Restart Again: Volume 3

by Adam Ladner Scott

  So that’s how it is. I shoved the scroll angrily into the bag and looped it through my belt. Overall, the scrolls were good news; while they were listed on the poster, Marten and Hana’s likenesses weren’t widely known throughout the country, as I had feared. Still, their names appearing on the scroll in any form brought the taste of bile to my mouth. I briefly considered keeping the posters a secret from the rest of the group to spare their concern, but quickly decided against it. Now’s not the time for secrets.

  I knelt in the road and hauled the scout’s body onto my shoulders before cautiously approaching the horse once again. Once I had its reins in hand to ensure it wouldn’t bolt, I heaved the corpse up onto its back, then deftly hopped up into the saddle. The courser paced nervously, and I ran a calming hand along its neck. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Just a few quick stops, and then we’ll go find you some food.”

  With a tug to the right I led the horse off of the main road towards a small thicket of bushes and trees a few hundred yards away. It was slow going over the uneven, snowy terrain, but we reached the thicket without incident. I gave the corpse an unceremonious shove into the bush cover, nodded at my work, then directed the horse back to the road. Pointing us in the direction of the remaining bodies, I urged the courser on into the snowy night.

  The midnight ride filled me with a strong sense of nostalgia. I hadn’t ridden a horse since my time in the Alderean military, and it reminded me of the countless road conversations I had shared with Jarut and Kel on our long marches back and forth from the capital. The memories kept me company on the ride, and I arrived at my destination much sooner than I had anticipated. In a similar fashion to the first, I heaved the remaining corpses out of the snow and over my horse’s back, then trotted off the road in search of ground cover. Although I knew their disappearance would be cause enough to pursue us, it still felt right to remove as much evidence as possible.

  My ride back to camp was peaceful, and the sky behind me had begun to brighten by the time I arrived. Marten, Hana and Marin were all awake and preparing for the day around the fire, eating a warm breakfast. At the sight of an unknown hooded rider approaching, Marten sprang to his feet and pulled a dagger from his belt, stepping out in front of Hana and Marin protectively. “Oh, sorry!” I called out, throwing back my hood. “It’s just me.”

  Relief washed over his face as he sheathed his blade. “Damnit Lux, you scared me!” He looked back to Hana and Marin with a smile, but his head snapped back around a moment later. “Where in the world did you get a horse?!”

  I laughed, taking a moment to consider how to approach the subject. “The man who owned it didn’t need it anymore, so I thought I’d take care of it for a while.” I rode into camp and slid to the ground, tying the reins to a post on the back of the wagon. “There were riders in the night. Scouts, I think. I took care of them.” With a sigh, I drew the scrolls from my belt. “Unfortunately, that’s not the only news I have.” I handed him the scrolls and waited for him to read them before continuing.

  He glanced at each one briefly, scowling at the illustrations, then turned and handed them to Marin. “What do they say?” he asked quietly. My face reddened as I remembered too late that he had never fully learned to read.

  “They’re wanted posters,” she said with a gasp. Her eyes scanned over the words, growing wider by the word. “They’re offering a thousand Imperials each to anybody who kills them. Primes, that’s a fortune!”

  “I’m half tempted to kill you myself,” Marten chuckled, looking at me with a faint air of apprehension.

  “I don’t think that would go so well for you…” Marin trailed off. “There’s a bounty for you as well. And for Hana. One hundred Imperials for your capture...or execution.”

  The camp fell silent as the severity of the situation set in. Hana stepped forward and read the scrolls in Marin’s hands, then placed a hand on Marten’s shoulder. “I think Marin should drive the wagon from now on. You’re too well known around these parts, dear.”

  Marten screwed up his face as he stared at the ground. “I hate to think that an old business acquaintance would turn us in, but...I can’t say I’d blame them. That amount of money would be life-changing for almost anybody.” He looked at Marin apologetically. “I hate to ask it of you after what happened, but—”

  “You don’t have to ask!” Marin cut him off. “Of course I’ll do it. I owe you all at least that much. Besides, I’ll be driving all the time once we’re business partners, right? I might as well get a headstart.” Her beaming grin cut away the tension that had grown around us, and Marten laughed.

