by Owen Crane
lowered by his side. “But I"m a generous man. There"s no need for all of you to
die. I only want something small that you have.”
“Really?” replied Karlov, “and what „small thing" would that be?”
The Highwayman pointed his rapier straight at Eleazar. “Him.” He
demanded.
Chapter 16
“Not a chance!” shouted Indio riding forward in front of Eleazar,
brandishing his axe.
Ariella and Jaron followed him, Jaron"s bow was drawn, his arrow pointing
straight at the Highwayman"s face. Several of the men standing to the sides
raised their crossbows.
“We"re not going to give him to you. Never going to happen,” said Ariella.
The Highwayman shrugged, “then you all die.”
“No.” said Eleazar, pushing past Indio. “This is nothing to do with you,
with any of you.”
Ariella reached out and grabbed Eleazar"s wrist pulling him around to look
at her. “Is this about „old friends" and „butterflies"?”
Eleazar nodded, his chin dropping.
“Well you"re one of us now. I don"t care about your past, we"re a Knot and
there is no way we"re giving you to them. Do you hear that?” she called out to
the Highwaymen around her. “Never going to happen!”
“Wait!” called Karlov. He spoke to the leader, “Give me a moment while I
talk sense to them.”
The Highwayman nodded, “you have one minute.” The men holding the
crossbows didn"t lower them.
Karlov turned back to the Knot and gathered them in a tight huddle.
“What the heck are you doing Karlov,” pleaded Ariella, “You"re not giving
him up are you?”
“Why shouldn"t he?” asked Eugenie “If we are a „Knot" as you say, then
surely one should sacrifice themselves for the others, the greater good and all
that.”
Theia nodded along with Eugenie.
Ariella"s voice was dangerously low. “If you ever again suggest sacrificing
one our Knot to save you pathetic skin, I will break the rest of you the way I
broke your pretty little nose. Am I clear?”
Eugenie"s jaw dropped, her eyes went wide and her skin red. But she didn"t
say a word. Neither did anyone else. They all stared at Ariella.
Karlov spoke, “Of course we"re not giving him up. Felix, this is up to you
and me now.”
Tiny beads of sweat appeared on Felix"s brow and he swallowed hard.
“Remember what we"ve been working on?”
Felix nodded.
“Great,” said Karlov. “The rest of you, stick tight behind me, ride hard and
fast, your lives depend on it.”
“What"s going on?” demanded Joachim “We"re not actually relying on him
are we?” he pointed at Felix.
Karlov"s eyes narrowed. “Joachim, you"re an idiot and you"re going to die
an idiot unless you do exactly as I say. Ride and you live, stay behind and you
die.”
There was no more time for discussion.
“Time"s up!” called the Highwayman “Are you going to give me the boy or
are you going to die?”
Karlov wheeled around and faced the thin leader of the Highwaymen.
“Thank you for your patience,” he smiled. “But my instructor always taught me
to avoid situations with only two options. You see two options backs you into a
corner, two options instils fear. Only having two options means you make bad
decisions. And, as he always taught me, there are always more than two
options.”
“Enlighten me,” sneered the Highwayman.
“The person who hired you to take the boy, I"m guessing they didn"t tell you
who we are?”
The Highwayman didn"t reply.
“Didn"t think so. They probably told you that there would be a small group
of riders coming along this road. They told you about the boy with white hair,
how a group of nine tough Highwaymen would have no problems taking him.”
Karlov smiled.
For the first time the Highwayman"s confident eyes had a look of uncertainty
about them.
“What I"m sure they didn"t tell you is what we can do.” Karlov raised his
hand and called over his shoulder, “You see, we"re Guardians.” The
Highwayman opened his mouth to cry out just as Karlov yelled “Felix… Now!”
Felix threw out his arms to either side and bright blue light poured out and
formed two thin, shimmering walls, one on each side of the Knot
“Fire!” commanded the leader of the Highwaymen.
Ariella heard the click and twang of the crossbows as their bolts flew
towards the Knot. There was a flash and crack as they hit Felix"s wall of light
and ricocheted into the woods.
Karlov"s green light exploded from his hand blasting the leader of the
Highwaymen off his feet. The light formed a curved wall in front of the Knot as
Karlov kicked his horse into a gallop.
“Ride!” shouted Karlov.
The Knot moved as one, flying along behind Karlov and his wall of green
light. Esther had taken the reins of Felix"s horse as he kept both arms out
holding the wall of blue light, shielding them from any more bolts from the
crossbows.
A minute of pushing their horses at a gallop and the Knot emerged from the
thick wood into the open countryside. The sunlight shone bright all around
them.
“Keep riding,” called Karlov, and they pushed their horses on. They sped
past farms and over streams.
Their horses began to tire and Karlov drew them back to a steady walk.
“That should do it,” he said, looking back down the road they had come. “They
would be foolish to follow us this far into the open in daylight. The Trevenan
Knights hunt Highwaymen. Great work Felix, you saved our lives today. You
can drop the light now.”
