Sam woke to find himself, once again, laying in the dirt. At least he wasn’t face down this time. He was laying on his right side with his hands in front of him bound by rope. A quick look down at his feet told him they were tied as well. His head was pounding, and his left shoulder was still burning from the animal bite earlier. He also noticed an uncomfortable jabbing on his right leg at the level of his hip. He didn’t move when he awoke but lay very still listening to the voices behind him. He couldn’t see anything in front of him as he was facing a rock wall. He did notice that it was darker than before. At first, he thought that it had started to turn to dusk but then glancing slightly up, he realized there was a rock roof over his head. They must have brought him into a cave after knocking him out. He could hear the group talking behind him but didn’t move, wanting them to think he was still out.

“I still don’t understand why we aren’t part of the main fighting force. Instead, we’ve just been skirting around the edge. And now we’re hiding in a cave while everyone else is fighting for their lives.” 

“You heard Azuriel. He wants us to hold up in this cave while he scouts the area and meets up with the contact. Then we meet him at the secondary location.”

“I don’t like that he went to meet up with her alone. What if it’s an ambush.” The words were mumbled like he had something in his mouth.

“Are you freaking kidding me Sanders. You’re eating right now. Is that an entire sandwich?” a female voice said with some disgust in her voice.

“Why wouldn’t I be eating right now. I’m not doing anything else, and I was hungry. Besides, it’s just a wee sandwich.” The voice was clearer now, and Sam could make out an Irish accent.

“You’re always hungry, you ridiculous little man. I often wonder how fat you were in your previous life.”

“Well, what’s the plan with this one anyway? Why didn’t we just leave him where we found him or maybe just kill him?”

“How does it look when the forces representing Heaven go around killing anyone they don’t recognize? Besides, look at his clothes. He wasn’t part of the battle. Leaving him there would have been as good as a death sentence too. Azuriel will have a plan for him when we meet back up.”

“I did see his clothes. Yikes. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen cargo pants on this side.”

At least they weren’t planning on killing me. Or most of them weren’t anyway. Sam thought to himself. And what’s wrong with my cargo pants?

The group continued to talk, but most of the conversation just turned to sarcastic comments and banter. He kept listening but turned his mind to his surroundings and what his next step should be. I could try and have a conversation with them. They seem decent enough and they were with an angel. That means they’re the good guys, right? This is all assuming that angels are real, and I’m not dead or having a psychotic break. I don’t think I’m in the hospital hopped up on drugs right now because my head and shoulder wouldn’t hurt so much. He also still had something pinching his leg. As he worked his mind through today’s events searching for any clues to how all of this was possible, he moved his hands down to where is leg was hurting. He felt something in one of his pockets and remembered that he still had his multi-tool pocketknife. He always carried one around just in case, ever since his eagle scout days. It was in one of the side pockets of his pants. He was wearing his grey hiking pants. The cargo pants that drove his wife crazy. She would always give him such a hard time about wearing cargo pants every day. If only she could see him now, they might just save his life if he can get to his knife and cut his hands free. Thinking on their many discussions about cargo pants made Sam smile, immediately followed by a return of that deep loneliness he had felt for the past eight months. He willed himself past that depressive mind set and focused on his next steps. Sam didn’t want the group behind him to know he was awake, so slowly, he rolled slightly onto his back. He was able to slide two fingers into the pocket and pull out the knife.

            He unfolded the knife and started to work on the rope binding his wrist. As he slowly sawed at the rope, he heard one of the people behind him start to move in his direction. He twisted the knife up between his hands, hiding it from view, and closed his eyes. The guard stood over him for a few moments before returning to the conversation.

“Guy’s still out cold. You could have hit him a wee bit softer.”

“Not my fault he couldn’t take the hit.”

Sam peeked one eye open and was alone in the corner of the cave once again. He started back on the slow process of sawing through the ropes around his wrist. This lasted another couple of minutes until he felt the ropes were close to breaking. He left a small width of the rope uncut so that his wrists still appeared bound. He kept the knife hidden under his hands because he would still need to cut the ropes at his feet. What’s my next step after that though? I’m still surrounded by several people, probably armed with weapons much bigger and sharper than a dull pocketknife. But that was a problem for future Sam to worry about. He laid in the dirt a while longer listening to the conversation behind him. He couldn’t understand everything they were talking about, and they kept referencing things he had never heard of.