  “I suppose that’s true,” he answered, “but I’m not sure where you got business partners from. You’ll be working for me, sure, but partners might be a bit—”

  He was interrupted once again by a loud squeal from behind us. I turned to find Lia diving from the back of the wagon; she landed lithely on her feet before springing forward to hug my newly acquired horse around the neck. “Oh, you’re such a handsome guy, aren’t you?” she asked in a drawn-out, high-pitched voice. “Yes, you are!” She continued to scratch his neck excitedly as she turned to me. “Is he ours? Where did he come from?”

  I smiled irresistibly, infected by her enthusiasm. “Come with me; I’ll explain,” I said, walking past her to the entrance of the wagon. She followed me back inside and helped me rearrange the crates to create a small, secluded space where I could rest while we traveled. “The horse came from a group of scouts I encountered on the road last night,” I explained while we worked. “When they don’t report back today, I’m sure whatever force is after us will have a good idea of which direction to go. I’d wager we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the next few days.”

  Despite her excitement, Lia’s expression was completely serious. “I understand. I’ll focus extra hard on my watch today.”

  “Thank you,” I answered, patting her on the shoulder. “Now, I’m going to get some sleep. If you see anything out of the ordinary, wake me up, okay?”

  She nodded, though her furrowed brow told me another question was coming. “How can you sleep like this? It’s light out, the wagon is bumping all over the place, and I know that we aren’t the quietest group; I had to keep reminding Marin to keep her voice down all morning yesterday.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” I said with a laugh. “Sleeping is a skill, and just like any other skill, you can get better at it with practice. I won’t wake up unless I want to.”

  She narrowed her eyes at the explanation. “You’ll have to teach me how to do that when this is all over.”

  “Sure, add it to the list.” I leaned forward and pressed my forehead against hers. “I love you. Be safe today.”

  “I love you,” she replied, kissing me on the cheek. “Get some sleep.” I knelt down onto my bedroll as she left the wagon, and I soon heard another, softer squeal of excitement as she saw the horse again. I lay down with a smile on my face and quickly fell asleep.

  ---

  The following week of travel passed in a blur. After three days of continuous snowfall, the skies finally cleared, and the world warmed to a more comfortable cool temperature. I continued to keep watch at night and sleep through our morning travels while Lia took over the duty. My nightly rides were interrupted twice by the appearance of more scouts. After my experience with the first group of outriders, I refrained from killing them all simultaneously, choosing instead to only target the first man in the group; in both encounters, the remaining scouts immediately turned to flee and didn’t return for the rest of the night.

  On the day we were to reach the outskirts of Atsal, Lia woke me while the sun was still low in the morning sky. “There are riders coming,” she said in a low whisper. “Four of them, from in front of us this time.”

  I bolted upright and confirmed the information with my own quick pulse of Detection. The scouts were only a few miles away and were riding at a full gallop in our direction. “Marin, we need to stop,
” I shouted, sliding over my small barrier of crates into the main body of the wagon. “We’ve got trouble headed our way.”

  Marten stood in alarm, but he was immediately thrown back into his seat when the wagon stopped short. “What do we need to do?”

  “Nothing, hopefully,” I answered as I made my way to the back flaps. “I’m going to ride out to meet them. Lia, stay here and keep an eye on the road to the south; I don’t want to get caught in a pincer.”

  She nodded. “Try to get some information out of them before you’re done.”

  Her tactical analysis of the situation was the same as mine, and it brought a grin to my face. “That’s the plan.” I hopped down from the wagon and untied the reins of my horse from his hitch, then climbed into the saddle and turned him northward. “Alright. Let’s find out what we’re dealing with.” I put my heels into the courser’s side and took off down the road.

