I was certain we’d long since passed through the boundaries of my land and into my neighbor’s. Heading in our current direction would put us on Quill’s land. He already knew we were out there looking for Bianca and Cleb.
With any luck, his men wouldn’t shoot us.
“Woah,” Waev said, pulling his arjath to a halt.
He swung his leg over and dismounted. He moved to a tree and tied his arjath to it. I followed suit and joined him.
“What is it?” I said.
“A clearing up ahead,” Waev said.
We crept through the foliage. I made at least three times the noise Waev did. He got down on his stomach and crawled along the ground. I followed him up to a thick copse of leaves. Waev pulled a single leaf back to peer through. I did the same on my side.
We’d reached the edge of a wide clearing. How Waev could have known that all the way back there was beyond me.
There, across the way, hidden largely by overgrown hedges and climber plants, it was a watchtower. Sections of the wall were missing. Stairs were visible like a skeleton’s ribcage through a deep gash in its side. A room was at the top of the tower. It appeared to be in relatively good shape.
“If you were on the run, where would you hide?” Waev said, nodding to the tower.
“If they are up there, how are we supposed to get them out?” I said. “We can’t take the risk the kidnapper might hurt them.”
“He won’t hurt them,” Waev said.
“How can you be sure?”
“Because if he does, he loses his bargaining chips. This guy is merciless, but he’s not stupid. So, how do you want to handle this?”
“I was going to ask you the same question,” I said. “You’re the one with the training. How would you handle it?”
Waev looked at me with a quizzical look on his face. I guess it felt strange for him to be calling the shots now. Over the years, it’d always been me.
“If this was about a negotiation, or finding the right location for a mine, or coming up with investors to open one, then I’d take the lead,” I said. “This is not my jurisdiction.”
“It isn’t mine either,” he said. “Not for a while, anyway.”
“Never in my case,” I said. “I give you permission to boss me around. But don’t start getting used to it.”
Waev chuckled and I smiled back.
“All right,” he said. “I say we creep through the forest this way and work our way around to the back of the tower. If there’s only one kidnapper, he’ll be facing this way as it gives the best field of view. But it leaves him open on the backside.”
“And if there are two of them?” I said.
“Then we’ll still have a greater chance of creeping into the tower that way,” he said. “And if we hurry and they shoot at us, they’re more likely to miss us this late at night. They’ll be tired after walking all night.”
More likely.
I never liked hearing those words.
I also didn’t much like taking the risk, but it was a risk worth taking.
I nodded at him.
“Let’s do it,” I said.
He reached for his shoulder bag and opened it. He took out two guns. One was a serious piece of kit with a plasma grenade launcher on the side and smart bullet capability. Perfect for when you wanted to take down an army singlehanded.
He handed me the crummy blaster pistol.
“How come I don’t get the cool gun?” I said.
“You forget,” he said. “I’ve seen you shoot. Aim it at the bad guy.”
Despite the tension, I chuckled.
Waev crawled back into the forest. Once he became invisible to the watchman—if there was one up there—he got to his feet and jogged through the dense wood. I followed on his heels.
I was surprised at how deep into the forest he cut to ensure we weren’t easily seen. Surely we didn’t need to come this far out, did we? My legs, back, and ass were already smarting. I was only used to sitting behind a desk!
Then he slowed down—thank the Creator!
I was dismayed to see him adopt a crouched position. It was even worse than jogging, but I endured the pain.
Finally, he came to a stop behind a big tree. He wiped a hand across his forehead to wipe away the sweat. I was relieved to see I wasn’t the only one out of shape.
“On the count of three, we will both run toward the tower,” he said. “You go around that way, I’ll go this way.”
“Wait,” I said. “Where’s the tower?”
“Go around this tree and run straight. If someone opens fire, just keep running.”
“Opens fire?” I said. “I thought they won’t see us.”
“They probably won’t. It’s just in case.”
Probably won’t. Another one of my most hated phrases.
“These guys won’t harm Bianca and Cleb,” Waev said. “But you can bet your bottom credit they’ll harm us if they can.”
I took a deep breath. There was a very real chance my life was about to end. Titans weren’t afraid of death. At least, not traditionally.
I was terrified.
“On the count of three, ready?” Waev said.
Not really. I nodded.
“One, two, three!”
We ran out from behind the tree. The tower immediately reared up ahead of us. I sprinted toward the gash in the tower’s rear as if my life depended on it.
Which it did.
The whole run couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds but it felt like hours. The entire time, I thought about Bianca and Cleb and wished I could get to see them again, that I could see Cleb graduate and get a job, find a girl and get married, maybe even have his own kids. I wanted the same with Bianca. And then we could die together at an old age in each other’s arms.
I did not want to die here. Not now.
Not when I had only just begun to live.
I was twelve
