A Leaf and Pebble

by Andrew Monroe

  “We need to do something about these boat thieves that Tervlik got us into,” Volant said wearily. “We can’t exactly hunt down a shadow extremist group while being tailed by lake pirates.

  “I know,” I replied. Setting the increasingly heavy travel bag down beside me, I flopped to the ground.

  “Any ideas?” he asked, also sitting down.

  “Double back tonight, and try and light the trees around them on fire?” I suggested meekly. We both knew that was a terrible plan.

  Volant shook his head. “Sleep. That’s what we need. Let’s take a decent nap, and try and make the river tonight. Once there, we can find a crossing and figure out a better plan on escaping. Right now, they don’t really have to guess where we are headed.”

  Being so tired that death was sounding quite pleasant, I agreed. “Maybe we can find help at the river,” I said thoughtfully, dreariness already taking me into the dark embrace of unconsciousness.

  “Maybe,” Volant replied, and we were both fast asleep, tiredness stealing caution and care alike.

  My eyes snapped open to darkness. The stolen moon could be seen, high in the sky. As quietly as I could, I crawled over to Volant, nudging him awake.

  “I miss my hammock,” a groggy Volant mumbled. “What time is it?”

  I pointed to the moon above. “Looks to be early morning.” No smoke in the sky, no throats slit, though we had slept for many hours longer than we should have and if the Lakers pushed through, would have closed any gap we’d made. Getting into a low crouch, I looked for a fire in the distance, but saw nothing.

  “I’ve got to pee like there’s no tomorrow,” Volant whispered. Leaving his bag, he wandered off a way to relieve himself.

  Midway through his morning ritual, a ragged, shadowy figure stood up just down the way. I froze, while Volant with his back to the fellow, continued to relieve himself. The man was too groggy to notice us and moved to a tree to urinate as well, his back to Volant. As quietly as possible, I carried both our bags over to where Volant stood by a woefully thin tree. My fingers flitted at him, and Volant watched with sudden sharpness as I tried to convey that I thought the man must be one of the Lakers.

  Volant understood and responded simply. Two small wrist flicks and a raised eyebrow. Agreed. Kill him?

  I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. Negative, I signaled. We leave.

  We crawled on our bellies, periodically checking for the hooded figure. As soon as he was out of sight, we silently scuttled in a low crouch in the hopes of finding a quick escape. Running away was getting extremely frustrating and counter to what I’d promised Volant. Midday was upon us when we reached the bridge. A pure stone monolith that passed over the eternity river at one of its widest points.

  Sometimes, it seemed the old road makers were a bit showy with their projects, instead of building practical objects. This was the only bridge for a day or two in either direction. Though a dozen different roads fed into it from the eastern side of Brod, every person leaving had to use the structure if they hoped to head out towards Erset or Kalaran. It looked empty, but this would also be the perfect spot for the boat thieves to have cut around us to lay in wait.

  Volant eyed the arced stone crossway with exhaustion. “Once on the other side, we need rest. Besides, they don’t know what we look like, if we run into them, we just say we’re heading towards Brod.”

  “I don’t think I could go much further anyways,” I replied with a yawn. Muscles still ached from rowing, and the world was beginning to take on the fuzzy hue that happens when you have gone too long without enough rest. Our few hours this morning barely did anything considering how far behind on sleep I was.

  “Think you can make it across the bridge at least?” Weariness shown in his voice as clear as the bags under his eyes.

  “Suppose so.” Stepping onto the bridge was a feat in itself, the following uphill portion was torturous. At the top, I’d almost forgotten my own name between pain and tiredness.

  Volant paused at the crest, and turned about to take in the view. “Not as great as one of the airships, but there’s certainly something grand about the view up here.”

  It was admittedly a pretty great view. Behind us, the Alchemist Trees stretched uniformly to either side of the bridge, pushing up against the placid river. Before us, the dirt path ran through rolling hills of short grass, gradually growing larger far into the distance.

  “It’s all downhill from here, eh?” I said cheerfully, already imagining how soft that grass was going to be.

  “At least till tomorrow,” Volant replied just as cheerful. He paused, thinking carefully. “If that story doesn’t work, then we kill them, yes?”

