The small group of adventurers met at the Last Stance in the afternoon. Mel had paid a messenger with dirty hair and soot on his collar to hand deliver a note to Marcus telling him to meet them here. She had then picked up Austin at his regular place in the library, next to the fireplace, and Gabs in their dorm room.
The three of them walked into the bustling bar at the edge of town, seeing Marcus seated at a table as soon as they entered. Mel wondered how he could always find a table for them, even during the rush hour of the bar. He seemed to have a knack for charming the bartender or someone who gave him a table.
He waved at them, and Mel walked in front of Gabs and Austin into the room. She took a seat at the table, but Gabs and Austin remained standing.
“We’ll get the drinks this time,” Austin said. “The usual?”
Marcus nodded, and a smile shone on his lips. Mel whipped around to see Austin’s face, but he kept looking at Marcus. Gabs and Austin walked away toward the bar and left Mel alone with Marcus. Her heart beat fast and she squeezed her hands tight under the table.
Mel was nervous about being left alone with Marcus, something she had come to fear lately. She had these feelings of Marcus not being completely right anymore, with the dragons and all. If he could hear them too and spoke back to them, what did that mean?
Mel didn’t think the dragons were good anymore, and she worried Marcus may have been tricked by them. How, she wasn’t sure.
“How did it go with your dorm room? Did you find the money?” Marcus asked.
“Oh,” Mel said. “Right. I didn’t pass the test. They kicked me out of Falden. So it doesn’t matter anymore about the money.”
“What?” Marcus said, his face in shock.
“Yeah.” Mel’s gaze landed on the table and she felt shame surging inside of her. “That’s actually why I called all of you here tonight. Gabs and Austin already know.”
“What are you planning?” Marcus asked.
Mel dared to look up and met his gaze again. “I think the headmaster at Falden, or someone at least, is getting pressured into not passing me. Perhaps it has to do with Windbrook and the dragons. But the fact is, they won’t let me into next semester or the dragon forge.”
“Okay,” Marcus said.
“You know how much I want this and I just feel like I can’t give up yet. I think that if I did something incredible, like found some ancient secret about magic in the ruins of Bahlan and brought it back here. Then maybe they would have to let me into the dragon forge. Is that crazy?”
Marcus stared at Mel for a moment before he shook his head at her. “No, I get it. I want things too, Mel, and I think I would do pretty much anything to get them.”
“What kind of things?”
Austin and Gabs got back to the table and placed a beer in front of Mel and one in front of Marcus on the table. Mel kept staring at Marcus, hoping he would still answer her question even if they weren’t alone anymore. Her heart kept beating fast in her chest and she felt like he was doing something reckless, but didn’t know what.
“So, what are we talking about?” Gabs asked.
Before Mel could answer, Marcus waved a hand in front of himself and gave Gabs a sheepish smile. “Nothing. Mel was just telling me the terrible news. That she didn’t get into the next semester. What are they thinking?”
“Yeah, I know, right?” Gabs said. “We need to fix this. We need to do everything we can to try to change their minds. That’s why we’re going ahead with the plan to get to Bahlan. I mean, that and the fact that it would be cool if we could find some new weapon that could kill that black dragon, of course.”
Mel’s eyes shot back to Marcus, and she saw him wincing at Gabs’ comment, but he said nothing. Did he not want the black dragon dead anymore?
“Okay, so what’s the plan, Melissa?” Austin asked.
Mel took a mouthful of her beer and swallowed carefully, collecting sentences in her mind before she placed down the glass on the table again. She took in a deep breath and Marcus met her gaze.
“My plan is that we leave for Bahlan tomorrow,” she said. “The sooner the better. Gabs have already bought most of the supplies and, as I understand, you have the weapons, right?”
Austin nodded. “But it would be good if we got at least one training session in before we left. Get Gabriella and you into good shape before we go into the wastes.”
“Okay,” Mel said. “So, we leave in two days, then?”
