“Did you find anything out?” Gabe asked Josh.
Josh started to answer when a man and a woman brought in the tub Felicia had vacated earlier in the night. They then took a hose and drained the water of Chuck’s bath out of the room’s window. The pair left after telling the young men they would start hauling up the hot water.
“I found out that most of this land is under the control of Lord Darkrell. This town or city, whatever you want to call it, is the free city of Martin’s Vale. They pay taxes to Darkrell and he mostly leaves them to their neutrality,” he told them before the man and woman, carrying large buckets of hot water, interrupted him.
He continued once they left to refill their buckets. “A large force of goblins, orcs, ogres, and human mercenaries were camped outside the city several days ago. They think Lord Darkrell was in the camp, but he chose to sleep in a large pavilion-style tent instead of entering the city, which they thought was unusual.”
He paused as the couple returned, dumped their buckets again, and departed. “They left the next morning heading northeast. No one I spoke to knew any more than that, but at least it’s something. Tomorrow we’ll buy supplies and a map if we can, but for now I’m taking a bath and getting some sleep.”
The couple returned with more water and poured it into the copper tub. The woman offered to wash any clothes they piled outside the door and guaranteed it would be ready by morning.
“Here’s a question,” Chase put forth to his friends. “Who gets to take a bath first, and who gets dirty seconds?”
“We can draw straws,” Ted suggested and pulled several straws out of the thick, straw-stuffed mattress.
“Crap!” Chase swore as he drew a short straw.
Gabe drew the other short straw without complaint; happy to be able to be cleaner than he was (even if it meant bathing in used water). He figured he could bathe in a mud puddle and come out cleaner than he was now.
Josh jumped in the first bathtub as soon as it was filled, not bothering to wait for the second one to fill up. He ignored the couple as they finally filled the second tub and Phil got in. Both scrubbed themselves with washrags until their skin was red. They would have soaked until the water froze if Chase had not started to complain about them using all the hot water. The group separated into the two beds and quickly fell asleep.
The three men from the common room crept up the stairs hours later. The innkeeper allowed people to sleep next to the hearth for a silver piece, and the men had taken advantage of this. They waited until the early morning hour, ensuring their targets would be sound asleep.
Boris knew his men could probably not capture the entire group, but he could get the young woman and lure the others into a trap. He and his partners stopped outside Felicia’s door and found the crossbar pulled shut, securing the door from the inside. That was no problem. He was prepared for that.
He took a small, slim knife and stuck the blade between the door and the jam. He worked the small knifepoint back and forth, sliding the wooden crossbar back a quarter inch at a time.
The mercenaries crept silently into the dimly lit room. He hoped to be able to subdue and silence the girl before she was able to shout for help. If that were not the case, they would take their captive out the window. Their horses were already saddled for their escape and waiting in the stable.
He hoped that would prove unnecessary. With luck, he could silence her before she even woke up, and they could carry their burden out the front door. However, luck was not with them as a loose floorboard squeaked under his heavy boot. Felicia awakened to see three shadowy figures approaching her bed. Boris watched her sit up in the bed and was not surprised when his ears were assaulted with her loud scream. He was prepared for that.
The target leapt from the bed and charged toward the door. That was fine; he was prepared for that too. He turned his head toward his men and motioned for one of them to draw the bolt shut on the door. About the only thing he was not prepared for, was a girl who was an expert in a form of fighting he had never before heard of.
Instead of trying to bolt past Boris and the two men behind him as he had expected her to do, Felicia took two steps forward and leapt into the air. She flew forward, her right leg cocked back, and the left side of her body parallel with the floor. She kicked out with her right leg and caught Boris square in the nose with her heel just as he turned back toward her. Boris felt his nose spread across his face as bone and cartilage broke under the sudden impact. Stars filled his vision as he felt himself toppling over backward and met the hard floor with the back of his head.
Phil and Chase woke up at the sound of Felicia’s scream just before the loud thump of a body hitting the floor.
