John watched them all disperse and released the boy. Vlotman was a south Downian name, John thought it was unlikely it was a coincidence. The boy scurried off as John looked around the area, men gave him a look but soon went about their business. Dawn was among the crowd and was still on her horse, she ignored him but John couldn’t take his eyes off of her. It had to be humiliating for someone as self-important as she was, just putting on the clothes she was now wearing had to humble her. Dawn was wearing a plain tan colored dress and had on rough spun burlap shoes with some sort of hard leather or rubber soles. It was decent clothes for almost any woman in Kirby but for Dawn to be seen in something like that had to be horrible for her. John was about to go to the woman and at least tell her his plan but she was intent on avoiding him. John decided he would meet up with her later, he still had a few bodies to dispose of and next of kin to contact. John knew that someone here was trying to pass themselves off as the law and went to find them. John had asked two people for the city watchmen and had been ignored, he thought about throttling the next person that ignored him but figured enough blood had been shed. John eventually found the place by himself and was a little shocked to walk inside and find the gray beard from earlier sitting down in a chair behind a desk.
The inside of the building was small, it was a single room with a large cage built into the corner. There were no windows in the room and the only furniture was a bed inside the cage, the desk and three chairs. The old man sat at one of them and the Vlotman boy sat at the other. John stared at the old man for a few seconds before closing the door.
“You the law here?” John asked as he looked at the old man.
“What do you want?” the old man snapped.
“Let us get one thing clear” John said. “I am in charge, speak to me like that again and it will be your last time. What is your name?”
“Dennis Erwin” the old man said as he stood up.
“Dennis Erwin I am guessing you are the law in this town” John asked.
“I was until you showed up” the old man said.
“How do you know this boy?” John asked. “We are at war with Downey and Vlotman is not a Kirbian name”.
“Max was born here” Dennis said. “Well practically anyway, this town is the only place he knows. His mother was a whore who died in childbirth, the man claiming to be his father sold him to Maxwell Vlotman who used to live here. Vlotman was my second and died trying to defend one of the folks sent to bring law to this town. Max has been with me ever since”.
“Then if you are the law and this boy’s guardian” John replied pointing at the boy. “Why was he in a bar drinking and working as muscle for an idiot with a club”.
“Everyone works for the Canary” Dennis replied. “If I were you I would leave this place. The Canary has agents everywhere, your little display will be brought to her attention if it hasn’t been already”.
“The Canary is a woman?” John laughed. “And I am guessing this Canary is some kind of mastermind? What kind of a fool do you take me for Erwin? I know you are on the take to look the other way. I have seen the illegal market and I know Downey soldiers frequent this place, you need to be hauled away with the other criminals”.
“What a fool you are” Dennis said shaking his head. “If you would have let it be known that you were a mage then you could have left with some money in your pocket. Instead you have killed one of her agents, I am guessing the owner of that tavern doesn’t live any more”.
“I will not be bribed” John said offended.
“We all work for the Canary mage” Dennis replied. “Some by choice, others by self preservation. It is doubtful she will give you the benefit of walking away. If I were you I would leave quickly and don’t turn back towards the army. You have to go deeper in Kirby to be safe, the Downey is set to attack any day now”.
“You know of an attack and you have said nothing?” John said angrily.
“The attack is on the army” Dennis replied. “And unless they are blind I am sure they can recognize the many Downian troops amassing across from them. Only an idiot cannot see an attack is coming and they should already have men out on the lines, not that it will do them any good against the Dragon Knights. None of us want to fight the Canary because it is likely this town will be in Downey hands before long and getting on her bad side is stupid”.
“The dragons hate coming this far” John said suddenly not so sure. “They like a warmer climate”.
“They do” Dennis replied. “Young dragons though can take our climate better, everything does not have to be scorching hot for them. And even old dragons can come, attack, then leave. Even three or four minutes worth of work is enough to devastate an army, after that the Downey ground troops will be on clean up duty. But the old dragons have no reason to turn around, they have been on the front lines and have no reason to turn away”.
“We have mages, the Downey do not” John protested. “Those dragons will die like anything else struck by a mage”.
