by Hans Bezdek
“This is my prisoner,” explained Xylona. “Lord Kutarm enlisted me to track him down, and now I’m on my way to return him.”
“Why is he not bound?”
“This guy’s into some freaky stuff,” mumbled Zeke.
“I’ve got complete control over my captive, thank you very much,” said Xylona, ignoring Zeke. “We fae have a certain way of handling ourselves and don’t need to rely on such barbaric methods.”
The captain gestured forward. The four men flanking him dismounted, careful to keep their torches away from their horses.
“What is the meaning of this?!” demanded Xylona.
“I have reason to suspect that you and your prisoner are up to something,” said the captain. “My men will perform a search of your persons to make sure everything is in order.”
“What reasons!” cried out Xylona, their horse taking a few steps back from the men.
“Your lack of respect towards Lord Kutarm. Your suspicious prisoner, if that is what he is. And, in general, I just don’t trust fae.”
This wasn’t looking good. Being Xylona’s prisoner was one thing, but being taken by Kutarm’s people would be far worse. Even if the Arcane Staff wasn’t working, they might decide to take him to Kutarm right away. Zeke needed to think of something quick. There was that one thing that helped him out before…
“Am I being detained?!” shouted Zeke, pointing at the approaching men. “Am I being detained!?”
“Yes,” said the captain, coughing slightly. “Yes, you are.”
“Oh…”
Zeke was officially out of ideas.
The captain’s coughing didn’t stop. He brought his hands up around his neck, patting at it frantically. As Zeke looked closer, he could just make out in the dark a black circle around the man’s neck.
Zeke might have been out of ideas, but that didn’t mean Xylona was.
The men stopped moving forward, all turning to watch their leader.
“C-Captain?” asked one of the men. “Are you okay?”
“Back off the horse,” whispered Xylona.
“Excuse me?” asked Zeke.
“I can’t guarantee I can protect you where we’re at,” she replied. “It’s better if you run back down the road. I’ll come to pick you up when I’m done here.”
Zeke suppressed a smile. Was she really letting him out of her sight? This was the moment he had been waiting for!
“G-Get… them!” sputtered the captain, pointing at Zeke and Xylona.
Xylona lifted the man into the air with her magic. After choking him a few seconds longer, she chucked him off into the woods to their left. Even if he wasn’t dead, he wasn’t going to be posing a problem anytime soon.
“Kill them!” shouted one of the men, the first to break out of their stupor. The man dropped his torch and pulled an axe off of his back. This seemed to get the rest of the men's’ attention, who quickly went for their own weapons.
A black circle appeared around the most prepared guard’s neck, picking him up into the air. The guard struggled for breath, clawing at the magic in vain. The guard next to him, in an attempt to help his friend, charged forward while pulling out a long sword.
Xylona reached her other hand out towards the approaching guard, her eye’s suddenly growing darker. The rushing guard came to a dead stop, dropping his axe and grabbing at his chest. To both Zeke and the guard’s surprise, a black spear had appeared in front of the man. To both of their surprises again, the man had impaled himself.
It looked like Xylona was handling this even better than he expected her to. Zeke decided there was no better time than now, and slid off the back of the horse. He took off at a sprint behind them, aiming for the edge of the road.
Zeke made it to the treeline, glancing back to see if Xylona had finished with the men yet.
The man who took the spear to the chest was twitching on the ground. Another of the men was now clawing at his neck, while the first was slumped over and not moving. It looked like Zeke was going to have to hurry if he wanted to put enough distance behind him.
He turned to continue running but stopped. The last of the men was sneaking around Xylona and the horse. His axe by his side, he was slowly approaching the two from the rear. It looked like she hadn’t noticed him at all.
Zeke hesitated. If she didn’t know the man was there, she was done for. Would that be so bad, though? She had kept him as a prisoner, and there was no telling what would happen after they killed Kutarm, assuming they accomplished that much.
He wanted to leave, but…
“Ugh!” groaned Zeke, reaching for Lucky.
He couldn’t just let her die. Zeke looked down for the blade, the scabbard at a weird angle from when he got off the horse and ran. Instead, of focusing on Lucky’s hilt, his eyes locked on his hand.
It was glowing purple.
What was happening? How was he able to use the power of his Arcane Staff without holding it? Looking over his shoulder, he saw it still wasn’t glowing at the top. His mind filled with a million other questions, but the last of Kutarm’s men was in the process of raising his axe over his head.
Zeke reached his hand out, aiming for the man. When he figured he didn’t have any more time to make sure the shot was perfect, he squinted his eyes and urged the magic to fire.
A beam of purple energy blasted out of Zeke’s hand. Xylona turned back as the man’s axe came down towards her, but it never made contact. Instead, Zeke’s beam barreled into the center of the man. The purple magic pushed him deep into the forest, bringing down trees as the man and the beam went.
The purple glow dissipated from Zeke’s hand and he lowered it, stunned by the attack. It looked like it might have been even more powerful than when he did the same with the Fourth Staff.
Xylona stared back at him, her jaw hanging open.
Zeke thought that was an appropriate response.
