The Serpent Cult (Heroes of Ravenford Book 2)

by F. P. Spirit

  “If it’s a problem,” Donnie interjected, “I’m sure I can find my own way into the party.”

  Aksel eyed the elf speculatively. “You do realize it’s invitation only?”

  Donnie shifted his weight to one foot, appearing rather nonchalant. “Perhaps, but you’d be surprised how many doors my easel opens up for me.”

  Elladan couldn’t resist throwing a jibe in at his old friend. “Isn’t that usually bedroom doors?”

  Donnie grinned in response. “Hmmm, you do have a point, but the same might be said of that lute of yours.”

  “Touché!”

  Seth snorted. “If he’s half as good with his sword as his is with his tongue, then he might just turn out to be useful.”

  Aksel let out a short laugh. “That’s a first. A unanimous decision—Donatello, you’re in.”

  The artist doffed his hat. “Thank you, gentlemen. I will do my best to help you in whatever your mission is at tonight’s party.”

  The companions were now outside the merchant’s district. The crowds had thinned somewhat here, but the road was still bustling with people going about their business. Over to their right lay the main bridge that crossed the Raven River. Down toward their left, through the trees, the rooftop of the Charging Minotaur was just visible.

  Aksel gazed at Elladan. “How much have you told him so far?”

  “Not much,” Elladan admitted. “Just that we have earned the Baron’s trust and that we were asked to keep an eye out for trouble.”

  “You need not tell me more,” Donnie said humbly.

  Aksel’s hand went to his chin again. When he finally spoke, it was apparent he took Donnie at his word. “That pretty much sums up what our mission is. Protect the Baron, the Baroness, and their daughter. A number of us will be seated with or near the family, so that part is easy. The tricky part will be keeping an eye out for anything unusual.”

  “Unusual?” Donnie repeated, his one eyebrow arching upwards. “Are we looking for anything in particular?”

  “Snakes,” Seth hissed.

  Donnie turned toward Seth. “Snakes?” he replied rather loudly, caught off guard by the halfling’s response.

  Seth gave him a dark look. “Shhh, you want the whole town to hear?”

  Elladan briefly swept the area with his eyes. There were a few folks passing who were within earshot. None of them appeared to show any interest in their conversation.

  Donnie dropped his own voice to a near whisper. “Sorry. What kind of snakes?”

  “Big snakes,” Seth responded with an evil grin.

  Donnie’s face went pale, and there was a trace of nervousness in his voice. “Just how big are we talking?”

  “You’ll see,” Seth replied mysteriously. He was quite obviously enjoying making the artist uncomfortable. “Oh, and by the way, don’t look now, but we’re being followed.”

  Everyone except for Elladan disregarded the halfling’s warning, looking this way and that. Seth berated them all, a look of exasperation on his face. “What part of ‘don’t look now’ don’t you understand?” He was right. Subtlety was not one of their strong suits.

  “Where is this stalker, then?” Glo asked irritably.

  “About a dozen yards down the way we came. Through the crowd, you can just make out a man in one of those Dunwynn uniforms.”

  Elladan peered out of the corner of his eye, down the street. A few yards back, he could just barely see a form in a powder-blue colored outfit. The figure held his ground as folks passed by him on either side.

  “He stopped when we stopped, and has been just staring at us for the last few minutes,” Seth said.

  “So he’s been back there the entire time?” Aksel asked, keeping his eyes glued on Seth.

  “Pretty much since we left the market place,” Donnie responded before Seth could answer.

  Elladan’s mouth hung open as he eyed the artist. Donnie stared back at his friend and threw up his hands defensively. “What? I thought you knew.”

  Seth folded his arms across his chest. “I did. I just didn’t want him to know we knew. I figured if I said anything, one of you would give us away.”

  Elladan shook his head. He didn’t know which one was worse, Donnie for being oblivious, or Seth for being so closed-mouthed.

  Aksel appeared pensive. He rubbed his chin and tapped his foot anxiously. “We are almost to the Charging Minotaur, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out where we are staying. What really concerns me is what this man’s orders are. If it is going to interfere with our mission, it would be best to know ahead of time.”

