Page 259 of Phoenix's Fire

"No, we had meat," I assured him.

His head jumped back to me. "Sorry. I forgot you're from there."

"And you aren't." I nodded. "Surprises me even more that you don't eat meat."

"Stopped when I saw the hunting," he explained. "But I was thinking..." He paused to check around us. "If it's like last time, and we're the only ones? What if we fill up the carts with the pieces?"

I murmured, thinking about that. "Would it encourage them to keep using these grenades, or discourage them?"

"Does it matter? They're going to keep sending us out, and since we won't be eating it..."

I couldn't have stopped my grin if I'd wanted to. This time, I really didn't. Sylis's idea was horrific! But it also seemed like exactly the sort of thing the elders deserved.

"Let's do it," I said. "I mean, if we both make it back."

"We'll be extra careful and make sure of it," Sylis told me. "You're my second, so we'll find something we need to handle on our own."

"Uh..." Yeah, I didn't really want this guy following me around in the fight. "Well, let me know what, because living sounds good to me."

"Same," he said before stifling a yawn. "And I'm wiped. Get some sleep, Tobias. Gonna be a miserable walk tomorrow."

"And a tense sleep," I agreed. "Just don't forget your promise, okay?"

"Or yours," he said. "I need a good wife, not one of the annoying ones everyone complains about. I want a wife I like being around."

"Yeah," I breathed. "That's the dream." And I crawled under the sheer foil to find a spot soft enough to fall asleep on.

Eighty-One

Ayla

There was always something unnerving about the wait between the town meeting and when we finally headed out to face the Moles. But when the time finally came, we were all ready for it. Zasen and Kanik were dressed in their loincloths and covered in weapons. Rymar was wearing pale linen pants with a very white shirt.

I'd put on the tan set of leathers, had my krael hanging from my belt, and my bow was slung over my shoulder with my quiver hanging from my hip. Holly had on her collar, and while her leash was clipped to my belt, it was short and looped over because I knew I wouldn't need it. The letter wrapped inside a book? That was the important thing today.

Together, the group of us headed into town. This time, we all met up at the central stage. Dozens of people were there already. Some were friends or family, getting in one last hug before their loved one left. I spotted a few children as well, often hugging their mommy or daddy. But for the most part, the faces were ones I knew from our militia meetings.

"All right, listen up!" Rymar bellowed as we got closer. "When you make it back, head to City Hall. No one will be here at the stage. We've sent out notices about it, and we'll be able to ring the bells when you're all back so your family can meet you."

"Also!" Drozel said as he stepped forward. "I've asked a runner to make sure the daycare is notified. We will get your children to you. I've asked for carts to wait at the entrance for our wounded or dead. We learned a lot from our last trip into the forest. This time, my goal is to bring back everyone - alive, do you hear me?"

The crowd all roared out a cheer at that. Drozel nodded, then looked over at Zasen. Just when I was about to move away, he caught my shoulder, holding me beside him.

"Today," Zasen said, taking over, "the most important thing to remember is the man with the fletching on his belt. Yes, he is a Mole. He will be pale, orin, and tall. The man will have two yellow arrows and at least one blue one. I could be wrong on the numbers, but both colors will be there. Now, what do you do if you find him?"

"Take him behind the line!" a man called out.

I looked that way to see Xav. Demon, his dog, was sitting patiently beside him the same way Holly was with me. He noticed me looking, so he nodded, which made me return the gesture while Zasen kept going.

"Because of this man, I need all of you to look before you loose an arrow. His name is Tobias, and he's our means of getting in there and stopping this once and for all. Now, Ayla has made it clear that we need to keep collecting the guns. We may not be able to keep them from getting more, but disarming them in combat leaves them vulnerable. And since we don't know how many they have, it's better to keep using up their stores than making this easy on them!"

That brought forth another round of cheering, but Zasen patted the air, quieting them again. "I'm going to let you choose your teams today. I want Drozel, Kanik, Jeera, and Omden to all lead teams."

"What about you?" Xav called out.

Zasen chuckled. "The Phoenix and I will be searching for our informant. Yes, that means fighting too, but we will mostly be on the east side, because that is where we expect our man to be. Now, I need all team leaders to move to an area. Everyone else can pick your team. If they aren't even, we'll adjust from there, but I know everyone fights better with their friends beside them. Check your weapons and ammo, pick your group, and let's make sure we're all ready for this."

"My team over here!" Jeera yelled.