by Sami Dougish
“Hello there welcome to Rolin’s, that would be me by the way wha- “
The Rolin’s words were cut short as I whirled around to face him, my hammer and mace flying out of their loops in an instant. Rolin jumped back, and stumbled over some crates, that I guessed he had been unloading.
“Shit,” I murmured to myself as I watched the man stare up from the ground at me in fear. I could have handled this better; I was trying to buy something from him not scare him out of his wits. Stupid human should know better than to sneak up on a man like that!
Now that I knew he posed no threat, I was able to calm down, and slip the weapons back into the loops at my hip. I eyed the man who was trembling on the floor. I really didn’t feel like apologizing to the human, but as I said, I was trying to buy something from him.
“You surprised me,” Was all I managed to say.
Rolin, who seemed to calm slightly as I put my weapons away, now looked extremely angry as he picked himself off of the ground. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, I interrupted him and said, “I need a horse.”
Rolin turned red, and then burst out, “That all you have to say for yourself?! You come into my shop, and draw your weapons on me, and all you can say is, you scared me, and you need a horse?!”
“Yes.”
Rolin stomped over to me, and to my surprise jabbed me in the chest with a finger. I had to resist the urge to bite it off. He jabbed me a couple more times, empathizing his words as he said, “You don’t come into a man’s shop, nearly attack him, and then expect him to do business with you afterwards! Get out! Get out now before I call the guards on you!”
Well, I definitely did not need that attention. So, despite my desire to punch the man in the face, I turned around and left the shop. I stood there in the middle of the street and mentally kicked myself. I might have just ruined my chances of getting a mount. I ground my teeth together and couldn’t quite control the quiet growl in the back of my throat.
That was when I felt a presence nearby. I stopped grinding my teeth and looked my right. I saw a cloaked man looking at me. He was short, maybe only a little more than half my height. I met his gaze, and he beckoned for me to follow him. My hackles immediately rose. I didn’t trust this man. I may not have much social experience, but I wasn’t stupid enough to follow some cloaked man, especially a human who didn’t know.
I shook my head at him, and the man paused for a moment, and then shrugged, and walked over to me. I noticed he was glancing around nervously, which did nothing to instill any sort of trust in me. I held up a hand when he was a couple of meters away, and said, “That is far enough.”
The man held up his hands and did as I instructed. I couldn’t see his face, due to his cowl, and before I could ask him who he was or what he wanted, the man spoke.
“Greetings tall man, I couldn’t help but overhear that scuffle that went on in there. You be needing a horse it seems. Well, I’ll tell you that was the only official stables in town, and now that you done attacked old Rolin, he won’t be sellin to ya. You seem to be a man who is in a tough spot am I right?”
The man had a strange accent. It was one that I had heard before though. I had heard it several times from both slaves and pit fighters. This wasn't a human. I took a deep breath, letting the man’s scent fill my nose. Now that he was closer, it was easy to smell he wasn’t a human. Well, that would explain his small stature and nervous posture. Thuum did not discriminate at all when it came to enslaving non-humans. Granted drayzraac were the only ones that were enslaved or killed on sight in Thuum, but they had a reputation of trying to find excuses to enslave random nonhumans in their lands.
“Do not toy with me dwarf, what do you want?”
“Ah dwarves, yes they tend to have an even worse affinity for intelligent conversation than you vessel. Though they did provide excellent sustenance. Their bulky stature always had ample meat to enjoy. Laying waste to the dwarven armies was always my personal favorite. The smell of burning dwarf is actually quite appetizing.”
I had to apply extreme self-control to keep myself from laughing at Raskorian’s offhand comment about eating dwarves. While I managed to keep a straight face, it wasn’t without great effort.
The dwarf in front of me though, took a step back, but then stopped, and pulled his cowl back, just enough for me to see him. He looked at me warily, but then smiled slightly and said, “Hmm you are a clever one it seems. Fine I will tell you what I want. I want to offer you an opportunity that will benefit us both.”
“Which is?”
The dwarf shook his head, and said, “Not here, too many people. If someone spots me, it could lead to trouble, come follow me.”
The dwarf turned to walk away towards an alley, but I growled after him, “I am no fool dwarf, If you think I am going to follow a stranger into a dark alley, you are mistaken. Either you give me more information now, or we part ways immediately. Your choice.”
The dwarf stopped and turned back around and narrowed his eyes at me. Eventually, though, he walked back over to me, and in a quiet voice said, “Fine, but we should at least get out of the middle of the street!”
With that, he moved out of the main street, and towards one of the buildings at the border of the market. Warily I followed the little man, and he led me down a side street, which was still out in the open, but more secluded than the main street.
He turned to face me and pulled his cowl back again so I could see his face. He looked like most other dwarves I had seen. Short, long beard with several braids in it. A wide face with features to match. The one difference was this dwarf was bald, missing the usual wild hair of his kind. His beard though was coal black.
He opened his mouth and asked, “Satisfied?”
“I will be when you tell me what you have to offer me,” I replied.
“Fine, well as I said I heard that you were looking for a horse, I think I can help with getting you a mount. It’s not a horse, but it will carry your weight, and whatever else you want to put on its back. It’s yours, free of any gold. I will require your assistance with a…. delicate matter though.”
