“Dragons,” Jahrra whispered quietly, pulling out a piece of worn parchment on which she’d sketched a design. “We decided to make it look like we were wearing masks.”
Kihna peered over everyone’s shoulder and arched a brow. Jahrra had drawn a crude face with two dragon wings covering the person’s eyes like a mask. The dragon’s neck curled onto the forehead and the tail trailed around one cheek and ended at the person’s chin. Face paint wasn’t necessary for the game of Conquer the Castle, but all six teammates had agreed it would be a nice touch.
“How are we going to paint that image on our faces?” Kihna asked when she was done studying the picture.
Jahrra grinned. “With this,” she said, pulling out a jar of the dyed mud.
Fifteen minutes later, all six of them were sporting their dragon masks and Professor Tarnik was getting ready to read the rules. Several parent volunteers stood around him, holding canvass bags and small crossbows. As Tarnik cleared his throat, they started moving through the crowd of children, handing each one a crossbow and a bag full of arrows. Another adult had a sack full of paint packs for the soft-tipped missiles. When the team leader held up their banner, they were handed several of the paint packs in that flag’s color.
“Hey Nesnan,” Ellysian hissed in Jahrra’s direction. “Nice outfit! Did the used clothing store give it to you for free because it was so out of date?”
This drew a few snickers and giggles from those nearest Ellysian, but Jahrra just ignored them. She knew they would make fun of her team ‘uniform’, but she didn’t care. She was here to win the game, not compete for first prize in a fashion contest. Ellysian, of course, was wearing a brand new pair of fashionable white riding pants and a shirt and coat to match.
Jahrra sighed and waited patiently for their turn. The parent volunteers who were handing out their crossbows and arrows would also be monitoring the game; making sure all the rules were followed. Jahrra was grateful, for she knew of a certain set of twins that was prone to cheating in order to get their way. She gripped the wooden pole of her team’s purple flag tightly. No one, especially not Eydeth and Ellysian, was going to capture her team’s banner.
“You may place your flag anywhere within the boundaries of your marked territory,” Tarnik called out in his sneering voice, “but it must be clearly visible from at least one location. The volunteers will be checking to make sure you follow the rules, so don’t try anything sneaky.”
Jahrra shot a glance at Eydeth and Ellysian and the smug looks on their faces waned just a little bit. Ellysian leaned in to whisper something in Eydeth’s ear and his look turned even sourer.
Had her instincts been right? Had they been planning something? Will be a bit hard now, Jahrra thought with some satisfaction, what with referees walking about to make sure all the rules are followed.
“The points will be added up as follows: for each flag captured, the conquering team will receive fifty points,” Tarnik continued. “For each spot of that team’s color deposited on others, they will receive one point. For each spot of color deposited on you from another team, you will be deducted three points. Nothing above the shoulders will count.”
Jahrra filed the information away. Fifty points for each flag captured, one point for each time you hit someone, three points taken away for each time you are hit. Got it.
Tarnik lowered the scroll he’d been reading from and scanned the crowd with his eyes. Jahrra could have sworn that he sneered when he spotted them, but soon he was done with his surveying.
“You will have five hours to defend your flag, capture those belonging to other teams, and to shoot any enemies. Flags, once stolen, can be hidden in plain sight on your territory, but they can also be recaptured and your own flag must always be visible. Your banner must be hidden within the area marked as your territory.”
Jahrra listened intently as he explained that each team had a territory already marked with smaller ribbons to match the color of their flags; territories that they must find themselves. This should be interesting, she mused with anticipation. She delighted at the thought of the free-for-all that would ensue once everyone scrambled to find their territories while avoiding being shot by the enemy.
“Students, are you ready?” Tarnik shouted. “Remember, the winning team not only is assured full marks, but will also receive a full day off from school.”
Everyone cheered, declaring that they were more than ready to begin. He reminded them once more to stay out of the way of the townspeople and to not wander any farther than a hundred feet away from the edge of town.
With one last domineering look Tarnik shouted, “Let the games begin!”
Everyone bolted at once, shouting and scrambling to get to their respective territories, wherever they might be.
Jahrra and her team headed south, since it was the only direction no one else seemed to be heading.
“Might as well check in this direction first and avoid getting shot,” Jahrra breathed as she and her friends jogged down the cobblestone road.
The town was still relatively quiet at this hour, but as the six friends scanned the side streets and patches of trees and bare hillsides for purple markers, the people that were out and about paused to watch their progress. Some even wished them luck in their game. Jahrra grinned. She hoped that their classmates’ antics would prove entertaining for those who had to put up with their entire town being invaded.
Eventually, Pahrdh shouted, “There! A marker!”
Jahrra grinned as she spotted the violet ribbon dancing in the breeze. They had made the right decision in going south.
Soon, the six of them had established the edge of their territory. It included part of a city block and a sizeable amount of a small, forested hill rising up behind a row of buildings.
Jahrra held her hand to her eyes, squinting hard as she looked for a good location to place their flag.
“Let’s see if we can find a place where we can blend in with the surroundings,” she said.
“It’s going to be impossible to blend in wearing white Jahrra,” Gieaun pointed out.
Jahrra sighed in frustration. Gieaun was right and any minute the other teams were going to find an appropriate place to hide their flags and be on the hunt. Although their territory was large and there were plenty of suitable places to put their flag, Jahrra and her team were having trouble picking a good location.
“We need to hide it on high ground,” Pahrdh insisted as they spun in circles in the middle of the street. “It will be easier to guard.”
Jahrra shaded her eyes again and glanced between the buildings in the center of their marked territory. Her gaze trailed down the alley between two buildings, then up the leaf-littered hillside behind them. The buildings were the typical small business establishments found throughout Aldehren with the lower floor sporting a shop while the upper story acted as the living quarters. A railed deck wrapped around both buildings, and trailing from the edge of the deck into two redwood trees on the hill was . . .
Jahrra grinned. “Perfect!” she cried.
Pahrdh and Scede turned to give her scathing looks. “Are you going to help us find a place to make camp or not?”
“Already found it. Look.” She pointed up to the hillside and then to the lines running from the trees to the decks, the ropes sagging with the weight of freshly hung sheets and random articles of clothing, many of which were white.
“We can stake our flag between those two trees and two of us can sit in the branches closest to where the ropes are tethered.”