Death Or Fortune (47 page)

     With my
armor shining like a new mirror I retreated to my office to do some last minute
work before getting ready. When the time was getting close I went upstairs
where I was quickly locked out of my own bedroom.  Jasmin was helping Miri
get dressed in there, so I had to wait for them to finish.  When the door
was opened I was on the edge of shocked.  Even with her short hair, there
was no hiding that she was a female.  She wore a very pretty green dress
that matched her eyes.  When I told her that she looked nice she smiled at
me and said
'I feel like I was stuffed in a blasted sausage casing Mi'lord.
'
I returned to my room once she made her way down the hall, when I saw Jasmin my
breath was taken away.  She had on a blood red dress that matched the
color of my cloak.  She was perfect from head to toe.  I came near
her to give her a kiss and was told that if I messed up so much as single hair
on her head she would banish me from the bedroom that night.  As that was
all I needed to hear, I began to put on my armor.  When the four of us
were dressed and ready we headed out, driven in a carriage by Charles.
     The entire ride over to the Red Dragon Inn Pare said
nothing but from time to time looked at his halfling friend out of the corner
of his eye.  I somehow got the feeling he had never seen her like this
before and wondered if he was going to sleep on the floor later that night.
 I never asked him, he never said.  There are some things Pare and I
do not talk about.  As we entered the inn, we were the last of the guest
to arrive.  Turk was the only other one in armor, the rest were in formal
uniform.  There were twelve men in all including Sgt. Bryce.  Each
one of them the very best the Arcadian Army had to offer.  Each one of
them already heroes in my mind.  The girls who worked in the inn pushed
all the tables together to form one long table.  On one side of the table
was Turk and his men, on the other was my friends.  Michaels and Hans both
in clerical robes, Windfall and Ebbit both managed to find something to wear.
 I went to each man, shook his hand and thanked them for coming.  I
sat at the head of the table, Turk on my right, Jasmin on my left.
 Outside of some minor whispering they were all quiet, unsure of what was
to happen.  I saw Linda by the bar waiting, I signaled to her to start
bringing out the food.  Soon, platters mounded with food filled the tables
and ale filled every cup.
     I stood up and waited for them all to look at me
before I started to speak. 'Ladies and gentlemen' I said to them. 'Each of you
know what it is that we are headed for, we have taken all that we know and come
up with the best possible plan we could.  While you have all met me in the
past few days, none of you know me that well.  After tonight, you will
have more than enough time to get to know me as we will be confined to a ship
for the next three months.  As Captain I will be your leader on this
expedition and Lieutenant Michaels will once again be my second in command.
 Should anything happen to me, it will be his leadership that you will
follow.  You all know that once we hit the southern slave camps you all
will be attacking the Orc ship yard under the command of Lieutenant Bryce.
 Congratulations sir, you have just been promoted.  My companions and
I will be hitting the north slave compound where we believe most of our people
are being held.  Mr. Eli will be with us as his assistance there will be
most valuable.'
     Turk and I were the only ones who knew Eli was going
back to the island with us.  Each man at the table turned to look at him,
none of them said a word but you could see the admiration in their eyes.
 'I am not going to ignore that at any point between now and when we land
on that island, that something might change. The whole plan could go up in
smoke the moment we make land.  We very well could be facing the
impossible task.  Each and every one of you must be committed to this,
while I know you all volunteered for this, if anyone is not there when we move
out tomorrow, it will not be held against you.  It is very possible that
none of us may come back alive.  Each one of you comes highly recommended
and as we go forward to die I am proud to stand beside you all.  I am
honored to call myself Arcadian not because of my position but because of
people like all of you.  Who go forward to face impossible odds not
because of money, fame or fortune but because it is the right thing to do.
 I salute you, each and every single one of you.'  I lifted my glass
and waited, hoping that my poor speech had some effect on them. One by one they
stood with glass in hand, drinking to those who stood beside them.
     With our drinks finished I asked Hans to say a prayer
for us and to bless our meal.  He did so quickly and with much grace.
 With that finished I told them to eat and eat they did.  Platters
were emptied, the ale was flowing and the men were happy.  When Charles
arrived I knew it was time to go.  He had completed his final task and it
was time for the married men to go home. 'I have asked a few ladies to give you
men a proper send off, please feel free to stay here in the inn tonight. 
Anything you need or desire will be given to you.  Enjoy your final night
at home men.  I expect to see you all bright and early tomorrow.' I took
my wife, the Halflings and Windfall home with me that night.  Michaels and
Hans returned to the temple, Turk and Bryce followed us out the door.
 From what I understand, the men who stayed behind at the inn that night
were well taken care of.  The next day all the men were accounted for when
we set out to catch our ship in Rohloff.  King Roderick came to see us off
and wished us a swift journey.  I asked him about Lord Warren before we
rode away, due to my respect and admiration for the king I shall not ever
repeat what it was that he said.