  “We could always ask him,” Donnie said glibly.

  Elladan was just about to remark on what a bad idea that was when Aksel caught him by surprise. “I believe I will!” The little cleric spun around and strode down the street toward the solitary Dunwynn soldier.

  “Wait...” Elladan trailed off after him, but the gnome was already moving at a brisk pace. “Nice going, Donnie,” he said to his friend, then took off after Aksel.

  Elladan tried to walk as fast as he could without running. The gnome had a good head start, though, and his diminutive size made it easier for him to slip between the people in the street. The rest of the companions were now at Elladan’s side. They all hurried to catch up with the gnome, and unfortunately got in each other’s way—all except for Seth. The halfling used his own small size and agility to weave through the crowd and catch up to his cleric friend. Up ahead, the Dunwynn soldier stood his ground. He glared their way as they approached. Seth was whispering to Aksel. He was most likely trying to reason with the cleric before he did anything foolish. Elladan found the entire situation confusing. Aksel was the most level-headed and reasonable of the group. He wasn’t sure what had caused this sudden reckless behavior. Aksel ignored Seth and continued to plunge forward. He finally pulled up short in front of the Dunwynner. Aksel stood there with his hands on his hips and gazed up at the soldier.

  “Excuse me, sir, but why are you following us?”

  The man did not answer. In fact, he would not even look at the little gnome. Instead, he stared straight ahead as if he had not heard a word. Elladan and the others stopped a few feet back. They watched on incredulously as the Dunwynn soldier ignored the gnome and the halfling in front of him.

  Aksel tried again, his voice rising with his frustration. “I said, why are you following us?”

  A few passersby paused to gaze at the strange site of the little gnome yelling at the soldier in blue. They did not stop, though, instead hurrying about their business. The Dunwynn soldier continued to overlook Aksel. Aksel grew livid—his face turned red and he openly fumed at being ignored. Elladan had never seen Aksel like this before. Why was he letting this man rattle him so?

  Donnie strode forward to join Aksel and Seth. He placed himself directly in front of the Dunwynn soldier. The artist then spoke in a reproving tone to the man. “I believe my friend here asked you a question.”

  Instead of answering him, the soldier turned his head away. He gazed out into the street and refused to make eye contact with the elf. Donnie glanced over his shoulder toward the others. He raised an eyebrow and quipped. “I think this fellow’s deaf and dumb!”

  Elladan watched in astonishment as the Dunwynn soldier disregarded the threesome. Some folks actually stopped now to watch the strange spectacle. Lloyd marched forward to join the others. He wore a grim expression, his jaw was firmly set as he advanced on the rude Dunwynner. “You!”

  The soldier momentarily blanched as he saw the tall warrior stride up to him. Donnie, Aksel, and Seth quietly moved out of the way. Lloyd stopped in front of the ill-mannered Dunwynner, folded his arms, and glared down at the blue-clad man. The Dunwynn soldier stared up at the towering youth. He did his best to appear indifferent, but Elladan noted that he invo
luntarily flinched. Lloyd silently sized up the rude soldier. When he finally spoke, his anger thinly veiled. “My friends here asked you if you were following us. Now answer their question.”

  “Of course, I’m following you,” the soldier replied haughtily. He had that same self-righteous tone as Sir Fafnar. The man tried his best to act tough, nonetheless he inched back from the tall warrior.

  “Why?” Aksel asked, his tone betraying his aggravation.

  Once again, the man refused to answer. He did not even look at Aksel. Lloyd, losing what little patience he had left, took a step closer to the Dunwynn soldier causing the man to shrink down and away from him. He glared angrily and yelled, “My friend asked you why!”

  The man flinched even more this time. His voice lost all its indignance as he stammered his reply. “Sir Fafnar... ordered me... to keep an eye... on the lot of you.”

  “Fafnar,” Lloyd spat the name as if it was a curse.

  “Sir Fafnar...” the man began, a shade of haughtiness returning to his tone. He trailed off, however, as Lloyd glared menacingly at him.

