Sol Boxset

by Samuel Small

  All the customers were rough people, dressed in garments that would pass as rags rather than clothes, and wore harsh expressions contorted into angry frowns. Many had scars and most were grubby. The bartender, a slender lady with brown hair, wiped down a sticky bottle encrusted with residue, eyeing the two youths with a suspicious sneer.

  She pointed a firm finger to the far end of the wall where several axes and swords lay. Jake nodded his understanding and pulled his scabbard off, laying it against the wall, then turned around. The eyes of the patrons were even narrower than before. Maybe they were jealous of seeing someone scrawny and awkward like Jake with such a pretty girl, or maybe they were just a tightknit community that were wary of outsiders.

  The girl didn’t notice the tense atmosphere and once again grabbed Jake by the wrist and guided to the nearest table. She plopped into a seat and gestured for Jake to sit across from her. After cautiously glancing around the room to be sure nobody had broken a bottle and was preparing to shank him, Jake obliged.

  “So tell me more about the Republic.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s a pretty basic modern country.”

  “So you’ve been to other countries?”

  “Er, sort of. Just one other, really.”

  “Which one?”

  Jake’s chest sank at the thought of the name. It was hardly a country anymore, just a frozen wasteland. “Niflheim,” he said.

  She paused and then put her hand over her mouth. Whoever this girl was, she had a strange way of sensing moods. She could tell that Jake was upset about Niflheim, but not that everyone in this room wanted to kill them? Eager to change the subject away from his poorly fabricated history, Jake asked her what he ought to have asked when they first met.

  “Sorry, I don’t think I got your name.”

  “Lindsey!” she said brightly. Jake smirked and leaned back in his chair, finally comfortable. She answered his question the way a small child would, proudly proclaiming her name like it was something special. Upon his leaning back, she leaned in, eyes beaming with the same type of childish curiosity.

  “Anyway tell me about the technology there. I heard it’s super advanced!”

  “Not really. The only thing the general public has access to is a train. It’s a type of machine that takes you around the city on tracks really fast, like a carriage, only a mechanical one. It runs on some kind of energy, but the Republic doesn’t tell anybody what it is. They want to keep it secret, I guess.”

  “What do you mean, ‘only the general public’?”

  “Well, the government has access to a lot more advanced tech, most of it’s for the military. Majors and above have their pick of all kinds of advanced weaponry – real technological marvels.”

  Lindsey leaned back now, eyeing Jake suspiciously. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead and he prepared for what was coming. “Are you sure you’ve only been there a few times? You talk about it like it’s really easy to recall.”

  He had given away too much.

  “Although,” she said, giving him a wry smile, “I suppose anybody would be starstuck if they saw some kind of mechanical carriage and whatnot. You probably got a good memory for that type of thing, yeah?”

  Jake was about to grasp onto this lifeline and confirm her theory when a loud bang came from behind him. He turned to see a man, tall with a large chest, standing before a table across the way with his hands pressed firmly against it.

  “I’m sick of this shit! Are we just gonna sit around and pretend like they ain’t here?”

  The room fell silent, and those sitting around him turned away as if they were ashamed of their friend or fearful of some sort of punishment. The man who called out looked from one companion to the other frantically, but they only shied away further. His eyes turned to Jake then narrowed, and he began striding toward his table. As he did, one of his friends mumbled his name, “Flint,” an arm weakly outstretched to stop him.

  Anticipating some sort of trouble, Jake got out of his chair. He looked down at Lindsey, who only stared up as if nothing was wrong. Man, she’s a dense girl, Jake thought, then strode to meet the man halfway. If there was going to be a fight, he should be careful to have it nowhere near her.

  Almost immediately, Jake regretted his decision. When he stood face to face with the man, he had to look up. And up close the man’s rugged exterior and bulging sinewy muscles were all too apparent. He had to do some kind of serious manual labor to maintain that physique. The man came close so that his chest touched Jake’s own, then looked down at the boy.

