‘So that’s it then,’ Jachlôn said, before coughing wearily. ‘He’s done a runner.’
‘All of his personal items are in his room, I’ve checked,’ Salcroft said.
‘Why would he leave with all of the gold?’ Keltarä muttered.
‘He’s a thief,’ Melastra hissed.
‘That’s an accusation that could be levelled at all of us,’ Keltarä pointed out. ‘Hactes has a brooch that belonged to his dead wife, he would not leave that behind: if that is still in his room then he means to come back.’
‘You can’t be sure. We should track him down before he gets further away,’ Melastra snapped, putting her hand on the hilt of her sword.
‘Hactes is hot-headed and impulsive,’ Keltarä appealed to Salcroft. ‘He says more than he should and listens half as much as he needs to, but this? Stealing all the money from his friends? That’s just not him. He knows Jachlôn needs medicine and that we’re running out of food. I’m confident he’ll return.’
‘I’m inclined to agree with Keltarä; there’s every chance Hactes will return,’ Salcroft stated, getting to his feet. ‘But if he doesn’t come back by the time Vholmir returns from Oylésoak then we’ll decide whether we should risk going after him.’
Vholmir cantered down the woodland path on horseback, thinking about the items he had been asked to source. He had been given a list and was prioritising it. The money was going to make a huge difference to them, but the medicine was the most important. He would buy that first.
Hearing a horse behind him, Vholmir turned to see Hactes trotting up.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Salcroft told me to come after you. He said to add another month’s worth of food and six more blankets to the list.’
‘Was that it?’
Hactes nodded. ‘Come on, let’s get going.’
‘You’re coming with me?’
‘Well, you’re going to need help carrying all this equipment, right?’
Vholmir shrugged.
For the next two days, Hactes and Vholmir rode through Druid’s Wood until they reached the walled town of Oylésoak. Once a signalling tower and adjoining fort, its stone walls had expanded over two hundred years ago to incorporate the nearby buildings, providing its population with security against raiders and marauders.
‘I hope these horses will be able to carry the supplies as well as all the equipment we’re going to find here,’ Hactes said.
‘We’re hardly going to overload them with what we’ve been sent for.’
‘Yes, but say we see something that’s not on the list, but we really need it….’ Hactes began.
‘Like what?’
‘Say, a magical scroll or an enchanted weapon. Then what?’
‘Then we go back and tell the rest of the company, and we decide if it’s worth buying.’
‘You’re missing the bigger picture, Vholmir. It would take us two days to get back to the caves. In that time the item could have been sold; wouldn’t it have been better if we had brought the money with us in the first place?’
‘Wait, Hactes; why are you asking that? What have you done?’
Hactes rode his horse closer to Vholmir and passed him the bag of the gold. Vholmir shook his head.
‘You just couldn’t help yourself.’
‘We’ll only spend what you were given. Unless we see something really juicy,’ Hactes said.
‘There’s no way you’re wasting this on some magical crap we don’t need.’
Hactes yawned, melodramatically.
‘You’re an idiot, Hactes,’ said Vholmir, stowing the bag with a sigh. ‘Let’s go and get the items we’ve been sent for then be on our way. Salcroft’s going to want to talk to you as soon as possible.’
The two rode up the hill until they came to the entrance of Oylésoak. The large wooden gates lay open, a watchmen on either side.
‘What are you here for?’ one asked.
‘We’re just here to buy some supplies,’ Vholmir answered, ‘it being market day.’
The watchmen waved them in. Hactes and Vholmir trotted through the gates before heading to a nearby stables. They passed the horses over to the stable-hands and checked into an inn before setting off into town to find the items on the list.
On market day, Oylésoak was bustling. There were craftsmen of every trade and description, and farmers had come from the lowlands to try and get the best price for their wares. Sacks of grain were being hoisted onto scales and caged chickens and hens were swapped and haggled over.
