An Adept's Duty: The Scepter of Maris: Book Two

by James R Barnes

  "Good work, Anna. Leave the gag in place, but make sure he can still breathe through his nose," Miles stated calmly even while dismissing the flames.

  Borden spun the Chancellor around, and Barclay could see that the man had a globe of water in his mouth, filling it and holding it open. He might have looked like a roasted pig, if he was not so skinny. The Chancellor was also very wide-eyed and pale, hands immediately reaching for his mouth. Miles walked over to stand directly in front Sanders. A wave of his hands, and the Chancellor's arms shot back down to his sides.

  "Hold still. You would not want her to lose control and send all that water into your lungs, would you? I thought not. You are obviously here to find out about Lord Atwood's incarceration. That just might be in your favor... I am not convinced, however, due to your lack of intelligence. Also obvious, judging by the way you presumed to speak to the second most powerful man in the Kingdom. Now I could have allowed some leeway if you had been confused by the uniform, but as you called to him by title..." Miles shook his head sadly. "Well, there is no need for us to waste any more of the Lord Marshall's very valuable time. I will take him from here, Lieutenant." Miles waved at Sanders and the man stumbled forward down the hallway in the direction that Miles had come from.

  Before they had gone ten feet Miles turned back to speak again.

  "Oh, Lieutenant Borden? When you have some time, I would like to speak with you about defensive training for my Apprentice."

  "I will come see you before the evening meal. If you are not going to be in your quarters, please send a page to inform me."

  Miles nodded and continued on after his prisoner and Apprentice.

  "That was a neat little trick," Barclay mused.

  "Very. She is something."

  "I take it she has grown on you?"

  "I never had a problem with her in the first place. It was... Lord Miles Keller taking a twelve year old on a midnight raid in the Dumps."

  Barclay chose not to point out how Borden had believed the girl to be eight when she first found out. He waved the Lieutenant into his office and followed her in. "While it certainly is not even remotely appropriate for a normal little girl, those with the Gift are not afforded the luxury of normalcy. Hopefully, now that the secret is out things should be a little different. Miles has already told me that he plans on keeping her out of harms way whenever possible, but as I told him... with what is coming there are no guarantees."

  "I know, sir. I plan on..." Borden took a quick breath and let it out. "Apologizing about some of the things I said to him."

  Barclay grinned at the sour look on her face.

  "Only some?"

  "No need to get too carried away. I have to keep him in his place. The ego that man already carries around does not need any reinforcing."

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  Uninvited Guests

  Though she had inherited her father's love of the outdoors and thoroughly enjoyed doing the job of Scout, even she could sometimes wish she were anywhere else. Malina tried to think warm thoughts as she slipped lightly through the snow-blanketed forest, taking care to move as quietly as possible and keeping her senses turned outward. At least she was able to keep moving, the watch standers would not, and even though she knew Meric would have them rotate back to the fire often, it would still be miserable in this cold.

  Silent and efficient movement. Stay low and use the available cover, don't fight against it. She could almost hear her father's whispered instructions as she spent a few hours making circuits of the camp's surrounding area, hunting as she went. After dropping off a brace of snow-hares to the boys, it was only a few moments walk to pass beyond the perimeter that the watch had set. Then, it was more circling in an ever widening loop.

  She continued this for about two hours and was just getting ready to angle her path back toward camp, thinking to make it back just in time for supper, when something caught her attention. It was a sound that did not belong, echoing through the forest and she hunkered down even as she pulled the hood of her white cloak over her head. A few moments passed in absolute stillness before she heard it again. It was still too far away to make out exactly what it was, but now she had a general direction to work with.

  Much more cautious now, she worked her way farther from camp, heading north. The sun was still an hour or so away from setting, but the woods were steadily growing darker. Eventually she came across her party's trail from earlier and let out a soft sigh of regret, once more lamenting the fact that there was no practical way to hide the passage of a group the size of theirs. Certainly not in the snow, anyway. Moving slowly and scanning the area constantly, it took several more minutes to find the source of the disturbance.

  Malina only spent a few seconds studying the cause of the noise and counting before moving off and back toward camp. She moved low and quiet, but just a little faster until she had an adequate screen between her and the men she had spotted. Once she felt it was reasonably safe, she abandoned stealth for speed. Frustration was beginning to eat at her when she passed by Alyssa, who appeared to be taking her turn on watch. Even though she knew that James had made the only decision he could two days ago, she could not help the short-lived thought that they should have killed Talker and Runner (as James had referred to the would-be thieves) while they had the chance. The two men were now at the root of her frustration, as she had just seen them at the front of a party of twelve men, no more than fourteen, following her group's earlier trail. Slipping through the last of the trees and into the clearing her party using as a camp, she went straight to Meric.

  "Trouble," Malina said and watched Meric turn his full attention on her. "It looks like our two thieves from the other day were a bit more than what we thought. I just saw them a few hours walk back down our trail, leading a dozen or more men this way."

  "Unbelievable."

  Meric spent just a few seconds in quiet frustration. A feeling Malina was still working through herself. There was no reason for them to have done anything other than what they did, and no way they could have known those men were not alone. It was just bad luck.

