“What was that?” whispered Trestan. The young man looked to his mentor with wide eyes, but Jareth seemed just as confused.
Sir Wilhelm set his cup down and crept towards the window. “Blow out the candles.”
Trestan snuffed the candles, while Jareth worked at the shutter latches. Most of the light now came from moon and starlight through the opening window. Sir Wilhelm looked upon the alley below, taking every bit of care to move quietly. The old warrior gazed out, but his ensuing reaction surprised Trestan. He withdrew to a crouch behind the window’s lower frame. Only his eyes peeked over the window ledge at the scene below. Whatever he had seen, the man did not wish to be spotted observing the alley below.
Sir Wilhelm turned to the young man. The look on his face, backlit by the window, revealed worry. “Something burned the dog. When that didn’t kill it, someone hit it awfully hard with an edged weapon. Foul deeds are at work outside. I don’t see anyone down there, but I can’t really see the street from here.”
It didn’t take long for Sir Wilhelm to decide upon a course of action. Trestan saw the firmness in his stride and purpose as he moved. The older man walked across the room and snapped his sword and scabbard up from its resting place over the mantle. He glanced back at his armor stand, momentarily considering it. The metal and chain protection would take time to don properly.
He whispered, “Abriana guide me.”
From outside came new sounds: a few horses riding by at a fast pace. They heard a voice, Sahbin’s, shouting “Hold right there! Stop what you are doing!”
Although Sahbin was the protector of the noble’s daughter, she still held the rank of captain of the guard as well. Whatever the situation, the swordswoman was racing her horse to deal with some perceived threat. Upon hearing the urgent manner of that shout, Sir Wilhelm shook his head, “Nay, not enough time.”
Leaving his armor unattended on its stand, he rushed to the door with only his sword. Due to the way Jareth preferred to swing his elvish sword with both hands, it left him without even a shield for protection. The young smith watched Sir Wilhelm move with some alarm on his own part. Before he knew it, Trestan was jumping to his own feet. He grabbed his staff and tucked his practice sword in his belt. He wasn’t really thinking about what might lie ahead, but he wasn’t about to sit in Jareth’s house and simply wonder what was going on. Both men dashed for the exit, unsure of what awaited outside on the street.
CHAPTER 3
Guard Captain Sahbin, dressed as always in her fine armor with sword in hand, looked down from horseback on the odd scene below. The group of three strangers tarried in front of the Church of the Sacred Harvest. Her scarred face examined each with a stern, professional gaze. Bortun held great axe in hand as if ready to use it. It was hard to read the facial expressions of the minotaur. The Tariykan named Loung Chao did not have his bladed weapon readied though he carried a length of bamboo. He stood calmly, unaffected by the tension around him. Revwar the elf stood with staff handy, standing tall and defiant. The three gave every appearance of being ready for a fight but displayed a calm front. Sahbin surveyed the scene with some curiosity. The holy relic of the church, the green stone, lay in the street near the shrine that normally held it. She looked for more details. At the hitching post of the church were the three adventurers’ horses, saddled and ready for a ride. Few people had good reason to ride into the wilds during the dark of night. Lady Shauntay and the young lady from Kashmer flanked the swordswoman, also mounted.
After watching what seemed like some odd happenings from afar, Sahbin assumed duty of constable and rode to confront the three strangers. It was her responsibility to Lord Tessald to serve as the village watch when not guarding the young noble. It concerned her that Lady Shauntay took charge instead of letting Sahbin handle it. The guard had plenty of experience defusing hostile situations while asserting her own authority, but to her own dismay she could hold no such control in the face of the stubbornness of Lady Shauntay. Sahbin saw potential disaster brewing, but the noble’s daughter outranked her.
The Tessald noble shouted at Revwar, “Surrender now! My father will have words with you. You will explain your intentions at this late hour and why you threaten me with drawn weapons.”
Revwar’s demeanor suggested he was not intimidated by the guard or noble. Sahbin doubted the elf would surrender willingly. He spoke with arms spread open. “We mean nay harm. Much as we would like to see your father and thank him for his hospitality in this town, we really must be going. I ask that your bodyguard put her sword away, as there is nay need for violence.”
