49. The leaving of Akavel

Early the following day, Marius, Fureva-Yung and Nox were already breakfasted and ready to start the day, but there was no sign of Jaden.
“Still sleeping,” Marius told the group when questioned about Jaden’s absence, “Let her. If all goes well, we’ll be out of town and on our way to Rockspire by the end of the day. A long road a head. She might as well sleep while she can.”
“There’s a package from Ecledda to pick up,” Ragnia said over the breakfast table.
“We could do that,” Nox volunteered, “We don’t have to leave Rubbletown, do we?”
“That sounds like a good use of our time,” Marius agreed, and Fureva-Yung nodded through some tasty wood shavings she’d found to eat.
“No, the contact should meet you near the gate. You’ll know them by a tattoo. Three pieces of cloth held together by vines on their right shoulder.”
 
With their target’s marker in mind and their destination ahead, Fureva-Yung, Nox and Marius moved out into the morning foot traffic. Though the sun had still to rise above the curtain wall, Rubbletown was a hive of activity. People returned home from night shifts at the factory as others ran late for the day's first shift. The group wove through the bustle without a care, knowing their contact would be waiting at the other end of their journey.
 
It wasn’t until they were within three tent lines from the border fence of Rubbletown that they could all hear a disturbance. Fureva-Yung listened intently, hearing the jeers and whoops of laughter of a mob and the straining and grunting of others doing hard labour.
“Should we go see?” Marius asked as Nox slipped away through the crowd ahead.
“Sounds like an idea,” Fureva-Yung agreed.
 
Beyond the fenceline into Akavel proper, a crowd had formed around a large wooden cart piled with concrete blocks and worked stone. On top, one enforcer with a whip that sparked blue in the morning gloom, another with curses and threats drove on half a dozen Urendi, all locked into yokes and chained to the wagon.
“Is this some sort of sport or punishment?” Marius asked Nox, who was already at the fence, fingers wound into the chain link mesh.
“Do they not have beasts of burden?” Fueva-Yung, sounding offended.
As Marius affirmed, they had seen a smattering of such cart animals, and all three spotted the tattoo. Three pieces of cloth, held in place by green vines worked up the right shoulder of a man yoked and chained to the wagon. Nox was inclined to leave the stupid people of this town to their bullying until she spotted the tattoo. With a sigh, she knew that Fureva-Yung would make a spectacle.
“Do we take out the two on top?” Marius asked, comparing tactics.
“We can’t go out with Fueva-Yung,” She said, “She’ll make more of a spectacle than what this is. What if we just…”
What Nox thought was lost to a roar and a wood-shattering smash as Fureva-Yung shoulder-charged a wooden panel, part of the makeshift Rubbletown perimeter wall. The wooden planks flew, scattering the crowd and filling the space in front of the wagon with debris.
Marius rolled his eyes and turned on his light gloves. In his rush, the switch got stuck, and he had to waste precious time fixing the problem.
 
Meanwhile, the two enforcers on the wagon turned on the new intruders. The enforcer with the whip lashed out at Fureva-Yung, hitting her for a small amount of damage. Electricity arced along the whip, enough to stun an average human. To Fureva-Yung it was a faint tickle. The second enforcer threw a canister into the breech where Fureva-Yung, Marius and Nox stood. Marius dodged away, avoiding the effect. Fureva-Yung felt the electrical blast, but her resistance again saved her. Nox took the brunt of the shock, making her senses spin.
 