“Wake up! Felicia’s in trouble!” Phil shouted.
Josh, Ted, Chase, and Phil jumped out of bed, grabbed their weapons, and burst out into the hallway.
“The door’s locked!” Josh cried as he pushed against the door.
He threw his shoulder into it, but the door was solidly built, with a crossbar as thick as a two-by-four. Phil ran back into the room and tried to wake up Chuck.
“Chuck, wake up, Felicia’s in trouble!” Phil shouted as he shook the unconscious lump.
Chuck groaned and let out a loud snort, but failed to rise. Phil grabbed a pitcher of water from the table and threw it into Chuck’s sleeping face. His sudden shock caused him to inhale some of the water, and he went into a coughing fit as his lungs tried to expel it.
“What the hell was that for?” Chuck demanded between coughs.
Another loud crash and a yell came from Felicia’s room.
“Come on, Chuck, Felicia’s in trouble!” Josh cried again.
Chuck jumped out of bed without even bothering to grab his sword and rushed to Felicia’s room.
“The door’s locked; break it down!” Ted yelled.
Chuck hit the door hard with his shoulder, but it held. He backed up and continued driving his burly body against it, determined to get through.
The other man lunged at the girl that had just laid out their leader with a kick to the head. He tried to wrap an arm around her neck, but she dropped under it, curled her fingers down, and drove the heel of her palm into the man’s sternum, blasting the air from his lungs. She grabbed his extended arm, twisted it down behind his back, and spun him about, hurling him into his partner.
The other man had just darted forward when his friend went flying at him. The two struck heads with hollow thump and went down in a heap. Felicia grabbed a stout wooden chair just as the third man was getting to his feet and brought it across his face. He flopped back down to the floor and lay still.
She turned around to grab the rapier hanging on her bed, but a set of strong arms grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms to her side before she could draw it. Felicia was not overly tall, and the man had to lean down to wrap his arms around her. She threw her head back and caught him hard in the jaw. She then stomped as hard as she could on the inside of his ankle. The girl heard the bone crack as the man loosened his iron grip. Felicia spun around and drove her knee into the man’s groin. As he dropped to his knees, she swept up the brass water pitcher and brought hard across his head.
Before she could reach her sword, Boris was back up, wrapping his hands around her soft throat and squeezing. He was no longer interested in a captive or a reward; his rage demanded revenge for the pain and humiliation this slip of a girl had inflicted on him and his men.
Felicia’s mouth automatically sprang open, trying to gasp for air, but she did not panic. She brought her hands over the top of his elbows and thrust them down hard, breaking his grip. She slammed her cupped hands over his ears, causing the eardrums to burst and creating immense pain and disorientation. She then placed the knife-edge of her left hand against his throat and hit it hard with her right palm. The force of the hit drove her left hand into his throat, breaking the delicate cartilage.
As Boris fell to the floor gagging and gasping for breath, the bracke
ts holding the crossbar on the door tore loose from the wall and Chuck came half-falling into the room with the rest of the group close on his heels, weapons drawn. They looked at the damage to the room, and the beaten and unconscious men lying on the floor.
“What happened?” Phil asked in shock.
“They must have said something about her boobs,” Chase replied with a shrug.
CHAPTER 12
“Felicia, are you ok?” Phil cried out as he ran to his sister.
“I’m fine. These goons tried to grab me,” Felicia grumped.
Josh looked at the three men lying on the floor, then to the young woman. “What happened? Did they say anything, like what they wanted?”
She shook her head. “No, they didn’t get the chance to say anything.”
One of the men let out a groan and started to shift on the floor. Phil took three strides over to where the man lay and delivered a swift kick to his stomach. “Don’t you ever put your filthy hands on my sister!”
Josh pulled him back before he could give the man another kick. “Easy, Phil, they didn’t get to do anything. Felicia took good care of them herself. Let’s tie them up before they come to, and we’ll find out what they wanted.”
