Arcanius by Toby Neighbors

survived, was in for a long, painful recovery, but in the heat of battle, he acted as if he felt nothing. Instead, the man brought his sword around toward the side of Rafe’s head. Rafe ducked and slashed at the man’s stomach, but the soldier jumped back to avoid the slash. Unfortunately, he tripped over the body of the soldier whose throat Rafe had cut. The man fell hard onto his back, and Rafe rushed forward.
    In a last-ditch effort, the soldier threw up his sword, but Rafe batted it away with his own blade. The soldier was trying to bring his sword back to block Rafe’s next attack, but instead of slashing down with his sword, Rafe kicked the soldier hard in the temple. The man’s body went rigid, and his eyes rolled back in his head so that only the whites showed. Rafe looked up and saw Grentz finally catching the last remaining fighter at the stern of the ship. The soldier had tried his best to survive Grentz’s flurry of strokes, and there were several bloody wounds on his body. He looked terrified as Grentz ran his sword into the man’s chest. The soldier’s eyes dimmed, and he fell into a bloody heap on the deck of the ship.
    “There’s one still below deck,” Grentz said.
    Rafe nodded and turned down toward the gloomy interior of the ship. He wasn’t sure what he might find, but the man Grentz had kicked was still unconscious, one arm broken and bent at an unnatural angle under his body. Rafe rammed his sword into the unconscious man’s throat, killing him quickly and cleanly. The two soldiers that Rafe had wounded were soon put out of their misery by Grentz. Rafe didn’t see his father killing the wounded men, but their cries were suddenly cut short.
    The fight had been fast, and mostly against unarmed men. Rafe felt a twinge of guilt, but he knew that the soldiers had been ordered to kill him and Olyva. They would shoot their fire bombs at him or any ship that carried him, unconcerned with what happened after that. They were following orders, and he was fighting to survive. It wasn’t pleasant, but it was the way of the world. He tried not to let his distress show as he climbed back up onto the main deck.
    His father was wiping the blood off his swords. Rafe walked to the stern and pulled his second weapon from the dead man’s body, where it had stuck during the fight.
    “You okay?” Grentz asked.
    Rafe nodded.
    “Your first kill?”
    “No, sir,” Rafe said.
    “It had to be done,” Grentz went on. “And from the looks of things, we aren’t finished.”
    Rafe looked out across the city and saw the second war ship moving slowly toward them. He had known they would have to fight the men in the other ship eventually, but he hadn’t thought about it happening so soon.
    “You have a plan?” Rafe asked.
    “I’m working on one. You hurt?”
    “No sir. I only fought two that had weapons.”
    “Me too. It’s a damn shame, but that’s what we train for. We do what has to be done, Rafe, remember that. We can’t afford to feel remorse. We can’t hesitate or show mercy. Once we commit to the fight—”
    “We finish it,” Rafe said, completing the familiar phrase his father always repeated when they trained together.
    Grentz nodded approvingly.
    “If they get close enough, they’ll see the carnage on board,” Rafe said.
    “They may have seen us fighting if they have a spyglass.”
    “They probably do. So how do we get onto their ship?” Rafe asked.
    “I’ve got an idea,” Grentz said with a nod.
    “I hope it’s a good one.”
“Me too.”

Chapter 13
    Lexi
    She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Tiberius so anxious. He was hurrying through the streets on his way back to the palace and moving so fast Lexi almost had to jog to keep up.
    “Ti,” she said. “I don’t get it. Why are you so worried about this servant?”
    “He was more than just a servant,” Tiberius said. “He took over my care when I was about six years old. Before that, a group of nurse maids took