Legon Awakening: Book One in the Legon Series (17 page)

* * * * *

Kovos felt his legs burn from staying crouched for so
long. It had taken them twenty minutes to run to their hiding spot
and three hours to get back down. They moved slowly now as Legon
plotted a safe course. They wrapped around the town and were
entering close to his house. They didn’t have a huge amount of
time. The moon told him it was about eleven at night and they
needed to pack and get out long before daybreak.

As they closed in on the sleepy houses he felt a pang
as his eyes crossed Emma’s house. He wasn’t going to have time to
say goodbye, and even if he did, what could he say? He would come
back for her in two or three months. He’d come back and they could
start their life together. That’s what was going to happen—if he
didn’t get killed first.

He didn’t blame Legon for being forced to leave. He
could have told the queen’s men the truth. He could have hid like a
coward, but he wasn’t a coward. He had made his choice, and if he
died it was his fault, not anyone else’s. Keither had chosen as
well when he had charged that soldier. Maybe leaving would be good
for Keither, teaching him how the world works and how to live in
it.

They moved in the shadows of the buildings they
passed, keeping close to the walls and doing everything not to make
a sound. This wasn’t new to Kovos. After all, he did it all the
time when he was going to visit Emma. If he could just have spent
one more night with her or maybe…“
Get yourself together! Now’s
not the time to get sentimental!”
he thought to himself.

There was still no sign of the soldiers. That was
worrisome; they could be anywhere, maybe at their homes, maybe
watching from somewhere out of sight. After all, it was royal guard
they were dealing with here. Kovos could see his house. There was
light coming from inside, but nothing to suggest that anything was
amiss. They had made it home for probably the last time.

* * * * *

The hours after Legon got home were intense. His
father had come home right before him, bringing the news that the
soldiers had set up camp by the pond, putting them right next to
the only road out of the valley. That wasn’t the problem Sasha was
having right now. She had to figure what to bring based on what
they were likely to need over the next few weeks. They only had two
horses and they just couldn’t bring that much, not if they needed
to move fast. She had packed all the essential things early in the
evening, but now it was down to what she wanted to bring that was
hers—things to remember her parents and her old life.

She picked up her diary. That was a given, but what
else? She didn’t have a lot of jewelry or fancy things, which
depressed her because she didn’t have that much after all, but
still… In the end, she managed to get everything into a few bags
and began her way downstairs to load up the two horses and go. The
abruptness of the day had removed almost all emotion from everyone.
Normally people would be sad and crying at the parting of a family,
but not in these circumstances. There was no room for emotion;
things just needed to be done.

Her mother was in the kitchen writing down a few last
notes in a book, which she handed to Sasha.

“Here. I know you don’t have much room, but I’ve been
making this for you over the last few years. In it is everything I
know about healing. I’m not saying you need to follow in my
footsteps, but on the road…”

The tears were coming now. Sasha knew what her mother
was thinking, because it was the same thing that had just crossed
her mind: this was it. This was going to be the last time they had
together as a family. After tonight nothing was going to be the
same.

She did want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She
knew everything her mother did and would be a healer herself if it
wasn’t for the episodes excluding her from getting a license. The
book would be useful. Living on the run meant that she might need
to get creative if someone got hurt.

She wrapped her arms around her mother and felt
herself losing control, wanting to say that she wasn’t going, but
this farewell was better than the one that would happen in a few
months. At least now she would be leaving willingly. They parted,
and without speaking walked out the back door. The air outside was
cold, with a bite that only came in the early hours of the morning.
Legon and her father were finishing up with the horses. Both were
already saddled and had most of their meager belongings attached to
them. The family owned a horse for each person. Legon’s black
stallion was named Phantom and was a little on the older side, but
still a great horse. Murray, Sasha’s horse, was brown and about
five. She loved him, although he tended to bite.

