A Blaze in the Dark (A New Dawn #1)

Chapter 41 - Nick

I was sent to Whitepeak by the General; punishment for a crime of youth I now deeply regret. The place is the Seven Hells; the officers the Gods of Sin reborn.

Nick cursed the Gods. Why hadn't they granted him longer legs?

There was only a good fifty feet between him and his patrol, but he practically had to run to keep up with them. He glanced over his shoulder; the gilded gates of Sundale were but a dull shimmer on an otherwise overcast day. If Alex believed that walking was nothing but putting one foot in front of the other, then she had never worn these iron-clad boots or carried this backpack with straps so thin that his shoulders would bear the scars for the rest of his life.

He hated the camp already. Five nights in the Seven Hells and he would be able to bury his face in Billy's manes again. After spending a night in his bed with a book, eating proper biscuits, he would be all ready to team up with Alex and Seb, like in the good olden days. All together to save Fox.

Surely Queen Crystal would have relatives in Ice that would welcome a magician. Nobody would have to know but them, and the Icians.

The gap between Nick and the rest of his patrol was increasing again. It was Sam who halted and turned sideways to look at him. "Jas, he's behind again."

Jasper smacked himself in the head, then brought his hand to his mouth. "Walk a little faster, Nicky. We haven't found our arrows yet, and I wanna be in the royal forest by three so we have enough time to set up our tent."

"Nicky can always come on his own, take his own speed," Eric suggested. Next to him, Dan nodded frantically.

Jasper moved his jaw from side to side. Points would be deducted for not arriving in one group, but they would lose more if they failed to have everything set up and have dinner by seven. This would be Jasper's first big decision as their patrol leader. The sour look on Vic's face revealed that he wasn't keen on the idea.

Nick approached the group. "It's fine. Go already. I would abandon me too." He gave the scroll he had deciphered to Jasper. It hadn't been a challenge—classic Renfyre inscription. "Look out for a moss-grown boulder on your left. And the fourth weeping willow by the fifth bend of the river. Our arrows should be there."

Jasper passed the scroll to Vic. "Your responsibility now. I hope you can count."

"One, two, three, four, five." Victor held his fingers up one by one, glaring at Jasper. "I'm not a Muttonhead."

"Sometimes I doubt that." Jasper grinned, then shifted his attention to Nick. "I'll tell Lieutenant Stephen it was your idea to sacrifice yourself for the group—might get us fewer points deducted. And don't walk so slowly the last patrol passes you. That would be a real embarrassment."

"Yeah, it's not a tale they'd like to hear at home," Nick said. He wouldn't hear the end of it, especially from Alex.

"You're alright walking by yourself?" Sam asked.

Nick shrugged. "It's always straight ahead—can't get lost. So I'll see you tonight."

Jasper nodded. Eric waved him goodbye with two hands, and Dan copied him. Vic was the only one to mutter a goodbye, and Sam lingered longer than the others. He kept staring at Nick as he hiked behind the rest.

In no time, the lads were no more than thin lines in the distance. The contrast to the way of the warriors couldn't be bigger. Lord Brandon had often grumbled that his snail-like speed had kept them from hunting more game, but the man had always stayed by his side, joking that his brain was big enough to compensate for his stumpy legs.