“Considered me sold on this,” Sally said raising her rapier and ending it once and for all.
Chapter 11
The Stranger
Sally was numb, shocked that it was over, and they had made it out alive. Running feet disappeared down the halls, but it was the sound of fleeing men, not reinforcements coming to attack. The large body of the bandit leader continued to bleed, blood webbing in the cracks of the stone floor. Sally moved away from the blood nearing her boots and felt the sweat clinging to her body, making her feel cold and clammy.
After Darcy’s healing spell, Tom now sported a swollen mark along his side. He was sitting on the floor beside Naomi, who was given the same order: sit still. The Monk was pouting that she had missed the final fight, and the prince was comforting her by putting an arm around her shoulders. Having settled Naomi and Tom to her satisfaction, Darcy was checking on Mina.
The battle had happened so fast, and with the adrenaline pumping, Sally hadn’t noticed McRando cutting her right upper arm nor the bruise forming on her cheek where a Cut Throat had landed a punch. Thankfully, the bandits saw it prudent to carry bandages, so Darcy had what she needed to tend to their injuries without using her last spell.
Mina seemed close to passing out, with arms covered in blood. Her face hadn’t lost any color though, as Naomi’s and Tom’s had after being injured. She was swaying on her feet until Sally came up to her and said, “You did good. You saved us.”
“I—I did?” Mina said, looking almost tearful.
“Yeah, you landed the blows he couldn’t block, and you saved Tom.”
Mina raised a hand to wipe the sweat off her face, but paused when she saw it was covered in blood. With a pained expression, she said, “How much longer do you think we’ll be in this room?”
“Not long, I think. Everyone is getting their bearings. It was a pretty hard fight.”
“I think I need to step outside. I’m about to throw up.” Mina was looking a little green.
“Okay, but just outside, alright? We don’t know if some Cut Throats might want to even the score.”
“Alright.” Mina looked so tired, Sally could imagine her falling asleep on the cold stone floor.
Thankfully, it wasn’t long before they were ready to leave. Naomi stayed close to Tom, evening supporting him despite being a foot shorter than him, but, jovially, he let her. Darcy was just as eager to leave, but as a precaution, she had Sally scout ahead and made sure the way was clear. It didn’t take Sally long to report back there were no Cut Throats in sight and that it was safe to leave.
But Naomi shook her head, “No, we gotta loot this place.” This earned her looks from everyone, but she resolutely went on. “After you kill the boss, you get loot and treasure. I already searched his pockets and found a few gold coins and his sword.”
For the first time, they noticed she was dragging a cutlass behind her in her free hand. “I thought maybe Mina could use it? It does more damage than a shortsword.”
“No way!” Mina snapped, startling them with her intensity. “I don’t want it.”
Darcy interposed herself, “Naomi, drop the sword. We’ll go looking through the hideout and find Mina’s greataxe, and maybe find the rest of our things.”
Tom made a derisive snort. “I’m all for searching the bandit’s stores, but I doubt there’s anything of value left behind. The Cut Throats would have already raided the coffers before fleeing,” then he saw Naomi’s eager face, and he sighed with resignation, “but they may have overlooked something.”
“I’ll lead the way,” Darcy said, pinching the bridge of her nose, feeling fatigued. What time was it now? How long ago had it been when they woke up in the stables? “Stay close, and be careful. I only have one spell left until tomorrow.”
No one hindered them as they went up to the ground level and then further up to the second story of the villa. The building layout was precisely as Darcy remembered, so it didn’t take long before they found McRando’s chambers and office, which, as Tom had predicted, was already scoured of valuables. It would seem that Cut Throats had worked fast when they were abandoning their hideout: drawers had been emptied, chests and trunks broken open and turned out, and even the clothing had been ripped from a wardrobe and the silk sheets taken from the bed. The only items untouched were the books on the shelves and the maps tacked open on the wall.
Darcy looked over a ledger left opened on the desk while the others poked around. Naomi was clearly disappointed at how little was left in the ransacked office and bedroom and pouted on the upset bed swinging her legs back and forth.
“For someone who’s taken a Vow of Poverty,” Sally said, eyeing her critically, “You’re really hung up on finding loot.”
“That’s part of the game!” Naomi said, throwing up her hands.
Sally pressed a finger over her lips and pointed at Tom, who was flipping through opened letters stashed away in a broken box. He showed no interest in them, nor did he seem to have heard Naomi.
“Be careful of what you say,” Sally said in a low whisper. “Go help Mina find her greataxe, and you might find something worthwhile.”
Naomi hopped to her feet with a slight roll of her eyes. “Okay, mom.”
Sally was tempted to make a rude sign at her back but thought better of it. She had almost lost Naomi twice, and she appreciated the girl’s presence too much to take it for granted now. She was just a kid; in fact, how old was the girl? She looked like she was fourteen or fifteen, but she acted younger. Then again, sometimes, she acted older. Was that her real self or part of her character stats? Naomi didn’t seem to have any anything to say about her body, the way Darcy and Sally often remarked on theirs.
