Arthur Daigle's Blog - Posts Tagged "dwarf"
Bidding War part 1
“This had best be a joke,” Jayden said, his tone a warning of violence to come.
“Dwarfs aren’t known for their sense of humor,” Thume the bald dwarf weapon smith replied. The stout dwarf’s shoulders were nearly as broad as he was tall, and dense muscles rippled beneath his simple leather clothes. Pound for pound he was a formidable opponent, and the hammer in his left hand was a potent weapon.
What wasn’t a potent weapon was the short sword on his shop counter. The edge was dull and there was no hilt, just a metal bar on the end. She’d had visions of getting a powerful weapon when she’d taken an iron horn from a chimera Jayden had killed, and this pitiful thing wasn’t it.
Dana and Jayden had spent a lot of gold on this sword, and they needed every coin. Dana’s clothes were getting worn out on her adventures with Jayden. Months of traveling by foot and boat, fighting monsters and running for their lives had left her garments dirty and frayed at the edges. She needed new clothes, her dagger was dull and looked like it could break, their bags needed to be replaced, it was expensive and they’d wasted so much on her sword.
“I can’t use this,” Dana protested. “No one could.”
“I spent a considerable amount of gold commissioning this sword,” Jayden said. “I provided the material, which I doubt many of your clients do, high quality magic infused material! You had time enough to finish the job, yet I find the weapon, if I can call it that, unfinished, unusable, worthless.”
This wasn’t good. Jayden and Dana had first come to the frontier town of Despre a month earlier on their way to the border with Kaloeth Kingdom. Jayden had found Thume among the town’s inhabitants and been impressed with his work. He’d paid him to turn a severed chimera horn into a short sword for Dana. They’d been delayed helping an old acquaintance of Jayden and returned to collect the sword.
“But not irredeemable,” Thume countered. “The source material is impressive and holds enchantments better than I’d hoped. I can finish the job as instructed, but the end result will be nowhere near its true potential.”
Jayden pushed his messy blond hair away from his eyes. The sorcerer lord was a sight to behold any day in his black and silver clothes, but he was at his most intimidating when angry, and he was furious. “You find me at a bad time, Thume. I had a wretched experience before coming here and am in no mood for disappointments. This delay could cost others their lives.”
Thume laughed. “Humans. Impatience with your short lives makes you prone to hasty decisions. I didn’t finish work on the sword because it’s the best move for the weapon and the owner. I tested the material and proved I can make this weapon far superior to what you asked for. All I need is half an ounce of uram to forge into the sword and it will take enchantments even better. Other smiths would take your money and hand over an inferior weapon, but I have too much pride for that.”
Jayden looked like he was about to shout at the dwarf, so Dana stepped up and tried to defuse the situation. “How much does uram cost?”
Thume tilted his head to one side. “Half an ounce costs a hundred credits, if I had it.”
“If you don’t have it there’s no reason to delay finishing the sword,” Jayden snapped.
“I know where we can get it,” Thume replied. He took a sheet of paper from behind the counter and showed it to them. “This advertisement from Brastile Auction House in Brandish Kingdom lists everything they’re selling and when. At the bottom are precious metals, including half an ounce of uram. We get that and I can make a sword people will talk about for ten generations, and I mean dwarf generations, not you short lived mayflies.”
Jayden’s lip twitched. “You expect me to leave the kingdom for weeks, buy this uram for heaven above only knows how much, and then I get a sword.”
“You get a sword powerful enough to keep the young lady alive,” Thume said. “I’ve heard of you, sorcerer lord, and you seek battle like bees seek flowers. How long you’ll survive is anyone’s guess, but the lady lacks your magic. You can pay for a proper weapon now or a proper funeral later. Pick one.”
Seconds later a massive clawed hand made from shadows threw Thume out of his workshop and onto the muddy streets of Despre. Passing humans and trolls ran out of the way as the dwarf rolled by and hit a tavern. Jayden stormed out of the workshop with the shadowy hand following him. He reached out and the hand shot forward, grabbing the dwarf and swinging him into the tavern.
Dana ran after Jayden and grabbed him by the arm. “Jayden, no!”
A crowd gathered but didn’t intervene. A troll whispered to a man, “Thume sure did it this time.”
“Hey, mister,” a man called from the crowd, “I know the dwarf is a pain in the neck, but we need him still breathing. What say you put him down, alive, and we work out what he did to upset you. Hand to God, you’re not the first one he’s made mad enough to kill him, but he’s worth the trouble.”
Jayden scowled as he let the shadowy hand dissipate. Thume dropped to the ground, seemingly no worse for the attack, and even smirked. “Touched a nerve, did I?”
“You’re seconds from touching your head to the bottom of a grave,” the troll replied. “Keep your mouth shut for a change!”
The man in the crowd steeped forward and said, “Okay, show’s over, people. Lou, get the wizard a drink on the house. Stan, figure out what Thume did and see if you can patch things up before somebody gets killed.”
Thume walked back to his shop unfazed by Jayden’s attack. The troll said, “One of these days, Thume.”
Jayden left the street scowling and went to the tavern. He sat down without a word and a waiter offered him a drink. Dana took a seat next to him. He stared at the tavern wall, looking like a man on the brink of making a bad decision.
“I shouldn’t have let him get to me, but my temper is on edge since we parted company with Lootmore. I saw my homeland become so degenerate they’d accept slavery, turning girls into property, and I’m not over it.”
“It made you worry about me,” Dana said.
“I accept that I might die because it means people like you won’t. I don’t doubt your abilities or bravery, but it terrifies me we could meet a threat I can’t face, and it could cost you your life. That’s why I was excited to get you properly armed.
“Adding to my revulsion is how much good I could do in the time it will take to fix this situation. I’ve learned of places we could strike to cripple the king and queen’s war effort, men responsible for the most egregious crimes who deserve everything I can throw at them, monsters left to run riot. Instead I’m forced to ignore them in favor of dealing with a lying, treacherous dwarf.”
He turned to her and said, “It disgusts me how Thume behaved. Frontier towns like Despre have little oversight by authorities, making them one of the few places I can go for supplies, information and aid, but that same lawlessness makes Thume’s actions possible. There should be law and order in every corner of the kingdom. Instead corruption, incompetence and crime drip from these lands.”
“Maybe this is a good thing.” She winced at the look Jayden gave her. “You have trouble getting things you need here because you’re a wanted man. You’re not wanted in Brandish, so we can buy stuff there. You’re not wanted there, right?”
“You know, I’m not sure. I don’t know how far the king and queen’s influence reaches. I’ve visited other kingdoms only rarely in recent years. There was no trouble then, but warrants for my arrest may have been issued since my last visit, or possibly orders for my immediate execution wait for us.”
“Can we get a refund, or have someone else finish the job?” she asked.
“I’m certain Thume already spent what I paid him. Having another weapon smith make your sword is impossible when nearly all such men are in the king and queen’s pay. The few who could do the work are less skilled than Thume or too far away to reach. We work with him or we don’t get the sword. I believe the dwarf knew this before making such a bold demand.”
The same man from the crowd entered the tavern and sat next to Jayden. “I spoke with Thume and he told me what’s going on. I can see why you’re…murderous. Thume won’t finish the work without the materials he needs, or says he needs. God only knows how honest he’s being with either of us. But I think we have a solution.”
“Does it involve removing portions of the dwarf’s anatomy?”
“Jayden, no maiming people.”
“Thume knows where to find the metal he needs. He’s volunteered, with some persuasion, to cover half the cost of buying the uram, and he won’t charge extra for the sword. This isn’t the outcome you wanted, but it’s the best I can do.
“We need Thume,” the man continued. “He’s been a pain in the neck for years, but we don’t have a blacksmith or weapon maker to replace him. I don’t want to make an enemy of you, either. I’ve heard about the good you’ve done and what happens to people who get on your bad side. So, can we make this work?”
Jayden finished his drink and set the cup down. “This distraction puts me behind schedule and places me in needless risk. I will take your offer, but rest assured, if I so much as think the dwarf is betraying me again, Despre will need another blacksmith.”
“Thank you,” the man replied. “There’s a river route to the auction house and a barge heading that way tomorrow. Thume is going with to make sure the uram isn’t counterfeit or underweight. He’s also bringing along his share of the money to buy it. Listen, I’ve gone to this auction house before. It’s a ritzy place that needs your best manners. I don’t know if Thume is up to that. Are you?”
“I can be charming company when necessary,” Jayden told him. “If provoked I can maintain my temper for short periods of time until I can leave devastation in my wake such as few have ever seen.”
The man blinked. “Huh?”
Dana translated for him. “He’ll be a good boy until he gets outside the auction house. After that, no promises.”
* * * * *
Dana found the barge ride blissfully dull. Their cargo of timber drew no attention from bandits or monsters. Thume kept to himself and held a locked iron box with a grip only death could loosen. The barge’s crewmen were polite while keeping their distance. Given Jayden’s foul disposition that was a blessing. She’d hoped his mood would improve, but nothing could get him out of his anger.
In three days they reached the border and found no guards blocking their path. Another day brought them to a sizeable city made of brick buildings. The residents were mostly humans with a smattering of gnomes and ogres. People were well dressed, prosperous and orderly. They were polite almost to a fault, with commoners bowing and stepping aside for the rich.
The barge moored at docks near the city’s edge to unload its cargo and passengers. Jayden picked up his bags and led them onto the dock. “Welcome to Brandish, a small but prosperous kingdom run by King Ludwig the Mad. He’s a good man despite his moniker, and his people live well under largely just rules.”
“And it smells like a pig pen,” Dana added.
Jayden shrugged. “Brandish has the usual number of horses, oxen, mules and donkeys. I see men sweeping the streets, but they can’t work fast enough to keep up with thousands of pack animals relieving themselves.”
“I can see that,” she said. Once she was off the barge, she saw countless people staring at her. “Jayden, what’s going on?”
“Brandish is a land of strict social classes, much like Zentrix,” he said. “Everyone knows their place and keeps it. We are strangers and they don’t know where we fit in their hierarchy. Expect difficulty from men who think they are our betters.”
“They’re snobs,” Thume said. “They don’t respect craftsmanship, wisdom or bravery. None of us are from the right families so they’ll look down on us, but they think they’re honorable, so they’ll keep their word.”
Thume pointed his hammer at a large brick building with ornate stained glass windows. “That’s Brastile Auction House. It’s been around two hundred years, a long time by human standards.”
Heavily armed and armored soldiers met them at the dock. Their leader nodded to them before turning his attention to Jayden. “Good day, sirs, madam. You’ll forgive my presumption, but you are one Jayden, sorcerer lord?”
“The one and only.” It always amazed Dana how armed men didn’t worry Jayden.
“You may be aware of a sizeable bounty placed on your head by your homeland. You’ll find Brandish to be a civilized land, uninterested in the goings on of backwater kingdoms. No one here is interested in arresting you for actions committed elsewhere, but we expect civility from visiting guests.”
Jayden smiled at them. “My friends and I intend to make purchases and leave once our business is completed. You’ll find us polite and friendly during our stay, and we only resort to violence if others strike first.”
The soldier gave him a condescending look. “I’m sure that’s a risk where you come from, but it won’t happen here.”
“Delighted to hear it,” Jayden replied. “If there’s nothing else to discuss, we’ll be on our way.”
“Very good, sir.” The soldiers stepped aside to let them pass.
“They’ll watch us like hawks hunting mice,” Thume said.
“I expect no less,” Jayden replied. “We need a place to stay tonight.”
“The auction house handles that,” Thume told them. “They offer rooms, food, entertainment, anything to keep bidders happy and spending money.”
Brasitle Auction House was even more impressive up close, a three story building without crack or flaw, whitewashed so it shined in the sunlight. Beautiful flowering trees were planted around it, and staff members greeted them at the door.
A brightly dressed woman curtsied and smiled coyly at Jayden. “Good day, sir. How may I serve you?”
“My associates as I are interested in a specific bid, half an ounce of uram.”
“That item will be auctioned tonight at six o’clock,” the woman told him. “I’d be happy to entertain you until then.”
“She’s being friendly,” Dana whispered suspiciously to Thume. The dwarf chuckled.
“We’d like to inspect the uram prior to the bid to make sure it’s sufficient for my needs,” Jayden told her.
The woman put an arm around Jayden’s waist. “If you’ll come with me, we can ask for the auctioneer’s permission.”
They followed her inside to find the auction house a vision of luxury. Floors were covered in rich red carpeting, paintings hung from the walls, beautiful flowers grew from marble urns, and everyone they met wore beautiful clothes. Their guide led them through large, brightly lit rooms to a grand hall with countless chairs arranged around a podium.
A distinguished looking man wearing black and gold stood at the podium talking with men in simple workmen’s clothes. The woman guiding them approached the man and whispered to him before pointing at Jayden.
“Welcome to the Brastile Auction House,” the man said. “I am the chief auctioneer of this establishment. I recognize you from your reputation, sorcerer lord, and it pleases me a man of your considerable talents came to Brastile. I understand you have questions regarding an uram sample for tonight’s auction. Allow me to assure you that we take every possible care to ensure items sold here are as advertised.”
“Doubtlessly so, but you may not have enough for what I have in mind,” Jayden replied. “I’d like to see the metal weighed.”
“Naturally, sir.”
Minutes later, servants brought a locked wood box and a scale. The auctioneer opened the box and took out a sliver of shiny metal. Thume licked his lips as servants weighed it in front of him.
“It’s perfect,” Thume said.
“I’m pleased it meets your expectations,” the auctioneer replied. He gestured for the servants to put the sliver back in the box and take it away. “Bidding on the metal is scheduled for later tonight. In the meantime, allow us the honor to provide rooms, refreshments,” and he wrinkled his nose before adding, “baths.”
The woman who’d guided them took Jayden by the arm and led them to guest accommodations. They’d nearly reached stairs leading up when the front door was thrown open. A man dressed in blue and gray stomped in with two swordsmen and a serving boy meekly following them. The man was young, strong, sort of handsome, but the sneer on his face dispelled any chance he might be a friend.
“It was a terrible ride here, and, wait, what devilry is this?” The man pointed at Jayden and shouted, “Guards, arrest him!”
Armed guards emerged from nearby rooms, but they stopped well short of seizing Jayden. The man fumed and demanded, “This man is a criminal of the worst sort! Arrest him! Kill him! Do something while this building still stands!”
The auctioneer marched over with more guards following him. He stepped between the red faced man and Jayden before asking, “Sir, what is the meaning of this?”
“I am Special Envoy Imuran Tellet, captain in the royal army, trusted by my king and queen above all others! This man is responsible for countless atrocities in my homeland!”
“There are no warrants for his arrest in Brandish,” the auctioneer replied smoothly.
“You’d allow a man who’s done so much damage to walk freely?” Imuran demanded.
“It’s not the place of Brastile Auction House to judge guests. All are welcome, provided their money and behavior is good.”
“This is beyond belief!” Imuran bellowed.
“He does like shouting,” Jayden said. “Captain, if I may offer a word of advice regarding your claim to being trusted by the royal couple. They’ve had many favorites over the years. Few last long before disappointing them and being replaced, as could you.”
“You dare,” Imuran began in a low, angry tone. He took a step forward before armed guards got between him and Jayden.
The auctioneer put a hand on both men’s shoulders. “Gentlemen, whatever quarrel existing between you ended the moment you stepped through that door. You can expect equal respect and opportunities here. I do, however, insist you behave in a respectable manner. My staff will direct you to your rooms, well away from one another, and we look forward to conducting business together. Rest assured, though, that any incidents between you will be dealt with quickly, efficiently and harshly.”
Imuran looked furious but left in silence. As he went by, Dana got a closer look at the boy following him. The youth was a few years younger than her and wore simple clothes. What caught her attention was a leather collar around his neck with the letters IT burned into it. The youth didn’t make eye contact with anyone and looked down rather than ahead.
Once they were gone the guards and auctioneer returned to their duties. Jayden said, “This just became more complicated.”
Dana had a thought and ran outside, telling the others, “I’ll be back soon.”
It took her a moment to see where visitors to the auction house left their animals. The stable was decorated like the rest of the building and blended in so well she would have missed it except for the buzz of flies near large twin doors. She walked by it and saw many horses in stalls being looked after by grooms. There were also two carriages marked with a crest showing a swan. The carriages were locked when grooms tested their doors, and curtains covered the windows.
Dana smiled at the nearest groom and pointed at the carriages. “Ooh, those are gorgeous.”
“Just came in, ma’am,” the groom said cheerfully. He pointed to nearby stalls with eight healthy gray mares. “If you like those, take a look at the horses pulling them. I’ve seen my fair share of horses in this job, and those are quality mares.”
“They belong to that man in blue and gray?” she asked innocently.
“Both carriages. He must have them fully packed since all four men road on the driver’s seats on top rather than inside.”
Dana petted a mare before leaving. “Poor girl is all sweated up.”
“He must have run them hard to get them lathered up like this.” The groom smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of them even if he won’t.”
“You have the best job in the whole world.”
She went back into the auction house to find it peaceful and quiet again. Staff members pointed her to Jayden and Thume’s rooms. She knocked at Jayden’s door and waited until he answered.
“I’m presentable and the door hasn’t got a lock.”
She went inside, where Jayden was sorting through his bags. His room was as impressive as the rest of the building, with carpeted floors, solid furniture, paintings and a tin bathtub.
“Imuran came with two carriages and eight horses that they rode on instead of in,” she said as she sat on the edge of the bed. She leaned closer toward him. “I don’t care how pompous he is, he doesn’t need two carriages for four people. A groom thinks he’s carrying a lot, but that doesn’t work, either. This place sells expensive stuff like that funny metal, little things worth big money. He doesn’t need so much space.”
“A valid point,” Jayden replied. “It suggests Imuran either intends to bring someone back with him, or that he brought someone or something that didn’t leave the carriages.”
“Like what?”
Jayden took handfuls of coins from his bags and spread them across the bed. Arranging them in groups of ten, he said, “My guess would be guards he doesn’t want others to know about. Twenty, thirty, forty. As you said, this establishment sells expensive items, a worthy target for thieves and a certain sorcerer lord. It makes sense to bring added muscle to ensure he returns home with his prize.”
“They’d get hungry sitting in there, and have to use the bathroom.”
“You’re assuming they need to eat. Seventy, eighty, ninety. Plenty of monsters don’t require food or rest. Animated skeletons, golems and living armor could wait for years. Some monsters need little food, like mimics, and could wait for days.”
Dana leaned over his piles of coins. “How much do we have?”
Jayden finished counting and frowned. “Two hundred gold coins, enough if the uram goes for a fair price.”
Dana’s peasant upbringing taught her to hold on tight to any money that came her way. She winced at the thought of spending so much. “Is this sword worth it?”
“Hopefully we’ll get the uram for less. Don’t worry about the cost. I’ve acquired and spent sums far larger than this for worse reasons.” He smiled when he saw her curious look and added, “I’ll tell you about them another time. Your room is to the right of mine. Take this opportunity to clean up before the auction. Depending on Imuran’s mood, we might have to leave in a hurry once we’re done.”
Dana checked the door before she left and saw no lock and no way to bar it from the inside. “Why don’t the doors have locks?”
“This is a civilized land, Dana. Guests shouldn’t need to lock their doors, and I doubt our hosts want less civilized people to lock themselves in.”
Dana went to her room to find it a mirror image of Jayden’s. She took her time bathing, as she hadn’t had a chance to do so for weeks. Clean clothes would help, or new ones, but there wasn’t time for that. The room also had a bowl of fruit she ate. Clean, dressed and fed, she headed out to explore the auction house.
Much of the building was off limits with locked doors. She could get into halls exhibiting items for sale, including paintings, statues, jewelry, rare plants and ancient books. Buyers were inspecting the items and questioning the staff about them. Staff members included immaculately dressed men and women, but she also caught sight of armed guards circulating among the guests. Thieves might be tempted by such treasures, but would have a hard time escaping with one.
Thume was already in the exhibition halls, walking between items for sale and judging them as he walked by. “Garbage. Tasteless. Inferior. That one is tasteless inferior garbage. I didn’t think that was possible.”
Staff and bidders glared at him and some walked away, but the dwarf ignored their silent contempt. Dana caught up with him and whispered, “You’re going to get us in trouble before we buy the metal.”
“You expect me to walk by relics of the Elf Empire and say nothing? Count yourself lucky I don’t spit on them.” Thume waved his hammer at the room’s contents. “In my homeland half this junk would be broken down for parts or burned. There’s no craftsmanship here, nothing an artist poured his heart and soul into.”
“I saw your sword,” Dana said sourly. “If that’s your heart and soul, you need help.”
Thume gritted his teeth before answering. “I’ve been stuck in your miserable kingdom for sixty years, longer than your parents have been alive. Your people bring me work making horseshoes, plows, nails, and if they’re feeling generous maybe an axe to chop wood. Every day here has been a punishment, doing piddling jobs, working with inferior materials for profits barely enough to keep myself alive.
“This is the first time in sixty years I’ve a chance to do work worthy of me, to make a weapon so great dwarfs will speak of it in awe. The chimera horn, the uram, my rune magic and your master’s sorcerer magic, it’s a once in a lifetime occurrence, a gathering of resources drawn together by fate for my redemption.”
Dana put her hands on her hips. “And here I thought it was about a sword.”
“Your sword is the means for me to go home,” Thume told her. “I don’t care what you do with it. I would have made it for anyone with these resources. Whoever has it will do great deeds, and word will reach my people. Sixty years ago the dwarfs cast me out, blaming me for the crimes of my superiors. They’ll hear of this sword and want me back. Maybe not my old corporation, but one of the big names, the power players, they’ll see value in my work and take me in.”
He turned to face her and said, “No more living in a dirty frontier town. No more eating tasteless food. I’ll be among my own people again or be the personal sword smith of a king, respected once more. You’ll get your sword to overthrow your king, if you can, and I’ll be free of you mayflies.”
Dana put her hands on her hips. “Why do you keep calling me a mayfly?”
“Dwarfs live for six or seven centuries. Humans live for as many decades. You’re here and gone in the blink of an eye like a mayfly.” Thume looked pleased with himself, which turned to terror as he pointed at an exhibit hall across from theirs. “Stop him!”
Dana looked over to see Jayden admiring a painting of a man and woman with a boy richly dressed in furs and silks. There were other paintings just as good, but Jayden stood transfixed by this one.
Thume ran over and grabbed Jayden by the arm. “Don’t you dare buy that!”
“Sir, please mind your tone,” a staff member asked.
“Mind your own business,” Thume snapped, but his voice fell to whispers when he spoke to Jayden. “We don’t have money for the painting and the uram. Prioritize. Your girl’s weapon comes before paint slathered on canvas.”
Jayden’s eyes stayed on the painting. “I’m admiring the work, nothing more. As much as I wish to own it, I have no place to store it in my travels. It would be destroyed by storms or accidents, ruined no different than the ones destroyed on purpose.”
Dana stared at the painting. “Who would want to destroy it?”
Thume answered before Jayden could. “Don’t you know anything, girl? That’s your king you’re looking at.”
“Really?” Dana knew she had a king the same way she knew there were dragons, namely both were dangerous and best avoided. The king and queen lived inside a castle in the capital city, guarded by soldiers, knights and even monsters if she was foolish enough to try to visit them. No one saw them except a few powerful nobles.
“This is the king, but that’s not the queen,” Jayden replied. “This is him with his first wife and their only son. Paintings like this once hung in every nobleman’s house as a constant reminder who they served.”
“Why were they destroyed?” she asked.
Thume heaved a dramatic sigh. “My future depends on idiots. She died when your people were having their civil war. Your king remarried to arrange an alliance with a powerful noble house. His new wife didn’t want reminders of her predecessor hanging in every household that mattered. She demanded her husband order them destroyed. I thought they were all scattered ashes by now.”
Dana pointed at the painting and asked, “What happened to their son? I know the king and queen have two sons of their own. I’ve never heard of this one.”
“Prince Mastram,” Jayden said, his voice soft. “The king declared his son illegitimate, a result of his mother having an affair with an unknown courtier. The boy was exiled to the Isle of Tears and died of plague.”
Dana felt a cold lump in her heart. “We’ve heard of people dying of ‘plague’ before. Did he really get sick, or did they kill him?”
“The Isle of Tears is officially a place of exile, but that’s a polite euphemism,” Jayden told her. “It is a barren rock offshore in the far north of the kingdom. There’s no food or fuel, little water and no shelter except deep caves. The rich, powerful and well connected who commit crimes or lose royal favor have been banished there for centuries as a means to execute them without doing the deed in front of witnesses, and at the same time ensuring they die slowly from cold and starvation.”
“That’s horrible,” Dana said. She looked at the couple again and felt both sympathy and loathing. The king looked handsome, a dark haired, muscular man in fine clothes and a stern expression. His wife was a beauty with raven locks that reached to her waist. She smiled and had an arm around the king’s shoulders. Their son was the splitting image of his father, with black hair and a maturity far greater than his age would suggest.
“What man could sacrifice his own son?” Dana asked in horror.
“The same man who’d call his dead wife unfaithful,” Thume replied. He shrugged and added, “It’s common enough to get rid of unwanted heirs. They just handled it poorly.”
“You’ve got a heart as cold as a lump of stone,” she scolded him.
Thume sneered at her. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Please mind your tone,” a lady staff member said.
Thume shook his hammer at the woman. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“I’m surprised they let you keep your hammer,” Jayden commented.
“What would be the point of taking it?” Thume asked. “They let you in when you’re a spell caster and ten times as dangerous as I am. They must think they’ve got guards enough to deal with either of us if we get out of hand.”
“A valid point,” Jayden replied. He gave the painting one last glance before moving on. “The uram won’t be up for bid for several hours. Dana, I’ll fetch you when it’s time to begin. Until then feel free to look around.”
“Just don’t spend anything,” Thume added.
“I think I’ll pass,” Dana said. “I feel out of place around so much wealth. There’s no point looking at things I can’t afford and don’t have a place to put.”
Her exit was delayed when she saw Imuran and his two guards enter the exhibit hall. “Your least favorite person just showed up.”
Panicked, Jayden shouted, “Suzy Lockheart is here? Where?”
“Not her, silly.” Dana pointed at Imuran and said, “Him.”
“That fool?” Jayden asked. “Dana, the list of my least favorite people is long and competition for places on it is fierce. Imuran doesn’t deserve to be even at the end. He’s a hungry dog hoping for table scraps, possessing neither wisdom nor wits enough to be a serious threat.”
Thume leaned in closer and asked, “Who’s this Lockheart woman?”
“She worked with him once and nearly got him killed,” Dana replied. “I think she came onto him too strong, too.”
Jayden’s face turned red. “It didn’t happen like that.”
“Dwarfs aren’t known for their sense of humor,” Thume the bald dwarf weapon smith replied. The stout dwarf’s shoulders were nearly as broad as he was tall, and dense muscles rippled beneath his simple leather clothes. Pound for pound he was a formidable opponent, and the hammer in his left hand was a potent weapon.
What wasn’t a potent weapon was the short sword on his shop counter. The edge was dull and there was no hilt, just a metal bar on the end. She’d had visions of getting a powerful weapon when she’d taken an iron horn from a chimera Jayden had killed, and this pitiful thing wasn’t it.
Dana and Jayden had spent a lot of gold on this sword, and they needed every coin. Dana’s clothes were getting worn out on her adventures with Jayden. Months of traveling by foot and boat, fighting monsters and running for their lives had left her garments dirty and frayed at the edges. She needed new clothes, her dagger was dull and looked like it could break, their bags needed to be replaced, it was expensive and they’d wasted so much on her sword.
“I can’t use this,” Dana protested. “No one could.”
“I spent a considerable amount of gold commissioning this sword,” Jayden said. “I provided the material, which I doubt many of your clients do, high quality magic infused material! You had time enough to finish the job, yet I find the weapon, if I can call it that, unfinished, unusable, worthless.”
This wasn’t good. Jayden and Dana had first come to the frontier town of Despre a month earlier on their way to the border with Kaloeth Kingdom. Jayden had found Thume among the town’s inhabitants and been impressed with his work. He’d paid him to turn a severed chimera horn into a short sword for Dana. They’d been delayed helping an old acquaintance of Jayden and returned to collect the sword.
“But not irredeemable,” Thume countered. “The source material is impressive and holds enchantments better than I’d hoped. I can finish the job as instructed, but the end result will be nowhere near its true potential.”
Jayden pushed his messy blond hair away from his eyes. The sorcerer lord was a sight to behold any day in his black and silver clothes, but he was at his most intimidating when angry, and he was furious. “You find me at a bad time, Thume. I had a wretched experience before coming here and am in no mood for disappointments. This delay could cost others their lives.”
Thume laughed. “Humans. Impatience with your short lives makes you prone to hasty decisions. I didn’t finish work on the sword because it’s the best move for the weapon and the owner. I tested the material and proved I can make this weapon far superior to what you asked for. All I need is half an ounce of uram to forge into the sword and it will take enchantments even better. Other smiths would take your money and hand over an inferior weapon, but I have too much pride for that.”
Jayden looked like he was about to shout at the dwarf, so Dana stepped up and tried to defuse the situation. “How much does uram cost?”
Thume tilted his head to one side. “Half an ounce costs a hundred credits, if I had it.”
“If you don’t have it there’s no reason to delay finishing the sword,” Jayden snapped.
“I know where we can get it,” Thume replied. He took a sheet of paper from behind the counter and showed it to them. “This advertisement from Brastile Auction House in Brandish Kingdom lists everything they’re selling and when. At the bottom are precious metals, including half an ounce of uram. We get that and I can make a sword people will talk about for ten generations, and I mean dwarf generations, not you short lived mayflies.”
Jayden’s lip twitched. “You expect me to leave the kingdom for weeks, buy this uram for heaven above only knows how much, and then I get a sword.”
“You get a sword powerful enough to keep the young lady alive,” Thume said. “I’ve heard of you, sorcerer lord, and you seek battle like bees seek flowers. How long you’ll survive is anyone’s guess, but the lady lacks your magic. You can pay for a proper weapon now or a proper funeral later. Pick one.”
Seconds later a massive clawed hand made from shadows threw Thume out of his workshop and onto the muddy streets of Despre. Passing humans and trolls ran out of the way as the dwarf rolled by and hit a tavern. Jayden stormed out of the workshop with the shadowy hand following him. He reached out and the hand shot forward, grabbing the dwarf and swinging him into the tavern.
Dana ran after Jayden and grabbed him by the arm. “Jayden, no!”
A crowd gathered but didn’t intervene. A troll whispered to a man, “Thume sure did it this time.”
“Hey, mister,” a man called from the crowd, “I know the dwarf is a pain in the neck, but we need him still breathing. What say you put him down, alive, and we work out what he did to upset you. Hand to God, you’re not the first one he’s made mad enough to kill him, but he’s worth the trouble.”
Jayden scowled as he let the shadowy hand dissipate. Thume dropped to the ground, seemingly no worse for the attack, and even smirked. “Touched a nerve, did I?”
“You’re seconds from touching your head to the bottom of a grave,” the troll replied. “Keep your mouth shut for a change!”
The man in the crowd steeped forward and said, “Okay, show’s over, people. Lou, get the wizard a drink on the house. Stan, figure out what Thume did and see if you can patch things up before somebody gets killed.”
Thume walked back to his shop unfazed by Jayden’s attack. The troll said, “One of these days, Thume.”
Jayden left the street scowling and went to the tavern. He sat down without a word and a waiter offered him a drink. Dana took a seat next to him. He stared at the tavern wall, looking like a man on the brink of making a bad decision.
“I shouldn’t have let him get to me, but my temper is on edge since we parted company with Lootmore. I saw my homeland become so degenerate they’d accept slavery, turning girls into property, and I’m not over it.”
“It made you worry about me,” Dana said.
“I accept that I might die because it means people like you won’t. I don’t doubt your abilities or bravery, but it terrifies me we could meet a threat I can’t face, and it could cost you your life. That’s why I was excited to get you properly armed.
“Adding to my revulsion is how much good I could do in the time it will take to fix this situation. I’ve learned of places we could strike to cripple the king and queen’s war effort, men responsible for the most egregious crimes who deserve everything I can throw at them, monsters left to run riot. Instead I’m forced to ignore them in favor of dealing with a lying, treacherous dwarf.”
He turned to her and said, “It disgusts me how Thume behaved. Frontier towns like Despre have little oversight by authorities, making them one of the few places I can go for supplies, information and aid, but that same lawlessness makes Thume’s actions possible. There should be law and order in every corner of the kingdom. Instead corruption, incompetence and crime drip from these lands.”
“Maybe this is a good thing.” She winced at the look Jayden gave her. “You have trouble getting things you need here because you’re a wanted man. You’re not wanted in Brandish, so we can buy stuff there. You’re not wanted there, right?”
“You know, I’m not sure. I don’t know how far the king and queen’s influence reaches. I’ve visited other kingdoms only rarely in recent years. There was no trouble then, but warrants for my arrest may have been issued since my last visit, or possibly orders for my immediate execution wait for us.”
“Can we get a refund, or have someone else finish the job?” she asked.
“I’m certain Thume already spent what I paid him. Having another weapon smith make your sword is impossible when nearly all such men are in the king and queen’s pay. The few who could do the work are less skilled than Thume or too far away to reach. We work with him or we don’t get the sword. I believe the dwarf knew this before making such a bold demand.”
The same man from the crowd entered the tavern and sat next to Jayden. “I spoke with Thume and he told me what’s going on. I can see why you’re…murderous. Thume won’t finish the work without the materials he needs, or says he needs. God only knows how honest he’s being with either of us. But I think we have a solution.”
“Does it involve removing portions of the dwarf’s anatomy?”
“Jayden, no maiming people.”
“Thume knows where to find the metal he needs. He’s volunteered, with some persuasion, to cover half the cost of buying the uram, and he won’t charge extra for the sword. This isn’t the outcome you wanted, but it’s the best I can do.
“We need Thume,” the man continued. “He’s been a pain in the neck for years, but we don’t have a blacksmith or weapon maker to replace him. I don’t want to make an enemy of you, either. I’ve heard about the good you’ve done and what happens to people who get on your bad side. So, can we make this work?”
Jayden finished his drink and set the cup down. “This distraction puts me behind schedule and places me in needless risk. I will take your offer, but rest assured, if I so much as think the dwarf is betraying me again, Despre will need another blacksmith.”
“Thank you,” the man replied. “There’s a river route to the auction house and a barge heading that way tomorrow. Thume is going with to make sure the uram isn’t counterfeit or underweight. He’s also bringing along his share of the money to buy it. Listen, I’ve gone to this auction house before. It’s a ritzy place that needs your best manners. I don’t know if Thume is up to that. Are you?”
“I can be charming company when necessary,” Jayden told him. “If provoked I can maintain my temper for short periods of time until I can leave devastation in my wake such as few have ever seen.”
The man blinked. “Huh?”
Dana translated for him. “He’ll be a good boy until he gets outside the auction house. After that, no promises.”
* * * * *
Dana found the barge ride blissfully dull. Their cargo of timber drew no attention from bandits or monsters. Thume kept to himself and held a locked iron box with a grip only death could loosen. The barge’s crewmen were polite while keeping their distance. Given Jayden’s foul disposition that was a blessing. She’d hoped his mood would improve, but nothing could get him out of his anger.
In three days they reached the border and found no guards blocking their path. Another day brought them to a sizeable city made of brick buildings. The residents were mostly humans with a smattering of gnomes and ogres. People were well dressed, prosperous and orderly. They were polite almost to a fault, with commoners bowing and stepping aside for the rich.
The barge moored at docks near the city’s edge to unload its cargo and passengers. Jayden picked up his bags and led them onto the dock. “Welcome to Brandish, a small but prosperous kingdom run by King Ludwig the Mad. He’s a good man despite his moniker, and his people live well under largely just rules.”
“And it smells like a pig pen,” Dana added.
Jayden shrugged. “Brandish has the usual number of horses, oxen, mules and donkeys. I see men sweeping the streets, but they can’t work fast enough to keep up with thousands of pack animals relieving themselves.”
“I can see that,” she said. Once she was off the barge, she saw countless people staring at her. “Jayden, what’s going on?”
“Brandish is a land of strict social classes, much like Zentrix,” he said. “Everyone knows their place and keeps it. We are strangers and they don’t know where we fit in their hierarchy. Expect difficulty from men who think they are our betters.”
“They’re snobs,” Thume said. “They don’t respect craftsmanship, wisdom or bravery. None of us are from the right families so they’ll look down on us, but they think they’re honorable, so they’ll keep their word.”
Thume pointed his hammer at a large brick building with ornate stained glass windows. “That’s Brastile Auction House. It’s been around two hundred years, a long time by human standards.”
Heavily armed and armored soldiers met them at the dock. Their leader nodded to them before turning his attention to Jayden. “Good day, sirs, madam. You’ll forgive my presumption, but you are one Jayden, sorcerer lord?”
“The one and only.” It always amazed Dana how armed men didn’t worry Jayden.
“You may be aware of a sizeable bounty placed on your head by your homeland. You’ll find Brandish to be a civilized land, uninterested in the goings on of backwater kingdoms. No one here is interested in arresting you for actions committed elsewhere, but we expect civility from visiting guests.”
Jayden smiled at them. “My friends and I intend to make purchases and leave once our business is completed. You’ll find us polite and friendly during our stay, and we only resort to violence if others strike first.”
The soldier gave him a condescending look. “I’m sure that’s a risk where you come from, but it won’t happen here.”
“Delighted to hear it,” Jayden replied. “If there’s nothing else to discuss, we’ll be on our way.”
“Very good, sir.” The soldiers stepped aside to let them pass.
“They’ll watch us like hawks hunting mice,” Thume said.
“I expect no less,” Jayden replied. “We need a place to stay tonight.”
“The auction house handles that,” Thume told them. “They offer rooms, food, entertainment, anything to keep bidders happy and spending money.”
Brasitle Auction House was even more impressive up close, a three story building without crack or flaw, whitewashed so it shined in the sunlight. Beautiful flowering trees were planted around it, and staff members greeted them at the door.
A brightly dressed woman curtsied and smiled coyly at Jayden. “Good day, sir. How may I serve you?”
“My associates as I are interested in a specific bid, half an ounce of uram.”
“That item will be auctioned tonight at six o’clock,” the woman told him. “I’d be happy to entertain you until then.”
“She’s being friendly,” Dana whispered suspiciously to Thume. The dwarf chuckled.
“We’d like to inspect the uram prior to the bid to make sure it’s sufficient for my needs,” Jayden told her.
The woman put an arm around Jayden’s waist. “If you’ll come with me, we can ask for the auctioneer’s permission.”
They followed her inside to find the auction house a vision of luxury. Floors were covered in rich red carpeting, paintings hung from the walls, beautiful flowers grew from marble urns, and everyone they met wore beautiful clothes. Their guide led them through large, brightly lit rooms to a grand hall with countless chairs arranged around a podium.
A distinguished looking man wearing black and gold stood at the podium talking with men in simple workmen’s clothes. The woman guiding them approached the man and whispered to him before pointing at Jayden.
“Welcome to the Brastile Auction House,” the man said. “I am the chief auctioneer of this establishment. I recognize you from your reputation, sorcerer lord, and it pleases me a man of your considerable talents came to Brastile. I understand you have questions regarding an uram sample for tonight’s auction. Allow me to assure you that we take every possible care to ensure items sold here are as advertised.”
“Doubtlessly so, but you may not have enough for what I have in mind,” Jayden replied. “I’d like to see the metal weighed.”
“Naturally, sir.”
Minutes later, servants brought a locked wood box and a scale. The auctioneer opened the box and took out a sliver of shiny metal. Thume licked his lips as servants weighed it in front of him.
“It’s perfect,” Thume said.
“I’m pleased it meets your expectations,” the auctioneer replied. He gestured for the servants to put the sliver back in the box and take it away. “Bidding on the metal is scheduled for later tonight. In the meantime, allow us the honor to provide rooms, refreshments,” and he wrinkled his nose before adding, “baths.”
The woman who’d guided them took Jayden by the arm and led them to guest accommodations. They’d nearly reached stairs leading up when the front door was thrown open. A man dressed in blue and gray stomped in with two swordsmen and a serving boy meekly following them. The man was young, strong, sort of handsome, but the sneer on his face dispelled any chance he might be a friend.
“It was a terrible ride here, and, wait, what devilry is this?” The man pointed at Jayden and shouted, “Guards, arrest him!”
Armed guards emerged from nearby rooms, but they stopped well short of seizing Jayden. The man fumed and demanded, “This man is a criminal of the worst sort! Arrest him! Kill him! Do something while this building still stands!”
The auctioneer marched over with more guards following him. He stepped between the red faced man and Jayden before asking, “Sir, what is the meaning of this?”
“I am Special Envoy Imuran Tellet, captain in the royal army, trusted by my king and queen above all others! This man is responsible for countless atrocities in my homeland!”
“There are no warrants for his arrest in Brandish,” the auctioneer replied smoothly.
“You’d allow a man who’s done so much damage to walk freely?” Imuran demanded.
“It’s not the place of Brastile Auction House to judge guests. All are welcome, provided their money and behavior is good.”
“This is beyond belief!” Imuran bellowed.
“He does like shouting,” Jayden said. “Captain, if I may offer a word of advice regarding your claim to being trusted by the royal couple. They’ve had many favorites over the years. Few last long before disappointing them and being replaced, as could you.”
“You dare,” Imuran began in a low, angry tone. He took a step forward before armed guards got between him and Jayden.
The auctioneer put a hand on both men’s shoulders. “Gentlemen, whatever quarrel existing between you ended the moment you stepped through that door. You can expect equal respect and opportunities here. I do, however, insist you behave in a respectable manner. My staff will direct you to your rooms, well away from one another, and we look forward to conducting business together. Rest assured, though, that any incidents between you will be dealt with quickly, efficiently and harshly.”
Imuran looked furious but left in silence. As he went by, Dana got a closer look at the boy following him. The youth was a few years younger than her and wore simple clothes. What caught her attention was a leather collar around his neck with the letters IT burned into it. The youth didn’t make eye contact with anyone and looked down rather than ahead.
Once they were gone the guards and auctioneer returned to their duties. Jayden said, “This just became more complicated.”
Dana had a thought and ran outside, telling the others, “I’ll be back soon.”
It took her a moment to see where visitors to the auction house left their animals. The stable was decorated like the rest of the building and blended in so well she would have missed it except for the buzz of flies near large twin doors. She walked by it and saw many horses in stalls being looked after by grooms. There were also two carriages marked with a crest showing a swan. The carriages were locked when grooms tested their doors, and curtains covered the windows.
Dana smiled at the nearest groom and pointed at the carriages. “Ooh, those are gorgeous.”
“Just came in, ma’am,” the groom said cheerfully. He pointed to nearby stalls with eight healthy gray mares. “If you like those, take a look at the horses pulling them. I’ve seen my fair share of horses in this job, and those are quality mares.”
“They belong to that man in blue and gray?” she asked innocently.
“Both carriages. He must have them fully packed since all four men road on the driver’s seats on top rather than inside.”
Dana petted a mare before leaving. “Poor girl is all sweated up.”
“He must have run them hard to get them lathered up like this.” The groom smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of them even if he won’t.”
“You have the best job in the whole world.”
She went back into the auction house to find it peaceful and quiet again. Staff members pointed her to Jayden and Thume’s rooms. She knocked at Jayden’s door and waited until he answered.
“I’m presentable and the door hasn’t got a lock.”
She went inside, where Jayden was sorting through his bags. His room was as impressive as the rest of the building, with carpeted floors, solid furniture, paintings and a tin bathtub.
“Imuran came with two carriages and eight horses that they rode on instead of in,” she said as she sat on the edge of the bed. She leaned closer toward him. “I don’t care how pompous he is, he doesn’t need two carriages for four people. A groom thinks he’s carrying a lot, but that doesn’t work, either. This place sells expensive stuff like that funny metal, little things worth big money. He doesn’t need so much space.”
“A valid point,” Jayden replied. “It suggests Imuran either intends to bring someone back with him, or that he brought someone or something that didn’t leave the carriages.”
“Like what?”
Jayden took handfuls of coins from his bags and spread them across the bed. Arranging them in groups of ten, he said, “My guess would be guards he doesn’t want others to know about. Twenty, thirty, forty. As you said, this establishment sells expensive items, a worthy target for thieves and a certain sorcerer lord. It makes sense to bring added muscle to ensure he returns home with his prize.”
“They’d get hungry sitting in there, and have to use the bathroom.”
“You’re assuming they need to eat. Seventy, eighty, ninety. Plenty of monsters don’t require food or rest. Animated skeletons, golems and living armor could wait for years. Some monsters need little food, like mimics, and could wait for days.”
Dana leaned over his piles of coins. “How much do we have?”
Jayden finished counting and frowned. “Two hundred gold coins, enough if the uram goes for a fair price.”
Dana’s peasant upbringing taught her to hold on tight to any money that came her way. She winced at the thought of spending so much. “Is this sword worth it?”
“Hopefully we’ll get the uram for less. Don’t worry about the cost. I’ve acquired and spent sums far larger than this for worse reasons.” He smiled when he saw her curious look and added, “I’ll tell you about them another time. Your room is to the right of mine. Take this opportunity to clean up before the auction. Depending on Imuran’s mood, we might have to leave in a hurry once we’re done.”
Dana checked the door before she left and saw no lock and no way to bar it from the inside. “Why don’t the doors have locks?”
“This is a civilized land, Dana. Guests shouldn’t need to lock their doors, and I doubt our hosts want less civilized people to lock themselves in.”
Dana went to her room to find it a mirror image of Jayden’s. She took her time bathing, as she hadn’t had a chance to do so for weeks. Clean clothes would help, or new ones, but there wasn’t time for that. The room also had a bowl of fruit she ate. Clean, dressed and fed, she headed out to explore the auction house.
Much of the building was off limits with locked doors. She could get into halls exhibiting items for sale, including paintings, statues, jewelry, rare plants and ancient books. Buyers were inspecting the items and questioning the staff about them. Staff members included immaculately dressed men and women, but she also caught sight of armed guards circulating among the guests. Thieves might be tempted by such treasures, but would have a hard time escaping with one.
Thume was already in the exhibition halls, walking between items for sale and judging them as he walked by. “Garbage. Tasteless. Inferior. That one is tasteless inferior garbage. I didn’t think that was possible.”
Staff and bidders glared at him and some walked away, but the dwarf ignored their silent contempt. Dana caught up with him and whispered, “You’re going to get us in trouble before we buy the metal.”
“You expect me to walk by relics of the Elf Empire and say nothing? Count yourself lucky I don’t spit on them.” Thume waved his hammer at the room’s contents. “In my homeland half this junk would be broken down for parts or burned. There’s no craftsmanship here, nothing an artist poured his heart and soul into.”
“I saw your sword,” Dana said sourly. “If that’s your heart and soul, you need help.”
Thume gritted his teeth before answering. “I’ve been stuck in your miserable kingdom for sixty years, longer than your parents have been alive. Your people bring me work making horseshoes, plows, nails, and if they’re feeling generous maybe an axe to chop wood. Every day here has been a punishment, doing piddling jobs, working with inferior materials for profits barely enough to keep myself alive.
“This is the first time in sixty years I’ve a chance to do work worthy of me, to make a weapon so great dwarfs will speak of it in awe. The chimera horn, the uram, my rune magic and your master’s sorcerer magic, it’s a once in a lifetime occurrence, a gathering of resources drawn together by fate for my redemption.”
Dana put her hands on her hips. “And here I thought it was about a sword.”
“Your sword is the means for me to go home,” Thume told her. “I don’t care what you do with it. I would have made it for anyone with these resources. Whoever has it will do great deeds, and word will reach my people. Sixty years ago the dwarfs cast me out, blaming me for the crimes of my superiors. They’ll hear of this sword and want me back. Maybe not my old corporation, but one of the big names, the power players, they’ll see value in my work and take me in.”
He turned to face her and said, “No more living in a dirty frontier town. No more eating tasteless food. I’ll be among my own people again or be the personal sword smith of a king, respected once more. You’ll get your sword to overthrow your king, if you can, and I’ll be free of you mayflies.”
Dana put her hands on her hips. “Why do you keep calling me a mayfly?”
“Dwarfs live for six or seven centuries. Humans live for as many decades. You’re here and gone in the blink of an eye like a mayfly.” Thume looked pleased with himself, which turned to terror as he pointed at an exhibit hall across from theirs. “Stop him!”
Dana looked over to see Jayden admiring a painting of a man and woman with a boy richly dressed in furs and silks. There were other paintings just as good, but Jayden stood transfixed by this one.
Thume ran over and grabbed Jayden by the arm. “Don’t you dare buy that!”
“Sir, please mind your tone,” a staff member asked.
“Mind your own business,” Thume snapped, but his voice fell to whispers when he spoke to Jayden. “We don’t have money for the painting and the uram. Prioritize. Your girl’s weapon comes before paint slathered on canvas.”
Jayden’s eyes stayed on the painting. “I’m admiring the work, nothing more. As much as I wish to own it, I have no place to store it in my travels. It would be destroyed by storms or accidents, ruined no different than the ones destroyed on purpose.”
Dana stared at the painting. “Who would want to destroy it?”
Thume answered before Jayden could. “Don’t you know anything, girl? That’s your king you’re looking at.”
“Really?” Dana knew she had a king the same way she knew there were dragons, namely both were dangerous and best avoided. The king and queen lived inside a castle in the capital city, guarded by soldiers, knights and even monsters if she was foolish enough to try to visit them. No one saw them except a few powerful nobles.
“This is the king, but that’s not the queen,” Jayden replied. “This is him with his first wife and their only son. Paintings like this once hung in every nobleman’s house as a constant reminder who they served.”
“Why were they destroyed?” she asked.
Thume heaved a dramatic sigh. “My future depends on idiots. She died when your people were having their civil war. Your king remarried to arrange an alliance with a powerful noble house. His new wife didn’t want reminders of her predecessor hanging in every household that mattered. She demanded her husband order them destroyed. I thought they were all scattered ashes by now.”
Dana pointed at the painting and asked, “What happened to their son? I know the king and queen have two sons of their own. I’ve never heard of this one.”
“Prince Mastram,” Jayden said, his voice soft. “The king declared his son illegitimate, a result of his mother having an affair with an unknown courtier. The boy was exiled to the Isle of Tears and died of plague.”
Dana felt a cold lump in her heart. “We’ve heard of people dying of ‘plague’ before. Did he really get sick, or did they kill him?”
“The Isle of Tears is officially a place of exile, but that’s a polite euphemism,” Jayden told her. “It is a barren rock offshore in the far north of the kingdom. There’s no food or fuel, little water and no shelter except deep caves. The rich, powerful and well connected who commit crimes or lose royal favor have been banished there for centuries as a means to execute them without doing the deed in front of witnesses, and at the same time ensuring they die slowly from cold and starvation.”
“That’s horrible,” Dana said. She looked at the couple again and felt both sympathy and loathing. The king looked handsome, a dark haired, muscular man in fine clothes and a stern expression. His wife was a beauty with raven locks that reached to her waist. She smiled and had an arm around the king’s shoulders. Their son was the splitting image of his father, with black hair and a maturity far greater than his age would suggest.
“What man could sacrifice his own son?” Dana asked in horror.
“The same man who’d call his dead wife unfaithful,” Thume replied. He shrugged and added, “It’s common enough to get rid of unwanted heirs. They just handled it poorly.”
“You’ve got a heart as cold as a lump of stone,” she scolded him.
Thume sneered at her. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Please mind your tone,” a lady staff member said.
Thume shook his hammer at the woman. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“I’m surprised they let you keep your hammer,” Jayden commented.
“What would be the point of taking it?” Thume asked. “They let you in when you’re a spell caster and ten times as dangerous as I am. They must think they’ve got guards enough to deal with either of us if we get out of hand.”
“A valid point,” Jayden replied. He gave the painting one last glance before moving on. “The uram won’t be up for bid for several hours. Dana, I’ll fetch you when it’s time to begin. Until then feel free to look around.”
“Just don’t spend anything,” Thume added.
“I think I’ll pass,” Dana said. “I feel out of place around so much wealth. There’s no point looking at things I can’t afford and don’t have a place to put.”
Her exit was delayed when she saw Imuran and his two guards enter the exhibit hall. “Your least favorite person just showed up.”
Panicked, Jayden shouted, “Suzy Lockheart is here? Where?”
“Not her, silly.” Dana pointed at Imuran and said, “Him.”
“That fool?” Jayden asked. “Dana, the list of my least favorite people is long and competition for places on it is fierce. Imuran doesn’t deserve to be even at the end. He’s a hungry dog hoping for table scraps, possessing neither wisdom nor wits enough to be a serious threat.”
Thume leaned in closer and asked, “Who’s this Lockheart woman?”
“She worked with him once and nearly got him killed,” Dana replied. “I think she came onto him too strong, too.”
Jayden’s face turned red. “It didn’t happen like that.”
Bidding War part 2
“Well, well, the traitor finally showed the wisdom to flee his country,” Imuran snarled as he came closer.
“My presence here is as temporary as your own,” Jayden replied. “I’m curious what the royal couple sent you here to buy.”
“As if I’d confide in you! You think yourself witty, urbane? You’re a nobody, soon to be a nothing! Tens of thousands of soldiers and mercenaries hunger for the chance to kill you and claim the thousand silver piece bounty on your head!”
Jayden looked offended. “That’s all I’m worth? I thought the price would be far higher after the damage I did to Baron Scalamonger’s home.”
Imuran hesitated before his fury returned. “Baron Scalamonger’s home, the missing armor, that was you? You worm!”
“Please mind your tone,” a lady staff member said.
“Shut it, you hag!” Imuran bellowed.
Dana put a hand over her face. “We’re all going to get thrown out if we keep shouting. Can everyone agree to hate each other quietly?”
Imuran’s face turned red. “I don’t take orders from—”
A guard put a hand on Imuran’s shoulder. “Excuse me, sir, but may I have a word?”
The woman who’d met Dana and Jayden when they first came to the auction house returned and put a hand on Jayden’s arm. “Forgive my interruption, sir, but one of our guests would like you to authenticate a relic from the old sorcerer lords.”
Imuran pulled free from the guard but held his temper in check. He walked away, muttering, “I get manhandled by an ape in armor while he gets eye candy.”
Dana watched the auction house’s staff separate Jayden and Imuran before either could resort to violence. It was amusing, even if she didn’t like the way the woman kept touching Jayden, but it was also an opportunity. She asked Thume, “I need you to keep them from killing each other without letting Imuran leave.”
