Chapter 8
THAT’S HOW THEY ROLL
“We’re not leaving our homes, and you can’t make us,” one of the sixteen angry villagers said. “We didn’t agree to this.”
“If you stay here, the slavers will most likely come back and finish the job their colleagues failed to do. Are you willing to take that risk?” Madi asked. She was trying to keep her cool but was losing the battle.
“Make him stay; then the slavers won’t stand a chance,” an older, severe-looking woman said, arms tightly folded in front of her in aggressive refusal.
“Can you hear yourself? May I ask how you propose to make Devon stay when he has already told us that he must leave?” Madi said.
They didn’t realise it, but Devon’s heightening senses could hear every word of the heated argument from where he was standing. It was good entertainment.
“Can’t we offer him a small harem if he stays?” One the other women suggested. “I’m sure some of the looser women here would be willing to lay with him. He’s a man; they’re all simple and easy to keep happy. Give him sex, compliments, and food, and he’ll willingly do whatever we ask of him.”
Madison choked then started to shake her head emphatically. “This conversation ends now. I pray he didn’t hear you. If you want to stay, then do so. Get a radio from Beth so that you can call for help if you need it. We’re leaving, with or without you.” She turned, and her heart sank when she saw Devon doubled over with hysterical laughter.
“You’ll have to introduce me to these looser women,” he chuckled.
Madison walked up to Devon, put her arm through his, then steered him over to the loaded and waiting lorries. “I must apologise for her; she doesn’t have any social filters.”
“No need. I’m sure there are lots of men that would accept such a tempting offer,” Devon laughed. “Just not me.”
Thirty minutes later, the lorries rumbled out of the village. This time, the villagers crammed inside were neither restrained nor frightened. Instead, there was a quiet expectation among them and even a little hope for a better future. The few horses that the settlement possessed trooped out after the lorries. Beth had been unable to find any form of transmitter or tracker on the trucks, so they took a chance and used them, at least for some of the way. Of course, Jet was at the front, proudly leading the procession.
In the end, forty-seven villagers had chosen to join their exodus, while the sixteen older members of the community decided to stay behind. He hoped they’d be okay, but his hopes weren’t high.
Devon was amazed that the villagers had managed to get the lorries loaded and then clamber on-board within an hour of dawn. It saddened him to think about it, but these people were evidently accomplished refugees, ready to flee at a moment’s notice. He hoped that he might be able to improve things for them but wasn’t going to make any promises yet. He still needed to understand what his capabilities were.
His memories were slowly gaining focus, and he was starting to regain his original sense of self, which was a relief. He knew that he had a tyrannical fairy queen to remove before relaxing back into his role of Wayfarer. Before that, he had to get his magic back, get the nexus repaired, and reopen the Earth realm waygate. He was looking forward to the former most of all.
Izzy had said that he would probably never be able to remember his previous life in Earth realm; yet he had a history here that nagged at him. The ‘Hello Kitty’ watch suggested some unknown ties to someone, but he couldn’t linger on such speculation. There was no way for him to find out anything about that. What gave him hope was that he knew what ‘Hello Kitty’ was. If he had no memory of his past in this realm, how did he know that?
It was early, and everyone was still bleary-eyed. Jet ambled happily along, knowing where she was heading because Devon was regularly checking the pendant to make sure they were still going in the right direction. In between the checks, Devon had plenty of time to bury himself in his thoughts. He admired the lush and verdant countryside that sprawled around him. Hills rolled away as far as the eye could see, and it was abundantly clear that nature owned this land and had set her mark everywhere. Where there weren’t trees or bushes, there were swathes of grass liberally sprinkled with sizeable black granite boulders.
As the altitude increased, so did the size and frequency of the rocks. Now and then, they would pass ruins of houses or some business long since forgotten. Nature had reclaimed them too and was trying her very best to remove the taint of civilisation from her land. Trees thickly covered the area to which they were heading and spread as far away as he could see. Fluffy white clouds wandered across the azure sky as the day gradually took over from dawn. The air was invigorating, and today the sun had decided to make an appearance. It felt like a good day to be alive.
The first six hours passed peacefully while the lorries and horses followed Jet at a reasonable pace, steadily climbing up into the tall hills. Every mile or so, Devon checked the pendant. Each time he pointed it at the towering rock that formed the peak of the nearby hills, the white dot would change to bright green.
He didn’t plan on stopping for a break until they had made the cover of the thicker forest. Trees loomed on either side of them now, and the left-side had begun to drop steeply away. He had taken a chance and chosen to travel along the road until they reached its highest point. The aim was to veer sharply off to the right, into the trees, climbing higher toward the tallest peak, which would be quicker than finding a route across open country and up into the rocky hills. While there were two lorries in working order, they would use them.
