by A L Issett
CHAPTER 1
Tanner
“You are talking all big now Mary but we will see how much you spout off when we check our traps,” Tanner said to his wife as they rode out of town to check their hunting traps.
They had been married and living happily for two years now, their lives were much easier since the armistice was signed putting the war on hold. King Tazor, the ruler of Ket had come to an agreement with his nephew, now King Jan of Tavor. It could have had something to do with how Tazor had started sending his own assassins back into Tavor wearing various faces and guises and killing off all the elite there. The rumor was King Jan then sued for peace, which Tazor readily accepted. That had been a year ago, since then Tanner along with his wife and bodyguard Stephen had opened up their own business selling hides, furs and meat. At first it was just Tanner and Stephen, they would often go for days out into the countryside to hunt or trap game. His wife Mary had become angry at being home all of the time since they had one servant that did all of the work and asked to come along. Mary had caught more of the summer hares in her traps the last time out during their hunt of the speckled cougar. This time the trio was out to find deer, a journey which saw them live in the wilds for three weeks but Tanner had finally killed three two days ago. Now the only thing left to do was pick up all the traps they set along the way and make the week and a half long journey back to Ketol.
“I think the lady has beaten us again,” Stephen said as he walked up to one of his empty traps. “I think it is all in the bait she uses.”
“That’s bloody pathetic, between the both of us we have over twenty summers of experience, she only started a season ago,” Tanner said as he started looking for his own traps. Something looked like it had broken his simple snare, probably a larger animal like a badger. Tanner bent down to pick up his trap as an alarm sounded in his head. The sword told him he was being hunted, Tanner pulled the blade as the sword started identifying targets. There were two ahead of him, another was to his right and four were behind Mary.
“What is it?” Stephen asked as the half man pulled out his wand.
“Mary you still got that crossbow?” Tanner asked as he backed towards his wife.
“It’s out love,” Mary replied before finishing. “What is it?”
“We are surrounded, there are seven of them and they must be professionals to set a trap like this,” Tanner said as he could now make out movement. Tanner let his gift expand, he was a mage breaker, capable of draining magical energy and using it for his own in the terms of speed strength and clarity. None turned out to be magical, Tanner was still a threat though to whoever these men were. Things happened quickly after that, as a group the people stalking him came out of their hiding places and slowly began to advance.
“Now you just keep it still where you are,” Tanner said as the sword started feeding him information on how he could kill these men. “I am not the kind of trouble you lot are looking for.”
“Tanner of Kol,” one of the men said as he stepped closer, his green and brown uniform blending in neatly with the environment. “You are asked to perform a task for the Regent.”
“The Regent of what?” Tanner replied looking at the man.
“The Regent of Ket,” the man replied as his group inched closer.
“I don’t know any Regent and he can go stuff himself if he thinks he can order me around with you tossers trying to ambush,” Tanner began as he heard Stephen murmuring under his breath getting ready to cast a spell. “If any of you lot come any closer I’ll paint these trees with your blood, now bugger off.”
“We can’t do that Tanner of Kol,” Tanner heard a feminine voice say. “We will be in war soon and Ket needs your help. You will come with us one way or another.”
