Monster Empire

by Michael-Scott Earle

  I wondered about the posters that he had mentioned and noticed one pegged to a pole beside a horse trough. I tore it off the peg as I passed and glanced down at it. The sketch of me wasn’t bad, but the artist had given me a menacing face, and I didn’t think anyone would be able to recognize me from it. The poster did list me as tall and muscular, so I hunched a little, drew in my arms to look smaller, and stuffed the poster in my pocket.

  My first stop was a tool shop that caught my eye as I meandered down the street with the crowd. The owner was a squat man with wide spectacles, a bald head, and large jowls. He offered me a nod when I walked in and then went back to the book he was reading.

  I grabbed a shovel, pickaxe, hammer, felling axe, right-sided carpenter axe, splitting maul, saw, a few different sizes of block and tackle, and a length of rope. Then I carried them over to the counter. On my way to the counter I grabbed a trio of sharpening stones, pair of hand planes, a deep pot, and a kettle. Then I realized that I was going to need something to carry everything in.

  “You have any big backpacks?” I asked, and the man nodded to the far corner of the store after I set my load down on the counter.

  I moved to the far corner and saw an organized pile of leather packs. Most of them were a bit smaller than my molle pack, but one of the packs was about twice the size, and it had straps on the outside for tools to be hung. It also had a thick wooden frame, and even though it weighed about ten pounds empty, I knew it would be able to carry everything I wanted.

  “That’s a good one,” the store keep said. “Miner’s pack. Will carry all your tools and equipment. A bit hard on the shoulders though. That’s why it’s got the frame.”

  “I’m used to having heavy weights on my shoulders,” I said as I set the pack on the counter. “How much for all this?”

  He made a quick mental calculation, looked me over a little closer, and said, “That’s going to run you fifty silver, stranger.”

  I didn’t like the way he called me stranger. I doubted he recognized me, but he had a cocky air about him, like he knew he could take advantage of me because I was from out of town.

  “And what would all this cost a local?” I asked.

  He smirked at me. “Fifty silver, and not a copper fool less.”

  I shook my head. The chubby bastard was screwing me over, I knew it, but I didn’t really have any recourse other than asking him if he would like my boot up his ass, and that would just get me too much attention.

  “How much for a bucket of nails?” I asked instead.

  “Two silver.”

  “Fifty-two silver for all of it?” I sighed. “That’s a little pricey, don’t you think?”

  “That’s the price. You want to shop around? The next village is twelve miles north.” He looked to be growing tired of my haggling, and I suddenly thought of a better way of approaching the negotiations.

  I glanced around, beckoned him with my finger, and then leaned in conspiratorially. His eyes suddenly grew wide, and he mirrored my movement so that our faces were only about a foot apart.

  “Listen friend,” I whispered. “I’m a bounty hunter and I’m looking for that monster lover everyone has been talking about. I’ve got a good lead, but I don’t want anyone else to know about it. Get me?”

  His face went white, and he regarded me with a newfound respect.

  “What’s your name, stranger,” he asked.

  “The name’s Boba Fett,” I said as I offered him my hand.

  He shook my hand, and I could feel the sweat on his palm. “You really going after Crazy Ken?”

  I smirked at the nickname and nodded. “I need this here gear to set my traps. But I don’t have the coinage you’re asking for, and I was wondering if you might do me a favor.”

  He nodded eagerly. “If you’re using it to hunt that monster loving bastard, I’ll give it to you at a discount. I made the same deal with a couple of other gentlemen that came through here earlier looking to buy some gear. They said they were after Crazy Ken, too.”

  “You don’t say?”

  “Yep,” he said, and then he pointed out the window at two men standing across the street. They looked like roughnecks, wore thick leather armor, and had half a dozen blades between them. “Them two there. Said they was headed to Hamstead to talk to the villagers about what they saw.”

  I memorized the men’s faces and glanced back at the shopkeeper. “So what’s the new price on this gear?”

