Justified (#2 Divided Destiny)

by Taitrina Falcon

  Leo knew chances were good that at some point they would need to split up. However, it would have to be for a damn good reason, and guarding the campsite didn’t seem good enough. The sounds of battle could be heard in the distance, the sky tinged red from all the fires, even with the sun beaming in the sky. The morning mist had long burned away, and now it was another glorious day.

  They had left Earth in September, the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The weather here felt like it was the height of summer, occasional rain showers notwithstanding. They had been lucky. If they had landed here in the depths of winter, and snow had been thick on the ground, their mission would have been made ten times harder. Just surviving would have been tricky.

  Smoke spiraled into the sky, dark streaks marring the pristine blue. They weren’t looking for the frontline—that would have been easy to find, just follow the sounds and smells of death. They were looking for the Sintiya base camp, and they wanted to find it without attracting attention.

  From what they had seen so far, this world was divided into farmland, mountains, or forests, with very little in between. There were clearings where the forest had been cut back to allow for a village or town, the wood from the trees providing the construction materials. The forest provided plenty of cover for them to creep around, but it cut both ways, as the forest obscured vision of anything in the distance.

  “Anyone else feel like any moment somebody is going to spring out and yell boo?” Don asked, a grin spreading across his face.

  Leo snorted and gave Don an odd look. Don shrugged and Leo shook his head at his friend’s antics. Don was both the pessimist of the group and the spoiler of the crowd, who cracked the worst jokes he could imagine to lighten the mood. Leo looked over at Nick, who was smiling softly, but it didn’t meet his eyes.

  Nick’s gaze was keen as his eyes flickered around the forest, searching for any signs of movement or danger, but Leo knew where his mind was—back on Earth, with the family he had been forced to leave behind.

  “I think we’re going around in circles,” Don groused.

  “We’re weaving around but we’re not going backwards,” Leo corrected, though he understood Don’s meaning.

  They were taking a very circuitous route. There were sure to be Sintiya patrols, and Leo wanted to find the camp without confrontation. Gatlan had practically promised them everything, but it was still early days. This was the ‘trust’ quest, and Leo wasn’t ready to go ‘all in’ with Gatlan just yet. He knew that they stood a chance of making their first enemy today, but if they could find a way to complete the mission without earning the ire of Sintiya, that would be preferable.

  Nick’s fist snapped up and they halted all movement. Leo dropped to a crouch, bringing his rifle up and scanning around for what Nick had spotted. He couldn’t see anything, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something out there. His heart pounded in his chest and his breathing quickened. After a moment, Nick shook his head and rose to his feet.

  “Sorry, I thought I saw a glint of armor,” Nick apologized.

  “No problem, I was getting bored anyway,” Don said easily.

  They continued walking. Leo moved up to take the lead. He took a deep breath, and he could see the smoke tendrils in the sky from the battleground and now he thought he could smell it. He licked his finger and held it to the wind, the light breeze was blowing in their direction but within the forest they were under cover.

  “We must be close,” Leo commented.

  Don shook his head. “Not that close. Someone’s made camp. Let me guess, we’re going around?”

  Leo pretended to glare and then stuck his tongue out at him. He supposed he had said ‘we’ll go around’ at least a dozen times in the last couple of hours. Their easy banter was a balm for his worried mind. This could go sideways at least half a dozen ways. No matter how many times he told himself to not think about the stakes, it was like the elephant in the room. Every spare minute he had, Leo was thinking about Earth.

  A few minutes later, a dozen yards to their left there was a whoosh, and a flock of birds took to the skies. The three of them dropped down instinctively; something had to have spooked those birds. Leo listened, trying to breathe as shallowly as he could, but he couldn’t hear anything bar the rustle of the leaves on the branches. There were no sounds of snapping twigs, no sounds of movement at all.

  He sighed in relief and they moved forward again. All told, they spent two hours creeping around the woods, leading the snorting horses by the reins and jumping at every sound. Then, finally, they did hear sounds of movement—the clattering of metal—and smelled the scent of cooking meat not too far away. Leo looped the reins of his horse around the nearest tree and gestured to Don and Nick to follow him.

  Leo ghosted forward. The tree line was up ahead. Through the branches, he could see what looked like canvas fluttering in the light breeze. It wouldn’t be canvas, of course; perhaps linen or cotton. The Sintiya base camp was in a large clearing. A number of tents were dotted around. The dirty white material was ripped in places, but still provided some measure of protection, both from the elements and from curious eyes.

  One of those tents would no doubt be the headquarters, the others reserved for the senior knights as sleeping quarters. Leo narrowed his eyes, trying to take in the entire camp at a glance. There were a few areas fenced off; one was clearly for the horses. Many of the tents were constructed in a cone shape, and there were Sintiya flags fluttering in the breeze in every direction, mostly from the tops of the tents. The colors of purple and silver easily drew the eye and provided quite a stirring sight.

  Most of the knights and infantryman must have been off at battle. However, the camp was far from deserted. There were a number of knights patrolling through the camp, and a lookout based on each side. Squires carrying supplies dashed around, tending the fires for the food and generally maintaining the camp.

