He takes the lead with Jiron next to him, the girls in the middle, and Tinok eating their dust at the rear. After they’ve traveled a ways, he asks Jiron, “Just where did you and Tinok learn to fight so well?”
“The Pits,” he replies.
“Pits?” James asks.
“Yeah,” he says, as he continues riding. “They’re not altogether legal, but many of the wealthy pay to have people fight one another with weapons for their amusement. It pays pretty well, but you usually don’t survive long.”
“I always did the knives, so did Tinok. We both rose up through the ranks quickly, you see we both kind of have a knack for this sort of thing. We never were set against each other and were able to become friends. Friendship with another in the Pits is rare, because often you have to face them; many don’t even bother. But we got along well, even though we knew a day would come when we would be set against one another.”
“Finally, the day came when we were set to face off in the pit. You never know who you will be facing until your name is called. When our names were called, we both marched out into the pit and by this time, our friendship had grown very strong. We both could see that the other’s heart was not in this. When the order was given, Tinok opened himself up to me, didn’t even try to defend himself, he was willing to sacrifice himself rather than strike me. The crowd was not happy, they had come to see blood spilled. They began calling for me to kill him, but I couldn’t.”
“I came and stood next to him and cried to the gathered people, ‘We will not fight each other.’ You can imagine what happened next, they sent in the bruisers, the ones who deal with problems in the pits. Two came in, wielding clubs. We stood our ground and in no time at all, they were dead at our feet. We stood defiant before the crowd, side by side.”
“Next, they brought in two armored guards with swords, and to the shock of everyone there, they soon laid dead at our feet too. After that the crowd began to realize what they were seeing, and started applauding us. Two upstarts, who wouldn’t play their game, ended up playing their game.” He breaks out into a laugh. “So from then on, they paired us up. They would send two, three, sometimes four against us at a time, but none could match us.”
“Incredible,” James says.
“Yeah,” agrees Jiron, “it was.”
“What made you start in the first place?” James asks.
“My sister and I used to live on the streets,” he explains. “And one day, a man came to me and told me about the clubs and that he thought I might have some talent at it. He offered me a silver if I came and at least tried some sparring with him. I did and found I actually did have some talent for it. I’m pretty good with any weapon as it turns out, but with the knives, I’m very deadly.”
“The man trained me for six months and then I had my first fight. They put me against another knifer and I took him relatively fast and received coins for winning. After several fights, I was able to get a small place where my sister and I could live, a place she would be safe until she could hopefully find a good man. She never wanted me fighting, but you gotta do what it takes to survive.”
“I understand that,” he says.
From behind them, Cassie interrupts and asks, “Do you think they’re going to follow us?”
James turns into his saddle and says, “Most assuredly, it’s only a matter of time. I’m just hoping they won’t think that we’re escaping further into their territory. Most likely they’ll think we’ve already headed north or due west toward the Silver Mountains and Cardri. That’s where I would think to look if I was them. I doubt if anyone will remember which way, exactly, we were heading. They were a little preoccupied at the time.”
Next to him, Jiron breaks out into a laugh and nods his head.
They ride on for another hour before they begin to see a town appearing on the horizon. They keep an eye out for movement but the place appears to be abandoned. As they approach they can see why, buildings stand empty, gutted with flame and dead bodies are scattered around the area. A road passes through the center of town going from east to west, though there appears to be no one upon it.
“Do you think the Empire did this?” Cassie asks, as they stop well away from the town.
James says over his shoulder, “Most likely they did it on their way to the City.”
“Shall we go see if anyone is alive?” Delia asks.
“I think anyone who’s alive would’ve gotten away before now,” James replies. “Besides, we can’t take the chance that we will be discovered here.”
“But someone there could need our help!” she insists as she points toward the town.
“Sometimes,” he begins to explain, “you have to think of…”
She gives him a dirty look and kicks her horse, galloping toward the town before he even has a chance to finish.
“Damn!” Jiron exclaims as he races after her.
The rest hurry after, attempting to catch up with Jiron and Delia.
“Are you crazy?” Jiron yells at Delia when he catches up with her.
Getting down from her horse, she goes over to one of the bodies lying on the ground to see if they’re still alive. Not paying Jiron any attention, she moves on to the next.
He dismounts and goes over to her, grabbing her by the arm and turns her to face him. “We cannot stay here! The Empire will use this road and it’s only a matter of time before they get here.”
Staring him in the eye, she says, “Let go of my arm!” and continues staring him down until he does. When he lets go, she says, “Then help me, but I’m not leaving until I know there is no one here to help.” She turns her back on him and continues on to the next person.
James rides up and says, “We gotta get out of here.”
Jiron looks at him and says, “She won’t leave until she’s sure there’s no one to help.”
“Damn!” James curses, and then looks up and down the road, making sure no one is approaching. “Alright, everyone fan out and search for survivors. Cassie,” he says to her, “you keep a lookout and if anyone comes from either direction, you let us know, fast.”
She nods her head and then finds a position where she can keep both directions of the road in view. It’s not too hard as this is a rather small town with only a dozen or so buildings.
The others move from body to body but are only finding dead ones. Jiron goes through the buildings, but again, no one alive is found.
“Someone’s coming!” Cassie yells as she hurries back toward them.
“Where?” yells Jiron and James simultaneously.
She points off toward the west and says, “There.”
James looks and asks, “Did you see how many?”
“More than one,” she replies. “But I didn’t count, I felt you needed to know as soon as possible.”
“Delia!” James hollers over to her. When he has her attention, he points to the west and says, “We’ve got company!”
She looks west and sees the rider coming and runs over to where the others are. Tinok has already gathered the horses and they all enter one of the larger buildings, bringing the horses inside. James and Jiron take position by the window and watch. The others hold the horses, trying to keep them as quiet as possible.
It’s not long before they hear the approaching riders. James watches as perhaps a score of riders make their way through the center of town, passing right in front of where they’re hiding.
“…the dead? Seems wrong,” they hear one of them say. The man speaks with the accent of one from the Empire.
“We don’t have time to take care of it now,” another one replies with the same accent.
As the riders pass by where they’re hiding, one of them glances over at the window they’re looking out. Ducking to the sides of the window, James and Jiron quickly move out of view. The man must not have seen them for he turns back and continues riding through town. Twenty riders in all pass by on their way through the town.
They wait for several minutes, allowing the riders to move further down the road before they exit the building. James peeks out and sees the riders have already ridden out of sight.
Seeing no one else on the road in either direction, he asks Delia, “Can we leave now?”
“I’m sorry for putting us in jeopardy,” she says a little guilty, “but I couldn’t leave without knowing.”