With nothing better to do, Sally went to see what Tom was doing. After all, Darcy was too busy mumbling to herself as she looked over the maps; some she had taken down and folded up. It was best to leave Darcy to her own devices when she was this deep in thought.
“What are you busy with?” She asked the prince.
Looking up at her, Tom let the letters fall into a slant inside the box and set it down on the table in a dismissive manner. “I suspect there is a reason behind my imprisonment beyond that of a ransom. My father is a powerful man and has many enemies who may want to hold his son for leverage.”
Sally clenched her jaw to keep from pointing out that his father was the king, so of course, he would have enemies. “Have you found anything?”
“No, and I don’t believe I will. Such letters would have been destroyed.”
Immediately, Sally thought of the letters Darcy had burned. Had the answer Tom was looking for been among them? It was better not to know. “What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know. It rather depends on your plans. I don’t fancy traveling alone in these woods, not with desperate bandits about.”
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Sally said. “Not until Darcy tells us. She’s familiar with this area.”
“You’re a traveler? Are you from Saige?”
“No, we’re from…much further away,” Sally said carefully. She didn’t know enough about this world to come up with a plausible explanation for their group.
“You said that Darcy is your step-sister. I take it your human parent married hers?” Tom sounded polite, curious rather than troubled.
“Yes, our parents married,” Sally said, feeling uncomfortable by his sudden interest in her background.
“You’re very close for a cleric of Shantra and a half-elf,” Tom commented, his eyes never leaving her face.
Sally was now very uncomfortable. Why was he fishing for information? She didn’t understand what drew his interest or what he found unusual about the two of them, but the less said, the better. Responding with a shrug, she said, “We’re family, and that’s all that matters to us.”
As if sensing she was putting an end to this line of discussion, he nodded, “I understand. I am quite envious of your close relationship with her.”
“Oh, that asshole!” Darcy shouted, startling them both.
Tom could barely hide his mirthful smile. “She has quite a mouth for a cleric.”
“Ah, you should listen to her when she’s really mad,” Sally said with an amused smile. “It’s like she’s trying to summon demons.”
“Sally! Get over here and look at this! At this!” Darcy thumped a page in the ledger several times with an index finger as if she was condemning a sinner. “Look at who was getting paid each time the Cut Throats attacked travelers!”
Sally hurried to the desk and looked at the pages. It was a language she had never seen before, like crooked letters, but to her amazement, she understood the writing. She recognized the consonants and vowels as if they were written in the English alphabet, but they were different symbols representing the sounds of language and numbers. Focusing on what Darcy was pointing out, she read the strange print.
“Innkeeper?” Sally read out loud. “Wait, you don’t mean Smiley Pete?”
“Look at this!” Darcy waved a hand at a lower shelf where small bottles were sitting undisturbed. Each bottle had a rolled-up message curled inside it. Darcy picked one up and pulled out the cork and tapped the note into her hand to be unrolled it. Then she read, “Two travelers carrying gold. Taking the north road.”
Sally’s eyes widened at the indication. “No…you don’t think that…”
As if to prove her point, Darcy uncorked another bottle and read, “Caravan carrying silks and spices taking the west road.” And then another bottle message read, “Merchant and two mercenaries taking the east road.”
Tom’s face went very dark and cold. “I believe that if you keep looking, you will find one that says a party of four taking the kingsroad northward.”
Sally glanced at Tom, feeling a heavy weight in her stomach. “What happened to the others?”
“They killed the guards, and seeing no need to keep my valet alive, they killed him too,” Tom said morosely with clenched fists. “What I don’t understand is how they were able to set up such a well-planned ambush. We arrived at the inn late that night and left early the following morning. We were attacked only a few miles north of the village.”
“It’s easy with these,” Darcy held up the bottles. “North of the village is a stream that feeds into the river. Most travelers will stop at the inn to eat and rest. There Stinky Pete can see if they’re worth robbing and can walk his greedy ass with a message in a bottle and drop it in the stream where it’ll find its way to these caverns. Every time the Cut Throats rob travelers based on his tip, McRando sends him a reward.”
Tom turned his furious gaze to the ledger. “Then he’s just as bad as the Cut Throats. We will use this as proof to bring the man to justice.”
Sally noticed Darcy’s face stiffened before she pulled a few sheets of paper from the ledger and folded them. “The Cut Throats are gone. Tell the authorities of what happened, and they can make sure it stays that way. As for the innkeeper, you let me handle him. Trust me. He’s going to regret making deals with bandits by the time we’re done with him.”
Sally wondered what Darcy was talking about, but decided to wait until later once they were out of earshot of Tom to ask. It was so hard to speak with him around as she had to watch every word she said, and sometimes she saw him looking inquisitively at her as if he wanted to ask her a question, but had decided against it.
He’s no fool. He knows something isn’t right about us. He’s curious but smart enough not to ask because he knows we’ll lie or not give him the whole truth. The sooner we part ways, the better.
Naomi and Mina returned, bearing Mina’s greataxe and Darcy’s armor and mace. It was safe to assume that their backpacks were claimed by fleeing Cut Throats, but overall that was a small loss they could live with. With the maps, they could easily find their way back to the village.
