An Army of Heroes

by Scott J Robinson

  Gupter could obviously see he was losing them. “Why should we believe you? You’re Prince Weaver’s friend. You’re as bad as the rest.”

  Rawk kept going. “I’m here Gupter. And, in the past, I may not have helped many who weren’t humans, but I’ve always been a man of my word. Go back to your homes. Don’t give the City Guard an excuse to hurt you.”

  The mob was gone. The people were individuals again. They became smaller, slumping down, shifting nervously. They turned and spoke to those next to them. One by one, and in small groups, they drifted away into the tents and the shanties. Down one of the streets, Rawk watched as Paker shook his head and led his men away. None of them looked to be very happy.

  Gupter certainly wasn’t happy. “What in Path’s name do you think you’re doing? You think you’re helping? You don’t know anything about what’s going on here.”

  “I know what was going to happen, Gupter. Innocent people were going to die.”

  The dwarf shook his head and jumped down from the edge of the cistern. He stalked away with a half dozen others close behind.

  Standing under a tree in the corner of the small square, birds raucous above him, was someone Rawk knew. He wasn’t quite sure how he hadn’t noticed him in the first place; Thok towered above everyone else. He gave the man a nod. “Hello, Thok. I didn’t expect to see you here.” He never really expected to see Thok anywhere really; he just kind of turned up and disappeared completely. If Rawk didn’t like him it would have been a bit creepy.

  The big man nodded in reply.

  “So, do you think I should mind my own business?”

  He shrugged. “Who’s to say this isn’t your business? Given your history, I’m not sure what your motivation is, but I’m not totally clear on Gupter’s motivation either.”

  “What would you have done?”

  “If there was a riot? Run the other direction.”

  “You could have talked them around. They probably see you as one them.”

  “I’m not one for speeches. I prefer to write my messages down if I’ve got any choice.”

  Rawk took a deep breath and looked around. “Do you want to get some lunch?”

  “Sure. Why not?” He motioned down to a street leading away from the river. “Come on.”

  Thok led the way to a tavern half way up Mount Grace. It was obviously a regular hang out, for he was greeted by name and seemed to know everyone, even the customers. There was only one choice for lunch, but it was a thick, rich stew that came in a bowl large enough to feed a horse. There was also a piece of bread with butter and a mug of ale. Rawk took his spoon from the pouch on his belt and set to.

  “I realize you can do whatever you want, but it was still surprising to see you down there.”

  Rawk ate in silence for a while. “I’ve spent my whole life being a Hero. When I was younger, I needed to do what was expected if I wanted to make a living. But now...” He shrugged. “I guess I’ve just been wondering who I’m trying to impress.”

  “Some people are worth impressing.”

  “Of course. But most of the people worth impressing aren’t impressed by the whole Hero thing anyway.” He picked up his mug of ale but stopped with it half way to his mouth. He looked at Thok. He looked back at mug. And he put it down. “Can I get some water? I’ve been drinking ale all my life and still haven’t grown to like it.”

  “I’m sure Tessa can manage something.” Thok waved to a waitress and explained the situation.

  A minute later, Rawk was taking a long drink of cool, clear water. He set the mug down gave an appreciative shake of his head and returned his concentration to his food.

  “Shouldn’t you be having lunch... somewhere?” Thok asked.

  Rawk tapped his spoon on the side of his bowl as he gave it some thought. Of course, he should have been, he just couldn’t think of where. “I haven’t been going to the usual places much at all lately. Ever since...”

  “Since Maris died?”

  “Was killed. Yes.” He pushed the last of the stew around in his bowl. “I killed the damn sorcerers... Most of them...”

  “So the rumors are true?”

  “Surprising, I know.” He shrugged. “I thought I was finally, really, going to get to retire.”

  “You don’t actually seem all that keen on the idea.”

  Rawk shrugged. “I don’t think I want to be a Hero any more, but I don’t think I want to be a retired Hero either. That doesn’t sound like much fun.”