‘Is it a goat you’re looking for?’ one of the farmers shouted at Vholmir.
‘Let’s go somewhere quieter,’ Hactes said.
Pushing their way through a herd of pigs being brought to auction, the two left the marketplace and made their way down a back street. They wanted to get to one of the town’s apothecaries, and Vholmir knew the way.
The sun was dipping behind the walls by the time Hactes and Vholmir had got all the items on the list. They stood beside the water pump, checking that nothing had been missed.
‘I’m hungry,’ Hactes said. ‘I could do with a drink too, bartering’s thirsty work.’
There was a tavern next to the inn, and from outside it the men could smell ale and hear laughter and singing. From the doorway, they watched buxom barmaids carrying clay jugs between tables whose occupants were bellowing for their tankards to be refilled. Men sat by the roaring fire, swapping tales of triumph and disaster.
‘Let’s go in for one,’ Hactes said.
‘We have an early start.’
‘When’s the last time you had a pint of ale, my friend?’
‘It has been a long while. Just the one, mind.’
‘High Priest Straníc will see you now,’ the acolyte said.
Sir Cobá picked up his saddlebags and walked into the vestry. A tall old man dressed in white robes was standing beside a guard captain wearing a light-blue cloak.
‘Sir Cobá,’ the High Priest said. ‘My name is Straníc Quel, High Priest of Cravaínius. Welcome to Baríoren. This is Captain Dullan Féhas, he is in charge of the unit of Shadow Watchers based in the town.’
‘Praise the God of Life.’ Cobá bowed to the priest. ‘May I have a moment of your time?’
‘Of course,’ High Priest Straníc said. ‘Please have a seat?’
Having been beckoned to a table by the high priest, Sir Cobá walked through the stone-tiled room, glancing at the lecterns and the bookshelves as he passed them. The three sat and Sir Cobá reached into his saddlebag and took out a bronze disc with a tree engraved upon it and a rolled-up scroll.
‘As you know I am a messenger knight in the service of the Cavenná Royal Family. This is the seal of the Realm of Caulderon; this scroll is a royal charter. Both allow me to travel unhindered through the Northern Realms without fear of attack or obstruction.’
High Priest Straníc nodded.
‘So why was I attacked by bandits while travelling through Druid’s Wood four days ago?’
‘That’s the thing about bandits, they tend not to respect seals or royal charters,’ Captain Féhas said.
‘The captain is right, I am afraid,’ High Priest Straníc added. ‘This is out of our jurisdiction.’
Sir Cobá folded his arms.
‘I was carrying six hundred of Queen Dayrlaríss’s gold. It was taken by some bitch without a shadow. I would say this is exactly your jurisdiction.’
Captain Féhas blinked rapidly.
‘Well, now, Sir Cobá,’ High Priest Straníc began. ‘Why did you not say—’
‘Wait,’ Captain Féhas said. ‘You had six hundred gold pieces stolen? Six hundred?’
‘What is so important about the sum?’ High Priest Straníc demanded.
‘This morning, a unit of guards returned fr
om Oylésoak. They reported that two men were involved in a drunken bar brawl a few nights ago.’
‘So?’ Sir Cobá asked.
‘Yes, so?’ demanded the high priest.
‘One of the men had almost six hundred gold pieces in his possession.’
Keltarä tightened the buckles on her armour. She then threaded her belt through the sheath of her sword so that it was flush against her thigh. Striding down the tunnel to the living area, she met the other gang members. They all had worried expressions.
‘Still no sign of them?’ Keltarä said.
‘No. We can only assume that something has happened. We’ll follow the path to Oylésoak and if we can’t find them, we’ll search the town,’ Salcroft stated.
‘All of us? We’re known to the authorities,’ Melastra said.
Keltarä looked at Jachlôn. Her face was pale, the bags under her eyes suggesting that she had not been sleeping. Jachlôn’s coughing was now constant.
