by Eric Vall
“Goodnight,” I sighed.
“Goodnight,” Aurora and Cayla echoed as they snuggled closer.
I drifted off to the sound of the wind in the trees and my lovers’ easy breathing.
We woke the next morning at dawn as the pink sun was coming up over the eastern horizon. We had a quick breakfast of pears and the remaining pork and bread, and then we crowded around Bobbie 2.0 as we got ready to depart.
“The border into Cedis is perhaps another hour south,” Aurora said as she swung her leg over the bike and took her seat in front. “We will be well into your kingdom by noon, Cayla.”
The princess bit her lip, and her blue eyes were bright with anxiety.
“Together, remember,” I said as I took Cayla’s hand in mine and squeezed.
The raven-haired beauty turned to me with a grateful smile and nodded. Then we mounted up on Bobbie 2.0 and continued on our journey.
As the sun rose steadily above our heads, we drove south down a wide and winding road, and the trees began to thin around us as the forests and groves of Illaria gave way to plains country.
Around eight o’clock in the morning, Bobbie 2.0 tilted back slightly, and we slowed down as the road crawled up a large hill. Aurora turned in her seat and met my eyes with a smile.
“We’ve reached the border,” the half-elf called over the growl of the engine. “Just over this hill is the kingdom of Cedis.”
Cayla’s arms tightened around me, and I gunned the throttle to push us the last few yards. When we crested the hill, I had to blink a few times in the early morning sun, but when my vision cleared, I gasped as I laid my eyes on Cedis for the first time.
I squeezed Aurora’s hip and leaned forward to speak into her ear. “Slow down a bit. I want to get a good look.”
The Ignis Mage nodded, and a moment later, Bobbie 2.0 began to slow beneath us as Aurora dimmed her fire. We came to a crawl below a large solitary oak tree, and I then put my foot down to stop us in its shade.
Cedis spread us for miles before us, a country of endless emerald fields that stretched all the way to the horizon. From our vantage point, I could see a number of small creeks and tributaries that cut across the land like sparkling blue ribbons, and along their banks grew clumps of red, yellow, and orange wildflowers. In the far distance, I thought I could make out a few structures, perhaps houses or farmsteads, but I wasn’t sure.
There was one thing I was sure of though.
“It’s beautiful,” I said when the engine beneath us was no louder than a purr.
Cayla squeezed me tightly and pressed a soft kiss behind my ear. “Thank you, Mason. She is quite lovely, and I am happy to see her again.”
“I’m sure your people will be happy to see you again, too,” I replied as I threw a grin over my shoulder. “I mean, who wouldn’t be happy to see your beautiful face?”
The princess smiled thinly, but troubled shadows swirled behind her ice-blue eyes. “I fear that not everyone will be swayed by my charm. My people have struggled for many months now, and my father and I have not been able to offer much aid. I do not believe we will find a warm welcome.”
“Well, no matter what kind of welcome we receive,” I began as I reached down and set my hand on Cayla’s knee, “we will be with you the whole way. We… I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Some of the worry faded from the raven-haired maiden’s face, and a look of steely resolve settled in her blue eyes. “Then let us continue. Nothing will be solved if I am frozen with fear. I must face what has happened to my kingdom and figure out how we will save her.”
“You know, in my kingdom, there’s a phrase for this type of situation,” I said with a broad grin.
“Oh?” Cayla asked as she tilted her head. “What is it?”
“It’s called biting the bullet,” I replied with a wink.
Cayla’s eyes went wide and then she tipped back her head and laughed, a wild and joyous sound. My grin widened as I listened to the princess’s melodious laughter, and then I squeezed Aurora’s hip, cranked my wrist to rev the engine, and we tore down the hillside into Cedis.
Since the land was now flat and smooth beneath us, we were able to pick up a bit more speed as we traveled deeper into Cayla’s kingdom. The fields stretched out for miles on either side of us, and as we drew closer to the horizon, I realized that some of the shadows I had taken for scrub brush from atop of the hill were, in fact, cattle and other livestock.
