The Tracker: Book 1 of the King's Hand Series

by B. A. Monaghan

  On a few nests he could see pieces of cloths that obviously came off humans. One nest even had a shield showing. Well it could be assumed the other adventure group didn’t survive. As they were investigating the roosting area. The next biggest concern was the spells cast by the harpies. Roland saw on two occasion where a harpy cast a spell to kill a deer. It was like a ball of lightning. When it hit the deer the animals fell to the ground and shook badly. The harpy would drop down with a few friends and they would take it up to their nests.

  After mapping the area and all the nests Shadow and Roland returned to their group. “Ok, this is what we have. There are 15 nests to our front. It is hard to say how many harpies there are because they are always flying around and they are hard to tell the difference between them. There is one harpy that looks different from the rest. She has what looks to be a comb. Like what you would see on a chicken. This one is brown and black. It looks gross. You won’t miss it if you see it. She isn’t bigger than the rest but they seem to defer to her. Her nest is in the middle of the nesting area.”

  “We never saw a staff. We did see some cloths, a shield and a few weapons stuck in the nests themselves. The nests are part plant pieces like twigs and sticks. The other part is like they used trash to build them. The big problem is they have a spell that looks like a ball of lightning. I saw them cast it on a deer and in one shot took the deer down.”

  It was decided that they would assault the harpies the next morning. Ryan would cast resist lightning on each of the team members. He would save any further casting if things went bad and he needed to cast a big spell. The lightning shield would last about an hour. Or if they were hit more than 5 times. The lightning balls were slow moving when cast. They hit hard but they didn’t act like streaks of lighting from the sky. They were to use the trees for cover. The idea was to let the lightning balls hit the trees. That meant not touching the tree. According to Ryan if they were touching the tree they would still feel the effect of the lightning.

  Shadow would cover Roland and protect him. Landon would protect Wyatt. The archers were the primary offensive weapons. Jon would stay between the two groups with Ryan. They would give support as needed. The two archers were to stay about 100 feet apart from one another. This would give some overlapping fire. They would hit them from the east side and use the rising sun at their back.

  The idea was to pull as many harpies away from the nests as possible. There were just too many hiding places amongst the nests that it would be too dangerous. If they took most of the harpies down, they would then move into the nesting area to clean them all out.

  The next morning, they moved out long before the sun was up. They were in position and waited for the sun to rise up behind them. They took up position around a good bunch of large trees. Ryan cast lightning resist on everyone just as the first harpies began to appear near the nests.

  Roland shot the first harpy as she stuck her head out of the nest. The feathers didn’t give any armor protection. She screamed as she fell to the ground. Then the harpies were flying out of their nests faster than Roland had ever seen them fly. Wyatt hit one and she went down. She probably would have survived the arrow but when she hit the ground head first there wasn’t any movement from her.

  They were swarming like a bunch of mad hornets. Roland was shooting as fast as he could determine a target. Half his arrows were missing. He was getting his second quiver when Shadow gave a warning. He dropped to the ground but the ball of lightning hit him anyway.

  It was agony. Every muscle in his body was flexing. It didn’t last long but boy did that hurt. Glad they had the resist or he would be dead he was sure. Shadow let him know where she was. She was winding up to send another bolt his way. She took his arrow in the middle of her chest and the spell fell to the ground.

  Landon was down and Jon was trying to revive him. Ryan cast another resist spell on Landon. Roland hit two more harpies bringing his total to nine. The harpies soon pulled back out of the range of his arrows. He could see two from his advantage point. Shadow detected the same two but could find any other.

  “I have two over here and they are out of range. Do you have anymore?”

  Wyatt answered. “There is one over here staying out of my range. There is another down with an arrow in her wing. She is standing behind some trees to my front. She has cast twice since being shot down. They are still deadly when wounded.”

  Ryan and Jon were getting Landon up to his feet. “Landon is back in the fight. Has anyone seen the harpy with the comb on her head?” There were negative responses all around. “So there are at least 4 harpies still in the area. Roland can you move forward without getting hit?”

  “I’ll try.” Roland cast Invisible on himself and ran to the first set of trees that had nests in them. Once he was there standing in the shadow of the tree he cast shadow meld. Shadow went to the north of Roland and then paralleled his position a few dozen feet away. The two harpies on their side of the fight fired at him but he dodged them with ease. Roland was in range of the other two. He shot both from the shadow. “I don’t have any more over my way.”

  “Where did you go Roland we can’t see you?”

  “I’m where you told me to go. I’m in the shadows.”

  “Uh, ok didn’t see you get there. We still have this one harpy just out of our range but we are in her range. Can you see if there are more of them?”

  “I’m on it.” Roland cast another camouflage spell on himself. The trees and foliage in this area was very black so he incorporated that into his illusion. Shadow and Roland went from tree to tree checking for more harpies. In the middle of the nest area one of the nests was swaying a bit. Shadow and Roland knew one was up there. They moved around to have a better view of the entrance to the nest.