  I laughed, and knew that even if they did know exactly what we looked like, they wouldn’t do anything out on such heavily trafficked roads. We were safe, no thanks to Tervlik. We stumbled to the end of the bridge, barely cresting the first hill before dropping to the ground for some water, and finally coming to a rest.

  “Long couple of days.” Volant muttered, eyes already closed.

  “Very long. No better feeling than that bone tired weariness, though. Shows you’re alive and kicking, right?” I replied.

  “Right you are Nil.” An eye opened my way, mischief reflecting against the high sun. “Never quit...” he began.

  “...And die angry,” I finished. My eyes shut as well, and I drifted off into the beautiful, dreamless sleep. A scant few hours of sleep over a couple of days left us too tired to care about sleeping on the side of a road.

  The sun was rising when a boot kicked me in the side. Another kick came, hard. Groaning against the pain, I opened my eyes, already planning the myriad of vengeances I would inflict on Volant for not letting me sleep longer. The boot was attached to a black clothed leg, which was in turn attached to an angry looking Elite. Always when I needed it most, my wit failed me. “Umm, hello?” I said foggily.

  Delicate, small, and incredibly strong hands grabbed my shirt and yanked me up to my feet. The Elite was a lightly tanned woman, scars crisscrossing her face, and a snarl to make an angry zymph flinch. Another pair of Elites in dark leathers stood behind her, each holding the standard issue spear. They also seemed rather angry.

  “Anything I can...” I started, before a well-aimed fist impacted my diaphragm, taking my breath away. As I wheezed, Volant appeared in the corner of my eye, receiving a similar treatment from another three.

  “Nil and Volant,” the first Elite said, stepping out in front of us. “You are hereby under arrest for Thievery, Murder, and Abuse of the Godly Gifts. Do you have anything to say in your defense?” She had an imperious voice, and was a good foot taller than either of us.

  “What murder?” Volant demanded beside me, his own anger matching that of the Guard around us.

  “We’re not them,” I followed up, somewhat unconvincingly.

  “Which murder doesn’t matter,” she replied scornfully. “What matters is we are the ones who caught you, as you are definitely the two.” A nod of her head and we were being dragged over to the caged wagon that transported prisoners in the city. “The Supreme has been sending out squads all over with your description, and has spent an incredible amount of resources to find you two.” The moment had the feeling of a soliloquy to it, but just then a gruff voice called out from the hilltop behind us. “You god spawned Guard best leave those two where they are. We don’t need your help.”

  We all turned, and a group of men could be seen, not thirty paces away. The speaker held a short bow, arrow nocked.

  “Oh good,” I said. “They caught up to us. Best day ever.” A small chuckle escaped Volant right before being cut off by an arrow thudding into the first Elite that stood between the men and me.

  The Guard reacted far more proficiently than one would expect in a government trained organization. Volant and I were both dropped to the ground without hesitation, and a wedge shape formation was made while at a dead run. “Shift!” Ordered an Elite, and the wedge of six for
med into a pair of triangles half way up the hill.

  The boat thieves, who seemed to outnumber the Elites, charged like a rag tag raiding party running down the hill, yells and shouts preceding them in force. The collision was disastrous for both sides. The Elites won out initially, each finding a Laker with alarming military precision. But, while six men died, another six had the unique opportunity of a defenseless Elite. Four of the Guard died, while two managed to actually kill two extra men who had tried to end them with only minor injuries. Within a few breaths, the impromptu battlefield went from thirteen Lakers and seven Elites, to four Lakers and two Elites.

  “Wow,” Volant said.

  “Indeed,” I replied.

  Both women faced the Lakers bravely, each holding a laughably small sword against the four men with hammer and axe. The Elites were good. Great, even, considering they had somehow killed the second pair that had them dead to rights. But only in stories did you find someone who could survive two bigger, stronger opponents at once. Everyone seemed to know it too. The Elite who had spoken to us gave the other a quick, sad look. The men rushed in. It was over even faster than I’d expected. Quick and brutal. To their credit, each Elite had buried her sword in a man before dying.

