by Jamie Davis
Gold coins flying free and spilling on the cobblestones was another.
The crowd surged forward between Hal and the advancing guards, everyone scrabbling for their share of the gold now covering the market square's cobblestones.
The lead guard stopped, unable to push forward any further. Hal shrugged and shot him a smile before he and Kay turned and raced away. The crowd parted to let them go since everyone was focused on getting at the spilled gold.
QUEST COMPLETED - ESCAPE THE WARDENS' guards
1,500 experience points awarded.
HAL AND KAY ducked down the covered stone staircase leading to the base of the pier. Hal spared a glance over his shoulder to make sure no one saw them. The crowd was intent on the center of the market where the crowd trapped the guardsmen.
Reaching the base of the sea wall, Hal and Kay worked their way along it until they found the secret door and slipped inside, closing it behind them.
"That was a lot of gold to throw away, Hal," Kay said as they walked back up the passageway to their room.
"All part of the legend of the Hood. I steal from the rich and give to the poor."
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of, Hal. Who does that?"
"The Hood does, that's who. Consider it an investment in the good will of the common man. Trust me; it will pay off eventually."
Kay shot him a doubtful glance but didn't say anything else.
Hal pulled up his stats while they walked.
NAME: Hal Dix
Class: Rogue
Level: 6
ATTRIBUTES:
Brawn: 12 -- +2
Wisdom: 8
Luck: 20 -- +6
Speed: 12 -- +2
Looks: 8
Health: 32/48
SKILLS: Taunt - 2, Dark Vision, Acrobatic Dodge - 3, Hide in Shadows - 2, Sneak Attack - 2, Open Locks - 2, Find/Remove Traps.
Experience: 8,800/9,600
AS HE LOOKED over his leveling progress, Hal wondered if word of the Hood's exploits at the market was spreading even now.
He figured he could use the whole Robin Hood thing to bring the populace over to their side without too much trouble. Then he and Kay could continue pressing their assault on the Wardens and shut down their operations.
On arrival back in the underground room in the smugglers' tunnel, Hal couldn't wait to get out of his damaged armor. He was still slightly wounded, and he ached all over, especially around the still-healing slash across his chest.
Dropping the damaged breastplate on the floor, Hal glanced down at the scabbed over wound that stretched from one side of his chest to the other.
That was definitely going to leave a scar, unless this was all just a game. In that case, he'd have nothing but the painful, terrifying memory of the axe almost cutting him in half.
Hal marveled again at how real this whole place felt. It didn't feel like a dream or virtual reality or just a game anymore. He'd made friends here in the city of Tandon. The people were as real as any of his coworkers back at Arrantis Technologies.
The pain and terror of battle was real, too.
Kay groaned across the room. It looked like he was having trouble removing his armor's chest piece. He had his back to Hal and was pulling at a strap whose buckle had been battered and twisted during the fighting either in the market or earlier at the Slavers' Compound.
"Here, let me help you take that off," Hal offered. "I can take a look at that wound on your stomach, too."
Kay twisted away from him. "No, I've got it. I'm fine."
"You're not fine, Kay. Let me take a look."
Hal stepped around Kay and pulled at the front of his damaged leather breastplate. It came away suddenly, and Kay fell backwards on the floor. The padded shirt under the armor had been cut away, too, and Hal stood staring at his friend's perfect breasts, peeking out from under the torn fabric.
Kay rolled over, pulling the torn part of the padded shirt up and covering his...
Uh no, correct that...
...her nakedness.
Hal just stood there holding the broken piece of Kay's armor, staring down at his companion.
"Stop staring at me," Kay said, fumbling with the torn jerkin. "You didn't see anything, understand. NOTHING has changed."
"Are you kidding?" Hal said. "Everything's changed. When were you going to tell me the truth, Kay? If that's even your real name."
Kay stood up and turned to face Hal after managing to tie the jerkin closed with scraps of fabric.
