Right of the Victor

Audent was, unsurprisingly, pleased with our success. She wasn’t one to give long-winded expressions of approval, but she mentioned us both by name as possible “saviors of the Torris” in a speech she was giving to the majority of the bandits. The gang was built on a shared understanding that we all worked together, so hiding it from them was counterproductive. Details weren’t offered, but a basic rundown of the situation was now clear to everyone. Nothing new for me, of course. Tensions were high, but they’d be higher with secrets kept.

Time was of the essence, and it didn’t take long before I had another job to do. With the location of the explosive storage secured, a team was organized to go to it and bring as much back as possible. How we were going to get a sufficient amount quickly with only six people was beyond me, but I supposed we could use a wagon and horses. It would all be done under the cover of night, and it would be one of the riskiest things ever attempted by the Torris.

The team included myself, Allazo, Vargos, Audent, and two others who seemed only to be there as backup muscle. Several of the other people of importance had to stay back and keep everyone in check with both Vargos and Audent being gone.

All the travelling I’d been doing lately was making my legs extremely sore, but there wasn’t time to move slowly. I walked at a quick pace alongside the rest, going alongside the coast this time. It was a welcome change in scenery from the countless journeys through the forest between Umbriel and Folium. The ocean was far to the East, but still easily visible over the downward-sloping land in that direction. Umbriel was a coastal city, so seeing water in such immense amounts was nothing new, but it never lost its charm for me. Waves of glistening blue reflecting the shining sun into my eyes spread out infinitely…I’d never been on a boat, but I wanted to someday. As I stared into the distance, I lost track of what was happening and didn’t register Audent appearing at my side. She eventually broke the silence, startling me with her unusually quiet voice.

“Lengin. You alright, dear?” Audent said. It was the first time she’d associated me with the word ‘dear’, and my head sharply turned to give her a confused glare.

“I’m fine. What the hell do you want?”

“Oh, nothing much. You looked a bit out of it. Although I guess you always do.” Audent smirked. I wasn’t sure if that was meant to be an insult or not.

“Whatever. The only thing that matters right now is the gunpowder.” It didn’t matter if I felt bad about participating in something like this, or if the morality was questionable. This was a real life or death situation, and not just for me. Hundreds relied upon the success of this endeavor.

“You’re wrong about that one, Lengin.” She shook her head, disagreeing with me but not saying why. I didn’t ask, and went back to my quiet and stressed state as we kept on our way.

Night was well on its way by the time we could see the building in which the gunpowder was undoubtably stored. Torches were lit in the area around it, but not nearly as many men were there as I’d expected. A few wandered about, carrying weapons and watching out for anyone who may come. They knew we would attempt something like this. Something less expected was also happening as we walked in a wide circle around the edge of the property. Through one massive door of the building several large sacks of something were being loaded into wagons and carted out away from here.

“They’re moving it. He didn’t have time to defend the place, so he relocated…” Vargos muttered with a tone of both reluctant admiration and triumph. Markus was smart, admittedly, but there wasn’t anything he could fully do to stop us.

“Can’t we just steal one of the wagons?” I asked, expecting that the others all had the same idea. They nodded as one, all watching the wagon that was currently being loaded. There were enough explosives on each one that we really only needed a single wagon, but Audent said we should go for two. Vargos and the two nameless men were to hijack one while Audent, Allazo, and myself had the other.

It took the better part of an hour to get into good positions without being noticed. Moving silently meant moving slowly, except for Allazo. Watching him, I could hardly understand how he was even human. His movements stayed swift and smooth without making a single noise, and often he had to stop and wait for us. When I looked away from him, it took several seconds to find him again in the dim light and cover of the trees. The crisp air felt almost sharp as I finally crouched behind a leafy bush to watch the nearest wagon being slowly dragged past, rattling as two horses drew it forward. On the other side of the road three figures suddenly rushed at a further up wagon, heading for the driver’s seat. A few pained grunts, splattering sounds, and various other muffled noises sounded out, but nothing was enough to cause the caravan to stop. Only the people in the wagon behind seemed suspicious, but that was quickly ended as Allazo and Audent jumped up to take care of them. I watched, disturbed as the men holding the reins were slaughtered. Holding my tongue, I ended up in the back among the sacks of gunpowder, nostrils assaulted by the acrid scent. So far, everything had gone well, but we hadn’t made it to the truly dangerous part yet.

Several hundred yards away from the original explosive storage, there was a fork in the road. It split in two opposite directions, and as the carriages arrived there, Vargos yanked on the reins of the horses leading his wagon and turned them in what was clearly the wrong direction. Allazo turned our vehicle to follow, and it was only a few seconds before shouts could be heard from behind us. Upon looking back, I could see Markus’ hired soldiers and drivers pointing after us, some trying to run to keep up. The worst thing about horses drawing large carts-as these ones were-is that they aren’t fast. Several hired guards were even catching up, while others in the distance pulled out bows. Concerned for my safety but willing to take risks, I shakily stood in the back of Audent’s wagon, drawing my sword. I’d practiced something like this before. As arrows were sent flying in our direction, I was able to knock aside the few that were almost on target. I’d prefer if neither Allazo nor Audent were shot. A similar display could be seen on the other cart; they’d slowed and fallen behind ours to give Vargos better balance as he returned fire. I’d never seen an archer as accurate as he was. Not a single one of his arrows failed to take a life, and he had a grin on his face that made it clear how much he enjoyed the shooting. Glancing at the sky to fend off the newest bout of arrows, I noticed something new. Orange light glistened on the tips of several, flickering as they came down. One narrowly missed the wagon I was standing on, flaring up in a burst of flame as it collided with the ground. Fire.

