City of Stones

Chapter Five

“Go get a rock and throw it at him.” I suggested.

Niko gave me a look that told me to shut up. I shrugged without remorse. In my opinion it was killing two birds with one stone; we’d find out if the kid was conscious and if he was the rock would most likely knock him out. We were standing about ten feet from the inert form of the boy who had been trying to cross the mountains. He looked like he was unconscious, but there was no way to tell for sure without getting closer, something Niko and I were both wary about.

“What do you think we should do then?” I demanded.

“Give me the powder.” Niko replied, holding out his hand expectantly.

I rolled my eyes and handed him the small pouch from my pocket. He opened the small drawstring and took out a pinch of the off-white powder and placed it in the palm of his other hand. I took the pouch back and watched as he slowly edged closer to the boy. The boy was lying facedown in the rocks, holding nothing but a small piece of paper that looked like it had gone through seven storms and then some. From what I could see the boy was probably no more than a year older than me. He had messy dark blonde hair that was now covered in desert dust and his clothes were encrusted with dirt and salt water.

Niko was a few steps away from the boy when suddenly he sprang to his feet. Niko yelled in surprise and threw the powder on the boy who didn’t seem to notice. I leapt to help Niko as the boy pulled a hidden knife out of his boot. Niko pulled out his own, leaving me the only one without a weapon, which was fine by me, I wouldn’t need one.

The boy went for Niko first, who seemed to be the biggest threat because of his knife. I watched the boy’s every move as I slowly backed away, reaching down to grasp the biggest rock I could find. The boy’s eyes were wide with adrenaline from the fight, and it was then that I noticed the color. They were green, a bright green that could only mean one thing. He was from the Water Tribe.

I clenched my teeth and squeezed the rock tightly in my fist. Putting my father’s face on the boy’s body, I hurled the rock at his head. I didn’t miss. The boy crumpled to the ground and stayed there, unmoving but still breathing.

“I told you.” I said simply to Niko.

“Yeah, well,” he said, but he couldn’t finish the sentence because he had no comeback.

“Do you think Savion and Zane saw that?” I asked.

“I hope so,” Niko said, bending down to pick up the boy’s knife that had been dropped. “I really don’t want to carry him all the way back.”

Niko and I waited there, staring warily at the unconscious boy at our feet. It didn’t take more than ten minutes before Zane, Jonah and a couple of other men named Pierce and Braedon showed up. Zane grinned at me proudly and Jonah clapped me on the back.

“Good thinking, Al.” he said.

Pierce and Braedon nodded at me approvingly before heading down the mountain towards the sea. I stared after them in confusion.

“Where are they going?” I asked.

“They have to go sink the kid’s boat. They’re gonna take off anything we can use and then get rid of the evidence that we ever had a visitor.” he grinned down at me.

I grinned back as he slung an arm across my shoulder.

“Oy, Zane!” Jonah called. “You gonna help us carry him or just stand there?”

Zane chuckled and walked over to them. “Al, go ahead and start moving the boulders, we’ll be there in a few minutes.” he said to me.

I nodded and started walking ahead. It took me only two minutes to reach the entrance and only five more to move all the boulders out of the way on my own. Zane, Jonah and Niko caught up with me only a few moments after I had finished and they shuffled in awkwardly with the boy carried between them. I went in behind them and started to roll the boulders shut again.

“How should we do this?” Niko asked.

“Jonah, you go down first, we’ll tie the kid to the rope and lower him down to you, you catch him and untie him and then we’ll join you down there.” Zane said.

“Alright.” Jonah said, grabbing the rope and sliding down it with a practiced ease.

I helped Zane and Niko tie the boy to the rope securely and together we lowered him to the ground. Jonah gave us the okay to climb down a second later, the whole process taking no more than five minutes. Soon we were heading back into our refuge and to the Council, to decide what had to be done with the mysterious Water Tribe boy.