  “I can give it to you for twenty-five silver,” he said. “But if you catch him, you’ve got to tell everyone you did it with my equipment. Deal?”

  “Throw in the fishing net behind you, and you’ve got a deal,” I told him as I took out three gold pieces from my coin purse and laid them on the counter. The man didn’t act like it was too much, instead he handed me back five silver. My hunch had been correct, and I took mental note that one gold was worth ten silver.

  The shopkeeper then wrapped up all my gear with burlap and tied it secure with twine so that I could carry it over my shoulder.

  “Thank you kindly,” I said as I took the bundle. “Listen, friend. I’d appreciate it if you didn't mention me being a bounty hunter, or at all for that matter. It’s hard enough finding a wanted man without the locals bragging about meeting the men who are looking for them. You know what I mean?”

  “It’ll be our little secret, Mr. Fett” he told me with a wink.

  I suspected he was full of shit, but I wasn’t going to threaten him to keep his mouth shut. Even if he talked about me, it probably wouldn’t matter. There were already dozens of big mouths out there talking about how they were going to hunt me down.

  Next, I hit the market and picked up a five-pound bag of oats, a bundle of potatoes, salt, pepper, a brick of cheese that smelled like smoked Gouda, and three loaves of fresh baked bread that made my mouth water. To my further delight, I came across a booth featuring some inexpensive teas and bought two different varieties. I got a couple cups, ceramic plates, bowls, and a small set of silverware as well.

  Then I splurged a little, and bought Nikka a small paper wrapped bar of chocolate. I doubted that she would have ever had some before, and I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she tasted it.

  My new backpack was getting almost as heavy as the molle pack I left back with Nika, but I was like a kid in a candy store, and I still had plenty of space left inside the voluminous interior. Back on Earth it was a cardinal rule of mine not to shop for groceries on an empty stomach, but I had broken that rule, and I wanted to buy everything I saw.

  I tore off a chunk of bread, chewed on it to ease my hunger, and tried to focus on necessities. My coinage was already getting low, and I would only have enough for a few more things before I was broke.

  The sound of a crowing rooster caught my ears, and I instantly thought of eggs. I found a man selling the birds out of the back of his wagon and inquired about the price. He told me two silver each for the hens and four for the cock, so I handed over my last gold piece and walked away with a rooster and three hens in a small cage.

  Lastly I visited the local tailor and bought two pairs of brown trousers, two brown undershirts, and two dresses for Nika. I picked one that was plain and brown which she could wear while working around the homestead, and another that was silky and pink. I also picked her out some practical brown shoes that I thought would fit. She didn’t seem to mind going around barefooted, but I thought she might like them.

  Not having a horse or a mule was a pain in the ass, and I started to gain some looks as I lugged my wares across town. I was done now though, so I kept an eye out for the men that the shop keeper had fingered as bounty hunters and headed back to the main road that would lead me out of town.

  I had glanced behind me to see if anyone was following me as I turned the corner, and when I looked back, I came face to face with Torrance.

  We both froze.

  Then he squinted at me, looked over my outfit and gear, and whispered, “Ken?”


  “The name’s Boba,” I said and pulled him along with me.

  “I thought you were dead or gone by now,” he whispered as I guided him into an alley.

  “We shouldn’t be seen together, Torrance,” I said as I glanced up and down the street. “If someone sees you with me, you’ll probably be in a lot of trouble.”

  “More than I’m already in?” he said with a solemn look.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I was the one who found you. Me and my family were interrogated for a day and a half about where you came from, who you were, and where you might have run off to.”

  “What did you tell them?” I asked.

  “We told them everything we knew, and it wasn’t much, to tell you the truth. When we got back from the damn dungeons someone had burned down my damn barn. That’s why I’m here getting supplies. We’ve been shunned by the people of Hamstead, and ain't a one person left in town who’ll do business with me, so I had to move out here.”

