The Blade and the Bow: A prequel novella to The Cremelino Prophecy by Shelton Mike

Author:Shelton, Mike [Shelton, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Michael Shelton
Published: 2016-12-03T16:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 5

Darius marched in front of the trio. It was hours later, and the sun had begun to cast long shadows out over the coast of the Realm. They stopped when they came to a small rise in the land. Merek pushed the boys down from behind. With a grunt, Darius nursed his knee after hitting a rock.

Peering back over the small hill, Darius saw what Merek was hiding them from. A small campfire reflected its orange and yellow flames on the small waves of the blue sea. Gathered around the campfire were a group of boys and girls surrounded by a few gruff looking men.

“It’s Astil.” Kelln pointed.

“Who’s Astil?” Merek asked.

“The boy we saw in the cabin last night,” Darius said. “The one we are here to save.”

“Looks like it’s going to be a little harder than you first thought,” Merek said. “What was your plan when you found him?”

Kelln shrugged. “We hadn’t come up with one yet.” The wind blew Kelln’s red unruly hair around and he tried to pat it down, but it didn’t do much.

Merek groaned. “That’s why you shouldn’t be out here.”

The three men walked back down from the hill and into a small group of pines growing at the edge of the coast line.

“And what was your plan, Merek?” Darius asked. “Seems to me, with that many people down there, Kelln and I have helped to even the odds.”

“You?” Merek laughed. “What do a couple of city boys know about fighting? This one,” he pointed at Kelln, “could blow away in the wind.”

Kelln put his hand on his sword and began to pull it out.

“Put that away, boy.” Merek said. “I know who you are. You’ve talked about your blade, swords, and forges enough this past week to figure out your father is a swordmaker. I trust you know your weapons, but those men have been fighting for years.”

“We just need to outsmart them,” Darius said.

Merek nodded his head. “I can tell you’re the thinking one, Darius. What are your thoughts?”

Darius thought a moment. He had taken basic tactics in school already. “Well, in a direct assault, we would be out numbered, so we have to make it appear like we have more people than we do.”

“Good.” Merek said. “I like it so far. We also don’t have much cover between us and them since they are close to the beach, so we have to wait until night.”

“What about the highway crew?” asked Kelln. “Won’t they be suspicious with us being gone so long?”

“You were very convincing with your sickness, Kel,” Darius said. “They may not expect us until morning.”

“What about him?” Kelln pointed at Merek.

“I’m actually not even part of the crew.” Merek’s eyes lit up. “I just wandered in and started helping. If the crew leader looks at his list, I’m not even there.”

“Why would you do that?” Kelln scrunched up his face.

“So I can find and help boys like Astil there.”

Kelln pursed his lips in thought, then he shrugged and motioned for Darius to continue.

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