Ian gave a sharp whistle. The group of women and children grouped together. The women tried to hush their youngest. Irene cast muffle over the group when they first left Chicago, but she dismissed it when she realized Ian and his guards were using whistles to communicate. In order to continue to hear party members under muffle, the spell needed to be cast on everyone at once. This group was too large for Irene to accomplish that.
“What is it?” Irene asked softly. She couldn’t see anything ahead to bring the group to a stop. Her soft voice wouldn’t carry any farther than the noises the children were making.
“I can sense an armed group, ahead and to the right,” Ian said. Irene wondered how he could sense something like that. She never figured out all the tier four spells Ian knew. She pushed her desire to learn this one down. The danger to the group was more important.
“How do you know they are armed?” she asked.
“I can feel their weapons,” Ian replied. Irene thought that was an odd way to describe a spell. She wondered if it made you feel weapons as a source of heat or cold. She would have expected more of a change in visual light, like how infrared made heat appear as a false color. Infrared didn’t work through walls. Whatever spell Ian was using obviously did.
They weren’t that far from Chicago downtown. They were working their way along the west side of Chicago’s green. Irene thought about it. Ahead and to the right, was likely in the green. There was an opening ahead that some hunters liked to use to get away from the crowds.
“They are moving east,” Ian commented, after a few minutes. A few minutes more and Ian gave the all clear. The group started moving forward again.
Irene was surprised to discover Ian was taking in more dependents. It did explain why every time she visited Redfalls she didn’t recognize half the inhabitants. She thought it was just her notoriously bad recall of faces. There were also a couple warriors in this group with missing fingers. They were being rotated out of the fighting to recover. Irene wondered what happened to all the men she saw in the Hospital with missing limbs. That made her realize she never tried out her tier four heal on Oliver. She cursed herself inwardly. She would have to make another trip down to Northbrook.
“You look annoyed,” Ian commented. Irene shook off her disgust with herself.
“It's nothing,” Irene responded. “I just remembered something I meant to try.” She smiled at Ian. He smiled back. The way she said try, made him think she thought up some new plan to put an anvil into inventory.
Irene wandered along the hall like she was in the shopping district in Chicago. Ian’s men all prowled, traveling the open stretches quickly so they could arrive at the next intersection well before the group. They peered around the corners with caution checking for any danger. They would hold position until the main group arrived. As the main group reached the next intersection the trailing warriors would leave the last intersection and close up with the group. Irene was walking along just behind the main group. Ian usually walked with the lead elements, but he wanted to stay close with Irene so she could witness how good of a job he was doing.
When the lead guards spotted a group of wall spiders around a corner, the entire group stopped to wait. Ian kissed Irene and moved forward to finish off the threat. He just couldn’t take the boredom of the rearguard anymore.
A cougar stepped out of a room with a damaged door not far down the side corridor from where the group waited. Irene flicked off a tier four lightning bolt, without much thought. The cougar dropped. The guards at the rear looked nervous. Irene winked at them. Ian and the lead elements never noticed. When the group moved forward, Irene moved with it. She didn’t claim the prize drop since she didn’t want to fall out of line.
This was not a fast moving group, they traveled only half the distance Irene expected. They stayed the night in secured rooms. When the dependents settled into rooms, Irene sat down onto the floor of the hallway, just outside the doorway to the room with the youngest occupants.
“I’ll have the boys secure a private room for us,” Ian assured Irene.
“You couldn’t keep a watch on the little ones from there,” Irene commented. “I can stay out here to be near you. I’m tough enough to endure a sleepless night or two.” Trapped into the role of guard, Ian settled down beside her. She curled up next to him resting her head on his shoulder. As the lights faded in the hallway, Ian wrapped an arm around her, breathing the soft scent of her hair.
Ian awoke to find Irene boiling water over a portable stove. Ian sat up, rubbing his eyes.
“Do I smell stew?” he asked.
“Not really stew,” Irene responded, “just badger, tubers and dried apples. I am not much of a cook. I’ve noticed before how much a hot meal can get people moving. I am hoping that once I serve this up, I can pass the stove on to one of the others to do the cooking for the rest of the trip.”
Ian rose to his feet and went down to the room designated as a latrine. When he returned he found his guards all sneaking bits out of the pot. The guards were a mix of painfully polite and bold. Their behavior struck Ian as odd. Watching them he realized it was his weaker rear group that was polite. Ian didn’t like that. It made him think that Irene befriended them somehow, and was wooing them away from him.
The smell of stew drew the dependents out of their rooms. Irene scooped out portions onto leather squares using a small copper bowl. She pulled a handful of iron bowls from her pack and used them for people who didn’t have leather squares.
Ian was pretty certain this was going to delay their departure. He forced himself to show no irritation in front of Irene. When the stew was all gone, Irene broke down the frame she was using to hold the leather stew pot with a few quick twists. She secured it into a bundle with a section of cord. She tied the cord in a way that it formed a long strap, making it easy to haul the bundle over the shoulder or across the back. A second cord tied to the portable stove made it easy to carry too. Two women stepped forward to carry the pieces. Irene rolled up her leather pot and returned it and the small copper bowl to her pack. She swung the pack up onto her back. She stood.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Are we leaving soon?” she asked Ian. Ian looked around to find the woman all lifting their smallest children and settling them into their arms. It was his guards who weren’t ready to leave.
