Age of War: Book One - Alliance of Wolves

Chapter Eighteen - The Marksmouth Arena

Drew flung his bedroom door open with a crash, startling Blaze awake.

"What? What happened? Drew?"

Drew hunted around for his pack and starting tossing his few belongings in. "I'm leaving."

"What?" Blaze scrambled out of bed. "Whaddaya mean you're leaving?"

"The arena is being liquidated. I have to do something to stop it."

Blaze started looking for his clothes. "What do you plan on doing once you get there?"

"I'm- I'm not. I'll figure it out on the way."

"You can't leave without a plan! And what about our mission?"

Drew whirled around, eyes flaring gold as he met Blaze nose to nose. "I don't give a damn about our mission! The only home I've ever known is about to be destroyed with my friends inside. I've never had a chance to save them before and I'm not letting this one pass!"

Blaze fell silent, one of his indecipherable looks crossing his face. "I'll go with you," he said quietly.

"What? No, you have to-" There was a faint sound from the door. Drew and Blaze both snapped towards the noise- and found Damian standing there.

Damian may have had good reflexes, but he was nothing compared ot Drew. In a matter of seconds, he was pulled in the room, the door was shut, and Drew had his sword pressed against the trainee's throat.

"What are you doing here?" Drew couldn't manage to sound as angry as he wanted, but he really, really hadn't wanted to kill Damian.

"Wait! Wait! I'm not going to turn you in, I swear!" Damian held his hands out on a peaceful manner, but the rest of him was agitated. He was breathing fast, his eyes were wide, and Wolf had woken up at the overwhelming scent of fear.

Are we hunting already? It's a little early, even for me.

Drew held his sword steady and looked to Blaze. "What do we do with him?"

Blaze placed a hand on Drew's arm, slowly lowering the sword. "Let him talk, first. We'll decide after we hear what he has to say. Why wouldn't you report us?"

Damian was shocked. "Are you kidding? Why would I stop you from going to the Marlsmouth Arena? What they're doing is horrible. By the gods, I'd help you if I could get away from training!"

"But you didn't just overhear my plans to leave." Drew couldn't keep the growl from his words. He needed to leave, he needed to leave now. The chances that he would make it to Marksmouth before the liquidation were slim, and growing slimmer by the second. At his growl, Damian gave him a strange look. Understanding blossomed on his face, followed by a new level of fear.

Drew's eyes had gone gold, and Damian wasn't stupid.

"For someone who's life rests on his persuasive skills, you're awfully quiet." Damain's attention was pulled back to Blaze, and it seemed to jar him into remembering his purpose.

"You two don't seem to realize that most of the guards here hat e the king as much as you do. I know you're part of the Rhoedaezka movement; I've had a cousin who's been trying to get me to join for years."

"And why haven't you?"

"Because if you listen closely, the Rhoedaezkans support a lot more besides revolution."

"Like killing humans just because they're human," Drew said.

Damian nodded. "Exactly."

"We're not officially part of the Rhodaezka movemnet," Blaze added, taking full advantage of the fact that Damian couldn't smell lies.