Chapter Nineteen
1013 Words
“Did you hear that?”
“Ngnghgnghghffff…”
“What?”
“Ngghfgggghfff!”
Luke’s agitation was dangerously heightening; he couldn’t understand a word Lawrence was saying or rather attempting to say. Luke yelped as Lawrence’s teeth nipped one of his fingers. So that is why Lawrence couldn’t speak, his palm had been pressing his mouth shut. The poor lad’s cheeks had adopted a disturbing hue of purple.
“Are you trying to kill me?”
“Have you ever heard of a person dying from that?”
“I could be the first one!
“And it is you I am meant to take on a rescue mission? A person afraid of a hand covering their mouth?
“I couldn’t breathe-“
“You should go back home-“
“Maybe I should cover your mouth with my hand and see how you like it!”
Without warning, Lawrence stuck his hand inside the back of his pants and summoned one of his agonizing farts. He then proceeded to lurch forward, slapping his palm on Luke’s mouth. Tony let out a quiet profanity, some of the remaining men snorted and snickered. The rest watched on in horror. Luke struggled to peel Lawrence’s hand from his mouth but the task was next to impossible. The boy was surprisingly strong.
“Nggghhhhffff…”
“What was that?”
“Nggggghhhffff!”
“Oh, so now you understand what I was going through?”
The men watched amusedly as Luke grabbed Lawrence’s free hand and began twisting it. Soon after Lawrence was clutching his arm while screaming in pain.
“Let us get one thing straight you buffoon, I am your prince and future king. You don’t get to pull such stunts on someone who can ruin your life with a snap of their fingers…”
Lawrence whimpered as he tried to move his arm. He had only meant to teach Luke a lesson, there had been nothing like disrespect tied to it. Did he really have to break his arm in the process?
“It’s broken…”
Luke rolled his eyes, what a child.
“I twisted it because for some reason you decided to cover my mouth with your fart!”
Lawrence couldn’t help the bubble of laughter that escaped his throat. A few of the men joined him and surprisingly so did Luke. Tony shook his head; he couldn’t understand how this particular band was meant to fight magical creatures and emerge victorious. But hadn’t he heard about a group of assassins who operated under Luke? Perhaps with their assistance, this group actually stood a chance. Tony worriedly glanced towards the growing darkness in the woods. Luke hadn’t misheard the suspicious movements in the woods, Tony had heard them too. He had also caught the sight of a silhouette or was had it been silhouettes?
“We need to move my prince. There is something in these woods…”
For a while everyone was quiet. Listening. They all darted their eyes at varied corners of the woods as their ears automatically perked up. They heard nothing.
“I think the novice soldier is getting cold feet here-“
“Quiet buffoon!”
“Are you going to lock your smelly palm on my mouth again?”
“You i***t-“
None of them spotted the approaching flamed spear. By the time they caught sight of this unnatural act, one of them was on the ground screaming in agony.
"Take cover, grab the swords!"
"Which one is it? Do we take cover or the swords?"
"Stop wasting time and-"
Another sword tore through the tense air. One of Luke's men caught fire and let out a high pitched scream. They were down by two men and most of them had gone into hiding without the only weapon that gave them an upperhand in this battle. Luke ducked behind a bush. He was struggling to remain calm, he needed to think.
Think you fool, your men are turning into debris!
Their swords were laced with the vessel but his men had panicked, they had left them unattended.
"What do we do my prince?"
Tony looked at Luke's blank face expectantly. This was his first real engagement with magical creatures. Tony had only heard of them in stories. Whenever a parent wished to impart fear in their children they would whip up stories about enchanters and enchantresses.
"Do you have your sword?"
Tony felt around his waistband, there was nothing there. Luke glanced at Tony's movements; like him, he had not retrieved the sword during the whole commotion.
"Without the swords we are useless, we need to get to them first..."
"How?"
Luke bit his lower lips and folded his fist. Baric was depending on him, so was his father and his kingdom. If he couldn't defeat a small group of magical creatures what of a war? What will happen if history decided to repeat itself?
"We can get to them..."
Luke parted the spiked leaves that were obscuring his vision. He spotted his men lying limply on the ground. Luke swallowed back the bile churning in his throat; the pungent scent of burning flesh was tickling his nostrils.
He had already lost three men.
"I have an idea but first I need to know if you are willing to risk your life..."
Without missing a beat, Tony bobbed his head. The fact that the prince cared for his life, the life of a mere commoner. Luke gave Tony a somber nod before hoisting himself from the ground.
It was now or never.
Luke made a beeline for the swords but before he could grab one, a woman with stark dark hair and cold eyes stepped in front of him. In one fluid motion, she yanked Luke's arm and locked his eyes with hers.
"Tell me your worst fear..."
- Writer
