ARUNDEL
The sun bid a fond farewell as it sank between the cracks of the mountains
off to the west.
The heat of the day remained, even in the hills that began the ascent to
the line of peaks,
known to all on the continent as Dardia's Spine. In the distance, snow
could be seen atop
the highest of them.
So odd, thought Glorfindel, that it could be cold enough to have
snow up there,
and yet be so bloody hot down here.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and glanced over at his taciturn
companion. The ninja was
crouched as he was at the top of a hillock overlooking a slight depression
in the land
beyond, in which a small village was set. Arundel, the map said. Nothing
else, no
information, no size or industry mentioned. The bard folded up the worn
bit of parchment
and fitted it back into his pack, which sat on the barren ground beside
him. Little bits of
grass clung to the rocky soil, holding on for dear life until the winter
came and crushed
the life out of them.
They had followed the trail this far, but then it had merged onto the road
heading into this
little hamlet. Glorfindel snorted. Humph. Some road. Barely enough to
accommodate a cart and
one beast of burden.
They had little reason to believe that Gelt had fled here, and yet Noka
seemed so adamant.
It was the logical choice, to be sure, but games like this were rarely
logical. Reason told
him that Raim was at the heart of all of this; he had discovered the Kaze
No Shi's hideout
in Arcana and driven them south. Tracking them to Sarwak, his agents had
struck, killing
one of them and (presumably) capturing two others. Reason also told him
that Raim was at the
heart of the trouble in Sarwak. Someone was trying to prevent Thormak from
spreading the
story of Raim's invasion. Someone high up, most likely. That someone (or
someones) must have
been who the Paladin was tracking. Glorfindel smiled despite himself. It
had been so easy
to steal the horses from that one. Paladins were so naive. They had no
idea how to react to
magic. Well, regardless, she had gotten this far and chosen to return
south, most likely to
fetch help. Glorfindel had a feeling, however, that no amount of aid would
be of any use.
There was something wrong in that village.
He looked again at his companion. So still she was that had he not known
she was there, he
might have mistaken her for one of the large dark-colored rocks that
dotted the landscape.
"Well, are we gonna go have a look?"
He had to wait for over a minute to get a response. "It needs to be a
little darker."
"Why? We have my magic, and there's no one out on the street anyways."
"Exactly." Noka looked at him in that way that she sometimes did, and he
felt uncomfortable
under her gaze. There were some things that he was good at, and some
things that she was
good at, and this task was most definitely within her expertise.
"Exactly what?"
"There is no one on the street. There is no one in the yards or the
houses. Most of the
windows are dark, save in those bigger buildings, near the center. There
are three possible
reasons for this. The residents could be out of candles or lamp oil." She
smirked and looked
away. "Not likely. Or, they could be on curfew." She looked at him again
with that killer's
gaze of hers and he almost squirmed. "Or, they could be dead." She
shrugged. "Either way,
odds are that someone is controlling that village and that someone doesn't
want to be seen.
We don't see anyone, but that only tells me that there are going to be
lookouts that we
can't see from here--and won't, even when we get closer. They are going to
be even more
vigilant at night, if they're any good. Which means we need to be more
vigilant." She
gestured, pointing back down the side of the hill from whence they had
ascended. "Come on,
let's get off this hill where we could be seen."
Glorfindel complied quietly enough, and they both stood next to the horses
a moment later.
After a moment or two of discussion, they tied up the horses at a small
copse of trees
near a stream and left for the village. Glorfindel used his magic to make
them both
invisible and they held hands so as not to lose each other.
Stealthily they descended into the small valley, nestled between the rocky
hills at the foot
of the mountains. So quiet, thought Glorfindel. All that could be heard
were the sounds of
night birds and insects; not a single sound from that village.
They had not gone far before Noka squeezed his wrist and he stopped
abruptly, silently.
"Left," she whispered, and he looked quickly to his left. At first, he saw
nothing. And
then, a moment later, he thought he caught sight of a glint of metal atop
a hillock fifty
yards away. His elven heritage and the gift of its vision began to pick
out the details of a
man dressed in chainmail with a crossbow aimed at the road. He lay prone
on the ground,
waiting for something to come down the path. Glorfindel thought fleetingly
of approaching to
get a better look, but quickly dismissed it. If they were heard, the show
would be over, so
to speak. If he had to fight, his magic would fail and they would become
visible again. The
odds spoke that there were more men like this one, and Glorfindel and Noka
were only two.
Skilled fighters to be sure, but against an army armed with crossbows? He
shook his head.
Not tonight. Tonight was not a good night to die. Besides, that would be
stupid death.
