by Ben Wolf
Calum wondered if the men who’d murdered his parents had ever been inside. Maybe some of them still occupied the fortress—or maybe not.
“Not what I was expecting,” Calum said. “Then again, I didn’t know it was there in the first place.”
Axel eyed him. “Where did you think all those soldiers came from?”
Calum shrugged. “I figured they had to come from somewhere, but I don’t remember much from the first eight years of my life, and for the last eight years, I’ve only ever been to the quarry, the camp, your farm, and now the forest. Burtis didn’t exactly let us travel much.”
“Well, you’ve got your chance now, don’t you?”
“Quiet, both of you.” Magnus handed each of them a thick stick with fabric wrapped around some twigs secured to one end. “Once these are lit, they will extinguish quickly. We cannot spare more fabric right now, and we have no pitch to keep them burning, so once they are lit, you must make haste. Crystal?”
Calum nodded. “Clear.”
“I still don’t think this is gonna work.” Axel exhaled a long sigh. “But whatever.”
“Just do not get yourself caught.”
Magnus held out his own stick, the last smoldering survivor from last night’s campfire. Calum and Axel held theirs against his, and fire spread between them all.
“Go quickly,” Magnus urged. “Remember, light the bundles close to the ground so the flames have more time to climb up to the tree branches.”
They dispersed throughout a pre-determined area with Magnus closest to the tree line and the outpost, Calum farther back in the woods, and Axel even farther back. With running between two forest fires and setting one of his own, Calum had the most dangerous job, but he was also the quickest on his feet. He had to light the fires and get out of there fast.
They’d spent most of the rest of last night gathering dry sticks and stacking them against certain trees Magnus thought would burn the easiest. Then they’d stuffed dried leaves inside those sticks as well to help everything catch fire sooner.
Magnus had planned it to create a big enough blaze to get the soldiers’ attention—in theory, anyway. Even if the trees didn’t catch, someone from the outpost was bound to see smoke rising from multiple spots within the forest and muster some sort of reaction.
Calum ignited the first bundle, then seven more, gradually working his way north. The fire shouldn’t spread any faster than he could light it, so if he stayed ahead of it and at least even with Magnus and Axel, if not a bit ahead of them, he’d be fine.
Within ten minutes he’d ignited twenty bundles, and his section of the trees had begun to burn on their own. Thanks to Magnus’s good planning, the fire continued to spread.
Calum caught up with Magnus, and Axel showed up not long afterward. They headed for the trees near the outpost’s north gate and waited.
Twenty minutes later, ten armored soldiers filed out of the outpost, all with weapons in their hands, accompanied by one officer on horseback who carried a spear in his left hand. For all Calum knew, he could’ve been the same officer as last night in the woods, just riding a different horse.
“Not as many as I had hoped for.” Magnus turned his head toward them. “We may have to do some serious fighting after all, boys.”
“Wait.” Calum pointed. “Look.”
One of the soldiers headed toward the officer. They exchanged some words, the officer nodded, and the soldier headed back toward the outpost. A few minutes later, six more soldiers exited from the outpost and jogged toward the fire.
“Much better.” Magnus grinned at Calum and Axel. “Follow me. We are going in.”
Chapter Eleven
Up close, the outpost didn’t impress Axel: a roof, twenty-foot stone walls, and a large wooden door on the north side, now shut tight. Then again, in such a remote area, perhaps the King didn’t need to get fancy with his soldiers’ accommodations.
Magnus led them straight to the main gate.
“Alright,” Axel said. “We’re here. How do we get in?”
Magnus smirked. “Sheathe your sword.”
Axel tilted his head. “What? Why?”
“Trust me.”
Axel glanced at Calum, who nodded, and he sheathed his sword.
Magnus grabbed Axel by his waistband and hooked his other hand under Axel’s armpit. “Grab the edge of the wall.”
