The specifics of his nighttime heroism could come later. It was the middle of the day, Drake had a nice tent, and he had grapes and mead he didn’t intend to eat or drink. What if they were drugged? Captain Crunch had said he would not harm him, but inflicting paralysis or knocking him out might not count as harm. He wasn’t about to fall for that old trick.
Until something changed, he’d do best to simply save his energy and keep an eye out for an opening to escape. He was still waiting for said opening a few hours later when the sound of shouting from outside the tent caught his attention. He decided to step outside.
He emerged from the tent just in time to see a single man galloping into the camp on horseback. The exhausted soldier wore red armor just like the rest of them, which suggested he was with the same group, but he had blood all over him as well. It didn’t look to be his blood.
His horse was also lathered. He’d ridden the poor animal to its limit. The man hopped off without even tying up his exhausted horse.
Drake watched the tired soldier hurry past the tent. He was going in the direction of Captain Crunch, and he looked worried. That was intriguing.
“Lord?” the soldier tasked to guard his tent asked. “Can I get you something?”
Drake didn’t miss how multiple soldiers in the camp were now glancing at each other in confusion. The unspoken concern they shared invigorated him. This rider’s arrival was unexpected. Something had just happened that these men hadn’t anticipated.
This was it. This was Drake’s opening. He wasn’t sure how yet, exactly, but every instinct in his body told him this man was the key to his escape. And Anna’s.
“I’m fine,” Drake said. “Back to your business.” He slipped back inside the tent.
Not long after, Captain Crunch entered the tent once more. “Apologies, lord, but we need to pull up camp and move down the road.”
Drake set aside a book and rose from his comfortable divan. “Why is that?”
“I regret the inconvenience, but a force opposed to mine may now be closing on our position. I’d hate for you to come to harm, and since you have agreed to stay with us until my employer arrives, I’d request you travel with us to our new camp.”
Drake almost refused to go along, but he wasn’t sure how the man would take it. He also had no interest in running into whoever could freak out Captain Crunch, and he still had no idea how to get back to his manor. “Very well, captain. I’ll travel with you for now.”
“Thank you for your understanding, lord. I’ll have a wagon brought round for you.”
It wasn’t long before several soldiers walked into view with a wagon already hitched to horses on leads. Drake observed in silence as they hooked more horses to the metal wagon holding Anna and, likely, her father. A soldier beckoned for him to step up into the wagon.
Drake complied. His chance to free Anna and escape these idiots would come soon. And as the wagons rumbled away across the open plains, surrounded by mounted soldiers with crossbows that made him jealous, he kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
The wobbly wagon moved for at least an hour until finally, they rolled into some woods. These weren’t Gloomwood trees. They were much shorter, and maybe evergreen?
Thin pine needles and leaves landed in the wagon as it rolled, and with the road narrowed, the two soldiers who had been riding on either side were forced to ride behind. Just when Drake was on the verge of hopping out of the wagon and taking his chances, it stopped.
The man driving the wagon glanced back at him. “We’re here, lord. We’ll have your tent set up again soon enough. Feel free to stretch your legs, but please, don’t leave the camp.”
“All right,” Drake lied. “I won’t leave the camp and will wait for you to set up my tent.”
Escaping while they were still setting up was perfect. Everyone would be busy with their own tents and their own problems. Now that he’d told the man he had no plans to escape, the man would be certain he had no plans to escape... and in the dark, escape would be easy.
Even with Anna and her father coming along.
Drake sauntered freely through the poorly-lit camp and watched as soldiers hurriedly set up tents and cooking apparatus. No one did more than glance his way. Again, he had to suppress the urge to grin. He loved being the only person in this world that could lie.
It wasn’t long before he reached the cage with Anna and her father. Only a single man stood guard, staring into the dark woods with his crossbow held tight. Drake spotted a pebble on the ground, picked it up, and chucked it into the woods as hard as he could.
The pebble bounced off a tree in the woods with a loud crack, which caused the guard on Anna’s cage to startle. As the man aimed his crossbow into the night, Drake spoke smoothly and confidently. “I wouldn’t move. My feral has a bow trained on you right now.”
