by Justin Sloan
It was Stone, and for some reason he was wearing boiled leather beneath a robe of thick wool instead of the Order’s armor. It was a few steps up from what Alastar was wearing, but still out of place and confusing.
“You come up on me again, I’ll snatch out your beady little eyes,” the woman shrieked at the guard.
Stone licked his lips, eyes darting between the guards, the woman, and Alastar.
Out of nowhere, the woman turned, grabbed Stone by the back of his bald head, and pulled him into a big kiss, then grabbed his crotch.
“See?” she shouted to the guards, as if she’d just proven something in court. “Just minding my business with my man, and you come in here causing trouble. You need to get knocked on your arses.”
“Dear,” Stone removed her hand and shot Alastar a sheepish grin, then wrapped an arm around the woman and turned to the guards. “Do we have a problem here?”
The guard didn’t even hesitate. He looked at the crowd, eyes full of fury, and came at Stone.
In one quick motion, Stone had the woman behind him and had drawn his longsword. The crowd gasped, recognizing that sword as a paladin’s by its jewel-encrusted hilt. He swung it once, and they pressed back as much as possible. The action gave the guard reason to double-think the attack, but by then three more city guards were at his side and they advanced on Stone.
“A little help?” Stone asked, with a glance at Alastar.
He wasn’t given much of a choice, because one of the guards came at him, assuming he was part of it. That was fine; Alastar would never leave Stone to fight on his own.
As the guard swung his baton, Alastar spun into the attack, coming up inside the guard’s arms and connecting with an elbow to the face before disarming him. He snatched the stock out of the air as it fell, then cracked the guard across the head with it, dropping him.
This was not a great start to fitting into the city.
Meanwhile, Stone had just disarmed one of his attackers and caught him with a fist across the face. He came at the next and parried a blow before smacking the man over the head with his sword.
“The next strike will be with the sharp end,” he warned, as Alastar stepped up beside him.
“I advise you to run,” Alastar warned them.
The men took a moment to debate, then one of them broke off.
“Bring reinforcements,” the other guard said, but the doubt in his eyes showed he wasn’t completely sure that was what the man would do. Alastar caught sight of Rhona and Estair just then at the back of the crowd, climbing up on a table to see what was happening.
He gestured for them to get out of there, but the guard looked at them and then back to him, fury growing in his eyes. “
“Shoulda known you’d be with them,” the guard growled, and he charged Alastar.
“Big mistake.” Stone plowed into him, striking him first with the hilt of his sword, then pinning him to the ground with the sword’s tip at his throat. “Anyone else here want to bump into my girl?”
The woman with the wild hair whooped at this, then stepped up and kicked the guard in the face. Alastar flinched, wondering if that was necessary, and called, “Let’s get out of here!”
Stone debated, looking at the crowd, then saw another group of guards running their way.
“Come on, lass!” He joined her in giving the guard another kick, and then turned to follow Alastar.
Estair and Rhona had disappeared from sight, but when Alastar pushed past several people to get to the side entrance, Rhona was there motioning for them to hurry as Estair checked around the corner.
Alastar glanced at Stone. He had a million questions racing through his mind, but knew that now wasn’t the right time.
“Make for the shore,” Rhona said, “but first we go away from it to keep them off our backs.”
The others followed, Estair hissing that the guards were coming this way.
“I don’t suppose you have a boat?” Alastar asked his former brother.
Stone shook his head and asked, “Who’re your friends? And please explain the outfits.”
Alastar turned a corner, sped down the alley, and saw Rhona disappearing around another turn.
“It’s a long story,” he replied, leaping over a bucket of waste and wincing as he heard one of the others knock it over. It was Stone’s friend, and she was cringing, frozen in place.
“We have to keep moving,” Estair exhorted her, darting past, “if you’re with us. Otherwise, I couldn’t care less.”
“Come on!” Stone told his lady-friend, pulling her along.
Alastar turned to see Rhona ahead of them, glancing from side to side frantically, and a moment later he saw the reason. Three guards appeared, while the shouting of more guards came from behind them.
Rhona shared a glance with Alastar and got a slight nod, so she closed her eyes, held out her hands, and began to weave them before her. It was as if the shadows in the alley, already heavy from the setting sun, shifted and then reformed around them in strange patterns.
“Where the hell did they go?” one guard shouted as he ran right at them. Alastar braced himself, but a moment later the guard continued past, shouting for the others to keep up. They all thundered by, though Stone tripped the last one and grinned, waiting.
The guard stood up, confused, and turned to catch up. Baffled shouting came from the direction they had gone, as they must have run into the other pursuing guards.
Alastar instantly focused his own energy, centering on Rhona and sending his healing prayer—or what he had once thought a prayer, but now knew was magic.
She blinked, eyes returning to normal, and Estair motioned them on.
“Magic?” Stone caught up with Alastar, pulling the woman along. “So it’s true, what they’ve been saying about your sister.”
Alastar nodded. “If you’ve got a problem, you can turn right around.”
Stone grinned. “You’re not the only one with a secret,” he declared, nodding to his woman.
