Wandering Warrior: Judge by Michael Head

Author:Michael Head [Head, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Legion Publishers
Published: 2023-08-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

The three of us quickly caught up to Murphy and Cross, who waited near a felled tree that looked as if it had been torn up by its roots. I was surprised to see Cross wearing the breastplate of his armor over the clothes Jess had given him, and he held his sword in his only remaining hand.

“What’s he doing?” Even though Jess had offered Cross his sword back not long ago, she was still tense seeing him standing there with it. “Did you decide to join us after all?”

“No, I’m not joining you.” Cross rested his blade on his shoulder. “But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to let those bandits run free if I can help stop them.”

“The more people we have fighting, the better our chances of saving more villagers.” I gave him a nod of approval. “I would expect nothing less of you. And, it’s why I left you with one hand instead of none, like that noble. You can still be useful.” The glare he gave me definitely wasn’t from someone who was appreciative, but I was man enough to let it go.

Some people just don’t know how to say thank you.

“Anyway…” Leedy redirected the conversation over to the fallen tree. “Here is where the path was moved. The old one was blocked by this tree, and then covered up by people planting ferns and shrubs to hide it.” He picked up a large fern that popped free with only a light tug. “It wasn’t long ago. Probably happened right after the group from the village left for Greendown.”

“How is it not obvious that the trail was moved?” I motioned to the ‘new’ trail, where several stumps from freshly cut trees were clearly visible from where we stood. “I mean, who falls for this?”

“It’s obvious that the trail was moved, but there are all kinds of reasons why it could have been done on purpose. A washout farther down the trail, a new nest of monsters, or even a mushroom farmer tired of people getting too close to his grow spots. And with no warnings posted, a traveler wouldn’t know it was done by bandits, unless someone in town told them.” Leedy pulled two crossbows from the saddlebags and handed one to Murphy. “Let us lead, and the rest of you flank around to the back. We’ll give them a chance to surrender once we see where they are keeping the rest of the prisoners.”

“We should secure the prisoners before they get the opportunity to use them as hostages.” I pointed a thumb at Jess, considering she had recently been one herself. “No sense risking them if we don’t have to.”

“I’m not going to kill them without giving them a chance to surrender first.” Leedy didn’t want to acknowledge the dig about Jess. “We’re professionals. We know what we’re doing.”

“How do you know they even have prisoners?” Jess rubbed her eyes, obviously tired from an already very long day. “Did you see them being held somewhere?”

Murphy shook his head, frowning.

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