On the Lam
I kick the pebbles in the gravel, cursing my stupid flare of anger. Three dead guards, all witnesses to the trial of my boss, Kirinor. Sure, they had lied. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, as unlikely as that may sound. And yes, they were probably part of the group that stole the artifacts in the first place, then placed blame on my boss. But it was stupid to kill them like that.
Still, they did squeal nicely. Out celebrating the trial, their lies. Stumbling drunk through the alleyway. I know they thought they had me conquered. Four bolts – the fat one, the ringleader, proved to be more resilient then I thought. They couldn’t see me and I knew it. Hearing that sound as the bolt ripped into their flesh, watching them tumble over dead … I loved every minute of it.
But stupid! I’ve now made myself a target! I’m sure they’re looking for me now. I’ve got to get out of town, immediately. Maybe Gondar, my ally and friend, will make the journey with me.
“Mikael, for the love of God!” Gondar almost shouts when he sees me. I shush him quickly. “We’ve got to get those artifacts back!” he exclaims. “They’ve loaded them up and left early this evening.”
Bloody artifacts. I hate religions. There’s this group, and that group, and they all have their little toys, and they all mean so much to them, it makes me sick. If I’m in a different group than you, we don’t like each other anymore. Stupid. This one even more than others. The damn artifacts come from the conquered people, and the damn religion won’t die. Hides in dark corners, underground. Don’t they know that the underground is no place for God?
Still, these are the artifacts that will prove the innocence of my boss – of this crime at least. With the three witnesses dead, there’s not much evidence against him left, but you never know with these backwater towns. I should have stayed in Ansina when I was visiting my folks. A big town, they’re more reasonable. And more likely to look the other way when the right color appears.
I’m getting the hell out of here anyhow, so even if I get my hands on them and sell them back to the church, it’s worth it. Plus, even if I charged them a premium, I’d probably make some allies in the church, which could come in handy in the future. This is sounding better and better.
“Saddle up,” I say to Gondar, and head out.
He grabs my shoulder. “Saddle up on what? You know that we’ve got no ride.”
“Marketplace,” I whisper to him as we sidle out the door. “A troop of something or other came in today. I even saw a dog, which I’ve been dying to ride.”
Gondar tries to suppress a giggle.
I wheel about quickly. “Half your size or not, Gondar, I can still stick you three times before you blink.” He quiets down, though he knows I’m not that serious about it. Still, he also knows I hate being so short, though it definitely does come in handy.
We get to the main street where the crowds are rushing to the south, where the three pigs lay where I stuck them. We blend in long enough to cross the street, and then slip over to the marketplace.
A quick kersnip, and the lock tumbles off in my hands. “Keep watch,” I say to Gondar as I slip my lockpick back in my pocket. He inches over to the shadows and disappears.
I close the door behind me and quickly start trying to assess the animals there. I really should have prepared better for a situation like this. I guess it was one of those things that I just kept putting off. Never again, though. I’ll always have a get out of town quick plan. I see the dog, and saddle him up. Gorgeous dog, with a beautiful shining coat, though a little muddy. Poor kid.
I quickly skip over to find a horse for Gondar.
A sharp “Hssst!” comes from outside. I duck down right away and close myself in with the dog. A few seconds go by, and nothing happens, so I inch up the side of the stable and look out the window. Nothing. I look over to where Gondar was hiding. Nothing. Dammit! He’s been forced out. I drop back down quietly, and wait another minute or two, and nothing comes. I sneak over to the other windows and peer out. In the distance, I see a guard walking nonchalantly away from the stables. Figuring that was the warning, I quickly grab the first horse I see, saddle him up, and open up the stable door.
“Gondar!” I whisper loudly. The shadows melt and Gondar appears, right where he hid. “Impressive,” I whisper, handing him the reins to the horse. “East for a bit first – let’s walk around the town,” I instruct him. No point walking back to the scene of the crime with getaway vehicles. And then, so long Tabar. It’s been nice living here, but, you got real ugly.
We walk out and around the town, then turn back southeast to join back up with the road. It’s really dark now, and we’ve got a hooded lantern lit to see where we’re going. Only once do we run into some poor shmuck walking alone out there, but I had enough blood for one night, and wait instead for him to pass. There’s some good karma in that for me, I’m sure of it.
We make it back onto the road easily, the lights and sounds of the town in the distance behind us. I know that the wagon they’re pulling can’t be going that fast, so between the two of us, we should be able to catch them. I’d rather come across their camp and lay an ambush if I can find them.
Many hours later, and almost into the wee hours of the morning, we still haven’t seen anything, though we’ve been going a good pace. We’ve got to be almost half way to Ansina by now.
“Dammit!” I hiss. “We had to have passed them. There’s no way they traveled this far!”
Gondar yawns. “Let’s rest, then, and then surprise them when they come by. If we stay up any longer, I won’t be able to tell you from them when we finally do meet them.”
“Fine. You’re first watch then.” We lead our animals off the road, tie them off quickly to the tree. I grab a handful of mix of some sort, and stuff it in my face. Disgusting. It’s probably moldy or something. I really need to plan my getaways better. I stick my pack under my head, try to shut my eyes against the slowly lightening sky.
It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes when he woke me up again, his blood red eyes peering into mine. “Fine,” I hiss, “sleep the whole damn night away.” I don’t think he heard the last part, as he collapses on the ground and began snoring. I kick him lightly as I walked by, and he stops. I quickly wipe my blurry eyes and settle in for a cold morning watch. I hate not being able to light fires.
Just after waking up Gondar, we have a quick moldy breakfast – which was better than what Gondar brought: nothing – and jump back onto our mounts. As I lead my riding dog onto the road, I catch a faint clip-clop of horse hooves, and the squeaking of wheels.
“Horses,” I whisper to Gondar. But whose? A heavily traveled road like this – it could be anybody. For all we know they’re already in Ansina! Not much of a choice though. Those hooves are approaching fast.
“Hide!” I hiss at Gandar, and jump across the street on Dienel. Gandar settles in among the foliage, and the two of us move a few branches so we can peer at each other across the road.
This situation seems to be getting worse and worse. No plan, no ideas. Damn! No tree branch across the road to slow them down! I curse my own stupidity again. How the hell are we going to do this?
No time to think – here come the horses. I can’t see, but can hear, and I take a peek up and down the road. One man, riding along, keeping a watch out. He’s not fantastically armoured, but it’s obvious he’s definitely the guard. I strain my ears to catch a squeak of the wheels, and there it is! Still, I try to reason, it still might not be them, and then we’ll be in a battle with someone we have no quarrel with.
I flash the hand sign over to Gondar: “Two,” meaning wait for the second. The squeaking gets louder, and peeking through the bushes I manage to catch sight of that bastard merchant who set up my boss. No idea who that snooty looking beauty queen is next to him, though. I smirk as she turns her head to the side when he won’t seem to shut up. They’re both worth a laugh, once they’re dead.
A twig snaps. I look over quickly at Gondar, who was having trouble controlling his horse. Even worse, so did the guard.
“Bandits!” he shouts.
I bring my bow up as he charges into the woods at Gondar. The bolt falls at my feet. In my worry, I hadn’t even loaded my crossbow properly. I hurriedly grab the bolt again and try to load it. Meanwhile, Gondar brings up his crossbow bolt and fires at the charging guard. It hits him, but gives the guard enough time to bring his sword down onto his bow-arm, severing it in two. I bite my lip as hard as I can to avoid revealing my position, since I don’t think anyone saw me yet. As Gondar cries in agony, the guard rushes him once more with him sword, and Gondar slumps onto this horse, which whinnies and carries him off.
I’m all alone now. They still haven’t seen me. They might just continue on without looking. I can just keep quiet and save my own hide. Make my way down to Ansina without worry, and start a new life. Yet I can’t help but think of Gondar being murdered in cold blood. We hadn’t attacked yet. They don’t know if we were going to.
A bolt flies from my crossbow, aimed directly at that little gap between his leather pads. I looked down at my bow in surprise. I couldn’t recall loosing that bolt, but my bow was empty.
Time for a fight.
I hear another cry of “Bandits! Flee! Run!” from the guard, though this one has a definite gurgle in it. Another bolt finishes him off quickly as he tries to scan the area to find out where the first one came from. I hate being short, but God I love being small.
The wagon goes into a fast pitch by me, and I loose a bolt up at Connar, the bastard merchant. It pierces his skull and he slumps over, dropping the reins. The woman next to him doesn’t scream out in terror, which I note to be impressed with when I have time.
I urge my dog on forward, and just as I leap forward, a massive crash through the forest behind startles my mount even further. No time to look – it could be another guard, or maybe some forest creature I’ve pissed off. I’m far more worried about yet another guard that was on the other side of the wagon, blocked from my view, now falling back to get a better view. I rush my dog forward alongside the racing wagon. I can’t believe how fast this dog is – I really should buy one someday. I reach out onto the handhold next to the wagon seats, and catch hold. I pull myself up from my dog and onto the racing wagon. I get up high enough to stand on my saddle, then jump off up onto the bench atop the now dead merchant.
