With a decidedly disappointed look, the kid tossed the rope to me. Volant picked up more speed. We hurtled forward, leaving the crowd in the dust. The chanting had stopped and cries to slow down chased the wagon. And then we were up to full speed, the pair of sturdy horses churning up the ground in an angry cloud of red dirt and occasional clods of mud. For a beautiful moment, there was nothing but the sound of horse and wind whistling by. But it was shattered by shouts of surprise from in front of us.
People yelled curses at Volant’s reckless wagoneering. Before any of them could do more than yell, we were clear of the camps perimeter, the tall grass scraping at the bars of the cage. Behind us though, men on horseback were already mounting a chase on us. And gaining quickly.
Once the wheels hit the thick grass, we began to slow considerably. “Nil, think you could join me up here?” Volant shouted over the crack of reins.
“What, you not going to hang me after all?” shouted the Learner who had silently huddled in a corner the whole time.
“Obviously not,” I replied to him, climbing up to the top of the cage. “This here is a rescue!” My excitement was tinged with anger. This could have been me, and I was quite finished with others deciding my fate. I hopped down onto the bench next to Volant, grinning widely. We bumped fists.
“So,” he began as if commenting on the weather. “We’re all going to actually get hanged if those guys catch us.” We both looked to see the horses catching up.
I looked a second time, catching a glimpse of something terrifying. “I don’t think they’re much of the hanging sort. They’re usually on the eat-first-ask-forgiveness-later team,” as I pointed at the group of Slithers closing in behind us, easily keeping pace with their horse riding Equals gaining on us.
Volant tossed the reins to me and hopped onto the roof. Our horses were losing the lead. We were slowing down. The ground began to tremble and the long grass attempted to tie knots around our horse’s legs. I looked back, and sure enough, a woman was at the head of the group and weaving her fingers in tell-tale signs of a tree-twister.
“Oi, wind dancer!” I shouted at Volant. “Do something about that Natural!”
“Sure!” he replied. “We seem to do a lot of running away from people, have you noticed that?” Normally deft hands struggled to gather wind. His blast flew high and wide. Again he worked the air, and released it in a furious attack, this time nearly hitting the Natural.
I opened my mouth to comment on his poor aim, but Volant chose that moment to change tactics.
Volant began to spin his hands. Vortexes of wind gathered there, twisting and turning on themselves until becoming opaque in his hands. Furiously, he stomped the wooden roof, shattering the slats into jagged shards.
“Hey, you in the cart!” I shouted. “Duck!”
Since we were moving, the earth worker was having a hard time pinning us down, having to feel where we were and try to match speed. From a purely clinical perspective, it was intriguing to see what she could accomplish, and what gave her trouble. She was good, I had to give her that. This was requiring quite a bit of concentration paired with riding her horse. Another Natural had joined the first in her assault on our horses. Both looked to be from Erset, now that they were close enough to see their jade eyes. Neither were paying attention to my friend.
Volant had outdone himself this time. A small cyclone curved from one hand, lifting the hundreds of jagged shards not the air. His insanely large wall of wind pushed out, catching the deadly wood. Wind shrieked, carrying the splinters out towards our pursuers. With his other hand Volant did something cunning, stabilizing most of the shards to be point first. Even more impressive, he seemed to simultaneously help nudge them towards individuals.
Neither of the Naturals had a chance. The projectiles spiraled through the air, faster than if they’d been shot by a bow. Volant continued the onslaught of storm-shaming winds. Each splinter found a target faster than I thought possible. For extra measure, the overwhelming gust stopped all but the last rider, forcing their horses to pull up short in the face of such sudden force.
As the last shard struck home, Volant promptly bent over the side of the wagon and vomited.
Slack jawed, I continued pushing the horses forward. That was an unreal display. I’d never seen him come even close to that kind of Talent usage.
Volant slumped over, nearly passing out from his exertion.
A final pursuer was closing in, a sword in hand, whipping the horse on.
