I know this is technically squeaking in at the latest moment on a Saturday so it’s not really a “Friday” fiction, and that is all on me. I have been staring at the short stories I have and debating on which ones to use, and that pushed back getting the art done, which pushed back the post. If you are seeing this post within 24 hours of it being up you will notice that there is no art on this piece yet. It is on it’s way! I hope to have it up before Monday.
This is longer than the last short story and is (I hope) a fun little adventure. I’ve been told it might be something that could be expanded on later, and if you are interested in seeing more of these characters and their adventures, let me know!
For now, here is a little stand alone story:
Breakout!
The lord of Arrowdeath was much younger than had been reported, with striking red eyes and artfully tousled black hair. Standing on the balcony of the manor house with a heavily embroidered cloak thrown over his shoulder, the lord looks like one of the heroes on the trashy romance scrolls Susan likes so much. With the moonlight shining down on him he appeares dashing, cold –
“I will find you, and I will destroy you and everything you love!”
And incredibly angry. Wow, is he angry.
Jet and Michael exchange concerned glances as they jump into the front of the enchanted sled they are using for their get away. This is an extreme reaction, even by their standards. Usually the five of them run these break-ins fast: smash a window, steal a jewelry box or some lord’s fancy watch collection, then bolt over the county line to the nearest pawn shop or fence’s bar.
Most of the time no one even notices they’re there. The few times the homeowners are even around they mostly scream and yell for guards.
How is one supposed to respond to declerations of impending death and devastation?
Monia pushes between them, bright red hair making her stand out even in the dark. She cups her hands around her mouth and shouts back “Jokes on you! Everything I ever loved was already destroyed!”
Jet can hear Susan stopping in securing the last of the loot in the back seat with a soft gasp. A quick glance over Jet’s shoulders and – yep. Susan is crying.
“Monia,” Susan starts to reach out to Monia only for their last teamate, Jacob, to grab both Monia and Susan and drag them down right as a fireball flys over their heads.
Fireballs are definitrly new.
“One time!” Jacob snarls as he finishes securing the loot. “One time, can we do a job without someone doing something incredibly stupid before, during, or after?”
Michael presses on the sigil for the sled to levitate and they shoot up twenty feet in the air so quickly it feels like Jet has left his stomach on the ground. Neither of them say anything, largely due to the fact that it was their own showboating after their last haul that nearly got the whole group arrested for something they didn’t even do.
And lost them half their gear. Which is why they had to break into Arrowdeath manor in the first place.
Jet focuses on steering them away from the manor and into the wild countryside. meanwhile Monia leans over the back of the sled, either insulting the Lord’s parentage or his aim. Maybe both. Susan is still crying, though whether it’s because of Monia’s decleration, the fact they were almost hit by a fireball, or because Jacob shoved her he doesn’t know and doesn’t intend to find out.
Jacob has dropped to the floor of the back seat, cursing up a storm.
Jet swerves wildly to the side to avoid another fireball but he’s not fast enough, losing one of the wings used for steering. The other wing immediately locks up and the sled starts losing altitude. Susan is crying even harder behind him and Monia has joined Jacob in swearing. Michael is screaming.
Jet watches the trees below get closer and closer and lets out a resigned sigh. At this angle they’ll survive the crash but they’ll be stuck in the middle of the Wild Woods for days. They haven’t got any food or water on them, and there’s no way they’ll be able to carry all their loot with them for long. And that’s assuming that the Lord of Arrowdeath doesn’t come after them. If he’s talented enough with magic to shoot them out of the sky there’s no reason why he wouldn’t follow them into the Wild Woods. What had they stolen that got him so worked up?
“I could have been a farmer,” Jet mutters to himself as he pulls on the reigns of the sled, doing what he can to make sure they hit the tree tops belly first. “You never hear of farmers getting shot out of the sky. But no, Michael had to go after the life of adventure and treasure, and of course mom and dad made me go with him to keep him out of trouble.”
Not that he is doing a terribly good job of that. But Jet was the only one willing to write home to tell them what’s going on, so who’s going to know?
They hit the tree tops, the sled smashing thorugh a handful of upper branches before hitting one large enough to flip the sled upside down and send them all out of the sled and tumbling towards the ground. Susan joins Michael in screaming.
They tumble end over end before all coming to a hard stop on the leaf covered floor of the woods, all piled together in a jumble of groaning limbs.
“I hate all of you,” Jacob groans as they all lay winded on the ground.
“The feeling is mutual,” Monia grumbles, slowly trying to get untangled from the rest of them. Susan is still crying.
Jet and Michael share a look of commiseration. After traveling together for two years they know Jacob’s and Monia’s moods well enough to tell the trip out of the Wild Woods won’t be pleasant. Jet considers just staying here, lying on the ground. Yes, he would likely end up dead due to starvation or dehydration, or being eaten by wolves or rabid squirrels or something similar. But would that really be so bad? Worse than traveling for who knows how long with a grumpy Monia and a crabby Jacob?
Michael nudges Jet and with a sigh he lets his brother pull him off the forest floor, brushing leaves out of both their hair. He can’t very well let his little brother travel alone with the two moodiest members of their party. Susan will certainly not be any help.
Finally, Jet looks out into the dark woods, the only light coming from moonlight filtering in through the hole they punched into the canopy with their crash.
“So,” Michael finally speaks up. “Which direction do we go?”
