Death Or Fortune

by James Chesney

  "Incredible! Is there anything else down here?" he asked while looking around.

  "Oh just Hetarons lab. He did experiments in there..." the halfling bit his tongue knowing he had said too much.

  "So do you know how to open the door?" he asked, all the while staring at just the right spot on the wall. The halfling started to speak only to have his own hand slam his mouth closed. "I know he was your friend but I may need to see in there Pare. This is very important." Hand firmly planted over his mouth he shook his head about, mumbling that the wizard would kill him. "Pare, it is for Jasmin." This was the second time the half elf had used Jasmin as a weapon of guilt, scoring a direct hit to his heart Pare knew what he had to do.

  "Turn around, I don't want you watching me!" he said to the half elf who had that strange grin on his face again. Pare found a step stool that he had used a half a dozen times before to open the lab door. He had to use the stool to reach the keystone that would open the door. He paused only for a moment before pressing it in. He wanted to make sure he didn't push the wrong one, some of the stones were trapped. As he had opened this door dozens of times, he was sure which one it was. With one quick push the stone sunk into the wall and the door started to slide open. "Alright, come on it will close on its own soon." Pare quickly picked up the stool he had been standing on and put it back where it came from. Soon the two of them stood in Hetaron's lab, watching as the door slide closed.

  The room was illuminated by globes of light on each wall and on the large table in the middle of the room. For the first time in years the bounty hunter felt a small knot of pain form in his gut and work its way up to his heart. He was only five the first time he remembered being taken into his own father’s lab. The shelves filled with old books, the large table just about waist high, runes of protection on the walls. 'Argon was much cleaner than this Hetaron', Windfall thought to himself. Yet he had many of the same books. Looking at the spines he was sure a few of them did belong to his father at one time. 'He only wanted to live as long as you mother', Windfall could not finish the thought. His father had by far out lived his mother. At the very end of the top shelf was a book with no markings, just a blood red leather binding. He pulled it down from the shelf and flipped open the pages. All were blank except for one.

  "I dare not write my thoughts down as that will only make them all the more real." Windfall had read the inscription aloud. Placing the book back on the shelf he looked around the rest of the room. One thing became clear this may have been the most private room in the entire nation of Arcadia. While Windfall had no skill for the use of magic, thanks to his father he understood the runes that marked the walls. Reaching under his cloak Windfall pulled out a single large sack. It appeared to be empty from the looks of it but when he reached inside, the items he wanted were just where he left them. "I have a gift for you Pare. Later on I want you to put this stuff on. No questions asked."

  On the large table in the middle of the room, from his empty sack Windfall pulled out a small set of leather armor. Black in color, etched with runes that were blood red in color he laid it all out for him. It was a full set, including a hood with a mask that would cover his face. "This armor was my son's. I made him wear it when I took him on the road with me. He outgrew it in a few years but I spared no expense to keep him safe. I give this to you now, knowing that what we are going to do tonight will place you in a great amount of danger. I don't want to risk you being seen for who you are. So you will put the mask on and you will like it."

  "What are we going to do tonight?" the halfling asked with a slight touch of fear in his voice.

  "Tonight we hunt. We will take to the streets and roof tops where we will haul anyone who is even thinking about committing a crime into jail. Then we will hit the thieves’ guild and take down the leadership. If there is a contract out on Lady Kromwell, one of them will know about it. One of them will tell us what we want to know. "

  "Has anyone ever told you that you are crazy? What about what Turk told you?"

  "I thought about it, he had to tell me no. He would get himself tossed out of the royal guard if he let me run around the lord’s district causing trouble. Let’s go back upstairs for now, pack that armor away, don't let anyone see it. Once it gets dark we will get ready. They keep a room here for you right?" The two men returned to their table for one more mug of ale and headed upstairs for the night. As soon as the door closed Pare tried on the armor. It felt as if it was made for him. He could tell just by walking around the room that it was much better than anything he currently owned. He could bend and move as if he had nothing on at all. He stood and looked at himself in the mirror while placing the mask over his face. It felt like a second skin. He took it off again and went and set it down on his bed, waiting for darkness to fall on the city.

  In some circles what happened later that night is still spoken about. One man by the name of Gilbert claims he was there the night Master Thief Basil was taken. No one knows how the bounty hunter and his little assistant found them. If you buy Gilbert enough drinks he will tell you the story. How the man in blue armor rushed in the door with no weapons taking down the two guards without making a sound. How he saw the black demon come in and hop from table top to table top towards the back room where Basil was hiding, diving inside before the rest of the guards could secure the door. Gilbert will tell you how he remained calm as other men tried to flee. Only to walk into the loving arms of Captain Myers and the city watch. He sat at his little table and watched as the bounty hunter knocked out the last two guards and went to join his little friend in the back room. The small peek he got inside the room was the last time anyone ever saw Master Thief Basil. Some say the bounty hunter killed him. Others say he fled north to hide. Gilbert is one to think the little demon ate Basil whole. What really happened to him, no one knows except for Windfall and his little demon in black.