Thume watched Imuran glare at Jayden. “Easily done. Imuran, hold a moment. Let us discuss matters of shared interest.”
With Imuran busy, Dana left the exhibit hall and headed for the guest rooms. Brastile Auction House didn’t have locks on the doors of their guest rooms, which should include Imuran’s. He’d also had his two guards with him at the exhibit hall. The auctioneer had also said he’d put Jayden and Imuran’s rooms as far away as possible. That gave her a general idea where to go.
Exhibit halls and the auction room took up most of the building, leaving two hallways for guest accommodations. Dana picked the hallway she and Jayden weren’t in and went to the rooms at the end of the hall. She knocked politely at three doors and apologized when she met people she didn’t recognize. When she knocked at a fourth, a meek voice said, “Come in.”
Dana entered to find the boy who’d come with Imuran. He sat on the room’s bed, looking miserable and staring at a wall. She stepped inside and closed the door. “Hi. My name’s Dana.”
“I don’t have a name. Some slaves do. I don’t.”
“I thought that’s what happened to you,” she said. Dana sat on the floor in front of him. “Where are you from?”
“Skitherin.” The boy met her gaze as if the effort was almost more than he could manage.
“I’m sorry. A few weeks ago I met girls from your kingdom. Their families sold them because harvests were poor. That shouldn’t happen to anyone.”
“I envy them.”
Shocked, Dana barely kept from screaming when she asked, “What?”
“Those girls’ families had no money or food. Selling them saved people they love. I was sold to cover my father’s gambling debts. Those girls were sold for a good reason. I was sold so my father could keep playing cards.”
The boy’s story was impossible for Dana to understand. How could anyone do that to someone they loved? But the king had done even worse to his own son. She’d never heard of such cruelty, and now had to wonder if it was commonplace.
The boy said, “Imuran has a temper. If he finds you here, he’ll kill you.”
Dana got up and took his hands. “Jayden and I saved those girls. We can save you, too. We’re in another kingdom. There’s got to be places we can take you where Imuran won’t think to look. You can be free again.”
The boy slid his hands out of hers. “I’ve met plenty of men in Brandish. None cared that I was bought. If I ran, they wouldn’t protect me from Imuran. He showed me what he’d do if I tried to run away. The bruises took weeks to heal.”
Near to tears, she said, “I can’t leave you like this.”
“You have to. My master hates your master more than anyone else. He’ll do anything to hurt the sorcerer. You could die with him.”
“There must be something I can do.”
“Does your master want to hurt Imuran?” When Dana nodded, the boy gave her a faint smile. “There’s a wood chest under the bed. The key is hidden under the mattress. When you’re done, put the chest and key back exactly where you found them.”
Dana found the chest and key where the boy said they’d be. She unlocked the chest, opened it and stepped back. “You’re worried about me? He’ll kill you if he finds this gone.”
“I’ve had months to think about my future. It hasn’t been encouraging. There’s nowhere to run and I’m too small to fight back.” There was fierceness in his eyes and fire in his voice when he spoke again. “But I can make my master suffer. Imuran says your master is strong. You want to help me? Be my strength. Take what you’ve found and flee before Imuran knows what we’ve done. I’ll take the punishment and smile, because I’ll be a slave who beat his master.”
Dana stared at him before collecting the chest’s contents and wrapping them in the front of her skirt. She put back the chest and key, and before she left she told the boy, “You’re coming with me when I leave.”
Dana staggered back to her room, careful not to be seen. She pulled a pillowcase off its pillow and stuffed the chest’s contents inside it. That wasn’t strong enough. She emptied her bags and stuffed them one inside the other before dumping the pillowcase inside. She shook and sweated at the thought of what she’d done and the danger she’d put the boy in, but she continued on. She’d make this right.
She went in search of Jayden. People saw her carrying the bulging bag and smiled. One said, “How quaint. The poor child brought her laundry.”
Dana ignored them and continued her hunt. She found Jayden studying a broken ivory crown on a pedestal in an exhibit hall.
“It’s definitely from the time of the sorcerer lords and was enchanted at some point, but there are only traces of magic left,” Jayden told a male elf. “This obsidian orb was the focus of the crown’s magic. The crown was destroyed when the orb cracked, and no doubt so was the man wearing it.”
“I have more broken crowns like this, but none so large,” the elf said.
“I wouldn’t spend much on it, Jayden cautioned. “It’s magic is long gone, and empowering it again won’t be easy.”
The elf laughed. “I want it as a trophy of elven achievements and the defeat of the sorcerer lords, nothing more. I use elf magic when I need it, not dark magic of long dead enemies.”
Jayden took no offense at the insult. “Their loss was the world’s gain. Ah, Dana, I’m glad you’re here. The auction is about to begin.”
“Perfect timing.” She struggled under the weight in the bag.
He looked at the bag but said nothing, merely directing her to seats near the middle of the auction hall. “This should be an interesting experience.”
Interesting didn’t begin to cover it. The crowd included men, elves, dwarfs, a minotaur, two trolls, some gnomes and a darkling. They were dressed to impress, with furs, silks, jewelry, exotic pets, strangely scented perfumes and equally odd clothes Dana had never even dreamed of. In minutes the room filled with nearly a hundred patrons and twenty staff members. The staff made every effort to keep their customers happy by offering drinks and snacks. Thankfully they’d seated Jayden and Imuran on opposite sides of the room.
Jayden accepted a drink from a serving girl and waited until she’d left before whispering, “Dana, what did you do?”
He sounded causal, curious rather than mad, but Dana hesitated before answering. Not long ago she’d seen Jayden go into a rage at the sight of girls sold into slavery. Telling him Imuran had bought a slave could have the same result.
“Dana,” he said.
“When we leave, we’re taking the boy from Imuran.”
“I can arrange that.”
Thume hurried over and sat next to them, pushing aside several people in his way. “Did they start?”
“Soon,” Jayden told him.
The auctioneer walked to a podium at the front of the room and a servant rang a bell. The room fell silent and servants handed out white cards. More servants lit lanterns and closed the windows.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Brastile Auction House,” the auctioneer announced. “It’s a pleasure to see such noteworthy individuals. We strive to provide only the finest goods for your perusal, and tonight is no exception. Rest assured that experts in their field have verified all goods being offered. Your satisfaction is guaranteed.
“I see familiar faces and many new to our establishment. To clarify for our newcomers, all sales are final and must be made in cash at the end of the auction. Due to difficulties we experienced in the past, barter and letters of credit are not accepted.”
Servants brought a large ink drawing of an orchard and a map showing its location. The auctioneer said, “Without further adieu, allow me to present our first item for bid, a deed to a twenty acre pear orchard in Zentrix. The property includes eight hundred mature trees, a five-room house and a barn, both buildings in good repair. We’ll start the bidding at twenty gold coins. Do I hear twenty?”
The bidding confused Dana at first since no one spoke. Instead they raised white cards to express their interest. The auctioneer kept raising the price until no new bids came. He swung a small wood mallet on his podium to end the bidding then brought out the next item for sale.
Riches greater than her imagination were sold off in minutes. Land, livestock, jewels, precious metals, antiques centuries or even millennia old, paintings, statues and even live monsters were snapped up by people of staggering wealth. They spent thousands and then tens of thousands of gold coins in less time than it would have taken her to do her chores back home.
Servants brought out the painting that had so fascinated Jayden earlier and set it on a table for all to see. The auctioneer began by saying, “Our next item is a painting of the king and first queen of—”
“Fifty gold coins,” Imuran bid. Men and women across the room chuckled at his behavior.
The auctioneer showed no annoyance at being interrupted, merely saying, “I see this has already attracted some attention. Very well, we shall start the bidding at fifty gold coins. Do I hear fifty-five?”
“That’s what he came for?” Dana asked.
Jayden scowled. “This could be one of the last paintings of the king, his first wife and their son. The others were burned, and if he buys it then this one will be as well.”
“The king and queen are about to go to war,” Dana protested. “That’s going to cost a fortune. Buying this means less money for weapons and mercenaries.”
“This painting wounds their pride,” Jayden replied. “Burning it matters more than the cost.”
“Do I hear seventy?” the auctioneer asked.
“Seventy!” Imuran called out. He saw an elf raise his white card and quickly said, “Eighty!”
Jayden raised his card, and the auctioneer said, “I see a bid for eighty-five from the sorcerer lord. Do I hear ninety?”
Thume grabbed Jayden by the shoulder. “What are you doing? You said you’ve no place to keep that distraction even if you bought it.”
“I can’t save the painting, but I can make it more painful for him to destroy it.” Jayden raised his card again.
The elf seemed amused by Imuran’s growing frustration as the price kept going up, and he helped Jayden drive it ever higher. Jayden bid twice more until Imuran called out, “One hundred-twenty.”
“He might not go over that price if you bid again,” Thume warned. “Don’t walk out of here with goods you don’t need.”
Men from across the room looked to Jayden and the elf, and were disappointed when neither one placed a bid. The auctioneer asked, “Are there further bids? No? Going once, going twice, three times and sold to Imuran Tellet.”
The painting was carried away and replaced with a piece of broken ivory and obsidian. This didn’t interest Dana, and her attention drifted from the auction to the audience. “Imuran is sitting there watching us. Why didn’t he leave when he got the painting?”
“Let him,” Jayden replied. He smiled at Dana and said, “The longer he stays the better my chances to rob him afterwards.”
“Focus on the metal,” Thume said as the elf won the bid for the crown fragment. He grabbed Jayden’s arm and shook hard. “Look, there it is!”
“Our next item is a half ounce of pure uram,” the auctioneer said as his staff brought a velvet pillow with the metal resting on it. “It’s being sold by the dwarf corporation Smash N Grab, which is currently undergoing bankruptcy and liquidating their assets.”
Thume’s jaw dropped. “That’s one of the ten biggest dwarf corporations. Five hundred years in business and hundreds of employees, gone. Never thought I’d see them fall.”
“A word of caution to buyers, the amount of uram for sale is not sufficient to produce a magic weapon,” the auctioneer continued.
“Wait, what?” Dana asked.
“Ignore him,” Thume said. “Your chimera horn will cover the deficit.”
An elf started the bidding, and was soon followed by many more. Thirty, forty, fifty, it seemed like half the people there wanted that thin sliver of metal. Jayden didn’t seem to pay any attention to them until he raised his card and said, “One hundred gold coins.”
His bid was met with chuckles from across the room. The auctioneer said, “Sir, the next highest bid is fifty-five.”
“And I’m bidding a hundred. This experience was novel for the first three hours. Now it bores me. If a hundred gold coins makes it stop then it’s money well spent.”
The auctioneer gave only a slight smile while others laughed at Jayden. “Ladies and gentlemen, the bid now stands at one hundred gold coins. Do I hear one hundred five?”
“One hundred five,” Imuran said. Three more bids came until Imuran said, “One twenty five.”
“One hundred fifty,” Jayden said.
Imuran glared at him. “One sixty.”
“I thought this was worth a hundred,” Dana said. “What’s going on?”
“You were wondering why he didn’t leave earlier,” Jayden said. “Imuran had to be curious what we came here for. Now that he knows, he’s trying to make sure we don’t get it. One hundred seventy-five.”
A murmur filled the room as the audience watched Imuran and Jayden, their battle fought with gold instead of steel and spells. Again and again the price went up, Imuran’s by small increments and Jayden’s by large ones. Soon they were the only ones competing for the tiny sliver of metal. It was soon going for two hundred gold coins and wasn’t stopping.
“How much did you bring, Thume?” Jayden whispered.
Thume opened the locked box he’d brought. “One hundred. I can’t lose this opportunity. Spend it all if you have to.”
“Two fifty,” Imuran said. He saw Jayden hesitate and smirked, which ended when Jayden drove the price even higher. Imuran scowled and said, “Three hundred.”
“I’m out,” Jayden said.
“Keep bidding,” Dana whispered. Jayden glanced at her and she tapped the bag she’d brought. “We can go a lot higher.”
“Do you have a counter bid, sir?” the auctioneer asked.
“Four hundred,” Jayden said. Imuran raised the bid by ten coins. Jayden responded, “Four fifty. I can keep this up longer than you can, lapdog, and I don’t have an angry monarch to explain the bill to.”
Imuran looked furious, but his rage turned into a look of glee. “At least I have money to match my ambition. You don’t have that much gold.”
Staff members and the patrons alike gasped. The auctioneer pounded his mallet to gain their attention. “Sir, while you are a newcomer to this establishment, there are rules and expectations of guests. You insulted another man’s honor.”
“He has no honor,” Imuran replied, drawing more gasps from onlookers. “I saw this man and his retinue before you provided them rooms. If the sorcerer lord had as much gold as he claims, they would have struggled under the weight. Instead they walked quite easily and their bags were nearly empty. This is a deception from a man who betrayed his own kingdom.”
The auctioneer needed a moment to compose himself before speaking again. “I see. Sorcerer lord, an accusation has been made against you. Would you consent to having your funds inspected?”
Jayden held up his hands. “I have nothing to hide.”
Armed guards escorted two gnomes wearing tuxedoes to where Jayden was seated. The black haired gnomes barely came up to Dana’s waist. They spread a cloth on the floor and said. “Place all currency you’re carrying here.”
Jayden and Thume went first, and Dana followed by placing her bag. The gnomes went through the cash quickly and stacked coins in glittering piles. Bystanders watched and whispered while the gnomes double-checked their work. When they were done, they stood up and announced, “There are sufficient funds to cover the bid.”
“Very well then,” the auctioneer said. “Sorcerer lord, I apologize for this intrusion into your privacy and hope you will take no insult.”
The auctioneer turned his attention to Imuran. “Sir, you are hereby banished from Brastile Auction House for life. Your successful bid will be honored, but after paying for it you are to leave at once. I will be sending a very strongly worded letter to your king and queen expressing my displeasure at your behavior.”
Imuran pointed at the uram. “I’m not finished bidding on the metal.”
“Oh yes you are.” The auctioneer’s voice was harsh for being so soft. “Guards, escort him out. The bid stands at four fifty. Do I hear four fifty-five? No? Going, going, gone.”
More items came up for bid, but Jayden stood up and led his friends from the room. “Dana, I’m curious how much trouble the money your brought is going to get us into.”
“Oh, lots.”
Their discussion was interrupted by shouts from the guest rooms. Thume frowned and said, “That sounds like Imuran.”
“This is an outrage!”
“That’s him,” Jayden confirmed. He followed the screams to find Imuran and his guards confronted by ten stern looking guards. The noise soon brought the auctioneer, who slipped around a growing crowd of onlookers. Jayden stayed back and watched Imuran scream at the guards.
“What’s the meaning of this disruption?” the auctioneer demanded. “I still have three items left.”
A guard said, “Sir, we came to deliver the painting and learned this person has no money.”
“I was robbed!” Imuran yelled.
More people hurried over to see what was happening. The auctioneer raised his hands and his voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, please, allow us to deal with this.”
“I left my money in your guest room, assuming it would be safe,” Imuran said. “I came back to find every coin gone!”
Thume chuckled before whispering to Dana, “You’re a conniving, thieving, backstabbing little slip of a girl. I’m glad we met.”
Imuran grabbed his slave by the arm and dragged him out. “You were in there the whole time. Who took my money?”
The auctioneer waved for his guards to bring the boy over and then placed an amulet against the boy’s forehead. “This amulet will burn like a hot iron if you lie to me. Where is your master’s money?”
“It’s not his money, it belongs to the king and queen,” the boy replied. “He was issued it to buy a painting. I don’t know where the gold is now.”
Imuran saw Jayden and pointed at him. “You! You stole it!”
The boy looked at Jayden, his expression betraying nothing. “I’ve never seen that man before. He was never in the room.”
“Then the dwarf did it!” Imuran shouted. “He did it or you did!”
“I’ve never seen the dwarf before. He was never in the room.” Unprompted, he said, “I saw my master place a chest under the bed and a key under the mattress. I didn’t touch either of them. I never left the room and I didn’t fall asleep.”
“Then who took the money?” the auctioneer asked.
The boy met the auctioneer’s gaze and said, “No man has entered the room except my master and his guards.”
Dana marveled at the boy’s quick wits. Every word he said was true, yet he managed to hide her stealing Imuran’s money. No one seemed to notice that he hadn’t actually answered the last question put to him, instead using the chance to redirect suspicion on his master.
“He, he’s lying,” Imuran said.
“He would be burned to the bone if he did,” the auctioneer replied. He took the amulet off the boy, but then looked at Jayden.
Jayden marched over and held out his hand. “Place your amulet against my palm. I don’t know spells that could cloud the boy’s mind, render me invisible or teleport the money away. I didn’t ask, order, pay, bribe or threaten anyone to steal it. Does this satisfy your suspicions?”
“It does, sir, and thank you for your cooperation.” The auctioneer turned his attention and fury on Imuran. “You made a mockery of this establishment twice, insults I wouldn’t tolerate on my best day. Guards, remove him from the premises and place the painting back on the auction block.”
Imuran grabbed the auctioneer by the shoulders. “I can’t go back without it! Let me go to my country’s embassy and I can get you the money by morning!”
Guards dragged Imuran away. He left howling insults while his guards meekly followed. The auctioneer looked at the boy, who said, “I’d rather not go with him, sir.”
“I imagine not.” The auctioneer took a knife from one of his guards and said, “Stand still. Removing your collar won’t take a moment…there we go.”
Jayden, Dana and Thume waited as the auctioneer, guards and guests left. Once they were alone, Jayden asked Dana, “Do we have this young man to thank for our riches?”
“He told me where to find the box and key.” Dana smiled at the boy and said, “You’re a clever kid. We’re just lucky Imuran didn’t ask you if I took the money.”
“Imuran would never suspect you,” the boy said. “He thinks girls are for cooking and making babies.”
Dana paused. “Wow. I didn’t think I could hate him more. But why didn’t the amulet burn you when you said you didn’t know where Imuran’s money is?”
The boy shrugged. “How would I know where you put it?”
“How much was in there?” Thume asked.
The boy rubbed his neck where the collar had been. “Seven hundred gold coins. He was instructed to bring back the painting at all costs and anything else that looked worthy. I don’t know what’s going to happen to him, but if he’s smart he’ll run away. A master running away instead of a slave, I like that.”
The dwarf grinned. “That covers the bid and then some.”
“I don’t impress easily, but you showed courage and ingenuity,” Jayden told the boy. He put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You have a place with me if you want it.”
The boy considered the offer for a moment before shaking his head. “You mean well, but I’ve lived all my life following other men’s orders. I’d like to be my own man for a change and make my own decisions.”
“A fair request.” Jayden smiled and added, “As you are on your own now and have no family to depend on, you’ll need some means of support. I have a considerable amount of your former master’s money left over.”
Thume rolled his eyes. “We’re not giving him the whole—”
Screams from outside ended their conversation. Jayden led his friends out into the growing darkness of twilight to find Imuran and his guards driving their two carriages, almost running over people in their way. Guests and guards from the auction house ran out as the carriages slowed to a crawl.
Imuran drove the lead carriage and pointed a sword at Jayden. “If I can’t have the painting, I’ll bring back your head!”
Imuran and his men banged on the roofs of the carriages, producing loud clunks and bangs before the doors opened to reveal four gargoyles within each carriage. The stone monsters were as big as men, with large wings, sharp claws, whip-like tails and oversized jaws filled with sharp teeth. The grinning monsters flapped their wings and took off despite their great weight.
Imuran pointed to the gargoyles and yelled, “Kill the sorcerer!”
“How bad is this?” Dana asked Jayden as she backed up.
“Gargoyles are animated stone statues, strong, fast, hard to hurt and blindly loyal to their leader, even a man as petty as Imuran.” Jayden cast a spell and formed a black sword edged with white. “Everyone back inside!”
Screaming people fled in all directions, some going into the auction house as instructed while others ran off into the night. Jayden covered their retreat as gargoyles swooped down on him. One missed clawing his head by inches while a second rammed him and knocked him to the ground. Jayden recovered quickly, dodging another gargoyle that tried to land on his head. Imuran and his guards climbed off their wagons to join the fight, a pointless move when gargoyles were so thick around Jayden that the men couldn’t get close.
The auction houses’ guards fought back bravely but to no effect. A crossbow bolt shattered against a gargoyle’s chest. A guard hit a gargoyle in the leg with his sword, only for the tip of the blade to break off. Gargoyles laughed a deep, rumbling, contemptuous sound as attacks bounced off them. Ordinary weapons couldn’t damage stone.
Magic was another story. Jayden slashed a gargoyle across the face, taking off its sneer and jaw at the same time. The gargoyle seemed puzzled by the sudden loss, even looking down at the jaw now on the street in front of it. That ended when Jayden drove his sword through its chest and pulled the blade up, splitting it in two. The gargoyle crumbled apart, even the parts Jayden hadn’t hit, and littered the ground with gravel. The other seven gargoyles took to the air and circled Jayden. He backed up against a wall and kept his sword in front of him while the gargoyles looked for an opening.
One down and seven to go wasn’t good odds, but there wasn’t much Dana could do to help. She and Jayden had started this adventure to get a magic weapon that could hurt monsters like this. The knife she carried would be as useless as the guards’ weapons.
Well, it was useless against gargoyles.
“Kill him!” Imuran yelled again while his gargoyles swept in closer, trying to bait Jayden into attacking one and leaving himself open to the rest. One gargoyle dove like a hawk and tried to crush Jayden with its great weight. Jayden jumped aside and took only a glancing blow. He swung his sword, hacking off his enemy’s leg at the knee. The damaged gargoyle shook its fist at Jayden and flew back up. He barely had time to recover before two more attacked from opposite sides. It was all he could do to avoid them.
Dana ran around the gargoyles. She didn’t get far before running into one of Imuran’s guards. For a moment the guard stood menacingly before he shoved her aside. “Out of the way, girl.”
Imuran thought little of women, a flaw his men shared as they ignored her in favor of fighting the more obvious threat. Dana took advantage of this and raced past the men, then came up behind Imuran and charged him from behind. She wrapped her arms around Imuran’s neck and squeezed. Imuran struggled to break free. He tried to talk and made a gurgling noise instead.
Dana had attacked Imuran because he was one of the few enemies she could actually hurt, but she had more impact than she’d hoped for. The gargoyle flock ceased their attacks on Jayden and instead watched Imuran. One cupped a hand to its ear while others shrugged or frowned. It took Dana a moment to figure out what was going on.
“They think he’s giving orders!” she shouted. “They do what he says, and he’s not saying anything!”
“Dana, run!” Jayden shouted as he raced to her side. Imuran’s two guards would reach her first. She waited as long as she dared before letting go of Imuran and taking cover beneath one of the carriages.
Imuran gasped before he croaked out the words, “You fools, kill the sorcerer.”
Now that they could understand what Imuran was saying, the gargoyles charged Jayden again. One tried to sweep his feet out from under him with a swing of its tail, but Jayden jumped over it. He landed and dropped to his knees as a gargoyle swooped over his head. He stabbed it with his sword and took off its right wing, causing the gargoyle to spin out of control and crash into the carriage Dana wasn’t hiding under. The blow was hard enough to tip the wagon over and break the gargoyle in half. Terrified horses harnessed to the wagon panicked and broke free of their harnesses before fleeing into the night.
Two gargoyles flew just above the street and grabbed Jayden by the arms. They flapped hard and began to gain altitude when Thume ran over and swung his hammer into a gargoyle’s back. The blow took off its head and left the body to crumble. Another swing took off the other gargoyle’s right arm. The dwarf followed that up with three more swings that dismembered the gargoyle in short order. Men and gargoyles stared at him in shock.
Thume struck his right hand against his chest. “I’m a dwarf, you idiots! I know stone, and I’m not losing my chance at redemption! Who’s next?”
The last four gargoyles charged together. Imuran pulled at his hair and screamed, “You idiots, what are you doing?”
Jayden got to his feet as the gargoyles tried to mob him and Thume. The sorcerer lord gutted a gargoyle when it tried to claw him, and followed up by cutting off the next one’s head. Thume broke his hammer against a gargoyle, shattering it like glass. The last one managed to knock Jayden to the ground and leapt on top of him. It swung its clawed hands for a killing blow when Jayden drove his sword through its chest. Gravel from its body fell so heavily that Thume had to clear it off Jayden before helping the man up.
Imuran stammered before shouting, “Why the devil did they go right at him after they saw the others get cut apart?”
Jayden dusted himself off. “You ordered them to attack me, and gargoyles are loyal to a fault. You share that flaw with them in your blind devotion to a king and queen more interested in their vanity than the wellbeing of their people.”
Guards ran out from the auction house with drawn swords and loaded crossbows. They’d been helpless against the gargoyles, but their weapons could make short work of Imuran and his men. Imuran climbed onto his remaining carriage and left his men behind. He snapped the reins and shouted, “You haven’t heard the last of me!”
The four gray mares took off like a shot. The carriage did not. Imuran’s jaw dropped and he watched his horses run off into the night.
“Dana,” Jayden asked, “did you by any chance cut the harnesses loose on those horse?”
Dana climbed out from under the carriage and sheathed her knife. “Looks like I’m good for more than cooking and having kids.”
“I never thought otherwise.”
“I, I,” Imuran stammered. Guards seized him and his two men and tied them up. Moments later the auctioneer marched outside with more guards. He studied the street with its destroyed gargoyles and carriage. He snapped his fingers, and his men dragged Imuran and his men away.
The auctioneer followed them and let rage fill his voice. “Imuran, your rank is no protection here, nor your connection to a foreign ruler. You fools are looking at decades of forced labor or worse.”
Dana was about to join Jayden when she felt a soft bump against her foot. She looked down to find a stone the size of a hen’s egg bump against her again before skidding off down the street. Other small stones made similar exits.
“Those are earth elementals,” Thume said. “They were fused into statues to make the gargoyles we fought. With the statues broken they’re free to do as they please.”
Jayden let his magic sword fade away and rubbed his bruised body. “A good if painful end to the evening.”
“End nothing.” Thume lowered his hammer. “I owe you a sword. Once we get back to Despre I’ll need a week’s work to finish the blade and all the magic you can muster to make it the weapon it’s meant to be.”
Dana smiled at them. “So I finally get a sword?”
“Soon,” Jayden told her. He paused and asked her, “Have you trained with a sword?”
“No, but how hard can it be?”
Jayden shrugged. “There may be a delay between finishing your weapon and you using it. Most swordsmen need months to become competent. Don’t give me that look, young lady.”
“My presence here is as temporary as your own,” Jayden replied. “I’m curious what the royal couple sent you here to buy.”
“As if I’d confide in you! You think yourself witty, urbane? You’re a nobody, soon to be a nothing! Tens of thousands of soldiers and mercenaries hunger for the chance to kill you and claim the thousand silver piece bounty on your head!”
Jayden looked offended. “That’s all I’m worth? I thought the price would be far higher after the damage I did to Baron Scalamonger’s home.”
Imuran hesitated before his fury returned. “Baron Scalamonger’s home, the missing armor, that was you? You worm!”
“Please mind your tone,” a lady staff member said.
“Shut it, you hag!” Imuran bellowed.
Dana put a hand over her face. “We’re all going to get thrown out if we keep shouting. Can everyone agree to hate each other quietly?”
Imuran’s face turned red. “I don’t take orders from—”
A guard put a hand on Imuran’s shoulder. “Excuse me, sir, but may I have a word?”
The woman who’d met Dana and Jayden when they first came to the auction house returned and put a hand on Jayden’s arm. “Forgive my interruption, sir, but one of our guests would like you to authenticate a relic from the old sorcerer lords.”
Imuran pulled free from the guard but held his temper in check. He walked away, muttering, “I get manhandled by an ape in armor while he gets eye candy.”
Dana watched the auction house’s staff separate Jayden and Imuran before either could resort to violence. It was amusing, even if she didn’t like the way the woman kept touching Jayden, but it was also an opportunity. She asked Thume, “I need you to keep them from killing each other without letting Imuran leave.”
Thume watched Imuran glare at Jayden. “Easily done. Imuran, hold a moment. Let us discuss matters of shared interest.”
With Imuran busy, Dana left the exhibit hall and headed for the guest rooms. Brastile Auction House didn’t have locks on the doors of their guest rooms, which should include Imuran’s. He’d also had his two guards with him at the exhibit hall. The auctioneer had also said he’d put Jayden and Imuran’s rooms as far away as possible. That gave her a general idea where to go.
Exhibit halls and the auction room took up most of the building, leaving two hallways for guest accommodations. Dana picked the hallway she and Jayden weren’t in and went to the rooms at the end of the hall. She knocked politely at three doors and apologized when she met people she didn’t recognize. When she knocked at a fourth, a meek voice said, “Come in.”
Dana entered to find the boy who’d come with Imuran. He sat on the room’s bed, looking miserable and staring at a wall. She stepped inside and closed the door. “Hi. My name’s Dana.”
“I don’t have a name. Some slaves do. I don’t.”
“I thought that’s what happened to you,” she said. Dana sat on the floor in front of him. “Where are you from?”
“Skitherin.” The boy met her gaze as if the effort was almost more than he could manage.
“I’m sorry. A few weeks ago I met girls from your kingdom. Their families sold them because harvests were poor. That shouldn’t happen to anyone.”
“I envy them.”
Shocked, Dana barely kept from screaming when she asked, “What?”
“Those girls’ families had no money or food. Selling them saved people they love. I was sold to cover my father’s gambling debts. Those girls were sold for a good reason. I was sold so my father could keep playing cards.”
The boy’s story was impossible for Dana to understand. How could anyone do that to someone they loved? But the king had done even worse to his own son. She’d never heard of such cruelty, and now had to wonder if it was commonplace.
The boy said, “Imuran has a temper. If he finds you here, he’ll kill you.”
Dana got up and took his hands. “Jayden and I saved those girls. We can save you, too. We’re in another kingdom. There’s got to be places we can take you where Imuran won’t think to look. You can be free again.”
The boy slid his hands out of hers. “I’ve met plenty of men in Brandish. None cared that I was bought. If I ran, they wouldn’t protect me from Imuran. He showed me what he’d do if I tried to run away. The bruises took weeks to heal.”
Near to tears, she said, “I can’t leave you like this.”
“You have to. My master hates your master more than anyone else. He’ll do anything to hurt the sorcerer. You could die with him.”
“There must be something I can do.”
“Does your master want to hurt Imuran?” When Dana nodded, the boy gave her a faint smile. “There’s a wood chest under the bed. The key is hidden under the mattress. When you’re done, put the chest and key back exactly where you found them.”
Dana found the chest and key where the boy said they’d be. She unlocked the chest, opened it and stepped back. “You’re worried about me? He’ll kill you if he finds this gone.”
“I’ve had months to think about my future. It hasn’t been encouraging. There’s nowhere to run and I’m too small to fight back.” There was fierceness in his eyes and fire in his voice when he spoke again. “But I can make my master suffer. Imuran says your master is strong. You want to help me? Be my strength. Take what you’ve found and flee before Imuran knows what we’ve done. I’ll take the punishment and smile, because I’ll be a slave who beat his master.”
Dana stared at him before collecting the chest’s contents and wrapping them in the front of her skirt. She put back the chest and key, and before she left she told the boy, “You’re coming with me when I leave.”
Dana staggered back to her room, careful not to be seen. She pulled a pillowcase off its pillow and stuffed the chest’s contents inside it. That wasn’t strong enough. She emptied her bags and stuffed them one inside the other before dumping the pillowcase inside. She shook and sweated at the thought of what she’d done and the danger she’d put the boy in, but she continued on. She’d make this right.
She went in search of Jayden. People saw her carrying the bulging bag and smiled. One said, “How quaint. The poor child brought her laundry.”
Dana ignored them and continued her hunt. She found Jayden studying a broken ivory crown on a pedestal in an exhibit hall.
“It’s definitely from the time of the sorcerer lords and was enchanted at some point, but there are only traces of magic left,” Jayden told a male elf. “This obsidian orb was the focus of the crown’s magic. The crown was destroyed when the orb cracked, and no doubt so was the man wearing it.”
“I have more broken crowns like this, but none so large,” the elf said.
“I wouldn’t spend much on it, Jayden cautioned. “It’s magic is long gone, and empowering it again won’t be easy.”
The elf laughed. “I want it as a trophy of elven achievements and the defeat of the sorcerer lords, nothing more. I use elf magic when I need it, not dark magic of long dead enemies.”
Jayden took no offense at the insult. “Their loss was the world’s gain. Ah, Dana, I’m glad you’re here. The auction is about to begin.”
“Perfect timing.” She struggled under the weight in the bag.
He looked at the bag but said nothing, merely directing her to seats near the middle of the auction hall. “This should be an interesting experience.”
Interesting didn’t begin to cover it. The crowd included men, elves, dwarfs, a minotaur, two trolls, some gnomes and a darkling. They were dressed to impress, with furs, silks, jewelry, exotic pets, strangely scented perfumes and equally odd clothes Dana had never even dreamed of. In minutes the room filled with nearly a hundred patrons and twenty staff members. The staff made every effort to keep their customers happy by offering drinks and snacks. Thankfully they’d seated Jayden and Imuran on opposite sides of the room.
Jayden accepted a drink from a serving girl and waited until she’d left before whispering, “Dana, what did you do?”
He sounded causal, curious rather than mad, but Dana hesitated before answering. Not long ago she’d seen Jayden go into a rage at the sight of girls sold into slavery. Telling him Imuran had bought a slave could have the same result.
“Dana,” he said.
“When we leave, we’re taking the boy from Imuran.”
“I can arrange that.”
Thume hurried over and sat next to them, pushing aside several people in his way. “Did they start?”
“Soon,” Jayden told him.
The auctioneer walked to a podium at the front of the room and a servant rang a bell. The room fell silent and servants handed out white cards. More servants lit lanterns and closed the windows.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Brastile Auction House,” the auctioneer announced. “It’s a pleasure to see such noteworthy individuals. We strive to provide only the finest goods for your perusal, and tonight is no exception. Rest assured that experts in their field have verified all goods being offered. Your satisfaction is guaranteed.
“I see familiar faces and many new to our establishment. To clarify for our newcomers, all sales are final and must be made in cash at the end of the auction. Due to difficulties we experienced in the past, barter and letters of credit are not accepted.”
Servants brought a large ink drawing of an orchard and a map showing its location. The auctioneer said, “Without further adieu, allow me to present our first item for bid, a deed to a twenty acre pear orchard in Zentrix. The property includes eight hundred mature trees, a five-room house and a barn, both buildings in good repair. We’ll start the bidding at twenty gold coins. Do I hear twenty?”
The bidding confused Dana at first since no one spoke. Instead they raised white cards to express their interest. The auctioneer kept raising the price until no new bids came. He swung a small wood mallet on his podium to end the bidding then brought out the next item for sale.
Riches greater than her imagination were sold off in minutes. Land, livestock, jewels, precious metals, antiques centuries or even millennia old, paintings, statues and even live monsters were snapped up by people of staggering wealth. They spent thousands and then tens of thousands of gold coins in less time than it would have taken her to do her chores back home.
Servants brought out the painting that had so fascinated Jayden earlier and set it on a table for all to see. The auctioneer began by saying, “Our next item is a painting of the king and first queen of—”
“Fifty gold coins,” Imuran bid. Men and women across the room chuckled at his behavior.
The auctioneer showed no annoyance at being interrupted, merely saying, “I see this has already attracted some attention. Very well, we shall start the bidding at fifty gold coins. Do I hear fifty-five?”
“That’s what he came for?” Dana asked.
Jayden scowled. “This could be one of the last paintings of the king, his first wife and their son. The others were burned, and if he buys it then this one will be as well.”
“The king and queen are about to go to war,” Dana protested. “That’s going to cost a fortune. Buying this means less money for weapons and mercenaries.”
“This painting wounds their pride,” Jayden replied. “Burning it matters more than the cost.”
“Do I hear seventy?” the auctioneer asked.
“Seventy!” Imuran called out. He saw an elf raise his white card and quickly said, “Eighty!”
Jayden raised his card, and the auctioneer said, “I see a bid for eighty-five from the sorcerer lord. Do I hear ninety?”
Thume grabbed Jayden by the shoulder. “What are you doing? You said you’ve no place to keep that distraction even if you bought it.”
“I can’t save the painting, but I can make it more painful for him to destroy it.” Jayden raised his card again.
The elf seemed amused by Imuran’s growing frustration as the price kept going up, and he helped Jayden drive it ever higher. Jayden bid twice more until Imuran called out, “One hundred-twenty.”
“He might not go over that price if you bid again,” Thume warned. “Don’t walk out of here with goods you don’t need.”
Men from across the room looked to Jayden and the elf, and were disappointed when neither one placed a bid. The auctioneer asked, “Are there further bids? No? Going once, going twice, three times and sold to Imuran Tellet.”
The painting was carried away and replaced with a piece of broken ivory and obsidian. This didn’t interest Dana, and her attention drifted from the auction to the audience. “Imuran is sitting there watching us. Why didn’t he leave when he got the painting?”
“Let him,” Jayden replied. He smiled at Dana and said, “The longer he stays the better my chances to rob him afterwards.”
“Focus on the metal,” Thume said as the elf won the bid for the crown fragment. He grabbed Jayden’s arm and shook hard. “Look, there it is!”
“Our next item is a half ounce of pure uram,” the auctioneer said as his staff brought a velvet pillow with the metal resting on it. “It’s being sold by the dwarf corporation Smash N Grab, which is currently undergoing bankruptcy and liquidating their assets.”
Thume’s jaw dropped. “That’s one of the ten biggest dwarf corporations. Five hundred years in business and hundreds of employees, gone. Never thought I’d see them fall.”
“A word of caution to buyers, the amount of uram for sale is not sufficient to produce a magic weapon,” the auctioneer continued.
“Wait, what?” Dana asked.
“Ignore him,” Thume said. “Your chimera horn will cover the deficit.”
An elf started the bidding, and was soon followed by many more. Thirty, forty, fifty, it seemed like half the people there wanted that thin sliver of metal. Jayden didn’t seem to pay any attention to them until he raised his card and said, “One hundred gold coins.”
His bid was met with chuckles from across the room. The auctioneer said, “Sir, the next highest bid is fifty-five.”
“And I’m bidding a hundred. This experience was novel for the first three hours. Now it bores me. If a hundred gold coins makes it stop then it’s money well spent.”
The auctioneer gave only a slight smile while others laughed at Jayden. “Ladies and gentlemen, the bid now stands at one hundred gold coins. Do I hear one hundred five?”
“One hundred five,” Imuran said. Three more bids came until Imuran said, “One twenty five.”
“One hundred fifty,” Jayden said.
Imuran glared at him. “One sixty.”
“I thought this was worth a hundred,” Dana said. “What’s going on?”
“You were wondering why he didn’t leave earlier,” Jayden said. “Imuran had to be curious what we came here for. Now that he knows, he’s trying to make sure we don’t get it. One hundred seventy-five.”
A murmur filled the room as the audience watched Imuran and Jayden, their battle fought with gold instead of steel and spells. Again and again the price went up, Imuran’s by small increments and Jayden’s by large ones. Soon they were the only ones competing for the tiny sliver of metal. It was soon going for two hundred gold coins and wasn’t stopping.
“How much did you bring, Thume?” Jayden whispered.
Thume opened the locked box he’d brought. “One hundred. I can’t lose this opportunity. Spend it all if you have to.”
“Two fifty,” Imuran said. He saw Jayden hesitate and smirked, which ended when Jayden drove the price even higher. Imuran scowled and said, “Three hundred.”
“I’m out,” Jayden said.
“Keep bidding,” Dana whispered. Jayden glanced at her and she tapped the bag she’d brought. “We can go a lot higher.”
“Do you have a counter bid, sir?” the auctioneer asked.
“Four hundred,” Jayden said. Imuran raised the bid by ten coins. Jayden responded, “Four fifty. I can keep this up longer than you can, lapdog, and I don’t have an angry monarch to explain the bill to.”
Imuran looked furious, but his rage turned into a look of glee. “At least I have money to match my ambition. You don’t have that much gold.”
Staff members and the patrons alike gasped. The auctioneer pounded his mallet to gain their attention. “Sir, while you are a newcomer to this establishment, there are rules and expectations of guests. You insulted another man’s honor.”
“He has no honor,” Imuran replied, drawing more gasps from onlookers. “I saw this man and his retinue before you provided them rooms. If the sorcerer lord had as much gold as he claims, they would have struggled under the weight. Instead they walked quite easily and their bags were nearly empty. This is a deception from a man who betrayed his own kingdom.”
The auctioneer needed a moment to compose himself before speaking again. “I see. Sorcerer lord, an accusation has been made against you. Would you consent to having your funds inspected?”
Jayden held up his hands. “I have nothing to hide.”
Armed guards escorted two gnomes wearing tuxedoes to where Jayden was seated. The black haired gnomes barely came up to Dana’s waist. They spread a cloth on the floor and said. “Place all currency you’re carrying here.”
Jayden and Thume went first, and Dana followed by placing her bag. The gnomes went through the cash quickly and stacked coins in glittering piles. Bystanders watched and whispered while the gnomes double-checked their work. When they were done, they stood up and announced, “There are sufficient funds to cover the bid.”
“Very well then,” the auctioneer said. “Sorcerer lord, I apologize for this intrusion into your privacy and hope you will take no insult.”
The auctioneer turned his attention to Imuran. “Sir, you are hereby banished from Brastile Auction House for life. Your successful bid will be honored, but after paying for it you are to leave at once. I will be sending a very strongly worded letter to your king and queen expressing my displeasure at your behavior.”
Imuran pointed at the uram. “I’m not finished bidding on the metal.”
“Oh yes you are.” The auctioneer’s voice was harsh for being so soft. “Guards, escort him out. The bid stands at four fifty. Do I hear four fifty-five? No? Going, going, gone.”
More items came up for bid, but Jayden stood up and led his friends from the room. “Dana, I’m curious how much trouble the money your brought is going to get us into.”
“Oh, lots.”
Their discussion was interrupted by shouts from the guest rooms. Thume frowned and said, “That sounds like Imuran.”
“This is an outrage!”
“That’s him,” Jayden confirmed. He followed the screams to find Imuran and his guards confronted by ten stern looking guards. The noise soon brought the auctioneer, who slipped around a growing crowd of onlookers. Jayden stayed back and watched Imuran scream at the guards.
“What’s the meaning of this disruption?” the auctioneer demanded. “I still have three items left.”
A guard said, “Sir, we came to deliver the painting and learned this person has no money.”
“I was robbed!” Imuran yelled.
More people hurried over to see what was happening. The auctioneer raised his hands and his voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, please, allow us to deal with this.”
“I left my money in your guest room, assuming it would be safe,” Imuran said. “I came back to find every coin gone!”
Thume chuckled before whispering to Dana, “You’re a conniving, thieving, backstabbing little slip of a girl. I’m glad we met.”
Imuran grabbed his slave by the arm and dragged him out. “You were in there the whole time. Who took my money?”
The auctioneer waved for his guards to bring the boy over and then placed an amulet against the boy’s forehead. “This amulet will burn like a hot iron if you lie to me. Where is your master’s money?”
“It’s not his money, it belongs to the king and queen,” the boy replied. “He was issued it to buy a painting. I don’t know where the gold is now.”
Imuran saw Jayden and pointed at him. “You! You stole it!”
The boy looked at Jayden, his expression betraying nothing. “I’ve never seen that man before. He was never in the room.”
“Then the dwarf did it!” Imuran shouted. “He did it or you did!”
“I’ve never seen the dwarf before. He was never in the room.” Unprompted, he said, “I saw my master place a chest under the bed and a key under the mattress. I didn’t touch either of them. I never left the room and I didn’t fall asleep.”
“Then who took the money?” the auctioneer asked.
The boy met the auctioneer’s gaze and said, “No man has entered the room except my master and his guards.”
Dana marveled at the boy’s quick wits. Every word he said was true, yet he managed to hide her stealing Imuran’s money. No one seemed to notice that he hadn’t actually answered the last question put to him, instead using the chance to redirect suspicion on his master.
“He, he’s lying,” Imuran said.
“He would be burned to the bone if he did,” the auctioneer replied. He took the amulet off the boy, but then looked at Jayden.
Jayden marched over and held out his hand. “Place your amulet against my palm. I don’t know spells that could cloud the boy’s mind, render me invisible or teleport the money away. I didn’t ask, order, pay, bribe or threaten anyone to steal it. Does this satisfy your suspicions?”
“It does, sir, and thank you for your cooperation.” The auctioneer turned his attention and fury on Imuran. “You made a mockery of this establishment twice, insults I wouldn’t tolerate on my best day. Guards, remove him from the premises and place the painting back on the auction block.”
Imuran grabbed the auctioneer by the shoulders. “I can’t go back without it! Let me go to my country’s embassy and I can get you the money by morning!”
Guards dragged Imuran away. He left howling insults while his guards meekly followed. The auctioneer looked at the boy, who said, “I’d rather not go with him, sir.”
“I imagine not.” The auctioneer took a knife from one of his guards and said, “Stand still. Removing your collar won’t take a moment…there we go.”
Jayden, Dana and Thume waited as the auctioneer, guards and guests left. Once they were alone, Jayden asked Dana, “Do we have this young man to thank for our riches?”
“He told me where to find the box and key.” Dana smiled at the boy and said, “You’re a clever kid. We’re just lucky Imuran didn’t ask you if I took the money.”
“Imuran would never suspect you,” the boy said. “He thinks girls are for cooking and making babies.”
Dana paused. “Wow. I didn’t think I could hate him more. But why didn’t the amulet burn you when you said you didn’t know where Imuran’s money is?”
The boy shrugged. “How would I know where you put it?”
“How much was in there?” Thume asked.
The boy rubbed his neck where the collar had been. “Seven hundred gold coins. He was instructed to bring back the painting at all costs and anything else that looked worthy. I don’t know what’s going to happen to him, but if he’s smart he’ll run away. A master running away instead of a slave, I like that.”
The dwarf grinned. “That covers the bid and then some.”
“I don’t impress easily, but you showed courage and ingenuity,” Jayden told the boy. He put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You have a place with me if you want it.”
The boy considered the offer for a moment before shaking his head. “You mean well, but I’ve lived all my life following other men’s orders. I’d like to be my own man for a change and make my own decisions.”
“A fair request.” Jayden smiled and added, “As you are on your own now and have no family to depend on, you’ll need some means of support. I have a considerable amount of your former master’s money left over.”
Thume rolled his eyes. “We’re not giving him the whole—”
Screams from outside ended their conversation. Jayden led his friends out into the growing darkness of twilight to find Imuran and his guards driving their two carriages, almost running over people in their way. Guests and guards from the auction house ran out as the carriages slowed to a crawl.
Imuran drove the lead carriage and pointed a sword at Jayden. “If I can’t have the painting, I’ll bring back your head!”
Imuran and his men banged on the roofs of the carriages, producing loud clunks and bangs before the doors opened to reveal four gargoyles within each carriage. The stone monsters were as big as men, with large wings, sharp claws, whip-like tails and oversized jaws filled with sharp teeth. The grinning monsters flapped their wings and took off despite their great weight.
Imuran pointed to the gargoyles and yelled, “Kill the sorcerer!”
“How bad is this?” Dana asked Jayden as she backed up.
“Gargoyles are animated stone statues, strong, fast, hard to hurt and blindly loyal to their leader, even a man as petty as Imuran.” Jayden cast a spell and formed a black sword edged with white. “Everyone back inside!”
Screaming people fled in all directions, some going into the auction house as instructed while others ran off into the night. Jayden covered their retreat as gargoyles swooped down on him. One missed clawing his head by inches while a second rammed him and knocked him to the ground. Jayden recovered quickly, dodging another gargoyle that tried to land on his head. Imuran and his guards climbed off their wagons to join the fight, a pointless move when gargoyles were so thick around Jayden that the men couldn’t get close.
The auction houses’ guards fought back bravely but to no effect. A crossbow bolt shattered against a gargoyle’s chest. A guard hit a gargoyle in the leg with his sword, only for the tip of the blade to break off. Gargoyles laughed a deep, rumbling, contemptuous sound as attacks bounced off them. Ordinary weapons couldn’t damage stone.
Magic was another story. Jayden slashed a gargoyle across the face, taking off its sneer and jaw at the same time. The gargoyle seemed puzzled by the sudden loss, even looking down at the jaw now on the street in front of it. That ended when Jayden drove his sword through its chest and pulled the blade up, splitting it in two. The gargoyle crumbled apart, even the parts Jayden hadn’t hit, and littered the ground with gravel. The other seven gargoyles took to the air and circled Jayden. He backed up against a wall and kept his sword in front of him while the gargoyles looked for an opening.
One down and seven to go wasn’t good odds, but there wasn’t much Dana could do to help. She and Jayden had started this adventure to get a magic weapon that could hurt monsters like this. The knife she carried would be as useless as the guards’ weapons.
Well, it was useless against gargoyles.
“Kill him!” Imuran yelled again while his gargoyles swept in closer, trying to bait Jayden into attacking one and leaving himself open to the rest. One gargoyle dove like a hawk and tried to crush Jayden with its great weight. Jayden jumped aside and took only a glancing blow. He swung his sword, hacking off his enemy’s leg at the knee. The damaged gargoyle shook its fist at Jayden and flew back up. He barely had time to recover before two more attacked from opposite sides. It was all he could do to avoid them.
Dana ran around the gargoyles. She didn’t get far before running into one of Imuran’s guards. For a moment the guard stood menacingly before he shoved her aside. “Out of the way, girl.”
Imuran thought little of women, a flaw his men shared as they ignored her in favor of fighting the more obvious threat. Dana took advantage of this and raced past the men, then came up behind Imuran and charged him from behind. She wrapped her arms around Imuran’s neck and squeezed. Imuran struggled to break free. He tried to talk and made a gurgling noise instead.
Dana had attacked Imuran because he was one of the few enemies she could actually hurt, but she had more impact than she’d hoped for. The gargoyle flock ceased their attacks on Jayden and instead watched Imuran. One cupped a hand to its ear while others shrugged or frowned. It took Dana a moment to figure out what was going on.
“They think he’s giving orders!” she shouted. “They do what he says, and he’s not saying anything!”
“Dana, run!” Jayden shouted as he raced to her side. Imuran’s two guards would reach her first. She waited as long as she dared before letting go of Imuran and taking cover beneath one of the carriages.
Imuran gasped before he croaked out the words, “You fools, kill the sorcerer.”
Now that they could understand what Imuran was saying, the gargoyles charged Jayden again. One tried to sweep his feet out from under him with a swing of its tail, but Jayden jumped over it. He landed and dropped to his knees as a gargoyle swooped over his head. He stabbed it with his sword and took off its right wing, causing the gargoyle to spin out of control and crash into the carriage Dana wasn’t hiding under. The blow was hard enough to tip the wagon over and break the gargoyle in half. Terrified horses harnessed to the wagon panicked and broke free of their harnesses before fleeing into the night.
Two gargoyles flew just above the street and grabbed Jayden by the arms. They flapped hard and began to gain altitude when Thume ran over and swung his hammer into a gargoyle’s back. The blow took off its head and left the body to crumble. Another swing took off the other gargoyle’s right arm. The dwarf followed that up with three more swings that dismembered the gargoyle in short order. Men and gargoyles stared at him in shock.
Thume struck his right hand against his chest. “I’m a dwarf, you idiots! I know stone, and I’m not losing my chance at redemption! Who’s next?”
The last four gargoyles charged together. Imuran pulled at his hair and screamed, “You idiots, what are you doing?”
Jayden got to his feet as the gargoyles tried to mob him and Thume. The sorcerer lord gutted a gargoyle when it tried to claw him, and followed up by cutting off the next one’s head. Thume broke his hammer against a gargoyle, shattering it like glass. The last one managed to knock Jayden to the ground and leapt on top of him. It swung its clawed hands for a killing blow when Jayden drove his sword through its chest. Gravel from its body fell so heavily that Thume had to clear it off Jayden before helping the man up.
Imuran stammered before shouting, “Why the devil did they go right at him after they saw the others get cut apart?”
Jayden dusted himself off. “You ordered them to attack me, and gargoyles are loyal to a fault. You share that flaw with them in your blind devotion to a king and queen more interested in their vanity than the wellbeing of their people.”
Guards ran out from the auction house with drawn swords and loaded crossbows. They’d been helpless against the gargoyles, but their weapons could make short work of Imuran and his men. Imuran climbed onto his remaining carriage and left his men behind. He snapped the reins and shouted, “You haven’t heard the last of me!”
The four gray mares took off like a shot. The carriage did not. Imuran’s jaw dropped and he watched his horses run off into the night.
“Dana,” Jayden asked, “did you by any chance cut the harnesses loose on those horse?”
Dana climbed out from under the carriage and sheathed her knife. “Looks like I’m good for more than cooking and having kids.”
“I never thought otherwise.”
“I, I,” Imuran stammered. Guards seized him and his two men and tied them up. Moments later the auctioneer marched outside with more guards. He studied the street with its destroyed gargoyles and carriage. He snapped his fingers, and his men dragged Imuran and his men away.
The auctioneer followed them and let rage fill his voice. “Imuran, your rank is no protection here, nor your connection to a foreign ruler. You fools are looking at decades of forced labor or worse.”
Dana was about to join Jayden when she felt a soft bump against her foot. She looked down to find a stone the size of a hen’s egg bump against her again before skidding off down the street. Other small stones made similar exits.
“Those are earth elementals,” Thume said. “They were fused into statues to make the gargoyles we fought. With the statues broken they’re free to do as they please.”
Jayden let his magic sword fade away and rubbed his bruised body. “A good if painful end to the evening.”
“End nothing.” Thume lowered his hammer. “I owe you a sword. Once we get back to Despre I’ll need a week’s work to finish the blade and all the magic you can muster to make it the weapon it’s meant to be.”
Dana smiled at them. “So I finally get a sword?”
“Soon,” Jayden told her. He paused and asked her, “Have you trained with a sword?”
“No, but how hard can it be?”
Jayden shrugged. “There may be a delay between finishing your weapon and you using it. Most swordsmen need months to become competent. Don’t give me that look, young lady.”
Midnight Riders part 1
This is the first part of Midnight Riders.
*********
“Are they gone yet?” Dana asked.
Jayden glanced out the barn’s only window. “If anything, there are even more soldiers than before.”
The barn had seemed a good place to spend the night. Dry, clean, empty after its animals had been confiscated to feed the army, it had been the perfect home for a wanted criminal and his, sidekick? Partner? Dana wasn’t sure exactly how she was supposed to describe herself after following Jayden for over a year. Maybe follower worked, but that made it sound like he was her master, and that really didn’t describe their relationship.