Everyone around the table nodded at this suggestion, and Mel relaxed back in her chair.
“Tomorrow we meet up and train with the weapons and the next day, early in the morning, we leave for Bahlan.”
Marcus pointed at someone behind Mel and she turned, catching the eyes of the man she had seen by the bar the last time they were here. He was walking out of the bar now and seemed to speed up his steps. It was definitely the same man who had always been sitting at Pedro’s when Marcus and she had had dates there.
Mel turned back to Marcus. “What is he doing here again? Do you think he’s following us?”
Marcus shook his head. “Nah, he’s probably just a regular. I haven’t seen him anywhere else than here and at the noodle place.”
Mel met Gabs and Austin’s gazes, but they didn’t seem bothered by his presence either. Mel shrugged and accepted that her friends might be right. Maybe she was just growing paranoid or something.
“We can use the mansion,” Austin said. “My father and brother are never at home anymore since the war ramped up. They spend all their time somewhere else. Plus, we have a training area behind the back.”
“That sounds cool,” Mel said. “We will meet there tomorrow then, Gabs, me and you. Marcus, have you found out anything about how the army usually does their expeditions out in the wastes?”
Marcus leaned in across the table and placed both his hands around his glass, looking down at the wooden surface. “Not much. But I did talk with Eric. He’s in charge of the army storage and is the one that people check out their gear from. Anyway, he told me that they usually check out dry gear before the trips out there. It’s supposed to be really wet outside the walls.”
“Oh, yeah, it is,” Mel said. “It’s like a sunken land out there. My boots almost disappeared into the sand.”
“Good that you know,” Marcus said. “But he also told me something else. But Eric can be a bit too fond of gossip, so take this with a grain of salt. But he told me he didn’t understand why the army even went to the villages anymore. He said that the people of the wastes never talk to them anyhow. They take their food, but they give them nothing in return. Not even a grain of information about the void. Even though they must know something about troop mobilizations.”
Marcus lifted his gaze from the table and met Mel’s eyes. “He said he thought everyone out there are void worshipers. Said they cannot be trusted. That they are working with the enemy. Maybe your Luthel and Hanon did set you up, Mel.”
Mel swallowed hard, feeling a shiver going down her spine. She sat up straight in the chair and licked her lips.
“Maybe,” she said. “We won’t just trust them blindly this time. But I think we will need their help if we’re going to find out where the ruins of Bahlan are. We don’t know how to navigate the wastes.”
Austin nodded. “I think we will try to convince them to guide us there. But like you say, we will keep our guards up just in case they try to doublecross us.”
“Could you try to find out more information for me?” Mel asked, looking at Marcus.
“What kind?”
“I want to know why I didn’t pass my final test. I want to know if my suspicions are right and someone is forcing the headmaster to fail me. Can you spy on Headmaster Lorken for me while we’re gone?”
Marcus let out a deep sigh. “I’m not a spy, Mel. I’m just a soldier who doesn’t tell people much about my own thoughts, which seem to make them spill their beans about their beliefs. It’s mostly annoying, but I’m not sure I can spy on someone as influential as the headmaster of Falden.”
Austin dragged a hand over his chin. “Actually, it might be easier than you think. Headmaster Lorken is known to be really vain and fear death a lot. He is always looking for guards to protect him at home, lest someone try to kill him. Maybe you could just ask around the army on how to get some extra money and take a shift at his mansion?”
“My leg, though,” Marcus said. “It’s just beginning to not cause too much trouble. But I still can’t run or do anything like that. I’m still using one crutch to even walk around.”
Mel noticed the crutch leaning against the back of his chair, and she winced. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked him for anything. Maybe he wasn’t ready yet.
“But okay,” he said. “I will try to spy for you. But I don’t know if I will succeed. Expect me to fail at this mission. Okay?”
Mel gave him a smile. “Thanks for trying. That’s all I’m asking for from any of you.”