I unsheathed first one knife, and then a second from my bandolier. Quickly, I wrapped the reins around the wagon’s seat and hopped up on top of the cage, a knife in each hand. He was so close I could see the sweat on his face.
I stopped thinking.
I leapt.
One of us screamed. Or maybe both of us.
Unluckily for me, the man got his sword across his body in a wild swing, cutting into my forearm. Unluckily for him, I still had both knives and momentum and took us into the ground. Unfortunately for both of us, even such thick grass has its limits on forgiveness and we passed that threshold by quite a bit.
Both of us lay for a moment, stunned. I didn’t give myself time to see if I was seriously injured or not. As soon as the world stopped spinning, I was up on my feet, chasing after the horse that he’d been riding. In the horse’s confusion, or maybe fear, it had stopped shortly after I removed it of the man. It tried to bolt the moment it saw me coming. I dove, catching hold of the trailing rein. I gained my feet and hopped on the startled horse. Only then did I realize the man hadn’t gotten up, and one of my knives was missing. I let out a shaky breath and began riding after the wagon that had maintained its trajectory.
Somehow, Volant had managed to stay on the wagon. I brought the horse alongside and slowed the tethered horses down to a stop. With the Naturals dead, and hopefully all of the Slithers injured enough to not give chase, the remaining party of Equals quit running after us. Not trusting our luck any further though, I slapped at Volant till he was awake.
“As fun as that was, is there any way you guys could let me out of here?” A voice called from inside the cage. I looked back to see the Learner holding his knife, shaking rather violently.
“Oh. Sure.” I jumped around to the back. A few hits from a knife pommel and the cages side bars I’d worked on with Skill fell away.
“Theo,” the Learner introduced himself. Still a bit shaky and off balance.
I shook his hand warmly, pushing a small amount of Skill into my hand. He twitched with surprise but then smiled with genuine warmth to recognize another Learner. “I’m Nil, and the long haired one up front is Volant.”
All three of us squeezed up front, Theo and I sandwiching Volant. Without much effort, we found the sad excuse for Brod’s attempt at an army a short carriage jaunt away. Admittedly, it was amazing they were even out and ready to fight, considering how little time they must have had to prepare for the sudden appearance of the Equals.
This was probably why Brod was the staging ground for this war on Learners, instead of Kalaran where the school was. They were the only region that was even close to having an army. Being the training headquarters for every Elite and Thumper, and home to the best weapon smiths, it practically created an army by existing. Once Brod was crushed, no one would come close to being a nuisance.
Considering how disappointing Brod’s militia looked, I doubted it’d be a problem anyways.
Four Elites rushed out as we closed on the long, and even more ragged line of tents. Oddly enough, the tents looked quite similar to those of the Soft Steppers, but the distance mixed with fatigue made me unsure. Or maybe everyone used those kinds of tents this far south. It would be easy to ride out around the four, but our only hope at this point was that they’d take us in as friends considering the situation. If not that, maybe they’d just kill us and get it over with instead of some drawn out execution the Equals seemed to be fond of. Either way, I hoped they’d feed us.
Vola
nt, still only semi-conscious, didn’t seem to notice the deadly iron tipped pieces of wood waving in our faces. Theo leaned back as far as he could, thankfully holding Volant back as well.
“Don’t move!” screamed the first, redundantly, and definitely a lot angrier than was justified.
I looked down at our already not moving wagon. “Sure. Got that one covered already,” I replied cheerily. “Now, please let us into the camp. There’s a large army out there that very much wants us dead. And you’d only be helping them if you stick us.” I waved my bloody arm in the air to accentuate the point. Quite a sight.
“Names?” A more level headed Elite lowered her spear, resting it casually in the crook of an elbow.
“Nil,” I replied pointing at myself. “The sleepy one is called Volant. And the half starved one is Theo.”
“They rescued me!” Theo added helpfully.
She nodded, but didn’t show any further sign of agreeableness. “You’ll need to get down, and we will walk you in. From there, you’ll be someone else’s problem.”