  What was the hardest sight was that of the medical tent. A dried spray of arterial blood marred the side, and Leo could hear the screams of agony and whimpers from the dying even from the tree line several hundred yards away. He fancied he could smell the sickly scent of death carried on the breeze, but the smell was more in his mind than in the air.

  On one side of the camp there were several large water drums. They were each on the back of a cart, easily containing a few dozen gallons of water each. With an army in the field, fresh water was no doubt a huge concern. Their soldiers could hunt for food, or survive without it for a time. However, people died very quickly without water.

  Water was more valuable than liquid gold to a soldier.

  With the sun beating down, people would get dehydrated even quicker. A plan rapidly formed in Leo’s mind. It would be a quick and easy way to sabotage Sintiya’s supplies. Nobody would get hurt, and it was likely that they would escape detection. He still didn’t relish crossing Sintiya, so the chance to complete the mission without Sintiya being aware of their involvement was too good to pass up.

  Leo gestured, and the three marines moved back from the tree line, deeper into the forest, where they had left the horses.

  “What’s the plan?” Nick asked.

  Leo hefted his rifle. “Shoot out the water barrels. A couple of bullets in each and they’ll leak out before anyone can do a thing.”

  Don nodded slowly, a smile spreading across his face. “They won’t recognize the sound.”

  “Exactly,” Leo confirmed. “We should still get clear as soon as possible; they’ll likely start a sweep. It’s what we would do.”

  “We’d know what had happened, though. They won’t,” Nick pointed out.

  Leo shrugged in response. He looked around, trying to orient himself. They had been picking their way through the woods, avoiding the path to try and get closer to the Sintiya base camp without being detected. Now, he wanted to find the road, because a clear path and a galloping horse would be their fastest ticket out of there. It would likely take them in the wrong direction
, but that didn’t matter—getting clear was the important thing.

  “That way.” Leo pointed. “Take the horses and head towards the road. I will be right behind you.” Don set his jaw mulishly, clearly about to object. “It’s practical. Horses move slower through the forest than a sprinting man,” Leo explained. “Now go!”

  “Copy that.” Nick nodded.

  He took the reins of his horse and Leo’s and set off. Don sighed heavily, and shot daggers at Leo.

  “You better be right behind us,” Don threatened.

  “Oh, I’m already there,” Leo joked.

  Don left, following Nick, picking his way through the trees. Leo watched them go for a moment, and when they were obscured by the trees, he turned and crept back towards the tree line. He leaned against the nearest tree, sheltering behind it, just poking his head and his rifle out the side. Nobody was looking his way, just as before.

  Leo raised his rifle and took aim at the first water barrel. It was a few hundred feet away, clear on the other side of the camp. However, he wasn’t special forces for nothing. He could hit a swinging rope at this range. Hitting the water barrel was like hitting the broad side of the barn, easy as pie.

  He gently squeezed the trigger. The bang of the shot sounded exceptionally loud. A flock of birds took off from the forest behind him. A couple of squires stopped and looked around in fear. Leo knew from the battle in the Kaslea border village that the sound of a rifle was unlike any sound that these people were familiar with. It was alien to them, which was why it had scared away the attacking forces from that village.

  Quicker now, Leo took aim and let loose several bullets in quick succession. He had put his rifle on single shot to conserve ammo. There was no need to spray the barrels, and he didn’t want to accidentally hit anyone. His precautions proved wise, as a squire ran right in front of his sight as he dashed over to the water barrel.

  “Quickly, help!” the squire yelled.

  Leo saw him place a hand against the hole in a futile attempt to stop the water leak. However, the water pressure was too high, and it sprayed out from around his hand. Leo shot a few more bullets and turned to leave. There was a sound of wood cracking. One of the leaking barrels bulged, the wood cracked around the split, and then water gushed out like a flood, soaking the squire and knocking him to the ground.

  Several more knights and squires ran over to the barrels. Nobody ran in his direction. Leo smiled; he had been right. They had no idea what had happened; it would be a mystery. Carefully, he started to jog through the forest, weaving through the trees, wary of the uneven ground. A few minutes later, he spotted Don and Nick up ahead.

  “Easy mission,” Leo reported with a grin. He took the reins of his horse from Nick and the lead position up front. “They have no idea what happened. We’ll get clear to be safe, but I doubt they’ll be looking for us, or looking for anyone, for that matter.”

  “They’ll be confused as hell since it happened when no one was nearby. It’s not like the barrel was a pincushion of arrows. I feel kinda sorry for them, actually.” Nick laughed.

  “Day after tomorrow, we should be back at the palace,” Don noted gruffly.

  “Get our last mission and go home,” Nick said wistfully.

  “Ooh-rah,” Leo cheered, buoyed by today’s success.

  They reached the road and Leo hauled himself back into the saddle. He kicked the horse into a gallop, and clods of dirt kicked up behind them as the hooves struck the ground. This pace couldn’t be sustained, but it felt good to put some distance between themselves and the frontline by the Kaslea border.

