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

by B. A. Monaghan

  Shadow was just happy he wasn’t looking like a prairie wolf. He hated not looking like a mountain wolf. He did like the whole mountain troll look for Roland. According to Shadow he was much more intimidating than his normal self. They did get a good chuckle about the eyes of the orcs when they saw the troll. Roland was surprised when Shadow laughed. It was really wicked looking. Nothing like a laugh.

  This mission had been a good one for Roland and Shadow. They had both gained two levels. The imagination in his use of illusion was going well. The manticore hide should provide incredible armor and cloths for Roland. His arrows were going to need some attention. Even though he had some good arrows thanks to the stinger he needed to replace a few. The fletching was looking bad on several and several arrows had broken when the orcs had fallen on them. Along with the one he shot at the manticore. It had just shattered when it hit the beast.

  Status Panel

  Level

  17

  Age

  17

  Health

  320

  Title:

  N/A

  Mana

  505

  Heath Regen

  0.001/Second

  Stamina

  210

  Mana Regen

  0.0005/Second

  Vitality

  32

  Stamina Regen

  0.01/Second

  Strength

  32

  Race

  Half Elf

  Endurance

  35

  Bonus

  Dexterity +2 per level

  Dexterity

  68

  Wisdom:

  63

  Active Status Conditions

  Intelligence

  45

  Animal Bond

  Charisma

  10

  Available Points

  0

  His mana was now over 540. As far as he could tell this was really good. He never got close to running out of mana but the use of illusion was something he would need to think more on. His mother had said to use his imagination. His dexterity was almost at 70. He could put an arrow exactly where he needed to put it. He could run across boulders trees and just about anything really. He would probably need to get some training with his knife. He had to use it on several occasions and it was becoming almost a necessity to get training with it.

  Mateo, Damari, and Vena were treating him like a younger brother. If they didn’t see Shadow around they would always ask if he was OK. They knew he was a big part of why they were as successful as they were. Vena had cast heal on Shadow too after Roland had, just because she saw the blood and wanted to make sure it was healed properly. She couldn’t imagine how a tracker could heal anyway.

  They entered the capitol late one afternoon. Roland was looking like a young human and Shadow was looking like his obedient dog. Oh, how Shadow hated this. They were all sitting in the wagon. Damari had taken control of the wagon again. They stopped off at the guild house and dropped their packs off. They stopped at Roland’s house and dropped his items off. Shadow stayed at the house too. Then they were off to the castle.

  Mateo was the one doing their talking. “We are a group of adventures returning with a mission.” He let the guard look at the paper without releasing it.

  The guard read the mission and called for a sergeant. The sergeant read it and he directed another soldier to escort them to a place to put the wagon. Then he was led to the administration portion of the castle. There they waited for the chancellor.

  The chancellor finally asked them to enter his office and took the paper from Mateo’s hand. “So you have completed the mission. What have you found?”

  Mateo spoke with confidence and the smile was still a mile wide. “Well we have a wagon load of armor and weapons with blacksmith marks from blacksmiths here in the capitol. They are all newly made and we fought a lot of orcs with these same weapons and armor. Roland saw the exchange of payment from the orcs to the elves. The orcs gave the elves a pouch and the elves gave the orcs the weapons and armor in the wagon we have outside. Now there are a lot more weapons and armor because we had to kill a few orcs to get away.”

  “Well let’s go see this wagon of yours. We lost a caravan of weapons and armor going to Port Orchard and I’m wondering if this might have been part of the shipment.”

  They all walked out to the wagon. Sure enough the wagon did have a mark on the side of it showing whose it belongs to. The chancellor looked through the weapons and looked at the maker’s mark. He then went to the horse and looked at the brand on the horse.

  “So, I’m sure you claim the wagon and everything in it as recovered through this mission. It is one of the wagons we sent to Port Orchard. I’m sure it is probably the same horses and equipment that left this same castle. Would you consider selling the items back to us? We need to get these to Port Orchard and instead of selling the items and wagon to different people and I’ll have to buy it from them. Let’s just deal between you and me and get rid of the middle man.”

  The negotiation went on for quite a while. Mateo was a very good negotiator. They ended up getting 20 gold for everything. So everyone got five gold. The cut for the mission was two gold 50 silver. They would each have to pay the guild their 20% from that. They made a little more for the orc kills but not much. They agreed to drop group once the money was divvied up. The team wouldn’t be taking any more missions for at least a week maybe longer. Everyone wanted a break and they had money to spend.

  Roland went to the guild hall and payed his 50 silvers for his cut of the mission. He went upstairs to the bank to check on the auction. He was gone so long that the auction should have been completed. The banker was a happy person when he entered. “Roland, I’m so happy to see you. The auction went better than I had expected. There were so many mages bidding on the stone they ran out of room at the auction house. The Mage’s Guild ended up purchasing the stone. They said that it was essential for the defense of the city if it ever came under attack. They also didn’t want to give anyone that much power. It went for 150 gold. The amount is astonishing. You will never have to work again if you didn’t want to. We took out 15 gold for our share of the auction. You are left with 135 gold. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you. I assume I can keep the gold here in the bank?”

