Authors: Mackenzie Morgan
Hayley leaned back and studied Nikki. The wound was closed and the bleeding had stopped, but Neisha was right. Something was wrong. Nikki was breathing, but she was too lethargic. She hadn’t been hurt that bad. She should have bounced back up and started barking. Instead she was practically asleep.
Meanwhile, up at the castle, the roof guards had notified Kevin’s office a bell was ringing in Milhaven. Kevin used his key to get to the rooftop and focused his seeing eye on the town. A quick scan told him whatever was going on, it was at Doreen’s. He was starting to turn his key again when he heard the thunder of running feet behind him and someone yelled, “No! Wait!” He spun around in time to see his two bodyguards charging towards him. As they skidded to a stop beside him, Alek gasped, “We’re going with you.” Before Kevin could react, they each grabbed hold of one of his arms. Nodding more to himself than to them, Kevin turned the key.
They got to Doreen’s in time to hear a man’s voice call out, “Hey, Sister! I’m hurt over here. I’ve got a knife in my arm. You need to treat me instead of worrying about some dumb dog.”
Hayley had no idea Kevin was there when she turned towards the man. “Why should I bother to help anyone foolish enough to shoot at a warrior elf and careless enough to hit Nikki?”
“Who? The child? I didn’t hurt her. The blood came from the dog.”
“Yes, Nikki, Myron’s dog.”
Correll’s eyes widened as he looked in Kevin’s direction. “The Master Sorcerer’s dog?”
Hayley nodded as she watched Nikki’s slow but regular breaths.
Correll looked back and forth between Hayley and Kevin. For the moment, Kevin seemed more interested in the elf than anything else, so Correll turned back to Hayley. “You can’t leave me here to die! That’s against your vows!”
Hayley shook her head, still looking at Nikki. “No, taking a knife and plunging it into your heart would be against my vows. Allowing you to bleed to death? Not against my vows at all. Nothing in our vows says I have to treat you.”
“You can’t just let me die!”
Hayley turned to look back at the man. “Can you give me one good reason why not? When Myron finds out you shot his dog, how much do you think your life’s going to be worth?”
“Not a whole lot,” Kevin said from behind her. Hayley turned around as he knelt down beside his dog. “How is she?” he asked.
“As far as her shoulder’s concerned, she’ll be fine, but there had to be something on that arrow. It’s almost like she’s been poisoned.”
Kevin’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Correll. “What was on the arrow?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Kevin stood up and walked towards the man.
As soon as Kevin left Nikki’s side, Alek sat down beside Nikki and put his arm around Shelley. Neisha collapsed on the ground beside Alek and, with a deep sigh, set the bell in her lap and gave it a fond little pat.
“I see you’ve got a few more arrows,” Kevin said as he approached Correll. “Wonder if they’ve got the same stuff on them. I’m not all that good with a bow, but I bet Rhianna could put one in each leg without any problem.”
Corin took a step back as Rhianna joined Kevin. “I think I could manage that.”
Kevin nodded to Corin as he used an outstretched hand to pick up Correll’s bow and quiver and hand them to Rhianna. “Last chance. What was on the arrow?”
Rhianna pulled an arrow out of the quiver and nocked it. “Which leg? Or does it matter?”
Kevin shrugged and turned to Correll. “Do you have a preference?”
Sweat broke out all over Correll’s face. “All right, all right. It’s opium sap on the tip. The arrow only grazed the dog. It should be fine in a little while.”
“The dog is a she, not an it,” Kevin snapped. “And you better hope she’s fine because your survival is directly linked to hers!” Then he turned and nodded to Hayley.
Before Hayley could get to the wounded man, Rhianna stopped her. “Myron, I want Caelan to see him before she closes the wound, while he’s still got my knife in him.”
Kevin frowned. “Why?”
“I’m not going through that mess with the council again. If Caelan sees him right there, behind that bush, he’ll know he’s no innocent victim. I want Caelan here before anything gets moved, including my knives. And I want the other one left right where he is, too.”
“What other one?”
Rhianna nodded towards the stack of lumber. Kevin looked over there, but all he could see was Doreen holding a shovel up in the air like a bat. He frowned and turned back to Rhianna.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure if he’s dead or knocked out. She hit him pretty hard.”
“No one’s going to attack my home and get away with it, not again,” Doreen said through clenched teeth.
