Page 38 of The Last One
A horse neighs. Men shout.
I twist toward the sound.
Twenty men on horseback, wearing copper-painted mail and plate armor over blue tunics, gallop toward the dilapidated oak gates of the village. All of them, even the steeds, glow with blue light. Healthy. Fed. Strong.
“Who are they?” I push off the ground, ignoring the intensifying vibrations against my chest from the moth pendant as I stand.
“Emperor Wake’s men,” Jadon says grimly. “From Brithellum.”
Just yesterday, Olivia told me that the emperor’s men would find Maford. She also told me that the colures would protect them. But these soldiers don’t care to ask who the villagers worship. They charge right into town, torches burning, fiercely shouting, “For Brithellum,” as they spread throughout the village.
Olivia presses a trembling hand to her chest. “They’re gonna kill us. They’re gonna kill us.” She says this over and over again, her eyes getting bigger, her breaths getting shallower.
“Olivia,” I say, surprised by my calm, “take it easy. Slow down. Breathe.”
Behind us, villagers scream as they dart from cottage to cottage, seeking hiding places.
The soldiers dismount and draw swords. The lead soldier, a tall, muscular man with bulldog eyes and a turnip-shaped nose, turns to the growing crowd of villagers. “By order of Emperor Syrus Wake, the Manifestation of Supreme, Lord of Vallendor and All Realms, the Divine and Most Holy, the town of Maford is now a part of the blessed kingdom of Brithellum. Either bend the knee, declaring your fidelity to Supreme and turning away from the false King Exley, or…die.”
The villagers gape at one another. Two step away from the others and drop to their knees.
Fucking cowards.
A soldier marches over to the two men, yanks them to their feet, and pushes them away from the others. Bulldog sneers at the remaining standing villagers and shouts, “Are there no more?”
“This is our town,” a man yells. “We already have the colures up. We already pray—”
Bulldog knocks the man’s head back with the pommel of his sword.
“How dare you!” a townsman shouts as the villager crumples to the rocky dirt.
“I’ll ask one more time,” Bulldog warns. “Are there any others who are ready to declare their fealty to Supreme?”
For all my hatred of Mafordians, I feel horror at the callous quickness with which the Brithellum soldier killed that villager.
“What should we do?” Olivia whispers to Jadon.
Jadon spins to his sister. “Hide.Now.” He looks at me. “Go with Livvy!”
“No,” I say. “I don’t run. We have to defend ourselves.” The roots of my hair tingle, and my shoulder blades itch. My amulet pulses, and my entire body screams,Fight! Fight! Fight!
“You have to hide, Kai,” Olivia says, big eyes bigger. “They won’t hesitate to gut you.”
“I fear no man,” I say, standing, feeling strength in my legs again. I squeeze my amulet for reassurance. Just then, in my mind’s eye, I see myself with bloody hands, my face to the sky, the emperor’s men at my feet. “We can’t run. We have to fight.”
“You just fainted,” Jadon says. “And even if you didn’t just faint,you can’t fight.”
“ThefuckI can’t,” I snap. “And I feel fine. You can’t tell me what to do.”
A guttural scream from the center of town draws our attention. Another soldier has struck a pathetic Mafordian as more soldiers fan through the town square, kicking in doors and cutting down anyone who defends their home.
“Olivia, go hide,” Jadon says. “Kai, please go with her. Make sure she’s safe. I’m begging you. I’ll take care of the soldiers.”
Tears stream down Olivia’s face. “But they’ll see you and—”
A villager with an ax dashes past us. “Ealdrehrt, we need you!”
Other men hurry into the village square with their basic weapons and old breastplates to protect their chests.