  “Are you a Hero? Or are you Rawk?”

  Rawk shrugged. He wasn’t quite sure he understood the question. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. The portals are still opening. The exots are still coming.”

  “So there are more sorcerers?”

  “I’m not sure. We aren’t sure.”

  “We? You and Weaver?”

  Rawk almost laughed. “Weaver’s carrying on as if nothing unusual is happening. He doesn’t care, as long as nothing appears in his palace. Sylvia is helping me.”

  “The healer? How can she help?”

  “Sylvia knows all sorts of things. And speaking of which, I’m meeting her this afternoon. And now I have to go and see Thacker as well so I really have to get going.” He wiped his spoon on his shirt and put it back in the pouch with the knife and fork and threw some coins on the table.

  “Well, good luck. A waster appeared just down the road from my place the other day. It killed three people before one of your street-corner-Heroes managed to kill it.”

  “You saw it?”

  “No. I only heard about it. I’ve seen wasters before though and I have to say I’m not overly disappointed.”

  “They aren’t very impressive, are they? But,” Rawk shrugged, “it killed three people so maybe we should stop looking at how things look and worry about how they act.” Exot, man or dwarf.

  “Perhaps we should.”

  Rawk left him there, sitting at the table, staring into his mug.

  -O-

  A goat-cab took him up the mountain to the first of the stairs and from there it wasn’t far to the gate into Caldera. He went between the carved columns and into the tunnel that led straight into the mountain. There was a right angle bend to the left about half way along and a bend the other direction not long after that, just enough to halt the momentum of any charge. Then he came out into the light in the circular valley at the top of the mountain.

  The city that filled it was still part of Katamood technically, but looked completely out of place. Colorful panels of timber and silk were splashed of added splashes of color to the red stone buildings that blended together along the sides of curving, winding streets. Gardens overflowed from rooftops like colorful waterfalls.

  Rawk stood and stared and wondered when he would really get used to the place. He might have stayed there for longer still, had not the rattle and clank of a tram bought his attention back to the business at hand. He hurried down and climbed on the contraption as just before it pulled out of the station and rode it all the way around to Thacker’s offices, listening to an old dwife behind him tell a fried about her new granddaughter. It sounded no different to a conversation any two old ladies might have.

  Thacker was sitting in his office, working at a large, leather bound ledger when a guard let Rawk through a short time later. He looked up, seemingly pleased for the distraction. Rawk doubted the feeling would last.

  “What can I do for you, Rawk?” He was at lest fifteen years younger than Rawk and unusually well groomed for a dwarf. His beard was combed and all the guild ribbons in his beard were neatly tied.

  “Food.”

  “You’ve missed lunch, I’m afraid. I don’t think I could get away with stopping again.” It looked as if he was giving the idea some serious thought.

  “No, food for the canal refugees down in the square.”

  Thacker’s eyes narrowed. “They have food.”

  “They don’t agree. I just hobbled a riot in that crazy makeshift town but I don’
t know how long that will work.”

  “Food was sent down yesterday. I have the work order here…” Thacker looked about on his desk, but it had obviously been tidied recently because the ledger was the only thing on it.

  “It may be leaving Caldera, or your warehouse somewhere,” Rawk said, “but after that, I’m not so sure. Who’s in charge of the operation?”

  “Berker ga Mund.” He picked up the ledger but that didn’t reveal the paperwork he was after.

  “Well, you may want to have a word with him.”

  “I’ve known him for years.”

  “Well, maybe it isn’t him, but you need to have a word with him anyway so you can start to work out what’s going on.”

  The dwarf nodded and called out to his unseen assistant. The dwife stuck her head in from an adjoining room. “Salo, I need to talk to Berker.”

  “Very well. I’ll see if I can find him.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You have that under control then?” Rawk asked. “I can’t give you any more information so I’ll be on my way. I have to meet with Sylvia.”

  “Yes, I can handle it from here. If that food was diverted along the way I’ll rip off someone’s ears.”

