Zadok frowned. “But those can’t be heroes. They all died.”
“So?”
“Heroes are supposed to win.”
“No. Heroes are just supposed to do the right thing.”
“Hey, Ty. If you’re done being all philosophical with your boy, we got trouble.”
I looked up. Ira had paused at the corner of a building. Dekar stood next to him. I slowed.
“What is it?”
“Look for yourself. Friends of yours?”
I peered around the side of the building. Illuminated by the evening sun, two men waited at the wagon, looking over the supplies strapped in the back. Both were of medium height and build. Other than the long, thin beard worn by the man on the right, neither stood out.
“Never seen them before, but that doesn’t mean anything. There are few people I know here anymore.”
Dekar grunted. “Think they might be working for that Jareb fellow?”
“It’s possible.”
“If so,” said Ira. “They hadn’t learned much from last time. They only sent two to bring you in.”
“They could just be there to keep an eye out and slow us down in case we met up with you,” said Dekar.
“How would they know we planned to meet up with Tyrus?”
Dekar gave his brother a look. “You weren’t exactly discreet in that saloon.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, all we’re doing is making their life easier by waiting around like this.”
“You’re right,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Ira led the way, carrying a bagful of attitude that would have weighed most people down. “Can I help you two dung heaps with something?”
The men wheeled, neither making a move for a weapon. They didn’t seem worried. That behavior confirmed Dekar’s assumption that their purpose had not been to apprehend us so much as to keep an eye on the wagon.
“Hey, I’m talking to you two idiots,” Ira said in the hopes of eliciting a response.
With each step we took forward, they shuffled two back. The man with the beard shifted his glance away from us and to a spot behind him on his left.
“Ira. Bushes,” I said.
We all drew our swords, forgetting about the two men who retreated in a run. Ten people emerged from the bushes. Another attempted to stay hidden. I recognized three of them right away-Jareb and his two friends. All looked pretty bad off, Amalek on a crutch. Jareb’s face was swollen and darkened with bruises. A bandage covered half of it.
The others I hadn’t seen before though I could piece them out.
The man to the far right wearing the king’s crest on his chest was obviously the sheriff. The two men next to him probably deputies. The small man behind those three didn’t have a weapon. But that didn’t stop him from thinking himself something special by the way he carried himself, thrusting out his dimpled chin. I guessed him to be the mayor.
The others gravitated more toward Jareb, watching his movements. Likely more men that worked for him. The last person, who realized hiding was useless by the way I stared at her, came out of the bushes. She carried no steel, and her fingers twisted and turned about themselves as her lips mumbled. She looked right at me, growing ever more frustrated as she did so.
I grinned at her and then Jareb who shot the mage a look. She shrugged, dumbfounded. It was obvious she had never come across anyone resistant to sorcery before. The fact that I didn’t even feel her attempts made me think she knew little more than a few parlor tricks. Because of that I wasn’t worried about her trying anything on Ira or Dekar. They had faced far worse.
I glanced over my shoulder at Myra and Zadok. I wasn’t sure if they had any experience with sorcery, but I doubted it mattered. Jareb wouldn’t waste any of his mage’s efforts on them.
We all stared at each other. Each side waited for the other to start things off.
I got tired of waiting. “Mayor? Sheriff?” I asked looking in the direction of the men I pegged. They focused on me. “Would one of you mind telling me what’s going on?”
The sheriff cleared his throat. “I’m gonna need you to put your sword down and disarm yourself.” He gestured to Dekar and Ira. “All of you.”
“That ain’t gonna happen,” said Ira.
“Shut up, Ira,” snapped Dekar. “Let Tyrus handle this.”
“Sorry, Sheriff. As my friend said, that’s not going to happen. I know everyone’s heard stories about the war and even about Damanhur, but none of you know the facts. We did nothing wrong.”
“That’s for me to decide,” piped up the mayor before shrinking back down.
The sheriff nodded. “What Mayor Rezub means is that your friends will be able to go free. However, you’ve got some things to answer for unrelated to what happened in Damanhur.” His eyes flicked to Jareb.
Jareb spat venom, shouting and jabbing the sword in his hand at me. I couldn’t make out much of what he said since his jaw and nose were so swollen.
Ira chuckled. “Gods, you did a number on him, Ty. Can’t understand a thing he’s saying.”
That shut Jareb up, but it just made him stare daggers at Ira as well. Ira returned the look with a wide grin. He lived for these sorts of moments.
I took the silence to address the sheriff. “I paid for my kids’ contracts and then some.”
“That’s not what Jareb says, and he has witnesses.”
“I’ll bet he does,” muttered Ira.
“My word means nothing then?”
No one said anything, but I guessed they didn’t need to. The silence said a multitude of things.
My ears caught the whispering of Myra’s voice as she spoke to calm Zadok.
I knew that if I went along with the sheriff, I’d likely hang or at the least spend Molak knows how long in the town jail. Either scenario would condemn the kids to return to Jareb’s land where he’d continue his mistreatment of them. Probably worse than before.
I sucked in a breath.
“Tyrus?” asked Dekar, pushing me to make the call.
“Counting them out,” I said. Ira and Dekar relaxed, waiting for assignments, not doubting for one second that despite having a disadvantage in numbers, we’d win. A man might think he knew how to use a sword from running drills on a post in his barn or sparring with a neighbor, but none of that meant anything in a real fight. I’d take a veteran of war over a town champion any day.
Everyone else looked confused as I fired off orders. “I’ve got eleven first.” By eleven, I meant the mage. “After that, I’ll move to ten, nine, and maybe eight. Shouldn’t be hard considering their state.” After all, Amalek was on crutches. “Ira, one, two and four since I don’t expect three to do anything but run.” Three was the mayor. “Dekar, five through seven.”
I looked at our opponents. Despite the cold air, a sheen of sweat appeared on the faces of most. Several looked jumpy. They had probably expected us to lay down arms on account of their numbers. Jareb and his two friends had worn the ugliest smiles imaginable, obviously finding the situation comical until they also realized we planned to stand our ground.
“On three?” Ira asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “One.”
We charged before I said “two,” throwing our opponents off guard. I made a beeline for the mage, who was once again trying to work some spell on me. The faintest tingling sensation tickled my ears. The fact that I felt anything at all meant it was likely her strongest spell.
Jareb’s eyes and the lazy way he held his weapon betrayed the confidence he felt in stepping in front of me as I ran toward her. Obviously, he expected the mage he had with him to do her part. Obviously, he was an idiot.