#
They walked out of the Last Stance together a while later and headed down toward town square. By the broken statue of Terri Taveck, Marcus said his goodbyes and walked off toward the army base. Austin continued toward his mansion, and Gabs and Mel walked to the bunker in the old warehouse.
When they were alone on the streets, as alone as one can get in a city with people trying to make it in time to their bunker, Gabs grabbed Mel’s arm. She stopped her on the street outside the warehouse and looked straight into her eyes.
“I’m worried,” she said.
“About what?” Mel asked.
“That it won’t be enough. That even with all the weapons, the supplies and the three of us, it won’t be enough out there. Mel, I’ve heard stories about the wastes and the beasts since I was a little girl in Stonehearth. What if we meet a shadow? No one of us has ever killed a shadow before.”
Mel nodded and grabbed Gabs’ hand. She squeezed it tight in her own. “I know. It’s scary and I know we might be too weak to do this. But we will practice with real weapons tomorrow and we have a plan. If we stick to the plan, we will never even see a shadow. Okay?”
“Yes, but plans fail, Mel. They're just outlines of what to do, they’re not reality. You met a shadow when you went out into the wastes alone and the only reason you survived was because someone saved you. What if we’re not that lucky?”
Mel wrinkled her nose and let go of Gabs’ hand. She stared at the warehouse and then up at the dark sky. “I think it was Austin’s brother who saved me, Derek Taveck. Austin thinks so too, and I don’t even know why he did or how he found me. But I guess you’re right, we might not be so lucky next time. So we’ll make sure to stick to the plan. Go in and out during daytime and not be noticed by the void.”
“Sure,” Gabs said. “I guess. But I would feel a lot better if we could get more people to join us.”
Mel looked back at Gabs, and her eyes were on the ground, watching Mel’s shoes. “There is no one else we can trust. What we’re doing is illegal. Both carrying magical weapons and sneaking out into the wastes. If someone rats us out, we’re going to be in big trouble. We need to keep this between us.”
“Yeah, I know,” Gabs said.
The small group of adventurers met at the Last Stance in the afternoon. Mel had paid a messenger with dirty hair and soot on his collar to hand deliver a note to Marcus telling him to meet them here. She had then picked up Austin at his regular place in the library, next to the fireplace, and Gabs in their dorm room.
The three of them walked into the bustling bar at the edge of town, seeing Marcus seated at a table as soon as they entered. Mel wondered how he could always find a table for them, even during the rush hour of the bar. He seemed to have a knack for charming the bartender or someone who gave him a table.
He waved at them, and Mel walked in front of Gabs and Austin into the room. She took a seat at the table, but Gabs and Austin remained standing.
“We’ll get the drinks this time,” Austin said. “The usual?”
Marcus nodded, and a smile shone on his lips. Mel whipped around to see Austin’s face, but he kept looking at Marcus. Gabs and Austin walked away toward the bar and left Mel alone with Marcus. Her heart beat fast and she squeezed her hands tight under the table.
Mel was nervous about being left alone with Marcus, something she had come to fear lately. She had these feelings of Marcus not being completely right anymore, with the dragons and all. If he could hear them too and spoke back to them, what did that mean?
Mel didn’t think the dragons were good anymore, and she worried Marcus may have been tricked by them. How, she wasn’t sure.
“How did it go with your dorm room? Did you find the money?” Marcus asked.
“Oh,” Mel said. “Right. I didn’t pass the test. They kicked me out of Falden. So it doesn’t matter anymore about the money.”
“What?” Marcus said, his face in shock.
“Yeah.” Mel’s gaze landed on the table and she felt shame surging inside of her. “That’s actually why I called all of you here tonight. Gabs and Austin already know.”
“What are you planning?” Marcus asked.
Mel dared to look up and met his gaze again. “I think the headmaster at Falden, or someone at least, is getting pressured into not passing me. Perhaps it has to do with Windbrook and the dragons. But the fact is, they won’t let me into next semester or the dragon forge.”