“You are the idiot” Dennis replied. “For a mage you know absolutely nothing. I was there during the last big fight with Downey, the dragons charged right through their spells and killed the mages who casts them. Your little shields cannot stand up to dragon fire, but you needn’t worry about any of that. When the Canary get ahold of you things will go badly”.
“You make it seem like whoever this woman is, that she is forcing you to make huge sums of money by spitting in the face of the Queen” John replied.
“She is” Dennis replied. “Leave and you are dead, stay and make money. Things are not that hard, the Canary has many agents around here. Both Downey and Kirby troops visit here, we have a brothel which is popular with the men and cheap liquor. The money made in this town at night is about the same as a place ten times as big. Smugglers come through here with a variety of things and you think just one man no matter how self important he believes himself to be can break that? Do yourself a favor and leave now, the Canary will probably be here before nightfall”.
“I think you are trying to get rid of me old man” John said as Dennis interrupted him.
“And you picked that up from me telling you to leave?” Dennis asked.
“I don’t think there is a Canary” John replied. “And I am the Queen’s new champion, I don’t run from a fight. I think you all have found an opponent that you cannot just toss out of here. You have killed a mage before Erwin but none like me. Now enough of this foolish talk, as the law I want you to see about cleaning up the dead men around this town and see about getting their next of kin notified. As for you Max, we will not be leaving tonight. Tomorrow your new home is that cell over there in the corner. I am not sure when we will travel or how many we will travel with”.
“You aren’t staying in the cell yourself?” Dennis asked.
“You take me for a fool Erwin?” John asked. “You want me in there so you and your people can sneak up on me? I will find my own lodging”.
John left the building and walked towards the market, right away he could see his presence did something to the merchants that were there previously. The market looked sparse now with only a few vendors around, gone were the illegal herbs and drugs that were there when he first arrived.
“Hot meat buns” a vendor said looking over at John. “I got hot meat buns cheap if you are looking for a delicious meal. “Two coppers for a tasty bun filled with smoked deer meat, five coppers will get you three. Each bun is a meal in itself”.
John’s stomach growled as he could smell the aroma from the buns. He supposed he could just take some but it was unlikely a small vendor like this man knew how to contact the crown for repayment. John pulled out five coppers and looked over at the vendor”.
“You have made the right choice” the man said as he reached inside and handed John three large buns wrapped in a small cloth. “The cloth is free, just tell your friends where you got them at”.
John thanked the vendor and decided he wanted to eat. I
f he could find Dawn he would give her one as well and let her know things were going better than he expected. Whoever this Canary lady was, she was probably made up to scare him but John figured he would ask Dawn if she had heard anything. John went to eat one of the buns but noticed people staring at him, it would be unseemly for a knight in full armor to be seen eating in the street like some commoner. John thought about where could eat in peace at and decided on the bar, the owner wouldn’t mind. John made his way back to bar and could see the men in the street were already cleaned up. When he walked inside the bar he could see a woman was busy mopping the floor clear of blood.
“Leave” John said as he gestured to the door. “Tell Erwin to send you back in an hour or so”.
The woman looked fearful at John and hurriedly got out of building. John sat down at one of the tables and took a big bite of one of the buns. The bun had an odd taste, John wasn’t big on spicy food and the bun seemed to be laced with peppers. John was hungry and ate the bun anyway, it filled the emptiness he didn’t know he had in his belly and he quickly tore into another one. As John picked up the last bun the room felt as if it was moving, John at first thought it was because the peppers didn’t agree with him but dismissed it. He had been poisoned, John threw a shield on himself as he fell out of the chair. A scream could be heard coming from outside followed by more cries of pain. John turned as the door opened up and Dawn flew inside and threw several fire spells behind her.
“You have been poisoned” Dawn said as she turned around to face the men trying to come through the door. “Open your mouth and do it quickly”.
John looked at her oddly wondering if he heard her correctly as she stuck practically her entire hand in his mouth. John vomited and tried to fight her off, Dawn removed her hand and turned to throw another spell at the men trying to come through the door. As soon as John finished vomiting Dawn did the same thing again as the men outside started backing away.
“I am running low on magic” Dawn replied. “I am not a strong mage, if I fight any more I might not be able to heal you. I need most of the poison out of your stomach, watch my back”.
