“I just had three customers in here sir” Ezra replied. “A knight of Justice and two city watchmen. They wouldn’t tell a boot maker any of their plans and I am not stupid enough to ask for them”.
“Where is your father?” the woman said walking up to Ezra.
“He has fallen ill Ma’am” Ezra replied. “A stomach issue”.
“You did nicely on my boots” the woman replied. “But you were not around for your reward”.
“Enough of this” the male Unarmored snapped. “Find a plaything on your own time. I passed by here a day ago and felt someone near here. Right now I can tell there was someone here that had since left. I want to know all about your customers”.
“I am not sure what you are asking Sir” Ezra replied. “There is always someone in the store or near it”.
“I mean an Unarmored!” the man snapped. “There was Unarmored in the store, where are they now?”
“An Unarmored Sir?” Ezra said acting confused.
“Someone like me and her” the man snapped. “Where is this person?”
“You are the only bald people I have seen all day” Ezra replied. “My last three customers before you came in were together. The man in the shiny armor was scary looking but he said nothing. The other two walked around the shop for a bit then left. They come by often, normally to bring me a boot print they took out of mud and ask me if I remember who I sold it to. That is the only people that have been in here Sir. That Knight guy was a big one, if you don’t mind me giving advice I would stay away from him. I am a big guy but he looks like he could break me in half”.
“I am not scared of some Knight” the man snapped. “The second any of that party comes in here again, I want you to get their names”.
“What if they don’t give them to me?” Ezra asked.
“They will, just tell them Arek and Kiona ordered it” the Unarmored said as he turned to leave.
“Sir” Ezra replied. “I am a boot maker, if you were them would you believe I was given a mission by people like you?”
“He has a point Arek” the woman Ezra now knew was named Kiona said. “He is a bit simple in the head, despite his size not even the Knights have shown interest”.
Arek turned around and walked up to the counter and drew his red sword. Arek stood on a chair and hefted the blade, then drove it into the counter about three inches. The sword stood straight up and made Ezra jump, even the soldiers that came in with them were amazed by the power.
“They will see that and give themselves up or I will take you to their hall and line them all up” Arek replied. “I will be back for my sword in two weeks’ time, if anything happens to it, then you and your father will suffer”.
Ezra watched them walk out and let out a sigh of relief. The Unarmored was so worried about finding another Unarmored that he did not notice he couldn’t feel Ezra. Ezra closed down the shop after an hour to avoid suspicion and looked for the address of Jerold’s son. Ezra hadn’t even known the man had a son until now and soon found it. The sword would stay where it was while Ezra left, he didn’t know if the thing was dangerous or carried some weird magic and thought Jerold should be the one to touch it. Ezra went to the son’s address and almost fell down when he saw who answered the door, it was the beauty from the tavern he fleeced a few months ago.
“You!” the woman said as Ezra backed away.
“I am here to see Jerold” Ezra explained as he held his hands up.
“Celeste who is it?” came a deep male voice.
“It’s the guy who robbed us” the beauty screamed as Ezra reached back and grabbed his long dagger.
Ezra could feel there were four people in the home, one of them was definitely Jerold as he shown brighter than the rest. The beauty who was called Celeste was angry and wanted a fight, he didn’t need to be Unarmored to tell that. The big man who had to be the guy that bashed Ezra over the head came to the door. He looked shocked as well but held none of the anger, finally Jerold came to the door and made them all move away.
“I see you already made acquaintance with my idiot son and his brood” Jerold laughed. “I heard about someone robbing them, never figured it would be you”.
“I didn’t rob anyone” Ezra replied. “They tried to cheat and got outsmarted by a bigger cheater”.
“You had skills they didn’t” Jerold replied. “Come on in, tell me about what happened”.