  “Ahhh shit. Torrance, I’m sorry. Are the kids alright?”

  He nodded. “A little shook up is all.”

  I was pissed about what had gone down. Torrance was a good guy, and he had been the first person to help me. He deserved better than having his family shamed and his barn burned to the ground.

  “What about you?” he asked. “I thought you would have gotten as far away from Hamstead as possible. What are you doing here?” He glanced curiously at my ridiculously large load.

  I hated to do it, but I didn’t really know the man very well when it came right down to it, so I lied. “I’m living in the underdark. Just came out to get some supplies.”

  “The underdark?” he said a little too loudly. Then he ducked down and got closer. “The holy twins forsaken underdark? Are you mad?”

  “Probably,” I said with a forced laugh, and wondered if he had any intentions on cashing in on the one-hundred gold on my head. It was a small fortune, and I knew that he must have been tempted. All he had to do was cry out right then and there, and I would most likely be screwed.

  We stood in silence and studied each other.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said and raised his chin proudly. “But I ain’t no snitch. You’re a friend of mine, and I don’t rat out my friends. I know you’re a good man and not the criminal they make you out to be.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I felt my shoulders relax.

  “That’s what friends are for.”

  “You said that you told the inquisitors everything you knew?” I reminded him.

  “Yep, under pain of torture I did,” he said and rolled up his sleeve to show me a bloody bandage on his forearm. “They said if I didn’t tell them then they'd get it out of the kids. So I told ‘em. But I ain't going out of my way to give them bastards information about you.”

  He wouldn’t go out of his way didn’t mean that he would keep his mouth shut if they tortured him again, and I realized that this was the last time I could wear this disguise. It might be the last time I could come into Buckshire, too.

  “I’ve got to go,” I told him. “I’m sorry that I brought you trouble, Torrance. I really am.”

  “Wasn’t your fault you had such a dangerous power,” he said.

  “Granhelga was lying,” I said. “You were right about me being in trouble with witches. They've got it out for me, Torrance. It’s why Granhelga lied about that ridiculous power. If you’re questioned again, you tell those bastards what I just told you, and maybe they’ll see that I’m on their side.”

  He nodded. “Then this is goodbye.”

  “For now,” I said, “but Torrance, thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. You’re a good man, and I’m going to pay you back some day for taking care of me.”

  “You take care of yourself, Boba,” he said with a solemn nod.

  “You too,” I said, and then I left him in the alley.

  As I walked out of town with my gear and a cage full of chickens, I kept my hood low and hunched beneath my burden. I couldn’t get my mind off Torrance’s plight, and I vowed to myself that I would make it right. Maybe after I got more loot from the underdark, I could find out where he lived and give him some. It was the least I could do after the hospitality that he and his family had shown me.

  A few minutes later, I noticed the two bounty hunters on the other side of the street and ducked down the nearest alley.

  When I got to the end I glanced back, saw them enter the alley, and cursed under my breath. I knew I couldn’t outrun them while I was lugging all my shit around, but I couldn’t just leave it behind, since that would mark me for sure.

  I needed to find a place to hide, so I hustled down the street like it was just another day huffing gear on duty and turned into another alley. The rooster crowed, and I banged the cage against the wall in an attempt to shut it up. But the stupid thing wouldn’t be quiet, so I put down the cage, opened it up, and glared at the annoying bird.

  “Listen, if you don’t be quiet, you’re going to be dinner. Understand?”

  It had been a rhetorical question, of course, but to my surprise, the rooster stopped clucking and cocked its head at me. It studied me for a moment and then settled in to roost between the hens.

  I heard a noise behind me and ducked into the open door of the inn beside the alley.

  “Hey!” a man behind an oven shouted.

  “I’m here to see Patrick. Shh, it’s a surprise,” I told him.

