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

by B. A. Monaghan

  “Well those are hard questions to answer. I’m not sure if war is eminent or not. The humans have factions who want war and they have factions who don’t want war. The same is true about elves. The orcs always want war. They couldn’t care less who they fight even each other. I’m safe. You might not know but my wife is on the mages council and she advises the king. We are safe and my daughter would be protected if anything happens.”

  “You, we wouldn’t be able to protect. With your mix you would be safer here in the human lands and you can look like a human pretty much all the time. Your mother is so far away from anything she is safer than anyone. That includes elf or human. The political situation is treacherous. I’m not a politician. My wife is and she does well. We try to act as a go between for the elves and humans. I’m not sure who is behind the problems if there are elves or humans or someone else playing both sides against each other. It won’t be the first time and it won’t be a last either. Keep your eyes and ears open Roland.”

  “Thank you, sir I appreciate your perspective.”

  “Well, Roland I must be going I have things to do. I did want to tell you that my family enjoyed your presence at our house. If you’re going to be in town for a while let me know maybe, we can have dinner again. My daughter particularly liked your company. I’m sure it was the idea you were her equal. She didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.”

  “I will probably be here at least for three weeks. I’m still staying in the home I rented. I would be delighted to visit you and your family. I felt very welcomed.”

  Roland and Shadow were out of the mages guild quickly. He cast an illusion on Shadow but this time he put a time limit on the illusion. In thirty minutes the illusion would fall off. At least he hoped it would fall off. Shadow would surely let him know.

  He ended up at the blacksmith shop. He barely entered Gimin’s Blacksmith’s shop and the dwarf was standing in front of him. “Your right on time.” He spread out a red cloth on the counter top. He placed the three throwing knives and he gently placed the knife he had made to be similar to his elven knife. “Let me see your knife.”

  Roland handed him his elven knife. Gimin placed knife next to his. “You see they are the same length, same weight, same balance and the same cross guard. The difference is the elven knife has runes on it the make it a very rare knife indeed. My knife has some dwarf runes but you can’t see them can you. No because we dwarves hide our special knives. The dwarven runes are below the tang underneath the handle. It isn’t going to need any sharpening and it isn’t going to get rusted. Just clean it off before you put it into your sheath. That way it isn’t going to get stuck. You’re not going to be able to tell the difference unless you stab a dragon. Then use the elven blade. Those other three are not bad.”

  The money was exchanged and Gimin gave a sheath for the dwarven knife and a sheath that had places for all three throwing knives. All three sheaths were attached to one piece of leather. Gimin rolled them up together in the weird sheath. It was handy to carry but it just didn’t seem practical for throwing knives.

  Farrell was drilling a group of men learning to knife fight. He turned to a young man next to him. “Jahin get the young man some knives close to what he is using.” The young man walked over and asked Roland to see his knives. He showed the young man what he had and he disappeared into a back room. He returned and gave Roland two wooden knives similar in size and length to his own. Roland continued to watch as Farrell finished up with his group.

  Roland and Farrell spent the next two hours going over basic movements and defenses with the knives. They practiced with the left and right hand. If he learned a move with his right hand he had to learn it with the left. He learned to use just one knife and he learned to use two knives. When they were done Roland had multiple bruises from the blunt knives that Farrell used.

  He then took him to a large piece of wood in a side room. “Roland this is what I want you to do. Go purchase a board and put it up in your house. I want you to stand one pace away from the board. This is how I want you to throw the knife.” He threw the knife from one pace away sinking the knife into the board. “Do this with your right hand until you can do this one hundred times in a row and all the knives hit and stick within a three-inch circle. When you are able to do that, then do it with your left hand. I will see you tomorrow same time Roland.”

  He walked away and left Roland to find his way out. Jahin was waiting for Roland by the door. “Sir, if you would leave your wooden knives in this cubby. The next time you come they will be here.” There were dozens of small cubbies behind the desk. Half of the cubbies were full of wooden practice knives.

  Roland went to a lumber mill and purchased a large piece of wood. He threw the thing on his shoulder and headed to his home. The wood was some soft pine. He was glad it wasn’t a piece of hard maple. That would have been so heavy he couldn’t have carried it all the way home.

  He sat the board up in his home and began throwing the knives. It was really easy to stick the knife in at one pace but he was at about 70 and he missed. He had been bored and had lost focus for a second. He had to start again. The same thing happened. If he lost focus he would miss. The third try he maintained the focus and he hit all 100 throws.

  He started with the left hand and he didn’t do near as well. He wasn’t used to using his left hand so it took a while to be consistent. He finally hit his 100 throws in the three-inch circle at one pace. His arms were going to be sore.

  He pulled out some herbs for the bruises and the soon to be sore muscles. He mixed the herbs placed some mana into the elixir and let it steep for a bit. He went to the gate and Shadow was waiting for him. The illusion had fallen away but he cast another so they could get his dog into the city.

