Chapter Five: Shadows

Loading up two of the bubals with the rest of the cargo was both easy and quick to complete. The third bubal would carry the tents and the rest of the camp gear after they broke down the camp in the morning.

Thayn had Rook unload and load the porter’s luggage two more times, just to make sure he was seeing things correctly. The boy was not only able to use his soul space freely, despite the trauma he still carried as a result of his status as a coin bondling, but he proved to have an unthinkable capacity to carry stored items. The boxes were easily three times the weight of the small, thin boy, and yet he was able to carry the items with no issue at all.

“That’s not possible. It’s some kind of trick.”

Upon returning to the center of camp, the other mercenaries, including Presia, were in the middle of a discussion about the luggage situation. Willis was unconvinced that Rook could do what Thayn described.

“He just loaded up everything in front of yer face. What more proof do ya need?” Said the bald man, Botts.

“Nah, it can’t be. There’s no way. Old Man, what kind of trick are you playin?” Willis’s face was red, and he seemed angry.

“Regardless of whatever game you and that boy are playing, there’s no way he can carry all the luggage like that. We can’t set out in the morning like this. We’ll be a mess. We don’t have enough scouts. We should wait and come up with a better plan.”

“Look at this baby chick, acting like he knows how to caravan through the forest. How many crossings have you made before? What? Zero?” Botts taunted Willis. It was clear there was no love lost between the two men.

“Enough! The plan is set. The cargo is loaded. We break camp before sunrise. We’re late as is, and any more delays will only put us at more risk. The boy can do it. I’ve tested his capacity, and he seems to have some kind of natural talent. Regardless, we have no other options, so all we can do is push this as far as it will go.” Thayn spoke decisively, and the two brothers nodded in agreement.

Willis opened his mouth to argue further when Presia cut him off.

“This is final. Now, get things ready. Understood?” Presia spoke in her gravelly voice, making it clear the discussion was finished.

Willis didn’t seem to take the hint however, as he opened his mouth to continue his protests, when a large ball of fire appeared directly in front of his face.

Presia flicked her finger, and the fireball flew past Willis’s gaping mouth and landed in the central fire pit with a shower of sparks.

Rook was again in awe. The boss was also a magic user. She had the ability to manipulate fire. He wondered if they were all magicians.

Once again, the old man seemingly read his thoughts.

“No, just Willis, Gred, and the boss are magic users. As you can see, the boss is a fire wielder. Best you keep that in mind as we travel. She can roast you like a pigeon in an instant if you step out of line.

“Thayn, set the watch. Gred, get started on supper. I’d like something nice. Perhaps a nice, juicy steak to celebrate our last night in this lovely meadow.”

That comment got gruff laughter from all the mercenaries. Rook didn’t get the humor, until later, when the meal was served. It was a thin stew, made with pieces of dried meat, soaked in the broth.

It may not have been impressive to the mercenaries, but Rook was stunned when the cook, Gred, put a bowl of the stew in his hands, complete with a couple of pieces of the soggy dried meat.

It was a half portion, compared to the other men, but it was still the best meal Rook could remember ever eating.

As the camp settled down for an early night, Rook checked on the animals, made sure they had food and water, then made a bed of leaves from the nearby trees which he placed against the resting bubals.

Thayn told him that they may not camp again for several days, but would typically just rest for a few hours several times a day as they headed for the final destination for this job, the regional capital.

Each of the men would take a turn at watch, but Rook was excused. They had no trust that the young boy would be of any help should something happen in the night, so he was told to go ahead and sleep.

Still, despite his efforts to craft something more comfortable than tree branches and rocks, Rook found his makeshift bed to be lacking compared to the hay from the stable. His mind was also reeling from the things he had seen and done that day. He had witnessed true magic for the first time, and filled his soul space with tools and even some weapons. He had eaten meat and had an audience with the leader of the mercenaries.

Remembering the dry meat, and unable to sleep, Rook pulled out the strip of jerky that Thayn had given him earlier.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It was dry as a bone and just about as hard to chew as one too, but the salty flavor was very pleasant, and Rook sucked on one end of the stick while leaning against a snoozing bubal. It was Willis’s turn at watch, and he was sitting in front of the fire while the others slept in the tents.

Rook saw the watch change a couple of times, and was almost relaxed enough to get a bit of rest before the morning when he thought he heard something moving outside the camp. He was feeling a bit strange, and his fingers and toes had been tingling for some time, but he dismissed that as fatigue. He was about to close his eyes and finally get some sleep when he heard the noise.

Thayn had told him about the magic tools that set an alarm perimeter around the campground. There were even a few of the devices in his storage space now amongst the spare tools.

Rook looked over to see if the alarm had been noticed by Willis, but as he did, the man, who was supposed to be on watch now had disappeared from his place by the fire.

A chill went down Rook’s spine as the world seemed to go quiet, just as it had while they were in the forest. He froze, unable to move, or even breathe.

Rook tried to move his head, to look around, but his entire body seemed to be petrified by fear. There were shapes moving in the darkness.

