CHAPTER 9 - WALK

Zack hated what he had done. After realizing the sheer numbers he was up against, he scampered into a nearby building. He was on the second floor watching the caravan slowly vanish into the distance. He'd been too afraid to do anything. He saw the disappointment on Cody's face. What did he want Zack to do? Take on the entire raiding party by himself armed with only a javelin? Zack looked at the weapon he had taken from Trick. He angrily threw it at the wall, the blade embedding in the dry wood. He rested his head against the window. The caravan had picked up it's pace, and was even smaller as it continued toward the horizon.

"I'm sorry, Cody." Zack pulled the javelin out of the wall. "It'd be stupid of me to come and rescue you by myself. In a world like this, it's dangerous to be so reckless." Zack smiled to himself. "I guess I've always been like that, though." He remembered what he had said to Cody the night before. He'd told his brother that even at his own personal peril, if he had the opportunity to save someone, he was going to take it. He couldn't go back on what he'd said. Cody would call him a liar. With renewed purpose, Zack ran after the caravan.

As he made his way through the streets of Denmall, Zack kept his head on a swivel. He didn't know if Trick or others like them were on the lookout. As he followed the tread marks made by the heavy carriages, Zack thought about the numerous disadvantages he had. He didn't know where he was going. He didn't know if the raiders were regrouping with a bigger party. His brain screamed at him to turn back, but he knew that wouldn't be a good idea. He had no one to regroup with, and he wanted to save Cody. He'd never forgive himself if his argument with Cody was their last interaction.

Zack walked for an entire day. With every step he felt his knees weakening, he would use his spell on himself. If his feet hurt, he'd use his spell. He kept his distance from the caravan, but didn't want to let them get to far away. His stamina was depleting rapidly as the day dragged on. Each time he used his spell, he felt more exhausted.

The sun was going down, and Zack was getting frustrated. Did the caravan not stop to make camp. He couldn't be that far behind. The tracks still seemed fresh. Sweat was pouring down his face, but he didn't want to part with his cloak. It was the only protection he had. Zack felt a burning in his chest. His knees were wobbling.

He placed his hand over his heart. He noticed it had a distinct tremble. He took a deep breath and focused. The aura enveloped his hand, but he felt nothing. His energy had diminished too much.

"No, no, no!" he cried out. Zack tried again, but to no avail. He fell to one knee. His body felt heavy, and his breathing more drawn out. Through gritted teeth, he struggled to both feet. He couldn't move. It was consuming what little energy be had to remain upright. He couldn't stop. He needed to find his brother. They needed each other.

Zack took a step in what felt like slow motion. When his shoe was flat on the earth beneath him, he laughed. "Piece of cake." Another step was impossible. Zack fell forward. He couldn't even move his arms to cushion the fall. He was face down, in the middle of a dirt road. He could feel blood seeping out of his nose as he laid on the ground. He closed his eyes, exhausted, and he passed out.

Zack went in and out of consciousness. While asleep he was in a world of nightmares. When he'd awaken, he could feel his body being moved. With no energy to cry out or struggle, he went back to his nightmares. In them, he was surrounded by darkness. He called out, but made no noise. He ran in all directions, but there was only darkness. There was a feeling he wasn't alone in the dark. He felt a pressure in his back.

"You can't save everyone," a voice whispered in his ear. Zack turned toward it, but saw nobody. He started to cough. He looked at his hands that were now covered in a red substance that shone through the darkness. "I watched you leave," the whisper returned. Zack felt the pressure in his back again. It forced him to the ground where he laid, immobile. Something wet lapped up against his cheek. He was too weak to move away from it. The substance was cold. It shocked his system into waking up.

Zack found himself lying in grass. The grass was tall enough to block his vision from a seated position. Zack inspected his back and hands for injury to confirm they had only happened in his nightmare. He contemplated who the voice could have belonged to. He was certain it was Cody. He shook the thought out of his head. His mind was tricking him. He got to his feet, surprised that he had energy to do so. He felt completely refuelled. He peered over the tall grass and walked back to where he assumed the road was.

"Anybody there?" Zack yelled over the grass. He cupped his hands over his mouth, prepared to yell again. A quick blur leapt at him from the grass. It tackled him to the ground. Zack grunted as his head smacked the dirt beneath him. His vision blurred from the impact. As it cleared a figure came into focus. An angry looking girl was pinning him to the ground. Her nails were sharp and digging into his shoulder.

"Are you stupid?" she asked. Zack stared blankly at her. "Did you think I hid you in tall grass for the fun of it?"

"Hid?" Zack stammered out the only word that made sense to his now slightly concussed brain.