  The last two boat thieves turned to us, their eyes a bit wild. I figured they’d gone into some kind of shock. Improbably, one was the bowman who had started it all, though he’d lost the bow and held a nasty looking axe. “Ya little devils,” he growled. Blood splattered his face and beard in a gruesome mask.

  Our weapons had been tossed to the side and neither of us had made a move to pick them up. But the Elite’s hadn’t had a chance to tie our hands either. For me, the night’s rest had recharged my Skill reserves, and though it was nowhere as good as a full week of rest and meals, a pair of men would be easy enough.

  “Best say ‘em prayers, boys! Ya’ bout to meet the gods!” The man hefted his axe easily, and began to quicken his pace towards us.

  Volant flicked his fingers at me rapidly. You go behind. I distract.

  I nodded. We both stood. We both faced the two insane men on this increasingly insane day. Wind with the force of a fist blew into them as Volant swung a hand out. I ran and jumped, pushing into the earth with my Skill, sailing high above the two. Much higher than a man could jump. Spinning in mid-air, I whipped my right hand down at one, concentrating on a deadly burst out of two fingers. The release forced me into an uncontrolled tumble that terminated with my back meeting the hill. The second man was up, a confused look on his face as his companion lay dead next to him. Fear finally made its way into his eyes, but the lake people were nothing if not tenacious, and he charged in my direction, no attempt at bravado now.

  I drew more will in, Skill manifesting in my fingertips. Before I could do anything though, the man proved to be smarter than he looked and hurled his hammer at me. I dove to the side, but it skewed my aim and only grazed the berserking man’s arm. A fist crashed into my nose and black spots followed the pain. Another fist was raised above me, but Volant came soaring through the air, a Guard-issue spear poised in his hands. No sound came from the man as Volant landed on him, a perfect shot through his heart.

  “What. Just. Happened.” I said. My adrenaline subsided, and the carnage hit me, causing my stomach to roll nauseously. There was blood and bodies everywhere. “Seriously, left hand of god, what just happened here?”

  In response, Volant vomited, which made matters even worse. Quickly, I walked away from the dead eyes of the final Laker, back turned to the scene. “Deep breaths,” I told myself. Blood poured out of my nose, forcing me to breathe with my mouth in an attempt to force large gulps of air into my lungs. The retching stopped, and no sound but shuddering breaths could be heard from my friend.

  A moment passed, and Volant was standing next to me, shaking slightly. “I’m not cut out for this stuff, Nil.” His voice trembled ever so slightly. “I’m already regretting this vengeance thing. Let’s maybe not and just go into hiding.”

  “I’m in the same boat,” quavered my voice.

  “We need to leave. Pretty immediately.” His eyes pleading with me, fear mixed with anger and his voice tinged with a tremble.

  “Aye, we do.” I turned to survey the corpses, and had to fight down another turn of the stomach. “Let’s grab our things, and any coin they have.” As I got to the first corpse, I turned and saw Volant hadn’t moved.

  He took a hesitant step forward, but stopped and looked away. “Take the bags. I’ll meet you over the next hill when you are finished.” Their bodies became nothing but another task, and I hurriedly searched them, leaving everything too bulky to take and hustling back up the road to find Volant. Both of our clothes were covered in blood, so we circled back to the river, far from bridge, to scrub out what stains we could. Shaken, and still tired, we hiked the hills until sunset.

  Twenty-one

  When we found a small hammock valley, the decision was unanimous to stop and spend the night. The huge trees that marked the edge of the Erset forest could be seen in the distance following the Zymph-Fool road. Before we actually could settle down to sleep, a full three squadrons of Guard appeared at the top of the hill. It was Thumpers this time, though the only real difference to us was the uniform.

  “Halt!” A high-pitched voice screamed at us. The thunder of running men soon caught up with us, and Volant cursed softly, though no less creatively than he could manage. The man, though his voice sounded like a young girl’s, wore the marks of a high-ranking Guardsman. The rest of the Thumpers that found us were all low ranks, but it was still nothing to pass off lightly.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” I growled. “This is becoming utterly unfair.”

