Regulators Revealed

by Toby Neighbors

  Golden light shone from the blade and struck the outlaw directly in his chest, knocking him backward, his body stiff and unmoving as Dex got back to his feet.

  “I hate magic,” Lalyn said, brushing the dirt from her cloak. “Give me a fair fight any day. Did you kill him?”

  “No,” Dex said. “He’s just paralyzed.”

  The women who had been his prisoners suddenly threw themselves onto the outlaw. They were hitting and clawing at his face like wild animals. Dex used the power of the opal that was bonded onto his hand to levitate the frenzied women.

  “Stop!” Dex ordered them as he moved them away from the fallen outlaw. “He’ll face justice for what he’s done.”

  “He’s a pig,” one of the women shouted.

  “He deserves to die,” the other said, already sobbing.

  “And my ministers will see that it happens slowly,” Lalyn said. “I am Princess Lauralyn and you have my word that this fiend will be repaid. I’ll fetch the horse soldiers.”

  Dex turned to the women who had been held captive. “Go, release the others. You can return to your homes now. Everything will be okay.”

  The first woman, who looked to be a little older, had an arm around her companion who couldn’t stop crying. The innkeeper, a small man with bruises on his face, came limping into the common room. He had a gash on his forehead and one eye was swollen shut.

  “Better to kill him now,” the man said. “If he breaks free he’ll just come back. He’ll burn the whole town down.”

  “He won’t get free,” Dex said, bending over the outlaw, whose face was bleeding from the scratches of his prisoners.

  Dex could see the recognition in the man’s eyes. The outlaw could see and hear everything, he just couldn’t move. Unlike the ecclass spell, the elvish ending curse held the recipient in an iron grip that would be impossible to break out of and didn’t require Dex’s constant attention to keep the spell in place. The outlaw still had his right hand extended in front of him, his hand balled into a fist around the ring. Dark, red light pulsed inside the ruby, a half cast spell just waiting to be unleashed.

  Women were being released from the guest rooms upstairs, most were younger than Dex, and none of them were fully clothed. Each one looked terrorized, and it took all of the young Marshyl’s mental fortitude to keep from ending the outlaw’s life. Trying to open Enid’s fist to get the ring from his finger would be impossible without releasing him from the paralysis spell. Dex slung the dragon shield onto his back and picked up the cast iron ash scooper that hung by the fireplace. He thrust it into the glowing embers of the fire.

  The women were talking behind him. He could tell from their voices that they hoped their tormentor was dead. Part of him wanted to oblige them. Slaying the outlaw would be a mercy to the people who had suffered from his cruelty, and under different circumstances he might have given in to the temptation, but Dex knew that Lalyn intended to take the man back to Crelyn and make an example of him. Still, he couldn’t let the outlaw keep the magic ring.

  As soon as the little shovel was red hot, he plucked it from the fire. Then with one savage slice he hacked the outlaw’s hand from his forearm. The Lord Marshyl’s sword severed the outlaw’s flesh and bone as easily as cutting down a tender sapling. Enid’s eyes bulged in pain, but he didn’t make a sound. The Elvish Ending curse wouldn’t even allow the outlaw to bellow in agony as his blood fountained into the air from his severed limb. Dex quickly touched the glowing metal of the ash scoop onto the severed arm. The blood sizzled and the flesh charred. The smell was sickening.

  “You have rope,” Dex asked? “Bandages?”

  “Of course,” the innkeeper said, limping into the back rooms.

  “You should let him die,” said one of the women. “He deserves nothing less.”

  “And he will die,” Dex said. “But not before he’s taken back to Crelyn and put on trial. The queen will decide what fate suits this animal. You can all rest assured that he will never hurt you or anyone else ever again.”

  Chapter 7

  The bleeding stopped rather quickly once Dex had cinched a rope around the outlaw’s forearm and cauterized the wound a second time. He didn’t have much experience in healing magic, and the outlaw didn’t deserve to be spared the pain of losing his hand, not after terrorizing the entire community of Quelltown and abusing the women.