After about twenty more minutes, he heard one of them announce, “It’s time. We head to the second location in two minutes. Sanders, go wake up our guest and get him on his feet.” He heard one of them coming up behind him again and he closed his eyes. The man leaned down over him and grabbed his shoulder. Although he meant to shake him gently, the man grabbed Sam’s wounded shoulder. The pain caused him to startle and pull his shoulder away. Sam opened his eyes and moved onto his back. The man over him was a short stocky man coming to about five foot eight. He had a shaved head with a scraggly red beard. His face was leathery and tough, matching the rest of his body. He wore similar leather armor to the people he saw earlier with the bows. The man moved his hand to his chest and started to pull out a hunting knife from a sheath strapped across his front. Sam’s eyes widened in fear as he started scrambling away on his back toward the wall of the cave. This sudden movement caused a surprised look on his would-be attacker’s face and then the man started to laugh.

“Sorry mate. This knife is only for the rope on your ankles. We’re heading out soon and I don’t want to have to carry you around. If we were going to kill you, we would have done it when Bard knocked you out earlier.” This was the one with the Irish accent. Sam stopped scrambling away. He kept his knife between his hands, ready to lash out if the man didn’t just move toward his ankles. The man moved slower toward Sam and grabbed the ankle ropes with his right hand. He slid the knife between Sam’s ankles and cut upward releasing the rope that was tied there.

Sam held out his wrists to see if the man would cut those off as well. The man just shook his head and said, “We aren’t ready to cut those loose just yet. We need to chat some more and figure out what you were doing out here. First, we’re moving to meet back up with one of our own. It’s not far and then we can focus on what to do with ya. The name’s Erik Sanders. Everyone just calls me Sanders though.” Sanders had sheathed his knife and was suddenly holding a small canteen. Sam hadn’t realized how thirsty he was but seeing the canteen made him realized how bad his cotton mouth was. He also noticed that his lips were cracked and bleeding. Sanders held the canteen up for him, and Sam used his closed hands to help pour a little into his own mouth. The canteen held water that had somehow stayed cold and refreshing.

“Thanks, I’m Sam” he said, after drinking several large gulps of the cool water. Sam rolled over onto his stomach and got up onto his hands and knees. Sanders grabbed him under the armpit and Sam was able to get to his feet. He still had some of that vertigo upon standing but it was not near as bad as earlier. Once up, he looked around the cave. The rest of the cave was rather unremarkable with only one of the purple shrubs breaking up the monotony of rock and sand. The cave opening was about three yards wide allowing a modest amount of light into the cave. The ceiling of the cave was only slightly higher than the opening. Sam noticed three other people standing near the entrance. Two were the people he had seen earlier, the ones aiming arrows at him while flanked by an angel. Now, they both had their bows strapped to their backs. One was a female with smooth olive skin. She was only about five and half feet tall. She had an athletic body that could be seen under the form fitting leather armor that she wore. Two short swords hung on her hips. Her hair was a dark brown that was pulled back in a ponytail; the end of which fell down her back in curls to hover between her shoulder blades. Next to her was a man dressed similarly. He stood a half foot taller than the female and also had a bow strapped to his back. He had a long sword on his right hip. This man’s hair was also longer to the level of his shoulders but without the curl. It was the same shade of brown as the female. The armor was the same that he had seen on Sanders and the girl. He could only see the profile of their faces as they talked with one another. They appeared to be of Mediterranean descent, and he could tell by their features that they were related.

Next to them was another man. He stood well over six feet. He had a broad chest and was covered in leather armor, but his armor had a few plates of dark metal over the more vital areas. He had a long sword in his right hand with the blade resting on his shoulder. This man had a rough face with shaggy brown hair and stubble for a beard. He had his back to the opening of the cave and was staring back at Sanders and Sam. He had a smug grin on his face as the two moved forward to join the group.

“How’s the head?” The man quipped with his grin growing even larger. Sam remembered seeing this man for only a moment as he had jumped down from above and knocked him out. Sam just shot the man a glare.

“Quit being a dick, Bard.” The female archer said. She moved a little closer to Sam giving him a compassionate smile. “I’m sorry about all that. We weren’t sure what group you were with, and we couldn’t take any chances.”

Sam started to return the kind smile when Bard commented again, “We still don’t know what group he’s with and my vote is to leave him tied up in this cave, so we don’t have to drag along any dead weight.”