  “Oh, yes. Just let us know when you need some and we will be pleased to give you what you need. Since you have over 10 gold in our bank we will offer you 5% interest on your gold in our bank. That would give you six gold and 75 silver every year in interest if you keep the same amount in the bank. You could live off the interest alone for the rest of your life.”

  “Thank you then. I never realized I could get interest off of my gold.”

  Roland left the bank shortly after he had signed some papers. He was rich. He was hoping that no one knew it was him that had sold the stone. He had named his mother and father as beneficiaries if anything ever happened to him. They wouldn’t know what to do with it either. For now, he would just leave it where it was.

  The next day Shadow took off into the woods around the capitol. Roland took his manticore hide to the leather craftsman. He was surprised. He had never worked with a hide like the manticore’s. The wings were indeed soft. “I am wanting to make a chest piece, grieves and some boots with the hide. As you can see the chest piece I purchase from you last time almost didn’t survive my first fight.” He showed him the shoulder piece with the gash through it caused by the manticore’s stinger.

  “The wings of the manticore look like a bats wings but they are so soft. I was hoping to get two pants and two shirts made from them. What do you think about that?”

  The leather crafter acted like he was in deep thought. I will need you to cut the pieces for me. I’ll need to purchase some chemicals from the Alchemist’s Guild to treat the hide and leather from the wings. If you give me the left over pieces, I will make what you want for one gold and fifty silver. That isn’t a negoti
able. The alchemical supplies aren’t cheap. I can make most of my money back on the pieces left over. It is going to take about two weeks to make. Can you wait that long?”

  “I would like to get them in a week but I know it takes a lot of work treating the leather and getting it just right. But, me wanting something and me getting it are two different things. When they are done send for me at this address.” Roland gave the leather craftsman the address to his home.

  He then went to the mage guild hall. He dropped a message off to master Eli Shatris, letting him know that he was back from a mission. He received a message in return to come back the next day at the third hour.

  He left and went to the Adventurer’s Guild. Imala was still at the desk. “Imala, how are you doing today?”

  “Hey, Roland, I’m good. I saw that Mateo was back and the rest of the group. I guess I missed you when you came to finalize your mission. So how was Mateo’s group? Did you like working with him?”

  “Oh, his whole group was good. He was so good with his sword and shield. He really doesn’t make any large swings with his sword, but he does a lot of stabbing with that sword of his. Between the shield and the sword, he is deadly. Damari is just a bit crazy. I don’t think he could really be happy in a fight unless his is outnumbered substantially. Vena just acted like the older sister I never had. I’m thinking they will invite me on their next mission. They seemed to like Shadow and myself.”

  “Hey did you hear about the Lava Stone that went on auction? It happened while you were gone. They said some adventurer from our guild put it up for auction. I heard the mages guild purchased it for 150 gold. Whoever that adventurer is will never have to work again. I can’t imagine having that kind of gold.”

  “Well whoever it was, I’m sure it isn’t going to change what I’m doing.”

  Chapter 8

  Someone Is Watching

  Imala had a sly look on her face. “Well if you hear anything about who it was let me know. I have my feelers out and I hear all the gossip. I’m sure I’ll know who it is by the end of the week.” She laughed and had a really nice smile on her face. She was a very happy person. Especially if gossip was to be had.

  “Well Imala, what I was hoping you could help me with is where I can find someone who could teach me how to fight with a knife. I had to use it a few times on this last mission so I thought I should get better at using it.”

  “Oh, there is a noble. I think he is like the third son or something like that. He has a training room near the weapons and armor crafters lane. They say he teaches knife fighting and knife throwing. He is supposedly really good. But being a third son to a noble doesn’t get you much so he trains other for a price. He is supposed to charge a nice bit of coin for it. His place has a sign outside that has two crossed knives on it.”

  “Thanks Imala I appreciate your help.” He flipped a silver piece to her. “Here this is for the tip.”

  “You keep doing that and I’ll expect a silver every time I talk to you. Have a good day Roland.”

  He was off. He also needed to go by a fletcher’s place and get some arrows to replace the ones that had been broken. He found a fletcher before he found the knife training facility. He purchased some black cedar arrows with fletching on them. He would put his own arrowheads on.

  He then found the knife trainer. He entered and there were several people sparing in the middle of the room. They were all holding wooden knives. Probably a good idea. No one wanted to get hurt sparing. A middle aged man who was giving oversight to the training looked over at him. He had dark hair, a very noble looking face with square jaw and high cheekbones. He also had a very distinctive very deep dimple in the center of his chin. “What can I do for you, young man? Are you looking to get some training in knife fighting?”

  “Yes sir. I use a knife and I would like to get better trained with it.”

  “Let me see your knife.”

  Roland took his knife out and handed it over to the man. He looked at it and then handed it back. “That is probably the nicest knife I have ever seen. Where did you get such a beautiful weapon? Elves don’t just give those things to anyone.”