  Another quirk of my Detection magic revealed itself as I rode. My mental map flickered in and out like a sputtering lamp whenever my horse’s hooves all left the ground at once, disconnecting me from the mana I had extended along the ground. When a hoof impacted the ground again, the image would jump ahead with updated information, only to disappear again a moment later. It created a strange slideshow effect in my head, and I closed my eyes to attempt to fight off the headache I felt coming.

  I slowed my pace before the scouts came into direct view. With my hood drawn, I traveled forward at a more casual speed in an effort to arouse as little suspicion as possible. The strategy proved to be of little use when the first rider spotted me and immediately called a halt to his party, stopping a few dozen yards away. “You there! Pull back your hood and stop, by order of the King!”

  My horse continued to trod forward slowly, and I hunched down to shield my face behind the courser’s neck. This apparently angered the guard, as he drew an arrow from the quiver on his back and nocked it in a bow aimed directly at me. “I won’t ask again! Stop immediately and reveal yourself, or—”

  I leaned back and pulled down my hood in a single, swift motion, then waved to the scouts. “Hello, gentlemen! How can I help you today?” I held up both of my hands to show that they were empty, though I knew they wouldn’t be for long.

  The realization came over the lead guard’s face far too late. “Get back to the wall!” he shouted as he loosed the arrow from his bow. “He’s coming!” I stayed perfectly still on my horse and watched the arrow fly wide of my head. “Damnit, Joss, go! We’ll hold him here!” The man at the rear of the group yanked hard on the reins of his horse and wheeled in a wild circle, desperately attempting to flee while his comrades pushed forward to cover his escape.

  His horse made it three steps away before its legs tensed and locked in place, and it collapsed sideways into the dirt on top of its rider. He screamed as the mass of the animal crushed his leg, but the weight didn’t last long; the horse had already regained its faculties by the time it hit the ground, and it struggled upright with a panicked bray before bolting back towards Atsal without its master. The guard’s companions turned to find the source of the screams, momentarily distracted from my movements.

  The conflict lasted only a few seconds. Summoning my sword, I spurred my horse ahead to the closest rider and leaned out with a horizontal slash that caught him in the back of the neck and killed him instantly. The remaining men had only just begun to turn back towards me when my blade ripped through the chest of the second man with another rising slice. My courser continued down the road, taking me out of melee range of the last guard, so I spun backwards in my saddle and threw my sword at him; it impacted center mass and knocked him to the ground, dead.

  I turned my horse around and returned to the scene, stopping him next to the scout with the broken leg. “Hey there, Joss,” I said with a hollow smile, “would you mind telling me where you were going in such a hurry?”

  “Fuck you!” he cursed, attempting to drag himself away, though he gave up the effort in short order with a pained yelp.

  I clicked my tongue in mocking disappointment as I slid from my saddle and crouched next to him. “Joss, I can fix your leg. Judging by the looks of it, that wound will never fully heal.” I tipped my head slowly to one side. “Unless you let me help you.”

  The conflict was clear on his face as he fought between what he knew was right and the overwhelming pain. After a few moments, he looked away and nodded. “Good! We’re getting somewhere,” I exclaimed. “Now Joss, before I do that, I’ll need you to promise me you won’t try to cut my throat or run away as soon as your leg is fixed. You wouldn’t do that, right?” I placed my hand gently on his injured femur, and he flinched and whined at the touch.

  “No, I promise! Just make it…” he trailed off, finally giving into the pain with a hard sob. “Make it stop!”

  Mana ran down my arm and suffused his leg, and I whistled at the severity of the injury. “Broken femur, fractured hip, severely dislocated, multiple torn ligaments. It’s a good thing I’m here,” I said, not missing the irony. The energy activated at my command, and his wounds began to mend. His face instantly softened as the pain began to recede, and the spell finished a few seconds later.

  “How did...what…?” he muttered, looking at his newly healed leg. “No. Primes help me, I don’t care. Anything to be rid of that.” He fell flat on his back and shook his head, eyes closed. “Ask your questions.”