Felicia pulled the rope out of her pack and they bound the three men securely while waiting for them to regain consciousness. Boris opened the eye not swollen shut, and tugged for a moment on his bindings.
“Wud happed?” he asked groggily, his words coming out of his destroyed nose as if he had a bad head cold. A loud whistling noise accompanied each exhalation.
“You tried to put your hands on my sister, and she tore you a new one, that’s what happened, you sack of crap!” Phil shouted at the man.
“Why are you here, and what did you want with Felicia?” Josh asked more calmly.
“Go da hell, I ai’d tellin you nuddin,” he said and tried to spit at Josh, which only resulted in a glob of bloody phlegm running down his split lip.
Felicia stalked forward with a scowl on her face and cocked her fist back threateningly.
“Ok, ow’ll dell you, jud keeb dad crady wench away vrom me!” he cried out and tried to scoot away. “Lord Darkrell tode us dad there wud a reward for cadduring you or bringing him some book. So I decided do capdure her ad use her do lure you all indo a drap.”
“How were you going to get away?”
“We have horses oudside,” he replied.
Josh turned to his companions. “That’s good. We’re going to need horses, and I doubt that Chase has enough gold to buy a horse for each of us.” He turned back toward the man bound and sitting on the floor. “Consider your horses forfeit for what you tried to do.”
Boris could only glare through his one good eye at the young man who was robbing him and his men, but he knew he was helpless to prevent it. His two associates just hung their heads dejectedly at their loss and failure.
“Where were you supposed to take us if you had caught us?” Josh asked.
“Lord Darkrell had a caddle aboud dree days ride nordwed of here ad da ed of da valley,” he informed them.
“He has a what?” Chase asked.
“A caddle, you know, a fordress or a keeb,” Boris tried to clarify.
“Oh you mean a castle, fortress, or a keep. You should work on that speech impediment of yours,” Chase said sarcastically.
“Screw you!”
They double checked the ropes securing the three men and gagged them. Sunrise was not far off, and when it came, they packed their gear, went downstairs, and ate a hearty breakfast in preparation for the next leg of their journey.
Chase paid Wilbur for two more days’ room rental and asked that no one enter the rooms. They asked Wilbur where they might be able to purchase horses, and he gave them directions to a man on the north edge of town.
When they went outside, they found the three horses already saddled and waiting outside the stable attached to the inn. The group strapped their packs to the three animals and led them through the town until they found the man who sold horses.
The purveyor of horses had a large stableyard near the north gate with several horses of various ages and types. As the party approached, a small bald man with a thick beard and moustache walked out to greet them.
“Good morn to ya. You looking to buy or sell?” he called out cheerfully.
“Good morning to you, sir, we are looking to buy,” Josh told him as he shook hands with the horse merchant.
The man’s mood became even more cheerful at the prospect of a sale. “My name’s Rolf, and I’ll be happy to show you what I have. What kind of animal are you looking for? You looking for a riding horse, trail horse, or draft animal?”
Josh scratched his head at the question, not really knowing how to reply. He knew he did not want a draft horse, but he knew nothing about the difference between a riding horse and a trail horse. “Well, we do ride a bit along trails and through the mountains. The most important thing I guess is that the horse is strong, healthy, and good-natured. Only a couple of us are experienced riders, so a calm animal is important.”
“All right then, let me show you what I have. Most of my animals are pretty calm. I train them that way, though I have a couple stallions and racers that are quite spirited.”
Rolf took them into the corral and started pointing out different mares and geldings, explaining their quality and character. Felicia was the most familiar with animals, so they left it to her judgment on which ones to buy.
Josh walked over to her as she was examining one of the horse’s hooves. “Do you know what to look for?”
“Not really. I know to look for stone bruises and cracked hooves. Too much sway in the back is a sign of an overworked horse or one that was ridden too young, but more than that is little more than a guess,” she told him.