“Ignore him. My name is Alannah. The thick headed one is Bard, and this is my brother, Lucas. We gotta move to a new location but then we’ll be able to talk more. Are you okay to walk?”

“I’ll be fine.” he said, still staring at Bard.

The two archers pulled their bows off their back and started to move out from the cave. The demeanor of the group changed as they started the trip to their next location. The two archers used the edges of the cave opening to cover all directions outside the cave. Their bows were up but they didn’t draw back, saving their strength. Bard exited the cave once they gave the all-clear and started to move to the right. The two archers fell in line behind him moving to the sides by about a yard. Between the three of them, they were scanning the sides and front of the area around them. Sanders indicated for Sam to take up a position in the middle of the group and Sanders walked a yard behind him. He alternated between scanning behind the group for anyone trying to sneak up and watching over Sam to make sure he wasn’t doing anything stupid. About five minutes after exiting the cave, they passed the canyon that Sam had been in earlier. The demon still lay on the ground, but he had been stripped of his weapons and armor. The arrows were no longer sticking out of the side of his head and neck. Sam wasn’t sure where the armor had gone as he didn’t see any of the others carrying anything more than their weapons. Sam focused on the environment around him as they continued past the opening in the rock wall and started to move away from the plateau that they had been next to. They headed off at an angle moving toward a few smaller rock structures about two hundred yards away. They picked up the pace now that they were out in the open, exposed and without any good cover for a hundred yards in any direction. They passed the open land without incident and the group slowed as they approached the new walls of rock.

They moved to the left between two small rock structures that went about ten feet in the air. These structures came together with only a seven-foot width between them. Bard took the lead with his sword raised. Behind him was Lucas, who had moved his bow up and scanned above their heads to the tops of the walls. Sam was next in line, followed by Alannah who watched the higher walls behind the group. Sanders was the rear guard again. About twenty feet into the channel, Sam felt a few pebbles fall onto his shoulder and heard a scraping noise above him.

Luckily, Lucas had noticed the movement too and called out to the team, “Contact above.” In the same movement, Lucas pulled his bow tight and aimed at the rock wall to his right. Alannah used one hand to push Sam down onto the ground against the other rock wall and then joined her brother in aiming a readied arrow toward the scuffling noise above.

“Contact front, two.” Bard called out to the group. Sam was staring above him but still couldn’t see anything. He turned his head at this new announcement and saw two people come out of side passages in front of the group. He hadn’t even seen these side passages until now. The two people charging at Bard were average height with black leather armor. One of them held a large double-sided axe while the other had a long sword and a small round wooden shield. Bard already had his sword out, but he also pulled a smaller dagger out from the sheath on the small of his back. Although he was up against two attackers, he immediately went into action. He feinted to the left toward the axe wielder and then pulled back to the right close to the rock wall on that side. The initial feint forced the axe man to swing his axe in a downward arc trying to remove Bard from the battle but as Bard moved to the right, the attacker couldn’t follow through with his swing since the other attacker was now between him and Bard. The swordsman tried to take advantage of Bard’s move toward the wall and struck out with a straight stab while guarding most of his body with the shield. Bard used his longsword to make the stab miss to the right and into the rock wall. Bard tried to sneak his shorter blade toward the attacker’s arm as it was outstretched, but the buckler moved into place in time to block the blade. Bard’s momentum directed the blade toward the rock wall, and this exposed his side and back to the second attacker. The axe man’s first swing had failed but he had already pulled the axe back to his right side for a horizontal swing. Bard was unconcerned, however, and he trusted his team. Since the attack started at the front of the party, Lucas had moved his bow from the rocks above to the oncoming attackers in front of them. As one enemy pulled his axe back for a second swing, Lucas released his arrow catching the attacker in the right arm. The arm jerked back, and his grip loosened on the axe, but it didn’t drop. Lucas didn’t hesitate and had already drawn another arrow. He loosed it, catching the same attacker in the neck. This time the man did drop the axe and grabbed his neck with both hands trying to hold in the blood that was now flowing out of the wound. He fell backward onto the ground, out of the fight. Two more people had come out of the side passages and were moving toward Bard now. Lucas loosed another arrow but it was blocked by the shield of one of the new attackers. As they moved closer, Lucas dropped his bow and drew his sword, moving up to the side of Bard to keep him from being overwhelmed.