  Dex pulled the ruby ring from the outlaw mage’s severed hand. The ruby was the size of an acorn and mounted in a thick, heavy ring of bronze. As soon as he touched the ring he could feel its power, like a caged beast anxious to break free and wreak havoc. He dropped it into a pouch on his belt, then made sure the outlaw was bound hand and foot. Dex had dropped the elvish ending curse in order to tie the man’s arms and legs together. The villainous mage had passed out from the pain of losing his hand, and did not resist in any way.

  “Well, we found nearly a dozen more victims,” Princess Lauralyn declared as she came back into the common room.

  The snow blew in behind her, and four of the horse soldiers accompanied their commander, brushing the powdery snow from their uniforms and pulling off their plumed helmets.

  “Where?” Dex asked.

  “In an alley between two workshops. All men, their bodies stacked like firewood,” she said. “What happened to his hand?”

  “I had to cut it off to safely remove the ring,” Dex explained. “He’ll live, just not comfortably.”

  “If I had my way I’d turn him over to the town,” Lalyn said. “But mother wants him brought to court.”

  “Is it true? Are you really the princess?” the innkeeper asked as he approached Lalyn.

  “Yes, I am Princess Lauralyn, daughter of Queen Urcylla.”

  “He must suffer,” said one of the women who had been held captive. She had a dark bruise on one cheek and her thick, wool gown was torn at the neckline. “He’s a monster.”

  “He will suffer,” Lalyn said. “I can guarantee that. I will need two witnesses. We’ll be traveling in hard weather, so I need witnesses who are strong enough to endure the trip back to Crelyn.”

  “Surely you’ll wait until the storm ends,” Dex said.

  “No, our task is only half complete,” Lalyn said. “We appreciate your help, Marshyl Dex, but we have a prisoner to return.”

  Dex wanted to argue, but realized he really just wanted to spend more time with Lalyn. She was like an obsession he couldn’t turn away from, and perhaps it was better if they parted ways. He didn’t expect his quarry to be doing anything during the storm but hunkering down and trying to stay warm. Dex certainly couldn’t track the Executioner in the white out conditions blowing across the plains of Northia, but he needed to refocus on his quest, rather than being distracted by his feelings for Lalyn that he could never act on.

  “Get this piece of filth on his feet,” she ordered. “We’ll purchase a cart and horse from the livery to transport him in. I don’t want the outlaw dying before our inquisitors have a chance to find out where he’s from.”

  The next hour was spent preparing for the horse soldiers’ departure. The entire town was in mourning. Those who hadn’t been abused by the ring mage pulled together to help those who had. Dex, with nothing more to do than wait out the storm, sat near the fire in the empty inn. He ate, drank a little ale, then stretched out in a room the innkeeper had made up for him. It was a small space, with a narrow bed, a stool, and a tiny window that was shuttered to keep out the cold. A brazier was brought in to keep Dex warm through the night, and he slept hard after only getting a few hours of rest the night before.

  At dawn he was up, and the storm had cleared. Dex stood looking from a window in the common room, out across the empty plain. A thick blanket of snow covered the ground, but the sky overhead was bright blue, without a hint of clouds.

  “We can’t thank you enough,” the innkeeper said as he set out a bowl of hot porridge and fresh baked bread for his guest.

  Dex handed the man four silver coins
in payment.

  “It was the least I could do,” Dex said.

  “Thank the gods for you Marshyls,” the innkeeper said, looking down at the coins. “But I can’t take your money. You’ve given me my inn back. You’ve given us the whole town back.”

  “And the money will help,” Dex said. “I can pay my way. Use it to make the repairs you need to keep serving travelers.”

  “We’re in your debt,” the innkeeper said.

  Dex ate his breakfast, then collected his animals from the livery, paying an elderly woman for their time in the big barn. Her husband had been one of the ring mage’s victims, and there was little Dex could do to ease her grief. Riding away from the town was a bit of a relief. The community was filled with sadness, and while Dex could relate, he didn’t want to linger in it.