After she looked over several horses, she told Rolf the four they wanted. They haggled for a while before coming to an agreement on the price, and even managed to get bridles thrown in free. They then bartered for some saddles and saddle blankets before leading their new acquisitions away.
The group found the general store Rolf had directed them toward, and proceeded to pack into their backpacks and saddlebags with food supplies. Josh was afraid they were not going to have enough coin to pay for it after they had bought the horses and tack, but Chase surprised them again with another small pouch of coins he had liberated from Boris and his men. This time around, he received far fewer complaints about purloining a purse.
It was almost noon before they were ready to leave the town, so they decided to eat one last hot lunch before setting off. They left through the north gate near where they had bought the horses, riding slowly but steadily until they became more comfortable in the saddle. By the time they stopped for the night, they were all saddle-sore and stiff legged, but felt far more confident in their ability to ride.
Rolf had so far been true to his word. The horses were calm, followed their rider’s urgings without fuss, and seemed quite healthy and capable of carrying their burdens. They created a picket by stretching a rope between two trees and tethered the animals’ halters to it with enough slack to allow them to graze.
It started to rain in the early morning hours during Gabe’s watch. He huddled inside the tent flap, peering through a narrow gap he left open in the zipper, occasionally poking his head out for a wider view. It was still raining come morning with no sign of it letting up anytime soon. The group ate a cold breakfast in their tents before donning their rain slickers and ponchos and pulling up stakes.
The party rode throughout the day along the muddy, rain-sodden road. They rode in silence, too miserable even to complain. The horses plodded on through the downpour, seemingly oblivious to either the shower or their riders misery. Camp that night was cold and wet, a fire impossible to make and keep lit. They all stripped down and dried off as best they could inside their tents. The next morning was identical to the last—wet and wretched.
“Bah, wet crotch
and horseback riding go together about as well as peanuts and bubblegum!” Chase complained bitterly.
“I know it’s lousy, but think of Drew,” Gabe reminded him.
“I am thinking about Drew! That’s what’s got me so irritable, him in some nice dry dungeon eating warm gruel out of a bowl. Lucky bum.”
Gabe could only shake his head at his friend’s perception of the world. As the band of young, wet adventurers rounded a bend in the narrow road, they came face to face with a troop of orcs and an ogre. For a brief moment, the two groups just stopped and stared in surprise at each other. It took only a second for the orcs to overcome their surprise and charge the humans with a loud war cry.
Felicia and Phil’s horses reared and pranced in fright, but they were able to control them and keep their seats. Chuck was less fortunate. His horse bucked and threw him to the muddy ground with a loud clang. His armor protected him from serious injury, and he rolled quickly to his feet, but his horse had already bolted back the way they had come.
As the orcs and ogre closed in on them, everyone else’s horses began to rear and buck in an attempt to flee the onrushing monsters. Chase, Phil, and Felicia were able to dismount with a measure of grace and composure. Josh was able to get down, but he was knocked to the ground as his horse turned and bolted. Gabe was less fortunate. As he tried to dismount, his horse turned to follow the others in their flight. His hands slipped from the saddle horn and his foot caught in the stirrup. The unfortunate cleric was dragged for several yards through the mud before his entrapped foot came free.
By the time Gabe regained his feet, the twins were sending arrows into the onrushing orcs and Ted was rolling to his feet from where his horse had thrown him from the saddle and onto his back. Ted’s impact with the ground had knocked the wind from his lungs, and he was now fighting hard to get it back so he could lend his arcane might to the battle.
Josh and Chuck stepped to the fore and put their greater strength and deadly weapons to good effect, giving Phil and his sister time to drop their bows and draw their blades. Josh swung his greatsword as the lead orc ran into its lethal arc. The razor-sharp, four and a half foot length of steel severed the head clean off the charging creature. Chuck slammed his shield into an orc that tried to take advantage of Josh’s wild swing, and thrust his blade deep into the chest of another.
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