The man swept the woods with his crossbow. “What? How?”
“That was her signal she’d arrived. That crack in the woods just now. She doesn’t make noise unless I order her to do so.”
“But... how did she even find us out here?”
“My thralls can track me wherever I go, and my dear Sachi is a feral huntress who enjoys the taste of human blood. Tomorrow, if you annoy me tonight, your captain will find you with one arrow between your eyes and another between your balls.”
“How can you see her?” The man actually sounded panicked.
“I can see perfectly in the dark, friend. How’s your eyesight?”
“Then tell me where you see her!”
“Sachi.” Drake spoke as if he were addressing her right now. “I know you’re hungry, but I’m considering sparing this man. If he runs or shouts for help, however, shoot his balls first.”
“That’s not right, lord!” the man protested. “You said you wouldn’t harm us!”
“But I never said my thralls wouldn’t harm you.”
The man gasped. Drake barely managed to contain his chortle.
“You’ve still got a chance to live,” Drake continued menacingly, “but only if you agree to my terms before Sachi shoots you in the balls. I know it’d be more traditional to have her shoot you in the neck and just leave, but that wouldn’t be near as funny.”
The man trembled, visibly too worried to move.
“Start by putting down your crossbow. I’ll give you to the count of five.” It was risky to push the bluff this far, but the longer he let the man think, the more he might think.
“One ball. Two balls. Three balls. Four—”
“I agree, lord, I agree!” The man tossed his crossbow to the ground. “Just don’t shoot my balls, lord! I have no quarrel with you! I’ve only been with the company a year!”
“Would you like to have children some day?”
“Yes, lord, please!”
“Then open this cage door.”
“But... I don’t have the keys, lord! They wouldn’t give me keys to Anna’s cage.”
Of course they wouldn’t. Drake mentally scrambled. “Then pick the lock, man.” He couldn’t risk sending this soldier back to Captain Crunch. The man would challenge him.
His guard gasped, still watching the trees. “You can’t ask me to do that!”
“Don’t tell me what to do. Do what I ask. That lock doesn’t look that complicated.”
“But lord, can’t your huntress pick the lock for you?”
“She could, easily. But I would find it more entertaining if you did it. Consider it a test of skill and character, and a way to pay me back for the trouble you’ve caused me. If you succeed, I’ll let you leave here with your balls. If you fail, well...”
“This isn’t fair,” the man whimpered. “We’ve treated you with nothing but respect!”
“Which is why I’m still feeling generous despite the fact that you dragged me out of my manor. I will spare you... but only if you manage to pick that lock.” He let the silence build.
Cursing quietly to himself, glancing constantly to the woods and then to the lock, the soldier pulled out some small metal tools and fumbled with the lock to Anna’s cage. He looked intent and terrified. Not wanting to get shot in the balls was a great motivator.
Drake waited patiently, keeping his face calm even though his heart was pounding hard enough to start a chainsaw. If he just walked off into the woods, he might never find a way home. Anna, by comparison, could teleport him home. He hoped.
Drake was just starting to get nervous when the rattling in the lock stopped. The door popped open with a quiet squeak. His former captor gasped in relief.
“Good job.” Drake grinned wide. “It looks like your nutsack will live another day.”
“Thank you, lord,” the man muttered sullenly. He stepped back, hands raised.
“Don’t move until I say so,” Drake ordered the man. He then pulled open the cage door as quietly as he could. The hinges squeaked. Inside, Anna watched him with wide eyes.
Behind her, a skinny, ragged-looking, dark-haired man watched him as well. That would be dear old dad. Anna looked to be protecting him with her own body.
“I’m here to rescue you and your father, just like we agreed,” Drake said. “Are you ready to teleport all of us back to the manor?”
Anna rapidly shook her head. “I can’t, lord. I’m sorry. I can only teleport to the recall spot, and you have to agree to come with me.”
“What’s a recall spot?”
