by Ben Wolf
Calum tightened his grip on the club and started toward the Saurian with cautious steps.
Amid his struggling, Jidon lurched upward and drove his fist into the Saurian’s gut. The Saurian released Jidon’s hand and staggered back, doubled over. In one fluid motion, Jidon scooped the huge pickax into his good hand and hefted it over his head.
Out of instinct, Calum sprang forward and swung his club as hard as he could. Jidon’s wild eyes flickered toward Calum just before a deadened crack split the night air.
Then Jidon dropped to the ground, and the pickax hit the dirt next to him. Blood oozed from a fresh gash on his forehead, and he stared up at the night sky with vacant eyes.
Calum dropped the club, shocked at what he’d just done. When he looked to the Saurian, the beast nodded to him.
Calum shook his head. Jidon was a jerk, and he’d threatened to kill Calum, but… “I can’t believe I just—”
“You did.” The Saurian stepped toward him. “It is done.”
“Is he…?”
The Saurian bent down next to Jidon and pressed his first two fingers against Jidon’s neck. “He yet lives.”
That gave Calum some comfort, albeit not much.
The three men who’d stayed out of the fight ran off, but they’d seen it all. They’d seen what Calum had done, both to Jidon and the other worker.
“They’re gonna kill me anyway.” Calum stared at Jidon’s motionless body, his hands trembling. “They’re gonna tell Burtis, and Burtis is gonna kill me tomorrow. Maybe even tonight.”
“Then…” The Saurian exhaled a loud hiss. “…you must come with me.”
Chapter Seven
“I know someone who might help us.” Calum led the Saurian through the forest adjacent to Axel’s family farm, all while trying to forget what he’d done back at the quarry. “Maybe we can hide until this blows over.”
“Hiding is not an option. We must keep moving.” The Saurian adjusted his grip on the giant pickax and ducked under a low-hanging tree branch.
Calum exhaled a shaky breath. He was both afraid and relieved to hear the Saurian say that. “If we’re actually leaving then we’ll need food for traveling. Axel’s farm is just a few minutes away from here. He’ll help us.”
They stopped at the tree line, and Calum squinted into the darkness. An expansive field of corn separated them from a small farmhouse drenched with silver moonlight.
Calum faced the Saurian. “Do you have a name?”
The Saurian nodded. “Magnus.”
“Magnus,” he repeated. “I’m Calum.”
“I know.”
“How well do you see in the dark?” Calum asked.
“Better than you, but not greatly so.”
“Do you see anyone? Or do you hear anything?”
Magnus shook his head. “If we intend to see your friend, we should make haste.”
“Follow me.”
They cut across the field, keeping low so the corn stalks would provide them with some cover. When they reached the edge of the field, Calum looked Axel’s house up and down. Two floors, a few windows. Nothing special, but a far cry from the tent Calum had slept in for the last eight years of his life.
“Well, we can’t just knock on their front door.”
Magnus stared at him.
“Can you lift me up to that second floor window?”
“I can, but to what end?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s Axel’s room. If I can knock on the window and get his attention, maybe his parents won’t wake up.”
“I see.” Magnus nodded. “Very well. I will lift you, but do not fall.”
“I won’t.”
Calum and Magnus cut across the moonlit gap between Axel’s house and the cornfield. In the shadow of the house, Magnus hefted Calum up to his shoulders and then hoisted him up to the window.
Calum peered inside, careful not to lose his balance on Magnus’s shoulders. There, in bed asleep, lay Axel. Calum looked around the room to see if anyone else was there, then he tapped on the window.
Axel rolled over in bed and faced the other way.
Calum sighed and tapped on the window again, this time louder.
Axel slowly sat up in bed and stared right at him, squinting and blinking. Then he reached next to his bed, pulled a long silver object into view, and flung the sheets off himself.
It was a sword.
When Axel started toward the window with a furious look on his face, Calum glanced down at Magnus.
“Uh… let me down,” he said.
“Did you get his attention?”
“Yes—but you need to let me down now.”
Magnus complied, and Calum’s boots hit the dirt just as Axel pushed the window open and stuck his head out.
“Who are you? What do you think you’re—” He laid eyes on Magnus. “What in the King’s name is going on?”
“It’s alright, Axel.” Calum put up his hands. “It’s me, Calum.”
“Calum? What are you doing here?” Axel pointed his sword out the window at Magnus. “And what is that thing doing here with you?”
A long low hiss issued from Magnus’s nostrils until Calum waved him down.
“It’s a long story. The short version is, we’re leaving the quarry. There are men after us, and we stopped here to ask if you could spare any food.” Calum swallowed the lump in his throat. “I know you don’t owe me anything, but I thought I’d ask. As a favor.”
Axel shook his head. “Do you have any idea what they’d do to me if they found out I helped you?”
Calum hesitated. He hadn’t thought of how he might be compromising Axel and his family just by showing up at his house. “Any chance you could come down here and talk to us?”
“Us?” Axel eyed Magnus again. “I’m not coming down there as long as that thing is with you.”
“Come on,” Magnus growled. “We cannot afford to waste any more time.”
Calum held up his hands. “Please… let me try something.”
