Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 65 of 619

They came down the slope fast and quiet. Ajax cut left around the barn toward the mill. Grayson broke right. Chalam stayed at Ajax's shoulder with his staff held low. Tucker and Asher swung wide behind the barn to close the back. Marco walked straight up the middle with his eyes half shut, listening. "Three," Marco said. "In the mill. Not the barn." Ajax changed line without slowing. The mill door hung open on one hinge. He heard a chair scrape inside. A man's voice cursed low. Ajax reached the doorframe and stopped. He raised one hand. Chalam came up beside him. The wizard's staff already had a pale film crawling along the wood. "Now," Ajax said. Chalam stepped through the door first. He struck the butt of the staff once on the stone floor. The sound was small. The room answered louder. Three men stood at a plank table. One had a collar of dark iron around his neck. The other two had blades half drawn. All three locked in place as if the floor had grown up their legs. The man with the collar tried to turn his head and could not. His eyes moved. Nothing else did. Chalam held the staff level. His jaw was tight. "Fast," he said. "I cannot hold three long." Ajax went in. Grayson came through behind him with a blade out. Tucker and Asher filled the back door a heartbeat later. Marco stayed at the threshold. Ajax knocked the sword from the nearest man's hand. It hit the stone and skidded. He drove the man to his knees and put a boot on his wrist. Grayson took the second, pulled his arm behind him, and bound it with cord from his belt. The collared man Ajax left for last. He walked around the table and looked at him. "Renn," Ajax said. The eyes moved to him. Nothing else. "Hold him," Ajax said to Chalam. "Drop the other two." Chalam let the staff tilt. The two bound men sagged forward. Grayson caught the second before he cracked his head on the plank. Chalam's arm shook. Sweat ran along his temple. "Renn only," Chalam said. "A minute. No more." Ajax pulled the list from his coat and set it flat on the table beside the collared man's hand. Five names still uncrossed. He drew his father's blade and laid it beside the paper. "You will tell me who wears the other collars," Ajax said. "You will tell me before he lets you go." Renn's mouth worked against the hold. A sound came out. Not a word yet. Chalam's staff cracked once along its length. A thin split ran up the grain. "Ajax," Chalam said. "Now." Ajax leaned in close and waited for the name.