I don’t even have time to say hello when the woman takes a swing at my right hand, which is still carrying my crossbow. “That’s not nice,” I say, and hit her on the head with the butt of the bow. She stumbles back a bit, and just as she falls back, I see a massive leather-clad warrior leap up onto the wagon from the other side.
I quickly try to count it off in my head. What’s that, four guards now? What the hell’s wrong with me? What am I doing, atop a racing wagon, standing on a dead body, a guard across from me and two behind, and god knows how many in the wagon itself? I really need to control my anger.
Remembering the way Gondar was chopped down, I drop my bow and pull out my dagger, sticking it deep inside the guard. The guard howls in agony and brings down some gigantic sword on top of my head. A lucky bounce of the wagon makes him waver a bit, and the sword catches me only in the shoulder, still hurting, but at least not killing.
I hear a smash and feel the wood under my feet shift a bit. I take a look over my right shoulder to see the guard who had fallen behind now level with the wagon, trying to pull his sword out of the wood while controlling his horse, who definitely was not trained for battle. The horse jerks out to the right, and the guard’s sword flies out, leaving my beam unsupported. My right foot falls off the dead body and through the bench, and the wood shards chew up my leg pretty bad. I hear the soldier’s cursing getting further away.
This isn’t going well at all.
I leap up onto the corpse, kicking it down into the hole and take another stab at the guard. It catches him again, and he howls in pain. “We can stop this right now,” I say to him, “or I can kill you.”
He grins stupidly and raises his enormous sword above his head. The steel flashes against the sun as I can feel this one is meant to end it all. A loud thunk makes me open my eyes, and I see him stumbling over the woman, who had just awakened. The sword had fallen on her, cutting her slightly, and he was bending over to pick it up. I take the opportunity and jab him again with my dagger. He crumples up and falls off the wagon, spinning in the air as he hits the ground. I grab the reins of the wagon, trying to calm these animals down.
I feel a slap as the woman to my left has once again decides that she will single handedly fight me off. I drop one rein, pick up my crossbow, and smash it upside her head. She falls back down to the ground, unconscious.
Another loud smash from the right makes me look over. The soldier’s back, and is gritting his teeth controlling his horse, who now looks wild. “Your friends are all dead!” I shout at him, and pick up my dagger to fend him off, but he breaks away and turns back north. It takes me a while to get the horses under control, but I finally manage to bring it to a halt.
I quickly tie up the unconscious woman, then jump off and run back to where Gondar had died. As I slip by the side, I see a woman’s head peeking out the canvas back. She quickly ducks back in. I turn around, and sneak up to the wagon. Pulling the canvas aside, I see a woman dressed in poorer clothes, and this one isn’t as controlled as the other. Probably a servant. She won’t stop screaming, so I knock her around a few times to knock her out, then tie her up too.
I don’t have much of a choice. I’ve got to go back. I quickly run back, collect Deniel and the horses. With much effort, I finally manage to get the dead bodies up onto the horses, and lead them down back to the wagon.
I approach cautiously, but nothing seems to be awry. I quickly tie the animals to the wagon, and take the wagon off-roading for a little while, so I can sit and think without having to worry about running across anyone.
A nice clearing provides the secluded area I’m looking for. Gondar and the two guards are dead, but somehow the merchant is still breathing, but unconscious. I tie him up too, and put the three living people together.
I quickly rifle through the caravan. There’s a load of silver ingots – that has to be worth thousands! – and a chest of fine silks, probably belonging to the woman. And there, in another smaller chest, are the artifacts I was looking for. Too big for me to carry, though, so I leave them in the chest.
What the hell am I supposed to do now? I’ve just stolen a wagon shipment of silver from the mines to the north! I’ve killed yet another two guards, and the third one escaped. There’s no doubt at all that he’s going to warn the guards, and they’ll be back.
I do a few quick calculations in my head. I’m over halfway to Ansina now. I can definitely beat them there. But how am I going to get Gondar into the city? That’s a huge city, and they won’t let me just walk the streets with a dead body. And I need those artifacts. I’m not strong enough to move those chests, and I sure as hell don’t want to give up several thousand gold! I am a thief, after all.
I quickly strip down the bodies, searching for any remnant of information. I waken the noble woman and try questioning her, fruitlessly. I wasn’t made for this. I smack her over the head again and she falls unconscious. I wake up the servant and try questioning her, too, but she won’t stop screaming. She joins her master in blackness. I did get one piece of information, and that’s that Connar left early, and in a rush. He was in on it. But I won’t be able to talk to him – he’s out for a while.
Only one thing to do. I’ll steal the wagon. I’ll run it to Ansina, pretend that I was one of the guards, that we were assaulted, and I managed to get away. I do know a few names of contacts in Ansina, so if I can get a message to them fast enough I should be able to sell it off quickly before anyone notices that I’m there. I’ll have to sell it at a huge discount, though, but something is better than nothing.
I’ll need a merchant, though, and that’ll be Gondar. I bring his body up to the wagon bench and slump him over. That’s not good enough. Bandits use arrows. I take a bolt from the body of the guard that I killed and stick it in Gondar’s side. There’s no karma here, I know. Gondar would know this is the only thing I could do.
I strip the survivors naked, search all their clothes, and load the clothes up on the wagon. I quickly tie the horses to the wagon, and coax my dog up into the back. As I’m pulling away, I do get a little worried that they’ll die out here, and I don’t want that over my head. I jump down, slap the servant awake. She looks at me groggily, without recognition. “Wake up!” I shout at her, “or you’ll be dead!”
I jump back onto the wagon, and head out.
Less than an hour later, I’m back on the road, a ways down from where I left it in the first place. Hopefully any pursuers will spend some time following the wagon tracks off the road before they realize that I went back onto it.
I whip the horses up to full steam, which, with the load in the back, isn’t all that fast. I guess Deniel wasn’t all that fast. I’m a little worried now. I’m not going as fast as I thought I would, and that means there’s a chance that I’ll be caught.
And what about the guards from the other town. I still haven’t thought of what I’m going to tell them.
The horses continue to race along, breathing heavily from pulling the wagon. Anybody that I come across, I just wave out of the way, shouting “Bandits! Bandits up the road!” Most people are so scared of that, they’ll turn and run. After a few hours, I see a few guards coming up the road, and I know I won’t be able to just wave them off. I slow up the horses, and ready my tongue to do some of the best lying that I’ve ever done.
“Bandits!” I shout as they approach. “Bandits up the road! They were posing as guards, and tried to steal the wagon!” They approach cautiously, and I become a little worried that they aren’t buying it. Well, it’s time to cash in on being child-like compared to these monstrous humans. I start to cry. Well, at least I try.
“They came out … my friend is DEAD! They wanted something, I don’t know. I managed to fight a few off. They ran away and came back, or no, they are going to come back!”
“Hold there, young one,” the leader says. “My name is Bart, and I am a guard captain of Ansina. Calm down and tell us your story.”
“No time!” I shout. “They’re coming after me!!”
“How long ago did this happen?” Bart asks.
“A few hours! They’ll catch me for sure if I don’t get going. They’re on their way!”
“Easy, now. We’re very well armed and prepared for this sort of thing. Now, how many were there?”
“Six … maybe more! I killed three with my crossbow, and the horses, they were running fast! The wagon almost tipped. They were pretending to be guards! They flagged me down and then jumped us. When they ran I heard them say something about regrouping, so I collected what I could and ran!”
“Guards, hm?” Bart asks as the other two walk around the wagon. One of the guards calls out to Bart: “Dog.”
“That’s mine … I was riding him when we were attacked. She was one of the only ones that wasn’t killed, so I tried to keep her. I don’t want more people to die.”
I could see they weren’t buying my story. After all, I did have the guards armours and weapons in the back, too.
I really should have thought this through.
“My best friend is DEAD! Murdered!” I wail.
“Look, chief. Empire make,” call out the other guard, holding up the bastard sword.
“We’ve had a bit of trouble of ex-guards lately,” says Bart. “Looks like maybe you ran into a few of them.” I bite my lip to keep faking the tears instead of a sigh.
“All right,” Bart says sternly, “Taylor, take this fellow … what’s your name?”
“Shinzael,” I lie.
“Take Shinzael to the gates. As quickly as you can, now, the bandits are probably coming. I’ll take Linn and try to slow them down, or at least get an idea of how many there are. Go.”
Bart and Linn turn and head up north. I knew, now, I had to get to the gates and within the town as fast as I could. If Bart and Linn truly believe my story, and are accosted by the Tabar guards coming down, they might end up in a battle. If the Tabar guards make it back to the gates without Bart, there would be a large battle, and I didn’t want to be near it.
On the other hand, Bart or Linn might have a friend in the group, and they could quickly sort it out and head out after me again.
