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Message: <blockquote data-quote="NiTessine" data-source="post: 299858" data-attributes="member: 475">Here is my installment, then.The Coin: Part VIIThe dwarf whirled around as he heard the shrill cry cut the air, silencing the forest. For a long while, he stayed still as a statue, his eyes scanning the forest for movement. None presented itself, save for the branches of trees swaying gently in the breeze. Slinging his ancestral blade from his back, he went to investigate, moving slowly through the underbrush, sacrificing celerity in favor of silence.He came upon a scene that almost made him laugh. A kobold was crushed in a rusty bear trap, its small body almost cut in half by the great iron jaws. The dwarf slung his weapon over his shoulder as he surveyed the corpse. Then, the glint of metal caught his eye. He knelt to investigate. There, in the debris of the forest floor, lay a golden coin. He picked it up, and peered at it. Though he had travelled the world for a good seventy years, and crossed the length and breadth of Malaeth while doing so, he had never seen a coin of such make. Shrugging, he put it in his pouch. Gold was gold, and if nothing else, it could always be smelted down and used to make real currency. He allowed him a quiet chuckle over the stupid kobold's fate. Probably set the trap itself, too.He turned to return where he left, but was alerted by another loud sound, this time the snap of a twig under a boot, accompanied by human voices. He turned to look, and saw them, down in the valley, perhaps a hundred feet from him. They numbered seven, wearing studded leather armour, emblazoned with the heraldry of one local noble or another. All were on horseback. The dwarf did not care. The humans were all greedy, grasping fools, with no respect for the other peoples of Malaeth. The present route of the humans would bring them to his location, he realized, and he knew his steel boots left tracks that would be obvious to a blind man. Muttering under his breath, he hastily made his way back to his original track, and set upon his journey northwards. He knew the humans would catch up with him easily, and being dwarf in the middle of human lands was not going to help him. The short warrior knew he could defeat the men-at-arms without breaking a sweat, but butchering them would not be a diplomatically sound decision. He wished it would not come to that.Half an hour later, they found him. He was climbing a low hillock, when he heard the call:"You, dwarf! Halt!"Cursing softly, he finished his climb, and turned to look at his pursuers. Seven faces stared up at him from behind seven crossbows. Coldly, he peered back at them from behind the face-concealing visor in his helm. He was confident that no man-made bolt could pierce the fine mithral plates that shielded his body."What do you want of me? Have the local soldiers nothing better to do than to harass travellers?" the dwarf replied in heavily accented Common.The leader stepped forward, saying:"We ask the questions here. Now, what would a dwarf do here in the south, in Duke Elward's lands?"The dwarf peered down at the man, noticing his eye had been replaced with a gemstone of some sort."I am passing through, on my way back to Anvilhome.""Back from where?""Journeying these lands for longer than you've lived, human.""I am Rallanth, captain of Duke Elward's guard. Show some respect, runt.""Well, I am Argus Calharn, Moradin's Blessed, Defender of Dwarvenkin, son of King Argald Calharn of Clan Silverpick, first of the Clans of Anvilhome. Now show some respect, captain."Though some of his men took an involuntary step backwards, their faces betraying apprehension, Rallanth stood fast, glaring up at the grinning Argus."We seek a coin. A very special coin that we know is in this forest. If you know where it is, tell us. It'll save a lot of trouble."Well, why not, Argus thought. A coin of no value, for avoiding offending the human kingdoms?"In fact, yes, I do have such a coin," the dwarf replied. "I'll strike you a deal. You let me go free, I give you the coin.""Yes, yes. Now give it here," the captain said, extending his hand.Shrugging, Argus dug up the coin from his pouch, and threw it down in the man's feet.The man scooped it up, peered at it closely for a moment, and pocketed it, seemingly satisfied. Then, he turned to one of the soldiers, and briefly spoke to him, quietly. Argus, from his lofty position atop the hill, could not hear what was said, but caught snippets of it. "Duke Elward's father…orders…from behind." Then, the man turned back to look at the dwarf."We are very grateful of your help. As a token, my men will escort you out of this kobold-infested forest."Argus, seeing no point in arguing, nodded.An hour afterwards, the dwarf was trudging along with the six riders. Rallanth had set off galloping to another direction, presumably to take the coin whoever wanted it. Must've been a very important coin, Argus thought, teasing a burr out of his bushy black beard.They were walking through a large clearing, when that which Argus had been suspecting for a while happened. The horseman behind him struck down with his spear, sinking the tip in the crack between his helmet and the steel collar his backplate. The short blade met only more steel. Dwarven platemail was not so easily bypassed."Treachery!" Argus roared, whirling around to face the rider while slinging his ancestral weapon from his back. It was an urgrosh, a unique combination of axe and spear, a weapon only give to the chosen few Defenders of Dwarvenkin.The rider spurred his horse into gallop, as three more spears struck Argus from behind. None of them even scratched the mithral. One of the men in front of Argus reared his horse, raising his spear for a throw. The dwarf swung his weapon in a large arc, letting the shaft slide in his hands for the optimum reach. The finely honed axe blade, veteran of a thousand battles, neatly severed the horse's both forelegs below the knee. Both horse and rider fell down heavily, the steed on top of the man. A downward chop with the axe ended the horse's suffering.The five remaining riders were galloping around Argus, trying to get a spear past his defence. As soon as Argus turned to face one charger, another would come from behind and strike him from behind with a spear. One of them kicked him in the head, and was rewarded with an axe blade in his thigh, cutting through leather, flesh and bone with ease. The horse ran past Argus, leaving its wounded rider lying on the ground with the destroyed saddle.A quartet of crossbow bolts clattered off his breastplate. After seeing the fate of their two companions, the surviving four riders took a more careful stance. Argus grinned wildly, the fires of battle burning deep in his heart. They were not the only ones who could attack from a range. He fidgeted a while with his armoured glove, and then shook out three small throwing axes from their sheath in his sleeve. The next rider raised his crossbow, aiming at the dwarf, only to fall back with an axe handle sprouting from his forehead, and a shattered crossbow falling from his limp hands."Who's next!?" Argus shouted at the three riders, now keeping a respectable distance from the dwarf and his lethal weapons, and aiming at him with their bows. The dwarven warrior walked over to the nearest slain soldier, and picked up his crossbow, still loaded and carrying a bolt. Seeing this, the riders bolted to the forest. The dwarf aimed and fired, dropping one last man from his saddle.Good, he thought. Horses leave tracks even I can follow. And those horses go where that treacherous bastard Rallanth must be.Argus reclaimed his throwing axe, and set out after the fleeing pair of soldiers. All thoughts of diplomacy forgotten, the dwarven warrior was going to show the cowards a taste of dwarven vengeance."Fear me, Rallanth, for I am coming for your head!"</blockquote>

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