"Yeah. You were half dead in the middle of the road. Figured you got away from Enza, or were left for dead by him, anyway." She stared at him. She looked proud of herself. "so I dragged you over here to hide you."

"Thanks," Zack said. "Could you get off me?" The girl looked down and became suddenly aware that she was still on top of him. She quickly lept off and blushed.

"S-sorry, just needed to make sure you stayed below the grass."

Zack returned to a seated position and brushed the dirt off his sleeves. The girl watched him intently. She had straight black hair that went down to her shoulder blades, and had thin brown eyes.

"I appreciate the help," Zack said. "But what am I hiding from?" The girl chuckled quietly

"You ARE dumb," she giggled. "Obviously, you're hiding from Enza's raiding party. The Demon Lord Mozaro sends him out to different villages and towns to capture people."

"What for?" Zack asked. The girl didn't laugh at this. She seemed saddened by the question. "Sorry," Zack said instinctively.

"It's alright," she said. "Nobody really knows what he uses them for. Some say he steals their souls for his power. Others say that he turns them into goblins and lizardmen." She paused, imagining the horror of her hypothetical scenarios. "All I know is, that everyone that's ever gone to Bosstown, hasn't returned."

"I have to go there," Zack insisted. "My brother was taken by Enza, and if he was taken to Bosstown, that's where I need to be!" Zack looked around him. "Where's my javelin?" He looked at the girl and her brows were furrowed.

"If your brother was taken by Mozaro, he is likely dead," she said solemnly

"If I didn't make an attempt to save him, then I'd be breaking a promise to him," Zack said with more conviction. "My javelin?"

"You're telling me that your brother would want you to throw your life away on a suicide mission to rescue him?"

"No, of course not! He'd think this was incredibly dumb, but I'm going to do it!"

"You're incredibly dumb," the girl said with a hint of disdain. Zack didn't mind.

"Maybe...probably, but I can't be dumb without my javelin." The girl thought about this for a moment.

"Follow me," she said as she snuck through the tall grass. Zack kept low and followed. The girl was agile, even while crawling through the grass. Zack struggled to keep up.

"Weird question," Zack called up to her. "What's your name? You saved me, but I don't even know who you are?" She didn't stop her crawl.

"Questions can wait," she hissed. "Wait till we get to safety!"

Zack kept his mouth shut and just stayed behind her. He couldn't see any weapons or equipment on her person. She looked completely unassuming. She wore a green collared shirt and black pants. Attached at her hip was a satchel that looked so flat, it likely didn't have anything in it. He didn't know where the girl was taking him, or if it was smart to trust her, but since he didn't have a clue where he was, he elected to follow. As they ran, Zack noticed that the grass was getting taller. It was well over six feet at this point. The girl wasn't that tall, yet she still kept low. Zack figured the best course of action, was to match her movements. It didn't take long for the duo to reach the edge of the tall grass. Once clear of the vegetation, the girl stood to her full height. Zack did as well and felt a kink in his back as he did so.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. "Aren't you young? Do you have an old man back?" Zack leaned backward as far as he could with his hands on his hips. He felt a crack in his lower back, and it came with an audible popping noise. The girl shook her head. "Old man back," she said in an exasperated huff.

"I'll be fine," Zack insisted. "Now that we're free of the grass, you said you'd tell me your name."

"Name's Lena. I used to live in Bosstown. Up until Demon Lord Mozaro and his flunkies took over." She pointed to the tiny town behind her. "The fine people of Everred were kind enough to take me in, during my moment of need." Zack looked at the town behind her. It was even smaller than Summerville. He noticed it was completely surrounded by the tall grass. The grass hid the dozen or so buildings on all sides. Lena lead Zack into the "town." It seemed as though everyone in town had expected him. They all came up to inspect the new arrival. Zack noticed the patched, dirty clothing they wore. To match, they had messy hair, and dirt under their fingernails. They were inspecting Zack's cloak and marveling at his platinum blonde hair.

"Umm...hello?" Zack said at the younger townsfolk that had gotten a little closer to him. He knelt down and three of the children started grabbing at his hair.

"We don't get outsiders very often," Lena informed him.

"Am I that strange?" Zack asked with a laugh.

"Not really," a voice said. Zack looked up and through the children that were crawling on top of him, he saw a hint of cranberry red.

"Maxine?"

"Didn't think I'd see you again!" she exclaimed.

"I can't really see you, I'm afraid," Zack said laughing. He was doing his best to support the children, so they wouldn't fall and hurt themselves.

