Young Writers Society

By the time Carris spotted Martius through a lattice of young saplings void of leaves, she was shaking and chattering her teeth. Devlin’s head poked around a large pine across the narrow animal path. They had trailed Martius for just over two minutes after making sure that Malcolm and Gwyn would not leave. Gwyn had tried to keep Carris to stay, but seeing how cold she was she had relented. And now they were going to “acquire” Martius’s thick furry jacket. She gulped. This was not her place. When she had punched the Sadorian earlier that night nothing had happened. He’d laughed!

A new shiver ran down her spine and she grimaced as she clenched her fingers over and over, trying to keep the blood flowing. She was already losing feeling in her extremities, and her face felt like a sheet of ice. Her nose was especially cold, turning pinkish.

He attacked your town, Carris tried to convince herself. Ruined your already miserable life.

A motion across the path caught Carris’s eye and she snapped out of her internal diatribe. Devlin was pointing toward Martius who was now at least twenty yards ahead and headed for a bend where the trees grew thicker. Devlin huffed and nodded. Just because she needed the jacket didn’t mean she needed to like listening to Devlin. Still, the pain in her fingers urged her to move on.

She did her best to remember the tips Devlin had shot at her rapid-fire as they had begun the pursuit. Stay low, avoid dead branches, and never lose sight of your prey. Carris checked her footing, landing each foot in the snow with a slight crunch. She had to admit that she was impressed with how quiet Devlin was. Despite being much taller and heavier than her, and only being half a dozen yards away, she would have never known he was there if she wasn’t working in tandem with him.

Didn’t know soldiers could be quiet.

Carris moved nimbly over fallen logs and piles of dead leaves that had clumped together against bushes, rocks, and stumps. The trees began to grow thicker, and as they did the small brush thinned out. Carris reared her head up as she realized that she hadn’t made sure that Martius was still in her sight. She panicked for a moment, glancing behind her, sure he was going to come running out with a huge ax. Then she heard the heavy thud of something landing hard on the ground. She faced forward and after taking a few steps around a cluster of trees she spotted Martius on the trail, wiping snows from his knees, and the snow beside him was pressed down and smeared to the side.

He grunted and growled, shaking his shoulders. His body was rigid as he kept moving down the path not more than three yards ahead of Carris. She glanced at Devlin, nor sure what she was supposed to do if she were to get within an arm’s reach of the Sadorian. Devlin was pointing up from his crouched position behind a fallen log. Carris followed the imaginary line to a tree that had careened on its side and was now making a natural ramp onto a large oak with broad, sweeping branches.

Carris glared at him.

He jabbed his finger up again. Carris inhaled but said nothing. She placed her hands on the fallen tree, her fingers now empty of feeling, and placed her right foot up on a knot, securing her footing. She gave one last glance back at Devlin, who was nodding as he moved down his side of the path. She huffed. One day she was only going to take orders from who she decided.

She scampered up the log, hugging it tightly to the point she scooted up it more than climbed it. She reached the oak tree and resumed an upright position, realizing that she was now fifteen feet in the air. She nodded to herself, impressed that she had climbed the log with no blunders. She tentatively stepped out onto one of the branches. Despite the fact that it was nearly twice as wide as her frame, she hesitated to step out without holding onto the trunk. She closed her eyes.

You've got this.

She pushed off the trunk, taking a large step onto the branch. She could see the path of sweeping branches that led to a point just twenty yards ahead of where Martius was sulking along. There was no way she could get there before Martius did. She looked down at her fingers, turning purple.

No choice.

She steadied herself for a moment, then began to walk, one foot in front of the other, hands out wide to maintain. She hurried along, picking up speed as she gained confidence. Martius was nearing the overhanging branch, still ahead of her. She came to stop at the end of the first branch, took a breath, then hopped. She landed on the branch with surprising ease. The branch creaked, and a line of snow sprinkled off the sides of the branch. Martius hesitated, ahead and to the right of Carris. She froze, hands still out wide. He looked both ways, never glancing upward. Carris stalked along the branch, nut entirely sure whether it was confidence that pushed her along or the fact that she could no longer feel her face. Either way, she was nearly parallel to him, with twenty feet and one more tree-hop to make. She came to the end of the branch, eyes glancing to Martius, who was hurrying along now, as though sensing that he was not alone. She took one step back, prepping to launch herself to the next branch which lay a foot apart from her current standing. As she began the leap Martius looked her way.

She hesitated, stumbling on the branch. Her left foot flew out from underneath her and she let out an unintentional shriek as she slid off the side of the branch. She reached out, grasping at nothing. For a moment she was falling, then she landed, her fall lessened significantly by a large snow drift. She pushed herself out of it, clambering to find her surroundings. A yell directly in front of her told her all she needed to know, and she bolted to the right from where she had come, this time sloshing through deep snow instead of slippery branches.

