twenty-eight or thirty, but it was hard to tell. The one next to him walked like he was in charge, and Legon figured this man was the commander. He didn’t have a full beard but he did have about four days worth of stubble. His face was scarred. The last man was young and didn’t have a beard. He looked stupid, more like the trolls from stories than a man. In truth, at first glance Legon was a little surprised by how the men looked. They had more of the appearance of robbers than royal guard. Of course, Legon had never seen royal guard before, so this might be how all of them looked.
Moleth was bouncing around like an over-excited puppy. She was elated about helping the queen’s men, but she was obviously wearing on them. The one standing next to her placed his hand on the hilt of his sword in a longing sort of way.
When they reached them, the man who appeared to be the commander looked at Kovos. “You don’t know anyone, huh?” he said in a gruff voice.
The man turned his attention to Legon. “Take off your shirt and show us your back, boy.”
This was how the whole thing was going to end. He was going to be killed or taken by the queen’s men. There was no stopping it. Or was there? Moleth had decided to give her opinion on the matter one last time.
“Oh good, I have always disliked this one, he’s…” she was stopped by a command from the man in front of Legon.
“Shut up, woman. You have brought too much attention to us already. If you don’t be quiet on your own we will silence you,” the man said, and for once Legon hoped that Moleth would use some sense and keep her mouth shut. This desire was not for his well-being, but hers. Sadly, she didn’t have the sense.
“Now you wait just one moment—I helped you b…” she started.
“Shut her up!” barked the commander. Legon watched in horror as the man closest to Moleth moved behind her and in one fluid movement unsheathed his dagger and brought it to her throat. Moleth became quiet in an instant and a very real fear crossed her face.
“This is what happens if you don’t cooperate with us,” said the commander. As if on cue, the man holding Moleth pressed the dagger hard and dragged the blade across her throat, slicing the arteries in her neck.
A gurgled scream of pain and terror rose from Moleth. Blood sprayed out of the wound, covering her front as she began to pass out from the loss of blood. Her face washed white as blood left her body, and she gave a slight twitch. The man let go of Moleth and she swayed for what seemed like an eternity before falling to the dirt.
Rage filled Legon. These men had slaughtered an innocent woman to make a point. This was an injustice for which he would not stand. He moved to his left toward the troll man. Kovos followed his lead and they both engaged their respective targets. His elbow came up to the man’s temple before he got a chance to react, and Legon felt the satisfying feeling that comes with knowing that your opponent has just been knocked unconscious. Kovos went with a different tactic, kneeing the commander hard in the stomach, dropping him to the ground and then kicking him hard across the face. The last man, who up to this point had been wearing a wicked grin, came at them, but Legon and Kovos didn’t get their shot at this one. To everyone’s surprise, Keither screamed a horrible, insane man’s scream. The three men turned to look at the boy, who no longer looked like a boy at all. There was rage and hatred in his eyes, pure and clear. Keither lunged for the man. He was no match for a member of the royal guard, but the soldier was taken by surprise, and Keither had a lot of weight behind him. The boy slammed into the man, sending them both to the ground, Keither on top punching every inch he could find. Each blow did almost no damage and the soldier was getting his bearings again. As the scene progressed, a clear thought came to Legon: “Kovos said there were five men, not three.”
“We need to get out of here now!” yelled Legon, and together he and Kovos lifted Keither from the soldier. The man