John head was reeling as Dawn stuck her hand in his mouth again, whatever was in his stomach lay in a stinking pile on the floor but he started to feel a little better. Dawn started chanting a spell and focused on his body, this was the most pain John had ever felt as every muscle in his body contracted. John was not sure how long the pain lasted but when it stopped Dawn fell over just as he saw a man come through the door holding a crossbow. John threw up a shield and watched the bolt crash to the ground. John got off the floor and could see Dawn had been shot twice, once in the back of her right shoulder and in her right thigh. John took off running at the man and stabbed him in the stomach then kicked him out of the way and back out the door. The wound was a mortal one but his opponent would not die right away, it would be a painful death befitting of the crime. John saw the men surrounding the building and in his mind declared them all guilty, his sword was already covered in blood but John yearned for more. Men started running from the armored knight, John’s sense of fairness was gone as he cut men down from behind if they wouldn’t stand and fight. John was only outside for a few minutes before men started fleeing in all directions, too many to keep track of. John would find them all though, he would find them and kill them starting with the vendor. John started picking up the bodies and chopping the heads off, it was grizzly work but worth it when it came to dissuading any idiots from coming back. In all John had 13 heads decorating the front of the building as he went in to check on Dawn. She was still conscious but barely, being shot must have made her stop her magic. If there was any good from being shot it was that Dawn had not expended her magic, if she had he would have to deal with an unconscious woman who might not wake up for a while. It took a lot for a body to make magic if it had none, if it had a little then the process would speed up considerably. Dawn was weak when it came to fighting, she just didn’t have the aura to push out some of the bigger spells and had to get by on basic fire spells. The scorched men John had seen in the street along with the spells John had seen her using confirmed his theory.
“Dawn are you okay?” John said as he sat her up.
“I have been better” Dawn replied weakly. “Still wish you had the Tatterson girl here with you?”
“This is no time for joking around” John said as he looked at her shoulder. John searched the room and found what he was looking for, the crossbow bolt that had been stopped by his shield. The tip of it was smooth and without barbs just as he figured it would be. The bolt was meant to penetrate weak armor, his attacker no doubt grabbed them instead of the barbed ones to injure him. To John it was a blessing as he grabbed a bottle of alcohol and some cloths he found behind the bar. Dawn gave him a scared look and nodded her head. John yanked out the bolt in her leg, the only reason the short bolt didn’t go all the way through was because of the fletching. John put a little alcohol on the rag and put it on the wound, Dawn screamed from the stinging pain as John probed the wound to make sure nothing foreign was still inside then dressed the wound with material he tore from her dress. Dawn took a deep breath as John went for the other arrow, Dawn’s cries were louder as John dressed her wound. Just as he finished the door opened up and Erwin walked through with his hands up.
“You should leave” Dennis said with his hands up. “The Canary will be here sometime tonight and has already given word that you better be dead before she gets here. You should flee, you cannot beat her despite what you have showed me. They have already taken the your horses, I figure the reason you were not afraid was because you had secret back up in town. Well your back up is down, in any fight she will be a liability. I have an old horse out front but you are going to have to fight me for it, I can't let people think I just gave it to you”.
“I already have a horse” John replied. “I have to get her out of here but I will be back at nightfall. If I were you I would stay in your building along with the boy. It is the only safe place for when I return”.
“You are not going to get help from the army” Dennis replied. “They have their own problems, you will not receive any aid from them”.
“I still wouldn’t be out of that building more than I needed to” John said as he picked up Dawn.
John inwardly smiled at his foolishness, Dawn was a big boned curvy woman, while she wasn’t fat she definitely was not Tiffany Tatterson who he was sure he could have just lifted up with no problems. As is he had Dawn in his arms and walked outside, no one was on the street which was good so no one saw him struggle. John summoned his horse underneath him and took off out of town, once he got out of view he started flying and turned the horse into something more comfortable for Dawn.
“I liked the horse better” Dawn said weakly.
“Well this chair allows you to sit up on your own” John replied.
“Why would I want to do that for?” Dawn said as she started choking.
“You don’t stop do you?” John asked as he moved a strand of hair out of her eyes.
