Key & Locke: The Five Moons Series Page 2

  The path was wide, about four wagon’s width across, and wound along the river, entering the forest. The sandy dirt was packed down, showing its usage from carriages.

  Ruven howled into the night like a leader of a wolf pack and called out to me. His voice traveled to my ear as if he spoke into it directly, “I cannot wait to get my hands on you.”

  Shudders spread down my arms and shook my body. Like hell I’d let that happen.

  Splashes diminished as feet found solid ground behind me. I’d say I had about thirty seconds before they caught up. The soldiers were more physically fit and driven by the wrath of their superiors if they didn’t catch me. Surrendering wasn’t an option because it wasn’t only my life on the line. I felt movement on my back again as if to remind me she was there.

  The drugs must be wearing off at this point.

  At that moment, some greater power looked out for me because straight ahead, a group of Ostan soldiers marched from the dark of the night into a pool of moonlight on the path. Their pounding steps formed bellows of dust to jump into the night air. Dressed in silver armor with the Ostan sigil of a viridian lizard on their shields, they were a sight to behold. If I had to surmise, they marched towards the river for their shift of guarding the kingdom’s lines.

  “Help!” I shouted as I pushed into a frantic sprint, my body on the edge of breaking, exceeding its limitations with one last release of adrenaline.

  We were almost safe. So close that I could see the individual faces of the soldiers before a hand roughly grabbed my arm and swung me back, nearly ripping it out of its socket.

  “No, you don’t,” a rough voice growled in my ear. “One word from you, and I’ll hurt this one.”

  I froze immediately, there was no way that he would touch her, but the knife the unknown bastard held glinted in front of my face. The overwhelming scent of sweat and river water almost caused me to gag as his hair dripped onto me.

  “Let me go, you dirty—”

  “What seems to be the matter here?” questioned the Ostan soldier who apparently was in charge.

  The Ostans stopped about fifty yards away and the leader removed his helmet to reveal a middle-aged man with dark brown skin and short hair that showed signs of gray on the sides. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he focused on the vice grip that the Agrestian soldier I didn’t recognize had on my arm.

  “We were just on a nice stroll, Osta is known to be beautiful this time of year.” Ruven, wet hair falling over one eye, stepped up through the men and held out his hands in a helpless gesture, turning on his charm. “We’re heading back now, aren’t we?” he addressed the group. “Let’s go, soldiers!”

  I attempted to send some type of message to the Captain by making eye contact with him.

  Studying me for a minute, his gaze traveled from my bloodied face and hands down my soaked outfit. His eyes widened once he saw what hung on my back. Somehow, he understood the plea in my eyes and called out to Ruven.

  “Now wait a second. We’d like to speak to that nice girl you’ve got there and hear her story.”

  “She’s fine. Aren’t you, bit—girl?”

  Glancing to the drenched Ruven, I found his eyes promised an evil retribution if I contradicted him.

  Too bad.

  “No—”

  Ruven interrupted me. “See? She’s fine, thanks for asking. We’ll be off now.” He turned to head in the other direction while the soldier holding my arm tightened his grip, definitely causing a bruise to form later.

  We walked towards the river, so I dragged my feet and struggled. But then from behind me, I heard the sweet singing of a sword leaving its scabbard.

  “Sirs, I’m going to have to ask you to stop right there. We’d like to talk a little more, if that’s alright?” Despite his words, the Ostan knight left little room for discussion.

  “We’re really in a hurry.” Ruven sauntered over to me and grabbed my free arm and both men practically carried me back towards the river.

  A bridge connected the two kingdoms, but that was a ways downriver. Do they expect to swim across again? My bones were weary and I didn’t have much energy left for a second escape. In one last attempt, I squirmed and kicked my captors to loosen their hold. This only resulted in them increasing their grip painfully.

