As soon as he said it, he realized it might be a dumb question, and he expected Elden to make fun of him.
But to his surprise, there was only silence in return. He looked over and saw the whites of Elden’s eyes, and realized he was even more afraid. This, at least, gave Thor some confidence. Thor was younger and smaller than him, and he was not giving in to his fear.
“The enemy, I guess,” Reece finally said.
“And who is that?” Thor asked. “What does he look like?”
“There are all sorts of enemies out here,” Reece said. “We are in the Wilds now. There are nations of savages, and all manner and races of evil creatures.”
“But what is the point of our patrol?” O’Connor asked. “What difference can we possibly make by doing this? Even if we kill one or two, is that going to stop the million behind it?”
“We are not here to make a dent,” Reece answered. “We are here to make our presence known, on behalf of our King. To let them know not to come too close to the Canyon.”
“I think it would make more sense to wait till they try to cross it and deal with them then,” O’Connor said.
“No,” Reece said. “It is better to deter them from even approaching. That is why these patrols. At least, that is what my older brother says.”
Thor’s heart was pounding, as they continued deeper into the forest.
“How far are we supposed to go?” Elden asked, speaking up for the first time, his voice quivering.
“Don’t you remember what Kolk said? We have to retrieve the red banner and bring it back,” Reece said. “That is our proof that we’ve gone far enough for our patrol.”
“I have not seen a banner anywhere,” O’Connor said. “In fact, I can barely see a thing. How are we supposed to get back?”
No one answered. Thor was thinking the same thing. How can they possibly find a banner in the black of night? He started to wonder if this was all a trick, an exercise, another one of the psychological games the Legion played on the boys. He thought again of Erec’s words, of his many enemies at court. He had a sinking feeling about this patrol. Were they being set up?
Suddenly there came a horrific screeching noise, followed by movement inside the branches-and something large ran across their path. Thor pulled his sword, and the others did, too. The sound of swords leaving scabbards, of metal on metal, filled the air, as they all stood there, holding their swords out in front of them, looking nervously in every direction.
“What was that?” Elden cried out, his voice cracking with fear.
The animal once again crossed their path, racing from one side of the forest to the other, and this time they got a good look at it.
Thor’s shoulders relaxed, as he recognized it.
“Just a deer,” he said, greatly relieved. “The strangest looking deer I’ve seen-but a deer nonetheless.”
Reece laughed, a reassuring noise, a laugh too mature for his age. As Thor heard it, he realized it was the laugh of a future King. He felt better having his friend at his side. And then, he laughed, too. All that fear, all for nothing.
“I never knew that your voice cracked when you caved in to fear,” Reece mocked Elden, laughing again.
“If I could see you, I would pummel you,” Elden said.
“I can see you fine,” Reece said. “Come try it.”
Elden glared back at him, but didn’t dare make a move. Instead he put his sword back in his scabbard, as did the others. Thor admired Reece for giving Elden a hard time; Elden mocked everybody else-he deserved to get some back himself. He admired Reece’s fearlessness in doing so: after all, Elden was still twice their size.
Thor finally felt some of the tension leaving his body. They’d had their first encounter, the ice was broken, and they were still alive. He leaned back and laughed, too, happy to be alive.
“Keep laughing, stranger boy,” Elden said. “We’ll see who has the last laugh.”
But he didn’t bother saying it; he knew that nothing he could say would change Elden’s hatred for him.
“Look!” O’Connor screamed. “There!”
Thor squinted but could barely see what he was pointing at in the thickening night. Then he saw it: the banner of the Legion. It hung from one of the branches.
They all began to run for it.
Elden ran past all of them, brushing them aside roughly.
“That flag is mine!” he yelled.
“I saw it first!” O’Connor yelled.
“But I will get it first, and I will be the one to bring it back!” Elden yelled.
Thor fumed; he could barely believe Elden’s actions. He recalled what Kolk had said-that whoever got the banner would be rewarded, and realized why Elden sprinted. But that did not excuse him: they were supposed to be a team, a group-not every man for himself. Elden’s true colors were coming out-none of the others ran for it, tried to outdo the others. It made Thor hate Elden even more.
Elden sprinted past after elbowing O’Connor, and before the others could react, he gained several feet on them and snatched the banner.
As he did, a huge net appeared out of nowhere, rising from the ground, springing up into the air, entrapping Elden and hoisting him up high. He swung back and forth before their eyes, just feet away, like an animal caught in a trap.
“Help me! Help me!” he screamed, terrified.
They all slowed as they walked up close to him; Reece began to laugh.
“Well, who is the coward now?” Reece yelled out, amused.
“Why you little crap!” he yelled. “I will kill you when I’m down from this!”
“Oh really?” Reece retorted. “And when will that be?”
“Set me down!” Elden yelled, turning and spinning in the net. “I command you!”
“Oh, you command us, do you?” Reece said, bursting into laughter.
Reece turned and looked at Thor.
“What do you think?” Reece asked.
“I think that he owes all of us an apology,” O’Connor said. “Especially Thor.”
“I agree,” Reece said. “I’ll tell you what,” he said to Elden. “Apologize, and make it sincere, and I will consider cutting you down.”
“Apologize?” Elden echoed, horrified. “Not in one million suns.”
Reece turned to Thor.
“Maybe we should just leave this lump here for the night. It would be great food for the animals. What do you think?”
Thor smiled wide.
“I think that’s a fine idea,” O’Connor said.
“Wait!” Elden screamed out.
O’Connor reached up and snatched the banner from Elden’s dangling finger.
“Guess you didn’t beat us to the banner after all,” O’Connor said.
The three of them turned, and began to walk away.
“No, wait!” Elden cried. “You can’t leave me here. You wouldn’t!”
The three of them continued to walk away.
“I’m sorry!” Elden began to sob. “Please! I’m sorry!”
Thor stopped, but Reece and O’Connor continued to walk. Finally, Reece turned.
“What are you doing?” Reece asked Thor.
“We can’t leave him here,” Thor said. As much as Thor disliked Elden, he didn’t think it right to leave him there.
“Why not?” Reece asked. “He brought it on himself.”
“If the tables were turned,” O’Connor said, “you know that he would gladly leave you there. Why should you