Still slumped in the seat, Volant had yet to speak. His eyes were fluttering closed. “I don’t think he is quite up to walking.” I got down, and handed the reins to the closest woman. She took them hesitantly, so much so that I had the absurd urge to spook her just to see how high she would jump. Instead, I started walking towards the closest thing the tent shanty had to a central area. No further questions were asked as we waded through waist high grass, Theo following me, and the women leading the wagon while keeping a hawk’s eye on us.
Twenty-eight
Our least angry escort called for a medic when we entered the perimeter. A husband and wife team appeared shortly later, neither looking highly trustworthy when it came to medicine. The man was gaunt, thin faced and balding, and his wife had a scarily similar complexion. More gray than anything. We came to a halt in front of what seemed to be a command tent, the wife pouring a blistering alcohol solution across my bloodied forearm, and nearly having it wrapped up completely when the Supreme stepped out of the tent.
Brod’s supreme was a man getting into the later years of life, but still incredibly intimidating. Being the head of all Guard operations in Brod, he wielded nearly as much power as a member of the Council. A fiery star was emblazoned on his armor, right over the heart. His hands were weathered, and faded warrior looking tattoos covered his arms. As a Supreme, this man was the law. Only the other city’s Supremes or a unified local council equaled his power.
“Remove those, please,” he said to the woman still holding the horse’s leads.
I grabbed Volant, and two of the Elites helped me drag him off the wagon. Theo awkwardly stood nearby as the wagon was rolled away.
“So, spies?” he asked in a clipped, precise voice with no trace of an accent, and no hint of warmth.
Our escort, the one who’d been yelling the most, shrugged. Her eyes were hard, and her knuckles white on the spear shaft.
“Are you spies?” He paused, leaning down so as to hear our whispered names from the woman. “Nil, Volant, Theo?” He came a step closer, never breaking eye contact. “Are. You. Spies?”
“No!” I said, hastily. “No, sir, I mean. Just an escaped prisoner and his rescuers.”
“This your lover, then?” he asked pointing at Volant on the ground. “You seemed rather gentle with him just a moment ago.”
“No! Just a good friend, from school.” It was hard to keep eye contact. The man was intense.
“I see.” The supreme took in my bandaged arm before turning to Theo. “And you, escapee. What’s your story?”
Theo visibly trembled before answering. “I was just attempting to impress some girls, showed off a bit too much, and these Equals jumped me in an alley. Next thing I know I was up for execution and stuck in that cage in the middle of a forest.”
“Look,” I began in as reasonable of a voice as I could muster. “We aren’t spies for two reasons. First, the Equal’s army is about five times as big as yours. And I don’t think it’s done growing. Second, I’m a Learner. They have some serious qualms with mine and Theo’s types.” To illustrate, I gathered and then flicked a finger out, knocking over a shovel that was leaned up against a stack of wood.
To his credit, the supreme only twitched in the slightest, unlike both Theo and the Elite. “My name is Dioden,” he finally replied, rubbing at his temple with a tired expression. “And those tools are not cheap.” With a wave of his other hand, the Elites were dismissed. “Please, let us speak inside.”
I bent down to the now definitely sleeping Volant, grabbing a limp wrist. Theo grabbed the other hand and we dragged my friend into the tent. Inside the hide and cloth hovel, there were few amenities. No furniture, just a bed roll with some extra blankets folded precisely. Saddle bags, a walking pack, and a row of spears varying in blade length, height, and wood made up the entirety of the supreme’s command tent.
“What’s his story?” Dioden asked with a nod at Volant, not even bothering to look when we unceremoniously dropped him to the ground with a soft thump.
With nearly as graceless a flop as Volant’s mostly sleeping form had made, I sat down as well. “He’s a Natural. A wind manipulator, specifically. When we escaped, he over-reached his abilities, doing a bit of rather impressive work with a bunch of airborne wood, wounding a few earth workers and a pair of Slithers before the exertion got to him.”
Dioden raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing. With a slight gesture, he indicated continuing.
“What are you going to do?” I asked, gesturing back expansively. “There’s a ton of them. And they have the Slithers, and a bunch of violent, overzealous, and murderous Naturals with not much to lose.”