Ezra relayed the story to Jerold who was angry at the news. Jerold believed the Unarmored had the ability to sense Unarmored. He could pick up a residual and was obviously skilled since he had not only made a blood sword but had left the weapon. Jerold promised he would take Ezra eventually to make his own sword but doing so would let everyone know he was an Unarmored whenever he drew the blade. Well either an Unarmored or an impostor but I doubt many of those will be left breathing if they run into one of the Sullied. The old man Ezra beat in Forks was actually Jerold’s son Jerry, Jerold had him when he was ninety which made the old gambler 60. The big man was Jerry’s son Albert who was almost 40 and the beauty was Albert’s daughter Celeste. Jerold answered the question about where their spouses were, Jerold’s of course was dead, Jerry’s had died during childbirth, Albert’s left him and at 20 years old, Celeste didn’t want to get married just yet.
“How long did you scout us out for?” Jerry asked. “I had never seen you before that night”.
“I never scouted you out” Ezra asked. “I am guessing you are assuming I work alone”.
“You have a partner then” Jerry asked. “You had all our moves scouted, especially switching the cards under the table”.
“Don’t forget about you trying to force cards” Ezra replied. “But I think I was winning before that”.
“You were cheating” Celeste replied. “You could read emotions and used that against us”.
“I didn’t know it at the time and remembered getting bashed in the head by a chair” Ezra replied. “And someone tried to rob me, sorry about the dagger by the way”.
“I was stupid to get into with you anyway” Jerry replied. “Albert should have handled that, the stab you gave me reminded me I am supposed to be the brains. To tell you the truth I haven't had fun like that in years. Someone even stole my purse”.
“I am sure I have no idea what you are talking about” Ezra replied. “I was bashed in the head then had to hide from Albert as he went hunting for me”.
“Where did you go by the way?” Albert asked.
“On the roof” Ezra chuckled. “Slept up there until morning”.
“Well I stayed looking for you all night” Albert laughed. “No one in the tavern knew who you were and you were not dumb enough to hit any other taverns. We are far from the only cheats in Laton, the rest of them though are too blatant and are easily caught. We only operate sparingly or at big money games, I knew with payday coming about there would be a lot of silver to be had. It helps pay for this place and give granddad something to do”.
“I wondered how the angriest bootmaker in Laton made ends meet” Ezra replied. “Especially with the Unarmored around here”.
“We are going to have to deal with them eventually” Jerold replied. “The one with the sword definitely will be back. Maybe it is time you go to what is passing as the great council. The Unarmored can't stay in Laton forever, they are still in a war with the rest of Azard and their strength will be needed. Now though I have been keeping tabs on all the Unarmored in the city, I won't be caught like that again. The time it takes for us to have a leisurely travel to the council should be about two weeks, then we still have to perform the sword ceremony and get back. The Fale are having a hard time with the Azardian army now, I think all of their Unarmored assets will be called to the front”.
“I have to tell Alex” Ezra replied. “I don’t want him to worry and he is the only reason my life was saved”.
“Do that then” Jerold replied. “I think we should leave tonight, do you have a go pack?”
�
��Alex always makes me keep one for just in case” Ezra replied. “I can grab it and meet you back here”.
Ezra walked over towards the store Alex was at and could tell right away something was wrong. Ten Fale soldiers were piling outside of the building and Ezra could hear fighting inside. Alex was drug out by three Fale soldiers, he was bloody and looked like he was knocked senseless. They put him on his knees and one drew his blade, they were going to behead Alex right in front of the store. Ezra pulled the long dagger and stabbed a soldier that was not paying attention to him through the back of the neck then sliced open the neck of the soldier next to him. The soldier about to kill Alex turned towards him with a real sword drawn. Ezra latched his tendril on to him and just knew when the man was going to move and how quick. The swipe was easily dodged as Ezra stabbed the man in the eye socket then withdrew his blade. He was still left with ten opponents and wished he could latch on to all of them. Ezra wanted to see if he could quickly switch his tendrils to different foes when he discovered he didn’t need to, he had more than one.