  54. Trapped

  As we exited the dead forest the mountains were a day or two ahead of us. Zackary and I passed the time, talking about our past adventures. Truth be told I only understood half of what came out of his mouth but he is a good man. I asked about the rod and where they found it the first time. He told me a grand tale of the five of them sneaking into Orcenhome and having to fight their way back out. He told me of the death of his cousin William. William was a gentle soul who had the mind of a child and arms like tree trunks. When I asked him how they got the rod all the way back to Eystlund he told me that they were carried by a gold dragon. I stopped in my tracks and stared at him in disbelief. 'A gol' Draggin' I tells ye! Ro' onnits back al tae way tae Aysltloond!' I looked back at Zender who could hear us and he only smiled and nodded his head. I asked him how they managed that and he told me 'Oh, he owed us a favor.'

  'We saved it. We could have demanded anything from it as a reward but Zender insisted that at some point we might need a dragon on our side. Power, gold, magic beyond all compare and we got a flying horse.' Lomark felt the need to add. Later that night as we were resting I could hear the wizard still complaining under his breath about it. The following day and night passed without incident, the mountains looming ahead of us, getting larger with every step we took. With the knowledge that we would be climbing the following day, Zender called for an early stop. 'We need to be well rested when we start, the gods only know how long it is going to take us to find the trail that leads to the spire.' When I made a comment about how a 'flying horse' would come in handy I thought the wizard was going to test a new spell on me. Instead he just looked down his nose at me and said a single word, 'perhaps.' I learned then that there are limits to the wizard’s humor.

  During the first watch of the night I stood guard. I was watching the mountain range that stood over our heads like some kind of cold hard monster. Other than the few undead we had run into over the body of a fallen paladin, we had not encountered a single being during that first week. Maybe it was dumb luck or that the gods were watching out for us. All I know is one thing, whatever it was, it was
n't working any more. I could hear them long before I could see them, running in formation, driven forward by their keeper. We were foolish not to cover our tracks as we made our way across the wasteland. While they were undead, they were just following in our footsteps. A good ten Torythian Foot Soldiers from what I could see in the moon light. I quickly got the others up from their rest to give them the bad news. I stood there waiting for them while the others got ready behind me. Lomark was the first to come forward, he almost sounded happy when he spoke. 'We need to finish this quickly.' he said in hushed tones.

  'I am going to cast a fireball directly into their ranks. Once I do that, charge forward. Do not give them time to recover.' Zackary and I stood side by side, waiting for the signal to attack. Zender stood off to the side of the wizard, weapon in hand. I could hear the wizard speaking the language of magic off to my side. I closed my eyes just slightly to avoid being blinded by the magical explosion in the middle of the night. As the fireball erupted in the middle of the ranks, Zackary and I started forward. While the explosion was impressive, it did not have the desired effect. I watched as many of the undead returned to their feet, smoking and burnt they turned towards us. The troops were under the control of two Torythian elite, they were barking out orders for them to attack us, they were not touched by the wizard’s magic. Later that night Zackary made a comment about them almost looking human, if not for their dried yellow skin they could have passed for it. I waded into the pack of zombies only to once again be ignored by them. All of them seemed to go after Zackary until I started hacking into them. Then, I had all the attention I could deal with.

  I did not see the elite move into the fight. It was odd seeing an undead creature move with such grace. Using a massive two handed sword it cut down one of its own to get to me. All the other undead gave way to him as he moved up to meet me. 'Your head I will have godling.' Speaking to me was the one thing I did not expect from the creature. I do not know what land the creature came from or how long he had been dead. The only thing I knew at that moment was that it could fight. He pressed me back, away from my friends and away from his minions. Soon it was just the two of us, locked in a dance of death. The world around us disappeared, as if we were fighting in a void. Each of us pressing and falling back. I kept waiting for an opening that never came. He fought without mercy, without fail and with limitless energy. His form was without fault and it was all that I could do to keep up with him. The only advantage I had was my strength but it mattered little against his skill.

  While I am sure I knew it was going to happen I was distracted when a lightning bolt ripped into the last of the troops. This was Lomarks answer to the elite that was moving into to attack Zender. The bolt burned a hole the size of my head through the chest of the creature. That small moment I looked away from my foe was all the opportunity it needed. It's foot smashed into my chest sending me down to my back. Its horrid evil face loomed above me, blocking out the light of the moon as it raised its weapon to finish me off. I tried to roll away as the blade started to fall but something held me in place. Something had hooked into my armor and would not let me free. I raised my sword arm to deflect the blow but his blade never touched mine. A flurry of silver passed over me, Zackary's shield blocked the creatures strike. He turned the creatures blade away as he moved, striking his own blow to the creatures head with his fist. Soon the two were joined in combat and I could not free myself from the ground. I laid there helpless as a new born baby, hooked to the ground watching Zackary fight the undead beast.

