Chapter 20: Fleeing the City
Alexander was on his own rather large, black and white horse. He had thrown a heavy cloak over himself to hide his wounds and armour, and was moving among those still hurrying to find a place. Will and Ruben had been given seats in the same cart as Bo and Erasmus, and two mages were crowded around the white haired slave, carefully examining him. At one point, Bo thought he spotted Takeshi on one of the horses, but the figure disappeared into the crowd before the teen could be certain. In the last few hours of night, the convoy was ready. Alexander was worried about the size of it, but there was no time to break it up into smaller groups. He ordered those on horses to find their own way out of the Kingdom, instructing them to meet him at the large gates that provided an entry and exit point from The Gutter to the eastern river of Middlefortress. Those on horses slipped away in groups of two or three before dispersing. Soon there were only two cart loads of people, along with the horses that were hitched to them, and one or two people on horses. Alexander nodded and the caravan pulled out in tense silence, moving at an unhurried pace.
'Well I came in on a cart, and it looks like I'll be leaving on one too' joked Bo quietly, more to break the silence than anything else. He shifted, feeling uncomfortably wedged into the group of people.
'Hopefully we will be leaving. I have been asked to cloak these carts with magic to make the guards think we are hauling hunting equipment, but I am sure the guards will have spells to disperse illusions and the like. If they are at all suspicious then we could be in for some trouble.' Erasmus sounded more worried than Bo liked and the teen closed his mouth, keeping quiet.
Soon the cart reached the palace gates. The guards looked awake, but not particularly alert. All eyes in the cart were focused intently on them, willing them not to become suspicious and perform a thorough search of the party. Bo shuddered, reminded of the eyes of the beast, and Erasmus drew Bo close, holding him still so that he wouldn't give the game away, even though the mage was shaking with exertion as well.
'What's all this lot?' asked one of the guards sharply. Alexander shrugged,
'Iz huntink gear. King vant to go on large huntink trip – ze peace talks seem to be on hold zo he feel the need for relax, yez?' The guard paused slightly, and for a second Bo thought that he would demand a closer look, but in the end he just waved the cart on, nodding his approval. As the cart started to move away however, there was a gasp from the guards, and Erasmus slumped, having lost consciousness.
'Alexander!' shouted Bo, but the weapon master had already realised the game was up. With two powerful blows he quickly laid out the guards, and got off his horse to tie them up.
'Iz okay, ve need to get out by dawn anyvay. Dawn iz change of guard.' Bo nodded and quickly turned to check on Erasmus, who had been brought back to consciousness by some of the surrounding mages. The stalk legged man looked groggy, and Bo worried that he was still mentally injured from battle.
'Are you okay Erasmus?'
'I'm sorry, Bo – I just. I haven't been the same since Lance. You killed him didn't you?' Erasmus' hand tightened painfully on Bo's shoulder until the teen confirmed that Lance was dead. With a heavy sigh Erasmus leaned back, too tired to support himself. Feeling shaken, Bo pulled Erasmus up so he wasn't crushing anyone else in the cart.
'You're just tired, and spent. You'll be better once we get some rest,' reassured the teen, hoping that the same could be said of him. Every breath caused his ribs to shriek in pain, and his muscles were starting to berate him for his abuse of them. Even just holding Erasmus up caused his arms to tremble, and he knew he would be haunted by images of the battle.
'Is everything okay?' came a familiar voice. Will and Ruben were sitting at the opposite end of the cart, and people shifted reluctantly to let them move next to Bo and Erasmus. As soon as they were settled, Alexander reappeared and the cart set off at a modest pace through the more expensive suburbs of the Kingdom. The horse's snorts and footsteps echoed in the empty streets. Unseen a shadow flitted over the rooftops nearby. Alexander glanced up once or twice, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prickling, but was unable to see if they were being followed.
'Hey! Will how are your eyes?' asked Bo anxiously. Will shrugged, his shock white hair drooped messily over his face.