Morning found their campsite a prison when they woke to hundreds of soldiers marching down the road. The men stopped by the farm to refill their canteens at a well. The farmer watched them, more bored than scared, as he had nothing left they could take. Soldiers marched down the road, only to be replaced by still more soldiers.
“Where are they going?” Dana asked. The barn was far enough from the road that the soldiers wouldn’t hear her unless she shouted.
“Zentrix,” Jayden said. He still wore heavy winter clothes over his black and silver uniform, and was busy studying one of the spell tablets she’d found for him. “I fear Lootmore and his people are going to face the worst of the king and queen’s fury this summer.”
“Do you think they’re ready for it?”
“No. They will fight competently and courageously, and they will fall in spite of their valor. They lack the manpower to match the forces against them.”
He set the granite spell tablet aside and got up to stretch his arms. “For that to happen there has to be a battle, and I aim to prevent it. There is an old saying that amateurs study tactics and professionals study logistics. Food, medicine, draft animals, tents, warm clothes, these are essential to an army’s survival just as much as armor and weapons. Too many commanders ignore the essentials of life, assuming they can seize what they need from conquered territory.”
Jayden turned to her and waved in the direction of the soldiers. “If they run out of food weeks before the fighting starts, if they don’t have horses and oxen to pull their wagons, if medicine for common illnesses all armies face doesn’t arrive, they fail before the first sword is drawn. That’s one of the reasons we’ve come here.”
Curious, she asked, “What’s the other reason?”
“In the past, you’ve pointed out that I would have an easier time defeating the plans of the king and queen if I had more help. I can’t deny the point, especially after all you’ve done for me, but finding men willing and able to assist me is no easy task. Few would take on an army, even snapping at one’s heels as we are, and fewer still for the paltry rewards that have come our way.”
Dana put her hands on her hips. “Paltry? We’ve both got magic swords.”
Jayden chuckled. “You have no idea how much fighting men charge. Even the magic and riches we have secured would not be enough to interest most capable warriors, nor keep them long if they did come. Thanks to Clevner, I have a lead on men either bold or desperate enough to work with us.”
“Clevner wasn’t exactly the trustworthy type. He might have recommended someone as dirty as he is.”
“You make a fair point, for the men we seek could easily be enemies. Clevner spoke of a group called the Midnight Riders. Details on them are sketchy, but tales tell of a large body of horsemen dressed in black who attack army storehouses, seizing fortunes in goods before disappearing into the night. They say nothing as they load their packs and saddlebags with food, oil, candles and other goods. They only attack unguarded targets and inflict only minor injuries on the men watching the storehouses.”
“It sounds like Lootmore’s doing,” Dana said. Then she frowned. “Wait, he doesn’t have that many men, and the last time we saw him he was stealing armor. Food and candles aren’t important enough for him.”
“I thought the same thing myself. Still, they’re not your run of the mill thieves or bandits, either, or else they would rob less risky targets such as farmhouses. I believe they are either foreign agents or revolutionaries. I wish to meet them and judge the quality of their character. If they are worthy men, there is the possibility of an alliance. If they are villains and rogues, I need to stop them before they hurt people I actually like.”
Jayden looked out the window and scowled. “We aren’t far from the last reported attack by the Midnight Riders, but with so many soldiers outside we might as well be on the moon. Even looking at them disgusts me. So many following orders with unthinking obedience, attacking a nation we’ve never been at war with and have no reason to fight. I wonder what excuses they use to justify bringing horror and suffering to a neighboring land.”
Jayden’s expression changed from disgust to curiosity, and he waved for Dana to join him at the window. “Our mission is more dire than I’d feared. Look.”
Dana came over and peered out the window to see armored men carrying bright banners coming up the road. There were only a few dozen of them, but soldiers pointed and stared, some even calling out to their officers.
“I’ve never seen soldiers or mercenaries like them before,” Dana said.
“They’re neither one nor the other. Cimmox the necromancer claimed the king and queen had cast a wide net for allies, gathering up the despicable and vulgar from other lands. I see he told the truth. Those banners proclaim these men to be gladiators from Battle Island. Gladiators kill daily for pay, and they are skilled and brutal in equal measure.”
“At least there aren’t many of them.”
“That handful is worth five times their number in ordinary soldiers. If they get their hands on magic weapons and armor, they’d be worth ten times as many. Pray the king and queen are too distrustful or stingy to properly arm them.”
Army officers met the gladiators and showed them which road to take. The gladiators showed little obedience and no respect in return, but they marched on with the rest of the army. Jayden and Dana watched for three hours until the soldiers were gone.
“We must assume the rest of Cimmox’s claims were not idle boasting,” Jayden told her. “That makes every hour wasted a serious loss. We must find the Midnight Riders before they are killed or leave for safer hunting grounds.”
Dana and Jayden left the barn and kept to backways and cow paths far from any major road. This slowed them down since such routes were rarely straight and never properly maintained, but they were safe from discovery by soldiers and mercenaries. They traveled through pastures and forests, rarely seeing people.
Two days traveling brought them to a small city not far from the border with Zentrix. From a distance the city looked peaceful enough, its buildings in good repair and the citizens well dresses and healthy. A river ran along the south side of the city and had considerable boat traffic. Dana spotted soldiers, but not nearly as many as she’d expected.
“Welcome to Trenton Town, so named for its founder, Erving Trenton,” Jayden declared.
Dana saw people enter and leave the city unchallenged. “Where are all the guards?”
“They were likely absorbed into the army when it passed through,” Jayden replied. “Only a minimal force was left behind to maintain order. I am sorely tempted to work mischief here, but finding the Midnight Riders takes precedence.”
“How do we find these guys when the authorities can’t?” Dana asked. “I don’t think your magic detection spell is going to help, because it sounds like they don’t use magic.”
“Given their success rate they might, but it’s more likely they’re simply careful planners. Finding them won’t be easy. My intensions are to question the locals. Buying a few rounds of drinks does wonders to improve men’s moods. If I’m right, someone in this city knows who the Midnight Riders are and where to find them.”
Dana gave him a disbelieving look. “You’re a wanted criminal. Who’s going to drink with you?”
“I’ve found a shocking number of people are happy to do so. The king and queen have gone to considerable lengths to upset their subjects in most provinces and cities. High taxes, confiscating goods and conscripting citizens into the army doesn’t make friends. We just have to be careful about which bars to patronize.”
“You have contacts who either like you or are terrified of you in some of the places we visit,” Dana pointed out. “Is there anyone here who could help us?”
“Not this time. I was here years ago and made friends with a family of blacksmiths. I helped them escape the kingdom when the king and queen ordered them brought to Armorston and put to work producing weapons. With their departure there is no one here I know and trust.”
Unlike some cities they’d visited, Trenton Town lacked a city wall, and they were able to enter the outskirts of the city without drawing much attention. Jayden still wore his winter cloak over his black and silver clothes, including a hood over his messy hair. This meant the few people to pay them any attention gave at most a passing glance.
“Getting kind of warm for clothes that thick,” an older man said to Jayden.
“If you have summer weight clothes to spare or money to buy them, I would be most appreciative,” Jayden replied.
The old man chuckled. “I have no surplus of clothes or coins, and no hope of that changing. Sympathy is all I can share with you. Stranger, a word of warning.”
Jayden stopped. “Yes?”
The old man nodded at Dana. “Take your girl out to the countryside and leave her there. We’ve had soldiers, mercenaries and now gladiators coming through the city like a parade. Most are louts, and some no different than monsters. I wouldn’t want to see what happens if they saw a young lady.”
“Your warning is much appreciated. My niece and I won’t stay longer than we must.”
Once they were far enough away to avoid being overheard, Dana said, “If that’s how they’re acting in a city, heaven help girls living on farms they pass through. Jayden, if these men are as bad as he says, they’re going to drive honest men to rebel.”
“They might, but mercenaries and gladiators would make short work of farmers and shopkeepers.”
“I thought the mercenaries revolted and ran off.” Dana and Jayden had helped mercenaries from Skitherin Kingdom learn that girls from their homeland were being sold in Meadowland Kingdom. The knowledge had enraged them to the point of rebelling against their employers and fleeing with the freed slaves.
“Mercenaries from Skitherin Kingdom rebelled, removing thousands of men from the king and queen’s armies, but I doubt the royal couple hired men only from that blighted kingdom. Men hired from other lands would have no reason to be upset by Skitherin women and children being sold as slaves. They might even buy some.”
The city streets were slowly coming to life as more people left their homes. Normally this happened at dawn, but it was nearly noon. Had they stayed indoors to avoid the armed men who’d recently traveled through their city? That fit with the older man’s warning. Men gave them suspicious glances when they saw both Dana and Jayden carried swords.
“Who are you with?” a woman demanded.
“No one save ourselves,” Jayden answered.
“Then why are you armed?”
Dana said, “We’ve been traveling between cities. Not all the roads are safe.”
The woman relaxed. “I can believe that. Just, keep those blades out of sight. They make folks nervous.”
Finding a bar was easy. The city was lousy with them, small places that were only now hanging up signs with tankards painted on them. Jayden went in one with a few tables already crowded with customers, and the bartender said, “Outsiders pay upfront.”
“Fair enough,” he replied, and placed a copper coin on a table. He chatted with the bartender and customers while Dana kept watch at the door.
“Your girl is being mighty skittish,” the bartender noted.
Jayden sipped his drink. “You’ll have to forgive her concern, but one of your fellow citizens gave her a fright. He said she would be in danger if mercenaries saw her.”
A man near Jayden downed his drink in one gulp. “He was right, and she’s right to listen to him. Used to be a fellow was safe if he didn’t do anything stupid, like walk the streets at night. Then it got so a guy needed friends and neighbors to back him up in broad daylight when bullyboys in uniforms swaggered about. Now a man’s not safe even if he’s got a sword and twenty men behind him.”
“Here we go again,” another man grumbled.
“Don’t you give me that!” the first man yelled. “You saw what happened to the food stalls yesterday. Every one of them was emptied out with nothing to show for it but IOUs. Have any of you ever seen one of those slips of paper honored? I’ve got four of them, and I’ll fly before I get the gold they promise!”
“We’re all hurting,” the second man replied. “The rest of us don’t keep talking about it.”
“Easy for you to say,” the first man retorted. “Nobody robs quarriers. All you have is rocks.”
“I’ve got IOUs for the pay I was supposed to get,” retorted the quarrier. “I’ve been living off my savings since last year.”
“Gentlemen,” Jayden began, “we all suffer. I was hoping one of you might know where I could purchase supplies such as cooking oil. I know many who could use it.”
“There’s barely enough to go around here, and less every day,” the first man told him.
Dana kept her eyes on the street. “I’ve heard lots gets stolen at night.”
“Not from us it doesn’t,” the barkeeper replied. “Thieves take from those who have.”
The conversation went on for a while as men repeated tales of woe. Jayden visited three more bars and made inquires on where he could get common goods, or what should be common, and who could provide them. Each time the answer was the same. Few men had anything, and those who did were rapidly running out. He bought drinks for men whose clothing was threadbare and money pouches were empty, earning a little goodwill, but the answers stayed the same.
Jayden and Dana stopped that evening and got a small but filling meal from a man pushing a cart loaded with food. Most of the stores or stalls were empty. The few selling goods were either mobile like the food seller’s cart or easily concealed like the neighborhood bars that could take down any proof of their profession in a matter of minutes.
“These people look like they’ve got experience hiding their stuff,” Dana said after they’d left the cart.
“The soldiers and mercenaries we saw heading toward Zentrix were likely not the first. I imagine earlier groups failed to pay for what they took. This could make our search harder. If the Midnight Riders are nearby, these people have no reason to betray them and every reason to hide them.”
“What for? They don’t benefit if government storehouses get robbed. They might even get in trouble. Hungry soldiers could clean them out if they can’t get food from the army.”
Jayden studied the emptying streets. “You might be surprised how much support the Midnight Riders get. The goods they steal are low value. If they want to turn those goods into coins, residents of Trenton Town would be only too happy to pay for them.”
Dana’s attention was drawn to shouting by the river. She saw a large barge bump into smaller ones, as if its crew could barely control it. Men on other barges shouted insults and obscenities as the larger barge muscled its way through. “That barge is low in the water, and there’s a tarp over it. What could it be carrying that’s so heavy it could sink a boat that big?”
“I see Cimmox was being honest in all his threats. Do you see the symbols carved onto the side of the barge? GW, Golem Works. It’s a dwarf corporation that specializes in producing golems.”
Dana’s heart sank. “They brought a replacement for Wall Wolf?”
“Wall Wolf was so large it would have sunk that barge outright if someone was foolish enough to load so heavy a cargo. More likely they’re bringing a stone golem. They are smaller and lighter than Wall Wolf, if only slightly, and nearly as dangerous.”
The Golem Works barge moored itself to a dock in the city, and armed dwarfs took up guard positions around it. Any man who came too close was told to leave, and threatened with spears if they argued with the stocky dwarfs. Clearly, they weren’t going to risk losing their property.
“I imagine the stone golem will join the army heading for Zentrix,” Jayden said.
“You could burn the barge,” Dana suggested.
“Appealing, but no. My fireball spell would do little to no damage to the golem. At best I would cost them the barge, a replaceable commodity.”
Dana whistled. “Soldiers, mercenaries, gladiators, a golem, they’re not taking chances.”
“The king and queen seek to win with overwhelming force and then move on to their next target. This war could be over and Zentrix made a province in Meadowland Kingdom before autumn. We’re going to have to find or manufacture a miracle to prevent that from happening.”
“We need a place to spend the night.” The sun was going down, producing a gorgeous sunset that Dana would normally love to watch, but darkness was coming. One of the men at the bar said it wasn’t safe to travel at night. Did that mean there were thieves? Monsters? Ghosts?
“I saw an inn earlier in the day.” Jayden led the way through the city as shadows stretched across the streets. Dana kept a close eye on their surroundings, worried that they’d run into an ambush. She saw people hurry into their houses, followed by loud clunks as they barred their doors.
Strangely, some people opened their doors as night fell. Men hung temporary signs from their doorframes and set out tables. Goods offered included drinks, games of chance and meats Dana couldn’t identify. Were these people eating monsters?
“This is new and discouraging,” Jayden said as they walked by a stall selling huge feathers.
A woman at the stall shrugged. “A girl’s got to eat. Selling griffin feathers never hurt anyone besides the griffin.”
“My needs are more basic. Food, drink, oil and the like for myself and those I care for.”
The woman laughed. “You might find someone offering those, but you better be less squeamish about it than you are with me. Nothing for sale at night came here honestly.”
Jayden was questioning the woman when Dana heard squeaky wood wheels. She turned and saw wagons rolling into the city as if it was broad daylight. Men climbed down from the wagons and did brisk business with furtive citizens. “Who are they?”
The woman at the stall looked over and rolled her eyes. “Competition. They only come to Trenton Town when they’re sure they aren’t going to get their cargo commandeered by the army, the nobles, mercenaries or whatever flavor of official thieves are in the neighborhood.”
Shocked, Dana asked, “Your mayor allows this?”
“As if he could stop armed men from taking everything they lay their hands on,” the woman said with a smirk. “He sends his staff to buy from smugglers the same as the rest of us. See those old ladies with wheelbarrows? They’re on his payroll.”
Dana watched men sell food, livestock, cloth, firewood and construction timbers. At first, she couldn’t figure out why these people felt the need to come at night. These were legitimate goods and couldn’t all be stolen. That meant they were scared of being robbed. The army must have done a lot of looting to generate this much fear.
Then she saw him, a man she knew too well selling armfuls of candles to eager customers. “Problem.”
Jayden looked over from the woman selling griffin feathers. “What is it?”
Dana pointed in the rapidly dying light. “Look.”
“Who are you pointing at?” Jayden squinted and then raised an eyebrow. “It can’t be.”
“What’s this about?” the woman asked.
Jayden slapped a gold coin on her table. “For your time and honesty. Come on, Dana. Let’s go meet our friend.”
Dana’s fear vanished, replaced with a near murderous loathing. She kept her sword sheathed but gripped the hilt tightly. Jayden had a hand on his own sword as they jogged after their target. A few disreputable looking men saw them and hurried out of their way.
They reached the collection of wagons as the last of them sold off their goods. Business had been brisk, but it also appeared that none of them had brought much cargo to avoid losing too much if they’d been caught. The men were climbing back into their wagons, some of them already leaving town, when Jayden burst into a run and leapt onto a wagon.
“Hey, what’s going on?” one of the men demanded.
“Tell them we’re friends, or I tell them the truth,” Jayden whispered.
Jeremy Galfont the graverobber kept his eyes on Jayden. “It’s all right, lads. Him and me know each other.”
Jayden was close enough to spit on the man, which Dana would have done in his place. “Yes, we go back quite some time, don’t we? Almost a year.”
“Rather surprised you recognized me,” Galfont said. There was a big difference in his appearance since Dana had last seen the man. Back then he’d barely escaped horrifying monsters released from the Valivaxis, a magic gateway to the tombs of ancient elf emperors. He’d been dressed in rags, his hair long and ragged, and there had been shackles on his wrists.
Life must have been good to the graverobber (no doubt at someone else’s expense), for his clothes were finely tailored leather and his hair neatly trimmed. He drove a wagon showing no sign of wear, and the horses pulling it were young and strong. Dana didn’t consider herself a vengeful person, but seeing this repulsive man so prosperous made her blood boil.
“I believe we parted on good terms last time we met,” Galfont said.
“Indeed we did,” Jayden replied. “The passage of time has clearly been good to you.”
“That’s a tale best told in private.” Galfont’s eyes drifted to bystanders watching them.
Jayden helped Dana onto the wagon. “By all means. We’ll be glad to join you.”
Much to Dana’s surprise, Galfont didn’t panic. He drove his wagon to a small house not far from the city.
“It’s not much, but it meets my needs,” Galfont said as he tied up his horses outside the house.
“This is an interesting change for you,” Jayden replied. “Graverobber to smuggler? Thief?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
Dana jumped off the wagon and held up a lone candle. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t find this in someone’s grave. Who did you take it from?”
“I don’t rob graves anymore,” Galfont protested. “I thought you’d approve that I’ve taken up a new line of work. You were certainly mad enough about my last one.”
Dana jabbed him in the chest with the candle. “You mean was I mad that you snuck into cemeteries, dug up dead bodies, looted them and pawned the jewelry those people were buried with? Leaving their families brokenhearted, and their friends and neighbors terrified that the same thing could happen to their parents and grandparents? Yes, I’m furious!”
Galfont stared at her for a moment before asking Jayden, “So, did you find that Vali-whatever it was?”
“Found, sealed, disposed of. Galfont, you were useful to me once, and there’s a chance you could be useful again.”
“I’d really rather not.”
“That statement implies you have a choice in the matter. I’m looking for some exceedingly dangerous men who have been known to operate in this area. They use the name Midnight Riders.”
“It rings a bell,” Galfont admitted.
Jayden waved his hand at the darkened city behind them. “The good people of Trenton Town knew little to nothing about them. I think that’s because they are good people, not likely to associate with men who’d break into army storehouses. You, on the other hand, are not exactly good.”
Galfont said nothing. Jayden continue speaking.
“We saw you selling goods those people needed badly, so I am moderately grateful, except I wonder where you could have gotten your cargo. I think you stole what you were selling. The Midnight Riders also steal goods in this region. I imagine you’d rather not have competition, or have to deal with the armed response the king and queen are certain to send to deal with their depredations. You should be only too happy to tell me everything you know about them, in return for a generous reward if the information is accurate, and a terrible punishment if it’s not.”
Galfont looked down. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Jayden leaned in close. “Try me.”
Galfont took a deep breath and said, “I’m the Midnight Riders.”
Dana dropped the candle she was holding. “Wait, what?”
“I am the Midnight Riders. There isn’t a bunch of men stealing. It’s just me.”
Jayden stared at him. “I’ve had several drinks today. I believe I need more.”
“That I can help you with,” Galfont said. He opened the door to the small house and ushered them in. The building’s interior was simple, with wood furniture and well stocked cabinets. Galfont brought out a bottle and cups, serving himself first before sitting at a table.
“Start your story at a point where it makes sense,” Jayden said.
“Ooh, that would be in my childhood, but I’m sure you’d prefer a later date than that.” Galfont drank deeply from his cup and refilled it. “After we last parted ways, I tried to go back to my old profession. I thought I’d be able to start right back up again as if nothing had happened.”
“Because that’s what people living here need, more despoiled graves,” Dana retorted.
“You need to stop feeding her raw meat,” Galfont told Jayden. “Anyway, it didn’t work. Taxes were so high and opportunities so few that people weren’t burying the dead with their jewelry. They were pawning it to buy food. The one time I got a solid lead on a silver ring, I found four other fellows trying to take it. I told them we could sell it and split the money, which I thought was a reasonable suggestion, when they all pulled out knives. By the time the fighting was over and bandages applied, we found there was no ring. Gravediggers had taken it before burying the body. There’s no honor anymore.”
Dana rolled her eyes. “There’s irony for you.”
Galfont scowled at her. “As I was saying, circumstances forced me to adopt a new career. In my wanderings I came across storehouses filled with goodies. Anything a man could want and more, just sitting there. I asked around and found this was meant for the army. Now me, I’m a pacifist. I never carry weapons even when I’m on a job.”
“You’re robbing the storehouses,” Jayden said.
“Robbing isn’t quite the right word,” Galfont told him. “I’ve come up with a better way. I steal from people who want to be robbed.”
“I must have done something to deserve this,” Dana moaned. “What was it?”
“I’m serious!” Galfont protested. “Storehouses with really nice things like arrows and spears, those get heavy guards. Storehouses with little things people need, boots, rations, lamps, sometimes they don’t get guards. Not enough men to go around, I’m told.”
“You’re told by who?” Jayden asked.
Galfont sipped his drink. “Clerks man those storehouses, keeping records on what comes and goes, cleaning up and so on. Those clerks are present whether there are guards or not. I figured out who these clerks were, chatted them up, spread some wealth and said, ‘Hey, you, let’s fake a robbery and split the money.’, which went over very well.”
Jayden perked up. “How does this work?”
“I figured there’s no market for armor, weapons or saddles around here. Boots, clothes, I leave those behind, too. If a fellow buys boots I stole from the army, there’s a good chance soldiers will see him and wonder where he got them. I told the clerks to tell me when they have things that can be used up. Food, cooking oil, candles, people need them, but they won’t keep them around for long. They eat it, burn it, use it and it’s gone, no evidence to get them in trouble. The demand is constant, so my customers always buy more.
“The clerks send word to me when they’ve got goods I want and there are no guards, and I show up late at night to load up my wagon. If there’s a lot I’ll come back a second time. The clerk tells the authorities about these mysterious black robed riders who robbed them. I rough the place up a bit, bash open the doors with a hammer and give the poor man a few bruises so it looks like he tried to fight back and lost, not his fault.”
Dana glared at Galfont. “I thought you were a pacifist.”
“It’s better than the clerk being suspected and hung! I sell the goods in cities like Trenton Town and give the clerk his share of the cash once the heat dies down. I’ve done it five times.”
“Astounding,” Jayden said. “This plan is so stupid it actually works. The biggest flaw is sooner or later the king and queen will post guards at all their storehouses, or set a trap at a storehouse loaded with goods you traditionally steal.”
“The thought had occurred,” Galfont said drily. “I’m already seeing more storehouses with permanent guard details. I think I’ll have to change professions again. I was planning on leaving for a less warlike home, but all the borders are closed. What’s a fellow to do?”
Jayden set his drink aside and smiled at Galfont. “You should get rich with one last robbery, with me as both partner and customer.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of this,” Galfont said.
“I’m sure I don’t,” Dana added.
“Contact the clerks looking after the storehouses,” Jayden told him. “I need a list of places with the kind of goods you don’t bother with. Weapons, armor, wagons and more. Come nightfall you will lead me to them, I shall destroy them and pay you well.”
Galfont stared at Jayden. “How well?”
“Two hundred gold coins if you lead me to at least three full storehouses, with payment made only after I’ve destroyed all three.”
Dana’s jaw dropped. “Do we have that much?”
“We do. And Galfont, as a bonus, you can take whatever you want before I burn the rest. Do we have a deal?”
Galfont refilled his cup and drank it in one long gulp. “Welcome aboard, partner!”
*********
“Are they gone yet?” Dana asked.
Jayden glanced out the barn’s only window. “If anything, there are even more soldiers than before.”
The barn had seemed a good place to spend the night. Dry, clean, empty after its animals had been confiscated to feed the army, it had been the perfect home for a wanted criminal and his, sidekick? Partner? Dana wasn’t sure exactly how she was supposed to describe herself after following Jayden for over a year. Maybe follower worked, but that made it sound like he was her master, and that really didn’t describe their relationship.
Morning found their campsite a prison when they woke to hundreds of soldiers marching down the road. The men stopped by the farm to refill their canteens at a well. The farmer watched them, more bored than scared, as he had nothing left they could take. Soldiers marched down the road, only to be replaced by still more soldiers.
“Where are they going?” Dana asked. The barn was far enough from the road that the soldiers wouldn’t hear her unless she shouted.
“Zentrix,” Jayden said. He still wore heavy winter clothes over his black and silver uniform, and was busy studying one of the spell tablets she’d found for him. “I fear Lootmore and his people are going to face the worst of the king and queen’s fury this summer.”
“Do you think they’re ready for it?”
“No. They will fight competently and courageously, and they will fall in spite of their valor. They lack the manpower to match the forces against them.”
He set the granite spell tablet aside and got up to stretch his arms. “For that to happen there has to be a battle, and I aim to prevent it. There is an old saying that amateurs study tactics and professionals study logistics. Food, medicine, draft animals, tents, warm clothes, these are essential to an army’s survival just as much as armor and weapons. Too many commanders ignore the essentials of life, assuming they can seize what they need from conquered territory.”
Jayden turned to her and waved in the direction of the soldiers. “If they run out of food weeks before the fighting starts, if they don’t have horses and oxen to pull their wagons, if medicine for common illnesses all armies face doesn’t arrive, they fail before the first sword is drawn. That’s one of the reasons we’ve come here.”
Curious, she asked, “What’s the other reason?”
“In the past, you’ve pointed out that I would have an easier time defeating the plans of the king and queen if I had more help. I can’t deny the point, especially after all you’ve done for me, but finding men willing and able to assist me is no easy task. Few would take on an army, even snapping at one’s heels as we are, and fewer still for the paltry rewards that have come our way.”
Dana put her hands on her hips. “Paltry? We’ve both got magic swords.”
Jayden chuckled. “You have no idea how much fighting men charge. Even the magic and riches we have secured would not be enough to interest most capable warriors, nor keep them long if they did come. Thanks to Clevner, I have a lead on men either bold or desperate enough to work with us.”
“Clevner wasn’t exactly the trustworthy type. He might have recommended someone as dirty as he is.”
“You make a fair point, for the men we seek could easily be enemies. Clevner spoke of a group called the Midnight Riders. Details on them are sketchy, but tales tell of a large body of horsemen dressed in black who attack army storehouses, seizing fortunes in goods before disappearing into the night. They say nothing as they load their packs and saddlebags with food, oil, candles and other goods. They only attack unguarded targets and inflict only minor injuries on the men watching the storehouses.”
“It sounds like Lootmore’s doing,” Dana said. Then she frowned. “Wait, he doesn’t have that many men, and the last time we saw him he was stealing armor. Food and candles aren’t important enough for him.”
“I thought the same thing myself. Still, they’re not your run of the mill thieves or bandits, either, or else they would rob less risky targets such as farmhouses. I believe they are either foreign agents or revolutionaries. I wish to meet them and judge the quality of their character. If they are worthy men, there is the possibility of an alliance. If they are villains and rogues, I need to stop them before they hurt people I actually like.”
Jayden looked out the window and scowled. “We aren’t far from the last reported attack by the Midnight Riders, but with so many soldiers outside we might as well be on the moon. Even looking at them disgusts me. So many following orders with unthinking obedience, attacking a nation we’ve never been at war with and have no reason to fight. I wonder what excuses they use to justify bringing horror and suffering to a neighboring land.”
Jayden’s expression changed from disgust to curiosity, and he waved for Dana to join him at the window. “Our mission is more dire than I’d feared. Look.”
Dana came over and peered out the window to see armored men carrying bright banners coming up the road. There were only a few dozen of them, but soldiers pointed and stared, some even calling out to their officers.
“I’ve never seen soldiers or mercenaries like them before,” Dana said.
“They’re neither one nor the other. Cimmox the necromancer claimed the king and queen had cast a wide net for allies, gathering up the despicable and vulgar from other lands. I see he told the truth. Those banners proclaim these men to be gladiators from Battle Island. Gladiators kill daily for pay, and they are skilled and brutal in equal measure.”
“At least there aren’t many of them.”
“That handful is worth five times their number in ordinary soldiers. If they get their hands on magic weapons and armor, they’d be worth ten times as many. Pray the king and queen are too distrustful or stingy to properly arm them.”
Army officers met the gladiators and showed them which road to take. The gladiators showed little obedience and no respect in return, but they marched on with the rest of the army. Jayden and Dana watched for three hours until the soldiers were gone.
“We must assume the rest of Cimmox’s claims were not idle boasting,” Jayden told her. “That makes every hour wasted a serious loss. We must find the Midnight Riders before they are killed or leave for safer hunting grounds.”
Dana and Jayden left the barn and kept to backways and cow paths far from any major road. This slowed them down since such routes were rarely straight and never properly maintained, but they were safe from discovery by soldiers and mercenaries. They traveled through pastures and forests, rarely seeing people.
Two days traveling brought them to a small city not far from the border with Zentrix. From a distance the city looked peaceful enough, its buildings in good repair and the citizens well dresses and healthy. A river ran along the south side of the city and had considerable boat traffic. Dana spotted soldiers, but not nearly as many as she’d expected.
“Welcome to Trenton Town, so named for its founder, Erving Trenton,” Jayden declared.
Dana saw people enter and leave the city unchallenged. “Where are all the guards?”
“They were likely absorbed into the army when it passed through,” Jayden replied. “Only a minimal force was left behind to maintain order. I am sorely tempted to work mischief here, but finding the Midnight Riders takes precedence.”
“How do we find these guys when the authorities can’t?” Dana asked. “I don’t think your magic detection spell is going to help, because it sounds like they don’t use magic.”
“Given their success rate they might, but it’s more likely they’re simply careful planners. Finding them won’t be easy. My intensions are to question the locals. Buying a few rounds of drinks does wonders to improve men’s moods. If I’m right, someone in this city knows who the Midnight Riders are and where to find them.”
Dana gave him a disbelieving look. “You’re a wanted criminal. Who’s going to drink with you?”
“I’ve found a shocking number of people are happy to do so. The king and queen have gone to considerable lengths to upset their subjects in most provinces and cities. High taxes, confiscating goods and conscripting citizens into the army doesn’t make friends. We just have to be careful about which bars to patronize.”
“You have contacts who either like you or are terrified of you in some of the places we visit,” Dana pointed out. “Is there anyone here who could help us?”
“Not this time. I was here years ago and made friends with a family of blacksmiths. I helped them escape the kingdom when the king and queen ordered them brought to Armorston and put to work producing weapons. With their departure there is no one here I know and trust.”
Unlike some cities they’d visited, Trenton Town lacked a city wall, and they were able to enter the outskirts of the city without drawing much attention. Jayden still wore his winter cloak over his black and silver clothes, including a hood over his messy hair. This meant the few people to pay them any attention gave at most a passing glance.
“Getting kind of warm for clothes that thick,” an older man said to Jayden.
“If you have summer weight clothes to spare or money to buy them, I would be most appreciative,” Jayden replied.
The old man chuckled. “I have no surplus of clothes or coins, and no hope of that changing. Sympathy is all I can share with you. Stranger, a word of warning.”
Jayden stopped. “Yes?”
The old man nodded at Dana. “Take your girl out to the countryside and leave her there. We’ve had soldiers, mercenaries and now gladiators coming through the city like a parade. Most are louts, and some no different than monsters. I wouldn’t want to see what happens if they saw a young lady.”
“Your warning is much appreciated. My niece and I won’t stay longer than we must.”
Once they were far enough away to avoid being overheard, Dana said, “If that’s how they’re acting in a city, heaven help girls living on farms they pass through. Jayden, if these men are as bad as he says, they’re going to drive honest men to rebel.”
“They might, but mercenaries and gladiators would make short work of farmers and shopkeepers.”
“I thought the mercenaries revolted and ran off.” Dana and Jayden had helped mercenaries from Skitherin Kingdom learn that girls from their homeland were being sold in Meadowland Kingdom. The knowledge had enraged them to the point of rebelling against their employers and fleeing with the freed slaves.
“Mercenaries from Skitherin Kingdom rebelled, removing thousands of men from the king and queen’s armies, but I doubt the royal couple hired men only from that blighted kingdom. Men hired from other lands would have no reason to be upset by Skitherin women and children being sold as slaves. They might even buy some.”
The city streets were slowly coming to life as more people left their homes. Normally this happened at dawn, but it was nearly noon. Had they stayed indoors to avoid the armed men who’d recently traveled through their city? That fit with the older man’s warning. Men gave them suspicious glances when they saw both Dana and Jayden carried swords.
“Who are you with?” a woman demanded.
“No one save ourselves,” Jayden answered.
“Then why are you armed?”
Dana said, “We’ve been traveling between cities. Not all the roads are safe.”
The woman relaxed. “I can believe that. Just, keep those blades out of sight. They make folks nervous.”
Finding a bar was easy. The city was lousy with them, small places that were only now hanging up signs with tankards painted on them. Jayden went in one with a few tables already crowded with customers, and the bartender said, “Outsiders pay upfront.”
“Fair enough,” he replied, and placed a copper coin on a table. He chatted with the bartender and customers while Dana kept watch at the door.
“Your girl is being mighty skittish,” the bartender noted.
Jayden sipped his drink. “You’ll have to forgive her concern, but one of your fellow citizens gave her a fright. He said she would be in danger if mercenaries saw her.”
A man near Jayden downed his drink in one gulp. “He was right, and she’s right to listen to him. Used to be a fellow was safe if he didn’t do anything stupid, like walk the streets at night. Then it got so a guy needed friends and neighbors to back him up in broad daylight when bullyboys in uniforms swaggered about. Now a man’s not safe even if he’s got a sword and twenty men behind him.”
“Here we go again,” another man grumbled.
“Don’t you give me that!” the first man yelled. “You saw what happened to the food stalls yesterday. Every one of them was emptied out with nothing to show for it but IOUs. Have any of you ever seen one of those slips of paper honored? I’ve got four of them, and I’ll fly before I get the gold they promise!”
“We’re all hurting,” the second man replied. “The rest of us don’t keep talking about it.”
“Easy for you to say,” the first man retorted. “Nobody robs quarriers. All you have is rocks.”
“I’ve got IOUs for the pay I was supposed to get,” retorted the quarrier. “I’ve been living off my savings since last year.”
“Gentlemen,” Jayden began, “we all suffer. I was hoping one of you might know where I could purchase supplies such as cooking oil. I know many who could use it.”
“There’s barely enough to go around here, and less every day,” the first man told him.
Dana kept her eyes on the street. “I’ve heard lots gets stolen at night.”
“Not from us it doesn’t,” the barkeeper replied. “Thieves take from those who have.”
The conversation went on for a while as men repeated tales of woe. Jayden visited three more bars and made inquires on where he could get common goods, or what should be common, and who could provide them. Each time the answer was the same. Few men had anything, and those who did were rapidly running out. He bought drinks for men whose clothing was threadbare and money pouches were empty, earning a little goodwill, but the answers stayed the same.
Jayden and Dana stopped that evening and got a small but filling meal from a man pushing a cart loaded with food. Most of the stores or stalls were empty. The few selling goods were either mobile like the food seller’s cart or easily concealed like the neighborhood bars that could take down any proof of their profession in a matter of minutes.
“These people look like they’ve got experience hiding their stuff,” Dana said after they’d left the cart.
“The soldiers and mercenaries we saw heading toward Zentrix were likely not the first. I imagine earlier groups failed to pay for what they took. This could make our search harder. If the Midnight Riders are nearby, these people have no reason to betray them and every reason to hide them.”
“What for? They don’t benefit if government storehouses get robbed. They might even get in trouble. Hungry soldiers could clean them out if they can’t get food from the army.”
Jayden studied the emptying streets. “You might be surprised how much support the Midnight Riders get. The goods they steal are low value. If they want to turn those goods into coins, residents of Trenton Town would be only too happy to pay for them.”
Dana’s attention was drawn to shouting by the river. She saw a large barge bump into smaller ones, as if its crew could barely control it. Men on other barges shouted insults and obscenities as the larger barge muscled its way through. “That barge is low in the water, and there’s a tarp over it. What could it be carrying that’s so heavy it could sink a boat that big?”
“I see Cimmox was being honest in all his threats. Do you see the symbols carved onto the side of the barge? GW, Golem Works. It’s a dwarf corporation that specializes in producing golems.”
Dana’s heart sank. “They brought a replacement for Wall Wolf?”
“Wall Wolf was so large it would have sunk that barge outright if someone was foolish enough to load so heavy a cargo. More likely they’re bringing a stone golem. They are smaller and lighter than Wall Wolf, if only slightly, and nearly as dangerous.”
The Golem Works barge moored itself to a dock in the city, and armed dwarfs took up guard positions around it. Any man who came too close was told to leave, and threatened with spears if they argued with the stocky dwarfs. Clearly, they weren’t going to risk losing their property.
“I imagine the stone golem will join the army heading for Zentrix,” Jayden said.
“You could burn the barge,” Dana suggested.
“Appealing, but no. My fireball spell would do little to no damage to the golem. At best I would cost them the barge, a replaceable commodity.”
Dana whistled. “Soldiers, mercenaries, gladiators, a golem, they’re not taking chances.”
“The king and queen seek to win with overwhelming force and then move on to their next target. This war could be over and Zentrix made a province in Meadowland Kingdom before autumn. We’re going to have to find or manufacture a miracle to prevent that from happening.”
“We need a place to spend the night.” The sun was going down, producing a gorgeous sunset that Dana would normally love to watch, but darkness was coming. One of the men at the bar said it wasn’t safe to travel at night. Did that mean there were thieves? Monsters? Ghosts?
“I saw an inn earlier in the day.” Jayden led the way through the city as shadows stretched across the streets. Dana kept a close eye on their surroundings, worried that they’d run into an ambush. She saw people hurry into their houses, followed by loud clunks as they barred their doors.
Strangely, some people opened their doors as night fell. Men hung temporary signs from their doorframes and set out tables. Goods offered included drinks, games of chance and meats Dana couldn’t identify. Were these people eating monsters?
“This is new and discouraging,” Jayden said as they walked by a stall selling huge feathers.
A woman at the stall shrugged. “A girl’s got to eat. Selling griffin feathers never hurt anyone besides the griffin.”
“My needs are more basic. Food, drink, oil and the like for myself and those I care for.”
The woman laughed. “You might find someone offering those, but you better be less squeamish about it than you are with me. Nothing for sale at night came here honestly.”
Jayden was questioning the woman when Dana heard squeaky wood wheels. She turned and saw wagons rolling into the city as if it was broad daylight. Men climbed down from the wagons and did brisk business with furtive citizens. “Who are they?”
The woman at the stall looked over and rolled her eyes. “Competition. They only come to Trenton Town when they’re sure they aren’t going to get their cargo commandeered by the army, the nobles, mercenaries or whatever flavor of official thieves are in the neighborhood.”
Shocked, Dana asked, “Your mayor allows this?”
“As if he could stop armed men from taking everything they lay their hands on,” the woman said with a smirk. “He sends his staff to buy from smugglers the same as the rest of us. See those old ladies with wheelbarrows? They’re on his payroll.”
Dana watched men sell food, livestock, cloth, firewood and construction timbers. At first, she couldn’t figure out why these people felt the need to come at night. These were legitimate goods and couldn’t all be stolen. That meant they were scared of being robbed. The army must have done a lot of looting to generate this much fear.
Then she saw him, a man she knew too well selling armfuls of candles to eager customers. “Problem.”
Jayden looked over from the woman selling griffin feathers. “What is it?”
Dana pointed in the rapidly dying light. “Look.”
“Who are you pointing at?” Jayden squinted and then raised an eyebrow. “It can’t be.”
“What’s this about?” the woman asked.
Jayden slapped a gold coin on her table. “For your time and honesty. Come on, Dana. Let’s go meet our friend.”
Dana’s fear vanished, replaced with a near murderous loathing. She kept her sword sheathed but gripped the hilt tightly. Jayden had a hand on his own sword as they jogged after their target. A few disreputable looking men saw them and hurried out of their way.
They reached the collection of wagons as the last of them sold off their goods. Business had been brisk, but it also appeared that none of them had brought much cargo to avoid losing too much if they’d been caught. The men were climbing back into their wagons, some of them already leaving town, when Jayden burst into a run and leapt onto a wagon.
“Hey, what’s going on?” one of the men demanded.
“Tell them we’re friends, or I tell them the truth,” Jayden whispered.
Jeremy Galfont the graverobber kept his eyes on Jayden. “It’s all right, lads. Him and me know each other.”
Jayden was close enough to spit on the man, which Dana would have done in his place. “Yes, we go back quite some time, don’t we? Almost a year.”
“Rather surprised you recognized me,” Galfont said. There was a big difference in his appearance since Dana had last seen the man. Back then he’d barely escaped horrifying monsters released from the Valivaxis, a magic gateway to the tombs of ancient elf emperors. He’d been dressed in rags, his hair long and ragged, and there had been shackles on his wrists.
Life must have been good to the graverobber (no doubt at someone else’s expense), for his clothes were finely tailored leather and his hair neatly trimmed. He drove a wagon showing no sign of wear, and the horses pulling it were young and strong. Dana didn’t consider herself a vengeful person, but seeing this repulsive man so prosperous made her blood boil.
“I believe we parted on good terms last time we met,” Galfont said.
“Indeed we did,” Jayden replied. “The passage of time has clearly been good to you.”
“That’s a tale best told in private.” Galfont’s eyes drifted to bystanders watching them.
Jayden helped Dana onto the wagon. “By all means. We’ll be glad to join you.”
Much to Dana’s surprise, Galfont didn’t panic. He drove his wagon to a small house not far from the city.
“It’s not much, but it meets my needs,” Galfont said as he tied up his horses outside the house.
“This is an interesting change for you,” Jayden replied. “Graverobber to smuggler? Thief?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
Dana jumped off the wagon and held up a lone candle. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t find this in someone’s grave. Who did you take it from?”
“I don’t rob graves anymore,” Galfont protested. “I thought you’d approve that I’ve taken up a new line of work. You were certainly mad enough about my last one.”
Dana jabbed him in the chest with the candle. “You mean was I mad that you snuck into cemeteries, dug up dead bodies, looted them and pawned the jewelry those people were buried with? Leaving their families brokenhearted, and their friends and neighbors terrified that the same thing could happen to their parents and grandparents? Yes, I’m furious!”
Galfont stared at her for a moment before asking Jayden, “So, did you find that Vali-whatever it was?”
“Found, sealed, disposed of. Galfont, you were useful to me once, and there’s a chance you could be useful again.”
“I’d really rather not.”
“That statement implies you have a choice in the matter. I’m looking for some exceedingly dangerous men who have been known to operate in this area. They use the name Midnight Riders.”
“It rings a bell,” Galfont admitted.
Jayden waved his hand at the darkened city behind them. “The good people of Trenton Town knew little to nothing about them. I think that’s because they are good people, not likely to associate with men who’d break into army storehouses. You, on the other hand, are not exactly good.”
Galfont said nothing. Jayden continue speaking.
“We saw you selling goods those people needed badly, so I am moderately grateful, except I wonder where you could have gotten your cargo. I think you stole what you were selling. The Midnight Riders also steal goods in this region. I imagine you’d rather not have competition, or have to deal with the armed response the king and queen are certain to send to deal with their depredations. You should be only too happy to tell me everything you know about them, in return for a generous reward if the information is accurate, and a terrible punishment if it’s not.”
Galfont looked down. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Jayden leaned in close. “Try me.”
Galfont took a deep breath and said, “I’m the Midnight Riders.”
Dana dropped the candle she was holding. “Wait, what?”
“I am the Midnight Riders. There isn’t a bunch of men stealing. It’s just me.”
Jayden stared at him. “I’ve had several drinks today. I believe I need more.”
“That I can help you with,” Galfont said. He opened the door to the small house and ushered them in. The building’s interior was simple, with wood furniture and well stocked cabinets. Galfont brought out a bottle and cups, serving himself first before sitting at a table.
“Start your story at a point where it makes sense,” Jayden said.
“Ooh, that would be in my childhood, but I’m sure you’d prefer a later date than that.” Galfont drank deeply from his cup and refilled it. “After we last parted ways, I tried to go back to my old profession. I thought I’d be able to start right back up again as if nothing had happened.”
“Because that’s what people living here need, more despoiled graves,” Dana retorted.
“You need to stop feeding her raw meat,” Galfont told Jayden. “Anyway, it didn’t work. Taxes were so high and opportunities so few that people weren’t burying the dead with their jewelry. They were pawning it to buy food. The one time I got a solid lead on a silver ring, I found four other fellows trying to take it. I told them we could sell it and split the money, which I thought was a reasonable suggestion, when they all pulled out knives. By the time the fighting was over and bandages applied, we found there was no ring. Gravediggers had taken it before burying the body. There’s no honor anymore.”
Dana rolled her eyes. “There’s irony for you.”
Galfont scowled at her. “As I was saying, circumstances forced me to adopt a new career. In my wanderings I came across storehouses filled with goodies. Anything a man could want and more, just sitting there. I asked around and found this was meant for the army. Now me, I’m a pacifist. I never carry weapons even when I’m on a job.”
“You’re robbing the storehouses,” Jayden said.
“Robbing isn’t quite the right word,” Galfont told him. “I’ve come up with a better way. I steal from people who want to be robbed.”
“I must have done something to deserve this,” Dana moaned. “What was it?”
“I’m serious!” Galfont protested. “Storehouses with really nice things like arrows and spears, those get heavy guards. Storehouses with little things people need, boots, rations, lamps, sometimes they don’t get guards. Not enough men to go around, I’m told.”
“You’re told by who?” Jayden asked.
Galfont sipped his drink. “Clerks man those storehouses, keeping records on what comes and goes, cleaning up and so on. Those clerks are present whether there are guards or not. I figured out who these clerks were, chatted them up, spread some wealth and said, ‘Hey, you, let’s fake a robbery and split the money.’, which went over very well.”
Jayden perked up. “How does this work?”
“I figured there’s no market for armor, weapons or saddles around here. Boots, clothes, I leave those behind, too. If a fellow buys boots I stole from the army, there’s a good chance soldiers will see him and wonder where he got them. I told the clerks to tell me when they have things that can be used up. Food, cooking oil, candles, people need them, but they won’t keep them around for long. They eat it, burn it, use it and it’s gone, no evidence to get them in trouble. The demand is constant, so my customers always buy more.
“The clerks send word to me when they’ve got goods I want and there are no guards, and I show up late at night to load up my wagon. If there’s a lot I’ll come back a second time. The clerk tells the authorities about these mysterious black robed riders who robbed them. I rough the place up a bit, bash open the doors with a hammer and give the poor man a few bruises so it looks like he tried to fight back and lost, not his fault.”
Dana glared at Galfont. “I thought you were a pacifist.”
“It’s better than the clerk being suspected and hung! I sell the goods in cities like Trenton Town and give the clerk his share of the cash once the heat dies down. I’ve done it five times.”
“Astounding,” Jayden said. “This plan is so stupid it actually works. The biggest flaw is sooner or later the king and queen will post guards at all their storehouses, or set a trap at a storehouse loaded with goods you traditionally steal.”
“The thought had occurred,” Galfont said drily. “I’m already seeing more storehouses with permanent guard details. I think I’ll have to change professions again. I was planning on leaving for a less warlike home, but all the borders are closed. What’s a fellow to do?”
Jayden set his drink aside and smiled at Galfont. “You should get rich with one last robbery, with me as both partner and customer.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of this,” Galfont said.
“I’m sure I don’t,” Dana added.
“Contact the clerks looking after the storehouses,” Jayden told him. “I need a list of places with the kind of goods you don’t bother with. Weapons, armor, wagons and more. Come nightfall you will lead me to them, I shall destroy them and pay you well.”
Galfont stared at Jayden. “How well?”
“Two hundred gold coins if you lead me to at least three full storehouses, with payment made only after I’ve destroyed all three.”
Dana’s jaw dropped. “Do we have that much?”
“We do. And Galfont, as a bonus, you can take whatever you want before I burn the rest. Do we have a deal?”
Galfont refilled his cup and drank it in one long gulp. “Welcome aboard, partner!”
Midnight Riders part 2
This is the conclusion to Midnight Riders.
***********
Dana woke the next morning in Galfont’s small house. She saw Galfont leaving, looking as giddy as a child on his birthday as he got onto his wagon and rode off. She went to the kitchen and found Jayden studying his spell tablets. He took one look at her and set the tablets aside.
“You’re not happy,” he said.
“No, not happy. We’ve worked with some questionable people, but this takes the cake. This man should be in jail or six feet underground. Instead we’re making him rich.”
“He is less likely to cause trouble if his pockets are full. He is also unlikely to betray us for a reward when his own neck could end up in a noose.”
Dana sat at the table. “It feels like we’re rewarding him for being bad. I know we can’t always pick and choose our friends, especially during a war, but I think we’re crossing a line. It could backfire on us like it did with Clevner. I get that the people of Zentrix need help badly and soon, but is it always going to be like this? Looking for the least bad choice?”
“It’s been this way with me for years,” he told her. “I have had good and honest men working with me, and the experience was if anything worse. My plans could have hurt them, their families and neighbors if I’d failed. In this case the only man who’d suffer if we fail is Galfont, a minor loss to humanity, but still a loss. There are few I can count on for help, making men even as questionable as Galfont valuable.”
Dana snapped her fingers. “Sorcerer Lord Jayden doesn’t have many people he can trust, but Prince Mastram does.”
“No,” he said firmly.
“It could work.” Dana leaned across the table toward him. “There are a lot of angry people in the kingdom. We met a bunch of them yesterday. Tens of thousands of people would come to serve a prince back from exile.”
“They would die just as fast! King Tyros and Queen Amvicta would stop at nothing to kill me if they knew I still breathed. Any who came to my side would be cut down without mercy, as would their families.”
“The king and queen are already coming after you,” she pointed out. “How could they make it worse than it already is?”
“I know them better than you do,” Jayden said, his voice grim. “I saw them at their worst during the civil war. If they are frightened, they can do deeds more terrible than you can imagine. They have no shortage of mercenaries and gladiators only too happy to follow orders, no matter how terrible.”
Jayden stood up and put his hands on her hers. “Prince Mastram is dead, and for the good of the kingdom must stay dead. Even a whisper of the truth would bring down horrors beyond imagination on innocent people. As loathsome as Galfont is, using him is superior to the alternative. Please, don’t bring this up again.”
The rest of the day was spent in stony silence. Jayden continued studying his spell tablets and Dana explored their surroundings. Galfont’s house was far from any neighbor, ensuring they weren’t noticed by suspicious locals.
To Dana’s surprise, she saw shepherds guide herds of goats through the wilderness to lush bits of pasture. The shepherds were armed and watchful, with fierce dogs. Dana figured these men were keeping their herds well clear of armed men who could confiscate them.
It was nearly dinner time when Galfont returned on his wagon. He ran over and nearly knocked the door off its hinges in his eagerness to reach them. “This is your lucky night!”
Dana figured a lucky night would be Galfont being arrested by the authorities or eaten by wolves, but she bit back a harsh reply when the former graverobber sat at his table. “Most of the storehouses were emptied by the army on their way to Zentrix, but there are three nearby filled to the brim with goodies.”
“Why weren’t they emptied, too?” Dana asked.
“The soldiers didn’t have enough wagons. Word is they’re going to unload on the front and come back for the rest.”
Jayden asked him, “What sort of goods do they contain?”
“One has oats for horses and oxen, but it could be food for men just as easily. Another has saddles, horseshoes, yokes and the like for draft animals and cavalry horses. The last one is the real prize. It’s got uniforms, tents and blankets for five thousand men.”
“An army could fight without any of those,” Dana said.
“Not as well as they could with them,” Galfont countered. “There are more storehouses farther out, but they’re either empty or guarded like fortresses. It’s this or nothing. Deal?”
“What are their guard compliments?” Jayden asked.
“Ten men or less for each one, and no knights or archers. They’re more likely to run than fight.”
“What about the Golem Works barge in the city?” Dana asked. “If it’s carrying what Jayden thinks it is, we could have a fight on our hands.”
Galfont chuckled. “I saw them leave Trenton Town hours ago. They said they’d only stopped to buy food.”
“We hit them all tonight,” Jayden said. “Galfont, pack your belongings so you can flee after we’re done. When the third storehouse is destroyed, you’ll get the pay as promised. If we have to leave before finishing the job, you’ll be paid according to how much we did.”
“Fair enough,” Galfont told him. “We’re going to have to leave right away to do this. Hide in the back of my wagon and we’ll reach the first one by dusk.”
Dana and Jayden sat in the back of Galfont’s wagon as he rode through the growing darkness. It wasn’t comfortable for several reasons. The first was the wagon was meant to carry cargo rather than passengers, and there was no padding when they hit bumps in the road. The other cause of concern was how many other people were coming out only now that it was dark. Wagons shuttled around goods and people, while hunters and trappers brought fresh meat to sell. She’d never seen a city busier at night than during the day.
Jayden seemed to echo her thoughts when he asked, “Is it always so active?”
Galfont answered, “Locals tell me trade at night started last year and has only grown. They’re trying to avoid tax collectors and officials who steal worse than I ever did. Their duke has been ordered to put a stop to it, but he depends on untaxed trade as much as his people do.”
“How long until we reach the first storehouse?” Dana asked.
Galfont pointed ahead of them. “Not long before we hit the one with uniforms and tents. It’s a barn seized by the army outside city limits. I want to make it clear I’m acting as native guide. You’re on your own when the fighting starts.”
Jayden drew his magic sword. “I expected as much.”
“Did you ever learn what that thing does?” Dana asked.
“I figured it out earlier in the week.” Jayden looked almost giddy at the thought of using. He pulled off his outer layer of winter clothes to reveal his black and silver uniform beneath it. “Before we strike, I need you back in uniform.”
