The only reason she could imagine was that the soldiers from Brookside had come across these troops on the trail just after she and Max ran into the woods. Since the soldiers hadn’t seen them on the trail and their pursuers hadn’t caught up to them, the logical next step would be to look into the forest. Britt wondered how long they would search the forest and when she and Max would have a chance to climb down. She hoped they wouldn’t be stuck in the tree for the whole day, or worse, that the soldiers would see them when they passed underneath.
Britt rubbed her thigh nervously, waiting for the soldiers to pass under them. As she moved her hand against her leg, she felt a hard lump in her side pocket. The crystal, she thought, reaching her hand into her pocket and gripping the sapphire. Could she use it to aid in their escape? The only thing she knew of the stone’s power was that Kirsten had used it like a cannon, blasting people away with a pulse of light. If Britt managed to conjure up the same explosive burst of energy Kirsten had displayed, it would only make it easier for the soldiers to find them.
Maybe I can use it to conceal us instead, she thought. The only time she’d tried to use the magical conduit was when she attempted to push the goblin venom from Kirsten’s heart, but that hadn’t worked. Britt didn’t know whether the crystal only worked for certain people; Kirsten, after all, was related to a dragonrider. But Anders wasn’t born with magic, she reminded herself. Feeling the stone in her hand, she thought, What if it did work and something went horribly wrong? I could secure our capture by trying it now.
She slid her hand back into her pocket, letting go of her grip on the crystal. Focusing on remaining perfectly still, she forced any thought of using the magic stone from her mind. If they were going to remain hidden from the soldiers, they’d need to act like they were part of the tree.
From the corner of her eye, Britt saw soldiers coming into view under the tree. Taking slow, quiet breaths, she tried to control her racing heart. She could hear its pulsing beat in her ears. It sounded so loud that she worried the soldiers would soon hear it, too. The swath of men spread an arm’s length from one another moved as a cohesive unit, like a net set to snare anything in its path.
The soldiers walked directly under the vast plumage of the tree. Britt knew she shouldn’t move, but she couldn’t help herself. Tilting her head, she prayed the movement wouldn’t be the point of their undoing. She watched with wide eyes as the line of men broke to move around the wide tree trunk, two men peeling off to either side. Both of them kept their hands on the trunk, brushing the bark with their fingertips as they moved around it in a half-circle. Instinct told her to run, but it was experience that kept her still. Forcing down the impulse to escape, Britt waited for the soldiers to round the tree.
Reaching the backside of the tree, the two men who’d broken off fell back in line. One of them hesitated, taking a second glance at the spot where Britt and Max had hidden behind the tree. Britt held her breath, wondering if he could see any clues in the slightly disturbed ground. The soldier’s head moved, from a downward look to straight ahead. He leaned toward the tree, examining the bark. Britt’s heart raced and she prepared to drop from her perch. If it came down to it, she would chance an escape on foot.
Another soldier from the line called back to the one at the tree as the rest continued in their line into the forest. Britt kept her eyes fixed on the man below. He stepped back, looked to either side, then returned to the line of men advancing slowly away from the tree. Britt’s heart lifted and she felt the weight in her stomach lighten. The sensation of nearly being captured left her with a slew of emotions. She was frustrated with Max for putting them in this situation, yet they might very well have been in a worse situation had they not stopped for the food. She was the one who insisted on going to town and she knew he was right about their need for food. Kirsten would need plenty to fully recover from the goblin’s infection.
Waiting for the soldiers to entirely disappear, Britt let her legs dangle from the branch as she tried to get over how close they’d come to getting caught. Britt and Max shared a look, shaking their heads in disbelief.
She heard Max whisper, “We should get back to warn the others.”
Britt nodded, glancing to make sure the soldiers had indeed moved on. Grabbing the bag of food she’d filled back at the Brookside Inn, Britt slowly and carefully climbed back down the tree. They hadn’t made it very far up when the soldiers closed in, so she quickly maneuvered to the last branch. Before reaching the ground, she bent down, looking in all directions to ensure no one was nearby. As she looked all around, she caught sight of the sun shining on metal. Her heart skipped a beat and she nearly dropped out of the tree onto her face. Collecting her wits, she focused and saw that some soldiers had remained on the road. The men on horseback at the front of the troops hadn’t gone with their footmen.
Britt cursed under her breath and straightened. She whispered to Max, “The soldiers on horseback. They’re still on the trail.”
Max scowled with a curt nod.
As Max struggled to come up with a new plan, Britt realized they could still descend from the tree as long as they remained on the side opposite from the road. If the foot soldiers returned and they weren’t able to move, they would be seen for sure.
Deciding that she didn’t want to spend the whole day sitting in a tree and waiting around to be noticed, Britt continued her descent. As she landed on the soft forest floor, she crouched while making sure the foot soldiers had moved on. Max followed, landing lightly next to her, his sack of food still in hand. Britt leaned around the tree trunk, locating the riders stationed on the path.
“Is there another way to Solomon’s?” she asked.
“We could get there by continuing through the forest?” Max suggested.
“We’ll have to.”
“Right then, follow me,” Max said.
Britt nodded and gripped her sack, ready to move. Keeping low to the ground, they began to sneak away, at first in very short bursts. Crawling at times to remain hidden from the road, they distanced themselves from the riders. As they got more comfortable in their escape, they lengthened the distance of their movements before taking shelter behind brush or trees. With the horsemen well out of sight, Max led Britt back toward the path. He halted suddenly, dropping to his stomach. Britt hadn’t yet lost her edge as a soldier and joined him in an instant. She looked through the undergrowth to see what had caused Max’s reaction. Three soldiers walked down the road.
