Frontline

“What in the world is that?” Reagan asked, heading for the entrance.

He jumped backward as a man barrelled into the store. “Please, let me take shelter here!” he begged the shopkeeper. “I’m too far from home.” Panic dripped from his voice.

The shopkeeper hesitated, looking from him to Reagan, then said, “I can’t stay -- my kids need me. Lock up and keep out of sight. If they see you…” she trailed off.

“Thank you, thank you,” the man said with tears streaming down his face. He watched the shopkeeper pass him with a mixture of gratitude and fear in his eyes.

Reagan pushed past him, too, and out the door, which slammed behind him just as a woman with two children also came up to it.

“Open up, please! I have children!” she begged, her voice shrill. The little girl whose hand she held cried out in pain, fighting against the woman’s tight grip, but she took no notice.

The woman turned away to look for another shelter when the man opened the door, ushering the children inside first. He poked his head out to look for others and let two more strangers enter before looking at Reagan. When Reagan didn’t move, he closed the door again, and this time, Reagan heard the lock click.

“What’s going on?” he asked aloud. He looked around at the panicking townspeople running down the streets, knocking frantically on every door they saw. One man came close enough for him to ask the question again.

In lieu of a response, the man pointed upward and continued running.

The sky looked normal to Reagan. A few clouds lingered, but the sun and the wind chased them away, revealing more and more blue. It was as if the storm had never happened.

It wasn’t until Liam said, “The barrier’s gone,” that a chill ran down Reagan’s spine.

The telltale shimmer was missing from the sky.

The Schialtags, Reagan thought, remembering the death records he’d read in Apolde. Elisa.

“Which way was the caravan?” he asked, not caring who might overhear.

Liam started in the direction even as he said, “They left over an hour ago.” His voice shook. “They have their own barrier, so she should be safe, right?”

Reagan offered no response.

He sprinted past the dwindling crowds, stopping only to help an elderly woman who had fallen in the stampede. Guiding her to a neighbor’s door, he bounced from foot to foot while waiting for the people inside to accept her, then took off before she could thank him.

He was halfway to the edge of town when Alan intercepted him. “I need your help,” the man said, grabbing Reagan’s arm and pulling him toward an alleyway.

His strength overpowered Reagan, and he couldn’t pull out of Alan’s tight grip. Breathless, Reagan said, “Elisa. I need-”

“Your cousin is safe. She left with Ronan in a protected caravan,” Alan said without releasing Reagan’s arm.

Reagan opened his mouth to protest but couldn’t find the words. He struggled to catch his breath, then said, “What do you want?” The words came out harsher than he would have wanted.

“Careful,” Liam said, catching his tone, too. He stood beside Reagan, near Reagan’s trapped arm, and looked from Reagan to Alan, a worried expression furrowed in his brows. “He could send word to the capital and put Elisa in danger,” he warned.

Alan glanced up and down the alleyway as if ensuring nobody was within earshot. “You need to recast the barrier around Vierdorth.”

A chill ran down Reagan’s spine. The hand gripping his wrist felt painfully tight. He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. His head swam with the words he’d heard, but he couldn’t make sense of any of them. The very air felt heavy in his lungs, and yet he couldn’t get enough of it.

Despite the panic tightening around his throat like a noose, he managed to croak out, “What are you say-”

“I know it was you,” Alan said, cutting him off. “You healed Braiden, not your cousin, and it was through real magic, not that fake amulet she had on her.”

Reagan opened his mouth to protest but no words came out. He stuttered a few syllables, then looked to Liam for a better explanation, but Liam, too, could only stare at Alan. His eyes were wide, his jaw slack, and if he could have gone a few shades lighter, Reagan was sure the ghost would have.

Alan held up his own amulet and said, “This is the one she had.”

Reagan looked at it, blankly. Nothing coming out of Alan’s mouth made sense, and all Reagan felt was the fear closing in around his bones.

“I don’t…” he said. It was all he could stammer out.

“Our spells don’t cast a silver light,” Alan said. He relaxed his grip on Reagan’s wrist. “And our amulets are warm from the magic within them. This one isn’t. I had to give her mine before letting Ronan take her to the capital. One short examination would have revealed it’s a fake.

“I think our barrier is failing, because there isn’t enough magic in town to sustain it. The only amulet left is the physician’s, but it’s too weak to cast more than a basic spell.” He grimaced. “I never thought this would happen.”

Reagan’s head spun. As he looked at Alan’s face, he saw no hint of malice, no threat. The guardsman never reached for his sword.

“Please,” Alan said, bowing his head. “We don’t have much time before the Schialtags reach Vierdorth. I don’t have enough men to protect the town for long. We need you.

“I know what I’m asking of you, but you’re our only hope.” Alan let go of Reagan’s wrist and knelt before him, keeping his head bowed. “Please, save our town.”

If I don’t, what will happen to Elisa? What will his men do to me?

“I don’t think he means you any harm, Reagan,” Liam said. The fear had dissipated from his face, and he was looking past them down the other end of the alleyway. “And after what we saw in those ledgers…”

Reagan hesitated.

As the bells clanged faster and faster, Alan looked up. His eyes met Reagan’s, and he seemed to read Reagan’s mind as he said, “The decision is yours. No harm will come to you or your cousin should you refuse.” He looked to the left, and Reagan caught a handful of armored men running down the street beyond the alleyway.

“I must lead my men,” Alan said, standing. “The choice is yours.” With another quick bow of his head, the man was gone.

Reagan slumped against the wall behind him as the adrenaline drained from his body.

“I don’t know what to do,” he said, softly. Whether he was speaking to himself or to Liam, he couldn’t tell. He felt cold, and not because of the dampness of the alleyway.

If I don’t help, hundreds of people could die. But if I do…

“I’ll stand by you, whatever you choose,” Liam said. The smile he offered was supposed to be comforting, but it held the same fear Reagan felt.

“They’ll find out what I am,” Reagan said. “That’ll put you in danger, too.”

“I know, but I’ve been dead for ten years. I accepted that a long time ago.” He shook his head as though that was the least of his concerns, and again he looked at Reagan with a fearful expression. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

“I’m not that great a fighter…”

“I’ll be with you the whole time, no matter what. We’ve fought one of them before, but…”

“But we barely killed it that time…” Reagan finished. He looked down at his shoes, at the wet cobblestones beneath his feet. If I die before I can bring Liam back…

“We can try to escape,” Liam offered. “Find a gap in the monsters and sneak out of town, hide in the forest like we’ve done before.” His tone was somber, and he couldn’t look at Reagan as he spoke.

Reagan yearned to accept the offer, to escape and pretend that Vierdorth was not their problem.

“But all this is happening because of me,” he said, softly. “Because I cast those spells, and Alan protected Elisa.” He clenched his fists at his sides and turned toward the end of the alleyway where Alan had disappeared. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if an entire town died because of me.”

And with that, his mind was made up, even as fear tried to pull him back to safety.

He took off running for the frontlines with Liam in the lead.