They continued after a moment, and made their way soundlessly to the
village, spying three
more sentries on their way in. Both of them mentally noted their
locations, should they have
to exit the town in a hurry.
Glorfindel was tired, but adrenaline washed through him. The ride north
had been hard, all
the moreso because they had been up all the previous night, catching up
the the Paladin
around dawn to steal two of her horses. That fool Cecil had been with her,
but that had made
the theft all that more amusing. The Paladin had been forced to send one
of her scouts and
the bumbling Cecil back to Sarwak while she pursued them with her other
warrior, breaking
off the chase only when Glorfindel and Noka had left the trail north. Then
they had pursued
her, only to have to avoid her again when she started back south right
before sunset. It
had been a hot summer day on the plains north of Sarwak, hot and
uncompromising. By now,
the two of them had been up for a full twenty-four hours, and he began to
wonder if they'd
pass out of exhaustion in town. Well, him anyway. Noka never seemed to
need sleep. She'd go
into that weird trance for an hour or so and then be fresh as if she'd
slept a whole day.
He'd asked her to consider waiting a few hours before going in, but she'd
been unyielding on
that point, and he wouldn't let her go in alone. After all, it was his
magic that they were
using to sneak in.
They began to pass some of the outlying buildings now, and few of them
were lit. Of those
that were, the shutters were closed and latched, which was sort of odd.
Wouldn't they want
to get some cool night air into those little houses? The pair quietly
padded over to one of
the shuttered windows and peered in. Inside was a family sitting around a
table upon which
a lamp was lit. The father was reading a tattered book silently, while the
mother sewed and
the two children played quietly with dolls. Every once in a while one of
the children would
raise its voice above a whisper and the mother would shush them angrily
with a worried look
on her face.
The bard and the ninja moved to the next building, this one a bit larger
and completely
unlit. Noka looked in first and her grip tightened a little on
Glorfindel's wrist. "What is
it?" he asked quietly.
"See for yourself," whispered her reply.
The bard moved himself into position to peer into the darkness. There was
a little bit of
moonlight that seeped in through the cracks in the wall and windows, and
that was more than
enough for his elven-enhanced vision. This building, once a home, had been
converted into a
storehouse of sorts. Crates and boxes lay everywhere, some opened, some
not. Racks of
weapons of every concievable sort lay against the walls. Pikes, swords,
bows, shields,
crossbows, and even a few gunpowder weapons sat silently, polished and in
perfect order.
Glorfindel moved away from the crack in the shutters.
"Looks like someone's preparing for hunting season a little early," he
whispered wryly.
"Or war. The insignias on those shields in there--they're the mark of the
Falconers, one of
Raim's three elite legions. He's running this town, or I'm an empty-headed
pixie."
In the distance they heard booted feet marching, and both of them quickly
flattened
themselves against the building. The sound came closer for a short time,
and then began to
fade. Glorfindel caught sight of a half-dozen humanoid shapes between the
shadows of two
buildings to his right, and saw them disappear into a large two-story
building that looked
as if it might be a tavern or an inn of some sort.
"Let's go," he muttered and they headed for the large, lit building. They
padded into a
large open area that might have been the town square. To their right was
the inn that the
patrol had disappeared into. It was lit, but in the dim smoky manner of
taverns, and the
shutters were closed over all the windows. Across the square, to their
left, was a similar
structure that looked a little bit better kept, lit similarly with the
windows covered.
Ahead, across the square, lay a large three-story structure that looked as
if it had some
important function, perhaps a local government or constabulary. Above the
door was the royal
seal of the queen of Kahlon, but it looked as if it might have been
defaced in some way.
The rest of the square was empty and silent.
They made their way over to the building that the figures had gone into.
Between the cracks
in the shutters they could see men, dozens of them, all drinking,
gambling, talking quietly.
They all wore the livery of King Raim. Most wore cloaks that they could
use to cover
themselves completely. Most wore chainmail, or some other form of armor,
and they all had
swords at their belts. No one was rowdy, and in fact no one was disorderly
at all. This of
course was necessary to maintain the illusion that the hamlet of Arundel
was free. Outward
displays of military occupation would only lead to rumors and discovery,
which was something
that these men apparently did not want.
A quick scrutiny of the other inn revealed a similar picture. The men in
that one, however,
all wore the insignia of the Falconers, the elite legion that appeared to
be quartered here.
"But where would they keep the prisoners?" muttered Noka. She seemed to
turn towards the
larger building at the far end of the square.
"There's only one way to find out," whispered Glorfindel in reply.
To be continued...