*******This has been cut out of the story. Read if you like or skip it*********
Alright, so I know it's been a while. I can't help it! It's just that at camp we're extremely busy and I've got a lot of people to feed. But I haven't heard too much complaining, so I guess it's alright. :P
On with Martin's story! Last time we discover the poison and a way to destroy it. They're plan is...?
********
Peter watched as the Alex showed them the simple way of destroying the poison. “That’s it?” he asked, pointing to the normal flame. True, it was larger and green a moment before, but nothing very dramatic. “All we have to do is set all those boxes up in flame?”
“Essentially, yes,” Alex answered, not the least offended by the tone he used. “Terk has the stuff packed in straw. Shouldn’t be too hard to get the fire started.”
“What about hostages?” a soldier near the back asked. “Won’t Terk use them as human shields?”
Alex paused, frowning as he thought about the question. “No,” he answered, rubbing his wrist again. “I don’t think so. Terk thinks most everyone here is too weak to fight. He thinks he has the upper hand. And also his soldiers think the same.”
“Why do you say that?” Peter asked, folding his arms and glaring at the spy. “Maybe he does have an upper hand on us. We just don’t know what it is.”
“His upper hand is the poison,” Alex snapped, slamming his fist on the table. “We’ve got to act now if we’re going to make sure Terk never uses it against us again!”
“Calm down,” Peter ordered, not understanding why the Alex was getting upset. “We want to rescue our people too, you know.” The Alex took a deep breath and then another.
“I know you do,” he replied, as he rubbed his wrist again. Briefly Peter wondered what was wrong with his wrist. “But what you don’t understand is the pain that’s involved. “ He shuttered and closed his eyes tight. “No one should ever go through that.”
“You tested the poison on yourself.” Sona stalked towards her fellow spy, her faced enraged. “Why didn’t you ask us to try it for you?”
“I didn’t take it on purpose,” he growled. “It’s just more potent in liquids. I so much touch it and I felt the pain.” He swept his hard gaze on the rest of the soldiers, causing some to step back. “We’ve got to destroy this poison now before Terk uses it on the masses. Now, are we going to plan this attack or not?”
Peter stepped back, awed by the power in the spy’s voice as he asked the question. The rest of the soldiers stood stunned, gaping at the spy. None of them were expecting the forceful presence.
“I’m in,” one brave soldier said, breaking them all out of the stupor the Alex had them in. “We’ve all swore to protect Aeterna.”
“Terk doesn’t have the right to our minds!” another soldier cried out.
The room exploded into a loud chorus of agreement. Peter gazed around, shocked. It took some men years to learn to motivate people into such passion; the Alex couldn’t have been in his twenties yet! Thinking of the spy, he stared at the young man, wondering just what kind of person he had been actually dealing with. The Alex was also gazing around the room, his face a bit surprised, as if he himself did not expect the reaction from the men. Finally, he met eyes with him. Peter stared back at the question in the spy’s eyes.
The Alex himself was wondering how he managed to motivate them.
*******
“Another clue,” Martin thought bitterly as he sat waiting for full dusk. “I shouldn’t have been able to talk them into it.
“But I did.”
He didn’t even say much, just asked for their help making a plan. He shivered as he remembered what he felt during his argument. It was almost like his visions, only in the form of feelings. He felt all their worries. He knew them. Even know, as he glanced at Peter sitting beside him, he knew the man’s worry. The captain was worried he would hurt Sona.
He glanced away, ashamed. This power of knowing what others felt made him feel sick. Thoughts were to be private, something everyone was entitled to enjoy. And he was able to break through that barrier. But there was something much worse.
“I was able to nudge their emotions.” At least, he thought he had. How else could he have rioted them up in such little time? Or perhaps he was able to speak right to the soft spot in all their souls, the place in their hearts that motivated them. Martin prayed it was that he was just able to touch the soft spot.
“This is a good plan,” Peter said suddenly. Martin just glanced back over at the captain. Thankfully the impression of the man’s thoughts didn’t enter his own mind. “I’m still a bit worried by how much danger you’re putting yourself in.”
“You sound just like Luke,” Martin thought, turning away and gazing at the sight before them. They sat just outside the stables in the shadows. It was a perfect place to see the entire courtyard. There were very few tents erected inside the fort, most of the soldiers slept outside while the commanding officers were inside with real beds. But his eyes were fixed on the stack of boxes that stood towering in the center. There was the poison.
“I’m used to danger,” he replied, shrugging. “Though, I’m surprised you volunteered to do this with me.”
There was no answer for a long minute. Martin refused to look at the man to read his emotions. He wanted to shiver. No one should have this power.
“I’m not doing this for you,” Peter finally said slowly. “I’m doing this for Sona.”
