A Most Dangerous Weapon

Chapter 40: We Can't Go On Like This

It took another two days to finally reach Octain Port.

The storm trapped us on Jeyne's property until morning. Once it was safe to continue our journey, we set off towards a large town called Denton. It had a training ground ripe with gladiators, and conveniently it was along the route we had to take anyways to get to Bailer. Of course I was anxious to be stopping once more, knowing that Bailer probably didn't have much time left. But it was part of the plan to build our gladiator army; it was my idea. I couldn't very well go against it.

We quickly surveyed the training grounds in the afternoon to come up with our invasion plan. When night fell, we stormed the grounds without a hitch. We were able to avoid bloodshed, knocking out the guards and the owners while they slept. We remained anonymous to leave them with the impression that it was another Galacian raid. Rowan and Quintus took the lead on the recruitment speech again. It seemed that I was no longer necessary on that front once the potential recruits saw such infamous fighters amongst our rankings; Quintus, Arrian, Newt, Theo, Evander, and even the most fearsome men from Antigo. This bode well for me. The more I was able to fade into the background, the less questions people asked about the mysterious person who constantly wore a cloak and sash. The whole process just seemed much easier in comparison to our first invasion on Tiberius' training grounds.

Everything began to move at a glacier pace after that. Our group was just too large to travel quickly while remaining discrete. We walked as far as we could to get away from Denton just in case someone came looking for the missing gladiators. It was around two in the morning before we discovered a semi-safe place to rest. By dawn I was shaking people awake to move on. I estimated that we could make it to Octain Port just before midday.

With the lack of sleep, everyone was even more sluggish than I anticipated. We didn't get to Octain Port until the early afternoon.

I was standing on a cliff's edge looking down upon the beaches and port below, trying my best to calm my nerves as I impatiently waited for my friend's to join me. They were currently attempting to get our hoard of fighters settled at our campsite in the valley behind me. Octain Port was just too small of a place for us to find shelter; we would stick out like a sore thumb if we allowed the gladiators to roam freely below. Quintus and Newt would be left in charge of the campsite and men.

Theo, Kilgorian, Camilla and Loxley were preparing to go into town to gather supplies. We figured that they were the least conspicuous bunch. The men had less imposing frames compared to some of the other gladiators, and the addition of two women, despite both of their naturally fierce gazes, made the men look more approachable. They would be able to pass themselves off as simple travellers without much contention. Of course it was difficult to convince Camilla to leave Evander's side, and Loxley was none too pleased with Rowan for ordering her away again.

Arrian, Arlo, Evander, Rowan and I would be in charge of searching for Bailer. Scanning the town below, I began to decipher the layout and pinpoint the most likely locations for Bailer's dwelling, workplace and hangouts.

Rowan approaches. "The others are almost ready." His words are very emotionless. Ever since our argument in the forest, he only interacts with me when absolutely necessary, and even then it's fairly minimal and concise.

I drop my arms that were previously crossed with my fingers tapping away anxiously on my forearms. "We can't keep going on like this. We have to split up."

"What are you talking about?" He looks frozen in place, probably thinking that I'm finally admitting to betraying him.

"Our group is getting too big. We're losing ground because we're taking on too much. We need to divide and conquer."