“I have to bleed a whole lot to make a recall spot. That’s where I take people. To the recall spot. I could teleport you there again, but we’d just end up back in the same wagon.”
Drake remembered the circle of dried blood he’d seen on the floor of the wagon. Anna couldn’t lie. So her teleportation rarity was less useful than he’d hoped, but perhaps it could act as a quick extraction strategy? She could make a recall spot at Gloomwood Manor.
Regardless, it seemed that despite saving and freeing the girl with the teleport rarity, he wouldn’t be teleporting home anytime soon. He’d come up with a new plan on the road.
“That’s fine, Anna. Now, it’s time to run.”
“I can’t, lord. If I flee, he’ll find me.”
“Who? The captain?”
“His rarity allows him to track anyone, lord. I fled once years ago, when I was foolish and... it was bad. He said if I ever fled again, he’d cut Daddy’s fingers off.”
So Captain Crunch did have a rarity, and it was to track people? That was fucking terrific. Drake had already opened Anna’s cage, so he couldn’t simply walk back to his tent, but he’d handle one problem at a time. The next would be getting rid of the man who opened this cage.
Drake turned to the nervous soldier. “You can go.”
The man blinked. “Go, lord?”
“I haven’t decided if I’m going to order my thralls to kill everyone in this camp yet, but I have decided to spare you. But only if you leave now, take no weapons, and don’t say a word to your fellow soldiers. They didn’t get the same deal you did.”
The man nodded eagerly. “I understand, lord. Thank you!”
“Now get out of here before I decide your nuts need an arrow after all.”
The man fled into the night without a word a look back. Drake couldn’t help but shake his head as the man sprinted away. Bullshit superpowers indeed.
He glanced back at Anna. “I’m still going to free you both, but we need to go right now. I know you’re scared of the captain, but I can handle him.” Drake hoped.
“I can’t leave Daddy,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry, lord.”
Drake only then noticed Anna’s father wasn’t simply in the cage. He also had metal manacles locked around his ankles, manacles attached to chains, and Drake couldn’t pick those locks. As the sound of soldiers approaching caught his attention, he also knew he couldn’t wait.
He had to leave. He’d come back for Anna later with reinforcements. After seeing her conditions, there was no way he would not come back for her... but he couldn’t bring reinforcements to free her if he was captive or dead.
Drake picked up his crossbow and darted into the woods as, behind him, one man shouted in alarm. They’d seen him. No point in being stealthy. Time to get the fuck out of here.
Tree limbs slapped his arms and face as he barreled into woods that were almost as dense as the silverwood thicket. Still, the thrill of making his escape drove him forward even as branches slashed at his body and the muddy ground sloped down. Mud threatened to send him tumbling with every step, but he managed. Behind him, shouts grew.
The two men who’d seen him flee into the woods had called the rest of them, and now the whole crew, including Captain Crunch, were after him. Dammit! He should never have tried to rescue Anna alone. Still... the first man to try and kill him was getting shot in the balls.
Drake half ran, half slid down the sloped ground past the looming trees. He tripped through undergrowth but never lost his grip on his crossbow, which was already getting heavy. Crossbows were heavier than he liked. He also had no extra bolts for it.
Yet he was now free and felt more alive than he had since... well, since he stabbed Lord Dickcheese to death. Drake resisted the urge to howl in triumph as the trees cleared and he spotted a shallow stream ahead. As the sound of baying dogs joined the shouts of men, he decided to run up the stream. He wasn’t going to lose hunting dogs in this forest.
He was winded by the time he reached the stream, but he really didn’t want to get recaptured. That was a great motivator. Cold water splashed into his boots as he ran, but he’d worry about cold feet later. The stream only came up past his ankles.
Enough to hide his scent from dogs? He didn’t know nearly enough about being a fugitive. He hadn’t ever run from the cops back in his own world, which would have been good practice for whatever this bullshit was. He pondered dropping the crossbow.
No. Heavy as it was, it was his only weapon, and he was getting away. The sound of shouting was fading fast, as were the barks. He’d lost them. He was going to escape!
So now all he had to do was figure out how to find his way home.
