Master Tuppin nodded. “Seems things may have changed. And if they are infesting that place, it’s going to make trade through here all the more difficult.” He turned his attention back to their prisoner. “Who’s your leader?”
“Mackum the Red.”
“He’s dead,” Peter said.
The man shook his head. “No,” he laughed. “He is very much alive.”
“This is bad news indeed.”
Rojer returned from inspecting Midden’s wagon.
“Well?” Master Tuppin questioned.
“It looks like they managed to steal the Oriu’s Chest.”
“Damn them!”
“Anything else?” Midden asked.
Rojer shook his head.
Master Tuppin put his hand on the bolt and the man braced for pain. “Will they return to the fort?”
“I don’t know…” he said then gasped with pain when Master Tuppin twisted the bolt. “I don’t know!” he cried. The cry turned to a gurgle and his head slumped forward.
Larko checked him them shook his head.
“Toss him in the woods along with the others,” Master Tuppin said. He then glanced back to where Jaikus and Reneeke were pulling a section of the fallen tree to the side of the road. “Midden, return to your wagon and bring it up here.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And tell our Adventurer’s I have a job for them.”
He eyed the caravan master thoughtfully. “You know that’s suicide.”
“Yeah,” Larko added. “Mackum will kill them for sure.”
“Do either of you want to face Oriu and explain to him that we lost his chest?”
Midden shook his head.
“Then tell our young Guildsmen I want to speak with them.”
Nodding gravely, Midden turned and walked back to his wagon.
“They might not take the job,” Rojer said.
“Reneeke might not,” Peter said. “But that Jaikus will. He won’t be able to resist the lure of fame.”
Larko nodded. “Going to get him killed some day.”
“Most likely,” Somak said. “Let’s hope it’s not today.”
“Boys,” Midden said as he came to where Reneeke and Jaikus were finishing clearing the road for his wagon, “the Master wants a word with you.”
“Okay,” Reneeke replied. Walking to the side of the road, he tossed an armful of debris into the bushes.
Jaikus pulled three long branches that they had removed and laid them alongside the road. “What does he want?”
“Better let him tell you.”
They tossed a few more of the smaller limbs out of the way then went to see Master Tuppin.
“Got a job for you two,” he said when they arrived.
“A job?” Jaikus questioned.
“That’s right. The bandits took a small chest that we need to recover. I want you to follow them to their camp and steal it back.”
Reneeke turned thoughtful; Jaikus’ eyes danced in delight.
“There are thirty golds in it for you if you can get it back.”
“Thirty golds?” Jaikus asked, excited.
Master Tuppin nodded.
“I don’t know,” Reneeke said. “There are still a lot more of them than we can handle.”
“We believe there to be thirteen left,” Rojer said. “We already took out quite a few.”
“Still....”
“Come on Rene,” Jaikus said. “We can do it.”
“On foot?”
Master Tuppin realized he would have to sweeten the pot.
“I’ll give you two healing scrolls and another scroll of Fireball.”
Jaikus’ eyes widened. “Fireball?”
Master Tuppin nodded. “Yes, so don’t use it unless the target is a ways away else you’ll get burnt too.”
“That might work,” Reneeke said.
“And as always,” Somak said, “you get to keep whatever you find while you are there.”
“Throw in two more scrolls of healing and you have yourself a deal.”
“Rene!” Jaikus said, afraid he was going to nix the deal.
“Can’t do that, son,” Master Tuppin said. “But instead will add a scroll of Cause Harm and one of Magic Missile.”
“Come on, Rene,” Jaikus urged. “We can do this.”
Reneeke glanced from the caravan master, then to Jaikus and sighed. “Very well. What do we know about the bandits?”
“Like you already know, there are at least thirteen. The leader is Mackum the Red.”
“Mackum led a force of several hundred during the Raids of The Four Rivers,” Larko said. “Bad news from what we hear. Most thought him dead.”
“Your best bet is to sneak in, grab the chest and get out before they know you are there,” Rojer said.
“Once you have the chest,” Master Tuppin said, “rejoin us on the road or meet us in Split Oak.”
“What does the chest look like?”
Master Tuppin pantomimed a chest sized roughly a foot square on the bottom and rising to six inches. “It’s silver and adorned with numerous gems.”
“Nice,” Jaikus said.
“But don’t open it,” warned Master Tuppin, “not that you should be able to. But there is a fell curse guarding it that will trigger if opened improperly.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Reneeke said. “We have no interest in the contents.”
“If they have managed to open it, make sure the contents are in it when you take it. Empty it’s of no use.”
“What’s in it?”
“Three rings sitting upon pillows of soft velvet,” Master Tuppin explained. “Each is identical to the others. A gold band set with a trio of stones; diamond, onyx and ruby. Get those rings even if you can’t get the chest.
“Will the curse affect us if we handle the rings?”
He shook his head. “The curse only activates when the chest is opened. After that, it’s safe.”
Sighing, Reneeke said, “Very well.”
“We have reason to believe they will be at the old fort I told you about,” Larko said.
