Death Or Fortune (43 page)

     "Do
you think you are strong enough to report now? You may rest here, you are safe
here." Hans watched as he took another long drink of water.

     "I
must, we don't have time. They will sail in the spring."

     "That
is almost six months away son.  How long did it take you to reach the
island by boat?"

    
"Three months Bishop.  I was on the island for another three.
 What day is it? How did I get here." When Hans told him the story
the man went white in the face and laid his head back down on the small cot.
 All things considered, Hans thought he took the news well.  His head
started to ache, things were moving too fast. Yet, he had a room full of people
looking at him, expecting an answer on what to do next.  He wished they
would look somewhere else yet he knew that wasn't going to happen.

    
"Brother Johnson, I want you to take this man directly to Captain Turk of
the royal guard. Stay with him the whole way, no matter how much he protests.
 You can explain to Captain Turk how we found him.  Then tell Turk I
will be to see him tomorrow." Hans then looked towards Michaels.  He
could see the question on his face. It was the same question he had in his own
heart. "Michaels I need you to go see Darmot, ask Lord Kromwell if he
could come to the temple. I would like to speak with him. Tell him it is rather
important."

      The
little halfling stood by his bedroom window, looking out at the city below.
 He was, to say the least, depressed.  He never wanted to hurt anyone
with his night time fun.  That is all it really was to him.  He never
expected to keep doing it after Darmot got home from his adventure.  He
always figured there would be something else around the corner.  Something
new to be seen, some place new to go.  Yet he came home and stayed in
place.  Pare didn't mind too much, his best friend is a big important lord
or at least that is what Pare thinks.  So the little halfling kept going
out, kept doing his thing.  Until that horrible morning that he came home
to find Darmot waiting for him, angry at him.  He gave Darmot his word
that he wouldn't go out as the Demon again.  So he sat in his window,
looking out at the sky wishing he could once again hit the streets.  It
would be dark in a few more hours.  Lost in thought he sniffed the air,
feeling the cool breeze on his lean white face.  When he saw the armored
figure running in the street towards the house, he wondered what was going on.
     "That’s Michaels, what is he doing here?"
While Pare wasn't the smartest halfling in the world, he knew this was a bad
sign. While he knew about the dragon in the city, he didn't know why and it was
gone before he got his boots on that afternoon. "There must be trouble,
Hans sent Michaels to Darmot for help." Pare's little mind started to run
wild, it all came back to one thing. Darmot was going to be hitting the road
for an adventure. "YES!" Pare shouted to the rooftops while doing a
little dance.  It was then that the world came into focus for him.
"Oh, when did I get up here?" Try as he might Pare could not remember
crawling out the window and up onto the roof of Darmot's house.  Looking
down at the street Pare noticed more than one person watching him. "I
wonder if they think I am going to do some tricks or something." While he
stood there watching the folks on the ground below, contemplating doing a hand stand
on the peak of the house he saw a second figure approaching.  A large
hooded man on a horse, as the wind blew back one side of his cloak, Pare saw a
weapon and a flash of blue armor.  Pare ran to the edge of the roof to get
a better look at the hooded rider.  Oblivious to the cries of the folks
down below who thought they were going to see a halfling jump to his death, he
stopped right at the edge.