Tanner charged the first man to come close enough to him and aimed his strike at the base of his neck. The man dropped to the ground and pulled out two daggers and thrust them forward. Tanner saw the move then twisted and brought his knee around which connected to the man’s shoulder. Tanner brought his sword down hard just in time to parry a throwing dagger out of the sky. His original opponent sprung to his feet like some kind of cat and stand next to his partner. Both men drew two swords from somewhere in their clothing, these were dual blades wielders. Tanner could hear fighting behind him along with the sound of a crossbow firing. Tanner felt the urgency of the situation and upped his speed but his opponents were skilled and had many weapons in which they fought with oddly. Tanner saw one of them pull out some type of blow tube while the other pulled out small packages and started throwing them on the ground as smoke appeared. The Sword of Ages told Tanner to drop to the ground as the sound of a dart passed over him throughout the smoke. Tanner dropped his sword and sprung forward and crashed into one of the men near the waist, spearing the man to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. Tanner took out his boot knife and plunged it into the man’s chest and rolled over as the smoke started clearing. His other opponent picked up the Sword of Ages and his eyes went white, seconds later he slit his throat as Tanner looked for his other five opponents. One was down, a crossbow bolt through his eyes. Another had his face fried pretty good, obviously the work of Stephen who was laying on his side. Of the other three, one had Mary and was dragging her towards one of the horses, not an easy job since Mary was not a dainty woman. Tanner took off toward the would be kidnapper as the groups only female member and the remaining kidnapper stood in his way. Tanner shifted his grip on his dagger and threw it as hard as he could to what he decreed was the bigger threat, the male which was on the right. The kidnapper for his part shifted to the left and the dagger take him in the shoulder instead of the heart. Tanner closed the distance as the female threw a roundhouse kick which caught him in the stomach. It hurt Tanner but he was in great shape and grabbed the leg before she could take it back and slammed her into her partner. Tanner saw the remaining kidnapper had put Mary on his horse and took off. Tanner went to grab the other horse as the female screamed for him to stop.
“You will stop or the half man will die,” the woman said as Tanner could see she held a dagger to his unconscious friend.
“You touch him and your dead,” Tanner said as he eyed the woman.
“Your wife will be safe, she is being taken back to the capital” the woman began. “If we wanted to kill her she would be dead by now. We just need to ensure your compliance.”
“You are a nutter if you think I am going to let you walk away from this,” Tanner said as he approached the man Stephen had burned. The man was on his knees and held his hands up to his ruined face and was crying out, oblivious to the danger he was in.
“Oh I think we will walk away just fine,” the woman said as she smiled at Tanner a bit.
Tanner went up behind the burned man and twisted his neck with an audible crack and picked up a blade that was on the ground. The female blanched a bit before regaining her composure, her remaining companion looked visibly nervous.
“If you kill us we will kill the half man,” the other man said as Tanner could see a wild look in the man’s eye. “At least one of us has to report back or your wife will be killed.”
Tanner stopped at this but held his blade at the ready as his eyes went back and forth from his two opponents. The Sword of Ages although not in his possession still had a lot of energy from the mages he killed escaping from the Tavorians and was still putting images in his head on how to kill them both. Tanner narrowed his eyes as the woman spoke again.
“Face it Tanner from Kol, you have been outmaneuvered,” the woman said as she put on a mock pouty face. “Even if you kill us all more will come and you will be on the run. The Regent wants your help and he will get it.”
“Who in the bloody hell is this Regent tos
ser?” Tanner began. “He is going to be gutted if he thinks he can nick my Mary without nowt happening.”
“What do you mean who is the Regent?” the woman began. “He is King Tazor’s replacement.
“And why would His Majesty need some nutter to replace him?” Tanner asked as he made up his mind to attack since he could see Stephen coming to.
“How long have you been out here, the King died a week ago,” the male kidnapper said. The news hit Tanner hard and made him drop his sword. Tazor dead? The man had promised him an estate for life complete with a stipend for services rendered. The king had made good on his promise but now that he was dead, whoever this Regent was must have taken over. But why? Queen Aundrea was still around and more than capable of ruling, if not her then Princess Caroline.
“I can tell by your silence you knew nothing about it,” the woman began and laughed a bit. The Tavorian is dead, it is about time we put a real Ketian on our throne.”
“His reign is going to be the shortest in history when I get to Ketol,” Tanner said as he walked over to pick up his sword. Before he dies though, I think you lot will go first.”
“You seriously think you can take on an entire kingdom?” the woman asked. “We are going to have a Ketian on the throne finally and you want to end that? You have no idea what he even wants.”
“I know he sent you lot to kill me,” Tanner replied. “And when I throw your bloody heads over the palace gates he will know he has picked on the wrong lad.”