"Nothing has changed, Hal," Kay pleaded with him. "Nothing can change. I have to keep fighting; you can't stop me."
"Why would I stop you?" Hal asked.
"Because I'm a woman."
"I don't care about that. I mean, I wish I'd known from the beginning, but I guess you had your reasons. I do have one question, though."
"What?" Kay asked, defiance blazing in her eyes.
"Was any of the stuff about yourself the truth? Were your parents really nobles killed by Emperor Kang's soldiers? Was any of it true?"
"Yes, Hal, it was all the truth. The only deception was when I let you believe I was a boy. It was a plan Selena, and I came up with when she first took me in. I killed my master and escaped. Everyone was looking for a woman. Selena cut my hair, got me men's clothes, and put me up in the Gilded Cage for a while. Everything was fine until I got caught sneaking into the Temple Warden's courtyard. They discovered I was an escaped slave but didn't know I was a woman. We were put in the same cell together, and you know everything else."
"So, is Kay your real name?" Hal asked after a pause.
"Kareena. It's Kareena. I'm the eldest daughter of Prince Jorim of Eldahar, and I have sworn to kill the Emperor and free this land from his evil hold."
"I'm sure you will succeed," Hal said. "In the meantime, your secret's safe with me. If it's all fine with you, though, I'll keep calling you Kay to keep up appearances. I kind of like it better anyway. Plus, it's short for Kareena."
Kay fell silent for a few seconds before answering.
"Thank you, Hal. Aside from Selena and the others at the Gilded Cage, you're the only friend I have. Now that all of them are either dead or gone from Tandon, it's just you."
"Well, don't get all weepy and stuff. I'm still a married man, and I don't want there to be any hanky panky."
"I don't know this saying 'hanky panky' but I can guess what it means, Hal. You don't have anything to worry about from me in that regard, I promise you."
"So, does this mean you're a real live princess?" Hal asked, a silly grin on his face. He bowed low, making a wide sweep with one arm as he bent over.
He stood up again when he saw the grim look on Kay’s face.
"My kingdom is no more; I'm no longer a princess. I'm merely Kay now, the woman who will kill the Emperor."
"We should get that made into a t-shirt. We could sell it online."
"Hal Dix, you are so strange," Kay observed. "Someday, I must travel to this far away land of yours. It seems full of wonders and magic."
"I think you'd find it boring and lacking in adventure. There's nothing there like what we're doing here. Fantasma is a much more exciting place."
"Excitement is not all it's cracked up to be, Hal. We almost died tonight. That Slaver Boss was tough. I would have never been able to take him on alone."
"Yeah, we make a good team, you and I."
Hal settled on the musty sleeping pallet on the floor. "I don't know about you, but I could use some sleep. Then we can see Colin about getting some new armor. I don't think we can repair what that axe blade did to our breastplates. Once that’s finished, we can plan how we're going to interfere with the Wardens next."
Kay lay down across the room. "I like that plan, Hal. I like it a lot."
"Peaceful dreams, Kay," Hal said. He rolled under his blanket and closed his eyes wondering how he'd missed all the clues to Kay's true identity before this. It didn't matter to him. She was the kind of badass woman he wan
ted his daughter to grow up to become.
Hal drifted off to thoughts of Cari growing older without him.
19
HAL WOKE up to a game message flashing across his vision.
8 HOURS OF AVERAGE SLEEP: Health +2
HE GROPED AROUND in the dark until he found the small table and the lamp. The worst part of sleeping in a windowless, underground smuggler's room was you had no idea what time it was when you woke up. Hal lit the lamp and turned it up until it filled the stone chamber with a warm glow.
The first thing he noticed was that Kay was gone. He panicked for a moment, thinking she'd left for good, then realized most of her gear was still there. She'd taken her swords with her but left her pack with all the gold.
She probably left to relieve herself, Hal thought. He decided to see about mending his torn jerkin. He thought he could use some spare strips of leather and one of his knives to piece the torn edges back together.
Hal chuckled.