“I’ll let you in on a secret,” he said. A wry smile flashed across his face before he continued. “We have a camp this size stretching the length of the Brod border. Our main problem is knowing where to concentrate our forces. This attack was not quite as much a surprise as they probably hope it is, though of course we weren’t ready for it to come so soon. But yes, the ‘ragged’ defense going on here is more of a facade than anything.”
I thought back to Xylex and Cralil’s conversation. In hindsight, of course it wasn’t a surprise. You can’t have a very good war if one side is too unprepared for the other side.
“Though,” Dioden said as the smile faded, “those Slithers are quite unexpected. We’ve secured the Soft Stepper’s help, but we were hoping that’d be an edge, not an equalizer. Those slimy nomads haven’t come down from their mountain tree isolation in ages.”
“Slandash!” I exclaimed. “Is he here? Any doubts you have would be smoothed over by him.”
Theo looked at me as if I’d gone crazy, but kept his mouth shut. He was definitely on the academic side of the coin when it came to a Learner.
Dioden shook his head. “He’s a few camps down. But I’ll be sure to speak with him, though I’ve already decided you’re not a spy. They’d have used a girl. Or a much prettier boy.”
I sighed with relief, but then looked up, catching the meaning of his words. “A prettier boy? You saying I’m not handsome enough to be a spy?”
He laughed and shook his head.
“I’m definitely pretty enough to be a spy,” I grumbled.
“Theo, maybe. You, not so much,” Dioden replied.
Of course, Theo blushed a bright red, spluttering. “I’m not a spy either! Honest!”
Volant snored loudly, and everyone laughed. Any remaining tension evaporating. Still though, this was the most senior representative of a group of people who’d been trying to catch Volant and I for a fair bit. If he bothered to check with anyone, he’d realize we were supposed to be locked up no matter whose side we said we were on.
I wondered if the outbreak of a minor war would be enough to save us from being incarcerated for life. I avoided telling Dioden about anything prior to the Equals grabbing us in Erset, but otherwise provided every detail I could manage on the people I
saw, the layout of their camp, estimated numbers, training, supplies, and so on.
Everything I said was jotted down in leather bound journal Dioden had pulled out of a pocket. Pages were filled as the sun set, and food was brought in by a young man I would have forgotten in an instant if it wasn’t for the unreasonably large machete he carried in place of a sword. He said nothing as he set four plates piled with veggies, a solitary loaf of bread, and a few sad strips of field jerky. I murmured my thanks, digging into the meal with abandon as we paused the story telling. Volant finally came back to the conscious world, with no little help from a well-placed punch in the leg.
Some unintelligible curse was half said when he sat up. All was forgiven when he saw the food. If Dioden wasn’t there, I doubt Volant would have even bothered with utensils or hands. He practically shoveled the field salad into his mouth, plate an inch away from his chin. Besides the satisfied sounds of eating, we ate in silence.
“That hit the spot,” Volant sighed happily. “Those Equals had the worst road food the world has seen. Nice to have something fresh.” He mopped up every crumb he could until his plate was cleaner than should have been possible.
I took a sip from the skin we’d been passing, and turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow in unison to Dioden’s. Paper crackled as Dioden shifted to stare Volant straight on, book opened to a blank page, quill poised to write.
“You, my friend, have a fair amount of story to share. I want to get your input on this Equal invasion.” Dioden looked at Volant with serious but not unkind eyes.
With my body blocking Dioden’s view, I flicked my fingers in our secret way. Not before Erset, my fingers said. Admittedly, our grammar system was showing itself to be more and more inadequate, but hopefully the message was clear. Acting as if he hadn’t seen anything, Volant launched into the story of his time riding with the Equals, collaborating with Theo’s and my story. “After they dragged Theo off to that cage, I got to meet Pallor’s cook. Pallor is the commander of the Forest Cell, which was the one near Erset that had Slithers. The old man, that is.” Volant mentioned as an afterthought. “The cook was pretty friendly and seemed to be there somewhat against his will.”
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