The Last Stand (The Eleven Years War: Book One) (Wattys 2019)

Chapter Nineteen

Ulrick rode as fast as he dared down the road. It wasn't as fast as he would've liked, though, especially since Elise seemed so sick. But, he couldn't go that fast. Because, well, Elise. And... because he wasn't much of a rider. In fact, he nearly failed that part of his exams to become a Watchman. Most of the time, when he was going at a considerable speed, he was doing good to keep himself on the horse. Going at that speed while trying to cradle an unconscious woman in his arms? It was tough, to say the least. He was ashamed to say it, but... he nearly dropped her. Many times. He could blame the rain, he guessed, but honestly, it probably wasn't the rain.

He didn't let that faze him, though: he just focused on getting down the road. Airde was about ten miles from Thaos, a distance that, normally, wouldn't have been that hard to cover. But, that night, the odds were really, really stacked against them. And, to make matters worse, he was starting to fade. The stress of the ride was taking a toll on him: he was starting to get tunnel vision. He knew that if he didn't get to Airde, soon, they weren't going to make it.

Please, let me get there, in time, Ulrick prayed, blinking away the rain and the tunnel vision. Please, please, let me get there, in time!

He didn't know why he bothered. The Gods hadn't exactly been great about answering his prayers, as of late: why would they suddenly start answering him?

After what felt like an eternity, he began to see a small sliver of hope. Airde was a small hunting village, the kind of place where most people didn't actually live in town. Instead, most of the citizens lived in isolated cabins, accessible by narrow, barely marked roads. Those roads started about two miles away from Fort Airde, the main intelligence service fort outside the capital city of Clachster.

He dug his heels even more into that horse's side. The horse yelled, unappreciative of the fact that he was pushing him even more, then went a little faster.

Come on, Ulrick begged the horse as it panted, its labored breath heavy beneath his legs. Come on: just a little while longer!

The tunnel vision got worse.

Desperate, he kept blinking, praying that he could hang on until they got to Fort Airde.

Finally, he saw lights ahead of him. He recognized the scarred gate door they sat on the sides of, the stone that had stood undefeated for a thousand years. And, standing in front of those gates, two men in black cloaks, watching the road for everybody coming and going.

"We're here," Ulrick whispered. He could barely see, now. "We're here."

"Who goes there!" the tallest of the men shouted.

He couldn't help but smile to himself. Seriously? Out of all the people that could be standing guard that night, it just had to be those two...

The next thing he remembered, he was in the mud, with Elise on top of him.

The entire world seemed to spin beneath him as Silas ran towards him.

"Ulrick?" Silas asked as he knelt down besides him. "Ulrick, what the hell happened to you? And who the hell is this girl?"

"Get her inside," he said. The world kept spinning and spinning: it was starting to get him motion sick. "Get her... to Doc..."

He looked over his shoulder. "Eza, go get Doc! Now!"

Silas looked back down at Ulrick. "Hang in there, kid. Just hang in there..."

He blacked out.

***

Silas watched as Doc worked on Ulrick and the girl, his arms folded over his chest. Gods, did Ulrick look like hell: the poor boy looked like someone had gone and chewed him up and spat him out. It looked like someone had tried to help him out, but whoever it was, they didn't exactly do the best of jobs: either that was some good neighbor with a basic knowledge of medicine, or it was the Giskens doing just enough to keep him alive.