  The day was more beautiful than he expected. The sun was warm as he rode Titan across the windswept plain, the stallion’s big hooves crunching in the snow. Bliss spent most of the day testing her wings and learning to fly. She started by leaping from Dex’s shoulder and gliding to the ground on her long wings. The phoenix kept up a constant, cheerful chirping that lifted Dex’s spirits. Normally he didn’t mind being alone, but after traveling with Lalyn again he felt a hollowness that he couldn’t quite explain. He missed her, that much was obvious. He missed his friends and the warmth of their companionship too. And if he was being honest, part of him didn’t want to capture his father. He wanted to complete his quest and become a full-fledged Marshyl Knight, but he feared facing the man he’d known and loved as a child. Once Dex had captured the Executioner he would have to listen to the explanation of why his father left him and his mother to fend for themselves. It was a story he didn’t really want to hear. He felt that perhaps it was better that his father stayed dead, the pain of knowing why Maslow had rejected his family was more than Dex could bear.

  He pushed the pace through the day, as Bliss began to fly in circles around the lone rider and the snow began to melt in earnest. That evening he paid a farmer to allow him to take refuge in a small stable. Bliss spent the night catching mice in the darkness, while Dex tried to rest, but sleep was elusive. He expected to catch up to his father any day. Perhaps the wily wizard had changed course, but Dex doubted it. Earlier in the day he had spoken to a man at a small settlement who claimed a lone stranger in dark, tattered robes had spent the night at his small boarding house after stumbling in out of the storm. That meant that Dex was less than a full day behind his father, and he tried to wrap his mind around what was to come. He would have to be ready to face a powerful wizard in combat, but also to endure whatever twisted logic his father used to try and dissuade him from completing his quest.

  The next day, after only an hour on the road traveling north, Bliss began to act strangely. She landed on the pommel of the saddle, cooing sadly.

  “What is it?” Dex asked. “What’s wrong, girl?”

  The phoenix gave a low, mournful call, then looked up into the sky.

  “Is it time for you to stretch your wings and make your own way?”

  The bird cooed again, bobbing her head up and down so that the golden feathers on the crown of her head flapped.

  “I will miss you,” Dex said, stroking her feathers. “But I’m happy for you too. Go on, fly. Just remember, you’re always welcome with me.”

  Bliss cooed and then leaned her head against Dex’s chest, before hopping onto his forearm. With a heave Dex hurled the phoenix up into the air, where she spread her wide, red wings and began to fly. He watched her go, rising higher and higher until she was nothing more than a dark speck against the brilliant blue sky. Nothing had prepared him for the sadness of losing his pet. Master Quoss had said that a phoenix must go off on her own and return of her own free will. Dex just hoped the Keeper knew what he was talking about. His heart felt so fragile. And he worried he might never see Bliss again.

  Dex and Titan rode hard all through the day. At noon they stopped in a village where Dex learned he was only a couple of hours behind his father. That knowledge made him push the pace even harder. When the sun began to set that evening, with no sign of his quarry, Dex could just make out the lights of a settlement in the distance. He rode to the edge of the village, but didn’t dismount or ride in. He spent some time studying the buildings.

  There were homes, cottages mostly, made of timber and bricks molded from mud and long grass. The roofs were thatch. Most of the buildings were small. Some of the workshops were little more than covered spaces to keep the weather out and most had only one wall. There were dogs roaming in the darkness, looking for food, and a few farm animals in small pens. The largest structure was a long, rectangular building that served as inn, tavern, cafe, and meeting hall. A closer investigation of the tiny lean-to stable attached to one end of the building revealed the presence of one horse.

  Dex unsaddled Titan and rubbed the big stallion down. He had on his full dragon armor under his winter cloak. Once he had his belongings squared away, he checked his sword to make sure the weapon was accessible and that the cold hadn’t made the steel stick in the leather sheath.

  The back of his neck tingled as he approached the inn. They were close to the border of the Greeg Lands, a long stretch of arid territory controlled by the nomadic Greeg tribes. If his father managed to get across the border, Dex would have to ration his water, avoid the roaming tribesmen, and find his father in a place with no settlements and very little shelter. He stood outside the doorway to the inn, a thick oak slab that hung on rusted metal hinges. There was laughter and singing inside. If his father was there, as Dex expected, the Executioner was keeping a very low profile.