Master Tuppin pulled out his chest. Pressing both thumbs on oval indentations, he pushed with them and the ovals receded. A ‘click’ was heard and the lid popped open a fraction of an inch. He then opened it fully and pulled out the five scrolls he promised.
Two had green borders, one had a red seal keeping it shut, another a black line down the side and the last what looked like several drops of dried blood.
He handed the green bordered ones to Reneeke. “These are the healing scrolls. This one with the red seal is the Fireball; the black line is the Magic Missile and this one is the Cause Harm,” he said as he handed them over with the one bearing the drops of dried blood.
Once Reneeke was in possession of them he explained their workings and the activation words for each. “Remember, don’t hold the scrolls and use the activation words unless you intend to use them.”
“We know how a scroll works,” Jaikus said.
“What scrolls you don’t use are yours to keep.”
Reneeke nodded. “We appreciate that.” Then he turned to Jaikus and handed him one of the healing scrolls and the Magic Missile.
“You boys better get going,” Master Tuppin said.
“Here. Take this.”
Reneeke turned to find Peter holding out a coil of rope. “Thank you,” he said, slipping it over his head and allowed it to lay across his chest.
They grabbed their packs and put their new scrolls inside.
“We’ll be back,” Jaikus said matter-of-factly.
“I’m sure you will, lad,” Master Tuppin said.
Reneeke shouldered his pack and headed down the road. Jaikus walked along beside.
As the caravan got underway, Rojer rode next to Master Tuppin. “Think we’ll see them again?”
“I hope so. I like those boys.”
Chapter 7
The road to the Fort came into view while the s
un remained low on the horizon. Running, they turned onto the road and headed toward the Fort.
“Now this is more like it,” Jaikus said. “No more babysitting slow moving wagons.”
Reneeke kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he focused on the road. In the dirt were clearly hoof prints from several different horses. A fallen branch recently broken beneath one indicated that the bandits had come this way after the attack.
“Maybe there will be treasure within the old Fort we can find…”
He scanned the road further down, keeping an eye out for any movement that might indicate a lookout. The road worked its way through forested hill country wherein bandits could easily hide.
“What do you think?”
Realizing he hadn’t been paying attention to Jaikus’ ramblings, he shrugged. “I don’t know, Jaik.”
“Take it as it comes. Good idea.”
They continued for another hour, alternating between running and walking to conserve their strength. Shadows grew long with the day coming to a close.
“Getting dark, Rene,” Jaikus said.
“Good. It will make it harder for them to see us.”
About then movement from down the road prompted Reneeke to grab Jaikus and dash into the trees. A lone rider crested a hill then disappeared behind another as he followed the road. He emerged again where the road rounded the hill and then flattened into a straightaway that passed the hiding place of Jaikus and Reneeke.
As the rider approached, they hunkered down behind bushes and peered between their branches.
Middle-aged and armed to the teeth, the man’s face was turned into a scowl. He kept a rigorous pace and flew by without realizing he had been watched.
Once he disappeared around another hill, Reneeke stepped from the bushes.
“Wonder where he’s going?” Jaikus asked.
“Don’t know, Jaik. But he didn’t have the chest.”
“One less for us to worry about.”
Reneeke nodded. “Come on. We need to get there and find that chest.”
It took another three hours before lights appeared on a hilltop far in the distance. Night had set in with a vengeance by that time and the moon had yet to rise.
“There it is, Jaik.”
From that distance, they couldn’t tell if anyone was about. They continued on.
The Fort passed in and out of view as they worked their way among ever taller hills. Still a ways away, Reneeke brought them to a halt.
“What is it?” Jaikus asked.
Sniffing the air, he said, “Smell that?”
Jaikus cocked his head to the side, took a sniff, and said, “Smoke?”
“Exactly,” he whispered. “Somewhere nearby there’s a fire.”
“Where?”
Reneeke shook his head. “I don’t know, but it is close.” He searched the hills for a tell-tale glow. “Far closer than the Fort.”
“Must be a lookout,” Jaikus said.
“That’s what I was thinking. Let’s take it slow and keep an eye out.”
“Kind of hard to do that in the dark.”
“True. But at least they will have the same problem.”
They followed the road, only now they kept it to a walk. Not long after that, Reneeke spied a very subtle glow coming from behind a hill to their right.
He pulled Jaikus close. Pointing, he said, “Over there, Jaik.”
“Should we take them out?”
“No,” Reneeke said. “We can’t afford to alert them to our presence.”
“Right…”
“We’ll sneak past. They are likely listening for riders.”
“If we can’t, then we take them out?”
“Only if we have to, Jaik.”
Moving quietly, they hurried down the road.
The glow from behind the hill gained in intensity as they approached. It remained subtle and had they not been on the lookout for it, probably would never have noticed.
As they came abreast of the hill, they kept to the far side of the road. Reneeke slowed their pace and they crept past. The hillside opened up and through a very narrow gap, they saw two men sitting in the glow of a well-shielded fire. Their conversation was muted and they were unable to make out what was being said.
The boys continued past. Once down the road a ways, they picked up their speed as they continued toward the Fort.
“That was close.”
Reneeke nodded. “If we had been on horses they would have heard us for sure.”