She could feel Martius on her heels as she ducked under a low branch. Then there was a yell and a crash of bodies. Carris slowed and turn herself around as quickly as her frozen legs could manage. Devlin was on top of the Sadorian, hand raised in a striking position. He held it there for several seconds, and Carris waited for the swing, but it never happened.

He’s been stabbed! Carris rushed toward Devlin’s motionless figure, hunched over Martius. Then Devlin turned. Carris let out a second shriek, putting ah and to her mouth. Devlin was grinning, no, laughing!

It was a childish laugh, high-pitched and giggly. Carris wrinkled her forehead. Between laughs, Devlin began to talk.

“I tackled him and I think he hit his head on a branch,” Devlin guffawed. “I, uh, didn’t do much of anything.”

Carris rocked to the side, peering past Devlin. She could see a lump the size of a chicken’s egg starting to swell on Martius’ forehead. She put a hand to her mouth.

"It wasn't quite what I had in mind, what with you falling out of the tree and all, but it worked out in the end." He rubbed his eyes. "One of the few things that has gone well today." 

Carris looked at the ground, embarrassed by her lack of coordination on the branch, but Devlin seemed to not pay much mind other than the comment.

Devlin quickly unarmed him, strapping on the swordbelt and wrangling the furry jacket off. He grunted as he rolled Martius over. Carris came to his side, gripping his side and pushing.

“Deadweight is a lot heavier than it looks,” Devlin said as they managed to get Martius on his face.

He wrestled the jacket off and tossed it to Carris. “That’ll keep your torso warm.” He smiled as he realized that Martius had been wearing a second, inner jacket. It wasn’t as thick as the fur jacket, but it was better than nothing. He dragged it off the body and quickly donned it, cutting away Martius’ undershirt, a dark grey flannel piece.

“We can make some sort of hat out of this,” he said, handing it to Carris.

She made the mistake of sniffing it and choked, holding it away form her body. “Gross.”

Devlin was already shaking his head.” Yes, but it’s also very warm, and we don’t have the luxury of being picky.”

Carris looked over the now shirtless Martius. “What do we do with him.”

“Leave him. He’ll be dead before he ever wakes up.”

Carris’s eyes widened. “You mean...just let him die?”

“Is that a problem? I thought you hated everyone?” Devlin said, headed past Carris. “Come on, we need to get back to your friends. It’s not safe to be up here alone.”

Carris took one last look at Martius. Devlin was right. He didn’t deserve pity. And since when did Carris give pity to anyone, least of all a foreign invader?

“We need to get to Atheron before Eridan does. That place is one of the few that he may be safe from being questioned in.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s a Sadorian, just like you.”

Carris felt the heat rise in her cheeks despite the cold. “I’m not a Sadorian.”

Devlin glanced back at her. “Really? The blond hair, grey eyes, stocky but short build isn’t Astorian.”

Carris stared at the ground, twiddling the shirt in her hands. “Why would he be safe there?”

Devlin let out a small chuckle. “Avoiding the topic, eh?”

Carris remained silent, the urge to smack Devlin returning to her fists.

“He’ll be safe because it’s the city of Atheron.”

Carris wracked her brain. Something about that name seemed familiar, besides the fact that Eridan had mentioned it less than a half-hour ago. Devlin went on.

“Not much of an interest in history, I see. Atheron was the first city taken by Astoria at the beginning of the war. It’s what really rallied the Sadorians together. Many of them still live there, more or less as outcasts.”

“Do you think he knows anyone there specifically?” Carris began to put it together. “Do you think he’s going to try to start a revolt?”

Devlin shrugged. “It vould be, but did you notice how he talked about it? There’s something personal about that city for him.”

Carris thought about it. Perhaps that was a tear on Eridan’s face. “Maybe something there he lost?”

“Or someone.”

“And he’s going to retake the city?”

“No, at least I don’t think right away. He said they were making a stop there, resupplying. He may try to pick up some followers, but he seems hellbent on fighting King Ormen.”

Carris licked her lips, feeling the heat resurface. She felt like an idiot asking so many questions. “Isn’t King Ormen in the Royal City? Why would he go to Atheron?”

Devlin laughed. “You really don’t get news up on this mountain, do you? King Ormen is in Sadorian country with his army. They’ve nearly taken Sadoria as a whole. Come spring the war will be over. Eridan is going straight for the jugular vein. If he were to kill King Ormen, then the army would be forced to stop.”

“Do you think he can be stopped?”

Devlin grimaced. “We’ll find out when we meet him face-to-face.”