She sneered, not saying anything.
“You wanted to know about a boat?” Stone asked.
“Tell me you have one.”
Stone shook his head. “I don’t, but I know a thing or two about sailing one.”
“Meaning?”
“We just have to steal one, and we’re good.”
Alastar laughed. “Great. Using magic, deception, and now stealing.”
“We make fine paladins, don’t we?” Stone agreed, and then he smiled widely, charging forward with a new vigor.
It was so unlike anything he’d ever seen this man do, Alastar thought. Back at the Order of Rodrick, Stone had gotten his name for his harsh expressions and inability to show emotion, not just for the hard look in his gray eyes.
Now he was full of energy and ready to take on the world, and Alastar liked it.
They came out at the shore and Rhona and Estair finally paused, looking at them like they were crazy.
“What happened back there?” Estair asked.
“This isn’t good,” Rhona added, then noticed Stone, realized who it was, and nodded. But when she saw the woman, her mouth dropped. “Tina?”
Alastar blinked, not understanding how this could possibly be the servant woman from the castle. But when he imagined her in servant robes with her hair pulled back in a bun under the cloth servants often wore rather than this flowing red dress, he could almost see it.
“Stone, you’ve been a bad boy.” Alastar chuckled.
“Why do I sense a bit of judgment in your voice?” Stone nodded to Estair. “You haven’t explained yourself yet.”
Tina blushed at the attention, but Estair cut in.
“Boys, we don’t have time for this. The weapons are back in the room, right?” When Alastar nodded, she held out her hand for the key. “Rhona and I will get them and find you at the docks, where you will have commandeered a ship.”
“I like her spunk,” Stone exclaimed.
“And I like your a
bility to sail, if what you said is true. So get to it.”
Alastar handed over the key, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and ran after Stone and Tina.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Rhona and Estair darted up to the hotel room, threw open the door after unlocking it, and flung themselves into the room as another door opened. They didn’t want anyone who might have been involved out there spotting them and reporting them to the city guard.
“Who’s this Tina character?” Estair asked, attaching two short swords to her belt and putting the belt around her waist, then grabbing her bow, quiver, and bundle of food.
Rhona put her own short swords in their sheaths, then took her bundle and tossed her brother’s to Estair.
“You’ll have to carry that one, too. I’ll grab his sword.” It was heavy, but she managed it.
“And the girl?”
“Tina was a friend, a servant from the castle, and Stone was one of the paladins.”
Estair smiled.
“What?”
“Just… I enjoy seeing these ‘holier than thou’ guys reveal their true natures,” Estair told her. She opened the door and checked the hallway, then reached back for the second bundle and headed down the hall.
Rhona followed, doing her best to move quickly with the heavy sword, and once they were outside, they tried to ignore the glances they drew.
“You realize that if the guards spot us we’re screwed,” Estair remarked.
“Well, more like they’re screwed,” Rhona corrected her. “Because… I mean, I’ll just magic their arses.”
Estair laughed. “Your brother is the healer, and if I don’t have it in me, I’m sure as hell not dragging you to the boat.”
Rhona nodded, and they made a dash for it.
Halfway there, Alastar appeared. He ran to them and said, “Change of plans!”
“What? What do you mean?”
He took his sword and food bundle from them and said, “Guards showed up, so we had to get the boat moving, but they’ll catch you if you come to the shore, so…”
“And if they sail away without us?” Estair asked, eyes wide with panic.
“Not something I’m even going to consider,” Alastar replied, and motioned for them to follow him.
They ran south toward the other end of the city, and then Rhona caught on. A small sailboat was moving along the water, its single mast waving as it struggled to get ahold of itself, and then she saw what they were planning.
“You can’t be serious,” she gasped. “No way.”
“Just have to time it right,” Alastar reassured her.
Estair glanced back at the two of them, still running. “What are you to talking about?”
“There.” Rhona pointed to a building that jutted out over the water. “We’re jumping.”
Estair didn’t look back again, but Rhona could easily imagine the confusion and shock in her eyes.
The boat was coming their way, sure enough, but the wind meant it had to keep tacking toward them and then away. They were lucky this was a cliff face at high tide rather than a typical beach—at any other time of day, there was no way this would have worked.
“It’s our only shot,” Alastar told them, glancing to their right.
When Rhona followed his line of sight, she saw a line of city guards running their way. They had apparently just spotted them because they changed direction, shouting and pointing at the three.
“AHHH!” Alastar shouted as he jumped onto the ledge of the building and ran around to the side that stuck out, a metallic structure that had once jutted out farther but now had broken off and been built upon. He moved, flailing his arms, and with a final shout of, “Come on!” was in the air screaming. He landed just short of the boat.
“DAMN!” Rhona shrieked, seeing it happen, but it was too late, she was committed.
Estair was next to her, and they both jumped at the same time. Rhona wasn’t taking any chances and, not seeing any other choice, let instinct take over. She felt herself going weak, her mind spinning, dizzy. The shadows leapt out of the water, consuming her and Estair, and then it was like she was yanked down, screaming, thinking they would be consumed by the water to never see the light of day again. Except that they suddenly landed on the deck of the boat with a thud.