  “Who the hell is Patrick?” he said as I pushed through the door to a hallway of a restaurant. I could see patrons sitting at the tables down the right side of the main eating room, and there was another door to the left. I wasn’t about to walk through the dining area with all the gear strapped to my back, so I went left and prayed that it led to the back door.

  I pushed through the door and found myself in a storage room. I guessed that there would be a loading door of some sort in the back, so I hurried through. Sure enough, a big double door stood open, and through it I could see the river that ran along the northern border of the town.

  I glanced left and right along the backs of the other buildings and saw a well-worn wagon road ran the length of the buildings. There were a number of small boats docked down by the water, and a plan formed in my mind.

  If I could get to one of those boats, I might be able to escape, and it would be a hell of a lot easier to get my things back to camp.

  I looked left and right again, and that’s when I saw the two men emerge from another alley. I ducked back into the storage room and carefully shut the doors. The room was full of barrels and stacks of grain bags and other foodstuffs, so I rushed over to the right corner and ducked behind a row of barrels and prayed to god that the chickens would keep quiet.

  I sat there in darkness and listened for footsteps. The only light came through the crack between the doors, and when a shadow passed by, I held my breath.

  “You go check the granary,” I heard a voice say.

  “Come on, he’s just some guy buying equipment for his farm,” the other man said. “Let’s go get a beer before we head north.”

  “You ever seen a sane man wearing a raincoat in the sunshine, Barry? Use your head and do what the hell I tell you,” the first man asked.

  “Alright, fine,” Barry said.

  Then the doors to the storage room opened, and a grizzled looking man walked in with his sword drawn. I recognized him as one of the bounty hunters that were after me and mentally prepared myself for a fight.

  I watched him through a tiny gap between the barrels as he strode into the storage room and sniffed at the air. He turned a full circle, but didn’t stop when he looked my way. Even so, I slowly wrapped my fingers around my survival knife and prepared to spring from my hiding spot. The big man walked to the other side of the room, moved around a few crates, kicked a barrel, and then investigated deeper into the room.

  I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sneak out, since the room was only
fifteen by fifteen, and he would no doubt hear me as soon as I made a move. So I stayed put and glared at the chickens to keep them quiet.

  The man rifled through some sacks and then continued around the room.

  He inched closer to my location with his sword held low and his eyes slowly scanning the room. I didn’t want to kill the man, but if it came down to it, I would do whatever I had to do to survive.

  So I gripped my knife tighter and prepared to stab him.

  He drew closer, less than eight feet away, and out of my sight as I hunched behind the barrels.

  His footsteps drew nearer.

  I held my breath and glanced down at the still quiet chickens. Another step sounded on the wooden floor, then another. I saw the shiny metal of the man’s sword move over the top of the barrel, one foot above my head.

  It was over. I knew he was going to find me, so I prepared to bat aside the sword and stab him in the heart.

  A fraction of a second before I made my move, the door to the inn opened and someone walked in. “Hey, what are you doing in here?” the newcomer asked.

  The sword turned away from my hiding spot, and I heard the creak of the bounty hunter’s leather armor as he shifted his weight. “Did you see a man come this way? He has red hair, and he was wearing a raincoat.”

  “What? Who are you, what are you doing in here?” the other voice asked.

  Four quick steps sounded, and I positioned myself to see what was going on. When I spied them through the crack, the bounty hunter had the man by the throat and was threatening him with his long sword. “Answer my question.”

  “No, blessed twins, no. I ain’t seen nobody like that come through here. I promise,” the innkeeper gurgled out.

  “What about your staff?” the bounty hunter quizzed.

  “I, I, I don’t know, you’d have to ask them.”

  “I think I’ll do just that. Lead the way,” the bounty hunter said, and then he shoved the scared man through the door.

  As soon as the door closed, I shouldered my heavy backpack, picked up the chicken cage, grabbed a growler of mead, and hurried to the big double doors. I opened one, glanced left, right, found the way clear, and hauled ass down to the river.