“Yep, If you're ready, we will head out now,” he replied. “Terry, your group has the lead today. Elias, you're on rear guard. Let’s go.” The guards scrambled to gather their belongings. A minute or two later the old rear guard crossed the camp and started down the hall in the lead. Irene gestured to the woman with the stove and the entire dependents group started out with Irene and Ian following. The old front guard came up behind, a little late. They were the least prepared for departure. Ian frowned at them at their poor performance. These men weren’t his private strike team, but they were his Seconds. He usually picked from this group when he needed to replace a strike team member. He expected a higher performance from them.
Once again Ian was only able to hold himself to Irene’s gentle stroll until the front guard found something to kill. Ian gave the new rear guard a sharp look, making sure they knew to treat Irene with respect, before he moved forward to join the fighting.
That evening the women set up the portable stove in the hallway, centered on their secured rooms. As Irene explained how to put the frame together one of Ian’s Seconds approached respectfully and offered a badger carcass.
“We caught it trying to approach from behind us,” the man said. “I thought you could use it for the pot.”
“Thank you,” Irene said with a smile to the warrior. “That will save me the trouble of hunting one down.” The warrior gave a polite nod before scurrying away.
What the hell? Ian thought to himself. This was the same man that boldly stole meat from the pot that morning with a vent pin. Ian could not figure out what he missed. The stew possessed a more complex flavor that night. Irene was vocal with her praise of the cook. The dependents all settled down quickly with warm food in their stomachs.
Irene curled up beside Ian in the hallway, resting her head on his leg, as he remained sitting up. He intended to quiz her about what happened between her and the guards during the trip.
“You’re really good at this,” Irene praised Ian before he could get his first question out. “I like how you switch everyone around in the roles. It keeps everyone sharp.”
“There are benefits to having specialists too,” Ian observed. He was about to say something more forceful. In his army people worked their way up to the premium positions. They stayed at the posts until they died or were punished with a demotion. Just as he was about to speak, a fragment of his Command training rose from his memory about cross training and the need to have suitable replacements available in the case of emergency.
“I can see that,” Irene agreed. “You are special to me.”
“The hot meal has put the children asleep quickly tonight,” Ian conceded. The group traveled more distance today. It still wasn’t up to what just Ian and his warriors could do, but it was closer.
“Yes,” Irene said. “I should have made the first stew last night. I forgot I was carrying the stove. They should be ready to head out earlier in the morning, after a good rest. I don’t have much experience traveling with children. I don’t know how you do it.” Ian was happy with this praise and let his questions about what happened between her and the guards slip away.
They arrived at the square two days later. It was a slow trip, but not nearly as bad as some. The dependent group usually slowed over time, as close calls and injuries accumulated. This time the group sped up, as confidence in the guard increased.
When they arrived in the square, dependents all ran around with excitement. Irene said a few words to the women with the stove and the cooking frame. The women went off to join their children exploring the square.
Irene joined Ian inspecting the crystal. It was smaller, Ian admitted to himself. It looked about three quarters the height it was when Kyle’s group found it.
“Ellen says it’s about three inches shorter than when you found it,” Irene said from Ian’s side.
“Yeah,” Ian replied, “about that.” Actually it looked about four inches shorter to him. It was about a year since Kyle died, leaving Ian in charge. If it shrunk a quarter a year, then it wouldn’t last more than three more years. That was if it continued to shrink height at the same rate. By volume it looked like it was probably half what it was before. If that was true there was only about a year left. He wondered how much Londontown’s crystal had shrunk this year.
“Do you think it will disappear?” Irene asked.
“Maybe,” Ian replied. “We need to prepare for that.”
He was going to have to go with plan B. There really wasn’t time for the growing discontent with Darien to rise up to revolution. In preparation for plan B he needed to master ring. He would give more power to Sophia to run the front, so he could spend time on that. Jake was just a little too soft for the role. They needed to make a strike against Londontown and kill someone important, like the Captain of the Guards. Chris was a little too competent in his role anyway. They needed someone angry and reckless to lead the attack against Redfalls.
Which meant someone needed to tell Londontown about Redfalls. Ian looked over at Irene and the worry on her face as she looked at the crystal. No, he didn’t think he could talk or trick her into doing it. He would pick someone else, maybe Allen. Ian was impressed with how ruthless the hunter could be. The man was very good at keeping Ian informed about Darien’s moves. It took some effort to woo the man away from Darien, but it was worth it. Allen could fake being a trader and drop hints in both Paris and Londontown.
“There are a lot of people here now. Do you think everyone would still fit back in Chicago?” Irene asked.
“For the short term, yes,” Ian replied. “If we lose the square, everyone will have to go back to living in the suburbs.” That was the reasonable plan, Irene thought. She forgot that everyone here came out of the suburbs. Most of the northern squares were the result of people getting tired of living in the wild and looking for something more. “That or claim another square,” Ian commented.
Irene considered that. Finding a new square near here was doubtful, but there should be rests scattered around all over. If she could find an area with limited access like Chicago, it would be easier to secure than open halls. Since rooms, halls and rest locations all changed over time, she would need to revisit mapped areas often to keep her data accurate. If the crystal vanished, knowledge of the closest rest locations could be priceless.
Ian was thinking about how no one could turn away a child. Perhaps the dependents weren’t just a big waste of time. They may be the key to getting entrance to Paris or even Londontown.
The head of the Seconds came walking over to speak with Ian. He approached from behind. Irene saw Ian react to the approaching warrior before he could have seen him. Irene saw him do that before. She realized he must be using his weapon sense spell. Irene excused herself so the men could talk.
“What is the plan boss?” the warrior asked.
“I’m going to spend the night with my lady,” Ian responded. “We will head back to Chicago first thing in the morning.”
“Understood,” the warrior responded. “It takes a strong man to hold a powerful woman like that. You are a lucky man.”
“I am,” Ian agreed.