The answer confused him. Martin frowned as he faced the captain again. “For Sona?”
“She’s my cousin,” Peter explained. “I don’t want her hurt.” The captain laughed bitterly. “However, she’s working with spies. She’s bound to get hurt. Especially if she’s with the Alex.”
Martin chuckled softly. “Ah, so you figured out who I was. That explains why you’ve been stepping carefully around me.”
Peter flinched at his accurate observation. Coughing, he sat taller in an attempt to gather more courage. “Yes, I did. And that’s why I’m doing this with you. You’re the Alex, more myth than man. Wherever you go, danger follows. And also death. I don’t want to see my cousin in that snare.”
“Sona’s a research spy,” he pointed out. “She’s rarely outside the records. The only time I really see her is when I’m turning in a report.” However, it did seem lately he had been seeing a lot of her.
“That may not stay that way longer,” Peter snorted. “Did you know that she likes you?”
Martin jumped, startled as he stared at the captain. “She likes me?”
Peter snorted again. “For a man rumored to know everything, I’m surprised you didn’t notice. Why else did you think she has been siding with you?”
He hesitated. He had thought it was because he was on her prince list. She was there to investigate his past. That’s what it should have been. “But she did realize I was bothered.” She had also been finding excuses to talk to him, she seemed to always be interested in what he was doing. Martin groaned, planting his face in his hands. Another thing to worry about.
“Truthfully,” he told the captain, “I didn’t notice. I’ve had more important things to worry about.”
Peter glared at him. “You’re going to hurt her with an attitude like that. And I’m not going to allow it.”
“Really?” Martin snapped, lifting his head and glaring back at the captain. “And how are you going to do that? Especially since you don’t know anything about the world we work in?” Peter quailed under his gaze, his normal strait posture slumping. Martin snorted. “Now, how about instead of threatening me, watch for the signal.” Peter mumbled something that sounded like both insult and agreement, switching his averted gaze back into the courtyard.
Martin continued to stare at him for a minute before also watching for the signal. “She likes me?” After everything that had happened to him in the last few mouths, learning about something so normal made him uneasy. He would admit that he found the research spy very attractive and if he hadn’t been so busy he would have even flirted back. However, the discovery of his glove changed everything. Martin wanted to bury his head again.
“Am I ever going to live a somewhat normal life?”
As he stared out over the courtyard, he wondered what he was going to do about this latest development in his crazy life. If Sona pursued her attraction to him, eventually she was going to learn the truth he had been hiding. He had no idea how she would react; she was nearly as dedicated to her job as he was to his. And what if he was the prince? What type of relationship could they have? Martin rubbed his forehead. His knowledge about princes was limited.
“I can’t deal with this now,” he thought, gritting his teeth. Secretly, he would like to have a romantic relationship and he did rather enjoy Sona’s company, but he had no idea who he was. How was he supposed to get to know her when he couldn’t even see his own face?
“Hey, Alex,” Peter said, nudging him with his elbow, “look over there.” Martin followed the captain’s pointing finger. On the other side of the courtyard, the other soldiers were creeping along the battlements, most carrying jugs. Below them the Venter soldiers on guard duty stood waiting to full dusk. Once the Aeternans stood over the enemy, they poured the jugs’ contents on the soldiers. Martin smirked to see the Venter soldiers dance around, trying to wipe the honey from their uniforms as the bees swarmed around them.
“Think that’s enough of a distraction?” Peter asked.
Martin rolled his eyes. “If we can hear them from here, I think it will be.” He reached over to pick up the torches they had prepared earlier. He waited until he heard the alarm sound before lighting the oil. Peter also lit his.
“Alright,” he said, smirking slightly, “Let’s go.”
***********
“Let me get this strait,” Tracker said, idly playing with his knife as the two soldiers stood at attention for his questions. “A pretty young girl comes up to you, offer you drink, and then someone hit you from behind?” He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head slowly. “That’s the oldest trick in the book.”
“It’s the oldest for a reason,” one of the soldiers muttered. Tracker allowed a small smirk. That was true. He sighed dramatically.
“Well, it can’t be helped.” In the same idle movement, he threw the knife at the other soldier, killing the man on the spot. The other watched horrified as his fellow dropped to the ground without a sound. Tracker looked on, his face completely deprived of emotion, though inside he felt the thrill of another kill. Even if the victim didn’t see it coming.
Rocking back up to stand, Tracker walked over to the living soldier and patted his shoulder. “You’ve got a brain. The next time you don’t use it, I’ll kill you.” The soldier shivered from the cold, even tone he used. Just how he liked it. “Now, go get another assignment or something.”
“Yee-s, Siirr,” the soldier stammered. Taking another quick horrified glance at the dead man, he sprinted from the room. Tracker snorted. He should be scared. Not many walked away from him when they failed.