But we didn’t encounter any people. The landscape around us was barren of human life. Even when we finally drew close to the structures I had seen from the border, I discovered that they were nothing more than an abandoned stable and a half-collapsed barn.
I signaled for Aurora to stop the bike as we reached the derelict buildings. The barn looked like it had been ravaged by a fire. Half the roof was gone, and the remaining walls were charred and stained black by soot. The stable that was off to the right fared a little better, but not much. There was no evidence of fire damage, but the front door hung in splinters on its hinges, as if it had been kicked out from the inside by stampeding horses.
“What happened here?” I asked Cayla as Aurora killed the engine.
The princess didn’t answer. Instead, she slid off the back of the bike without a word, took a few tentative steps toward the barn, and then came to an abrupt stop.
“Cayla?” I said with a frown. When she still didn’t answer me, I got off the bike, and Aurora followed suit.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I questioned as I set my hand on her shoulder and leaned forward to look into her face.
Cayla’s already pale skin was bleached bone-white, and the blue of her eyes stood out like shards of stained glass against the snowy backdrop. Her mouth also hung slightly agape, and her lower lip trembled.
“This… this farm was still whole when I passed through here a few weeks ago,” the princess mumbled as she stared unblinkingly at the charred barn. “I-I knew the people who lived on this land. A man by the name of Noll and his wife, Liza. They… they gave me shelter and food, even without knowing my true identity.”
My heart clenched at the choked emotion in Cayla’s voice, and I squeezed her shoulder. “Cayla, I’m so sorry.”
Tears glistened in the princess’s eyes, and she placed a hand at the base of her throat as if to keep her sobs from bubbling up.
As I rubbed soothing circles between the crying maiden’s shoulder blades, I glanced over at Aurora. The half-elf had a severe frown on her face as she surveyed the destroyed farm before us. Then I watched her long, pointed ears twitch, and her frown deepened.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I-I am not sure,” Aurora replied as she cocked her head. “I thought I heard some--“
Her green eyes went wide as the words died in her mouth, and then her hand shot down to the hilt of her sword.
“Mason, watch out!” she shouted as she pointed toward the barn with her other hand.
I whirled around just in time to see a shadow move, and my magic rushed to the surface, summoned by the adrenaline that exploded through my veins. Between one breath and the next, I yanked Cayla against my side and threw my hand up in the air.
An instant later, a rock wall burst out from the ground at our feet. It shot into the sky in a brown blur, and not a moment too soon. As the stone reached eye level, I heard the distinct twang of a loosed bow, and then I heard as the metal arrowhead pinged off the rock wall inches in front of my face.
“Bandits!” Aurora yelled behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the half-elf dive toward us. As she executed a roll across the dirt, another arrow pierced the air where her head had been mere moments before. Aurora skidded behind the wall I had made and panted as she clutched her sword to her chest.
Beyond the wall, I could hear the twang of bowstrings and the sound of arrows bouncing off stone.
“Shit,” I cursed, and then I swung my head around toward Bobbie 2.0. The bike wa
s half a dozen yards away and strapped beside the saddlebags were the pair of rifles I had brought with us from Illaria. My revolver sat at my hip in a makeshift holster I had thrown together before we left Serin, but the additional ammo was stored in the saddlebags since I hadn’t had time to make a bandolier yet.
That meant I had six shots until I could make it back to the bike.
“What are we going to do Mason?” Cayla gasped against my neck, and I realized I still had her pressed tight up against me.
“We need to retreat back to the bike for the rifles,” I said as I released the princess. “You and Aurora go first. I’ll throw up a dust screen and lay down some cover fire. Stay low to the ground and duck behind Bobbie when you get there.”
“What about you?” Aurora asked, her emerald eyes bright with adrenaline.
“I’ll be right behind you,” I assured her, and then I reached for my revolver and yanked it out of its holster. “On my signal, start running.”