  “Well my mother got it for me. She wanted me to have the best if I was going to be out in the world adventuring and she wanted to make sure I had good protection.”

  “Well you should thank her for such a wonderful gift. I will tell you what. I will teach you because anyone with a knife like yours needs to know how to use it. What I want you to do before we start is to go and get another knife that is comparable in size and has a similar cross piece. If you are going to use a knife to fight with you will need two of them. The next think I want to know. You look like a very competent young man. You walked in here with a bit of grace. Do you have a good bit of dexterity? Knife fighting is dependent on dexterity. I don’t want to know what your skill is exactly but it would be nice to know what I am working with.”

  “Well, (he hesitated, he didn’t like to give out that kind of information) I’m substantial for my age. I will say that I’m way over 50 dexterity in my stats.”

  “Well if your over 50 you have more than enough to become a good knife fighter. Are you going to learn how to throw a knife also? Sometimes having the ability to hide knives you can throw is a great advantage.” He began taking out knives hidden around his arms, legs, chest, back and he was just pulling them out all over the place. He had at least 12 knives on the table next to them. If you train and become competent I’ll show you how I carry these knives and where to get them. For now, pick up 3 throwing knives. Go over to the blacksmith two doors down from here and let him know what you want. He will take care of you. Be back here tomorrow afternoon and we will start.”

  He exited the school and went over to the blacksmith’s shop. He opened the door and he was met with a burst of heat. There was activity all over the shop. A counter was just inside the door to keep visitors from going onto the forge area. An apprentice was pumping the billows. He saw Roland and tapped the man on the shoulder who was making an item on the anvil. He nodded his head and kept working. The man was very broad in the chest and wasn’t more than 5 feet tall and that was being generous. He had a long beard and heavy leather apron. When the item he was working on lost the orange color he sat it down with his hammer and came to the counter.

  “What can I do for you, young man?”

  Everyone was calling him young man these days. He needed to come up with a better illusion. “I’m here to get another knife that will go with the one I’m carrying and to get three throwing knives.”

  “Let me see your knife.”

  Roland took the knife out and handed him his elven knife. The man’s eyes got really big when he took the knife. He turned it every which way and examined it for an inordinate amount of time.

  “This is an elven knife. I’m sure you know what it can do. I’m sure Farrell sent you here. Did he tell you to get something like this?”

  “Well he told me to get something that is comparable in weight, size and similar cross piece.”

  “Well, I’m sure you can tell that I’m a dwarf. I came here because I can make more gold here in the human lands and I’m not as good as some of my brother dwarfs. I can make you a good knife. I’m not going to make you a mythical knife like you have here. If my brothers found out I made something like that they would haul me back to the mountains and keep me there for the rest of my life. I can however make you a knife what will remain sharp and it won’t rust. But that is far as I’m willing to go. It will be almost identical in looks to the one you have.

  The throwing knives I’ll just make the usual ones. Unless you really like throwing knives and are good at it there isn’t any reason to get well made knives. You can get better ones later. Don’t waste your coin where you don’t have to. I am going to charge you 3 gold for the knife and 25 silver each for the three throwing knives. Come see me tomorrow before you start your training.

  He went back to the house and took all the gold
he had. He was glad he picked up some extra gold from the last mission. The one thing he thought about was that he was getting good gear and was getting some training. The ability to stay alive during his adventures was the most important thing to do. He was sure the cost of the armor, knives and training would pay off in the long run.

  Imala was still at the front desk. “Back so quickly. Did you miss me Roland?” She winked at him and gave him a big smile.

  “Yes Imala I missed you. I’m probably going to have to go on a mission trip soon to build up my reserves again. Let Mateo know that my training is going to take me a few weeks. So I’ll be ready for a mission in three weeks.”

  She laughed as he was heading back out the guild door. Shadow was out in the forest and had just killed a small deer. He would meet him at the gate and cast invisible on him till he got to the house where they could skin and cook up dinner.

  The next day Roland went off to the Mages Guild with Shadow in tow. Shadow didn’t feel the need to go with him to see master Eli. Roland felt the need because they were a team in the bonding.

  They were escorted in to Eli’s office. “Roland and Shadow, it is so good to see you. I’m surprised to see Shadow. Normally wolves dislike the city.” Shadow gave Roland the look, I told you so. “So tell me about your mission. Was it a success and are developing more skills?”

  “Yes, to both parts of that question. I was able to speak with a raven and he did some scouting for us. He sort of demanded jerky from me and he came back and helped us again on our way out of the orc lands.”

  “Good, ravens are good intelligent creatures. They are good at scouting but they lose interest after too long of time. Did you see any elves while you were out?”

  “That was sort of why I wanted to talk with you. Our mission was to find out if elves and orcs were working together against the humans. I can’t say for sure if they are working against humans together or if it is just a mutual dislike. The elves are providing weapons and armor to the orcs with some type of payment and the armor and weapons the elves had come off of a caravan that disappeared a few months back. Do you think the humans and elves are going to war.? Am I in danger if someone found out I’m half elf or that my mother is an elf? What about you and your daughter are you in danger?”