Ezra had only trained with Jerold and had no reason to see if he could latch on to more than one person, although having more than one tendril was extremely rare it was not unheard of throughout Unarmored history. Ezra instantly knew where every man was, the weapons they had and the moves they were going to make. Ezra doubted he even needed his eyes to tell their moves but kept his opened as he pulled out a knife and threw it hard, catching a man by surprise as it landed square in his chest. Ezra already had another out and tossed it, his opponent tried to dodge but was caught in the shoulder as Ezra threw another one at another man and charged. The men had a decent plan, they fought like soldiers and surrounded Ezra and were willing to lose a member to eliminate the threat. Ezra thought to himself that if he ever made it out of this, he would train his body to be able to take on the stress and gain quicker reflexes. Ezra killed the first man quickly, the rest had him surrounded but Alex had come to his senses and picked up a sword from a fallen soldier and gave Ezra just enough time to take out another foe. Alex and Ezra soon had a system, none of the Fale could take their eyes off of Ezra, he was too fast and proved to be a deadly fighter. The problem they had though was that Alex was picking up throwing knives from Ezra’s victims and were tossing them at the backs of the enemies or trying to run them through with the sword. Anyone who paid attention to Alex found themselves besieged by Ezra and killed. Soon all ten men were killed but Ezra wished he was paying attention, if he was he would have noticed the power of the two Unarmored coming up to the fight. The female had he claws and the male reached down and picked up a blade.
“I was told there was an Azard soldier here” Arek said as he twirled the sword around. “It turns out I found him and the Unarmored I was looking for. I will give you an option, kill your friend and I will become your trainer, you will be made into Sullied. Do not kill him and you will both…”
Ezra had masked his movements and pulled out a throwing knife and tossed it in one motion. Arek was taken by surprise and raised his arm perfectly to intercept the weapon, Arek now had a projectile sticking out of his forearm. Alex grabbed the other two daggers Ezra always had on him, they were about ten inches and used for more up close work and went after the Kiona. Ezra could not help him out as Arek charged and began the fight. Arek was fast, not quite as fast as Ezra was but he had a lot more experience. Arek went into forms Ezra had never seen and Ezra was sure if he couldn’t read Arek then he would be dead already. Arek though was getting small cuts all over him, Ezra hoped he had enough in the tank to outlast him when he heard Alex scream. Kiona was holding her shoulder, it was bloody but she had the dagger that did the damage. Alex though had a face covered in blood and looked to be ripped apart and had fell. His scream gave Arek just enough time to stab Ezra in the shoulder and trip him to the ground. Arek snarled and held the sword up, as the sword started coming down an arrow barely nicked his neck. Arek grabbed at the flesh wound and gave Ezra enough time to jump to his feet and push Arek away. Another arrow hit Arek in the thigh, Kiona now was looking behind Ezra and had her attention focused. Ezra could not believe it when Albert appeared holding the red sword and stabbed her through the back with it. Kiona went down screaming, Arek turned to face Jerold who had his spear out and jabbing. Arek had a tough time trying to get around it, Jerold was able to hold him off and whoever the archer was had a bead on Arek and soon filled his legs with arrows. If the archer could aim a little higher then the fight would be over, as is Jerold was having the fight of his life trying to keep Arek busy and away from focusing fighting Albert instead of just defending. Albert was doing great damage with the red sword, it was tearing chunks out of the other blade. Alex charged and buried a blade intp the back of Arek and rolled just as Jerold impaled the Unarmored. Albert made sure he was dead with a swipe of the sword and the man’s head rolled on the ground.
“What the fuck was this about” Albert yelled as he looked at Ezra.
“Don’t know” Ezra replied as he looked at Alex.
“We have been made” Alex replied trying to press together his ruined face. “Captain Hansel was a spy, he saw me and brought over the Fale. Did you get the knobber?”
“I never saw him” Ezra replied.