  This guy’s an idiot, Elladan realized. Lloyd was about two seconds away from pummeling him into the ground. Elladan tried to lighten the mood. “He did say he would be watching us.” More folks had stopped to watch the confrontation. Elladan sighed. This is the last thing we need. He strode up to the onlookers, his hands outstretched in front of him, and politely said, “Sorry, folks. Official town business. Please move on.”

  The spectators stared at him for a moment, recognition crossing their faces. There were a few whispers, and then the crowd slowly dispersed. Elladan wiped his forehead. One disaster diverted, now for the next. He spun back around to the ongoing interrogation.

  Aksel was talking. “Why don’t you just go back to Sir Fafnar. Tell him you failed your mission. It’ll do you no good to spy on us, now that we know you are there.”

  True to form, the Dunwynn soldier ignored him once again. Elladan buried his face in his palms. He heard a squeal, then looked up to see Lloyd holding the rude Dunwynner aloft by his collar. The man flailed around wildly, his feet dangling a good foot off the ground. He hung onto Lloyd’s fists, trying to keep himself from choking. Lloyd spoke between clenched teeth.

  “Now, why won’t you answer my friends?”

  “They... they...” the man gasped, obviously having a hard time speaking.

  Elladan strode forward and spoke in a calm voice. “Put him down, Lloyd. He can’t answer you while you’re choking his windpipe.”

  “Fine.” Lloyd reluctantly released his grip on the man’s collar. The ill-mannered Dunwynner fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Lloyd stood over him, his anger barely reined in as he spoke. “One last time. Why won’t you answer my friends?”

  “They’re...” the guard began but was interrupted by a coughing fit. He sat on the ground choking and sputtering, trying to clear his throat. Lloyd waited, unmoving, for a response. Elladan silently prayed that the Dunwynner had sense enough to answer this time. Finally, the man cleared his throat. He peered up at Lloyd and tried to respond, stammering and coughing the entire time. “They’re not... they’re not... human. Dunwynn... does not... associate with... non-humans.”

  Elladan hung his head and shook it slowly—he would never understand attitudes like this. The bard had traveled far and wide, meeting folks from all different races, yet despite their apparent differences, he found people to be more alike than not. He lifted his head, his eyes sweeping across the group. Glo seemed taken aback, his brow knit and lips curled in an expression of disgust. Aksel’s reaction was similar to Glo’s. Seth’s response was a bit less emotional, his nose merely lifted as he glared at the Dunwynner with disdain. Donnie appeared the most surprised, his mouth hanging partially open in disbelief. Lloyd, however, was livid, his eyes narrowed and face a bright shade of red.

  “That’s dragon-dung!” the young man declared vehemently as he bent down and reached for the racist Dunwynner. The soldier, in turn, tried to crawl backwards, away from the tall warrior, a look of utter terror on his face. Elladan knew he had to act quickly, before Lloyd did something he’d regret. He stepped forward and placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder. Lloyd halted before he could throttle the frightened soldier, turned his head and glared at Elladan, his face a mask of rage.

  Elladan spoke to him as calmly as possible. “Lloyd, let me handle this.”

  Lloyd stared at him, conflicting emotions playing across his face. Finally, his good nature won out. He stood up, took a deep breath, and stepped back a few paces. “Okay.”

  The bigoted soldier sat frozen on the ground. He was pale as a ghost—as if he had seen his life pass before him. Elladan chuckled. He mostly likely had. Elladan reached back and unslung his lute. He knelt down in front of the frightened man and gently began strumming notes. “Friend, let me sing you a little tune.”

  The Dunwynn soldier went wild-eyed until the music finally caught his ear. Abruptly his eyes went blank and a stupid grin crept across his face. In another minute, he was staring off into space, seemingly without a care in the world. Elladan stood up and put his lute away. “There, see how easy that was? He won’t be bothering us again for a while.”

  Lloyd nodded, a tight smile across his lips. “Thanks, Elladan, I almost did something there that I would have regretted.”