Fureva-Yung leapt high, charging onto the wagon and pushing the enforcer with the whip, flying onto the hard-packed dirt of the road. The crowd began screaming and fleeing for their lives as this giant six-eyed monster dealt with the enforcers as if they were an adult bullying children off their sandcastle. In the chaos, Nox teleported into the midst of the chained Urendi, silent and unseen.
“Here, take my hand,” She said to the one branded with the tattoo.
“Oh! Ur…alright…,” The scruffy man said, surprised to see a young woman appear before him. He placed his dirty hand in hers.
Marius’s hand shields were operating properly. He turned on his energy siphon, and the metallic veins that ran up his neck glowed.
On the wagon, the second enforcer pulled out his baton and swung it at Fureva-Yung. It hit true, though his look of triumph turned to confusion and fear as soon as he realised it did not affect the six-eyed monster in front of him. Down on the ground, his companion turned to see the same thing and skidded away on his butt. While the show continued above, Nox teleported herself and the courier quietly away, back into Rubbletown, several tent lines from the border.
“Don’t let them get away!” Fureva-Yung shouted, trying to pin her shattering shout on the grounded enforcer. It missed. Fortunately, Marius was there. He ran up, holding a baton and drove it down into the prone enforcer. One zap and the enforcer fell stunned.
 
From somewhere to their right, bells rang. The redboots had caught wind of the excitement. It was time to go.
 
The second enforcer jumped clumsily from the back of the wagon to escape the monstrous Fureva-Yung and the fast-hitting man, Marius. Fureva-Yung jumped down after him, her chain whipping out around the enforcer’s legs before she’d even hit the ground. He fell, face first, into the dirt of the street. The pounding of red boots and shouts were now apparent. It was definitely time to go. Fureva-Yung and Marius dragged their enforcers back to the wagon. Using a key found on one, they unlocked the remaining unfortunates chained to the wagon. As a mob, they scrambled through the chainlink and out of sight as the redboots arrived, the wagon empty and the men gone.
 
Nox and the scruffy courier were in a quiet space behind tents and huts of Rubbletown. The courier looked disorientated, and Nox wasn’t sure if it was because he’d just been teleported metres from where he’d been tortured or if that was his permanent state.
“We were sent to find you,” She said quietly, getting the man’s attention by tapping the tattoo on his arm.
“Oh…where are we?”
“In Rubbletown,” She answered, more patiently than she felt and repeated, “We were sent by the Patchwork Dream. You have something for us.”
“Yeah…? Oh, yeah…” He slowly caught on to what she was saying. Standing on one leg, he pulled off his shoe and rummaged around inside momentarily before pulling out a small orange lozenge.
“Ewww!” Nox said, rummaging for her scrap of cloth to put the lozenge. Making a small parcel, she put it in her satchel for safekeeping.
“I got picked up by the Redboots and put in the drunk tank. Can you believe it?” Smelling the fumes still wafting from the man, Nox could believe it.
“So I had to get creative about where I put the package.”
“Is there a passphrase that goes with it?” She asked, not interested in continuing this conversation longer than it had to be.
“Wha…, oh,” He looked confused again. Nox sighed.
“Just think of the time and person who gave you the job,” She said and read his mind.
Q- What does the wild spirit desire?
A- To roam open roads again.
“Ur…I think I need a drink of water,” said the courier, looking pale. Without another word, Nox showed him to a nearby well and left him to find the others.
 
Fureva-Yung and Marius stripped their two enforcers, taking their batons and uniforms down to their red boots.
“We’re getting quite a collection of these boots. Maybe I could start a business,” Marius said, realising the energy supply in his baton was depleted. He gave it back to the unconscious enforcer.
Nox arrived not long after, having followed the sound of several voices talking.
“Never heard of subtle?” She asked Fureva-Yung, who was looking very pleased with herself.
“I do not understand this word, subtle,” She replied, trying to keep her face serious.
Nox sighed.
“So, what was going on out there?” Marius had asked one of the men unchained from the wagon.
“The enforcers like a little sport. Once in a while, they’ll pick us up for being out after curfew or just because they don’t like your look. They’ll be made to pull the wagon up the street and down.
“Have we made trouble for you?”
“Na, this always happens. If anything, they may think twice about having sport with those they’ve rounded up.”
 
They left the enforcers near naked and unarmed to the tender mercies of the waking Rumbletown and returned to the library, the catacombs and Jaden, eating breakfast.
 
