Ethen Gearhart's Arc

Chapter 4 of 9

At first light Ethen stood in the courtyard with his gun slung and no one at his side. The order formed ranks around him. Squads clustered by old friendships, trading jokes, checking each other's gear. Ethen knew none of them. When the march order came, the knights moved in their tight groups. Ethen walked alone at the rear, the stray no one wanted to follow. A young officer rode down the line. "Gearhart. You lead the scout party through the trial hall." He pointed at a broad stone arena ahead. Cages lined its walls, packed with odd creatures that hissed and clawed. "The order crosses through it. Clear a safe path first. Pick your squad." Ethen turned to the nearest knights. "You four. With me." No one moved. One snorted. Another looked at his boots. "Find your own path," the snorting one said. "We don't bleed for strangers." They stepped back into their groups. Ethen's jaw tightened. He had beaten clockwork leopards to get here. He could not order men who saw him as nothing. So he stopped asking. He walked into the trial hall alone. Beside him trotted his mechanical cheetah, brass plates flashing, gears turning along its spine. The beast had never failed him. A cage latch rattled loose ahead, and a snarling creature slammed the bars. Ethen raised his gun. The cheetah crouched low, then sprang, pinning the thing as it broke free. Ethen fired once. The creature dropped. More latches gave way. Creatures spilled into the arena. Ethen moved fast, the cheetah circling to guard his flank. He shot one from a crate. He cracked another with the gun barrel. The cheetah dragged a third down by the throat. The knights watched from the gate, silent now. Ethen pushed to the center, where a cluster of snow-dusted sunflowers grew wild in the cracked stone. He planted his boots there and held the ground until the last creature fell. The hall went quiet. Ethen stood among the golden flowers, breathing hard, the cheetah pacing at his side. Then the snorting knight walked in. He looked at the ruined creatures, then at Ethen. "You cleared it alone," he said. He did not sound angry now. He sounded unsure. "We'll take the path you made." One by one, the squad crossed where Ethen had cleared. They stepped around him with care they had not shown at dawn. The young officer rode up and studied the wreckage. "You had no squad," he said. "Now you've got one that owes you." He named Ethen scout-leader for the march ahead. Ethen nodded. He had men behind him at last. But owed men were not loyal men. The officer leaned down before he rode off. "Lead them into the real fight," he said. "That's where the order decides if a leader keeps his rank." The march rolled forward, and Ethen walked at the front this time.