Back in the tower, Solomon was still amazed at how the bandits sided with the squad so quickly. Desmond lunged forward with Light Wielder. Solomon clicked a button and he slid through an escape slide just behind his desk just missing Light Wielder’s edge piercing the chair.

  Desmond yelled, “Fuck! He took the slide. Aurora with me! Skivs the ballista! Go!”

  Desmond and Aurora quickly jumped after with Skivvy running up the stairs quickly.

  Outside, Keely got a hold of the explosive locker and began planting dynamite, nitroglycerin sticks, and barrels of black powder around the tower with help from some of the bandits including Harry and Ron. Kale and Ator were close by with Ator body slamming a garrison trooper into one of the horse pens landing in horse shit.

  Kale was providing cover as he yelled out, “Kee! You better have a good plan!”

  “I always do!”

  “Wait until they come outside then blow it up! I don’t want a repeat of the last time in training. I just got my bloody eyebrows back!”

  “Boo-hoo, wanker… Alright… Set! Everyone, back off from the tower! Harry give me the lighter! Ron make a line of running powder! GO!,” exclaimed Keely excitedly.

  Everyone backed off diving into bushes nervously anticipating what Keely had in store.

  In town, the remaining garrison troopers were being dealt with by the rest of the bandits and Herod as a secondary force moving through the streets methodically and efficiently. Majority of the garrison troopers fled out of town and away from Vorstock dropping and dispersing their armor and weapons. Audra and Nikolai began moving the wagon away from the tower with a few highwaymen hanging on to the sides once the oxen were harnessed to the front reins. Ator quickly tackled Keely and Ron as the ballista nearly hit them and proceeded to fire three more striking down a few bandits turning them into shish-kabobs. Kale took a shot at one of the archers on the tower and struck him in the eye. He could not get a good angle on the ballista crew. Neither could Keely as she fired a shot breaking part of the stone overlook. Skivvy broke through the hatch and hacked effortlessly at the ballista crew stopping the enemy fire. He threw the last garrison trooper over the edge.

  Skivvy yelled from atop, “All clear! The bastard commander is escaping! Desmond and Aurora are after him! Look for any escape tunnels nearby!”

  Ator and Kale immediately ran around to look upon hearing Skivvy. Keely stayed put with Harry and Ron waiting anxiously to light the tower.

  The escape slide lead to an underground horse stable that was empty and Desmond and Aurora quickly ran through it looking desperately for Solomon. Aurora stopped momentarily and heard horse hooves clopping rapidly up ahead followed by a light up a ramp. They both quickly ran out and noticed Solomon ridding away towards Vorstock along with three dead bandits who failed at stopping Solomon. Kale and Ator quickly rode to the end of the tunnel exit with their horses and two extras.

  Desmond quickly yelled, “He’s headed towards town! Get him!”

  Skivvy sprinted out of the tower towards Keely who was giddily waiting to blow it up. Skivvy dove behind a tree and yelled, “NOW!”

  Keely lit the powder and plugged her ears watching with excited anxiousness. Skivvy immediately pulled her back behind the tree, but she protested wanting to watch it. Harry, Ron, Skivvy and the rest of the bandits and highwaymen hit the dirt and hid behind the tree line as the explosives blew up the tower’s base. Like a collapsing skyscraper, the tower fell down with a thunderous roar as the brick and stone went flying all over the place. Some retreating garrison troops were hit and crushed by the falling tower. It fell down with a loud and thunderous thud shaking the earth.

  Audra and Nikolai looked back at the falling tower in awe of the destruction immediately followed by a feeling of realizing they missed something.

  Nikolai asked Audra, “Did we at least clear out the tower before blowing it up? I bet there was expensive loot in there we could’ve used.”

  “Hopefully! I doubt because you know how we roll,” Audra said knowing deep down this was not the case. “At least the supply barn is still intact!”

  “To town?”

  “To town after we pick em up,” Audra said as she smacked the reins forcing the oxen to move faster.

  In the town, Herod and his men were rounding up the remaining garrison troopers into the center square. Herod looked towards the north side of town seeing Solomon in shiny yet now smudged, gold armor being chased down by Desmond, Ator, Aurora and Kale.

  Herod calmly walked towards the direction of Solomon for about a few yards. He shoved his great sword into the dirt and asked one of his bandits, “Give me the long bow.”

  “Here,” said one man in hunting gear.

  Herod took two deep breaths as he closed his right eye whilst pulling and straining on the bow string to get the arrow lined up. Solomon was weaving side to side missing the arrows and knives from Kale and was surprisingly nimble enough to block Ator’s axe strikes with his sword. Desmond was close behind staggered slightly to the side keeping pace with Solomon. Aurora was off to the other side keeping pace as well and missing with here sword strikes.

