by Sami Dougish
We were interrupted though, by a hard banging at the front door. Micah quickly stood up and moved out of the dining room.
Orizmad smiled and rubbed his hands together, “That will most likely be my men. This means the time to leave will be upon us soon enough. I need to go and get my gear equipped; you two play nice while I’m gone eh?”
With that being said, Orizmad pushed his chair back, and walked out of the room. I saw him disappear up a flight of steps and resigned to just ignore the mage until it was time to leave. I felt the mages eyes boring into the side of my head, and I turned to stare, with an emotionless expression, right back at him. I would not be cowed by this small puffed up mage. It was the mage who ended up looking away first, and I grunted in satisfaction, but still didn’t take my eyes off the mage. I didn’t trust him and wouldn’t get distracted when I was alone with him. No one ever knew what was going through a mages mind.
I didn’t have to stare long though, as a minute later, Micah walked back in with a group of two men and a woman. I studied the newcomers, trying to guess at their capabilities. The leading man was tall, about six inches shorter than me though. He wore a light scaled armor, that covered his shoulders, and torso but left his armed unprotected. He had made up for that though by having sturdy looking metal bracers that covered his arms from his hands to his elbows. His legs were covered by regular black pants, but also by a set of leather greaves that ran up to his thighs in interlocking pieces. He carried a short spear, and had a sword sheathed at his belt. He had a conical helmet held under his other arm, which came to a rounded of point at the top. He had unruly black hair and had an air of confidence about him. He looked to be a Thuum native though. He had the fair skin and dark hair, that most men of Thuum had.
The man behind him was much smaller to be sure. He was maybe only five and a half feet tall, with a long brown hair pulled into a braid at the back of his head that fell down past his neck. He had his hands in the pockets of his worn looking pants and had a stupid looking grin on his face. He looked strong though, and had short bow strapped to his back, along with a full quiver of arrows. He didn’t have any melee weapons, except for several daggers at his waist. He wore light leather armor, that was far below the quality of mine, but would provide him with at least some sort of protection. Judging by the fact that he seemed to be a bowman, he might not have needed anything more than the light leathers. This man didn’t look Thuum however, I couldn’t be sure, but I had thought I had faced a gladiator with a similar build and appearance. His skin was darker than the pale skin of Thuums, more of a brown with a bit of red mixed in. It clicked then. He must have been a Karajin. I didn’t know much about them, all I knew was that they were plainsman, known for their archery, and their horsemanship.
Lastly, I took in the woman. She was tall for a woman, and was probably just shy of six feet tall. She had had Jet black hair that was pulled back into a simple pony tail that fell down her back. She had dark brown eyes, and an angular face, but her otherwise good looks were marred by a scar that ran from the right corner of her lip, down her jaw. The scar seemed to tug her mouth down, in a constant frown. While the first man had projected confidence, and the second an air of uncaring excitement, this women had a cold air about her. She looked to be a native Thuum as well, judging by her features. She wore scale armor similar to the first man, but instead of a spear and a sword, she carried a large diamond shaped shield, and one-handed bearded axe that had a worn looking handle. The shield hung from her back, while the axe was looped into her belt.
“Here we are, now I know you three are already familiar with Brazkin,” Micah said as he gestured at the wizard, “Him however,” Micah shot me an irritated look, “Is the stranger that the boss hired to help us break our men out. He doesn’t talk much, and seems to have problems with respect, I just hope he proves useful and worth the reward he’s getting.”
I didn’t say anything, just kept staring at them impassively.
The Karajin stepped forward, and stuck his hand out, and in heavily accented common said, “Greeting friend, I’m Oktai, it is a pleasure to meet you! What is your name?”
I didn’t answer and just looked at him silently.
Micah groaned, and said, “As I said, doesn’t talk much, and not much in the way of manners, he won’t tell us his name, so the boss calls him Mute.”
