Chapter 22
“Ok, then I’ll need some transportation to the King. One of my companions is in complete agreement with the Pisces Empire, so she can’t know anything about my… abilities. Oh, don’t tell her who the King is working for. She’d flip, and probably murder all of us.”
“Why don’t you dispose of her then?” Billy looked at me like I was a complete idiot.
“I can’t do that. Even with my power, I would probably lose in a fight. She’s got an uncanny sixth sense. But, it’s also because I don’t think I can bring myself to do that.”
Billy frowned. “You are unable to chop off the rotting arm of a growing tree? That will prove to be fatal.”
“I may not be a holy man, but I’m not killing my friends because they might be on the other side of a war.”
Billy stared at me curiously. “You are strange. I suppose that could be a good thing, but it would be a shame to lose a pawn…ah, a partner in this game too quickly. How quickly do you think you can get rid of our little problem?”
Oh, I don’t know. How long would it take a normal person to kill a King with practically no army and no information?
“Give me a week.”
Billy looked at me in disbelief. “You can kill him in one week? I don’t doubt your skills, but that’s stretching it!”
I shrugged. “You’re right, but I don’t have time to waste prancing around the pansies. Lilly will catch on.”
Billy shrugged. “Whatever. If you die, it’s no loss to me. It’s not like there aren’t other pawns out there. I’ll get you a map and transport to the castle. You’ll have to take care of the rest.”
He poked his head out of the tent. “Bring this man’s companions!” he yelled.
As if they were just awaiting the kid’s command (which they probably were), Lilly and Jenna were hustled before us.
“They have five seconds to let me go,” Lilly growled.
I motioned frantically for them to release Lilly, and her captors turned to Billy. He shrugged, and they quickly slipped the chains off her.
She glared at them, and they backed away quickly. Jenna chuckled and headed over to me.
“What’s the scoop?” she asked.
My eyes hopped over to Billy. “We’ve got an assassination contract. If we do it, we’ve got our army.”
Lilly grinned. “Finally, something interesting. I’m dying to redecorate someone’s walls a red color.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Do you have to be so violent? You don’t even know who we’re supposed to off here! What if this person is a good guy?”
“He still bleeds, doesn’t he? Besides, Drake would never agree to do away with a ‘good guy’. Not like I’m worried or anything.”
I smirked. “Billy, I’m going to need you to get me my transport now. And some food wouldn’t hurt either.”
“And give my weapons back!” Lilly snapped.
“The only weapon you need are your eyes; those things could pierce a hole through solid steel,” Billy grumbled, then gave one of his trademark make-me-wanna-punt-a-puppy-giggles.
Billy walked off, and Elgar emerged from the crowd. “Ah, if you would follow me, I can take you to your possessions and acquaintance you with some food. You are hungry, am I correct?”
Jenna’s eye twitched. “I’m pretty sure that doesn’t even come close to a grammatically correct sentence. And if it is, whoever invented this language is a nimrod.”
I coughed, simultaneously saying the name of every language teacher I had ever had. Now, we know that they didn’t invent the language, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t blame them for it.
We followed Elgar over to another of the tent things, and we ducked into it. Inside, there were three backpacks lying on a little mat of straw.
“Ah, your items and food are in there. You will also find a few maps and other necessary goods. Is there anything else you need before you go off?”
I glanced at Lilly and Jenna. “I don’t think so…?”
“Where’s our transport?” Lilly asked.
Elgar nodded quickly. “Ah, you will have it soon. We are rounding it up as we speak. Until it arrives, I will tell you about your mission in a little more detail. The palace is very well guarded, and there is little to none chance that you will not be spotted once you approach. Considering that none of us have ever been able to get into the castle, you’re going to be on your own there. I don’t care how you get rid of the King, just do it. If that means blowing his brains out along with everyone in the castle, so be it. Am I right?”
Lilly rolled her eyes. I could see that Elgar’s annoying habit was starting to grind on her nerves.
“We understand. Do we have any time to rest, or…” Jenna started.
A boy burst into the tent. “Move it! They’re here!” he yelled.
We burst into motion, grabbing our backpacks and spinning towards the tent flap. Outside, I could hear the all too familiar sounds of battle. I glanced back at Edgar.
“Are you coming?”
A dark line crossed the man’s face, and his features became cloaked in shadows. A glint of light flashed in his eyes. “Oh, I don’t think I will. You kids scurry off, I’ll try to buy you a little time. Don’t fail me, Jim!”
The kid nodded, and grabbed my hand, and dragged me away from the battle. Lilly and Jenna rushed after us. I managed one glance back at Elgar, and my blood froze solid.
The air around him shimmered with heat. His clothes fluttered in an unseen wind, straining towards the heavens vainly. Sparks of light danced around his arms, and a chilling laugh erupted from his mouth.
“Face me, spineless cowards! I’ll burn your soul clean out from your corrupted bodies!”