  It might be more complicated than just ‘one last mission,’ but hopefully it wouldn’t be. In any case, it was better not to borrow trouble. In two days, they would learn whether Gatlan could be trusted to honor their agreements. That would be the first step. Once trust had been established, then they could focus on saving the world.

  *****

  It had been three days since Eleanor had been officially informed of the slaughter of Sintiya’s knights at the northern border. It had been three days since she had ordered knights pulled back from the frontline to double the patrols, making for a vastly increased show of force. For those without magic at their disposal, three days was only a very short time, because it took days to travel anywhere.

  However, three days was just long enough for the Northern Kingdoms to notice the increased activity on their southern border. Eleanor smirked, unable to wait for one of her scouts to inform her. She had been watching the border intermittently herself. They were now finally starting to increase their own patrols in response, which meant it was time for another ‘incident’ to befall her troops.

  Eleanor transported herself to the border, hiding her arrival by appearing once more inside the tree line. She snorted in horror and disbelief at the sight of the border outpost before her. There were indeed twice the number of knights, but they were no less prepared than their counterparts who she had slaughtered days ago.

  The knights were half out of armor, lounging around the fire. Several of them appeared to be sleeping. Eleanor shook with rage at the incompetence on display. She couldn’t be certain, but she believed that several of these knights had been part of her former guard. They had proven themselves incompetent at that duty as well, letting an assassin into her throne room and failing to come to her aid when he had attacked.

  With a wave of her hand, she conjured and enchanted swords just as she had before. She burned to make them suffer; they would die far too quickly by this method. However, the Northern Kingdoms had to appear responsible, and at least these fools would prove useful in death.

  She had felt a twinge of guilt last time. One of the knights had defended himself admirably, proving that he wasn’t as useless as his comrades. If she could have spared him, then she would have. However, there would be no such soft feelings this time. If the knights were this lax in their behavior after the slaughter of four of their comrades, there could be no mercy.

  The swords streaked across the open grassland, towards the foot of the mountains and the camp at the outpost. Dispassionately, Eleanor watched the slaughter. Half of the knights didn’t even manage to get to their feet, and only two succeeded in drawing their swords. It was a pitiful display and it sickened her.

  Why could men not fulfill the duties they were charged with? It appeared no man could be depended on to do anything. She shivered at how vulnerable and alone that made her feel. Eleanor didn’t trust men, but she had previously thought she could depend on her knights to carry out her orders.

  With a flash of crimson flame, Eleanor transported herself back to the palace. From now on, she would use magic to expedite the process. Prince Edmund would desperately wish to avoid another war. She would prevail upon him to host a diplomatic summit, to discuss peace between Sintiya and the Northern Kingdoms.

  It would ordinarily take at least three days for an envoy to travel between her castle, nestled at the foot of the mountains to the north of Sintiya, and even further north from Prince Edmund of Kaslea’s castle in Termont. The moment she was officially informed of this second slaughter, she would order her envoy to swap horses and ride all night.

  With that sort of haste, they should arrive by the end of the day after tomorrow. She wouldn’t wait for their return. If all went well, the summit would begin the following day. The Northern Kingdoms had their own sorcerer, Kevall, who could transport whatever delegate was chosen to represent the alliance of duchy’s.

  Her impatience wouldn’t be out of place given the situation. Eleanor could hardly wait; she was eager to move forward. At least once the summit began, she would be consumed by the delicate, subtle manipulations required to get Prince Edmund on her side.

  That would fill her days, and anything would be better than being trapped in this castle just waiting to make her next move. The frustration was getting to her; she just wanted it to be over. She had waited long enough.

  Chapter Seven

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nbsp; It was mid-afternoon when Leo, Nick, and Don rode up to King Oswald’s palace. The temperature had climbed over the last day and the hot sun beat down on them. They had stuck to riding in the shadows wherever they could. However, the last part, the road from the town to the palace, was completely exposed.

  Sweat trickled down his back. Leo gingerly touched the back of his neck. They all had a small tube of sunscreen in their packs, but his skin still felt hot to the touch. It was a relief to get within the castle courtyard. They moved into the shadows cast by the building, and there was a noticeable temperature drop.

  That was one good thing about castles compared to modern buildings. They weren’t very well insulated, so the inside was nice and cool rather than stifling. The stone leached the heat from the air, rather than trapping it inside.

  A knight escorted them through the palace and into the throne room. King Oswald was lounging on his throne, flanked by two sentry knights, but there appeared to be no sign of the sorcerer, Cain. However, perhaps like last time, he was lurking in the shadows and would make an appearance at the most dramatic moment.

  “Ah, the strangers have returned,” King Oswald boomed as he waved them in. “I have had a report from the border of your exploits.”

  “We sabotaged the supplies as ordered,” Leo confirmed.

  Oswald shook his head. “No, you did not.”

  Leo’s breath caught in his throat. The throne room seemed to grow even quieter. The only sound was the harshness of his breathing. He swallowed hard as his mind raced, considering the statement. While it was true that their sabotage had been subtle, and hopefully Sintiya didn’t realize it was them, Oswald had just said he’d had a report of their ‘exploits.’ Leo’s blood ran cold; he couldn’t understand Oswald’s denial. They had done what he had asked.