by Sam Ferguson
Kai turned around and looked back in the direction of the Tiger’s Eye Inn. Without any other leads, he decided it would be worth his time to go back to the inn and probe around for leads.
He broke into a controlled, but speedy, run and arrived at the inn in less than a minute’s time. He opened the door and slipped inside the building. A strong odor of liquor and smoke assaulted his nostrils as he came through the doorway. Kai noticed that there were a lot more patrons in the dining room than before. The crowd was markedly more unruly also. He recognized some of them as previous inmates of the dungeon. It didn’t appear that any of them were paying any attention to him, let alone recognized him. This was not a surprise, as Kai often wore disguises, or operated so stealthily that his identity was still a well-kept secret within the large city. He then noticed a pair of dwarves that were seated at a table nearby. They were eyeing him suspiciously. One of them leaned over to the other and whispered something.
“Keep yer mouth shut Pinhead, this ain’t none of our business,” the first dwarf said.
Kai eyed the pair for a moment and then turned his attention back to the rest of the room. After watching the crowd for a few seconds he decided to try his luck with the inn keeper. Kai stepped in and made his way through the crowd towards the bar. He pushed through a trio of gruff-looking men and was about to address the barkeep, but he stopped short when he saw the same two men that had been with his sister. There they were sitting at the bar with a new pair of women listening to their tales of travel and adventure as though they had been there all night.
Kai felt his blood course hot through his veins. He knew that those men had done something with his sister, and he was going to find out what had happened. Kai lunged forward and slammed Mandhar’s head on the bar. The two women shrieked and jumped away from their stools in fear.
“Where is she?” Kai demanded.
Stefan stood up and reached for a dagger, but Kai struck out with a forceful kick to the groin followed by a left hook to the jaw. Stefan fell backwards, tripping over his stool.
“Hey,” the barkeep yelled and made his way towards Kai. “Hadock, get this man out of here.”
“This is no affair of yours,” Kai yelled at the barkeep. “You would do well to keep out of this.”
“Hadock!” the barkeep yelled.
Kai slammed Mandhar’s head twice more on the bar, completely knocking the senses out of the man. Then he turned and started for Stefan, but a massive hand seized his left arm and yanked him back. Kai turned and saw a mountain of a man.
“Me, Hadock,” the man roared. “Boss say he want you out.” Hadock then lifted Kai off of the ground with one hand and threw him across the dining hall towards the door. The patrons scrambled back against the walls at the sight of Kai landing hard on one of the tables and crashing through to the floor.
Kai shook his head and looked up at Hadock, who was already halfway across the room and closing fast. The Ranger sprang to his feet and looked around Hadock to see Stefan scrambling up the stairs to the bedrooms. Kai brought his focus back to the giant bouncer. He hooked his foot around a nearby chair leg and flipped the chair at Hadock. The bouncer swatted the chair away without even flinching.
“Time to put you down,” Kai yelled.
“What you gonna do, worm?” Hadock threatened.
Kai sprang forward and jabbed Hadock in the throat. The bouncer grimaced and wound up for a massive punch, but Kai dodged the strike and viciously kicked Hadock’s knee. A sickening crack echoed through the dining hall as the knee broke out to the side. The massive man buckled and hit the ground moaning and clutching at his leg.
“One hundred gold to whoever brings me that man’s head!” the barkeep yelled.
Several burly men pulled knives and started for Kai.
“C’mon Redbeard, let’s get into it,” Pinhead squealed.
Kai saw the pair of dwarves stand from their table. The black-bearded dwarf looked at Kai briefly before glancing at the advancing foes.
“Alright, Pinhead,” the black-bearded dwarf relented. “Let’s even the odds, but no weapons,” he said. The dwarves exploded forward. Kai whirled around on his heels, but soon realized they were not coming for him. They barreled into the crowd, punching, jabbing, and tackling nearly every man in the room. The black-bearded dwarf head-butted a large knife-wielding man as the brown-bearded dwarf swept the man’s legs out from under him.