This infuriated Lady Shauntay further. “Put her sword away? Ask the creature to put away his axe first and drop your staff too! I saw what you did! You will be held accountable!”
Bortun stepped closer to the three horses, tossing his head and snorting in anger. Sahbin moved her horse between the young noble and the minotaur. Her sword straightened threateningly towards the abomination’s horned head.
Revwar’s suddenly went cold and distant. His yellow eyes glared at the young noble, while his outstretched hands began to clench the air in front of him. “We would have preferred more secrecy, but it sounds like a good time for a certain wealthy lady’s kidnapping. Gaezel Kuostal!”
At those mystical words the mage pulled at the very air with his clenched fists. In the street a semi-circle of sand and dirt kicked up as something unseen originated behind the horsewomen. It was as if an invisible chain whipped across the surface of the street towards the wizard. All three horses ridden by the noble’s party stumbled as the unseen force tripped them from behind. Frightened screams came from horses and women alike. Sahbin tumbled free as her horse fell over. Lady Shauntay barely missed getting rolled over by her own horse as she hit the ground hard. Somehow, the horse trainer from Kashmer did not go down. The dust kicked up a choking cloud in the street. The first two horses rolled on the ground, frantically trying to regain their footing. Sahbin retained the grip on her sword and quickly struggled to her feet. Lady Shauntay writhed on the ground, making no effort to stand up. The other woman turned her horse to flee.
Loung Chao raised the bamboo rod to his lips, firing the blowgun. A long, needle-like blade flew across the short space separating him from the rider. The Kashmer woman jerked as the dart buried itself in a vital spot. She fell from her horse, the animal continuing to gallop down the street. The tripped horses of the noble and her guard staggered up and bolted from the scene.
Sahbin swore at her horse, expecting better training from it. She got her sword up and ready, for the minotaur was swinging his axe in lazy circles. His muscles alone made him an intimidating foe. Sahbin had to decide how best to fight these three opponents, conscious of the fact her assigned charge still rolled in the street near her. “Milady please get up! Run across the street; just get out of here!”
Lady Shauntay, blood in her hair, seemed off balance and disoriented. Loung Chao didn’t even draw his blade weapon, instead grabbing another long needle to load into his blowgun. Revwar reached into a pouch on his belt, calling to Bortun, “We have nay time for a weapon duel, even two on one. I shall take care of her quickly and we can ride out before townsfolk investigate.” The silver-haired wizard threw a cold glance at the guard. “You are outmatched.”
Loung Chao held the next dart in hand, but stopped to allow the wizard to deal with Sahbin. Bortun snarled but reluctantly gave way so the elf would have a clear line of sight to his target. The minotaur stepped closer to where Lady Shauntay. Sahbin would not be intimidated or try to run in the face of her duty. She shouted a war cry and lunged at the minotaur, making herself a harder target for the other two opponents. Revwar held some arcane reagent in his hands, cursing as the swordswoman moved to the other side of the imposing creature. Suddenly something zipped through the air. The wizard grunted as he was hit. Loung looked over to Revwar. A crossbow bolt stuck out of the elf’s side, blood already soaking his robes. The mage toppled on the raised wooden wal
kway in front of the church. The Tariykan human looked across the street. He spotted the assailant on the roof of the carpenter shop, directly facing the church across the main street.
Katressa “Cat” Bilil perched on the roof, outfitted in her black leather armor and metal helm. The half-elf used a claw attached to her belt to pull back the string for another shot. Loung realized he would have to deal with this new opponent. Up there she was no easy target for the minotaur, and she apparently thought the wizard was out of commission, leaving the owner of the blowgun as her next target. Loung Chao fit the needle into the blowgun.