They had made significant progress and had reached the point where they would have to leave the road and head into the hills. Another forty-five minutes or so would see them safely out of sight.
Finn had introduced Devon to their grown-up daughter, Beks, this morning. She was an ex-army engineer and sapper, and he noted her credentials down in his head for future reference. He’d now sent Finn and Beks off to scout for a possible path into the hills that would be suitable for the lorries. If they abandoned them here, a passing patrol would see them and grow suspicious. The last thing they needed was search parties nosing around.
Gwen tapped on the back of his head. “Knock knock, you awake in there?” she teased him.
“Deep in thought, sorry. What’s up?” Gwen had chosen to ride pillion with Devon, and Jet had thoroughly approved. Jet and Gwen seemed to get along well.
“Where are we heading?”
Devon pointed off to the right at about seventy-five degrees. It was the tallest point of the local hills, where a granite peak jutted high above the trees. He was considering travelling along a more accessible slope to find a better way to reach it.
“Up there,” he said to Gwen, “where the trees start to bunch up more tightly. If we can find a suitable place up there on the high ground by that rock, we will be able to see people approaching for over a mile in every direction.”
Izzy asked Devon.
“What? Who said that?”
Devon could feel Gwen wriggling around behind him as she looked around to see who was talking to her.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Then he heard it. His senses had been improving since he’d awoken, and he now picked up the faint sound of a heavy vehicle.
Devon looked around for a suitable place to watch the road while staying out of sight. Just up ahead, he noticed a crumbling inn that had a forecourt outside surrounded by a wall of about five feet in height. It had collapsed in places, and ivy was slowly pulling the rest of it apart, but it would offer good cover and some good ammunition – hopefully. Gwen had already slid down to go and get the others moving, so he urged Jet into action, and she galloped the two hundred yards to the ruins.
Jet jumped the wall with ease and then stopped. Devon patted her neck and sent proud thoughts to her, and she responded with happy anticipation. She also chose this moment to send him memories of the two of them frequently doing this sort of thing a very long time ago. They’d both had magic back then, and because of that, Jet was able to change her form to suit the situation. He saw images of them fighting side by side and felt her pride in doing so. Sadly, this time, she couldn’t, and she was away as soon as he dismounted. The Earth realm had no magical energy for her to use, so her form must remain as it was. She needed to find somewhere much more suitable to use for concealment.
The two lorries containing the villagers protested their way across the soft, grassy terrain, doing their best to avoid any boulder that would ground them. Devon hoped the poor villagers inside were holding on tight as the ride had become extreme for them. The horses had already made it safely into the trees and must have been tied up out of sight because their riders now came back to guide the lorries safely undercover. The smell of diesel smoke hung heavy in the air as both drivers struggled to keep the engines from stalling.
Satisfied that they would be out of sight in time, Devon concentrated on building his ammunition pile. Throwing rocks would be far more effective at this range. He could use his knives, but the stones had a much more devastating effect when he was close enough to hit something at full force.
A heavily breathing Finn vaulted the wall and landed next to him on his left. “What do you need?” he asked while coaxing a handgun out of the satchel he was carrying. He laid the bag down on the floor and placed two spare ammunition magazines on top of it carefully. He then ejected the clip that was currently in the gun and checked it had ammunition in it too. He almost looked like he knew what he was doing. He spoilt that illusion when he failed to push the clip back correctly and it jammed. Blushing, Finn had to repeat the action to properly load the gun.
“Can you safely use that thing?” Devon asked. “Could you kill someone with it?”
“I have never killed anyone before, but today I plan on changing that. Thanks to your inspiration, I’m ready to do what I have to, to protect the people I love,” Finn replied. He stuck his chin out and made a determined face.
“Good answer,” Devon said with a grin.
Gwen jumped the wall and landed on his right, clutching several spears. She nodded at Devon as she lay her spare weapons next to her and flattened the angle of the one she held so it wouldn’t stick out above the wall.
Devon listened. The vehicle was getting close now, and he wondered why Izzy hadn’t reported back. “Scooch to the right a bit, Gwen; I need space to throw.” He chose his first rock carefully, testing its weight in his grip.
“Why don’t you use a gun, Devon?” Finn asked.
“I don’t know how,” Devon answered simply.
Gwen and Finn looked at him in shock.
“Well, that explains the rock-throwing thing,” Finn said. “I’d prefer to do it your way. I bloody hate these things,” he nodded towards the gun.
“There are five men in an open-topped vehicle,” Devon repeated to his companions. “Take the one at the back out first, both of you. Once he is down, you can work forward. Stay down until they’re almost beside us.”