“Okay,” Marcus said.
“You know how much I want this and I just feel like I can’t give up yet. I think that if I did something incredible, like found some ancient secret about magic in the ruins of Bahlan and brought it back here. Then maybe they would have to let me into the dragon forge. Is that crazy?”
Marcus stared at Mel for a moment before he shook his head at her. “No, I get it. I want things too, Mel, and I think I would do pretty much anything to get them.”
“What kind of things?”
Austin and Gabs got back to the table and placed a beer in front of Mel and one in front of Marcus on the table. Mel kept staring at Marcus, hoping he would still answer her question even if they weren’t alone anymore. Her heart kept beating fast in her chest and she felt like he was doing something reckless, but didn’t know what.
“So, what are we talking about?” Gabs asked.
Before Mel could answer, Marcus waved a hand in front of himself and gave Gabs a sheepish smile. “Nothing. Mel was just telling me the terrible news. That she didn’t get into the next semester. What are they thinking?”
“Yeah, I know, right?” Gabs said. “We need to fix this. We need to do everything we can to try to change their minds. That’s why we’re going ahead with the plan to get to Bahlan. I mean, that and the fact that it would be cool if we could find some new weapon that could kill that black dragon, of course.”
Mel’s eyes shot back to Marcus, and she saw him wincing at Gabs’ comment, but he said nothing. Did he not want the black dragon dead anymore?
“Okay, so what’s the plan, Melissa?” Austin asked.
Mel took a mouthful of her beer and swallowed carefully, collecting sentences in her mind before she placed down the glass on the table again. She took in a deep breath and Marcus met her gaze.
“My plan is that we leave for Bahlan tomorrow,” she said. “The sooner the better. Gabs have already bought most of the supplies and, as I understand, you have the weapons, right?”
Austin nodded. “But it would be good if we got at least one training session in before we left. Get Gabriella and you into good shape before we go into the wastes.”
“Okay,” Mel said. “So, we leave in two days, then?”
Everyone around the table nodded at this suggestion, and Mel relaxed back in her chair.
“Tomorrow we meet up and train with the weapons and the next day, early in the morning, we leave for Bahlan.”
Marcus pointed at someone behind Mel and she turned, catching the eyes of the man she had seen by the bar the last time they were here. He was walking out of the bar now and seemed to speed up his steps. It was definitely the same man who had always been sitting at Pedro’s when Marcus and she had had dates there.
Mel turned back to Marcus. “What is he doing here again? Do you think he’s following us?”
Marcus shook his head. “Nah, he’s probably just a regular. I haven’t seen him anywhere else than here and at the noodle place.”
Mel met Gabs and Austin’s gazes, but they didn’t seem bothered by his presence either. Mel shrugged and accepted that her friends might be right. Maybe she was just growing paranoid or something.
“We can use the mansion,” Austin said. “My father and brother are never at home anymore since the war ramped up. They spend all their time somewhere else. Plus, we have a training area behind the back.”
“That sounds cool,” Mel said. “We will meet there tomorrow then, Gabs, me and you. Marcus, have you found out anything about how the army usually does their expeditions out in the wastes?”
Marcus leaned in across the table and placed both his hands around his glass, looking down at the wooden surface. “Not much. But I did talk with Eric. He’s in charge of the army storage and is the one that people check out their gear from. Anyway, he told me that they usually check out dry gear before the trips out there. It’s supposed to be really wet outside the walls.”
“Oh, yeah, it is,” Mel said. “It’s like a sunken land out there. My boots almost disappeared into the sand.”
“Good that you know,” Marcus said. “But he also told me something else. But Eric can be a bit too fond of gossip, so take this with a grain of salt. But he told me he didn’t understand why the army even went to the villages anymore. He said that the people of the wastes never talk to them anyhow. They take their food, but they give them nothing in return. Not even a grain of information about the void. Even though they must know something about troop mobilizations.”
