Dispocalypse

by M. A. Rothman

  Willow squinted through the gloom, keeping focused on anything out of the ordinary: traps, ravines, anything that might harm her team.

  They continued forward for another fifteen minutes and aside from the sound of the evening crickets or the occasional caw of an unseen bird, she spied nothing of interest. Willow began worrying. Not only was the forest so dense that some of the larger students had to squeeze through the trees sideways, she wasn’t sure if she’d maybe missed their objective and was leading the team to a failure.

  The anxiety of being the cause for the team’s failure continued to build, when suddenly, Willow spied a patch of light through the gloom of the forest.

  She made an exaggerated circling motion with her hand, signifying to the team for everyone to gather closely. The clearing was roughly fifty-feet in diameter as Willow crept into the clearing with the team following close behind. One of the students shattered the eerie silence that hung over the clearing like a shroud. “There’s the guy we need to rescue!”

  Willow glared at Ralph and motioned for silence. She remembered his name only because he was the only one of Mister K’s students she’d ever met who was shorter than her. Her teacher had told her class about some of the rules of being a ranger within the Forbidding, and one of the primary rules was to remain silent. Maybe Mister K’s other class didn’t get that lesson. She’d had nightmares about creatures that haunt the Forbidding. There were monsters there that hunted almost exclusively by sound, and she’d been told it was one of the main reasons a ranger’s squad almost always remained deathly silent. Nobody wanted to attract their lethal attention.

  Ralph’s face turned red and he harrumphed as the others in the squad glared at him.

  Willow’s gaze shifted to the object that had caught Ralph’s attention. A large wooden archery dummy was lying on the ground, and as she crept closer, she noticed a hand-scrawled message attached to it.

  “Rescue me.”

  She studied the dummy and frowned as she glanced over her shoulder at the woods they’d just left. The object they were rescuing was built with his arms and legs spread-eagle. Willow tilted the dummy up by one of the legs and sighed. It was heavy. Really heavy. Willow realized that there was no way the team would be able to drag it through the dense woods they’d just snaked their way through.

  Derrick approached Willow and motioned to the south end of the clearing, roughly thirty-feet away.

  Willow gazed to the south and saw what looked like a wildlife trail. She nodded. It was probably their best bet. Hopefully they’d be able to cut directly south and shift to the west so that they could bring their “wounded soldier” back to Captain Rift and get this test over with.

  She caught the twins’ attention and held up four fingers, pointed to the dummy and made a chopping motion toward the south.

  They nodded and within seconds, they organized four of the largest students to lift the heavy wooden soldier and began trudging south.

  Even though the animal path took odd twists and turns, Willow felt grateful that it veered in the general direction she’d wanted to go.

  As they progressed, the woods thinned and she motioned once more for the team to spread out, with the four who were carrying the dummy trailing directly behind her. Willow continued scanning their path, and after another ten minutes of slow progress, she knew they were on the right track. She motioned to the twins and pointed at more of the hidden buckets up in the trees.

  After spending a few minutes diffusing the traps that their instructors had laid, she began worrying about the time. It was definitely darker than when they’d started, and being in the middle of the woods, Willow couldn’t see where the sun was.

  Despite her nervousness, she pushed forward at a careful pace. She let out a low whistle and pointed at another set of buckets. She groaned silently as the team had to spend a few precious minutes gathering vines and diffusing the traps. She could almost sense the sun dipping lower on the unseen horizon.

  It seemed like an eternity, but only a few minutes after they’d begun advancing toward the southwest again, her heart skipped a beat as she saw the first hints of another clearing. She smiled, knowing that they were almost on top of their objective when Ralph suddenly broke silence again and announced, “There’s the clearing!”

  He shot forward just as Willow spied a suspicious web of vines stretching directly ahead at ankle height.

  Willow took a diving leap as Ralph rushed forward and yelled, “Stop!”

  She caught him by his right foot, but not before he’d managed to snap a vine and Willow heard a whistling sound just as a fist-sized rock smashed onto her head.