    
The day we rode out of Arcadia there were three of us on horseback.
 Bryce, Michaels and I were leading the way.  Windfall, Ebbit and the
Halflings were in one wagon.  The rest of the men and supplies were split
up between two other wagons.  We were not in a huge hurry as we had plenty
of time to get to Rohloff.  That being said we only stopped to rest the
horses.  We would have plenty of time to catch up on our sleep on the
ship.  Not long after we left the main city I watched as Michaels pulled
something out of his pack.  I saw the roll on the back of his saddle and
assumed it was some kind of small tent.  Two wooden poles, each one about four
feet long. I watched as he connected the two of them to form one long pole.
 He then pulled out a white bundle and began to attach it to the pole.
 As he held it high the white bundle came undone in the wind, showing the
world what it was.  A blazing red sun, in the center of the sun was a
silver war hammer.  Under that was the silver dragon, wings spread wide.

    
'What in the bloody hell is that?
' Bryce asked. I looked at the hardened
campaigner and shook my head.  Michaels turned to him and said
'This is
the banner of my order. We are on a divine quest from the good god to free his
people from the clutches of evil.'
Michaels turned his head back around and
started to ride up ahead of us.  Bryce moved his horse closer to mine,
'he
is going to be a problem. Are you sure about this?'
  I told him what I
believed.  That I trusted him with my life and that no matter what,
nothing Michaels did would endanger the rest of us.
'Are you sure?
' he
asked me.  I then told him about the day we fought the red dragon.
 How Michaels walked in and faced a full grown red dragon.  How he
stood there armed with his sword, shield and his faith in his god.  How
when the dragon took a deep breath and unleashed its fire on him, his faith
protected him where it would have failed others.  When the fire and smoke
cleared he was unharmed and ready to take on the evil beast.  I told him
that Michaels was perhaps the bravest man I knew.  Bryce just looked at
me, I could see the look on his face.
'Where I come from we don't call that bravery,
we call that insanity.'
I could not help but laugh at him and asked where
it was that we were going again.
'Yea well I am starting to think we are all
a little crazy.'
     I watched Michaels as we rode, his head held high, his
banner waving over his head.  He had changed so much since the first time
I had met him.  Granted, he was drunk when I first met him. Even sober he
wasn't anything like he was that day.  So confident and sure of himself.
 He was sure we were riding to victory, that we would not be stopped no
matter what evil stood against us.  He had changed for the better but the
longer we rode, the more I let what Bryce said sink in. I told myself that I
would have plenty of chances to talk to him on the ship.  Just to make
sure everything was still understood, that he knew what it was that we were
going to do.  As it turned out, he knew better than any of us just what we
were going to do.  I felt something hit my leg and I turned to look down,
Pare was running alongside the horse.  I reached down and pulled him up
behind me.
'Hiya Darmot!'
he said while standing on the rear of the
saddle, holding on to my shoulders.  I asked him what he was doing?
'Well
Windfall wouldn't let me drive the wagon and he was being a grump so I figured
I would talk to you for a little while.'
A little while turned into the
rest of the day.

    
The first time I made this trip, it took me three days to reach the town of
Klassen where I met up with Zender and the others.  It wasn't until the
fourth day that we saw the little town ahead of us.  Other than when we
stopped to rest the horses, Michaels was riding ahead of us his banner held
high.  I rode up to him as the town was growing closer.  I told him
we were going to camp outside the city walls, on the other side of town.
'Want
me to ride ahead and scout out a spot for the wagons?'
I told him to go
ahead and watched as his horse took off at a full run.  I waited for the
rest of them to catch up with me before I continued on ahead.  This entire
stretch of road had been one bad memory for me, one after another.  Yet I
must admit I found myself looking for goblin tracks on the road at one point.
 Little Trull being the only fond memory I had of the trip, I often found
myself wondering how he was.  If he had turned on the druid yet.  If
they were still happy together in their little run down shack.  If she was
still alive and taking care of the little beast.  Maybe I will go looking
for him one day.