No one in a game ever had to spend twenty minutes repairing their armor or clothes after a battle.
When he was finished with that mundane task, Hal set to cleaning himself up with the little bit of water in the pitcher and basin in the corner. He must be a mess because every time he wiped his face with a cloth, more smears of dried blood showed up on the wet rag he was using. No wonder it had been easy for the guards to identify them in the harbor market that morning.
Hal heard Kay coming down the tunnel. She was humming something.
"What's that song?" Hal asked when Kay entered carrying a wooden tray laden with food from the Chum Bucket.
"Just something from my home. I don't know the words. My maid used to hum the tune while she was doing chores around the palace."
"It sounded nice,” Hal said. “What's for dinner?"
He realized he hadn't eaten anything that morning. Their breakfast had been interrupted by the arrival of the guards.
"Fish stew," Kay said. "It doesn't smell that bad, actually."
"I don't think I care. I'm so hungry right now; I could eat a whale. Hand me my bowl."
"Me, too," Kay said, handing Hal one of the bowls.
Hal took the wooden bowl of stew and grabbed a spoon from the tray. He dug in and began to eat. Hal plowed through half of the stew before he looked up from eating.
"You know,” Hal said. “For a place called the Chum Bucket, it's got good food."
Hal reached over and tore off a piece of the long thin loaf of bread Kay brought with her on the tray. He sopped up some of the stew's gravy with it and took a bite, savoring the flavors.
"Any news from above?" Hal asked.
"Only that the town was buzzing with stories of the Hood and his exploits. It seems that while you were sleeping, the townsfolk have come up with an explanation of what happened at the harbor this morning. Apparently, you and I robbed a wealthy merchant and gave all the money to his mistreated servants, spreading the rest to the people in the market during your escape. Oh, and you helped get a little girl's cat down from a tree, too."
"What," Hal said, choking on his mouthful of stew.
Kay laughed. "Just kidding, but only about the girl with the cat. The other one was a story I overheard several people talking about.”
"Good, it will help us build a resistance if our reputation grows.”
" But where do I fit into these stories, Mr. Hood?" Kay asked.
"Robin Hood always had his band of merry men," Hal said. "Lord knows, every good superhero has their sidekick. That could be you."
"I'm no man's sidekick, thank you. I should be every bit as heroic as you," Kay argued.
"I agree. Look, back at the market; they were looking for both of us. No one knows which one of us the Hood is. So, we can both be the Hood. I want there to be some mystery about who the Hood is. It lends to the story that way and others can pretend to be us if they want."
"Why would you want that?" Kay asked. "Don't you want the credit?"
"What I want is to defeat the Wardens and free this city of their influence. Then I can find me a mage who'll send me back home to where I belong. That's what I want. Besides, this way the legend of the Hood lives on after I leave."
Hal finished his bowl of stew and popped the last piece of bread in his mouth. A notification scrolled past his vision.
FINE FISH STEW: Health +2
HAL GLANCED at his health status.
HEALTH: 36/48
HE STILL WASN'T FULLY HEALED. He needed to see about getting a few more of those health potions from Colin. That reminded him of the damaged armor.
"We need to visit the Caravansary Outfitters today and get resupplied with more gear. Do you think they'll still be open?"
"Colin’s shop is open at all hours as far as I know," Kay replied. “The caravans come into the city at all hours of the day and night.”
"Then let's pack up the remaining gold and head in that direction. I have a feeling we're going to need new armor if we're going to tackle the next Warden on our list."
Kay nodded, and the two of them suited up and headed up to exit via the Chum Bucket this time. Hal figured the harbor itself might be a bit chancy after the attack that morning.
It took them a half hour to trek back through town to the caravan district. They had to backtrack and take alleys twice because guards were searching travelers passing by. Hal wasn't sure they were looking for him and Kay or not, but they didn't need to take unnecessary chances.
Entering the ramshackle building that was the Caravansary Outfitters, Hal saw that Colin was helping another group of customers.