    
"Windfall!" he shouted to the hooded man below.  The rider
looked up and shook his head. Pare thought he said something but he could not
hear over the sound of the wind in his ears. "I'll be right down." He
shouted again running back along the roof to where he could drop down into his
window.  Before long he was running across his room and out the door.
 Bounding down the steps two at a time he beat Charles to the front door
by a good ten paces.  Pare tossed the door open shouting his name again.
     "Quiet little thief, do you want the entire city
to know I am here?" While the bounty hunter had a serious tone in his
voice, he had an amused look on his face. "Where is Darmot?"
     "Michaels is here so I am guessing he is in his
office come on, I will show you." Pare turned and started skipping down
the hall. Windfall closed the door behind him, giving Charles a slight nod.
 He watched as the halfling skipped down the hall and tumbled into a half
open door.  As he did not come out again Windfall assumed this was where
he was headed.  As he entered the room he saw his young friend and former
student sitting behind a large oak desk, piles of paper were set out in an
orderly fashion.  He had a strange look on his face, the fact that he did
not react to seeing him right away did not bode well.  In front of the
desk was Michaels, Paladin of Solarth.  Windfall had met him briefly when
he was in town last but knew little of the man.  He was telling Darmot
some story that Windfall had not picked up on, after a moment or two the young
lord held up his hand.
     "Go back to the temple. Tell Hans I will be there
as soon as I can.  I don't know what is going on but we will figure it
out." At the time Darmot did not seemed too concerned.  He then got
up from his desk and went around to greet his old friend.  "I am glad
to see you my friend, I understand I owe you a bit of thanks."
 Darmot then took his old teacher into his arms as a son would his father.
 By the time he let him go, Michaels was out of Darmot's home and headed
back to the temple.
     "No thanks are needed; I was just with my boy. He
tells me you are a pain in the ass but sends his regards.  What is with
the holy man, some kind of trouble I assume?" the half elf asked.
     "Yes, they ask that I come to the temple. Has
something to do with an expedition Hans sent out.  If you give me a moment
to change you can go there with me, we can catch up on the way." Darmot
then turned to the little halfling. "Pare, there might be trouble.
 Head over to the Red Dragon and ask Zackary if he will come see me in the
morning.  I will fill the two of you in at the same time right now I am
still not sure what is going on.  Can you handle that?" he asked the
halfling.
     "Sure thing Darmot. See ya later Windfall."
 The halfling said as he ran from the office.  Pare didn't care what
was coming or where they might be going.  He was dying to get out of the
city, to go explore the world a bit more.  He also wanted to get out from
under the watchful eye of Captain Turk for a little while. "I can't even
pick my nose without a guard seeing me."  He said to no one at all.
 Darmot had told him Turk wouldn't arrest him for his night time
activities but he had to be really good for a while.  I never thought
being good could be so boring he thought to himself.  While he continued
down the road he started to think about the things he would need before they
hit the road, making a list in his head.  Lock picks, warm boots in case
they were going someplace cold, a bunch of the hard candy Jasmin always left
out for him.  The list continued to build in his head.  So busy was
his mind, he never noticed the person who was following him.
     As he walked into the Red Dragon Inn he looked around
the main room.  The large red haired man wouldn't be hard to spot he
thought to himself.  As Zackary wasn't at his normal spot by the bar he
figured he might as well have a seat, it was only a matter of time before the
human took his seat.  Unless it was Linda's day off then he might not be
around at all.  She was living in the inn full time now in the room Darmot
gifted to Zackary.  Finding his favorite spot open the halfling took a
seat directly under the head of the red dragon head mounted on the wall.
 The serving girl came by his table with a plate of food and a tankard of
ale.  They never asked Pare any more, they all knew if he was sitting there,
he was going to eat and drink.  As he started to dig in to the roast beef
he marveled at how tender it was.  As he was eating he started to feel a
bit odd.  While there was nothing wrong with the food, it was quiet good,
Pare felt something was off.  He dropped a single hand down to his belt.
 His dagger was there, three coin pouches hung from his belt.
"Huh?" he questioned himself.  He only remembered leaving home
with one.  It was then that he started to look around the room.  That
odd feeling wouldn't go away.  It was then that he noticed the only other
person in the room.
     Sitting in the only dark corner of the main room, Pare
was more than a bit shocked at what he saw.  While he had seen plenty of
Halflings in Arcadia, he had never seen one in here.  While the Red Dragon
Inn wasn't in the Lords district, it was very close and most Halflings were
driven from the area as soon as they were seen by the watch.  She was a
tall for a halfling sitting back in the chair her toes almost touched the
floor.  Her hair was cut short and had a natural curl to it but it was her
eyes that drew Pare in.  They were hard and angry eyes.  Pare thought