“Dagnabbit!” the black-bearded dwarf swore. “Broke my nose again!”
“Ha!” the other dwarf laughed out as he busted another man’s arm with his club. “You never learn, yet you call me Pinhead.”
“I said no weapons!” the first dwarf bellowed.
The second threw his club whirling through the air to smash into another rogue’s jaw, shattering the bone and dropping the man to the ground. “Fine,” the second dwarf relented with an apathetic shrug.
Kai didn’t know what to make of the scene, but he didn’t have much time to contemplate his new allies. A pair of attackers tried to come at him from behind, one with a broken bottle and the other with a dagger. Kai drew his sword and sliced through them both with one deft strike. Then he darted for Mandhar.
“Thanks for the help, fellas, I owe you!” Kai yelled to the dwarves as he ran by.
“Anything for a good brawl!” the bloody-faced, black-bearded dwarf shouted as he put another trio of brutes down on the floor.
Patrons not wishing to get caught up in the violence rushed the exit as Kai walked back to the bar and tied Mandhar’s hands behind his back with a leather strap and then slapped his cheeks.
“You won’t find her,” Mandhar said.
Kai shook the man threateningly. “What do you mean?”
“You best forget about her, Ranger. You won’t ever see her again.”
“Keep an eye on this man,” Kai told the barkeep. “If he escapes from you, I will take your head for it.” Kai then slammed his knee into Mandhar’s face, knocking the back of his head into the bar. A quick punch followed the strike and then it was lights out for Mandhar.
“Who are you looking for?” the barkeep asked.
“My sister,” Kai growled.
The barkeep nodded and grabbed a wooden club from under the back of the bar. “I will not let this man get away.”
Kai sprinted up the stairs, hoping that Stefan had not gotten away yet, though he knew that he probably had. The rooms located on the second story of the inn all had windows through which Stefan could have exited the building, but the Ranger searched each room anyway. He kicked open each door he came to and tore through the rooms. He overturned beds as though they were made of paper, in his furious hunt, but he found no one. He had all but lost hope when he came to the last door. He slammed his foot into the door and it burst open. Kai strolled in, searching each corner with his eyes while heading directly for the bed. He grabbed the frame under the bed and flipped it over as he had done in the other rooms, but nothing was there.
“Basei take you,” Kai cursed, summoning the wrath of the demigod of war. At that instant, a breeze blew through the open window and ran through Kai’s hair. He walked over to look out the window, hoping against all odds that he would see some sign of Stefan running away from the building, but what he saw instead was better than what he could have hoped for. Out in the street below, a man was limping away from the inn as fast as his good leg would carry him. Kai deduced that Stefan had jumped from the window and hurt his other leg significantly.
The Ranger wasted no time in jumping out through the window and scaled down the side of the building. He scurried down with the skill of a squirrel and started sprinting off after the man.
“Get away!” Stefan screamed when he saw Kai chasing after him.
Kai said nothing. He slammed into Stefan and tackled him to the ground. Stefan lashed out with a couple feeble punches, but Kai slammed his fist into Stefan’s ribs. With two more deft strikes the air, and ability to fight back, was knocked out of Stefan. Kai
grabbed the pathetic man by the throat and hoisted him up to his feet. Stefan gasped for air and wheezed horribly while Kai slapped a pair of iron cuffs around his wrists.
“Where is my sister?” Kai growled. Stefan tried to speak, but he still had not regained his breath. “Let’s go for a walk,” Kai said. He grabbed Stefan by the back of the arm and jerked him back towards the inn.
The pair had only gone a few steps when Kai heard the clanking of a bottle from behind. He wheeled around just in time to see a man emerging from an alley, aiming a crossbow at them. Kai dropped to the ground and kicked Stefan’s legs out from under him in a foot-sweeping motion that landed the prisoner flat on his back as the crossbow bolt flew by harmlessly.