Cayla’s brow was furrowed with worry, and she looked like she wanted to argue, but Aurora nodded and threaded her arm through the princess’s.
I darted forward and pressed a quick kiss to both of their lips before I whirled back around and cocked my revolver.
“On my mark,” I growled, and then my magic rushed to the surface again.
The dirt at our feet began to vibrate, and then I swept out a hand, and it exploded into the air. I heard shouts of alarm beyond the wall as the air grew dark and hazy with dust.
“Now!” I shouted to the women behind me, and then I leaned past the wall, put my finger against the trigger, and fired through the dust toward the barn.
I heard an explosion of wood as my first bullet struck one of the burned-out walls.
“What was that?” a gruff voice shouted in panic.
“I don’t know, I can’t see anything,” another voice yelled back.
“Stop talking and keep attacking, you idiots,” a third, more authoritative voice shouted.
A smirk ticked at the corner of my mouth, and then I turned my body in the direction of the voices. The dust had begun to settle a little, and I could see vague shapes crouching behind one of the ruined walls. I pulled back the hammer, aimed for the center of the shadow, and squeezed the trigger.
“Hhnng!”
I watched as the figure toppled over, and then the other voices really began to panic.
“Ancel’s been hit!” one of the voices screamed. “T-there’s so much blood. Gods, I think h-he’s dead!”
I grinned, aimed at the next hazy outline, and fired.
Another body hit the dirt a moment later.
“Get down and take cover,” the authoritative voice shouted.
As I watched several figures scramble to follow those orders, I fired off two more potshots into the dust before I summoned my magic again to lengthen the wall in front of me. Then, as the voices began to scream again, I used the distraction and additional cover to hightail it back toward Bobbie 2.0.
“Are you alright?” Aurora asked the moment I skidded behind the bike.
“Lot better off than those sorry bastards,” I replied with a roguish grin. Then I knelt down, shoved my revolver back in its holster, unbuckled one of the rifles, and yanked down on the lever to load the first round into the chamber.
“What should we do?” Cayla questioned from where she crouched beside me.
“I got it,” I responded as adrenaline buzzed through my veins like a thousand hornets. “Keep your heads down, and it’ll all be over in just a second.”
Aurora opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, I summoned my magic to the surface again, stepped to the side of Bobbie 2.0, and knelt to the ground. Right as my knee hit the dirt, another wall of rock rose up in front of me. This one was shorter, but still tall enough to take cover behind, and it was also the perfect height to brace my rifle on. I lay the long gun atop the wall, wedged the stock against my shoulder, and sighted down the barrel.
As I waited for the dust to settle completely, I made a mental note to build some scopes in the near future. In situations like these, accuracy was incredibly important.
But right now, the distance between my enemies and me was short enough to see my targets clearly. I sent out another burst of magic and lowered the taller rock wall that I had originally hidden behind. Then when the air finally cleared, I closed my left eye, took a deep breath, and waited for someone to move.
I didn’t have to wait long.
After half a minute of silence and stillness, I saw a flicker of movement behind the far left corner of the barn’s remaining wall. I instantly squeezed the trigger, and the retort of the rifled echoed out across the fields as the stock recoiled sharply into my shoulder.
The edge of the barn wall exploded in a shower of splinters, and someone screamed in agony.
“Three down,” I muttered to myself as I swept the barrel to the side. “How many left to go?”
The dust from my cover screen had finally settled, and the air was clear again. My eyes scanned the open ground ahead of me, jumped from the three bodies I had put in the dirt, and then settled on the blown open entrance to the barn. The interior shadows were deep and dark, even with half the roof missing. I squinted into the gloom, but couldn’t make out any movement.
“Aurora,” I said out of the corner of my mouth. “Can you poke your head up and tell me if you see anyone moving in the barn?”
The half-elf sidled up beside me and craned her neck over the lip of the wall we crouched behind. I watched as she narrowed her powerful elf eyes and scanned the darkness in front of us.