 
   Klassen had not changed since I had been there last.
 The smell of fish still filled the air. Everything looked the same.
 People stood by the side of the road, there were more than a few long
faces watching us pass through.   As we rolled past the market I saw
a young boy run out into the road, waving his hand over his head at us.
'Hello
Captain, nice to see you again.'
It was Brell, the son of Sheriff Tomas.
 He yelled out questions to me as he ran alongside the road close to my
horse.  Wanting to know where I was going and if I was coming to see his
father.  It was almost a year to the day that I had seen him last, he had
grown so much.  I told him we were taking a ship to go find some people
that had been lost for too long.  When he asked how long we were going to
be in town I told him not long.  I then told him we were setting up a camp
outside of the city wall, I told him to run off to find his father and ask him
to come see me.  He shouted
'Yes sir!'
and took off running while
trying to salute me.  We found Michaels about a hundred yards past the
west gate, his banner planted in the ground.  I told the men to make camp
and to take care of the horses as we were going to spend the night there.
 As I remembered my head ache the last time I was here I also told them to
avoid the ale in town as it wasn't worth the pain they would feel the next day.

     As I
watered Emily I saw Sheriff Tomas coming from the town.  He had an odd
look on his face, he watched as the men went about making camp, twisting his
hands together as he walked. I took two sweet apples out of my pack and cut
them in half for Emily.  I learned long ago though to set them on the
ground.  She would eat them so fast she almost took my fingers from me.
 
'L-Lord Kromwell, it is a pleasure to see you again.'
Tomas said
to me as he approached. I offered him my hand and told him he could just call
me Darmot.  He looked around the small camp as he spoke.
'Is there
something going on that I should be aware of sir? It isn't every day we get a
detachment of Arcadian troops coming through town. Is there some kind of trouble?'
I told him we were just headed to Rohloff to catch a ship and that we were
headed a long ways away.  He had nothing to worry about.
'Oh, very well
then I... I will not worry then. Waa..What was it that you needed sir?'
The
look on the man’s face was one of pure terror. I could tell there was something
wrong in the town besides the smell of fish. I  saw Windfall out of the
corner of my eye and called him over.  I told Tomas that we were going to
need someone to take the horses and wagons back to the capital once they were
unloaded, I asked him if he knew anyone that could handle that.  He nodded
his head once but said nothing else.

     Once
Windfall had joined me I put my hand on Tomas shoulder and asked him to tell me
what was going on.  He stood there with his mouth open for a moment, as if
he was resisting what his brain was trying to say.
'We were attacked by
bandits two months ago. We were able to keep the damage at a minimum. A dozen
of them rode into town and just had their way with everything. I did my best to
control it. We ended up paying them to leave, they killed ten men. I just
wanted them to stop. Now, they send someone back once a week. If we don't pay
them a hundred gold pieces a week they will come back and kill someone else.
Two guard patrols have gone after them, they never came back. I sent a letter
to Lord Balnoir, he just told me to deal with it. I thought for a moment that
you might be here to help on his behalf. I am rather embarrassed over the
ordeal. I just don't want anyone else to get hurt.'
I could see the
frustration on his face, I am sure that by the point we rolled into town he had
enough of what folks in the capital were telling him.  He wanted help but
didn't know where to turn.  I asked him if he knew where the bandits were
holed up?

     'The
rider comes in from and goes back north. There are a few farm houses out that
way and the ruins. It was an old guard tower hundreds of years ago. Dwarven
stone work, it has stood the test of time rather well. As I said, the patrols that
went out never returned. They could be anywhere. I wish I could be more
helpful. I do not dare risk another life trying to have the payment pick up
followed. I am at a loss.'
I asked him when was the last time someone had
been here to pick up the gold.
'This morning, about five hours ago.'
I
looked at my friend and saw what I was feeling reflected on his face.  I
told Tomas to have someone ready to ride with us in the morning so they could
bring back the animals.  I then told him we would take care of his other
problem as well.
'Can you do it, will you help us?
' I clapped him on the
back and told him to have his people ready to go in the morning.   I
looked at Windfall after Tomas had walked away and he just nodded at me.
 Lord Balnoir is a pompous ass whose biggest fear was of being embarrassed
in the eyes of the king.  I made a mental note to myself to have a talk
with him about his province when I returned home.