Nox pulled out the small pieces of material and placed the orange lozenge on the table without touching it. Subconsciously, she wiped her hand on her clothes.
“You’ve already been out this morning?” Jaden asked, looking around the group, “You could have brought back some eggs.”
Nox rolled her eyes, already frustrated by the adults that morning.
“I’m sorry,” She said shortly and walked away.
“What have you been up to?” Jaden asked the other two, whose arms were full of acquired equipment. Fureva-Yung put down the pile of clothing, batons and the electric whip.
“Just a little exercise to start the day,” Marius grinned.
Fureva-Yung put the whip and batons aside and towards Jaden.
“Yes, Fluffy?”
“Could you make one of these a link for my chain?” She asked, “I thought it would be nice to zap people with it.”
Jaden thought for a moment. Without isolation, the electricity would just as soon flow into Fureva-Yung as into her enemy, though with Fureva-Yung’s resistance, that was hardly a problem.
“Pretty or functional?”
“Yes. With an on-off switch. “
Jaden sighed. What she wouldn’t give to have her workshop.
“That will take some time. It’s doable, but not until we get back home,”
“Thank you, Chief Engineer Officer. I leave it in your capable hands.”
 
Jaden picked up the left lozenge. It was the same as the others she’d swallowed and popped it in her mouth without a thought. Nox snickered.
“Something to share, Nox?” Jaden asked, wondering what had got into the girl.
“Yes,” Nox schooled her face to seriousness, “Your contact’s Code name is Ecledda.” She also gave Jaden the passphrases she’d extracted from the courier’s mind.
“Good,” Jaden looked at the girl a moment longer before heading for the needle and thread room.
 
Jaden was back in the dark swirling mist of the secure communication space when she felt a presence behind her, her mouth tasting like an old shoe. She waited for the question and gave the required reply.
“To roam the road again. Mind you, I could do with a second cup of coffee.”
“Fair enough,” The reply came, a man’s voice familiar even to Jaden.
“If you have one, I’d take it,” She asked hopefully, disappointing herself with the answer, “Still, I guess it wouldn’t translate.
“We weren’t sure if you’d get the parcel,” Ecledda replied, “The courier was new, and we’d heard the redboots had picked him up.”
“So I understand. I’m not sure I know how your courier accomplished it, but he did. Maybe I don’t want to know.”
“It was meant to be a simple meet and hand over.”
“Well, my friends returned with several batons they did not have when they left.” The time of pleasantries was over, “How do we leave the city?”
“I have a friend who takes a wagon through the gates daily to make deliveries to outlying farms. So long as everything looks good, they don’t spend too long examining the cart.”
“You smuggle things in and out? How about a person?”
“You got me out of prison. We’re happy to help.”
“And Rockspire?”
“I don’t know much about that. I know the road there, but I've never been there myself.”
“Contacts?”
“No, not many live out there. The place doesn’t usually take prisoners.”
“They have. We have to stage another jailbreak.”
 
They talked briefly about what Ecledda knew of Rockspire, which wasn’t much. Talk soon returned to a subject that Ecledda did know about.
“The gates are two sets of gates with a no man’s land in the centre. Moving through the Cityside gate is easy. They let a wagon a time in before closing the gates and checking the paperwork and wagon.”
“They do this to everyone, even merchant wagons?”
“Yes. The redboots check your paperwork, then give the wagon a once over before opening the outer gates.”
“Armed guards on the walls?”
“Yes.”
“Any spires or other high points to look over the wall?” It sounded like they’d have to smuggle Nox aboard the wagon. It wasn’t an idea that appealed to Jaden, and she hoped Nox could see over the wall for a site to teleport to.
“No, it’s a straight curtain wall. It’s the most heavily defended stretch of the perimeter wall.”
“Right. I will need to consult, but your wagon could be what we’re looking for.” She arranged to meet up with Ecledda that afternoon and closed the call.
 