  Volant let out a semi choked sob in reply before they were on us. We were quickly surrounded, and our description compared to a wanted flyer they had. Whoever was in charge of this man-hunt had some very personal information on us.

  “These are the ones,” the girlish sounding Thumper said. “You been up to more murdering and thieving?” The man pointed at the blood stains we both bore on our shirts. “Got any more toron stones that belong to other people on you?”

  I shrugged nonchalantly. “Doesn’t matter it seems, you’re taking us in either way.”

  “Sure are, you god spawns!” The new speaker spat to emphasize the point.

  They were all grinning happily as we were tied up, special attention being given to our hands. Though a large group, these ones didn’t have horses or a prisoner’s wagon. Instead of taking us directly back to the road, we continued over more hills, until they had us at a temporary camp where another squad waited. The squad hurriedly gathered around us, inspecting the tattoos, and then congratulating each other on their good fortune.

  “Nay way ya boys found them! I kin barely believe it!” A purple haired Laker pounded the girlish sounding leader on the back excitedly. “That be a small fortune between the lot o’ us!”

  Another actually had tears of joy streaming from his eyes. “We can finally go home! No more day long rides, no more field jerky, and no more crapping in a hole or behind a tree,” the woman said. She even came and patted Volant on the head, ignoring the fact we were still sentient and very much alive.

  Through the whole ordeal, Volant and I stayed quiet, occasionally catching each other’s eye. It seemed these Guard were far less disciplined than the last. Probably no less deadly though. After we were thoroughly stripped of any weapons, Volant twitching almost violently when his father’s rapier was taken, we were marched a short way and into another valley. At their camp, we were manacled and then tossed into a prisoner wagon after everyone had finished celebrating their good luck.

  Within an hour, the camp they’d been scouting from was broken down and we were headed down the Zymph-Fool guild road. We made incredibly fast time. Mostly due to almost never stopping. As many Thumpers as possible would pile on top of the cage’s wood paneled roof, and sleep while a skeleton crew drove the wagon. W
hen it was time to rotate, we would stop for an hour, they’d relieve themselves, horses would be rubbed down and traded out, and legs stretched. There were more animals than people. This little hunt must have cost a fortune.

  Our only nourishment came from water squeezed out of our own confiscated water skins. Our hands remained bound. Without food and restful sleep though, I lacked the Skill to be truly dangerous at the moment. Volant was even more hopeless, being entirely dependent on hand motions.

  “Three days of travel, I believe,” said Volant late one afternoon.

  “Probably one more till we arrive, don’t you think?” I replied, not bothering to sit up. We’d finally been fed, and it’d done wonders for my thinking abilities.

  The Elite riding next to us glared in our direction, attempting to discern any signs of scheming. They all knew what we were both capable of, and had no way of preventing us from storing up reserves as we rested. By the third day, and still no escape attempted, they were all on edge.

  “These boys are sure handy for getting places fast.” I chuckled as ominously as I could. Rolling to my feet, I turned to the man whose eyes had been boring into me and gave him a wink.

  Volant laughed as he paled a little. It seemed like whoever had briefed these ones had done an overzealous job, going past the point of a healthy dose of caution to near fable like boogie man status. Our attempts at unsettling our captors were the first part of our unspoken plan. We both understood each other enough to know the escape attempt they feared would come, but not until we were well into Kalaran. Home and family could wait. If we were going to be in a cell, it was going to be for taking out those left hand God’s Fury murderers, not for stealing some stone at our handlers request to pay for school. We’d get out of this mess and find who killed our friends.

  Early on the fourth day, a sound of challenges being issued came from an indistinguishable source. Though hungry and stiff, I grinned at Volant. The moment was coming very soon. Unlike the Thumpers, we had received a little more sleep the last few days. At best, I had estimated their rotating schedule had allowed for roughly five hours of sleep a day for every Guard. Wheels rumbled and shook, crossing Kalaran’s entrance and onto the rougher carved stone floor. Sunlight gave way to a mixture of torches and glow light as we rolled down the long tunnel entrance. I stood slowly. A smile touched my lips, creating what I hoped was a sinister grin for any of them watching me.