  Her vision turned red with fury as she staggered backward while a dozen or more stones dropped within a ten-foot radius, most of them landing directly onto Ralph.

  Gritting her teeth, she motion for everyone to gather around her. Everyone stared wide-eyed at her and she studied the path ahead, looking for other similar traps.

  Ralph had clearly been knocked unconscious and Willow reached down and grabbed one of his arms while Derrick took the other and began dragging him forward.

  Willow wiped her face of the sweat stinging her eyes and was shocked to see her arm coated with red.

  Oh crap! I’m bleeding.

  With a huff, she trudged forward as the rest of the team fell in behind her.

  Moments later, they exited the woods and to her great relief, she spied both Captain Rift as well as the sun still peeking over the horizon behind him.

  As the team arrived within earshot of their instructor, he yelled, “Congratulations Team A, it looks like most of you have passed.”

  Captain Rift frowned as his gaze shifted to Ralph who they’d laid face-up on the ground. He had a big lump on his forehead along with a couple of cuts and scrapes. The captain motioned to Derrick and Eric, “You twins, take sleeping beauty to the infirmary. And when he wakes, tell him that I’d not have graded him as passing.”

  “Sir, yes sir!” The twins lifted Ralph and dragged him back toward the Academy grounds.

  The captain shifted his gaze to Willow and shook his head. “I’m afraid you’d have failed as well, Miss Park.”

  Willow’s heart sank as the word “failed” rattled in her head.

  “Getting injured, letting others on your team get injured—”

  “But, Sir!” One of her team members raised his hand as he shook his head. “Willow kept the team from almost all of the traps and it was Ralph’s fault that she even got injured. He didn’t follow protocol and shot ahead of the squad. She tried to stop him and got beaned with a rock for her trouble.”

  The others on the team nodded silently as Captain Rift stared at them with a frown. “Okay, I’ve heard you.” He pointed at the dummy, which the others had put on the ground. “Take the practice dummy back to the archery fields. Class is dismissed.”

  With a leaden stride, Willow turned away from the captain and was about to join the others as Captain Rift’s gravelly voice called, “Miss Park, may I have a word?”

  She turned back toward the captain and Willow was surprised to see him carrying an amused expression.

  “I’ll admit I didn’t believe Krauthammer when he told me about you. A female soldier, hah! Well, Miss Park ... your reputation seems to be well-earned. I’d personally look forward to seeing you report into one of my platoons someday.”

  Stunned, Willow stared wordlessly for a few seconds before asking, “So, I didn’t fail?”

  Captain Rift gave her a warm smile along with a soft chuckle. “Soldier, I think you’ll set a great example for the troops.” He shook his head. “In the Forbidding, our lives depend on discipline–you’ve simply experienced why a squad cannot tolerate an undisciplined soldier. No, Miss Park, you didn’t fail.”

  He cleared his throat and motioned in the direction of the Academy. “Now get your ass to the infirmary. We don’t need that gash getting infected.”

  A Spring Break Like No Other

 
Sitting across from Tristan in the eating hall, Willow brushed her hair back and showed him the six stitches she’d gotten near her hairline. “It’s really not that big of a deal,” Willow explained as he stared at her with a worried expression. “It looks worse than it feels.” Even though her stitches were completely covered by her hair, the swelling and bruise that spread down to her left cheek had caught Tristan’s attention.

  “I wish I’d been...” Tristan stumbled over his words. “I can’t stand the thought of you having gotten hurt.”

  Shoving aside his plate of roasted chicken with carrots, Tristan reached across the table and was about to touch Willow’s cheek, when she flicked his hand away from her face. She felt the burning embarrassment of stares from the students at nearby tables and hissed so only he could hear, “Tristan! I can take care of myself and don’t need anyone to protect me.”

  “For hell’s sake, Willow! I didn’t say you needed me to protect you. I just ... I just wished I’d been there.”