“I cannot see anyone,” she murmured after a moment. “They must be pressed against the walls out of sight. But I can hear them a little.” She tilted her head to the side, and her ears twitched again. “I think there are one or two left.”
“Perfect,” I replied as I kept my eyes trained on the barn. “Can you tell which side of the barn they’re on? I need your best estimate on their exact location.”
Aurora frowned in concentration. “I believe there’s one on the left, just inside the doorway. I think he’s pressed up against the wall there.”
“Thanks.” I shifted the barrel of my rifle to the side a little and then pulled down on the lever to eject my spent shell. The next round loaded into the chamber, and I exhaled slowly as I pulled the trigger again.
An instant later, a hole was blown through the wall three feet to the left from the barn doorway. Someone shouted in pain and panic, and then a figure stumbled out into the open ground of the barn’s threshold.
A skinny man in tattered clothes blinked into the sun, splinters and bright red blood caught in his hair. He carried a shoddy bow and arrow in his hands, and he whipped his head back and forth as he tried to pinpoint my location.
His eyes landed on me, and I saw them go wide as he tried to bring up the bow and nocked arrow, but I didn’t give him a chance.
Before he managed to get his weapon even halfway up, I yanked down on the rifle’s lever, ejected the spent shell, loaded the next round, and fired. Between one blink and the next, the bandit’s head exploded in a shower of gore and gray matter.
There was dead silence as he pitched backward and crashed into the dirt.
“Nice aim,” Aurora muttered beside me with a wide grin.
“Thanks,” I replied as I loaded my fourth round. “You said there was one more bandit in the barn?”
The Ignis Mage frowned as she turned her head to the side so she could listen more intently. “I-I thought I had heard two sets of footsteps, but I don’t hear anything else from inside now.”
“So you think that was all of them?” I asked as I opened my left eye and looked to the warrior beside me.
Aurora parted her lips to respond, but then Cayla gasped beside me and latched onto my arm.
“Mason, look!” She pointed off to the right, in the direction of the stable.
I turned just in time to see a horse bolt out of the s
hattered front doors and dash behind the ruins of the barn. I gritted my teeth and hunkered down again as I sighted down the barrel.
The horse exploded out from the other side of the barn and galloped at a breakneck pace away from us. I could see a rider, the last bandit, bent low over his steed’s saddle, and he kicked desperately at the horse’s flank. The poor animal whinnied but pressed on even faster.
“He’s getting away,” Aurora snarled.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” I muttered, and then I took aim one last time.
The horse was at least sixty yards away now, and the distance was growing fast. I didn’t have a scope, but I placed my front sight in the center of the rider’s body, exhaled sharply, and pulled the trigger.
The crack of the rifle sounded like a thunderclap in my ear, but the recoil of the stock against my shoulder now felt comfortingly familiar. The bandit jerked as he was hit, and then he pitched forward against the mane of his horse.
“Hell yeah,” I laughed as I lifted my head with a grin.
As I watched, the horse bucked and rose up on its hind legs, but somehow the rider’s body remained in the saddle. When the horse dropped back down again, the bandit jerked for a moment, like he was still alive, but then he slumped to the side as the life obviously went out of him.
I slid to my feet, ready to hop onto Bobbie 2.0 and pursue the horse when Aurora and Cayla each caught one of my arms.
“Mason, he’s dead,” Aurora said with a shake of her head. “Let him go.”
“We can still catch the horse,” I argued with a frown. “He might have provisions or a map of bandit strongholds.”
“Mason, this is dangerous country,” Cayla countered as she latched on harder to my arm. “and it’s even worse than I had anticipated. We need to stay true to our course and not wander.”
I exhaled sharply and then turned to watch the horse trot off to the east, his dead rider still attached to the saddle. Maybe he’d wander back to whatever hole the bandits crawled out of and serve as a warning that they weren’t the most dangerous things in Cedis anymore.