“Let’s change the horses, quickly,” I suggest to Taylor. “These ones are exhausted, and the others can travel faster.” I haven’t a clue how to tie the horses to the lead. Luckily, Taylor does. “I’m just a friend, doing a favour for another friend as a guard.” Taylor eyes me. “And now he’s DEAD!” I wail. I’m definitely going to be playing that one to its fullest.
We switch the horses, and then back into a race. Taylor manages to keep up with me easily at a forced trot, and he moves up and back, keeping his eyes open for trouble. Anyone we come across, he waves them off the road, then tells them to turn back to Ansina because of the bandits.
This is getting out of control.
“Taylor,” I call out to him, “what happens once we reach the city?”
“Well, there’s usually a line. Once you’re within sight of the city, you’re safe. So we can slow up then.”
“But they’re coming!” I shout. “They’ll be after me! I need to get into the city right away!”
I’d gone too far. “You’ll be safe,” he says, looking at me in a funny way, “don’t worry about that.”
“The line’s not too long,” he says, “only fifteen minutes or so, usually. A quick search of your cargo, and if everything’s fine,” he eyes me again, “then you’re on your way.”
I keep my mouth shut. I don’t want to make him more suspicious. Fifteen or twenty minutes isn’t too bad, as I figure I have about a 30 minute lead. Once I pass through the gate, I’ll head off to an inn, and try to fence the stuff immediately.
The city looms in front of us like a monstrous volcano. The city of Ansina is entirely walled, with turrets and parapets, and many guards walking the top. It’s the largest city in the region, and it shows off its wealth and power the minute you see it. The number of flags decrying its power flutter in the breeze.
I know that everything could explode in my face once I arrive.
When we approach the gate, Taylor tells me to wait with the wagon, and moves up to the front of the line. A watch him closely as he whispers a few words to the guards at the gate, and then they signal up to the watchtowers. A gaggle of guards comes running along the top wall to the turrets around the main front gate, and I notice a few sticking something in front of their faces and looking off north.
The artifacts! I realize suddenly that any search will reveal the artifacts, and they’ll think I’m smuggling them, even if they buy my story that this is my wagon! I get up to slip into the back, and as I stand, I see that a few of the guards turn my way and keep an eye on me. Moving carefully, I jump into the back and stash the artifacts at the bottom of one of the chests with silver ingots. I take a few of the ingots that are now taking up too much space, and throw them into the empty chest. I then take out one of the sheets from the fine clothes, and bring it back up to the bench. I lay it over top of my friend, out of respect – in a way.
A few minutes later and I’m sitting in front of the guard, who is peppering me with questions. I knew enough to play distraught well before I make it up to him, so my cheeks are now stained with tears. One day, I won’t have to play this kind of game anymore.
“Name?” he enquires. “Shinzael,” I reply.
“Where you coming from?” he asks. “Tabor,” I manage through sobs.
“Cargo?”
“Silver and silks.”
“From the silver mine?”
I pause, stupidly. Quick, another cover is needed. “I don’t know … maybe. I suppose. It’s my friend’s shipment and he wanted to get into the business, and it’s his first time doing a run like this,” and then back to my money phrase, “and now he’s DEAD!”
“It’s ok, ok,” the guard soothes me. “What time did you leave?”
“Last last night,” I reply quickly. Oh, but that was stupid.
“Last night?” The guard looks up from his notepad.
“Um, yes, my friend wanted to leave because he was late or something …”
Oh, that’ll cost me. Do I kill the guard when he enters the back? What about these other guards? Do I run away on Deniel?
“Let’s take a look at your cargo,” the guard says.
I quickly try to make an inventory of things I’ll to escape from prison. I’ll secret a few of my lockpicks away quickly, perhaps somewhere they won’t look.
The guard opens up the canvas back, and steps back a bit when he sees Deniel. “A dog,” he says, unimpressed. “Why do you have a dog in the back?”
“I was riding him until we were attacked. I didn’t want him to die, so I took him with me. He couldn’t keep up so I put him in the back. Please don’t hurt my dog!” And I turn on the waterworks again.
I could see him roll his eyes. If this was a dark alley, he’d already be dead and I’d be one purse richer. I turn up the tears to avoid projecting my seething hatred at him.
He opens up the silk chest, and takes out every single piece of clothing, and then stuffs it back in. He then opens up the first silver chest, and begins taking out ingots. I get ready to draw my dagger. He takes out almost half the ingots, and looks right to the very bottom. He fills it back up again, and closes it. He does a similar routine on the second. I fall to the wagon side, sobbing, though I can no longer tell if I’m faking, or if it’s real because I know I’m caught. He opens up the third chest, where I’ve hidden the artifacts, at the back of the wagon. He takes out a few ingots, and looks down into it, but can’t reach over the chests in front of him. He takes a second to try to move it, but it’s far too heavy. He takes a long look into the chest, then throws the few ingots back and closes it. He opens up the small chest, and looks through it carefully. He looks at the weapons, says “hmm … Empire quality,” and then goes to look at the armour. Before he can get a chance to think about why I have extra armour in the back, I wail out “I can’t believe my friend is DEAD!” startling the guard. I bump Deniel who bumps into the guard, and the guard hurriedly jumps off the wagon, apparently frightened.
He takes a moment to regain his composure. “Ok, everything looks good, here’s your receipt,” he says, and waves me through the gate.
“Where are you staying?” he asks, “in case we need to get in touch with you.”
“I don’t know …” I reply. “My friend, Gonnal, was handling all of that.”
“Then you should stay at the Gilded Swan. It’s a bit pricey, but they guarantee the safety of your shipment. It’s run by some very famous and prominent retired soldiers. You’ll be safe there.” He gives me instructions on how to get there. I make a mental note to avoid that part of town.
“Thanks,” I told him. “I’ll head right there,” and I move off into the city.
“Wait a second,” he calls as he runs after me. I get ready to draw my dagger.
“The toll is one copper,” he says, out of breath. “Almost forgot.”
I try not to breathe a sigh of relief. I dig through my pouches, trying to look confused. I reach down and hand him a copper.
“Sorry,” I say quietly.
“My fault,” he says. “Have a good stay in Ansina. Hope things get sorted out for you.” And he walked back to his post.
Finally, I’m in the city. And I’m home free.
“Shinzael!” a cry issues to my left and behind me.
Taylor rides up on his horse. “You almost left without me. I didn’t see you get waved through,” he says.
“Sorry, Taylor,” I reply, cursing his name and mentally swearing to kill his entire family when I get a chance.
“Well, let’s go off to the magistrate,” he calls up, and points off northeast.
“The magistrate?” I blurt out. “Why are we going there?”
“We have to fill out a crime report,” he replies.
How stupid can I be? Why didn’t I think of this? How am I going to get out of this? They’ll be here in less than a half hour. I’m not going to get caught when I’m this close!
I follow Taylor slowly while trying to think.
“Taylor, is there any way we can do this tomorrow? I’m tired and confused and exhausted … and my friend is DEAD!” I don’t want to overuse it, so I just sob silently here.
Taylor looks up at me with pity. “There’s not much choice. It needs to be done right away. The sooner we get the information the better chance we have of catching the bandits. And since there’s been so many problems with ex-guards becoming turning foul, I’m sure the magistrate will want this information right away.”
“Don’t worry anymore, little one,” he says, and I grit my teeth. “You’re safe in this city. See the parapets? They were built a long time ago, and none have been able to assault the city. See the turrets? In each one is ten guards, all armed with the best bows in the Empire. Did you notice that the walls surrounded the whole city? They were first made …”
I let him blather on about the wonders of the city while I think furiously, trying to come up with some sort of plan.
When Taylor finally stops his incessant chattering, I offer: “Well, why don’t you just show me the way? I’m sure you have other things to do. As you said, I’m safe here.”
“I’m on duty until later tonight,” he replies. “And taking you through the town is much more appealing to me than perhaps running into combat with well-armed guards outside the town!”
This guy is clueless. I should stick him right now.
Delay, delay, delay. I can’t go to the magistrate.
The inn!
“Taylor, the guard at the gate,”
“Rory,” he interrupts.
“Right, Rory. Rory mentioned that I could stay at an inn called the Gilded Swan. Maybe we should go there first, to drop off this cargo, and maybe have someone take care of my friend?”
“That might be a good idea,” says Taylor. “And it might give you enough time to calm down and regain your focus.” He pauses for a bit. “OK, we need to take a left up here instead.”
I had to think fast. I’ve managed to delay him, but I definitely didn’t want to go anywhere near that inn. Corran the merchant might have actually had people waiting for him there!
And then it struck me. I couldn’t get a message to the few contacts I was aware of in the town, but I did know of one possible thief-friendly inn, that was not under suspicion when I first heard of it. If I could get there, maybe I can gain a quick contact and somehow get out of this mess. They might be at the gate any minute now! It was a risk, though. If they had found that place out already, I would be under immediate suspicion for mentioning it. I had no choice.
“I just remembered!” I exclaim. “Gonnal did mention that we were going to stay at the Thundering Dog. Maybe there’s someone there who knows about where this shipment is bound for!”