I narrowed my eyes at the dwarf. I had a feeling I wouldn’t like what he wanted from me, “what do you want?”
“Hmm well, I do not think you are from Thuum, most people from Thuum would have made sure everyone knew I was a dwarf the moment they recognized me, but you didn’t. So, knowing that I am a dwarf, I assume you know that my people are not welcome in the Thuum kingdom, unless on official business from a clan that has made a deal with the king.”
I nodded and he continued and said, “Well about a week ago, a large number of my boys were captured near the border of Thuum, we were, how shall I say this, attempting to make a business deal with some interested customers from Thuum.”
“Smuggling.”
The dwarf snorted when at my response, and said, “I prefer to say alternative business, but yes, you could call it that too. Anyway, suffice to say that the guards had caught a whiff of my operations, and my boys were rounded up by a patrol of the king’s regulars. I think you can guess where it went from there.”
Oh yes, I knew exactly what would have happened, I had heard similar stories from new slaves. They were captured, convicted of a crime, and immediately sold into slavery. I had a feeling that I knew what he was going to ask me to help with.
“So, believe me, we dwarves care about our own, and those boys have been with me for years. I don’t plan on letting some damn Thuum take them and force them into slavery. They are being held here in the city, and I plan on busting them out of this place and getting them to safety. See the problem is though, I am just one dwarf. I would need someone who can handle a weapon.”
He took a quick look up and down at me, and smirked, “Let’s just say I have a feeling you fit that bill. Tell me, laddie, what is your name?
I eyed the dwarf silently, and didn’t even bother replying, I had no intention of telling him my name. I had no
real reason to trust the dwarf with who I was, and I saw no advantage in telling him.
After several more seconds of me just staring at him, the dwarf shrugged, and said, “Well to every man his own privacy. Well, my name be Orizmad, dwarven master smuggler! So, what do you say, stranger, you willing to kill a few guards in exchange for that mount?”
I didn’t answer immediately, instead, I just stared at him as I thought through his proposition. If he was telling the truth and there were no more stables, the only way I could get a mount now was by stealing one. I had no qualm about that, but after my altercation with Rolin, I guessed he would immediately give my description to the guards once he realized the animal was gone. What the dwarf was asking me to do, might actually be a golden opportunity.
Apparently, the king had sent some of his regulars to hunt for me. I could avoid them, but it would be difficult. But if all of a sudden, a pack of dwarves caused trouble in the city, and escaped after killing a load of guards, well I bet that might divert some attention away from me. Sure, I would be involved in the fight, but who would expect a drayzraac to be working with dwarves. Plus, I would get a mount out of it. Still, I wanted more than just that if I was going to get involved in this. If I wanted to become a mercenary once I escaped, there wasn’t any harm in starting now.
“What do you think Raskorian?” I thought at the dragon
“Hmph, it is an opportunity to kill, and gain more blood essence, why are you even hesitating?” Somehow, I wasn’t surprised by his response.
“I want coin as well as a mount.”
The dwarf raised an eyebrow at me, and then scowled slightly, “You are not in a position to barter human, you need a mount, and I am your best way of getting one! The mount I am offering you would sell very well on the black market; it is payment enough.”
I shook my head, and said, “No it is you who is in no position to bargain. You need me, I do not need you. I can make do without a mount, but from what you’ve said, you can’t break your boys out without further help. I want coin along with the mount, or I walk.”
The dwarves scowl deepened, and I heard felt Raskorian’s laugh in my head, “Ah yes, dwarves are one of the only races that rival my kinds love of treasure and gold. He hates having to give you gold. He will acquiesce though.”
The dwarf sighed, and he seemed to deflate slightly, and then he asked, how much do you want?”
Shit, I wasn’t sure how much to ask for. I had no frame of reference for what a good price for this would be.
“Any suggestions?”
“My kind like gold, but we never spend it. I have no clue how much these matters are worth.”
I thought back to the chest filled with coins I had taken from the bandits. There had been five golden coins, and roughly thirty silver and copper coins. The guard at the front gate had seemed to think what I had was a lot, so I decided to just ask for double the number of gold coins.
“Ten gold coins.”
The dwarf blinked at me, and then gave me a puzzled look. I stared back at him waiting for his answer, but to my surprise, he started laughing. He covered his mouth with his forearm, in an attempt to quiet the sound of his laugh, but he still shook with amusement. I didn’t know what was so funny, so I kept staring at him impassively, while he worked through whatever was making him laugh.
Eventually, he had himself under control again. He looked at me, and said, “Ah I see you were pulling my leg, I thought you’d be trying to gouge me a fortune. Ten gold? Ha, here you go, I will even pay you now!”
He reached into his coat, and after rummaging around, dropped some coins into a pouch, and tossed it over to me. I deftly caught it from the air and looked inside. Ten gold coins all there. Well, it seems that I gave him an incredible discount. Granted when I thought about it, he was asking me to kill people, and he was a smuggler. He probably had a lot more than this on him. Still, it would look stupid to ask for more, so I pocket the money, and just resigned myself to the fact that I just sold myself very short.
