Well, here's another chapter, along with cookies for my -6- reviewers (hint
hint, readers) I actually have some this time, due to a sleeping potion
that Rouge-of-Fortune gave me that works on muses only. Mine were out like
lights. I still hope that you won't have to meet them soon... they drive me
crazy enough as is without having any extra viewers to "entice" them...
Anyway, on with the chapter!
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"Well?"
The commander trembled nervously under his lord's gaze. Unforgiving at the best of times, the mercury adept was furious, as could be told by the growing layer of frost in the surrounding area. He dared not to respond however, afraid of angering Alex further.
"Would you care to explain the scorched buildings and the bodies of your dead colleagues, Briggs?"
Nervously, the pirate-turned-soldier responded. "M-my lord, it was Isaac and Garet. They've been hiding here the whole time disguised as the blacksmiths that you hired."
"Those two, hm? Then Felix must be nearby..." Turning to a nearby group of trackers, he spoke, "Check all around the city. Anyone you find, capture if you can, but don't hesitate to kill... unless it's one of them. I want those damned adepts alive to deal with personally." Facing Briggs again, he continued. "As for you, your title of commander is gone. You are to report to the dungeons at sunrise tomorrow for guard duty."
Briggs' shoulders trembled with barely contained rage as he responded, "Yes, my lord." With that, he turned and walked away, heading for the village square.
Satisfied for now with the other's anger and submission, Alex left in another direction, cloak swirling behind him as he beckoned for his bodyguards to bring his new slave with him.
As he reached the square, Briggs turned down another street and stopped in front of one of the houses, his own. Sighing slightly at the thought of bringing more bad news, he knocked once, then pushed the door open and entered. As he shut the door behind him, his wife Chaucha looked up from the bread that she had been cutting and raised an eyebrow to ask him why he looked so downcast.
"Alex stripped me of my title of commander. As of now, I am nothing more than a lowly dungeon guard." He would have said more, but Eoleo had come over and was now hugging his leg. Chuckling at his antics, the former commander picked up his son in a bear hug.
After setting the child down, he turned to his wife again. "What are we going to do? Alex goes through dungeon guards faster than his best horses can run, and when his guards are no longer employed, he uses them for his own purposes. And with the pay reduce, we can't afford to send money with merchants to our hometown anymore, and they need it more than ever with winter coming and all!"
Chaucha remained silent until, exhausted by his venting, Briggs collapsed in a nearby chair. "Briggs, the only way to get through this is to get out of here."
Snorting, her husband replied sarcastically, "Yes, which will positively be the easiest thing in the world with the best trackers around looking for the escapees, all of them knowing of my new position."
"Don't be dumb. You trained most of them yourself, so you know the area even better than they do."
"Even so, I don't think that we'd be able to get far enough away before they caught us. At most ten miles, I'd say."
Chaucha took a seat across from him, resting her elbows on the table as she thought of possible solutions. After several minutes, she saw a toy ship hovering directly in front of her. Dismissing it as a hallucination due to lack of sleep, she sat up straight and blinked the sleepiness out of her eyes. When she realized that the ship was still there, she looked in Eoleo's direction.
Sure enough, the red-haired child had an outstretched hand pointed at the floating model, giggling happily. Briggs jumped up from where he had been, exclaiming, "Eoleo, you're a genius! You just reminded me that there's a hidden port a few miles away, run by pirates. If Alex hasn't found and destroyed it yet, then we should be able to find a ship and escape. We could return to a life of piracy!"
Nodding at the pirate's suggestion, Chaucha began to help assemble the things that they would need to reach the port.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Mars, I hate this job," grumbled one of the trackers as she pushed her way through the underbrush in hopes of finding traces of the escapees. A branch whapped her in the face as she accidentally let go from holding it back, and seconds later, there was nothing left but a pile of ash.
"Please, Menardi. We have to find them, or risk getting caught."
"Shut up, Saturos. You're just as annoyed as I am, both with what we have to do and who we have to do it for."
"True." The blue-haired man knelt down to inspect some disturbed plants, but dismissed it as a wolf's fault. "At least we're likely to lose another of those stupid fanatics tonight."
Turning in surprise, Menardi asked, "Oh? And how are we going to eliminate another one of his advisors this time?"
"Agatio and Karst are planning something, but you know how they are. Not telling anyone, changing plans at the last minute in case someone suspected them of it. But I'm pretty sure of who they're going after this time."
"I hope that it's the annoying one."
"That's what I think, too." Pushing aside another branch, he uncovered a clearing that the two immediately began to inspect. "Still nothing... come on, we should head back over near the walls. It'll probably be easier to spot the tracks there; they'd have had to jump over the wall."