The sweat was dripping from Felix and as he lowered his arms the Light
walls faded away. He climbed slowly from his horse, dropped to his knees and
threw up.
“Lovely.” Theia smirked.
“He just saved your arse Theia, or did you think that you could"ve got out of
that mess without him?” said Indio, glowering at Theia"s smug grin.
“We wouldn"t have been in that mess if it hadn"t have been for him.” She
spat back, pointing at Eleazar. “You want to tell us what is going on?”
“Go to hell,” snarled Eleazar.
“Oh no, you don"t get away that easily,” said Eugenie, “You"ve put the
whole Knot in danger. Those men could"ve killed us all and it"s your fault.”
Eleazar looked away, his eyes full of sadness.
“Back off Eugenie, you don"t give a stuff about any one of us, you only care
about yourself,” said Jaron. “You would"ve given up any of us to save your own
skin. You are self centred witch.”
His words had an impact on Eugenie. For a split second she looked hurt,
then she covered up her emotions, regaining the air of coldness she always wore.
“Will you lot give it a rest,” said an exasperated Karlov. “We"re still a few
days ride from Stonegard and I"d like to get us all back there in one piece.
Eleazar, lead us out.”
The white haired Sojourner turned his horse towards Stonegard and kicked
him into a trot. Felix climbed back into his saddle and the Knot set
off again.
Ariella and the others tried to talk to Eleazar but he stonewalled them, avoiding
them at every opportunity.
Over the next few days they watched the countryside grow steadily worse.
They didn"t encounter any more direct confrontations from the people of
Trevena, but their hostility was evident. People would spit as the young
Guardians passed by, hurling the occasional insults at their backs. The morale of
the Knot slipped lower and lower with every mile.
Eventually, late one morning, the castle of Stonegard broke the horizon and
the mood of the Knot lifted.
“At last,” said Indio, “I need some proper food and a warm bed tonight.”
Jaron was too tired to say anything, he just nodded his agreement. Karlov
led them through main gates of Stonegard and slowed his horse to a walk.
Mingled in with the normal busy crowds were small pockets of burly, hard
looking men. Pinned on their chests were small badges, a burning crown pierced
with a bloody sword. Baron Rexsalve.
“I don"t like this,” said Ariella, “something"s happened.”
As they rode down the main street of Stonegard they realised the
atmosphere had changed. The people were tense. The street sellers were not as
loud, their jokes not as forth coming. The food stalls were almost all empty and
those that did have food had long queues.
“Look,” said Jaron, his voice startled.
He was pointing at a large building in the middle of a long line of some of
the finest shops in the city, shops that surrendered the Royal Keep. It was here
that the wealthy nobility of Trevena did their shopping. The building Jaron was
pointing at was, „Valdacor"s Amazing Bazaar". Valdacor was a popular merchant
from Khan. He sold beautiful jewellery, clockwork wonders and all manner of
intricate pieces of metalwork from the finest Artificers in Khan. They rode past
the shop frequently and Indio would boast of the skill of the Khan craftsmen.
It was approaching midday. The rest of the city was bustling with people
about their business, but „Valdacor"s Amazing Bazaar" was closed, the shutters
were down over the windows. Across the front of the shop, in hastily scrawled
letters in red paint was written, „GET OUT KHAN SCUM". Karlov"s jaw
tightened.
Jaron flicked his head around, “She"s smiling,” he whispered, “Eugenie"s
smiling. Whatever her father"s plan is, she thinks it"s working.”
“Come on,” said Ariella, “lets get back to the compound, may be Malum has
figured something out.”
Indio had stopped in front of Valdacor"s, his mouth tightly closed, a fierce
look in his eye.
Jaron rested his hand on his shoulder. “Come on bro, there"s nothing we can
do here. Let"s go.” He led his distraught friend back with the rest of the Knot.
Outside the entrance to the Guardian compound the mood dropped even
further. Blocking the path to the compound, standing in a group, were about
twenty of Baron Rexsalve" men. Karlov ignored them, riding his horse straight
into the midst of them. The Baron"s men didn"t budge. A gangly man with a
giant, thick, black beard grabbed the reins of Karlov"s horse.
“Where do you think you"re going?” he growled.
Karlov leaned forward in his saddle. “Friend, I suggest you let go of my
horse.” He paused and smiled a big toothy smile, “right now.”
“Or what?” said the gangly man menacingly. The others around him
laughed and started moving towards Karlov.
“This should be fun,” said Jaron.
The light that flashed from Karlov"s left hand was as bright as any that
Ariella had seen. The intensity of the green made her blink and cover her eyes.
When she looked up, the gangly bearded man was flat on his back along with
four of his men.
Karlov nudged his horse forward as the rest of the Baron"s men backed
away. He called down to the gangly man without looking at him. “Don"t ever
touch my horse again, she doesn"t like you.”