Marcus lifted his gaze from the table and met Mel’s eyes. “He said he thought everyone out there are void worshipers. Said they cannot be trusted. That they are working with the enemy. Maybe your Luthel and Hanon did set you up, Mel.”
Mel swallowed hard, feeling a shiver going down her spine. She sat up straight in the chair and licked her lips.
“Maybe,” she said. “We won’t just trust them blindly this time. But I think we will need their help if we’re going to find out where the ruins of Bahlan are. We don’t know how to navigate the wastes.”
Austin nodded. “I think we will try to convince them to guide us there. But like you say, we will keep our guards up just in case they try to doublecross us.”
“Could you try to find out more information for me?” Mel asked, looking at Marcus.
“What kind?”
“I want to know why I didn’t pass my final test. I want to know if my suspicions are right and someone is forcing the headmaster to fail me. Can you spy on Headmaster Lorken for me while we’re gone?”
Marcus let out a deep sigh. “I’m not a spy, Mel. I’m just a soldier who doesn’t tell people much about my own thoughts, which seem to make them spill their beans about their beliefs. It’s mostly annoying, but I’m not sure I can spy on someone as influential as the headmaster of Falden.”
Austin dragged a hand over his chin. “Actually, it might be easier than you think. Headmaster Lorken is known to be really vain and fear death a lot. He is always looking for guards to protect him at home, lest someone try to kill him. Maybe you could just ask around the army on how to get some extra money and take a shift at his mansion?”
“My leg, though,” Marcus said. “It’s just beginning to not cause too much trouble. But I still can’t run or do anything like that. I’m still using one crutch to even walk around.”
Mel noticed the crutch leaning against the back of his chair, and she winced. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked him for anything. Maybe he wasn’t ready yet.
“But okay,” he said. “I will try to spy for you. But I don’t know if I will succeed. Expect me to fail at this mission. Okay?”
Mel gave him a smile. “Thanks for trying. That’s all I’m asking for from any of you.”
#
They walked out of the Last Stance together a while later and headed down toward town square. By the broken statue of Terri Taveck, Marcus said his goodbyes and walked off toward the army base. Austin continued toward his mansion, and Gabs and Mel walked to the bunker in the old warehouse.
When they were alone on the streets, as alone as one can get in a city with people trying to make it in time to their bunker, Gabs grabbed Mel’s arm. She stopped her on the street outside the warehouse and looked straight into her eyes.
“I’m worried,” she said.
“About what?” Mel asked.
“That it won’t be enough. That even with all the weapons, the supplies and the three of us, it won’t be enough out there. Mel, I’ve heard stories about the wastes and the beasts since I was a little girl in Stonehearth. What if we meet a shadow? No one of us has ever killed a shadow before.”
Mel nodded and grabbed Gabs’ hand. She squeezed it tight in her own. “I know. It’s scary and I know we might be too weak to do this. But we will practice with real weapons tomorrow and we have a plan. If we stick to the plan, we will never even see a shadow. Okay?”
“Yes, but plans fail, Mel. They're just outlines of what to do, they’re not reality. You met a shadow when you went out into the wastes alone and the only reason you survived was because someone saved you. What if we’re not that lucky?”
Mel wrinkled her nose and let go of Gabs’ hand. She stared at the warehouse and then up at the dark sky. “I think it was Austin’s brother who saved me, Derek Taveck. Austin thinks so too, and I don’t even know why he did or how he found me. But I guess you’re right, we might not be so lucky next time. So we’ll make sure to stick to the plan. Go in and out during daytime and not be noticed by the void.”
“Sure,” Gabs said. “I guess. But I would feel a lot better if we could get more people to join us.”
Mel looked back at Gabs, and her eyes were on the ground, watching Mel’s shoes. “There is no one else we can trust. What we’re doing is illegal. Both carrying magical weapons and sneaking out into the wastes. If someone rats us out, we’re going to be in big trouble. We need to keep this between us.”
“Yeah, I know,” Gabs said.
