An Extra Mission

Since Alcinous's group had mapped out their entrance, Tyr decided it would be best to have his guild fall down the same hole he did. From there, they would follow Alcinous out of the tunnels.

When the two groups united, the members of the Obsidian Dragons were surprised to see Macha. They did not approve of the King sending them aid because this was a war and casualties were already expected to happen. Although they appreciated the assistance, this reeked heavy of special treatment. Now they felt rotten because the other guilds needed support too. In the end, everybody agreed to keep the help a secret.

As they stood around, Alcinous spoke up. He moved past everyone and addressed Tyr, "Lord Valois, we did not only come to save you. The King has a special task for you as well."

Tyr had been inspecting Macha to make sure she remained unhurt. Upon hearing that he had a special assignment, his eyes tore away from her delicate body. He tilted his head to stare at Lord Gabris, "What's the mission?" It really did seem unusual for Freyr to send people to rescue him from the depths of the enemy territory. He and Luna were Freyr's cousins, but the idea of his cousin being that caring was unrealistic.

Macha's brows drew together, "Freyr didn't mention anything about an extra assignment when I talked with him. Are you sure?"

Being questioned left a distasteful expression on Alcinous's face. He quickly covered it up and resumed acting out the persona he showed the public. With soft eyes, he explained, "His Majesty knew that we could fail, so he did not tell you in case we were caught."

He took in a deep breath to help him keep his temper under control. Macha continually irritated him and although she helped save their lives, her challenging his authority insulted him. Sierra warned him that this runt might become the future Queen. The warning seemed quite plausible. He could only assume that the King probably sent them away because this woman shed a few tears.

A silence hung in the darkness. Tyr waited for Alcinous to explain the assignment. Unknowingly he squeezed Macha's hand a little tighter. He worried about bringing her on any sort of mission with him. The last time he did that, she was kidnapped.

Alcinous continued his conversation with Tyr after calming his anger, "Just before we left, King Freyr received a letter from a spy who resides in the Toowoomba army. He wants to be extracted and granted citizenship in Marseille. In return, he is willing to provide the rotation of and location of the army's main base. We are to extract him and bring him back to General Rana so he can give her the information needed to end the war."

The situation was straightforward but meant that Macha would have to go into battle with them. Tyr highly doubted there would be enough time to drop her off and continue on with the mission. In a cold voice, he asked, "When and where are we supposed to recover him?"

Alcinous had been keeping track of the days very carefully. This task was timed, and he refused to let them fail. "In three days, before dawn, we are to meet him at the bridge of Gjallarbrú. His camp will allegedly be close by on that day and he will slip out to be extracted."

Luna was worried about the timing. "We've been stuck down here for weeks and don't know how to get out. The entrance we came in from collapsed."

Giving a bow to Luna, Alcinous waved his hand, "Lady Valois, that doesn't matter. We still remember the route to the entrance that we came in from. My party shall lead the way from here. Based on my calculations if we hurry and skip sleep for one night we will make it in time."

With the orders given, the Sathar began leading the group back, retracing all of their steps. Now that they disarmed the traps, the trip was much faster.

As they traveled, Macha's eyelids started to feel heavy. She was unsure how long she had stayed up, but it guessed that it had been over a day. In order to remain awake, she began slapping her cheeks with both hands. The sudden sting gave her a small jolt of energy.

Tyr grew annoyed that Macha kept letting go of his hand. It also irritated him that she continued to hurt herself to stay up. The fourth time she let released his hand, he turned around and grabbed her in his arms. "Sleep," he commanded. If she was tired, then he preferred that she got some rest. To him, carrying her would never be an issue. For now, the tunnels seemed safe, so he did not worry about having to fight suddenly.

"No, I should stay up. Everyone else is sleep deprived as well. It isn't fair." She struggled to wiggle out of his grasp, but he drew her closer to his chest. When she looked up at him, he gave her an unmoving expression. It was his stubborn look. She tried one more time, "I really can manage. You can let me down."

A soft exhalation came from Tyr. He did not like that she refused to rely on him right now. He always told her that if she ever needed anything, she need only ask. Since she did not want to do what was in her best interest, he decided to be firmer with her. "I didn't ask if you wanted to sleep. As Captain, I'm ordering you to. I don't know when the next time you'll be able to sleep will be. Get it while you can."

While he loved holding her and wanted her to stop slapping herself, he also recognized that sleep was a valuable commodity. It affected how well one fought and defended themselves. They were all used to staying up for days, but Macha was not. He wanted to give her the chance to get some rest.

Although being carried embarrassed her, the moment she closed her eyes, she drifted into a deep slumber. Being held by Tyr relaxed her more than she had ever been in the past three years.

****

It was nighttime when they emerged from the tunnel entrance. There was no light from the moons and the sound of animals shrieked the darkness. While the Sathar scouted ahead, Tyr urged his guildmates to get some rest. Even half an hour could be seen as a precious amount of time to relax.

Macha woke up and realized she lay nestled in Tyr's arms.

The warm night air smelled fresh compared to the terrible odors of the Masada Tunnels. She inhaled deeply to fill her lungs with the sweet fresh air.

Tyr leaned against a tree and breathed steady even breaths. It was too dark to see his face, but she remembered what he looked like while he slept. She often woke up in the middle of the night and admired his profile in the moonlight. Sometimes she hoped he would be awake, but whenever she whispered his name, he never stirred.

He did not change much over the past three years, the only difference was the bags under his eyes and his cheeks appeared to be gaunt. She worried that he did not eat properly while out here. Aži and the rest of the guild members looked much healthier compared to Tyr, and she wondered if he purposefully shouldered more than his share of the burden.

A leaf rustled in the darkness and Tyr stirred.

"Who's there?" he demanded, sliding Macha on the ground next to him.

Earlier, the change in her breathing had woken him. While at home, he usually slept deeply, but wartime always drove him to become a light sleeper. There were too many people who died in their sleep from enemies sneaking up on them.

Theodore's voice sounded to the left of them, "Just me, Theodore. Lord Gabris wanted to let you know that the coast is clear and to follow me. They're scouting further ahead so we don't waste time." It shamed him that he had to act as the guide, but his wounds from earlier still had not healed completely. His grandfather had him do this because right now, he was not as useful as the others.