Jaron and Indio couldn"t suppress their smiles as they rode through the
middle of the Baron"s men, each of them backing away from Karlov and his
Knot.
They joy was short lived. The Guardian compound was even more sombre
than the streets of the city. There was no laughter or singing from anywhere.
Serious looking people dashed around with concerned looks on their faces.
“Esther, go and find Magatha. Tell him we"re back with the samples,”
commanded Karlov. “The rest of you, hand in your weapons, stable your horses
and go have a bath. We all stink.” They didn"t laugh. No one could tell if he
was joking. Only Eugenie seemed to be in good spirits. She positively bounced
out of her saddle.
Ariella bathed and changed, then went down to the mess hall. She bumped
into Indio and Jaron on their way back up the stairs, faces like thunder.
“What"s happened?” she asked.
Jaron was seething, “Eugenie happened. She"s down there with Joachim
discussing all that is messed up with the Guardians and how barbaric the people
of Khan are.”
“Joachim"s with her?” she asked.
“Yep, it seems he has as much dislike for the Guardians as Eugenie does.”
Replied Jaron, “they"re hacking me off.”
“Yeah, for once I had to pull him away, I thought he was going to smash his
goblet into Joachim"s face,” said Indio, smiling for the first time today.
Jaron tried to suppress a laugh. “Come one, let"s go find somewhere to go,
Karlov has given us the afternoon off.”
The Baron"s men were still hanging around outside the Guardian"s entrance,
forcing anyone who wanted to leave to walk through them. Ariella and Indio
hesitated but Jaron walked boldly forward. He locked eyes with the gangly
leader who had recovered somewhat from his encounter with Karlov.
He stepped into Jaron"s path and held up his hand. But before he could
speak Jaron raised his hand, palm upwards and a bright green ball of light
appeared, spinning over and over. The gangly man went white, his massive
beard bristling as he stumbled out of Jaron"s way. The rest of the Baron"s men
parted like water as the three of them walked past.
They were around the corner and out of sight before Jaron closed his hand,
the indigo sphere disappearing.
Indio exhaled sharply, “Bloody hell! I didn"t know you could do that?”
Jaron shrugged, “I"ve been practicing” he said simply, “although I can"t
actually do anything with it, it just looks good. If he had grabbed me I would"ve
peed my pants!”
“I think he did pee his pants,” said Indio. “Let"s get going in case they try
and follow us.”
They wandered through the city for a while, their mood dropping with every
step. It wasn"t just Valdacor"s shop that was closed, it seemed every merchant
from Khan had left the city. They saw more graffiti in the same red paint.
“It"s got to be Baron Rexsalve" men. It"s sick,” muttered Ariella.
“I"ve had enough of this,” said Indio “Let"s get out of here.”
“Come on,” led Ariella, “I know just the place.”
They followed her around a few more corners, down a wide street, and
there
it was, The Friendly Phoenix.
“This is where I stayed the last night before I started The Journey,” said
Ariella, “it doesn"t feel like a few months ago, it feels like years.”
Jaron looked up at the opulent exterior of the Inn and whistled. “I"ve never
stayed anywhere like this.”
“Really?” Asked Indio, “it reminds me of a place we have in Everfrost, just
along from the palace.”
Jaron laughed, “I"ve not got a lot of experience of palaces. When I say „not a
lot" I mean none. I"ve never been to a palace. The closest I"ve been to royalty
was King Tristan on the day we started the Journey. You two are the noble ones,
I"m a commoner.”
“Not anymore,” smiled Ariella, “You"re a Sojourner. There are no royals or
nobles or commoners now. And don"t be too impressed with this Inn. The last
time I stayed here I got attacked by a thief in the middle of the night.”
The boys" eyes went wide in shock
“Drinks first,” she said, “then stories.”
An hour later the three of them were hidden away in a snug in the back of
the Friendly Phoenix. Ariella had regaled the story of the thief, the butterfly dart
and her first meeting with Karlov.
“Whose room was the thief trying to get in?” asked Indio.
“I don"t know” she replied, “but I have an idea.”
“Eleazar,” said Jaron.
She nodded, “I think so. I think the thief was the „old friend" that he spoke
about. I think it"s something from his past, from Lightharbour. He knew one of
my guards that I travelled with to come on The Journey.”
Micah, you’ve not thought about him for a while. I wonder what he’s doing. Is he
safe? Has he met anyone? Has he….
“Ariella?”
“Yes?”
“Where did you go?” asked Jaron, a questioning smile on his face.
“Go?” she asked, trying to sound innocent.
“You disappeared for a moment, that"s all,” replied Jaron
“Disappeared?” Laughed Indio, “she was away with the fairies, or maybe
dreams of that guard she was talking about.”
Ariella felt her face burning. “Anyway, as I was saying,”
“Yes?” the boys asked
“Oh, shut up,” she glared at them as they laughed.
“As I was saying, Eleazar mentioned something to Micah.”
“His name"s Micah?” asked Jaron, still grinning.
