Three of them wouldn’t be so hard to deal with. They were evenly matched, though Caelan was more concerned about the innocent bystanders on the street. He didn’t want anyone to get hurt in the fight.
“Cael,” Rayne said in a low, tense voice beside him. Clearly, he’d spotted the soldiers as well.
They’d stopped on the opposite side of the street, no more than a few dozen feet away. Caelan grabbed Drayce’s wrist when his friend tried to walk around him, and pulled him to a sharp stop.
“Hey! What’s up?” Drayce cried out loudly followed by sharp silence as his eyes landed on the Empire soldiers.
“What do we do?” Caelan asked Rayne.
“We need to quietly leave and find Eno before he’s discovered.” Rayne grabbed Caelan’s arm and started to push him back the way they’d come.
Caelan dug his heels into the sidewalk as best as he could. “We can’t just leave them in an Erya town.”
“They’re not harming anyone, and the important thing is getting you to Stormbreak in one piece. That will help these people more than anything else we do.”
Caelan clenched his teeth, wanting to argue with Rayne’s logic, but his advisor was right. While an unpleasant experience, it didn’t look like they were killing his citizens. He could do more to remove the Empire occupation from Stormbreak than by fighting small battles throughout his kingdom.
“Fine,” he snarled in frustration and turned around. With a bit of luck, they’d be able to find Eno quickly and get out of town. The next town couldn’t be that far away on foot. They’d be able to get what they needed and hurry toward the capital without incident.
But luck was not on their side.
They didn’t get more than a couple of feet when another trio of New Rosanthe soldiers walked out from a side street and turned onto the main avenue in front of them. They all appeared to be young to Caelan, in their black uniforms with gold trim. They had rifles slung on their shoulders and the ever-present knives on their waists. No swords that usually marked an officer. They were new, fresh off the boat. Grunts could be trusted with guns to handle an enemy. Officers were the only ones trained for intense close-quarters combat with bladed weapons.
Caelan and his companions froze again, trapped between two different teams of Empire soldiers. His heart pounded and his palms became sweaty, fingers itching to wrap around the handle of his blade. He’d made no attempts to disguise his appearance. It hadn’t even crossed his mind. He was in his own country, and his mind had been on Drayce’s well-being when he’d stepped off the ship. Was there a chance that he might not be recognized?
Rayne’s fingers dug into his shoulder as the taller man tried to pull Caelan behind him, shielding him from view as best as possible. But it was too late. One soldier’s face was scrunching up, lines digging in his brow as his eyes clung to Caelan’s face. His brain was starting to put the pieces together.
“Prince,” the man said softly as if he didn’t quite believe it. “Prince Caelan Talos.”
“Yep, the jig is up,” Drayce muttered.
“Cover,” Rayne barked. A silver blade flashed out of his advisor’s hand and embedded itself in the soldier’s chest. Caelan was reaching for his blade as Drayce pulled both of his guns and unloaded shots into another soldier.
Caelan didn’t get the chance to draw his own weapon. Rayne was already shoving him onto a different street away from the noise and Empire soldiers.
“Drayce!” he shouted, but Rayne was pushing him, forcing him to run.
“He’s coming. Providing us some cover.”
They were also leaving him to face four-against-one odds, which was total bullshit. But Caelan couldn’t stop. He knew if he did, he was only risking Drayce’s life more. Rayne was doing what he was supposed to do—getting Caelan to safety.
The heavy pack on his shoulders slowed him, and it didn’t help that Hollowind was on a steep hill. Down led them to the sea and limited their chances of escape. Up got them out of the city but drained their energy fast. Muscles were burning and sweat covered him. They turned onto one street and then another. The place was a twisting maze. The gunshots had stopped, but the heavy pound of footsteps was getting louder.
At the next corner, Caelan managed to look back to find Drayce behind them and gaining.
“Need to move faster!” he shouted.
Caelan could suddenly breathe again. He put on a new burst of speed, running toward a shadowy street of tall, narrow buildings that seemed to lean against each other for support. Empire soldiers popped out ahead of them and Caelan swore, sliding to a sharp stop. They were out of options. They had to fight. At least there were no civilians out on the street to be injured by stray bullets.