“If we can get Nox out, she can teleport us all out,” She said to the others without conviction.
“We could make a hole in the wall,” Fureva-Yung suggested.
“The most heavily fortified bit of a thick wall?” Nox shook her head, “I couldn’t make it through, and we’d leave evidence of our being there.
“You could look over the wall again like you did for the prison,” Jaden said. Nox shook her head. She wasn’t happy about being so exposed if she had to do it alone.
“I was spotted once and nearly caught by some big flapping thing. As it was, I had to fall to escape it.”
“You could double teleport,” Marius said, “When the inside doors open, teleport in. You teleport away as soon as the doors open to go outside.”
“No, that’s even worse!” Nox shook her head, “I’m in a kill chamber the whole time I’m visible with nowhere to hide.”
 
The conversation went on thinking up more and more outlandish ways to make Nox’s trip safer.
“Getting a good look at the wagon and then teleporting into it when it's on the outside?”
“I teleport to a location, not a thing. I’d just teleport to where I last saw it,” Nox said, shaking her head again. “I think Ecledda’s option is the best. He smuggles me aboard the wagon and out of the city, leaving me someplace safe. If I’m discovered in the check, I can teleport back, and we can try something else.”
 
So, with that plan in mind, they met up with Ecledda later that day. They were met with two men, Ecledda, who was familiar to all of them and another leaner-looking wagon driver.
“Hey, I remember you,” said the large man from high security, “How did you get us out of there? I don’t know, but I’m glad to return the favour.
“You heard about the prison break?” Jaden asked the wagon driver, who nodded, “We need to get this one out.” She pointed at Nox.
“ I am taking a load of hessian bags out for the harvest. She could hide in those if she were good and quiet.”
 
Nox stepped back, finding an area where the ropes of tents and support poles made a jumble of crossing lines and allowed her camouflage to blend into the background.
“That should do it.”
“Could someone dressed as an enforcer couldn’t go out with the wagon?” Marius suggested, one last ditch attempt to ensure Nox didn’t go out alone, “Say, to check out the farm.”
“You’d still need paperwork,” The wagon driver said with a shrug.
It would be Nox and Nox alone being smuggled out.
“Remember, if things go wrong, you bamf out there, okay?” Jaden impressed on Nox as she climbed into the back of the cart with the piles of scratchy bags. Nox nodded silently.
 
.The heavy fabric tickled at her exposed skin as they weighed on her chest as the wagon trundled through the streets of Akavel towards the gate. Even when she took a breath, the bags smelt like dirt, and she had to keep her mouth closed so pieces didn’t fall into her mouth. Still, she was confident in her camouflage and how deeply she was hidden in the pile of bags.
 
Outside, the wagon stopped, and a set of heavy doors were opened. The wagon moved a few metres before stopping again, and Nox heard a new voice, one of the enforcers on the gate.
“Vern, off later than usual this evening? Did you get caught up somewhere in town?”
“A few more deliveries than usual, that’s all,” The wagon driver replied, accompanied by the rustling of paper.
“Just you going out?”
“Yep. I’ll stay out at the farm tonight.”
“Good idea. Okay, this all seems in order. I’ll do a quick inspection and get you on your way.” The rustle of paper and the guard's voice moved to the back of the wagon where Nox lay. She lay perfectly still, even her heart seemed to stop beating as she could sense the piles of bags being moved around on top of her. She was sure he was only a layer away, one thickness of bags away from exposing her.
Footsteps moved away from the wagon. Another gate opened, and the wagon started again. Slowly, Nox breathed as the imposing weight of the outer gate slipped past, and she was outside the city. She had made it. Still, she stayed where she was, trusting that the driver would tell her when it was safe to show herself. A half an hour later, the cart stopped again, and Vern’s voice called.
“You can come out. It’s safe now.”
 
Nox peered from under the sacks and out into the quickly coming night. They were at a farm. Vern was untying the pack animals from the front of the cart, and no one else was in sight. She slipped out and walked along the edge of the wagon until she was face to face with Vern.
“Thank you,” She said, and with a click. The space she had been in was empty.
 
