Page 61 of Cage of Destiny
“Neco, you will remainbehind with us,” Darmik said.
“Understood.” Neco reachedback and grabbed two logs, adding them to the fire. “This remindsme of being back on Greenwood Island.”
“We had a lot ofadventures,” Darmik said, the tension in his voicelifting.
Neco laughed. “Do youremember the bandits?”
Darmik nodded. “I didn’tthink we’d make it out of that one.”
“Darmik and I were onlyfifteen at the time,” Neco said, a smile on his lips. “We weretraveling with a squad of men along a narrow road between two steephills. Darmik and I were at the rear of the group since we were theyoungest and most inexperienced soldiers. We were attacked, banditssliding down the hills with their swords drawn. Darmik told me towithdraw my sword and prepare to fight. I did as he said, thinkingthis was it. We were going to die. We stood back to back, fightingoff one man after another, until there were none left. I think weended up killing fifty men that day. When it was over, Darmiksheathed his sword and marched on. I ran after him, and he told methat he oversaw the squad now—which consisted of the two of us—andI was his second in charge. It has been that way ever since.Seemingly impossible missions, including putting Rema on thethrone. Whatever the task, the two of us have been fighting side byside for as long as I can remember.”
“I’ve always told Rema thatyou are like a brother to me.”
The fire crackled, and anowl hooted in the distance. “I suppose I should tell a story aswell,” Allyssa said, thinking over all the times she snuck out ofthe castle to fight crime with Grevik. She looked sidelong at herfather, hoping he wouldn’t be too upset. Knowing she snuck out andhearing the details were two different things.
“One time, Grevik and Iwere chasing two thieves when a group of five men attacked us. Isuppose we’d been too worried about not losing the thieves that wedidn’t pay enough attention to our surroundings. They demanded wehand over all our money and weapons.”
“Did you comply?” Darmikasked.
“Do you really need to askthat question?” she countered.
He chuckled. “No, I suppose not. Sohow did you get out of that scrape?”
“I dropped my coins. Whentwo of them neared to pick them up, I attacked. Grevik fought theother three. When my two were incapacitated, I helped him. In lessthan five minutes, they were all on the ground. Neither Grevik norI had a scratch. Then we dragged the men to the CityGuard.”
Odar chuckled. “I’ve seenher in action. One night when I was out with her, she fought a manin the alley without an ounce of fear. I told Jarvik I’d never seenanything like it. Women in Fren don’t fight.” He ran his handsthrough his hair. “Speaking of Jarvik, we’ve had our fair share ofclose calls as well.”
This was the first timeOdar chose to speak about Jarvik since his death. Until now, he’donly told her about the events pertaining to Shelene and what wasnecessary for them to escape Russek. He hadn’t yetrememberedhis friend.Allyssa smiled kindly at him, encouraging him to continue. Speakingabout lost ones was painful, but necessary. They couldn’t let thememories fade.
“We were away at school.One day, the two of us decided to skip classes and go to the localvillage for an adventure. When we were there, we went into the pubthinking we blended in and no one would know who we were. Thesecond we sat down, women were propositioning us. Jarvik laughedand laughed, thinking the entire ordeal was quite funny. Especiallysince the women thought he was someone of importance due to the wayhe was dressed.”
He ran his hands throughhis hair again. “I got mad no one knew who I was and stormed out ofthe pub and right into three men on their way to kidnap the prince.They shoved me out of the way and went for Jarvik. They planned toransom him off. One man threw Jarvik over his shoulder and ran outof the pub with him. He shoved him into a cart, covered him withhay, and started wheeling Jarvik out of the village. I didn’t knowif I should return to school to get reinforcements or not. If Idid, we were sure to be in trouble for sneaking out in the firstplace. I couldn’t go to the local authorities because they would bemore concerned with making sure I was safe rather than recoveringJarvik. So, I decided to save him myself. After all, I knew how towield a sword.” Closing his eyes, he shook his head, a smile stillon his lips.
“The men locked the cart ina barn and then left to write the ransom note, leaving one man toguard. I easily dispatched him, picked the lock, and entered thebarn. I found Jarvik climbing out of the cart, covered with hay. Wemanaged to make it back to the school without further incident.Jarvik swore the next time we snuck out, we’d be dressed likecommoners instead of courtiers.”
“I have a story,” Natheneksaid. “Savenek and I have had more than our share of adventures.One time, we traveled into Landania to climb one of the mountainsthere.”
“For fun?” Allyssaasked.
“Savenek loves to climb,”Nathenek replied. “Anyway, we were halfway there and had set upcamp for the night. Normally, we travel lightly with minimalsupplies—and food. This time, we had more food than usual. Thatnight, a bear came into our camp and tore open Savenek’s bag,eating his food. We awoke to the massive creature sitting next tous, eating. It had slobber drooling from its mouth.”
“What did you do?” Allyssaasked, trying to imagine her brother and Nathenek mere feet from abear.
“Nothing. We both remainedon our sleeping pads, not daring to move an inch. I had a knifeready in case the bear attacked. However, it didn’t. Once it hadeaten everything, it got up and walked away.”
In the entirety ofAllyssa’s travels, she’d never seen a bear.
“Your turn,” Nathenek saidto Kerdan.
“Me?” Kerdanreplied.
“Yes, you,” Allyssa said.“We’ve all told a story. You’re the only one left.” Unless Huritand Larek returned from where they were keeping watch.
“I have nothing exciting toshare.”
“You mean nothing thatdoesn’t end with death and destruction,” Odar uttered.
Kerdan pursed his lips.“Fine. I will share one thing.” He sat, not moving, while everyoneelse around the campfire stared at him. “When I was thirteen, Ienlisted in the army.” His deep voice rumbled in the quiet night.“I was sent to the garrison near my home. There, I was put in thelowest level group because I was not fast enough and I did notwield a sword well.”