  "Alright. They only truly know about four of us, but anyone should be able to tell from our trail that there had to be more... Everybody gather round!" His command snapped everyone's attention his way, and after a moment all were standing around the fire. "We have company coming. Seems our would-be throat slitters from the other day have some friends. Malina, how long?"

  "An hour, maybe a little less. They were not moving too cautiously, and they have an easy trail to follow."

  "Wood, see if you can gather some packs and blankets, mock up a few people huddled at the fire." The Sergeant nodded and dragged Westerly with him as he moved off. "We have a few real people and a few fake people at the heat source. Everyone else move off into concealment; make sure you are not along the trail leading in and give them some room to encircle the camp. I assume they will try that to some extent. Malina, after we are done here, go out and send the watch in. Let them think we did not set one... it is so cold tonight, they will probably not think about it too hard. Malina, Wood and I will find spots with good angles to cover those at the fire just in case they have any archers."

  "I imagine they would, knowing that we do," Malina supplied.

  "Right. Take them out first. Sorma, head to the cave; let them know what is going on. They can try to flank the party coming in." Malina could actually hear the woman's thick braid swishing through the air as she turned sharply and set off.

  "Silas, Westerly, James and Alyssa can sit at the fire, hoods up. That will give them the three men and a woman they expect. Wood... how many...?"

  "Three. We should be able to make them pretty convincing in the dark. We build the fire up good and high, it'll practically blind them to whoever's on this side."

  "Make it happen."

  At these words, Meric waved Malina off to get the watch standers, telling her to just send them in and he would explain and give them their orders.
As she moved away, the frustration was almost completely gone. They had work to do now. A simple plan that should work well. Easing her dagger in and out of the sheath, she slid back into the woods with purpose. With almost three to one odds and the fact that they should actually end up being the ones with surprise on their side, she felt much better with the situation.

  #

  After bumping his head for the second time, Brody huffed an irritated sigh and looked over at Fastil with narrowed eyes.

  "You know, all of the other short people caves I've been in at least had room for a man to stand straight." He was really trying not to sound like he was whining, but with his head now hurting he might not be succeeding too well.

  "Well, if there had not been a giant somewhere in your ancestry, you probably would not be having this issue. Besides, those places were all built back when there was open commerce with some of the tall races. Those of abnormal height moved through much of the Dwarven realm. It only made sense. If you were going to take most of someone's money, the least you could do was make sure they were comfortable while you were doing it. Right?"

  Brody opened his mouth to reply, but did not have one for that. Instead he shook his head, and ignored the chuckling of the other two Dwarves working with him and Fastil. Half of the group was searching the first level while the others worked on the second. There was at least one more below that, and could possibly be more. Brody, Fastil, Yelic and Gharis were even now heading to the stairwell leading down.

  "I almost wish I didn't know you well enough to know that was not humor on your part." He eyed his friend suspiciously while reaching down to pat his coin purse.

  The wounded look on Fastil's face would have made him feel better if it had not been so obviously fake. Brody was just about to respond with a devastatingly witty reply when they heard a shout from behind them. After a few seconds Sorma could be seen moving rapidly down the passage.

  "Captain! There's trouble on the surface. Commander Vettor needs us to help set a trap. Bandits approach," Sorma blurted out as she slid to a stop next to Maikus, who had just walked up to Brody's team.

  "Breathe, Sorma. We will call everyone back to the entrance. Did the Commander give you any specific instructions?"

  After a few calming breaths the Guardian answered in a more controlled voice.

  "Lieutenant Faber found them while she was out scouting. There are about a dozen, maybe more, headed this way. She said they are following our trail and should be here in an hour or less. The Commander is setting up trap at the camp and wants us to sneak out and flank them as they follow the trail in."

  "Very well. Everyone should be on this level or the one above. Start round-"

  A deep, loud roar came rolling up the stairwell next to them, freezing the group where they stood.

  "What the..." Brody's head slowly rotated in the direction of the sound.

  "That... that did not sound good." Fastil moved up next to Brody and they both focused on the passageway heading down.

  Yelic's mumbled curse was overridden by another angry call from darkness below. This time it was not as loud, but still projected the same menace.

  "Captain?" Fastil did not take his eyes off of the black hole they stood in front of.

  "Not sure... best guess would be a drake, but... it sounds odd, and... big. That, or it's right at the bottom of the stairs. Either way, we can't leave it at our backs. It might be able to fit through these passageways, and we've opened the way to the surface. We have to keep it from reaching the outside."

  "Well, Brody? Are you up for a little hunting trip?" Fastil did not even look at him.

  "Don't take this the wrong way, my friend, but sometimes I really don't like you." That actually received a bark of laughter from all of the Dwarves. Then Brody heaved a big sigh. "I guess, at the least we will have to take a look. If it's too big to fit through the tunnels, we can always come back to it after we deal with the bandits."

  "Truth. Sorma, the Commander's going to have to make due with half of what he was expecting, for now. You head that way. Send everyone back to the entrance. I'll go the other way and do the same... you can take seven with you from there. The rest of us will deal with this." Maikus started off even before he finished speaking. Both of them were quickly moving away down the corridors.

