Chapter 24
The exhausted group traveled in stunned silence as they neared Eastwicke keep. Several were stumbling from fatigue from alternating between jogging and running to get away from the spreading miasma and fighting their way through the rusted creatures with the pointed limbs.
The man with the black eyes had not appeared again, but the creatures in the shadows continued to follow them until they reached the out wall of Eastwicke. The company collapsed once inside the outer wall.
"We need to stop at Eastwicke", the one-eyed man said.
"With all due respect Lord Wayfare, but we just fought the Withered Hand in the Wastes. This needs to go to Calenrad first," the olive skinned woman with the dark eyes spoke.
"And that will be our second stop, Lady Nightshade. Eastwicke must be prepared," Rune replied.
Nightshade laughed. Rune sighed. The blonde woman with the silver bracers suppressed a smile. Slade had heard her called Justine on the walk back.
"You actually think the soldiers of Eastwicke will be capable of doing anything to stop this?" Nightshade asked.
"What's going on?" Slade asked at last.
"I could ask the same of you my boy. I find you at the site of a terrible battle with an unknown friend and an unknown foe, and somehow you knew how to use this staff."
The others paused. Apparently, this was not quite so funny.
"The boy used the staff?" Nightshade asked.
Silence.
"He better have a good story, because if word of that got back to Marcus..."
"I'd request that it does not until we know more."
"You're asking an awful lot. You know what that man was. If the Emperor discovers and orders me to act..."
Justine, silent as ever, gave an uneasy look from Nightshade to Slade. Slade understood that some threat was being implied toward him.
"I know. Which is why I want to question the boy first and get the full story," Rune said, his voice weary.
As he turned toward the main entrance, Rune held up a hand, ordering the others to stay back. Nightshade raised an eye.
"Eastwicke was once a great bastion of mankind's defense against the forces of darkness. Having not had any incident of note here for the past 300 years, Eastwicke has... relaxed their standards a bit. I'm going on ahead to alert them we're coming, so no one gets injured."
"Us or them?" Nightshade asked with a smirk. Rune snorted.
"Don't let the boy out of your sight," he called over his shoulder. Slade's head sunk into his shirt like a turtle as he felt the eyes of all those gathered upon him.
YOU ARE READING
Engineer's Empire
FantasyA long journey that I literally walked through the fire to save. It was the one thing I managed to save when my house burned to the ground a year ago. I'm putting it out here for the first time for people to read. Please let me know what you think a...