  “Don’t walk in here like you own the place.” His eyes rested on Jake, but for moment strayed behind him. Was that a spark of fear in his eyes? No, not likely.

  “You guys really don’t like outsiders, huh?” Jake said.

  The men looked at something behind Jake, then to each other, and stood up. They walked toward the boy, and for a moment Jake wondered why they hesitated in the first place, but he soon pushed such a thought out of his mind as he had bigger things to worry about. Flint, the man who confronted him, looked back at his companions then gave Jake a knowing grin. With this backup, he wasn’t afraid to fight.

  Jake leaned back just as Flint’s fist sliced through the air. Once he had dodged it he sprang up and returned with one of his own, which connected with Flint’s cheek. His head barley moved at all from the strike, and Jake slowly retracted his throbbing fist. Flint looked down at him, more annoyed than hurt.

  Realizing the guy’s insane durability, Jake jumped backward to gain some distance, but he slammed into something solid. Lindsey screamed, then Jake fell on top of the table he’d just been sitting at. Lindsey stood to the side of him, having jumped out of her chair after Jake had so eloquently stumbled into it. To her side and charging directly at him was Flint. His friends stood behind him, and were beginning to fan out. Not good, Jake thought.

  He rolled off the table. A moment later, it slammed into the wall, courtesy of Flint’s heavy boot. Jake had planned to use the table as a barrier between them, but that wasn’t going to work now, and with the lot of them after him things weren’t looking good at all. Flint descended upon him, his companions to either side.

  “Lindsey, run!” Jake said, as the fist collided with his temple and everything went black.

  ***

  Consciousness came back in vague waves. There wasn’t any weight on top of him like he expected, although he did feel something cool and hard underneath him, likely the stone floor. There were smashes and crashes and yelling, and he wondered who else could be fighting.

  Lindsey. They were hurting Lindsey.

  He willed himself back into a more solid state of cognition, stood up, and took in his surroundings. To his surprise, he did not see a group of men huddled around the small girl. Rather, those men were on the ground, bloodied and moaning. The last of which, the one that was responsible for the pulsing pain that Jake now had in his head, was being laid out by a well-placed hook. One made by his companion, Bolt.

  Thun, standing over two of the collapsed men and eyeing them warily, turned to Jake. “You awake yet?” he yelled, then came jogging over to him.

  “You can’t stay out of trouble for long, huh?” Bolt said with a cheeky grin.

  “It’s not like I went looking for it. I came into this tavern and they just sort of started in on me.”

  “Sure they did,” Thun said.

  “Honestly! I came in with a girl—”

  “They probably got pissed off cos you’re picking up all their local women already,” Bolt said.

  “We’ve only been here five minutes you horndog!” Thun yelled.

  “Ugh, it’s not like that. I was trying to, well, y’know, what you told me to do. Why are you guys here anyway?”

  “We saw that girl chatting you up and figured we’d follow you,” Bolt said.

  “That makes no sense. I was getting information out of her.”

  “No you weren’t,” Thun said, “she was
getting info out of you.”

  Jake looked on, confused.

  “That stunt she pulled with all the physical touching and fluttering eyelashes? Basic female information-gathering technique,” Bolt said.

  “Some real temptress shit,” Thun added.

  Jake opened his mouth to object as he really didn’t understand what was going on, but Thun interrupted him.

  “There’s no way a girl like that would be interested in someone like you unless she had an ulterior motive… no offense. She saw us, saw that we had uniformed jackets, saw that we had weapons, and decided to see what she could find out.”

  “Speaking of which, what did she find out?” Bolt said.

  Jake tensed up. What did she find out? Well, some stuff he preferred them not to know about, but nothing regarding them or their operation.

  “Nothing important. Wait, do you think she’s with the Dragon Fang?”

  “I don’t know,” Bolt said, jerking his thumb toward the back of the room, “Why don’t we ask her?” Up against the far wall sat Lindsey, tied up with rope, giving Jake a look that could kill if such a thing were possible. A thin line of sweat dripped down his throbbing forehead.