Dana frowned when he handed her the cloth mask, long gloves and leggings. “Then why are you trying to be as obvious as you can?”
“I’m counting on my reputation spreading fear. The king and queen know me well, but they have only vague details concerning your identity. The longer they remain ignorant of your name and face, the easier you’ll find it to move around in public.”
Dana put on the concealing clothes when they were in sight of the storehouse, just an old barn with ten spearmen standing around a fire. The soldiers looked bored and tired, and as they drew closer it was clear they were teenagers. They saw the wagon approach and barely reacted.
“Come on, guys,” one of the soldiers said. “This couldn’t wait until morning?”
“You ride at night and your horses are going to break a leg in the dark,” said another. “Cripple a horse and you’ll be whipped and branded.”
Jayden cast a spell and leapt off the wagon, landing with his sword pointing at the ground. “Gentlemen, tonight you get to choose whether you live or die.”
“Who the devil are you?” one asked.
Dana climbed off the wagon and drew Chain Cutter. The sword glowed in the darkness and made the soldiers gape in awe. “Seriously? Don’t any of you read the wanted posters?”
A soldier pointed at Jayden. “That’s the Sorcerer Lord! And unnamed female accomplice!”
Dana slapped her free hand over her face. “They’re still calling me that.”
Jayden pointed his sword at the soldiers and declared, “Run or fight, children. I should add that fighting ends in dying.”
The soldiers were far too young for their job, but to their credit they lined up and formed a wall of spears between Jayden and the storehouse. The young soldiers ran screaming at him. Their charge ended when a giant clawed black hand flew in and wrapped its enormous fingers around their spears. The youths yelled as they tried to pull their weapons free. Dana ran in and lopped off their spearheads with Chain Cutter. The now defenseless men cried out in panic as they fell back.
“Daggers!” one of the youths yelled. “Draw your daggers!”
Four soldiers broke and ran away while the rest pulled hunting knives from sheaths on their legs. The poor fools spread out and charged Jayden again. It was a desperate gambit that ended when the giant hand swept over them and effortlessly bowled them over. Five more ran off while the last cowered by the storehouse door. He made frightened, whimpering sounds.
Dana waved her sword in the direction the other soldiers had fled. “Go on, get out of here.”
“You’re not going to kill me?”
“Do you want me to?” The youth shook his head, and she said, “Then don’t ask stupid questions like that. Scoot.”
Once the soldiers were gone, an older, overweight man stumbled out of a door on the side of the storehouse. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Galfont. I told you there’s nothing here you want.”
Galfont hurried over and put an arm around the old man’s shoulders. “There’s been a change in plans. The fellow over there is paying you a handful of gold coins.”
“Gold?” The old man smiled from ear to ear. His joy ended when Jayden bashed down part of the storehouse’s wall with his giant black hand. “Here now, what’s he doing?”
“You’re being paid enough to not ask questions. Take the money, hide it, and if anyone asks—”
“Sorcerer Lord Jayden destroyed the storehouse,” Jayden told the old man. “Galfont, I see no need for your friend to suffer injuries to make this look like a robbery. My reputation is excuse enough for him to leave.”
Jayden began chanting a spell Dana was familiar with. The old man looked puzzled when he left, saying, “Gold, and I didn’t get slapped around this time. It’s an odd night.”
“How’s he going to destroy it?” Galfont asked Dana.
Jayden finished his spell, and a tiny ember floated from his hands into the hole he’d made in the storehouse. He walked casually back to the wagon and climbed aboard. “Take us to the next one.”
Galfont pointed at the storehouse. “But you didn’t—”
BOOM! The explosion tore the storehouse apart. Burning pieces of fabric and wood fell from the sky as heavy as rain in a thunderstorm. Jayden used his black hand to tamp out a few fires that were starting to spread and had it float back beside the wagon.
“Right, um, on to the next one,” Galfont said. He waited until Dana was onboard before driving away. “Take this as a professional critique, but you need to work on your approach. Too loud, too flashy. Everyone within a day’s travel heard that, including the authorities.”
“Great, we’re taking advice from a graverobber,” Dana muttered.
“Former graverobber, thank you. The next storehouse is at the edge of town and has saddles and yokes. The noise must have drawn a crowd by now. If we’re lucky they’ll follow the sound to our last stop.”
“I’m not greatly concerned about soldiers,” Jayden told him.
“I imagine you wouldn’t be,” Galfont said as he brought the wagon to a halt next to a large building at the edge of Trenton Town.
Soldiers on guard duty were alert and looked scared. One pointed at smoke in the distance and asked, “What was that?”
Jayden dismounted and smiled at the soldiers. “Roughly one thousand gold coins worth of goods burning. Tragically for you, the event is about to repeat itself.”
These soldiers were as young as the last ones and panicked even faster. Half of them ran when they saw Jayden and the rest fell back.
“Hold them off!” one of the teenagers said. He grabbed one of his soldiers by the arm and shoved him to the left. “Go, get help!”
Jayden sent his giant hand to swat soldiers aside, and they ran off rather than face it. The soldier giving orders was the last to flee. Jayden made the hand scoop him up. The youth screamed as the hand brought him back to Jayden.
“I have a message for your commanding officer,” Jayden told him.
“I don’t know who that is!”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Dana demanded.
“I, I was under General Thrade’s command, but I was transferred to General Kame, and then assigned guard duty here after Thrade and Kame left. I don’t know who’s giving orders here.”
Jayden dropped the soldier, who ran off as the giant hand battered a hole into the storehouse. A pudgy clerk came out of a side door and said, “I would have opened it for you.”
“Pay him and get him out of here,” Jayden ordered. Galfont took the clerk aside as Jayden began chanting. Dana kept an eye out for the trouble that was sure to come.
“I hear men coming,” Dana warned.
Jayden finished the spell and sent a single spark floating into the storehouse. “To the last target, and hurry.”
BOOM! The building went up in flames. This one didn’t detonate as explosively as the last one. Dana figured it was because the saddles and yokes wouldn’t burn like fabric did, and the horseshoes wouldn’t burn at all.
Dana and Jayden climbed back aboard the wagon and Galfont drove off. They heard men in armor running toward the storehouse, and shouts were coming from all around them. Frightened people came out of their houses to see what was going on. Vendors selling goods on the streets gathered up their possessions and fled.
“The last one is on the other side of the city, and I want my wagon filled with goods from it before you blow it up,” Galfont said. “We need to hurry. If whoever is in charge here has a working brain, he’ll figure out where we’re going and try to beat us to it.”
“Get us there first,” Jayden ordered.
Galfont drove his horses hard through the streets. Twice he had to slow down to avoid groups of people coming out of their houses. One man nearly got run over, but Jayden’s magic hand scooped him up and set him down in an alleyway.
“What’s happening?” a woman shouted at them.
“Wanted criminal coming through!” Jayden shouted back. Dana would have bet good money that his warning would have sent bystanders running for cover. Instead they hurried over to get a glimpse of him.
A flash of light to their left caught Dana’s eye. She looked over and saw nothing as the wagon rocketed down the street, but as they passed an alley, she saw the light again. There were dozens of soldiers running down the streets and carrying lanterns to light their way.
Dana waved her sword to their left. “Soldiers are going parallel to us on the next street over!”
Galfont pulled on his wagon’s reins to slow down before he hit people milling around in the street. “Get out of the way!”
“We’re not moving much faster than they are,” Jayden said. He cast a spell that formed a globe of light that shot down the street ahead of them. Pedestrians flinched away from the sudden light, opening up the way for them.
“That’s it up ahead,” Glafont told them. He nodded at a large building at the end of the road. “Former church for the Brotherhood of the Righteous before they were kicked out of the kingdom. These days it stores oats.”
The converted church was guarded by more young soldiers who looked terrified. When Jayden dismounted the wagon, one ran up and said, “What’s going on? We heard explosions and screaming. Are we under attack?”
Jayden looked the youth in the eyes. “Is it really that dark that you can’t recognize me?”
The soldier screamed and ran. The rest saw him flee and followed suit when Jayden’s giant black hand came barreling toward them. He sent his magic hand crashing into the old church’s doors, knocking them off the hinges. A frightened clerk peeked out of the building as the giant hand retreated.
“You, out,” Jayden ordered. The man ran past Jayden, but to their surprise came running back. “What are you doing?”
“Soldiers!” the clerk screamed as he went back into the old church.
Dana, Jayden and Galfont spun around to find fifty soldiers marching toward them. The men wore chain armor and had shields, spears or swords, with ten men carting lit lanterns. It would have been an intimidating sight if the men were advancing. Instead they stood in a rough line, neither advancing or retreating. They were young, some younger than Dana, with a sprinkling of men far too old for the difficult job of soldiering.
“Do something,” Galfont whispered to Jayden. “Anything.”
The soldiers had them ridiculously outnumbered. Jayden was a credible threat to a group this size, but they stood a chance of killing him in battle. There was no attack, though, nor even an attempt to threaten or harass them.
Jayden bared his teeth and marched toward the line of soldiers. “This is best the king and queen can do? This rabble? Your army is preparing to invade a neighboring country, and you can’t even face one sorcerer.”
Dana caught up with him and put a hand on his arm. “Jayden, look at them. They’re called soldiers, armed like soldiers, but they’re kids and old men. Some of them are younger than I am.”
“Is that it?” Jayden demanded. “Did your generals leave behind men they didn’t trust to face the horrors of war? I can’t tell if that was an act of mercy or contempt. One of you must be an officer in charge of this mob!”
An older spearman said, “I think his name is Commander Varnos. He gave us orders when we got to this city. That was five days ago. Haven’t seen him since then.”
Jayden stared hard at the men. A look of confusion swept across his face, followed by rage. “You’re new recruits. You haven’t been given any training, have you? Your leaders gave you armor and weapons, as if that would make you soldiers, and sent you into the jaws of war. I wondered how I could enter this city so easily and strike barely opposed.”
Boom. The sound echoed down the street, a distant thunder that spoke of power. Boom. Soldiers spun around and panicked at the threat coming up behind them. Boom. They cried out in terror as a ten foot tall stone man walked down the street toward them. Boom. The golem looked like a bald, muscular man. Boom. Dana gasped when the golem blinked its stone eyes and grinned.
“Make way, mayflies,” a dwarf with a long black beard called out. He wore plate armor and held a silver amulet in one hand and a black ax in the other. “Clear the road.”
“You said the Golem Works barge left this morning!” Dana shouted at Galfont.
“We left, and we came back,” the dwarf said casually. “Upriver is too shallow for our barge to float with my friend here riding along. We were going to walk to the front lines, but a frightened human told me the city was under attack.”
“Lovely,” Jadyen said. More quietly, he told Dana, “Few of my spells can hurt the golem.”
The dwarf chuckled. “Sorcerer Lord, is it? Name’s Dunrhill Stronglock. Word was the elves killed off your kind long ago. Guess there are always survivors. I’d have some sympathy for you after what my people suffered at elven hands, but the man paying my bills is keen on hearing of your demise. Nothing personal, you understand.”
“Perish the thought,” Jayden replied dryly. “You do know an iron golem tried to kill me and died?”
“Heard about it,” Stronglock. “You had two wizards helping in that fight that I don’t see here. Odds are in my favor, not yours.”
Jayden rested his sword on his shoulder. “Feel like giving me a chance to surrender? Most of my foes do.”
“That’s reason enough not to do it.” Stronglock raised the silver amulet high. “Simon says kill the Sorcerer Lord.”
The stone golem lumbered toward Jayden as soldiers got out of the way. It hadn’t gotten far before Jayden’s giant black hand charged in and hit the golem in the face, knocking it over. The hand swung down again and again on the prone golem. For a few seconds that was enough to keep it in check, but the golem grabbed the hand and squeezed. Jayden cried out as the giant hand dissolved into black mist.
“Are you hurt?” Dana asked him.
Jayden rubbed his hand. “I canceled the spell before I suffered too much feedback.”
The golem stood up and advanced on them again. It was a serious threat, but like Wall Wolf it wasn’t fast. This gave Jayden time to cast two spells before it reached them. The first formed a shield of spinning black daggers in front of him while the second reformed his giant black hand. The golem raised both hands high to attack Jayden, ignoring Dana entirely. She drew her sword and ran at it, only to find Stronglock in her way.
“I heard about you, too,” the dwarf said. “Word is your sword is impressive. Let’s find out.”
Dana swung at Stonglock, and her sword met his ax in a shower of sparks. Normally Chain Cutter hacked through weapons, but the ax suffered little more than a nick. Stronglock swung at her head. Dana stepped to one side and hit his ax again. Sparks again showered onto the street as each weapon held.
“It’s as good as I was told,” Stronglock said approvingly. “Is that Thume Breakbones’ workmanship?”
Dana dodged another swing from the dwarf. “Yeah. Bald, rude, self-centered.”
Stronglock’s next attack went low in an attempt to hit Dana’s heels. She jumped over it and swung down, but Stronglock already had his ax up to block it. “That’s Thume, all right. My ax is one of his earlier weapons.”
Dana charged Stronglock and tried to stab him in the shoulder. The dwarf parried her sword with more sparks raining down on them. This was bad. Dana had learned a lot about swordsmanship from Jayden, but she hadn’t landed a single hit and was barely avoiding Stronglock’s ax. She’d heard dwarfs were legendary for their stamina. Stronglock could keep this fight up for hours, while she would tire far sooner.
Not far away, Jayden sparred with the stone golem. The golem tried to punch him and hit the shield of spinning blades. Black blades broke when the golem struck them, scratching its right arm from fingertips to its elbow, but doing nothing else. Jayden swung his magic sword at the golem, and to Dana’s amazement he moved as fast as its original owner, Brasten. Jayden moved so fast he was a blur as he struck the golem across its face and neck. His sword merely scratched the stone.
Stronglock kept after Dana with powerful, relentless attacks. She was faster than the dwarf and avoided the worst of it, but when she blocked one swing, he punched her hard enough to send her back three feet.
Jayden ran over and helped her up. “This isn’t going well, and the soldiers are blocking our escape route.”
Stronglock and his golem were heading for them. Either one was difficult to beat, and together they were more than Dana and Jayden could stop. Dana backed up a step, and her sword grazed the edge of a building, cutting into the stone. Inspiration hit like a thunderbolt.
“Trade partners,” she said. Jayden looked shocked by the suggestion, but she pressed on. “I can hurt the golem at least a little, and your spells should stop the dwarf.”
Jayden sheathed his sword and cast a spell to form his magic whip. “It’s worth trying.”
“Letting a girl fight your battles?” Stronglock taunted.
“Shut up and dance,” Dana said as she went after the golem. It ignored her in favor of Jayden, and she cut a deep gash in its right leg.
“Simon Says kill the girl,” Stronglock ordered. He tried to attack her and got only feet before Jayden swung his whip and wrapped it around the dwarf’s ax. The whip didn’t eat through the ax like it did nearly everything else, but Jayden was able to drag Stronglock to a halt.
Powerful as the golem was, it was tragically slow. The stone golem swung at Dana and missed, smashing in a wall of a building she was standing next to. When that failed it tried to kick her. Dana slashed the golem across its foot and left another deep gash. The golem scowled and lunged at her with arms outstretched. Dana jumped out of the way and swung her sword behind her, catching it across the belly.
Stronglock wasn’t doing any better against Jayden. The dwarf stopped trying to pull free and instead charged him. Jayden let his magic whip dissolve and drew his sword. With the sword’s magic he moved amazingly fast as he lashed out at the dwarf. Stronglock’s heavy armor stopped most of the swings, but one stroke took off half of his beard.
“You don’t touch a dwarf’s beard!” Stronglock bellowed. He pointed his ax at the soldiers and yelled, “Stop milling around and fight!”
The men looked uncertain until a lone soldier pointed and asked, “Hey, what are they doing?”
All eyes turned toward to the former church. Galfont had been busy during the battle carrying one sack of oats after another to his wagon, but the former graverobber wasn’t alone. A steady stream of citizens hauled away the storehouse’s contents.
“You thieving dogs!” Stronglock yelled.
An angry man shot back, “Who do you think grew this in the first place!”
More citizens gathered until they outnumbered the soldiers five to one. A man pointed at the bags being taken away and shouted, “We need food more than the army does! Come on, lads! Take back what’s yours!”
An already chaotic melee became utter madness. Enraged residents of Trenton Town surged into the soldiers from behind. Some men tackled the soldiers while others pushed on to loot the storehouse. Most of the soldiers were occupied fighting back, while others ran off and a few actually joined in the looting. Dana fought the golem while Jayden sent a flurry of sword swings at Stronglock.
“You people are idiots!” Stronglock yelled as he struggled to get past crowds of rioters and soldiers. He was making some progress when Jayden brought his giant magic hand down on the dwarf and knocked him over. Dana was amazed when the dwarf got up quickly, but her surprise doubled when the dwarf’s face contorted in fear. “No! Where is it?”
Dana couldn’t figure out what terrified Stronglock until she noticed he carried his ax in one hand and the other was empty. He’d lost his silver amulet when Jayden hit him. The dwarf scrambled across the street on all fours in his search for the amulet.
The stone golem was still coming after Dana, and she had to slip through the crowd to escape it. She was lucky the golem was trying hard not to step on the townspeople or soldiers when it came after her. That avoided a massacre and slowed the golem’s pursuit. As she struggled to get through the packed crowd, she saw a small, glittering amulet skid across the street. Someone kicked it by accident, then another person kicked it in a different direction. Dana and Stronglock both tried to reach it while countless people ran between them.
Dana was smaller and lighter than the dwarf, and that was just enough for her to slip through the crowd and grab the amulet. She crawled away while both Stronglock and his golem followed her.
“Stop!” Dana yelled at the golem. It continued after her. “I said stop!”
Jayden caught up with Stronglock and punched the dwarf in the face. “Tell it Simon says stop!”
The golem caught up with Dana and raised both arms to crush her. She couldn’t move fast enough through the crowd to avoid it. “Simon says stop!”
The golem froze in place. Dana got out from under it and pushed past the many people around her. “Jayden, come on, let’s go!”
Jayden pushed through the rowdy crowd to reach her, and they both ran. They saw Galfont drive his wagon away, although someone had climbed onto it and was throwing out the sacks of oats. Dana heard Stronglock hollering as he chased them, but the dwarf couldn’t match their speed and soon fell behind. They ran through the city until they reached the river.
Dana held up the amulet. “Can I control the golem from here?”
“It has to hear your orders to obey them.”
“I guess I should have told it to follow us. It could have been the help you need.”
Jayden looked back into Trenton Town. City streets rang out with the sounds of rioting. “It’s best you didn’t bring it. Golem Works would do anything to retrieve it. The stone golem moves too slowly to keep up with us, and it’s so heavy its footprints would be deep and easy to follow. Golem Works can likely track the control amulet. You’ll have to get rid of it.”
Dana set the amulet down and swung her sword at it. Chain Cutter effortlessly hacked through the silver amulet. “That overgrown statue won’t go far now.”
“Not until the dwarfs bring a new amulet and attune it to the golem, a process that could take days to weeks.” Jayden led Dana away into the night away from Trenton Town. They’d only gone a short distance when he said, “I wonder if Galfont escaped in the confusion.”
“Oh, he got away. He’s a slippery one.”
“The enemy’s attention was more on us than him, so you’re likely right,” Jayden admitted. “We’ll wait for him at his house, pay him and move on in the morning. I’m tempted to stay here longer, but with the army supplies burned, stolen or already gone there is nothing left to attack. We have to find new targets, and soon.”
“You sound awful depressed. We won, Jayden. You burned two warehouses, helped empty out another and got away with it.”
Jayden stopped and stared at Trenton Town, a city he’d left in disarray. “I have been striking blows like these for decades. None of them stopped the wars I feared would come to pass. Tonight’s victory was small, and we must strike many more like it.”
***********
Dana woke the next morning in Galfont’s small house. She saw Galfont leaving, looking as giddy as a child on his birthday as he got onto his wagon and rode off. She went to the kitchen and found Jayden studying his spell tablets. He took one look at her and set the tablets aside.
“You’re not happy,” he said.
“No, not happy. We’ve worked with some questionable people, but this takes the cake. This man should be in jail or six feet underground. Instead we’re making him rich.”
“He is less likely to cause trouble if his pockets are full. He is also unlikely to betray us for a reward when his own neck could end up in a noose.”
Dana sat at the table. “It feels like we’re rewarding him for being bad. I know we can’t always pick and choose our friends, especially during a war, but I think we’re crossing a line. It could backfire on us like it did with Clevner. I get that the people of Zentrix need help badly and soon, but is it always going to be like this? Looking for the least bad choice?”
“It’s been this way with me for years,” he told her. “I have had good and honest men working with me, and the experience was if anything worse. My plans could have hurt them, their families and neighbors if I’d failed. In this case the only man who’d suffer if we fail is Galfont, a minor loss to humanity, but still a loss. There are few I can count on for help, making men even as questionable as Galfont valuable.”
Dana snapped her fingers. “Sorcerer Lord Jayden doesn’t have many people he can trust, but Prince Mastram does.”
“No,” he said firmly.
“It could work.” Dana leaned across the table toward him. “There are a lot of angry people in the kingdom. We met a bunch of them yesterday. Tens of thousands of people would come to serve a prince back from exile.”
“They would die just as fast! King Tyros and Queen Amvicta would stop at nothing to kill me if they knew I still breathed. Any who came to my side would be cut down without mercy, as would their families.”
“The king and queen are already coming after you,” she pointed out. “How could they make it worse than it already is?”
“I know them better than you do,” Jayden said, his voice grim. “I saw them at their worst during the civil war. If they are frightened, they can do deeds more terrible than you can imagine. They have no shortage of mercenaries and gladiators only too happy to follow orders, no matter how terrible.”
Jayden stood up and put his hands on her hers. “Prince Mastram is dead, and for the good of the kingdom must stay dead. Even a whisper of the truth would bring down horrors beyond imagination on innocent people. As loathsome as Galfont is, using him is superior to the alternative. Please, don’t bring this up again.”
The rest of the day was spent in stony silence. Jayden continued studying his spell tablets and Dana explored their surroundings. Galfont’s house was far from any neighbor, ensuring they weren’t noticed by suspicious locals.
To Dana’s surprise, she saw shepherds guide herds of goats through the wilderness to lush bits of pasture. The shepherds were armed and watchful, with fierce dogs. Dana figured these men were keeping their herds well clear of armed men who could confiscate them.
It was nearly dinner time when Galfont returned on his wagon. He ran over and nearly knocked the door off its hinges in his eagerness to reach them. “This is your lucky night!”
Dana figured a lucky night would be Galfont being arrested by the authorities or eaten by wolves, but she bit back a harsh reply when the former graverobber sat at his table. “Most of the storehouses were emptied by the army on their way to Zentrix, but there are three nearby filled to the brim with goodies.”
“Why weren’t they emptied, too?” Dana asked.
“The soldiers didn’t have enough wagons. Word is they’re going to unload on the front and come back for the rest.”
Jayden asked him, “What sort of goods do they contain?”
“One has oats for horses and oxen, but it could be food for men just as easily. Another has saddles, horseshoes, yokes and the like for draft animals and cavalry horses. The last one is the real prize. It’s got uniforms, tents and blankets for five thousand men.”
“An army could fight without any of those,” Dana said.
“Not as well as they could with them,” Galfont countered. “There are more storehouses farther out, but they’re either empty or guarded like fortresses. It’s this or nothing. Deal?”
“What are their guard compliments?” Jayden asked.
“Ten men or less for each one, and no knights or archers. They’re more likely to run than fight.”
“What about the Golem Works barge in the city?” Dana asked. “If it’s carrying what Jayden thinks it is, we could have a fight on our hands.”
Galfont chuckled. “I saw them leave Trenton Town hours ago. They said they’d only stopped to buy food.”
“We hit them all tonight,” Jayden said. “Galfont, pack your belongings so you can flee after we’re done. When the third storehouse is destroyed, you’ll get the pay as promised. If we have to leave before finishing the job, you’ll be paid according to how much we did.”
“Fair enough,” Galfont told him. “We’re going to have to leave right away to do this. Hide in the back of my wagon and we’ll reach the first one by dusk.”
Dana and Jayden sat in the back of Galfont’s wagon as he rode through the growing darkness. It wasn’t comfortable for several reasons. The first was the wagon was meant to carry cargo rather than passengers, and there was no padding when they hit bumps in the road. The other cause of concern was how many other people were coming out only now that it was dark. Wagons shuttled around goods and people, while hunters and trappers brought fresh meat to sell. She’d never seen a city busier at night than during the day.
Jayden seemed to echo her thoughts when he asked, “Is it always so active?”
Galfont answered, “Locals tell me trade at night started last year and has only grown. They’re trying to avoid tax collectors and officials who steal worse than I ever did. Their duke has been ordered to put a stop to it, but he depends on untaxed trade as much as his people do.”
“How long until we reach the first storehouse?” Dana asked.
Galfont pointed ahead of them. “Not long before we hit the one with uniforms and tents. It’s a barn seized by the army outside city limits. I want to make it clear I’m acting as native guide. You’re on your own when the fighting starts.”
Jayden drew his magic sword. “I expected as much.”
“Did you ever learn what that thing does?” Dana asked.
“I figured it out earlier in the week.” Jayden looked almost giddy at the thought of using. He pulled off his outer layer of winter clothes to reveal his black and silver uniform beneath it. “Before we strike, I need you back in uniform.”
Dana frowned when he handed her the cloth mask, long gloves and leggings. “Then why are you trying to be as obvious as you can?”
“I’m counting on my reputation spreading fear. The king and queen know me well, but they have only vague details concerning your identity. The longer they remain ignorant of your name and face, the easier you’ll find it to move around in public.”
Dana put on the concealing clothes when they were in sight of the storehouse, just an old barn with ten spearmen standing around a fire. The soldiers looked bored and tired, and as they drew closer it was clear they were teenagers. They saw the wagon approach and barely reacted.
“Come on, guys,” one of the soldiers said. “This couldn’t wait until morning?”
“You ride at night and your horses are going to break a leg in the dark,” said another. “Cripple a horse and you’ll be whipped and branded.”
Jayden cast a spell and leapt off the wagon, landing with his sword pointing at the ground. “Gentlemen, tonight you get to choose whether you live or die.”
“Who the devil are you?” one asked.
Dana climbed off the wagon and drew Chain Cutter. The sword glowed in the darkness and made the soldiers gape in awe. “Seriously? Don’t any of you read the wanted posters?”
A soldier pointed at Jayden. “That’s the Sorcerer Lord! And unnamed female accomplice!”
Dana slapped her free hand over her face. “They’re still calling me that.”
Jayden pointed his sword at the soldiers and declared, “Run or fight, children. I should add that fighting ends in dying.”
The soldiers were far too young for their job, but to their credit they lined up and formed a wall of spears between Jayden and the storehouse. The young soldiers ran screaming at him. Their charge ended when a giant clawed black hand flew in and wrapped its enormous fingers around their spears. The youths yelled as they tried to pull their weapons free. Dana ran in and lopped off their spearheads with Chain Cutter. The now defenseless men cried out in panic as they fell back.
“Daggers!” one of the youths yelled. “Draw your daggers!”
Four soldiers broke and ran away while the rest pulled hunting knives from sheaths on their legs. The poor fools spread out and charged Jayden again. It was a desperate gambit that ended when the giant hand swept over them and effortlessly bowled them over. Five more ran off while the last cowered by the storehouse door. He made frightened, whimpering sounds.
Dana waved her sword in the direction the other soldiers had fled. “Go on, get out of here.”
“You’re not going to kill me?”
“Do you want me to?” The youth shook his head, and she said, “Then don’t ask stupid questions like that. Scoot.”
Once the soldiers were gone, an older, overweight man stumbled out of a door on the side of the storehouse. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Galfont. I told you there’s nothing here you want.”
Galfont hurried over and put an arm around the old man’s shoulders. “There’s been a change in plans. The fellow over there is paying you a handful of gold coins.”
“Gold?” The old man smiled from ear to ear. His joy ended when Jayden bashed down part of the storehouse’s wall with his giant black hand. “Here now, what’s he doing?”
“You’re being paid enough to not ask questions. Take the money, hide it, and if anyone asks—”
“Sorcerer Lord Jayden destroyed the storehouse,” Jayden told the old man. “Galfont, I see no need for your friend to suffer injuries to make this look like a robbery. My reputation is excuse enough for him to leave.”
Jayden began chanting a spell Dana was familiar with. The old man looked puzzled when he left, saying, “Gold, and I didn’t get slapped around this time. It’s an odd night.”
“How’s he going to destroy it?” Galfont asked Dana.
Jayden finished his spell, and a tiny ember floated from his hands into the hole he’d made in the storehouse. He walked casually back to the wagon and climbed aboard. “Take us to the next one.”
Galfont pointed at the storehouse. “But you didn’t—”
BOOM! The explosion tore the storehouse apart. Burning pieces of fabric and wood fell from the sky as heavy as rain in a thunderstorm. Jayden used his black hand to tamp out a few fires that were starting to spread and had it float back beside the wagon.
“Right, um, on to the next one,” Galfont said. He waited until Dana was onboard before driving away. “Take this as a professional critique, but you need to work on your approach. Too loud, too flashy. Everyone within a day’s travel heard that, including the authorities.”
“Great, we’re taking advice from a graverobber,” Dana muttered.
“Former graverobber, thank you. The next storehouse is at the edge of town and has saddles and yokes. The noise must have drawn a crowd by now. If we’re lucky they’ll follow the sound to our last stop.”
“I’m not greatly concerned about soldiers,” Jayden told him.
“I imagine you wouldn’t be,” Galfont said as he brought the wagon to a halt next to a large building at the edge of Trenton Town.
Soldiers on guard duty were alert and looked scared. One pointed at smoke in the distance and asked, “What was that?”
Jayden dismounted and smiled at the soldiers. “Roughly one thousand gold coins worth of goods burning. Tragically for you, the event is about to repeat itself.”
These soldiers were as young as the last ones and panicked even faster. Half of them ran when they saw Jayden and the rest fell back.
“Hold them off!” one of the teenagers said. He grabbed one of his soldiers by the arm and shoved him to the left. “Go, get help!”
Jayden sent his giant hand to swat soldiers aside, and they ran off rather than face it. The soldier giving orders was the last to flee. Jayden made the hand scoop him up. The youth screamed as the hand brought him back to Jayden.
“I have a message for your commanding officer,” Jayden told him.
“I don’t know who that is!”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Dana demanded.
“I, I was under General Thrade’s command, but I was transferred to General Kame, and then assigned guard duty here after Thrade and Kame left. I don’t know who’s giving orders here.”
Jayden dropped the soldier, who ran off as the giant hand battered a hole into the storehouse. A pudgy clerk came out of a side door and said, “I would have opened it for you.”
“Pay him and get him out of here,” Jayden ordered. Galfont took the clerk aside as Jayden began chanting. Dana kept an eye out for the trouble that was sure to come.
“I hear men coming,” Dana warned.
Jayden finished the spell and sent a single spark floating into the storehouse. “To the last target, and hurry.”
BOOM! The building went up in flames. This one didn’t detonate as explosively as the last one. Dana figured it was because the saddles and yokes wouldn’t burn like fabric did, and the horseshoes wouldn’t burn at all.
Dana and Jayden climbed back aboard the wagon and Galfont drove off. They heard men in armor running toward the storehouse, and shouts were coming from all around them. Frightened people came out of their houses to see what was going on. Vendors selling goods on the streets gathered up their possessions and fled.
“The last one is on the other side of the city, and I want my wagon filled with goods from it before you blow it up,” Galfont said. “We need to hurry. If whoever is in charge here has a working brain, he’ll figure out where we’re going and try to beat us to it.”
“Get us there first,” Jayden ordered.
Galfont drove his horses hard through the streets. Twice he had to slow down to avoid groups of people coming out of their houses. One man nearly got run over, but Jayden’s magic hand scooped him up and set him down in an alleyway.
“What’s happening?” a woman shouted at them.
“Wanted criminal coming through!” Jayden shouted back. Dana would have bet good money that his warning would have sent bystanders running for cover. Instead they hurried over to get a glimpse of him.
A flash of light to their left caught Dana’s eye. She looked over and saw nothing as the wagon rocketed down the street, but as they passed an alley, she saw the light again. There were dozens of soldiers running down the streets and carrying lanterns to light their way.
Dana waved her sword to their left. “Soldiers are going parallel to us on the next street over!”
Galfont pulled on his wagon’s reins to slow down before he hit people milling around in the street. “Get out of the way!”
“We’re not moving much faster than they are,” Jayden said. He cast a spell that formed a globe of light that shot down the street ahead of them. Pedestrians flinched away from the sudden light, opening up the way for them.
“That’s it up ahead,” Glafont told them. He nodded at a large building at the end of the road. “Former church for the Brotherhood of the Righteous before they were kicked out of the kingdom. These days it stores oats.”
The converted church was guarded by more young soldiers who looked terrified. When Jayden dismounted the wagon, one ran up and said, “What’s going on? We heard explosions and screaming. Are we under attack?”
Jayden looked the youth in the eyes. “Is it really that dark that you can’t recognize me?”
The soldier screamed and ran. The rest saw him flee and followed suit when Jayden’s giant black hand came barreling toward them. He sent his magic hand crashing into the old church’s doors, knocking them off the hinges. A frightened clerk peeked out of the building as the giant hand retreated.
“You, out,” Jayden ordered. The man ran past Jayden, but to their surprise came running back. “What are you doing?”
“Soldiers!” the clerk screamed as he went back into the old church.
Dana, Jayden and Galfont spun around to find fifty soldiers marching toward them. The men wore chain armor and had shields, spears or swords, with ten men carting lit lanterns. It would have been an intimidating sight if the men were advancing. Instead they stood in a rough line, neither advancing or retreating. They were young, some younger than Dana, with a sprinkling of men far too old for the difficult job of soldiering.
“Do something,” Galfont whispered to Jayden. “Anything.”
The soldiers had them ridiculously outnumbered. Jayden was a credible threat to a group this size, but they stood a chance of killing him in battle. There was no attack, though, nor even an attempt to threaten or harass them.
Jayden bared his teeth and marched toward the line of soldiers. “This is best the king and queen can do? This rabble? Your army is preparing to invade a neighboring country, and you can’t even face one sorcerer.”
Dana caught up with him and put a hand on his arm. “Jayden, look at them. They’re called soldiers, armed like soldiers, but they’re kids and old men. Some of them are younger than I am.”
“Is that it?” Jayden demanded. “Did your generals leave behind men they didn’t trust to face the horrors of war? I can’t tell if that was an act of mercy or contempt. One of you must be an officer in charge of this mob!”
An older spearman said, “I think his name is Commander Varnos. He gave us orders when we got to this city. That was five days ago. Haven’t seen him since then.”
Jayden stared hard at the men. A look of confusion swept across his face, followed by rage. “You’re new recruits. You haven’t been given any training, have you? Your leaders gave you armor and weapons, as if that would make you soldiers, and sent you into the jaws of war. I wondered how I could enter this city so easily and strike barely opposed.”
Boom. The sound echoed down the street, a distant thunder that spoke of power. Boom. Soldiers spun around and panicked at the threat coming up behind them. Boom. They cried out in terror as a ten foot tall stone man walked down the street toward them. Boom. The golem looked like a bald, muscular man. Boom. Dana gasped when the golem blinked its stone eyes and grinned.
“Make way, mayflies,” a dwarf with a long black beard called out. He wore plate armor and held a silver amulet in one hand and a black ax in the other. “Clear the road.”
“You said the Golem Works barge left this morning!” Dana shouted at Galfont.
“We left, and we came back,” the dwarf said casually. “Upriver is too shallow for our barge to float with my friend here riding along. We were going to walk to the front lines, but a frightened human told me the city was under attack.”
“Lovely,” Jadyen said. More quietly, he told Dana, “Few of my spells can hurt the golem.”
The dwarf chuckled. “Sorcerer Lord, is it? Name’s Dunrhill Stronglock. Word was the elves killed off your kind long ago. Guess there are always survivors. I’d have some sympathy for you after what my people suffered at elven hands, but the man paying my bills is keen on hearing of your demise. Nothing personal, you understand.”
“Perish the thought,” Jayden replied dryly. “You do know an iron golem tried to kill me and died?”
“Heard about it,” Stronglock. “You had two wizards helping in that fight that I don’t see here. Odds are in my favor, not yours.”
Jayden rested his sword on his shoulder. “Feel like giving me a chance to surrender? Most of my foes do.”
“That’s reason enough not to do it.” Stronglock raised the silver amulet high. “Simon says kill the Sorcerer Lord.”
The stone golem lumbered toward Jayden as soldiers got out of the way. It hadn’t gotten far before Jayden’s giant black hand charged in and hit the golem in the face, knocking it over. The hand swung down again and again on the prone golem. For a few seconds that was enough to keep it in check, but the golem grabbed the hand and squeezed. Jayden cried out as the giant hand dissolved into black mist.
“Are you hurt?” Dana asked him.
Jayden rubbed his hand. “I canceled the spell before I suffered too much feedback.”
The golem stood up and advanced on them again. It was a serious threat, but like Wall Wolf it wasn’t fast. This gave Jayden time to cast two spells before it reached them. The first formed a shield of spinning black daggers in front of him while the second reformed his giant black hand. The golem raised both hands high to attack Jayden, ignoring Dana entirely. She drew her sword and ran at it, only to find Stronglock in her way.
“I heard about you, too,” the dwarf said. “Word is your sword is impressive. Let’s find out.”
Dana swung at Stonglock, and her sword met his ax in a shower of sparks. Normally Chain Cutter hacked through weapons, but the ax suffered little more than a nick. Stronglock swung at her head. Dana stepped to one side and hit his ax again. Sparks again showered onto the street as each weapon held.
“It’s as good as I was told,” Stronglock said approvingly. “Is that Thume Breakbones’ workmanship?”
Dana dodged another swing from the dwarf. “Yeah. Bald, rude, self-centered.”
Stronglock’s next attack went low in an attempt to hit Dana’s heels. She jumped over it and swung down, but Stronglock already had his ax up to block it. “That’s Thume, all right. My ax is one of his earlier weapons.”
Dana charged Stronglock and tried to stab him in the shoulder. The dwarf parried her sword with more sparks raining down on them. This was bad. Dana had learned a lot about swordsmanship from Jayden, but she hadn’t landed a single hit and was barely avoiding Stronglock’s ax. She’d heard dwarfs were legendary for their stamina. Stronglock could keep this fight up for hours, while she would tire far sooner.
Not far away, Jayden sparred with the stone golem. The golem tried to punch him and hit the shield of spinning blades. Black blades broke when the golem struck them, scratching its right arm from fingertips to its elbow, but doing nothing else. Jayden swung his magic sword at the golem, and to Dana’s amazement he moved as fast as its original owner, Brasten. Jayden moved so fast he was a blur as he struck the golem across its face and neck. His sword merely scratched the stone.
Stronglock kept after Dana with powerful, relentless attacks. She was faster than the dwarf and avoided the worst of it, but when she blocked one swing, he punched her hard enough to send her back three feet.
Jayden ran over and helped her up. “This isn’t going well, and the soldiers are blocking our escape route.”
Stronglock and his golem were heading for them. Either one was difficult to beat, and together they were more than Dana and Jayden could stop. Dana backed up a step, and her sword grazed the edge of a building, cutting into the stone. Inspiration hit like a thunderbolt.
“Trade partners,” she said. Jayden looked shocked by the suggestion, but she pressed on. “I can hurt the golem at least a little, and your spells should stop the dwarf.”
Jayden sheathed his sword and cast a spell to form his magic whip. “It’s worth trying.”
“Letting a girl fight your battles?” Stronglock taunted.
“Shut up and dance,” Dana said as she went after the golem. It ignored her in favor of Jayden, and she cut a deep gash in its right leg.
“Simon Says kill the girl,” Stronglock ordered. He tried to attack her and got only feet before Jayden swung his whip and wrapped it around the dwarf’s ax. The whip didn’t eat through the ax like it did nearly everything else, but Jayden was able to drag Stronglock to a halt.
Powerful as the golem was, it was tragically slow. The stone golem swung at Dana and missed, smashing in a wall of a building she was standing next to. When that failed it tried to kick her. Dana slashed the golem across its foot and left another deep gash. The golem scowled and lunged at her with arms outstretched. Dana jumped out of the way and swung her sword behind her, catching it across the belly.
Stronglock wasn’t doing any better against Jayden. The dwarf stopped trying to pull free and instead charged him. Jayden let his magic whip dissolve and drew his sword. With the sword’s magic he moved amazingly fast as he lashed out at the dwarf. Stronglock’s heavy armor stopped most of the swings, but one stroke took off half of his beard.
“You don’t touch a dwarf’s beard!” Stronglock bellowed. He pointed his ax at the soldiers and yelled, “Stop milling around and fight!”
The men looked uncertain until a lone soldier pointed and asked, “Hey, what are they doing?”
All eyes turned toward to the former church. Galfont had been busy during the battle carrying one sack of oats after another to his wagon, but the former graverobber wasn’t alone. A steady stream of citizens hauled away the storehouse’s contents.
“You thieving dogs!” Stronglock yelled.
An angry man shot back, “Who do you think grew this in the first place!”
More citizens gathered until they outnumbered the soldiers five to one. A man pointed at the bags being taken away and shouted, “We need food more than the army does! Come on, lads! Take back what’s yours!”
An already chaotic melee became utter madness. Enraged residents of Trenton Town surged into the soldiers from behind. Some men tackled the soldiers while others pushed on to loot the storehouse. Most of the soldiers were occupied fighting back, while others ran off and a few actually joined in the looting. Dana fought the golem while Jayden sent a flurry of sword swings at Stronglock.
“You people are idiots!” Stronglock yelled as he struggled to get past crowds of rioters and soldiers. He was making some progress when Jayden brought his giant magic hand down on the dwarf and knocked him over. Dana was amazed when the dwarf got up quickly, but her surprise doubled when the dwarf’s face contorted in fear. “No! Where is it?”
Dana couldn’t figure out what terrified Stronglock until she noticed he carried his ax in one hand and the other was empty. He’d lost his silver amulet when Jayden hit him. The dwarf scrambled across the street on all fours in his search for the amulet.
The stone golem was still coming after Dana, and she had to slip through the crowd to escape it. She was lucky the golem was trying hard not to step on the townspeople or soldiers when it came after her. That avoided a massacre and slowed the golem’s pursuit. As she struggled to get through the packed crowd, she saw a small, glittering amulet skid across the street. Someone kicked it by accident, then another person kicked it in a different direction. Dana and Stronglock both tried to reach it while countless people ran between them.
Dana was smaller and lighter than the dwarf, and that was just enough for her to slip through the crowd and grab the amulet. She crawled away while both Stronglock and his golem followed her.
“Stop!” Dana yelled at the golem. It continued after her. “I said stop!”
Jayden caught up with Stronglock and punched the dwarf in the face. “Tell it Simon says stop!”
The golem caught up with Dana and raised both arms to crush her. She couldn’t move fast enough through the crowd to avoid it. “Simon says stop!”
The golem froze in place. Dana got out from under it and pushed past the many people around her. “Jayden, come on, let’s go!”
Jayden pushed through the rowdy crowd to reach her, and they both ran. They saw Galfont drive his wagon away, although someone had climbed onto it and was throwing out the sacks of oats. Dana heard Stronglock hollering as he chased them, but the dwarf couldn’t match their speed and soon fell behind. They ran through the city until they reached the river.
Dana held up the amulet. “Can I control the golem from here?”
“It has to hear your orders to obey them.”
“I guess I should have told it to follow us. It could have been the help you need.”
Jayden looked back into Trenton Town. City streets rang out with the sounds of rioting. “It’s best you didn’t bring it. Golem Works would do anything to retrieve it. The stone golem moves too slowly to keep up with us, and it’s so heavy its footprints would be deep and easy to follow. Golem Works can likely track the control amulet. You’ll have to get rid of it.”
Dana set the amulet down and swung her sword at it. Chain Cutter effortlessly hacked through the silver amulet. “That overgrown statue won’t go far now.”
“Not until the dwarfs bring a new amulet and attune it to the golem, a process that could take days to weeks.” Jayden led Dana away into the night away from Trenton Town. They’d only gone a short distance when he said, “I wonder if Galfont escaped in the confusion.”
“Oh, he got away. He’s a slippery one.”
“The enemy’s attention was more on us than him, so you’re likely right,” Jayden admitted. “We’ll wait for him at his house, pay him and move on in the morning. I’m tempted to stay here longer, but with the army supplies burned, stolen or already gone there is nothing left to attack. We have to find new targets, and soon.”
“You sound awful depressed. We won, Jayden. You burned two warehouses, helped empty out another and got away with it.”
Jayden stopped and stared at Trenton Town, a city he’d left in disarray. “I have been striking blows like these for decades. None of them stopped the wars I feared would come to pass. Tonight’s victory was small, and we must strike many more like it.”
Buried Treasure part 1
This is the first part of the Dana and Jayden story Buried Treasure.
*************
“Dear mom and dad. I want you to know that I am okay. I will try to get back to you as soon as I can, but things are kind of crazy with the war going on.”
“Writing to your family again?” Jayden asked. He and Dana were currently in a forest clearing not far from a nearby town.
“I don’t want them to worry about me, and I’m sending money,” Dana replied.
“I wasn’t aware they needed it.”
“If life is as crazy there as it is everywhere else we’ve been, they’ll need help.”
Dana continued with her letter. “There is something you need to know about the wars that have broken out. I have met people from the countries Meadowland is invading, and they are nice. I haven’t seen anything that makes me think they are responsible for the problems in our homeland.
“I have seen things in Meadowland that worry me. Some noblemen were buying young girls. Other people were importing monsters and golems. I have seen good men and women treated unfairly. These things didn’t used to happen, and I am worried for the kingdom.”
“Don’t give away details on where we are or what we’ve done,” Jayden cautioned. “Letters can be intercepted.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said. “I am sending money with this letter to help out with expenses, and I will send more when I can. Please look out for Emily and Rachael, and keep Lan from destroying everything he gets his hands on out of trouble.”
“Your brother sounds like a spirited young fellow.”
Dana pressed the letter against her skirt. “No reading other people’s mail!”
“It looked interesting.”
Dana grumbled and folded her letter over four gold pieces. As much as she felt the need to help Jayden, she regretted being away from home for so long. There was always a lot of work, and her sisters would be stuck doing it now that she was gone. Worse, the neighbors could start gossiping about Dana’s absence. Some folks would think her leaving reflected poorly on her family. She didn’t think her father’s position as mayor was in danger because of such talk, but it wouldn’t help him.
She and Jayden had stopped at a small town in the north of the kingdom. The town was suffering after many of its men were conscripted into the army, some as laborers and others as soldiers. The town had lost a fair portion of its food stores to help feed the army heading for Zentrix. Jayden stayed in the nearby wilderness to avoid attracting attention while Dana came and went as she pleased. This let her purchase supplies they needed and look for targets.
They needed those targets badly. Dana and Jayden had destroyed three storehouses only two weeks ago, which normally would have been a success, but it hadn’t stopped the army headed for Zentrix. They’d destroyed uniforms, tents, saddles and other goods, while helping others take oats meant for either men or horses. The army could march on without any of that.
“How soon until the fighting starts?” Dana asked as she addressed her letter.
“We have days at best until they cross the border. Zentrix forces will no doubt do all they can to slow that advance with snipers, ambushes and burning anything that could be used, but it won’t be enough. I fear casualties on both sides will be astounding, with victory going to Meadowland Kingdom within three months.”
“It doesn’t feel right rooting against your homeland.”
“The alternative is infinitely worse. Be careful when you go to mail your letter. Most local forces have been absorbed into the army, but there will still be some defenders left who will be suspicious of an unknown girl coming to their town.”
Dana handed him her sword and slipped the letter into one of her bags. “I’ve got a cover story if anyone asks. I’ll be back soon.”
Leaving Jayden behind in the forest was worrying. She didn’t think anything would happen to her, especially after the warm reception she’d gotten last time she went to town. Anyone who paid in hard currency rather than barter was welcome in stores. What did worry her was leaving Jayden alone for so long. He got bored easily, and he had a bloodhound’s tenacity when it came to hurting the king and queen. If he saw an opportunity, no matter however risky, he’d do it without a second’s delay.
She walked through the forest and came to the edge of town. It was small, simple, poor and looked like it would stay that way forever. A few people saw her and waved when she headed to a small rented house with a crude wood sign that read, ‘Gnome Express’ propped up next to the door.
Dana knocked before entering. “Good morning, sir.”
A male gnome with black hair nodded in reply. The gnome only came up to her waist, but he carried himself with an air of competence. He wore leather armor with metal studs on it, hobnail boots, and a rainproof cape. He was armed with two daggers strapped to his belt.
“I have a letter for the town of North Lights,” she said as she handed over the letter.
“Two copper pieces,” the gnome told her. When she handed over the fee, the gnome bowed and pressed his right arm across his chest. “In the name of Gnome Express, I swear to deliver this message to only the intended recipient, letting no threat bar my way.”
Dana curtsied. She normally wasn’t so formal, but gnomes could be very particular about their customs. You simply had to follow the rules. “I am honored by your service.”
She turned to leave, and found a spearman standing in the doorway. She gasped in surprise, and the gnome grabbed the handles of his daggers. The spearman took a step back when he saw their reaction and held up a letter. “Um, mail?”
Dana and the gnome relaxed. She said, “You surprised me.”
“Sorry.” The spearman handed the letter and two small copper coins to the gnome. “I’m in a rush, so can we skip the speech?”
“No one respects tradition anymore,” the gnome lamented as he placed both letters in a flat leather waterproof bag.
“Jenkins!” Dana, the spearman and the gnome all jumped when a man in chain armor and wearing an officer’s helmet with its small metal wings stomped into the room. “What do you think you’re doing? You were called to service yesterday!”
The spearman’s face turned red. “Sir, I’m sorry I’m late. I needed to send a letter home. The farm—”
“That’s not your concern!” The officer barked. “You’re a soldier now. You have only one concern, fighting for the king and queen. Whatever is back home doesn’t matter. Give me the letter. I’m going to make sure you didn’t include military secrets.”
The officer held out his hand to the spearman, who pointed to the gnome. Annoyed, the officer stomped over to the gnome and held out his hand. The gnome’s face turned red, not in embarrassment, but in anger.
“I took a sacred oath to faithfully deliver the mail. None may touch it save the one it is intended for, regardless of what you or your king wants.”
“You obey the law the same as everyone.” Then the officer tried to grab the mail bag.
“No one touches the mail!” The gnome punched the officer below the belt so hard that the man doubled over in agony. That brought him close enough for the gnome to grab the officer’s helmet, rip it off and repeatedly punch him in the face. “No one, you ulmixin, crilviz, floth eating son of a diseased dog!”
Dana didn’t know what any of those gnomish swear words meant, and felt no need to learn. She took the spearman’s arm and led him out of the room. “We should leave.”
The spearman waved toward the rented house and violent assault occurring within it. “Should we do something? I mean, it’s kind of my fault.”
The officer’s helmet rolled out of the house as the gnome screamed, “I’ve killed monsters, and you rakmid, scum sucking trab thought you were going to take me down? The gall!”
“I’d rather not,” Dana told him. “He might be rabid.”
Dana hurried off before anyone came to investigate the commotion. She’d nearly gotten out of town when she saw the gnome ride off on a short legged pony. Dana made sure no one was watching her before going into the forest. She found Jayden in the clearing studying his spell tablets.
“Any difficulties?”
“No, and I have a renewed respect for the postal system.”
Jayden put his spell tablets into his bags. “It’s the only institution to survive the collapse of the Elf Empire, and still delivers mail across three continents. I’m told the gnomes who serve in it are quite rambunctious.”
“That’s a polite way of putting it. Jayden, where do we go from here? There’s nothing of value here we need or can destroy that would slow down the army.”
He hesitated before answering her. “I’m not sure. Following the army and looking for weaknesses to exploit would be dangerous and likely wouldn’t turn up good opportunities. Nearby towns have proven to be of no interest. That leaves the second lead Clevner gave me. It’s not my first choice, or even my third, but if successful may provide us the edge we need.”
“His first lead didn’t work out the way you’d expected.”
“No, but that’s less Clevner’s fault than Galfont being more inventive than either of us would have given him credit for. The second lead could be the help we need or a threat equal to Cimmox the necromancer.”
Dana’s heart grew cold at the sound of the foul necromancer’s name. Dana, Jayden and the elf wizard Green Peril had only defeated Cimmox with divine intervention. She wasn’t looking for a fight anywhere near as risky.
“You’re worried, and justifiably so,” Jayden said. He scattered cold ashes from their fire pit. “Clevner told me of a strange sight in the north of the kingdom. Men saw cloaked figures and a horse drawn cart traveling in wilderness areas, never approaching settlements or even lone houses. The few who saw them stayed well back, but a lone knight tried to investigate.”
“Is he still alive?”
Jayden put on his backpack and handed another to Dana. “Surprisingly, yes. He approached the unknown group and one of them came to face him. The robed stranger beat the knight senseless, shattered his sword and left him on his back. The knight was sure he’d be killed, but the stranger turned and left. He staggered to the nearest garrison and returned with reinforcements, but the strangers were gone with no trace of their passage.”
“The robed guy sounds dangerous, and pretty confident the knight couldn’t bring back help in time.” Dana frowned and said, “These guys are spooky and tough, but they didn’t kill the knight when he was down. Is that why you’re interested in them?”
“It’s one of the reasons. The strangers took a chance by letting the knight live when many others wouldn’t. It speaks of mercy. The other reason I’m interested is to my knowledge there is nothing important in that part of the kingdom. It’s farmland, pastures and forests, with a smattering of manor houses belonging to noblemen of little status or wealth. These robed men, if they are men, are headed nowhere of value.”
He turned and looked intently at Dana. “What if there is hidden treasures worthy of their abilities? Gold? Magic? If so, it would be useful to us in our struggles. I wish to find these people and learn what their goals are.”
“They could just be passing through the kingdom and don’t want people to know about it. They might even be smugglers.”
He shook his head. “I’ve met my share of smugglers. They keep to the shadows, and if discovered flee combat or buy off their enemies. If battle is unavoidable, they don’t leave witnesses.”
Jayden pointed west and said, “Stories say these strangers were heading north along wilderness roads. I know these roads, and there are only so many they can take. We’re not far from where the strangers have to be heading. We’ll go for those roads and pick up their trail.”
