by Sam Ferguson
Jonathan passed by more carts than he could count as he wound his way through the area. Some carts held mud-cement, while others bore stone or timber. Teams of oxen pulled some of the carts while teams of horses pulled others. There were even handcarts that needed four men to move them. It was a full out effort to finish the wall before the monsoons would start up again in the late spring and early summer.
Jonathan knew they wouldn’t likely finish this year. It had taken days for him to travel from the Kigyo den, but it would take months upon months to build a wall of this stature the length of the border. After all, it had already been nearly nine months since he last saw Lord Bingham in Holstead. If this was all the more the army was able to build in that time, it would more likely be years before the construct was completed.
All the more reason to find Jason, Jonathan knew.
He quickened his pace, hoping to reach Fort Sym soon, but when the sun began to drop in the west and workers started to build fires instead of work on the wall, Jonathan knew that was not likely to happen.
Some of the workers slipped into dirt-stained canvas tents, while others took shelter inside the wall they were building. Clouds rolled into the sky above, darkening the last of the sun’s light and forcing Jonathan to find shelter as rain started to fall upon the land.
He moved into an open doorway in the wall and followed the torch light until he came to a small area that had a few stones set up in a circle on the floor. He promptly sat upon one and listened to the rain drum upon the stone above and the ground outside. It wasn’t long before the ground was entirely saturated, changing the pitch of the falling drops to something lighter as the water gathered.
Rivulets of cold water filtered into the hallway as well. Jonathan looked around himself in dismay, wondering where he would sleep if the water covered the hall floor.
A stout man with a dirt covered shirt and a pair of black trousers approached.
“Mind if I join you?” the man asked.
Jonathan shook his head. It was refreshing to see some civility after his last encounter with Burke and his men. “How far is it to Fort Sym?” Jonathan asked the man.
The man sat down, and what had once looked like a solid torso now burgeoned out at the belly as the man relaxed and leaned forward. He slapped his filthy hands together and then rubbed them as he blew on his fingers. “Fort Sym?” he asked as if he hadn’t heard Jonathan correctly. “You mean you aren’t part of the crews?”
Jonathan shook his head. “I am too young,” he explained. “I wanted to volunteer, but they wouldn’t take me.”
The man smiled and wiped his hands on his pants. “Ah, so you thought you could earn some coin going to Fort Sym, is that it?” The man gestured to Jonathan’s bow. “That’s a mighty fine weapon you have there.”
Jonathan shifted in his seat uneasily, trying to guess what the man’s intentions might be. “It’s an heirloom,” Jonathan lied.
The man took in a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders as he leaned back to rest against the stone wall. “If it is valuable, you might want to cover it before you go to Fort Sym,” the man suggested. “They have a habit of appropriating things in the name of the war out here. Money goes missing. Weapons and nice clothes too. A bow like that might draw the wrong kind of attention.”
“How far is it?” Jonathan repeated.
The man shrugged again. “Maybe seventy miles or so.” The man closed his eyes and folded his hands across his belly. “If you don’t mind, I am going to catch a wink or two before they bring me my soggy supper.”
Jonathan smiled and nodded. The man sighed and sank into the wall behind him. Jonathan brought Kigabané around to set upon his lap. He looked down at the bow. He hadn’t looked at it much since the first time he held it. Out of respect for the hooded snake, he had left it alone entirely for the duration for the trip thus far. But now, he was free to examine it.
Each limb curled up perfectly, with a flourish at the tip that called to mind the skill of the elves in their craftsmanship. The bow itself was black with silver inlay running over both limbs that almost looked as though it depicted swirling ivy around the bow. The grip was perfectly smooth, yet formed perfectly for Jonathan’s hand. He ran his fingers over it and tightened his grip. It was as if the bow had been made for him all along. He held it up and drew the string back. It was stiff at first, but it bent to Jonathan’s will easily enough. The young boy gently moved the string back into place, careful not to let the weapon dry-fire. He set it back over his lap and then moved to retrieve one of the arrows.
Like the bow, the arrow was exquisitely made. The shaft was perfectly smooth along the entire length. The fletching was made of white goose feather, something easily obtainable in the swamps as geese and swans were no strangers to the entire peninsula. A faint glint caught Jonathan’s eye as he ran a finger over one of the feathers. He turned the arrow under the torchlight and found that each feather was set into the shaft and then held in place with a solder of what appeared to be silver. That was something odd that he would not have expected. He turned the arrow over and examined the tip. He found that while the core of the double-bladed tip was made of iron, the edges were also crafted with silver.
“How is that possible?” Jonathan wondered aloud.
“How is what possible?” the man across from him asked.
Jonathan slammed his eyes shut and wished he could take back his words. When he heard the large man gasp, he knew it was too late for that now.
“Son, that is no heirloom!” the man squeaked breathlessly. “That is Kigabané!”
Jonathan put the arrow away and then moved to hide the bow behind his back. “No, you’re mistaken,” Jonathan said.
The man leaned forward and reached out to set a hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. His brown eyes grew serious as he looked at the boy. “Why are you going to Fort Sym?” he asked.
“My brother fought with the Ghosts of the Quags,” Jonathan said simply. “I am going to find him.”