“Do we really want to go back?” Sally said, remembering the reception she received yesterday. Then, somewhat guilty, she remembered the bandit they had left tied up. Her promise had been to free him.
Soon, they were strolling through the front doors of the villa, the same Mina and Darcy had entered bound on horseback many hours ago, but now it was late morning with a clear blue sky. It was the sort of day that back home would send people to the beach or even to do yard work. Not that Sally, who had spent her childhood in apartments without yards, had spent a day like that. Nor on a trip to a beach.
“Let’s go,” Darcy declared, leading the way. “When we get to the inn, let me do the talking. You alright, Naomi?”
“I’m fine. I don’t feel dizzy anymore,” Naomi replied, almost skipping along ahead of them. “I’m a little hungry, though. I haven’t eaten anything since last night.”
“Just try to hold on. You’ll have plenty to eat soon.”
Sally was content to let the others converse while she fell in behind Darcy. It felt odd not to feel afraid. Fear had been a constant ever since she opened her eyes and found herself in this world and this body. Now it was gone for the time being, and she could relax. At least until the next crisis. They were still in this world with no idea of how to get home.
Were they dead, and was this world hell or purgatory? Maybe it was heaven? Aliens? Or some crazy gas that had been filtered into her apartment, giving her hallucinations?
“You were brave,” Tom said, interrupting her thoughts.
Sally blinked, startled, and uncertain of what to say. “Thanks?”
“You were amazing fighting the werewolf and McRando. Where did you train?”
Oh great, he was trying to fish for more information again. “Here and there. I sorta taught myself…” That was partly true. She came into this world already knowing how to use a rapier because she chose the Rogue class.
“You have great skills for someone self-taught,” Tom commented almost ruefully. “I trained many hours every day with steel, but I don’t think my talent matches the skill you have with the rapier. Have you done mercenary work?”
Sally shook her head. “No, never.”
“Do you intend to seek work as one?”
Disturbed by how he was oddly persistent about their intentions, Sally hid it with an offhand shrugged, “I have no idea what we’re going to do after today. That will be up to Darcy, I guess.”
After continuing in silence for several minutes, Tom said, “If you need work, my family’s home can always use more guards. I lost two of them when I was captured.”
“That’s kind of you,” Sally replied. “I’ll talk to Darcy about it.” At first, she had no intention of doing anything of the sort, but then thought better of it. As much as it sickened her to think of it, there was no telling how long they would be trapped in this world. If it was to be for a long time, then they would need some way to support themselves.
***
Sikes was lucky to get a horse when he did. It was the last one in the stables, and it had been necessary to kill a man to get it. Hooves cut the turf as the animal galloped through a hidden path known only to the gang and he slapped its rump to get it moving faster.
It had only been a matter of time before McRando fell from power. Yet, Sikes had imagined that when that day came, he would be in a better position to take over the gang, or at least become Wolfe’s right-hand man. Now his daydream was shattered, the fools fleeing like rats from a sinking ship when they should have killed the interlopers and avenged their fallen boss.
The women were loose ends he would cut off later. For now, he needed to recoup the losses and get the gang back together and find a new lair. The prince would most certainly have his father’s men scour the villa if not outright destroy it. The Cut Throats would have to eke out an existence on new territory elsewhere.
Fortunately, he had the means to start anew: a chest full of gold hung from one side of the saddle, and a second chest of precious gems was on the other. With these, he could form his own gang far away. Maybe as far as the capital city or further to the easter
n islands.
Perhaps if Sikes had been paying attention to his surroundings instead of his prospects, he would have noticed the sudden stillness in the forest. Maybe he would have seen the nervous quiver in the horse’s flanks, or even caught a glimpse of silver in the canopy.
A streak of white flitted between the trees, and the horse screamed. Before Sikes could realize what was happening, another arrow hit the horse’s other fetlock. It reared up and bucked, throwing him off. The wind was knocked out of him, but he recovered quickly in time to roll out of the way as the horse collapsed with a third white arrow in its throat. Its eyes rolled almost beseechingly at him.
Sikes crouched behind it for cover and scanned the trees. The first shot came from the west and then the second from the east. He was surrounded, but by who? It was much too soon for the kingsmen to begin hunting for them; moreover, they would have demanded his surrender before firing. And he knew of no rival gang that used white arrows.
His blood turned cold as he remembered the caravans and travelers who were all killed by the same arrows. And not one item of value was taken or disturbed. He drew his sword, despite knowing it would be useless against a well-aimed arrow. His only chance was to run under cover of foliage and flee, but he couldn’t leave the chests. They were the key to his future; without them, he might as well be dead.
An arrow hit the now dead horse’s flank, inches from his face. He crouched so low he was nearly kissing the ground. Another arrow darted next to his knee and then another near his left arm. What were they playing at? They weren’t making any demands. Were they missing on purpose? If they could hit the fetlocks of a galloping horse, then perforating him with arrows would present no challenge.
A cold revelation came to him, chilling him to his very core.
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