Cresil frowned as Tobias swung open the door and stomped into the hut. Without saying anything, he ushered in a soldier carrying a ladder. As the soldier placed the ladder in front of Cresil, he gave Tobias a fearful look.

  “The salts still in place, and he hasn’t had food or water in days so he's weak. You’ll be fine.” Tobias reassured him. The soldier climbed the ladder as Tobias held it in place. “Be careful not to break open the pipes. We need the prisoner unharmed.” Tobias looked up, his voice filled with ominous warning.

  After undoing the chains from the silver-filled piping, the soldier left with the ladder. Tobias frowned as he walked to the center of the room and tugged on the chains like a leash on an untrained dog. “Come.” He spoke firmly.

  Cresil stumbled forward from the force of the pull, but was met with a hard knockback when his body almost crossed the salt line. The flash that went along with hitting the invisible barrier had both men rubbing their eyes.

  “I guess I forgot about that.” Tobias stepped forward to brush away the circle, but stopped before breaking the line. “There are a dozen men out there with rifles trained on that door. They will shoot first, ask questions later if they do not get my signal. That includes shooting me if it means you don’t escape.”

  Cresil nodded, showing he understood. After brushing away the circle, Tobias pulled the chain again. Unopposed, Cresil stepped forward. He cautiously followed Tobias out of the small hut. The orange glow of sunlight barely touched the sky above the mountain peaks.

  A horse-drawn carriage waited for him just outside his prison. One look at the carriage-turned-cage caused Cresil to take a step back. Tobias instantly tugged on the chain, making Cresil come forward. He pushed back the urge to escape. If the humans managed to kill him or he accidentally hurt one of them, Keshiema's chance at peace would be ruined.

  Swallowing his fears, he stepped into the cage. He flinched as Tobias slammed the door behind him. Although weak, the solid silver bars exposed Cresil to a serious threat. “Listen carefully.” Tobias leaned into the bars. “If I suspect you of even thinking about doing anything out of line, I will use lethal action and I will not think twice about it. This is a very delicate situation and I will not tolerate a minutia of disrespect.”

  “Of course, you’re the boss. So where are we going?”

  “You don’t need to know that much.” Tobias handed Cresil a black cloth bag through the bars. “Grab that chain. Once the bag is over your head, I want you to close the lock around your shackles. You should have just enough maneuverability to accomplish it. If I have to go in there, you’re getting hit with the venom.”

  Though difficult in his weakened state, Cresil did as he was asked. Silently, he wondered if this would be his last day. 'Kesh, I’m sorry,' he thought, worrying about how she might react if she lost another person she cared for.

  ***

  The morning sun shone brightly just above the Eastern mountains. Tobias looked West to the Trinity Alps that held his home base. Normally, he would have taken only one horse and made it to the meeting spot before the others. Not wanting to leave the prisoner in the care of his men forced him to travel more slowly. Even while pulling the cage, however, the horses kept a strong pace, quickening the journey significantly as opposed to traveling on foot. He thanked fate for the horses he acquired since that first trip to the large lakebed. Though not easily trained, the horses made traveling far easier. Once he gained their complete trust, they also made wonderful companions.

  Patting his mare on the shoulder comfortingly, he thought about his first journey to the meeting spot. He made his first kill during that trip. He could still remember the fear that motivated him and the emotional detachment he felt afterward. That day, he took a large step towards the man he would one day become. Killing came easy to him now; so easy it almost scared him. He knew he had no choice, though. The war was far from over. ‘And if Keshiema really does want to attempt a coup…things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. And that’s only if she succeeds.’ Tobias wanted to be hopeful, but he learned long ago that the world had a special way of crushing anyone who dared dream of a better life.

  "She gave up a home and friends in order to let them live a better life, even if she could not share it with them." Cresil’s words struck a chord with him. The only friend he had ever known had left him to become a killer. After that, he found trusting anyone but his siblings just about impossible. He did not even trust his second in command enough to accompany him to the monthly meetings. Looking behind him, he made sure the bag on Cresil’s head remained in place.

  ***

  Nergal scribbled a note on a scrap a scap of paper:

  Jimmy,

  Thank you for helping me today, but I can’t stay. I wish I could explain but there is something I have to do.

  -JUDAS

  Leaving Judas’s note on the kitchen table. Nergal left the hut before sunrise. After spending the night meditating on Jimmy's memories, he felt confident in his ability to fool even Jimmy’s closest friends. The walk to the stables took only a few minutes. Nergal waited outside the stables, enjoying the solitude. Wildflowers, glittering from the morning dew, speckled the fields around him.

  “As usual, you’re early.” Zack commented from behind him.

  'I didn’t even hear him approach.' Nergal turned around and smiled. “I wouldn’t want to let anyone down.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “How is the kid?”

  “He was just starting to wake up when I left. I think he'll adapt quick enough.” He missed working in the field. He still had chances to leave his office and check on his spies, but that could not hold a match to going undercover and getting his hands dirty.

  “Have you saddled a horse before?” Zack asked as he opened the stable door.

  “I spent some time with horses in my youth.” Jimmy may not have ever saddled a horse, but Nergal had, and no one was around to dispute his knowledge.

  “Wonderful, you’ll be riding Starlight. She’s in the third stall. Her riding gear will be in the stall across from her. Let me know if you need anything.”

  Nergal took one look at Starlight and immediately understood her name. Shimmering white spots speckled her velvet black coat. The star and stripe on her forehead reminded him of Polaris. Nergal opened his bag and took out a small apple from his ration supply and offered it to Starlight. After finishing the fruit, she thanked Nergal by lightly hitting her muzzle against his chest.