“Come with me,” the man instructed.
Jonathan hesitated at first, but the man stood and smiled as he waved emphatically. “Come on, I think you will like this.”
“What?” Jonathan asked.
“A couple of days ago this captain rode into the camp. He said he was looking for a young boy, of course now I am guessing that was you…”
Jonathan shook his head and jumped up. “You can’t make me go back to him!” Jonathan shouted.
The man drew his brow into a knot and then held his hands up innocently. “No, you don’t understand, let me explain.” The man looked both ways up and down the hall before continuing. “The captain had some men with him. He said that three of his scouts had lost a kid out on patrol. He told the foreman that these three scouts had told the kid to go into the lands of the Kigyo after Kigabané. He asked the foreman if he had seen a young boy with a bow. Of course we see a lot of young men with bows around here, and the foreman told the captain so, but then the captain detailed what the bow would look like.” The large man pointed to the bow now on Jonathan’s back. “He said it would be black with silver markings on it. I didn’t notice at first because you were in the shadows a bit when I sat down, but I saw it now and I know what it is. You’re him, ain’t you?”
Jonathan couldn’t believe his poor luck. All this way along the border of the swamp only to be caught anyway. He turned to run, but the large man seized his shoulder and held him fast in place as easily as if Jonathan was a small child. The large man leaned in close with a big toothy grin.
“Come on, you are going to like this,” the man said.
“Like what?” Jonathan asked.
The man frowned. “Well, after the foreman said no one matching your description had come through, the captain became enraged. He shouted and dressed those scouts down real nice. Then, after he berated them for a few minutes, he had a few of us go and build a set of stocks for them. Come on, they’re locked up in the stocks right now.”
“They’re locked in stocks?” Jonathan repeated.
The man nodded enthusiastically. “Yes sir, they are locked out in the rain right now as we speak. They only get let out once a day for eating and other business, then they go back in. The captain said they were to stay there until he returned for them on his next patrol. Something about wanting them to understand who they were fighting for and making sure they wouldn’t mistreat anyone again.”
“Captain Burke is gone?” Jonathan pressed.
The big man nodded again and gestured down the hall. “Left the same day they came in. Said he would be back on his next round. Well, come on then, let’s go see if they remember you.”
“What’s in it for you?” Jonathan asked.
“For me?” the big man responded. “What do you mean?”
“Why does it matter if I see them or not?” Jonathan asked.
The big man grinned. “For satisfaction!” He folded his arms over his chest and smiled wide enough that almost all Jonathan could see was the man’s teeth. “I don’t much care for bullies. I’ll get a kick out of seeing their jaws hit the ground when you walk up with the bow. They thought they were so clever, and now you will show them that not only are you alive, but you have retrieved the legendary bow! Come on, I want to see them squirm.”
Jonathan shook his head. “No, I’d rather just pass through quietly.”
The big man huffed and pouted out his lower lip as his brow furrowed. Then, a moment later he smiled and nodded understandingly. “You think someone else will poach the bow from you, I understand. I know what I said earlier, and that is true, but ol’ Sami will protect you.”
“Who’s that?” Jonathan asked.
The man frowned again and arched a single brow. “Why, it’s me of course. I’m Sami Graystone. I’ll let you poke back at those louts in the stocks, and then I will take you to Fort Sym myself.”
“You can do that?” Jonathan asked. “I mean, what about the wall?”
Sami laughed and shrugged. “I’m the foreman’s cousin. He’ll let me do it.” Sami then turned and motioned for Jonathan to follow him. The young boy sighed and went with the large man, hoping he wasn’t making a mistake.
Sami grabbed a pair of torches from the wall and took them out into the steady rain. The torches popped and hissed against the assaulting water as the flames danced around trying to stay alive. One of the torches died, but the second was able to remain lit despite the water.
A few men looked up from large fire pits that smelled of beans and coffee, but no one said anything to the pair. Sami and Jonathan walked up to the three stocks. The men were bent over awkwardly at the waist. Their heads and hands protruded out from the small holes and the stocks were fastened with large iron locks.
“Don’t worry, they pull the stocks off of the poles after supper to let them sleep on the ground,” Sami said.
Jonathan shook his head. It wasn’t that the men didn’t deserve punishment for what they tried to do, but it sounded awful, and he remembered that they had threatened the very same thing to him.
One of them looked up as Sami and Jonathan approached. Water and dirt streaked the man’s face so that Jonathan didn’t recognize which one it was, but the man recognized Jonathan. His mouth curled into a snarl and his face grew red as he tried to crane his head up more to yell.
“You!” the man shouted. Jonathan recognized the voice as that of the swordsman.
The other two tilted their heads around to look up. When they saw Jonathan, one of the men grew very angry and shouted a curse, while the third shook his head and looked down to the ground again.
Sami, true to his word about disliking bullies, walked up to the archer and slapped him upside the head. “No one to blame for your current situation besides yourself, now watch your tongue!”
The archer didn’t respond. The swordsman glowered at Jonathan, but he kept his mouth closed.
Jonathan almost felt pity for them as much as he felt satisfaction. “How long until Burke returns for you?” Jonathan asked.