  The Ostan Captain commanded his soldiers, “Men, draw your swords. Agrestians, we have warned you enough. If you do not stop, we will have to use force. You’re in our territory anyway, without permission, I may add. That is cause enough for us to justify an attack.” The air suddenly became thick with tension. I had to admire the authoritative atmosphere that originated from the Ostan Captain.

  “Oh, for the gods’ sake,” Ruven muttered under his breath and he threw me to the ground on the side of the path.

  I twisted to make sure I landed on my hands and knees, scrapping my chin a little too. As long as I didn’t crush her, it was fine.

  “Lukep, watch them. Don’t take your eyes off of her or else you’ll have to answer to me,” Ruven ordered.

  An ugly man, Lukep, stepped out of formation and stalked forward with cold eyes and his sword menacingly pointed towards us.

  Ruven stomped off and addressed the Agrestians. “Listen up, let’s finish this as quickly as possible so we can get back, celebrate with mead and sex, and collect our reward from the King.”

  An appreciative grumble answered back as the twenty or so Agrestian soldiers drew their swords, calling for battle. The men and women looked hungry for blood. These soldiers were handpicked for their thirst for violence, which made them relentless in battle. Their loyalty for Ruven made certain their missions succeeded.

  Around thirty Ostan infantrymen faced us, I wondered how many of them would return home alive by the end of this. I tried to ignore the sickening feeling that said none would see their families again. Even though the Agrestian soldiers encroached on Osta’s lands, I was the main cause of the fight. Guilt pooled in the pit of my stomach, but I shoved it back down again, not allowing it to spread. My number one priority was to escape, not to worry about the Ostan soldiers.

  Both groups organized themselves in positions across the path, swords and shields waiting for action.

  “Oh hell, let’s get this over with,” Ruven said, sounding tired, yet eagerness obviously portrayed on his face.

  He led the charge and soon, the sounds of shouting turned to screaming, the brown dirt path turned red with blood, and able bodied men dropped to the ground with injuries or no life left in them.

  I have to get out of here.

  It was my last chance. I glanced at Lukep but he was busy watching the battle with a hint of jealousy. Bored because he was left to be the watchdog, I used his distraction to gather some dirt in my hand. Well, let’s make this interesting then. Lukep was young but not much to look at with his close shaved head and beady brown eyes.

  Most of the Agrestian soldiers weren’t wearing a helmet or full body armor because they were forced to leave in a hurry earlier.

  To capture me.

  Wrong choice.

  “Lukep,” I called.

  As he turned, I threw the dirt I from the road into his eyes. Ruven and Lukep did not expect me to know how to defend myself which was to my advantage.

  “The hell!” Lukep’s hands went to his eyes automatically as a natural instinct.

  With him distracted, I took my chance to slam my palm up into his nose, the weight on my back preventing my full momentum. Still, the hit did the trick. Lukep yelled out but everyone was too distracted by their own battles to hear him.

  I couldn’t let him recover or my chance would be gone, so I quickly went for the dagger on my belt, and slammed the handle into the side of Lukep’s head as hard as I could. He dropped so suddenly, it alarmed me, but his groaning on the ground stirred my senses to come back to reality.

  Taking a quick glance at how the fight progressed, I noticed half of the men seemed to litter the path. Ruven still viciously fought with bodie
s sprawled all around him.

  “Ra?” a voice came from my back.

  “Shhh, go back to sleep,” I cooed.

  I took a couple of steps quietly backwards, stepping into the trees, still holding my dagger up just in case the collapsed form of Lukep tried to spring at me. As soon as I lost sight of the battle, I spun around and ran, disappearing into the forest.

  Chapter 2

  Now

  I breathed in the breeze, smelling spring with its flowers and promise of rain.

  The sun, high in the cloudless azure sky warmed my face and body as I held the basket of washed clothes. The women and men from the camp behind me finished up their loads in the downstream part of the river, so I decided to stand at the top of the hill waiting. I glanced down at the valley below and appreciated the view.

  We arrived here two years ago now and the camp has kept growing. It spread out before me, hundreds of tents of various colors: lavender, gold, and more speckled the grassy field and the movement of people wandering in the tent city created an exciting buzz.

