FIREFANGED

Chapter 25 (Lockrun)

Emotions ran hot in the meeting room, mostly mine.

Glenn and Loeb were there, along with Duke Ragir and the other two Vigils. Raven clung to my side as I struggled to control my temper. Thorn fought the urge to take charge. Snow, for once, was at a loss, and I could sense the deep-seated fear he tried to hide.

It was my turn. "What are the chances of another outbreak so soon after the last?"

"We don't even know if there is an outbreak. We'll have to send scouts to investigate further before mobilizing," said Snow. "How certain are you of this?"

"Certain enough to go myself. I'll ride east with your scouts."

"Perhaps it isn't a large outbreak. You would have both noticed that," said Loeb. "And it wouldn't take that many demons to threaten Lockrun and its small militia."

"The area was cleansed when we left a month ago," added Glenn. "Could it be stragglers emerging from caves?"

"Lockrun has walls made of timber. There aren't that many mines in the area," I said. "Maybe it's Bastian all over again."

A dozen lesser demons would wreck the frontier town. Hundreds would wipe it off the map.

"That would be a worst-case scenario with too many perils to name," said Snow. "Ara, please take your whole team and a couple of Corbin's scouts. They'll be able to get you there in less than a week with everyone riding hard."

###

We left Berykholt at dawn, leaving nothing of ours behind—except for one thing. I had handed Lynda a small, leather-wrapped bundle containing a pair of golden amulets and asked her to keep them safely hidden in her keep. They were too valuable to risk falling into the wrong hands.

Each member of my small team—five human sentinels and three dark elves—wore the Company Storm badge on their left breast. I carried a different storm locked inside me, saving it for the demonic plague that I was sure had befallen Lockrun.

Sergeant Corbin had offered us Mott Duncan to act as the lead scout and guide for our trip to Lockrun. Mott also brought Sentinel-scout Ernest Tappen, one of his day patrol troopers. I had ridden with Tappen before and was glad to have the familiar face.

Our path would be fastest following the road south toward Stonnberg, then cutting east onto the road to Lockrun. The rough terrain of the Southern Everest range left us little in the way of shortcuts.

We pushed our horses hard, reaching the outskirts of Stonnberg by the end of our second day out.

In the evenings, as we rested out mounts, we trained for the battle I was sure would come. It helped ease our saddle-sore muscles and calmed the anxiety I felt. I was sure I could kill any demon we found in Lockrun, but I wouldn't know the situation or how many we faced until we got closer.

With such a small team, our battle plan for fighting a greater number of demons was sorted quickly. We defined three separate groups. Volk would anchor the line group with Hicks and Gunner to one side and the Martell brothers on the other. Sevin was better than advertised, and I could see how Hicks and Gunner both looked up to him for his skill. When placed between Volk and Sevin, Keil could hold his own. Raven and I paired off as the right flank aggressor pair. Yser and Andy took the left flank as a defender and decoy pair.

Each section would be responsible for its own well-being and operate as it saw fit, without the need for any orders once a fight began. As the aggressor group, Rae and I would target any alpha demons first. At the same time, our bodyguards would use their quickness on the left side of the line, drawing the enemy's attention away from us. Of course, this would only work on an enemy party of suitably modest size, probably not more than a dozen lesser demons at once.