  Sure enough, at least one harpy was up there. Shadow could see the comb on the harpy’s head. It was the one they needed to take out. Cut the head off and the fight might end. It was almost done now but any one harpy could easily kill the group with those electrical bolts. Roland cast shadow meld again and waited.

  Ryan called for Roland to give the status of what he saw. If he answered it would give up his position. He had hunted enough to know the longer you waited the more uncomfortable the prey became. Shadow and Roland had lots of patience. They could communicate with each other without moving or making a sound. This really helped waiting out their prey. It was over an hour before the harpy began moving again. Roland was sure the resist lightning spell had faded by then. He needed a good shot then he needed to get behind a tree.

  The harpy burst out of the nest. She spun around and was facing the other group. The harpy was holding the staff they were after. She had no idea Shadow and Roland were behind her. Her back was exposed twenty feet to his front and off the ground about ten feet. Roland let fly his arrow. She fell forward face first into the ground. The ground covered in harpy shite. There wasn’t any movement.

  Roland walked over and using his sword cut the harpy’s head off. Now they didn’t have any worries from her. He picked up the staff. He was about to walk away but when he had picked up the staff a piece of paper was held along with the staff. He picked up the paper and to his surprise it was writing in High Elfin. He read the paper.

  As per our agreement. You will kill every mage who is part of the mages guild. Rouge mages are to be left alone. You can keep any magical item you take off of those mages. When all is completed you will be granted the southernmost part of the Alondale Forest as your own. You will be able to rule the area as you see fit.

  Now that was interesting. There wasn’t a signature at the end. There was a piece of a wax seal still attached but it was just red wax. The paper it was written on was really nice. It was thick and the edges were trimmed perfectly. Maybe he should take this with him to the Mages Guild in the capitol.

  Ryan yelled again. “Roland are you there?”

  “I’m here. We have the staff, and the harpy with the comb is dead.”

  T
he group gathered by the harpy who had the staff. The last harpy had flown away just before Roland had answered Ryan. Landon was still a bit shaky. He had taken two hits. The sapphire on the staff was as big as a Robin’s egg. Everyone wanted to get a good look at it. Ryan took the staff after everyone got a good look at it.

  The next two days they spent knocking down the nests and searching them. Roland wasn’t too excited about this. The nests were filthy. They did find a few magical rings, a shield and some weapons. Roland didn’t want any of it. He did take the mana glands from the harpies. He did find a ceramic jug that he placed the glands in. He put some water in with them to keep them moist. He wasn’t sure drying them out would be a good idea or not.

  They ended up burning the bodies with the nests. It created a lot of black smoke. It was as if they were burning a bunch of tar. It didn’t matter how hot the fire got the black smoke rolled off the fire. It would take a long time for this forest to recover.

  Roland led the way back. It was a good thing he was with this group. They still got turned around every few hours. If he hadn’t been with them they would have died in the forest with the staff. How a group of adventurers could be so directionally challenged he would never know?

  They went to the Mages Guild and delivered the staff. They were given five gold and Ryan handed everyone a gold piece. He reminded everyone to pay their 20% to the guild. Landon and Jon would sell the item they found in the nests. They would drop the shares off at the guild hall for the rest of them.

  Roland and Shadow, now looking like a dog again, went to see the Alchemist Guild. He had harvested 15 glands. The paper he was given in Alondale said they would pay 10 silvers apiece for the glands. That seemed like a lot of money till he saw how much they were charging for mana potions. They would probably make 10 times the amount they spent on the glands.

  The Alchemist Guild was very nice. The building was painted white and had lots of glass windows in it. The front counter was covered in a cream colored leather. The top was a tough dark leather hide. Small round nails set side by side rimmed the counter where the two types of leather came together. The man behind the counter was dressed very well. He was reading a book as Roland entered.

  “What can I do for you, young adventurer? Can I suggest a potion of health for you adventures? One can never be too cautions.”

  “No. But I have some harpy mana glands you could buy off me.”

  “Where in heavens name did you get a harpy’s mana gland at?”

  “Well I have 15 of them actually. An I cut them out of their necks to be precise.” Roland placed the ceramic jug on the counter. “I put water in the jug to keep them wet. I wasn’t sure if I could dry them or not but it was only a couple of days ago I got them so they still seemed to be in good condition.”

  The man pulled out a glass bowl and placed it on the counter. “Pour them out in the bowl. We can see if they are still in good condition and I can count them.”

  Roland pulled the cork from the jug and poured the glands into the bowl. They had a greenish tint to the gland. They gave off a bluish glow. Sitting in the bowl the glass picked up the blue glow and the bowl turned blue with the glow. That was actually pretty.

  “Oh, you did get 15 glands. I haven’t seen this many harpy glands sold at one time in my life. We get mana glands from lots of magical creatures, but they come in ones and twos usually. I tell you what I’ll give you what I’ll give you 1 silver apiece.”

  Roland was a bit taken back. “I don’t think you understand. I was told that the Alchemist Guild would buy these for 10 silver apiece. I’m not here to negotiate. I’m here to sell them for 10 silvers apiece.”