  Dex’s hand shook as he reached for the metal ring to pull open the door. He hated any sign of weakness or fear, but he couldn’t deny the way he felt. His father had blasted him with spells outside the Marshyl compound. Dex had no doubts that his father would try his best to kill him again rather than be apprehended, but there was no way to avoid the conflict. Dex wasn’t sure he could harm his father. He had never had to fight someone he knew and his feelings for his father were mixed up inside him. Dex didn’t want to fight the man he once trusted most, but he knew he had to find a way to subdue his father to fulfill his quest. Dex could only trust that he was ready. He opened the door.

  Chapter 8

  Everyone turned to look as Dex stepped into the building. There were no guest rooms, just a loft along one side of the long building. Food was being cooked on the one large circular pit in the center of room. The floors were hard-packed earth, and while some of the patrons sat on benches, most either stood or sat on blankets on the floor. It was warmer inside than out, but not by much, which was probably why most of the people inside the gloomy hall were standing close to the fire pit.

  “Welcome to North Gate, last stop on the north road,” said a heavyset man with a sweeping beard that fell across his chest in curling ringlets. “I’m Aines, and you’re welcome, Marshyl.”

  “I’m looking for someone.”

  “You’ve found someone,” the fat man said. “Most of the village is here tonight. We’re celebrating.”

  “Celebrating what?” Dex asked.

  “We’ve just slaughtered a hog and we’re roasting a rather succulent ham. We’ll eat good this night and you’re welcome to join us. Marshyls are always welcome.”

  “Thank you,” Dex said. “But there’s a traveler here tonight I believe. A man in dark robes. He might be nursing a chest wound.”

  “Aines, who’ve ya got o’r there,” said a red-faced woman with thick, blond hair. “Bring ’im round, why don’t ya. We’d all like to take a look at ’im.”

  “That’s Tabitha, she’s sort of in charge of the hall,” Aines said, wrapping a thick arm around Dex’s shoulders and leading him toward the fire pit. “She can keep you warm through the night if you’ve the coin for it.”

  “Ah, a Marshyl, no less,” Tabitha said. “And a handsome one by the looks of ’im.”

  �
�I’m searching for a man who came this way,” Dex tried to explain.

  “I’ve been lookin’ for a man all me life, dearie,” Tabitha said, getting a laugh from the other patrons.

  “Try this, Marshyl,” said a toothless man as he handed Dex a mug of frothy ale. “It’s some of my best work.”

  “Have any of you seen—”

  He was cutoff as a man began to bellow out a song in a drunken voice. The others quickly joined in and Dex was forced to look around the gloomy hall for anyone who resembled his father. It was possible that someone was hiding in the shadows. There was no light in the long, ancient building other than a few lanterns that hung from the rafters below the loft. Most of the space was dark, especially in the corners and up in the sleeping space. Bats were fluttering overhead, weaving around the thick beams that held up the fat bundles of thatch.

  Dex was about to go searching among the shadows when Tabitha handed Dex a plate of ham and beans, then escorted him over to a seat on the long bench. She sat closer than she needed to, leaning into him. He could feel the heat from her body as she whispered into his ear, her hot breath tickling in an uncomfortable manner.

  “I’ve seen the fellow you’re lookin’ for,” she said quietly.

  Dex glanced at her.

  “Eat!” Tabitha ordered in a loud voice. “It’s the best meat in all of Northia.”

  Dex wasn’t really hungry. His mind was filled with the fact that his father could be in the very same room with him at that moment. He felt both the excitement of his quest and the fear that danger was close. Try as he might, he couldn’t see where it was coming from.

  He lifted a bite of the hot food. It was good, the ham had a smoky char and the beans were spicy. He chewed quickly, sipping at the frothy ale, which was surprisingly good. Dex didn’t normally enjoy ale, the strong, bitter taste was not to his liking, but occasionally he drank ale that was smooth and crisp. The frothy drink was cool and contrasted nicely with the spicy food.