Tomas leant in closer to Landry. “Sorry about him.”
“Oh, it’s fine. He’s a character, that’s for sure.”
“He means no offence. He just… has no filter, sometimes.”
Landry laughed. “No need to worry.”
“We arrive at Winterglade tomorrow. Ever been?” Tomas asked.
“No, I haven’t. To be honest, before the invasion I had rarely ever left Shadowshore. Father is always very cautious when it came to my whereabouts. It’s good to be away from him, though. I feel like I’m finally accomplishing something.”
Tomas nodded. He realised that Landry, despite being highborn and coming from a noble family, was much more like he and Rilan than he had first realised.
All three had come from different places, with different backgrounds. But they shared one common thing. The world was brand new to all of them, and they had been eager to leave the confines of their homes before realising what it truly meant.
“Rilan and I went passed by Winterglade with our battalion on our way to Barrowtown. Didn’t get a chance to stop there, but it was quite the sight. Lots to see. Biggest place we’ve ever been to, so many people all living together in one place!”
“Just you wait ‘til you see Shadowshore!” Landry said. “Largest city in the kingdom. Thousands of people. Walls as big as towers, city blocks like entire towns in and of themselves.”
Tomas could not even fathom such a place. Brittlepeak had about a hundred residents in a sort of cluster by a river. The tallest structure they had there was the old windmill! How would so many people fit so tightly together in such small places?
“I can’t imagine. Even Barrowtown was a sight for me!” Tomas said.
“Shadowshore is a thousand times larger!”
“I would love to see it, one day.”
“It will blow your mind,” Landry chuckled.
Tomas thought he heard a noise. He sat up straight and listened over the rustling of leaves and the crackling fire. It sounded like some distant commotion and… a muffled call?
“You hear that?” Tomas asked, concerned.
The noise was faint, but Landry could hear it too. “What is that?”
Tomas began to panic. Rilan.
Tomas stumbled up out of his bedroll, sprinting to the edge of the grove to where he thought the sounds were coming from. Landry followed.
“I think it’s Rilan!” Tomas said. The wind began to pick up. In the distance, Tomas heard a branch snap a faint cry for help. Tomas immediately broke out into a sprint into the dark woods in that direction.
“Tomas, wait!” Landry called. “Let’s get some help! We’ll get lost out there!”
But there was no stopping him. Tomas raced into the gloomy forest, pushing through bushes and shrubs, and leaping over fallen trees.
“Rilan!?” he shouted.
No response.
The wind began to howl. The entire forest began to sway and shift, the titanic tree trunks groaning as they danced.
Tomas waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark, squinting to try and look for something. Anything.
Another noise, this time the sounds of shuffling and muffled groans.
He wasn’t too far away.
“Rilan!”
Tomas raced further in, searching for his friend. Where is he?!
The commotion was getting louder, he was going the right way. It sounded like a struggle. Tomas heard more shouts from other men and punches being thrown. Then, he heard Rilan.
“Get off me!”
Tomas could not see anything but jumped through some thick brush before squirming between two thick tree trunks, grazing his forearm on some rough bark.
There before him was Rilan, face down in the dirt with two brutish figures on top of him.
Ref and Styna.
Rilan’s trousers had been pulled down to his knees. Ref was pinning down his arms. Tomas froze.
“Help!”
“Quit your shouting, boy,” Ref threatened, smacking Rilan’s head into the dirt from above.
“Nah, I like it when they struggle!” Styna sniggered. The brute was awkwardly attempting to remove his pants.
Tomas felt sick in his gut at the situation before him. He was completely petrified. His hands began to twitch; every muscle screamed to run the other way.
No. I will not abandon him.
“Get the fuck off him!” Tomas reached for his scabbard or knife belt but was quick to realise he had left them both at the campsite.
Fuck. He had no weapons.
Ref turned to Tomas smirking. What teeth he had left were blackened and chipped. Styna struggled with his tattered belt as Rilan squirmed beneath him.
“We’re just having a little fun with your friend. Get outta here, or you’ll be next,” Styna threatened. His voice was rough and cold.
“Get… off… him!” Tomas repeated.
“Have you no sense, boy? You wanna be fucked bloody as well?”
Ref stood up from holding Rilan down and strode towards Tomas, pulling a small dagger from his pocket.
“Don’t try anything stupid, or this dagger’ll be the one fucking you.” Ref laughed. His breath was rotten, his teeth black.
Ref stood guard as Styna pinned Rilan down again, his greasy hair covered his face, but those dog eyes stood out, piercing.
Tomas’s mind went completely blank. His legs felt as though they weighed a tonne. He heard Rilan’s cry for help, and his mind raced backwards in time.
Fear gripped him.
He was paralysed again.
“Tomas, help.”
Rilan flailed about as Styna pushed his face into the dirt.
Tomas didn’t think. He only reacted.
Tomas charged at Ref, ramming into the brute from the side before he knew what was happening. The dagger was flung from his dirty hands.
Tomas swept Ref off his feet, knocking him into Styna. All three fell into the dirt.
A clap of thunder echoed through the dark woods and rain suddenly began to pour from the heavens.
The dirt turned to mud, as Tomas leapt to his feet, enraged.
Ref was clambering for
