The Warrior of Sapin

by Whiskey Flowers

  “Some soldiers took them” Quigley replied with a grimace.

  “Why didn’t you stop them?” Youst screamed. “You cowardly shit, how am I supposed to get out of here?”

  “Leave him alone” Jason replied.

  “What are you doing here?” Youst said looking angrily at Jason. “You should be on the wall.”

  “The wall is overran” Geoff replied. “The enemy will be here in minutes, there is too many of them.”

  “Then find me a horse and get me out of here” Youst commanded.

  “We aint doing shit until you sign our papers” Tom replied.

  “I aint signing any papers” Youst said with a sneer.

  “Then you aint going nowhere” Tom replied. “You staying right here unless you find your own way out. Quigley you want to come with us or stay here?”

  “I’m coming” Quigley said quickly as he glanced at Youst then back at Tom.

  “You aren’t going anywhere, I command you all to take me to safety” Youst said as his eyes went wide.

  “Look like the enemy is here, have fun with them” Tom said as Jason could see the enemy streaming in the streets.

  Jason watched Quigley run into the carriage and emerge with a satchel in his good arm.

  “You better put my damn money right where it came from” Youst said as he drew his sword.

  Jason held Youst at bay with his halberd and could see the enemy was almost there. Tom gestured and the quartet took off running with Youst cursing in the background. Youst attempted to stay with them, his easy living and made him soft and out of shape. The last Jason saw of him was when he was cut down from behind just as they came upon the back gate of the city. Jason and his group ran through it and was amazed Quigley was able to keep up, true they were helping practically drag the older man but he never complained as they joined the hordes of people fleeing to escape the enemy.

  “They won't follow for at least a few weeks or a month” Quigley said as he sat down on the side of the road and held his shoulder.

  “How bad is it?” Jason asked.

  “Not as bad as my head” Quigley replied. “Can you take off those damn bells?”

  “Fuck no he can't” Tom replied. “Those damn bells are our good luck charms. Now how is your shoulder?”

  “It hurts like the pit” Quigley replied. “But it was a clean cut and not too deep, if I can get to a proper healer I should be fine.”

  “What is in the bag?” Geoff asked looking at the satchel Quigley had brought with them.

  “A lot of money” Quigley replied. “All the bribes and things Youst had going on.”

  “Bribes?” Jason asked. “Who would bribe that idiot?”

  “The coin is from the kingdom so he could bribe people” Quigley replied. “He never did though, he mostly kept the money. I have a deal to make with you, I think it is worth hearing.”

  “I want some of that money” Geoff began. “Maybe start over somewhere else.”

  “Then hear me out” Quigley replied. “I am not a greedy man, the way I see it is the money should be split four ways. I want to trade a service for anyone’s part of the loot, all or nothing.”

  “What kind of service?” Jason asked.

  “For your service and your silence, I can get your papers signed” Quigley replied.

  “What do you mean get our papers signed?” Geoff asked. “Youst is dead, I saw it happen myself.”

  “I have been signing for Youst for years now” Quigley replied. “Youst was illiterate, he came from poor people even though he acted like an ass. I got the job because I knew how to read and write, he tried to keep it a secret but it became obvious, he had me read everything to him and I wrote all of his correspondence. I have his seal in the satchel, I’ll trade it for anyone’s share of the money.”

  “That’s awfully stupid of you telling a bunch of criminals you have what they need” Tom said looking at Quigley then the satchel.

  “If you were as horrible as you pretend you never would have asked me to come along” Quigley replied. “If you take my deal I’ll also need your silence, no one really knows what Youst looked like. I know enough about him to pass myself off as him, he is younger but I can always shave off this beard of mine and dye my hair. I have all of his papers as well, I think I can get away with it if I don’t have any loose lips. I have thought about this for a while, especially when I heard Calaware was next to be attacked.”

  “You can have my share” Jason said quickly. “I can join the army as a free citizen, I want to go back to Sapin, I got unfinished business.”

  “You can have mine too” Geoff replied. “Provided you can actually get us into the army and out of the Knights. Me and Bells both want to go home, I can't speak for Tom though.”

  “I aint staying in this shit hole and if I don’t have papers I’ll never be able to go back into Sapin” Tom began. “Not unless I try to stay hidden but I don’t want that, I want to see my family again. I don’t care about any follow on army training, I get to move my family with me whenever I get stationed somewhere and I’ll be legit. If you can get us where we need to go then I’m in.”

  “We still need to get out of Daum, then make our way through the Untamed Lands” Quigley replied.

  “Untamed Lands don’t bother us none” Jason replied. “Enough people there know to leave us the hell alone Lord Youst. Or do you prefer Master Youst?”

  “The Bell Ringer speaks the truth Master Youst” Tom said with a smile. “Any wildman that hears those damn bells knows better than to fuck with this group, we just got to worry about getting out of Daum. Let us handle the Untamed Lands.”