"I'll be right with you two," Colin called when he noticed them. "Let me finish up here with the distinguished Merchant's Warden and his captains."
Hal shot Kay a wide-eyed look when he heard who Colin was talking to and turned his back on the group. He didn't think anyone could recognize him from the probably vague descriptions they had, but it didn't hurt to avoid detection just in case. They slipped around a corner, found a dark shadowy section of the shop. There, he and Kay settled down to wait.
The murmuring voices of Colin and his customers got a little louder after a moment, and then the shop door opened and closed. Hal was about to peek out of his hiding place when Colin's mustached face popped into view.
"They're gone. You can come out now."
Hal stepped from the shadows.
"What did they want?" Kay asked.
"They were interested in purchasing additional weapons to equip new guards they planned to hire. It seems someone is killing them faster than they can replace them. That's a shame, don't you two think?"
Colin's grin and wink in Hal's direction told him the outfitter was perfectly happy with their campaign against the Wardens.
"Colin, we ran into a bit of problem with our armor," Hal began.
"Let me guess," Colin interrupted. "Your armor's got big, gaping holes in it. Am I right?"
"Uh, yes?" Hal said.
"You adventuring types are all the same. I give you top quality equipment at bargain prices and you crap all over it the first time you take it out in the world."
"In all fairness, Colin," Kay noted. "It was the second time we went out."
"First, second, it doesn't matter. It all shows a disregard for the hard work I do keeping quality gear in stock."
"If it makes you feel better, Colin, the armor worked really well. It only failed when a very big and sharp axe chopped on it," Hal said.
Colin stopped bustling around and looked up at Hal's description of the damage they took.
"You meant that gigantic axe the Slaver Boss carried, don't you?" Colin didn't wait for their answer. He waived them to follow him and started off towards the back of the store. "That monstrosity wasn't just sharp. It was enchanted, too. You should have brought it back to me. I could have exchanged it for another weapon more to your class and liking."
"Our hands were full getting Selena's girls to safety," Kay said.
"Oh, yes, well that
makes sense," Colin replied. "Good work on that, by the way. It was terrible what they did to Selena."
"And yet you still do business with them." Hal couldn't resist the quip.
"Never mix business with personal feelings, that's my mantra. It's kept me out of trouble with many factions over the years, and I plan on sticking around a lot longer."
"I don't think the Wardens will see it that way, Colin, if they figure out you're outfitting us," Kay said.
"I'm sure they know or at least suspect I'm helping you in some regard. It's not like there's anyone else in town to go to for these sorts of things. In any case, they know better than to cross me or violate the prohibition of violence anywhere within a hundred yards of this shop." Colin glanced over his shoulder with a wicked grin on his face. "I can be very disagreeable if you don't respect my rules."
Hal wondered if Colin wasn't deceiving himself some over the inviolability of his shop. Selena's establishment seemed to be well connected, too, and look how that ended.
Colin stopped at a wall filled with suits of armor of all types and sizes. There was leather, scale and chain mail, metal plate armor, even some sort of laminated armor like Hal had seen once in a Japanese art exhibit back home.
"Look around, try things on and see what fits your style. I'll be right back with the rest of the things I think you’ll need."
Colin disappeared around a stack of breastplates before Hal could ask him how he knew what they needed.
Kay shrugged and started looking at the smaller sets of armor. Hal checked out the leather and spotted one black leather breast plate that had metal studs in the leather all along its surface. It was still light and supple enough for a rogue to use but offered a little more protection than leather alone.
Hal lifted the armor off the rack and slipped into the clamshell-like arrangement with one arm inserted and then closing the armor around his torso. He attached the straps and buckles until he had the armor cinched down tight then did a few deep knee bends and twists to see how it felt.
Kay had found a set of deep brown leather armor and tried it on. It fit her very well but still hid the curves and attributes that marked her a woman. Hal could pick them out now that he knew her true identity, but to a casual observer, they'd never know she wasn't a man.