by Billy Wong
"Yeah, but when we fought those men, he didn't do anything."
Merrick nodded. "Like I said, I took a chance, and I was never assured success. I'm going to give him some time. Hopefully, he'll prove I was right."
"How about... you let him patrol with me?"
"That's a good idea. Balancing the bad with the good, eh?"
"That wasn't what I meant. I'm just scared the others might not treat him so well."
He smiled. "You're right there, too. Thanks, Rose."
"Since when do you thank me? No, it's you who deserve thanks for listening." She really liked that he treated her like an equal. It made her warm inside.
"You earn it, every day."
When she went with Bert to their private practice, Merrick took the opportunity to join them, and Rose could only smile at his transparent attempt to keep up with the flowering of her skill. Then he brought Jasper over, and Rose became something of a teacher in her own right.
#
Though she tried to walk past them as quickly as she could, Rose couldn't help overhearing Huey's conversation with a friend as she made her way towards a good night's sleep. "That Rose girl's up to no good. Do you see the way she sucks up to the captain? I bet she'll draw him into bed any time now. But I can't believe how stupid he's being to fall for her crap."
Alarmed and angered, Rose couldn't resist the need to defend herself. She walked over. "I'm not trying to seduce anyone. Me and Merrick are friends, and nothing more. So please don't tell any more lies about me."
Huey examined her face as if trying to figure out whether or not she was telling the truth, but his friend, an older watchman with tiny eyes and thick lips, sat up and said, "Get out of here, you lying tramp."
"Why are you so angry at me? What did I do?"
"You're a dirty whore, that's what."
Her gaze fell to the ground, and she hurried away. By the time she reached her bunk, she realized she'd incriminated herself in their eyes by running from their words. She climbed the ladder up to her bed and flopped miserably onto her belly atop her blankets, burying her face in her arms.
"What's wrong?" a voice asked from her right.
She looked to see Krebs, a thick-bearded watchman of similar age to Huey and Merrick. "People," she replied.
"You mean Huey and his friends?" She nodded. "Don't worry," he said, "they're just being idiots. They're mad at you for making them look bad in Merrick's eyes, that's all. So they'll find any reason they can to hate you more. Doesn't mean you've done anything wrong."
"Thanks, but I knew that already. It's still hard. Why so people get so mad so easily? It was his fault for being drunk and trying to stab my friend."
"That bunch used to be Merrick's favorites before you came here," Krebs said to her surprise. "They used to be all buddy-buddy, hang out and drink all through their off time. Now, he prefers you and Bert's company, even though you're so much younger than him—and good riddance, I say. They're a lousy bunch."
Rose agreed, but she couldn't help dwelling on Merrick's former closeness to them. Why? Huey and his friends were brutal men, who would take any reason they could find to dismiss someone they didn't like. She couldn't imagine why anyone would tolerate their disdainful company, let alone enjoy it. Good riddance, indeed.
#
Though she was well ahead of the norm of progress for the amount of time she'd trained, Rose went through the usual month of on-base instruction before she was assigned to her first patrol. She was happy to find herself in the same four-person unit as Bert along with Jasper and Swain, a lazy-eyed veteran who had not talked much to her.
The assignment itself was really nothing; they were to walk to the nearby town of Juren, spend the night, and come back the next day, watching out for any danger or people in need along the way. The first day was amazingly dull, and Rose felt glad to have her friends' company. But as they made their way back towards the Watch House, they saw an excessive amount of smoke in the air over the cabin.
"What's going on?" Jasper wondered.
She assumed the House was being attacked. But by whom, and why? They crept closer, and Rose realized with a mix of fear and annoyance that right after her very first assignment, she would be faced with the task of defending the Watch House from a band of huge stinking ogres.
Eleven simian brutes stood before the cabin, grunting and jeering while they pelleted it with flasks of oil and flaming brands. Despite their bestial appearance, they'd been smart enough to attack the shelter when most of the watchmen had been away. What men were there, three or four by the looks of things, were trapped inside, one shooting without much harm at the hide-armored and leathery-skinned giants while the others tried to quell the spreading flames.
Though the humans would still be at a numeric disadvantage, Rose thought with the element of surprise that her little group might be able to beat off the monsters' attack. "You boys up for saving the Watch House?" she asked with a forced grin.
Bert of course was ready as always. "I'm right with you, Rose. And I'm sure Swain is, isn't that right?"
The man nodded slowly, though he hardly seemed eager for the coming fight. Neither was Rose, but it had to be done and they were the only ones around to do it. "What about you, Jasper?"
He stared at the monsters, then looked at Rose. "As long as I'm with you."
She nodded, and they opened up with a volley of crossbow shots. Taking the monsters by surprise, they felled two right away. Then they charged, giving the enemy no time to collect themselves by reloading. Instead, they drew their melee weapons and threw themselves into the fight, Rose hacking through one ogre's neck before he could even raise his club. Jasper stabbed forward as it fell, and his sword passed by the falling body to bury itself in the next shocked foe's heart. Lucky. But then a huge club smashed into Rose's sternum, knocking her down, and booming laughter filled her ears as she gasped for air.