  With the rest of the undead taken care of the remaining elite was overwhelmed by the three men still fighting. The three of them turned to look at me. Lomark rolled his eyes and looked towards the sky as he turned away. When Zender asked me if I was hurt I told him it was just my pride that was injured. Zackary helped free me from the old dead tree root that had punched its way through one of the straps on my breastplate. I stood there holding it for a moment thinking that this little bit of old wood nearly killed me. When in truth it was my own fault. I let myself be distracted. As we made our way back to our little camp site I clapped him on the back and told Zackary that if he ever made his way to Arcadia he would have all the ale he could drink on me. I never thought he would take me up on it but I meant what I said.

  When I woke up the following morning Lomark was among the bodies, doing only the gods know what. I never asked and I never really cared. All I cared about was the path in front of us and getting home alive. As it was the path ahead of us was unclear and getting home was starting to sound like a dream that would never come true. As we started to make our way into the foot hills of the mountain range that morning I walked in silence. I was more than a little home sick. Wishing I could see my wife or talk to my friends. Even if he made his intentions to kill me very clear I would have welcomed Hetaron at that moment. He was just another part of what I was missing from home. I told myself that if I ever had to leave home again for a long period of time I wouldn't leave Pare behind. No matter how bleak our outcome looked, he was always able to find something to be happy about. After our fifth frustrating day in that mountain range, I would have given up everything I owned just to see his smiling face again.

  55. Students and Masters

  Master Thief Basil saw the little demon charge into the room. He was almost amused until it was hitting him in the head with the flat of his weapon. A sudden pain to the head and the lights were soon out. When he woke up he knew he was being carried by a larger man but did not know where he was being taken. His mouth was gagged and the bag over his head kept him from seeing anything at all. He figured it was best to keep his mouth shut and play coy until he had a chance to free himself. Then he could get back on the street, gather his men and find out just who it was that raided their hide out. Basil was rather upset over it all, they have had to move five times in the last year. This was the first one that had a private room for his private use. Times were getting tough for a thief in Arcadia. The new captain of the city watch was no Nikle. Old Captain Nikle knew when to take a bribe for the good of the city. This new man, Myers arrested the last person who approached him.

  For years they had a nice operation going, since the war though it has been a rough road to hoe. Even with the hood over his head he could smell the horses. Basil started to wonder if he was going to be killed in a stable. Yet why go through all this trouble just to kill me somewhere else. They could have killed me right there at the hide out. No, who ever had him, wanted something that him being alive depended on. Basil had practiced his trade all over, from coast to coast. You did not live fifty five years without knowing how to keep your mouth shut. As soon as the smell of the stable faded away Basil smelled something else, roast beef and something else. Something he had not tasted in years, yet he would always know the smell of good ale. He could hear other people and thought of yelling out to them but between the gag and the hood it would only come out muffled. Not that it mattered in the end. He could feel himself being carried down a flight of stairs. Each step reminding him that he was in a very dangerous spot and he very well could die if he did not play his cards right. He was dropped into the chair like a sack of potatoes and quickly tied to it. While he was ready for the worst, he was not ready for the shock he felt when the hood was removed from his head.

  "Looks like his eyes are going to pop right out of his head. Put the hood back on so they don't fall on the floor." Pare said while taking off his mask. Basil took a quick moment to look at the halfling and then right back to the face in front of him. How long had it been he wondered.

  "Thirty years Basil, they have not been kind to you my old friend" said the half elf. He reached out to the old man and pulled the gag from his mouth.

  "Chase? You son of a whore! Untie me you halfblooded bastard, you scared me to death!" Basil went from fear to outrage in a heartbeat.

  "I am sorry Basil, you know I can't do that and my name is Windfall."

  "The bounty hunter? I taught you everything I
know, you son of a bitch. What in the nine hells is this all about? Why didn't you just turn me over to the watch like you did the rest of my boys?"

  "We have a few things to talk about and I know you haven't pulled a job yourself in ten years. Not since Keller Kromwell ran you out of Eystlund, which is funny now that I think about it. A Kromwell is the reason you and I are talking here instead of down in the jail cell of the city watch. Pare!" The half elf only pointed towards the door, this was his notice that it was time for him to leave. "Change back into your clothes before someone sees you in that armor."

  "But I want to watch!" He tried to protest but the half elf only pointed to the hidden door once more. No other words were spoken in the room until he was gone and the door closed behind him.

  "Now we can do this two ways Basil. The easy way is you tell me what I want to know and out of respect for our former relationship I will let you go on your way. Then there is the hard way, where I get angry and take that anger out on you until you tell me what I want to know. Now I know you may be tempted to lie to me but take a look around. This isn't the city jail and the men we took down tonight are all sitting there asking each other one single question. Where is Basil? Every member of your little guild is going to know you talked when you don't get tossed in a cell with them."

  "You can do anything you want, I won't betray my men. Damn you Chase, I should have killed you thirty years ago and saved us all a world of trouble."

  "It is Windfall and I don't want you to betray any of your men. I just want information on something I hope you don't have anything to do with but I know you know about. There is a large, very large price tag out there on the head of a woman. Lady Jasmin Kromwell, perhaps you know who I am talking about."