  Looking at the expression on Tristan’s face, Willow knew she’d hurt his feelings. There was something about sitting alone at a table with Tristan that set her on edge. Even though the cafeteria was completely full of students, their table, which normally sat six, had four conspicuously empty spots. Willow knew that there was nothing other than a friendship between her and Tristan, but the entire school seemed to think otherwise.

  “Sorry.” Willow took a deep breath and tried to release some of the tension she felt bunching up inside her. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just frustrated that I even got hit.” Wanting to change subjects, she asked, “What are your plans for spring break?”

  Tristan’s eyes widened and a sly smile lightened his expression. “Funny you should ask.” He took a sip of his hot-mulled apple cider and cleared his throat. “Well, I think it’s your turn to come visit my house.”

  A chill shot through her and she blurted, “I can’t do that!”

  He gave a barely perceptible shake of his head. “That’s not exactly fair. I’d asked you to come over for Winter Break and you countered with wanting me to come to your place instead.” Placing his elbows on the table, he rested his chin on his hands and asked, “So, please, tell me why you can’t.”

  Willow struggled with her thoughts. He was right. He’d asked and she’d put him off. But, now what? Any normal person would jump at the chance to visit the Governor’s home. But she couldn’t stand the thought of being face-to-face with the Governor, Tristan’s father, the person who’d adversely affected so many lives, including her own.

  As if Tristan were reading her thoughts, he noted, “I doubt Dad or my oldest brother, Karl will be there. That’s normally when they’re touring the southern farmlands.”

  No Governor. Just Tristan and the others he’d grown up with? An irrepressible curiosity welled up inside of Willow as she looked at Tristan’s kind face. Knowing that she didn’t have a reason not to, she blew out the breath she’d been holding and gave him a curt nod. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”

  “Awesome!” Tristan exclaimed loudly as he sat up straight in his seat, his brilliant smile seeming to brighten the room. “I normally dread being home with hardly anyone to talk to. It’ll be great having you there.”

  Willow harrumphed as she felt everyone staring in their direction, leaned forward, and whispered, “Let’s just keep this to ourselves, okay?”

  Not even acknowledging her request, Tristan prattled excitedly. “I’ll show you the Dominion market, the training grounds, the ...”

  Melanie wrapped her arm around Willow’s as she led her to the Academy market and whispered excitedly, “I can’t believe you’re going to the Governor’s mansion. That’s just too awesome.”

  “Mel!” Willow hissed under her breath. “The only reason I even told you is because I didn’t exactly bring anything fancy, and even I know that I’m all thumbs when it comes to making decent clothes.”

  The strong scent of freshly-tanned leather greeted Willow as they entered the Academy’s supply shop. Mel steered Willow toward the bolts of fabric. “How much can you spend?”

  Willow only had the equivalent of five silver pieces, which was the same as fifty copper or five-hundred wooden Dominion chits. Knowing that she wasn’t about to go crazy and spend all of her money just to impress Tristan, who she suspected probably didn’t even care what she wore, Willow blurted, “I don’t want to spend more than one silver.”

  “You like challenging me, don’t you?” Mel sighed and pointed at one of the bolts of shimmering gray fabric. “I guess silk is out of the question.”

  Willow rolled her eyes. “You’d think you were born a Dominion girl. Who in their right mind would have an entire dress made from silk?”

  “Hah!” Mel laughed. “You really have no clue about this stuff, do you? If you wanted to make a dress completely from silk, you’re talking almost one gold. I was just thinking that if you wanted to spend one or two more silver, I could make something really nice with a silk-trimmed crossover neckline or maybe have a lovely train for the back of the dress—”

  “Mel, that’s insane! I just want something that hangs nicely and isn’t totally impractical.”

  Mel shook her head and groaned as she shifted her gaze from the silk to the other bolts of neutral-gray cloth of differing quality.

  Suddenly, Willow worried as she envisioned some of the varying lengths of dresses she’d seen worn by others and realized that she’d never really worn one before. “How long should the dress be? What’s proper?”