Ecledda and the others were at a nearby bar when Nox teleported back into Rubbletown. Ecledda showed the others a game as they all drank rough moonshine. They hadn’t even noticed she’d returned.
“You’ve been drinking,” She said, glancing at all of them but letting her eyes fall on Marius.
“Yes,” He replied, in a jolly mood.
“I was in a wagon, under scratchy heavy material, while enforcers poked around.”
“We weren’t.” Laughter from the group.
Nox was contemplating the unfairness of it all when Ecledda stood and looked at her.
“Ready to take us out?”
“You’re going too?”
“I’m wanted here. Outside, well, I have a chance,” He said, smiling. To Nox, it seemed odd to be happy about his slim chance of survival. Still, this man had given them their way out of the city. It was the least they could do to give him his freedom.
 
All holding hands, they disappeared with a pop from outside the bar and appeared beside the empty wagon. Vern was just finishing with the horse when Marius spotted him.
“Any chance of beds for five?” Marius asked, looking at the big farmhouse.
“I just work here,” Vern said with a shrug, “The farmer gives me a bed for the night when I travel late. I can offer a haystack if you’re gone by morning.”
“Is it secure?” Fureva-Yung asked, and Nox laughed a sharp little bark.
“It’s a haystack.”
“I just don’t want to be surprised by redboots.”
“Why don’t we just start walking and find a place off the road.”
Ecledda pointed back down the road where the wagon had come.
“There’s a fork in the road about a kilometre back. South is back to Akavel, North West out to Rockspire.” The group shook hands with Vern and Ecledda, and with the light of Nox’s Hedge magic lighting their footsteps, they started down the road.
 
They had not even turned up the fork to Rockspire when they all spotted a light blinking through the bushes. Nox extinguished her light, as they all watched in silence as two enforcers on the backs of giant armoured beasts waddled down the road. The enforcers were quietly talking with each other, unaware of the trap ahead. Marius and Jaden hid in the bushes to the left side of the road. Nox found a patch of shadow to the right, disappearing. Fureva-Yung, thinking strategically, especially about those beasts, lay in the middle of the road. It wasn’t long until the enforcers could be heard on the night breeze.
“What is that?”
“It’s big, whatever it is.”
 
Over their telepathic network, Marius counted down.
Three, two, one!
Nox and Marius launched out of the dark, striking an enforcer each. Like sacks, they slid from their saddles onto the ground. At the same time, Fureva-yung grabbed the beast's reins to stop them from bolting. Neither beast seemed happy about the surprise. One started curling up, its heavy armour pieces locking into place. As its head pulled into safety, it drew the reins and Fureva-Yung's arm. Above, armoured pieces joined with a snap. Fureva-Yung had enough presence to drop the reins and withdraw her arm as the beast started turning into a giant armoured ball.
“There, there. Now, none of that, you’re safe now,” Marius crooned to the beast. The amour stopped locking together as the beast listened to his soothing talk. Nox reached out and dominated the mind of the second beast. From straining to be free of the giant stranger in front of it, it suddenly stopped fighting and stood still.
 
The beast’s under control, Fureva-Yung, now dealt with the enforcers, taking off the equipment and clothes and tying them up with their own rope.
“Where are you from?” She asked when the guards were conscious again
“Akavel” They were half an hour from home and had probably felt very safe
“What were you doing out here?”
“Patrolling the highway between the farms and the city.”
 
Fureva-Yung decided they knew nothing of value and took them off the road where the next passing patrol could find them. With other ideas in mind, Nox tried stealing away, her dagger in hand.
“I don’t think we need to commit murder tonight, do you?” He asked, placing a hand on her slim shoulder.
“Do you really want them telling they saw dangerous people near the road to Rockspire?” She grumbled, though no one replied.
 
With one beast carrying Fureva-Yung and Nox and the other, Marius and Jaden, they set out along the road to Rockspire and their hidden camp for the night.