The specifics of his nighttime heroism could come later. It was the middle of the day, Drake had a nice tent, and he had grapes and mead he didn’t intend to eat or drink. What if they were drugged? Captain Crunch had said he would not harm him, but inflicting paralysis or knocking him out might not count as harm. He wasn’t about to fall for that old trick.
Until something changed, he’d do best to simply save his energy and keep an eye out for an opening to escape. He was still waiting for said opening a few hours later when the sound of shouting from outside the tent caught his attention. He decided to step outside.
He emerged from the tent just in time to see a single man galloping into the camp on horseback. The exhausted soldier wore red armor just like the rest of them, which suggested he was with the same group, but he had blood all over him as well. It didn’t look to be his blood.
His horse was also lathered. He’d ridden the poor animal to its limit. The man hopped off without even tying up his exhausted horse.
Drake watched the tired soldier hurry past the tent. He was going in the direction of Captain Crunch, and he looked worried. That was intriguing.
“Lord?” the soldier tasked to guard his tent asked. “Can I get you something?”
Drake didn’t miss how multiple soldiers in the camp were now glancing at each other in confusion. The unspoken concern they shared invigorated him. This rider’s arrival was unexpected. Something had just happened that these men hadn’t anticipated.
This was it. This was Drake’s opening. He wasn’t sure how yet, exactly, but every instinct in his body told him this man was the key to his escape. And Anna’s.
“I’m fine,” Drake said. “Back to your business.” He slipped back inside the tent.
Not long after, Captain Crunch entered the tent once more. “Apologies, lord, but we need to pull up camp and move down the road.”
Drake set aside a book and rose from his comfortable divan. “Why is that?”
“I regret the inconvenience, but a force opposed to mine may now be closing on our position. I’d hate for you to come to harm, and since you have agreed to stay with us until my employer arrives, I’d request you travel with us to our new camp.”
Drake almost refused to go along, but he wasn’t sure how the man would take it. He also had no interest in running into whoever could freak out Captain Crunch, and he still had no idea how to get back to his manor. “Very well, captain. I’ll travel with you for now.”
“Thank you for your understanding, lord. I’ll have a wagon brought round for you.”
It wasn’t long before several soldiers walked into view with a wagon already hitched to horses on leads. Drake observed in silence as they hooked more horses to the metal wagon holding Anna and, likely, her father. A soldier beckoned for him to step up into the wagon.
Drake complied. His chance to free Anna and escape these idiots would come soon. And as the wagons rumbled away across the open plains, surrounded by mounted soldiers with crossbows that made him jealous, he kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
The wobbly wagon moved for at least an hour until finally, they rolled into some woods. These weren’t Gloomwood trees. They were much shorter, and maybe evergreen?
Thin pine needles and leaves landed in the wagon as it rolled, and with the road narrowed, the two soldiers who had been riding on either side were forced to ride behind. Just when Drake was on the verge of hopping out of the wagon and taking his chances, it stopped.
The man driving the wagon glanced back at him. “We’re here, lord. We’ll have your tent set up again soon enough. Feel free to stretch your legs, but please, don’t leave the camp.”
“All right,” Drake lied. “I won’t leave the camp and will wait for you to set up my tent.”
Escaping while they were still setting up was perfect. Everyone would be busy with their own tents and their own problems. Now that he’d told the man he had no plans to escape, the man would be certain he had no plans to escape... and in the dark, escape would be easy.
Even with Anna and her father coming along.
Drake sauntered freely through the poorly-lit camp and watched as soldiers hurriedly set up tents and cooking apparatus. No one did more than glance his way. Again, he had to suppress the urge to grin. He loved being the only person in this world that could lie.
It wasn’t long before he reached the cage with Anna and her father. Only a single man stood guard, staring into the dark woods with his crossbow held tight. Drake spotted a pebble on the ground, picked it up, and chucked it into the woods as hard as he could.
The pebble bounced off a tree in the woods with a loud crack, which caused the guard on Anna’s cage to startle. As the man aimed his crossbow into the night, Drake spoke smoothly and confidently. “I wouldn’t move. My feral has a bow trained on you right now.”