The ground under Elgar shattered. He shot into the air, sending spinning shards of stone hurtling into unseen enemies.
Jim tugged on my arm. “Move it, you fool! He cannot tell the difference between friend and foe in that state!”
I physically tore my gaze away from him, and rushed after Jim. “Where are you taking us?” I panted.
“To our way out of here! I’ll explain as much as I can once we’re safe.”
That seemed fair enough to me, so I just returned my attention to running. Jim suddenly stopped moving, nearly causing a human train wreck. “Why did you stop?” Lilly asked.
Jim ignored her. “Hold on.”
“To what?” Jenna asked.
The ground lurched, and jerked itself upwards. Everyone except for Jim fell backwards. I grabbed the nearest object and held on for dear life. After a moment, I realized that the ground was no longer having a seizure. I glanced around to notice Lilly and Jim staring at me strangely. My eyes lowered to the object I had grabbed- Jenna’s leg. I quickly released her, and stood up, brushing myself off.
“Ah, I was just having a surprise attack drill. Jenna, you didn’t react quickly enough.”
Jim nodded sagely. Lilly, of course, didn’t buy it. “Drake, you’re an idiot.”
I chuckled nervously, and glanced behind us. The ground was rapidly disappearing below us. “Ah, not to sound ungrateful, but what the heck is going on?”
Jim motioned for us to sit down. “We’re flying on a local bird. The…ah, my people were rounding one up for you to attack the castle when we were attacked.”
“Will they be ok?” I asked.
Jim smirked. “Of course. All of them can do at least some amount, if not more, of what Elgar can do.”
I gulped. It was a good thing that we didn’t make enemies of them. “So, why are you tagging along?” Lilly asked. Her nose was buried inside her backpack, sniffing (pun intended) around for her weapons.
Jim snorted, and we turned slightly to our right. “How else would you guys control this bird? This was supposed to be my coming of age mission. All I had to do was take some numbskulled foreigners over to the castle and then get out. Of course, that isn’t the plan anymore. By now, our camp is probably nothing more than a smoldering pile of ash. I
suppose I’ll stay with you guys until you kill off the Pisce-er, the King.”
Lilly cried out in triumph, and pulled her pistol out of her backpack. I glanced into my own backpack, and shuffled around in it. There were several wrapped packages which I assumed to be food, a few layers of cloth that were most likely clothes, and a small box about a foot long.
I slid the box out of the bag, and pulled on the lid. It hissed a little, but didn’t budge. Now, you’re all looking at that last verb choice strangely. You’re probably thinking that boxes don’t hiss, snakes do. Well, guess what: You can’t tell it how to live its life. This box is free. It can do what it wants.
Just kidding. The box was hissing because there was a bloody snake in it.
I stepped backwards, and instinctively called up a wormhole in front of me. The snake shot forwards, and disappeared inside the portal. I slammed it shut, and glanced around. To my relief, Lilly hadn’t noticed. However, Jim was staring at me intently. I held a finger to my mouth, and he shrugged.
Shoot, I’d deal with it later. I looked into the rectangular box, and pulled out a slender dagger. Glyphs covered the thin blade, and the handle was beautifully jeweled. There was a little note stuck to the side of the weapon, so I pulled it off.
Kill the Tyrant with this dagger.
“Could you be a little more specific?” I muttered sarcastically.
I opened a small wormhole in front of my palm and tossed the note into it. I placed the dagger back into the box and sealed it again.
“Jim, who has the map?”
Jim tapped his head. “Worry not, I have it all in here. You might as well try to get some sleep, we’re nowhere near the palace.”
I glanced up at the darkening sky. “I’m not sure I can trick my body into falling asleep yet. The author has things he should be doing right now, but he doesn’t want to do them yet.”
Jim turned to me. “What was that? I didn’t quite hear you.”
What had I said again? Oh, right.
“Ah, I’m not tired.”
Jenna shuffled around in her bag and pulled a brown roll out of it. She sniffed it cautiously, and unwrapped it.
“What the heck is this crystalized mystery meat?”
Jim walked over to her and looked at the brown lump in her hand. “Hey, it’s a meatball! I love those things!”
I swear I’m telling the truth when I say that it was the smell from the ball of death that Jim was referring to a meatball that knocked out our ride. Yeah, you heard me right. I can personally assure you that Murphy made his law simply to spite me.
With a dying screech, the massive bird suddenly stopped flying and began to hurtle down towards the ground at faster speeds than a toddler running for a candy.
I cursed the monstrous creature out in a long string of words that would probably get bleeped out if they were comprehensible. The way I saw it, there were three options for what would happen next.
1: I could open a wormhole and try to explain to Lilly how I opened gaping holes in the fabric of the universe, or however you want to explain it.
2: I could die.
3: Back to option two.
I mentally shrugged. Considering my options, it wasn’t much of a choice. A giant wormhole snapped open below us, and we slammed into the ground at a hundred miles an hour.