Legon walked up to his mother and hugged her and his
father went to Sasha. She loved getting bear hugs from her father.
She felt safe and secure, and she got the feeling like nothing bad
could ever happen. Then he let go and the feeling left. The
goodbyes were short; they had to be. They needed to meet Kovos,
needed to get out of town before they could be followed. She got on
Murray and looked at her home and parents for what was probably the
last time. As if Phantom and Murray knew what was going on, the two
started to carry them away from the house, their home, and
everything they had ever known.

* * * * *

Kovos had known this was going to happen. He knew
that as soon as they got home this new-found intellect was going to
leave Keither. The boy had gone into panic mode about two seconds
after the door closed. Thankfully, his parents hadn’t lost their
heads by the time they got home. Brack had the horses saddled and
Margaret was finishing packing their belongings. Kovos wasted no
time in making a beeline for his room and grabbing his sword. “
I
am such a moron for not having it with me,”
he thought. He
reached under a loose floorboard and pulled out the brass knuckles
he had made about three years ago. Boy, had they been useful.

If they got a good head start on the soldiers, there
was a good chance of getting away for now. There might be wanted
signs on city bulletins eventually, but it was unlikely. Their
encounter with the men had been short, and it was unlikely they
would remember enough to make a good illustration. Even then it was
improbable that the empire would do that much. Wanted posters meant
attention, and even if posters went up, the empire was a large
place to hide in and its agents were corrupt. A small amount of
coin could buy their way anywhere. Of course they would need money
for that. At any rate, he didn’t have time to figure that out now.
Time was running out.

Keither needed to get his head on and get ready to
go. There was a slam in the room next to him. Keither had probably
tried to lock himself in his room. Kovos didn’t have the patience
for this, but convincing Keither was going to take some time. He
started to the boy’s room. As he left his room and turned, he saw
his mother looking put out and pounding on Keither’s door.

He gently moved her aside and placed his mouth close
to the door, speaking in a soft voice. “Keither it’s me. Are you
there? I know you’ve had a hard day.”

“Yeah, I’m here, and no, I won’t open the door!”
barked the voice inside.

“Ok. I’m not going to ask you to open the door, but I
want to talk to you, ok? Where are you?”

“On my bed, and I don’t want to tal…” Keither started
but was stopped by the sound of splintering wood and his mother’s
yelp.

Kovos walked through the devastated door and looked
down imperiously at the boy on the bed. He had been pampering the
little snot his whole life, and he was done. It was time to be a
man.

He felt the muscles in his face contorting and he
knew that he looked terrifying. “Do you remember what happened to
Moleth?” he roared.

He thought he saw Keither nod but wasn’t sure. “Do
you want your throat slit?” There was a definite shake this time.
“Then get your stuff together. We’re leaving. Now! If you don’t
have the will to live I can’t make you, but so help me I will spare
our parents the displeasure of having one of their own kids
slaughtered before their eyes, you get me?”

Keither was starting to resemble a puppet with its
head bobbling around. He was in line now and that was all that
mattered. As for the door, well, no one would be needing the room
anytime soon, and better to break down a door and have Keither
alive than have the royal guard break down the door and have him
dead.

He tried to push emotion out as he walked downstairs
in to the overly pink living room. He noticed a lace cloth in the
middle of the table. There were birds stitched on it. He paused. He
had never noticed that before. “
Why do you notice odd things
like that when you’re in a stressful situation?”
he asked
himself. “
Because you never know when you may see it again,”
said a voice in his head.

He walked out the back door. It was time to go. There
were two horses in the alleyway that Brack was finishing up.

Emma. He needed to see her, needed to hold her.

“
No!”
he thought. Time was blurry now. He
didn’t seem to notice the farewells and the tears, didn’t notice
himself get on his horse. The only thing that floated though his
mind was Emma and the knowledge that he would never see her
again.

* * * * *

Arkin wondered why things took so long when he was in
a hurry. He paused and repeated a calming script in his mind,
controlled his breath, and felt emotion ebb away. He closed his
eyes and repeated the script again. As he calmed, clarity began to
restore itself in his battered consciousness. Not too much longer.
Just the climb back down and then they could proceed on with the
mission.

