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  Riley rolled over and looked across the campsite at Pat. He was lying on his side too, staring off into space.

  “He sees us. He knows we’re coming.”

  “And that’s what you want, right? You want to go to him.”

  “Fuck yes, I do,” Pat insisted. “It’s all I want.”

  Riley kept watching him for a few more minutes, but the man said nothing else.

  Since she’d met this strange man, she’d never heard so much steel in him. Those few words: Fuck yes, I do. It’s all I want.

  If this man does exist, Riley thought, he’s in a hell of a lot of trouble when Pat gets to him.

  “Bandits,” William declared as he pulled his horse back.

  Riley moved Wind Whisper to the left out of the line of horses so that she could see clearly.

  Their small dirt path entered thick woods just ahead, and an hour ago when she first saw them, Riley couldn’t have been happier. Shade would be a welcome relief from this unrelenting heat.

  But now she saw the bandits, too. Or rather, Riley saw what they’d left behind. Things they hadn’t thought anyone would notice, but her and William’s eyes were far too sharp to miss them.

  They’d done a good job of wiping their tracks as they moved into the woods, but they hadn’t paid attention to the branches reaching out into the path. Perhaps there had been too many people, and they’d had to walk shoulder to shoulder on horseback. However it had happened, from thirty feet away, Riley could see the broken branches sticking out from the trees. They’d fallen to the ground and been kicked to the side by whoever cleaned up their tracks, but they hadn’t bothered checking the branches still attached to the trees.

  Although they probably couldn’t have done much.

  A broken branch was a broken branch.

  “How long you think they been following us?” William slowly backed his horse toward hers, his voice low.

  He stopped and hopped off Broadsword, then began rummaging through the horse’s packs, all of it for show. Riley understood he didn’t want the bandits to know they’d been spotted.

  “I don’t think they’ve been following us.” She dismounted too. She spoke through lips that hardly moved, her voice soft. The Right Hand trained them to be covert if necessary. “I think they’ve got a lookout somewhere at the start of these forests. Probably using magnifying goggles. When they saw us, they cleaned up as best they could.”

  “Yeah. No way I didn’t see ‘em. No way. They must have seen us as far back as last night with them goggles.”

  “What do we do?” Pat asked.

  “We go in there and kick their asses, that’s what we do, crazy man.”

  Pat turned to the forest, and Riley looked at Lucie. The woman appeared no different than she had yesterday. Her face was stony and her demeanor unperturbed, a mountain that all weather would break against.

  “You okay, Lucie?” Riley asked.

  The woman nodded but said nothing.

  “Okay.” William ended the charade of searching his horse’s bag. He pulled out a large jug of water, drank from it, and climbed back onto Broadsword. “You ready, skinny?”

  “I’m ready, chubby.” Riley hid the smile that wanted to dance across her mouth.

  The four started into the forest.

  The world grew dark around Riley, long shadows replacing bright sunlight. Her focus grew, her attention encompassing the world around her. Riley knew she and William could handle a lot, especially untrained bandits, but they also had to protect two people who couldn’t defend themselves.

  The path wove deeper and the branches above were thicker, the light growing less and less. Riley heard nothing besides the clomp of the horses stomping and insects chirping around them.

  “It’ll come soon.” William’s voice was a harsh whisper.

  “Go ahead and dismount!”

  William reined his horse in at the new voice, the line stopping. Riley’s head whipped to her left and right, looking both high and low, but she saw nothing. Her sword had been unsheathed before the sentence was finished.

  “You leave the two women, and we’ll let you two men get outta here. You’ll be on your feet, but it’s better than not leaving at all, if ya know what I’m saying.”

  “How about you quit hiding behind the trees and get your ass out here?” William bellowed.

  “Well, all right, if you insist,” the voice responded, sounding like it came from everywhere at once.

