Chapter 4

Maximus climbed the rope back up to his place while Hedger just flew in the window. It was already evening and the day had been really unproductive. Maximus thought it would be impossible to escape this hellhole if things didn't get better. He wanted to get out of here, and not just the trenches but the entire country of Mars. He had heard there were other countries where the lifestyle was more peaceful or where technology had gotten so advanced people didn't even have to work anymore. And other places that were so magical that it was like being on another planet.

Maximus started cooking while Hedger flew around picking firewood from the nearby trees. Maximus liked cooking and he was pretty good at it. But this wasn't something he shared with everyone. A guy could get mocked to death for saying he liked cooking in the army. The trenches weren't any better. But he felt calm when he cooked. And when he was done Hedger remarked that it smelled great. "So what do you call it?" he asked.

"I guess we could call it skewed rat with potatoes," Maximus replied. Hedger scowled and said, "You know I said rodent, didn't I? Not rat but rodent, there is a difference."

"Fine skewed rodent with potatoes," Maximus said, "that any better?" Hedger took a bite off his plate and said, "Not really, but it tastes great, now if we call it chicken then I say we got something to sell."

Maximus also took a bite and he was pretty pleased with his work. "I don't see why you can't just go and cook at the cannon. They could use you," Hedger said. Maximus had had this conversation with him before, but even though he liked cooking he still felt he was a warrior at heart and spending all day in a kitchen just wasn't for him. "You know why so stop asking," Maximus said.

But Hedger didn't drop it, he said "Oh come on, it's perfect, we would never have to eat rats again, plus you could spend all day with Kayla," and then he made a few kissing sounds. Maximus chucked a rat bone at him which he flicked off with his tail. "I'm a good scavenger and I'll stay at that and I really wish you and Rex would stop mocking me with Kayla – the last thing I need is for her to hear that and ban me from the cannon." Hedger glided around and put the dirty plates into the sink. He said "You're right, better guys than you have tried and failed with her."

This was a fact Maximus knew too well. Till now Kayla had turned down every guy who had ever asked her out. And most of these guys were older and usually better looking than him. Once, even a dashing young captain from the army had asked her out and she still said no. Needless to say Max's chances with her were slim to none. "Although" Hedger started saying "she might start seeing you in a different light if you did something ridiculously heroic." Maximus narrowed his eyes and looked at his friend. He knew Hedger was up to something so he asked "And what heroic deed do you have in mind exactly?"

"Nothing too fancy, just maybe you know slay a manticore," Hedger said. Maximus let out a small laugh, they had talked about doing things like this before. Fighting monsters and saving cities, but they were just stories not something he had any real intention of doing. Going up against a fully grown ground manticore would be suicide.

"Sounds like fun," Maximus said, "but I think my rusty old blade would break before I even made a dent on its armour."

"But you do have another blade don't you?" Hedger said. Maximus knew he was talking about the cursed blade. Hedger was convinced that the blade was a very powerful weapon. He said it was a sprite's intuition. Sprites were more in tune with magic than humans, but Maximus still didn't know how a blade he couldn't even unsheathe would be useful in battle.

"Tell you what," Hedger continued, "why don't you take the blade with you tomorrow and maybe it might work against the manticore."

"I think the idea is to avoid the manticore, Hedger," Maximus said, "now stop daydreaming and get some sleep, you can spend the night here." Hedger finally dropped it and decided sleep wasn't such a bad idea. He flew in circles for a while and finally hung his tail on a metal beam and went to sleep. This was how sprites slept, upside down, hanging on their tails like bats. Maximus also turned in for the night, but somehow what Hedger said just didn't leave his mind.