  The three walked over to her, their footsteps loud on the stone floor, and Jake for the first time noticed that the bartender still stood behind the counter, polishing a glass to keep herself occupied and gave them a raised eyebrow of confusion rather than the furrowed one of anger he expected. Jake didn’t understand it, but that didn’t matter right now. They were upon the girl.

  Bolt crouched down, flashed a bright smile, and politely asked her if she was a member of the Dragon Fang. She did not respond.

  Not opting to get down on her level, Thun said that he took her silence for a yes, and suggested that they get their weapons. The statement baffled Jake, as their weapons should be on their persons, and looked to the wall where the entryway stood. Carelessly thrown against it were two pistols not far from Jake’s sword. Despite the fact they had certainly charged inside in order to get into a fight, they managed to comply with the building’s rules. Were they just fucking around?

  “You mean you two aren’t Dragon Fang?” a female voice said. The bartender stood there, eyeing Bolt and Thun suspiciously. Her eyes rested on Jake for a moment, then jerked away.

  “No mam,” Bolt said, “just stingy travelers trying to get across without paying the toll.”

  Shuffling began behind Jake. The man who knocked him out began to stand up, holding his back and tightening his jaw in pain. “You mean you’re of a mind to take care of the Dragon Fang… whatever the consequences?”

  “If it’s more convenient than sneaking past them,” Bolt said.

  Flint hobbled toward the group and gave Jake a nod. He’d forgiven their scuffle almost immediately and stood among the three boys. “Well, I reckon it would be. You’ll have a lot more support doin’ that.”

  “How so?” Jake said. The man smiled.

  “We’ve got a bone to pick with ’em too.” Behind him, his comrades, still on the floor after the thrashing Jake’s teammates had given them, moaned their affirmation.

  Chapter 6

  After some time had passed and the men were able to tend to their wounds, Flint explained the situation to them. They used to be a peaceful gate community, ensuring that people paid a toll when they passed through the ridge. There were several groups in control at the time, so prices were kept relatively low. Then the Dragon Fang appeared, militarized and determined, and drove out the competing groups. Soon, they controlled the entirety of the ridge and charged whatever they wanted for the toll. With their newfound power they forced the villagers to work for them, and always under the worst conditions possible.

  The three youths sat in the bar, allowing the silence to sink in well after the man had finished speaking. It seemed as if his words and suffering carried weight, and that they should respect it, like one would a eulogy at a funeral. Eventually Bolt spoke up, although he clearly didn’t seem to have the same funeral mindset as Jake.

  “Well, that sounds great! We’re actually a charity group and you lot sound like a real charity case to me!” He threw his head back and laughed. It echoed throughout the stone room, which fell silent. Jake could feel the tension and confusion edge upward. Flint looked to Jake, an eyebrow raised, and he could only close his eyes and nod. Yes, Flint, he’s serious.

  Flint shrugged, not seeming to mind how crazy the help was and just happy it was there.

  “Well, I’m not a fan of bein’ a ‘charity case’ but we’re in a tough spot. We’d be happy to have your help, seeing as you were able to put me and my boys out right quick.”

  Jake looked at Lindsey, whose eyes were still downcast. “We should ask her about how their operation works. We’ll probably be able to find a good time to attack,” he said.

  Flint let his head back and laughed again, and this time his companions joined him. Jake’s face got hot, then his mouth fell flat. He didn’t see what was so wrong with his suggestion. Wiping a tear from his eye, Flint said through labored breaths, “She don’t know much more than we do. Just a girl from the village who got a bit rebellious, although it sure did bite her on the ass!”

  Jake returned his eyes to the girl, her face as red as his was only a few seconds before. For a moment he felt embarrassed for her, then realized that despite the fact that she was just some rebellious teenager she had duped him. He frowned and crossed his arms, letting out a sharp breath of air.