Magnus exhaled a harsh breath through his flared nostrils.
“Axel, what if I send him into the cornfield? Then would you come down?” Calum asked. “Or can I come up there?”
Magnus shook his head, but Calum ignored him.
“Fine,” Axel said. “Send the beast into the corn, and I’ll meet you on the other side of the house at the front door. If I see him anywhere nearby, I’ll kill you both.”
Magnus huffed. “That is a delusion.”
“Stop.” Calum stepped in front of Magnus. “Just stop. There’s been enough fighting for one night. Let me handle this.”
“How long do you expect it will take our pursuers to realize we will seek out food and supplies?” Magnus growled. “This is the next place they will check. Every minute we stand idly by counts against us. We’re wasting time.”
“Well, we’re gonna make time for this.”
Magnus snarled at him.
“Are we doing this or not?” Axel asked.
“I’ll meet you at the front door.” Calum ushered Magnus toward the field and then circled around to the front of the house.
A moment later, the door opened. Axel stood in the doorframe and beckoned Calum forward with his left hand. Once Calum made it inside, Axel shut the door behind him without a sound.
“I’ll try to be quiet,” Calum whispered. “I’m sure your parents are—”
Axel’s sword flashed to Calum’s neck. “As bad as the punishment would be for helping you, the reward will be just as good for turning you in.”
Axel narrowed his gaze at Calum, whose face betrayed his surprise. Calum had really ruined things this time. Now Axel didn’t have any choice but to turn him in.
He’d looked after Calum, snuck him extra food, and even patched him up a time or two after a beating, but this was different. Axel couldn’t save Calum from something like this.
“Axel?” Calum whispered, his voice strained. “What are you doing?”
Still
, a part of Axel wanted to give Calum the benefit of the doubt. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t hold you here until my father can go for help.”
Calum grunted. “I can give you several.”
“Then start talking. Quietly.”
“We’re friends.” Calum held up one finger, then another. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I—”
“Not true.” Axel shook his head. “You wouldn’t be leaving if you hadn’t done something wrong.”
“I sided with the Sau—with Magnus. I didn’t want—”
“So he’s got a name, now?” Axel rolled his eyes. Leave it to Calum to befriend a beast instead of an actual person. “You two must be best buddies.”
“You already know he saved my life today.”
Axel clenched his jaw. He had to admit, that did count for something. “Why’d you have to leave?”
“He escaped after that, and I went to look for him. I found him at the quarry, and a group of the workers caught up to us there. I didn’t want him to continue to get abused, so I sided with him, and they attacked us, and—”
“How many did you kill?”
Calum bristled. “I didn’t kill anyone, but I—I—”
“Come on. Out with it.” Axel leaned forward.
“I hit Jidon and one other man in the head with a club. They both went down,” Calum explained. “When we left, they were still down, but Magnus said Jidon was still alive.”
“Jidon? Big Jidon?” Axel snickered. “Yeah, right. He weighs more than you and me combined.”
“He was gonna kill Magnus. One good swing to his forehead, and he dropped.”
Axel huffed. “If you say so. Either way, you helped an escaping slave. That makes you a criminal, a fugitive. As such, if I turn you in, I get a reward.”
Calum recoiled from the blade at his neck but couldn’t back up thanks to Axel’s front door. “What kind of reward do you think you’ll get, Axel? At the end of the day, you’ll still be stuck on this farm. Just maybe with some extra coin. I’m your friend. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“You’re my friend, but you’re also a criminal. The King’s men are gonna hang you when they find out what you’ve done.” Axel shook his head again. Calum had really messed up. “’Course, that’s if they get to you in the first place. Burtis seems like he’d just as soon take care of you himself.”
Calum’s eyes narrowed. “So you would really hand me in for—”
“No. I wouldn’t turn you over just for the reward.” Axel motioned toward the staircase with his head. “But if I don’t, then I’m responsible for not turning you in. That’s gonna come back on me and my family.”
“Then forget I was ever here. Just don’t turn me in. Let me leave, and we’re gone. Even if they catch us, I won’t say a word about being here.”
Axel shook his head again. “If I don’t turn you in, I get whatever punishment you were supposed to get. You know that’s how it goes.”
“Come with us,” Calum blurted.
“Quiet.” Axel pressed the sword against Calum’s neck again and glanced over his shoulder. “You trying to wake my parents? You wake them up, and we’re done talking. For good.”
Calum smirked.
Axel furrowed his brow. “That doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you go.”
“Come on, Axel. Come with us. We both know you want to. You told me what kind of life you wanted back in the tavern. This is your chance to go live it.”
Axel chuckled. “Are you kidding? That’s a death sentence for sure.”
“Only if they catch us.”
“Even if they never did, it’s still a death sentence. We don’t know the first thing about how to survive in the wild.”
“You work on a farm. You know plants and terrain and other stuff like that. Besides, I bet Magnus knows a lot, too.”
Axel scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, ’cause I’m gonna trust that thing when we’re all alone in the wilderness.”
“He’s not a thing.” Calum glowered at Axel. “He’s a Saurian. A person. Someone with a name and a history and a life.”