  “You should really delegate stuff like that.”

  Thacker threw down his pen and left a spot of ink on the page. “Don’t worry, I will.”

  Back on the outside of Mount Grace, Rawk found a goat-cab at the first opportunity and rode it all the way down to the river and back up Two Watch Hill as far as Juskin’s bookshop. He sent up a cloud of dust as he opened the door and discovered the little old man sitting behind the counter. He was repairing a book that looked like it had come out second best in a tavern brawl.

  “Good afternoon, Rawk.” He eyed him shrewdly over the top of his spectacles. “You look different today.”

  “It’s my hair. Do you like it?” He rubbed his hand over his bald scalp.

  Juskin looked at his head. “That’s it... I can see your head. I have seen your head before, but your hood is always up when you first come in.”

  Rawk hadn’t realized, either that he usually had his hood up or that today he didn’t. He resisted the urge to rub his head again. “Well, I...” He smiled. “I decided a little while ago that I was done with impressing anyone. So, I now no longer care if people see me in a bookshop consorting with the likes of you.”

  “Good for you. I wish more people were seen in bookshops. This one in particular. Though I assume you still don’t want anyone to know you are after books on magic.”

  “That would probably be for the best. Speaking of which...”

  Juskin tapped the book he was working on. “If you just give me a minute you can have this one. Plus I have a couple of others. Travis came in this morning but a supplier dropped these off a little while later.” He went back to work, concentrating fiercely. Rawk didn’t want to disturb him, so he wandered around looking at some of the other volumes on the shelves. When he discovered the poetry section he stopped to strain his eyes and read the titles more carefully. But the titles didn’t help.

  Rawk cleared his throat.

  “Yes?” Juskin came to stand by his side, four small books clasped in his hand.

  “Do you know the poem about Kepler Venagoon?”

  “Of course.” He adjusted his spectacles as he scanned the titles. He pulled one down and flicked through the pages. “Ah, yes, here you go.”

  Rawk took the book, waiting for his eyes to focus as much as they would. The poem was barely a page long. A dozen lines.

  “White Paladin of time already revealed,

  Kepler Venagoon was called again

  to follow the Great Path, sword and shield,

  between heaven’s stars above and the life

  sparks below. And every step of blood and faith,

  was another step away from Salodie, his beloved wife.

  And when the years brought him at last to the end

  he had lost the sense of the stars above

  and the sparks below. Kepler Venagoon

  searched for the up and the down, one and the other,

  the living world below and heaven above the moon

  for beloved Salodie.”

  “So is this supposed to be good?”

  Juskin shrugged. “It probably isn’t one of his better works, according to the scholars.”

  “But what do they know, right?”

  “Exactly. Many people love the poem.”

  “Well, I’ll take this one too, I guess.”

  “Should I hide the fact that you are buying poetry books as well?”

  “Is poetry against the law?”

  “No, though I wish some of it was, particularly some of the later works that came out of Melange.”

  “Well, tell anyone you like then. I’m not impressing people any more, remember.”

  “Very well.” Juskin handed over the four books he was holding as well. “I trust you, Rawk, but... You bill is becoming quite large. Is there any chance..?”

  “You want some money?” Rawk nodded. “I don’t have much on me at the moment but I’ll get Travis to pay you next time he’s in. Everyone is calling in their debts.” He considered the fact that he owed Weaver, or more accurately Katamood, a lot of money. He could pay it off any time he wanted, if he wasn’t worried about arousing suspicion regarding the state of his finances, but he had never before thought that Weaver might actually ask him to pay.

  Outside, someone screamed.

  Rawk went to the door and watched as a wave of people surged up the street, looking behind as if they were being chased. He glanced at Juskin then hurried out onto the front steps to see if that helped sort out the mystery. Not really. More people were coming, rushing madly, but there was no evidence of anything that might be scaring them. Rawk drew Kaj and went the other direction, sticking close to the side of the street to avoid the worst of the current. He was still bumped and jostled but his size meant he was able to keep moving. He tried to ask what was happening, but the man shook him off and kept running without noticing who he was.