Sahbin and the minotaur exchanged a few swift swings. The massive axe blocked her attacks, yet at the same time she avoided the deadly blade well. She saw the spell caster go down injured and the other human distracted, so she pressed the attack while she could. Never had she faced an opponent so physically challenging. Sahbin, very strong, often beat male warriors in physical competitions. Yet, the creature standing before her was a hulking monster. There was no way she could parry the great axe without an arm going numb, so she had to evade the swings. They circled a bit as they fought. Both combatants became aware of two other townspeople approaching. Sir Wilhelm and Trestan ran from the south end of the street. The time it would take them to run to the battle left a lot of time for something to go bad for the guard or the noble. Sahbin tried to get in close to the minotaur for a hit but he had a much longer reach with his axe. She avoided one long swing after another, never enough time to step inside his reach before his stance set to swing again.
The blowgun swung upwards as Loung aimed at the half-elf. She was about ready to fire as well, but the human beat her to the draw. A burst of breath and the dart sailed up towards its target. The distance and elevation proved a little more than Loung had guessed. The dart fell short and stabbed into the front wall of the carpenter’s shop. Now he faced a loaded crossbow pointed in his direction. The human warrior summoned up his mental disciplines and martial prowess. He didn’t attempt to reload the blowgun, instead focusing on the tip of the bolt aimed at him. Cat fired straight and true towards the warrior’s heart. At the last instant he turned an arm in front of him and spun around. Amazed at his speed, Cat wasn’t even sure if she hit or not. A moment later he completed his spin, holding the blowgun in one hand, but also Cat’s bolt in the other. He had caught the bolt! The man then clenched his fist with a grin, snapping the bolt then dropping it at his feet. One creative curse escaped her lips as she reached for her belt claw to reload. Loung reached for another dart.
Sahbin circled with the minotaur, attempting some new tricks. She tried a foot sweep to trip him, but her leg couldn’t get the reach to connect before she backpedaled to avoid a flurry of swings. She taunted him to swing and then aimed a blow at one of the hands holding the axe. Her blade struck the axe handle but missed flesh. The sword barely nicked the handle; it was made from some hard wood and would require several solid hits. She succeeded in getting the minotaur to fight more defensively, resulting in Bortun swinging his axe in a way that didn’t extend his reach as far as before. Sahbin got in closer and stabbed with her sword at his midsection. She still fell short of drawing blood. The village guard began breathing heavy as she continued to avoid the heavy axe.
Sahbin glanced at Lady Shauntay, distressed to see the noble sitting there in the street, hands on her head. The woman from Kashmer showed no sign of movement, apparently dead or unconscious. Bortun took advantage of Sahbin’s distraction and spun around twice, managing a few great swings she was forced to avoid. Finally Sahbin thought she might be able to stab past his defenses, she feigned exhaustion and pretended to be off balance from the constant evasion. Bortun took the bait. Holding the axe high over his left shoulder, he brought it across and down attempting to smash through her sword arm and finally deliver a solid hit. Sahbin actually dropped prone to avoid the swing, then bounced back up and lunged forward. Her sword finally pierced the minotaur in his side, stabbing through his thick animal-hide armor, drawing a grunt of pain from the creature. The great axe harmlessly bit into the street off to Sahbin’s left side.
Displaying typical minotaur resilience, he shrugged off the hit and swung while the swordswoman was still vulnerable. From its position on her left he swung the axe upwards and across, the reverse direction of his last swing. A shocked Sahbin raised her left arm protectively, but had no shield to block the blow. The axe blade sliced into her arm and launched her several feet away. She somehow retained her grip on her sword even as she landed in a heap. She weakly raised her head to look about and saw her severed left arm lying at the hooves of the minotaur. Blood gushed freely from a deep gash in the side of her chest. The strong arms and axe had sheared right through her chain mail sleeve and torn into her breastplate. She looked over to the noble. Lady Shauntay, still reeling from the head injury, tried to focus on the image of her injured bodyguard.
Sahbin’s words came out as a whisper, “I’m sorry I failed you milady. I tried my best…”
Bodyguard and constable, Sahbin dropped her head back to the street and died.
* * * * *
The action around the front of the church continued. A figure appeared from an alley alongside the church grounds. Dressed in black, the new arrival was as Katressa had foretold: darker and with sinister armor. The human woman wore blackened chain mail with dark designs attached to it. Some were scary images, but none more so than the holy symbol of DeLaris, Goddess of Death.