Oktai didn’t seem fazed at all by my attitude, and he just spun around, and gestured at his companions, “That tall self-important fellow is Primus, and our lovely lady who seems like she is always thinking about the best way to kill me is Adarossa. Primus, Adarossa, meet Mute!”
Primus rolled his eyes, and said, “Oktai, if he doesn’t want to talk to us, no point introducing ourselves, I assume this will be the only time we have to work with him. I’m just here since our boys got rounded up. He’s here because he is being paid; I have no interest in knowing him.”
Adarossa hadn’t spoken at all, she just looked, and narrowed her eyes towards me before turning away, while fingering her axe. Them ignoring me suited me perfectly well. I sat back in my chair and began what was becoming a common pass time with Raskorian. He would give me a word in common, and I would have to tell him the definition.
About ten more minutes passed, and I heard and smelled Orizmad coming back downstairs. I looked over at him as he walked in, and boisterously greeted the newcomers. He was wearing heavy looking plate armor, that had been dyed a dark grey. He carried a massive war axe, that was nearly the size of the dwarf himself. He looked ready for a fight, so that probably meant we were going to be leaving soon. The sun had just begun to peak over the horizon, and Orizmad had said he wanted to set out at first light. It then occurred to me that a merchant wagon probably couldn’t enter the city so early.
“The guards will want to know how our wagon got in before the gates were opened for travelers and merchants.”
“Oh, he speaks!” Oktai exclaimed happily as he turned to look at me.
“Orizmad turned and said, “Yeah it is a risk, but I am hoping they will believe we arrived late last night and wanted to rest before handing over our gift to them. I’m also counting on the guard’s love of ale to make them less likely to question us. It will be up to Micah to spin them a story.”
“Yes, no pressure on you at all Micah!” Primus said as he clapped Micah on the back.
I was tired of the banter, and wanted to be on our way, So I stood up, and that was when it seemed the newcomers seemed to realize how tall I was, Primus looked shocked, and I assumed he wasn’t use to looking up at people, Oktai laughed, and Adarossa raised an eyebrow. I ignored them all, and said, “If everyone is ready, let’s move. Where is the wagon and barrels?”
Orizmad nodded and gestured for us all to follow him. I moved forward, and brushed past the rest of the group, to follow the dwarf. He led us through the house, and to a door that led out to a small courtyard in the back of the house. Waiting for us, was a large wagon. It was mostly plain, but had a large emblem of white feathered wings protruding from a mug of ale. This must have been the symbol of the Cherub Brewery. The wagon had what looked to be twelve large barrels that I assumed would be filled with the ale in question.
“Ugh I really don’t want to spend the wagon ride in a dirty barrel!”
I turned around, and saw the wizard looking distastefully at the barrels, and his disgust brought a grin to my face. I enjoyed seeing the mage’s discomfort.
“Oh, come on Braz, a little grime and discomfort is a small price to pay for getting our men back!” Micah said cheerily as he moved to the rear of the courtyard, and into what looked like a stable. He came back out leading a large horse by the reigns.
“Now stop complaining you, and get your magic throwing ass into one of the two middle barrels!”
Brazkin’s groan turned into a surprised yelp, as Orizmad threw the, mage over his shoulder and cackled as he carried the protesting mage to the barrels. With the mage still slung over his shoulder, the burly dwarf
pulled himself up into the back of the wagon, and dropped his friend onto the flat end of the wagon, before the mage could recover Orizmad dropped an empty barrel over him, and called out, “There we go keep quiet now, we don’t want your grumblings to give us away!”
Everyone but me laughed, and I just kept a grip on my naginata while I waited for them to hurry up. Orizmad then flipped the second barrel up, and pulled it over himself as he crouched down.
His muffled voice came out through the barrel as he called out, “Alright Micah, take charge, let’s go and get our boys back!”
Micah still smiling turned to us and said, “aright split up, two on each side, and just follow the wagon. When we get to the garrison, let me do the talking. All but the middle two barrels have ale in them, so if the guards want to check, take from any but the two in the middle.”
