Rebellion: Prince of Dawn

Chapter 9.4: The Mining Town of Rockbell

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ILIAS VAN PAYNE

I told Camaro and the others that I wanted to stay behind to make sure Tank got back safely. In reality, it was because I didn't think I would've been able to control myself eating dinner with Armstrong. If he had said the wrong things or tried something, I would've attacked then and there.

   That wouldn't have been good.

   I was sure I could handle Armstrong—but the problem was that the entire mansion would be filled with trained soldiers. A battalion of soldiers would be too much for me to handle. A handful might even know basic jynx.

   There was also the presence of a deadly and easy-to-use weapon that was issued to every soldier—a pistol.

   Gunpowder was something we didn't dabble with a hundred years ago. They were too unstable and no one dared to experiment with it lest they wanted to lose a hand. Usually, they were poured into mines—large circular vessels with spikes protruding from every direction. Men would place several mines at the weak point of a castle and throw in a torch. But even this was rarely used. It was easy to shoot them with flaming arrows while men were hauling them around on the battlefield. There was a also chance dropping one could trigger an explosion.

   However, during the past century, researchers were able to stabilize gunpowder enough to put a tiny bit in projectiles called bullets. These bullets would go into a device called a pistol and pulling a trigger would cause a hammer to hit the bullet. A tiny explosion would launch the bullet faster than any arrow.

   This dangerous weapon was truly fascinating. I wager that in a few decades, they could make devices that could carry a hundred bullets.

   The colonel and his unit had been gone for over two hours. Midnight was in an hour and a half, so I put on a coat and wore my hat to keep warm before heading out into the cool darkness. I used Inner Light to transform one of my gates into an orb of light and waited just outside of town holding Camaro's used shirt.

   Lights and fires were a bad idea if you were alone in the woods as they would attract animals and all sorts of creatures. But I was still close enough to town that anything that dared to approach was either a friend or a fool.

   I had seen nothing in the darkness and was spooked when Tank all of a sudden started nudging his head into my chest.

   "Hey, buddy. Where did you come from?" I scratched his head. "Good boy. You did such a good job."

   Surprisingly, as heavy and bulky as Tank was, he barely made a sound when moving. His flat feet helped spread his weight.

   "Let's get you all rested up. I bet that mission with Private Gama must've been stressful. I'll see if I can sneak you a couple of apples during the night."

   Just as we began to head back, Tank glanced upwards. I couldn't see it at first, but what caught his attention was a carrier pigeon.

   The nearby towns were in Armstrong's pockets, so there's a chance he's asking for help.

   Things could turn sour if reinforcements for Armstrong were to arrive.

   I hovered above the ground and pushed myself towards the bird with a gust of wind. The pigeon evaded my grab, but I managed to catch it with a levitation spell and pull it back down to the ground with me.

   Corporal Rudolf taught me a trick to calm down birds. They become calm when they can't see anything—which was why falconers put hoods on their birds of prey during transport. I gently bent the pigeon's neck and tucked its head under its own wing.