“The Thundering Dog?” Taylor asks. I held my breath. “That’s on the other side of town. It’ll take a while to get there.”
I look at him pityingly.
“Well,” he says slowly, “I suppose it’s equally important to find out where this is bound for. Maybe they’ll have an idea as to who might have known about the shipment, and who might have attacked.”
I barely manage to contain my sigh of relief. Now, I can only hope that the bartender currently there is the contact, and that he doesn’t work the night shift.
We make it there a little more quickly than he thought, perhaps because I was pushing my horses a little harder than I normally would have going through the city. Taylor didn’t say anything, but he probably assumes I was just anxious to see an end to the day.
Which I was.
Taylor leads me around the last corner, and points up ahead to the sign hanging over the street. I nod to him, and bring the wagon up to the front. I hope off, and, roping the horses to the tie post, slump morosely to the front door. I notice Taylor doing the same, though he’s walking with his head held high, perhaps through some disgusting notion of honour. I can’t have him in there with me.
“Taylor,” I ask quietly, “will you guard the wagon for me? I don’t want anything stolen after what I’ve just gone through.”
“Sure thing,” he replies, as if he didn’t even think about it. Perhaps that’s a good thing.
I walk into the inn slowly, and as soon as the door closes, I hurry up to the bartender. A burly man, with thick arms, a friendly smile, and a bald head. I catch a glimpse of one of the patrons among the twenty or so, who keeps an eye on me as I walk in. Probably a thief, I guess – or hope – I’m not sure which.
“Hello,” I say. “I’m with a caravan and I understand …” I continue the small talk while flashing him the “Thief” sign from Tabor. I only hope they understand it in Ansina, and that this is the guy I’m looking for.
“Sure, we have many rooms here available. What will you …” and he flashes something that looks like an approval sign. I finally breathe the sigh of relief I’ve been dying to breathe. He continues on a little long, so I interrupt him.
“Well, you see, my caravan was attacked …” and I flash the “Emergency!” signal.
“Sure, sure,” he replies. “Dokei!” he cries out, and the patron who watched me enter jumps up and walks to the bar. “Don’t you remember … what was your name again?”
“Shinzael,” I say, then curse myself for not coming up with another name. I know that will come back to haunt me.
“… Shinzael,” the bartender continues. “He was back…”
“Of course!” says Dokei. “How are you? It’s been so long …” and the two of us move slowly to the end of the bar, where we can’t be overheard.
“What’s the big idea?” Dokei demands, once we’re out of earshot.
“I’m from Tabor. I ambushed a wagon, killed two guards and the merchant, stole the wagon loaded with silver and silks, then rushed it into Ansina, pretending that I was a guard and the merchant I was working for was killed. One guard managed to escape back to Tabor and he’s probably bringing help. I ran into guards on the way, one of them is with me outside right now. The others went back to look for bandits. They’ll probably make it back to the city any minute now. The wagon is outside.”
“You stupid …” he begins, then stops. “How much is in the wagon?”
“Easily several thousand worth,” I reply quickly.
He whistles softly.
“Welcome to the thieves’ guild of Ansina, Shinzael,” he says. “You’re now a member. You have no choice in this. Dues are 5 gp a month, plus a quarter of your take. For this, though, we’re taking half.”
“Quickly, now, he’s bound to stick his head in any minute.”
“Leave the wagon here. Go with him to the magistrate. They’ll fill out paperwork, but your goods will be safe. We’ll take it from there.”
“That’s no good,” I reply, “and no way to treat a new member. If I go to the magistrate, I’ll be in jail within the hour. Can you create a distraction, while we’re on the way? Then when he gets off, I can run this to a safehouse.”
“Sure,” he says, grinning. He smiles like a shark, and I know that one day, I’ll be bitten by those teeth. “Just a quick test.”
He pulls out a small map, and quickly marks an X on the safehouse.
“Give us five minutes,” he says, “and we’ll get the guard. Then, just keep riding ahead, make the turn, then get your butt to the house. We’ll take it from there.”
“Thanks!” I reply, and head out.
As I come out, Taylor comes over to greet me. “Any news?” he asks. I notice that Gandor is no longer on the bench. I assume he’s in the back, and confirm that he’s there when I walk by.
“Good news, finally,” I reply. “Gollan had this organized already, and there was a room for us here. I couldn’t find anyone who knew anything about where this shipment was bound for” – well, technically that was true – “so we should just go to the magistrate.”
“All right. I wouldn’t leave this here, because these folks don’t guarantee your shipment like the Gilded Swan. Let’s take this to the magistrate. Besides, he’ll want to see the wagon and the equipment.”
“Sounds reasonable,” I say. “I feel a lot better now. Thanks, Taylor.” His chest puffs up with pride. One day, I promise to myself, I’ll take the breath out of that chest forever.
We head out in silence along the path to the magistrate, as Dokei said we would. Within a few minutes, we approach a crossroads with a small market, a couple of children run out into the street, knocking over a fruit stand. The grocer shouts at them loudly, and people stop and look around. Taylor turns his head to the side, following the sequence of events. This kids pick up some of the fruit and throw it at each other, laughing and giggling. This has got to be the distraction.
This is confirmed when one of the apples hits Taylor’s arm.
“Hey!” he shouts. “I’m an Ansinian guard! Quit that!”
Another fruit, an orange, this time, hits his mount, which skitters.
“Dammit! Stupid kids!” he bellows, but can’t complete his howling, as a cantaloupe comes flying from the group of kids and hits him square in the head. He falls off his horse, and tumbles to the ground, looking stunned. I keep the wagon going steadily forward.
Taylor climbs slowly to his feet, staggering a bit. He looks around in various directions, as several more fruit hit him. The children have ceased throwing fruit at each other, and are all now throwing it right at Taylor. The passerbys stop what they’re doing, and crowd around, trying to see what’s going on.
I lead the wagon steadily forward, heading in the direction to the magistrate’s office. I peel out the map quickly, and turn off the first chance that I get when nobody’s looking. I wheel the wagon about several alleyways, almost losing my way, but the map is extremely accurate. I’ll have to keep this for later.
I hurry. I know that by now, the guards from Tabor have probably made it to the gate. If Bart is with them, they’ll try too find me, either at the magistrate’s, or at the Gilded Swan. If Bart isn’t with them, then they might end up in combat, in which case, once they figure out the truth, I’ll be in even worse trouble.
Within another few minutes I finally make my way to the safehouse. I see two people standing outside, trying to look nonchalant. As soon as they see the wagon, the pull up a large wooden door that is big enough for me to fit in, and I turn the wagon in. The door closes behind me in perfect synchronicity.
Ten men, most of them big and strong guys, stand in two rows, spaced enough apart for me to draw the wagon between. They set to work immediately as I pull up, and try to jump into the wagon. I notice a bunch of doors leading off in various directions, and several other wagons, all pointed in different directions, and ready with horses.
The artifacts! If I don’t get them, they’ll be taken as loot. I need to get them now. Well, lying isn’t a good way to start a relationship, but I don’t think I have a choice.
“Wait a second,” I shout out. “My dog’s up there, and he’s likely to bite. He’s been through a lot.” They back off. “Let me calm him down and get him out.”
I roll through the wagon bench into the back, and quickly flip the lid open. I pause, then grab a few weapons and armors and throw them out the back. “Here, take these first,” I say, “and also take those horses.” When they move away, I quickly rifle through the ingots and pick up the artifacts. I stuff them into Gandor’s backpack, then sling it over my shoulder awkwardly. I lead Deniel to the back, then pull the canvas across.
“I need some help here!” I call out. “My friend has been killed. Please be careful with him.” I lead Deniel down, noticing that they’re all giving a wide berth for him.
The men quickly jump up and relieve the wagon of its contents. They lead all the animals to various parts of the room, and then pass through different sets of doors, probably moving them to various parts of the city. Once the chests have been loaded into another wagon, they start ripping apart the wagon and smashing it to bits. Big parts they load up onto a third wagon. Both wagons take off into the city.
Once in the safehouse, it took no longer than five minutes. Impressive. I am left with Gandor, my dog, and our gear, including the artifacts in his backpack.
Dokei approaches me. “Nice job,” he says. “Looks like we’ll probably get away with it.”
I look up at him. For some reason, I can’t stop breathing heavily. I’m panting worse than Deneil.
“Meet me at the Thundering Dog later tonight,” he says. “We’ll sort this out.”
“I’m not going back there,” I tell him. “That’s exactly where they’ll be looking.”
“Another test,” he says, grinning his carnivorous grin.
“Meet me at the Sea Platter restaurant.” He gives me directions. “We’ll have dinner and celebrate the job. I’ll fill you in on the guild. There are some … rules.” He grins again, and I get the feeling I would have been better off in jail.
Dokei takes a deep breath, sniffing the air. “It’s the air that makes people love Ansina, Shinzael. It smells like gold! Or, sometimes,” he adds with a wink, “silver!” And he walks away with a swagger in his step.