  Seth’s lips were twisted into a half-smirk. “I wouldn’t have regretted it.”

  They left the Dunwynn soldier in his magically-induced stupor, lying on the grass next to the road. Aksel led the way back to the Charging Minotaur. The companions remained uncharacteristically quiet, their usually jovial mood darkened by their recent run-ins with the soldiers from Dunwynn. When they finally reached the inn, they all went straight to their rooms. Elladan hoped that the rest of the day would turn out better.

  Roadblock

  About halfway up the hillside, sat eight men on horseback, blocking the road

  Alittle over an hour later, the company left the Charging Minotaur. The companions were still somber after their confrontation with the soldier from Dunwynn. Martan, who had missed the encounters, heard all about it from the others. Aksel, however, refused to comment. He sat high up on The Boulder, towering above even Lloyd. He remained silent as the group trudged through town, this morning’s events plaguing his mind.

  That last clash with the Dunwynn soldier had really rattled him. He usual kept a level head about such things. Allowing your emotions to get the best of you could be anywhere from embarrassing to disastrous. Aksel prided himself on the fact that he could remain detached, even in the worst of situations. For some reason though, this confrontation had been different. Aksel had never been ignored like that. The Dunwynn soldier had treated him as if he didn’t even exist. True, it had not been directed solely at him—Donatello and Seth had received the same treatment. Still, something about it unnerved him. Perhaps it had something to do with his family. They had all disappeared when he was rather young.

  Aksel’s family was composed of adventurers and historians, ever in search of historical sites and artifacts. One by one, they had all vanished on such journeys, until only his mom, dad, and one uncle were left. When his uncle went missing, his parents had set out in search of him. They had left Aksel with the priests at the Temple of Caprizon. It was supposed to have been for no more than two weeks. Two weeks stretched into three, then four. An entire month passed with no word from them. Two months became three then four, then five. The church sent out search parties after his parents, but to no avail. No sign of them was ever found. Aksel remembered being devastated at first. Many a night he had cried himself to sleep. He had felt totally alone in the world. After six months, the priests had offered him permanent residence at the church. He had gotten used to living there by that time; he’d even shown some aptitude with divine magic, so Aksel had gratefully accepted the
invitation. Still, it was never quite the same.

  Aksel shook himself. That’s ancient history. He had another family now: Seth, Lloyd, Glo, and even Elladan. He was not alone, and no one was going to ignore him. He was not going to disappear like the rest of his family. Just let them try to overlook me now, he thought from his perch atop The Boulder.

  The group continued their march through Ravenford. The streets were still busy, but the townsfolk made way for them, waving and cheering. The companions’ moods began to lighten. That abruptly changed when they reached the base of the hill. About halfway up the hillside, sat eight men on horseback, blocking the road. They wore powder blue uniforms.

  Seth snorted. “Great. More idiots from Dunwynn.”

  Aksel’s insides began to churn once more, but he forced those feelings down. “Not a problem. If we have to, we’ll just march right over them.”

  Before anyone could say another word, Aksel spurred The Boulder forward. The stone golem slowly trudged up the hill toward the impromptu blockade. The others spread out around him. Aksel could see anxiety on the riders’ faces as they drew closer. Their horses acted skittish as well, shuffling their hooves about uneasily.

  “Hold your positions!” cried the middle rider, a dark-haired man, with a thin moustache and goatee. His expression was smug as he regarded the approaching group.

  At first Aksel though it was Sir Fafnar, but as they got closer he realized it was not. A Fafnar want-to-be then. Very well, he would aim The Boulder at him. When they were within twenty paces, the lead rider held up his hand and cried, “Halt!”

  Aksel actually admired the man’s tenacity. He decided to stop the golem’s advance—after all, he had the clear advantage here. He would give these Dunwynn folks a chance to be reasonable.

  “In whose name?” Lloyd cried. The warrior stood beside him, his hands resting on his sword hilts.

  “In the name of Sir Fafnar, right-hand man to the Duke of Dunwynn himself,” the man responded. His sour face betrayed a hint of pleasure at the utterance of those words.