Dragons Descended Upon the Wicked by Kenneth Champion Page A

had to do was have a dagger in my hand to open notes and dispose of the ones I didn’t deem necessary. I enjoyed splitting open the cards with that dagger. Found a love for that dagger...made love to that dagger...I mean, I made a relationship with the dagger. I began throwing daggers as a side gig on the streets. One day I receive a peculiar message and next thing I know I’m dressed in gold. I have a wife and two beautiful kids.”
    “Of the three of you, I did not expect you to be married and have kids,” said Nick.
    “And what is that supposed to mean?” asked Tyler.
    “It means that you act like a child,” said Ron.
    “If I act like a child then my kids will always think it’s okay to never grow up,” said Tyler. “That’s a win, win for me.”
    “Where is your family?” asked Nick. “If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”
    “Well, they’re obviously with us here in camp,” said Tyler.
    “I’ve never seen you talk to any children here, let alone a woman,” said Nick.
    “It’s simply one of the precautions of the king’s men policies,” said Tyler. “We’re allowed to have families, but we are not allowed to make contact with them in public. That is for good reason too. We have enemies, it is known. We keep our families safe by keeping them away from us. See Jeffrey over there?”
    Tyler pointed out Jeffrey in the crowd of people handing out loafs of bread.
    “He has a family here too,” said Tyler. “He has a wife and two lovely young girls. They are the sweetest. But you nor anyone else would never know that because he does not so much as look at them. It’s hard to do at times, but at the end of the day we know we are putting our families first.”
    “Makes sense. Thank you all for sharing,” said Nick. “I suppose I could tell you guys about myself if that’s okay with you all.”
    “The floor is yours, young Nick,” said Dani.
    “I am a single child to two loving parents. My mother died when I was pretty young, so my dad raised me. He was one of the finest blacksmiths in all of Hentrio. I was very proud of him and he pushed me to follow my dreams, which was to become a Refect. Once we joined myself and Thomas trained everyday to be at the top of the class. One night someone who was a part of the six’s movement murdered my father in front of my eyes. I killed him brutally in retaliation. I was sentenced to two years in the arena. With Philip’s help, I fought through the mental and physical torment the arena offered. After a few months of being in the arena the king’s men got me out in the hopes that I could help them. I don’t regret anything. Life has a funny way of playing itself out. At the end of the day I’m doing what I love: helping Hentrio.”
    “Bravo,” said Tyler. “I almost shed a tear. So now that we are all aquatinted with one another, we should get drunk.”
    Tyler pulled out a canteen filled with some foreign type of rum Nick had never seen before.
    “I’m not much of a drinker, thank you,” said Nick. “But I get a kick out of watching people around me get drunk and do stupid things.”
    “Suit yourself, Nick,” said Tyler. “On second thought...it’s a bit early to be drinking. I’ll save it for tonight. You can all witness the almighty drunk Tyler later - stay tuned.”
    The group laughed and bonded a bit more before they heard Jeffrey’s booming voice telling the camp to continue the trek before more daylight was lost. So on they went. Day soon turned into night and the camp slept, but not before witnessing Tyler being belligerently drunk. Night turned into morning, and the trek continued. Over and over, the cycle continued.
    Every night the king’s men instructed their camp on how to use the bow and arrow. Dani led the training every night. Nick even joined in as his archery skills were lackluster, to say the least. Jeffrey was adamant about the use of the bow and arrow rather than sword combat. He never told anyone his reasoning,