The man swept the woods with his crossbow. “What? How?”
“That was her signal she’d arrived. That crack in the woods just now. She doesn’t make noise unless I order her to do so.”
“But... how did she even find us out here?”
“My thralls can track me wherever I go, and my dear Sachi is a feral huntress who enjoys the taste of human blood. Tomorrow, if you annoy me tonight, your captain will find you with one arrow between your eyes and another between your balls.”
“How can you see her?” The man actually sounded panicked.
“I can see perfectly in the dark, friend. How’s your eyesight?”
“Then tell me where you see her!”
“Sachi.” Drake spoke as if he were addressing her right now. “I know you’re hungry, but I’m considering sparing this man. If he runs or shouts for help, however, shoot his balls first.”
“That’s not right, lord!” the man protested. “You said you wouldn’t harm us!”
“But I never said my thralls wouldn’t harm you.”
The man gasped. Drake barely managed to contain his chortle.
“You’ve still got a chance to live,” Drake continued menacingly, “but only if you agree to my terms before Sachi shoots you in the balls. I know it’d be more traditional to have her shoot you in the neck and just leave, but that wouldn’t be near as funny.”
The man trembled, visibly too worried to move.
“Start by putting down your crossbow. I’ll give you to the count of five.” It was risky to push the bluff this far, but the longer he let the man think, the more he might think.
“One ball. Two balls. Three balls. Four—”
“I agree, lord, I agree!” The man tossed his crossbow to the ground. “Just don’t shoot my balls, lord! I have no quarrel with you! I’ve only been with the company a year!”
“Would you like to have children some day?”
“Yes, lord, please!”
“Then open this cage door.”
“But... I don’t have the keys, lord! They wouldn’t give me keys to Anna’s cage.”
Of course they wouldn’t. Drake mentally scrambled. “Then pick the lock, man.” He couldn’t risk sending this soldier back to Captain Crunch. The man would challenge him.
His guard gasped, still watching the trees. “You can’t ask me to do that!”
“Don’t tell me what to do. Do what I ask. That lock doesn’t look that complicated.”
“But lord, can’t your huntress pick the lock for you?”
“She could, easily. But I would find it more entertaining if you did it. Consider it a test of skill and character, and a way to pay me back for the trouble you’ve caused me. If you succeed, I’ll let you leave here with your balls. If you fail, well...”
“This isn’t fair,” the man whimpered. “We’ve treated you with nothing but respect!”
“Which is why I’m still feeling generous despite the fact that you dragged me out of my manor. I will spare you... but only if you manage to pick that lock.” He let the silence build.
Cursing quietly to himself, glancing constantly to the woods and then to the lock, the soldier pulled out some small metal tools and fumbled with the lock to Anna’s cage. He looked intent and terrified. Not wanting to get shot in the balls was a great motivator.
Drake waited patiently, keeping his face calm even though his heart was pounding hard enough to start a chainsaw. If he just walked off into the woods, he might never find a way home. Anna, by comparison, could teleport him home. He hoped.
Drake was just starting to get nervous when the rattling in the lock stopped. The door popped open with a quiet squeak. His former captor gasped in relief.
“Good job.” Drake grinned wide. “It looks like your nutsack will live another day.”
“Thank you, lord,” the man muttered sullenly. He stepped back, hands raised.
“Don’t move until I say so,” Drake ordered the man. He then pulled open the cage door as quietly as he could. The hinges squeaked. Inside, Anna watched him with wide eyes.
Behind her, a skinny, ragged-looking, dark-haired man watched him as well. That would be dear old dad. Anna looked to be protecting him with her own body.
“I’m here to rescue you and your father, just like we agreed,” Drake said. “Are you ready to teleport all of us back to the manor?”
Anna rapidly shook her head. “I can’t, lord. I’m sorry. I can only teleport to the recall spot, and you have to agree to come with me.”
“What’s a recall spot?”