  CHAPTER 8

  “Alright all of you, listen up” Jason saw a man wearing some type of plume on his hat say as he looked down on them. “I am corporal Darwin, you so called Knights of Death don’t impress me, most of you are here for turning on another Knight so acting tough with me don’t fly. The rest of you are here because of this war, the kingdom needs more bodies to throw at the Kuul and their damn Phalanx. This training is going to last three weeks, hopefully you can learn to actually fight instead of that shit you were doing before. Killing a bunch of other idiots that don’t know real sword work is easily done, fighting against an actual opponent though is tough. You their holding the damn halberd, what the fuck do you think this is? Some kind of contest? Drop that shit and pick up a sword.”

  “I fight well with my halberd” Jason said as he stood fast. “I have killed many men with it and it is perfect for my fighting style.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what it is good for” the man replied. “Now I said drop it, we don’t do fancy shit here. I see you have a sword and hopefully you know which is the pointy end.”

  “You couldn’t defeat me with it” Jason said as he held fast on his halberd. “You are just a loud mouth pretending to be a noble, happy to have someone to boss around. I can drop my halberd alright but I bet you don’t have the stones to duel me in a sword fight. In fact I doubt you can teach me anything, I am bigger, faster, stronger and younger than you are.”

  “Is that so” the man said as he started walking towards Jason before another man stepped stopped him before whispering something in his ear. The man’s face split into a small smile as he stopped moving. “So you are the feared bell keeper, the one they call the musician of death thanks to the sound of your clanging bells all over the battle field. Nobles who have passed through looking for troops talk about you like you are some kind of god. I think that is overblown but since I get to place you lot I will make sure I find you a nice spot on the front lines, if you are half as good as they say you are then you should be fine. For now though I said get rid of the damn Halberd or go back to the Knights, it is your move.”

  Jason put his halberd off to the side, whatever training this man had planned Jason would not only succeed but do it quickly. The quicker this war would be over the better, every man who could prove they were on the line for two years or more got two month
s rest, he would travel to Gaol during that time and seek his revenge. Jason stood back in line as he along with the others were given uniforms to wear, Jason was one of the rankless for now but wouldn’t be permanent. He would prove himself on the field of battle and hopefully go up in rank quickly. Darwin looked over the troops and smiled a bit as he got to Jason and pointed to a circle that was surrounded on all sides by a thick rope.

  “All right, whenever you all get to the real fight, the others are going to look at you with some type of awe, want to get to be your friends because you supposedly are battle tested or tough” Darwin said as he nodded to one of the regular soldiers off to the side. “In real war though things are not fair or decent, everyone isn’t trying to up their count to leave. Right now I got the so called strongest amongst you, he will duel with my men to show you numbers and tactics matter, nothing else.”

  Jason was given a wooden practice sword as was his opponent. Jason felt confident in this fight, he truly believed he was one of the best at this craft and when Darwin gave the signal to go he charged and immediately swept his opponent’s sword to the side and went to tap him on the neck signaling a killing blow when he was hit hard over the head that made him stumble. Jason turned around and could see he had another attacker and went to engage him when he felt a blow from the side. It was three on one now and every time Jason went to attack he would get struck from the back or sides as another man joined the battle, this one swept Jason’s leg out from under him as the others rained down blows. Jason yielded but the blows continued to fall, he could hear one of the men making fun of him as he lost consciousness.

  Jason awoke in what looked like some type of dorm, he was still in the clothes he had worn and could see they were covered in blood and dirt. Something was around his left eye, it was some kind of bandage. Jason took it off and was happy to see he could still see as he remembered the beating he took. Darwin and his men had cheated and used him as an example, the fact they tried to really mess him up made Jason beyond angry. Luckily his healing factor had kicked in, Jason was a little sore but he was nowhere near incapacitated. Jason replaced the bandage and took off his clothes to put on the uniform he had been given earlier and could see underneath his shirt his flesh was an angry purple. He didn’t remember it happening but was sure they had to have broken a rib or two. Jason would play his part, his attackers though wouldn’t know what hit them. The angrier Jason got the more the ground seemed to be shaking somewhat, enough that other recruits started waking up to see what was a matter. Jason sat down quickly and just waited for morning.

  Just before dawn, Jason saw Darwin and a squad of ten men come in the dorm yelling and banging swords on shields. Jason tried his best to get up slowly as the men started pulling recruits out of their beds and generally being a nuisance. Jason tried his best to put on a hobble as he formed up with the other recruits and could see some of them were limping as well or had black eyes and other noticeable injuries but none were on the level he had.

  “Ah, not so tough today are you Bell Ringer, it seems to me you got your bell rung” Corporal Darwin said as he got close up to Jason.

  “My bells will return” Jason replied as he avoided staring at the man.

  “You took a pretty good beating yesterday during the duel, I don’t see any bells on you now” Darwin said as Jason could tell the man was examining him.

  “I took a beating from some cowards” Jason said trying to make his voice sound somewhat shaky. “I’ll have my revenge someday.”

  “Good luck on that revenge” Darwin replied in a low voice. “I needed an example and it was you, I don’t like you Knights which is the reason I got this job. I run things here, I want you to hate me, go ahead and strike me so I can send you back where you belong and out of this army.”

  “You won’t break me” Jason replied.