Both Primus and Adarossa scowled over at me, and moved to the right side of the wagon. Oktai bounced over to me, and said, “looks like we are together then!”
I ignored him, and just nodded at Micah, who snapped the reins of the horse, and the horse pulled the cart out onto the cobbled road. We walked next to the cart as it made its way through the streets. People had begun to come out of their house, and the streets were showing signs of becoming crowded soon enough. Still for now the cart didn’t have trouble making a path through the crowds. The entire walk, Oktai tried to engage me in conversation, which I ignored each time, and I was impressed the man didn’t seem discouraged in the slightest. I had considered once or twice, slapping him in the back of the head, but I figured that would just cause trouble, despite how satisfying it would be.
Primus and Adarossa were talking with each other as we walked, and I caught them looking my way several times, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the sound of the wheels rolling over the stone road, not to mention Oktai’s continual talking. But I could guess their conversation had to do about me. I resigned myself to the slow boring walk to the garrison.
As we walked something occurred to me, and I mentally asked Raskorian, “Is there any way for you to absorb the blood essence in a less noticeable fashion?”
Raskorian scoffed, and said, “Why would you want that? That would detract from the terror it causes in your enemies?”
“I don’t think that these people will react well to seeing blood absorbed into my body. It will lead to bad questions, and there is a good chance, it will lead to a fight. I can’t afford that now. Also, in the future, there might be many situations, where I would need to kill without being seen, and blood hurtling through the air is exactly subtle.”
Raskorian was silent for a moment, and grudgingly said, “Fine I will hide the blood process, but it is a waste of the chance to terrify our enemies.”
I ignored the surly comment, and returned my attention to the cart’s movements. Roughly twenty-five minutes later, the garrison was in sight. I gave it a quick examination and decided that it was a well-made garrison. It had a low wall, maybe only six feet tall that surrounded the entire area. The front gate was several feet higher than the rest of the wall, and jutted out in a half circle into the street. There was likely another gate behind that one and I could hear the ringing of practice weapons behind the walls. I assumed those were coming from the guards who were doing their daily drills. I could see that past the small gate there were several buildings, that I assumed were the barracks, armory, mess hall, and headquarters. I didn’t see where the jail was located, but I assumed it was dug underground. Probably beneath the headquarters. I quickened my pace to walk along the front of the cart where Micah was.
I caught his attention, and asked, “Do we know where the prison is located?”
He nodded in response and said, “They have a rather large set of cells built beneath the main building. That is where the guard captain and his staff work, and where our boys will be.”
Micah called over his shoulder loud enough for us all to hear, “Remember once we get past the guards at the gate, we need to make a rush for the headquarters, and deal with the staff, once that is done, the Orizmad and I will go get our boys out, and the rest of you keep them all distracted as long as you can. We just need to keep them out of the headquarters while we bust our boys out, then with the numbers from that, we can break out. Remember, let me do the talking.”
We all nodded, and I could feel me excitement growing, as the time to fight came closer and closer. A few minutes later we came up to the front gate of the garrison. It was manned by two town guards. They each had a sword and club at their belt. I assumed one was for breaking up brawls and dealing with slaves, and the other was for more dangerous situations.
“Hold there friend! Declare your intentions!”
Micah pulled the cart to a halt, and the guards came over to our wagon. Micah gave them a broad smile and said, “Good morning friend, don’t you recognize the logo? We are from the Cherub Brewery. The brew master sends his regards to the guard captain, and the dutiful men under him. He sent us to donate these barrels to you all.”
The guards seemed to relax, and said, “That is some damn fine news, that is, we are running low on our spirits ration, your companies brew is the best replacement we could have asked for. Take it inside to the inner gate, and the goods will be inspected there.
One of the guards opened the gate, while the first called out to the next gate, “Shipment from the brewery, that needs inspecting!”