“Figures” Alex replied. “He came to drag me out with a bunch of soldiers and didn’t realize I was armed. When the first one died he ran, thank whatever gods that are listening that you showed up. If I would have died you would not have any idea why and would have been next. Hansel bragged about being a spy and said it was his mission to find and kill any Azardian soldiers. We can't stay here Ezra, and with all these looky lou’s we just put your new friends in the middle of this shit”.
“You are a soldier?” Albert asked.
“Yes, maybe a couple of months before you met me at the tavern” Ezra replied.
“And you?” Albert said looking at Alex.
“Guilty as charged” Alex replied. “Can we talk about this later? Preferably after we get the fuck out of here”.
“Ezra start checking these bodies for money and weapons” Alex said looking down at the men. “I have a few inside that I will check then let's get home as quick as we can. Your go pack should be packed, I have a way out of the city without too much notice”.
“I have a better way” Jerold said quickly. “Meet me at my house in no less than an hour. If you are too slow then you have to find your own way out”.
“We will be there” Ezra replied as he and Alex took off on foot.
CHAPTER 6
It is the will of nature for the strong to rule and the weak to be ruled. The new Sullied will learn from the fall of the Dex, all Unarmored will be unified under one warlord. Any who resist will be eliminated.
-Telrin Fallow, Warlord of the Sullied
“You sure this is the place?” Alex asked as he looked up at the mountain.
“Father it has been a long time since you have been here” Albert said as he looked back at Jerold. “I don’t even think you know any Unarmored outside of Ezra. The people you knew have probably long since died”.
“This is the place” Jerold snapped. “There have been many temples set up but this is the first one. The rest of you should set up camp somewhere, this part of the journey only me and Ezra can take”.
Ezra wanted to ask how Jerold was going to make it up the mountain but the old man had surprised him many times. As soon as Ezra showed up to the house there were workers already there carting away the last of his possessions and boarding up the house. Jerold already had plans in place in case he had to leave and an associate of his would sell the house and give him the money whenever Jerold traveled back. When Jerold’s home was discovered it would be just another empty home. The secret room though is what impressed Ezra. It was almost impossible to detect and there was a tunnel dug, it had to take years if not decades to complete. The tunnel led under the city gates to a small house in the woods. It already had two horses, a wagon and other supplie
s waiting and had taken a lot of time off their trip. Jerold had been keeping his power stretched out and had not reported any pursuers.
“Well let's go boy” Jerold said as he climbed out of the wagon and took his spear that doubled as a walking stick. “Bring us a pack, this is more than a day’s trip.
The path up the mountain was hard to make out but Jerold followed it like he had been there many times. No one who had never been wherever they were going could accidentally stumble upon the place, the path led into and out of the mountain several times. It took longer than a day, Jerold let him know the path was carved out with older members in mind. There was a quicker path somewhere but he had never taken it. It was almost dark on the second day when Ezra stepped into a valley in the center of the mountain. As soon as he stepped into it, he could feel different power signatures come into existence and looked at Jerold.
“The mountain itself blocks your power from sensing anything inside this valley” Jerold began. “It also makes it impossible to sense anything outside the mountain as well. You may have noticed you cannot feel your friend or any of my family”.
“Here comes someone” Ezra said as a man walked up carrying a sword.
“What are you doing here?” the man snapped as he got into a fighting stance and kept his eyes on Ezra. The man looked about forty and had a brown beard speckled with gray. Ezra couldn’t help but noticed he was missing an arm at the elbow but it still did not make this man any less dangerous. The man had long hair which he let flow freely over his shoulders.
“I found this student and have been training him” Jerold replied. “I have showed him all I can, I want him to undergo the Blood Sword ritual”.
“Training him?” the man said looking at Jerold. “And who are you?”
“Someone a lot older than you” Jerold snapped. “Are you going to welcome my student or not?”
“What is your name?” The man asked Ezra as other people started coming out of the buildings and walking over.
The Blood Blade Page 5