  With Jimmy’s lack of muscle memory, Nergal found the task slightly more difficult than he remembered. Even with the setback, he finished saddling his horse just a few moments after Zack. After double-checking their supplies, the two men set off towards the northeast.

  “If anything happens to me out here, starlight knows her way home. All you have to do is say ‘Starlight, go home.’ In a stern voice.”

  “Is something likely to happen to you?” Concern crept through him. 'You might be the only way I find that damn child.'

  “We'll be as careful as we can, but our route does take us through the outskirts of some of the more…inhospitable districts.”

  “Where are we going exactly?” The lack of knowledge in his enemy’s company bothered him.

  “You’ll find out when we get there. If you get captured, I won’t have time to save you. I can't risk the information getting tortured out of you. I have a rebellion to lead, you’re here as a body guard. You accepted those terms when you signed on to be a watchman.”

  “Of course, I apologize if the question was out of line.”

  “Look, I’ve made this trip a few dozen times. Nothings happened yet, I just want you to be prepared for the worst. If I get killed, you lose the killers and race home as quickly as you can to inform the other soldiers. If you get captured, assume no one is coming.”

  Nergal admired Zack's cold-heartedness, but Jimmy would not have felt the same. To maintain his persona, he stayed quiet. For Jimmy, it would have been time spent contemplating his existence and moral code; For Nergal, it meant time to refine his strategies and plan his next moves.

  ***

  Letting the Mother Mountain to the north be her guide, Keshiema carefully navigated through the jumbled city streets. She kept to the shadows as much as possible, careful to avoid detection from both demons and humans. She was sure the Elders would have any available Hunters looking for her. She also did not wish to meet up with any of the human rebels before finding Tobias and Mia. On top of that, she had to worry about the king’s assassins.

  Following the map Sam marked for her, she made her way North. As she approached the outer edge of the city, her senses went on high alert. If the streets of Denim were considered unsafe, then the Northern Woodlands were a death trap. Studying the map, she realized she could not avoid the old highway. The road would leave her exposed to anyone hiding within the forested hills.

  Staring at the trees around her gave her an idea. She had not spoken to Dásos since she ran off, and he had not used their connection to contact her. She silently wondered how angry he and the Elders were with her for running away. To avoid being discovered, she climbed a tall oak tree. The sprawling branches created decent coverage while she meditated.

  Dásos, I hope you can hear me.” She felt silly, talking to the tree. “You said you know what the trees know, so I'm hoping this works. I’m sorry for getting angry with you.” The sounds of the woodlands filled the air. “I know you were trying to help. Actually, I was hoping I might get your help now. I really hope you can hear me… I’m in the hills between Denim and the old lake bed. I could really use your help getting to my destination. The only way for me to get there is taking the old roads the humans built in their golden age. I really don’t feel safe going at this alone. I… I could really use a friend right now.”

  She stayed in the tree for nearly thirty minutes, waiting patiently for some kind of a response. As she gave up, a sense of worry filled her. "I’m also going to have a connection to you that you cannot sever." His words gave her pause. She wondered if he could sever their connection, and then immediately wondered if he would.

  'Perhaps he just doesn’t find me as useful as he thought. Or I’m too much of a hassle.' Her low self-esteem weighed down on her. With tears forming, she stood up and jumped down from the tree. Choosing not to dwell on the situation, she continued her journey. As she walked down the paved road, worry gnawed at her thoughts.

  'When this is over, I need to have some conversations. First, Damien goes MIA after being summoned by the king. My dreams even returned to normal. Alex attacked me. The library ghost gave me a weird story while Dàsos was gone for weeks. Cresil gets taken hostage. Merihim sends Dásos on a recovery mission where he almost gets himself killed, and now he won't talk to me. And here I am trying to make sense of everything.' Her head started to ache as she thought about the past few weeks of her life. 'What a mess.'

  A sudden clank caught her attention. She had made a rookie mistake. Instead of focusing on her surroundings, she had gotten lost in her thoughts. She turned to her right, where the tree-covered hill could be hiding any number of souls. Keeping her hand on her sword, she listened and watched for any kind of movement. With a cliff on one side of the road and possible hidden enemies on the other, she had no choice but to continue forward.

  Anxious over Cresil and Tobias, she had not slept well since she left the academy. Food had also been low on her list of priorities. As she ran, searching for cover, her poor condition caught up with her. With no energy left to maintain speed, she looked for a defendable position. A few hundred meters from the odd noise, she came to a bridge. She was weak, and her breath came in short and ragged. With no energy left to run, all hope of avoiding a confrontation faded.

  Gasping and praying for a small burst of energy, she took to her left where the cliff had eased off into a moderately steep hill. If she remembered correctly, Sam's map showed a small abandoned road just below her. As she caught sight of the road, relief washed over her. The severely overgrown trees and brush surrounding the area made it a decent place to take cover.

  After clumsily scaling a large oak tree and taking sanctuary on a thick, covered branch, she listened to her surroundings carefully. After a few moments, she heard voices in the distance.

  “I’m telling you, she looked exhausted, I don’t think she would have kept that pace up for very long.”

  “It was a demon, you don’t know what they’re capable of.”

  “Look, she has to be around here somewhere. Why don’t we look around?”

  “If you want to waste you’re time looking for it, go ahead. I’m telling you, it’s long gone.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. If you hadn’t dropped you’re damn knife, we probably could have gotten to her.”

  Keshiema relaxed as the voices disapeared into the distance. After wolfing down three nutrition bars and half a canister of water, she leaned her head against the trunk of the tree. The late morning sunlight danced across the leaves, lulling her to sleep.