  Mel looked up from a bolt of cloth she’d been examining and gave a sly grin. “Your dress should be long enough to cover what’s necessary, but short enough to keep him interested.”

  “Mel! I’m not dressing for him. I just don’t want to embarrass myself by looking like a total loser. If I should find a reason for me to wear something nicer than normal, I want something available.”

  The haunting memory of one of Grandpa Lin’s sayings crawled out of some infrequently visited corner of her mind. “In a world that is constantly trying to change you, being yourself is a great achievement.”

  “Mel, just help me not look like a fool. I’ve only got a week before spring break.”

  Willow gripped the saddle with her legs as Charger hopped over a fallen log and upon landing, Willow cringed as she felt the soreness on her backside. She leaned forward, into Tristan’s back, and asked, “How much farther today?”

  Tristan pointed to the rising path ahead. “Just over that hill, we should see New Town. It’s a small town that has a selection of decent inns and good stables that I’ve used before.”

  Leaning the side of her face against Tristan’s back, Willow felt exhausted and sore. Considering that they’d left at the break of dawn and it was almost sundown, she couldn’t imagine how Charger managed to carry them the whole way with only a few stops for water and food.

  Tristan twisted in his saddle and yelled to the men following them, “Can one of you go to the Rose and Thorn and arrange for rooms?”

  Following behind them was the ever-present clanking of metal against metal, a half-dozen soldiers escorting the two through the Dominion’s precincts. They were Tristan’s people. Willow heard the sound of a horse trot forward and a deep voice asked, “Lord Vanden-Plas, will you and your guest take a single room or separate ones?”

  “Two rooms,” Tristan immediately responded. “Make sure they’re both in decent shape.”

  Willow raised her head from Tristan’s back just as the large steel-wrapped soldier nodded. “Understood, my lord.”

  The soldier’s horse whinnied and launched forward in a near-gallop as Willow asked, “How much will the room be?”

  Tristan laughed and shook his head. “Don’t worry. Let’s just say that room and board is one of the fringe benefits of my last name.”

  “That doesn’t seem right—” Willow gulped as she wished she could take those words back. He’s a Vanden-Plas! Being a merchant, Willow could
n’t imagine why an innkeeper would give away rooms. Her comment almost implied that Tristan was doing something he shouldn’t. Before Willow could let her runaway mouth cause her any further trouble, Tristan harrumphed.

  “I know what you mean.” He patted Willow’s right knee while keeping his eyes on the trail ahead. “In fact, a year ago I felt guilty enough about staying there without paying that I offered the innkeeper some money and he practically laughed at me.”

  “Laughed at you?”

  “Well, not really laughed–but the way they tried to explain it in as simple terms as possible, I think they were convinced I was one of the least intelligent of the Vanden-Plas children.”

  “Alright, maybe I’m not getting it either. Explain it to me!” Willow playfully poked Tristan in his ribs.

  Tristan chuckled. “It’s simple, really. Evidently, because I’ve stayed there, the inn gets to advertise that the governor’s family sleeps at their place. A so-to-speak ‘seal of approval’ that attracts more customers to them. Anyway, they managed to assuage my guilt over getting free room and board by making it clear it was the least they could do for all the added business they’d get from my having stayed there.”

  Charger crested the hill and Willow looked over Tristan’s shoulder. A vast valley spread ahead of them, and the town that nestled in the midst of large tracts of farmland was easily ten times the size of New Memphis. “I thought you said this was a small town?”

  “Compared to the capitol city it is.”

  “How much further will it be before we get to your house?”

  Tristan flicked the reins and nudged Charger forward at a faster pace. “Well, we managed nearly fifty miles today and Charger doesn’t seem any worse for wear with us both on him. I’ll make sure he’s okay in the morning, but if we keep up the pace, it shouldn’t take more than another two maybe three days to get into the Capitol District. Once we’ve entered the Capitol, we’ll end up being taken the rest of the way by a more formal escort.”