“What the—” Before he could resist, Axel found himself soaring through the air. Calum and Magnus shrank underneath him as he flew higher, and his heart sank as he began to drop toward the ground, fast.
On his descent, his frantic fingers latched onto the edge of the outpost wall. His thighs slapped the flat stone and he banged his knees hard, but he held on nonetheless—falling would’ve been a lot worse. He hauled himself up, stood on the edge, and looked down with fire in his veins.
He shook his finger at Magnus. “If you ever do that again, I’ll—”
“Just find a way inside and open the door for us,” Magnus hissed up at him.
Axel scowled but nodded.
By design, the roof didn’t connect to all the walls, and an open space about a third the size of the entire building served as a small courtyard. A pair of horses stood in the small stable in the northwest corner, alone in the otherwise empty courtyard.
Axel headed to one of the corners, jumped onto a wooden post that extended upward about three feet from the edge of the wall, and shimmied down. When his boots hit the ground, he glanced around the courtyard again—still no one but him and the horses.
He scurried over to the door and pulled the bolt back to unlock the mechanism. As soon as it disengaged, the door opened, and Magnus and Calum strode inside the outpost.
“Good work.” Magnus patted his shoulder. “Come. We have precious little time.”
Axel and Calum followed Magnus’s lead, and Calum picked up a sword in a rack leaning against one of the courtyard walls. Axel brandished his own, but Magnus held on to his pickax.
They headed into the interior of the outpost via a large door at the top of a wide staircase made of the same gray stone as the exterior walls. The door fed into a main hallway with wooden floors and stone walls.
As soon as they stepped into the hallway, Magnus held up his hand. They stopped and listened for a moment, and Axel heard at least two distinct voices from one of the rooms that lined the hallway.
His voice barely audible, Magnus said, “I will handle them. When I signal you, keep going. Search for the armory and the pantry.”
Axel and Calum nodded.
Magnus crouched down low to the floor and hissed.
“What was that?” one of the voices said.
Magnus hissed again.
“Is… is that a snake in here?” another voice asked. “You know I’m terrified of snakes. This some kind of sick joke you’re playing on me?”
“Calm yourself,” said a third voice, gruffer than the first two. “Rovert probably just forgot to lock the main gate. You know how things just wander in here if you don’t—”
“No, I locked the gate. When Brooks came back for more men, I locked it behind him. I remember it distinctly.”
Three of them, not two. Axel bit his lip. Could Magnus handle all three?
Sure, he’d battled multiple quarry workers at once, but these weren’t average idiots. They were trained soldiers, well-acquainted with violence and fighting.
“You left the gate open, so you take care of the snake, Rovert.”
“No way,” Rovert said. “What if it’s venomous?”
“You’re wearing leather boots. With steel studs,” the gruff voice replied. “Haven’t seen a snake yet that can bite through those.”
“I—I don’t do well with snakes, either,” Rovert said.
A sharp sigh spilled into the hallway. “You have a sword, don’t you? Just cut the thing’s head off.”
“I—I’m not—”
The gruff one cursed. “Fine. Come on, Rovert. I’ll show you h
ow it’s done. Bring your sword, if it’s not too heavy for you.”
Axel’s heart rate tripled. He gripped his sword tighter, ready to jump into the fray and help Magnus if he had to. Then he exhaled a calming breath. Better to not let the excitement of the moment get to him.
When the first soldier stepped into the hallway, Magnus clamped his hand around the soldier’s ankle and yanked him off his feet. His sword clattered away. The second soldier got Magnus’s pickax in his chest.
“Hold him down,” Magnus ordered.
Calum and Axel jumped on the first soldier’s chest, and Axel pressed his sword against the soldier’s neck.
“Don’t move. Don’t make a sound,” Axel said. “You do, and you’ll end up like your friends over there.”
To his credit, the soldier complied.
Magnus charged into the room and out of sight. A loud gasp followed, then came a dull thud on the wood floor.