‘You and I should go,’ Keltarä said to Salcroft. ‘Jachlôn is too weak to travel and Melastra can stay and look after her.’
The wood was still. Salcroft and Keltarä rode through it swiftly and without speaking.
They scanned the verge of the path for blood and checked the undergrowth for signs that it had been disturbed. By the time they had ridden through the woods, they had seen no sign that anyone had been waylaid along it.
Something must have happened in the town, Keltarä thought. I only hope it has not cost Vholmir his life.
The pair completed the two-day journey without incident. Salcroft planned their arrival in Oylésoak to coincide with the setting of the sun. Hiding their horses a hundred yards from the edge of the woods, the pair stood at the treeline looking up towards the town.
‘We’ll go up to the walls then look for a suitable place to climb over,’ Salcroft stated.
‘Why climb over the walls when we can go through the gates?’ Keltarä replied.
Hoisting her rucksack onto her shoulder, she winked. Salcroft grinned. They walked up the hill to the gates and knocked.
‘Who goes there?’ a voice shouted on the other side of the wall.
‘Two weary travellers,’ Keltarä said.
There was the sound of a bar sliding and the heavy doors creaked open. Eight guards faced them, carrying shields and swords. They moved to let the pair through, Salcroft and Keltarä walked calmly through the gates.
‘That was too easy,’ Salcroft whispered.
Keltarä nodded. ‘Something’s not right. Two strangers appear at the gates, and the guards let them in without questioning or searching them? And who puts eight men on guard duty for a main gate this late in the evening?’
The streets of Oylésoak were almost deserted. After hiding their backpacks in a hay cart they wandered through town until Salcroft said, ‘From what I recall when I was here before, years ago, that’s the watch barracks.’ He pointed to a large stone structure looming up ahead.
Looking for guard patrols, Keltarä walked around the back of the building and down an adjoining alleyway. The barracks was partially lit by a faint light from a lamp that hung just up the street. Barred windows, ten feet from the ground, lined the back of the building.
‘I’ll stand against the wall and you climb up on my shoulders. You should be able to see through those bars,’ Salcroft said.
Salcroft stood against the wall and cupped his hands. Using them as a springboard Keltarä scaled the wall, jumping from his shoulders to the bars of the window.
Pulling herself up onto the ledge, Keltarä looked through the window. She saw a small room containing only a mattress. The door was like that of a cage. Light spilled in from a corridor and allowed her to see a figure lying on the ground.
‘Vholmir?’ she hissed.
The figure stirred then looked up. It was Hactes. He climbed to his feet and came to the window.
When he stepped into the light Keltarä could see that his face was heavily bruised and one of his front teeth was missing.
‘Keltarä, I’m sorry,’ he said, his voice choked.
‘What the hell happened?’
‘I took the money and came after Vholmir. I just wanted to get something that would impress everyone. To maybe even make our lives better.’
‘Is Vholmir here?’ Keltarä asked.
Hactes pointed to the cell on his right.
‘Stand back.’
Keltarä dropped back down into the darkness of the alleyway. ‘They are both being held in there,’ she whispered to Salcroft.
‘Both of them?’
Keltarä rolled her eyes. ‘Hactes looks in bad shape.’
‘We need to get them out?’
Keltarä focused on the bars of Hactes’ cell. She took a deep breath and reached out her hand, as if gripping the air. She imagined the bar moving towards her palm.
A groaning sound filled the alleyway as the bar bent. A snapping noise soon followed as the stone cracked and the thick metal bar was ripped from its foundations, taking parts of the granite block with it.
Keltarä pulled the bar through the air. Setting it on the ground, she turned her attention to the next one. When she had pulled all of the bars from Hactes and Vholmir’s cell windows, the men climbed through the space that was left and dropped into the alleyway. Vholmir’s face was as bruised as Hactes’.
‘Are you two all right? What happened the gold’ Salcroft asked.