The club came down again. Rose rolled, the heavy impact spraying dirt over her face. She blinked her eyes clear and kicked at the ogre's leg, pushing it a step back. Pain shot through her chest, but she ignored it and struggled to her feet. The ogre rushed again, only to run right into her slice at its gut. Its intestines spilled to the ground, and it squealed in death. She stood, and saw another ogre lying dead with an arrow from the cabin's defenders buried in the back of its neck. But the fear in her pounding heart grew when she saw Bert grappling with a giant foe.
Rose took the hand off an attacking beast, then reversed her swing and slashed at its eyes. Blood sheeted over the blinded monster's hand as it clutched at its torn face. She finished it off with a stab to the neck and turned to aid her friends. But it proved unnecessary; Swain cut into the knee of his foe and turned to stab Bert's opponent in the back while it tried to squeeze the life from the smaller though enormous man. Bert freed himself from the corpse, then broke the crippled ogre's skull with his club. The last three ogres fled, leaving their dead behind.
Bert gave an ogre wounded in the initial crossbow volley several whacks, finishing it off. "That was fun."
It'd gone well, Rose had to admit. None of her group was dead or even badly injured, though pain accompanied her every breath and she knew she'd find her chest quite bruised when she took off her shirt. "How's everybody in there?" she asked as they began to help douse the flames.
#
Wendel, a watchman known for his insistence on afternoon naps, had been badly wounded, and without anyone more skilled around Swain tried his best to clean and stitch his wounds. But it was no good; he had already lost too much blood, and died later that day. The shaken state of the watchmen was evident in the abundance of tense stares and frightful mutterings, and being no exception Rose did not sleep easily that night.
When Merrick returned from his trip away the next morning, he quickly found out what had happened during his absence and said to her, "You did great, Rose. Thank you."
"I was really scared, Merrick. Didn't you say it wasn't so dangerous around
here?"
"Ogres are dumb beasts, who wouldn't understand the consequences of spitting in the law's face. This doesn't usually happen."
She frowned, remembering all her other frightful experiences of the last few months. "I'm a jinx, aren't I?"
Merrick just laughed. "Maybe, but I wouldn't give you up just for that."
Rose giggled. "We really need to start taking better precautions for this place. It's not as safe as we thought."
"Sure we will. I don't want to lose any more men this way."
"Was he close to you?"
"No, not really. But it was still a shame."
She nodded, and spent the rest of the day as she normally did. But that night, Huey took the few steps to visit her at her bunk, causing her to groan as he came into sight. She'd have enough trouble sleeping without the added stress of an encounter with him on her mind. "What now?"
"You saved the Watch House when we were away."
Where was he going with this? "It wasn't just me. I had plenty of help."
"Everybody says it was you."
Rose had found it strange that since the battle, the talk had mostly been of how she had made the save. She certainly wasn't the only one, though she'd killed three of the eight dead ogres herself. "I don't know why they say that. But I don't think it matters. What matters is that we survived."
Huey rolled his eyes. "Don't play dumb. They say it's you because you're a girl."
Maybe it was true that she stood out more because of her sex. "But it doesn't matter to me what they think, so why does it to you? I'm not hurting you."
"It isn't fair."
He wasn't fair, either. "I didn't take anything from you. You weren't even there."
"Not this time."
She wondered what he was talking about, and when she thought she'd figured it out said, "It's your stupid manly games of proving who's the better warrior and thus the better person, isn't it? Look, I'm sorry about the hand, but I don't care for your little pissing contests. I've no need to be judged better than anyone else—I just want to be looked at through clear eyes, that's all. Just because I'm a female..."
"No, that's not it. It's bit annoying to be upstaged by a girl, but that's not the real reason I wish you'd go away."
"No?"
"The captain of the Watch House to the south is retiring in two months, and they're going to pick a new one from around here. I've been a favorite for some time, and I'd hate for a rookie to steal my spot."
Rose frowned. It was a better reason to be wary of her than she'd expected. "I don't think they'll pick me. Like you said, I'm a rookie."
"A rookie who's being called a prodigy. There was a captain named Joel in the southeast, who was promoted after a month of active service when his captain died. You wouldn't be breaking any records."
"It sounds like a special case."
"You're a special case."
Rose hissed between her teeth. "I haven't tried to promote myself as such. And I certainly haven't expressed any interest in a leadership position. I'm not even ready."
"They might think you are."
"What do you expect me to do about it? Hold back? Play weak? I can't! It's not me, and it wouldn't be right." And if she had done it with the ogres, things would probably have ended very poorly for more than herself.
"You took my place here. I don't want you to take the one that's waiting for me."
"Then you'll just have to do better from now on, huh?" Rose asked harshly. She didn't want to talk to this selfish ass anymore.
"I will. I'm not so lowly as to lose to a little girl."
#
More weeks passed, and Rose saw Huey work harder than she'd ever seen before, trying to reassert himself as the top watchman. It made her laugh inside, because without any big events for him to react to, all he had was talk, and his talk seemed only to worsen his image in her eyes. His continued slander reminded her of a child's complaining, and it amused her that such a physically mature man could act this way.
