Pug sat atop the rocks and looked down upon the canyon watching the battle. He couldn't really tell who was winning; from where he was it just looked like a bunch of blue and red blobs. He tore his eyes away from the fighting and continued down the path. He kept to the rocks to remain unseen from anyone on the paths. He had been separated from Rose when they had run into the red teams' scouts. At the moment he was trying to track her down by trying to find the place where they were separated.
He hopped from rock to rock making little noise. He liked being a scout, out of the battle, staying unseen, and spying, sounded like a good deal to him. Plus, he was used to staying unseen and being quiet. Back home, there were days when the only way he could eat was by stealing from the local merchants. He knew it was wrong, and he would have never done it if it wasn't for his brothers and sisters. He would never forgive himself if he let one of them go hungry. That's why he joined the guard, he had taught his eldest younger brother, three years his junior, how to get food and find odd jobs to make money. Then he joined up hearing that once he finished training that he would be paid well.
He was crouched behind a rock when he caught a glimpse of blue out of the corner of his eye. He turned, instinctively thinking that it was rose. When he stepped onto the path he saw that it wasn't Rose, but another blue soldier.
Thinking that it must have been one of Cliff's scouts, he yelled out, "Oi there." The soldier turned and Pug realized that he knew who it was. He thought hard and then it came to him. It was one of Zane's Sergeants . . . Tim! That was his name! Wait, he thought, what is a Sergeant doing up here? "Why aren't you on the battlefield?" Pug asked. If Tim was surprised to see Pug he didn't show it.
"Lieutenant, the Captain sent me here to find you. He wants you and Rose to come back to the battleground," Tim said.
"Well if you haven't noticed. Rose isn't with me," Pug replied.
Tim nodded and said, "I know that much, I found her earlier. We split up searching for you. We were going to meet back at a designated area after about ten minutes." That's strange, Pug thought, if he would have been in that situation he would have searched together in case something happened. Maybe Tim just gave Rose the creeps as much as he did Pug, she probably just didn't want to be alone with him.
"Lead the way then Serge," Pug said with a wave of his hand. Tim grimaced when Pug called him Serge but obeyed. They set off along the path and Pug asked, "So how come you have to run errand boy while everyone else is fighting? Did you do something to get on Zane's bad side or what?" By the look on his face Pug seemed to have struck a touchy subject for Tim.
"First of all, I have done nothing to get on the Captain's bad side," he said emphasizing Captain. "And second, I happened to have volunteered for this job."
"So, in other words, you just didn't want to fight," Pug replied jokingly. Tim's face turned red with anger, but he refrained from responding. Pug decided not to anger him farther, so they walked the rest of the way in silence.
They walked for a couple minutes and Tim signaled for him to stop.
"This is where we had agreed to meet," Tim said. Pug looked around; something didn't feel right. They were high up on the canyon, he doubted that Rose would have went this high. She would've known that Pug would look for her where they were separated.
"Shouldn't she be here by now?" Pug asked. Before Tim could answer, four soldiers in red uniforms jumped out from the rocks and surrounded them. "Ambush!" Pug yelled reaching for the short sword at his belt. Before he could reach it Tim grabbed him from behind and put a knife to his throat. Pug stared at him in disbelief, "You led me into this! You traitor!"
"Really, I didn't notice," Tim sneered.
"What do you want with me? You know you can't kill me," Said Pug.
Tim laughed, "We might not be able to kill you, but that's all the better, since that would be to kind." One of the soldiers punched Pug hard in the gut while the others took his weapons. They tossed Pug onto the ground and tied him up with rope. "We are not trying to kill you, we are simply sending a message." He kicked Pug hard in the side. Pug gasped with pain. "I believe that our loser of a Captain needs to be replaced, preferably with me. Winston agrees wholly with me, and lent his support to my cause," he said gesturing to the four soldiers. "But since first year trainees cannot challenge the Captain, and because of my Sergeant position. There are a couple of loose ends that need to be attended to before I can be the Captain. First of all, I must get the second in command out of the way," he stomped on Pug's hip and causing Pug to yell out in pain. "You are to resign your lieutenant position," Tim continued. "If you don't, then we will find you in a much less friendly environment . . ."
"You call this a friendly environment?" Pug gasped.
"Quiet!" Tim said once again kicking him. "I am referring to a place that is not bewitched, so that very possibly you could die! How does that sound to you!" He stomped on the back of Pugs head just hard enough to leave him conscious.
"I'll never give up my position to you!" Pug managed to say through the pain.
"Well that's too bad," Tim said with fake sympathy. "I was only going to give you a warning this time. But it looks as though you need some persuasion," he signaled to the four soldiers who were now grinning. "We may not be able to kill you, but we can still cause you a great deal of pain. You will resign from your position." They closed in on Pug, all five wearing wicked smiles on their faces.
Pug snapped awake covered in sweat. He sat up and instantly regretted it. Pain shot through his bruise covered body like a knife. He laid back down and stared at the ceiling of the emergency tent. He had been quickly moved to the emergency tent after they say the extent of his bruises. Now he was reliving those moments in his dreams every night since it happened. It had been two days since the first Nulla Pugna, and yet Tim's words still echoed freshly in Pugs mind. "You will resign from your position." If Tim had been telling the truth, he had five days left to resign from the guard or they would quite possibly kill him. He knew that he should tell Zane. But something held him back, he was used to fighting his own fights, he could find his own way out of this situation.
Yet he couldn't think of any way out of his predicament. Quitting the guard was out of the question. He had determined that the night after they had beat him when he thought about how proud his little sisters and brothers had been the day he left. He had to find a way out, for them. He would have to think hard about it, today he would make a decision on what to do.