The Final Push

Chapter 26: Run Darling, Run

~Breccan~

Sera and I stayed inside Endless and watched the Speed until the sun set and gave us the cover of darkness. Sera still swept her blonde hair up into a black cap which helped her blend in even more but her pale skin still made her stand out in the darkness, but there wasn't much we could do about that unless she was willing to roll around in the mud and I had a distinct feeling that, that wasn't an option. So the moment we were amidst the shadows we darted out from inside Endless and into the mess of tents below. It wasn't easy sneaking around their campsites either. No one was out doing drills anymore but there were still scouts to avoid and even once we got past those there were still small groupings of Speed huddled around campfires, telling stories and laughing. It was a dangerous maze that made me think sadly of the few days I spent here with Wester and Jinx and Hunter and Frew. They were good guys that were just following a bad leader and I wanted to find them and get them out of here, but I knew they would never go for it. They might have been nice but they were no traitors and the moment they saw my face they would have been screaming for Tristan or the Master.

So Sera and I dashed in between tents pausing when we thought someone was coming and moving as quickly and as quietly as we could when the coast was clear. I had told Sera how it would be likely that the Master would have the keys on her person so we had devised a plan to go and search her tent, and by plan I mostly meant that we would be sneaking into her tent and hoping that she wasn't there so that we could steal the keys and be on our merry way before anyone noticed what was happening.

"Breccan... Breccan!" Sera whispered shouted from three tents away and tried rapidly to get my attention.

"Shit," I mumbled under my breath. While I had been day dreaming Sera had been moving and now someone was coming straight my way. I ducked around the corner of a tent to avoid coming face to face with a gun. Luckily, the other side of the tent was not occupied and I waited there for a few moments before checking if the patroller was gone and when I saw that he was, I flew over to where Sera was still waiting.

"What the hell?" she angry whispered as she smacked the back of my head. "Get your head out of your ass and pay attention!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I rubbed the back of my head and glared at her. "I'll pay attention, lets just keep moving." Sera just shook her head and took off running again. We were nearing the Masters tent now, you could see the warm glow coming off of the much larger tent. The main entrance was also flanked by two guards which made Sera and me stop in our tracks.

"What do we do now?" I whispered to Sera.

She pushed me back a little bit so I wasn't so close to her, "Do the guards ever switch positions?"

I thought for a moment, "Yeah, but it's likely that their shift just started and they won't switch for a few hours."

She sighed and sat back on her heels, "We need to make a distraction."

"Yeah," I nodded along with her. "Something big enough that it will require not only the guards attention but the Master's attention too since she's undoubtedly in there."

Sera nodded and seemed to think for a minute. A moment later her eyes lit up and I could almost hear the gears grinding in her head with the occurrence of her idea. "Okay I've got it," she stood up. "You stay here and wait, then once they're gone sneak in and get the keys."

I grabbed her arm, "Wait, we need a signal so I know when the distraction is starting."

She shook me off, "Believe me, you'll know." She started to run off but turned to me at the last second, "I'm trusting you right now, don't make me regret it." Then Sera took off back the way we had come, her black coat flapping soundlessly behind her.

As soon as she was out of sight I turned back to watching the guards. They were both big beefy guys that looked like they could snap my neck just by stepping on it. I supposed that they were the best since they were guarding the Master's tent. Every few minutes or so they would switch spots with each other and whisper something that was indiscernible from where I was crouched. And that was how we stayed for quite some time. I watched, they moved, they whispered, then they peered into the night and silently dared someone to come challenge them. In fact, it had been so long that I was starting to worry that something had gone wrong and that I was going to have to go find Sera. I even stood up to go look for her but I wasn't able to take more than two steps before I heard the shouting. It was quiet and distant at first, but then the noise grew and I watched the guards ready their swords.

The men both held their swords at chest level and didn't back down when another Speed guard came running towards them. He yelled to them frantically, "Help! All the horses got out of their pens and something has got them all riled up," the guard panted as he came into view. "They're tearing up the entire camp."

The flap of the tent flew open and the Master came into the torch light, "How did this happen?" She was exactly as I remembered her. Her gray hair was pulled into a tight bun that made the sharp angles of her face seem even more severe. On top of that, she was dressed in all black and it made her seem sharper and more dangerous.

The new guard shook his head, "I don't know but we need to do something quickly."

The Master nodded and all four of them took off running into the fray. I could see a few wild horses romping around from my spot but none of them had ventured over this way, thankfully.

As soon as the Master and the guards were gone from my line of view I scampered into the Master's tent. I came to a screeching halt once the flap swung shut behind me though. The Master was definitely living large. In one corner of the massive tent was a wooden framed bed that made me long for my old bed with my Ma. In another corner there were tables pushed together with maps and papers stacked so thick on top of them that they might have been thick enough to stop a bullet. Everywhere I looked there were plush furs or ornate chests or just about anything you could think of that screamed luxury.

This presented a problem though. I had been hoping that there would be a special little box sitting on a pedestal and that I would be able to grab the keys out of it and run, but no such luck. There were chests and boxes and wooden cases everywhere.

I bit my lip and went to work. There were too many here to search through all of them so I checked the ones most likely to hold them first. The smallest boxes, or the most ornately decorated chests, but the only things hiding within those were jewelry and clothing. I lifted lid after lid and rifled through drawer after drawer but for the love of Paradise, the keys were just not here. I began checking underneath her bed and between papers, but there was still nothing.

"Damn I'm running out of time," I hit one of the tables.

"Oh no my dear boy, you've run out of time," the Master stood in the entry of the tent and pointed a gun straight at my head.