As the red-hot rod moved toward his throat, Jaikus yelled, “Wait!”
“Tired of waiting.” Pulling the rod back the barest measure, he asked, “Are you ready to tell me what I wish to know?”
“Yeah,” Jaikus replied. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath then let it out slowly.
“Well?”
“Your wand…”
When Jaikus paused, the rod moved closer.
“Is…”
“Yes? Where is my wand?”
“Not here.” Then he laughed.
Enraged, Cirric thrust the rod forward and Jaikus cried out as smoke rose from his chest. Then there was a ‘thump’ and Cirric staggered back a moment.
The poker slipped from his fingers as he toppled to the ground.
A second stone struck the Halfling wearing the green leathers and Yuri staggered; dazed but not knocked out.
Then a roar sounded and the third Halfling, at first confused as to what had happened to his comrades, turned to find Reneeke charging him with blade in hand. He drew his short sword and stepped forward to meet the attack. Metal clanged and the battle was joined.
Truth be told, Reneeke appeared more confident than he felt. This was his first passage of arms with an actual opponent and he had his doubts.
…watch the eyes…
…balance, young swordsman, balance…
…patience is the hallmark of the true warrior. Strike only when doing so will be advantageous, otherwise you waste strength you’ll need later on…
Master Swordsman Leari’s words guided his blade. Keeping one part of his mind on balance, hand position and footing, the rest focused on his opponent. He had the reach on him and his blade was nearly half again as long. But the little guy was fast.
Blows rang on his sword, two for every one he attempted.
…ain’t no rules in battle…
…do whatever it takes to win…
Larko joined his voice to the chorus of advice gleaned in the short time since he joined the Guild.
The Halfling might be faster, but Reneeke soon realized he was very much the stronger of the two. Instead of trying to get inside his guard, he instead began attacking the blade. Whenever he saw a lunge in the offing, he would bring his sword around and strike the Halfling’s sword a resounding blow.
Time and again he struck the blade and could feel the shudder that went up the Halfling’s arm.
“Rene!” Jaikus yelled as he was about to strike the sword for the fourth and hopefully final time, “Behind you!”
Foregoing the return attack, he sidestepped just as a knife pierced the space he had occupied only a moment before, then sliced back toward where the knife originated as he continued to step backward. Failing to connect, he raised his sword as the second Halfling he beaned with a rock joined his fellow.
…just because you’re a swordsman, doesn’t mean you have to always use a sword in battle. Whatever works…
Larko’s words again came to him and that was when he realized that in his left hand he still held two of the stones gathered earlier. Feeling far more confident with them, he quickly took two steps backward as he slipped one of the stones into his pocket. Then he deftly tossed his sword from his right hand to his left while at the same time the rock passed in similar fashion from left to right.
“Aha!” he said, brandishing his sword.
“Give it up,” the one with the short sword said. “You cannot best both of us together.”
“You may be right,” Reneeke said.
He brandished his sword with his left hand while bringing his right back as if for balance. Then, a brief lunge caused the pair to dance backward. When they did, he threw the stone at the one with the sword.
It connected dead-center on the Halfling’s forehead. A crack sounded and he stumbled backward.
The other Halfling looked to his partner and in that instant, Reneeke darted forward and took him through the chest.
As he jerked his blade free, he rushed to the one hit by the stone, but lifeless eyes greeted him and he knew the battle was over.
“Way to go, Rene!”
Jaikus was jubilant.
Reneeke nodded to him and then went to see about the first Halfling struck with a stone, the one that had tortured Jaikus. He found him alive. Standing with blood dripping from his sword, he was in a quandary as to what to do.
“He’s a thief, Rene,” Jaikus said. “And he would have killed me for sure.” When Reneeke looked his way, Jaikus said, “There’s nothing for it. It has to be done.”
It was one thing to kill in battle, when your life was on the line. But to end the life of someone helpless, he didn’t know if he could go through with it.
“If you aren’t going to do it, at least untie me.”
“Yeah,” Reneeke replied then went and used his sword to sever the bonds holding Jaikus. “You look pretty bad, Jaik.”
“Feel bad.”
“When we return, we’ll get you a healing potion.”
Jaikus bent over and picked up the dead Halfling’s knife from where it had fallen. He then went to the one that had broken his nose and burned his chest with a hot iron. Reneeke glanced at him as he made to plunge the blade into the Halfling’s chest.
He hated this Halfling for what he had done. He was a thief, torturer, and in all likelihood a murderer. But now that it came to killing him while he laid unconscious, Jaikus was finding himself in the same moral quandary that had plagued Reneeke.
“He deserves it.”
“No one is disputing that,” Reneeke replied.
But Jaikus couldn’t do it. He did retrieve the ring again. He also gathered up the Halflings’ possessions and packed them on the pony. “Let’s go, Rene,” he said with the pony’s reins in his hand.
“We’re taking everything?”
Jaikus nodded. “Everything. But we’ll leave him his life. He did after all, save us from those creatures.” He turned to go then paused. “But if he troubles us again…” He left the thought unsaid.
