The Chronicle of the Worthy Son

Fight or Flight

"Good." The Shadow nodded like that was fine by him. "You do that, then." And he hopped onto the top of the box and stalked to the back. Able could not take his eyes off of the Shadow and his animalistic physicality as he dropped down beside a small female rebel who had apparently sneaked past Capstone's line and was trying to open the door with some sort of tool.

"Here, try these." He passed her the keys, then took up a stance to cover her, which seemed only fair when no one had even noticed her until he had shown up. Now Capstone saw him and called for her squadron to reorganize their wall to surround him.

The driver was on the ground! Sliding his satchel over his shoulder, Able jumped down to try to get to the man before some horse's hooves did. "Come on, this way!" Able pulled him to his feet. The man was wobbling and groaning but had enough strength to carry his own weight while Able guided him down the embankment a small way. The driver swore incessantly as Able supported him and watched the scuffle at the back of the prisoner transport.

The rebel girl had gotten the door open and vanished inside, but escape seemed unlikely as roughly a dozen horsemen milled about the back slashing at the rebels with their swords while the rebels tried to block with their staves and help each other pull the lawmen down. Within moments a couple rebels were trying to pull back a fallen and writhing third and two horses, both riderless, were being shooed away.

The dusk light and smoke made it difficult to interpret much of the action in the press of fighters. However, when Capstone took a swing only to be pulled down from her horse, fighters on both sides cleared back enough that Able could see the Shadow slap her mount's rump hard enough that it kicked before taking off. They stayed cleared off when Capstone swung her sword in a wide arc where she had fallen. She then sprang to her feet and carefully advanced on the Shadow.

"You're not escaping this time!" she shouted.

"Yeah, I'm not trying to do that yet," he pointed out. He then dodged two of her advancing thrusts before advanced himself and, guiding her reactionary slash to drive him back again overhead, slid under her arm to give her an elbow strike to the ribs she would not be soon forgetting. Just at the moment he struck, he also kicked her leading leg out from under her, so she fell backwards and lost her sword to the same sort of twist he had used on the driver.

He stood over her and flourished it at her throat. "But, you know, since you mentioned it... Say, uhm... Hm. Crap...what was your code name again? ...Ferret? It's Ferret, right?"

"Yes, it's Ferret," replied the girl from before, slipping back out of the prisoner transport. "And yes, they're freed." And to prove it, the prisoners began climbing down beside her.

"Well! We'll just be taking our leave, then. Tell your men to stand down, Inspector."

"Go to hell!" Capstone spat.

"Seriously?" He looked like he meant to continue that thought, but one of the enforcers advanced so he pulled the wheellock from his belt and pointed it at their face. "Ah-ah." Everyone froze.

"You're not escaping this time," Capstone repeated.

"Why don't you think that over a moment?" the Shadow suggested solemnly. "Is life so horrible that you'd throw it away to keep a handful of innocent people from going free?"

She sneered. "I'm calling your bluff. You wouldn't—ahh!" With perfunctory stab, the Shadow had proved that Capstone's sword was sharp enough to pierce through her quiltcoat.

"Correction." He withdrew the tip from her shoulder. "I don't want to. Stand down."

The Borealunders were trying to inch away. Some of the enforcers clearly itched to stop them, but they all waited for the defiantly silent Capstone.

"It's one battle," the Shadow persisted. "There will be others."

"Go. To. Hell." And she grabbed the blade with her hand. He smoothly stepped back, pulling the sword with him, then with his left hand pointed the pistol at her head and fired.

The shot rang out to an echo of screams, including Able's. The rebels bolted, some helping the prisoners or injured fellows and others fending off the lawmen who tried to stop them. But the majority of Capstone's squadron rushed the Shadow, who moved with a speed and strength that... What could compare to this?

This man called the Shadow effortlessly slipped through the attacks of eight or nine enforcers. He used Capstone's sword for defense alone, tripping and parrying his opponents into each other. Once he was outside of the mob, he circled them with...almost lazy steps and sword work, fending them back so they could not surround him again. Then in all of a breath, he sprinted off into the night.

A trail of lawmen pursued him through the village and into the woods, but they would not catch him. The other rebels and the prisoners were already into the woods as well, which was probably all the Shadow had held out for. Holding the enforcers' attention while the others carried out their goals...no one could deny he did it well.

As this side quieted down, Able looked to see how the main force had fared. Surprisingly, the sheriff was calling his men back to him rather than pursuing the rebels fleeing on horse and foot alike, across the clearing towards the forest. Had anyone told Reeve yet what had happened?

A woman's sobs brought Able's attention back to the transport. Probably Green, though perhaps there was another woman in Capstone's squadron. The driver was seated with his head in his hands at this point and seemed in no danger of being trampled now, so Able left him and scrambled back up the embankment to see if there was anything he could do.

As expected, Green was sitting with her arms around Capstone, who, not as expected, was also sitting and on her own strength. She stared at the ground and cradled her bleeding hand while Green sobbed with relief.

"Inspector, you're alive!" Able was grateful he didn't start sobbing in relief too. It was bad enough that it felt like a possibility.

"Of course," she replied tightly and turned her harrowed eyes on him. "I knew he wouldn't." Then her stone face melted and she barked a mad laugh. "He didn't need to! He just needed to make everyone angry!"