  The next morning, he worked on his illusions and then meditated for a bit. He cast illusion on Shadow as he left to run the country side. This time the illusion should drop off in 30 minutes. Shadow would let him know if it fell off.

  He had lunch then headed to Farrell’s school. The first day was much like the second. This time he reviewed what they had learned the first day and then began adding onto what he had learned the day before. When he left the homework that night would be two paces away with the left and right hand one hundred times apiece. There was a pattern immerging.

  The next day was the same for class but the knife throws whet back to one pace but this time he was to throw underhand. One hundred with the left and the right hand with and under hand throw at one pace. He was to do one hundred overhand throws with the left and right hand at 2 paces.

  The next two weeks were all sort of a blur. He was becoming quite good with his knives. He was comfortable with using them and fighting others with swords and other weapons. Farrell was right about the knife throwing. Roland really liked having knives hidden on his person. He could look unarmed but was still deadly.

  He went to Gimin’s the first day of the third week. The old dwarf just smiled. “Don’t tell me old Farrell has you convinced that throwing knives are a good thing to have around?” The dwarf laughed a big hardy laugh. “Just listen to one thing old Gimin knows from experience. Use your throwing knives for throwing but keep the two good knives on your person always. Never throw them.”

  Gimin then reached under the counter and pulled out twelve perfectly balanced knives. He pulled them out placed them on the red piece of cloth and let Roland examine them. “Take these down to the leather craftsman’s place. He will make some knife sheaths for these. He will know what to do.” Roland paid Gimin and took off to the leather crafter.

  The leather crafter was waiting for Roland when he entered. I figured you would be here today. The boots came back from the cobbler. He placed the items out on the counter. The shirts were better than he thought. They were the softest material he had ever felt except for maybe a mink pelt. The boots were comfortable the chest piece and grieves fit perfect. Roland could tell the crafter was proud of his creation. Everything was black. He had t
o admit even he was intimidated by the look of the armor and cloths.

  “I believe with the manticore hide you really aren’t going to have to worry about cuts unless they get in between the seams. Even then it isn’t likely. I over lapped the seams. With the manticore wings as your shirt and pants those will themselves prevent a cut. What you will have to watch out for is hard blows. Like a hammer, mace, club or even a stave. You have some padding but if you get hit hard it will kill you. Arrow will probably bounce off your armor and even your shirt and pants. It will leave a bad bruise if your hit with just cloths on. The armor will protect against the bruising form arrows. Are you satisfied.”

  “This is almost unbelievable. I had no idea how well this would work out. You have earned my admiration. I do have another job for you though.” Roland placed the rolled up knives on the counter.

  The craftsman just smiled. “Old Gimin send you my way thinking I can make up some hidden sheaths?”

  “Yea, he said you would be able to help.”

  “Take off that armor and you’ll have to leave it here a bit longer. I’ll put two knives in each of your vambraces, boots will get one in each, and your chest piece with get three on each side in the front of the chest. Give me three days. Keep the shirts pants and grieves.”

  Roland was off to his house. He was happy with the armor and cloths. His knife throwing and fighting were coming on well. His dexterity helped so much. He looked down at his black cloths and he had an idea pop into his head. Could he cast illusion on himself to look like a shadow. He thought maybe he should experiment tonight.

  When he got the house a note was attached to his door. It was an invitation to dinner in two nights at Eli Shatris house. That was encouraging. He had hopes of speaking with Amelia again. His heart began to beat again. Yes, he was still a bit infatuated with her.

  That night he put on his manticore shirt and pants. Shadow came with him and was excited to have a shadow illusion put on him. They walked out of the house and stood at the edge of the light from lamps near the gate and cast the shadow illusion on himself and Shadow. It was amazing how well the two of them could blend into the streets of the capitol.

  They spent hours stalking the streets. They were getting used to staying concealed and yet keep moving and not stopping. It didn’t get fun till they found some thieves roaming the streets. They began stalking the thieves and the thieves knew something was after them. After trailing them for 15 or 20 minutes the thieves ended up running and hiding in a tavern.

  Shadow was having a lot of fun. He would let out a deep low growl when he knew they couldn’t see him. Truly a monster was after them. They then went down to the poorest parts of town. The guards didn’t come here much at night unless it was after a robbery or a murder. So they terrorized the criminals on the street for most of the night.

  They got to bed late that night or more like early morning. He skipped doing his illusion training but he had done that all night. He did go to his knife training. When they finished up he went home and took a small nap before getting ready to head off to the Shatris home. He picked up some more tea and he even purchased a beautiful set of summer flowers for Evelyn and Amelia.

  The evening went well. The dinner was excellent. The conversation was interesting as well. “Roland you know Evelyn advises the king and it was noted last night by the guards that the number of robberies and murders were down substantially last night. You get out more than we do. Have you heard about anything going on in the city.?”

  Roland tried not to act guilty or shocked. They must suspect something, but how was that possible. It was just last night. Shadow at that moment let Roland know that Rogue had been out flying over the city and saw some shadows. He knew it was them.