Chapter 9
Sloane’s friends and the man that had seen Zeke were the only people left in the tavern part of the inn. Everyone else had run out to go and fight the invaders, which Sloane was sure was the Linsuk Resistance coming from Burston.
“W-Why do you all look so calm?!” demanded the man.
“This is sort of our fault,” admitted Sloane.
“The Resistance is here,” explained Kriket.
“B-But why?” asked the man. “T-They haven’t gone into Lord Kutarm’s territory before! At least, not around here!”
“It’ll take too long to explain, but basically we are trying to get to that elf you saw earlier,” said Sloane. As if the man wasn’t nervous enough, she decided to add one more thing. “The fate of Linsuk could depend on it.”
The man gasped and covered his mouth.
The distant sound of metal clashing against metal began to grow slightly louder. There were plenty of shouting voices around, but most were barking orders to hurry to the town’s eastern entrance. The battle must be in full swing now, and it was just a matter of time before the Resistance pushed deeper into Westdale.
“Looks like we won’t be getting any sleep,” mumbled Delvin.
That was certainly going to be true. There was no reason to stay at the inn any longer. They needed to get to their horses and join the fight.
Sloane gave the man a hard gaze. “You should either hide, or sneak your way to the front to fight with the rest of the Resistance.”
“O-Okay,” he nodded, getting up. The man ran for the back door, visibly shaking. Sloane could tell the man never thought the day would come when he had to fight. It looked like today was that day, and he didn’t know how to handle it. “H-Hide it is!”
Well… she didn’t know what she expected.
Sloane got to her feet and sprinted to the front. “We’ve got to get to the horses, come on!”
She didn’t wait for the other two, instead running for the stable. The streets around the inn and stable were fairly barren, just a couple of men running to and fro. The sound of
war was getting closer and louder, and Sloane felt a smile on her lips. There was something about the thrill of battle.
Sloane reached the horses and pulled them out. They didn’t get as much rest as she hoped they would, but it was better than nothing. Another horse was still in the stable, this one nearly twice the size of Sloane’s. For being so large, it was surprisingly well mannered. Sloane took it, too. She might’ve felt guilty about it, but they needed the extra one for Delvin and it was probably an enemy’s horse. She certainly didn’t want it being used to catch up to them later if things didn’t go in the Resistance’s favor here.
Kriket and Delvin finally caught up as she pulled out the final one. Kriket wheezed some as he caught his breath, resting a hand on his side.
“Took you two long enough,” said Sloane.
“Cardio is not really my thing,” grumbled Kriket.
“You moved fast against those demons,” she replied.
“If my life is in danger, my reflexes just take over,” he shrugged. “I don’t have much control over that.”
“If you say so,” said Sloane, not interested in wasting any more time talking about how out of shape the lizardman was. “Delvin, this one will be for you.”
“They didn’t have a smaller one?” asked Delvin, looking extremely disappointed.
“Unfortunately this is all that’s left.”
“Why don’t I trade with one of you?” he asked.
“I’ve grown attached to mine,” said Kriket with a shake of his head.
“And I’ve never ridden one this large,” said Sloane.
“Neither have I!” contested Delvin.
“But you’ve never really ridden horses before, so it’s not going to hold you back any more than any other horse would,” pointed out Sloane.
Delvin groaned but didn’t put up any more of a fight.
“What’s the plan?” asked Kriket. “Are we helping here or running after Zeke?”
Sloane blinked. She hadn’t thought about it, but there were pros to doing either of those. If they stayed and fought, they could make sure Westdale was won and maybe speed things up a bit. She also wasn’t a fan of missing out on a fight. If they went after Zeke, they’d possibly be able to catch up to him soon. It sounded like they weren’t too far behind.
“What do you two want to do?” she asked.
“My vote would be go after Zeke,” answered Kriket. “What about you?”
“I’d lean towards staying and fighting,” Sloane said.
“Ha! Told you so!” cheered Delvin, holding a hand out towards the lizardman.
“Huh?” asked Sloane. “What are you talking about?”
Kriket sighed and placed a gold piece in Delvin’s tiny hand. “He bet me a gold that you’d want to fight over going after Zeke.”
“I knew it!” squealed Delvin.
“I’m glad the two of you are having so much fun, but can we make a decision on this?” asked Sloane, getting annoyed. “Delvin, you’re the tie breaker. What’s it going to be?”
Delvin smiled. “That’s easy. We’ve got to go after Zeke. There’s no telling when that fae will get sick of him and kill him!”
Sloane couldn’t argue with that logic. “Alright, let’s get out of here.”
The three mounted their horses, Delvin with some help from the other two. They took it slow at first as they made their way towards the road leading to Stedforge, trying to give Delvin some time to get the hang of controlling his new ride. Sloane was impressed that the gnome seemed to be guiding the horse perfectly but suspected that had more to do with the horse than its inexperienced rider.
They finally arrived at the road out of town as Delvin gained some confidence. Sloane thought that was a good sign of things to come.
“Halt!” cried out a voice in front of them.
Sloane guessed she was wrong.
A woman wearing blue and black approached them, flanked by six other guards. They all had hands resting on their hilts, and none of them looked friendly. The woman guard eyed Kriket and Delvin with a surprising amount of hatred.