The two left without further delay, heading deeper into the north of the kingdom. This area was lightly populated as the ground grew increasingly hilly. Tall grasses and dense forests covered the land, with shepherds and lumberjacks the most common professions. Roads were few and poorly traveled, and there were no signposts or markers to guide travelers. Dana and Jayden passed through three small villages where people stared at them curiously.
Dana saw mountains in the distance that were cloaked with clouds. “We’re not going that far, are we?”
“Ideally no, but one road does lead there.” Jayden stopped when the road they were on split into three trails heading north. He got down on his hands and knees to study the ground. “Clevner’s tales said these strangers had a cart, but the ground is too firmly packed for hoof prints or wheel ruts. Still, the fact that they brought a cart limits which way they can take.”
Jayden pointed to the left path and said, “This leads to the mountains you’re hoping to avoid. Such a cart would be useless when the trail narrows and becomes rocky. That leaves two the strangers had to take. They can’t be too far ahead of us based on the dates of Clevner’s tale and the winding wilderness roads they used.”
“Where do they lead?”
“The first passes a minor nobleman’s estate, formerly property of the Brotherhood of the Righteous before their banishment from the kingdom. The second leads to old mines long since depleted of metals. Neither is an obvious destination.”
Dana frowned. “If we take the wrong one, these guys will have enough time to get away. Fifty-fifty chances aren’t promising.”
“There is a way around our problem, thanks to you.”
“Wait, what?”
Jayden held up a spell tablets. “It took time to translate one of the spells you recently found, but I’ve mastered it. It’s called shadow fox, and creates a surprisingly fast scout. The scout will only last hours, but in that time should find proof which of these paths the strangers took. Find me a body of water. A puddle will do.”
A short search turned up a ditch with enough muddy water for Jayden’s spell. He began chanting and made strange hand gestures. Shadows reached out from beneath trees until they wrapped around one another in front of Jayden. The shadows grew darker and denser until they coalesced into a black fox with a gray underbelly.
“Ooh, it’s adorable!” Dana bent down and rubbed the fox’s back. “It’s so soft.”
Jayden stared at her. “What are you doing?”
“Most of your spells make big, nasty sharp things. This little guy is cute.”
Jayden rolled his eyes. “That’s not what it’s for. Look at the water.”
Dana looked at the ditch, and to her amazement she saw herself in the water. She waved her hand in front of the shadow fox, and the watery image of her wave. “You see what it sees. Can you hear and smell through it, too?”
“Shadow foxes transmit only images. That is enough for my needs. I’ll send it along one trail and look for our mysterious quarry, guiding it from here.”
The shadow fox tensed before taking off like a shot down the central road. Dana whistled. “Horses aren’t that fast. How long can it run like that?”
“It won’t stop until I order it to.” Jayden studied the image in the water as the shadow fox ran along the road. “This is actually quite interesting. Most Sorcerer Lord spells were devoted to causing damage. Mind you, they used shadow foxes to spy on one another in their fratricidal conflicts, so it’s not entirely benign.”
Dana smiled. “I still think it’s cute. And fuzzy.”
“There are times I wonder about you.”
They spent two hours watching the shadow fox. Fascinating as it was, Dana was just as glad to rest after spending so much time marching through difficult country. She wondered how long it would take them to walk the same distance the fox ran over if they found the strangers. It looked like a difficult route.
“I see houses,” Dana said.
“A very small community,” Jayden replied. He pointed toward the cluster of wood houses, and the shadow fox left the trail to investigate them. “The strangers may have taken shelter there. Let me search for a few moments. Look, there’s a patch of mud at the edge of the road, and a fresh wheel rut in it. There are no wagons or carts among the buildings, so they didn’t make the mark.”
Just then the fox lifted up off the ground. Jayden waved his hand right and left, and they saw the fox try to slip free of whatever held it. “Something’s wrong.”
A pink, pudgy hand appeared in the image before it grabbed the fox’s snout. Dana stifled a laugh and said, “Yeah, and he looks about four years old.”
Jayden made ever wider and more forceful gestures with his hand, but the fox remained trapped in the little boy’s grip. They saw his face briefly, a grinning boy with curly hair and wearing only short pants. The boy had one arm wrapped around the fox and petted it with the other. The boy opened his mouth in a silent call, and more children ran out of the houses. They gathered around the fox and petted it until Dana and Jayden could only see grubby hands.
“Don’t scratch them,” Dana said.
“It doesn’t have teeth or claws,” he told her. The mob of children parted just enough for Dana and Jayden to see a harried looking woman leave a house. She took one look at the shadow fox, made a silent scream and waved for the children to move aside while she grabbed a broom. “We’re about to learn how much damage a shadow fox can take.”
Dana winced when the woman swatted the shadow fox twice. The image blurred as children ran away and the fox took off like a shot. The fox took another hit as the woman chased it, but it escaped after running a hundred feet.
“It’s sturdier than I’d thought,” Jayden said as he directed the shadow fox down the road. “Faster, too. I’m impressed how long the spell is lasting. Not feeling feedback when it was hit was a welcome bonus.”
“Hold up,” Dana said. Jayden stopped the fox, and Dana pointed at the edge of the road. “There’s another rut in the mud.”
“I see more ahead.” The wheels had made plenty of marks in the mud, and as the fox ran mile after mile the mud grew deeper and the ruts more frequent. “Wait. That’s them.”
Dana peered at the image in the water and saw a horse cart missing one wheel. Robed figures propped the cart up on rocks while others tried to reattach the wheel. They were making slow progress but should have the job done soon.
“I was wondering how we’d catch up with them if they’ve being traveling for weeks,” Dana said. “I guess their cart can hold them back if road conditions are bad, or if it breaks down.”
“I don’t see symbols or insignia that would identify them,” Jayden said. He directed the shadow fox off the road to hide in the underbrush. The strangers kept working until one of them saw the shadow fox. He waved for the others to stop and pointed at it.
“He’s got good eyes,” Dana said.
The stranger took one step forward and waved his hand in a circle. There was a flash of light, and the puddle of water exploded, soaking Dana and Jayden from head to foot.
“What happened?” Dana asked.
Jayden wiped his face off on his shirt sleeve. “He destroyed the shadow fox, and sent a considerable amount of energy through the spell to us. Count yourself lucky we didn’t suffer injuries. At least one of these people commands an impressive amount of power.”
He glanced down the road. “We need to learn whether this is an opportunity or a threat.”
* * * * *
Dana and Jayden set out after the strangers the following morning. The lost time wouldn’t matter much when the strangers were struggling to fix their cart. By noon they’d reached the houses where children had heaped affection on the shadow fox the day before. They found the children’s mother washing the little boy in a large washtub. The woman looked worried when she saw them, relaxing only when Dana smiled and waved.
“If you’re selling goods, I’ve no money,” the woman said.
“We’re just passing through,” Dana said cheerfully. “Ooh, he’s adorable!”
The youngest boy sat in the washtub and frowned. “I want my puppy!”
The woman heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry. He’s been like this since he got his hands on a wild animal yesterday. Now I have to wash him in case it gave him fleas.”
Jayden nodded to the woman as he and Dana continued on. They came across ruts from the cart and found the site where it had been stuck the day before. It was gone, as were the strangers, but there was only one way they could go. They marched for hours until the forest thinned and the road branched again. It would have been aggravating to search for these people again, even with the shadow fox, but luck was on their side when they found fresh ruts from the cart.
As they headed down the road, Dana said, “These guys know someone was spying on them, so they’ll be expecting trouble.”
“They might. Few are familiar with the shadow magic of the Sorcerer Lords. I am the current reigning expert, and there is a mountain of information even I remain ignorant of. The strangers surely know they faced a magical being yesterday, but with luck they won’t know what it was, what it was capable of or who sent it. They will no doubt be wary, but so would anyone traveling during a war.”
The road went by an old cemetery that covered fifteen acres and was ringed by massive trees. Jayden stopped when he saw it. “This might be their destination.”
“But they’re not here.”
“They’re not here now. Necromancers or graverobbers would wait until the cover of darkness to work. We should search the area to see if they already disturbed the graves.”
Dana and Jayden climbed over a low stone wall around the graveyard and searched among the headstones. Nothing seemed amiss to Dana as she walked between the graves. The headstones were so old that the writing on many of them had been worn away by years of wind and rain. Here and there she saw fresh flowers in front of headstones. It was heartwarming to see that someone still cared for this place.
She’d nearly finished checking the graves when she saw a large black dog step out from behind a headstone. It stopped and looked at her. Dana smiled and bent down before holding out her hands. “Hey there, boy! Aren’t you big! Someone’s taking good care of you.”
The dog’s ears perked up and its tail wagged. It trotted over and licked his hands. Dana giggled and petted the dog. “You’re a strong one. Yes, you are. Who did you come here with? You’re not wearing a collar, but lots of dogs back home don’t, either. I don’t see anyone with you. Jayden, did you see anyone?”
“No, why?”
“Somebody left their dog here. Or maybe he came on his own.” Dana stroked the dog’s jaw. “Is your owner buried here?”
“Who are you talking to?” Jayden walked over and froze when he saw the dog. “Dana, back away slowly.”
“Don’t worry, he’s friendly.”
“That’s not a dog. It’s a church grim.”
She didn’t move and instead looked at the dog. It was a beautiful animal and certainly friendly. Nothing about it looked, smelled, sounded or even felt unusual. “What’s a grim?”
Jayden put his hand on the hilt of his sword but didn’t draw it. “It’s an old practice not used often in modern times. When a graveyard is first established, a dog is buried before men are. Its spirit becomes tied to the graveyard, and it will defend it from evildoers. It must have suspected us of planning harm when we entered the graveyard armed. The grim is far more dangerous than it appears.”
Dana looked from the dog to the tombstones. Most were illegible, but she saw some burial dates that were over a hundred years ago. She turned to the dog and asked, “How long have you been here?”
She didn’t expect the dog to speak to her, and she felt silly even asking the question. Yet the dog stared back at her, and somehow without making a sound it managed to convey the sense that it had been protecting this graveyard for a very long time. Tears ran down her cheek when she thought of how long it had been here alone. Dana hugged the dog. “You’re a good boy.”
The dog rubbed against her and licked her face. It waited until she stood up before walking behind a tombstone and disappearing as if it had never been there. Jayden led her from the graveyard and back to the road.
“It was so quiet,” Dana said.
“Be grateful. Church grims only howl when they are in danger and need to summon help. Let’s go. The people we seek have clearly not been here and move farther from us with every passing minute.”
“Not necessarily.” Dana shrieked and jumped. Jayden drew his sword so quickly the magic sword was a blur of steel. The robed speaker stood next to a large oak tree near the cemetery, where he must have hidden from Dana and Jayden. “I am impressed, young lady. Few show appreciation to those who serve as loyally as this church grim. You have my respect.”
Dana placed a hand over her heart as she tried to control her breathing. “Um, thank you?”
“You’re welcome.” Dana couldn’t see much of the stranger past his brown robes. They covered even his face and hands. She could see glimmers of gold near his face, but nothing more. His voice was deep and commanding, and echoed as if he was wearing a helmet. “Sir, you must be the creator of the monster I disrupted yesterday.”
“The correct term is shadow fox, but yes, it was mine,” Jayden replied. “I apologize for spying on you, but time and circumstances forced my hand. I am—”
“Sorcerer Lord Jayden, a man responsible for considerable damage across Meadowland Kingdom for fifteen years, although you recently sped up the pace,” the stranger interrupted. “Word of your misdeeds reached me long ago.”
Jayden raised an eyebrow. “Misdeeds? I feel a large number of people in the kingdom are guiltier of those than I am.”
“Many in the kingdom are sinners of the worst kind and risk their immortal souls. You are guilty of only misdeeds, but you are guilty. You have robbed caravans, stole horses, looted ancient ruins, assaulted countless people, associated with known criminals and numerous lesser crimes. You have done some good to mitigate your sins, but you are a ruffian and a rake, with a reputation of carousing and theft.”
Dana stepped in before the conversation grew hotter. “I know he was in some failed relationships, but that’s not carousing.”
The stranger wasn’t budging. “I refer to incidents in the city of Vascmer.”
Jayden’s face turned red. “Oh. Yes, well, that is a bit harder to explain, but the rest of these accusations are hardly fair. My actions in the past were based on saving lives. That goal hasn’t change, although the coming of war has made it far more difficult. This may sound surprising, but when I heard of you, I thought we might be able to help one another. Is that an unwise request, priest?”
“Wait, he’s a priest?” Dana hadn’t seen a priest in eight years. Excited, she asked, “You’re with the Brotherhood of the Righteous?”
“The hood on your robe lifted briefly, long enough for me to see your symbol,” Jayden said. “Few in Meadowland wear the ring of three parts.”
The stranger pulled back his hood to reveal a gold helmet with black edging. The helmet didn’t show his face, but it had a ring divided into three equal parts on the forehead. That ring was the symbol of the Brotherhood of the Righteous. Dana had only seen it rarely since the brotherhood’s expulsion from Meadowland Kingdom years ago.
“You guessed correctly,” the priest announced. “I am Father Amadeus Firepower.”
Jayden sheathed his sword. “My, my. Whatever brought you back to Meadowland must be important for the brotherhood to send their top trouble shooter. Where are the men traveling with you?”
“My mission is no concern of yours, nor are my companions. I have heard that as of late you do more good than harm. This pleases me, but you are much mistaken if you think you can recruit me to your service. I have goals that do not involve you.”
Jayden wasn’t giving up. “I seek an alliance, not servitude. I am trying to stop King Tyros and Queen Amvicta from harming neighboring kingdoms, a task beyond my power at this time. Your help could make the difference between good men living or dying. I admit that I have made decisions I’m not proud of, but they were necessary to prevent greater injustices. Surely the enemy of your enemy is, or could be, your friend.”
“The enemy of my enemy can well be another enemy.” Firepower paused before adding, “I do not doubt the sincerity of your desire to stop the wars currently raging and to save innocent lives. What I question is the means you employ to carry out these goals. Associating with you risks me being labeled a thief, arsonist, traitor and more. I must judge my actions carefully, lest I do harm to the people of Meadowland Kingdom and to the Brotherhood of the Righteous.”
The priest continued before Jayden could reply. “My orders come from the brotherhood, and I must obey them. There is room in those orders allowing me to act upon new information or events, but it doesn’t permit me making the sort of alliance you seek or staying once my mission is complete.”
“And what is your mission?” Jayden asked. When the priest didn’t respond, he said, “I already know you’re here, and I have no intention of revealing your presence to the authorities. Nor do I wish you ill. Use the room in your orders to accept help from a powerful source, even if I am undesirable.”
Firepower answered with obvious reluctance. “When the brotherhood was ejected from Meadowland Kingdom, we weren’t allowed to take much with us. Most was seized, but we hid items of value when possible. We also left behind men and women loyal to the brotherhood to oversee that property and send us reports on what was occurring in our absence. Several agents contacted us last month with news that King Tyros had ordered his forces to investigate former brotherhood properties for the items we’d hidden.”
“What are they looking for?” Dana asked.
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“The king wants them badly enough to divert forces away from the fighting during a war,” Jayden said.
“He must not find what he seeks,” Firepower replied. “I was ordered to retrieve the items and extract our agents. The men and women you saw with me are some of those agents, but there remains one more to find. Once I have him and his family, I will leave Meadowland Kingdom through a route the brotherhood knows of but your king does not.”
“If I can’t have your help, let me offer mine,” Jayden told the priest. “We’re not far from the front lines, and we could encounter army units. While I don’t doubt you live up to your fierce reputation, my assistance could make the difference between you succeeding or failing. If nothing else, I might improve your poor opinion of me.”
“It’s not my opinion. It’s everyone’s opinion.” Firepower paused again. “I can hardly dismiss you as if you were a servant, nor can I force you to leave without a fight I do not wish to engage in. Swear to me that you have no intension to steal the items I seek.”
“I so swear it.”
Father Firepower nodded to the north. “I left my companions and our cart hidden behind an abandoned farmhouse. We will join them and leave at once.”
*************
“Dear mom and dad. I want you to know that I am okay. I will try to get back to you as soon as I can, but things are kind of crazy with the war going on.”
“Writing to your family again?” Jayden asked. He and Dana were currently in a forest clearing not far from a nearby town.
“I don’t want them to worry about me, and I’m sending money,” Dana replied.
“I wasn’t aware they needed it.”
“If life is as crazy there as it is everywhere else we’ve been, they’ll need help.”
Dana continued with her letter. “There is something you need to know about the wars that have broken out. I have met people from the countries Meadowland is invading, and they are nice. I haven’t seen anything that makes me think they are responsible for the problems in our homeland.
“I have seen things in Meadowland that worry me. Some noblemen were buying young girls. Other people were importing monsters and golems. I have seen good men and women treated unfairly. These things didn’t used to happen, and I am worried for the kingdom.”
“Don’t give away details on where we are or what we’ve done,” Jayden cautioned. “Letters can be intercepted.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she said. “I am sending money with this letter to help out with expenses, and I will send more when I can. Please look out for Emily and Rachael, and keep Lan from destroying everything he gets his hands on out of trouble.”
“Your brother sounds like a spirited young fellow.”
Dana pressed the letter against her skirt. “No reading other people’s mail!”
“It looked interesting.”
Dana grumbled and folded her letter over four gold pieces. As much as she felt the need to help Jayden, she regretted being away from home for so long. There was always a lot of work, and her sisters would be stuck doing it now that she was gone. Worse, the neighbors could start gossiping about Dana’s absence. Some folks would think her leaving reflected poorly on her family. She didn’t think her father’s position as mayor was in danger because of such talk, but it wouldn’t help him.
She and Jayden had stopped at a small town in the north of the kingdom. The town was suffering after many of its men were conscripted into the army, some as laborers and others as soldiers. The town had lost a fair portion of its food stores to help feed the army heading for Zentrix. Jayden stayed in the nearby wilderness to avoid attracting attention while Dana came and went as she pleased. This let her purchase supplies they needed and look for targets.
They needed those targets badly. Dana and Jayden had destroyed three storehouses only two weeks ago, which normally would have been a success, but it hadn’t stopped the army headed for Zentrix. They’d destroyed uniforms, tents, saddles and other goods, while helping others take oats meant for either men or horses. The army could march on without any of that.
“How soon until the fighting starts?” Dana asked as she addressed her letter.
“We have days at best until they cross the border. Zentrix forces will no doubt do all they can to slow that advance with snipers, ambushes and burning anything that could be used, but it won’t be enough. I fear casualties on both sides will be astounding, with victory going to Meadowland Kingdom within three months.”
“It doesn’t feel right rooting against your homeland.”
“The alternative is infinitely worse. Be careful when you go to mail your letter. Most local forces have been absorbed into the army, but there will still be some defenders left who will be suspicious of an unknown girl coming to their town.”
Dana handed him her sword and slipped the letter into one of her bags. “I’ve got a cover story if anyone asks. I’ll be back soon.”
Leaving Jayden behind in the forest was worrying. She didn’t think anything would happen to her, especially after the warm reception she’d gotten last time she went to town. Anyone who paid in hard currency rather than barter was welcome in stores. What did worry her was leaving Jayden alone for so long. He got bored easily, and he had a bloodhound’s tenacity when it came to hurting the king and queen. If he saw an opportunity, no matter however risky, he’d do it without a second’s delay.
She walked through the forest and came to the edge of town. It was small, simple, poor and looked like it would stay that way forever. A few people saw her and waved when she headed to a small rented house with a crude wood sign that read, ‘Gnome Express’ propped up next to the door.
Dana knocked before entering. “Good morning, sir.”
A male gnome with black hair nodded in reply. The gnome only came up to her waist, but he carried himself with an air of competence. He wore leather armor with metal studs on it, hobnail boots, and a rainproof cape. He was armed with two daggers strapped to his belt.
“I have a letter for the town of North Lights,” she said as she handed over the letter.
“Two copper pieces,” the gnome told her. When she handed over the fee, the gnome bowed and pressed his right arm across his chest. “In the name of Gnome Express, I swear to deliver this message to only the intended recipient, letting no threat bar my way.”
Dana curtsied. She normally wasn’t so formal, but gnomes could be very particular about their customs. You simply had to follow the rules. “I am honored by your service.”
She turned to leave, and found a spearman standing in the doorway. She gasped in surprise, and the gnome grabbed the handles of his daggers. The spearman took a step back when he saw their reaction and held up a letter. “Um, mail?”
Dana and the gnome relaxed. She said, “You surprised me.”
“Sorry.” The spearman handed the letter and two small copper coins to the gnome. “I’m in a rush, so can we skip the speech?”
“No one respects tradition anymore,” the gnome lamented as he placed both letters in a flat leather waterproof bag.
“Jenkins!” Dana, the spearman and the gnome all jumped when a man in chain armor and wearing an officer’s helmet with its small metal wings stomped into the room. “What do you think you’re doing? You were called to service yesterday!”
The spearman’s face turned red. “Sir, I’m sorry I’m late. I needed to send a letter home. The farm—”
“That’s not your concern!” The officer barked. “You’re a soldier now. You have only one concern, fighting for the king and queen. Whatever is back home doesn’t matter. Give me the letter. I’m going to make sure you didn’t include military secrets.”
The officer held out his hand to the spearman, who pointed to the gnome. Annoyed, the officer stomped over to the gnome and held out his hand. The gnome’s face turned red, not in embarrassment, but in anger.
“I took a sacred oath to faithfully deliver the mail. None may touch it save the one it is intended for, regardless of what you or your king wants.”
“You obey the law the same as everyone.” Then the officer tried to grab the mail bag.
“No one touches the mail!” The gnome punched the officer below the belt so hard that the man doubled over in agony. That brought him close enough for the gnome to grab the officer’s helmet, rip it off and repeatedly punch him in the face. “No one, you ulmixin, crilviz, floth eating son of a diseased dog!”
Dana didn’t know what any of those gnomish swear words meant, and felt no need to learn. She took the spearman’s arm and led him out of the room. “We should leave.”
The spearman waved toward the rented house and violent assault occurring within it. “Should we do something? I mean, it’s kind of my fault.”
The officer’s helmet rolled out of the house as the gnome screamed, “I’ve killed monsters, and you rakmid, scum sucking trab thought you were going to take me down? The gall!”
“I’d rather not,” Dana told him. “He might be rabid.”
Dana hurried off before anyone came to investigate the commotion. She’d nearly gotten out of town when she saw the gnome ride off on a short legged pony. Dana made sure no one was watching her before going into the forest. She found Jayden in the clearing studying his spell tablets.
“Any difficulties?”
“No, and I have a renewed respect for the postal system.”
Jayden put his spell tablets into his bags. “It’s the only institution to survive the collapse of the Elf Empire, and still delivers mail across three continents. I’m told the gnomes who serve in it are quite rambunctious.”
“That’s a polite way of putting it. Jayden, where do we go from here? There’s nothing of value here we need or can destroy that would slow down the army.”
He hesitated before answering her. “I’m not sure. Following the army and looking for weaknesses to exploit would be dangerous and likely wouldn’t turn up good opportunities. Nearby towns have proven to be of no interest. That leaves the second lead Clevner gave me. It’s not my first choice, or even my third, but if successful may provide us the edge we need.”
“His first lead didn’t work out the way you’d expected.”
“No, but that’s less Clevner’s fault than Galfont being more inventive than either of us would have given him credit for. The second lead could be the help we need or a threat equal to Cimmox the necromancer.”
Dana’s heart grew cold at the sound of the foul necromancer’s name. Dana, Jayden and the elf wizard Green Peril had only defeated Cimmox with divine intervention. She wasn’t looking for a fight anywhere near as risky.
“You’re worried, and justifiably so,” Jayden said. He scattered cold ashes from their fire pit. “Clevner told me of a strange sight in the north of the kingdom. Men saw cloaked figures and a horse drawn cart traveling in wilderness areas, never approaching settlements or even lone houses. The few who saw them stayed well back, but a lone knight tried to investigate.”
“Is he still alive?”
Jayden put on his backpack and handed another to Dana. “Surprisingly, yes. He approached the unknown group and one of them came to face him. The robed stranger beat the knight senseless, shattered his sword and left him on his back. The knight was sure he’d be killed, but the stranger turned and left. He staggered to the nearest garrison and returned with reinforcements, but the strangers were gone with no trace of their passage.”
“The robed guy sounds dangerous, and pretty confident the knight couldn’t bring back help in time.” Dana frowned and said, “These guys are spooky and tough, but they didn’t kill the knight when he was down. Is that why you’re interested in them?”
“It’s one of the reasons. The strangers took a chance by letting the knight live when many others wouldn’t. It speaks of mercy. The other reason I’m interested is to my knowledge there is nothing important in that part of the kingdom. It’s farmland, pastures and forests, with a smattering of manor houses belonging to noblemen of little status or wealth. These robed men, if they are men, are headed nowhere of value.”
He turned and looked intently at Dana. “What if there is hidden treasures worthy of their abilities? Gold? Magic? If so, it would be useful to us in our struggles. I wish to find these people and learn what their goals are.”
“They could just be passing through the kingdom and don’t want people to know about it. They might even be smugglers.”
He shook his head. “I’ve met my share of smugglers. They keep to the shadows, and if discovered flee combat or buy off their enemies. If battle is unavoidable, they don’t leave witnesses.”
Jayden pointed west and said, “Stories say these strangers were heading north along wilderness roads. I know these roads, and there are only so many they can take. We’re not far from where the strangers have to be heading. We’ll go for those roads and pick up their trail.”
The two left without further delay, heading deeper into the north of the kingdom. This area was lightly populated as the ground grew increasingly hilly. Tall grasses and dense forests covered the land, with shepherds and lumberjacks the most common professions. Roads were few and poorly traveled, and there were no signposts or markers to guide travelers. Dana and Jayden passed through three small villages where people stared at them curiously.
Dana saw mountains in the distance that were cloaked with clouds. “We’re not going that far, are we?”
“Ideally no, but one road does lead there.” Jayden stopped when the road they were on split into three trails heading north. He got down on his hands and knees to study the ground. “Clevner’s tales said these strangers had a cart, but the ground is too firmly packed for hoof prints or wheel ruts. Still, the fact that they brought a cart limits which way they can take.”
Jayden pointed to the left path and said, “This leads to the mountains you’re hoping to avoid. Such a cart would be useless when the trail narrows and becomes rocky. That leaves two the strangers had to take. They can’t be too far ahead of us based on the dates of Clevner’s tale and the winding wilderness roads they used.”
“Where do they lead?”
“The first passes a minor nobleman’s estate, formerly property of the Brotherhood of the Righteous before their banishment from the kingdom. The second leads to old mines long since depleted of metals. Neither is an obvious destination.”
Dana frowned. “If we take the wrong one, these guys will have enough time to get away. Fifty-fifty chances aren’t promising.”
“There is a way around our problem, thanks to you.”
“Wait, what?”
Jayden held up a spell tablets. “It took time to translate one of the spells you recently found, but I’ve mastered it. It’s called shadow fox, and creates a surprisingly fast scout. The scout will only last hours, but in that time should find proof which of these paths the strangers took. Find me a body of water. A puddle will do.”
A short search turned up a ditch with enough muddy water for Jayden’s spell. He began chanting and made strange hand gestures. Shadows reached out from beneath trees until they wrapped around one another in front of Jayden. The shadows grew darker and denser until they coalesced into a black fox with a gray underbelly.
“Ooh, it’s adorable!” Dana bent down and rubbed the fox’s back. “It’s so soft.”
Jayden stared at her. “What are you doing?”
“Most of your spells make big, nasty sharp things. This little guy is cute.”
Jayden rolled his eyes. “That’s not what it’s for. Look at the water.”
Dana looked at the ditch, and to her amazement she saw herself in the water. She waved her hand in front of the shadow fox, and the watery image of her wave. “You see what it sees. Can you hear and smell through it, too?”
“Shadow foxes transmit only images. That is enough for my needs. I’ll send it along one trail and look for our mysterious quarry, guiding it from here.”
The shadow fox tensed before taking off like a shot down the central road. Dana whistled. “Horses aren’t that fast. How long can it run like that?”
“It won’t stop until I order it to.” Jayden studied the image in the water as the shadow fox ran along the road. “This is actually quite interesting. Most Sorcerer Lord spells were devoted to causing damage. Mind you, they used shadow foxes to spy on one another in their fratricidal conflicts, so it’s not entirely benign.”
Dana smiled. “I still think it’s cute. And fuzzy.”
“There are times I wonder about you.”
They spent two hours watching the shadow fox. Fascinating as it was, Dana was just as glad to rest after spending so much time marching through difficult country. She wondered how long it would take them to walk the same distance the fox ran over if they found the strangers. It looked like a difficult route.
“I see houses,” Dana said.
“A very small community,” Jayden replied. He pointed toward the cluster of wood houses, and the shadow fox left the trail to investigate them. “The strangers may have taken shelter there. Let me search for a few moments. Look, there’s a patch of mud at the edge of the road, and a fresh wheel rut in it. There are no wagons or carts among the buildings, so they didn’t make the mark.”
Just then the fox lifted up off the ground. Jayden waved his hand right and left, and they saw the fox try to slip free of whatever held it. “Something’s wrong.”
A pink, pudgy hand appeared in the image before it grabbed the fox’s snout. Dana stifled a laugh and said, “Yeah, and he looks about four years old.”
Jayden made ever wider and more forceful gestures with his hand, but the fox remained trapped in the little boy’s grip. They saw his face briefly, a grinning boy with curly hair and wearing only short pants. The boy had one arm wrapped around the fox and petted it with the other. The boy opened his mouth in a silent call, and more children ran out of the houses. They gathered around the fox and petted it until Dana and Jayden could only see grubby hands.
“Don’t scratch them,” Dana said.
“It doesn’t have teeth or claws,” he told her. The mob of children parted just enough for Dana and Jayden to see a harried looking woman leave a house. She took one look at the shadow fox, made a silent scream and waved for the children to move aside while she grabbed a broom. “We’re about to learn how much damage a shadow fox can take.”
Dana winced when the woman swatted the shadow fox twice. The image blurred as children ran away and the fox took off like a shot. The fox took another hit as the woman chased it, but it escaped after running a hundred feet.
“It’s sturdier than I’d thought,” Jayden said as he directed the shadow fox down the road. “Faster, too. I’m impressed how long the spell is lasting. Not feeling feedback when it was hit was a welcome bonus.”
“Hold up,” Dana said. Jayden stopped the fox, and Dana pointed at the edge of the road. “There’s another rut in the mud.”
“I see more ahead.” The wheels had made plenty of marks in the mud, and as the fox ran mile after mile the mud grew deeper and the ruts more frequent. “Wait. That’s them.”
Dana peered at the image in the water and saw a horse cart missing one wheel. Robed figures propped the cart up on rocks while others tried to reattach the wheel. They were making slow progress but should have the job done soon.
“I was wondering how we’d catch up with them if they’ve being traveling for weeks,” Dana said. “I guess their cart can hold them back if road conditions are bad, or if it breaks down.”
“I don’t see symbols or insignia that would identify them,” Jayden said. He directed the shadow fox off the road to hide in the underbrush. The strangers kept working until one of them saw the shadow fox. He waved for the others to stop and pointed at it.
“He’s got good eyes,” Dana said.
The stranger took one step forward and waved his hand in a circle. There was a flash of light, and the puddle of water exploded, soaking Dana and Jayden from head to foot.
“What happened?” Dana asked.
Jayden wiped his face off on his shirt sleeve. “He destroyed the shadow fox, and sent a considerable amount of energy through the spell to us. Count yourself lucky we didn’t suffer injuries. At least one of these people commands an impressive amount of power.”
He glanced down the road. “We need to learn whether this is an opportunity or a threat.”
* * * * *
Dana and Jayden set out after the strangers the following morning. The lost time wouldn’t matter much when the strangers were struggling to fix their cart. By noon they’d reached the houses where children had heaped affection on the shadow fox the day before. They found the children’s mother washing the little boy in a large washtub. The woman looked worried when she saw them, relaxing only when Dana smiled and waved.
“If you’re selling goods, I’ve no money,” the woman said.
“We’re just passing through,” Dana said cheerfully. “Ooh, he’s adorable!”
The youngest boy sat in the washtub and frowned. “I want my puppy!”
The woman heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry. He’s been like this since he got his hands on a wild animal yesterday. Now I have to wash him in case it gave him fleas.”
Jayden nodded to the woman as he and Dana continued on. They came across ruts from the cart and found the site where it had been stuck the day before. It was gone, as were the strangers, but there was only one way they could go. They marched for hours until the forest thinned and the road branched again. It would have been aggravating to search for these people again, even with the shadow fox, but luck was on their side when they found fresh ruts from the cart.
As they headed down the road, Dana said, “These guys know someone was spying on them, so they’ll be expecting trouble.”
“They might. Few are familiar with the shadow magic of the Sorcerer Lords. I am the current reigning expert, and there is a mountain of information even I remain ignorant of. The strangers surely know they faced a magical being yesterday, but with luck they won’t know what it was, what it was capable of or who sent it. They will no doubt be wary, but so would anyone traveling during a war.”
The road went by an old cemetery that covered fifteen acres and was ringed by massive trees. Jayden stopped when he saw it. “This might be their destination.”
“But they’re not here.”
“They’re not here now. Necromancers or graverobbers would wait until the cover of darkness to work. We should search the area to see if they already disturbed the graves.”
Dana and Jayden climbed over a low stone wall around the graveyard and searched among the headstones. Nothing seemed amiss to Dana as she walked between the graves. The headstones were so old that the writing on many of them had been worn away by years of wind and rain. Here and there she saw fresh flowers in front of headstones. It was heartwarming to see that someone still cared for this place.
She’d nearly finished checking the graves when she saw a large black dog step out from behind a headstone. It stopped and looked at her. Dana smiled and bent down before holding out her hands. “Hey there, boy! Aren’t you big! Someone’s taking good care of you.”
The dog’s ears perked up and its tail wagged. It trotted over and licked his hands. Dana giggled and petted the dog. “You’re a strong one. Yes, you are. Who did you come here with? You’re not wearing a collar, but lots of dogs back home don’t, either. I don’t see anyone with you. Jayden, did you see anyone?”
“No, why?”
“Somebody left their dog here. Or maybe he came on his own.” Dana stroked the dog’s jaw. “Is your owner buried here?”
“Who are you talking to?” Jayden walked over and froze when he saw the dog. “Dana, back away slowly.”
“Don’t worry, he’s friendly.”
“That’s not a dog. It’s a church grim.”
She didn’t move and instead looked at the dog. It was a beautiful animal and certainly friendly. Nothing about it looked, smelled, sounded or even felt unusual. “What’s a grim?”
Jayden put his hand on the hilt of his sword but didn’t draw it. “It’s an old practice not used often in modern times. When a graveyard is first established, a dog is buried before men are. Its spirit becomes tied to the graveyard, and it will defend it from evildoers. It must have suspected us of planning harm when we entered the graveyard armed. The grim is far more dangerous than it appears.”
Dana looked from the dog to the tombstones. Most were illegible, but she saw some burial dates that were over a hundred years ago. She turned to the dog and asked, “How long have you been here?”
She didn’t expect the dog to speak to her, and she felt silly even asking the question. Yet the dog stared back at her, and somehow without making a sound it managed to convey the sense that it had been protecting this graveyard for a very long time. Tears ran down her cheek when she thought of how long it had been here alone. Dana hugged the dog. “You’re a good boy.”
The dog rubbed against her and licked her face. It waited until she stood up before walking behind a tombstone and disappearing as if it had never been there. Jayden led her from the graveyard and back to the road.
“It was so quiet,” Dana said.
“Be grateful. Church grims only howl when they are in danger and need to summon help. Let’s go. The people we seek have clearly not been here and move farther from us with every passing minute.”
“Not necessarily.” Dana shrieked and jumped. Jayden drew his sword so quickly the magic sword was a blur of steel. The robed speaker stood next to a large oak tree near the cemetery, where he must have hidden from Dana and Jayden. “I am impressed, young lady. Few show appreciation to those who serve as loyally as this church grim. You have my respect.”
Dana placed a hand over her heart as she tried to control her breathing. “Um, thank you?”
“You’re welcome.” Dana couldn’t see much of the stranger past his brown robes. They covered even his face and hands. She could see glimmers of gold near his face, but nothing more. His voice was deep and commanding, and echoed as if he was wearing a helmet. “Sir, you must be the creator of the monster I disrupted yesterday.”
“The correct term is shadow fox, but yes, it was mine,” Jayden replied. “I apologize for spying on you, but time and circumstances forced my hand. I am—”
“Sorcerer Lord Jayden, a man responsible for considerable damage across Meadowland Kingdom for fifteen years, although you recently sped up the pace,” the stranger interrupted. “Word of your misdeeds reached me long ago.”
Jayden raised an eyebrow. “Misdeeds? I feel a large number of people in the kingdom are guiltier of those than I am.”
“Many in the kingdom are sinners of the worst kind and risk their immortal souls. You are guilty of only misdeeds, but you are guilty. You have robbed caravans, stole horses, looted ancient ruins, assaulted countless people, associated with known criminals and numerous lesser crimes. You have done some good to mitigate your sins, but you are a ruffian and a rake, with a reputation of carousing and theft.”
Dana stepped in before the conversation grew hotter. “I know he was in some failed relationships, but that’s not carousing.”
The stranger wasn’t budging. “I refer to incidents in the city of Vascmer.”
Jayden’s face turned red. “Oh. Yes, well, that is a bit harder to explain, but the rest of these accusations are hardly fair. My actions in the past were based on saving lives. That goal hasn’t change, although the coming of war has made it far more difficult. This may sound surprising, but when I heard of you, I thought we might be able to help one another. Is that an unwise request, priest?”
“Wait, he’s a priest?” Dana hadn’t seen a priest in eight years. Excited, she asked, “You’re with the Brotherhood of the Righteous?”
“The hood on your robe lifted briefly, long enough for me to see your symbol,” Jayden said. “Few in Meadowland wear the ring of three parts.”
The stranger pulled back his hood to reveal a gold helmet with black edging. The helmet didn’t show his face, but it had a ring divided into three equal parts on the forehead. That ring was the symbol of the Brotherhood of the Righteous. Dana had only seen it rarely since the brotherhood’s expulsion from Meadowland Kingdom years ago.
“You guessed correctly,” the priest announced. “I am Father Amadeus Firepower.”
Jayden sheathed his sword. “My, my. Whatever brought you back to Meadowland must be important for the brotherhood to send their top trouble shooter. Where are the men traveling with you?”
“My mission is no concern of yours, nor are my companions. I have heard that as of late you do more good than harm. This pleases me, but you are much mistaken if you think you can recruit me to your service. I have goals that do not involve you.”
Jayden wasn’t giving up. “I seek an alliance, not servitude. I am trying to stop King Tyros and Queen Amvicta from harming neighboring kingdoms, a task beyond my power at this time. Your help could make the difference between good men living or dying. I admit that I have made decisions I’m not proud of, but they were necessary to prevent greater injustices. Surely the enemy of your enemy is, or could be, your friend.”
“The enemy of my enemy can well be another enemy.” Firepower paused before adding, “I do not doubt the sincerity of your desire to stop the wars currently raging and to save innocent lives. What I question is the means you employ to carry out these goals. Associating with you risks me being labeled a thief, arsonist, traitor and more. I must judge my actions carefully, lest I do harm to the people of Meadowland Kingdom and to the Brotherhood of the Righteous.”
The priest continued before Jayden could reply. “My orders come from the brotherhood, and I must obey them. There is room in those orders allowing me to act upon new information or events, but it doesn’t permit me making the sort of alliance you seek or staying once my mission is complete.”
“And what is your mission?” Jayden asked. When the priest didn’t respond, he said, “I already know you’re here, and I have no intention of revealing your presence to the authorities. Nor do I wish you ill. Use the room in your orders to accept help from a powerful source, even if I am undesirable.”
Firepower answered with obvious reluctance. “When the brotherhood was ejected from Meadowland Kingdom, we weren’t allowed to take much with us. Most was seized, but we hid items of value when possible. We also left behind men and women loyal to the brotherhood to oversee that property and send us reports on what was occurring in our absence. Several agents contacted us last month with news that King Tyros had ordered his forces to investigate former brotherhood properties for the items we’d hidden.”
“What are they looking for?” Dana asked.
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“The king wants them badly enough to divert forces away from the fighting during a war,” Jayden said.
“He must not find what he seeks,” Firepower replied. “I was ordered to retrieve the items and extract our agents. The men and women you saw with me are some of those agents, but there remains one more to find. Once I have him and his family, I will leave Meadowland Kingdom through a route the brotherhood knows of but your king does not.”
“If I can’t have your help, let me offer mine,” Jayden told the priest. “We’re not far from the front lines, and we could encounter army units. While I don’t doubt you live up to your fierce reputation, my assistance could make the difference between you succeeding or failing. If nothing else, I might improve your poor opinion of me.”
“It’s not my opinion. It’s everyone’s opinion.” Firepower paused again. “I can hardly dismiss you as if you were a servant, nor can I force you to leave without a fight I do not wish to engage in. Swear to me that you have no intension to steal the items I seek.”
“I so swear it.”
Father Firepower nodded to the north. “I left my companions and our cart hidden behind an abandoned farmhouse. We will join them and leave at once.”
Buried Treasure part 2
This is the conclusion of Buried Treasure.
******************
Firepower led them to his agents and the cart. The agents looked surprised to see him with company, but a wave of the priest’s hand calmed them. “They have offered assistance.”
“Are these the people who spied on us?” a man asked. “You said you’d stop them.”
“So that’s why you were waiting by the graveyard,” Jayden said. “I wouldn’t expect a priest to set an ambush.”
“Do not question my methods. I have fought long and hard to defend the faithful.”
“You’re not used to being questioned, are you?” Jayden asked.
Dana elbowed him in the ribs. “We’re trying to make friends.”
“Many question me,” Father Firepower said. “Some from curiosity, others from honest concern, and others in a vain attempt to make themselves appear wise or worldly. I answer all of them, sometimes to their sorrow.”
“Can we please focus on what we’re doing?” Dana asked. “How far is it to your friend?”
“He lives not far from here,” the priest answered. “A day’s hard marching will reach him, and five more will ensure our escape.”
Jayden peered into the back of the cart. “You brought food and drink, and have quite a few packages wrapped in burlap.”
“The cart’s contents are no interest to you.”
Father Firepower led them for hours through narrow trails in the wilderness until they came up the gates to a large estate. He hesitated at the gates.
“One of yours, I believe,” Jayden said.
“Once. Perhaps one day it will be so again. This was Greenview Abbey, land gifted to the brotherhood by King Tyros’ ancestors two hundred years ago. It was a worthless swamp then, but through hard work and wisdom it was made into productive farmland.” His voice was bitter when he said, “Now look at it.”
Dana came alongside him. The estate certainly looked prosperous, with fields sprouting wheat and men pulling weeds. The buildings were large and in good repair, and she heard sheep bleating in the distance.
The priest pointed at hills covered in tree stumps alongside the fields. “In times gone by we planted trees to hold the hillsides in place and provide both building materials and firewood. Carefully managed, it could have provided resources indefinitely. Instead it was stripped bare by the baron who now rules here. He is a vainglorious fool with dreams of becoming a general. Such bloodthirsty desires cost gold. He ordered all the trees felled and sold the wood to buy weapons, planting nothing in its place. See, the soil already wears away. A strong enough storm will bring these hills sliding down onto the fields, destroying both.
“The work of generations is being destroyed in mere years. Herds of dairy cattle have been sent to slaughterhouses, artwork ripped from walls and sold to the highest bidder, property sold or mortgaged so this idiot baron can play at war. He has enough to satisfy any man’s appetites, and still he hungers for more.”
“The brotherhood could have stopped this from happening,” Jayden replied. “When the king and queen exiled you, priests, nuns and monks left meekly. You could have fought back. Many would have sided with you.”
“If that is an example of your wisdom, I prefer your silence,” Father Firepower retorted. “Meadowland Kingdom had barely survived a civil war and you would have had us start another? We could have fought back, killing so many the kingdom would be left desolate. Our property would have been burned or looted, the destruction faster and more thorough.”
Father Firepower turned to face Jayden. “We left to avoid causing horrors as great or greater than what this land had already experienced. We believed that the chance would come for us to return, either as welcomed guests or by sending missionaries in secret to win back the people. It was a risk, but the alternative was unthinkable.”
Dana slapped a hand over her face as Jayden kept pressing his point. “Is this better? You avoided a war that would have caused much suffering to one kingdom, and now Meadowland, Bascal, Kaleoth and Zentrix are all in peril.”
“What would you have me do?” Firepower yelled. He marched up to Jayden and pressed an armored finger against the Sorcerer Lord’s chest. “Would you have priests and monks become killers? Would you have us lead peasants against knights?”
“We’re making enough noise to draw attention to a secret mission,” Dana said. She got between Jayden and Father Firepower. “People need us. Focus on that.”
“Does she always act as your buffer?” Father Firepower asked Jayden.
“Yes. It bothers me how much I need her to do that. Years of hardship and watching my homeland sink into hatred and madness have left me thin skinned and bitter.”
The two stared at one another until Father Firepower turned away. “The hour is late and we won’t reach our destination before nightfall. I know a place we can rest until the morning.”
They made camp in a rocky gully far from the estate. Father Firepower shared nuts and dried meats and fruits from his supplies, but he was adamant that they not make a campfire. Dana and Jayden stayed by themselves, which seemed to suit the priest’s friends just fine.
On closer inspection, the brotherhood agents were simple folk. They had no weapons, and Dana saw no evidence that they were wizards. Dana had to respect their courage, for they were standing up to the king and queen in their own way, and they could expect no mercy if caught.
“So, exactly what happened in the city of Vascmer?” Dana asked.
“Personal matters I don’t wish to discuss,” Jayden told her. “I don’t ask about your past relationships because it’s none of my business. It’s not asking too much for you to do the same.”
“What’s her name?” Dana teased.
Jayden folded his arms across his chest. “That was one of my more spectacular failed relationships, one I’d thought no one knew about. You will never meet her, and that’s for the best.”
“Fine, be that way.” Dana’s voice dropped to a whisper when she spoke to Jayden again. “It sounds like you’ve heard of this priest before.”
“Amadeus Firepower is one of the Brotherhood of the Righteous’ most talented and dedicated men. We already saw his power when he destroyed my shadow fox. I assure you that was the barest taste of his potential. When the brotherhood has given up all hope of peaceful resolutions, they send him in to save who they can and punish those they must. His list of accomplishments is long, and the foes he’s defeated are many. Firepower cares nothing for kings, merchants, wizards or mad scientists. Faith, love, hope, these guide him, and only those with those gifts impress him. I fear I am short on all three.”
Jayden managed a weak smile when he looked at her. “You, on the other hand, seem to have made a new friend.”
Dana blushed. “I used to go to brotherhood services weekly before they were expelled. I have a lot or respect for them.”
“Careful, Dana, he might try to recruit you. The brotherhood needs every man and woman it can get.”
“She could do worse,” Firepower called out, making Dana blush even more. “Over the years we have evacuated many faithful. If you so desire, you may take refuge with the brotherhood as have many others.”
Dana spoke before Jayden could. “You are kind to make the offer, but there are people here who need me. I can help those who can’t help themselves.”
“You are indeed one of ours,” Father Firepower replied.
“Wait here for me,” Dana told Jayden. She went to Father Firepower and said, “I haven’t had a chance to admit my sins for eight years, and there are some things that have been bothering me. I would also like to tell you what I’ve seen in the last year that your agents might not know about. It might take a while.”
Father Firepower gestured for her to sit. “Of course. Know that His love has no limits, His mercy is boundless, and His kingdom welcomes you with open arms.”
* * * * *
They woke early the next morning to find a dense fog had rolled in during the night. Dana worried that this would cause trouble, but both Jayden and Father Firepower seemed pleased.
“We are blessed,” the priest said. “This will conceal us from our enemies, and cover our escape.”
They followed the priest to what looked like an abandoned storage shed at the edge of the nobleman’s estate. Father Firepower went in first and pulled up loose tiles from the floor to reveal a secret compartment. He brought out silver plates and cups Dana recognized as sacramental vessels, but he also brought out more packages wrapped in burlap. He loaded them onto the cart carefully while Jayden watched.
“Books,” Jayden announced when Father Firepower set one of the packages down. “It’s the right size and weight. For a moment I wondered if they were holy texts, but while you would no doubt want to preserve those, the king would have no interest in them. I doubt these are spell books, either. Tell me, priest, what secrets are written here that the king must not have?”
Father Firepower glanced at Jayden before he unwrapped a package to reveal the books inside. Holding one up, he said, “You guessed correctly, but this is a secret in the loosest possible term.”
Dana slipped in closer and read the title. “The Book of Life and Death. That sounds ominous.”
“Appearances can deceive,” Father Firepower told her gently. “The brotherhood had many duties when it was welcome in Meadowland Kingdom. They included officiating births, marriages, and deaths of the faithful. When the faithful moved, they registered at churches in their new home. Each church recorded this information in books. Recovering lost sacramental vessels is important, but these books must be reclaimed at all costs.”
Puzzled, she asked, “Why?”
“Because without meaning to, the priests conducted a census,” Jayden told her. “The civil war cost many lives and drove many people from the kingdom. Chaos and hardships since then have prevented the royal couple from conducting a census of who remains. Even now the king and queen seek to raise armies without knowing exactly how many people there are to conscript. Those books list every man, woman and child.”
“But the brotherhood was forced out eight years ago,” she protested. “There’s no telling how many of those people died since then, or how many more were born or left the kingdom.”
“While the information within these books is outdated, they are a starting point,” Father Firepower said. “Royal officials can look for the men listed here, or at least look for their graves.”
“Don’t tax records say the same thing?” she asked.
“Surprisingly, no,” Jayden told her. “Each town and city are responsible for collecting a specific amount of gold. The king and queen don’t care how it’s done so long as it is, and assign the task to local officials, men largely known to be corrupt and incompetent. They send the amount owed without writing much if anything down. The king and queen’s plans are being hindered by the very system they rule.”
Father Firepower loaded more books. “Two months ago, our agents reported government officials were searching property confiscated from the brotherhood. Those officials described what they sought to servants and scribes in the hope that one of them had seen their prize. These searches are ongoing and intensifying. My superiors in the brotherhood sent me to retrieve the books, or barring that to destroy them. It pleases me that I may return them intact.”
“That’s most of the job done, but where’s your man and his family?” Dana asked.
“He lives close to the cemetery where we first met,” Father Firepower explained. “We will go back and collect him and his kin before leaving the kingdom. You may join me if you wish.”
“Impossible,” Jayden said. “I’m not sure what else I can do to stop these wars, but I must try.”
“I understand.” Father Firepower finished loading the books and led them back the way they came. The fog helped hide them from prying eyes, although there were surprisingly few people around. Dana wondered where they were. The land seemed rich enough to support hundreds if not thousands, even if it was being badly mismanaged. They soon reached the cemetery and took a small path to a large oak tree. The priest pulled up the sleeves on his robes to reveal gold gauntlets trimmed with black, and he struck the side of the tree three times, then three more and three more after that.
“Hopefully he heard my signal,” Father Firepower said. “We will search for him if he doesn’t come within the hour, but that increases the chance of our discovery.”
“Does he know you’re coming?” Dana asked.
“Not the exact day. I wasn’t sure what challenges I would face that might delay reaching him. My message to him said to be ready to leave on a moment’s notice.”
“How large is this man’s family?” Jayden asked.
“He has a wife and five children,” the priest replied. “Why do you ask?”
“Because that’s quite the crowd coming toward us.”
Jayden pointed down the trail, where fifty or more people came out of the fog. They carried bags on their shoulders and some led farm animals. A man in the front of the group came to Father Firepower and dropped to his knees.
“Who are these individuals with you?” the priest demanded.
“Forgive me, but there was no choice,” the man wept. “My neighbors saw me packing and demanded to know where I was going. I, I told them, and they begged to join me. Please, sir, we can’t leave them here. Life grows worse by the week. Recently mercenaries and gladiators came through our village and ate our food stores. They said we were lucky they didn’t take our daughters with them! Sir, if they return…”
Father Firepower looked at the frightened peasants gathered before him. “I understand. I don’t have enough food for so many, but there are places where we can get more. All of you, come with me before your master realizes you have left.”
Boom.
“Oh no,” Dana said.
Jayden drew his sword. “I heard it, too.”
Boom. Boom. Father Firepower looked around. “What is that?”
“Stone golems,” Jayden told him. Boom. “By the sound of it at least two.”
“We meet again,” a familiar voice called out from the fog. “You didn’t run fast enough or far enough to escape me.”
“Stronglock, don’t you have a war to fight?” Jayden called back.
Two stone golems marched out of the fog at the edge of their vision. One looked like it wore stone ‘clothes’ in the style of a gentleman, while the other looked like a miner with a stone ‘helmet’. Behind them came the dwarf Dunrhill Stronglock in his plate armor and wielding a black magic axe. Still further back were two more dwarfs in workman’s clothes and holding silver amulets.
“After your attack on Trenton Town, and my failure to stop it, King Tyros’ generals gave a choice,” Stronglock replied angrily. “Kill you or die in your place. They graciously allowed me to use two of my company’s golems. Finding you was impossible with magic, but too many people had seen you and would inform on you in return for cash.”
Father Firepower turned to Jayden. “You sought to help me, and led your enemies directly to me.”
“Not intentionally!”
“Friends of yours?” Stronglock asked. “If they stand with you, they can die with you.”
Father Firepower glanced at his agents. “You know the route we’re taking. Get them moving.”
The golems lumbered toward Dana and Jayden while Father Firepower’s agents and the peasants fled. Jayden cast spells to form his giant black hand while Dana drew her sword Chain Cutter. Their earlier fight with Stronglock had been difficult, and that was when he had only one stone golem. Dana’s first instinct was to run, but that would leave these peasants to Stronglock’s mercy. The dwarf had been ruthless enough in their first encounter, and desperation at the threat to his life would only make that worse.
Father Firepower pulled off his robe to reveal the impressive plate armor he wore. It was gold with black trim, with the ring of three parts on his forehead, chest and belt. Like Jayden the priest had no weapons.
“Impressive enchantments on your armor,” Stronglock told the priest as he marched toward them. “Start running if you don’t want me to crush you in it.”
“I give you this opportunity to leave before battle is joined,” Father Firepower replied. “Ignore my offer at your peril.”
“I’m the only peril here,” Stronglock snarled as his golems lumbered into battle.
The golems were so slow that Dana, Jayden and Father Firepower were able to gang up on one and strike before the other could come to its aid. Dana slashed its heels and cut deeply into the stone. Jayden sent his giant hand crashing into it and bowled it over. Father Firepower kneeled and prayed before he grabbed the fallen golem by the arm. The golem sat up as Father Firepower braced his feet and shouted.