  Riley sensed the movement almost as it happened. Six men walked out of the forest. They were all heavily camouflaged, even using face paint to help them blend in with the surrounding woods.

  Three of the men held axes, the other three swords.

  “Last chance, if you two gents want to hit the road. Of course, leave your horses, packs, and any other valuables. There’s no need for us to fight. We’ll take the ladies.” The man in the middle spoke, and as he did, Riley saw his diseased gums and missing teeth.

  “You can take whatever ya want.” William swung his legs off his horse and landed with a thud on the ground. “But first ya gotta get it.”

  Riley slipped off Wind Whisper and silently moved to the other side of William’s horse, quickly passing both Pat and Lucie.

  “You can come take mine first,” she remarked as she reached the front. “I promise that the first one to come only loses a limb. All the rest are going to die.”

  Riley hated people like this. When she was a kid stealing from people in the street, no one ever got hurt. Here, these able-bodied men weren’t just stealing, they were raping and most likely murdering when it was over. This wasn’t New Perth, but it was far too close.

  “Oh, a sassy lady,” the rotten-toothed man spat. “I like ‘em with a little bit of fire.”

  “Then come get burned, prick,” Riley rebuked.

  The man moved forward, raising his axe in both hands. He took two steps and then started running, his mouth open in a horrific snarl.

  Riley sidestepped to the left with ease, her sword slicing the man’s right arm. His snarl turned to a scream as blood poured from his now-armless shoulder.

  “You going to let me have any fun here?” William asked.

  Riley turned back to the five men. They didn’t appear to care at all about their fallen leader. Their eyes were still raw with anticipation.

  “You want two or three?” Riley asked.

  “You already got one?” William protested.

  “You can count! I’m pleased.”

  “I bet I take four total.”

  “And I’ll only get one more?” Riley asked. “I’ll take that bet.”

  The five remaining bandits said nothing as the two Right Hands verbally jousted.

  Then Riley moved. Her speed was almost supernatural, her feet taking her across the dirt path to the three men on the right. Her sword reached out, its blade Death’s touch. She danced through the men swinging axes and swords at her, running her point through their guts. Screams filled the air.

  She felt the wind of an axe behind her and ducked quickly, then turned, bringing her sword up and catching the man beneath his chest plate.

  Riley shoved him off her blade, and he collapsed to the ground.

  All the bandits were dead or dying, their blood soaking the ground and their groans filling the forest.

  “I got four,” William declared.

  Riley laughed, spinning to the big man. “The hell you did, chubby. The one behind me is mine, and these three right here are mine, too. Look at the size of the holes in them. That’s my sword’s work, not yours.”

  “Lies. These four here are mine.”

  Riley shook her head and looked at the two other travelers.

  Pat’s eyes were wide. “I’ve never seen anyone move as fast as you.”

  “She ain’t that fast.” William sheathed his sword and turned back to his horse. “The robe just makes her look like it.”

  Pat paid him no mind, and Riley felt a bit of blush moving to her face.
She knew she was good—maybe better than good—but she didn’t know how to handle being told that.

  Ignoring Pat’s stare, Riley went back to her horse and climbed on.

  “Those four were mine.” William pointed as their horses passed the dead bandits. “I don’t care what you say.”

  The fire was dying, and Riley grabbed her blanket. She placed it on the ground and then walked over to Wind Whisper. The horse nickered at her approach, and she stroked his soft head. He moved his muzzle to her cheek, rubbing against her.

  “That’s a good boy,” she crooned. “That’s a good boy.”

  It wasn’t the first death Wind Whisper had seen, but it’d been a while. He’d handled it well today. None of the horses had bucked or tried to run. She pulled a large carrot from the pocket of her trousers and let the horse take it in his strong jaws.

  The purple robe was rolled up next to her blanket. She wasn’t going to sleep in it, although it was more comfortable than these trousers.