  One of the bandits turned to Herod and asked with great concern, “You sure? That’s a tough distance and you could hit one of them.”

  “I’m sure. Going to cut it close by about the eighty yard mark by that bramble bush there. Wind is calm for now, but changing direction… Now… Quiet,” Herod said coldly.

  He let loose the arrow after a long and deep breath. It flew towards Solomon with a precision that only a true champion marksman would have. Solomon was looking back not noticing what was in front of him. In slow motion, it felt as if the arrow was cutting through time itself as the arrow violently pierced and embedded itself into Solomon’s fat neck forcing Solomon to fall with a great and painful thud onto the muddy street skipping and skidding along the brick pavement like a rolling pair of dice. In the process the arrow broke in two, but was still embedded in his eviscerated neck. He was still alive, though bleeding profusely. Kale immediately hopped off and pulled out his knife cursing in Elvish.

  Desmond ran up and yelled, “Hold! Let them decide.”

  Desmond was pointing towards Herod and his men. Kale swiftly spun his knife away as Ator was slowly coming by picking up the arrows that Kale missed when shooting earlier. Kale was thankful. Aurora sheathed her sword and patted her horse. Desmond pointed Light Wielder at Solomon’s head as he kicked Solomon onto his back to look up at Desmond. Herod and five men walked slowly up surrounding Solomon as he was gasping and spitting out blood.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Kale remarked, “Impressive shot!”

  “Still got it I suppose… Was a captain in the archer regiment fifteen years ago. King’s arrows second battalion, lion company. Gold medalist in archery and horse archery back in the day,” Herod responded proudly. “At least this piece of shit is done for… So… Sir Rollo is it? What say you?”

  “He’s yours. My squad is just here to pass by is all. Slight detour from our mission, but still making good time.”

  “Hmm? Thank you all… Men! Cut the civilians down from the poles and trees. Let’s bury them… What do want to do with those prisoners, sir? We have a eighty of them. The rest killed or scattered about.”

  “I don’t know yet… You know? This town needs a good leader and enforcer of peace… What say you? The people here seem to listen to you and respect you. I’m pretty sure the capital forces will understand.”

  “Hmm? I guess so… We are celebrating tonight. It was for a harvest festival. But I guess now for a liberation festival. I know Simon’s place will be the spot to be at.”

  “We’ll be there,” Desmond said smiling.

  He put Light Wielder away and got back on his horse. Ator, Aurora, and Kale arrived and followed in suit. The squad rode past the garrison prisoners. Desmond stopped for a moment and looked at their defeated and ashamed faces. He wanted to yell at them, but knew it would do nothing. The jail house was nearby and had enough room to house them until Capital forces would arrive. He looked back at Herod and motioned his head towards the empty jail house. Herod nodded in understanding as he gathered some men to discuss this.

  He stared right through the garrison troopers in disappointment and anger. One of the garrison troopers looked at Desmond and apologized pathetically. Kale responded back, “You apologize to them.”

  He was pointing at the hanging people from the street lights. Ator snarled at one that was about to say something in response to Kale and immediately backed down. Aurora looked disappointed at the prisoners the way a teacher would for her class of poorly behaved students.

  Desmond said calmly and loudly for the prisoners to hear, “You have all disgraced this kingdom by following Solomon! Capital authorities and the military police will be informed of this and charges will be brought forth against all of you… Like my friend said earlier… You apologize to the people you allowed to be hanged and killed… Yes, there is an ongoing war with the orcs in the South and East… That doesn’t give any of you the right to do what you did and take advantage of oversight in the kingdom. I’m not your judge. These townspeople are… You have all failed your duties as footmen! Remember that!”

  The four slowly rode away as the garrison troopers hung their heads down in shame.

  Herod and his men looked down on Solomon who was holding his neck as he spat out more blood. Herod squatted down and said in an off putting calmness, “You killed a lot of innocent people and for what? To be rich and powerful like a noble? Like a ‘mini king?’ You are a pathetic shrewd. You should’ve known your men weren’t good fighters or that your reign of terror wasn’t going to last… My son you hanged last week was a better man than you’ll ever be.”

  Herod looked down noticing a gold chain necklace with a ruby gem on it. He yanked it off of Solomon’s neck. Herod and his men finished off Solomon by each taking turns stabbing at him. His body was then set on fire afterwards and left burning in the street.

  Herod looked to the sky and thought to himself, “This was for you James… For you… My darling… Violet… I love you. Please wait for me when it’s my time.”