The assailant started to reload, but Kai was already taking aim with a throwing-knife. The blade whistled through the air as it made its way towards the assailant. Kai watched the crossbow fall to the ground just after his knife sunk deep into the attacker’s neck. The man stumbled back against a nearby building, clutching at his neck and gargling through the blood. He tried to run away, but he made it only a few steps before he collapsed on the ground lifelessly.
“They won’t let me talk to you,” Stefan warned.
“I see you have your breath back,” Kai replied dryly.
“They’ll kill me,” Stefan pressed.
Kai looked from Stefan to the dead man, and back again to Stefan. “Let’s go,” he said. Stefan started to resist, but Kai yanked the man to his feet and was all but carrying him back to the inn with such force that Stefan had no choice but to be dragged along.
As they entered the inn through the front door, Stefan stiffened and started to scream and shout. Even Kai was surprised at the sight that greeted him. Hadock lay in the same place where Kai had left him, but three crossbow shafts now protruded from his skull. Mandhar was pinned to the bar now with a long sword skewering him through the heart. Kai shook his head and swore under his breath.
“I told you!” Stefan screeched.
Kai turned around and slammed his elbow across Stefan’s left temple. “Have a seat,” he said as Stefan fell down with his back against the doorjamb. Kai drew his sword with his right hand and pulled a mini-crossbow from his cloak with his left hand. He knew that the assassins were likely still nearby, but he had to look for the barkeep. He quickly ran across the room and peered over the bar, where he found the barkeep lying in a pool of blood.
“Snake eggs,” Kai cursed. He looked back to Stefan, who was starting to come back to his senses. The Ranger needed to find his sister, but he had to find a safe place to interrogate his prisoner. Kai put away his weapons and leapt over the bar, running back towards the doorway. He grabbed Stefan by the shirt and pulled the man back to his feet.
“They will find you,” Stefan said.
Kai sneered and slammed his prisoner back against the wall. “You will tell me where my sister is or I will leave you here for your friends.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Stefan choked.
“You have no idea what I am capable of, you cur,” Kai growled.
“How do I know you can protect me, if I help you?”
“I don’t have time for this, tell me right now or I leave you for your friends.”
“Alright! We took the girls to forty-two Florence Street. We sold them to a man named Gildar. He will be preparing them to be shipped out of the city in the morning.”
Kai’s rage boiled within him. He clenched his teeth and squeezed Stefan’s neck until the man started turning blue. Stefan squirmed and clawed at Kai’s hand until he finally let go. Stefan coughed and sputtered, leaning over on a nearby table.
“I told you what I know, now get me out of here,” Stefan stammered. He looked up at Kai with a pleading expression on his face. Kai knew that Stefan had told the truth, he could see it in the man’s horrified eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Kai assured him. “I will not let your friends find you.” In a flash, Kai whipped out his sword and thrust it through Stefan’s chest. “I can’t have you warning your friends about me now, can I?”
Stefan fell back to the floor without a sound. His body twitched a time or two before finally going completely still. Kai sneered at the corpse and replaced his sword. He dashed out of the inn and into the night, not wasting any time in going to the address Stefan had given him.
With each step that brought him closer to the house on Florence Street, his rage increased exponentially. This was uncharacteristic of Kai. He had always been able to remain objective during his assignments, but this was different. Tonight was not an assignment it was a battle for his sister’s life. This night, Kai would use his talents and skills to punish those who had taken his sister. There was not going to be any compromise. There would be no arrests. There would be only blood.
When Kai arrived at the address he looked around and realized that this was only a few yards away from where he had stopped following his sister earlier. A wave of guilt washed over him and momentarily tempered his anger. He cursed himself for being so foolish, and wished that he had continued to shadow his sister so he could have prevented this tragedy. Kai looked down at his feet in shame. Why hadn’t he stayed for just a few minutes longer?
