Allison paused to look at the body of the fallen bandit, and then she turned to TJ. His breathing was shallow, and the color had drained from his face. His robes were soaked with his own blood and were getting wetter even as she watched. She crouched down and cradled his limp body against her chest, sliding the blade out and casting it aside. Tears fell from her eyes and mingled with the blood leaking from his body. She closed her eyes and sobbed, wishing that things were back to normal—wishing that her best friend was happy and healthy again.
And then she felt a tingling in her body that spread down through her arms and into the palms of her hands. TJ’s body heated up. His arms and legs began to twitch, and as the tingling increased, so did his twitches. With a loud gasp he sat bolt upright, chest heaving.
“Wha? Huh? Wha?” His eyes darted around anxiously. When they met Allison’s, a great smile stretched across his face. “You. You saved my life. Everything was dark. And it hurt. So much. And then I felt you come into me. I felt your strength, and I felt the pain in my side lessen, and then disappear.” He reached down to his blood-soaked robe and gently spread apart the hole where the dagger had gone through. Beneath the cloth was the barest hint of a scar. “You saved me, Allie.” He wrapped his arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder. Then TJ looked at her face and saw the lines of concern and exhaustion. The freckles and her eyes. He had never noticed how blue they were. How clear they were.
Stu approached slowly, then cleared his throat. He pointed back outside the encampment. It took them a few moments to realize what he was getting at.
“Simon!” they both shouted at once, then scrambled up from the ground, trying to keep from entangling themselves in each other’s legs. TJ’s body was still reeling from the damage and the subsequent healing, so Allison sped away from him and around the curve of the wall. When he came up next to where she was standing over Simon, he found her just staring at their friend.
“Aren’t you going to fix him?” TJ asked frantically, shaking her by the shoulder. “Why don’t you do the same thing you did to me? You should still have plenty of spells left. Your ring alone gave you an extra five! Why aren’t you doing anything?”
“It’s too late, TJ. He’s gone.”
Panic crept into his voice. “What do you mean he’s gone? Have you checked his pulse? What is that thing we learned in that CPR class? Air passage something?” He bent down to feel for a pulse and put his cheek in front of Simon’s slightly open mouth. He almost shouted, “Do something, Allie!”
“No, TJ, there’s nothing I can do. It’s too late.”
He looked back at her. “There must be something we can try! How can you be sure?”
At this, Allison tensed up and shouted, “Because I know, TJ! I know. All I had to do was look at him, and I knew. I guess that’s part of me now. He’s dead. And those others by the gate are dead. And I don’t hear Jimmy shouting anymore, so I imagine the other bandits are dead too.” Her voice softened a bit. “It’s part of me, just like that ball of fire you threw is a part of you.” She gave a small smile. “Guess it’s a good thing you let me choose that smite after all, isn’t it?”
TJ stood, giving her arm a slight squeeze.
The three turned and reentered the compound. Stu looked around warily, an arrow nocked and his bow drawn. TJ and Allison, on the other hand, just trudged in, not particularly interested in what there was to see. A figure stepped out from around a corner, and Stu readied to release.
“Whoa there, tiger,” called Jimmy. “It’s just me. I don’t think there’s anyone left in here to shoot. After I chased down those other two, I got cornered by a couple more, but well, here I am, so I guess you know what happened.” He ran an arm across his forehead and let out a whoosh of air. “You know what? I’m hungry. I wonder what sort of grub they’ve got here. I hope they knocked over somewhere better than that little village back there.”
“Are we sure we got them all?” asked Stu.
Jimmy shrugged. “I got five. What about you?”
Stu replied, “Four for me, including the one in the forest.”
Allison chimed in, “Two for me and two for TJ.”
“Huh. That makes thirteen. So much for that great intelligence we got. At least the directions were good. Assuming these were the right guys, of course.” Jimmy paused and looked around nervously. “Whoa. Wouldn’t it stink if we just did this to a bunch of random people? Maybe we should find Chuck and get out of here. I wonder where the little guy’s gotten off to.”
TJ sighed. “Well, this isn’t really the sort of place where we have to worry about the police coming and arresting us, particularly given what those townsfolk had to say about things. Not that I’m saying we ought to make this our new home or anything, but let’s not get panicky.”
That last statement just hung there as the friends chewed over it.
Allison asked quietly, “Is this our new home or anything?”
No one spoke.
CHAPTER 7
“Hey, guys, look at what I found!” Chuck’s voice spurred them all out of their reverie. He was holding a small pouch in each hand, and when he shook them they jingled. “There’s a couple more of these little bags in that building right over there.” He nodded to the side. “Looks like these folks have been doing a pretty brisk business. It’s almost all gold, with just a little silver.” He stopped in his tracks. “What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”
Four sets of eyes glared at him, and he suddenly realized that someone was missing. “Um, where’s Simon?” It didn’t take long for him to understand. “Oh. Crap.” He looked at the bags in his hands. “These aren’t so important now, are they?”
“No, not really.” Allison’s voice was hollow.
“K. Well, they’re there, when we eventually get around to them.” He tossed them to the side—though not too far away—and hunkered down on the ground. He joined them in their silence, though his eyes did keep sliding back to where the small bags of gold lay. “So we got ’em all, right? There aren’t any others wandering around?”
Jimmy replied, “Nope, unless they’re hiding under a bed, there’s no one left in here. Though we probably ought to have someone at the gate in case there was another hunter out and about. Don’t think we want to have someone catching us unawares.” He raised an eyebrow at Stu, who nodded once and took up a position at the gate.
TJ looked over at Chuck. “So what happened to you? One moment you were right beside us, and the next moment it was just me and Allie.”
Chuck looked nervous. “Oh, well, you know. I was keeping an eye on our flanks and stuff. Checking the buildings for anyone who might be hiding and getting ready to jump us. Luckily, I didn’t find anyone.”
“You ditched us, is what you’re saying.”
“I didn’t ditch you! Not really. I was just making sure I had sufficient cover for the battle. I was more than ready, but there wasn’t anyone for me to fight. And then when I heard all the noise die down, and heard you folks talking, I knew we were safe and started to poke around.”
“You weaselly little bastard.” Allison’s voice was laced with venom. “One of our friends is dead outside, and we very nearly lost another one”—reflexively she reached out and laid a hand on TJ—“and all you could think to do was find a place to hide and load up on treasure. I can’t believe you.”