I kick the pebbles in the gravel, cursing my stupid flare of anger. Three dead guards, all witnesses to the trial of my boss, Kirinor. Sure, they had lied. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, as unlikely as that may sound. And yes, they were probably part of the group that stole the artifacts in the first place, then placed blame on my boss. But it was stupid to kill them like that.
Still, they did squeal nicely. Out celebrating the trial, their lies. Stumbling drunk through the alleyway. I know they thought they had me conquered. Four bolts – the fat one, the ringleader, proved to be more resilient then I thought. They couldn’t see me and I knew it. Hearing that sound as the bolt ripped into their flesh, watching them tumble over dead … I loved every minute of it.
But stupid! I’ve now made myself a target! I’m sure they’re looking for me now. I’ve got to get out of town, immediately. Maybe Gondar, my ally and friend, will make the journey with me.
“Mikael, for the love of God!” Gondar almost shouts when he sees me. I shush him quickly. “We’ve got to get those artifacts back!” he exclaims. “They’ve loaded them up and left early this evening.”
Bloody artifacts. I hate religions. There’s this group, and that group, and they all have their little toys, and they all mean so much to them, it makes me sick. If I’m in a different group than you, we don’t like each other anymore. Stupid. This one even more than others. The damn artifacts come from the conquered people, and the damn religion won’t die. Hides in dark corners, underground. Don’t they know that the underground is no place for God?
Still, these are the artifacts that will prove the innocence of my boss – of this crime at least. With the three witnesses dead, there’s not much evidence against him left, but you never know with these backwater towns. I should have stayed in Ansina when I was visiting my folks. A big town, they’re more reasonable. And more likely to look the other way when the right color appears.
I’m getting the hell out of here anyhow, so even if I get my hands on them and sell them back to the church, it’s worth it. Plus, even if I charged them a premium, I’d probably make some allies in the church, which could come in handy in the future. This is sounding better and better.
“Saddle up,” I say to Gondar, and head out.
He grabs my shoulder. “Saddle up on what? You know that we’ve got no ride.”
“Marketplace,” I whisper to him as we sidle out the door. “A troop of something or other came in today. I even saw a dog, which I’ve been dying to ride.”
Gondar tries to suppress a giggle.
I wheel about quickly. “Half your size or not, Gondar, I can still stick you three times before you blink.” He quiets down, though he knows I’m not that serious about it. Still, he also knows I hate being so short, though it definitely does come in handy.
We get to the main street where the crowds are rushing to the south, where the three pigs lay where I stuck them. We blend in long enough to cross the street, and then slip over to the marketplace.
A quick kersnip, and the lock tumbles off in my hands. “Keep watch,” I say to Gondar as I slip my lockpick back in my pocket. He inches over to the shadows and disappears.
I close the door behind me and quickly start trying to assess the animals there. I really should have prepared better for a situation like this. I guess it was one of those things that I just kept putting off. Never again, though. I’ll always have a get out of town quick plan. I see the dog, and saddle him up. Gorgeous dog, with a beautiful shining coat, though a little muddy. Poor kid.
I quickly skip over to find a horse for Gondar.
A sharp “Hssst!” comes from outside. I duck down right away and close myself in with the dog. A few seconds go by, and nothing happens, so I inch up the side of the stable and look out the window. Nothing. I look over to where Gondar was hiding. Nothing. Dammit! He’s been forced out. I drop back down quietly, and wait another minute or two, and nothing comes. I sneak over to the other windows and peer out. In the distance, I see a guard walking nonchalantly away from the stables. Figuring that was the warning, I quickly grab the first horse I see, saddle him up, and open up the stable door.
“Gondar!” I whisper loudly. The shadows melt and Gondar appears, right where he hid. “Impressive,” I whisper, handing him the reins to the horse. “East for a bit first – let’s walk around the town,” I instruct him. No point walking back to the scene of the crime with getaway vehicles. And then, so long Tabar. It’s been nice living here, but, you got real ugly.
We walk out and around the town, then turn back southeast to join back up with the road. It’s really dark now, and we’ve got a hooded lantern lit to see where we’re going. Only once do we run into some poor shmuck walking alone out there, but I had enough blood for one night, and wait instead for him to pass. There’s some good karma in that for me, I’m sure of it.
We make it back onto the road easily, the lights and sounds of the town in the distance behind us. I know that the wagon they’re pulling can’t be going that fast, so between the two of us, we should be able to catch them. I’d rather come across their camp and lay an ambush if I can find them.
Many hours later, and almost into the wee hours of the morning, we still haven’t seen anything, though we’ve been going a good pace. We’ve got to be almost half way to Ansina by now.
“Dammit!” I hiss. “We had to have passed them. There’s no way they traveled this far!”
Gondar yawns. “Let’s rest, then, and then surprise them when they come by. If we stay up any longer, I won’t be able to tell you from them when we finally do meet them.”
“Fine. You’re first watch then.” We lead our animals off the road, tie them off quickly to the tree. I grab a handful of mix of some sort, and stuff it in my face. Disgusting. It’s probably moldy or something. I really need to plan my getaways better. I stick my pack under my head, try to shut my eyes against the slowly lightening sky.
It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes when he woke me up again, his blood red eyes peering into mine. “Fine,” I hiss, “sleep the whole damn night away.” I don’t think he heard the last part, as he collapses on the ground and began snoring. I kick him lightly as I walked by, and he stops. I quickly wipe my blurry eyes and settle in for a cold morning watch. I hate not being able to light fires.
Just after waking up Gondar, we have a quick moldy breakfast – which was better than what Gondar brought: nothing – and jump back onto our mounts. As I lead my riding dog onto the road, I catch a faint clip-clop of horse hooves, and the squeaking of wheels.
“Horses,” I whisper to Gondar. But whose? A heavily traveled road like this – it could be anybody. For all we know they’re already in Ansina! Not much of a choice though. Those hooves are approaching fast.
“Hide!” I hiss at Gandar, and jump across the street on Dienel. Gandar settles in among the foliage, and the two of us move a few branches so we can peer at each other across the road.
This situation seems to be getting worse and worse. No plan, no ideas. Damn! No tree branch across the road to slow them down! I curse my own stupidity again. How the hell are we going to do this?
No time to think – here come the horses. I can’t see, but can hear, and I take a peek up and down the road. One man, riding along, keeping a watch out. He’s not fantastically armoured, but it’s obvious he’s definitely the guard. I strain my ears to catch a squeak of the wheels, and there it is! Still, I try to reason, it still might not be them, and then we’ll be in a battle with someone we have no quarrel with.
I flash the hand sign over to Gondar: “Two,” meaning wait for the second. The squeaking gets louder, and peeking through the bushes I manage to catch sight of that bastard merchant who set up my boss. No idea who that snooty looking beauty queen is next to him, though. I smirk as she turns her head to the side when he won’t seem to shut up. They’re both worth a laugh, once they’re dead.
A twig snaps. I look over quickly at Gondar, who was having trouble controlling his horse. Even worse, so did the guard.
“Bandits!” he shouts.
I bring my bow up as he charges into the woods at Gondar. The bolt falls at my feet. In my worry, I hadn’t even loaded my crossbow properly. I hurriedly grab the bolt again and try to load it. Meanwhile, Gondar brings up his crossbow bolt and fires at the charging guard. It hits him, but gives the guard enough time to bring his sword down onto his bow-arm, severing it in two. I bite my lip as hard as I can to avoid revealing my position, since I don’t think anyone saw me yet. As Gondar cries in agony, the guard rushes him once more with him sword, and Gondar slumps onto this horse, which whinnies and carries him off.
I’m all alone now. They still haven’t seen me. They might just continue on without looking. I can just keep quiet and save my own hide. Make my way down to Ansina without worry, and start a new life. Yet I can’t help but think of Gondar being murdered in cold blood. We hadn’t attacked yet. They don’t know if we were going to.
A bolt flies from my crossbow, aimed directly at that little gap between his leather pads. I looked down at my bow in surprise. I couldn’t recall loosing that bolt, but my bow was empty.
Time for a fight.
I hear another cry of “Bandits! Flee! Run!” from the guard, though this one has a definite gurgle in it. Another bolt finishes him off quickly as he tries to scan the area to find out where the first one came from. I hate being short, but God I love being small.
The wagon goes into a fast pitch by me, and I loose a bolt up at Connar, the bastard merchant. It pierces his skull and he slumps over, dropping the reins. The woman next to him doesn’t scream out in terror, which I note to be impressed with when I have time.
I urge my dog on forward, and just as I leap forward, a massive crash through the forest behind startles my mount even further. No time to look – it could be another guard, or maybe some forest creature I’ve pissed off. I’m far more worried about yet another guard that was on the other side of the wagon, blocked from my view, now falling back to get a better view. I rush my dog forward alongside the racing wagon. I can’t believe how fast this dog is – I really should buy one someday. I reach out onto the handhold next to the wagon seats, and catch hold. I pull myself up from my dog and onto the racing wagon. I get up high enough to stand on my saddle, then jump off up onto the bench atop the now dead merchant.