'The healers say that I won't be getting my sight back. I guess it was a bit of a shock at first, but in the end I told them I couldn't see a problem with it - being blind and all.' The teen chuckled at his own joke. 'Anyway, I'm still alive, aren't I? When I get some rest I'll work on a spell to help me get around the place. It'll be fine.' Bo nodded thoughtfully, before realising Will wouldn't be able to see the gesture.
'Uh yeah. Sure. I suppose I was kinda lucky I had my face covered.' Bo shuddered again. He didn't think he'd ever be able to think back on the beast without feeling horrified at the memories, as though merely recalling them could bring the monster back into existence. He couldn't help but wonder if the heroes in his stories had ever felt the same after besting a particularly dangerous foe.
'And I was lucky I got stuck face down by whatever it was, otherwise I might have been blind too,' murmured Ruben, before becoming suddenly distracted by a new thought. 'Hey Bo, do you still have that bee?' Bo looked at Ruben blankly, not sure what his friend was talking about, and wondering if he'd lost his senses. After a second or two he realised Ruben was talking about his mechanical bee.
'Uhhh no, sorry Ruben. I think it got crushed when I was being beaten up by a demon.' Ruben nodded understandingly, although he continued to idly talk about how difficult it had been to make the bee in the first place. Alexander halted the carts, stalling any further conversation. Quickly he covered everyone in a thick horse blanket, murmuring that they were getting to a busy area now, and that silence was necessary – they could no longer rely on Erasmus keeping everyone hidden, so they were going to have to do things the old fashioned way. In the silence and warmth of the blanket, despite the danger, and the pain from his body, Bo found himself nodding off, only jolted awake occasionally by the rattle of the cart.
When he awoke fully, the blanket had been removed, and instead of warm stagnant air, a chill wind blew across his face. High above the night sky was making way for the sun in a brilliant display of rich blues, reds and yellows. The cart was no longer in the city, but a few miles beyond it, and had been run into a shallow ditch some distance from the road. Erasmus was awake, and holding Bo patiently, although he, Bo, Ruben, and Will were the only ones left in the cart. Alexander sat on his horse looking back at the city silently as the sun rose above the stone walls. Sitting up, Bo rubbed at his eyes. There were a few people nearby who were getting ready for a long journey. Someone had been smart enough to pack a few crates of food onto one of the carts (although judging from the fact that one of the items was a barrel of pickles, Bo felt certain he knew who had done the packing), and now it was being shared out amongst the survivors. Many of those who had set out on horses had rejoined the group, and Bo could make out both Arty and Hayes in the group of people on the ground. Hayes offered Alexander a steaming cup of tea,
'You've developed quite the resistance to healing magic. I can only assume you've already had many large scale spells performed on you. In any case, the tea should soothe your pains -which I know you don't have- and replenish your energy without sending you to sleep.' Alexander accepted the drink without comment. While he had not allowed any of the other mages near him, he grudgingly allowed Hayes to fuss over him.
Quiet at first, but with growing intensity, a low mournful bell tolled over the Kingdom, rolling through the dawn mist to reach even the ears of the slaves and desert people. Alexander sighed and turned back to them, giving them all a stern look.
'Zey are knowink ze Queen iz dead. From now, ve are runnink. Eef ve are caught ve are kilt. Anyvun who vant to try luck on own may go – the rest of uz, ve must get to dezert kingdom, yez?' There was a general murmur of ascent as people realised there was still a lo
ng way to go before they were safe. Even though the news was dire, and war between Redland and the Great Desert seemed inevitable, Bo couldn't help a small smile of pleasure that stole over his face. He had won free of the oppressive castle of Middlefortress, of Lance, and of a demon artefact. He was now heading off on a new and exciting adventure with a group of good friends, just as he had always wished. Bo didn't know what had become of the demon Allie, and nor was he certain of what had befallen Takeshi, but he got the feeling that only time would tell.
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About the series:
This series is a work in progress. I hope you enjoyed this book enough to wait for book 2, where Bo, Erasmus, and the rest of the group will journey to Erasmus' home in the desert, with the winds of war hot on their tails.
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