“I saved your life” Dawn replied. “You can't still hate me”.
“Thank you” John said as he gave her a smile. “I am going to drop you off somewhere safe”.
“I do not think you should go back to that town” Dawn replied. “I think warning the army takes more precedence”.
“You are probably right but I have a debt to repay” John replied. “Do you have any money on you?”
“I still have my coin pouch” Dawn replied.
“I am going to drop you off at the nearest town with a carriage for hire” John replied. “I want you to take it and get somewhere deeper into Kirby. Stop in Jubilee, I can meet back up with you there”.
“What all are you going to do?” Dawn asked.
“I am going to kill those men and take out this Canary person if she exists” John replied.
“I heard about the Canary” Dawn replied. “When I saw men gathering around the
bar one of them said the Canary would be pleased. Another was still scared to attack but the man who said the Canary would be happy replied that you had been poisoned by someone named Tomas”.
“Well I am glad you were there” John said and smiled. “But the Canary is secondary to whatever is going on in that town. There are murderers there and I owe it to their past victims to administer justice”.
~
John rode into town under the cover of night, it had taken him longer than he thought to drop Dawn off someplace safe. John wanted to go slow coming back to town, he needed his magic at full capacity if he planned on fighting whoever this Canary was. John got inside and used his mount to slowly make his way across town. He could see torches in the distance and hear men yelling something. The sound of a whip cracking was audible followed the sound of a man screaming. Men cheered again and became silent as the whip cracked again, another person screamed, this one with a lighter voice. John came to the back of the crowd and could see a man was stripped completely naked and tied to a post. His back was completely bloody and he was being whipped by a woman in yellow clothing. It was Dennis. John figured he was being punished for helping him, the other scream had to belong to Max who he could not see. John was just about to charge in when another sight caught his eye. Something big was behind the post, it was sitting on its haunches and its head looked down on Dennis. It had to be a dragon, a yellow dragon. The name Canary sounded appropriate John thought, the woman and her dragon were both covered in yellow and John could see why Dennis was scared. The dragon was big but nowhere near the size John’s father had told him the dragons he fought were. This one had to be young and according to Dennis they could handle the weather better. John decided he would not go after the dragon, he was unsure if he could kill one but knew he could kill a woman. John took a breath as he brought his horse in the air just above the crowd and pushed his magic. His steed flew across the crowd and turned into a giant spike as he zeroed in on the woman in the yellow dress. Her dragon saw him coming and tore one of the post out of the ground and moved the woman out of the way as the spike crashed into the center of its chest. The dragon staggered back a couple feet as the sudden stop made John fly forward into its face. John felt himself impact the dragon and rolled over it, the dragon had to feel the impact as John got up slowly still reeling from the sudden shock of stopping. John was trying to clear his head as he staggered back and strengthened his shield. The dragon was slowly stumbling towards him on all four of its limbs and John could make out a bloody gash from where the spike hit it in the center of its chest and blood was pouring from it. John grabbed his sword and swung as the dragon snapped, he caught it across the snout and drew a little blood as the dragon reared back. John summoned another spike and rode it trying to skewer the dragon. John did not have the speed as before and the tip barely penetrated its flesh, the dragon bent down and snapped at the tip and John could feel his shield losing its strength. John had found a weakness though, the dragon had rough scales and spikes all over its body. The bony plate surrounding its head stopped just where the back of its head met its neck, even in torch light John could see the skin was different. The dragon stopped trying to bite the tip and looked at John and opened its mouth, a spout of flame shot out as John dove to the side. The fire was strong but small, an older dragon likely had much more. John summoned a shield around the beast and watched it try to fry him, the shield shot the fire back into the animal’s eyes causing it to howl in pain. John saw his chance and lowered the shield and plunged his sword into the base of the dragon’s neck as he jumped on its back. The sword went in easily as John yanked it out then rolled away. The dragon moaned for a bit then collapsed as John shot to his feet and charged into the crowd. John did not see the woman in the yellow dress but as far as John was concerned they were all guilty as he started slashing at people indiscriminately. Screams were heard as John hacked and slashed until everyone separated to the point where he could no longer reach them easily, among the dead though was the vendor Tomas.
The Knight Mage Page 13