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Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
It would be grim work. He and Jonah shared each load, one grabbing under the shoulders, the other taking the legs. For each, Jonah stared a moment at their face, then said their name out loud. Lucas did*’t recognize all of them – he wished he’d spent more time getting to know each of the. Or maybe it was better this way * chances were they’d all die out here.
“Volen,” Jonah said, of a grisly, bearded man with the spear still protruding from his stomach. Lucas dropped the man’s legs and yanked the spear out, tossing it aside. Then he picked him back up, and they heaved him over the edge. Lucas held himself back from peering over the edge to see where VOlen landed.

As they lifted the next, Lucas noted the dead man was his own age – still a boy, really. Too young to grow facial hair. “Guillermo,” sighed Jonah, and over the edge young Guillermo went.
They continued this grisly work for some time, untilall the bodies were gone. Lucas watched Jonah’s face arefully, but it was like stone. Unreadable. He debated saying something to Jonah, but wasn’t sure what. He wanted to ask why he had been drunk, but he knew he wouldn’t get an answer – he’d only make his commander angry. And wasn’t it obvious by now, anyway? Jonah HAD been here before, and he was obviously not taking well to coming back. Did it matter why, or what had happened? Lucas felt that maybe it could, if it might affect their journey now. Knowledge about the natives, for example. Or even of medicines; anything.
But it wasn’t his place to ask, that maybe this was a story he’d never know. And that was what irked him. He wanted to understand his commander. And he did*’t think that was possible until he knew someone’s story.
“Sir?” he said timidly.
“Yeah, Myren?”

16-Aug-2012 21:26:06

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
They had just dropped the last body – Dusty – and stood for a moment to take in the ocean. Lucas was drenched in sweat, and the breeze felt good. He wiped his forehead with one hand. “I just wanted to say, uh, thanks…last night. You saved me. Y’know?”
“Yeah, I know. You’re one of my men.” Jonah shrugged.
“Well – yeah.” Lucas did*’t know how to respond. “Thanks anyway.”
The commander sighed. “Get moving, Myren. Sorokin could use your help tending the wounded.”
“When are we leaving?”
“As soon as possible,” Jonah murmured.

Jonah watched the boy move off, shaking his head. Foolish kid. So innocent..well, the jungle would take that out of him soon enough, as it did from all. The bottle was close by, in his backpack. He longed for it now, but knew he could not. It wasn’t safe anymore. Not today. He remained standing on the cliffs for a few minutes more. He remembered this spot – had stood here many times before to admire this very view. And he had found natives many times here too, and disposed of his men over this cliff; enough that he should’ve know better than to camp here and get drunk. Not that anywhere was safe from the natives, really. He remembered that fact well enough
They’d stood here together, once.
He remembered his hand protectively on her stomach.
The bottle, it was so close, just a sip to banish the image away, no one would know –--
-- Myren would know.
That damn kid, with his questions.
At that moment Sorokin approached, wiping his bloody hands with a rag. “You okay?” he asked softly.
Jonah turned. His eyes found the boy, helping one of the injured to his feet. “He’ll figure it out when we get there,” he said sourly. “He’ll ask questions.”
“We don’t have to even go there,” Sorokin said. “You said it yourself, there’s a way around---“
“---No. We have to go. I have to go.”
“With a bottle in your hand?”

16-Aug-2012 21:26:54

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The commander scowled. “No, I’m not that stupid.” But then he added tightly, “Damned if I don’t want to, though. And I can** stand knowing that kid – Myren, Sorokin, he calls himself Myren! He’s going to pester me.”
“Got under your skin, did*’t he?”
Jonah grunted.
“He’s a good kid, really. Maybe you should talk to him. Tell him. Ask him about the name thing.”
“He has no right to my business.”
“You can trust him, Jonah.” Sorokin patted his shoulder. “He’s one of the good ones, I promise.”
Jonah only grunted again.
“You sure you can handle this?”
“It’s the only chance I’ll ever have…” he trailed off, his mind somewhere distant.
“Then let’s get going, shall we?”
“Travis!” Jonah barked loudly. The second-in-command materialized, seemingly from nowhere. “Get them all together. We’re going to head out.”
“Sure thing, boss,’ Travis said, and ran off.
Jonah turned toward Sorokin. “How are we, health-wise?”
“We’re hurting. Six injured from last night, including Lucas. Three others laid up with other things – two with a stomach sickness, one with that rash.”
“Nine of what, twenty-eight injured?” Sorokin nodded. “Saradomin be good, I don’t like these odds.”
“Neither do I, friend.”
Jonah saw that the men had assembled and went to speak. “It was a long night, and it’ll be a longer day yet. Our best hope is to move swiftly and quietly. There will be no talking, definitely no complaining, and no stopping until the midday break. If you want to make it to Brimhaven and off this rock alive, you’ll do as I say. Understood?”
The men nodded.
“Then gather your belongings, and let’s get the hell out of here,” Travis said.

16-Aug-2012 21:27:40

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Jonah shouldered his bag, feeling the weight of the bottle against his back. It was his only remaining one. But he left it there, vowing to drink it in a celebration of their victory. She wouldn’t want him to darken her memory like that. Only the thought of her could banish those darker shadows that clouded his mind. “I’m coming, love,” He whispered, his words carried away on the breeze. “I’ll find you, now.*
***
James sat on the floor of the library of archives, on the top floor of the barracks. He had located all the recent military documents pertaining to this war and now sorted through them, trying ot match his versons with theirs. Everything was okay so far, at the start of the war. Had Gray only doctored reports when necessary? Or had he just not started yet?