I don’t even have time to say hello when the woman takes a swing at my right hand, which is still carrying my crossbow. “That’s not nice,” I say, and hit her on the head with the butt of the bow. She stumbles back a bit, and just as she falls back, I see a massive leather-clad warrior leap up onto the wagon from the other side.
I quickly try to count it off in my head. What’s that, four guards now? What the hell’s wrong with me? What am I doing, atop a racing wagon, standing on a dead body, a guard across from me and two behind, and god knows how many in the wagon itself? I really need to control my anger.
Remembering the way Gondar was chopped down, I drop my bow and pull out my dagger, sticking it deep inside the guard. The guard howls in agony and brings down some gigantic sword on top of my head. A lucky bounce of the wagon makes him waver a bit, and the sword catches me only in the shoulder, still hurting, but at least not killing.
I hear a smash and feel the wood under my feet shift a bit. I take a look over my right shoulder to see the guard who had fallen behind now level with the wagon, trying to pull his sword out of the wood while controlling his horse, who definitely was not trained for battle. The horse jerks out to the right, and the guard’s sword flies out, leaving my beam unsupported. My right foot falls off the dead body and through the bench, and the wood shards chew up my leg pretty bad. I hear the soldier’s cursing getting further away.
This isn’t going well at all.
I leap up onto the corpse, kicking it down into the hole and take another stab at the guard. It catches him again, and he howls in pain. “We can stop this right now,” I say to him, “or I can kill you.”
He grins stupidly and raises his enormous sword above his head. The steel flashes against the sun as I can feel this one is meant to end it all. A loud thunk makes me open my eyes, and I see him stumbling over the woman, who had just awakened. The sword had fallen on her, cutting her slightly, and he was bending over to pick it up. I take the opportunity and jab him again with my dagger. He crumples up and falls off the wagon, spinning in the air as he hits the ground. I grab the reins of the wagon, trying to calm these animals down.
I feel a slap as the woman to my left has once again decides that she will single handedly fight me off. I drop one rein, pick up my crossbow, and smash it upside her head. She falls back down to the ground, unconscious.
Another loud smash from the right makes me look over. The soldier’s back, and is gritting his teeth controlling his horse, who now looks wild. “Your friends are all dead!” I shout at him, and pick up my dagger to fend him off, but he breaks away and turns back north. It takes me a while to get the horses under control, but I finally manage to bring it to a halt.
I quickly tie up the unconscious woman, then jump off and run back to where Gondar had died. As I slip by the side, I see a woman’s head peeking out the canvas back. She quickly ducks back in. I turn around, and sneak up to the wagon. Pulling the canvas aside, I see a woman dressed in poorer clothes, and this one isn’t as controlled as the other. Probably a servant. She won’t stop screaming, so I knock her around a few times to knock her out, then tie her up too.
I don’t have much of a choice. I’ve got to go back. I quickly run back, collect Deniel and the horses. With much effort, I finally manage to get the dead bodies up onto the horses, and lead them down back to the wagon.
I approach cautiously, but nothing seems to be awry. I quickly tie the animals to the wagon, and take the wagon off-roading for a little while, so I can sit and think without having to worry about running across anyone.
A nice clearing provides the secluded area I’m looking for. Gondar and the two guards are dead, but somehow the merchant is still breathing, but unconscious. I tie him up too, and put the three living people together.
I quickly rifle through the caravan. There’s a load of silver ingots – that has to be worth thousands! – and a chest of fine silks, probably belonging to the woman. And there, in another smaller chest, are the artifacts I was looking for. Too big for me to carry, though, so I leave them in the chest.
What the hell am I supposed to do now? I’ve just stolen a wagon shipment of silver from the mines to the north! I’ve killed yet another two guards, and the third one escaped. There’s no doubt at all that he’s going to warn the guards, and they’ll be back.
I do a few quick calculations in my head. I’m over halfway to Ansina now. I can definitely beat them there. But how am I going to get Gondar into the city? That’s a huge city, and they won’t let me just walk the streets with a dead body. And I need those artifacts. I’m not strong enough to move those chests, and I sure as hell don’t want to give up several thousand gold! I am a thief, after all.
I quickly strip down the bodies, searching for any remnant of information. I waken the noble woman and try questioning her, fruitlessly. I wasn’t made for this. I smack her over the head again and she falls unconscious. I wake up the servant and try questioning her, too, but she won’t stop screaming. She joins her master in blackness. I did get one piece of information, and that’s that Connar left early, and in a rush. He was in on it. But I won’t be able to talk to him – he’s out for a while.
Only one thing to do. I’ll steal the wagon. I’ll run it to Ansina, pretend that I was one of the guards, that we were assaulted, and I managed to get away. I do know a few names of contacts in Ansina, so if I can get a message to them fast enough I should be able to sell it off quickly before anyone notices that I’m there. I’ll have to sell it at a huge discount, though, but something is better than nothing.
I’ll need a merchant, though, and that’ll be Gondar. I bring his body up to the wagon bench and slump him over. That’s not good enough. Bandits use arrows. I take a bolt from the body of the guard that I killed and stick it in Gondar’s side. There’s no karma here, I know. Gondar would know this is the only thing I could do.
I strip the survivors naked, search all their clothes, and load the clothes up on the wagon. I quickly tie the horses to the wagon, and coax my dog up into the back. As I’m pulling away, I do get a little worried that they’ll die out here, and I don’t want that over my head. I jump down, slap the servant awake. She looks at me groggily, without recognition. “Wake up!” I shout at her, “or you’ll be dead!”
I jump back onto the wagon, and head out.
Less than an hour later, I’m back on the road, a ways down from where I left it in the first place. Hopefully any pursuers will spend some time following the wagon tracks off the road before they realize that I went back onto it.
I whip the horses up to full steam, which, with the load in the back, isn’t all that fast. I guess Deniel wasn’t all that fast. I’m a little worried now. I’m not going as fast as I thought I would, and that means there’s a chance that I’ll be caught.
And what about the guards from the other town. I still haven’t thought of what I’m going to tell them.
The horses continue to race along, breathing heavily from pulling the wagon. Anybody that I come across, I just wave out of the way, shouting “Bandits! Bandits up the road!” Most people are so scared of that, they’ll turn and run. After a few hours, I see a few guards coming up the road, and I know I won’t be able to just wave them off. I slow up the horses, and ready my tongue to do some of the best lying that I’ve ever done.
“Bandits!” I shout as they approach. “Bandits up the road! They were posing as guards, and tried to steal the wagon!” They approach cautiously, and I become a little worried that they aren’t buying it. Well, it’s time to cash in on being child-like compared to these monstrous humans. I start to cry. Well, at least I try.
“They came out … my friend is DEAD! They wanted something, I don’t know. I managed to fight a few off. They ran away and came back, or no, they are going to come back!”
“Hold there, young one,” the leader says. “My name is Bart, and I am a guard captain of Ansina. Calm down and tell us your story.”
“No time!” I shout. “They’re coming after me!!”
“How long ago did this happen?” Bart asks.
“A few hours! They’ll catch me for sure if I don’t get going. They’re on their way!”
“Easy, now. We’re very well armed and prepared for this sort of thing. Now, how many were there?”
“Six … maybe more! I killed three with my crossbow, and the horses, they were running fast! The wagon almost tipped. They were pretending to be guards! They flagged me down and then jumped us. When they ran I heard them say something about regrouping, so I collected what I could and ran!”
“Guards, hm?” Bart asks as the other two walk around the wagon. One of the guards calls out to Bart: “Dog.”
“That’s mine … I was riding him when we were attacked. She was one of the only ones that wasn’t killed, so I tried to keep her. I don’t want more people to die.”
I could see they weren’t buying my story. After all, I did have the guards armours and weapons in the back, too.
I really should have thought this through.
“My best friend is DEAD! Murdered!” I wail.
“Look, chief. Empire make,” call out the other guard, holding up the bastard sword.
“We’ve had a bit of trouble of ex-guards lately,” says Bart. “Looks like maybe you ran into a few of them.” I bite my lip to keep faking the tears instead of a sigh.
“All right,” Bart says sternly, “Taylor, take this fellow … what’s your name?”
“Shinzael,” I lie.
“Take Shinzael to the gates. As quickly as you can, now, the bandits are probably coming. I’ll take Linn and try to slow them down, or at least get an idea of how many there are. Go.”
Bart and Linn turn and head up north. I knew, now, I had to get to the gates and within the town as fast as I could. If Bart and Linn truly believe my story, and are accosted by the Tabar guards coming down, they might end up in a battle. If the Tabar guards make it back to the gates without Bart, there would be a large battle, and I didn’t want to be near it.
On the other hand, Bart or Linn might have a friend in the group, and they could quickly sort it out and head out after me again.