“I have to bleed a whole lot to make a recall spot. That’s where I take people. To the recall spot. I could teleport you there again, but we’d just end up back in the same wagon.”
Drake remembered the circle of dried blood he’d seen on the floor of the wagon. Anna couldn’t lie. So her teleportation rarity was less useful than he’d hoped, but perhaps it could act as a quick extraction strategy? She could make a recall spot at Gloomwood Manor.
Regardless, it seemed that despite saving and freeing the girl with the teleport rarity, he wouldn’t be teleporting home anytime soon. He’d come up with a new plan on the road.
“That’s fine, Anna. Now, it’s time to run.”
“I can’t, lord. If I flee, he’ll find me.”
“Who? The captain?”
“His rarity allows him to track anyone, lord. I fled once years ago, when I was foolish and... it was bad. He said if I ever fled again, he’d cut Daddy’s fingers off.”
So Captain Crunch did have a rarity, and it was to track people? That was fucking terrific. Drake had already opened Anna’s cage, so he couldn’t simply walk back to his tent, but he’d handle one problem at a time. The next would be getting rid of the man who opened this cage.
Drake turned to the nervous soldier. “You can go.”
The man blinked. “Go, lord?”
“I haven’t decided if I’m going to order my thralls to kill everyone in this camp yet, but I have decided to spare you. But only if you leave now, take no weapons, and don’t say a word to your fellow soldiers. They didn’t get the same deal you did.”
The man nodded eagerly. “I understand, lord. Thank you!”
“Now get out of here before I decide your nuts need an arrow after all.”
The man fled into the night without a word a look back. Drake couldn’t help but shake his head as the man sprinted away. Bullshit superpowers indeed.
He glanced back at Anna. “I’m still going to free you both, but we need to go right now. I know you’re scared of the captain, but I can handle him.” Drake hoped.
“I can’t leave Daddy,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry, lord.”
Drake only then noticed Anna’s father wasn’t simply in the cage. He also had metal manacles locked around his ankles, manacles attached to chains, and Drake couldn’t pick those locks. As the sound of soldiers approaching caught his attention, he also knew he couldn’t wait.
He had to leave. He’d come back for Anna later with reinforcements. After seeing her conditions, there was no way he would not come back for her... but he couldn’t bring reinforcements to free her if he was captive or dead.
Drake picked up his crossbow and darted into the woods as, behind him, one man shouted in alarm. They’d seen him. No point in being stealthy. Time to get the fuck out of here.
Tree limbs slapped his arms and face as he barreled into woods that were almost as dense as the silverwood thicket. Still, the thrill of making his escape drove him forward even as branches slashed at his body and the muddy ground sloped down. Mud threatened to send him tumbling with every step, but he managed. Behind him, shouts grew.
The two men who’d seen him flee into the woods had called the rest of them, and now the whole crew, including Captain Crunch, were after him. Dammit! He should never have tried to rescue Anna alone. Still... the first man to try and kill him was getting shot in the balls.
Drake half ran, half slid down the sloped ground past the looming trees. He tripped through undergrowth but never lost his grip on his crossbow, which was already getting heavy. Crossbows were heavier than he liked. He also had no extra bolts for it.
Yet he was now free and felt more alive than he had since... well, since he stabbed Lord Dickcheese to death. Drake resisted the urge to howl in triumph as the trees cleared and he spotted a shallow stream ahead. As the sound of baying dogs joined the shouts of men, he decided to run up the stream. He wasn’t going to lose hunting dogs in this forest.
He was winded by the time he reached the stream, but he really didn’t want to get recaptured. That was a great motivator. Cold water splashed into his boots as he ran, but he’d worry about cold feet later. The stream only came up past his ankles.
Enough to hide his scent from dogs? He didn’t know nearly enough about being a fugitive. He hadn’t ever run from the cops back in his own world, which would have been good practice for whatever this bullshit was. He pondered dropping the crossbow.
No. Heavy as it was, it was his only weapon, and he was getting away. The sound of shouting was fading fast, as were the barks. He’d lost them. He was going to escape!
So now all he had to do was figure out how to find his way home.
