Two-Thirds Blue

Chapter Five: Punchline

Dusk, Rade, and Syk departed the next afternoon. They had just passed into the treeline when Dusk heard someone shout his name. He turned around to see an armored figure emerging from the Resistance's entrance.

"Who is that?" he said. "Is that– oh no–"

Dax crossed through the Resistance grounds to meet Dusk and the others, a hand raised in greeting. "I hope I didn't startle you," he said. "I decided it was high time I met these spies face-to-face."

Dusk's mouth went dry. This was the worst possible time for Dax to start feeling adventurous. "Aren't you busy?" he managed to choke out.

"Not at all. I have nothing pressing to attend to today." He stopped a few feet away and grinned with what Dusk could only see as malice. "Lead the way."

They set off into the forest. Dusk did his best not to look at Rade or Syk, both of whom, he knew, would be equally unnerved. Had Dax caught on? It certainly seemed that way. There was no telling how much he knew. This move must have been calculated.

"Isn't it a bad idea for you to show yourself?" Rade asked. "You'd be a valuable target for an assassin. This seems risky."

"I don't plan on making myself known," Dax said. "I simply wish to observe. How far out did you say it was?"

"A mile and a half, I think," Rade answered. "It's a pretty thick part of the forest, so it's hard to tell exactly."

"Well, then we should arrive within the hour," Dax nodded. "It's a fine day for a walk, no?"

Dusk blinked a drop of sweat out of his eye. "Agreed."

"Oh, just a moment." Dax fiddled with something on his right wrist, a bracelet of some kind. Tied to the thin leather cord was a small disk of black clay, an alchemical rune carved onto its surface. He pressed his thumb onto the rune and it glowed a clear blue.

"What's that thing?" Dusk asked.

"Oh, this? Just a good-luck charm. Nothing of any real value."

"But it glowed."

"Yes, it's a magical relic. Very old, of course, but no practical use. Just a curiosity."

It struck Dusk as suspicious, but there were other things on his mind. They had to ditch him somehow. Or maybe they could find a way to warn Onyx and Eclipse before they arrived. Dusk tried his best to come up with an excuse but his mind was blank with fear. Maybe if Dax were distracted, they could slowly veer off-course and miss the campsite entirely. Or at the very least, it would give Syk and Rade time to come up with a better plan.

"So," he began, "how long have you been a commander?" Small talk should serve as a convincing diversion.

"Four years now," Dax responded. "When Commander Vendrom stepped down, she offered me her position."

"You've been at it a while, then," Dusk said. "Good military career?"

"Quite so. I was a lowly foot soldier for several years, but I rose rather quickly through the ranks."

"Was that all the way back in the war with Dekbar, then?"

"Indeed. I was deployed in Mallekhan for a time, but that didn't last, of course."

Was this all true? Dusk didn't know anything about Dax's life outside of his own time with the Resistance. Whose life was he hearing about, Dax or the impostor?

"But enough about my boring old life, eh? I'd like to get to know my soldiers better. Where are you from?"

Dusk's stomach turned. Was this casual conversation, or was Dax looking for something? Likely the latter. "I was born out west, near Malavar's Delta."