She wasn’t sure what was happening, as her eyes saw dark spots and her legs gave out. She had done so much more before, so why was it having such an impact on her now?
Estair tossed aside her weapons and disappeared overboard, and a moment later someone was shouting, and, like being hit by a wave of freezing water, Rhona burst back into control of her conscious mind.
Alastar lay beside her coughing up water, Estair kneeling over him.
Stone was sailing the boat and steering her away from the shore when he shouted, “Grab hold of something!”
The boat’s mast connected with a part of the metal structure that jutted out from the building. It seemed like she’d break apart as the whole boat shuddered, but then they were free.
Tina cheered as they sailed into the open sea, land slowly disappearing behind them.
An arrow swooshed in the water nearby and then another, but they were out of the range of the guards on shore.
Rhona sat up, catching her breath. She held her head, still feeling slightly dizzy, as she glanced around. She couldn’t believe they had made it, if barely.
“First step, boat,” Estair said with a smirk. “Now all we need is the magical sword.”
At that, Stone turned to them, face ashen. “Don’t tell me… No.”
Alastar held up a hand and tried to stand, but collapsed back onto his butt.
“You’re going after the Sword of Light?” Stone asked. “Your plan was to get a boat and sail to Sair Talem, a land you’ve never been to, a land known to be populated with remnant, haunted, and…. One so many paladins before you have visited in search of the Sword of Light, which they failed to find?”
Alastar cleared his throat, smiled, and said, “Yes.”
“Well, bugger that.” Stone gripped the wheel and glared off into the distance, then asked, “How?”
“What’s that?”
“How? You must have something special that’ll help. I mean, I saw the magic just now, Rhona’s magic. This other woman here must have some secret too,” he nodded at Estair, “and there’s something different about you, that’s for damn sure. So I’ll ask this once—can we find it?”
“The better question is why we must,” Estair interjected. “If we hope to survive the wave of terror that’s coming to Roneland, we have to find it.”
Stone shook his head. “No, I don’t give two shites about that. I used to, aye, but not after I saw the way the Order turned on you, not after the way they turned on me when they found out about Tina.”
Rhona glanced at Tina, who looked away. They had been friends, hadn’t they? But…so many secrets.
Alastar grabbed the boat’s wooden railing and pushed himself up, then staggered over to Stone’s side, where he rested against the mast.
“It’s like this,” he began. “People will die. Many people. There are powerful sorcerers bringing an army to our land, but we can stop them. Can we find the Sword of Light? I believe we can, but not because of their magic. Because of mine.”
Stone scrunched his nose at that. “The blessings have deserted me since I left the Order. How is it you continue to be blessed by the Saint?”
Alastar shook his head. “Not blessings, not blessed. I’m talking magic. I’m talking what’s really behind the powers we practice.”
“Show me,” Stone demanded.
Alastar bit his lip, worried that it wouldn’t work in his exhausted state. He focused, willing the light to heal, but nothing happened. The hand gestures, he thought. They helped with concentration, so why not? He tried moving his hands, not really sure how or why, but focused on the motions and conjuring the light fairy that had led him to his sister.
With a flash of l
ight, the fairy was there, dancing in the wind, zipping up and along the sail and back down to flutter in front of Stone’s face for a moment before lighting on Alastar’s shoulder like a formless little butterfly.
“By all that is holy,” Stone burst out, shaking his head in disbelief. “You…you know magic.”
“We do,” Alastar replied. “What we practiced in the Order, it was nothing more than magic. You can’t do it now because you’ve lost your faith, and being confident, knowing what you’re asking for, is all-important to it working.”
“Great,” Estair muttered. “Another ignorant paladin we have to convince.”
Stone shot her a glare. “I’m much less stubborn than Alastar here ever was. Though I might not’ve let on to that.”
“I have to call bullshite there,” Alastar objected.
“Then explain why I’m being so quick to accept what you all are telling me,” Stone argued. “I mean, it kind of makes sense, actually.”
Tina came up to his side and placed her hand on his arm. “It’d explain what you did when they chased us out of the castle.”
“They what?” Rhona asked, now joining the conversation too.
“Well, they kind of caught us in the act,” Tina replied, blushing. “Taland did, and he said it was an act punishable by pain.”
“Taland said that?” Rhona scoffed. “Hypocrite.”
Tina flushed again, since she knew what happened between Rhona and Taland in the baths. Rhona had accidentally spilled the beans on that after a pleasant evening stroll and a few too many sips of wine one night.
“Point is, I wasn’t about to let that happen,” Stone said. “I had just stepped forward to punch that little bitch in the nose when my fist glowed as golden as if I had received a holy blessing of vigor from the High Paladin himself. I hadn’t meant for his nose to pop as badly as it did, but Taland went flying into the wall behind him, blood gushing. When you see him again, I’ll wager you’ll notice a different look to him.”
“Magic,” Tina confirmed, smiling and squeezing Stone’s arm in a loving way.
He nodded, jutting out his jaw in thought.