“I should have killed him,” he gave afterthought. They had failed in a huge way, letting those Aeternan soldiers escape. Now he had to find them before they caused trouble. Though he suspected they already were causing problems.
Tracker thought back to when they had tested the poison, and the odd gasp from behind the door. He scowled. He had lost the eavesdropper somewhere on the floor above. He knew he had the right door, but when he finally had it opened, the listener was already gone.
“I’m dealing with another spy.” Only another spy could have gotten that close to the experiment room without getting spotted. True, the spy had made a mistake of gasping like that, and Tracker did wonder why they gasped, but they had gotten away.
He had spent the rest of the day in the fort’s censes, trying to narrow down who could be the spy. As he had many times before that day, he pulled out the list he had made. Dismissing nearly everyone off the list due to injury or profession, he was left with only the soldiers working at the fort. His eyes narrowed as he came to the last two names on the list. Two names briefly mentioned for entering the camp earlier the day they arrived.
Roy and Alex, two soldiers assigned to pick up medical supplies for General Sanders.
Tracker clenched the list in his hand, glaring at nothing. Roy and Alex were common Aeternan names, both used by Aeternan spies. He doubted he was working with the Spy Alex though. Rumor had it that Doug Suit hadn’t found anyone worthy of holding his precious title yet.
“But there’s still a spy here.” Tracker sat back down, leaning back until the back of the chair hit the wall. He propped his feet up on the table and considered how he was going to deal with this other spy. Glancing at the wadded paper still clenched in his fist, he knew there was only one person who could answer any questions about the two almost unknown soldiers. He abruptly stood, a small smile forming on his thin lips. It shouldn’t take too much to break the head healer Hanna.
Halfway to the room they had locked the healers in, Tracker heard the screaming. Frowning, he followed the sound outside to see Aeternan soldiers on the battlement and Venter soldiers below, waving their arms wildly to protect themselves from the bees attacking them. The enemy above laughed at the show below them.
“Aeternans,” Tracker growled, taking out knives from his sleeves. He would teach them a lesson to mess with Venter! Taking aim, he was ready to hit the nearest Aeternan when another alarm sounded.
“Enemy army approaching!” The loud Venter watcher called. “Enemy approaching!”
“Great.” Things were taking a very ugly turn for them.
“Seems the Aeternans are going to force us to leave,” Terk said, approaching from behind. Tracker just scowled. “I’m calling a retreat,” the mad general went on, though his eyes shown with victory. “We got what we wanted from here.”
Tracker almost agreed as he gazed at the poison they had ready to use. The agreement died in his throat as he watched two Aeternan soldiers chuck flaming torches at the boxes of poison.
BANG!
Everyone was nearly thrown back as the boxes exploded. “No,” Tracker growled, charging toward the two Aeternans responsible. “I’ll get you!” Behind him, he could hear the call of retreat, but he was past hearing. Their plan for using the poison was gone because of them. One of the soldiers noticed him coming and turned to face him.
“Tracker!” the Mad General snapped, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back. Tracker tried to get out of the general’s grip, but Terk was famed for his strength. “We have the formula. We can always make more. We need to leave now.” He began to pull his spy away from the scene, but Tracker watched the two, trying to see their faces in the flickering green light of the burning poison. One kept his face turned aside, but one stared strait on.
Tracker locked gazes with this one and felt the breath in his chest constrict, the power from those eyes frightening him when nothing else could. The Aeternan soldier stood tall, though he was of average height, his dark hair barely whipping around by the fire created wind. But those hazel eyes. One look in those hazel eyes spoke of a man more determined and dangerous than anyone should have a right to be.
“The Alex,” he finally breathed. Suit had finally passed off the title. And he knew who he had passed the title to. The young brat from three years before, the same one who stole the poison from him in Evan’s Stand. Three years had changed the kid from a skinny wisp of a boy to this determined young man standing in the mist of the chaos he created.
Terk finally managed to whip him around to see the horses standing ready for them. Out of habit, he mounted and followed after the Mad General, still thinking of the young Alex. His chest still heaved at the memory of locking gaze with that man.
“No!” he commanded himself, shaking his head. “I will not cower to this brat!” He took slow and steady breaths, calming himself down again. Once he was in control again, he glared back up to the fort, seeing the green glow.
“We’ll meet again, kid,” he promised softly. “And we’ll see who’s better.”
***********
I'll try to get another post done before camp is done, but no promises. I've got a cookbook to get together, get ready for the last two weeks of camp (using up all the rest of the food we have left), do deep cleaning of camp, then have a planned a vacation for a few days before I come back to Idaho to start classes. Whew! More writing will be done during the school year (it has to do with that hour long bus ride when I can't do much of anything).
Enjoy the advetures that come!