  Soon the people were gone and Rawk could move more quickly. His knee hurt, but he started to run.

  In the main lane way of Mount Cheese Market he skidded to a halt. That hurt even more than running but he didn’t have time to think about it. The sent of carami and rosemary drifted to him from a spice merchant’s tent and Frew was standing not far away. The little Hero glanced towards Rawk but couldn’t really spare the attention. He was facing a dozen warriors with another bleeding out on the ground by his feet. For a moment, nobody moved, then Fabi rushed into the clear and almost fell over as he stopped in a hurry as well.

  “What’s going on?” the big black man asked.

  “This lot came through a portal,” Frew replied, not taking his eyes off the strangers this time. “Do you think the three of us can take them?”

  Rawk doubted it very much and even at his best he would have thought it a bad idea to even try. A lot of them wore colored animal-mask helms and those that didn’t had luminous tattoos of intricate design on their faces and necks. Rawk could see a hawk, a dragon and a scatter of strange symbols. Hundreds of ribbons, like butterflies, covered their cloaks. Beneath was chipped and dented armor.

  They seemed to be normal men, and women, but it was obvious that they knew which end of the sword was the sharp bit.

  “Did you talk to them?” Fabi slowly drew his sword.

  “What do you mean?”

  Rawk cleared his throat. “Fabi and I were talking about this the other day. Did they attack you? Or did you attack them?”

  “They attacked me.”

  “Were you being friendly?”

  “What?” Frew didn’t let the conversation distract him.

  “Did you run towards with your sword drawn?”

  “Of course I did. I was pretty much on him before either of us realized.”

  Rawk nodded. He looked the strangers up and down; they w
ere standing, calm but wary, not attacking anyone at all. After a moment he spoke to Fabi and Frew without looking at them. “Don’t move.”

  Holding Kaj loosely out to the side, point down, Rawk walked slowly forward. When he got to Frew’s side he paused for a moment, licking his lips, then continued forward again. The awnings protecting the market stalls from the weather flapped in the breeze and it was like the applause of a crowd.

  “What in Path’s name are you doing?”

  From the corner of his eye, Rawk saw Frew do a two-fingered Y sign in his direction. “I didn’t know you believe in the Great Path, Frew.” If not, it might be a good time to start, he thought. He should be concentrating, not worrying about Frew and his gods. He kept walking. Each step he took, the strangers seemed to become a bit more tense. They subtly shifted their feet. They shifted their grip on their weapons. They made small adjustments to their armor. But, still, none of them attacked. A cloud passed across in front of the sun and Rawk paused for a moment, shivering.

  Only one of the strangers was watching him. The rest were watching Fabi and Frew or keeping a more general eye out for trouble. Professionals then. Veterans. Rawk stooped down to lay Kaj on the cobbles. He licked his lips, standing silently with the sword by his feet. He didn’t know if Frew or Fabi would be quick enough to help if some decided they wanted him dead.

  He had left behind the scent of the spices and could now smell nothing but tallow. He didn’t know where it was coming from. It was annoying him. Distracting. His nose twitched. The stalls and tents stopped flapping for a moment, as if they too were waiting

  The leader of the warriors stayed where he was. He glanced around, perhaps looking for the surprise attack. He turned a full, slow circle as his companions waited, still and watchful. Once he was facing Rawk again, the man paused, then walked slowly forward, lithe as a cat. A few paces away, he stopped and slowly sheathed his sword with a whisper of steel on steel.

  “I’m guessing you don’t speak this language,” Rawk said. Perhaps he should have just tried talking to them earlier, though they’d had plenty of chance to join the conversation. Which meant he didn’t know what he was supposed to do to communicate, beyond the things he’d already done. Rawk looked at the man and shrugged. It was a gesture that anyone from this world would understand.