Micah nodded at the two guards, and slapped the reigns, urging the cart forward. That was one checkpoint past. This second gate was, as I had expected, at the back of the small courtyard behind the front gate. Two more guards were waiting to greet us, and Micah pulled the cart to a halt. I glanced back, and saw that the two outer guards had closed the gate behind us and stayed outside the gate on watch.
The two new guards walked over to us, and said, “Hold there, we need to inspect the cargo before allowing you all to bring it into the garrison.”
Micah nodded and said, “Of course, of course, one of my escort will get you a taste of some.”
The guard who had been doing most of the talking moved forward, and Primus stepped up and led him to the back of the wagon. Primus unlatched the wagons back gate and hopped up into the wagon. He rolled one of the barrels towards the rear, with the spigot facing the guard. Primus reached down and handed a mug to the guard, who eagerly filled the mug up. Once it was half way full, he stopped the flow, and downed the entire drink in two big gulps. He burped appreciatively, and said, “Well that ale alright, eh its early, I don’t feel like inspecting the rest of the ale, your wagons come through often enough.”
He moved back around the wagon to the front and gestured for his companion to open the gate. So far so good it seemed. While his companion turned around to open the gate, the guard leaned against the front of the wagon and said, “You couldn’t have come at a better time, the captain is going to throw us a little party, you see we have a bunch of smugglers in the jail right now, mostly nonhumans, and a handful of humans too. The king’s regulars ambushed them, and captured them all, but they found out about the meeting due to the one of our guards catching wind of the deal from some stupid drunk in the tavern. Apparently, he kept going on about the big deal his boss had made to trade goods right under the king’s nose to avoid the trade taxes. Since it was our guard post that allowed so many future slaves to be captured, the mayor promised the captain a small cut of the slave profit, nearly seventy slaves will give him a nice purse, and so he decided to give us some ale, and a small feast.”
Micah smiled, and said, “Well I’m glad we came here at the perfect time, now how about we move these barrels inside for you?”
The guard didn’t seem to hear him, as he kept talking over him, “If we get this much of a bonus for some dwarves, and humans, imagine if we caught that damn drayzraac eh! That’s why the king’s regulars are here you know? Most would be at the border, keeping them Stenao bastards in check, but the king pulled some back to find some missing
drayzraac. I wish I could be the one to catch the scaly bastard. You know how much a drayzraac hide is worth? I could retire early, buy my wife some fancy dress and jewelry, and I’d never have to be sober again!”
I glared daggers at the guard, why was it every time humans, or any other race for that matter mentioned my kind, they always fantasized about skinning us! It was at that moment that I threw caution to the wind. Fuck these guards, and fuck this plan, there was killing to be done!
I pushed past Oktai, and towards the loud mouth guard, the second one had already returned, and was ushering us to move inside. That was when one of the guards looked over and saw me walking towards them. He must have seen something in my eyes, as he took a step back, and his hand dropped to his belt.
“Oy what are you looking at you- ugghh!”
He never got to finish as faster than the guard could react, I rammed the naginata clear through his throat. The man gurgled as he clutched at the area where his throat had been as hot blood sprayed out from the gash. I turned to face the second guard Who looked at me clearly shocked, frozen for a second, mouth hanging open. That was a fatal mistake. I pulled the weapon free, shifted my hips, and swung it at the stunned guard in a deadly arc trailing blood along the way. I had always been fast, but with my enhanced speed, the blade split the air in a blink, and connected with the second guards’ neck. I barely felt any resistance, as the sharp heavy blade, sliced straight through the soft tissue as easily as if it had been made of air.
The head flew off and was followed by an arc of red blood that the man’s arteries sprayed out in a vain attempt to keep blood flowing to a now nonexistent brain. A large portion of the blood landed on me, and I couldn’t keep my tongue from flicking out, and tasting a drop that rolled down my mask. True to his work Raskorian absorbed the blood slowly, and almost completely hidden from view, but I could still see the faint lines of blood flowing into my body.