* * * * *

Legon was vaguely aware that he was freezing cold,
but his body and mind didn’t seem to be talking with each other.
Kovos and Keither were approaching. He could see them coming along
the archery field. Phantom snorted and he patted his neck. Legon
knew the horses could sense the panic in their riders, but he knew
they would keep their cool. Well, at least Phantom would. He’d
taken him hunting many times and nothing seemed to bother him.
Murray, on the hand, wasn’t used to any extreme riding and might be
a problem.

Kovos and Keither were near to them now. “Are you
ready?” Legon asked.

Kovos patted the sword on his belt. “Yeah.”

Legon pointed to the trees. “Ok, we’ll travel along
the edge of the woods until we’re out of sight and ear shot. Then
we need to ride at least until tomorrow night to make sure we get
as much space between us and those guards as possible.”

“How will we know which path to take? It’s dark as
hell out here.”

Sasha spoke. “Horses have better eyes than people.
They can see fine, don’t worry.” She turned Murray and began riding
toward the forest. The other three followed close behind.

As hoped, the horses were able to make it through the
dark woods without incident, but it was slow going. They had to
curve out away from the where the soldiers were camped out. By the
time they made it back to the road there were rays of sun coming
over the distant mountains.

They kept the horses going at a pretty good speed
after that without tiring them out. They needed to open a gap
between them and the town. As the sun got brighter, Legon felt
himself getting hungry, but he ignored the feeling. One day without
food wouldn’t hurt him. They could only stop to let the horses
drink, and even then it would have to be fast. There was a silence
over them as they went. No one wanted to say anything. There was
too much tension in the air and with every word came the chance of
emotional upheaval from the previous day and night.

Legon’s face was starting to burn as the sun peaked
around noon. Sweat rolled down his brow, causing the dust in the
air to stick to him and cover his face in grit. As the sun started
its descent it began to burn his neck. He lifted his shirt collar a
bit.

The air was still and quiet except for the sound of
hooves clopping on the ground. The rhythm was hypnotizing. His mind
started to get fuzzy. His vision slipped in and out of focus. He
started to become aware of all the sounds in the woods, sounds that
he couldn’t normally hear on horseback—the sound of the breeze in
the tree tops, the sound of a bug crawling on a log. All the sounds
must have been from yards away. “
This is the Elven
side
,
”
he thought. The soft whoosh of a bird taking
flight, the creak of wood …Ah, he loved that sound, the creak only
a bow could make as it was strung.

He snapped back to awareness in an instant,
tightening his reins, bringing Phantom to an abrupt halt.

“Legon, what is it?” Sasha started, but was
interrupted by a sound that all could hear—the sound of hooves that
were very close. Sensing danger, everyone spurred their horses
forward. Out of the trees about fifteen yards away came three men
with bows drawn on horses wearing leather armor emblazoned with the
queen’s crest—all unfamiliar faces, all with their bows pointed at
Kovos and Legon. Legon was aware of two more horsemen with bows
behind them. All had the satisfied smile of knowing they had
surrounded their prey.

The Lesson

“
What drives us to act? What is it that
makes us capable of the great and the horrible? It is the events in
our lives and how we choose to react to them. How we see the event,
how we respond to it, these are the things that define us.”

- Excerpts from The Diary of the Adopted
Sister

The men wore a look of triumph tempered with wariness
on their faces. It was clear that they weren’t sure exactly who or
what they were dealing with. They looked the four fugitives over,
sizing them up, figuring out who would be the greatest threat.
Sasha would instantly be ruled out. She would be easy to overpower.
Keither was fat and young and looked terrified, so no problem
there. Kovos and Legon were the problem. Both men were more
confident and didn’t back down from the glances they got. Both had
been in so many fights that they could be beaten to a pulp and not
be bothered. In truth, if the soldiers were to hurt someone to make
a point it wouldn’t be Legon or Kovos. Breaking the strongest of a
group to intimidate the rest usually worked, but doing that didn’t
make a lick of difference to the next strongest guy. However, hurt
one of the weak ones and the strong would comply just to spare the
others pain.