The sound of a door opening from the alleyway snapped Kai out of his thoughts and into action. He jumped into the shadows and peered around the corner. He could hear men laughing and talking but it was hard to make out the words. There were three of them. One was a large, portly man roughly in his forties, another was a tall, skinny man of about the same age, and the third was a well-built man who seemed considerably younger than the other two. It was this third man that stuck out to Kai. As a Ranger, he was trained to assess any potential threats in all kinds of situations. Kai singled out this third man immediately as the biggest threat of the group. His gait spoke of a kind of confidence that comes with martial training, his build suggested that he trained rigorously, and the long sword dangling from his belt confirmed the suspicions.
Kai waited silently. He had to time his strike perfectly if he wanted to maintain the element of surprise. The group started walking towards his end of the alley. He could make out their conversation now. They were talking and laughing about some girls inside the house. Kai quietly slid his sword out, careful not to reflect any light with the blade. He also pulled out a dagger with his other hand and prepared to spring into his assault. As the group came within a few yards of him, they stopped walking and the first two men turned to say goodbye to the man with the sword. They thanked him for the good time they had and said it was a shame that the new girls wouldn’t cooperate.
Kai knew what they meant. His vision went red in that instant. Up he went, sprinting towards the three men. He lunged in between the first two men, slashing the fat man’s neck with his dagger while simultaneously burying his sword up through the skinny man’s abdomen until the point of his blade protruded from the man’s upper back. Not wanting to waste time retrieving his sword, Kai let it go with the skinny man and charged the swordsman with his dagger at the ready.
The swordsman was quick to draw his sword, but Kai kicked the man in the groin and stabbed the shoulder of the man’s sword arm. The swordsman was about to cry out, but Kai landed a massive right hook to his face, shattering his jaw and sending him to the ground. The Ranger then bent down and wrestled the sword from his enemy with ease. The swordsman’s eyes were wide with surprise as Kai used his own sword against him.
With the three of them disposed of, Kai quickly retrieved his sword from the skinny man’s body, and kept the other sword as well. He stormed up to the door and, summoning all of his rage and strength, kicked it wide open. The light from the house was bright, but Kai adjusted quickly. Inside the first room there was another large man, standing just a few feet from the door.
The guard stood frozen by surprise with a blank expression on his face as Kai entered the room. He kept looking down at the splintered wood from the door instead of going for his sword. Kai exploited the oppo
rtunity by slashing both swords across the man’s chest and double thrusting into his chest for a quick finish. The guard crumpled to the floor with a grotesque thud.
Kai ran down the hallway, careful to take notice of any movement. He could hear heavy footsteps from upstairs, as well as some shouting. He knew his entrance had woken the entire house, but he was more than ready to deal with them.
Halfway down the hallway a door opened up and two men entered into Kai’s line of sight. One was holding a sword, and the other was loading a small crossbow. Kai expertly threw one of his swords. The man with the sword was able to duck out of the way, but the crossbowman was struck in the chest. In reflex to the strike, the crossbowman jerked and the crossbow was fired, accidentally striking the other man in the leg.
Kai smiled at the sight of the two men writhing in pain. He sprinted towards them and finished the pair with a series of deft strikes before pressing onwards. This time, he left the second sword where it was and again pulled his dagger from its sheath with his left hand. As he neared the end of the hallway he could see a staircase and two doors. Kai decided that one door was undoubtedly the front door of the house, while the second door probably led to a cellar or basement area.
He was in the process of deciding whether to go upstairs or downstairs first, but then a large, heavily-muscled man came bounding down the stairs holding a large mace.
“You will die here,” the man growled. Then he lunged forward and swung his mace several times.
Kai stepped back, then to the side, and then back again to dodge the heavy strikes. He smiled at the large man and blew him a kiss. The large man became enraged and started to press his assault, but Kai flicked his dagger in an underhanded throw and the dagger sunk deeply into the man’s gut just above his right hip.