  The Grey Mountain ranges rose on both sides high off the ground, dark gray in color. The farther away they sat, the lighter gray the mountains displayed until they disappeared in the horizon.

  The range separated our camp from the kingdom of Istern to the east and the Baloc Sea to the west.

  Istern, famous for its ore and minerals mined from the Bloten Mountains, offered mostly a wealthy, businesslike lifestyle. Known for its asperous, cold people, Istern stood strong against Agrestia’s attacks for the past couple years. Sparsely populated, it could not provide many soldiers in terms of numbers. Their armor, on the other hand, was the best across the land. Expensive and extremely coveted, it was practically indestructible with the method their blacksmiths formed the metal in the furnace. Legend has it that the gods taught the blacksmiths of Istern hundreds of years ago how to weld the perfect tools and passed down their wealth of building knowledge.

  Osta and Istern remained at peace with each other, it was Agrestia that was the instigator. Ever since his coronation fifteen years ago, the Agrestian King had created chaos and discord between Agrestia and the other kingdoms.

  Even though the leaders of the territories were called the traditional titles of “King” or “Queen,” they were mostly democratically elected. Two partners, usually romantically involved, ran for the two open positions of the territory. Typically, one was well versed in public speaking and negotiations while the other ran the numbers and organized the development of the nation. The two-person campaign was optional. Sometimes, people ran as an individual and were still elected. Following tradition, the two candidates changed their name, if necessary, so the first letter matched the name of the territory. Only close family members and friends would continue to call the elected leaders by their original, given names.

  There were two exceptions. King Avyken and his wife, Queen Siobon, were voted fairly into the Agrestian seats. To the public, Queen Siobon was known as Queen Aibhan. The people have a right to object to a ruler if they gather enough signatures, proportional to the total population, organized by a neutral group of volunteers. Once Avyken showed his true, gluttonous nature, most of Agrestia-in the city, smaller towns, countryside-signed the petition to terminate Avyken’s rule.

  He did not concede. Instead, he promised the army certain advantages if they followed his instructions and allowed his rule to continue. It was impossible to physically remove him with his support of the army, and violent protests occurred. The King disbanded the neutral government council and silenced any opposition with brutal force.

  The other exception to the two-person rule was the leader of Epellid. Eria allowed any neutral titles to be addressed towards them: leader, Eria, counselor-whatever title suited the person . They ruled by a different set of standards than the other kingdoms.

  Expectedly, Epellid joined the alliance with Osta against Agrestia. Although they were a small nation, Eria was a force to be reckoned with. Unapologetic about sharing their opinion, they only entered conflicts if it directly affected Epellish matters or injustices. A rich kingdom with rolling green hills and white sands, warm weather, and friendly people, it was relatively peaceful.

  Honestly, I wouldn’t mind living there in the future with Vi in our own little cottage.

  The next kingdom, Fyderlle, mostly sold spices and with its detailed embroidery and colorful clothes, Fyderlle was known as the richest nation. Their towns quite literally painted the countryside, no house was the same color. Its ruler, the young Queen Fosa, was loved by the Fyderllian people but kept to herself often enough that no one really knew her whereabouts at a given point.

  The reason the tents below were the permanent settlements of these people was a result of Agrestia annexing the lands they conquered and calling it their own. The people were migrants who fled the approaching Agrestian army and now relied on tents as a home. If the time came when they needed to pack up and leave at a moment’s notice, it’d be quick and efficient.

  Any individual or family looking to become part of the camp went through an interview with the Council, a selection of nine adults from the camp who were reasonable and responsible for any business that excluded daily chores. Because of its steadily increasing size, this tent city was now named Ostcamp by the locals.

  When Vi and I arrived, I simply told them the truth. We left Agrestia because it became too dangerous and had no family elsewhere to turn to. The council accepted our story, but it probably was a sense of obligation as well to take us in, a young woman and child. On average, the group accepted most people and only sent away those who created disturbances within the camp.