"Alright, kids!" Maxine called. "Playtime's over. Zack's not a tree!" The kids let out audible groans as their fun had come to an abrupt end. They ran behind Maxine, as Zack stood back up. She was carrying his javelin.

"I was looking for that," Zack said, motioning to the weapon.

"Yeah, I know. Lena brought it back here." Maxine informed him.

"Wait," Zack said in surprise. "You left me in a random spot in the grass instead of back here?" She didn't seem fazed by the question, but Maxine had to stifle a giggle.

"I didn't know you," she said with a shrug. "I'd have left you there had Maxine not told me who you were."

"We really need to stop meeting up after I've been robbed by you," Zack said to Maxine, holding his hand out. She gave it to him.

"How did you get out?" both Maxine and Zack asked at the same time.

"I'll go first," she started.

"Can you start at how I ended up outside? I remember us hanging out in the restaurant. Next thing I knew I woke up outside, not even near the restaurant," Zack recalled. Maxine frowned. "How much did I have?" Zack asked, horrified. Maxine and Lena exchanged nervous looks, but both started laughing. "What? Was it that bad," the pitch in Zack's voice got higher.

"You didn't have any," Maxine said through her laughter. "You said it yourself, you're too young for it." Zack felt himself turning red. "I'm just teasing," Maxine said, still laughing. "You started complaining of a headache, and went outside. You never came back in."

"You must have run out of energy," Lena said.

"I've had that happen before, though," Zack said pondering the energy loss theory. "I remember what happened before hand."

"You were in a bit of a fog that night," Maxine shrugged. "You got in a fight with your brother, and you were pretty preoccupied by that."

Maxine had a good point. His argument with Cody had taken up most of his headspace that night. He'd never had that big of an argument with him before. That's why he needed to rescue Cody. He wanted to apologize for his behavior, and he wanted to hear Cody do the same. They were each responsible for how poorly things had gone between the two of them.

"I take it he was captured," Maxine said softly. Zack nodded. She shook her head in disappointment, then tossed him the javelin.

"You're not going to stop me?" Zack raised his eyebrows as he caught the weapon.

"I wasn't going to stop you," Lena interrupted. "I just wanted you to know that it was dumb to go alone."

"It IS pretty dumb," Maxine agreed.

"I know," Zack admitted. "You guys are welcome to come with me, but I'm going whether you accompany me or not. I'm not going to wait for that demon to kill my brother. If I have to die trying to save him...so be it." Zack forced his voice to be as clear and forceful as he could. He wanted Lena and Maxine to believe what he said, but he needed to believe himself.

"We both have reasons to want to head to Bosstown to face Demon Lord Mozaro," Lena said.

"Most of my gang was captured by them," Maxine said clenching her fists

"Plus the damage he's done to this land is immeasurable. He syphons the power from the magic users he's captured to supplement his own powers." Lena pointed to the javelin. "You think you can take him out with just a spear?"

"I'm a magic user," Zack said as his hand was enveloped in the blue light. Lena's eyes widened. Maxine smiled. "It makes me stronger and faster. It may not be much, but any boost I can get, I'll take." Maxine walked up to Zack and put her arm around his shoulder.

"Well, you're not going anywhere tonight. You're going to eat with us, and rest in Everred. At the very least, we can make sure you're ready to leave in the morning. Also, it's important that you leave with a plan."

"Are you sure?" Zack asked, blushing as Maxine squeezed his shoulder.

"Lena?"

"Of course!" she said excitedly.

The two lead Zack to the center of town. All twenty Everred citizens were there. They were happy to have Zack and they fed him well. They had boiled boar meat, potatoes, and carrots in five large parts set over five blazing fires. Maxine said that the citizens had crops planted in the town, and had an underground irrigation system that brought water from the Shoal River to their plants. The Everredians asked about where Zack where he was from, and he told them his story. He talked about how he had a twin brother and they lived with their mom in a hotel. He talked about the adventures he and his brother had with all their friends back home. He paused in the middle of his story, remembering how much he missed all of them. He told them that missing his friends is why he was going to work as hard as he could to get Cody back. It was the only connection to his old life that he had, and he didn't want it to go away.

Zack was given a comfortable bed to sleep in that night. As difficult as the task ahead of him was, he still was able to fall right asleep. He felt confident that Maxine and Lena believed in him, and even if Cody was disappointed by him running away, he'd believe again once he saw Zack trying to save him. As comfortable as his bed was, Zack didn't get to enjoy it for long. A burning smell woke him from his slumber. He shot awake in the bed. A fiery smell reached his nostrils, but not from cooking. He looked out the window of the room he was given. One of the straw roofs of a neighboring building was on fire. Everred was under attack.