“Agreed.” When Jaikus glanced to him he said, “We’re not murderers.”
Sighing, Jaikus nodded. “No, we are not.”
Leaving the two dead Halflings with the unconscious third, Reneeke led them back to where the chest and their belongings were hidden. Once there, Jaikus use his Potion of Minor Healing and was amazed at how his nose returned to the way it had been and the dribble of blood that had been continuously oozing from it stopped. When the potion had run its course, he hesitantly pressed on his nose.
“Hurt?” Reneeke asked.
He shook his head and pinched it a little harder. “Not even a twinge.” Holding up the empty bottle, he said, “We need more of these.”
“Agreed.”
They situated the chest, their packs, and the coil of rope on the pony then headed back to the road. There they turned north and continued until the sun went down before making camp.
Chapter 10
Despite fears that Cirric the Halfling would seek revenge during the night for the death of his comrades, dawn arrived with no disturbances.
“I still think he’s going to come after us.”
“What makes you say that, Jaik?”
“It’s what I would do should someone kill you.”
Reneeke glanced to his friend and nodded. “Me too, Jaik. I’d not let your death go unavenged.”
“You are a good friend, Rene.”
Slapping him on the back, Reneeke said, “As are you. Now, can we stop being maudlin and see about catching up to Master Tuppin?”
Jaikus looked doubtful at the prospect. “Think we can?”
Reneeke shrugged. “We can but try.” Taking the pony’s reins, he headed back to the road with Jaikus by his side.
Last night when they stopped to make camp, the first thing Jaikus had done was to see what was contained within the three remaining cloth-wrapped bundles. Since their chest and the couples’ vase had been cloth-wrapped as well, it stoo
d to reason that there should be items of value within the other three.
The first one was rather small and turned out to be a finely wrought jewelry box with two diamonds inlaid within golden filigree. “This should fetch a few golds.”
“It’s not ours, Jaik,” Reneeke said. “Whatever you may find beneath those cloths was stolen from someone.”
“And what if we cannot discover from who they stole them? Then what should we do?”
“We should ask Master Tuppin’s advice when we return.”
Jaikus just rolled his eyes. In his mind, the booty was theirs. The vase they knew who it belonged to and so they could readily return it. But the rest? Who knew where the owners were located. He had no desire to search the countryside on the off-chance they could discover the rightful owners.
The second cloth-wrapped bundle was slightly larger and proved to be a small, marble bust of a man. The craftsmanship was excellent. The last was the smallest bundle of all. Removing the cloth, Jaikus found an ordinary-looking wooden box with a simple catch. He flipped the catch and opened the lid.
“Rene!” he exclaimed. “Look at this.”
Reneeke came over and glanced inside to find what looked to be a single golden scale.
“What do you think it’s from?”
He glanced from the scale to Jaikus and shrugged. “I don’t know. Master Tuppin might.”
“And he might think he deserves a share of it too.”
Reneeke just sighed.
Jaikus then went through the Halflings’ packs for signs of any additional magic items. Other than a small chest containing five golds, six silvers, thirteen coppers and three gems of middling size, he came up empty. Most of their packs contained clothes too small for either to wear and other sundry items one would expect; none of which were particularly valuable.
The three gems didn’t look like much. One pea-sized one was uncut, misshapen and purplish, another was dark red with hints of green and the last looked quite unique. It was predominantly light purple but held numerous veins of yellow, blue, and green. Jaikus held up that last one for Reneeke to see.
“Look at this, Rene. I bet it’s worth a lot.”
Reneeke took the stone and held it up. Shrugging, he handed it back. “Could be. Master Tuppin might know.”
“We didn’t do too badly.”
“No, we might have enough to get me a bow.”
Jaikus snatched the gem back. “A bow?” he asked dismissively. “I thought we’d get another magic ring or something,”
“Jaik, a bow can give us an edge.”
He didn’t look impressed.
“Aside from hunting, if there are several bandits attacking, I can pick off a couple before they get close enough to use their swords. That should be worth a coin or two.”
“Hmmm.”
“Well, we don’t need to decide now.”
“True enough.”
The day wore on and they made good time beneath a sky of blue. Mid-afternoon found them at the junction to Ford Spindlewynne. Scavengers had picked through the remains of the two creatures the Halflings had destroyed. Reneeke was about to continue past when Jaikus stopped him.
“You know, Rene,” he said as he turned his gaze to follow the road to the Fort, “the bandits’ horses are still there.”
“Yeah, and possibly more of those creatures.”
“I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it and I think it’s worth checking out.”
“Jaik, if there is even one of those creatures left, it could mean our lives.”
Jaikus turned back to his friend. “Or there could be none left and we could get horses and packhorses for nothing. Not to mention the loot left on the bodies. If I remember right, one of the attackers about your size had leather armor. Think of the coins we could save.”
Reneeke weighed the rewards with the risk.
“Come on, Rene. How about this then? We return to the Fort and scout around a bit. Then climb the wall and see if any of those creatures remain. If not, we help ourselves to their equipment, equipment we desperately need, and then open the gate and away we go.” When Reneeke looked ready to argue against it, he added, “We could return to Master Tuppin much faster with horses beneath us.”