“Let’s change the horses, quickly,” I suggest to Taylor. “These ones are exhausted, and the others can travel faster.” I haven’t a clue how to tie the horses to the lead. Luckily, Taylor does. “I’m just a friend, doing a favour for another friend as a guard.” Taylor eyes me. “And now he’s DEAD!” I wail. I’m definitely going to be playing that one to its fullest.
We switch the horses, and then back into a race. Taylor manages to keep up with me easily at a forced trot, and he moves up and back, keeping his eyes open for trouble. Anyone we come across, he waves them off the road, then tells them to turn back to Ansina because of the bandits.
This is getting out of control.
“Taylor,” I call out to him, “what happens once we reach the city?”
“Well, there’s usually a line. Once you’re within sight of the city, you’re safe. So we can slow up then.”
“But they’re coming!” I shout. “They’ll be after me! I need to get into the city right away!”
I’d gone too far. “You’ll be safe,” he says, looking at me in a funny way, “don’t worry about that.”
“The line’s not too long,” he says, “only fifteen minutes or so, usually. A quick search of your cargo, and if everything’s fine,” he eyes me again, “then you’re on your way.”
I keep my mouth shut. I don’t want to make him more suspicious. Fifteen or twenty minutes isn’t too bad, as I figure I have about a 30 minute lead. Once I pass through the gate, I’ll head off to an inn, and try to fence the stuff immediately.
The city looms in front of us like a monstrous volcano. The city of Ansina is entirely walled, with turrets and parapets, and many guards walking the top. It’s the largest city in the region, and it shows off its wealth and power the minute you see it. The number of flags decrying its power flutter in the breeze.
I know that everything could explode in my face once I arrive.
When we approach the gate, Taylor tells me to wait with the wagon, and moves up to the front of the line. A watch him closely as he whispers a few words to the guards at the gate, and then they signal up to the watchtowers. A gaggle of guards comes running along the top wall to the turrets around the main front gate, and I notice a few sticking something in front of their faces and looking off north.
The artifacts! I realize suddenly that any search will reveal the artifacts, and they’ll think I’m smuggling them, even if they buy my story that this is my wagon! I get up to slip into the back, and as I stand, I see that a few of the guards turn my way and keep an eye on me. Moving carefully, I jump into the back and stash the artifacts at the bottom of one of the chests with silver ingots. I take a few of the ingots that are now taking up too much space, and throw them into the empty chest. I then take out one of the sheets from the fine clothes, and bring it back up to the bench. I lay it over top of my friend, out of respect – in a way.
A few minutes later and I’m sitting in front of the guard, who is peppering me with questions. I knew enough to play distraught well before I make it up to him, so my cheeks are now stained with tears. One day, I won’t have to play this kind of game anymore.
“Name?” he enquires. “Shinzael,” I reply.
“Where you coming from?” he asks. “Tabor,” I manage through sobs.
“Cargo?”
“Silver and silks.”
“From the silver mine?”
I pause, stupidly. Quick, another cover is needed. “I don’t know … maybe. I suppose. It’s my friend’s shipment and he wanted to get into the business, and it’s his first time doing a run like this,” and then back to my money phrase, “and now he’s DEAD!”
“It’s ok, ok,” the guard soothes me. “What time did you leave?”
“Last last night,” I reply quickly. Oh, but that was stupid.
“Last night?” The guard looks up from his notepad.
“Um, yes, my friend wanted to leave because he was late or something …”
Oh, that’ll cost me. Do I kill the guard when he enters the back? What about these other guards? Do I run away on Deniel?
“Let’s take a look at your cargo,” the guard says.
I quickly try to make an inventory of things I’ll to escape from prison. I’ll secret a few of my lockpicks away quickly, perhaps somewhere they won’t look.
The guard opens up the canvas back, and steps back a bit when he sees Deniel. “A dog,” he says, unimpressed. “Why do you have a dog in the back?”
“I was riding him until we were attacked. I didn’t want him to die, so I took him with me. He couldn’t keep up so I put him in the back. Please don’t hurt my dog!” And I turn on the waterworks again.
I could see him roll his eyes. If this was a dark alley, he’d already be dead and I’d be one purse richer. I turn up the tears to avoid projecting my seething hatred at him.
He opens up the silk chest, and takes out every single piece of clothing, and then stuffs it back in. He then opens up the first silver chest, and begins taking out ingots. I get ready to draw my dagger. He takes out almost half the ingots, and looks right to the very bottom. He fills it back up again, and closes it. He does a similar routine on the second. I fall to the wagon side, sobbing, though I can no longer tell if I’m faking, or if it’s real because I know I’m caught. He opens up the third chest, where I’ve hidden the artifacts, at the back of the wagon. He takes out a few ingots, and looks down into it, but can’t reach over the chests in front of him. He takes a second to try to move it, but it’s far too heavy. He takes a long look into the chest, then throws the few ingots back and closes it. He opens up the small chest, and looks through it carefully. He looks at the weapons, says “hmm … Empire quality,” and then goes to look at the armour. Before he can get a chance to think about why I have extra armour in the back, I wail out “I can’t believe my friend is DEAD!” startling the guard. I bump Deniel who bumps into the guard, and the guard hurriedly jumps off the wagon, apparently frightened.
He takes a moment to regain his composure. “Ok, everything looks good, here’s your receipt,” he says, and waves me through the gate.
“Where are you staying?” he asks, “in case we need to get in touch with you.”
“I don’t know …” I reply. “My friend, Gonnal, was handling all of that.”
“Then you should stay at the Gilded Swan. It’s a bit pricey, but they guarantee the safety of your shipment. It’s run by some very famous and prominent retired soldiers. You’ll be safe there.” He gives me instructions on how to get there. I make a mental note to avoid that part of town.
“Thanks,” I told him. “I’ll head right there,” and I move off into the city.
“Wait a second,” he calls as he runs after me. I get ready to draw my dagger.
“The toll is one copper,” he says, out of breath. “Almost forgot.”
I try not to breathe a sigh of relief. I dig through my pouches, trying to look confused. I reach down and hand him a copper.
“Sorry,” I say quietly.
“My fault,” he says. “Have a good stay in Ansina. Hope things get sorted out for you.” And he walked back to his post.
Finally, I’m in the city. And I’m home free.
“Shinzael!” a cry issues to my left and behind me.
Taylor rides up on his horse. “You almost left without me. I didn’t see you get waved through,” he says.
“Sorry, Taylor,” I reply, cursing his name and mentally swearing to kill his entire family when I get a chance.
“Well, let’s go off to the magistrate,” he calls up, and points off northeast.
“The magistrate?” I blurt out. “Why are we going there?”
“We have to fill out a crime report,” he replies.
How stupid can I be? Why didn’t I think of this? How am I going to get out of this? They’ll be here in less than a half hour. I’m not going to get caught when I’m this close!
I follow Taylor slowly while trying to think.
“Taylor, is there any way we can do this tomorrow? I’m tired and confused and exhausted … and my friend is DEAD!” I don’t want to overuse it, so I just sob silently here.
Taylor looks up at me with pity. “There’s not much choice. It needs to be done right away. The sooner we get the information the better chance we have of catching the bandits. And since there’s been so many problems with ex-guards becoming turning foul, I’m sure the magistrate will want this information right away.”
“Don’t worry anymore, little one,” he says, and I grit my teeth. “You’re safe in this city. See the parapets? They were built a long time ago, and none have been able to assault the city. See the turrets? In each one is ten guards, all armed with the best bows in the Empire. Did you notice that the walls surrounded the whole city? They were first made …”
I let him blather on about the wonders of the city while I think furiously, trying to come up with some sort of plan.
When Taylor finally stops his incessant chattering, I offer: “Well, why don’t you just show me the way? I’m sure you have other things to do. As you said, I’m safe here.”
“I’m on duty until later tonight,” he replies. “And taking you through the town is much more appealing to me than perhaps running into combat with well-armed guards outside the town!”
This guy is clueless. I should stick him right now.
Delay, delay, delay. I can’t go to the magistrate.
The inn!
“Taylor, the guard at the gate,”
“Rory,” he interrupts.
“Right, Rory. Rory mentioned that I could stay at an inn called the Gilded Swan. Maybe we should go there first, to drop off this cargo, and maybe have someone take care of my friend?”
“That might be a good idea,” says Taylor. “And it might give you enough time to calm down and regain your focus.” He pauses for a bit. “OK, we need to take a left up here instead.”
I had to think fast. I’ve managed to delay him, but I definitely didn’t want to go anywhere near that inn. Corran the merchant might have actually had people waiting for him there!
And then it struck me. I couldn’t get a message to the few contacts I was aware of in the town, but I did know of one possible thief-friendly inn, that was not under suspicion when I first heard of it. If I could get there, maybe I can gain a quick contact and somehow get out of this mess. They might be at the gate any minute now! It was a risk, though. If they had found that place out already, I would be under immediate suspicion for mentioning it. I had no choice.
“I just remembered!” I exclaim. “Gonnal did mention that we were going to stay at the Thundering Dog. Maybe there’s someone there who knows about where this shipment is bound for!”
