“I can’t believe you Drayce.” Caelum said.
Drayce laughed. Caelum liked to pretend he was the responsible one, he probably wanted to be too, but he was enthralled. “Admit it. It’s brilliant.”
“Brilliant.” Alarik agreed.
“Brilliantly stupid.” Caelum said. “You realize that if this goes wrong, we could all die, and even if we do survive, at best we’d get booted from the army, at worse executed.”
“Relax. We aren’t going to get executed. They can’t execute us. That would be a major breach of rank. Yes, we could die, but we could also die out on the battlefield. Dying in battle only achieves a few dead Istheos. This would end the battle!”
“It’s been going for almost four days now.” Alarik pointed out. “It would cut our losses. It’s not going to end unless the Istheos retreat.”
Drayce nodded and stuck his thumb at Alarik as if the lad had just proven his point. They both looked at Caelum expectantly.
Caelum blew out a tense breath. “Fine, but if this fails, Non have your soul, Drayce.”
Drayce smiled. He’s known Caelum would eventually give in.
“We’re going to need help though.” Caelum said.
“Agreed.” Drayce said. “I’ll prepare the weapon, Alarik, go get the rest of our squad, Caelum you’ll tell Officer Kova what we’re doing after we’re going, then join us.”
They both nodded. Alarik even saluted. Drayce almost laughed at his eagerness. He clapped his hands once together. “Alright, let’s go!”
***
It worked to Drayce’s advantage that the whole army encampment was in chaos. He had stopped momentarily at the barracks to retrieve his sword. He had considered putting armor on, but he had decided it would just slow him down and make him more obvious.
He walked with forced casualness. A group of archers hustled by, stringing their longbows, and buckling their sheaths of arrows. One of them carried a torch, to light their arrows. Their jobs were to burn the Istheos’ siege equipment.
Drayce hastened his steps every second he wasted, was a second someone in their army died. He spotted the weaponry storage tent, marked with a small red flag flapping in the slight breeze on the peak of the canvas shelter.
Drayce glanced around, then slipped inside. The barrels were there, just as Caelum had said. He pried open one of the barrels and was met with a strange mix of scents. Metallic, mixed with sulfur. It was black, the grain fine. He replaced the lid coughing. The scent didn’t matter, as long as it did what it was supposed to.
He heard a wagon pull up around the side of the tent. A moment later, Caelum opened the tent flap.
“I still haven’t decided if you’re crazy, or…” He thought for a moment, “You know what? No, you’re definitely crazy.”
Drayce grinned. “And you stick around because there’s always payoff.” Caelum helped his pick one of the heavy barrels up.
“True enough.” Caelum grunted.
“Lud, these are heavier than I thought.” Drayce said, as they exited the tent through the back flap and hauled it into the waiting wagon.
YOU ARE READING
Dawn of Arcane Destiny
FantasiLillia Leroux and Drayce Shalddwell find their destinys and fates unexpectedly intertwined when they're forced into a political marriage. Drayce is to become King, however he has secrets that he knows could get him executed if anyone knew. Lillia, w...