“God is my strength!” The priest pulled on the golem’s arm, and to everyone’s amazement he threw it into the other golem, knocking both onto their backs. Father Firepower looked at Stronglock and yelled, “This is your last warning! I don’t want to take your life, but I can do it!”
Stronglock’s shock vanished quickly, and he gripped his ax tightly before charging. He reached them as his golems stood up and rejoined the fight. Stronglock ignored the priest and focused on Jayden. His first swing was a clear miss, but the dwarf kept running and slammed into Jayden hard enough to knock him back. Jayden rammed his giant hand into the dwarf, but Stronglock swung his ax through it, hacking it in half. Jayden screamed as feedback from the damage broke bones in his hand.
Dana charged Stronglock and kept the dwarf back as Jayden staggered from the pain. The dwarf blocked her swings as easily as he did the last time the fought. Ax met sword in a storm of sparks without either breaking. The stone golems were catching up and would be on her in seconds.
Father Firepower took Jayden’s injured hand and prayed. Blue light flowed from the priest’s hands and mended Jayden’s wounds. They attacked Stronglock together and drove him away from Dana.
The gentleman golem tried to punch Dana and missed by inches. She slashed at its hand and cut off a finger. Father Firepower rushed in and punched the golem in the stomach, leaving cracks and doubling it over. Dana hit it again and cut a notch in the top of its head. The golem stood up straight and caught the priest in a bearhug. That lasted only until Dana slashed across its right knee and did enough damage to topple the golem. The miner golem helped up the gentleman while Dana helped up Father Firepower.
Jayden was busy sparing with Stronglock. He’d created his black sword and fought with it in one hand while using his magic sword in the other. The magic sword sped up Jayden’s attack, but to Dana’s surprise it made him swing his black sword just as fast. Stronglock was a skilled fighter and his armor was good, almost good enough to block the whirlwind of attacks coming at him. The dwarf took two hits that cut deep into his shoulder guard and breastplate.
“I will not yield!” Stronglock bellowed. He pushed on regardless of the blows he was taking and charged. Jayden leaped out of the way, bringing him so close to the golems that one of them tried to kick him. He dodged the kick and parried Stronglock’s axe swing.
Dana spotted the two dwarfs stayed outside the fight. “They’re controlling the golems. We need to stop them.”
“I will slow these two down,” Father Firepower told her. He prayed as the golems approached him. “Faith be my shield!”
Both golems brought their fists down on the priest. The swings came close when they hit a bluish shield made of concentric rings, each one divided into three parts. The golems banged on the shield and made it waver. Dana ran for the two dwarfs, only for Stronglock to step in her way.
“You’re not using that trick again,” the dwarf said. He swung at her head and forced her to duck. “I’ll need weeks to repair the damage you’ve done, but I can fix it. Nothing will fix your head once I take it off. Die, pest.”
That was when a monstrous black wolf leaped onto Stronglock. Wolf might be the wrong term. The midnight black animal was bigger than an ox and wreathed in white flames. It caught Strongarm’s ax handle in its jaws and ripped the weapon away. The monstrous wolf ran off sixty feet, spit out the axe and raced back to jump onto the gentleman golem. It bit the golem’s right arm, and there was a sharp crack as the stone limb broke off at the elbow.
Dana gasped in amazement. “What is that?”
“The church grim,” Jayden told her. “He looks a tad different when he’s angry.
Strongarm ran off and recovered his axe while the golems tried to fight the church grim. Father Firepower picked up the severed golem limb and clubbed the gentleman golem with it. Jayden attacked with his black and magic swords, cutting grooves into the miner golem’s arms. Dana joined him and drove her sword into the miner golem’s back.
“Your dog isn’t going to save you!” Strongarm yelled as he charged them. He swung at Dana, and she struggled to hold him off. “Nothing can!”
The church grim bit the gentleman golem’s right leg and pulled the golem over. Stone began to crack under its jaws until the miner golem kicked the church grim and sent it flying twenty feet. Father Firepower struck the gentleman golem so hard that the severed arm broke apart, as did the left side of the gentleman’s face. Jayden attacked Stronglock and kept the dwarf off Dana.
“Die, you idiots!” Stronglock screamed as he blocked one of Jayden’s blows with his ax. Two more blows left gashes across the dwarf’s breastplate. “Just die!”
The church grim got off the ground and shook its head. The monstrous dog fixed its eyes on the golems and began to growl.
Jayden let his black sword dissipate and grabbed Dana by the arm. “Run!”
Dana and Jayden raced away from the golems. Father Firepower stayed only long enough to drive his fist into and nearly through the miner golem’s kneecap to topple it before he followed them. Stronglock tried to follow them, but he found the church grim in his way and glowing brighter with each passing second. The huge dog threw back its head and howled. Horns blared in reply, and the light around it grew brighter still. Dana looked behind her where the golems were standing again and looking confused. Beams of light shot out from the blinding light around the church grim, cutting them to pieces.
Stronglock tried to run from the light before the deafening sound of horns hit him like a battering ram and knocked him over. His armor cracked and his axe was thrown fifty feet. The two dwarfs with him threw down their now useless amulets. The sound of horns brought them to their knees.
Dana, Jayden and Father Firepower didn’t stop running until the light behind them dimmed. Dana gasped for breath, and she grabbed onto a tree to keep from falling down. Jayden and Father Firepower were nearly as exhausted. Once she could speak, she asked, “What happened?”
“The golems hurt the church grim badly enough that it felt threatened,” Jayden explained. “It called on divine help to deal with them. Stronglock should have called his golems off the moment he saw it. Pride or anger kept him from admitting how much danger he was in.”
Dana looked back the way they’d come. The other two dwarfs were carrying Stronglock away. Stronglock’s hands moved, so he’d survived somehow, probably by being farther away from the church grim than his golems had been. The church grim was gone as if it had never been there.
“Why did it come?” she asked. “Jayden, you said church grims guard graveyards, but we’re half a mile from the graveyard it’s responsible for, and Stronglock and his golems weren’t threatening it.”
“The church grim has orders it must obey, as do I, but those orders leave room for interpretation,” Father Firepower said. “Aiding a brotherhood member in need would qualify, as would saving innocent lives, especially that of a friend.”
Dana froze. “Wait, you think it did this because of me?”
“I imagine it’s been a long time since anyone showed it affection,” Jayden told her. He smiled and said, “You do have a way of making friends wherever you go. Grateful as I am for its help, we need to go as soon as possible.”
“Every soul within five miles must have heard our battle,” Father Firepower said. “I must gather my people and leave before soldiers come to investigate.”
Jayden extended a hand in friendship to the priest. “This didn’t go nearly as well as I would have liked, but I am grateful to have met you. Destroying those golems will give the people in Zentrix some small advantage in the coming war. I fear it won’t be enough.”
Father Firepower shook Jayden’s hand without hesitation. “Do not be afraid, for He is with us in all things and against all dangers. We may meet again. Until that day, I urge you to spend more time in prayer. It will lead to wisdom.”
The priest walked off into the fog. Jayden flexed his right hand and said, “I regret not staying in his company for obvious reasons. It seems Clevner’s information was again only partially accurate. This puts us in a poor position. Zentrix either is already being invaded or soon will be, and I have no idea how to help its people.”
“Something will turn up,” she told him. “We should go before people come to see what the noise was about, and before the fog lifts.”
“It already is. I can see twice as far as I could before, and the sky above is clearing. Dana, as pleased as I am that we succeeded, we’re not doing enough. Too many lives are in danger. As much as I appreciate the help we just received, further divine intervention wouldn’t go unappreciated.”
Dana sheathed her sword. Feeling playful, she said, “Father Firepower would say God works in mysterious ways.”
“Hopefully not too mysterious.” Jayden shielded his eyes from the sun with his right hand and looked to the west. “Those clouds look like rain.”
As if on cue, rain poured down in torrents.
******************
Firepower led them to his agents and the cart. The agents looked surprised to see him with company, but a wave of the priest’s hand calmed them. “They have offered assistance.”
“Are these the people who spied on us?” a man asked. “You said you’d stop them.”
“So that’s why you were waiting by the graveyard,” Jayden said. “I wouldn’t expect a priest to set an ambush.”
“Do not question my methods. I have fought long and hard to defend the faithful.”
“You’re not used to being questioned, are you?” Jayden asked.
Dana elbowed him in the ribs. “We’re trying to make friends.”
“Many question me,” Father Firepower said. “Some from curiosity, others from honest concern, and others in a vain attempt to make themselves appear wise or worldly. I answer all of them, sometimes to their sorrow.”
“Can we please focus on what we’re doing?” Dana asked. “How far is it to your friend?”
“He lives not far from here,” the priest answered. “A day’s hard marching will reach him, and five more will ensure our escape.”
Jayden peered into the back of the cart. “You brought food and drink, and have quite a few packages wrapped in burlap.”
“The cart’s contents are no interest to you.”
Father Firepower led them for hours through narrow trails in the wilderness until they came up the gates to a large estate. He hesitated at the gates.
“One of yours, I believe,” Jayden said.
“Once. Perhaps one day it will be so again. This was Greenview Abbey, land gifted to the brotherhood by King Tyros’ ancestors two hundred years ago. It was a worthless swamp then, but through hard work and wisdom it was made into productive farmland.” His voice was bitter when he said, “Now look at it.”
Dana came alongside him. The estate certainly looked prosperous, with fields sprouting wheat and men pulling weeds. The buildings were large and in good repair, and she heard sheep bleating in the distance.
The priest pointed at hills covered in tree stumps alongside the fields. “In times gone by we planted trees to hold the hillsides in place and provide both building materials and firewood. Carefully managed, it could have provided resources indefinitely. Instead it was stripped bare by the baron who now rules here. He is a vainglorious fool with dreams of becoming a general. Such bloodthirsty desires cost gold. He ordered all the trees felled and sold the wood to buy weapons, planting nothing in its place. See, the soil already wears away. A strong enough storm will bring these hills sliding down onto the fields, destroying both.
“The work of generations is being destroyed in mere years. Herds of dairy cattle have been sent to slaughterhouses, artwork ripped from walls and sold to the highest bidder, property sold or mortgaged so this idiot baron can play at war. He has enough to satisfy any man’s appetites, and still he hungers for more.”
“The brotherhood could have stopped this from happening,” Jayden replied. “When the king and queen exiled you, priests, nuns and monks left meekly. You could have fought back. Many would have sided with you.”
“If that is an example of your wisdom, I prefer your silence,” Father Firepower retorted. “Meadowland Kingdom had barely survived a civil war and you would have had us start another? We could have fought back, killing so many the kingdom would be left desolate. Our property would have been burned or looted, the destruction faster and more thorough.”
Father Firepower turned to face Jayden. “We left to avoid causing horrors as great or greater than what this land had already experienced. We believed that the chance would come for us to return, either as welcomed guests or by sending missionaries in secret to win back the people. It was a risk, but the alternative was unthinkable.”
Dana slapped a hand over her face as Jayden kept pressing his point. “Is this better? You avoided a war that would have caused much suffering to one kingdom, and now Meadowland, Bascal, Kaleoth and Zentrix are all in peril.”
“What would you have me do?” Firepower yelled. He marched up to Jayden and pressed an armored finger against the Sorcerer Lord’s chest. “Would you have priests and monks become killers? Would you have us lead peasants against knights?”
“We’re making enough noise to draw attention to a secret mission,” Dana said. She got between Jayden and Father Firepower. “People need us. Focus on that.”
“Does she always act as your buffer?” Father Firepower asked Jayden.
“Yes. It bothers me how much I need her to do that. Years of hardship and watching my homeland sink into hatred and madness have left me thin skinned and bitter.”
The two stared at one another until Father Firepower turned away. “The hour is late and we won’t reach our destination before nightfall. I know a place we can rest until the morning.”
They made camp in a rocky gully far from the estate. Father Firepower shared nuts and dried meats and fruits from his supplies, but he was adamant that they not make a campfire. Dana and Jayden stayed by themselves, which seemed to suit the priest’s friends just fine.
On closer inspection, the brotherhood agents were simple folk. They had no weapons, and Dana saw no evidence that they were wizards. Dana had to respect their courage, for they were standing up to the king and queen in their own way, and they could expect no mercy if caught.
“So, exactly what happened in the city of Vascmer?” Dana asked.
“Personal matters I don’t wish to discuss,” Jayden told her. “I don’t ask about your past relationships because it’s none of my business. It’s not asking too much for you to do the same.”
“What’s her name?” Dana teased.
Jayden folded his arms across his chest. “That was one of my more spectacular failed relationships, one I’d thought no one knew about. You will never meet her, and that’s for the best.”
“Fine, be that way.” Dana’s voice dropped to a whisper when she spoke to Jayden again. “It sounds like you’ve heard of this priest before.”
“Amadeus Firepower is one of the Brotherhood of the Righteous’ most talented and dedicated men. We already saw his power when he destroyed my shadow fox. I assure you that was the barest taste of his potential. When the brotherhood has given up all hope of peaceful resolutions, they send him in to save who they can and punish those they must. His list of accomplishments is long, and the foes he’s defeated are many. Firepower cares nothing for kings, merchants, wizards or mad scientists. Faith, love, hope, these guide him, and only those with those gifts impress him. I fear I am short on all three.”
Jayden managed a weak smile when he looked at her. “You, on the other hand, seem to have made a new friend.”
Dana blushed. “I used to go to brotherhood services weekly before they were expelled. I have a lot or respect for them.”
“Careful, Dana, he might try to recruit you. The brotherhood needs every man and woman it can get.”
“She could do worse,” Firepower called out, making Dana blush even more. “Over the years we have evacuated many faithful. If you so desire, you may take refuge with the brotherhood as have many others.”
Dana spoke before Jayden could. “You are kind to make the offer, but there are people here who need me. I can help those who can’t help themselves.”
“You are indeed one of ours,” Father Firepower replied.
“Wait here for me,” Dana told Jayden. She went to Father Firepower and said, “I haven’t had a chance to admit my sins for eight years, and there are some things that have been bothering me. I would also like to tell you what I’ve seen in the last year that your agents might not know about. It might take a while.”
Father Firepower gestured for her to sit. “Of course. Know that His love has no limits, His mercy is boundless, and His kingdom welcomes you with open arms.”
* * * * *
They woke early the next morning to find a dense fog had rolled in during the night. Dana worried that this would cause trouble, but both Jayden and Father Firepower seemed pleased.
“We are blessed,” the priest said. “This will conceal us from our enemies, and cover our escape.”
They followed the priest to what looked like an abandoned storage shed at the edge of the nobleman’s estate. Father Firepower went in first and pulled up loose tiles from the floor to reveal a secret compartment. He brought out silver plates and cups Dana recognized as sacramental vessels, but he also brought out more packages wrapped in burlap. He loaded them onto the cart carefully while Jayden watched.
“Books,” Jayden announced when Father Firepower set one of the packages down. “It’s the right size and weight. For a moment I wondered if they were holy texts, but while you would no doubt want to preserve those, the king would have no interest in them. I doubt these are spell books, either. Tell me, priest, what secrets are written here that the king must not have?”
Father Firepower glanced at Jayden before he unwrapped a package to reveal the books inside. Holding one up, he said, “You guessed correctly, but this is a secret in the loosest possible term.”
Dana slipped in closer and read the title. “The Book of Life and Death. That sounds ominous.”
“Appearances can deceive,” Father Firepower told her gently. “The brotherhood had many duties when it was welcome in Meadowland Kingdom. They included officiating births, marriages, and deaths of the faithful. When the faithful moved, they registered at churches in their new home. Each church recorded this information in books. Recovering lost sacramental vessels is important, but these books must be reclaimed at all costs.”
Puzzled, she asked, “Why?”
“Because without meaning to, the priests conducted a census,” Jayden told her. “The civil war cost many lives and drove many people from the kingdom. Chaos and hardships since then have prevented the royal couple from conducting a census of who remains. Even now the king and queen seek to raise armies without knowing exactly how many people there are to conscript. Those books list every man, woman and child.”
“But the brotherhood was forced out eight years ago,” she protested. “There’s no telling how many of those people died since then, or how many more were born or left the kingdom.”
“While the information within these books is outdated, they are a starting point,” Father Firepower said. “Royal officials can look for the men listed here, or at least look for their graves.”
“Don’t tax records say the same thing?” she asked.
“Surprisingly, no,” Jayden told her. “Each town and city are responsible for collecting a specific amount of gold. The king and queen don’t care how it’s done so long as it is, and assign the task to local officials, men largely known to be corrupt and incompetent. They send the amount owed without writing much if anything down. The king and queen’s plans are being hindered by the very system they rule.”
Father Firepower loaded more books. “Two months ago, our agents reported government officials were searching property confiscated from the brotherhood. Those officials described what they sought to servants and scribes in the hope that one of them had seen their prize. These searches are ongoing and intensifying. My superiors in the brotherhood sent me to retrieve the books, or barring that to destroy them. It pleases me that I may return them intact.”
“That’s most of the job done, but where’s your man and his family?” Dana asked.
“He lives close to the cemetery where we first met,” Father Firepower explained. “We will go back and collect him and his kin before leaving the kingdom. You may join me if you wish.”
“Impossible,” Jayden said. “I’m not sure what else I can do to stop these wars, but I must try.”
“I understand.” Father Firepower finished loading the books and led them back the way they came. The fog helped hide them from prying eyes, although there were surprisingly few people around. Dana wondered where they were. The land seemed rich enough to support hundreds if not thousands, even if it was being badly mismanaged. They soon reached the cemetery and took a small path to a large oak tree. The priest pulled up the sleeves on his robes to reveal gold gauntlets trimmed with black, and he struck the side of the tree three times, then three more and three more after that.
“Hopefully he heard my signal,” Father Firepower said. “We will search for him if he doesn’t come within the hour, but that increases the chance of our discovery.”
“Does he know you’re coming?” Dana asked.
“Not the exact day. I wasn’t sure what challenges I would face that might delay reaching him. My message to him said to be ready to leave on a moment’s notice.”
“How large is this man’s family?” Jayden asked.
“He has a wife and five children,” the priest replied. “Why do you ask?”
“Because that’s quite the crowd coming toward us.”
Jayden pointed down the trail, where fifty or more people came out of the fog. They carried bags on their shoulders and some led farm animals. A man in the front of the group came to Father Firepower and dropped to his knees.
“Who are these individuals with you?” the priest demanded.
“Forgive me, but there was no choice,” the man wept. “My neighbors saw me packing and demanded to know where I was going. I, I told them, and they begged to join me. Please, sir, we can’t leave them here. Life grows worse by the week. Recently mercenaries and gladiators came through our village and ate our food stores. They said we were lucky they didn’t take our daughters with them! Sir, if they return…”
Father Firepower looked at the frightened peasants gathered before him. “I understand. I don’t have enough food for so many, but there are places where we can get more. All of you, come with me before your master realizes you have left.”
Boom.
“Oh no,” Dana said.
Jayden drew his sword. “I heard it, too.”
Boom. Boom. Father Firepower looked around. “What is that?”
“Stone golems,” Jayden told him. Boom. “By the sound of it at least two.”
“We meet again,” a familiar voice called out from the fog. “You didn’t run fast enough or far enough to escape me.”
“Stronglock, don’t you have a war to fight?” Jayden called back.
Two stone golems marched out of the fog at the edge of their vision. One looked like it wore stone ‘clothes’ in the style of a gentleman, while the other looked like a miner with a stone ‘helmet’. Behind them came the dwarf Dunrhill Stronglock in his plate armor and wielding a black magic axe. Still further back were two more dwarfs in workman’s clothes and holding silver amulets.
“After your attack on Trenton Town, and my failure to stop it, King Tyros’ generals gave a choice,” Stronglock replied angrily. “Kill you or die in your place. They graciously allowed me to use two of my company’s golems. Finding you was impossible with magic, but too many people had seen you and would inform on you in return for cash.”
Father Firepower turned to Jayden. “You sought to help me, and led your enemies directly to me.”
“Not intentionally!”
“Friends of yours?” Stronglock asked. “If they stand with you, they can die with you.”
Father Firepower glanced at his agents. “You know the route we’re taking. Get them moving.”
The golems lumbered toward Dana and Jayden while Father Firepower’s agents and the peasants fled. Jayden cast spells to form his giant black hand while Dana drew her sword Chain Cutter. Their earlier fight with Stronglock had been difficult, and that was when he had only one stone golem. Dana’s first instinct was to run, but that would leave these peasants to Stronglock’s mercy. The dwarf had been ruthless enough in their first encounter, and desperation at the threat to his life would only make that worse.
Father Firepower pulled off his robe to reveal the impressive plate armor he wore. It was gold with black trim, with the ring of three parts on his forehead, chest and belt. Like Jayden the priest had no weapons.
“Impressive enchantments on your armor,” Stronglock told the priest as he marched toward them. “Start running if you don’t want me to crush you in it.”
“I give you this opportunity to leave before battle is joined,” Father Firepower replied. “Ignore my offer at your peril.”
“I’m the only peril here,” Stronglock snarled as his golems lumbered into battle.
The golems were so slow that Dana, Jayden and Father Firepower were able to gang up on one and strike before the other could come to its aid. Dana slashed its heels and cut deeply into the stone. Jayden sent his giant hand crashing into it and bowled it over. Father Firepower kneeled and prayed before he grabbed the fallen golem by the arm. The golem sat up as Father Firepower braced his feet and shouted.
“God is my strength!” The priest pulled on the golem’s arm, and to everyone’s amazement he threw it into the other golem, knocking both onto their backs. Father Firepower looked at Stronglock and yelled, “This is your last warning! I don’t want to take your life, but I can do it!”
Stronglock’s shock vanished quickly, and he gripped his ax tightly before charging. He reached them as his golems stood up and rejoined the fight. Stronglock ignored the priest and focused on Jayden. His first swing was a clear miss, but the dwarf kept running and slammed into Jayden hard enough to knock him back. Jayden rammed his giant hand into the dwarf, but Stronglock swung his ax through it, hacking it in half. Jayden screamed as feedback from the damage broke bones in his hand.
Dana charged Stronglock and kept the dwarf back as Jayden staggered from the pain. The dwarf blocked her swings as easily as he did the last time the fought. Ax met sword in a storm of sparks without either breaking. The stone golems were catching up and would be on her in seconds.
Father Firepower took Jayden’s injured hand and prayed. Blue light flowed from the priest’s hands and mended Jayden’s wounds. They attacked Stronglock together and drove him away from Dana.
The gentleman golem tried to punch Dana and missed by inches. She slashed at its hand and cut off a finger. Father Firepower rushed in and punched the golem in the stomach, leaving cracks and doubling it over. Dana hit it again and cut a notch in the top of its head. The golem stood up straight and caught the priest in a bearhug. That lasted only until Dana slashed across its right knee and did enough damage to topple the golem. The miner golem helped up the gentleman while Dana helped up Father Firepower.
Jayden was busy sparing with Stronglock. He’d created his black sword and fought with it in one hand while using his magic sword in the other. The magic sword sped up Jayden’s attack, but to Dana’s surprise it made him swing his black sword just as fast. Stronglock was a skilled fighter and his armor was good, almost good enough to block the whirlwind of attacks coming at him. The dwarf took two hits that cut deep into his shoulder guard and breastplate.
“I will not yield!” Stronglock bellowed. He pushed on regardless of the blows he was taking and charged. Jayden leaped out of the way, bringing him so close to the golems that one of them tried to kick him. He dodged the kick and parried Stronglock’s axe swing.
Dana spotted the two dwarfs stayed outside the fight. “They’re controlling the golems. We need to stop them.”
“I will slow these two down,” Father Firepower told her. He prayed as the golems approached him. “Faith be my shield!”
Both golems brought their fists down on the priest. The swings came close when they hit a bluish shield made of concentric rings, each one divided into three parts. The golems banged on the shield and made it waver. Dana ran for the two dwarfs, only for Stronglock to step in her way.
“You’re not using that trick again,” the dwarf said. He swung at her head and forced her to duck. “I’ll need weeks to repair the damage you’ve done, but I can fix it. Nothing will fix your head once I take it off. Die, pest.”
That was when a monstrous black wolf leaped onto Stronglock. Wolf might be the wrong term. The midnight black animal was bigger than an ox and wreathed in white flames. It caught Strongarm’s ax handle in its jaws and ripped the weapon away. The monstrous wolf ran off sixty feet, spit out the axe and raced back to jump onto the gentleman golem. It bit the golem’s right arm, and there was a sharp crack as the stone limb broke off at the elbow.
Dana gasped in amazement. “What is that?”
“The church grim,” Jayden told her. “He looks a tad different when he’s angry.
Strongarm ran off and recovered his axe while the golems tried to fight the church grim. Father Firepower picked up the severed golem limb and clubbed the gentleman golem with it. Jayden attacked with his black and magic swords, cutting grooves into the miner golem’s arms. Dana joined him and drove her sword into the miner golem’s back.
“Your dog isn’t going to save you!” Strongarm yelled as he charged them. He swung at Dana, and she struggled to hold him off. “Nothing can!”
The church grim bit the gentleman golem’s right leg and pulled the golem over. Stone began to crack under its jaws until the miner golem kicked the church grim and sent it flying twenty feet. Father Firepower struck the gentleman golem so hard that the severed arm broke apart, as did the left side of the gentleman’s face. Jayden attacked Stronglock and kept the dwarf off Dana.
“Die, you idiots!” Stronglock screamed as he blocked one of Jayden’s blows with his ax. Two more blows left gashes across the dwarf’s breastplate. “Just die!”
The church grim got off the ground and shook its head. The monstrous dog fixed its eyes on the golems and began to growl.
Jayden let his black sword dissipate and grabbed Dana by the arm. “Run!”
Dana and Jayden raced away from the golems. Father Firepower stayed only long enough to drive his fist into and nearly through the miner golem’s kneecap to topple it before he followed them. Stronglock tried to follow them, but he found the church grim in his way and glowing brighter with each passing second. The huge dog threw back its head and howled. Horns blared in reply, and the light around it grew brighter still. Dana looked behind her where the golems were standing again and looking confused. Beams of light shot out from the blinding light around the church grim, cutting them to pieces.
Stronglock tried to run from the light before the deafening sound of horns hit him like a battering ram and knocked him over. His armor cracked and his axe was thrown fifty feet. The two dwarfs with him threw down their now useless amulets. The sound of horns brought them to their knees.
Dana, Jayden and Father Firepower didn’t stop running until the light behind them dimmed. Dana gasped for breath, and she grabbed onto a tree to keep from falling down. Jayden and Father Firepower were nearly as exhausted. Once she could speak, she asked, “What happened?”
“The golems hurt the church grim badly enough that it felt threatened,” Jayden explained. “It called on divine help to deal with them. Stronglock should have called his golems off the moment he saw it. Pride or anger kept him from admitting how much danger he was in.”
Dana looked back the way they’d come. The other two dwarfs were carrying Stronglock away. Stronglock’s hands moved, so he’d survived somehow, probably by being farther away from the church grim than his golems had been. The church grim was gone as if it had never been there.
“Why did it come?” she asked. “Jayden, you said church grims guard graveyards, but we’re half a mile from the graveyard it’s responsible for, and Stronglock and his golems weren’t threatening it.”
“The church grim has orders it must obey, as do I, but those orders leave room for interpretation,” Father Firepower said. “Aiding a brotherhood member in need would qualify, as would saving innocent lives, especially that of a friend.”
Dana froze. “Wait, you think it did this because of me?”
“I imagine it’s been a long time since anyone showed it affection,” Jayden told her. He smiled and said, “You do have a way of making friends wherever you go. Grateful as I am for its help, we need to go as soon as possible.”
“Every soul within five miles must have heard our battle,” Father Firepower said. “I must gather my people and leave before soldiers come to investigate.”
Jayden extended a hand in friendship to the priest. “This didn’t go nearly as well as I would have liked, but I am grateful to have met you. Destroying those golems will give the people in Zentrix some small advantage in the coming war. I fear it won’t be enough.”
Father Firepower shook Jayden’s hand without hesitation. “Do not be afraid, for He is with us in all things and against all dangers. We may meet again. Until that day, I urge you to spend more time in prayer. It will lead to wisdom.”
The priest walked off into the fog. Jayden flexed his right hand and said, “I regret not staying in his company for obvious reasons. It seems Clevner’s information was again only partially accurate. This puts us in a poor position. Zentrix either is already being invaded or soon will be, and I have no idea how to help its people.”
“Something will turn up,” she told him. “We should go before people come to see what the noise was about, and before the fog lifts.”
“It already is. I can see twice as far as I could before, and the sky above is clearing. Dana, as pleased as I am that we succeeded, we’re not doing enough. Too many lives are in danger. As much as I appreciate the help we just received, further divine intervention wouldn’t go unappreciated.”
Dana sheathed her sword. Feeling playful, she said, “Father Firepower would say God works in mysterious ways.”
“Hopefully not too mysterious.” Jayden shielded his eyes from the sun with his right hand and looked to the west. “Those clouds look like rain.”
As if on cue, rain poured down in torrents.
Dana and Jayden Book 2 Live!
Greetings, all, and my apologies for not writing for so long. I have been busy with personal matters, and I was getting the second Dana and Jayden book done. That took me nine months longer than I'd expected, but it's finally done. Book 2 is titled Dana Illwind and War's Shadow, and it can be found on Amazon as a paperback and ebook, and is on Kindle Unlimited. It's my sincere hope that you will find it as entertaining to read as it was to write. Thank you all for your patience.
https://www.amazon.com/Dana-Illwind-S...
https://www.amazon.com/Dana-Illwind-S...
Family Ties
Jorum checked his chin in the mirror. Nothing. Not a whisker. Not even peach fuzz, as his mom called it. Dwarf boys were supposed to grow their beards starting at thirty, and here he was, thirty and four months with a chin as smooth as a ball.
“Good morning, dear.” Jorum stuffed the mirror into his tool bag and went back to gulping down his breakfast. His mother walked into the kitchen smiling, cheerful as always, her clothes well-worn and clean, and ladled more oatmeal into his bowl. “Goodness, such an appetite. Watch that you don’t choke.”
“Mrph,” Jorum managed to say between mouthful. He swallowed and translated that to, “Don’t worry about me.”
“You’re my son. I always worry about you.”
Jorum rolled his eyes. Thirty, not a hair on his chin, and still being treated like a child. Why, in olden days a dwarf was expected to go on campaigns against the elves at this age! As cooks and animal handlers, sure, but it was still dangerous. The only danger Jorum was in was from his schoolbooks giving him papercuts, or boring him to tears.
His mother puttered around their humble kitchen. There were stone benches older than most nations, a granite table heavy with scratches, and a fireplace with a small (and surly) fire elemental providing heat. Their family had lived here for nine hundred years. The house was small, sturdy, simple. No one ever suffered from cold or dampness, no rats dared enter, but it was a workman’s home.
Jorum’s family wasn’t poor, no real dwarf was, but none of his relatives were in management. They worked on factory floors, making tools and weapons, building parts of golems, simple stuff. No enchanters in his family, not when it cost so much to learn magic. No managers, either. His family lacked the connections and education to go that high.
Proud, they called his family. Hardworking, honest, loyal. Oh yes, Jorum’s family earned praise. But it was like saying strong or enduring, generic praise all dwarfs got. Some youths dreamed of achieving greatness as mercenaries or corporate security, with courage and strength making up for their lack famous lineages. Jorum had no such ambitions. His family knew their place, and it was at the bottom.
Jorum’s mother interrupted his grousing by asking, “How’s your grandfather?”
“He still won’t admit he’s dead,” Jorum said sullenly.
“Now dear, you know your grandfather’s set in his ways. Give him a decade or two and he’ll see it’s time to move on.”
“Other dwarfs’ family members don’t stick around after they die.”
His mother kissed him on his hairless cheek. “Then we’re lucky.”
Jorum heard the door open and slam shut, followed by a now familiar jingling and clanking. “Jorum? Still eating? Good! Long day ahead of you. Need your strength, and a crowbar. Some fool locked the tool chest again.”
“That was dad,” Jorum said. “He doesn’t want you borrowing his tools when he’s at work.”
Grandfather staggered into the kitchen. He’d been dead for the better part of three years and still wasn’t steady on his feet. Probably because they weren’t his feet. “Borrowing? Ha! They were my tools before they were his, every one of them. Except that cheap saw he bought. Bah! Won’t touch it.”
All dwarfs die, same as men, trolls, ogres and dragons. Not all dwarfs go quietly, though. Some petrify after soaking up too much magic. They could come back to life in emergencies to save the dwarf people, or so the saying went. Jorum had never seen one move after turning to stone.
And then there were ghosts like grandfather. He’d died of old age and fifteen stab wounds, but mostly old age. Instead of leaving this world for the next he’d stuck around. His spirit had gone in search of a new, working body. Finding no golems to inhabit (corporate policy expressly forbid it), he’d cobbled one together from whatever he could find and come back home, eager to get back to work.
Most of grandfather’s new body was his old suit of plate armor, strong and sturdy, not magical, but built so well it didn’t need enchantments. There had been some complaints that dad hadn’t been allowed to inherit the armor, but that fell on deaf ears. The armor’s interior was now filled with chains, nails, screws, small metalworking tools and whatever else grandfather had been able to scrap together.
The bits didn’t totally fit together, and where it didn’t was a pale blue light. Jorum could see, just barely, his grandfather’s features over the armor, but you had to look at him just right to do so. Look at him directly and he was just a pile of parts, but look out the corner of your eye and it was as if he was the way he’d always been.
“Cheap garbage, that saw,” grandfather said as he stumbled across the kitchen. “Would’ve been melted down in my time, but oh no, not today.”
“Good morning,” mother said. “Did you have a productive night?”
“Good as can be hoped for these days,” grandfather said. Mother kissed the faceplate of his helmet, making him laugh. “Never know what you saw in my son. You’re too good for him, always have been. Giving him a son this strong, that was the cherry on top!”
“Flatterer,” mother said. “You two have a good day.”
“The trade school said—” Jorum began.
“The trade school can kiss the backside I don’t have anymore,” grandfather said. “Took a look at the work their students are turning out. I would’ve dropped dead at the sight if I was still breathing. The welds they tolerated! I should’ve slapped some sense into them, but there’s no cure for stupid. Or lazy.”
Jorum covered his face with both hands. “Grandpa.”
“Garbage! They’re teaching them nothing worth learning. One day I’ll have to go to Heaven and tell their ancestors what failures their descendants are. Not looking forward to that, let me tell you. Blasted corporations’ fault.”
Red-faced, Jorum grabbed his grandfather by the arm. “Keep your voice down!”
“Or what, they’ll kill me? Ha! Bunch of half-witted, slack jawed, greedy, lazy honorless dogs are an embarrassment for us all. Why in my day—”
“Why don’t you take Jorum to your forge,” mother suggested. Work was the only thing that made grandfather stop complaining about things that could get them all in trouble.
“Good thinking,” grandfather agreed. “No time for grousing when there’s work to do. Got some things to show you, boy, better than anything that idiot run trade school could teach you. When I’m done, you’ll be in charge of your own forge, or running a school that really teaches students.”
Mother gave Jorum a nudge, and he reluctantly got up and followed grandfather out into the capital. It was a proper city, underground and overbuilt with towering buildings competing for space. There was a sharp difference in construction between newer and older buildings. Workshops and houses from the early days were built to withstand anything short of the apocalypse, with thick walls, arrow slits, murder holes and miniature defensible forts inside each building. Newer buildings constructed in the last three hundred years were, well…
“Garbage!” grandfather snarled as he staggered through the crowded streets. Most dwarfs ignored him. A few scowled at him for not dying properly. He ignored them and pointed out flaws in the nearest corporate headquarters. “Look at that. They threw that monstrosity together only thirty years ago and it’s leaning two and a half degrees. You’d think goblins made it.”
“Grandfather,” Jorum began.
“Too late to fix it. Bad foundation. Have to tear the whole thing down and start from scratch. They’ll just leave it like that until it falls and kills a few dozen dwarfs. I give it ten more years before it’s off by five degrees and they have to move out.”
Poor construction (even Jorum had to admit that) was only one issue the capital had. Every building was black top to bottom with soot. The air was so heavy with smoke you couldn’t see two blocks. Sometimes the clouds of pollution sparked, proof factories hadn’t contained all the magic they were using. Dwarfs could breathe such contaminated air without issue, but the few human merchants present coughed even with thick scarves covering their mouths. Had an effeminate elf been here, the air would kill him before the residents got a chance.
Here and there the walls were bright and clean, but only where inspirational messages were carved onto them. ‘Your work makes our future possible.’ ‘Remember elven treachery, and stand together!’ ‘Real dwarfs drink Golden Tankard Ale.’ They included drawings, but they all showed the same thing. Dwarfs side by side working, fighting, celebrating. Anyone by themselves was weak, old, suspect. Jorum didn’t mind spending time alone. It worried him how some dwarfs thought that was a weakness.
“Watch the alley,” grandfather warned. “Saw some garbage moving there last night.”
Jorum went to the other side of the street and glanced into the alley as he and grandfather walked by. Piles of garbage filled the alley. It should have been collected weeks ago. Maybe the homeowner didn’t have enough saved up for collection fees, or the trashmen might have missed this street. Either way, they’d waited too long and magic had infused the garbage, bringing it to life. The trash rose and fell like it was breathing. Corporate security would have to deal with it now.
“Did you warn the block warden?” Jorum asked.
“Told him. Didn’t help. He’s pretending it’s not there so he doesn’t have to report the problem and pay a fine. I’ll see if I can’t round up some stout warriors after work and burn it out.”
They’d nearly reached grandfather’s forge when they heard the shouts. “Get back in your grave, old fool! You had your chance. Now it’s our turn!”
Jorum winced from the now familiar taunts. Grandfather’s forge neighbored a small factory. They’d tried to seize his forge twice while he was alive, and eight times since he’d died.
“You didn’t impress me when I was still breathing, and you don’t now!” Grandfather pulled a sharp dagger out from inside his chest and pointed it at them. “You want more space to make your crap work? Ha! This city’s got enough garbage without you making more and trying to sell it!”
Two adult dwarfs in gray uniforms ran out of the factory, hammers in hand. Grandfather didn’t budge, not one inch. In a soft, murderous voice, he said, “Try it. Give me an excuse to pay you back for eighty years of insults and abuse. I know where my soul’s going when I’m done here, and boyos, you’ve got no place there.”
The dwarfs held back, scowling, until their foreman came out. He was old, with a long white beard, and corporate insignias on his chest and shoulders. He pushed his dwarfs back and gave grandfather a hateful glare. “You may not be alive, but you’ve still much left to lose.”
Jorum didn’t understand the threat until grandfather stepped in front of him. “If harm comes to my kin, nothing can save you. Hire mercs, buy monsters, rent a golem, it won’t matter. I’ve fought for our people for five hundred years, long enough to put you in the ground.”
The foreman left with his workers, giving Jorum a cold look before going inside. “Be seeing you, boy.”
Grandfather put an arm around Jorum’s shoulders. “Ignore him. He’s been all talk his entire life. Sad to see a family fall that far.”
Jorum followed his grandfather into the forge. It was old and small, built in the kingdom’s early days not long after they’d escaped from the elves. Not much money back them, not much material to work with, but oh how they had skill! There was an anvil, coal pit and more, built with protective runes and craftsmanship to make a dwarf’s eyes tear up.
Grandfather handed Jorum a pair of leather gloves. “You see it, don’t you, boy? The work that went into this, the years of training needed to make it. My father built it to leave to me, and me to my son.”
This was a sore point with the family. Jorum tried, again, to set it right. “Pa doesn’t mean to upset you.”
“No, he doesn’t, and that makes it worse. If he hated me, I could deal with it, try to make things right in the time I have left. But he thinks I’m wrong, and that’s worse. He’s so filled with bad ideas he’s got no room for anything else. He was always looking for shortcuts, for people to help him get ahead. He should have been focusing on building good work instead of building connections.”
Grandfather took a fire started from inside his leg and ignited the coals. “People told him what to do, how to think, how to talk, and he swallowed it whole. He could have been a great craftsman, but he got sold on following orders from those who didn’t respect him. Attend this school, visit this bar, drink this brand of beer, and he’d fit in. People would like him, trust him, reward his loyalty. Heh. Didn’t quite work out, did it? Two hundred years at Golem Works and he's no closer to the top than the day he started.”
“He’s always provided for us,” Jorum said softly.
“He could have done so much more. He could have been so much more.” Grandfather put his hands on Jorum’s shoulders. “That’s what I want for you, boy. The day’s going to come where our people need you. Don’t blush! It’s true. We’re falling apart. I’ve been around long enough to see the cracks form. Those soot black walls outside? Used to be scrubbed clean. Trash? A family used to be ashamed to let it go like that. You’ve seen those messages cut into the walls of buildings, telling you what to think. A true dwarf would smash them.”
Grandfather pointed outside his forge. “Out there is reason to be ashamed. We didn’t used to be like that. We can’t stay like that. It’s going to be hard work pulling us up out of the hole we’ve dug. I can’t be here too much longer. Two decades, maybe three and I’ll have to move on. Not long, I know, but it’s enough for me to teach you what you need to know. These corporations with their greed and shortsightedness. You think I talk bad about them at home? Wait until I’m sure we’re alone! I’ve had to clean up too many messes they caused and help too many dwarfs they’ve hurt.
“You’re better than that. Don’t believe their lies. Don’t take their coins. Don’t let them drag you down. Now chin up, watch what I do, listen to what I say, and always ask questions. By the time you’ve got a beard you’ll be equal to any craftsman, and that’s a thing to be proud of.”
Excited, Jorum asked, “That soon?”
“That soon, boy. Fifteen years will go by in a flash!”
“Good morning, dear.” Jorum stuffed the mirror into his tool bag and went back to gulping down his breakfast. His mother walked into the kitchen smiling, cheerful as always, her clothes well-worn and clean, and ladled more oatmeal into his bowl. “Goodness, such an appetite. Watch that you don’t choke.”
“Mrph,” Jorum managed to say between mouthful. He swallowed and translated that to, “Don’t worry about me.”
“You’re my son. I always worry about you.”
Jorum rolled his eyes. Thirty, not a hair on his chin, and still being treated like a child. Why, in olden days a dwarf was expected to go on campaigns against the elves at this age! As cooks and animal handlers, sure, but it was still dangerous. The only danger Jorum was in was from his schoolbooks giving him papercuts, or boring him to tears.
His mother puttered around their humble kitchen. There were stone benches older than most nations, a granite table heavy with scratches, and a fireplace with a small (and surly) fire elemental providing heat. Their family had lived here for nine hundred years. The house was small, sturdy, simple. No one ever suffered from cold or dampness, no rats dared enter, but it was a workman’s home.
Jorum’s family wasn’t poor, no real dwarf was, but none of his relatives were in management. They worked on factory floors, making tools and weapons, building parts of golems, simple stuff. No enchanters in his family, not when it cost so much to learn magic. No managers, either. His family lacked the connections and education to go that high.
Proud, they called his family. Hardworking, honest, loyal. Oh yes, Jorum’s family earned praise. But it was like saying strong or enduring, generic praise all dwarfs got. Some youths dreamed of achieving greatness as mercenaries or corporate security, with courage and strength making up for their lack famous lineages. Jorum had no such ambitions. His family knew their place, and it was at the bottom.
Jorum’s mother interrupted his grousing by asking, “How’s your grandfather?”
“He still won’t admit he’s dead,” Jorum said sullenly.
“Now dear, you know your grandfather’s set in his ways. Give him a decade or two and he’ll see it’s time to move on.”
“Other dwarfs’ family members don’t stick around after they die.”
His mother kissed him on his hairless cheek. “Then we’re lucky.”
Jorum heard the door open and slam shut, followed by a now familiar jingling and clanking. “Jorum? Still eating? Good! Long day ahead of you. Need your strength, and a crowbar. Some fool locked the tool chest again.”
“That was dad,” Jorum said. “He doesn’t want you borrowing his tools when he’s at work.”
Grandfather staggered into the kitchen. He’d been dead for the better part of three years and still wasn’t steady on his feet. Probably because they weren’t his feet. “Borrowing? Ha! They were my tools before they were his, every one of them. Except that cheap saw he bought. Bah! Won’t touch it.”
All dwarfs die, same as men, trolls, ogres and dragons. Not all dwarfs go quietly, though. Some petrify after soaking up too much magic. They could come back to life in emergencies to save the dwarf people, or so the saying went. Jorum had never seen one move after turning to stone.
And then there were ghosts like grandfather. He’d died of old age and fifteen stab wounds, but mostly old age. Instead of leaving this world for the next he’d stuck around. His spirit had gone in search of a new, working body. Finding no golems to inhabit (corporate policy expressly forbid it), he’d cobbled one together from whatever he could find and come back home, eager to get back to work.
Most of grandfather’s new body was his old suit of plate armor, strong and sturdy, not magical, but built so well it didn’t need enchantments. There had been some complaints that dad hadn’t been allowed to inherit the armor, but that fell on deaf ears. The armor’s interior was now filled with chains, nails, screws, small metalworking tools and whatever else grandfather had been able to scrap together.
The bits didn’t totally fit together, and where it didn’t was a pale blue light. Jorum could see, just barely, his grandfather’s features over the armor, but you had to look at him just right to do so. Look at him directly and he was just a pile of parts, but look out the corner of your eye and it was as if he was the way he’d always been.
“Cheap garbage, that saw,” grandfather said as he stumbled across the kitchen. “Would’ve been melted down in my time, but oh no, not today.”
“Good morning,” mother said. “Did you have a productive night?”
“Good as can be hoped for these days,” grandfather said. Mother kissed the faceplate of his helmet, making him laugh. “Never know what you saw in my son. You’re too good for him, always have been. Giving him a son this strong, that was the cherry on top!”
“Flatterer,” mother said. “You two have a good day.”
“The trade school said—” Jorum began.
“The trade school can kiss the backside I don’t have anymore,” grandfather said. “Took a look at the work their students are turning out. I would’ve dropped dead at the sight if I was still breathing. The welds they tolerated! I should’ve slapped some sense into them, but there’s no cure for stupid. Or lazy.”
Jorum covered his face with both hands. “Grandpa.”
“Garbage! They’re teaching them nothing worth learning. One day I’ll have to go to Heaven and tell their ancestors what failures their descendants are. Not looking forward to that, let me tell you. Blasted corporations’ fault.”
Red-faced, Jorum grabbed his grandfather by the arm. “Keep your voice down!”
“Or what, they’ll kill me? Ha! Bunch of half-witted, slack jawed, greedy, lazy honorless dogs are an embarrassment for us all. Why in my day—”
“Why don’t you take Jorum to your forge,” mother suggested. Work was the only thing that made grandfather stop complaining about things that could get them all in trouble.
“Good thinking,” grandfather agreed. “No time for grousing when there’s work to do. Got some things to show you, boy, better than anything that idiot run trade school could teach you. When I’m done, you’ll be in charge of your own forge, or running a school that really teaches students.”
Mother gave Jorum a nudge, and he reluctantly got up and followed grandfather out into the capital. It was a proper city, underground and overbuilt with towering buildings competing for space. There was a sharp difference in construction between newer and older buildings. Workshops and houses from the early days were built to withstand anything short of the apocalypse, with thick walls, arrow slits, murder holes and miniature defensible forts inside each building. Newer buildings constructed in the last three hundred years were, well…
“Garbage!” grandfather snarled as he staggered through the crowded streets. Most dwarfs ignored him. A few scowled at him for not dying properly. He ignored them and pointed out flaws in the nearest corporate headquarters. “Look at that. They threw that monstrosity together only thirty years ago and it’s leaning two and a half degrees. You’d think goblins made it.”
“Grandfather,” Jorum began.
“Too late to fix it. Bad foundation. Have to tear the whole thing down and start from scratch. They’ll just leave it like that until it falls and kills a few dozen dwarfs. I give it ten more years before it’s off by five degrees and they have to move out.”
Poor construction (even Jorum had to admit that) was only one issue the capital had. Every building was black top to bottom with soot. The air was so heavy with smoke you couldn’t see two blocks. Sometimes the clouds of pollution sparked, proof factories hadn’t contained all the magic they were using. Dwarfs could breathe such contaminated air without issue, but the few human merchants present coughed even with thick scarves covering their mouths. Had an effeminate elf been here, the air would kill him before the residents got a chance.
Here and there the walls were bright and clean, but only where inspirational messages were carved onto them. ‘Your work makes our future possible.’ ‘Remember elven treachery, and stand together!’ ‘Real dwarfs drink Golden Tankard Ale.’ They included drawings, but they all showed the same thing. Dwarfs side by side working, fighting, celebrating. Anyone by themselves was weak, old, suspect. Jorum didn’t mind spending time alone. It worried him how some dwarfs thought that was a weakness.
“Watch the alley,” grandfather warned. “Saw some garbage moving there last night.”
Jorum went to the other side of the street and glanced into the alley as he and grandfather walked by. Piles of garbage filled the alley. It should have been collected weeks ago. Maybe the homeowner didn’t have enough saved up for collection fees, or the trashmen might have missed this street. Either way, they’d waited too long and magic had infused the garbage, bringing it to life. The trash rose and fell like it was breathing. Corporate security would have to deal with it now.
“Did you warn the block warden?” Jorum asked.
“Told him. Didn’t help. He’s pretending it’s not there so he doesn’t have to report the problem and pay a fine. I’ll see if I can’t round up some stout warriors after work and burn it out.”
They’d nearly reached grandfather’s forge when they heard the shouts. “Get back in your grave, old fool! You had your chance. Now it’s our turn!”
Jorum winced from the now familiar taunts. Grandfather’s forge neighbored a small factory. They’d tried to seize his forge twice while he was alive, and eight times since he’d died.
“You didn’t impress me when I was still breathing, and you don’t now!” Grandfather pulled a sharp dagger out from inside his chest and pointed it at them. “You want more space to make your crap work? Ha! This city’s got enough garbage without you making more and trying to sell it!”
Two adult dwarfs in gray uniforms ran out of the factory, hammers in hand. Grandfather didn’t budge, not one inch. In a soft, murderous voice, he said, “Try it. Give me an excuse to pay you back for eighty years of insults and abuse. I know where my soul’s going when I’m done here, and boyos, you’ve got no place there.”
The dwarfs held back, scowling, until their foreman came out. He was old, with a long white beard, and corporate insignias on his chest and shoulders. He pushed his dwarfs back and gave grandfather a hateful glare. “You may not be alive, but you’ve still much left to lose.”
Jorum didn’t understand the threat until grandfather stepped in front of him. “If harm comes to my kin, nothing can save you. Hire mercs, buy monsters, rent a golem, it won’t matter. I’ve fought for our people for five hundred years, long enough to put you in the ground.”
The foreman left with his workers, giving Jorum a cold look before going inside. “Be seeing you, boy.”
Grandfather put an arm around Jorum’s shoulders. “Ignore him. He’s been all talk his entire life. Sad to see a family fall that far.”
Jorum followed his grandfather into the forge. It was old and small, built in the kingdom’s early days not long after they’d escaped from the elves. Not much money back them, not much material to work with, but oh how they had skill! There was an anvil, coal pit and more, built with protective runes and craftsmanship to make a dwarf’s eyes tear up.
Grandfather handed Jorum a pair of leather gloves. “You see it, don’t you, boy? The work that went into this, the years of training needed to make it. My father built it to leave to me, and me to my son.”
This was a sore point with the family. Jorum tried, again, to set it right. “Pa doesn’t mean to upset you.”
“No, he doesn’t, and that makes it worse. If he hated me, I could deal with it, try to make things right in the time I have left. But he thinks I’m wrong, and that’s worse. He’s so filled with bad ideas he’s got no room for anything else. He was always looking for shortcuts, for people to help him get ahead. He should have been focusing on building good work instead of building connections.”
Grandfather took a fire started from inside his leg and ignited the coals. “People told him what to do, how to think, how to talk, and he swallowed it whole. He could have been a great craftsman, but he got sold on following orders from those who didn’t respect him. Attend this school, visit this bar, drink this brand of beer, and he’d fit in. People would like him, trust him, reward his loyalty. Heh. Didn’t quite work out, did it? Two hundred years at Golem Works and he's no closer to the top than the day he started.”
“He’s always provided for us,” Jorum said softly.
“He could have done so much more. He could have been so much more.” Grandfather put his hands on Jorum’s shoulders. “That’s what I want for you, boy. The day’s going to come where our people need you. Don’t blush! It’s true. We’re falling apart. I’ve been around long enough to see the cracks form. Those soot black walls outside? Used to be scrubbed clean. Trash? A family used to be ashamed to let it go like that. You’ve seen those messages cut into the walls of buildings, telling you what to think. A true dwarf would smash them.”
Grandfather pointed outside his forge. “Out there is reason to be ashamed. We didn’t used to be like that. We can’t stay like that. It’s going to be hard work pulling us up out of the hole we’ve dug. I can’t be here too much longer. Two decades, maybe three and I’ll have to move on. Not long, I know, but it’s enough for me to teach you what you need to know. These corporations with their greed and shortsightedness. You think I talk bad about them at home? Wait until I’m sure we’re alone! I’ve had to clean up too many messes they caused and help too many dwarfs they’ve hurt.
“You’re better than that. Don’t believe their lies. Don’t take their coins. Don’t let them drag you down. Now chin up, watch what I do, listen to what I say, and always ask questions. By the time you’ve got a beard you’ll be equal to any craftsman, and that’s a thing to be proud of.”
Excited, Jorum asked, “That soon?”
“That soon, boy. Fifteen years will go by in a flash!”
William Bradshaw and For a Song
Here is the first chapter of my new novel, William Bradshaw and For a Song. It is available on Amazon in paperback and ebook formats.
Chapter 1
“I want to be clear, you’re not giving me a mohawk, shaving me bald, trimming words into my hair or doing anything else stupid I’d be stuck with until my hair grows out,” Will said as he sat on a large flat rock. His hair was getting long, and he needed it trimmed before his goblins started making rude jokes. That meant risking a trip to the barber. Most barbershops weren’t located in caves, but then very few barbers were goblins.
“Sir, you insult my creative talents with these meager requests,” the goblin barber said. He was half Will’s height and had a long, drawn out mouth like the muzzle of a dog, large hands, messy hair and raggedy red clothes. The goblin combed Will’s hair while waving sharp scissors around, nearly hitting Will’s right ear. “A little off the sides? Where is the art in that? The excitement? The daring? You need, nay, must have a haircut worthy of a king, and that means dreadlocks.”
