Chapter 4 - retaliation

Rowan was on edge the whole day, the letter last night completely threw her off. She'd prepared more for Miles' arrival later though as right now she needed to check on the nations, she wanted to see if anything else had happened. Or if it looked like anything was about to happen. 

Rika was always her first option to go too, it was the furthest away from her home so she could stop at Lamarie on her way back. 

The forest was eerily quiet today, usually being filled with the sounds of animals and nature buzzing around her, it was odd that it was so silent. It didn't even look as pretty and vibrant as usual, the bright green grass and leaves looked muted and like they were dying. What was going on? She had no idea. 

It felt unsettling so she sped her pace up until she arrived at Katra, climbing a tree nearby so she could get a good look over the walls without being noticed. Rika was busy like usual, it wasn't the biggest nation around but it had a decent amount of people. Way more than Lamarie had. 

There were quite a lot of things happening today, there were a group of people training and she could recognise Alexa leading it. She couldn't see Jon or Daniel anyway, assuming they must be inside working on god knows what. 

It was always amusing to watch people go on with their daily things while up in a high tree. Everyone below Rowan looked like they were ants running around a nest. She guessed that in some sense they were like ants, Jon was the queen or well king and everyone else worked for him mindlessly. 

Rowan wondered why no one ever spoke out against Jon, maybe he treated his citizens better behind closed doors then he did when they were out in the courtyard. She had observed Jon ordering people around and making selfish remarks, it was a miracle no one had grown bored of it and rebelled. 

Though something told her that people probably had, that they were just silenced before it got out of hand. Looking around for any more familiar faces Rowan was surprised to see Quinn, one of the more important guards of Rika. She often wasn't around Rika itself and was mostly around other nations helping to make new peace deals and alliances. Rowan thought of her as an ambassador. 

Usually if Quinn was around it meant Andrew wasn't too far behind, he often accompanied Quinn on her missions and Rowan could see him as a better leader of Rika than Jon. A lot of people looked up to Andrew, he was kind and caring but strict when he needed to be. Very different to the current tyrant on the throne.

---

Toby followed Leo through the woods. He was surprised they had managed to sneak out so late at night. Toby knew it was a dangerous plan but he agreed to accompany Leo because of how close they were, he couldn't let him do this alone. And even though he didn't like to admit it, he wanted Rika to pay slightly for setting that fire, someone could've got hurt and that's not okay with him. 

Apparently Leo had snuck into Rika long ago, before the two nations fell out. He knew that there was a small weak part in the wall that you could knock the bricks out of and crawl through. Since he was much younger at the time, Leo hoped the two of them would still be able to fit through. 

Toby didn't doubt it because even though the two were quite athletic they were pretty scrawny. It ended up being easy for Toby to fit through, his 5'8 slim build didn't struggle at all, Leo faced a little bit more of a challenge, he was 5'11 and he was slightly more muscular than Toby but with a little effort he got through as well. 

Due to it being dark out and pretty late into night the two could easily sneak through the courtyard and to the weapons storage building. There were few guards on duty at night and they weren't awake enough to notice. 

The door wasn't locked thankfully, Leo opened the door and once they were safely inside he pulled out  a  match, lighting the few lanterns that lined the walls of the room. 

"Run wild Tobs" Leo whispered as the two set out silently trashing the place.

The small valuable gems that were usually incrusted into sword handles were tiny and easily could fit into their pockets. Toby didn't quite know how Leo had planned to be able to break any of these weapons without any of the guards hearing.

"The guards will be switching patrols in five minutes but at night the night time patrol usually will leave early. We have ten-ish minutes to get this finished" Leo spoke up like he could read Toby's mind. 

He hadn't realised how much time Leo had put into this but he definitely had done his research. Toby glanced at the time on his pocket watch 11:55pm, ten minutes began now. Shields were split in two, sword handles were damaged and their blades were misshapen. 

They must've got too distracted by what they were doing as the next time Toby checked on the time it was 12:05am, their ten minutes were up. He had to grab Leo to stop him as he hadn't realised the time yet. Both boys stared at each other as they hoped no one had discovered they were here. 

Muffled voices were the first thing Toby heard, him and Leo locked eyes and immediately jumped into flight or fight mode. Leo blew out the lanterns as Toby moved a crate slightly so the two of them could hide behind it. 

A second later two guards came in, bringing lanterns of their own and seeing the carnage they had caused. One of the guards, which was Daniel, swore under his breath before running out, probably to go get more backup. No matter who was coming, the two of them weren't going anywhere, the other guard, Alexa, was standing by the door which was their only exit. 

Time seemed to pass by slowly as they awaited the arrival of other guards. The more they waited, the more nervous Toby became. He unconsciously began biting his nails, an unhelpful habit of his. Leo noticed and grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze knowing how worried Toby was. 

They both held their breath and pushed themselves closer to the wall behind the crate as the whole room's atmosphere changed. Daniel had returned, behind him was Jon. The room became tense and the air grew thick. Jon sent a glare around the room, one that would send even the scariest giant running. Toby began shaking like a leaf and he scolded himself for agreeing to do this.

"Goddamn rats" Jon seethed as he slammed his hand against the wall. Toby jumped at the loud bang and grabbed onto Leo, holding him tightly like he was some type of safety. 

Even though they made no sound it was almost like Jon knew they were in there. He kept looking around as he began to search the room, heading closer to where they were. 