Britt looked at their surroundings. They’d dropped to the ground in an instant but didn’t have thick cover; they were somewhat exposed. Unless these soldiers were blind, they would soon spot them lying in the grass next to the road. Britt’s mind searched for a different solution, but at this point, there was nothing they could do. She and Max were committed to their position; their best option was to remain still.
She held her breath as the soldiers walked steadily closer. They hadn’t seen them lying next to the path yet, or if they had, they weren’t concerned with them at all. The men continued as if there weren’t two bodies lying in broad daylight just off the trail. As the soldiers walked just a few yards from them, Britt thought they would pass without confrontation. She held perfectly still while the sounds of their trotting continued. Suddenly they stopped and Britt heard the men say something in a foreign language. She dared not move, but she knew they’d been spotted. Should we run? Britt thought, her eyes still peering straight ahead at Max, who didn’t move a muscle.
The sound of feet shuffling across dirt started again and she knew the soldiers were nearly on top of them when they stepped into the grass. Britt could see a soldier’s legs come into view. She heard one of them draw his sword, the slight ring of steel as it was removed from its sheath. Britt knew if they didn’t get up and run now the soldier would soon be running them through with the point of that sword.
She prepared to bolt, her body stiffening on the ground and her legs pressing into the grass. That’s when she became aware once again of the bulge in her pocket, the hard stone that pushed against her leg. The crystal, she thought.
Britt sprang from the ground, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the crystal. As she came into an aggressive stance before the soldiers, she pushed the lightly glowing crystal out at them, willing it to cause severe damage.
The soldiers reared in surprise at what they thought to be unresponsive subjects. The light blue sapphire’s glow in Britt’s hand got their attention, yet nothing powerful came from it. Britt stood with her arm outstretched near their faces, the sapphire gripped in her hand, but the intended magic did not come.
The shock of her movement passed, and the soldiers reacted, seeing she’d caused them no harm. Bobbing to the side, Britt dodged the piercing stab from the soldier whose sword had already been drawn. As he stumbled in his attack, she punched him hard in the face, his head whipping back before the others could react. Quickly she shoved another soldier as he tried to pull his sword, causing him to fall on his back.
Springing to action, Max tackled the third soldier, catching him off guard and disorienting him as he fell to the grass. The man who’d tried to stab her with his sword turned and attacked again. This time, swinging his blade. Britt dodged it twice, leaping out of the way. She still held the stone in her hand and tried again to use it, but nothing happened. She shook the glowing crystal at the soldier, giving him pause as he held the sword up over his head. Britt took advantage of the distraction she’d caused and sprang on him, dropping the crystal. Catching his two-handed grip before he could bring the broadsword down on her, Britt struggled with the man for control of the blade. With her peripheral vision, Britt saw the soldier she’d pushed to the side charge. Stomping on the man she was struggling with, Britt kicked the inside of the soldier’s knee, causing him to spin into a fall. She directed the man’s body between herself and the oncoming soldier. As the man fell, Britt saw the soldier recognize the change in his target, but couldn’t prevent his deadly swing. The man’s sword fell onto his fellow soldier, cutting deep into his neck. In an attempt to lessen the blow, the soldier must’ve loosened his grip on the sword, because it fell from his hands as he followed half-heartedly through his felling hew.
Hitting the ground, Britt reached for the sword from the man’s dying grip. She pulled it easily from his hands as he bled out alongside the road. Seeing the soldier who’d dropped the sword fumble to pick it up, Britt jumped to her feet just in time to deflect the man’s next attack. Gaining her footing, Britt blocked the man’s wild swings, then launched into a series of her own. Britt’s swordplay landed in a much more calculated approach than that of the soldiers, causing the remaining soldier to back up in a panic. To her surprise, the third soldier fled, running back in the direction he’d come from.
Whirling around, Britt looked to Max. He grappled with the downed soldier, rolling on the ground, their arms intertwined, each trying to prevent the other from drawing the soldier’s weapon. Britt rushed over. As the soldier rolled on top of Max, she bludgeoned him over the head with the pommel of her sword. The blow knocked him limp, pinning Max. Britt helped him get out from under the heavy man’s armored body.
Helping him up, Britt asked, “Are you alright?”
Max nodded, wiping the blood from his nose and looking at his hand, “Yeah, I’ll be alright.”
“We’d better get out of here,” Britt said, moving to the dead soldier who lay bled out near the trail. Kicking him onto his back, she removed his sword belt.
“Weren’t there three?” Max asked, following Britt’s lead and removing the sword and belt from the unconscious soldier.
“Yeah,” Britt replied. “One got away.”
Max cursed, “He’ll be sending those riders on us soon.”
Britt belted the sword’s sheath. “No. He ran back that way,” she said, pointing down the trail in the opposite direction of the other troops.
“Why would he go back that way? All the others are this way,” Max said, nodding as he fastened the sheathed sword around his waist.
Britt saw the conclusion come over Max’s face as she realized it, too. “More soldiers are coming,” they said in unison.
Cursing, Britt searched the area for the best way to run. They had soldiers behind them, and more than likely, more coming in front of them. A troop was searching both sides of the road for them and would soon be learning of the death of one of their comrades.