“No!” Will took a wedge of cheese out of his coat pocket and held it up. A small goblin leapt screaming out of the darkness in a mad bid to seize the cheese, but Will lifted it higher and the poor goblin landed face first on the cave floor. “You see this cheese? You’re getting it only if you do exactly what I say. Cut one hair more and I’ll cram it into the mouth of the first goblin I meet.”
The barber rolled his eyes and went to work on Will’s hair. “I don’t know why I bother. I went into hair care for the thrills, and all I get are outrageously boring requests.”
“Why are you living this far north in the kingdom?” Will asked. Locks of brown hair fell onto his black pants, green shirt and black vest. “You can’t get many customers here.”
“It was regrettably necessary,” his barber said. “I was living in the south when I came across some human merchants resting for the night. They’d fallen asleep and clearly needed help. Tilt your head down.”
“What did you do to these people? Watch my ears.”
“You’ve got two of them,” the goblin scolded. “It was obvious they hadn’t been to a barber in ages, and being a generous soul I decided to offer my services for free.”
Will covered his face with his gloved hands. The gloves were black with green fingers, and currently a bit wet. “Let me guess, they didn’t appreciate experimental hair care.”
The goblin barber stopped working and looked off to one side. “My first hour’s work was quite conservative, but then I saw how bushy their eyebrows were. Something had to be done. I thought it was quite tasteful. You wouldn’t believe the response when they woke up! I was surprised how long they chased me, but they’ll wander off eventually. There we go, dull as dry toast, but done to your specifications.”
Will sat up from the rock and studied his reflection in a pool in the cave. He was a young man with gray eyes and brown hair, in good health despite many attempts on his life. He brushed cut hair off his black shoes and the bronze fire scepter hanging off his belt.
“Thank you,” he told the barber. He handed over the promised payment, avoiding another goblin’s desperate attempt to steal the cheese. The barber wolfed it down and welcomed in a goblin client with hair reaching down to his heels.
“Surprise me,” the hairy goblin said, and the barber shrieked in delight.
Will left the cool cave and went into the snowy landscape outside. There were young trees bare of leaves, dirt trails, small hovels built by goblins and an abandoned tollbooth left long ago by dwarf miners. Ten inches of snow covered the land and hid its worst flaws.
This land of ruin was the Kingdom of the Goblins, and Will ruled it as King. He didn’t want the job and had been tricked by lawyers into leaving Earth and coming here. The kingdom was once a dwarf strip mining operation. Nearly a century ago the dwarfs had run out of ore and left for greener pastures, leaving the land a disaster of epic proportions. Few could live here, but goblins thrived in places others ignored.
Outside the cave he found Domo waiting patiently for him. Domo was a leader among goblins, a thankless task given how few goblins felt like being led. Domo had gray skin, ratty black hair and wore yellow robes. He carried a red walking stick made from an enemy flagpole, but owned nothing more.
“Ah, Will, looking sort of respectable again,” Domo said. “I’d ask who you’re trying to impress in this dump, but I suppose there’s a chance your girlfriend might visit. How’s everyone’s favorite fairy godmother?”
Will went through his pockets and took out her latest letter. “Helping children in need and as happy as could be.”
“That’s lovely, but it begs a question. Getting your hair hacked down to an acceptable level makes sense if she’s planning on visiting, but there are barbers in the human villages south of your slovenly domain. You could have gone to one of them instead of coming within spitting distance of the wastelands.” Domo tapped his walking stick on the ground and asked, “You mind telling me what that’s about?”
“I had to be here anyway.” Will looked to the north where goblins dug their way through the snow toward him. “You see, Vial got this idea.”
“That statement pretty much ensures a bad ending.” Domo wasn’t being rude. Vial the goblin alchemist was responsible for endless property damage across the kingdom. There were times his skills were badly needed, and Will was glad to have him, but you could count on Vial ruining rare peaceful moments with explosions. The little guy couldn’t help himself.
Will swung his fire scepter like a golf club. “Vial said we keep getting in world ending kinds of trouble. Generally, that means he has to make one of his large bombs.”
“That’s fair,” Domo conceded.
“Problem is it takes him a while to make them. That leaves us in danger until he’d done. He figured why not preempt the crisis, make a large bomb right now and stash it away until we need it.”
“Stash a bomb?” Domo sputtered. “His bombs blow up everything in a hundred feet when they go off, and they aren’t too picky about when they go kaboom!”
Will bent down so he could look Domo in the eye. “That’s what one of them can do. He didn’t stop at one.”
“What?”
“In my defense, I sat him down and talked to him the second I found out what he was doing and convinced him storing highly unstable explosives wasn’t a safe idea. He didn’t seem too bothered by the fact they could go off and kill him, and us.”
Domo grabbed Will by the shoulders. “How many bombs did he make?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “The room was full when I saw it.”
“So if one went off, it would take the others with it,” Domo said.
“And probably what’s left of the Goblin City. I suggested he test them in the wastelands. I figured he couldn’t hurt anything since there’s nothing here.”
“Aren’t the wastelands healing?” Domo asked. One of Will’s earlier victories was against the Staff of Skulls, a horrifying magic weapon sworn to conquer or destroy Other Place. They’d destroyed it with the Bottle of Hope, and after the battle the bottle went on to cleanse a portion of the wastelands until it became a beautiful forest.
“The forest is spreading, but not fast. It may take years for the wastelands to heal. Until then it’s a safe place for Vial to experiment with.”
Vial and his lab rat goblins finally reached them through the deep snow. Vial looked like a twisted version of a university professor, with his lab coat, glasses, black pants and doctor’s bag filled with explosives. He had short red fur and a wide smile. That smile was proof something was going to blow up.
“Ah, My Liege, a pleasure to have you present for this monumental occasion.” Vial waved to his fellow lab rats in their white lab coats and patted one of them on the back. “This is an exciting day, and my fellow practitioners of alchemy have outdone themselves! It amazes me the thought of using all my bombs at once occurred to you before me, but I suppose that’s why you’re King.”
“I’m glad we could do this,” Will said. Specifically, he was glad they could do it away from the few parts of the kingdom that weren’t a total wreck. There weren’t many of those and he was keen on preserving them, along with his sanity.
Domo studied the flat, worthless, rocky land where Vial had come from. Dwarf smelters had produced this tragedy by dumping slag on the ground, covering countless acres with stone. “How does this work?”
Vial pressed his fingertips together and smiled. “It’s quite simple. We placed explosives across the landscape far enough apart that one bomb detonating would not set off others. Normally I’d dig the bombs in, but the depth of rock we’d have to excavate made this difficult, so the bombs were placed on the surface.”
“You could have asked digger goblins to make the holes,” Will suggested.
“I tried, but the ones I asked wet themselves when I explained the job.” Vial looked puzzled when he added, “Thirty or forty holes shouldn’t have taken them long.”
“You don’t know how many bombs you made?” Domo asked him.
“Why would that matter? Returning to the original question, once we placed the bombs we set their timers, allowing a generous amount of time to leave the blast radius. The bombs are staggered to detonate in sequence so we can better determine which designs work best.”
BOOM!
The ground shook, and a cloud of smoke rose in the distance. All eyes turned to see debris rain down around a newly formed crater.
Vial was positively beaming with joy. “That was beautiful! Far more energetic than I’d anticipated, and with a lovely—”
BOOM! BOOM!
Vial frowned and checked a notebook in his lab coat. “Those were supposed to be separate explosions. The timers must be a tad off.”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Explosions went off fast, shaking the ground so hard that Will had trouble keeping his footing. Huge chunks of rock flew like cannonballs and shattered on landing. Great cracks opened up in the ground, the ragged breaks growing until they joined together.
“Hmm.” Vial shrugged and turned to Will. “It’s not going quite to plan, but we should be safe.”
“Should be?” Domo demanded.
“Alchemy isn’t an exact science, and we ignore the few rules there are. The only way you learn is by ignoring instructions with skulls printed next to them.”
Will edged back. “How far should we run?”
Vial clapped a hand over his heart. “You wound me! Why, the very thought that I’d put your life at risk is—”
CRACKA-BOOM!
Four bombs went off as one with devastating results. Already impressive crevasses widened until a grown man would have trouble jumping over them. A section of ground hundreds of feet wide trembled wildly, broke apart and sank into the earth. The giant crater grew wider as the edges snapped off and slid into the hole.
BOOM! Another explosion went off far away with similar results. Stony ground shattered under the force of the blast and sank from sight. One large slab of rock tilted up at a steep angle before gravity pulled it down and it disappeared below ground. More blasts cracked open the earth until the whole landscape convulsed and began a slow, noisy and violent descent.
“In theory, mining tunnels and chambers under the wastelands could collapse if enough force is applied,” Vial said. A crack formed near his right foot and extended well beyond the goblins. Vial studied the crack with rapt attention. “Fascinating.”
Will grabbed Vial and ran, shouting, “Last one out doesn’t get out!”
Will led the goblins in a screaming escape. Cracks in the ground grew so fast they seemed to chase them. More explosions followed. Will hazarded a look behind him and saw vast sections of land sinking as if some horrible monster was dragging them down. Two bombs were swallowed by the abyssal hole and detonated inside it, throwing up clouds of dust and small rocks.
They kept running until they left the wastelands entirely. Will set Vial down and bent over as he gasped for breath. The other goblins caught up with him and dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Will recovered enough to say, “I didn’t need that.”
“None of us did,” Domo told him. “Vial, you Grade A nutcase, you nearly got us killed!”
“How would that be different than normal?” Domo was going to club Vial, but the alchemist added, “In recent years we have been invaded by men and animated skeletons, fought immortal madmen, defeated the richest man alive, and did battle with both a walking city and an army of elves. Hardly a month goes by where we don’t face life ending threats.”
“Those weren’t our fault,” Will said. He frowned and added, “Not entirely our fault.”
“Need I remind you how many disasters we faced last year that were entirely our making?” Vial asked. “The goblin music festival drew international condemnation. The dirty limerick competition nearly started a war. Our adopt a highway program ended with four highways destroyed and two more traumatized.”
Not finished, Vial said, “The Kingdom of the Goblins is known for disasters of epic proportions. We would suffer more invasions except potential attackers worry they’d be caught in our latest catastrophe. Do we really expect matters to improve in the future?”
“No,” Will said. “I guess that’s the way it is.”
Vial wasn’t wrong. Will had led his goblins to victory many times since becoming King. They’d faced an invasion by Kervol Ket and his human army. The Staff of Skulls had been a terrifying threat they’d stopped only with help. They’d ended the Eternal Army’s march of destruction, again with help, and after that survived attacks by the billionaire Quentin Peck. Sarcamusaad the Walking City had been even worse.
They’d won every time, an impressive track record, but the strain was incredible. At best Will could count on a few weeks of peace before some minor peril rose up, and big threats were only months apart. It was a daunting situation, but he refused to let it break him.
“We’ve beat enemies who should have crushed us like bugs,” Will told the goblins. “We’ve fought the strongest, biggest, most dangerous threats this world has to offer, and we’re still standing. Whatever comes next, we’ll face it, we’ll beat it, we’ll move on to the next one. We’ll survive, because surviving is what goblins do, and I’ll be there with you because I’m your King.”
“That speech was very nearly inspirational,” Vial told Will. “Have you been practicing?”
“Every day and twice on Sundays.” Will looked out over the wastelands, which was actually worse after Vial’s bombs. Before it had been like a parking lot, flat and barren, but now part of the wastelands resembled the cratered surface of the moon. It was a reminder of what failure looked like if he wasn’t careful. “I’m heading back to what’s left of the Goblin City.”
“We need time to analyze the results of this test,” Vial said.
Domo waddled over to Will and held out a hand. “That doesn’t include me. Take me with.”
Will took Domo’s hand and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the Goblin City and the many goblin scarecrows in and around it. This morning there had been a scarecrow by the gatehouse, and barring a disaster (ha!) it would still be there. Will swept his cape over Domo and himself, vanishing into it and leaving his now empty uniform behind.
Whoosh. Will reappeared where he’d planned, wearing the uniform that had been hanging on the scarecrow. His ability to tap into the space warping magic of the goblins was improving, and he could trade places with goblin scarecrows anywhere on Other Place by falling backwards into his cape or sweeping it over himself. As in this case, he could bring friends with him on his journey. He could also use his cape as a shield and let attacks vanish into it to reappear at a scarecrow.
“That was an interesting escape from certain death,” Domo said. He looked around and frowned. “Looks like we’re back in time for another.”
The Goblin City was a place of constant activity, not unexpected when it housed thousands of goblins, but today goblins raced about in a panic. Some carried hammers, saws, nails and crowbars. Others had ropes and some dragged heavy chains. Goblins were so small and weak that they stood no chance in a fair fight, so when danger reared its ugly head they gathered together for protection. These goblins were in groups no smaller than forty, and some over a hundred.
Will approached the nearest group. “Guys, what’s up?”
The group had been running for the city and skidded to a halt. One goblin blinked and asked, “Who, us?”
“Yes, you. What’s happening?”
“Nothing. Yes sir, it’s a fine day. I’ve never seen a day this fine.”
Will saw two goblin mobs run into one another and merge into a single larger group that headed south. “Really, because you guys seem scared.”
“Us?” a second goblin asked. “Why I never! You’re stereotyping us. This has been the most peaceful day in the history of the kingdom.”
Will marched up to the goblins, who flinched as he approached. “Most peaceful day in the kingdom? There hasn’t been a peaceful day here since I became King. Not a one.”
“He’s got us there,” the first goblin said.
Mr. Niff ran by screaming, “Don’t panic! Do not panic! Just get tar and cement, and we’ll be all right!”
“Niff,” Will called.
Mr. Niff ran in circles around a tree stump. “Remain calm!”
“Over here, now,” Will ordered. Mr. Niff snapped out of whatever had seized hold of him and walked over to Will. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” Mr. Niff asked as he tried to keep from hyperventilating. Mr. Niff had blue skin and wore black clothes. Niff was the bravest goblin in the kingdom, always ready to run to the rescue and never smart enough to know whether it was a good idea to do so. He was a competent fighter and armed with a magic dagger he’d stolen from an elf warrior. This made his current state of panic unusual. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s a perfectly peaceful day in the kingdom, with singing birdies, happy wombats and—”
“We already tried that,” a goblin told him.
“Oh.” Mr. Niff stared at his feet. “Would you believe we’re throwing you a surprise party?”
“A party involving tar and cement would certainly qualify as a surprise,” Will replied. He walked up to Mr. Niff and kneeled so they were eye to eye. “Niff, you know I like you, and I forgive a lot, more than I should. Keeping that in mind, I’d like you to tell me what’s got you and the other goblins worked up.”
Mr. Niff looked miserable. “After you left to get rid of Vial’s bombs, we kind of had visitors.”
“And what did these kind of visitors want?”
“Your head or a vital organ. Possibly both.”
Just then a voice called out in the distance, “Hurry up! We can’t hold them much longer!”
That was London, one of Will’s troll bodyguards. London and Brooklyn were troll youngsters, bigger, tougher and massively more aggressive than Will. They enjoyed fights, the bigger the better. If London was worried there was a serious threat.
Will followed the sound of London’s voice to a clearing outside the Goblin City, and found London and Brooklyn struggling to seal three large oak barrels. Someone or something inside those barrels was trying to break out, and it took all the trolls’ impressive strength to hold them in. They’d pound down the lid on one barrel, only for a second to come loose. Goblins brought ropes to tie the barrels shut, but the ropes kept snapping.
“Boys,” Will began as he walked over. Mr. Niff and Domo followed with hundreds more goblins behind them. London and Brooklyn looked shocked by his arrival. The brothers had fine green scaly skin, with London a shade darker, and wore cotton trousers. Both had serious underbites and fish fin ears, and muscles that would put a professional bodybuilder to shame.
“Boss, you’re back early,” London said.
A barrel nearly opened, and Brooklyn slammed it shut. “That’s not a good thing.”
“Who or what is in those barrels?” Will asked.
“We got invaded by lawyers while you were gone,” London replied.
That was bad. Lawyers were as dangerous as wizards and far more cunning. All the races of Other Place avoided lawyers, even goblins. Legal contracts could force men to obey them, and even rewrite the laws of nature for short times. Lawyers were responsible for abducting Will from Earth, marooning him on Other Place, and he had no desire to get close to one.
“Three of them, girl lawyers,” Brooklyn added.
“They were going to do nasty things to you. One threatened to open a branch office in the kingdom. You got to stop that sort of thing before it starts. Lawyer infestations are harder to get rid of than pixies.”
“You jammed old ladies into barrels?” Will demanded. “I don’t care if they are lawyers, you don’t do that!”
“Young lady lawyers,” London corrected him. “Feisty ones.”
“Give us a couple hours to seal the barrels and dump them in the river,” Brooklyn said. “By the time they get out they’ll be in the ocean and the only ones they can kill are sharks, who stand a fighting chance.”
“I appreciate you trying to protect me, but this isn’t how to fix the problem,” Will said. He headed for the barrels as his friends edged back. “We’re going to try and settle this peacefully, an opportunity that’s probably long gone, but we’ll try. I’ll let these women go and give them a chance to explain what they want. Don’t attack them or do anything stupid unless I tell you to.”
Mr. Niff turned to Domo. “He tells us to do stupid things?”
Domo waved his walking stick. “All the time.”
A barrel shook until it tipped over, and Will heard a muffled voice scream, “When I get out of here, you’re in for such a suing!”
Will hesitated. He took a deep breath and reached for the barrel. “Do the right thing, even if it’s hard.”
With that Will pried off the top of the barrel, and an enraged woman came out like a shot. He opened the other two barrels and tried to help the ladies out, but they ignored his assistance and clustered together.
The ladies were roughly Will’s age, wearing gray jackets, black skirts, high heel shoes and carrying briefcases. Their clothes were wrinkled and a bit dirty from being forced into the barrels, and they looked furious. They were also cute, which surprised Will. His experience with the legal profession always resulted in pain and indignity rather than an opportunity to ask someone on a date.
“You treacherous, backstabbing, louse ridden, stinking, illegitimate son of a road kill squirrel!” a lawyer yelled at Will. This one had blond hair cut very short.
“That’s a bad start to the conversation,” he replied. “Hi there, William Bradshaw, reluctant King of the Goblins. I had nothing to do with what just happened to you, and I’m very sorry.”
She marched up to Will and held a finger under his nose. “You’re sorry? We are way past the point where sorry would make things better! I am an official representative of the Ann Sheal Ruin law firm, and buster, Fine Ann doesn’t take this kind of garbage from anyone.” The woman took out a business card and held it in front of her like a knife. There was an awkward pause before she said, “You’re supposed to take that.”
“I’d really rather not, Ann.”
The lawyer rolled her eyes. “Ann is the name of our firm’s founder, a woman with an incredible force of personality who started the only all women law firm. I’m Cybil, you jerk.”
Will clapped his hands together. “Well, Cybil, I’m glad we cleared that up. Now I understand you wanted blood before you were stuffed in those barrels. Would you mind telling me why?”
Cybil sneered and pointed to one of her fellow lawyers. “Tell him, Patty.”
Patty was the youngest of the three and had brown hair worn in pigtails. She jumped when Cybil called on her and said, “Eep!”
The third lawyer snatched Patty’s briefcase and took out a sheet of paper. The woman held it up for Will to see, but pulled it back before he could read it. “This, you creep, is a lawsuit. The Coral Ring Merchant House had contracted to buy a load of salt from Quentin Peck. The salt was loaded and ready to go in the city of Nolod when you, yes you, sank the ship carrying it!”
“That’s right, Meg,” Cybil said. “The salt dissolved before it could be salvaged. The Coral Ring lost a major contract because of you. The cost came out to eight hundred guilders, and the damage you did to their reputation makes it harder for them to get business. We’re suing you for ten thousand guilders plus legal fees, and those are going to be high!”
Will showed no great concern at the threat of being sued. “Peck was trying to kill me. I was fighting back and had my goblins sink one of his ships. I’m sorry your client was hurt by our fight, but I can’t pay that much.”
“Yes, you can,” Cybil said menacingly. “You think you’re in the clear because you’re a king? Kings aren’t above the law. We can seize your assets, garnish your wages and shave your dog.”
“I haven’t got a dog,” Will told them.
Cybil snapped her fingers. “Patty, get him a dog so we can shave it.”
“Eep!” Patty’s pigtails flew up when she jumped like that.
Cybil marched up to Will and held out the lawsuit. “The mighty can fall, king or not. You have been served.”
“I know it’s supposed to work like that, but in my case it doesn’t,” Will said. “Seriously, you don’t want to—”
Too late. Cybil cried out in surprise as the lawsuit burst into flames in her hand. She barely managed to drop it before the fire scorched her fingers. The three lawyers looked amazed, as did the goblins and trolls.
“I tried to tell you.” Will took out his king contract tucked in his belt and unrolled the lengthy and confusing document. “Lawyers with Cickam, Wender and Downe drew this up when they tricked me into being King of the Goblins. It keeps me on this world and in this kingdom unless my life is in peril. If I can direct your attention to this part here?”
The lady lawyers gathered around the king contract. Meg pointed at it and said, “Article 140, subsection 11, paragraph 2, line 51: The King of the Goblins can’t escape by losing the kingdom in a game of chance, including poker, blackjack, backgammon, go fish, Monopoly or Clue.”
“No, this part over here.” Will read the contract aloud to them. “Article 140, subsection 12, paragraph 7, line 11: Any suit filed against the King of the Goblins is automatically sent to the nearest branch office of Cickam, Wender and Downe. Bring it on.”
He rolled up the contract and explained, “I’m sympathetic, really, but if you sue me it goes to the lawyers who got me in this mess. They win every time. Trust me, I know. I think if we sit down and talk this over, we can come up with a solution that helps your client.”
Meg stared at him like he was speaking Latin. “Are you being reasonable?”
“I’m trying to. It usually doesn’t work, but I figure one of these days it might.”
Cybil was having none of it. “You think you’re getting away that easy? Patty, let him have it!”
“Eep!” That seemed to be the extent of Patty’s vocabulary. She kept staring at Will.
Cybil took a rolled up parchment from Patty’s briefcase. Will wasn’t sure what good that would do after her last lawsuit combusted, but nothing could prepare him for what happened next. The parchment rustled and coiled around Cybil’s arm before reaching out like a snake or octopus tentacle. Goblins shivered at the sight. Even the trolls looked queasy.
“This is a living contract,” Cybil explained, her tone smug. “We stole the idea from your lawyers.”
“Hey, they aren’t my lawyers!” Will shouted.
“Whatever.” The contract continued reaching for Will as Cybil spoke. “Living contracts are sentient legal documents that can track their victims across kingdoms, never slowing, never stopping, immune to bribery and totally ignoring pleas for mercy. It’s going to make your life a waking nightmare.”
“That train already left the station,” Will said. He watched the contract move closer inch by inch, and he was honestly considering running for his life when a disturbing thought occurred to him. “If you stole the idea from Cickam, Wender and Downe, that means they already have living contracts. And if they want to keep me on the job—”
Snap! Will’s king contract unrolled so fast it sounded like someone swung a bullwhip. It shot through the air and wrapped around the enemy contract like a constrictor snake. The contracts fell to the ground and thrashed about so violently they knocked two oak barrels aside. Trolls, goblins and lawyers alike stared in shock at the bizarre battle.
“Okay, this is weird even by my standards,” Will admitted.
The contracts lashed out at each other. The fight wasn’t entirely physical as clauses and subclauses lit up as they were invoked. Violent as the battle was, Will’s contract was larger and far more aggressive. The smaller contract tried to slither away, but the king contract grabbed a rock and bashed it again and again until its whimpering enemy gave up and inched its way back to Cybil. Victorious, Will’s king contract slithered back to him and rolled up so one particular section was facing him.
Will retrieved the contract, reluctantly, and read aloud the part it seemed to want to show him. “Article 150, subsection 1, paragraph 1, line 1: This contract is now fully sentient and self aware. It has a total mastery of the law, is homicidally aggressive and has a borderline personality disorder. Well, that’s disturbing.”
“This, this isn’t over!” Cybil shouted. “You haven’t heard the last of us!”
“Obviously not since you’re still talking,” Will said. Cybil fumed and marched off with Meg following her. Patty kept staring at Will, not moving, not speaking. Hoping she was the reasonable one of the group, he walked up to her and smiled.
“I’m sorry the Coral Ring got hurt because of my fight with Peck, and I want to help. Give me time to think on this and we’ll get back together to work out a deal where they get compensation, just not ten thousand guilders. Okay?”
Patty nodded, still not saying anything as Will left. Once he was gone, she asked Domo, “Is he seeing anyone?”
“Yes, and she’s vindictive.”
Patty took a business card from her briefcase and handed it to Domo. “Let me know if they break up.”
Will headed back to what little was left of the Goblin City, but he stopped when he saw something high in the sky. It was a clear, cold day, and he could see for miles. At this distance he couldn’t tell what it was, but it was big.
Domo waddled up to him and saw what had his attention. The goblin squinted and said, “Huh.”
“Is that a good huh or a bad huh?” Will asked.
“It’s a huh,” Domo replied. “Huh rules out good or bad and just signify weird. That’s a harpy, which is weird because there’s not enough wild game to support a flock after the mess the dwarfs made.”
“So what’s she doing here?”
* * * * *
Gretchen the harpy slouched low on the thick, dead branch she was perched on. There weren’t many perches to begin with and fewer now that the flock was getting ready to move. It was hard work to fly so much lumber to their mountaintop roost. With only days to go before they left for fresh foraging grounds, the flock was breaking up the thick branches for firewood. Economical as that was, it meant there were progressively fewer perches as time went by, and harpy’s clawed feet had trouble standing on flat ground. It made the whole flock irritable.
Territory so far north was poor, with few animals or plants even in summer. The flock had stayed a month longer than intended, completely gutting the mountains and hills of edible plants and game large enough to merit catching. They had to migrate to the next part of their large (and largely worthless) territory.
“Good morning, Gretchen,” Tiffy said happily. Tiffy was Gretchen’s cousin, and annoyingly cheerful.
“Nothing’s good about it,” Gretchen snapped.
Harpies as a rule were foul tempered, and Gretchen was worse than most. Her face, chest, upper arms and upper legs were similar to a human woman, although more muscular and leaner. The resemblance ended there. Black feathered wings sprouted from her back. Her teeth were sharper than a human’s and could chew through leather. Her legs below the knees and arms below the elbows were scaled and ended in talons like a bird of prey. Her dirty dress was made from badly tanned animal skins.
“Let me top you off,” Tiffy said as she refilled Gretchen’s cup of coffee. “Nothing’s worse than cold coffee.”
“Lots of things are worse, and you know it. Just go away.”
Gretchen sipped coffee from her battered tin cup. Harpies couldn’t afford to have many possessions when every extra ounce made flying harder, but the flock had to have their morning cup. She owned her cup, a steel dagger that needed to be sharpened, an equally dull hatchet, and a leather bag loaded with food for the journey.
The rest of the flock kept their distance from Gretchen. Most of them were in equally foul moods since migrations were risky. Many of them had fledglings to carry, making it that much harder. But one day their fledglings would fly. Hers never would…her poor, crippled daughter.
“Sister.” It was Maggie, leader of the flock and Gretchen’s older sister. Maggie’s hair was going gray, and she was the most experienced harpy in a thousand miles. “We must talk.”
Gretchen gazed out at the snowy land far below their roost. “I know what you’re going to say, so save your breath. I’ve always seen to my daughter’s needs, no charity required.”
“Sister, the migration begins soon. You are not strong enough to carry Celeste. She’s grown too much. The flock has discussed the matter.”
Gretchen screamed, a horrid noise that made rocks vibrate. She threw her cup of coffee across the roost as she stumbled into the center of the assembled harpies. “The flock has discussed this? The flock? I’m a member of this flock! I wasn’t part of this discussion!”
Other harpies fell silent. Most stepped back. This day had been coming for years, and Gretchen had fought it every step of the way. She screamed at them. Harpies covered their ears from the wretched noise, but they didn’t back down when she stopped.
“She’s my daughter, not yours!” Gretchen screamed. “She’s done as much as any here to feed the flock, foraging and hunting. I won’t have this!”
“You could barely carry her to this roost, and that was a year ago,” Maggie said.
Gretchen hesitated. “She can walk.”
“Three hundred miles?” Maggie asked. “In winter? Alone?”
“I’ll go with her if you won’t!”
“No.” Maggie clumsily walked up to Gretchen, a risky move. “Sister, out of love for you and Celeste I have let, yes let, you keep your daughter. Other flocks would have placed her with a foster mother once she had teeth. I pushed this day back as far as possible, but Celeste can’t stay with us any longer. It’s not fair to the flock or to her.”
Gretchen’s muscles tensed to attack. Slowly, ever so slowly, she unclenched her fists and looked down. “What would you have me do?”
Maggie picked up Gretchen’s coffee cup and handed it back. “I have made inquiries among our friends. There is a kingdom where Celeste might take refuge. The leader has taken in an exiled dwarf, a minotaur and two young trolls. UMLIS live in peace within his borders. I believe we can place Celeste with him.”
“Can he protect her as the flock would?” Gretchen demanded.
“I don’t believe that’s going to be a problem.”
Chapter 1
“I want to be clear, you’re not giving me a mohawk, shaving me bald, trimming words into my hair or doing anything else stupid I’d be stuck with until my hair grows out,” Will said as he sat on a large flat rock. His hair was getting long, and he needed it trimmed before his goblins started making rude jokes. That meant risking a trip to the barber. Most barbershops weren’t located in caves, but then very few barbers were goblins.
“Sir, you insult my creative talents with these meager requests,” the goblin barber said. He was half Will’s height and had a long, drawn out mouth like the muzzle of a dog, large hands, messy hair and raggedy red clothes. The goblin combed Will’s hair while waving sharp scissors around, nearly hitting Will’s right ear. “A little off the sides? Where is the art in that? The excitement? The daring? You need, nay, must have a haircut worthy of a king, and that means dreadlocks.”
“No!” Will took a wedge of cheese out of his coat pocket and held it up. A small goblin leapt screaming out of the darkness in a mad bid to seize the cheese, but Will lifted it higher and the poor goblin landed face first on the cave floor. “You see this cheese? You’re getting it only if you do exactly what I say. Cut one hair more and I’ll cram it into the mouth of the first goblin I meet.”
The barber rolled his eyes and went to work on Will’s hair. “I don’t know why I bother. I went into hair care for the thrills, and all I get are outrageously boring requests.”
“Why are you living this far north in the kingdom?” Will asked. Locks of brown hair fell onto his black pants, green shirt and black vest. “You can’t get many customers here.”
“It was regrettably necessary,” his barber said. “I was living in the south when I came across some human merchants resting for the night. They’d fallen asleep and clearly needed help. Tilt your head down.”
“What did you do to these people? Watch my ears.”
“You’ve got two of them,” the goblin scolded. “It was obvious they hadn’t been to a barber in ages, and being a generous soul I decided to offer my services for free.”
Will covered his face with his gloved hands. The gloves were black with green fingers, and currently a bit wet. “Let me guess, they didn’t appreciate experimental hair care.”
The goblin barber stopped working and looked off to one side. “My first hour’s work was quite conservative, but then I saw how bushy their eyebrows were. Something had to be done. I thought it was quite tasteful. You wouldn’t believe the response when they woke up! I was surprised how long they chased me, but they’ll wander off eventually. There we go, dull as dry toast, but done to your specifications.”
Will sat up from the rock and studied his reflection in a pool in the cave. He was a young man with gray eyes and brown hair, in good health despite many attempts on his life. He brushed cut hair off his black shoes and the bronze fire scepter hanging off his belt.
“Thank you,” he told the barber. He handed over the promised payment, avoiding another goblin’s desperate attempt to steal the cheese. The barber wolfed it down and welcomed in a goblin client with hair reaching down to his heels.
“Surprise me,” the hairy goblin said, and the barber shrieked in delight.
Will left the cool cave and went into the snowy landscape outside. There were young trees bare of leaves, dirt trails, small hovels built by goblins and an abandoned tollbooth left long ago by dwarf miners. Ten inches of snow covered the land and hid its worst flaws.
This land of ruin was the Kingdom of the Goblins, and Will ruled it as King. He didn’t want the job and had been tricked by lawyers into leaving Earth and coming here. The kingdom was once a dwarf strip mining operation. Nearly a century ago the dwarfs had run out of ore and left for greener pastures, leaving the land a disaster of epic proportions. Few could live here, but goblins thrived in places others ignored.
Outside the cave he found Domo waiting patiently for him. Domo was a leader among goblins, a thankless task given how few goblins felt like being led. Domo had gray skin, ratty black hair and wore yellow robes. He carried a red walking stick made from an enemy flagpole, but owned nothing more.
“Ah, Will, looking sort of respectable again,” Domo said. “I’d ask who you’re trying to impress in this dump, but I suppose there’s a chance your girlfriend might visit. How’s everyone’s favorite fairy godmother?”
Will went through his pockets and took out her latest letter. “Helping children in need and as happy as could be.”
“That’s lovely, but it begs a question. Getting your hair hacked down to an acceptable level makes sense if she’s planning on visiting, but there are barbers in the human villages south of your slovenly domain. You could have gone to one of them instead of coming within spitting distance of the wastelands.” Domo tapped his walking stick on the ground and asked, “You mind telling me what that’s about?”
“I had to be here anyway.” Will looked to the north where goblins dug their way through the snow toward him. “You see, Vial got this idea.”
“That statement pretty much ensures a bad ending.” Domo wasn’t being rude. Vial the goblin alchemist was responsible for endless property damage across the kingdom. There were times his skills were badly needed, and Will was glad to have him, but you could count on Vial ruining rare peaceful moments with explosions. The little guy couldn’t help himself.
Will swung his fire scepter like a golf club. “Vial said we keep getting in world ending kinds of trouble. Generally, that means he has to make one of his large bombs.”
“That’s fair,” Domo conceded.
“Problem is it takes him a while to make them. That leaves us in danger until he’d done. He figured why not preempt the crisis, make a large bomb right now and stash it away until we need it.”
“Stash a bomb?” Domo sputtered. “His bombs blow up everything in a hundred feet when they go off, and they aren’t too picky about when they go kaboom!”
Will bent down so he could look Domo in the eye. “That’s what one of them can do. He didn’t stop at one.”
“What?”
“In my defense, I sat him down and talked to him the second I found out what he was doing and convinced him storing highly unstable explosives wasn’t a safe idea. He didn’t seem too bothered by the fact they could go off and kill him, and us.”
Domo grabbed Will by the shoulders. “How many bombs did he make?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “The room was full when I saw it.”
“So if one went off, it would take the others with it,” Domo said.
“And probably what’s left of the Goblin City. I suggested he test them in the wastelands. I figured he couldn’t hurt anything since there’s nothing here.”
“Aren’t the wastelands healing?” Domo asked. One of Will’s earlier victories was against the Staff of Skulls, a horrifying magic weapon sworn to conquer or destroy Other Place. They’d destroyed it with the Bottle of Hope, and after the battle the bottle went on to cleanse a portion of the wastelands until it became a beautiful forest.
“The forest is spreading, but not fast. It may take years for the wastelands to heal. Until then it’s a safe place for Vial to experiment with.”
Vial and his lab rat goblins finally reached them through the deep snow. Vial looked like a twisted version of a university professor, with his lab coat, glasses, black pants and doctor’s bag filled with explosives. He had short red fur and a wide smile. That smile was proof something was going to blow up.
“Ah, My Liege, a pleasure to have you present for this monumental occasion.” Vial waved to his fellow lab rats in their white lab coats and patted one of them on the back. “This is an exciting day, and my fellow practitioners of alchemy have outdone themselves! It amazes me the thought of using all my bombs at once occurred to you before me, but I suppose that’s why you’re King.”
“I’m glad we could do this,” Will said. Specifically, he was glad they could do it away from the few parts of the kingdom that weren’t a total wreck. There weren’t many of those and he was keen on preserving them, along with his sanity.
Domo studied the flat, worthless, rocky land where Vial had come from. Dwarf smelters had produced this tragedy by dumping slag on the ground, covering countless acres with stone. “How does this work?”
Vial pressed his fingertips together and smiled. “It’s quite simple. We placed explosives across the landscape far enough apart that one bomb detonating would not set off others. Normally I’d dig the bombs in, but the depth of rock we’d have to excavate made this difficult, so the bombs were placed on the surface.”
“You could have asked digger goblins to make the holes,” Will suggested.
“I tried, but the ones I asked wet themselves when I explained the job.” Vial looked puzzled when he added, “Thirty or forty holes shouldn’t have taken them long.”
“You don’t know how many bombs you made?” Domo asked him.
“Why would that matter? Returning to the original question, once we placed the bombs we set their timers, allowing a generous amount of time to leave the blast radius. The bombs are staggered to detonate in sequence so we can better determine which designs work best.”
BOOM!
The ground shook, and a cloud of smoke rose in the distance. All eyes turned to see debris rain down around a newly formed crater.
Vial was positively beaming with joy. “That was beautiful! Far more energetic than I’d anticipated, and with a lovely—”
BOOM! BOOM!
Vial frowned and checked a notebook in his lab coat. “Those were supposed to be separate explosions. The timers must be a tad off.”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Explosions went off fast, shaking the ground so hard that Will had trouble keeping his footing. Huge chunks of rock flew like cannonballs and shattered on landing. Great cracks opened up in the ground, the ragged breaks growing until they joined together.
“Hmm.” Vial shrugged and turned to Will. “It’s not going quite to plan, but we should be safe.”
“Should be?” Domo demanded.
“Alchemy isn’t an exact science, and we ignore the few rules there are. The only way you learn is by ignoring instructions with skulls printed next to them.”
Will edged back. “How far should we run?”
Vial clapped a hand over his heart. “You wound me! Why, the very thought that I’d put your life at risk is—”
CRACKA-BOOM!
Four bombs went off as one with devastating results. Already impressive crevasses widened until a grown man would have trouble jumping over them. A section of ground hundreds of feet wide trembled wildly, broke apart and sank into the earth. The giant crater grew wider as the edges snapped off and slid into the hole.
BOOM! Another explosion went off far away with similar results. Stony ground shattered under the force of the blast and sank from sight. One large slab of rock tilted up at a steep angle before gravity pulled it down and it disappeared below ground. More blasts cracked open the earth until the whole landscape convulsed and began a slow, noisy and violent descent.
“In theory, mining tunnels and chambers under the wastelands could collapse if enough force is applied,” Vial said. A crack formed near his right foot and extended well beyond the goblins. Vial studied the crack with rapt attention. “Fascinating.”
Will grabbed Vial and ran, shouting, “Last one out doesn’t get out!”
Will led the goblins in a screaming escape. Cracks in the ground grew so fast they seemed to chase them. More explosions followed. Will hazarded a look behind him and saw vast sections of land sinking as if some horrible monster was dragging them down. Two bombs were swallowed by the abyssal hole and detonated inside it, throwing up clouds of dust and small rocks.
They kept running until they left the wastelands entirely. Will set Vial down and bent over as he gasped for breath. The other goblins caught up with him and dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Will recovered enough to say, “I didn’t need that.”
“None of us did,” Domo told him. “Vial, you Grade A nutcase, you nearly got us killed!”
“How would that be different than normal?” Domo was going to club Vial, but the alchemist added, “In recent years we have been invaded by men and animated skeletons, fought immortal madmen, defeated the richest man alive, and did battle with both a walking city and an army of elves. Hardly a month goes by where we don’t face life ending threats.”
“Those weren’t our fault,” Will said. He frowned and added, “Not entirely our fault.”
“Need I remind you how many disasters we faced last year that were entirely our making?” Vial asked. “The goblin music festival drew international condemnation. The dirty limerick competition nearly started a war. Our adopt a highway program ended with four highways destroyed and two more traumatized.”
Not finished, Vial said, “The Kingdom of the Goblins is known for disasters of epic proportions. We would suffer more invasions except potential attackers worry they’d be caught in our latest catastrophe. Do we really expect matters to improve in the future?”
“No,” Will said. “I guess that’s the way it is.”
Vial wasn’t wrong. Will had led his goblins to victory many times since becoming King. They’d faced an invasion by Kervol Ket and his human army. The Staff of Skulls had been a terrifying threat they’d stopped only with help. They’d ended the Eternal Army’s march of destruction, again with help, and after that survived attacks by the billionaire Quentin Peck. Sarcamusaad the Walking City had been even worse.
They’d won every time, an impressive track record, but the strain was incredible. At best Will could count on a few weeks of peace before some minor peril rose up, and big threats were only months apart. It was a daunting situation, but he refused to let it break him.
“We’ve beat enemies who should have crushed us like bugs,” Will told the goblins. “We’ve fought the strongest, biggest, most dangerous threats this world has to offer, and we’re still standing. Whatever comes next, we’ll face it, we’ll beat it, we’ll move on to the next one. We’ll survive, because surviving is what goblins do, and I’ll be there with you because I’m your King.”
“That speech was very nearly inspirational,” Vial told Will. “Have you been practicing?”
“Every day and twice on Sundays.” Will looked out over the wastelands, which was actually worse after Vial’s bombs. Before it had been like a parking lot, flat and barren, but now part of the wastelands resembled the cratered surface of the moon. It was a reminder of what failure looked like if he wasn’t careful. “I’m heading back to what’s left of the Goblin City.”
“We need time to analyze the results of this test,” Vial said.
Domo waddled over to Will and held out a hand. “That doesn’t include me. Take me with.”
Will took Domo’s hand and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the Goblin City and the many goblin scarecrows in and around it. This morning there had been a scarecrow by the gatehouse, and barring a disaster (ha!) it would still be there. Will swept his cape over Domo and himself, vanishing into it and leaving his now empty uniform behind.
Whoosh. Will reappeared where he’d planned, wearing the uniform that had been hanging on the scarecrow. His ability to tap into the space warping magic of the goblins was improving, and he could trade places with goblin scarecrows anywhere on Other Place by falling backwards into his cape or sweeping it over himself. As in this case, he could bring friends with him on his journey. He could also use his cape as a shield and let attacks vanish into it to reappear at a scarecrow.
“That was an interesting escape from certain death,” Domo said. He looked around and frowned. “Looks like we’re back in time for another.”
The Goblin City was a place of constant activity, not unexpected when it housed thousands of goblins, but today goblins raced about in a panic. Some carried hammers, saws, nails and crowbars. Others had ropes and some dragged heavy chains. Goblins were so small and weak that they stood no chance in a fair fight, so when danger reared its ugly head they gathered together for protection. These goblins were in groups no smaller than forty, and some over a hundred.
Will approached the nearest group. “Guys, what’s up?”
The group had been running for the city and skidded to a halt. One goblin blinked and asked, “Who, us?”
“Yes, you. What’s happening?”
“Nothing. Yes sir, it’s a fine day. I’ve never seen a day this fine.”
Will saw two goblin mobs run into one another and merge into a single larger group that headed south. “Really, because you guys seem scared.”
“Us?” a second goblin asked. “Why I never! You’re stereotyping us. This has been the most peaceful day in the history of the kingdom.”
Will marched up to the goblins, who flinched as he approached. “Most peaceful day in the kingdom? There hasn’t been a peaceful day here since I became King. Not a one.”
“He’s got us there,” the first goblin said.
Mr. Niff ran by screaming, “Don’t panic! Do not panic! Just get tar and cement, and we’ll be all right!”
“Niff,” Will called.
Mr. Niff ran in circles around a tree stump. “Remain calm!”
“Over here, now,” Will ordered. Mr. Niff snapped out of whatever had seized hold of him and walked over to Will. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” Mr. Niff asked as he tried to keep from hyperventilating. Mr. Niff had blue skin and wore black clothes. Niff was the bravest goblin in the kingdom, always ready to run to the rescue and never smart enough to know whether it was a good idea to do so. He was a competent fighter and armed with a magic dagger he’d stolen from an elf warrior. This made his current state of panic unusual. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s a perfectly peaceful day in the kingdom, with singing birdies, happy wombats and—”
“We already tried that,” a goblin told him.
“Oh.” Mr. Niff stared at his feet. “Would you believe we’re throwing you a surprise party?”
“A party involving tar and cement would certainly qualify as a surprise,” Will replied. He walked up to Mr. Niff and kneeled so they were eye to eye. “Niff, you know I like you, and I forgive a lot, more than I should. Keeping that in mind, I’d like you to tell me what’s got you and the other goblins worked up.”
Mr. Niff looked miserable. “After you left to get rid of Vial’s bombs, we kind of had visitors.”
“And what did these kind of visitors want?”
“Your head or a vital organ. Possibly both.”
Just then a voice called out in the distance, “Hurry up! We can’t hold them much longer!”
That was London, one of Will’s troll bodyguards. London and Brooklyn were troll youngsters, bigger, tougher and massively more aggressive than Will. They enjoyed fights, the bigger the better. If London was worried there was a serious threat.
Will followed the sound of London’s voice to a clearing outside the Goblin City, and found London and Brooklyn struggling to seal three large oak barrels. Someone or something inside those barrels was trying to break out, and it took all the trolls’ impressive strength to hold them in. They’d pound down the lid on one barrel, only for a second to come loose. Goblins brought ropes to tie the barrels shut, but the ropes kept snapping.
“Boys,” Will began as he walked over. Mr. Niff and Domo followed with hundreds more goblins behind them. London and Brooklyn looked shocked by his arrival. The brothers had fine green scaly skin, with London a shade darker, and wore cotton trousers. Both had serious underbites and fish fin ears, and muscles that would put a professional bodybuilder to shame.
“Boss, you’re back early,” London said.
A barrel nearly opened, and Brooklyn slammed it shut. “That’s not a good thing.”
“Who or what is in those barrels?” Will asked.
“We got invaded by lawyers while you were gone,” London replied.
That was bad. Lawyers were as dangerous as wizards and far more cunning. All the races of Other Place avoided lawyers, even goblins. Legal contracts could force men to obey them, and even rewrite the laws of nature for short times. Lawyers were responsible for abducting Will from Earth, marooning him on Other Place, and he had no desire to get close to one.
“Three of them, girl lawyers,” Brooklyn added.
“They were going to do nasty things to you. One threatened to open a branch office in the kingdom. You got to stop that sort of thing before it starts. Lawyer infestations are harder to get rid of than pixies.”
“You jammed old ladies into barrels?” Will demanded. “I don’t care if they are lawyers, you don’t do that!”
“Young lady lawyers,” London corrected him. “Feisty ones.”
“Give us a couple hours to seal the barrels and dump them in the river,” Brooklyn said. “By the time they get out they’ll be in the ocean and the only ones they can kill are sharks, who stand a fighting chance.”
“I appreciate you trying to protect me, but this isn’t how to fix the problem,” Will said. He headed for the barrels as his friends edged back. “We’re going to try and settle this peacefully, an opportunity that’s probably long gone, but we’ll try. I’ll let these women go and give them a chance to explain what they want. Don’t attack them or do anything stupid unless I tell you to.”
Mr. Niff turned to Domo. “He tells us to do stupid things?”
Domo waved his walking stick. “All the time.”
A barrel shook until it tipped over, and Will heard a muffled voice scream, “When I get out of here, you’re in for such a suing!”
Will hesitated. He took a deep breath and reached for the barrel. “Do the right thing, even if it’s hard.”
With that Will pried off the top of the barrel, and an enraged woman came out like a shot. He opened the other two barrels and tried to help the ladies out, but they ignored his assistance and clustered together.
The ladies were roughly Will’s age, wearing gray jackets, black skirts, high heel shoes and carrying briefcases. Their clothes were wrinkled and a bit dirty from being forced into the barrels, and they looked furious. They were also cute, which surprised Will. His experience with the legal profession always resulted in pain and indignity rather than an opportunity to ask someone on a date.
“You treacherous, backstabbing, louse ridden, stinking, illegitimate son of a road kill squirrel!” a lawyer yelled at Will. This one had blond hair cut very short.
“That’s a bad start to the conversation,” he replied. “Hi there, William Bradshaw, reluctant King of the Goblins. I had nothing to do with what just happened to you, and I’m very sorry.”
She marched up to Will and held a finger under his nose. “You’re sorry? We are way past the point where sorry would make things better! I am an official representative of the Ann Sheal Ruin law firm, and buster, Fine Ann doesn’t take this kind of garbage from anyone.” The woman took out a business card and held it in front of her like a knife. There was an awkward pause before she said, “You’re supposed to take that.”
“I’d really rather not, Ann.”
The lawyer rolled her eyes. “Ann is the name of our firm’s founder, a woman with an incredible force of personality who started the only all women law firm. I’m Cybil, you jerk.”
Will clapped his hands together. “Well, Cybil, I’m glad we cleared that up. Now I understand you wanted blood before you were stuffed in those barrels. Would you mind telling me why?”
Cybil sneered and pointed to one of her fellow lawyers. “Tell him, Patty.”
Patty was the youngest of the three and had brown hair worn in pigtails. She jumped when Cybil called on her and said, “Eep!”
The third lawyer snatched Patty’s briefcase and took out a sheet of paper. The woman held it up for Will to see, but pulled it back before he could read it. “This, you creep, is a lawsuit. The Coral Ring Merchant House had contracted to buy a load of salt from Quentin Peck. The salt was loaded and ready to go in the city of Nolod when you, yes you, sank the ship carrying it!”
“That’s right, Meg,” Cybil said. “The salt dissolved before it could be salvaged. The Coral Ring lost a major contract because of you. The cost came out to eight hundred guilders, and the damage you did to their reputation makes it harder for them to get business. We’re suing you for ten thousand guilders plus legal fees, and those are going to be high!”
Will showed no great concern at the threat of being sued. “Peck was trying to kill me. I was fighting back and had my goblins sink one of his ships. I’m sorry your client was hurt by our fight, but I can’t pay that much.”
“Yes, you can,” Cybil said menacingly. “You think you’re in the clear because you’re a king? Kings aren’t above the law. We can seize your assets, garnish your wages and shave your dog.”
“I haven’t got a dog,” Will told them.
Cybil snapped her fingers. “Patty, get him a dog so we can shave it.”
“Eep!” Patty’s pigtails flew up when she jumped like that.
Cybil marched up to Will and held out the lawsuit. “The mighty can fall, king or not. You have been served.”
“I know it’s supposed to work like that, but in my case it doesn’t,” Will said. “Seriously, you don’t want to—”
Too late. Cybil cried out in surprise as the lawsuit burst into flames in her hand. She barely managed to drop it before the fire scorched her fingers. The three lawyers looked amazed, as did the goblins and trolls.
“I tried to tell you.” Will took out his king contract tucked in his belt and unrolled the lengthy and confusing document. “Lawyers with Cickam, Wender and Downe drew this up when they tricked me into being King of the Goblins. It keeps me on this world and in this kingdom unless my life is in peril. If I can direct your attention to this part here?”
The lady lawyers gathered around the king contract. Meg pointed at it and said, “Article 140, subsection 11, paragraph 2, line 51: The King of the Goblins can’t escape by losing the kingdom in a game of chance, including poker, blackjack, backgammon, go fish, Monopoly or Clue.”
“No, this part over here.” Will read the contract aloud to them. “Article 140, subsection 12, paragraph 7, line 11: Any suit filed against the King of the Goblins is automatically sent to the nearest branch office of Cickam, Wender and Downe. Bring it on.”
He rolled up the contract and explained, “I’m sympathetic, really, but if you sue me it goes to the lawyers who got me in this mess. They win every time. Trust me, I know. I think if we sit down and talk this over, we can come up with a solution that helps your client.”
Meg stared at him like he was speaking Latin. “Are you being reasonable?”
“I’m trying to. It usually doesn’t work, but I figure one of these days it might.”
Cybil was having none of it. “You think you’re getting away that easy? Patty, let him have it!”
“Eep!” That seemed to be the extent of Patty’s vocabulary. She kept staring at Will.
Cybil took a rolled up parchment from Patty’s briefcase. Will wasn’t sure what good that would do after her last lawsuit combusted, but nothing could prepare him for what happened next. The parchment rustled and coiled around Cybil’s arm before reaching out like a snake or octopus tentacle. Goblins shivered at the sight. Even the trolls looked queasy.
“This is a living contract,” Cybil explained, her tone smug. “We stole the idea from your lawyers.”
“Hey, they aren’t my lawyers!” Will shouted.
“Whatever.” The contract continued reaching for Will as Cybil spoke. “Living contracts are sentient legal documents that can track their victims across kingdoms, never slowing, never stopping, immune to bribery and totally ignoring pleas for mercy. It’s going to make your life a waking nightmare.”
“That train already left the station,” Will said. He watched the contract move closer inch by inch, and he was honestly considering running for his life when a disturbing thought occurred to him. “If you stole the idea from Cickam, Wender and Downe, that means they already have living contracts. And if they want to keep me on the job—”
Snap! Will’s king contract unrolled so fast it sounded like someone swung a bullwhip. It shot through the air and wrapped around the enemy contract like a constrictor snake. The contracts fell to the ground and thrashed about so violently they knocked two oak barrels aside. Trolls, goblins and lawyers alike stared in shock at the bizarre battle.
“Okay, this is weird even by my standards,” Will admitted.
The contracts lashed out at each other. The fight wasn’t entirely physical as clauses and subclauses lit up as they were invoked. Violent as the battle was, Will’s contract was larger and far more aggressive. The smaller contract tried to slither away, but the king contract grabbed a rock and bashed it again and again until its whimpering enemy gave up and inched its way back to Cybil. Victorious, Will’s king contract slithered back to him and rolled up so one particular section was facing him.
Will retrieved the contract, reluctantly, and read aloud the part it seemed to want to show him. “Article 150, subsection 1, paragraph 1, line 1: This contract is now fully sentient and self aware. It has a total mastery of the law, is homicidally aggressive and has a borderline personality disorder. Well, that’s disturbing.”
“This, this isn’t over!” Cybil shouted. “You haven’t heard the last of us!”
“Obviously not since you’re still talking,” Will said. Cybil fumed and marched off with Meg following her. Patty kept staring at Will, not moving, not speaking. Hoping she was the reasonable one of the group, he walked up to her and smiled.
“I’m sorry the Coral Ring got hurt because of my fight with Peck, and I want to help. Give me time to think on this and we’ll get back together to work out a deal where they get compensation, just not ten thousand guilders. Okay?”
Patty nodded, still not saying anything as Will left. Once he was gone, she asked Domo, “Is he seeing anyone?”
“Yes, and she’s vindictive.”
Patty took a business card from her briefcase and handed it to Domo. “Let me know if they break up.”