The roar of the engine was very close now, and Devon readied himself. It was approaching fast, so he couldn’t wait long. “NOW!”
The three of them sprang to their feet and took an instant to spot their targets. Just as Izzy had said, the vehicle had two rows of seats, five passengers and cargo space at the back. Devon didn’t know what the weapon mounted in the truck was, but it was grey, the shape of a squared-off tube and about four feet in length. He saw the man in the back begin to aim the weapon their way. Devon launched his stone directly at the driver, who was now looking his way in shock. The rock hissed angrily through the air and struck the man on the jawbone, forcing it violently back into his skull.
The man in the back of the vehicle pulled the trigger. A searing bolt of superheated plasma shot out of the barrel and screamed off toward the wall, buzzing angrily and igniting the air as it went.
Finn wasn’t having quite so much luck. He had aimed and been brave enough to squeeze the trigger just like Beks had taught him, but the trigger seemed stuck. It wouldn’t move. He was in a panic, trying to remember what could be wrong. Then he remembered the safety catch. He found it after a second and clicked it off. Unfortunately, his trigger finger was still trying to squeeze the trigger, and the gun went off twice, recoiling hard both times before he had a chance to release the mechanism. He heard Devon grunt as Finn realised where his gun was pointing. Then he realised where his other bullet had gone as Gwen yelped in pain. He gulped and prayed for the earth to open beneath him and swallow him whole. Finn had managed to shoot both of them.
Gwen picked out the man at the back, but just as she was about to launch her spear as hard as she could, she felt a searing agony in her left shoulder as a bullet passed cleanly through it. She cried out loudly in pain.
The plasma blast hit just to the groups right, nearest Gwen. There was a loud explosion as the nearby wall erupted in a shower of stone shrapnel and molten debris. The force of the blast flung them all to the ground, peppering them with minor wounds in the process.
Devon swiftly picked himself up and winced as his latest gunshot wound made its presence felt. He looked across to where the vehicle had been and noticed it just finishing its last barrel roll, ending up back on its wheels, devoid of occupants. Devon was over the wall with a leap and running toward the nearest man who had just landed.
Gwen saw Devon ignore the wound inflicted by Finn’s dumb actions and leap the wall. She realised he was going after potential survivors, and so she too was over the wall quickly and on her way to the stricken jeep, determined to ignore the pain of her wounds just as effectively as he evidently could. “Stay here and put the safety catch back on,” she barked at Finn. The last thing anyone needed was him waving that gun around anymore.
Devon decided to throw caution to the wind and reached out and summoned as many souls to him as would come. He eventually got four which left one survivor. “There’s one left alive, Gwen. Be careful.”
Finn had stayed behind the wall, and Devon was grateful for that. While he didn’t want to make Finn feel worse, he could do without his type of assistance. He sprinted after Gwen, knowing that this first corpse wasn’t going anywhere.
Eventually, they tracked down all five of the vehicle’s original occupants. Gwen finished the last one, who wasn’t in any fit state to retaliate. Devon was impressed by how coldly she ended the man’s life. There wasn’t a moment’s hesitation.
Devon had to smile at that. She made a good point.
After a few minutes, Devon heard a horse approaching fast and spun to see Madison riding toward him. While waiting for her to arrive, he inspected her husband’s damage to his shoulder. What annoyed him most was the graze his armour had suffered. The wound was barely a wound at all, just a scratch that bled quite freely. He staunched it with his right hand as Madison dismounted and grabbed a tubular green bag out of her saddlebag.
She rushed over to him, an apology already on her lips. “He’s so sorry, Devon. It was an accident.”
Devon held up his hand to stop her. “Relax, it’s just a scratch, and I know it was an accident. He wants to protect you and the others so much, but he just doesn’t have the skills yet. We can work on that.”
Madison looked at him as if he was mad, then reminded herself why she was there and got to work on his wound. She marvelled at Devon’s fortitude when he didn’t even blink as she stitched his skin back together. She stared at him and gently shook her head. “You are a wonder. People like us cannot comprehend just how special you are. Whatever fate brought you to us is generous and kind.”
Devon shook his head, uncomfortable with such a compliment. “What brought me to you was a red-headed attitude on legs, but you’re closer than you think. I have it on good authority that Fate had a hand in our meeting. Now, perhaps you would be kind enough to administer your skills to poor Gwen? She got shot too.”
“He’s a god, Madi,” Gwen said from behind him. She had a bloody hand clutched tightly over her wounded shoulder. “He is too modest to tell anyone, but he has an assistant that most of you can’t see. She explained it all to me.”
Madison looked at Devon closely. “You know what, Gwen. I could almost believe that.”