Sloane and the others slowed to a stop. The guards were blocking their way, and getting past them risked injuring their mounts. Maybe they’d manage to get out of this without things escalating too much.
“What are the three of you doing!?” demanded a female guard.
“Just passing through,” said Kriket.
“Likely story,” she spat, glaring at the lizardman.
Sloane spoke up, hoping to have more luck with the racist guards. “We honestly are just making our way through town. It sounds like a battle is going on, and we have no desire to get caught up in it.”
“It’s too late for that,” said the woman, shaking her head. “All occupants of Westdale must fight on behalf of Lord Kutarm against the invaders. That includes visitors.”
“But this isn’t our fight,” lied Sloane.
The woman pulled out her blade, as did the six men behind her. “I don’t think you understand. You will either fight with us, or that means you will be fighting against us! Choose your next words wisely!”
Sloane and the other exchanged looks.
“I guess we don’t have much of a choice,” shrugged Delvin.
“Looks like you’re getting your way after all, Sloane,” wheezed Kriket with laughter.
“I’m glad to hear you all are coming to your senses,” smirked the female guard, completely misunderstanding the situation.
Sloane pulled out her bow and nocked an arrow. “Where can you most use us? We can head there right away.”
The female guard gestured off to their right side with her sword. “You’re going to want to go to-”
Sloane pulled back on her bow’s string and quickly took aim at the woman. She let her arrow fly, immediately reaching for another and changing targets. The female guard never knew what hit her, collapsing backward from the force of the arrow that killed her.
The six other guards paused, shocked by the sudden death of their leader. In that brief moment, an eight foot tall demon with blades along its arms suddenly appeared in front of them.
“W-What the?!” cried out one of the men, losing his nerve and running away.
Two of the other men raised their blades at the demon, taking worried steps towards it. None of them seemed to know what to do with the creature. Sloane thought the choice of illusions was a good one by Delvin. These men were used to fighting alongside the creatures, and wouldn’t want to immediately strike at it. She took the opportunity to fire another arrow, taking out another of the guards.
Kriket jumped from his horse and onto the guard closest to him. The man cried out as he tried to push the lizardman off of him, but it was no use. Kriket pulled one of his curved blades out from behind him, making quick work of the defenseless man.
In the turmoil, one of the men rushed past the illusion and for Delvin. The gnome cried out, but Sloane wasn’t needed. Instead, his giant horse kicked the guard square in the face, sending the man onto his back. The guard made a whimpering noise as he grabbed his face, but made no attempt to get back up.
The two remaining guards that were based with the fake demon shared a look. The two dropped their weapons in unison and ran away, following in the direction of the first coward.
“Should we run them down?” asked Kriket, walking back over to his horse.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Sloane said, shaking her head. “They don’t have their weapons. I doubt they’ll cause anyone any more problems.”
“Works for me,” said the lizardman, getting back on his mount. “I’m ready to get moving if you two are.”
Sloane glanced over at Delvin and smirked. “You good to keep going, or should we spend time finding you another ride?”
“You know, this horse is kind of growing on me,” laughed Delvin, patting the side of the creature. “I think I’ll stick with this one.”
Chapter 10
Zeke slowly made his way back
towards Xylona. He vaguely remembered that he was going to try and escape her, but after somehow using the Fourth Staff’s magic without the help of the weapon, he wasn’t exactly thinking straight. Besides, now that all of Kutarm’s men were dead or incapacitated, Xylona would catch up to him in no time if he fled.
“That was incredible…” said Xylona, a stunned look on her face as she trotted the horse over to get a better look at the wreckage Zeke made in the forest.
“The Arcane Staves aren’t renowned for nothing,” mumbled Zeke, staring at his hands. Could he summon the magic like that again, or was it a fluke? And why didn’t it recharge the Staff?
“Apparently not,” nodded the fae in agreement. She looked Zeke over as he made it to the horse, her brow furrowed. “I didn’t see you put the Arcane Staff on your back again. Come to think of it, it sort of looked like you did all that with just your hand…”
“Ha, I wish!” said Zeke, laughing nervously.
Xylona didn’t look particularly convinced.
“I was pretty far from you,” shrugged Zeke. “You were also a bit preoccupied. I’m not that surprised you didn’t see me pull the Staff out. “
The fae eyed him as he got back on the horse behind her. “I suppose you’re probably right. I don’t see why you’d lie to me, anyway.”
Zeke wasn’t sure why he was, either. Maybe it was because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to summon that power again. Maybe it was because he was worried she’d not take it well, or would challenge him to a fight. Or maybe it was because he just had a bad habit of lying, and it just felt easier than explaining the truth.
Eh, probably wasn’t that last one.
“What’s the plan now?” he asked the fae.
“The same as it was,” she replied, nudged the horse to continue on the road. “We can stop when we make it to Stedforge. I don’t want to risk anyone from the Resistance running into us while we’re sleeping.”
“That would sure be a shame,” said Zeke dryly.
“You just saw what I was capable of,” said Xylona, glancing back at him. “Do you really want some of your friends fighting me?”
