Chapter 10

"Must I do everything myself" Captain Sharp said. Then she pushed her cape aside to reveal a green crystal on her shoulder. Maximus knew what it was; he had seen it before with some high-ranking officers. It was a summoning crystal, a magic crystal that could be used to summon an object to its position. Maximus didn't know exactly how it worked, all he knew was it could only work with inanimate objects. He also knew that most ranked officers in the army used it for storing powerful weapons.

Sure enough, the captain tapped the crystal and muttered something under her breath and the next second a huge spear appeared in her hands. Maximus knew from just looking at it that it was no ordinary spear. The spear consisted of a long wooden body with a metal blade at its head. What made it even more fearsome were the yellow sparks that kept buzzing at the tip. The captain then took her battle stance and the spearhead began glowing yellow.

"Oh man did she just pull out an energy spear?" Hedger said. Energy weapons were specialized weapons using technology or magic to add an extra punch in a battle. These were usually melee type weapons and in the hands of a trained professional could be more destructive than a tank. "Well, I guess we'll find out just how good Mr. Hood really is," Maximus said. The captain started off with a bang. A quick jab with the spear sent a blast of energy hurling towards the hooded man. He still managed to dodge it. The captain was a much better fighter than the other soldiers, but the mystery man was better. He was managing to fend off Captain Sharp and four other soldiers on his own. But that's when one of the other soldiers finally gained consciousness. But instead of going for his sword he went for one of the rifles that were still not broken. He aimed straight for the hooded man's head and at a distance he couldn't miss. But before he could take a shot Maximus banged him on the head with his sheathed sword. Maximus didn't know why he did that. Maybe he was just repaying the man for saving them earlier. Or, maybe, he just respected the man too much as a swordsman to let him be taken out by a bullet from behind. Either way he knew that there was no backing out now so he went to the man's side to help. "What are you doing?" the hooded man asked.

"I guess I really don't like being in debt," Maximus answered, "anyway, I'm here to help." Maximus began fighting alongside the man, which was a lot harder with a sheathed sword. But most of the soldiers were already wounded and tired so he could hold his own. Only Captain Sharp was the real problem.

The man turned to him and said "If you really want to help go get what's in that transport to safety, I can hold them off here." Maximus nodded in agreement and ran to the back of the transport truck while the man blocked anyone who tried to peruse him. As he reached the back of the truck Hedger flew in to join him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hedger asked, "and when did you and Mr. Hood become best buds?" Maximus didn't know what to say. "I don't know hedge, I'm just going with my instinct here." Maximus stared at the lock on the transport. There was a big padlock on it and he didn't know how to break it.

Hedger was still ranting on about what Maximus had done. "Would you just shut up and help me with this?" Maximus said. Hedger stuck his tongue out at Maximus and looked at the lock. Then he sheepishly said, "Well, I might actually be able to help with that. He started searching his pouch and pulled out a long green feather with yellow inscriptions on it. It was also carved at the end. "A quill key," Maximus said in surprise, "from where did you get that?"

A quill key was a magically enhanced key that could be used to open most locks. It was quite rare as the ingredients for making it were hard to come by. They were also illegal. And one of the main ingredients was a long sprite wing feather. And judging by the shape and colour of the feather used in this one Maximus could tell it came from Hedger. "Well a warlock said he would pay good money for five of my longest feathers," Hedger began explaining, "and he didn't have all the money he promised me with him so he gave me one of his finished products instead"

"I thought you were against selling your feathers," Maximus shot back. Hedger stared at the ground and said, "Yeah, well business was kind of slow and morals don't exactly fill your stomach, do they Max?" Maximus understood why he did it but he didn't like it. Just possessing that thing was illegal much less producing it. If Hedger had been caught with that the army would have branded him as a thief for sure. "Look, can we please discuss my business ethics later. Like when we don't have soldiers who want to kill us just a few feet away and focus on the task at hand," Hedger said. Maximus nodded in agreement and took the quill key from him.

He placed the tip of the quill in the keyhole and it started to glow. A few seconds later the padlock was unlocked. Maximus started removing the bolt and Hedger said, "Okay, now let's find out what all this fuss is about." Maximus didn't know what to expect inside, maybe gold or magic jewels, or some powerful weapon. But when Maximus finally opened the door all he saw inside was a very thin and frail looking old man in chains curled up in the corner.

The man looked like he was at least a hundred years old. His hair was long and gray, and he had an overgrown beard that was at least a week old. His clothes were torn and dirty. He also had a chain attached to the wall around his leg. Not that he seemed to be in any condition to run away, he just sat there in a corner muttering to himself, and as far as Maximus could tell he hadn't even noticed that the doors had opened. "Umm, so all this is for a dirty old man," Hedger said. Maximus was really confused now. "Don't know, but he must be someone important, let's just ask him."

Maximus went up to the old man and asked, "Sir, who are you?" No response. "Uh sir," he said again. Still nothing. Then Maximus slowly put his hand on the old man's shoulder. The old man looked up so fast that it startled Maximus a bit. Then he said "Glaciers slowly melt as they travel from poles." Maximus didn't understand what he was talking about. "Excuse me," he said.

"Jumping squirrels make nests in hollow trees," was the old man's reply to that.

"Is this guy off his rockers?" Hedger asked.

"Light goes back to white when travelling through two prisms," was the old man's next quote.

"Yeah, he's definitely nuts," Hedger said, "so all that fighting wasn't just for any old man, but for one that's crazier than a drunken unicorn."

"Whatever the case, we can't just leave him here," Maximus said. He had no idea what was going on but he was pretty sure the army wasn't taking the old man to show him his retirement benefits. Maximus looked at the chain while the old man started talking about snowflakes, but he didn't find a lock or anything on it so the quill key would be useless. He knew he would have to break the chain. "Quick, get me a rock or something to smash the chain with," he told Hedger.

"That won't be necessary," said a voice from behind.

Maximus turned back to see that one of the soldiers had finally caught up with them. He was standing at the entrance to the truck and he had a rifle pointed at them. Maximus realized that it was the same soldier he had taken out earlier. He stood there with the gun pointed towards them. Maximus and Hedger froze. The old man still just sat there in his corner mumbling about potassium or something. "It looks like the end of the line for you two," the soldier said with a grin on his face. That's when a giant scorpion's tail shot out of the ground and ripped right through the soldier's chest.