Pendant of Dragons: The Aldrich Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter Five: The Knolling Plains

For three days we lay in hiding amidst the rocks to the east of Arvon. We wouldn't move until two things happened: one, Morgan was well enough to travel, and two, the patrols had moved off in another direction, clearing our path. I was hoping neither would occur, but on the fourth day the mercenaries' luck improved... and mine worsened.

It was early morning, the sun not even rising yet, when the coast was clear. Fawkner had sat up all night watching the passes and the roads, his sword in hand, the blade's tip to the ground.

I had laid there on my side the whole time, trying silently to free my wrists, but with no success. I had tried to sleep, but what little I had gotten had been restless.

Joran was on watch again as well, silent and still as always, his violet eyes surveying the early morning darkness carefully.

Fawkner nodded to him and the giant immediately began packing up for the journey. Fawkner then calmly crossed to where Morgan lay, crouching down beside him and pressing a hand to his shoulder. Morgan awoke easily, blinking away sleep to gaze at his leader.

"How are you feeling, my friend?" Fawkner asked gently.

"Well enough," Morgan groaned, shifting under the furs that covered him, his left side and shoulder bandaged heavily.

"Can you travel?" Fawkner enquired evenly.

Morgan nodded. "Yeah. I should be fine."

Fawkner nodded then shook Jarvis awake. "We're leaving now," he explained to the blonde haired mercenary. "The path is clear down through the woods. Help Morgan."

"You got it," Jarvis nodded, pulling himself up then moving to help Morgan get to his feet.

Fawkner strode over to Davis, kicking him in the side roughly, snapping him awake and breaking his loud snoring.

"Huh?! Wha?! I'm up! I'm up!" Davis insisted, dazed as he sat up, his hair a mess.

"You snore far too loudly, Davis," Fawkner scolded, glaring at him. "I'm surprised we've lasted three days without the Arvon soldiers finding us."

"It's still dark," Davis whined, turning over to go back to sleep. "We're just gonna sit around again today. What's the point of waking me up?"

"Because we're moving out," Fawkner said through gritted teeth, kicking him again. "The patrols have gone west, now we move south-east. So, drag your arse out of bed and get moving, you lazy sack."

Davis started to get up with a glower, crouching over his sleeping area and packing it all up for the move.

Fawkner then strode over to where I lay on my side, my cloak thrown over me to keep me warm. Seeing him coming I closed my eyes and tried very hard to look like I was asleep. Glaring down at me, he nudged me with his foot. I pretended to start stirring and opened my eyes to look at him.

"We'll be leaving now, girl," he informed me, crouching down and removing the cloak from my body with an easy movement. "We've got a long journey ahead and you have to walk with us."

I didn't answer as he reached behind me, unbinding my hands. I didn't dare move, knowing that to do so would most likely enrage my captor and force him to hurt me. Instead, I waited for his orders, thinking to only obey and hopefully stay safe long enough to be rescued.

He got me to my feet and handed me the cloak. I pulled it on, glad for the extra warmth against the wind's icy chill, but I still glared at him coldly as I did.

"Hands out," Fawkner instructed me.

With only a small amount of hesitation and a great amount of fear, I complied, placing my hands out in front of me, allowing him to bind my wrists once more. He kept a length of the rope free, but tied me tightly so that I couldn't escape. He then dragged me forward with that free length, forcing me to walk like a dog on a leash.