AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Three full cycles of Atal, Danya had said. Verve tried to relax. Plenty of time to complete her mission; then she could leave this stinking swamp and never think of Lotis or Ivet or Alem ever again.
“If Legion does come,” Verve said softly, “you’ll all be lost.”
“I know,” he replied, voice grim. “I just wish my fellow mages would realize it, too.”
Several minutes later, Verve and Alem stood under the open sky, surrounded by marshes. From here, Verve couldn’t make out Lotis, just the dense trees that sheltered the small village. She shaded her eyes with her hand and peered across the marshland.
“No sign of Owen,” Alem said. “So, what are you looking for?”
“Fortifications,” she replied. At his visible confusion, she tried to elaborate. “The best way to win a fight is to avoid one. And yes, I see the irony of someone like me saying that, but I speak from experience.”
Another crooked smile tugged at his lips. “You read my mind. What sort of fortifications do we need?”
Alem was actually kind of charming when he wasn’t being an ass. She tried not to smile back. “Everything. I’m good, but you need more than a single fighter to defend Lotis. You need actual defenses, preferably several layers of them, surrounding the village. You’ll need folks keeping watch too, at all hours. And you’ll definitely need a shelter in the village itself.” She paused. “Can anyone else fight?”
“Not really. Klaret’s a hunter, but mostly with traps and lures. Hadiya can be scary, but they’re no warrior.” Alem studied her as if seeing her for the first time. “What else do you recommend?”
A warm feeling bloomed in Verve’s chest, but she tried to ignore it as she toyed with her wire bracelet, considering. She had a wealth of information to draw from—Danya had spared no expense on her training—but she’d never expected to apply that knowledge in such a practical way. “Traps will suit our purposes pretty well. The right traps in the right places would make any would-be invaders think twice about sticking around. At the very least, they’ll buy the rest of you some time to retreat.” She glanced over to see Alem looking at her with an expression she couldn’t read. “What’d I say to offend you now?”
“Our purposes.”
Sod it all. She pursed her lips. “I meant your. I’m just the hired blade.” She shielded her eyes from the sun again and continued. “The swamp itself can—and should, really—keep people away. Are there any natural defenses you could take advantage of?” She thought of the huge swamp creature with a grimace.
Alem toyed with one of his braids, a faint smile on his mouth. “Maybe. I…”
He trailed off at the sound of a snicker. In one fluid motion, Verve unsheathed her daggers and slid into a ready-stance, body braced for a fight. “Get behind me,” she began, but Alem was already shoving past her.
“Owen,” he called, pushing through the tall grasses. “Owen, I heard you!” He reached a particularly thick area and dove forward. A squeal sounded, then a few muffled curses, and the grasses trembled.
Verve rolled her eyes and sheathed her weapons. Moments later, Alem reappeared, dragging a lanky, dark-haired boy by his muddy shirt collar. “What in the moons are you thinking, running off alone?” Alem grunted as Owen struggled in his grip. “You could be—”
“I know, I know,” Owen snapped, wrenching out of Alem’s grasp and dusting off his shirt with exaggerated motions. “I could’ve been burned alive, or eaten alive, or something-else-horrible alive.” He blew out a breath, then caught sight of Verve. “Who’s that?”
She ducked into a half-bow. “I’m Verve. You must be Owen.”
The boy looked at Alem. “She’s the mercenary Ivet hired? The one who fought that shape-changer?” Alem nodded and Owen’s eyes rounded as he looked back at Verve. “Is that hematite on your gear?”
She bit back a chuckle. “Aye.”
“Does it really stop magic?”
“Sometimes,” she replied. “Though if the mage is strong enough, hematite won’t be as effective.”
Owen’s gaze landed on her daggers. “Those are sentinel daggers, aren’t they? I’ve heard about them. Did you get them from the Legion sentinels?”
Alem’s face had gone stony at the mention of hematite, and Verve had to work for a reply. “They were a gift,” she managed at last. “I believe they’re older than Legion.” At least, she hoped, although the sentinels of Legion were known as the fiercest mage-hunters on the continent. For all Verve knew, Danya may have gotten these daggers—indeed, all of her hematite gear—from Legion.
Best not to dwell on that.
Verve tried to smile at the lad. “How do you know so much about hematite?”
Owen hunched his shoulders. “Sentinels killed my mama and da. I wanted to understand why.”
Verve’s heart squeezed, and her next words were soft. “Have you figured it out?”
The boy sniffed and swiped his nose with his sleeve. “Not yet.”
Alem put a hand on Owen’s shoulders, drawing his gaze. “Owen, you know you’re not to leave Lotis on your own, and definitely not without telling anyone where you’ve gone.”