Will headed back to what little was left of the Goblin City, but he stopped when he saw something high in the sky. It was a clear, cold day, and he could see for miles. At this distance he couldn’t tell what it was, but it was big.
Domo waddled up to him and saw what had his attention. The goblin squinted and said, “Huh.”
“Is that a good huh or a bad huh?” Will asked.
“It’s a huh,” Domo replied. “Huh rules out good or bad and just signify weird. That’s a harpy, which is weird because there’s not enough wild game to support a flock after the mess the dwarfs made.”
“So what’s she doing here?”
* * * * *
Gretchen the harpy slouched low on the thick, dead branch she was perched on. There weren’t many perches to begin with and fewer now that the flock was getting ready to move. It was hard work to fly so much lumber to their mountaintop roost. With only days to go before they left for fresh foraging grounds, the flock was breaking up the thick branches for firewood. Economical as that was, it meant there were progressively fewer perches as time went by, and harpy’s clawed feet had trouble standing on flat ground. It made the whole flock irritable.
Territory so far north was poor, with few animals or plants even in summer. The flock had stayed a month longer than intended, completely gutting the mountains and hills of edible plants and game large enough to merit catching. They had to migrate to the next part of their large (and largely worthless) territory.
“Good morning, Gretchen,” Tiffy said happily. Tiffy was Gretchen’s cousin, and annoyingly cheerful.
“Nothing’s good about it,” Gretchen snapped.
Harpies as a rule were foul tempered, and Gretchen was worse than most. Her face, chest, upper arms and upper legs were similar to a human woman, although more muscular and leaner. The resemblance ended there. Black feathered wings sprouted from her back. Her teeth were sharper than a human’s and could chew through leather. Her legs below the knees and arms below the elbows were scaled and ended in talons like a bird of prey. Her dirty dress was made from badly tanned animal skins.
“Let me top you off,” Tiffy said as she refilled Gretchen’s cup of coffee. “Nothing’s worse than cold coffee.”
“Lots of things are worse, and you know it. Just go away.”
Gretchen sipped coffee from her battered tin cup. Harpies couldn’t afford to have many possessions when every extra ounce made flying harder, but the flock had to have their morning cup. She owned her cup, a steel dagger that needed to be sharpened, an equally dull hatchet, and a leather bag loaded with food for the journey.
The rest of the flock kept their distance from Gretchen. Most of them were in equally foul moods since migrations were risky. Many of them had fledglings to carry, making it that much harder. But one day their fledglings would fly. Hers never would…her poor, crippled daughter.
“Sister.” It was Maggie, leader of the flock and Gretchen’s older sister. Maggie’s hair was going gray, and she was the most experienced harpy in a thousand miles. “We must talk.”
Gretchen gazed out at the snowy land far below their roost. “I know what you’re going to say, so save your breath. I’ve always seen to my daughter’s needs, no charity required.”
“Sister, the migration begins soon. You are not strong enough to carry Celeste. She’s grown too much. The flock has discussed the matter.”
Gretchen screamed, a horrid noise that made rocks vibrate. She threw her cup of coffee across the roost as she stumbled into the center of the assembled harpies. “The flock has discussed this? The flock? I’m a member of this flock! I wasn’t part of this discussion!”
Other harpies fell silent. Most stepped back. This day had been coming for years, and Gretchen had fought it every step of the way. She screamed at them. Harpies covered their ears from the wretched noise, but they didn’t back down when she stopped.
“She’s my daughter, not yours!” Gretchen screamed. “She’s done as much as any here to feed the flock, foraging and hunting. I won’t have this!”
“You could barely carry her to this roost, and that was a year ago,” Maggie said.
Gretchen hesitated. “She can walk.”
“Three hundred miles?” Maggie asked. “In winter? Alone?”
“I’ll go with her if you won’t!”
“No.” Maggie clumsily walked up to Gretchen, a risky move. “Sister, out of love for you and Celeste I have let, yes let, you keep your daughter. Other flocks would have placed her with a foster mother once she had teeth. I pushed this day back as far as possible, but Celeste can’t stay with us any longer. It’s not fair to the flock or to her.”
Gretchen’s muscles tensed to attack. Slowly, ever so slowly, she unclenched her fists and looked down. “What would you have me do?”
Maggie picked up Gretchen’s coffee cup and handed it back. “I have made inquiries among our friends. There is a kingdom where Celeste might take refuge. The leader has taken in an exiled dwarf, a minotaur and two young trolls. UMLIS live in peace within his borders. I believe we can place Celeste with him.”
“Can he protect her as the flock would?” Gretchen demanded.
“I don’t believe that’s going to be a problem.”
William Bradshaw and For a Song chapter 2
Chapter 2
The next morning, Will walked through the shallow snow to a small canyon. Goblins hadn’t noticed him yet, and his only companion was a small wombat waddling after him. He sat down on a low rock ledge blown clear of snow and took a thin book from his pocket. The wombat stopped next to him and sniffed his feet.
“Hey there, boy,” Will said. He held up the book for the small animal to see. “Funny you should show up. I got this from the goblins just yesterday. The Joy of Raising Wombats, which probably wasn’t a best seller, but it might help now that there are a few of you guys wandering around the kingdom.”
Will had learned only last autumn that some goblins rode wombats, a relatively inoffensive animal that shared goblins’ desire to avoid death. Goblins and their cowardly mounts ran from every fight, which goblins considered proof of intelligence. These same goblins had imported dozens of wombats to the Kingdom of the Goblins in the belief they were helping Will. He hadn’t made up his mind whether this was a good thing or not.
The wombat nibbled on Will’s boots as he read. He reached down and scratched its back while he steadied the book with his other hand.
“Let’s see, you’re herbivores, you’re marsupials, you’re licking my fingers,” Will said. “Stop that. You dig burrows. See, I didn’t know that.”
“Hey, it’s the King!” a thin goblin shouted. The goblin hurried over to annoy Will, a popular pastime among goblins, when he cried out and disappeared into the earth.
“That would be one of your burrows.” Will scratched the wombat’s back and the little animal rolled over to get its belly rubbed. He obliged it while continuing to read. “If predators show up you run into your burrow. That’s sensible. If the predator is small enough to go in after you, it can’t hurt you because it can only attack your…okay, this can’t be right.”
The wombat made a contended sound as Will stared at it. “You have a nearly indestructible rump? Be honest, you guys got out of line when God was handing out blessings.”
“I’m all right,” the thin goblin said from inside the burrow.
“Boss!” It was Mr. Niff, running through the snow straight for Will. He stopped long enough to help his fellow goblin out of the burrow. Mr. Niff looked down the hole and said, “He’s got the place nicely furnished. Wait, I’m forgetting something, besides my name. Oh, right, I’ve got a message for you.”
“If it involves whatever you guys were doing with that dung heap and teddy bear, I’d rather not know,” Will said. The wombat crawled onto his lap and rubbed against his stomach.
Shocked, Mr. Niff shouted, “Hey, that bear was rabid!”
“That was cotton stuffing coming out of a tear,” Will said. He closed the book and put it back in his pocket. “Alone time is officially over, so tell me what’s up.”
Mr. Niff frowned. “Builder goblins say Hugh Timbers is throwing a fit. They need you to calm him down or get him drunk. Either one is good.”
Will got up and carried the wombat with him. “That’s new. Hugh is a pretty levelheaded guy. Where is he?”
“He’s in what’s left of the Goblin City.” Mr. Niff followed Will to their slovenly capital, saying, “It was bad, boss. He was going on about quality, workmanship, not trapping the toilets. Then he started yelling at walls.”
Will walked back to the Goblin City. The city consisted of an outer wall and gatehouse, and next to that a large maze. Inside the wall was, well, nothing. Once it had poorly built houses and shops abandoned by dwarfs. The goblins had done considerable damage to these structures over the years before deciding that Will wanted them to expand the maze into the city. He didn’t, but once goblins get a stupid idea into their heads you’d need a crowbar, iron chains and team of oxen to pry it out. They’d demolished every building inside the city to make room for the expanded maze.
Will entered the city through the gatehouse. There were piles of rubble where buildings had been brought down, and holes leading to the tunnels and caves below the city. Goblins scurried by, babbling and hooting as they went about their business. But there was a disturbance near the maze, and goblins gathered around to watch.
“It was right there!” Hugh Timbers yelled. The dwarf had been a resident of the kingdom ever since the Eternal Army destroyed his home. Simply dressed in leather clothes and boots, the barrel chested dwarf had brown hair with hints of gray. He pointed at a bare patch of ground and shouted, “There was a wall thirty feet long and ten feet tall on this spot not one hour ago!”
“Morning, Hugh,” Will said. He set down the wombat and joined the dwarf at the now empty space. “Is there a problem?”
Hugh looked like he was going to give an angry response, but he took a deep breath and calmed down. “Sir William, I went fishing this morning and passed a wall newly built on this site. I returned an hour later to find the wall gone. This is not an isolated event. I have noticed other walls missing from the maze in the last month.”
“Maybe it went on vacation?” a goblin offered. “It deserves one, what with all the work walls do.”
“Yeah, they have to stand around all day,” said another goblin.
Hugh’s face turned red and he scowled at the goblins. Will stepped forward and said, “I’ve seen goblins put up walls and take them down again. They don’t have a plan for the maze, so new walls can seal off parts of the maze and have to be removed.”
“Sir, I have also seen this and struggled to maintain my composure at such wasted effort, but this is different.” Hugh bent down and ran his hand over the ground. “The spot is clear of dust or debris that would be present if the wall was taken apart. It is as if it were never here to begin with.”
“And?” a goblin asked.
“You don’t mind losing a part of the maze?” Will asked. Goblins loved their maze, spending endless hours building and improving it. The maze was gradually expanding into the ruined city, with walls reaching out into the courtyard.
A goblin with a tail shrugged. “I’m sure the wall is happy wherever it went.”
“You know the old saying, if you love something, let it go,” a stubby goblin added.
“Has anyone asked—” Will began, but stopped in mid sentence when the air shimmered and dirty paper plates rained down from the sky. The goblins were warping space with their collective stupidity and craziness, an ability they could barely control and didn’t bother trying to. He turned to find a brick wall twenty feet long and ten feet high running between him and Hugh. “This looks too small to be the wall you’re referring to. Has anyone asked Milo about this?”
Milo the minotaur was another resident of the kingdom. He’d applied for a job as monster in the goblins’ maze and was trying to turn it into a tourist destination, a hard task when the maze was so confusing and complex that visitors could be lost in it for months.
“I have been unable to find him,” Hugh said from the other side of the newly appeared wall. He walked around it to rejoin Will and explained, “Milo spotted humans exploring the maze and ran after them. I believe he intended to ask them to take a survey about their experience, but they fled at the sight of a seven foot tall monster with a bull’s head.”
Mr. Niff folded his arms across his chest. “That’s rude.”
“Milo is in charge of the maze, as much as anyone can be, so this is his responsibility,” Will said. “We’ll sit down and discuss the matter once he gets back, and maybe find a solution.”
Hugh frowned. “As you wish, Sir William. This situation troubles me greatly. Walls are meant to be permanent.”
“Very little around here makes sense.” Will studied the debris filling the courtyard. “The piles of broken bricks are smaller. I guess the guys are using them to build the maze, but there aren’t many left. Work is going to stop when they run out of building material.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” Domo said as he entered the city through a massive hole in the outer wall and picked up a stray brick. “We would have run out of bricks months ago if we were only recycling what little is here. Builder goblins are importing bricks from across the border.”
Will’s eyes snapped open. “Please tell me you aren’t raiding Kervol Ket for bricks! We’re getting along these days!”
“No, no, no,” Domo said as he waved his walking stick from side to side. “We’re getting some of them by dismantling old dwarf roads in the kingdom. There aren’t many of them left, so we had to get the rest from Silyig Kingdom, our neighbor to the east.”
“Whose leader is going to declare war on us for robbing his kingdom,” Will pointed out. “Can’t we go a few months without a war?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?” Mr. Niff asked.
“It shouldn’t be,” Will replied. “Why is this the first time I’m hearing about these people if they live next door?”
Domo rolled his eyes. “The obvious answer is because you’ve never asked who’s in the neighborhood. The less obnoxious answer is because you focus your attention on whoever is trying to kill us this week, leaving very little time to do anything else. Silyig’s people aren’t going to invade us, ever, so you can safely ignore them.”
Feeling hopeful, Will asked, “Is that because they’re civilized people, possibly nice, and don’t judge goblins harshly?”
“There’s that optimism of yours again,” Domo chided him. “They aren’t going to invade because they can’t. Silyig started as an oligarchy, then became a monarch, then an empire, eventually turning into a fallen empire. These days Silyig is a kleptocracy with a side order of irony.”
“It’s a country of mob bosses posing as nobles,” Mr. Niff added cheerfully.
“Anything is legal there as long as their emperor gets a fifteen percent cut,” Domo added. “They’re too busy stabbing each other in the back to threaten people outside their borders.”
“I’ve never met a mob boss,” Will admitted, “a fact I’m proud of, but I’d think they’d mind us carting off tons of bricks from their land.”
“Speak of the devil,” Domo said. A mob of goblins pulling a small cart loaded down with a cubic yard of loose bricks entered the city through the gatehouse. Builder goblins scurried over and carried off the bricks for the maze. Once the cart was empty, the goblins towed it out again.
“Anyway, with all the fighting they’ve had over the years, Silyig has a heaping helping of ruined castles, forts, villas, outposts and the like,” Domo continued. “Nine of them are within a few miles of the border. Builder and digger goblins cross into Silyig and dismantle them, then bring back the bricks for us to enlarge the maze.”
Surprised, Will asked, “No one notices you doing this?”
“Goblins are careful not to be seen while they work, and eight of the nine ruins are unoccupied,” Domo explained.
“That’s a relief.”
Mr. Niff smirked and said, “We’re breaking down the ninth one. The bandit chief living there can’t figure out why his castle gets smaller every week.”
“That,” Will began, but he paused and looked off into the sky. It was a clear day and he could see for miles, making it easy to spot the harpy circling high overhead. “Well look who’s here. I’m guessing our new friend didn’t come for the nightlife or fine dining, so what brought her back?”
Domo frowned. “I haven’t seen a harpy in these parts for years, and only then because she was passing through. She might be scouting the kingdom to see if it’s worth bringing her flock to spend the winter.”
“Exactly how bad would that be?” Will asked him.
“Harpies eat meat and some plants. They have large territories they move through, emptying each part of food before going to the next. The Kingdom of the Goblins is still recovering from our days of being a dwarf strip mine, so they’d have a hard time keeping fed here. They move far and fast, so they might poach livestock from Kervol’s kingdom to keep the dinner pot full.”
“They’re not too popular with humans,” Mr. Niff added.
“I guessed as much,” Will replied. “Is there anyone they do get along with?”
Hugh shrugged. “Harpies trade animal hides to dwarfs in return for steel daggers and axes. I would see them once or twice a year when I was still welcome among my kin. Meetings were brief and profits were slim, but such events were peaceful.”
“They don’t bother goblins,” Domo said. “Harpies live in poor quality land, same as we do, but they fly high and nest in mountains. We can’t get close enough to annoy them, and they don’t seem to care about us.”
“That’s a start we can build on.” Will walked away from the others and waved at the harpy. He gestured for her to come down and called out, “Welcome to the kingdom! Let’s sit down and talk!”
The harpy didn’t react for a while, then flapped her large wings and headed north until she disappeared from sight. Will frowned and said, “That could have gone better. I wonder why she left.”
Mr. Niff smiled at him. “Maybe it’s your breath.”
Will looked at Domo and said, “That harpy had a wingspan of twenty feet, maybe twenty-five. That’s not enough to keep someone so large in the air. How could she fly?”
“She’s filled with gas, like a dirigible,” a goblin said.
“No, it’s flatulence!” declared another. “She’s rocket powered!”
“It’s magic,” Domo said.
“Flatulence is magic,” the second goblin replied.
Domo smacked the offending goblin over the head with his walking stick. “Harpies are magic creatures. They can fly even though they shouldn’t be able to, and they can scream like an opera singer who stepped on a hedgehog.”
Will was going to ask more questions when he heard screams coming from the maze. He turned to see two men run out of the maze and head for the gatehouse. Not three steps behind them was Milo the minotaur in his black frock coat and black pants. The men and minotaur ran past Will and the goblins as if they weren’t there.
“Did you find the maze easy, challenging, impossible or mindboggling?” Milo yelled at the fleeing men.
“Impossible!” one yelled back as he ran out the gatehouse.
Still hot on their heels, Milo asked, “Would a reasonably priced map have helped?”
“Yes!”
“Are you going to require therapy after your visit?” Milo called out as he chased the men into a nearby forest.
Will stared at the spectacle for a few seconds. “That’s it, I’m out of here.”
Will left the city and goblins behind and headed for the nearby human town where he took his meals. After more than a year on the job he’d learned to appreciate his goblin followers and accept the admittedly few perks his job had, but there came a time when he’d had as much as he could deal with and needed human company. Regular trips outside the kingdom gave him a chance to spend time with men and women who were, for the most part, normal. Spending an hour or so a day with them did wonders for his sanity.
This was Will’s second winter on Other Place. So far snowfall was light and temperatures were moderate. His uniform was reasonably warm, and he stayed comfortable as long as he kept moving. He worried what would happen if a major storm hit. Deep snow would make it hard for him to go for food and could be a real danger to his smaller goblins.
It didn’t take him long to cross the border into Ket Kingdom. The rubble, graffiti and random traps were gone now that he was among men. Farmhouses were scattered about with bare fields and orchards. He saw few animals except birds picking through the fields for stray grains of wheat.
Not far ahead was a human community of roughly a hundred buildings. Legally this land belonged to Kervol Ket, but for tax reasons they pretended to be part of the Kingdom of the Goblins. The town had no name to better avoid royal attention. A few people walked the streets and waved when they saw him.
“How’s it going?” a smiling farmer asked.
“Chaos, confusion, mayhem,” Will replied. “Same as always. You seem cheerful. What’s up?”
The man’s smile widened. “You’ll see soon enough. I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”
“What does that mean?” Will asked, but the man left without answering. Will didn’t like surprises, as they often meant bad things were about to happen, but he got along fairly well with these people. They’d warn him of danger.
He went into the town’s inn, a large, warm and pleasant place. The building was packed with families chatting and gossiping. Will took one of the few empty chairs and was surprised when a teenage girl walked up and curtsied.
“We’re serving fresh bread, sugared plums and broiled trout, Your Majesty.”
Will blushed. “There’s no need for titles. Call me Will like everyone else.”
“It would be inappropriate to address a king that way, especially one who saved my life.” The teenager set his table with a wood spoon and fork as Will stared at her. “My family lost our home to the Eternal Army.”
Will’s face flushed in embarrassment. “Oh, oh God, I am so sorry! I tried to stop them as fast as I could!”
“You stopped them in time,” she said, her tone respectful. “The Eternal Army would have caught up with us when we were fleeing, but they turned away at the last minute. We found out later they left because you’d issued them a challenge.” She looked at him in awe. “They marched to fight you, and you made sure they’d never hurt anyone again. You are due respect, Your Majesty, from me and everyone else.”
The teenager curtsied again and left. Will’s face felt warm from blushing, and he blushed even more as men and women in the inn watched him and smiled. The girl brought him a filling meal and enough leftovers to cover his lunch.
Some of the inn’s patrons chuckled. Will grimaced and asked, “You knew she was going to do that, didn’t you?”
“She’s been asking when you’d come all morning,” a woman told him.
Will finished as much food as he could and went to the bar. The innkeeper was there, a bear of a man dressed in simple cotton clothes. He glanced up when Will approached and pointed to the girl waiting tables. “Quite the crowd you’ve got. What’s the occasion?”
“No occasion.” The innkeeper gestured to the crowded inn and explained, “Not much work to do in winter after you’ve fed your animals. It’s hot in here from the kitchen fire, so people stop to warm up and talk with their friends.”
Trying (and failing) to sound causal, Will said, “I see you hired a waitress. When did that happen?”
It was the innkeeper’s turn to be embarrassed, and he looked at the floor. “I’m not sure. She and her family are refugees who lost their homes last winter to the Eternal Army. Her father and brothers hired on as farmhands with the farmers, and she showed up here last week asking for work. I told her a dozen times I can manage my own inn, but she kept after me. I don’t think I hired her…pretty sure I didn’t.”
“They’ve been wandering around for an entire year?”
“Way I hear it they lost everything, home, barn, tools, money, animals. There’s nothing for them to go back to and no way to rebuild. They’ve been going from town to town, taking what work they can find.”
Will’s embarrassment turned to shame. He’d stopped the Eternal Army with considerable help, but not before they’d burned out tens of thousands of people. “I knew life would be hard for the refugees, but I didn’t realize they’d be hurting for so long. I should have done more. I failed them.”
“Try telling her that. The girl’s been on cloud nine since she learned you eat here. Surprised she didn’t ask for your autograph.”
This felt strange. Races across Other Place considered goblins vermin, and since Will was their King most people held him in contempt. He wasn’t used to anyone showing him gratitude, much less hero worship. It was nice, in a weird sort of way.
He tried to think of how to help the girl and her family. He only had a little money, and no chance to get more. Land in the Kingdom of the Goblins wasn’t good for farming (he’d tried), and there wasn’t good timber they could harvest. There was the section of the wastelands healed by the Bottle of Hope. Could they live there? Could he ask for help from the trolls or the purple puppet people? He didn’t think so. They’d already done a lot for him and had problems of their own.
The innkeeper saw Will’s conflicted expression. “They’re hurting, but it’s getting better. They’ve got a roof over their heads, food to eat and a chance to rebuild. You’ve done a lot, but you can’t be everywhere and do everything. Good folks are doing their part to help, too.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do for them.” Will loaded his food into a small sack and turned to leave. Before he went, he asked the innkeeper, “Hey, have you seen any harpies in the last few days?”
That was a mistake. In seconds a crowd of angry men surrounded Will. One man demanded, “You’ve seen harpies? Where?”
“I saw one yesterday in my kingdom and another this morning, but it was so far away it might have been the same one.” Will saw the news spread through the inn like wildfire, drawing in more people. “I understand humans and harpies don’t get along, but both times the harpy left with no harm done.”
“Go fetch the mayor,” a rancher told his wife. He looked worried and said, “There ain’t been harpies in these parts for years, and we’d just as soon keep it that way. The thieving, stinking, loudmouth bird women steal livestock. No disrespect intended, but it went well for you because you didn’t have anything they could take.”
“They don’t just steal chickens and piglets, bad as that would be,” a farmer added. “My daddy told me how whole flocks of them would break into barns at night and kill cattle, then carry off the parts they wanted.”
Worried, Will asked, “When was this?”
The rancher spat “Thirty years ago. They showed up out of the blue and stole every animal they could until our parents chased them off. Looks like we’ll have to do the same.”
Will held up his hands and tried to calm the crowd. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. I saw a harpy or at most two, and it was in my land, not yours. I’ll look into the situation and see if we can solve it peacefully.”
The crowd’s foul mood didn’t improve. The rancher put a hand on Will’s shoulder and said, “You’ve been a good neighbor, better than any of the men who had the job before you. When the time comes to drive them off, let us know and we’ll help. Longbows are the only things harpies fear.”
“Okay,” Will said slowly. He exited the inn and headed back to his kingdom. Clearly the situation was worse than he’d first believed. It would take some effort to prevent violence between the harpies and humans. He needed advice from Domo and Gladys the magic mirror to form a plan. Hopefully the harpies had been just passing through.
Will traveled only a few minutes before he got a funny feeling like he was being watched. Back on Earth he would have written that off as paranoia, but after surviving multiple attempts on his life he didn’t take chances. He grabbed the edge of his cape with one hand and his fire scepter with the other. Will was still close to the town and its farmland, so there was no cover on the harvested fields for an attacker to hide behind. He looked up on a hunch.
“This is getting repetitive,” he muttered. A harpy flew high overhead, hard to see because she was keeping the sun to her back. At this distance he couldn’t tell if it was the same harpy from before or a new one. He was curious why he kept seeing them and the townspeople didn’t. After all, they had livestock harpies could prey upon. They should be more common in Ket Kingdom than his land.
Will continued home. He didn’t try to interact with the harpy or show that he’d seen her. After ten minutes he stopped and bent down like he was tying his shoes, and he stole a glance up. The harpy was still there, roughly the same distance from him and farther from the town and its livestock. This was starting to feel personal.
“Let’s see how far she’s willing to take this.” Will kept going, crossing the border into his own lands. He tried to act casually when he looked around. Sure enough, every time he saw the harpy. She kept after him for thirty minutes, maintaining the same distance between them. Thankfully she wasn’t attacking, but this made him nervous.
“The boss is back!” It was a mob of Will’s goblins. They poured out of a young forest bare of leaves and hurried over toward him. The harpy veered off and headed north.
“You look spooked,” a goblin with claws said. “Or possibly gassy.”
“I’ve got a puzzle that needs solving, and sooner would be better than later.” He leaned down and asked, “Boys, have you ever had harpies living in the kingdom?”
“Visit, yes,” the clawed goblin said. “Stay, no. Harpies haven’t lived here since the first day lawyers and wizards created the kingdom. The only harpies who passed through complained there wasn’t enough to eat. We offered them goblin stew, but they said they weren’t that desperate or stupid.”
“More for us,” a squat goblin said.
“Then something changed, because they’re taking an interest in us.” Will stood up straight and said, “Come on, guys, we need to see Gladys.”
Will needed a few minutes to reach his bedroom under the Goblin City. The rough-cut room was filled with furniture he’d received last year as a gift from a grateful king he’d helped. Gladys was in a corner, a mirror six feet tall and made of bronze with eagle motifs in the frame. The mirror’s surface was black, so Gladys was probably asleep.
“Gladys, have problem, need solution,” Will said.
Gladys appeared in the surface of the mirror. She looked like a middle-aged woman, overweight and wearing ridiculously bright pink clothes. Her blond hair was curly, and she wore way too much makeup. “You’re going to have to be specific about the problem. We’ve got so many I’ve started numbering them.”
“Harpies are visiting the kingdom, and one followed me back from getting lunch. I mentioned this to the farmers and they freaked out. I need to know how many harpies are here, and I need a solution to this that doesn’t result in anyone stopping an arrow the hard way.”
“Harpies, huh?” A bookcase appeared behind Gladys in her mirror, and she took out a book. “Surprised they’d bother coming here. A flock needs a lot of food each week to keep fed, and there’s no way they’ll find it here. They might want to nest here and raid farms to the south, but that’s risky. How many did you see?”
“Three, but only one at a time and never close enough to identify them.” Will tapped his scepter on his palm. “Can you see any in the kingdom or in Kervol’s land?”
“Checking.” Gladys disappeared from the surface of her mirror and was replaced by an image of a barren farm field. Gladys could see through scarecrows the goblins had set up, each scarecrow a copy of Will’s uniform. Will could also trade places with these scarecrows if he had to. Gladys showed one image after another, going through dozens of them in seconds. “The scarecrows aren’t pointed up, so there’s a limit to what I can see, but so far Kervol is in the clear. Not one harpy in his land.”
“How about us?”
“I found five.” Gladys displayed five images, each showing a harpy flying overhead. She zoomed in on them to get a better look. Will saw that the harpies had hands and feet like hawk’s feet, with sharp talons inches long. They wore leather clothes, and two carried hatchets. “They’re in the southern half of the kingdom, with three of them close to the Goblin City. Are we still calling it a city when there are no buildings?”
“I don’t know, or really care. You mentioned flocks earlier. How many harpies to a flock?”
“Some flocks have fifty members and others only a dozen. Bigger flocks need more food, which means they have either good quality territory or a lot of poor quality land. Maybe they’re thinking of adding us to their territory, stopping by to eat everything in sight before moving on.”
Will frowned. “Five harpies are too few to be a flock. Wait, what’s that one doing?”
One of the harpies had been circling but went into a dive and landed next to a scarecrow. They watched as she approached the scarecrow, stumbling as she walked. She reached out and grabbed the scarecrow near the waist.
Indignant, Gladys said, “She’s going through the scarecrow’s pockets! That’s tacky!”
The harpy came up empty handed and flapped her large wings, slowly taking to the air. Magic or no, it took her time to gain altitude. The others continued flying around the kingdom. Oddly enough, they never went south to Ket or came close to one another.
“This isn’t too bad,” Will said. “There are only a few of them. I don’t want them to get hurt or hurt anyone. Do you have suggestions on how to deal with them peacefully?”
Gladys reappeared in her mirror. “Not many. Harpies don’t get along with men, ever, so they’re not going to like or trust you. They live in the wilds and stick to themselves, so they might not have even heard about you. They’re not here to trade with us because we haven’t got anything worth having. I know you won’t like it, but threats may be the way to go. You’re strong enough to force their respect, and they’ll listen to that.”
“You’re right, I don’t like it.” Will waved his left hand in the air. “So what are they here for? Are they scouts for a larger group? Are they raiding or colonizing the kingdom?”
Gladys closed the book and put it back in the bookcase, which vanished from the surface of her mirror. “I don’t have answers for you yet. I’ll keep watching and see if there’s a pattern to their behavior. And Will?”
“Yes?”
Looking worried, she said, “There aren’t a lot of good reasons why a harpy would follow you. She might have been planning to rob you, or hoping you’d lead her to a settlement or house she could raid for food. Harpies can be dangerous, especially to lone travelers. Keep your guard up and don’t go anywhere by yourself until this is settled.”
“Is there a way this could end well? I’d really like it if we didn’t have another conflict.”
Gladys faded from the mirror, returning it to a solid black. “They could leave, and soon. That’s as close to a happy ending as we’re going to get.”
The next morning, Will walked through the shallow snow to a small canyon. Goblins hadn’t noticed him yet, and his only companion was a small wombat waddling after him. He sat down on a low rock ledge blown clear of snow and took a thin book from his pocket. The wombat stopped next to him and sniffed his feet.
“Hey there, boy,” Will said. He held up the book for the small animal to see. “Funny you should show up. I got this from the goblins just yesterday. The Joy of Raising Wombats, which probably wasn’t a best seller, but it might help now that there are a few of you guys wandering around the kingdom.”
Will had learned only last autumn that some goblins rode wombats, a relatively inoffensive animal that shared goblins’ desire to avoid death. Goblins and their cowardly mounts ran from every fight, which goblins considered proof of intelligence. These same goblins had imported dozens of wombats to the Kingdom of the Goblins in the belief they were helping Will. He hadn’t made up his mind whether this was a good thing or not.
The wombat nibbled on Will’s boots as he read. He reached down and scratched its back while he steadied the book with his other hand.
“Let’s see, you’re herbivores, you’re marsupials, you’re licking my fingers,” Will said. “Stop that. You dig burrows. See, I didn’t know that.”
“Hey, it’s the King!” a thin goblin shouted. The goblin hurried over to annoy Will, a popular pastime among goblins, when he cried out and disappeared into the earth.
“That would be one of your burrows.” Will scratched the wombat’s back and the little animal rolled over to get its belly rubbed. He obliged it while continuing to read. “If predators show up you run into your burrow. That’s sensible. If the predator is small enough to go in after you, it can’t hurt you because it can only attack your…okay, this can’t be right.”
The wombat made a contended sound as Will stared at it. “You have a nearly indestructible rump? Be honest, you guys got out of line when God was handing out blessings.”
“I’m all right,” the thin goblin said from inside the burrow.
“Boss!” It was Mr. Niff, running through the snow straight for Will. He stopped long enough to help his fellow goblin out of the burrow. Mr. Niff looked down the hole and said, “He’s got the place nicely furnished. Wait, I’m forgetting something, besides my name. Oh, right, I’ve got a message for you.”
“If it involves whatever you guys were doing with that dung heap and teddy bear, I’d rather not know,” Will said. The wombat crawled onto his lap and rubbed against his stomach.
Shocked, Mr. Niff shouted, “Hey, that bear was rabid!”
“That was cotton stuffing coming out of a tear,” Will said. He closed the book and put it back in his pocket. “Alone time is officially over, so tell me what’s up.”
Mr. Niff frowned. “Builder goblins say Hugh Timbers is throwing a fit. They need you to calm him down or get him drunk. Either one is good.”
Will got up and carried the wombat with him. “That’s new. Hugh is a pretty levelheaded guy. Where is he?”
“He’s in what’s left of the Goblin City.” Mr. Niff followed Will to their slovenly capital, saying, “It was bad, boss. He was going on about quality, workmanship, not trapping the toilets. Then he started yelling at walls.”
Will walked back to the Goblin City. The city consisted of an outer wall and gatehouse, and next to that a large maze. Inside the wall was, well, nothing. Once it had poorly built houses and shops abandoned by dwarfs. The goblins had done considerable damage to these structures over the years before deciding that Will wanted them to expand the maze into the city. He didn’t, but once goblins get a stupid idea into their heads you’d need a crowbar, iron chains and team of oxen to pry it out. They’d demolished every building inside the city to make room for the expanded maze.
Will entered the city through the gatehouse. There were piles of rubble where buildings had been brought down, and holes leading to the tunnels and caves below the city. Goblins scurried by, babbling and hooting as they went about their business. But there was a disturbance near the maze, and goblins gathered around to watch.
“It was right there!” Hugh Timbers yelled. The dwarf had been a resident of the kingdom ever since the Eternal Army destroyed his home. Simply dressed in leather clothes and boots, the barrel chested dwarf had brown hair with hints of gray. He pointed at a bare patch of ground and shouted, “There was a wall thirty feet long and ten feet tall on this spot not one hour ago!”
“Morning, Hugh,” Will said. He set down the wombat and joined the dwarf at the now empty space. “Is there a problem?”
Hugh looked like he was going to give an angry response, but he took a deep breath and calmed down. “Sir William, I went fishing this morning and passed a wall newly built on this site. I returned an hour later to find the wall gone. This is not an isolated event. I have noticed other walls missing from the maze in the last month.”
“Maybe it went on vacation?” a goblin offered. “It deserves one, what with all the work walls do.”
“Yeah, they have to stand around all day,” said another goblin.
Hugh’s face turned red and he scowled at the goblins. Will stepped forward and said, “I’ve seen goblins put up walls and take them down again. They don’t have a plan for the maze, so new walls can seal off parts of the maze and have to be removed.”
“Sir, I have also seen this and struggled to maintain my composure at such wasted effort, but this is different.” Hugh bent down and ran his hand over the ground. “The spot is clear of dust or debris that would be present if the wall was taken apart. It is as if it were never here to begin with.”
“And?” a goblin asked.
“You don’t mind losing a part of the maze?” Will asked. Goblins loved their maze, spending endless hours building and improving it. The maze was gradually expanding into the ruined city, with walls reaching out into the courtyard.
A goblin with a tail shrugged. “I’m sure the wall is happy wherever it went.”
“You know the old saying, if you love something, let it go,” a stubby goblin added.
“Has anyone asked—” Will began, but stopped in mid sentence when the air shimmered and dirty paper plates rained down from the sky. The goblins were warping space with their collective stupidity and craziness, an ability they could barely control and didn’t bother trying to. He turned to find a brick wall twenty feet long and ten feet high running between him and Hugh. “This looks too small to be the wall you’re referring to. Has anyone asked Milo about this?”
Milo the minotaur was another resident of the kingdom. He’d applied for a job as monster in the goblins’ maze and was trying to turn it into a tourist destination, a hard task when the maze was so confusing and complex that visitors could be lost in it for months.
“I have been unable to find him,” Hugh said from the other side of the newly appeared wall. He walked around it to rejoin Will and explained, “Milo spotted humans exploring the maze and ran after them. I believe he intended to ask them to take a survey about their experience, but they fled at the sight of a seven foot tall monster with a bull’s head.”
Mr. Niff folded his arms across his chest. “That’s rude.”
“Milo is in charge of the maze, as much as anyone can be, so this is his responsibility,” Will said. “We’ll sit down and discuss the matter once he gets back, and maybe find a solution.”
Hugh frowned. “As you wish, Sir William. This situation troubles me greatly. Walls are meant to be permanent.”
“Very little around here makes sense.” Will studied the debris filling the courtyard. “The piles of broken bricks are smaller. I guess the guys are using them to build the maze, but there aren’t many left. Work is going to stop when they run out of building material.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” Domo said as he entered the city through a massive hole in the outer wall and picked up a stray brick. “We would have run out of bricks months ago if we were only recycling what little is here. Builder goblins are importing bricks from across the border.”
Will’s eyes snapped open. “Please tell me you aren’t raiding Kervol Ket for bricks! We’re getting along these days!”
“No, no, no,” Domo said as he waved his walking stick from side to side. “We’re getting some of them by dismantling old dwarf roads in the kingdom. There aren’t many of them left, so we had to get the rest from Silyig Kingdom, our neighbor to the east.”
“Whose leader is going to declare war on us for robbing his kingdom,” Will pointed out. “Can’t we go a few months without a war?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?” Mr. Niff asked.
“It shouldn’t be,” Will replied. “Why is this the first time I’m hearing about these people if they live next door?”
Domo rolled his eyes. “The obvious answer is because you’ve never asked who’s in the neighborhood. The less obnoxious answer is because you focus your attention on whoever is trying to kill us this week, leaving very little time to do anything else. Silyig’s people aren’t going to invade us, ever, so you can safely ignore them.”
Feeling hopeful, Will asked, “Is that because they’re civilized people, possibly nice, and don’t judge goblins harshly?”
“There’s that optimism of yours again,” Domo chided him. “They aren’t going to invade because they can’t. Silyig started as an oligarchy, then became a monarch, then an empire, eventually turning into a fallen empire. These days Silyig is a kleptocracy with a side order of irony.”
“It’s a country of mob bosses posing as nobles,” Mr. Niff added cheerfully.
“Anything is legal there as long as their emperor gets a fifteen percent cut,” Domo added. “They’re too busy stabbing each other in the back to threaten people outside their borders.”
“I’ve never met a mob boss,” Will admitted, “a fact I’m proud of, but I’d think they’d mind us carting off tons of bricks from their land.”
“Speak of the devil,” Domo said. A mob of goblins pulling a small cart loaded down with a cubic yard of loose bricks entered the city through the gatehouse. Builder goblins scurried over and carried off the bricks for the maze. Once the cart was empty, the goblins towed it out again.
“Anyway, with all the fighting they’ve had over the years, Silyig has a heaping helping of ruined castles, forts, villas, outposts and the like,” Domo continued. “Nine of them are within a few miles of the border. Builder and digger goblins cross into Silyig and dismantle them, then bring back the bricks for us to enlarge the maze.”
Surprised, Will asked, “No one notices you doing this?”
“Goblins are careful not to be seen while they work, and eight of the nine ruins are unoccupied,” Domo explained.
“That’s a relief.”
Mr. Niff smirked and said, “We’re breaking down the ninth one. The bandit chief living there can’t figure out why his castle gets smaller every week.”
“That,” Will began, but he paused and looked off into the sky. It was a clear day and he could see for miles, making it easy to spot the harpy circling high overhead. “Well look who’s here. I’m guessing our new friend didn’t come for the nightlife or fine dining, so what brought her back?”
Domo frowned. “I haven’t seen a harpy in these parts for years, and only then because she was passing through. She might be scouting the kingdom to see if it’s worth bringing her flock to spend the winter.”
“Exactly how bad would that be?” Will asked him.
“Harpies eat meat and some plants. They have large territories they move through, emptying each part of food before going to the next. The Kingdom of the Goblins is still recovering from our days of being a dwarf strip mine, so they’d have a hard time keeping fed here. They move far and fast, so they might poach livestock from Kervol’s kingdom to keep the dinner pot full.”
“They’re not too popular with humans,” Mr. Niff added.
“I guessed as much,” Will replied. “Is there anyone they do get along with?”
Hugh shrugged. “Harpies trade animal hides to dwarfs in return for steel daggers and axes. I would see them once or twice a year when I was still welcome among my kin. Meetings were brief and profits were slim, but such events were peaceful.”
“They don’t bother goblins,” Domo said. “Harpies live in poor quality land, same as we do, but they fly high and nest in mountains. We can’t get close enough to annoy them, and they don’t seem to care about us.”
“That’s a start we can build on.” Will walked away from the others and waved at the harpy. He gestured for her to come down and called out, “Welcome to the kingdom! Let’s sit down and talk!”
The harpy didn’t react for a while, then flapped her large wings and headed north until she disappeared from sight. Will frowned and said, “That could have gone better. I wonder why she left.”
Mr. Niff smiled at him. “Maybe it’s your breath.”
Will looked at Domo and said, “That harpy had a wingspan of twenty feet, maybe twenty-five. That’s not enough to keep someone so large in the air. How could she fly?”
“She’s filled with gas, like a dirigible,” a goblin said.
“No, it’s flatulence!” declared another. “She’s rocket powered!”
“It’s magic,” Domo said.
“Flatulence is magic,” the second goblin replied.
Domo smacked the offending goblin over the head with his walking stick. “Harpies are magic creatures. They can fly even though they shouldn’t be able to, and they can scream like an opera singer who stepped on a hedgehog.”
Will was going to ask more questions when he heard screams coming from the maze. He turned to see two men run out of the maze and head for the gatehouse. Not three steps behind them was Milo the minotaur in his black frock coat and black pants. The men and minotaur ran past Will and the goblins as if they weren’t there.
“Did you find the maze easy, challenging, impossible or mindboggling?” Milo yelled at the fleeing men.
“Impossible!” one yelled back as he ran out the gatehouse.
Still hot on their heels, Milo asked, “Would a reasonably priced map have helped?”
“Yes!”
“Are you going to require therapy after your visit?” Milo called out as he chased the men into a nearby forest.
Will stared at the spectacle for a few seconds. “That’s it, I’m out of here.”
Will left the city and goblins behind and headed for the nearby human town where he took his meals. After more than a year on the job he’d learned to appreciate his goblin followers and accept the admittedly few perks his job had, but there came a time when he’d had as much as he could deal with and needed human company. Regular trips outside the kingdom gave him a chance to spend time with men and women who were, for the most part, normal. Spending an hour or so a day with them did wonders for his sanity.
This was Will’s second winter on Other Place. So far snowfall was light and temperatures were moderate. His uniform was reasonably warm, and he stayed comfortable as long as he kept moving. He worried what would happen if a major storm hit. Deep snow would make it hard for him to go for food and could be a real danger to his smaller goblins.
It didn’t take him long to cross the border into Ket Kingdom. The rubble, graffiti and random traps were gone now that he was among men. Farmhouses were scattered about with bare fields and orchards. He saw few animals except birds picking through the fields for stray grains of wheat.
Not far ahead was a human community of roughly a hundred buildings. Legally this land belonged to Kervol Ket, but for tax reasons they pretended to be part of the Kingdom of the Goblins. The town had no name to better avoid royal attention. A few people walked the streets and waved when they saw him.
“How’s it going?” a smiling farmer asked.
“Chaos, confusion, mayhem,” Will replied. “Same as always. You seem cheerful. What’s up?”
The man’s smile widened. “You’ll see soon enough. I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”
“What does that mean?” Will asked, but the man left without answering. Will didn’t like surprises, as they often meant bad things were about to happen, but he got along fairly well with these people. They’d warn him of danger.
He went into the town’s inn, a large, warm and pleasant place. The building was packed with families chatting and gossiping. Will took one of the few empty chairs and was surprised when a teenage girl walked up and curtsied.
“We’re serving fresh bread, sugared plums and broiled trout, Your Majesty.”
Will blushed. “There’s no need for titles. Call me Will like everyone else.”
“It would be inappropriate to address a king that way, especially one who saved my life.” The teenager set his table with a wood spoon and fork as Will stared at her. “My family lost our home to the Eternal Army.”
Will’s face flushed in embarrassment. “Oh, oh God, I am so sorry! I tried to stop them as fast as I could!”
“You stopped them in time,” she said, her tone respectful. “The Eternal Army would have caught up with us when we were fleeing, but they turned away at the last minute. We found out later they left because you’d issued them a challenge.” She looked at him in awe. “They marched to fight you, and you made sure they’d never hurt anyone again. You are due respect, Your Majesty, from me and everyone else.”
The teenager curtsied again and left. Will’s face felt warm from blushing, and he blushed even more as men and women in the inn watched him and smiled. The girl brought him a filling meal and enough leftovers to cover his lunch.
Some of the inn’s patrons chuckled. Will grimaced and asked, “You knew she was going to do that, didn’t you?”
“She’s been asking when you’d come all morning,” a woman told him.
Will finished as much food as he could and went to the bar. The innkeeper was there, a bear of a man dressed in simple cotton clothes. He glanced up when Will approached and pointed to the girl waiting tables. “Quite the crowd you’ve got. What’s the occasion?”
“No occasion.” The innkeeper gestured to the crowded inn and explained, “Not much work to do in winter after you’ve fed your animals. It’s hot in here from the kitchen fire, so people stop to warm up and talk with their friends.”
Trying (and failing) to sound causal, Will said, “I see you hired a waitress. When did that happen?”
It was the innkeeper’s turn to be embarrassed, and he looked at the floor. “I’m not sure. She and her family are refugees who lost their homes last winter to the Eternal Army. Her father and brothers hired on as farmhands with the farmers, and she showed up here last week asking for work. I told her a dozen times I can manage my own inn, but she kept after me. I don’t think I hired her…pretty sure I didn’t.”
“They’ve been wandering around for an entire year?”
“Way I hear it they lost everything, home, barn, tools, money, animals. There’s nothing for them to go back to and no way to rebuild. They’ve been going from town to town, taking what work they can find.”
Will’s embarrassment turned to shame. He’d stopped the Eternal Army with considerable help, but not before they’d burned out tens of thousands of people. “I knew life would be hard for the refugees, but I didn’t realize they’d be hurting for so long. I should have done more. I failed them.”
“Try telling her that. The girl’s been on cloud nine since she learned you eat here. Surprised she didn’t ask for your autograph.”
This felt strange. Races across Other Place considered goblins vermin, and since Will was their King most people held him in contempt. He wasn’t used to anyone showing him gratitude, much less hero worship. It was nice, in a weird sort of way.
He tried to think of how to help the girl and her family. He only had a little money, and no chance to get more. Land in the Kingdom of the Goblins wasn’t good for farming (he’d tried), and there wasn’t good timber they could harvest. There was the section of the wastelands healed by the Bottle of Hope. Could they live there? Could he ask for help from the trolls or the purple puppet people? He didn’t think so. They’d already done a lot for him and had problems of their own.
The innkeeper saw Will’s conflicted expression. “They’re hurting, but it’s getting better. They’ve got a roof over their heads, food to eat and a chance to rebuild. You’ve done a lot, but you can’t be everywhere and do everything. Good folks are doing their part to help, too.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do for them.” Will loaded his food into a small sack and turned to leave. Before he went, he asked the innkeeper, “Hey, have you seen any harpies in the last few days?”
That was a mistake. In seconds a crowd of angry men surrounded Will. One man demanded, “You’ve seen harpies? Where?”
“I saw one yesterday in my kingdom and another this morning, but it was so far away it might have been the same one.” Will saw the news spread through the inn like wildfire, drawing in more people. “I understand humans and harpies don’t get along, but both times the harpy left with no harm done.”
“Go fetch the mayor,” a rancher told his wife. He looked worried and said, “There ain’t been harpies in these parts for years, and we’d just as soon keep it that way. The thieving, stinking, loudmouth bird women steal livestock. No disrespect intended, but it went well for you because you didn’t have anything they could take.”
“They don’t just steal chickens and piglets, bad as that would be,” a farmer added. “My daddy told me how whole flocks of them would break into barns at night and kill cattle, then carry off the parts they wanted.”
Worried, Will asked, “When was this?”
The rancher spat “Thirty years ago. They showed up out of the blue and stole every animal they could until our parents chased them off. Looks like we’ll have to do the same.”
Will held up his hands and tried to calm the crowd. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. I saw a harpy or at most two, and it was in my land, not yours. I’ll look into the situation and see if we can solve it peacefully.”
The crowd’s foul mood didn’t improve. The rancher put a hand on Will’s shoulder and said, “You’ve been a good neighbor, better than any of the men who had the job before you. When the time comes to drive them off, let us know and we’ll help. Longbows are the only things harpies fear.”
“Okay,” Will said slowly. He exited the inn and headed back to his kingdom. Clearly the situation was worse than he’d first believed. It would take some effort to prevent violence between the harpies and humans. He needed advice from Domo and Gladys the magic mirror to form a plan. Hopefully the harpies had been just passing through.
Will traveled only a few minutes before he got a funny feeling like he was being watched. Back on Earth he would have written that off as paranoia, but after surviving multiple attempts on his life he didn’t take chances. He grabbed the edge of his cape with one hand and his fire scepter with the other. Will was still close to the town and its farmland, so there was no cover on the harvested fields for an attacker to hide behind. He looked up on a hunch.
“This is getting repetitive,” he muttered. A harpy flew high overhead, hard to see because she was keeping the sun to her back. At this distance he couldn’t tell if it was the same harpy from before or a new one. He was curious why he kept seeing them and the townspeople didn’t. After all, they had livestock harpies could prey upon. They should be more common in Ket Kingdom than his land.
Will continued home. He didn’t try to interact with the harpy or show that he’d seen her. After ten minutes he stopped and bent down like he was tying his shoes, and he stole a glance up. The harpy was still there, roughly the same distance from him and farther from the town and its livestock. This was starting to feel personal.
“Let’s see how far she’s willing to take this.” Will kept going, crossing the border into his own lands. He tried to act casually when he looked around. Sure enough, every time he saw the harpy. She kept after him for thirty minutes, maintaining the same distance between them. Thankfully she wasn’t attacking, but this made him nervous.
“The boss is back!” It was a mob of Will’s goblins. They poured out of a young forest bare of leaves and hurried over toward him. The harpy veered off and headed north.
“You look spooked,” a goblin with claws said. “Or possibly gassy.”
“I’ve got a puzzle that needs solving, and sooner would be better than later.” He leaned down and asked, “Boys, have you ever had harpies living in the kingdom?”
“Visit, yes,” the clawed goblin said. “Stay, no. Harpies haven’t lived here since the first day lawyers and wizards created the kingdom. The only harpies who passed through complained there wasn’t enough to eat. We offered them goblin stew, but they said they weren’t that desperate or stupid.”
“More for us,” a squat goblin said.
“Then something changed, because they’re taking an interest in us.” Will stood up straight and said, “Come on, guys, we need to see Gladys.”
Will needed a few minutes to reach his bedroom under the Goblin City. The rough-cut room was filled with furniture he’d received last year as a gift from a grateful king he’d helped. Gladys was in a corner, a mirror six feet tall and made of bronze with eagle motifs in the frame. The mirror’s surface was black, so Gladys was probably asleep.
“Gladys, have problem, need solution,” Will said.
Gladys appeared in the surface of the mirror. She looked like a middle-aged woman, overweight and wearing ridiculously bright pink clothes. Her blond hair was curly, and she wore way too much makeup. “You’re going to have to be specific about the problem. We’ve got so many I’ve started numbering them.”
“Harpies are visiting the kingdom, and one followed me back from getting lunch. I mentioned this to the farmers and they freaked out. I need to know how many harpies are here, and I need a solution to this that doesn’t result in anyone stopping an arrow the hard way.”
“Harpies, huh?” A bookcase appeared behind Gladys in her mirror, and she took out a book. “Surprised they’d bother coming here. A flock needs a lot of food each week to keep fed, and there’s no way they’ll find it here. They might want to nest here and raid farms to the south, but that’s risky. How many did you see?”
“Three, but only one at a time and never close enough to identify them.” Will tapped his scepter on his palm. “Can you see any in the kingdom or in Kervol’s land?”
“Checking.” Gladys disappeared from the surface of her mirror and was replaced by an image of a barren farm field. Gladys could see through scarecrows the goblins had set up, each scarecrow a copy of Will’s uniform. Will could also trade places with these scarecrows if he had to. Gladys showed one image after another, going through dozens of them in seconds. “The scarecrows aren’t pointed up, so there’s a limit to what I can see, but so far Kervol is in the clear. Not one harpy in his land.”
“How about us?”
“I found five.” Gladys displayed five images, each showing a harpy flying overhead. She zoomed in on them to get a better look. Will saw that the harpies had hands and feet like hawk’s feet, with sharp talons inches long. They wore leather clothes, and two carried hatchets. “They’re in the southern half of the kingdom, with three of them close to the Goblin City. Are we still calling it a city when there are no buildings?”
“I don’t know, or really care. You mentioned flocks earlier. How many harpies to a flock?”
“Some flocks have fifty members and others only a dozen. Bigger flocks need more food, which means they have either good quality territory or a lot of poor quality land. Maybe they’re thinking of adding us to their territory, stopping by to eat everything in sight before moving on.”
Will frowned. “Five harpies are too few to be a flock. Wait, what’s that one doing?”
One of the harpies had been circling but went into a dive and landed next to a scarecrow. They watched as she approached the scarecrow, stumbling as she walked. She reached out and grabbed the scarecrow near the waist.
Indignant, Gladys said, “She’s going through the scarecrow’s pockets! That’s tacky!”
The harpy came up empty handed and flapped her large wings, slowly taking to the air. Magic or no, it took her time to gain altitude. The others continued flying around the kingdom. Oddly enough, they never went south to Ket or came close to one another.
“This isn’t too bad,” Will said. “There are only a few of them. I don’t want them to get hurt or hurt anyone. Do you have suggestions on how to deal with them peacefully?”
Gladys reappeared in her mirror. “Not many. Harpies don’t get along with men, ever, so they’re not going to like or trust you. They live in the wilds and stick to themselves, so they might not have even heard about you. They’re not here to trade with us because we haven’t got anything worth having. I know you won’t like it, but threats may be the way to go. You’re strong enough to force their respect, and they’ll listen to that.”
“You’re right, I don’t like it.” Will waved his left hand in the air. “So what are they here for? Are they scouts for a larger group? Are they raiding or colonizing the kingdom?”
Gladys closed the book and put it back in the bookcase, which vanished from the surface of her mirror. “I don’t have answers for you yet. I’ll keep watching and see if there’s a pattern to their behavior. And Will?”
“Yes?”
Looking worried, she said, “There aren’t a lot of good reasons why a harpy would follow you. She might have been planning to rob you, or hoping you’d lead her to a settlement or house she could raid for food. Harpies can be dangerous, especially to lone travelers. Keep your guard up and don’t go anywhere by yourself until this is settled.”
“Is there a way this could end well? I’d really like it if we didn’t have another conflict.”
Gladys faded from the mirror, returning it to a solid black. “They could leave, and soon. That’s as close to a happy ending as we’re going to get.”