“The Thundering Dog?” Taylor asks. I held my breath. “That’s on the other side of town. It’ll take a while to get there.”
I look at him pityingly.
“Well,” he says slowly, “I suppose it’s equally important to find out where this is bound for. Maybe they’ll have an idea as to who might have known about the shipment, and who might have attacked.”
I barely manage to contain my sigh of relief. Now, I can only hope that the bartender currently there is the contact, and that he doesn’t work the night shift.
We make it there a little more quickly than he thought, perhaps because I was pushing my horses a little harder than I normally would have going through the city. Taylor didn’t say anything, but he probably assumes I was just anxious to see an end to the day.
Which I was.
Taylor leads me around the last corner, and points up ahead to the sign hanging over the street. I nod to him, and bring the wagon up to the front. I hope off, and, roping the horses to the tie post, slump morosely to the front door. I notice Taylor doing the same, though he’s walking with his head held high, perhaps through some disgusting notion of honour. I can’t have him in there with me.
“Taylor,” I ask quietly, “will you guard the wagon for me? I don’t want anything stolen after what I’ve just gone through.”
“Sure thing,” he replies, as if he didn’t even think about it. Perhaps that’s a good thing.
I walk into the inn slowly, and as soon as the door closes, I hurry up to the bartender. A burly man, with thick arms, a friendly smile, and a bald head. I catch a glimpse of one of the patrons among the twenty or so, who keeps an eye on me as I walk in. Probably a thief, I guess – or hope – I’m not sure which.
“Hello,” I say. “I’m with a caravan and I understand …” I continue the small talk while flashing him the “Thief” sign from Tabor. I only hope they understand it in Ansina, and that this is the guy I’m looking for.
“Sure, we have many rooms here available. What will you …” and he flashes something that looks like an approval sign. I finally breathe the sigh of relief I’ve been dying to breathe. He continues on a little long, so I interrupt him.
“Well, you see, my caravan was attacked …” and I flash the “Emergency!” signal.
“Sure, sure,” he replies. “Dokei!” he cries out, and the patron who watched me enter jumps up and walks to the bar. “Don’t you remember … what was your name again?”
“Shinzael,” I say, then curse myself for not coming up with another name. I know that will come back to haunt me.
“… Shinzael,” the bartender continues. “He was back…”
“Of course!” says Dokei. “How are you? It’s been so long …” and the two of us move slowly to the end of the bar, where we can’t be overheard.
“What’s the big idea?” Dokei demands, once we’re out of earshot.
“I’m from Tabor. I ambushed a wagon, killed two guards and the merchant, stole the wagon loaded with silver and silks, then rushed it into Ansina, pretending that I was a guard and the merchant I was working for was killed. One guard managed to escape back to Tabor and he’s probably bringing help. I ran into guards on the way, one of them is with me outside right now. The others went back to look for bandits. They’ll probably make it back to the city any minute now. The wagon is outside.”
“You stupid …” he begins, then stops. “How much is in the wagon?”
“Easily several thousand worth,” I reply quickly.
He whistles softly.
“Welcome to the thieves’ guild of Ansina, Shinzael,” he says. “You’re now a member. You have no choice in this. Dues are 5 gp a month, plus a quarter of your take. For this, though, we’re taking half.”
“Quickly, now, he’s bound to stick his head in any minute.”
“Leave the wagon here. Go with him to the magistrate. They’ll fill out paperwork, but your goods will be safe. We’ll take it from there.”
“That’s no good,” I reply, “and no way to treat a new member. If I go to the magistrate, I’ll be in jail within the hour. Can you create a distraction, while we’re on the way? Then when he gets off, I can run this to a safehouse.”
“Sure,” he says, grinning. He smiles like a shark, and I know that one day, I’ll be bitten by those teeth. “Just a quick test.”
He pulls out a small map, and quickly marks an X on the safehouse.
“Give us five minutes,” he says, “and we’ll get the guard. Then, just keep riding ahead, make the turn, then get your butt to the house. We’ll take it from there.”
“Thanks!” I reply, and head out.
As I come out, Taylor comes over to greet me. “Any news?” he asks. I notice that Gandor is no longer on the bench. I assume he’s in the back, and confirm that he’s there when I walk by.
“Good news, finally,” I reply. “Gollan had this organized already, and there was a room for us here. I couldn’t find anyone who knew anything about where this shipment was bound for” – well, technically that was true – “so we should just go to the magistrate.”
“All right. I wouldn’t leave this here, because these folks don’t guarantee your shipment like the Gilded Swan. Let’s take this to the magistrate. Besides, he’ll want to see the wagon and the equipment.”
“Sounds reasonable,” I say. “I feel a lot better now. Thanks, Taylor.” His chest puffs up with pride. One day, I promise to myself, I’ll take the breath out of that chest forever.
We head out in silence along the path to the magistrate, as Dokei said we would. Within a few minutes, we approach a crossroads with a small market, a couple of children run out into the street, knocking over a fruit stand. The grocer shouts at them loudly, and people stop and look around. Taylor turns his head to the side, following the sequence of events. This kids pick up some of the fruit and throw it at each other, laughing and giggling. This has got to be the distraction.
This is confirmed when one of the apples hits Taylor’s arm.
“Hey!” he shouts. “I’m an Ansinian guard! Quit that!”
Another fruit, an orange, this time, hits his mount, which skitters.
“Dammit! Stupid kids!” he bellows, but can’t complete his howling, as a cantaloupe comes flying from the group of kids and hits him square in the head. He falls off his horse, and tumbles to the ground, looking stunned. I keep the wagon going steadily forward.
Taylor climbs slowly to his feet, staggering a bit. He looks around in various directions, as several more fruit hit him. The children have ceased throwing fruit at each other, and are all now throwing it right at Taylor. The passerbys stop what they’re doing, and crowd around, trying to see what’s going on.
I lead the wagon steadily forward, heading in the direction to the magistrate’s office. I peel out the map quickly, and turn off the first chance that I get when nobody’s looking. I wheel the wagon about several alleyways, almost losing my way, but the map is extremely accurate. I’ll have to keep this for later.
I hurry. I know that by now, the guards from Tabor have probably made it to the gate. If Bart is with them, they’ll try too find me, either at the magistrate’s, or at the Gilded Swan. If Bart isn’t with them, then they might end up in combat, in which case, once they figure out the truth, I’ll be in even worse trouble.
Within another few minutes I finally make my way to the safehouse. I see two people standing outside, trying to look nonchalant. As soon as they see the wagon, the pull up a large wooden door that is big enough for me to fit in, and I turn the wagon in. The door closes behind me in perfect synchronicity.
Ten men, most of them big and strong guys, stand in two rows, spaced enough apart for me to draw the wagon between. They set to work immediately as I pull up, and try to jump into the wagon. I notice a bunch of doors leading off in various directions, and several other wagons, all pointed in different directions, and ready with horses.
The artifacts! If I don’t get them, they’ll be taken as loot. I need to get them now. Well, lying isn’t a good way to start a relationship, but I don’t think I have a choice.
“Wait a second,” I shout out. “My dog’s up there, and he’s likely to bite. He’s been through a lot.” They back off. “Let me calm him down and get him out.”
I roll through the wagon bench into the back, and quickly flip the lid open. I pause, then grab a few weapons and armors and throw them out the back. “Here, take these first,” I say, “and also take those horses.” When they move away, I quickly rifle through the ingots and pick up the artifacts. I stuff them into Gandor’s backpack, then sling it over my shoulder awkwardly. I lead Deniel to the back, then pull the canvas across.
“I need some help here!” I call out. “My friend has been killed. Please be careful with him.” I lead Deniel down, noticing that they’re all giving a wide berth for him.
The men quickly jump up and relieve the wagon of its contents. They lead all the animals to various parts of the room, and then pass through different sets of doors, probably moving them to various parts of the city. Once the chests have been loaded into another wagon, they start ripping apart the wagon and smashing it to bits. Big parts they load up onto a third wagon. Both wagons take off into the city.
Once in the safehouse, it took no longer than five minutes. Impressive. I am left with Gandor, my dog, and our gear, including the artifacts in his backpack.
Dokei approaches me. “Nice job,” he says. “Looks like we’ll probably get away with it.”
I look up at him. For some reason, I can’t stop breathing heavily. I’m panting worse than Deneil.
“Meet me at the Thundering Dog later tonight,” he says. “We’ll sort this out.”
“I’m not going back there,” I tell him. “That’s exactly where they’ll be looking.”
“Another test,” he says, grinning his carnivorous grin.
“Meet me at the Sea Platter restaurant.” He gives me directions. “We’ll have dinner and celebrate the job. I’ll fill you in on the guild. There are some … rules.” He grins again, and I get the feeling I would have been better off in jail.
Dokei takes a deep breath, sniffing the air. “It’s the air that makes people love Ansina, Shinzael. It smells like gold! Or, sometimes,” he adds with a wink, “silver!” And he walks away with a swagger in his step.