  “Fairly easy two days so far,” William commented from his place by the fire. “Two more, and then I can get back to the castle. I tell you, crazy man, if we get there and find nothing, I’m going to ask that the Prefect put you in the stocks when we get back. And don’t even think about running once we get there and discover this is all a lie. Riley here can catch you even if I can’t, and wasting our time like this breaks a number of laws.”

  Riley patted Wind Whisper one more time and then walked back over to the campfire.

  “Quit scaring him,” she told William as she sat down. The night was starting to grow cold, and the fire felt good.

  “I ain’t scaring nobody. I’m telling him the truth.”

  Pat was staring at the fire, saying nothing. He’d calmed some today after Riley and William dispatched the bandits. Perhaps he hadn’t believed the two Right Hands could handle what came their way, but the constant glancing around had slowed. He seemed to feel a bit safer, and Riley liked that.

  Lucie still hadn’t spoken much, and Riley didn’t like that.

  The woman hadn’t laid her blanket down yet. She was sitting in front of the fire, staring at it the same as Pat. William had laid back and was resting his large hands on his stomach, watching the sky above him.

  “You want first or second shift tonight?” he asked.

  “Doesn’t matter.” Riley didn’t take her eyes from Lucie.

  “I’ll take first, then. That’s the main reason I’m putting crazy man here in the stocks. Because I’m losing sleep. A lot of it. Men my size, we need our rest. Takes more sleep to heal the day’s activities, and this guy is just taking it all like it don’t matter. As if I’m not losing valuable minutes full of sleep.”

  He smiled the whole time he spoke, amusing himself if no one else.

  “Did you ever see this man?” Lucie asked, ignoring William. She didn’t look up from the fire, but the question was clearly directed at Pat.

  He looked at her.

  “Yes,” he replied quietly.

  “Can you tell me what he looked like?”

  Seconds passed in silence, the wood popping in the fire.

  “He’s tall. He’s lean. Not emaciated so much as thin. Kind of like Right Hand Riley, although not as...elegant. There’s muscle to him. That’s what I remember. He wears a black robe, but you can tell beneath it that he’s ripped.”

  “His eyes—What color are they?” Lucie asked.

  “A dull blue. Water beneath ice.”

  “Ain’t that poetic?” William was still smiling. “’Water beneath ice.’”

  “Hush, ya lout,” Lucie lashed at him. She looked at Pat. “Don’t mind him. He’s not putting you in any stocks—“

  “Am too.” William laughed, clearly joking. Riley thought Pat believed him.

  “I’d like to hear more about what happened to you,” Lucie continued as if William had said nothing. “He had blue eyes? Pale blue?”

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Pat nodded, his eyes sparkling now. Interested. Because he saw that someone believed him. Lucie might actually think the man was telling the truth.

  “Did you ever see him use magic?”

  Pat nodded, swallowing.

  “Do you know anything about magic?” Lucie asked.

  “I’m from Sidnie. Many of us use it. I could do it myself before I ended up there.”

  “What kind did you see him use?” Lucie continued.

  “That’s the thing—he don’t classify what he does like we did in Sidnie. He uses them almost as one. I ain’t never seen nothin’ like it.”

  “What do you mean?” Riley asked. She knew almost nothing about magic; no one in New Perth did.

  “Well, most people pick one kind of magic and they stick with it, ya know? Like you with that sword. You can prolly use other weapons, but the sword is whatcha like. That’s the way with magic. Other kinds are harder than the one you normally use, but him...he used them all.”

  Riley had heard of different types of magic, but she didn’t know much more than that.

  “Did you ever hear his name?” Lucie asked.

  Pat shook his head. “No.”

  “Do you remember anything about how you were taken?” Lucie asked.

  “I’m startin’ to. There were others with me, I remember that now. I think it was early in the morning, and I think we’d been fishin’ all night, bringing in a haul to sell at market.”

  “Was he there?”

  “No. I would remember that without a doubt. I remember the first time I saw him, and it wasn’t on that shore.”