‘It was taken away from us,’ Vholmir replied, ‘all the stuff we’d bought too.’
‘What about the medicine?’ Salcroft growled.
‘Everything was taken,’ Hactes admitted, staring at the ground.
‘I had no idea he’d taken the rest of the money until he caught up with me, Salcroft,’ Vholmir said.
‘We’ll talk about that later,’ Salcroft snapped. ‘Now, we need to get out.’
The group made their way to the hay cart. Once Salcroft and Keltarä had retrieved their backpacks, they walked through the town until they reached the stables beside the town gates.
‘No guards,’ Salcroft said. ‘That’s a stroke of luck.’
‘I’m not so sure that it is luck,’ Keltarä said. ‘There were eight guards on the way in. Why would they now leave the gates unlocked and unguarded?’
Hactes and Vholmir’s horses were still in the stables. They quickly got them ready, opened the gates and made their way down the hill and into the woods. Upon entering into the forest Salcroft and Keltarä untethered their horses and together they galloped into the night.
That was too easy, Keltarä thought once again; far too easy.
High Priest Straníc was inspecting the hole through which one of the prisoners had escaped. Moonlight lit up the grey walls and paved floor. He ran a finger along the cracked stone lintel above the window.
‘So a girl pulled the bars right out of the wall? That is what I am to believe?’
‘Indeed, the other cell is the same,’ Captain Féhas said. ‘The bent bars are on the ground at the back of the watch barracks.’
‘And the girl has left town?’
Captain Féhas nodded.
‘You let her escape?’ Sir Cobá demanded.
High Priest Straníc was inspecting pieces of stone around the holes left by the bars. ‘I did not let her escape; I let her leave.’
Another person entered the cell. High Priest Straníc turned to see the Commander of the Town Watch, carrying a money bag, which he gave to Sir Cobá.
‘Five hundred and eighty gold pieces.’
‘There are twenty missing then,’ Sir Cobá said.
‘That is something that you will have to live with, I am afraid. If I were you I would be thankful that any of it was recovered,’ High Priest Straníc said.
‘What is to become of the bandits who robbed me?’
‘No longer your concern, Sir Cobá. I suggest you take the money and continue on your way. Your queen will be anxious.’
Sir Cobá stormed out.
‘Commander, give us the room,’ High Priest Straníc ordered.
The commander stood to attention before leaving. High Priest Straníc waited until the sound of his footsteps had died down then turned to Captain Féhas.
‘Where is this girl?’ he asked.
‘She entered the town with a man two hours ago. They hid their backpacks in a hay cart outside the Singing Mute Inn before coming here and breaking out the prisoners. They left soon after.’
‘And the Eye of Despair?’
‘We hid it in one of the backpacks.’
The captain took out a small bone, around six-inches long, with an eye at the top.
‘Here is the Finder,’ Captain Féhas said, handing over the item.
High Priest Straníc pointed the bone in different directions until the eye glowed a faint blue.
‘Ah, they are heading east. They should be easy to track with this,’ High Priest Straníc said. ‘Ready your men; we leave at first light.’
The gang travelled for two days through the woods on the path that led to their home. It was mid-afternoon when they tied up their horses in the mine cart shelter they used as a stable.
Melastra ran to them and threw her arms around Vholmir.
‘You’re hurt,’ she said.
‘It looks worse than it is.’
Hactes avoided eye contact with everyone as the rest of the gang walked past him before taking their positions at the table in the living chamber. He loitered in the doorway, his head bowed.
‘Let’s hear it then, Hactes,’ Melastra said, scowling at him.
Hactes described how he had taken the money and gone after Vholmir. He told them about how he had bought a couple of the local women drinks at the inn, not realising they were married. When their husbands arrived a fight had ensued, leading to the town watch being summoned.
‘Look, I know you’re furious. I really didn’t mean to…’ Hactes said to Salcroft.
Shadowless Page 58