  The wagon came back to the tavern inn with Audra, Nikolai, Skivvy, and Keely in tow. Harry and Ron hopped off the back of the wagon celebrating their victory. Keely gave them a few gold coins and a suggestive wink that made Harry and Ron argue if it was meant for one of them. Audra playfully punched Keely on the shoulder laughing as she saw this. Nikolai was drinking excessively from his canteen happy that everything worked out.

  Overall, everyone was happy, but Skivvy was annoyed by Keely’s excitement over blowing up the tower. He was in the middle of ranting at her when the rest of the squad got off their horses. “Damnit, Kee! We should have cleared out the tower of resources first before blowing it up! By the freaking gods, nearly blew me apart with how much you used! We could’ve saved some of them for the mission! Also, how are we to report this back to the command? How? Fucking hell! I like to keep my skin from burning off for once!”

  “Hey! We won and no one on our side got hurt by it, relatively speaking,” Keely smirked back with attitude.

  Skivvy was turning bright read and slightly hot pink as he made a strangling motion with his hands in the air and he turned around kicking the wagon cursing to himself knowing that he will never win the argument against her.

  Aurora walked over to him. “First sergeant Skivs… It’s fine. I know. It’s alright. The supply barn is still undamaged and some of Herod’s men are going through it as we speak. We’ve done enough for today. That’s all that matters. You and the rest did excellent.”

  “Sorry ma’am… Thanks,” Skivvy said looking at Keely who was ignoring him by sticking her tongue out in response.

  Audra chimed in, “Skivs… You need a drink more than anything plus a wash. We all do. Good time to shed your skin, eh? However, you in particular Ator need one because my god… The hell did you roll into? Horse shit?”

  Ator gave a middle finger to Audra, but was indeed covered in a mix of blood, mud, and horse excrement after fighting and killing a handful of garrison men in the horse stables.

  Kale laughed, “Congrats big ox, now the horses will love you.”

  Nikolai asked Desmond sheepishly, “How am I to write about this? I have to journal everything that has happened because of us, you know? I just need to know what happened inside with Solomon. Also, not sure if they will believe this overall.”

  “I’ll fill you in on the details from our end. They’ll believe it if you add witness testimony or make things sound less extravagant than what actually happened. Little trick I learned from our time training after I had to report everything after each exercise… Anyway that was a rather clever plan you had back there unifying the bandit groups under Herod and Herod’s men. Not bad.”

  “Thank you sir! Wasn’t nothing. Kee and Aurora helped with the mediating of that as well. I just wrote up a plan is all. No biggie,” Nikolai said blushing as Keely hugged him and Audra patted his helmet.

  Ator walked over to Nikolai and said, “You need a proper hug and to look like a proper warrior.”

  Ator proceeded to hug Nikolai smearing the horse excrement onto Nikolai as Keely and Audra protested between laughing and being angry at Ator. Skivvy rolled his eyes smirking and Aurora did her best to hide her laughter behind her gaiter. Kale laughed heartily, but then noticed Zylia watching from afar on the porch. He proceeded to walk over to her by the Tavern Inn’s porch. Zylia was happily waiting for him. Desmond smiled at all this feeling proud of the squad.

  Aurora walked over to Desmond and asked, “Quite a day. Quite a day. They did very well… You should be proud.”

  “I am.”

  “So, what now, chief?”

  “Yeah… Let’s rest and clean up. The stink from those bastards is strong here… Literally,” Desmond said covering his nose from Ator and Nikolai as Nikolai was mid-protest with Ator laughing. “At least we did some good.”

  “At least? We did something no one has done in a while. We liberated an empire town that was being overlooked. I say we did something special.”

  “Still have a long journey ahead… Let’s get inside.”

  “Before that,” Aurora said as she pointed quietly towards Kale and Zylia making out passionately. “Reminds me of our first night.”

  Desmond nodded in agreement remembering the ceremony and the balcony. However, he also felt a sense of sadness knowing that this moment for Kale would not last once they move on from Vorstock.

  Desmond ordered out loud, “Alright! Everyone! Get inside and get clean. Enjoy the night! Tomorrow though, we move on with the mission. Nikolai… Once you’re clean I’ll see you to expound on the reports. Everyone inside! Y’all did well.”

  Ator walked over to Kale and grabbed him by the shoulder to move inside. Zylia laughed behind her hand as Kale was forcibly jerked away. She said to Kale, “Tonight?”

  “Tonight! Fuck – Ator! Not the hair! I don’t want the horse shit in it!”

  Ator grunted whilst rolling his eyes and threw Kale through the front door.