Twisted Choices

Chapter 15

He never returned.

So the brothers set off hesitantly. Markus was absolutely terrified when they passed the forest, and was even more terrified when they reached the swamp. Hero, being the shortest and most ungraceful person on the planet, kept getting his foot stuck in mud and bag in quicksand. They escaped the nasty swamp covered in muck and washed up in a river flowing through the next forest.

The journey took five days, and Hero hunted for the two of them. However, food was scarce in the swamp area, as the area had more small fish than large ones. The large ones were in deep waters, and Markus had no idea how to swim, and Hero nearly got eaten by a crocodile.

Needless to say, both boys were absolutely relieved when they caught sight of the village they were looking for.

Hero and Markus stayed low as they crept around the walls and stalked towards the designated tower. A guard was patrolling the tower and stared down at them with narrowed eyes. He cocked his gun and aimed at the two, and Hero felt his brother stiffen and clutch at his sides painfully.

"¹Kakova Vasha tsel' zdes'?"

Hero bit his tongue, trying to remember the bits of Russian he learnt from Ivan.

"²E-e, okhrannik po imeni Ivan poslal nas syuda."

The guard raised an eyebrow and lowered his gun. He looked around cautiously before bending down and pointing to a few stones that stood out from the rest in the wall.

"Pull them out. And get in the tower quickly. I'll put them back later. ³Toropit'sya!"

Both Hero and Markus rushed to pull out the heavy stones and crawled underneath it. Hero's height helped him effortlessly, but Markus had a few scrapes. The brothers scrambled to the tower and bumped right into the guard, who was lifting a hatch on the ground for them.

The brothers slowly got in and climbed down the ladder before dropping to the ground, dust flying on their clothes. The two looked around and spotted a rather tall man standing with a torch.

"Ivan sent you?"

Hero nodded, "Yes."

"Follow me then."

The two brothers ran after the man as he jogged off, and Markus grimaced at the rats running over their feet. "Where exactly are we?"

Markus wasn't paying attention, so he bumped face-first to the man's back when they halted. The man wiped sweat off his forehead and said gruffly, "See for yourself."

Markus tip-toed over the man's shoulder and gasped. Tents were assembled in neat lines, torches lining the walls. Bags and satchels were aligned next to the tents. Boys of many ages played around the tents, as men tried to weave their way through. Hero noticed that most, no, all of the men were much more bigger and muscular than he was, and were carrying weapons of all kinds.

Hero caught himself staring at one particular man who was massive, pulling a rickety cart of wood and coal behind him.

"Because of the law, many boys fled their villages, this is where they go."

The man who was pulling the cart, passed it to two of his friends and ran over to the trio. Hero's breath got caught in his throat when the man locked eyes with him for a moment.

"I'm Kaleb, and I'm from Britain. Did any of the Russian spies sent you?"

Markus caught his brother in a trance so he answered for him, "Ivan Zharkov did."