  “Still defiant I see” Darwin said with a small laugh. “We will see how defiant you and your broken ribs are with this little run.”

  Jason watched Darwin walk away as one of the men who jumped him started leading the group in stretching exercises. Afterwards he made all the new people run around the perimeter of the training grounds, Jason thought it was about a mile but couldn’t be sure. Jason made sure to go slow for show purposes but in reality he couldn’t have felt better once his body warmed up. Jason had never been much of a runner but now his body was practically screaming to be let loose. Jason kept himself under control as some of the instructors soon lapped him, giving him a look as they passed by. In all they were supposed to do five laps, Jason made sure he came in last and by the time he finished he could see the rest of the men were gone, probably to wash up at the bath house as he could hear commotion coming from that area. Jason limped over and walked inside.

  The bath house was bigger than it looked inside, there was a man taking old sweaty uniforms and handing out wash rags and towels in return. Jason made a show of taking off his uniform slowly and batted away the man’s attempts to help him. Once Jason shed his top he could hear the man gasp a bit but ignored it. Looking down he could see his body was still an angry purple but the soreness he had felt went away with the run. Jason took his items and found a spot in one of the warm pools, what gave the water its heat he did not know.

  “They did a number on you Bell Ringer” said Geoff, a man Jason had fought with as part of the Knights. “They beat the hell out of a couple of us who tried to help and made the others watch. These guys aren’t fucking around, best to do what they say, when they say it.”

  “I’m with Geoff” said Tom, another Knight. “From what I hear every one of us are going to be put on the front lines. Just look around you, you can see other companies training but they are not getting the shit kicked out them nor are they only getting three weeks training. I don’t think none of us are wimps, we did something to become a knight and the fact we made it out says a lot. With that said we aint fought no Kuul before, the fact the kindom was willing to give condemned men a pass says how desperate they are.”

  “They are not going to break me” Jason replied. “I am adding all their names on my list.”

  “You still going on about that list?” Geoff asked. “I wouldn’t exactly call us friends, none of the Knights are friends but I’ll give you some friendly advice Bell Ringer. Forget about it, they did you and your Da wrong but there is nothing that can be done about it unless you suddenly become a noble or something and get an army behind you. You have a second chance right now assuming we survive the Kuul, you should take it and move far away from anyone who knows you as Jason the blacksmith’s son. That person is dead and you should let him go, You’re the Bell Ringer now. The less people who know about Jason the better.”

  Jason went to reply but stayed silent as he thought about Geoff’s words. His story had been known all over since he was not shy about sharing it, but that was to a group of condemned men. Now he was the Bell Ringer, the musician of death. It was a stupid name but he had gained notoriety with the nobles who came to learn with the Knights as well as the men who were the overseers. Hell even a couple of instructors had given him an appraising eye. It would be hard for Jason to enact any kind of revenge, but the Bell Ringer could do it. All he had to do was make people forget Jason ever existed, and get into a prime position within the kingdom. With his abilities he was certain someone would find him useful. Jason finished his bath and got a new uniform, he knew his bruises would be most likely gone by the next day and would need to bathe only when no one else was around.

  ~

  “Alright, you Knights aren’t soldiers yet” Corporal Darwin said as he looked over Jason’s group, Darwin had just made them run around the perimeter eight times, the most he had ever did and that was after the most grueling workout Jason had seen him ever put anyone through, consisting of constantly lifting things of various weights. “I don’t like you damn Knights, especially the fucking courtesies and bending of the rules they do on your behalf, you are a bunch of rapists and murderers, good
for nothing but the headman’s block. I have been given another bit of fuckery just last night about how they are changing up the final test. You lot are going to duel the other graduating class so I made sure you were nice and warmed up for it. All of you will graduate to the rank of pikeman after the duels regardless of what happens. You will take part in ten duels since it is more of them than there are of you, win at least seven of them and you will progress to the rank of senior pikeman. Whoever wins the most duels on our side will command a force of ten men against theirs, the winner of that gets the rank of corporal. I can tell you I don’t agree with it at all, I worked my way up this rank for four years and they are just going to hand it to you for doing nothing. My men are senior pikemen, it took them time to get that rank. Don’t get yourself all puffed up though, I already know the orders of whoever that corporal is, you will be on the front lines in less than a week from now under the leadership of some noble. The senior pikemen will be as well. The men you will be going up against have had extensive training in weapons, so beating the likes of you should be fun for me to watch.

  Jason did not hear the rest of the stuff Darwin said at all, he was concerned with what had been said already and compared it to what he knew. His class was the first of its kind, it was both short and filled with nothing but the Knights of Death, normally Knights who met their time were sprinkled in with normal recruits. The war had to be fierce, to just give out rank to someone during training had to be unheard of. Corporal wasn’t much as far as rank structure despite Darwin puffing out his chest like he was some kind of god, the only reason Darwin was here as lead trainer is because they needed all the sergeants for the war effort. Corporal was the first of the supervisory ranks for commoners, four years was still a good time to have gotten it and someone would get that rank for three weeks. Some might even get senior pikeman, bypassing pikeman and experienced pikeman.