The months progressed on paper, with reports of battles all along the southern coast. Here was the burning of Rimmington – “soldiers arrived on scene to rescue families from buildings & put out fires. V. courageous effort. One young soldier entered a collapsing building to save a chld,” James read. Could that be Lucas? Hardly, he told himself, they were all young soldiers.
Here, the battle on the beaches south of Rimmington. Here he did see Lucas’ name on the list of the wounded – a stomach wound It had been a bloody battle. They had won, with the aid of Falador. He tracked the division of those companies for special missions – a creative move he had devised. There was Lucas again, on the list of soldiers for the Brimhaven mission. A brave move on his part.
There were other reports interspersed; most of what Gray gave him were reports on finances and resources – things that the advisor did, after all, have something to do with. They seemed accurate as far as James could tell. At least Gray did his job right.

16-Aug-2012 21:28:11

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
James followed Lucas and the rest of the army back toFalador, the battle where Justine’s former fiancée had supposedly died. The battle was bloody, and many had died. Although names were omitted, the numbers showed that Falador had lost significantly more men than they had. And Lucas had indeed taken a severe leg wound. But here it was, the letter that Gray had delivered to them that night to set his cruel plan in motion.

On the original document, Lucas was listed among the wounded. On Gray’s copied version, Lucas’ name had a strike through it on the list of the wounded. Gray had them snuck Lucas’ name into the list of the dead, somewhere in the middle. He could see now that the handwriting was off – Gray’s forgery was no work of art. But it did*’t need to be – as long as James did*’t compare a doctored and undoctored report side by side as he did now, he would never know. Nor would he probably notice the difference unless he knew to look for it. He set these two reports off to the side and returned to the remaining documents. As far as he could tell, nothing else was changed. All the numbers matched up, the reports all said the same thing. Nothing was omitted, other than Lucas’ name from every document pertaining to the Karamja mission.
James did note that on the final report sent before the mission left for Karamja – they had been delayed in Port Sarim – the commander, someone named Jonah Barron, had jotted, “Made Myren a medic. Seems to know things about medicine. Reads books.” Myren? Who was that? He checked the list, but no one had the name Myren. The only person who would draw relevance from that name was Lucas – it had to be him. Had he taken Justine’s last name for himself? He was still listed officially as Val-Eyra, but perhaps he had. It couldn’t be a coincidence – Lucas had studied the sciences, after all.

16-Aug-2012 21:28:38

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
So Lucas, who was supposedly dead, was actually working as a medic – saving lives – and going by the name of the girl he was betrothed to, who he thought was waiting for him back home.
He rushed to the window, throwing it open, and was violently sick. Fortunately there was no one below him to see their prince puking out the top floor of the barracks. Embarassed, he yanked the shutters mostly closed, leaving a shaft of sunlight, and leaned against the wall. He wiped his mouth with the back of hi shand.
This was terrible. How could Gray possibly do such a thing? H eknew Justine had told him her father never liked Lucas, but to do this? To fake his death so his daughter would marry someone else? What would happen when Lucas came back to find Justine married to – well, to him, he realized. That was what Gray was hoping for, wasn’t it? And James realized that he wanted that too. But if Justine knew Lucas was alive, he knew it was over – she would go back to waiting until Lucas came home.
If he comes home at all, whispered a sinister voice that sounded eerily like Gray’s in his mind.
The Karamja mission was dangerous.
Gray might have simply been preemptive.
No. He had to tell her. It was the right thing to do.
He thought back to the country home, to the two of them in the lake..
Fury burned in his stomach. How could he have fallen for this? How could he have allowed himself to be played like this? For Gray to create all of this, the puppet master, allowing it all to happen while knowing it was all a lie? What he needed to do was talk to Gray – confront Gray – and let that sick ******* know the game was up.
He scooped up the papers – the evidence – into his rucksack. Then he fled the building and ran home to his castle, to try to set things right.

16-Aug-2012 21:29:06

Crystal Smee

Crystal Smee

Posts: 7,994 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
***
It was a long walk through the forest that morning. Every step hurt Lucas – it hurt to walk, to climb through the jungle, which seemed determined to hold him back. He tripped over roots, stumbled over rocks, and found himself tangled up in vines or stung by large bugs every time he thought he’d found his way. It hurt to breathe. He thought grimly that Justine might not be pleased if he came back filled with holes, and that perhaps he should try to get injured less often. It was a morning where he occupied himself with thoughts of Justine in order to distract from the searing pain in his abdomen and the more distant pain in his leg.
His mind drifted back to when they were young children, only about five or six – he couldn’t remember exactly how old he was, but he remembered clearly when they first met. When he was younger, he used to play in the stables, where his father worked. Lucas would help clean stalls and wash the horses, but when he wasn’t needed he would play in the hay, diving into piles of it from the tops of the stall walls or any higher perch he could find.
Gray had always used the royal stables for his horse, it was just the one, as Justine did not have her own yet, and it was closer than the local livery. This was back when Gray was little more than a wealthy merchant, a few years before he had become one of the king’s financial advisers and financiers. He’d paid a hefty price to keep his horse there, but always gave an extra coin to Lucas’ father for his work. He had never seemed so scary to Lucas, in the beginning. One day, Lucas remembere,d he was diving in the hay when Gray came in to get his horse. Lucas remembered popping up from the hay and hearing Gray’s burst of laughter at his sudden appearance. The man had reached over and plucked a stray piece of straw from Lucas’ hair.

24-Aug-2012 23:15:01 - Last edited on 24-Aug-2012 23:15:24 by Crystal Smee

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