     I called
out to Michaels and Bryce while I was putting the saddle back on Emily.  I
told them that I had to leave and that they were to head to Rohloff first thing
in the morning, with or without me.  I then told him to hold the ship
until we met them in Rohloff.
'Sir'
Michaels said to me.
'I do not
believe this is a wise idea. Our mission is far too important to lose you. I
could hear him speaking, I know what you are going to do. I cannot allow you to
go without me.
'  I looked at him in the eye and asked him if he was
going to disobey a direct order from his commanding officer.  I could tell
from the way his eye twitched that I had scored a mark against him.  He
stepped back away from me and bent at the waist.
'Very well Lord Kromwell, I
shall make sure that the men are ready to leave first thing in the morning.
When you arrive in Rohloff the ship shall be loaded and waiting for you.'
Bryce was quiet during the quick exchange, he said nothing.  He just stood
there looking at me with his eyes half closed.  He was thinking of
something but I couldn't dare to guess what.  I finished putting the
saddle on Emily and got myself a quick drink while checking my weapons.
 By the time I turned around to mount up Pare was sitting on her back.
 I just gave him a smile and pulled myself up.

     North of
the city was wide open fields for two or three miles.  The forest that was
destroyed to build the city and its walls was never replanted.  As we got
farther north we found the old farms Tomas had talked about but the quick
checks we made found them all empty.  As we continued north we could see
the guard tower sitting on top of a distant hill.  At the base of the
tower I saw something shine, as if it was reflecting the light of the sun.
 I reached into my pack and pulled out the spy glass I had last used in
the mountain range of Toryth Vol.
'You do have it
!' Windfall said to me.
I looked at him and asked what it was that he was talking about.
'That’s
Lomarks, he didn’t remember that you had it until long after you and Zackary
left Eystlund.  He wants it back and is rather upset about it. You know
how he gets.'
I told him that I had honestly forgotten about it until I had
been home for a week.  I did try to return it to him the last time I was
in Eystlund but Lomark and Zender were gone.  Off on another adventure.
 I held the spy glass up to my eye and looked towards the tower where I
had seen the quick flash.  As I looked I could feel my anger starting to
ignite.

     I saw
sparse movement around the tower but what I saw made me mad.  There were
twelve of them in all. Twelve men impaled on long spears and standing in the
ground facing towards the south.  Each of them wore the uniform of the
Arcadian Guard.  I handed the spy glass to Windfall so he could see what I
saw.  He then hopped up to stand on his saddle, looking even longer.
'I
count ten living men, plus whatever is in the tower. They are starting a fire.
There are a couple of them are drinking.  We should wait until night fall.
Take them down one at a time, I should have enough shackles on me, we can haul
the whole lot of them to town.'
I looked at him as he sat back down and
told him no.
'What do you mean no? We can take them, this will be easy.'
The thought of those men sitting there eating and drinking, not even twenty
feet away from the rotting corpses of good men made me sick.  I told him
that these are not men, these were vultures and would be treated as such.
 We rode back to the last farm house we found and waited there for the sun
to set.  The abandoned empty barn would be a good place to leave the
horses while we made the attack.

 
    
'Darmot, why would they do that?
' Pare asked me while we were riding back.
 I told him it was their way of sending a message to anyone that came
along.  It was a warning to stay away.
'Yea but you would think they
would want to hide a little better. They had to know at some point someone
would come looking for them. They should be scared of being found.  If I
was attacking a town I wouldn't want to leave a bunch of signs out in front of
my hide out telling everyone where I was.'
I could only shrug my shoulders
at the halfling.  We gathered any gear we would need for the attack and
waited for dark.  Before we set out Windfall asked me again,
'are you
sure about this? We could capture them, take them in’. 
The long wait
did nothing for my temper at all.  I looked my mentor in the eyes and told
him that if they put up a fight, we would show no mercy.  As we set out on
foot that night, I meant just that.