Kevin glanced at Rigel, who was already moving in Doreen’s direction.
When Rigel reached her, he gently lifted the shovel out of her hands. “He’s still breathing, but it might be a good idea to have Hayley check him out.” As he lowered the shovel, he said, “Why don’t you see if you can find some rope? I want to tie him up a bit before he wakes up.”
Doreen nodded and headed towards the tool shed.
Rhianna touched Kevin’s arm to get his attention again. “Can we go get Caelan?”
Kevin looked at Marcus who had taken up a position between Correll and everyone else. Marcus nodded. “I’ve got this if you want to go. There were two other men in the area, in a buggy. I’m not sure if they were part of this crew or not, but either way, they took off before we got here. They’re long gone by now.”
Everything seemed to be under control for the moment, so Kevin nodded. “Do you know where he lives?” he asked Rhianna. “I don’t.”
Rhianna nodded, so Kevin handed her the key.
As soon as Rhianna and Kevin left, Corin turned and quietly slipped back into the forest.
Meanwhile, half the town had arrived at Doreen’s to see what was going on. A few people drifted back towards town once they realized that the excitement was pretty much over, but most gathered in little groups to speculate on what had happened.
Fifteen minutes later, Rhianna and Kevin were back with Caelan. The backyard was the same as when they left except Correll wasn’t talking anymore. He was just sitting there with a pained expression on his face.
Caelan pointed towards the man. “Is he the one who shot at you?”
Rhianna nodded. “And hit Nikki.” She tilted her head towards the pup, who was still surrounded by people.
“Is she all right?” Caelan asked.
Hayley spoke up. “I’ve closed her wound, but the opium on his arrow left her awfully weak.”
Caelan turned back towards Correll. “You had opium on your arrow?”
Correll hesitated. Then he nodded.
“Why?”
“So we could capture the elf.”
“Why?”
“Rolan ordered us to. He wants to use her to get his sister back.”
Caelan rolled his eyes and turned to Rhianna. “Are both of those knives yours?”
She nodded.
“You know you’d have been justified if you’d killed him, don’t you?”
“But if I had, we wouldn’t have been able to question him.”
“True. Was he the only assassin involved?”
Rhianna shook her head. “There’s another one behind the lumber.”
“Did you put a knife in him, too?”
“No, Doreen got him with a shovel.”
Caelan’s eyebrows rose as he glanced in that direction. “A shovel?”
Kevin grinned. “From what I understand, she conked him on the head and knocked him out.”
Caelan nodded and looked back at Rhianna. “Definitely a case of self-defense. If anything comes up before the council, I’ll take care of it.” He glanced at Kevin. “Are you going to handle it from here?”
Kevin nodded.
“Then I’ll head back home.” Caelan took out his key and turned to Rhianna. “Be careful. There’s no telling what that man’s going to try next.”
As Rhianna nodded, Caelan turned his key and left.
“Who was he?” Correll snapped at Kevin. “And when is the sister going to do something about my arm? I’m bleeding here!”
Kevin looked over at Correll and then shook his head. “Not so much anymore. As to that man, that was Caelan, the elven representative to the Federation of Terah. He was here because you, a human, attempted to capture Rhianna, a warrior elf. If you’re lucky, the warrior elves won’t demand we turn you over to them.” He looked back at Hayley. “He’s all yours now. If you have trouble getting the knife out, let Marcus handle it.”
Kevin walked over to Nikki and knelt down beside her. As he rested his hand on her head, her eyes slowly opened and she tried to lick his hand. “It’s all right, girl. You’ll be fine.” When he stood back up, his eyes were a bit watery, so he walked away from everyone.
Rhianna came up behind him and quietly said, “I’m so sorry, Myron. I should have seen him. I should have been able to keep her safe.”
Kevin shook his head. “It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault. You were in your own backyard. Both of you should have been completely safe out here.” Kevin took a deep breath. “This one’s on me. I left those assassins alone even though I’ve known where their camp is for months. Well, that ends today.” He motioned for Alek to join him. While he was waiting, he took off his key to Terah. “Go back to the castle and let Chris know what’s going on. Tell him I’ll want to see Cpt. Darrell and Cpt. Lawrence as soon as I get back. Then find Gen. Crandal and tell him we have a couple of prisoners for him.”