  “The place we’re headin’,” Lucie said. “You say he’s taking the magic potential from people and using it himself?”

  Pat nodded again, and Riley found herself lost in the conversation between the two of them—completely enraptured.

  “He talked a lot. He’s arrogant. He ‘splained it to us over the years. He said there are nanocytes in our blood, and that he was takin’ them. He said he’d found a way to use them in his own body. I don’t know, to be honest. Some people in Sidnie prolly understand all that stuff, but I was just a fisherman. I ain’t ever learn anything about all that.”

  “Did he say how he was doing it?”

  Pat shook his head. “Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t remember if he did.”

  Lucie stood and rolled her blanket out, seemingly done with the conversation.

  “You all will believe anything.” William stood. “I’m going on watch. Lucie, I always thought you were more level-headed than this, but you sound as nuts as crazy man over here.” He shook his head and then walked off into the distance.

  Riley watched him go, saying nothing.

  She didn’t bother putting the fire out. If it got out of control, William would catch it. Instead, she rolled her own blanket out and laid down.

  Pat was the only one still sitting up, watching the fire.

  “Lucie?” Riley began. “What’s going on? What do you know?”

  “I’m not sure yet, girl. I’ll tell you when I’m more sure.”

  “Before we get there?” Riley asked. “Because we only have two more days.”

  “Yes, before then. Now get some sleep. I have a feelin’ things are going to get tougher over the next couple of days. A lot tougher.”

  Pat remained up long after the two women had fallen asleep. He didn’t sleep well anymore, or at least he hadn’t since escaping. He didn’t know if he would ever sleep well again.

  The woman had asked him questions, the first person to do so since they had started this journey. The big man, William, didn’t believe Pat at all. Pat didn’t care. He didn’t need anyone to believe him. They would see soon enough. In two days they’d all know the truth.

  He wasn’t sure if Riley believed him. He thought she wanted to, maybe, but what he said was too far out.

  Again, it didn’t matter. Soon, they’d see for themselves.

  What concerned Pat was what they would do when they met the mage, because no one here practi
ced magic and Pat’s ability to use his was gone. Maybe it would come back one day or maybe not, but either way, it certainly wouldn’t return by the time they got to him.

  True, he’d never seen anyone move like Riley had earlier in the day. She’d cut through those bandits as if they’d been no more than bags of sand, incapable of harming her. The big man could say he killed four all he wanted, but Pat had seen her move. She killed them in seconds flat.

  William wasn’t bad either. His brute strength was something regular men would flee. He swung his sword as hard as anyone Pat had ever seen.

  But this mage wasn’t a regular man.

  They were bringing steel to fight someone who used magic.

  New Perth didn’t have what it would take to beat this man. Sidnie, perhaps. There were enough magic users there to stop the madman, but these two Right Hands were going to be massacred shortly. Pat had been dumb as hell to try to get them to come.

  He stood up from his blanket and looked to where the big man stood. He’d been there for hours, unmoving, and soon he’d come wake Riley up to switch spots.

  Pat started walking toward William, hoping the man didn’t spook and shove his sword through Pat’s guts.

  “It’s me. Don’t kill me.”

  “I heard ya sit up.” William smirked. “I knew you were comin’ before you did.”

  The big man didn’t turn around, and Pat had the distinct feeling that he didn’t need to. If Pat were a danger, this giant could cut him down with hardly looking at him.

  “What do you want, crazy man?”

  Pat walked up next to him, stopping and looking into the distance. Pat had none of the night vision these two Right Hands did. To him, it all looked like darkness.

  “I’m thinking we should turn around.”

  The big man’s head turned, and he stared down at Pat. Glowered at him. “What?”

  “I was wrong about this. I was all wrong. We need to go to Sidnie first. We have to get mages to come stop him. We can’t do it.”

  William looked forward again, his sword strapped across his back. “You’re scared?”