  Vi and I were given a tent and other supplies to settle on our small, designated area. The leader of the Council, Jerra, an older woman with wrinkled, tawny beige skin, a rounder figure, and stern voice gave us the introduction.

  “You two will easily fit into the routine here,” Jerra told us. “Everyone supports and assists their neighbors, fighting and thieving are not tolerated. You let us know of any problems, but you’ll have to earn your keep.” As she spoke, Jerra assisted me in setting up the meager tent. “Many new members become apprentices to someone in the community, so if you have any interest in a profession or practice, act fast because spots are limited. You’ll come back to check in every couple of days, and we’ll discuss your progress.”

  Her tone was neutral, but a genuine aura surrounded her that soothed my distrust of strangers. Jerra was busy as part of the Council but found time to visit our tent every once in a while. The other members of the Council ranged in ages and beliefs, yet I grew the closest to Jerra.

  Our arrival felt like eons ago, yet at the same time, the past two years had flown by.

  My attention returned to the bustle in the camp and it was incredible; parents cooked meals over fires, children ran in between tents and legs, and people walked in and out of the flaps of their homes. I could watch the peaceful scene forever, but I sighed. There was still plenty of work to be done.

  Blinking from the late afternoon sun, I appreciated the blanket of golden hue that covered the town.

  Maybe I can come back later for the sunset with Vi.

  “Avira!”

  I spun to see one of my best friends, Hummie, gasping up the slope of the hill, carrying her own load of clean clothes. Hummie’s brown skin shone with sweat from the uphill climb and it took her a few moments to catch her breath and straighten to her tall height.

  We met at the tent where an elderly lady’s secret recipe for baking pastry sweets was renowned, so a line always formed once she made a batch. The warm scent that rose from the sweets was heavenly, and Hummie, Vi, Henry, and I would bring our treats to the fire on the edge of camp and eat them slowly to make them last as long as possible.

  I knew our friendship would last because we bonded over food.

  Hummie, the same age as me, showed us the workings of the camp: where to buy meat, where clothes were washed, who to
avoid, and the location of the medical tent. Without her, I don’t know what I would have done. When we first arrived at camp, I was lost and a mess.

  “Let’s head back,” Hum said. “I’m starving and Mother’s making lamb soup tonight. You and Vi should come over.” Her bright yellow cotton dress flowed in the direction of the wind, as if it wished to tug Hum to follow the air stream.

  My mouth salivated thinking about that dinner.

  “You sure?” I asked. “I can bring over something, too. Vi sure would love to play with Henry.” I gave Hum a wink and she rolled her eyes.

  “You’re the worst Avy,” Hum said as she gave me a slight shove. “And leave Vi alone,” she teased. “Let’s head down and you can grab your sister and come on over.”

  Down in the valley, I parted ways with Hum. I raced through the maze of tents towards my own, greeting neighbors as I passed them. Our tent was tucked near the western corner of the whole camp, a soft honey color that housed a single straw mattress, a chair, a small wooden chest, and a wash bin.

  It wasn’t much, but it was home.

  When I moved the thick flap of the entrance, Vi was attempting to polish dishes in the back in the wash bin, sleeves rolled up and apron on. Her straight, golden hair was tied back while her green eyes intensely focused on the plate she scrubbed and scrubbed. She tried to help with chores often. Once her eyes met mine, she immediately dropped the dishes and ran to me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

  “Avy, you’re home!”

  At only seven years old, Vi was too mature for her age. She had seen and experienced more than the average child, yet she somehow kept a caring personality. Even physically, her once round face started to lose its shape, giving way to an oval outline. She was going to have boys lining up trying to get her attention soon. Her amiable nature made her transition into the camp seamless. Vi made friends with all the kids her age, and the adults adored her to bits.

  Give it another year, and she would have more responsibilities during the day. I’d love for her to play all day forever.