The Axe Falls by William D. Arand

Author:William D. Arand [Arand, William D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-18T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty

“Wake up,” came the command.

Taking in a deep shuddering breath, Nick reawakened to the world.

Letting it out nearly as quickly as he’d inhaled, he started coughing. Somehow, he managed to get his eyes to open at the same time and looked about himself.

It looked to be the interior of a simple tent.

There was no furniture other than a small camp chair, a section of a log that was upended to be likely used as a table, and a sleeping bag in the corner. Nick was currently tied at the wrists and ankles and laid out on the grass.

“You’re not a knight,” said the same voice.

Turning his head toward the speaker, Nick saw the pretty caster who had dumped a black cloud onto him. She was standing at the entrance to the tent and looked rather non-plussed with the situation.

“No, just a man-at-arms who’s going to receive a knighthood once the war is over,” Nick said honestly. He didn’t suppose lying would help him out very much, and being direct about his worth would assist an exchange.

After all, he was clearly a prisoner at the moment. If they’d wanted him dead, he’d be dead. It was that simple.

“The king offered me a knighthood, as well as Count Distis,” Nick added as the woman stared at him.

“Hm, I see,” she murmured and then entered the tent. Moving over to the camp chair, she sat herself down, adjusted her dress, then crossed her legs. Putting one over the other in a very refined and unassuming way. “Well, knight-to-be, what’s your name? That way I know what to look for if a dispatch comes through in prisoner exchanges that includes your name. I’m your captor and keeper and any exchange that happens means I’d get paid an appropriate cost as well if I let you be exchanged with someone else for the dukes or my commander.”

“Nickolas Dol,” said Nick and then looked around at his immediate area. He didn’t see Ker or any sign of him. “Did… you kill my familiar?”

“No,” said the woman with a very dissatisfied look on her face. “He killed the last assassin while I handled you, then bolted off. I couldn’t even get a spell off in time before he was gone.”

“Sounds about right for Fucker,” said Nick agreeably. He imagined the fisher wasn’t far off and trying to figure out how to get Nick free.

That or eating something and dozing off.

“Who knows, Sire. Ker is unknowable. Though I agree with your assessment thus far for the situation at hand,” Lucian said. “Best to be honest and direct. Hopefully, we can be traded quickly.

“Also, we leveled up while you were unconscious. We actually made significant progress due to the levels of those assassins. We even managed to hit level ten across all our classes. We can actually move into our first promotion. Though that does present its own problems. We’ll need to truly discuss that and what’s to come later.”

Shit. Yeah.

Well, hey, congrats to us. At least we finally managed to hit level ten.

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