“However long it takes,” the swordsman growled.
Jonathan looked to the silent scout and moved over toward him. “Why did Burke send me with you?” he asked.
The man slowly moved his head up and wrinkled his nose as he thought of a response. “He wanted us to scare you away from your quest.”
“By sending me to the Kigyo?” Jonathan pressed.
The scout shook his head. “No. He thought if you rode with us for three days, and then he showed you Rynder, that you would decide it was too rough of a lifestyle.”
“Why would he care?”
“He had a brother who went to the Quags also. Burke tried to go after him, but he only made it as far as Battlegrym. He fought there when the fortress was overrun. He wanted to save you from that.”
“So then why send me with you instead of just telling me?”
The scout sighed. “I suppose he thought you wouldn’t listen to words. I don’t know. Maybe he thought it would help us make amends for treating you the way we did on the road. You would have to ask him.”
Jonathan turned and looked at Sami. The large man’s smile was gone. He stood watching Jonathan and holding the torch in the middle of the rain. He was like a silent sentinel. Upon seeing the large man’s face, Jonathan shifted from a mix of emotions to feeling mostly pity. He turned back to the third scout and held the bow under the man’s face.
“Tell Burke that I found Kigabané, and that I will find my brother as well.”
The scout cleared his throat. “Take me with you,” he said.
Sami stepped in. “What, and let you escape the stocks so you can desert the army? Not a chance!”
The scout shook his head. “No, so I can make amends,” the scout replied emphatically.
“Shut yer mouth Rourke, no one likes a softy,” the swordsman spat.
Rourke shook his head. “I should have stopped them from sending you in against the Kigyo like that. Seeing the bow means you obviously have more skill than we estimated, so you might have a shot at finding your brother. If you are bent on going in, then let me go with you. If I can save your life by offering my own, then it is only proper for what I did.”
“Oh shut up!” the swordsman snarled. “His brother was a Ghost. He’s dead!”
Sami hauled off and backhanded the swordsman so hard that his head slammed against the side of the stock and jarred his neck as well. The swordsman’s knees went slack and the man hung limp from the stocks.
“Sami!” a man shouted from a nearby tent. “What in Hammenfein’s name are you doing?”
Jonathan looked to Sami but the big man just grinned and pointed to Jonathan. “Liam, this is the boy that captain was looking for. He actually has that bow they were talking about.”
“Kigabané?” Liam inquired breathlessly. He looked to Jonathan and stared at him for a moment before shaking his head and then rushing to the swordsman. “Help me, you big oaf!”
Sami moved in and with one hand picked up the stocks holding the swordsman so that the posts could be removed. Then, he set the man down on the ground while Liam bent down to listen for breathing.
“Well, you didn’t kill him, so I guess we are fine.”
Jonathan pointed to Rourke. “I want this man to go with me,” he said.
The archer glanced between Jonathan and Sami quickly before shouting out, “I want to go too.”
Jonathan shook his head. “No, I don’t trust you.”
The archer started to shout something, but then Sami grinned down at the archer and raised his hand. The archer shut his mouth and looked down at the ground.
Liam rose to his feet and fumbled with a set of keys. “The captain said I wasn’t to release them until he returned.”
“He is going to accompany me to the Quags,” Jonathan said.
Liam stopped going through the keys and looked up at Jonathan. Then he looked to Sami. “He can’t be serious,” he said.
Sami nodd
ed. “I am going too,” Sami said.
Liam balked, letting his hands fall to his waist. “Sami, we talked about this. You can’t go down there. There is no more fighting. We are building a wall now. Battlegrym is gone, and The Warrens are too far away.”
“They have my brother,” Jonathan told Liam. Liam turned and looked back at Jonathan. The droplets of water running over his face reflecting the orange light of the withering torch. “I am going to find him, no matter where he is.” Jonathan then turned to Sami. “I appreciate the offer, but once I get to Fort Sym, you should come back here with your cousin.”
Sami shook his head. “I served two tours in Battlegrym,” he said. “I tried to sign on with the Ghosts of the Quags, but they never took me on. I know I can make it to The Warrens. If you are getting a party together, I am in.”
Liam fumed as he fumbled with his keys. “Dumb as an ox, that’s what I say,” Liam said.
“And I am built like one too,” Sami put in with a grin.
“You smell like the back end of one too!” Liam shouted as he unlocked Rourke’s stock. He looked to the scout and nodded once. “I will tell Captain Burke that you did an honorable thing after the boy showed up.”
“We should get moving,” Sami said. “If we go through the wall, we can travel safer and out of the cold rain.”
Liam shook his head and then wagged a hand at Jonathan. “Come with me, boy. I have some things you can take. I have a backpack, and some supplies in my tent.” He then pointed to Sami. “Make the ox carry them.”
Chapter 10
As Jonathan and the others emerged from the long hall in the wall, the sun broke upon their faces through a torrential downpour that soaked them within seconds. Light illuminated the clear drops that were easily as large as the top portion of Jonathan’s thumb. They thumped down on Jonathan’s body with enough force that he made sure to keep his eyes and face pointed slightly toward the ground to avoid injury.