Toby shut his eyes tightly, hoping that it would somehow make Jon turn around. Luckily it seemed the boys had a guardian angel watching over them as Jon became distracted by someone yelling his name from outside. 

On his way out however, Jon made sure to whisper something to Alexa, who nodded then leant against the wall by the door. It looked like they weren't going to get out anytime soon. Toby was sure that Jon would come back in any minute and find them. 

Leo once again squeezed Toby's hand but afterwards he began to pry his arms off him. Toby's eyes widened and he began to shake his head frantically, he knew what Leo was about to do.

"I'll distract them while you make a run for it" Leo whispered and Toby wished he had heard him wrong. He knew he didn't. 

Toby shook his head again and began to open his mouth to say something but it was too late. Leo was already up and sprinting past Alexa, catching everyone's attention. Alexa followed after Leo like planned and reluctantly Toby snuck out, not wanting Leo's sacrifice to be in vain. 

Toby left the same way they had entered and with one last look behind him he saw Alexa talking with Jon while pointing towards the direction of the open gate. He breathed a sigh of relief assuming Leo had gotten out that way. It didn't take long for him to find his best friend again, instantly punching him in the arm for his stupid idea.

"You idiot! You could've gotten yourself killed!" Toby quietly scolded as they made their way back to Lamarie. 

Once they were in the comfort of their own nation's walls they headed towards their own houses. Since the two were close and didn't like to be separated their houses were connected with a door. It was a cute thing Caleb had done for them when he believed they were old enough to move out of living in the nation's community house.

"Now where have you two been then?" Toby froze instantly at the voice. He didn't even notice Caleb sitting in the chair on his porch, there was no light so all he could see was Caleb's figure. 

Toby cursed, they got so close to getting away with it, but of course they had to get caught right as they were about to reach safety. Leo was the one to speak up, facing Caleb's wrath head on.

"Out and a-about" Leo stuttered nervously, rubbing the back of his neck in a guilty manner. 

Neither of the two were very good at lying. Caleb used to tell them it was a good trait, it definitely wasn't. Caleb was like an older brother figure to the two so his opinion mattered and Toby was nervous that he would be disappointed in them. Caleb let out a long sigh.

"Am I going to be in trouble for this?" Caleb asked tiredly. 

The leader was exhausted by everything that had happened recently. Toby felt slightly guilty for putting more weight onto Caleb's shoulders. It was the first time in a while that Toby got a good look at his leader, his eyes were sunken and his skin was deathly pale, he looked ill.

"Maybe" was all Leo replied with. Caleb shook his head at the boys' stupid and selfish actions. 

Toby knew the conversation was finished for the night but it would be brought back up again in the morning. Once Caleb had turned and began to walk away, Toby sent a goodnight wave to Leo before entering his house and immediately going upstairs to crash onto his bed. 

The day had been long and the tiredness hit him all at once. Something told him however this wasn't going to be the last day of feeling exhausted.

---

Rowan was happy to head back to the beach for the second night in a row, she forgot how calming the beach was. With all the tension that had begun to take over her life she was glad to find a few moments to just relax. 

The dark waves were crashing against the golden sound with a beautiful melody, something she could easily fall asleep too. Sitting herself down close to where the waves met the sand but not close enough to get wet, she slowly shut her eyes and hummed an old tune to herself. She couldn't remember where she had learnt this tune but it was something from her childhood, a time in her life that she didn't remember a lot of.

"A lovely day for a stroll on a beach, right?" A voice came from behind her, startling Rowan. 

Her hand slowly found its way to the top of her sword, ready to fight whoever might be behind her. She could hear the sand and leaves lightly crunch under the intruder's feet as they walked closer to her. How hadn't she heard them before, was she really that distracted? Rowan scolded herself for letting her guard down, she knew better than that.

"Not a talker huh? That's alright" The voice was slightly familiar but Rowan couldn't quite place where she had heard it before. 

She kept her body still and face neutral as her mind went crazy with scenarios that could possibly happen. The crunching got louder until it suddenly stopped, Rowan could see a pair of legs in the corner of her eye which changed to a torso, then a face as the person sat down next to her. It was a woman, a woman she had never seen before. Rowan was instantly hypnotised by the woman's hazel eyes, lined with small flecks of a golden sandy colour.

"I'm Sky" The woman smiled as she held her hand out for Rowan to take. The cloak she wore was a dark blue, almost royal looking. It hid most of the women, except her face and hands.

"Rowan" she replied back quietly, taking Sky's hand into her own and shaking it. Sky's grip was strong and skilled while Rowan's clammy hands must've been shaking like a leaf, she was always nervous to meet new people. 

It was silent for a moment as the two females stared at each other, Rowan was assessing the stranger's threat level, she had no idea why the stranger stared back, maybe assessing the same thing. 

Rowan may look threatening sometimes, she was quite built up for a woman and she was tall but other than that she had nothing going for her. Her fighting skills were terrible. The silence continued on as they both looked out towards the sea, the midnight sky twinkle with stars, a calming sight for anyone.

"It's beautiful" Sky mumbled, taking her eyes off the ocean to send Rowan a warm smile. Her dark brown skin glowed in the moonlight and for a moment Rowan believed she looked like a queen. No more words were said, the two just enjoyed the calming sounds of the waves rolling off the beach.