A Leaf and Pebble

by Andrew Monroe

  Dioden held up his quill in interruption. Inwardly, I moaned, as this was looking to be a record amount of words for Volant. Nor had I known he’d been hanging out with the cook when he’d wander off. “What does this Pallor look like? What’s his story?” Dioden’s hand resuming its position on the paper.

  “Wrinkled, old, skinny, short. Sits on a throne when he can. Probably from Kalaran but he has the dark hair of Erset. Very weathered face, probably spent a lot of time in the peaks. Not much else I know. He’s only seen by his immediate staff.” Volant winced, knowing it wasn’t helpful.

  Rubbing his temple again, Dioden nodded for Volant to continue.

  “So, I ended up talking with this cook. Already, I knew escape wasn’t an option for Theo, but I also knew we couldn’t escape without supplies if we tried to rescue him. As long as they didn’t try and kill any of us, the best bet was to wait until we arrived wherever we were headed. Nil and I agreed on this, obviously. But I wanted a backup option. And better food either way. Just trying to get friendly with a guy with access to food supplies, originally. Offered to help him cook a meal or two but he couldn’t for fear of losing the job and having to figure out a different way to support his wife in the camp. She was the zealot that got him involved with the whole thing after all.” Here, Volant paused again, and took the skin from me, drinking long and deep.

  I was a bit surprised. He’d been far more proactive than I’d been with my ridiculous amount of weakening the cage. Not entirely surprising in itself as we generally tried to avoid being seen together while with the caravan for more than a quick conversation, but still. Dioden nodded, apparently understanding Volant’s reasoning perfectly. I stayed quiet, letting him continue.

  “It didn’t take long for me to make the right connections. I went to a few card games, listened to their daily speeches against the Learners, and generally helped about in any way I could.”

  “Entertaining, but what about the details?” Dioden asked.

  “Details?” Volant replied.

  “Capabilities, strategies, philosophies, weak points,” Dioden pressed, his voice tired.

  “Oh. Hmm, let me see.” Volant cocked his head. “They have numbers, but not a lot of coordination. Most of the people only respond to direct commanders, and they only acknowledge those they like. Not much discipline going about. They’re made up of Naturals, but far fewer than you’d think, and mundanes. A lot of resentment against Learners, more so from the mundanes. I think they resent their own laziness more than anything. Also, they’re all superstitious. Insanely so.

  “If there was a meeting of the most religious group of people you could find, it would be these guys. It feeds into their jealousy. Gives them an excuse for not becoming a Learner, I guess. And then, there are the Naturals. Almost every one of them is zealot level religious as well, but also has a deep-seated hate for Learners, mostly due to fear, or too much propaganda, or something like that. Very few of them have command positions. Anyone with any kind of power and brains is a close relative of officials.” Volant gave me a sidelong glance.

  “Officials?” Dioden asked in confusion.

  “Yup, son of a councilman, brother of a high-ranking Elite, sister or cousin of other officials like that. Pallor is a Kalaran local level council member, retired if I heard right. But, pretty much everyone else was from Erset’s cities.”

  “What about skill sets?” Dioden prodded.

  “Not much.” Volant leaned back on an elbow, pensive. “Though, enough, when it comes down to it. They mostly make up for the lack of training by experimentation on their own. A ton of bored, angry men can’t sit still for long. They’re constantly swinging and chopping about with swords, makeshift target practice for the archers, and a bunch of competitions spring up between individuals for who can best the other in whichever form of violence is the flavor of the day. There’s lots of betting.”

  “It’s not like that’s your biggest worry though, it’s those Naturals,” I said before either could continue. “A group of them with any amount of practice could tear through a fair number of regular soldiers. But if you have a few Learners, they could equally turn the tide against the Naturals in the same fashion.”

  Dioden twitched almost imperceptibly.

  “Oh, of all the luck,” I exhaled. “You don’t have any Learners, do you?”

  “Not enough, no. Very few. Practically no one goes and becomes a Learner and joins us. We have a couple citizens who retired from the Guard, who then went on to be Learners, and we dragged them here with us. But besides that? No. Just myself, and a husband and wife team who inexplicably are the exception to the rule.” Dioden put down his journal and leaned back as well. “Honestly, I’m mostly trusting you two to not be spies because I desperately need your abilities with us in the coming storm.”

  “Count us in!” I replied, not a moment’s hesitation.

  Volant glanced sharply at me, mouth drawn tight in a thin line.

  Dioden caught the look as well, and shifted his attention to Volant. “Do you have something more pressing than helping quell a violent civil war?”

  “It’s something Nil and I should speak of in private first, that’s all.” He directed the end of his not quite a command at me with a steely voice.

  “Volant, we have to help. If not to save Brod, then for vengeance. These Equals are partially the root of our problem.” I pleaded to him.

  “And the other part?” Volant replied, a slight nod in the direction of the supreme.

  “But...” I began, and then stopped, seeing Dioden as part of the Guard, not a savior. “You’re right; we should have some time to discuss this in private.”