  “Well sir, I’ve just heard about something stalking the streets. No one saw anything and nothing actually happened to anyone so I’m sure it is all rumor. Sometimes peoples imagination gets the better of them.”

  “It is too bad you don’t know anything. Some people might like to find this shadow or whatever it is and pay them for information about certain things. For instance, a warehouse on the corner of Commerce St. and Industrial Ave has had some strange noises coming from the place. If such information could be obtained it has been said certain government entities would pay well for a tip.”

  Roland wasn’t sure what to say. Was this a way to determine if it was him or not or was this a way for someone to get information that wasn’t available any other way. “If this dark shadow or whatever it might have been did find some information that someone would want to know about what would he do with the information?”

  “That is a good question? I’m sure this dark shadow could find a flying creature to deliver messages. There are rogue creatures about all over the place.”

  Oh, Rogue could be the middle man, middle dragon. Rogue flies around the city and can easily take messages between parties. This might be profitable. It was good training too. Roland figured he wouldn’t continue down this conversation any more. He thanked the Shatris family and left with Shadow walking next to him.

  They were beyond the Shatris house more than 2 blocks and Roland cast the shadow illusions on them. They worked through the streets and Shadow said that Rogue was overhead. A small black dragon in the night sky could be a good spy just by himself. He must not be able to get into the warehouse. Why would they need he and Shadow?

  They made it to the warehouse about 2 hours later after some other work had been taken care of. The thieves had retreated back to their bar after being stalked again. Dark shadows did stop an assault that night. The thug would wake up with a bad headache and his purse had been stolen.

  As Roland and Shadow crept around the warehouse the building was shut up tight. There was a gate and large wooden fence around the loading dock. The big doors to the loading dock were closed and a small door next to the loading dock was locked up tight. Roland had no idea how to get through a locked door. He wasn’t a criminal. Or maybe he was by trying to break in. He didn’t want to steal anything but he did want answers. Was stealing information theft?

  Roland finally found some vents high on the end of the roofs. That might be a way in but he had to get on the roof. A rope would have been nice. He was able to climb the brick wall. By the time he got to the roof his fingers were bleeding. Shadow had to stay down and keep watch from outside. He ended up using his knife to break the vent lose so he could get in.

  He let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He let his nose search for others first. He could smell metal items and leather items. Sweat and dust were mixed in the smells themselves. He could smell someone with bad hygiene. There was also a strong smell of birds and their droppings. He walked along the rafter looking for clues. There were crates stacked, all up and down the warehouse. Some pens of pigeons were hidden behind some crates. In the corner next to the door to enter the warehouse was a large office. Light came out from below the crack under the door.

  He made is way down to the office. He heard two people talking. “Do you ever take a bath. If I’m going to be stuck here with you for the next two nights you’re going to need to take a bath. You’re disgusting.”

  Another voice much deeper than the first spoke. “If I were to take a bath someone would notice and wonder why I was changing my ways. We don’t want anyone getting suspicious.”

  First voice, “As soon as you find out when that caravan is leaving for Port Orchard I’ll get out of here and you can have your stink all to yourself. If we ever work together again, you must know I will insist on you taking a bath before I show up. Or we won’t be doing any business again.”

  Second voice laughed heartily, “Oh, I’m thinking this might be our last time working together. I don’t like working with uppity elves.”

  Roland froze. Elves, some elves could detect illusions. He did have a door closed between them and that would keep an elf from seeing his illusion. Or at least he thought some elves could see his illusions. His mother could but she was
a master illusionist. No reason to hang around. He quickly climbed back up to the vent. He replaced the vent and climbed down. They raced back to their home.

  He wrote up what he had heard and seen on a piece of paper. He didn’t sign it and he hoped no one could trace it back to him. The next day he gave Shadow the message in a leather pouch. He took it with him into the woods.

  Roland was back at his routine. Knives and more knives. He got back early and took another nap. Shadow woke him as he was coming back into town. He went out and cast illusion as Shadow came forward he had a pouch in his mouth. Roland took it and they headed home.

  When they got home he looked into the pouch and there were a few gold pieces. That was a good paying job. Too bad the guild didn’t know about it so he could get credit for a mission. A letter was in the pouch too.

  Roland,

  Thank you for your work. I hope the compensation was worth the effort. Imala at the Adventurer’s Guild will have a mission for Mateo and your group. She will give it to Mateo so no one else will take the mission from you. Make sure you are on that quest. Your unique skills will be needed. Please burn this paper after reading.

  What had he gotten himself into. One minute he is getting his adrenaline rush from missions in the Adventurer’s Guild and now he is what? Is he a spy or what is he? Surely this isn’t some elaborate scheme from the thieves or elves? Imala, how does she fit into this picture? He thought she was just a nice helpful receptionist. Now she hands out special missions and quests to certain people. Is Mateo in on all of this or does everyone just pick up quest like this and expect better pay? There was just so much he didn’t know about.