“Our orders were to take you alive,” the woman replied. “We are Black Hand assassins, raised since birth to fight and die for our kingdom. You may be big but we thought we could take you without too much of a fuss. To kill as many of us as you did is quite an accomplishment, none of us have ever faced an opponent such as you and we are the best.”
“I am going to give you one time only to drop him,” Tanner said as he gave his sword a few swings. “If you don’t turn him loose I don’t care about any Regent, you will die.”
Tanner looked as the pair pulled the knife away from Stephen and took a step back. Stephen coughed a little and started rubbing his head as Tanner came near.
“All you alright Stephen,” Tanner said as he kept his eyes on the pair.
“W-what happened?” Stephen said groggily.
“Some prats ambushed us and took Mary, they used you as bait so I wouldn’t follow,” Tanner replied. The half man jumped up at this but fell back down, apparently still woozy from whatever hit him. Stephen made another attempt and climbed to his feet.
“I am sorry boss, we need to go get her right away,” Stephen blustered.
“Calm down Stephen, two of Mary’s kidnappers are behind you,” Tanner said as the half man spun around the went patting his cloak for his wand. “Don’t bother Stephen, according to these two King Tazor has died and someone has taken his place. That is who sent them if they really are Black Hand.”
“What is the Black Hand boss?” Stephen asked.
“I worked with them during the war with Tavor, they are supposedly some secret club filled with sneaky types that like to ambush pretty women and hate breathing,” Tanner said as he moved his neck to the side so his enemies could hear the cracking sound it made.
“Well if that is all taken care, you mind accompanying me back to Ketol?” the woman asked. “I could use a big strong man like you to see me there safely.”
Tanner eyed the woman and walked off towards his horse, Stephen in tow. The woman said something Tanner didn’t catch as he helped Stephen get on his small pony then departed towards the capital. Stephen was silent, except when he was apologizing for letting them get the drop on him but Tanner could not blame his friend. These people knew a different style of fighting other than wearing heavy armor complete with shield and bashing away. This type of fight the assassins would lose. In unarmored combat Tanner had not faced anyone better, the way they moved was like water, they flowed into different forms and were comfortable fighting as a team. Tanner had difficulty even with the Sword of Ages by his side. Tanner rode until dark, he could see the heavy tracks the man made trying to gallop away and doubted the man would stop until he reached Ketol, which was still some weeks away and difficult to do with a struggling woman. Tanner hoped Mary still had the boot dagger he had told her to keep in her boot, if and when the kidnapper did stop, she could get herself free. The Hand was a secretive group and it was unlikely any of the common city patrolmen in the towns between where he was at and Ketol had ever heard of the Hand. Hopefully a screaming woman tied up on horseback would make one of them look into the matter. Tanner thought about the best way to catch up, he would have to buy a new horse at every town. Stephen could lead his old one until he reached Ketol, that would keep the half man safe from those hunting him. Tanner had been on the road for about three hours at a small trot when he noticed the tracks he was following darted off into the brush. Tanner hopped of his horse and followed them unit it lead to Mary’s horse who was foaming at the mouth trying to catch its breath. There were wagon tracks in the dirt and more hoof prints leading away. Tanner figured a team of six horses was tied to some kind of wagon in which his Mary had to be tied up in.
“What do you see boss?” Stephen said holding his wand as he came through the brush and into the small clearing.
“This is Mary’s horse, she will be okay she just needs some love,” Tanner began trying to keep his voice even. They came here and got into a wagon, it was pulled by a six horse team to make a faster trip into Ketol.”
“Why would they stage this so far away from where they attacked us?” Stephen asked. “Whoever these guys are they had to have been following us for a while and learned our habits.”
“They are the best in the kingdom, none of that will save them when I get through with them though,” Tanner said as his anger rose. Tanner and Stephen got back on their horses and continued a couple more hours until they came to the town of Hansel. Tanner and Stephen had never stopped here before but preferred to ride through on their journey. Rickshire was just two hours up the road and was an actual city instead of a village. Tanner saw a man that passed as the city watch and stopped him.