Alek took the key and nodded. “Any idea when you’ll be heading back?”
“As soon as Gen. Crandal and his soldiers get here. And tell Chris to find a mattress and a couple of quilts. Nikki needs a comfortable place to rest until that mess gets out of her system.”
Chapter 50
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Marcus was right when he said the two men in the buggy took off. As soon as Amos heard the bell, he knew it was over. He had the horse in a full gallop as soon as they cleared the woods, and they didn’t slow down until they got to the path to the cave. He pulled the horse back to a walk and took the buggy in as close as he could. When they couldn’t go any farther, he jumped out, tied the horse to the nearest tree, and ran into the cave.
By the time Bruno got inside, Amos had his bed roll ready to go and was stuffing his clothes in a carry bag.
“What are you doing?” Bruno asked.
“I’m getting out of here. And if you’re smart, you’ll do the same.”
“We need to go back for them,” Bruno argued. “We can’t just leave them there.”
“Believe me, they won’t be there long. They’ll be in jail before nightfall, and you know what happened to Saryn when he got locked up. They won’t survive the night.”
Bruno shook his head. “We’ve got to try to rescue them.”
“Maybe you do, but I don’t. It’s every man for himself now.” Amos paused as he looked around the cave to see if there was anything else he needed.
“So you’re going to run?”
Amos nodded. “As fast and as far as I can. Now, are you coming with me? Or do you want to die with them?”
~ ~ ~ ~
An hour later Kevin and Nikki were back at the castle where Cpt. Lawrence, Darrell, Chris, and Kevin’s two bodyguards were waiting to hear what Kevin planned to do next. After Kevin was sure Nikki was comfortable, he sat down at his desk. “I think it’s time we put an end to this mess, once and for all.”
Darrell frowned. “We can round up this group, but how do we stop Rolan from sending more?”
“I’m not sure we can, but I’m going to make sure he knows if he tries anything like this again, it’s going to cost him, but we’ll get to that later. For now I want to clean out that cave, and then we’re going after the spies.”
Alek and Rigel looked at each other, but didn’t say anything.
“When do you want to round up the ones in the cave?” Cpt. Lawrence asked.
“Now,” Kevin answered. “As soon as we’re finished in here.”
“Who’s going?” Darrell asked.
Kevin waved his arm around the room. “Everyone except Chris. Someone’s got to keep an eye on things here.”
“What about Marcus?” Alek asked.
“I asked him to keep an eye on the prisoners until they were locked up and the jail was secure.”
“Do you have any idea how many assassins are at the cave?” Cpt. Lawrence asked.
“No, but there were only five or six of them last December. I doubt too many more have arrived since then.”
“Do you want a wagon for transport?”
Kevin shook his head. “I’ll bring them back by key.”
Alek frowned. “I’m sorry, but I have a problem letting them put their hands on you. If you want to bring them back by key, Rigel and I can do it.”
“All right,” Kevin said. “I can go along with that.”
“You said something about getting the spies,” Chris said. “When do you want to do that?”
“Why?”
“Well, last time we had an assassin in the jail, he didn’t make it through the night. If he was killed by one of the spies...”
Cpt. Lawrence shook his head. “That won’t happen again. Whenever there’s anyone in the jail now there will be two soldiers on duty outside and two inside. No one’s getting in there and hanging another prisoner, not on our watch.”
“As long as Trevor isn’t on duty,” Kevin said under his breath.
Cpt. Lawrence nodded. “I’ll see to it.”
“All right. Do whatever you need to do, get any weapons you want, and meet me back here in fifteen minutes. Let’s see how many vipers are still in the nest.”
As soon as the others left the office, Chris said, “Well, one thing’s for sure, Neiven’s alarm system works.”
Kevin nodded. “And it’s a good thing they had that bell. Rhianna and Doreen had it under control for the moment, but it could have been hours before anyone else came along. When this is over, I’m going to ask Joan to bake that man a cake.”
“With ice cream,” Chris added with a grin. “Neiven really likes ice cream.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Twenty minutes later, Kevin took Darrell, Cpt. Lawrence, Rigel, and Alek to the road in front of the waterfall. As they made their way through the woods, Rigel pointed out fresh horse and buggy tracks. “Looks like the buggy Marcus saw was part of this crew,” he whispered to Kevin.