  I pointed to the nearly decapitated man a few feet away. “That man told you to get back to the wall. Which wall is that? Atsal? What’s waiting for us there?”

  “No, not Atsal. The wall between us and Lybesa: the Mountain Gate.” He continued to rub his leg absentmindedly as he spoke. “We got a bird from the capital four days back. It said you were in a wagon, trying to flee the country through the Gate. We’ve been reinforcing it ever since.”

  “Surely your message also told you what happened to Third Company Commander Savitz, right?” I asked. “How many reinforcements will it take before you realize it’s not the quantity of the men, but the quality that matters?”

  He opened one eye and looked at me curiously. “Well, sure. But it’s not just foot soldiers; they’ve built whole towers just for the archers, they brought in barricades, even a damned ballista.” He closed his eye again and shrugged. “I’m not sure what you did to warrant a ballista, but clearly someone thinks it’s necessary.”

  The assessment brought a wicked smile to my face as I pictured Virram giving the orders in a shaking voice. “This has all been very enlightening, Joss. Thank you.”

  His eyes snapped open, and he pulled himself up onto his elbows in a sudden jerk. “What happens now? You’re going to let me go, right? I swear I won’t go back to the wall.” His eyes darted nervously between me and his dead compatriots in the road. “I can help you! I know plenty of stuff about the military that you could use. We can be friends! Right?”

  “Maybe in another life,” I said with a small sigh. My sword flashed to my hand, and I drove it straight down through his sternum before he had time to react. His body gave a few quick spasms as I withdrew the blade from his chest before falling still. With a quick flourish, I flicked the majority of his blood away, then sheathed the weapon and began to clear the road of bodies.

  When the task was completed, I remounted my horse and began the trip back to the wagon. I had kept the area within my Detection throughout my time away and was happy that the Corells had spent it bored and undisturbed. Likewise, I had felt Lia’s mana surrounding me on the trip, and her relief was palpable as I returned unharmed. “That didn’t take long,” she called out cheerfully from her seat on the edge of the wagon when I was within earshot. “Was the scout able to give you anything useful?”

  “Yes, he was,” I answered, dismounting my horse with a serious expression on my face. “They know we’re going to the Mountain Gate, and they’re ready for us.”

  ***

  4. THE MOUNTAIN GATE

  “I don’t like your
plan, Lux,” Marten grumbled.

  “Which part, specifically? The part where you stay safe in the wagon, or the part where we all escape to Lybesa?” While it seemed suicidal from an outside perspective, the plan I had laid out for our approach on the Mountain Gate was simple in my mind; Lia and I were to ride out ahead of the wagon and take down the Kaldanic forces entrenched at the gate, while Marin would take advantage of the chaos and drive straight through, unseen and unharassed.

  “The part where you take my daughter into the middle of a fortified army!” he exclaimed in frustration. “I know you’re a skilled fighter, and you’ve trained Marlia well, but what you’re suggesting isn’t possible. We can find another way into Lybesa.”

  “Oh, stop it!” Lia complained loudly. “You know better than anyone that the only way into Lybesa is through the Gate. Unless you want to throw away your wagon, your horse, and all of our belongings just so you can die trying to cross the Maw on foot, we’re going through the Mountain Gate!”

  “I would gladly give up everything I own if it means keeping you safe,” he shot back. “Besides, there are other ways through the Maw. I know a group of traders in Bale that make the trip twice a season; they would help us, I know it.”

  I shook my head. “The longer we stay in Kaldan, the more dangerous things get for us. It gives the military more time to block any other exits to the country that might exist, and more time to find us.” I tapped the edge of the wanted posters that sat on the floor with my foot. “Besides, with the amount of money our heads are worth, we can’t take the chance to trust anybody.”

  His face contracted with annoyance, and he uncrossed his arms to point at me. “You need to admit you’re not infallible. I don’t care how much confidence you have, you can’t take out a prepared military encampment by yourselves.”

  Lia leaned forward, pointing a finger of her own back at him. “No, YOU need to admit you’re too cowardly to take the risks we need to—”