Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 86 of 619

They rode hard through the afternoon. Ajax pushed the horses until the pines gave way to a broad meadow with a creek at its far edge. He needed distance from the hollow where he had left the two collared men. He needed his men rested before the next name on the list. "We stop here," Ajax said. "Water the horses. Eat." Grayson swung down and led the string to the creek. Tucker dropped his pack and stretched his back. Marco sat in the grass with his eyes closed, still thin from the day of holding two minds at once. Elara knelt by him with a strip of dried meat and a water skin. Chalam walked to the middle of the meadow and planted his staff. He looked at the flat ground, then at Ajax. "No signatures here. Nothing under the grass." "Good." Ajax pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on his saddle. His chest hair was matted with sweat. The gold chain from his father caught the light. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. Chalam watched him from the staff. "You are restless." "I'm sitting still. That's the problem." Ajax turned to the men by the creek. He raised one arm and squeezed the fist. The muscle stood up hard along the bone. "Anyone here thinks they can put me down?" Tucker laughed and waved him off. Grayson didn't look up from the horses. Asher grinned but shook his head. Chalam set his staff against a stump. He shrugged the blue robe off his shoulders and let it fall down his arms to his belt. His chest was leaner than Ajax's, ribs showing under the skin, but the arms had wire in them. "I'll take it," Chalam said. Ajax laughed once. "You?" "You asked." They walked out into the flat grass. Tucker whistled. Grayson turned from the creek and folded his arms. Elara stood up beside Marco. Ajax came in low and fast. He meant to lift Chalam off his feet and drop him. Chalam stepped sideways, caught Ajax's wrist, and turned with the pull. Ajax's own weight took him past. He caught himself on one knee. He stood, grinning. "Again." He closed once more. Chalam ducked under the arm, hooked a leg behind Ajax's knee, and drove a shoulder into his chest. Ajax went down on his back in the grass. The chain slapped his throat. The meadow went quiet. Tucker's mouth hung open. Grayson gave a short, dry laugh. Ajax lay in the grass a moment. He looked up at Chalam standing over him with the blue robe hanging from his belt. "Where did you learn that?" "An inn. Two weeks I don't remember well." Chalam offered a hand. Ajax took it and came up. He clapped Chalam on the shoulder hard enough to move him. "You ride at the front tomorrow." Chalam nodded. He picked up his staff. The staff hummed once under his hand, then went quiet.