Rook couldn’t see them. He could only see the blackness. Shadows, but moving shadows. They were definitely moving. He had no idea how many there were, he felt them, more than he saw them, and their presence alone felt like an impossible weight, pressing down on his body, preventing him from even taking a deep breath.

The shadows surrounded the tents. Rook wanted to get up. He wanted to yell and wake everyone up. He wanted to hide behind the trees. Anything, but lying on the ground, frozen in fear.

Where was Willis? He thought. Shouldn’t the watch have raised an alarm? Or was this a dream, a nightmare? Was he groggy from lack of sleep and seeing things?

There were definitely shapes. They gathered around the tents. Were they predators that somehow evaded the protection around the camp? This was dangerous. Everyone was still asleep. Rook needed to wake everyone up. The shadows were coming.

Still, he couldn’t move a muscle. He could barely breathe, and every effort to move seemed to be ignored by his body. Then Rook saw it.

One of the shadows was approaching him from the treeline. He could just make out the black shape’s movement out of the corner of his eye. At first, he thought it was getting bigger, but he soon realized it was not. It was getting closer.

Rook tried to call out, but there was no air in his lungs. He tried to take a deep breath so he could yell, but his lungs refused to fill.

Then, just as the shadow nearest to him was about to reach him, the world exploded.

A brilliant light appeared in the camp. It was so bright that it blinded Rook. He still could not move, or cover his face, or even close his eyes. The light completely blinded him, and then he heard yelling. Men were yelling… screaming. Many men. How could there be so many voices? It sounded like a dozen or more.

Rook tried to blink, but he was still frozen. His eyes were still blind from the sudden light. Now, he could hear fighting. He heard men yelling and the sounds of fighting. Metal clashed against metal, followed by screams of pain.

Slowly, the light in his eyes started to fade. He could see some vague shapes moving in the light. If he could only rub his eyes, but his hands refused to move.

Rook felt hot, as though he was next to the fire instead of at the outskirts of the camp.

After a moment, his vision finally began to clear and Rook could see what was happening around him at last. What he saw was terrifying and amazing at the same time.

Balls and chains of fire swept through the air. There were men, strange men he had not seen before surrounding the boss. She held a large, heavy club in one hand and seemed to be controlling the floating, burning object in the air with her other hand.

Five men surrounded her with swords and spears. Presia was enraged and terrifying in her own right. She screamed, and it sounded like a bear’s cry. A ball of fire hit one of the men, and when he raised his hands to block the fire, she swung with her club, smashing the man in the side with such force that he flew halfway across the camp before laying motionless on the ground in a pile.

Rook saw Botts, fending off attacks from three more men with a long staff that appeared to have a heavy metal ball at one end. He was also enraged, but just as he lunged with the staff, one of the attackers jabbed a spear into his side.

Rook was horrified as the attackers overtook Presia and Botts. He couldn’t see Thayn, Willis, or the cook, Gred, anywhere. They may have already fallen.

Botts was now on his knees, and the three men attacking him moved in. A spear was still sticking into the side of the bald man.

Then, from the side, a blur flashed to him, and the head of the man with the spear simply disappeared.

It was Thayn with his giant axe. He struck again, and another of the attackers fell. The third man backed away, seeing his companions fall.

Thayn turned to Presia, still holding her own against the four assailants, but unable to gain any advantage. Without any hesitation, Thayn flew and engaged two of the men. Without any hesitation wild strikes from his weapon, he drove both men back.

Things were looking better for the mercenaries when suddenly, a shining blue arrow flew from somewhere behind Rook. Before it struck, a second arrow followed the first.

Rook wanted to cry out as he saw the first arrow hit Thayn in the middle of his back, the second embedded at the base of his neck.

Still unable to move, Rook could not tell where the arrows came from, but he could only watch helplessly as the tide of battle turned once again.

A weakened Thayn struggled to lift his axe in time and one of his opponents slashed his arm with a sword mercilessly.

Presia cried out as a spear caught her shoulder. Botts was now lying, face down in the ruins of his tent.

Rook watched as the fight continued. Thayn and Presia were still fighting back despite their wounds, and only two of the attackers remained, but a third man approached the fight from the side, and Rook could finally see the archer who had fired the arrows from behind.

Willis stood there, a twisted grin on his face, bow in hand, as he pulled back on the string. A blue light coated the arrow, which flew and hit Thayn in the center of his chest.

Willis was about to notch another arrow when he suddenly turned to look directly at Rook.

Satisfied that the fight was nearly over, Willis walked over to Rook. With hatred clear on his face, he spat on Rook’s frozen form.

“Dirty stinking bondling. You almost screwed up everything. As things are, we suffered big losses today. Not that you get all the credit. How did they manage to fight off the paralysis debuf? Anyway, it’s over now. Thankfully, we have no use for useless vermin like you. I didn’t enjoy killing everyone. It’s just a job. But you, I’m going to enjoy this a tiny bit.”

A long spear appeared in Willis’s hand and he raised it up over Rook’s head. With a twisted smile on his lips, he brought the spear down forcefully with both hands.

Despite still having no control over even his eyelids, Rook’s world suddenly went completely black.