The soldier Magnus had killed lay in the doorway with his lifeless brown eyes fixed on Axel and his chest oozing red blood onto the floor. Axel stared at him for a moment then looked away. The sight churned his stomach at first, but that soldier had deserved to die.
Anyone who serves in the King’s army deserves death.
Even so, Axel didn’t have to keep staring at him.
When Magnus returned, flecks of red blood dotted his neck and torso. He knelt down near the first soldier. “Where is your armory?”
The soldier stared at Magnus with wide eyes. “H-how did you—?”
“Escape?” Magnus leaned close. “Easily. You humans are predictable.”
Axel shot Magnus a glare.
“This is one of the soldiers who bought me from the slave traders and sold me to the quarry,” Magnus said. “Which also means you have my armor somewhere. So where is your armory?”
“Hopefully he didn’t sell it like he sold you.” Calum picked up one of the swords from the floor and looked it over as if considering whether to switch it out for the one he’d taken from the courtyard.
“If he did, he will die like his friends, here.” Magnus glowered at the soldier, and iron filled his voice. “Must I ask you a third time?”
The soldier shook his head. His gruff voice quivered as he replied, “N-no, we didn’t sell it. It’s still here. It doesn’t fit anyone we’ve ever run into. It’s too big.”
“That is because it was made for me, not for you or any other human.” Magnus nodded to Axel, who pulled his sword back, and then Magnus jerked the soldier to his feet. “Show us. Now.”
“What about food?” Calum asked.
“Armor first. It will ensure our safe departure from this place.”
He led them to the end of the hall to two staircases, one that led up to the second floor and one that descended to a lower level. Axel glanced into each room they passed to make sure no one would sneak up behind them.
“The armory’s downstairs with the cellar and the brig,” the soldier said.
“What’s upstairs?” Axel asked.
“Our sleeping quarters.”
“Anyone up there?” Magnus asked.
“Everyone’s out at the—” The soldier squinted at them. “You started the fire, didn’t you?”
“Smart boy,” Magnus said. “Where’s your pantry?”
“Upstairs at the opposite end of the hall.”
Magnus nodded to Calum and Axel. “Take him upstairs. Have him show you the pantry. Collect all the food and supplies you can carry, then find some rope and restrain him. Once I retrieve my armor, I will rejoin you there.”
Calum nodded.
“Do not speak to him, and do not let him out of your sight. Crystal?”
“Clear.” Axel poked the soldier with the tip of his sword, and he jumped. “Let’s go.”
Upstairs they passed several rooms with bunk beds, all neatly made. One room, smaller than the rest, had only one bed inside, with a large chest sitting at the foot of the bed.
“That’s the commander’s room,” the soldier said.
“Keep quiet.” Axel shoved him forward with his free hand. Calum scowled at him, but Axel ignored it.
Sure enough, at the far end of the hall on the right side, they found a room with a small iron stove in the corner and a long table lined with about two dozen chairs. Early morning sunlight filtered in through a window on the left side of the room.
The soldier pointed to a door in the corner opposite of the stove.
“Calum, go check it. I’ll watch him.”
Calum went over and pulled the door open. “Looks like this is it.”
Axel gave the soldier another shove. “You. Help Calum load up a few bags.”
While Axel watched, they filled three large sacks with a variety of tasty foods. Ultimately most of the food had come from his farm in the first place, so he figured he was just reclaiming what rightfully belonged to him. It wasn’t stealing if it was his to begin with, right?
“You know we’ll find you,” the soldier threatened. “We’ll hunt you down and exact the King’s justice upon you for killing two of our own, for burning the King’s timber, and for stealing from us. You’ve tied your own nooses.”
“Be quiet,” Axel said.
The soldier dropped a pair of apples into a sack. “You get marks for courage, though. I don’t know of anyone who has ever dared to rob one of the King’s outposts before. No one’s ever done it and lived to tell about it, anyway.”
“I said be quiet.” Axel stepped torward him. “Or I’ll make you be quiet.”