for just a moment that she looked hungry.  Her face was so thin, she had
to be.  So he jumped down from his chair and took himself over to her
table.
     "Hello!" he said to her holding out his
hand. "My name is Pare, I am part owner of this fine err... Inn.  Can
I get you anything, anything at all just let me know.  I don't see many of
my kind here so anything you want is on the house.  Don't be afraid to
ask." Pare looked down at his hand and back to the female halfling.
 The only move she made was to tilt her head to the side while looking at
Pare.  A hand offered cannot be taken back Pare thought to himself so he
continued to hold it out for her while putting a big smile on his face. The
smile started to slip when she reached into her cloak and pulled something out.
 By the time she slapped the shackle down over his wrist the smile was
completely gone. "Hey, that was neat!  I've never seen shackles like
that. What did you say your name was?" Pare tried to back away but soon
noticed that he was firmly connected to the female. "I'm sorry could you
speak up?" he asked knowing full well she hadn't said anything at all.
     "My name is Miri Rivermyst, by the order of
Captain Turk of the Arcadian Royal Guard, you are under arrest." Pare
looked at the arm he was now attached to and had an odd thought.  She must
be a black smith with arms like that.
     "Ohhhh!" he said. "Yer the bounty
hunter Turk talked about.  You must have forgotten to check in when you
got to town.  All that mess was cleared up.  Really, it was just one
big misunderstanding.  You are welcome to stay and visit.  Feel free
to get yourself a room, whatever you want.  I will make sure it is all
paid for, no problems.  Well you have a good day." Pare hoped that
she would see her mistake and unlock the shackle, when that didn't happen he
started to worry a bit.  He looked behind Miri and pointed to the floor,
"Don’t forget your bag." She only looked away for a minute, no more
than a second really.  Yet it was plenty of time for Pare to take care of
this himself.  By the time she felt the shackle swinging free where there
had once been a halfling, Pare was almost out the door. "Goodbye
now!" he shouted back, he was now at a full run.
     "How?" Miri said while looking down at the
shackle that once held her prey.  A lock pick was hanging out of the
lock.  He didn't have time to remove it.  Tossing it across the room
in frustration she gave chase.  By the time Miri hit the front door of the
Red Dragon Inn, Pare was two blocks away.  Later that afternoon there had
been reports of two Halflings chasing each other all over the city.  Pare,
laughing out loud the entire time.  Miri silent as the night was saving
her breath for the chase.  What Pare lacked in speed, he more than made up
for with agility.  More than once Pare felt her finger tips on his back.
 Yet he was still able to keep away from her.  This was Miri's
nightmare, in her ten years of bounty hunting she never had this much of a
problem taking a man down.  In her worst dreams it was like this, always
close but never close enough.  She worked hard to keep this from
happening, to keep from coming up short. "I will catch you if it is the
last thing I do."  She said to him as they sprinted down a garbage
filled alley.  This was right before she tripped over what seemed to be
several month old heads of lettuce.  As she crashed to the ground she
looked up and saw him standing there.
     "Are you ok?" Pare asked her. "I will
wait for you if you need to rest. I don't mind." Pare wasn't winded and
all he just had a mile wide smile on his face.
     "I am going to rip that smile off your lips when
I catch you." Never even bothering to wipe the refuse off herself she got
up and started to run after the little halfling again.  Near the center of
the city they were running down a wide street, Miri looked ahead and saw what
looked to be a temple ahead of them.  Her prey was heading directly for
it. "Oh no, no sanctuary for you.  You will be mine." This is it
she thought to herself, she had to do it now.  She started to run, run
harder than ever before in her life.  This was two thousand gold piece
bounty she was running down and it would not get away.  The distance was
closing, yet she knew she wouldn't be fast enough, if he went into the temple,
it would be trouble.  Looking ahead again she saw the men standing out on
the front steps, perhaps they would slow him down enough.  Fifty yards
between them at the most, she was closing fast.  She wanted to give a
silent cheer when Pare came to a dead stop in front of the men on the temple
stairs. "You...are...under...arrest!" she shouted the best she could,
hoping those four men would help her.  As she came to a stop she was only
ten feet away.
     After taking a moment to catch her breath she said.
"You are a fast bugger but you are coming with me, gentlemen, if you
wouldn't mind." Miri then pulled out a second set of shackles from her
belt.  Yet somehow this wasn't right.  Is this some kind of dream she
thought for one small moment as the pretty human with long hair pulled out a
sword.  When the half elf in blue pulled out his blade she asked herself
what kind of nightmare is this?  She looked around for some kind of help
yet there wasn't a guard or watchman in sight. "I'm gonna demand double
for this" she said as she dropped the shackles and went for her own blade.
 While she saw the cleric out of the corner of her eye, she never thought
much about it. Miri took one last look at Pare, who was coming towards her with
both hands out.  This was the last thing Miri remembered before the lights
went out.