  “Young man that is a lot of money we are talking about and I’m sure they were mistaken when they told you 10 silvers. I’ll give you 5 silvers.”

  “No. I wasn’t mistaken. He gave me this here piece of paper with the price on it. Now if you don’t want them I’ll take them to him and sell them.” Roland poured the glands and water back into the jug and was getting ready to walk out.

  “Ok, Ok, I’ll give you 10 silver per gland. Why anyone in our guild would give a pricing chart to anyone is beyond me. It will ruin us. We will never take a profit at these prices.”

  “Oh I’ve seen your prices. You will still make a bunch of money off these glands.” Roland pocketed his gold piece and 50 silver. He knew the Lava Stone would get him a lot more gold than this amount of gold he had now but he felt rich. He walked out of the guild house and Shadow stepped up beside him and kept the thieves at bay with his growl.

  Owen was at the counter when he got to the guild hall. “I heard you were successful. I’m glad you were able to go with them. They are good adventurers but not a one of them has a sense of directions. They would get lost in the guild hall if someone wasn’t around to point the direction for them.” He laughed without holding back. He thought he had told the best joke in the world.

  “You have no clue how right you are. I had to redirect them every few hours to keep them going in the same direction. You would have thought they would have looked at the sun a time or two. We didn’t have rain even one time. How hard is it to look up?” Everyone in the guild house within ear shot was laughing.

  “So, I assume you have come to pay the guild their share?”

  “Yep. Here it is.” He handed over 20 silvers.

  “Thank you Roland. You are an asset to the guild already.” He reached behind the bar and pulled out a pouch of money. “This is from Landon and Jon. They said this was your share of the items they sold.”

  Roland pocketed the pouch quickly and went to the jobs board. He found a caravan headed out in three days. He returned to the counter. “Owen I’ll take two nights of room and board.” He handed over 38 copper and Owen handed him the key.

  By the time he made it upstairs he pulled out the pouch and he found it contained another 28 silver. Maybe some better armor can be purchased soon? Then he opened up his Status Panel. They said harpies were worth a lot of experience. He was pleasantly surprised.

  He had gained 3 levels with that job. The gains from magic users must be a lot higher than the orcs or goblins he had been killing. He still has 15 points to spend. With the automatic dexterity buff for every level he would always have good skill with bows. He needed to put more into Intelligence and Wisdom. That should boost up his Mana even further.

  What he should work on next he just wasn’t sure about. He had enough mana to cast Illusions without worrying about running out. His illusions were all about stealth and those didn’t have much mana cost. What he really needed was something to damage mage shielding with his arrows. Right now it was a mundane weapon. He could always use his elven knife. To use it he would have to be up close and personal. He had become comfortable with his bow. Taking out enemies from a distance was very comfortable. His dexterity was getting high and he should take advantage of that. Maybe learning knife fighting and knife throwing would be what he needed to learn next. Whatever the next set of training he would go through would have to wait till he reached the capitol.

  Status Panel

  Level

  15

  Age

  17

  Health

  320

  Title:

  N/A

  Mana

  385

  Heath Regen

  0.001/Second

  Stamina

  195

  Mana Regen

  0.0005/Second

  Vitality

  32

  Stamina Regen

  0.01/Second

  Strength

  20

  Race

  Half Elf

  Endurance

  19

  Bonus

  Dexterity +5 per level

  Roland was up and ready to go. Shadow was already out of town scouting ahead of the caravan. They were working well together. The bond was strong as ever and both Shadow and Roland were developing well and exceeding their expectation of maturin
g physically. Roland had stopped growing upward and was filling out with broad shoulders and bulging muscles across his body. Shadow was getting larger. They felt better when they stayed in close proximity with each other.

  Chapter 6

  The Capitol

  They ended up taking four more caravans on the way to the capital. The incidents were few and they had taken care of all of them before the guards or caravan master knew there was a problem.

  Shadow and Roland walked into the guild hall. It was actually pretty busy. The closer they made it to the capital the more people were in the guild halls. A young lady was at the desk. “Where do I need to go to turn in a mission here?”

  “Take the stairs behind me. Go up to the second floor. Find the door that is labeled Mission Completion. Turn your mission into them.”

  They made their way to the “Mission Completion” door and entered. “We have come to turn in our last mission.”

  The man behind the desks was looking hard at a piece of paper. He wasn’t paying to close attention to his surroundings. When he did look up the first thing he saw were the eyes of a Mountain Wolf looking at him dead in the eyes. He jumped out of his skin. “What is that doing here.” Clearly upset.

  “Well like I said we are here to turn in the 20% for the mission we just completed.”

  “You can come up and pay your mission fee without bringing up your pet.”

  “Well he isn’t my pet and he is a level 2 member of the guild. How is he supposed to pay his mission fees?”

  “Never heard of that before.” Roland showed Shadows guild medallion to the clerk. “I guess I’ll have something to add to my autobiography. I thought ending my career here in the guild I wouldn’t ever see anything out of the ordinary.” Roland handed him the payment for both Shadow and Roland to the clerk.

  “I was told the guild had a bank. Could you direct us to it?”