brighter shade of the coat he wore.

  Alexis studied the empty streets around , satisfied himself that there were no more guards to be dealt with, and then trudged back up the street. He stopped at the alleyway and looked inside at Leah and the boys. “Get them out of here!”

  Leah rode her horse out, with the reigns to the other also in hand. “Where do we go?”

  “Out of the town. Head east.”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “I’m going back for Michael,” Alexis told her. “Get the boys out of here safely.”

  “I will.”

  Alexis watched as she led the horses down the street at a fast trot and then around a corner. He turned to look towards the town square. It all appeared quiet there now, but he didn’t trust the silence. He headed towards the square at a fast trot, scanning the streets and rooftops all around him.

  As he neared the square, anxiety and trepidation filled him. He saw the red-uniformed bodies that lay scattered across the ground, but aside from those there appeared to be nothing else left there. He thought of calling out Michael’s name, and then shunned it as idiotic. The entire square seemed devoid of any life. Guns in hand, Alexis made his way across the square, aware of what an open target he presented. Where is he?

  A slight ruffle of black movement from across the wooden dais in the center caught his attention. Alexis walked around the wooden platform, guns at the ready. He found Michael collapsed in a half-sitting position against the wooden dais. He sat there with his head lowered and blood flowing from his chest. The light wind disturbed his clothes and his hair. For all the sight of him, Michael looked like a drunk who had passed out. For a moment Alexis only stood there, feeling that all his worry and fear had been true. He walked over to the dead Legionnaire on legs that felt numb, and knelt down before him.