“Whatever.” Axel shook his head. “I don’t trust him. Not in the least.”
“You don’t know him, either,” Calum countered. “My point is, said you wanted to get out of here and do something else with your life. You had big dreams and big plans. This is your chance to do all that. Maybe your best chance.” Calum cleared his throat. “Maybe your only chance. Come with us.”
Axel shifted his footing and pulled the tip of his sword away from Calum’s neck, but he didn’t lower it. He’d already made up his mind that he wouldn’t—he couldn’t kill Calum, even if he tried to escape. “I can leave whenever I want to.”
“Then do it,” Calum urged. “Axel, you were right. I don’t want to work at the quarry for the rest of my life, and I don’t want to be foreman. I’m done being a slave. I know you don’t want to stay on this farm forever. It’s like you said to me earlier tonight: I only want what’s best for you. So come with us.”
Axel bit his tongue. Everything in his heart longed to go along with Calum, but everything his mind resisted the idea. “No way.”
“Do you really want to hand us over to Burtis? Or to the King’s men? You hate them. They murdered my parents, Axel. They treat you and your family like slaves too, just like me. Just like Magnus.”
“Don’t you dare compare me to him.”
Calum’s voice hardened and his posture straightened. “It’s true, and you know it. ‘Not all slaves wear chains,’ remember? Come on, Axel. We need your help. You need to get outta here. Either let me go or kill me now, because I’m leaving.”
Axel scowled at Calum and sighed. Stupid Calum would get himself killed without help. He’d screwed everything up, and now Axel would have to bail him out.
And as a bonus, maybe Axel could finally find that adventure he’d been after.
He grumbled but lowered his sword. “Wait outside. I gotta pack a few things.”
“Follow me if you want food.” Axel stormed out of his front door dressed for an excursion into the wild. A small satchel and a bedroll clung to his back, and his sword hung from his belt in a sheath.
When Magnus emerged from the cornfield, Axel tossed one empty burlap bag to Magnus, then he cut away from the house into the corn.
“What did you say to him?” Magnus’s gaze followed Axel as the cornfield devoured him.
Calum hesitated. Magnus wasn’t going to like this. “He’s coming with us.”
“What?”
Calum shrugged. “It was either that or he was going to turn us in, and I barely convinced him to do this.”
Magnus growled. “This is not part of our agreement.”
“We don’t have an agreement, Magnus.”
“Hey.” Axel hissed from several yards into the corn. “You guys coming or not?”
Magnus growled again.
“Come on. We can talk about it later.” Calum started after Axel. When he glanced over his shoulder and saw Magnus trailing behind, he smiled.
Within ten minutes, they made it to an old wooden storehouse on the far side of Axel’s family property. A thick padlock hung from a latch that secured the double sliding doors on the front. Axel pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock while Calum and Magnus kept watch.
“What is taking so long?” Magnus hissed.
“Mind your own business,” Axel shot back. He pulled the key out, blew a puff of air into the lock, and then reinserted it. “This lock was always finicky. Just give me a minute, here.”
“We don’t have a minute, Axel.” Calum scanned the nearby woods. “We need to get going before someone—”
“Look, the more you yammer, the longer this is gonna take.” Axel lowered the keys and glared at Calum. “So are you gonna keep talking or—”
Magnus grabbed the lock and yanked it clean off the door along with the latch, just as he had with the one at the quarry shed. As he pulled the sliding do
ors open, he said, “Let’s go.”
Axel stood in place, his jaw hanging open. He stepped toward Magnus and jabbed his yellow chest with his index finger. “This is my father’s storehouse. You had no right to—”
“You presume to lecture me on breaking the door latch when we are already stealing food and trying to escape a band of angry quarry workers?”
“It wasn’t your lock to break. Nor is it your food to steal.”
Magnus shook his head and brushed Axel’s hand away from his chest. “Next time you point a finger at me, I may just do to your hand what I did to that latch.”
Axel gawked at him, then at Calum, who just shrugged and stepped inside the storehouse after Magnus.
Inside, mounds of food organized by type towered almost to the ten-foot ceiling amid bales of hay and a few farming tools. Calum had never seen so much food in one place before.
He scowled at Axel. “How is it that I barely got enough to eat every night at the quarry, but you have a storehouse full of food?”
“Actually, we have five storehouses. My family eats pretty well, but we gotta be careful with everything. The King’s soldiers keep a close watch on what we produce and what we distribute.”
Calum and Magnus frowned at Axel, who held up his hands.
“What I mean is that none of this belongs to my family, even though it came from ‘our’ land and it’s on ‘our’ property in ‘our’ storehouse. Really, it all belongs to the King, or by extension, to his soldiers. We aren’t supposed to touch it.”
“Well, we’re about to do more than touch it.” Calum popped a strawberry in his mouth, which made it the fourth strawberry he’d ever tasted. He’d already decided to pack many more of them into his bag—and his stomach—before they left the storehouse that night. “Let’s load up and get outta here.”
It only took a few minutes for them to fill their sacks with a variety of grains, dried meats, fruits, and vegetables. By the time they finished, Calum actually had to strain to heft the loaded sack over his shoulder.