  "Maikus! Can someone bring my shield? I propped it at the bottom of the stairs on this level."

  The Guardian Captain waved, but kept moving.

  Brody glanced worriedly back down the passage in the direction of the entrance and then turned back to find Fastil watching him.

  "They will have to handle it without us, my friend. As much as I know you would like to be there to watch their backs, this is just as dangerous. We need you here."

  Brody snorted at his shorter companion.

  "If I didn't already know that, I'd be halfway to the exit by now. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

  Brody checked his axe to make sure it was loose, and then turned all of his focus back to the dark hole in front of him. The wait did not seem as bad as he was expecting, and soon Maikus gave the "all ready". Brody did not delay a second longer. He held his light aloft, gave a fleeting wish that he had not set his shield down, and stepped forward with Fastil at his side.

  #

  Meric waited near the entrance of the tunnel for Sorma, and ran through his plan again. It was simple, maybe too simple, but it would have to do on short notice. If they could surprise the people following them, then they should be able to minimize the casualties. Hitting the bandits hard enough from ambush just might be enough to overwhelm them. With more time to plan, and a chance to pick the battleground, Meric might have been able to end this before it even began. With a mental head shake, he sighed and shifted his feet. Thoughts like that were pointless. 'What if' only made you second guess yourself, and that would be counterproductive at this time.

  Thankfully, Sorma arrived and distracted him from his musing. When only seven other Dwarves arrived with her, Meric turned to her with the obvious question, and then looked back at the entrance.

  "Sorry, Commander. Seems there's trouble in the tunnels as well. A beast of some kind. Captain needs the others to deal with it. Where do you want us?"

  That was it with her. She told you how it was going to be and went on about her business. There was no use discussing the why of something that was not going to change. Stifling some choice profanities, Meric turned away from the hole and looked at the Dwarves.

  "Alright. You all see pretty well in the dark?" A short pause for all of them to nod, and he went on. "Sorma, take your Guardians and head north from here. Start to angle east after about a mile and a half or so and find our uninvited guests. Shadow them to the camp, and get in position to flank them. Do not attack until you hear me shouting, or they attack us."

  Sorma gave a sharp nod and then set off. Meric watched them for a moment and then made his way back to the others. As he entered the clearing he circled around the side he believed that the bandits would come in from and looked back toward the fire. Wood and Westerly had done a pretty good job. Meric could see how the fake people might look real enough; in the dark with the fire blazing high, the attackers would only see three huddled silhouettes. Satisfied, he headed off in to the woods on the other side of the camp and quickly went up the oak he had selected as his perch. Now it would be wait, and try not to rethink his plan and wonder how he ended up freezing his butt off in a tree instead of sitting in front of the fire.

  Constant movement and warm breath kept his fingers from going numb and clumsy. Thankfully the wait was not too terribly long. The group at the fire had been chatting in order to keep up the ruse, and shortly before they estimated that the guests arrived James launched into a story. His was a voice the men they had already encountered would probably recognize, so he gave them something they expected to find. The plan, like all plans in a fight, appeared to go belly-up almost right away.

  One of the bandits must have tripped in t
he dark, because a racket came from the north side of the camp that even Meric could hear from up in his tree. There was no way James and the rest could ignore it, and the Captain had to stop his story. Alyssa, bless that beautiful woman's heart, leaned in to Westerly's side and hugged his arm to her before speaking in a loud, fearful voice.

  "Is that a wild animal? You said it would be safe. What if it's a bear?"

  Westerly was quick to catch on and leaned over to grab another log for the fire, tossing it on and 'reassuring' her.

  "Nothing to worry about, dear. The fire will keep them at bay. Probably just a deer. We saw a few of those today." He patted her hand and told James to get on with the story as he added even more wood.

  James gave a look out into the woods across the fire, shrugged and carried on. All was quiet for a few moments other than James' voice, and then a rustle or two could be heard. Not as loud as before, but enough that the leader of the bandits must have lost his patience. A shout was let out, and then people started charging into the clearing. One of the group was not too lucky, as he went down with a loud grunt, tripping while he came out of cover. It sounded like two more were either turned around, or met some of Meric's people. Only nine entered the clearing around the fire, and two of them had bows. One was having trouble nocking his arrow when he stepped clear of the trees, but the other was not. She was good, and fast, and she got off a shot before Meric's arrow pierced her heart. Luckily, it was at one of the decoys, which toppled over with an arrow in the center of the 'back'. If she had aimed at the others she might have hit someone, since they were still diving over the large log they had been using as a bench.

  When Meric checked the other archer, the man was slumping to the ground with Malina's blue-fletched arrow sticking out of his chest. At the sight of this, Meric shouted out "Archers down!" and then maintained a watch over the campsite while the rest of his people moved in. Though he scanned the area continuously for any more archers or anyone having trouble, Meric was able to follow the action fairly well. Alyssa had moved in the direction of Meric's tree, and away from the fighting since they had agreed beforehand that they needed to avoid using her Gift unless they had no other choice. They could not chance anyone seeing it and then getting away.