Rose grew bored by the routine of patrolling the roads, and sometimes felt disappointed by her life here. She'd made good friends and learned many things, but she'd also left a life behind, and her new one didn't seem that much more exciting. Maybe she should quit the watchmen and find adventure on her own. It wasn't coming to her here.
Her patrol was strolling along a narrow forest path on a particularly foggy day when Swain asked, "Hey, Rose. You think I could get a look at your sword?"
She handed him the broadsword. "So do you know why it's different from everybody else's?" It was wider and heavier, not to mention sharper, than the watchmen's standard issue blades, and Rose wondered what that meant beyond greater effectiveness in hacking through bodies.
The veteran examined the sword and smiled. "Looks to me like it was made in Jugeld, or at least in that style."
"How can you tell?" Bert asked, craning his head to get a better look. Like Rose, the giant from Hullel was less than knowledgeable about the more distant residents of Kayland and their ways.
"The hilt, for one thing. They like it long enough to grip with both hands over there, in case you don't have or lose your shield. And they like their swords big, and train their warriors strong enough to wield them that way. You'd be lucky if I'm right—they make their weapons from the best steel in Kayland down there in the southeast. With all the barbarians they have to face, they've had to really learn to fight. Where'd you say you got it from?"
"A nasty brigand." Rose stiffened a bit, remembering that terrifying day.
"It's well maintained."
"It was quite filthy, really. But I cleaned it. Though I'm surprised the edge hadn't rusted after all that time."
"I think it is a Jugeld blade. They say the steel made there never rusts."
The older watchman continued to educate his companions about weaponry and the world, until the sound of clashing steel rang up the road. They rushed ahead to find a middle-aged man dressed in priest's robes backing away as he shouted in fear, trying with his staff to ward off the sword blows of a hefty bandit. Around them, a ring of dirty-faced men in rags watched gleefully while their comrade toyed with his prey.
Rose recalled that the bandits around here were known for making their victims disappear, not even leaving a body behind. "Let him go!" she cried.
"Why?" the fighting bandit asked with a sneer. "There's more of us than you, that I can see."
Eight of them, against Rose's four. She didn't count the priest, who had been knocked to the ground by a heavy blow from the bandit's sword hilt. Rose charged, not waiting for her friends, and cut the closest man down with a slash through the shoulder into his chest. Blood sprayed, and she shielded her eyes with a forearm. Bert and Swain followed her to meet the enemy, but she noticed Jasper's slower advance into the fight. She heard a skull collapse under Bert's club, and her own sword hacked into a man's side up to the spine.
She took off a third man's leg at the knee, then almost skewered the approaching priest before recognizing him not to be an enemy. "Help, he took my medallion!" he said as she checked her potentially tragic thrust.
Rose followed his gaze to the fleeing bandit who had been fighting him, and without thinking gave chase. They raced through the woods and along a riverbank, and she heard him panting as his strength waned. He turned just when she was nearly upon him, slashing with his blade. She disarmed him with a hard parry, and he plowed into her with a desperate tackle. They grappled and stumbled about jockeying for position, only to lose their balance and fall together into the rushing water.
The current hampered her vision, and Rose barely saw the bandit's newly drawn blade. They struggled while the river swept them along, his dagger seeking her throat and face. Neither of them could control their movements well, and suddenly Rose felt her back smash against an unyielding boulder, slowing her trip downstream.
Their foreheads collided viciously as his heavy body slammed into her, pressing her against the rock. Rose felt the sting
of a cut opening on her skin. He was doing her more harm due to the river's motion than intentionally! They slipped around the boulder, and he tried again to stab her. She caught his arm and attempted to raise her own blade. But their battle was forgotten an instant later, when the two of them plummeted together into a cascade of watery fury. The roar of the waterfall filled her ears, and water rushed into her nose and mouth.
For moments, Rose could not see or breathe. Then her body crashed against a wicked rock, and her lower back exploded with pain. She came up sputtering and gasping for air. Beside her the bandit floated, his sightlessly staring face surrounded by a halo of blood. He too had hit a rock, but not survived.
Rose dragged herself onto shore and waited for the pain to fade. When it had diminished to a dull ache, she looked up and sighed. It would be a long walk around to get back up to the top of the waterfall, and she hoped her friends were looking for her. She hoped too that they were alive to do it. Realizing just how long it could take to go around, she decided in frustration to climb back up the cliff to the waterfall's side. There seemed to be enough handholds on the lumpy surface, and she was confident in her ability to climb.
Picking her spot, she started up. Her body ached, but the rough stone against her skin made her feel steady. She had made it almost halfway when one of her handholds crumbled in her grasp. She tried to catch herself, but her wet boot slipped on a rock and she fell like a loosened boulder, crying out. To her surprise, the ground broke beneath her, and she landed on the bottom of a chamber thirty feet below the surface of the earth.
It hurt almost as much as the last fall, her body thudding down against solid stone. Ouch. Rubbing her back, Rose stood with a grimace. She looked up, and realized she'd have a tough time getting out. Though she saw roots that might have served for handholds, the earthen sides of the chamber curved inwards at the top, denying her escape.