Calum glanced at them but kept stuffing food into his bag.
“And you’re doing all of this with a Saurian? How can you even stand to be in that thing’s company?”
Axel backhanded the soldier’s mouth, not out of any sort of love for Magnus, but because he’d warned the soldier twice.
It felt good to hit him. Really good.
“Axel.” Calum glared at him.
“I warned him.” Axel stared at the soldier, who held his jaw and glowered at him. “Say another word, and I’ll kill you. Crystal?”
The soldier clamped his mouth shut. He wasn’t a big guy—probably weighed somewhere between Calum and Axel. Short brown hair, a long scar across his left cheek. Black armor, but no helmet. Maybe in his forties.
What was taking Magnus so long? They’d been in the pantry for awhile now.
Axel glanced out the window. It didn’t look like anyone was headed for the outpost, but the longer they tarried, the more likely they’d get caught inside.
“Hey!” Calum’s voice snapped Axel back to attention.
The soldier and Calum grappled in the pantry. The sacks dropped and spilled food across the stone floor as the two fought for control. Somehow the soldier managed to wrench Calum’s sword away and now held it instead.
He drew his elbow back, ready to impale Calum with the blade.
Chapter Twelve
Axel lurched forward, his sword extended. The blade knifed into the soldier’s torso just under his armpit, one of the only openings in his leather armor.
The soldier dropped his sword and cried out, then toppled down to the floor, shuddering but still alive.
Axel adjusted his footing and jammed the sword farther in, and the soldier yelped again.
Calum staggered out of the pantry, almost tripping on one of the sacks as he stared at Axel with wide eyes.
Axel yanked his sword out of the soldier’s body and stepped back. The soldier gurgled, and blood oozed down his cheeks.
“That’ll shut you up.” Axel moved close to the soldier again. Despite all of that, he was still alive.
Axel raised his sword over his head and rammed the tip of his blade through the soldier’s leather breastplate and into his chest.
The soldier groaned a final breath and stopped moving. Axel jerked his sword free of the soldier’s body and looked back at Calum, who’d clenched his eyes shut. Axel opened his mouth to speak, but a deep voice filled the room.
&
nbsp; “What are you doing?”
Axel spun around to face whatever new threat had presented itself.
Instead, Magnus stood in the doorway, his hands full of gear. “What did you do?”
“He attacked Calum, so I killed him.” Axel motioned toward the pantry with his head, even though Calum now stood to the side of it.
Magnus set the gear—a variety of weapons, supplies, and even some leather armor—on the table and headed toward them. He looked past Axel at the dead soldier and exhaled a long breath through his nostrils. “Now you know the cruelty of the world in which we live, and you have added to it.”
Axel glanced at Calum. Why was Magnus on his case about this? “He was gonna run Calum through.”
“You saved your friend’s life at the expense of another’s.” Magnus glanced between him and Calum. “This is what life on the run is like. Kill or be killed. Our foes will show us no mercy. From now on, every one of the King’s soldiers is an enemy to be met only with the edge of your swords. We are all fugitives, all wanted men.”
Axel nodded. A rush swelled within him. Traveling, living by the sword—it’s what he’d wanted his whole life. “I have no problem with that.”
Magnus turned to Calum. “And what about you?”
Calum swallowed. “I can do it too, if I have to.”
“Only when necessary,” Magnus said. “This man died because you two were careless. He saw an opportunity and overpowered you. Fortunately, Axel reacted first and saved you both.”
If there was anything for Axel to feel bad about, it was that he’d let his guard down.
“It’s partially my fault,” Axel admitted. “I looked away for too long, and that’s when he got the advantage.”
“Your inattention almost cost Calum his life. I told you to watch the soldier at all times.” Magnus shook his head.
“Did you find your armor?” Calum rummaged through the pile of supplies on the table, perhaps to distance himself from the bloody scene Axel had caused.
Magnus exhaled a sigh. “No.”
“So where is it?” Axel asked.