“Excuse me sir, have you seen a wagon come through here in the last couple of hours driven by a team of horses?” Tanner began. “It had to be at least four horses pulling it.”
“What do I care?” the guard said as he kept walking. “Do I look like some kind of welcoming committee?”
Tanner flew of his horse and pushed the man down. The guardsman was on his way to his knees when Tanner kicked him as hard as he could in the ribs, sending the man flying as he pulled out his sword. The people in town gasped and someone let out a scream as Tanner grabbed the man by his collar and brought him close to his face.
“Listen up you bloody wanker,” Tanner said angrily, his spittle coating the moaning man’s face. “I asked you a question, it would take nothing for me to sort a twat like you out permanently. Now did you see a team of horses come through here or not?”
“A-A magister came through,” the man stumbled as Tanner caught the smell of urine and the sound of it running down the man’s leg. “H-He had a prisoner in the back of his cage, it was a woman. I- I checked his papers, everything was in order.”
Tanner dropped the blubbering man and went back to his horse. Other men were now starting to crowd around but they wisely said nothing as he passed through the small town. They all had their weapons ready but Tanner could see they were scared to death, this town probably did not see violence usually and was shocked by the brutality of it all. Tanner kept his trot up until it had gotten dark as the entered the city of Hansel. It would do no good to ride in the dark Tanner thought as he looked at the sky and saw it contained no moon. His horse could break its leg Tanner thought as he pulled into Hansel and up to an inn. Tanner walked his horse to the stable and gave the boy there two silver coins to watch his horses and his kill which was still tied up. The boy normally would have made anywhere fro
m two or three coppers a day so Tanner knew this was like a small fortune for him. Tanner and Stephen then headed into the inn, it had a tavern downstairs and decent food. Tanner sat down as a pretty waitress came his way. The waitress was named Bonnie and often flirted with him whenever he passed through. Of course he did not stop at this particular inn when he had Mary with him, he wasn’t stupid.
“Bonnie have you heard anything about the King being dead?” Tanner asked as he looked up at her.
“Hey Tanner, of course I have heard about the King being dead it’s the only thing the older men talk about,” Bonnie replied as she set down two tankards of ale. “All I hear about all day is that they are happy to finally have a Ketian on the throne, well he will be anyway.”
“I wouldn’t plan on him being on the throne or near it too much longer,” Tanner replied as he took a drink.
“Well why not?” Bonnie asked. “All of these Tavorians who came in and like they were high and mighty are finally running scared. He is going to put things back to the way they were.”
“Are you folks talking about the Earl of Tox?” Tanner turned to see an older scarred man say.
“Is he the new Regent?” Tanner asked.
“Oh yes he is, thank the Gods,” the old man replied, his eyes misting up a bit. “When the first Tavorian war happened we lost and our King and with his entire immediate family were killed. Almost all of our nobles were either killed outright or stripped of their lands and riches. The Earl played along with the Tavorians, now the unsurper has died I heard he marched all of his men right into Ketol and demanded to be King. He is supposed to be marrying the Queen, good timing is what I say since he never married.”
Tanner shared an ale with the old man and listened to all of his stories before retiring for the night. He would get up early to travel, the kidnapper hadn’t gone far but once he caught up with them he had other things to worry about. According to the men drinking, some of them were guardsmen and at least one was a servant of Duke Wayne, the person who over saw Hansel as a whole. According to this man the old timer was right, Earl Tox marched his people up to the palace and declared civil war. When the Queen informed him that he would lose this battle the Earl didn’t care. He told the Queen the Tavorians are likely to break the pact and attack now that Ket was vulnerable. The Earl had gained quite a following, people wanted a true Ketian back on the throne. The way the men down stairs saw it is that they were ruled by a Tavorian anyway, another Tavorian coming in and taking over made no difference. The Queen did not see a choice but to make him Regent, a move that has been celebrated throughout Ket. Tanner thought about what could he do once he got to the capital, this Regent was bound to have many men on his side.