After Lucas had moved his aim toward the front of the group, Alannah was still eyeing the top of the rock wall. It only took a moment before someone jumped off the wall aiming to land on Alannah. She launched her first arrow as soon as she saw the body and it struck below the armor sinking into the attacker’s gut. Alannah side stepped the falling body and the attacker collapse onto the group pushing the arrow further into his body and breaking off the back half that was still sticking out. The axe he was holding fell a few feet from his body, hitting the other side of the rock wall and clanging to a stop. Another attacker had jumped, following the first, and Alannah didn’t have time to fire another arrow as he fell into the canyon. He had originally aimed at Lucas but slightly changed his trajectory as he came down to swing at Alannah. She used her bow, aiming to deflect the sword since she knew she would not be able to fully block the force of the descending blow. The sword harmlessly flicked to the side, but the weight of the man was enough to knock her off her feet. As she fell, Alannah had pulled out one of her short swords. The attacker had landed in a squat and had the advantage over Alannah. He used his sword to deflect her attempt to impale him. Another attacker had dropped down near Sanders. Sanders had an axe in one hand with a larger round shield in the other. Sam had seen the axe hanging from his belt earlier, but he had no idea where the shield had come from. The attacker also had a shield and used a sword to bash at Sanders. The two exchanged blows a few times but were equally skilled in blocking the other’s attacks. Sam had not sat idly by while the skirmish was waging around him. He had flipped his pocketknife back out from between his hands and finished off the last of the rope keeping his wrists bound. From the ground, he surveyed the area and went over his options. He thought that maybe this was his chance to escape since all members of the party were occupied defending themselves. Although he could probably get out of this small area without being stopped, where would he go from here. This group at least seemed to be decent, and they had an angel with them. They couldn’t be that bad, right? He made his decision as he got to his feet. The first jumper’s axe had landed close to him, and he picked it up with both hands. Alannah was the closest to him and was still on the ground below her attacker desperately blocking his strikes. Sam lifted the axe up and brought it down at an angle, striking the neck of the man attacking Alannah. The blade sunk several inches into the man’s neck dropping him to the ground in a heap. The movement of lifting the axe above his head had caused his shoulder to start hurting again and he winced. There had been a continual burning in his shoulder with an occasional stinging pain since the demon dog bite, but it flared up significantly with the axe swing. Seconds after he killed the man, that same white mist rose out of the body and shot into him. The shoulder quieted down after the energy infused into him. This felt more intense than the episode after the beast had been killed. He offered his other hand to Alannah who pulled herself up with a quick nod of thanks. She picked up her bow and notched another arrow in the same fluid motion. She turned her attention to the front of the group where the largest group of attackers had originally been. The initial attacker that Bard had faced off against lay on the ground in a pool of blood. Bard had stepped past him and was moving toward the next two in line. Lucas was moving up slowly to engage the enemy with him. Alannah’s arrow shot between them and into an attacker’s left eye. He instantly fell to the ground, and she moved her aim to the rear of the group while loading another arrow. Behind them, Sanders had been able to catch the attacker’s shield with the crook on the top of his axe and twist it out of his arms. He followed that with a spin where he slammed the attacker’s sword arm with his shield. This exposed the attacker as well as put him stumbling backward. Sanders followed up with another overhead axe strike that thudded into the man’s leather armor. The armor was thick, but Sanders’ strength combined with the sharpness of the axe helped it penetrate through and into the man’s chest, killing him. The remaining attacker at the head of the group watched his neighbor fall and started to back pedal away from the group. He turned and ran. As he reached one of the side passages, Azuriel leapt down from the top of the rock wall. His wings were spread wide as he controlled his descent into the canyon. The wingspan was larger than the width of the canyon and extended into both side passages. He wielded a long sword that gleamed in the sunlight. As he dropped, the angel swung down with the sword. The attacker attempted to block the swing but didn’t stand a chance. Azuriel’s sword broke through the attempted defense, snapping the sword and slicing into the man’s torso. Sam looked from the front of the group to the back, and there didn’t appear to be any more attackers.

“There are no more enemies above and these side passages are clear,” Azuriel announced as he moved toward the group. “Is everyone alright?” Each member of the group sounded off an “all good.” Sanders had moved back to the entrance of the canyon with Alannah slightly behind him. He confirmed that the direction they had come was clear as well. Everyone took a breath of relief except Bard who started moving toward Sam with his sword at the ready.