He could see the determination behind Jaikus’ eyes. “Okay. But if there is even the slightest indication that one of those creatures remain, we leave.”
Nodding, Jaikus said, “You got it.”
Turning onto the road, they headed back to the Fort. Reneeke couldn’t help but feel this was a bad idea.
Where before they had jogged the distance, this time they maintained a steady though less-strenuous pace. The afternoon came and went. Night settled in and they trudged along the road with the sliver of a moon overhead providing enough light to keep to the road.
After an hour past sunset, Jaikus strained to see the Fort, but there was nothing but dark shadows. “Do you see it, Rene?”
”No. And I was kind of hoping that we would.”
“What do you mean?”
“If we could see the Fort from a distance, it would mean that someone built a fire or lit torches. It would also mean that there were no longer any creatures within the Keep.”
“But since it’s dark…”
“No one is there.”
Jaikus thought a moment. “That could still mean it’s safe.”
“A definite possibility. Or there are still creatures and they killed whoever had showed up. We won’t know for sure until we arrive.”
Sometime later, the road began its rise to the plateau whereupon sat the Fort. Its shadowy silhouette came into view not long after that.
Reneeke led the pony from the road and secured its reins to a low hanging limb. He took his rope and slung it across his chest. “If the gods are with us, we’ll find the Keep empty.”
“I’m sure it will be.”
Reneeke had his doubts. “Come on. Let’s see if it is.”
They took the road the rest of the way up to the Fort. The gate remained closed. He wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not. They then went around to the far side from where they had previously scaled the wall. If he figured correctly, they should top the wall near the stables. Again, Reneeke went into the surrounding woods to find a large, thick branch with lots of strength left to it. After securing the rope to its middle, he returned to the wall.
A few twirls and he launched the branch upward. It sailed through a crenellation and clattered against the inner side of the wall. He kept still and quiet to listen for tell-tale howls. Not hearing any, he slowly pulled the rope until the branch wedged across an inner corner of the crenellation.
“Wait here,” he said to Jaikus. Receiving a nod, he scaled the wall.
A few feet from the top, he paused to listen. Other than the sound of his heartbeat, the night was silent. Then, just as he was about to continue, he heard the snort of a horse coming from within the curtain wall. Encouraged that the Fort might actually be creature-free seeing as how the horses hadn’t been killed and eaten, he climbed the rest of the way and pulled himself up through the crenellation.
The Keep was dark and quiet. Below and to the right he saw the stable. Another snort came from within.
“Come on up,” he whispered down to Jaikus. He might think the place was safe, but he planned to be prudent and not announce their presence until he knew.
When Jaikus joined him, he explained about the horses and his thoughts concerning them.
“So it’s safe?”
“We need to be certain before we proceed.”
Jaikus glanced around the inner courtyard and then to the Keep. “Looks quiet.”
“Remember that storm three years ago?” Reneeke asked. “Clouds rolled in and everyone believed it to be but a summer sprinkle to water the crops. Two days later the creek had overflowed and a third of the harvest had been washed away.” He turned to Jaikus. “That looked quiet too.”
“What do you propose?”
; “We need to quietly and carefully check the Keep. Stay close.”
Moving out, they headed toward the steps leading down to the courtyard. Once on the ground, they went to the stables. There they found over a dozen horses.
“Come on,” Reneeke said as he crossed the courtyard to the ruined door of the Keep.
Most of the door’s central section had been broken out by the creatures; shattered wood laid strewn about before it. Inside was quiet. The odor of unburied dead wafted from within.
Reneeke paused for a moment to listen. All was quiet. He drew his sword and signaled for Jaikus to follow. Then he stepped through the hole in the door.
Inside was dark. Barely any light at all made its way in. Not much further into the Keep would be the room where bandits had succumbed to the chest’s curse when they opened it. Three for sure had been destroyed. Reneeke and Jaikus had taken one out in an upstairs room; the other two by “Lord Holleran.” Were there more? Reneeke fervently hoped not.
Jaikus pulled one of Master Tuppin’s scrolls from out of his shirt. “Magic Missile,” he said. “Just in case.”
“Good thinking.”
Turning back to the deeper darkness of the Keep, they stepped forward. Doorways were faintly outlined as they made their way to the next room. The smell of the dead nearly overpowered them. Putting a cloth to his nose and mouth, Reneeke continued on.
“I don’t think there is anything here, Rene.”
Glancing to his friend, he began to believe him. The Keep was large, but he didn’t think the creatures would hole up and hope for someone to happen by.
“Better to have them come at us than for us to stumble upon them in the dark.”
Reneeke nodded. “You may be right.
“Hey!” Jaikus hollered.
The sudden loud exclamation nearly made Reneeke jump out of his skin. Heart racing, he listened to Jaikus’ voice echo through the halls. When no answering howls or other commotion was returned, they relaxed.
“See, Rene. It’s safe.”
Reneeke listened for a moment longer then said, “You may be right. Let’s go back out and build a fire. If there is one still here, that should attract it.”
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