“Fortune is smiling on us, Rene.”
“Could be.”
From there, the road grew steeper as it worked its way higher into the hills. The lights from the Fort played peek-a-boo through the trees and around the hills where the road curved. Finally, they rounded a hill and the road opened up all the way to the Fort.
It curved slightly as it worked its way up the hill to the plateau-like top whereupon the Fort loomed.
A curtain wall surrounded a small Keep. Torches burned to either side of the gate which stood closed. The area before the gate appeared deserted. On the wall above stood two men.
“The rest must be inside,” Jaikus surmised. “How are we to get in?”
“We’ll check around the outside and see if there is another way.”
Moving up the hill, they drew near to the area illuminated by torchlight. They remained some distance away, keeping to the shadows so as not to be seen. Moving around to the right, they followed the Fort’s outer wall in hopes of discovering another way in. Reneeke kept an eye on the men atop the wall. Deep in conversation, neither took notice of the shadowy pair moving in the dark.
The curtain wall proved formidable. Easily thirty to thirty-five feet in height, it had crenellations where defenders could remain protected while raining arrows down on those attacking.
“How are we to get in?” Jaikus asked. “The front gate?”
Reneeke shook his head. “That would be suicide I’m sure.”
“Then what are we to do?”
“Give me a moment, Jaik.”
Reneeke eyed the crenellations then glanced to the forest at the edge of the clearing. “I think I have an idea.”
Moving to the trees, he hunted in the dark for a suitable piece of wood. He finally found one that was thick, long and not too heavy. Using a fallen tree, he leaned the piece of wood against it and stomped on it with his foot. He broke the ends off until it was the length he desired.
Taking the wood with him, he returned to the foot of the wall.
“Notice how it’s dark back here?”
Jaikus nodded.
“I don’t think this part of the wall is being watched,” Reneeke said. “They probably think a bunch of caravan guards won’t be able to scale a wall such as this.”
“Can we?”
“I think so.”
He set the wood down then removed the coil of rope from around him and tied one end to the middle of the wood. Two feet of branch extended to either side of the rope. He then turned to Jaikus. “You better step back.” Once Jaik had moved away, he held the loose end of the rope in one hand while he began twirling the wood in a circle with the other.
As the momentum increased, he altered the trajectory of the wood until it went around in a more vertical slant. Then once it reached a fast speed, he gave it one last twirl and launched it toward the top of the wall.
He held onto the other end with both hands as the wood flew toward, and then through, a gap between two merlons. The rope went taut and the wood fell against the inside of the wall.
Reneeke held a finger to his lips signaling Jaikus to remain quiet while he listened to see if their endeavors had alerted those within. When all remained quiet, he moved several feet along the wall so as to have the rope slide snug against the lower corner of a merlon. He hoped that in doing so, the length of wood would come to rest across the opening and hold. When the rope went taut, he pulled and the wood remained wedged along the inner side of the wall.
/> “Hold the rope, Jaik.”
Once Jaikus took in the slack and the rope went taut, Reneeke climbed up to the rampart. He took it slow at first as he worried the wood might not hold. But when it did, he quickened his pace. At the top, he peered over and found the battlement to be dark and deserted. Taking hold of the edge, he pulled himself up until he stood upon the stone walkway that ran along the inner side of the battlement. Still unobserved, he signaled for Jaik to follow. In short order, they were both on the ramparts.
The inner courtyard between the curtain wall and the Keep was dark and quiet. A fire burned in a pit near the front gate of the Keep which stood closed. A stable had been built along the far wall beyond the Keep; horses could be heard within.
Reneeke coiled the rope and held it in his hands. He kept the log attached. He then pointed to a row of windows on the third level of the Keep, some distance back from the bonfire out front. That area of the Keep was deep in shadow. “I bet we can get in through one of those.”
Jaikus nodded and grinned. “Who knows what we might find up there.”
“Our main priority, Jaik, is to get the chest and return it to Master Tuppin.”
“I know, Rene,” Jaikus replied. “Can’t hurt to look as we pass through.”
Reneeke scanned the courtyard, especially the area surrounding the fire. A fire such as that tended to have someone nearby. But though he looked for several moments, he failed to find anyone. Off to their right the steps leading from the wall down the courtyard could be seen among the shadows. He headed that way.
“Come on, Jaik.”
En route to the steps, he scanned the courtyard for movement. They took the steps quickly and silently. Once on the ground, they remained next to the curtain wall and headed to the rear of the Keep. Upon coming abreast of the windows through which they thought to gain entry, Reneeke darted across the open area between.
He paused only a moment to see if they had been observed before uncoiling the rope.
“Do you see an opened window?”
Jaikus looked up. “Hard to tell in the dark, Rene.”
Reneeke nodded. “Yeah.”
Pointing to the third window from the Keep’s rear corner, Jaikus said, “That one looks like it’s open.”
“Okay, we’ll try it.”
Slowly at first, then with more momentum, Reneeke twirled the log at the end of the rope in an ever-widening circle. Then once he got the momentum where he wanted, angled the twirling to a more vertical slant. Once it was at the appropriate angle, he let the log fly.
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