  It was Dioden’s turn to take on a more threatening visage. “How about this, Nil and Volant. You agree, and do your absolute best to help us, and I clear all charges against your names. Or,” he said with a melodramatic pause, “I arrest you on the spot, and summarily turn you over to Brod’s Guard and let them do with you as they would any criminals?”

  Volant went pale, eyes blinking in surprise. On the other hand, I could feel my face growing red, an anger building deep in my gut, spreading upwards. Theo looked completely baffled.

  Before either of us responded though, the Dioden, raised placating hands to us. “I know that sounds extreme, but those are the two options. Really though, it shouldn’t be too hard to make the right one. Even if you don’t want to help us, you have nowhere else to go. Brod’s been locked down. You can’t go any further that way. An army stands between you and the rest of Balteris. An army that would actively try to kill you. One way or another, you have to fight them to get home. You have no supplies. Where else are you safest, but here, on our side?” A grim smile backed his words.

  Volant buried his head in his hands, and I let out an exhausted sigh. “It would have been nicer if you’d lead with that,” I told him. “We are both quite tired of imprisonment, and threats.”

  Dioden nodded in understanding. “That’s perfectly reasonable. Let’s consider just the reward incentive then. Help us here, and I will help you everywhere else. Clean record, jobs if you want them, and even a bit of monetary compensation, let’s say coin equivalent to a first year Guard?”

  “What kind of guarantee do we have that you follow through with helping us, assuming we all live through the god spawned war coming up?” I asked pointedly.

  Volant looked up, and Dioden just shrugged. “Can’t really offer you one besides my word. Look at it this way. Assuming you survive, you won’t be any worse off than you are right now, and will at least have been fed. Oh, and you have access to the armory and supply tent. Whatever you think you need, you will have. Therefore, you’ll be better armed and prepared when the time comes if you do think running away is your only option.”

  A few moments before I could turn Dioden down, mostly out of spite, Volant spoke up. “All right, we’re in. But why the deal in the first place? We can’t be that helpful.” Volant was staring intently at the Supreme, looki
ng for a sign of nervousness, or an indicator he was playing us false.

  Instead of anything of that sort, an even more earnest face showed itself. “My family. My friends. They all live in Brod, counting on us. We might have a handful of Naturals in our ranks, and even fewer Learners. But they’re all just here because we commanded it. You two represent some of the most resourceful and supposedly ‘dangerous’ people we could have, even if the reputation and charges are trumped up. As they say, something has to cast the shadow. And Theo’s a Learner, so he’s worth having along too. Same deal goes for you, by the way. Minus the whole clean slate bit unless you’re secretly a criminal.”

  Theo just nodded, too shaken at either the prospect of war or that we were dangerous criminals.

  “Neither of us are actually that good,” I tried to explain. “All of those posters are lies, we didn’t do much of anything. A very powerful man on the Council has just made us out to be more disreputable so as to catch us more quickly”

  “You’re wrong to some extent there,” replied Dioden. “I can tell you both are talented, just considering how long you’ve evaded us. I don’t know about the councilman, but you guys are slippery as they come. Besides, if you saw the few others we have, you’d not be so quick to sell yourselves short.” He snorted derisively. “Gods below, one of them only has one arm.”

  Theo came to a decision. “I’m absolutely in. They kept me in a cage. I need some payback.”

  “Well,” I cautiously said, watching Volant for any change of heart. “I’ve never liked those murderous lizard lickers. But I’ll side with whatever decision Volant makes.”

  Volant thought for a moment then gestured defeat. “Your argument is sound. We’ve got nowhere else to go. Now where’s our tent and this armory? I’m tired of these itchy and oversized clothes.”

  Dioden rolled his eyes but smiled. “Armory tomorrow, you need rest for now.”

  Apparently, plenty of the tents we had seen were empty, an attempt at making the encampment seem more militarized, and less like a children’s sleepover. Directly behind Dioden’s tent was an actual command tent, a crudely drawn map stretched over a wooden table, markers showing a dotted line of other encampments.

  We were asked to give our opinions on where, and how far the Equal’s encampment was, verifying the scout’s work who had brought in a report as well. Directly behind that tent, there was an earthen structure, still being built. For the most part it had walls and a roof, but exposed beams decorated its side, and the entire front was open. Only two men stood guard over the entirety of their supply building. One of Dioden’s younger recruits showed us to an empty tent at the front. It was spacious despite the four Soft Stepper style beds. Nothing else furnished the tent but I certainly didn’t care.

  We found Theo who had opted to not share with Volant and I. We said our goodnight and promised to talk to him in the morning if he came and found us. Not much sleep was had though. Anyone not on night duty was expected to be up for drills at the crack of dawn.

  We were gently kicked awake by the same young woman who had shown us to the tent the night before. Sheepishly, she explained we were expected. I didn’t have time to reply before she scuttled out of the tent in embarrassment. A growling stomach argued against doing anything prior to finding food. I half agreed with it. But the rest of my body actually did want something physical.

  So much walking had happened recently that I’d developed a new appreciation for the open air of morning and nothing sounded more pleasant than getting a sweat worked up. People trying to kill you certainly gave you a better perspective on what’s important in life.