The realization hit me suddenly, and I shouted at Vargos to make sure he knew just as well as I did.

“The arrows are burning!” My voice crossed the distance between us, causing him to glance back and nod. Behind him, I saw something that caused my heart to nearly stop, eyes filling with horror. Vargos must have seen my reaction, because he dove off the cart without hesitation and rolled, getting to his feet to sprint towards me without looking back at what was happening.

One of the arrows set alight had been perfectly accurate, and while Vargos had been looking at me, he couldn’t even try to knock it aside. His instincts and reading of my expression were incredible, and he barely made it away as a fierce cloud of heat and dust rose behind him. I could feel it scorching my face and eyebrows, and watched pieces of wood, flame, and bodies get thrown through the air like nothing more than leaves in a gust of strong wind. Vargos got lucky and was merely tossed to the ground, fortunately only a little burned on the backs of his arms. He smoothly got to his feet and kept running, gaining on the slow-moving cart while obviously becoming exhausted. Glancing at the blazing wreckage against the night sky, I was pretty sure it was blocking the road. Nobody would dare pursue through that. The explosion hadn’t gone unnoticed to Audent, and she’d passed the reins to Allazo while joining me at the back to reach for Vargos’ arm and pull him up with us. Her face was a picture of worry as she looked at his burns.

“You’ve got to be the luckiest man I know, Vargos.” She sighed, sitting back. Apparently, she was satisfied at her husband’s condition. He returned a shaken smile, obviously deathly aware of how close he’d been to meeting the same fate as the two men who’d driven the wrecked wagon.

“Definitely won’t be doing that again. Good thing we got two carts.” He played off any worry with talk of the mission. I don’t think Vargos cared about the dead, although Audent may have. She was much more concerned about Vargos this time, and I chose to leave them to it. Joining Allazo at the front and leaning back against the rough driver’s bench, I kept my eyes fixed on the dark night before us. Allazo looked in my direction, expecting me to say something, but I couldn’t find my voice for once. I’d hardly done a thing, yet I felt as if a mountain had fallen on my shoulders. Seconds, then minutes passed, and I fell to the grip of sleep on the bumpy ride.

I woke up at home, for that’s what the Torris headquarters was now. Nobody had bothered to take me out of the wagon, even though they’d unloaded all the gunpowder and left me sleeping alone in the alley where the entrance was. Surprisingly, nobody robbed me or attempted assault either. Getting up slowly and looking around, I went through the low door to the main part of the hideout.

Nobody looked at me this time. Everyone was used to my presence and constant travels in and out, and few were aware I’d been part of the mission of the previous night. I wanted to find Audent and figure out how things were going to happen next. There were a lot of things I wanted to do, actually. None of them included ending up leaning against a wall with a pounding ache attacking my head. I was facing the wood rather than the people around me, because I was sure they’d be staring in either satisfaction or concern. Breathing deeply and trying to get a hold of myself, I finally spun and looked out into the ever-present crowd of men and women in this main area. All I saw was white and black.

Wave upon wave of masks lined the area, one on each face. I recognized nobody; they all looked like the murderer who kept showing up in my nightmares. This time, I knew it wasn’t real. That didn’t stop me from keeping one hand on my sword, even though I felt too dizzy to use it. Panic was starting to form in my chest, eyes wildly flickering around. I didn’t know who was who…I didn’t know anything. The longer I stayed in place, the more I could feel myself being watched. They had no idea what I was seeing and I had no idea what was happening. A door sounded like it was opening off to the side, but I was frozen in place and couldn’t look. Something-probably a hand-landed on my shoulder, pulling me sideways and then backwards, feet stumbling as I ended up in an empty room.

“What is wrong with you, Lengin?” A familiar accented voice came from before me and forced me out of whatever hallucinations I was having. It didn’t sound angry or judgmental, surprisingly. Looking up at Allazo, I had no words to explain myself and was on the verge of tears. I had no good explanation, and I refused to cry in front of this man, blinking rapidly and looking to the side for a few seconds with breaths catching in my throat.

“I’m fine.”

“I have always wondered why people lie about such things,” he mused quietly, “You are not fit to continue to accompany us on missions. You know this.”

“Audent doesn’t have to know. Neither does Vargos or anyone else.” I shot back sharply.

“They already do. All of us saw you.”

I had known that already, I just didn’t want to admit it. Everyone had seen my weakness, whatever was attacking my mind? That was unacceptable.

“It’s not a consistent thing, idiot. I can come on the next mission without a problem.” I switched tactics, now trying to justify myself rather than keep it hidden.

“If that is the case, you better be doing great soon. Being only fine is not enough for Vargos.” He crossed his arms, “And nobody wants you to mess up and die.”

That was the least expected thing he could have told me. I understood that nobody wanted the mission to fail, but I hadn’t thought anyone cared if I died. Still didn’t, really.

“Now who’s lying?” I retorted, “Nobody cares if I die. We all know that.”

“I do.” There wasn’t a trace of anything but honesty in Allazo’s voice. I paused there, as if this was some impossible to comprehend information. It was, in a way. While I’d been on a few missions with Allazo and chatted with him about random things, the majority of what I said to anyone was insults. Those didn’t bother him, apparently.

“That’s impossible,” my voice was nearly as faint as if I were whispering. Allazo didn’t hear it. I didn’t want him to.

“It is human to fail. If you do not recover in time, nobody will judge.” After that weirdly comforting remark that I only half believed, Allazo left me there alone.