The Goddess of Death was not wholly evil, but she served as constant reminder to those living their lives in ways not pleasing to the gods. Many people who lived the wrong kind of life, whether evil or even misguided good, rich or poor, all shared an afterlife of torment at her hands. Her followers preach death as eternal and inevitable. The goddess herself once played a major part in the cataclysms of the ancient war, until even she realized that death out of control was chaos even unto her. DeLaris merely reaped the souls of the dead now, and passed them on to the afterlife they deserved, for good or bad. Her highest clerics could bring the dead back to life, but only to show the goddess’ control over death. At other times, her clerics used the power to simply bring forth the dead as mindless servants.
Finally, the missing female member of the adventuring party surfaced. Aside from her armor, she wore a flail at her side ending in a heavy, spiked metal ball. The abbess of the Death Goddess also displayed her dark holy symbol hanging from her neck by a chain. Pouches attached to her belt promised a number of miraculous tricks in store for her enemies. In the world of Dhea Loral, any god-given spells or powers were called miracles, whatever god provided them. A dark-gray half cape about her shoulders was the lightest colored clothing she wore. Short, blonde locks appeared at the base of the skull-shaped helm on her head. Cold, blue eyes scanned the street and appraised the conflict.
The most obvious need for her talents was the elf wizard bleeding to death near her. She held up her holy symbol and mouthed a few words of prayer to her goddess. Kneeling by Revwar, she grabbed the bolt and pulled it out with a quick jerk. The elf writhed and screamed, but her prayers continued. Unseen beneath his robes, the wound closed and mended. The effect was plain to see: he took in a deep breath and pulled himself back to his feet. Drying blood still soaked a portion of his robes, but the wound miraculously vanished.
Revwar retrieved his staff and bowed respectfully, “My thanks, Savannah. As always, you are a life saver.”
Midway across the street, Loung Chao stood closer to the carpenter shop and prepared to fire another round from his blowgun. Once again he was ready just before Katressa could fire. The dart flew at the half-elf and she attempted to dodge. Fast and agile, she moved out of the way just in time as it sailed past. Once again she brought up her own crossbow for a shot, and the martial artist steeled himself to concentrate on the bolt. A click and twang of the bowstring sent the missile on its deadly course. Loung watched it and spun again, his head whipping around hard.
Even
as he spun Katressa moved to reload her weapon. When looked in his direction Loung retrieved another dart…with her bolt clenched between his teeth. With an amused grin on his face, he bit down hard and snapped that bolt in two as well. Cat gaped and cursed, “Who are you? Nobody can do that!”
Sir Wilhelm Jareth and Trestan ran forward as fast as they could, concerned for Lady Shauntay. Sir Wilhelm drew his elvish sword out and tossed the empty scabbard aside. Trestan held his quarterstaff aloft as he advanced, but wasn’t sure how he was going to use it. They paused in their charge when they arrived close to the downed Kashmer woman. Sir Jareth observed her open, staring eyes, and the lack of blood flowing from the dart wound. “It’s too late for her.”
The minotaur stood closest to them, standing defiantly over poor Sahbin’s corpse. Bortun checked the wound at his side, judging it inadequate to cause worry. He took half a step forward, but stopped to glance at Revwar. He knew enough to avoid catching the edge of a spell.
Revwar raised his staff and glared at the two late arrivals. “We must end this before any more problems arise. Loung, stop playing and kill her! I’ll work on these two.”
Sir Wilhelm held a hand up for Trestan to stop. The elf aimed his staff at them and spoke in a strange tongue. Without further delay Jareth shoved Trestan away and dodged whatever was coming. A ball of fire shot forth from the staff, leaving a smoke streak behind it. The flaming sphere narrowly missed Trestan and instead landed harmlessly in the street just beyond him. Its fire quickly died out in the dusty street. Seeing the ineffectiveness of the spell, the abbess of the Goddess of Death pulled another miracle from her devotion. Savannah said a prayer then stepped forward. She seemed to pass into something unseen and disappeared.
The Earthrin Stones 1 of 3: Inheritance of a Sword and a Path Page 6