“Well, I am glad to see you are in laddie, and at such a fair price too!” He chuckled again, but I interrupted his mirth, and said, “When and where are we doing this?”
The dwarf calmed slightly, and said, “I am glad you are so eager; my boys were locked in the dungeons under the keep, but tomorrow they will be moved to the local guard’s prison. From there they will be moved to the slave market. It’s when they are in the guard’s prison that we will bust them out. It is a lightly manned post, at the northern exit of the city. I have been observing it for a few days, and most of the time, the majority of the guards are out on patrol, or on gate duty. If we move fast, we can take out the remaining guards and bust my boys out.”
The plan sounded straight forward enough, but seemed to be missing a few things, “Do you have an exit plan?”
The dwarf smiled madly at me, and said, “Well I was thinking maybe we could just bust through the northern gate. It's right next to the guard post, and I will make sure that I station some mounts out there for us.”
Overall, as I had just thought to myself, the plan was straightforward but would be risky. Still, at least I could use this chance to get not only some gold and a mount, but I could also use the dwarves escape to help keep the regulars split looking for me. I would also get to kill some humans, so that was a plus.”
“Fine, I will assist you, what time should we meet tomorrow?”
“Ah You see, over in the northern half of the city, there is a small house with a red thatched roof. It’s a smuggling den of mine, and on paper, it is owned by some Thuum lord from the capital. I was able to….acquire his signature to put on the lease, so the guards leave it alone. That is where I have been hiding out during my stay here. Meet me there at first light and will go from there.”
Still chuckling to himself, the dwarf pulled his hood back up, and moved back into the bustling crowd, and disappeared from my sight.
“Well your first mercenary negotiations are complete, and I would say that you handled that reward bargaining terribly, we will need to fix that in the future.”
I rolled my eyes, and asked, “Oh so now you care about how much money I get? I thought you had no need for gold?”
He sniffed at me, and said, “I do not, but if you are to carry my soul for the rest of your life, you will need to have a reputation befitting one who hosts a dragon soul. While I can make do with being a passenger to a dirty, poor, ill-mannered, and foolish lesser one, for now, I intend for you to be much more presentable in the future. At least then I can have some shred of dignity while being trapped in a half breeds body.”
I just stood there, for a few seconds, and couldn’t decide whether or not he had insulted me, or paid me an off-hand compliment.
So I decided to just grunt and say, “Thanks”
Raskorian fell silent after that, and I sighed, shook my head, and pocketed the pouch of gold. Well, at least I had a bit more spending coin now. That reminded me, I still had the rest of the day to look for any gear and supplies I would need. That had been why I had come here in the first place. Making sure my gold was all secured, I turned around and made my way back into the busy market district.
I was greeted once again with the hustle and bustle of people buying, selling, and bartering for items. I decided to take a look around the tent stores first. I had a feeling that these places would sell cheaper items. As I moved through the throng of tents, I saw various stores selling a variety of items. Some were normal, like weapons, armor, and food, but I also heard a wide range of items for sale that I guessed were fakes.
“Oy sir I sell some trinkets enchanted by mages that will keep any evil spirits away from ya, only two silver pieces, a bargain!”
“You look like the kind of man who would need some elixirs. One sip of this, and you’ll feel twenty years younger, Guaranteed!”
“Sir I sewed these blankets myself from the royal silk stock, any lady would appreciate a gown made from this material!”
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br /> The claims became wilder and wilder as I moved through the tented market. I couldn’t really find any weapon or armor that would suit me here so far. Most of the armor being sold out here looked to be old, stolen, or of poor quality. None of them seemed to have any means to adjust the armor for my size either. I guessed I would have to find the cities blacksmith if I wanted any armor that could fit my frame.
What I did find plenty of however was food. Numerous of the stalls sold a variety of food, I wasn’t sure how the prices faired here in comparison to an established store, but I guessed these were farmers from the surrounding area who were trying to sell their harvests. I had a feeling they wouldn’t try to squeeze too much out of me. I needed food however that would last me on the road. I saw plenty of fresh produce and butchered meat, but none of that would last me very long while on the road. I needed preserved food.
I kept searching throughout the tents, and stalls until I finally found what I was looking for. A stall, which looked more well maintained than most of the other tent shops in the area. It even had a small sign hung from the canvas of the roof. I glanced at it, and read, “Rosie’s Rations.”
An odd name, but rations sounded like what I needed. I was surprised to see that there was a small queue in front of the stall. I moved forward and joined the line at the rear.
“I guess she must be doing rather well to have a line like this in the middle of a tent market.” I thought to the dragon as I waited in the rear of the line. I was taller than anyone in line though, so I was able to see over the people in front of me and was able to get a look at the owner of the stall. I caught sight of a petite older looking woman. She had red hair tinged with gray that was pulled back into a harsh bun. Her hair matched her green eyes, which seemed to match the forests surrounding the town. She had the look of someone who knew her business and had little time for people who wasted her time. She had a hard look to her eyes, and I could see her gesturing, and directing her customer. I assumed she was Rosie. She seemed to know what she was doing and handled herself well.