  Twenty-nine

  Volant’s perspective was less inclined towards the morning in general, and physical activities in particular. Grumbling under his breath, he followed me towards the small crowd which made up Dioden’s immediate command. No one noticed us at first. People mingled. Some stretched. It looked more like a casual meet up rather than Brod’s first line of defense. As we cleared the tent line, conversations stopped. Everyone turned to watch us walk through.

  Then I realized it wasn’t us, it was Volant. The Natural.

  A few eyes hardened in suspicion as we passed. These belonged to a knot of men who actually looked like soldiers. They were tried and true Elites, the same well-worn uniforms, hints of hardened leather peeking out from underneath their cloaks. In the chilly morning air, they alone seemed to be the only ones not shivering. Theo was already standing around, looking lost. We waved and he jogged over to us.

  Volant, taking in the crowd, casually dropped one hand onto his rapier’s hilt, and the other onto the knife he’d taken from Cralil before he was dropped.

  “And this is where the party starts, huh?” I said to the staring crowd.

  “Aye, guess so,” a rough voice responded from someone.

  We all stood in silence, watching each other warily. Thankfully, a shout from behind us ended the impromptu standoff.

  “Get in line you scoundrels!” Dioden roared as he crossed the grass towards the milling group.

  Immediately, everyone rearranged themselves into rows, squaring up shoulder to shoulder. Really, rows were a bit generous. Apart from the weathered Elites, the remaining rows were more rough linear clusters than anything.

  A man and woman stood on either side of Dioden. The man stepped forward, saluting the group before returning to a stiff position. “Odd numbered squads,” he bellowed, a shade deeper than Dioden’s voice, and two shades louder. “Reform, vertical!”

  Interestingly enough, they did exactly that. Synchronous turns and a quick march around had the even rows aligned. A barked command, and as one the line turned to stand single file in front of the loud man. When this was accomplished, the woman stepped forward, saluting as well. “Remaining squads, reform vertical!”

  Almost identical to the odd numbered squads maneuver, the evens moved into a vertical line until everyone had moved but Volant and I, and a five-member group milling off to the side.

  Dioden looked pleased with this. “Misfits, front and center!”

  At his command, the group that had been left out attempted to march down the wide space between the two recently separated groups of Guard. One was missing the arm below his elbow. A man and woman held hands as they walked up. An old, leathery man trudged behind them with a permanent scowl on his face, and a kid, far too young to be out here, brought up the rear. Misfits, an aptly named handful of Learners, lined up in front of Dioden, not quite as disciplined, but somewhat willing to make an effort.

  “Nil, Volant, and Theo! Up and at it!” Dioden shouted, pointing at the group that had stopped in front of him.

  Not knowing what else to do, we walked up to the front, standing roughly off to the side. When we stopped a few paces away, he nodded and addressed the waiting columns of Guard-turned-soldiers.

  “These three are the newest additions to the Tip!” Dioden said, now projecting his voice instead of shouting.

  At this, everyone in the clearing thumped their chest twice. Even the Misfits did, though far less impressively.

  “These gentlemen,” he began again gesturing towards us, “will probably save your life. Take care of them, and they will take care of you. From this point on, Nil will be in charge of the Misfits, and Volant will retain an independent position within the Misfits, and will be acting as my primary consultant on the Naturals, reporting directly to me. Theo will be doing whatever he feels like, which hopefully includes training with the Misfits.” Dioden paused, letting the words sink in. When he spoke again, he first looked to the two who came with him, and then redirected his gaze to the remaining Guard. “A warning and some advice. Test these two at your own peril. They will be the pointy end of the tip.” The group thumped twice again. “Not only will you most likely end up worse off if you cross them, but you will then answer personally to me. If something happens to them, you may as well cut your own throat before I find you.” Speech finished, Dioden turned on his heel and be
gan walking away. “Oh, and Nil,” he said over his shoulder, voice conversational now. “Best whip the Misfits into shape. We don’t have much time I’d wager.”

  When Dioden turned away, the man and woman each took a step towards their respective half of the men. Each shouted a garbled string of orders, before turning, and heading in opposite directions at a light jog.

  Both companies were abruptly gone, leaving us with the Misfits in a suddenly quiet field.

  “You heard him,” I tried to say with as much bravado as Dioden had. “Let’s start with a light run, I guess. We’ll do introductions later.” The group moaned, and the old man made a rude gesture before walking off back towards the tents. When no one else left, I shrugged and began to jog after the woman and her even numbered squads, hoping everyone else would follow.

  Volant was at my side a few paces out, bits of his morning crankiness fading away with each stride. “We can’t fight the Equals with just these,” he hissed under breath as we led the Misfits along the squashed grass trail left by those before us.

  Theo lagged a bit behind us, keeping pace with the small boy that was a part of the squad. The couple brought up the rear. Squad was almost too strong a word.

  Speaking between strides, I disagreed. “We have to. There’s nowhere else for us to go. And besides, I’m sure there’s more at other camps.”

  “We could run when the fighting starts. You heard what Xylex said, the Learners are supposed to win in the end. We’d only be helping him.” Volant stared straight ahead as he said it. But his low intensity was clear anyways.