  Something seemed to burrow into the side of his face, something imaginary yet still hot, and when Jake turned around there stood Bolt and Thun, leaning toward him and covering their chuckling faces with their hands. Jake shot out of his chair. “What’s so damn funny?”

  “You totally got played by some pissed-off kid.”

  Then the room exploded into laughter. Jake, not happy about being mocked but also capable of seeing the comedy, eventually chuckled along with them. Through his laughter Jake could see Lindsey, her foot raised as if preparing to stomp. He didn’t think much of it, at least not at first.

  Her foot came down, and the floor shot up toward Jake like shrapnel. A chunk of rock knocked into him and sent him flying. He came just shy of hitting the ceiling, then plummeted down. He landed on his back on the hard ground and winced as pain shot throughout his body.

  Flint offered him a hand, but Jake waved it off and stood up, the pain in his back now just a tingling numb sensation. He gave the girl a glare, but registered that her arms were still bound behind her back, although he now knew that didn’t provide her with much of a disadvantage.

  Her Sol was a manipulation type. Ordinarily, a person’s Sol formed the energy they used, such as when Sara conjured ice out of nowhere. This girl was capable of manipulating already present material. Normally this would be a disadvantage – how often did you come across raging fire? An ocean of water? Or a wall ice? That limitation, however, was completely devoid for an earth user.

  She stomped again, harder this time, and the floor sprung up once more, splitting the room in two. Jake leapt to the half that Lindsey was on just before the wall reached the ceiling. There, his comrades Bolt and Thun stood in standoff with the girl. On the other side of the stonewall and well out of their reach was the barkeeper, Flint and his companions, and their weapons.

  “Fucking sandbagging us,” Thun muttered.

  Lindsey didn’t say anything, only looking to each of the three boys in turn. Her eyes flashed with a cool appraisal, as if she was taking in all of her surroundings and making complicated calculations. Jake crouched low and sprung forward, aiming to grab her.

  As he did, Lindsey kicked at the wall she was up against and a large cylinder of stone launched out. It nailed Jake in the gut, filling him with an intense pain. He fell rolling to the floor, coughing and holding his injured stomach as Lindsey stumbled for the exit despite her bindings. Thun cut her off and stood in her way, his arms outstretched in a grappling position.

&nbs
p; The girl didn’t slow her pace in the slightest, and as she ran more earth sprung up from the ground, raising her up close to the ceiling. It curved and Jake could tell Thun wasn’t going to be able to catch her, so he shook off his pain and ran over to where he thought she’d jump off. As he rounded the curved wall, Bolt engaged the girl. He punched at her in light combinations with a playful smile on his face.

  “Would you take this seriously?” Thun said as he hurtled over and came at the girl from behind. She saw him and raised her right foot. As she did, Bolt shot in and grabbed it.

  “Nuh-uh,” he said, with a smile that bordered on being creepy. The girl kicked at Bolt frantically to try to free herself as Thun came and got her in a bear hug from behind. Jake grabbed her other leg and he and Bolt were able to stop her from placing them down long enough for Thun to lift her well into the air, where there was no earth to manipulate.

  She struggled and kicked out at Bolt and Jake, but it was a pointless effort with Thun holding her. She looked like a toddler being pulled away from a toy that she desperately wanted.

  “Stop struggling or I’ll slam you.” She looked back at Thun, terrified, and saw the dark emptiness of his eyes. He was dead serious.

  “We get what we want either way, now be a good girl and just give up,” Bolt said, shrugging.

  Lindsey looked from one to the other then to Jake. He tensed up and shook his head emphatically, hoping that she’d get the message that they really would knock her out cold if she continued. Thankfully she understood, and let her body go limp. Thun, an eyebrow raised, lowered the girl slowly to her feet.

  When she touched the floor, Jake jumped and raised his arms into a fighting posture. Lindsey looked at him like he had a third eye. Behind her, Thun stared at Jake, equally judgmental. After a pause Jake dropped his fists and sighed.