"And we'll be able to help Briggs without winding up in his position ourselves."
"How so?"
"Just a hunch, my friend." The two of them stopped searching for the time being, and headed in the direction of the village walls.
Anyway, on with the chapter!
............................................................................ .....
"Well?"
The commander trembled nervously under his lord's gaze. Unforgiving at the best of times, the mercury adept was furious, as could be told by the growing layer of frost in the surrounding area. He dared not to respond however, afraid of angering Alex further.
"Would you care to explain the scorched buildings and the bodies of your dead colleagues, Briggs?"
Nervously, the pirate-turned-soldier responded. "M-my lord, it was Isaac and Garet. They've been hiding here the whole time disguised as the blacksmiths that you hired."
"Those two, hm? Then Felix must be nearby..." Turning to a nearby group of trackers, he spoke, "Check all around the city. Anyone you find, capture if you can, but don't hesitate to kill... unless it's one of them. I want those damned adepts alive to deal with personally." Facing Briggs again, he continued. "As for you, your title of commander is gone. You are to report to the dungeons at sunrise tomorrow for guard duty."
Briggs' shoulders trembled with barely contained rage as he responded, "Yes, my lord." With that, he turned and walked away, heading for the village square.
Satisfied for now with the other's anger and submission, Alex left in another direction, cloak swirling behind him as he beckoned for his bodyguards to bring his new slave with him.
As he reached the square, Briggs turned down another street and stopped in front of one of the houses, his own. Sighing slightly at the thought of bringing more bad news, he knocked once, then pushed the door open and entered. As he shut the door behind him, his wife Chaucha looked up from the bread that she had been cutting and raised an eyebrow to ask him why he looked so downcast.
"Alex stripped me of my title of commander. As of now, I am nothing more than a lowly dungeon guard." He would have said more, but Eoleo had come over and was now hugging his leg. Chuckling at his antics, the former commander picked up his son in a bear hug.
After setting the child down, he turned to his wife again. "What are we going to do? Alex goes through dungeon guards faster than his best horses can run, and when his guards are no longer employed, he uses them for his own purposes. And with the pay reduce, we can't afford to send money with merchants to our hometown anymore, and they need it more than ever with winter coming and all!"
Chaucha remained silent until, exhausted by his venting, Briggs collapsed in a nearby chair. "Briggs, the only way to get through this is to get out of here."
Snorting, her husband replied sarcastically, "Yes, which will positively be the easiest thing in the world with the best trackers around looking for the escapees, all of them knowing of my new position."
"Don't be dumb. You trained most of them yourself, so you know the area even better than they do."
"Even so, I don't think that we'd be able to get far enough away before they caught us. At most ten miles, I'd say."
Chaucha took a seat across from him, resting her elbows on the table as she thought of possible solutions. After several minutes, she saw a toy ship hovering directly in front of her. Dismissing it as a hallucination due to lack of sleep, she sat up straight and blinked the sleepiness out of her eyes. When she realized that the ship was still there, she looked in Eoleo's direction.
Sure enough, the red-haired child had an outstretched hand pointed at the floating model, giggling happily. Briggs jumped up from where he had been, exclaiming, "Eoleo, you're a genius! You just reminded me that there's a hidden port a few miles away, run by pirates. If Alex hasn't found and destroyed it yet, then we should be able to find a ship and escape. We could return to a life of piracy!"
Nodding at the pirate's suggestion, Chaucha began to help assemble the things that they would need to reach the port.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Mars, I hate this job," grumbled one of the trackers as she pushed her way through the underbrush in hopes of finding traces of the escapees. A branch whapped her in the face as she accidentally let go from holding it back, and seconds later, there was nothing left but a pile of ash.
"Please, Menardi. We have to find them, or risk getting caught."
"Shut up, Saturos. You're just as annoyed as I am, both with what we have to do and who we have to do it for."
"True." The blue-haired man knelt down to inspect some disturbed plants, but dismissed it as a wolf's fault. "At least we're likely to lose another of those stupid fanatics tonight."
Turning in surprise, Menardi asked, "Oh? And how are we going to eliminate another one of his advisors this time?"
"Agatio and Karst are planning something, but you know how they are. Not telling anyone, changing plans at the last minute in case someone suspected them of it. But I'm pretty sure of who they're going after this time."
"I hope that it's the annoying one."
"That's what I think, too." Pushing aside another branch, he uncovered a clearing that the two immediately began to inspect. "Still nothing... come on, we should head back over near the walls. It'll probably be easier to spot the tracks there; they'd have had to jump over the wall."
"And we'll be able to help Briggs without winding up in his position ourselves."
"How so?"
"Just a hunch, my friend." The two of them stopped searching for the time being, and headed in the direction of the village walls.