Caged: Book 2 Of the King's Hand Series

by B. A. Monaghan

  “Ok. I’m not sure about the desert though. All I know about the desert is that I should take lots of water. Any suggestions?”

  “Talk to some adventurers in your guild who have gone into the desert. I’m sure they will have some good suggestions for you. Oh, and before I forget, here.” Eli opened his desk and tossed a small pouch of coins to Roland. “This is for the work you did in the tunnels. Twenty silvers for you and twenty for Shadow. The rest is a bonus. Use some of that for preparations for your trip into the desert.”

  Chapter 3

  The Painted Desert

  Roland took the money and headed back to the guild. He paid their taxes and then went downstairs to look at the job board. Posted right on the front of the board was a job from the Alchemist Guild. They wanted the glands of a Stun Lizard. They paid 10 silvers for every gland and they paid a bonus of 50 silvers if 10 glands were produced at a time. The job was an open job, and anyone could take the job, so it stayed up on the board all the time.

  He walked over to Imala to speak with her after looking at the board. “Imala, do you know anyone who I could speak with about the Painted Desert?”

  “Roland, you’re not going to take that Stun Lizard job, are you? That is a fool’s errand. The lizards are hard to find and when you do find them it’s more likely they will kill you than you kill them.”

  “Well that is why I would like to speak with someone more experienced than myself.”

  “In that case, I would suggest Old Gabe. He has been all over this continent. He has seen more than most people dream about. He retired a level 4. Would have been a level 5 but on the last job, he lost half his team. He retired after that and you can find him drinking at the bar. He is the one that looks older than dirt.”

  Roland walked over to the bar and it wasn’t hard to find Old Gabe. He had wrinkles on his wrinkles. His skin was the color of tanned leather. His white hair was sparse and going in every direction. He wore good buck skin shirt and trousers. His eyes were blood shot. His beard was white and it hung down to his belly. It also contained enough food to feed a small village.

  “Sir, I assume you are Gabe. My name is Roland. I was hoping to speak with you and get some advice.”

  “The name is Old Gabe. I earned the title Old. Not too many adventurers can claim the title Old. If you are wanting some advice let’s start with this. You buy me drinks and I’ll answer your questions as best I can.”

  Roland ordered a glass of whatever he was drinking and told the bartender to keep it coming while they were talking. The bartender gave him a look of surprise and said, “It’s your money.”

  “So Old Gabe, I’m heading out to the Painted Desert to kill some Stun Lizards. What suggestions do you have for me?”

  Old Gabe picked up the shot glass filled with a clear liquid and downed it on one gulp. He looked up at Roland with a smile. “Don’t go.” He looked up at the bartender who was handing Old Gabe another round.

  “I was hoping you would give me some suggestions on what to take, and any suggestions you have on killing the lizards.”

  “Take several canteens of water. Travel and hunt at night. If you capture a lizard and live, consider yourself lucky.” He picked up the new glass and gulped it down. The bartender handed him another glass.

  “Where is the gland in the lizard and should I dry it out?”

  “Good question. The gland is in the forehead. Somehow that gland is what stuns the person. It hurts, too, when you get hit by that stun. I was hit once. My partners saved me that night. It knocked me to my knees. As for the glands themselves, don’t dry them out. The alchemist will only give you one silver for a dried gland. Get some of the good shine I’m drinking and place the glands in it. The alchemists say that this alcohol preserves the glands.” He grabbed the next glass and downed it.

  Before the bartender poured another glass, Roland reached out to stop the pour. “Thank you for answering my questions but I think you’ve drank enough of my money.” The bartender and Old Gabe gave a loud raucous laugh. Roland paid his tab and headed out.

  “Thanks for buying my drinks Roland. I’ve been on more adventures than anyone should have the right to. I usually have some good advice that others could use. When you need answers, you know I’ll be here and I’ll be thirsty.”

  Roland laughed. Old Gabe had been helpful. Roland had planned on drying out the glands to preserve them, but that could have cost him a lot of coin. Not that he needed coin, but why waste the money. He went back to the house to find Hazel waiting for him and they ate dinner together.

  “Hazel, I’m going to need your assistance. I need you to barter some canteens for me. I need three. I also need to get a container with moonshine in it. I’ll be putting some glands in it so that they can be preserved. The mouth of the container needs to be fairly good sized. Do you think you could do that for me tomorrow?”

  “Sure thing, Roland. Are you planning on going somewhere?”

  “I’m going to be gone to the Painted Desert. I’ll leave you some coin. Just keep track of what you spend in the ledger. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone so I’ll leave plenty of coin.” He pulled out his money pouch and handed over 2 gold pieces to Hazel.

  Her eyes were as big as saucers. “You can’t be giving me that much. I can live off that for years. Even with purchasing the items you need.”

  “We will see how well you can handle money then. We will also see if I can trust you. This should also keep you from worrying about me coming back before you run out of money. I have no idea how long this is going to take, so don’t worry if I’m gone for a long time.”

  “What exactly are you going to be doing Roland?”

  “Oh, Shadow and I are going to track down some Stun Lizards and harvest their glands. I guess their glands are used by the alchemists. They never seem to have enough.”

  “Well you be careful. Make sure nothing happens to Shadow either.”

  “I’m sure we will take care of each other.”

  That night he went to Gnorbit’s and informed him that he would be gone for a bit. He explained he was going after Stun Lizards.

  Gnorbit got a look on his face that made him look like he was thinking of something. “Roland when you’re in the desert, those lizards have to be close to you or the stun doesn’t work. They hide until you get close enough for them to stun you. Or that is what I’ve heard anyway. Treat the lizards like you would any trap. They are the trap. Besides stunning you, they are poisonous. The stun is a temporary effect. The poison gland in the lower jaw on both sides are just as bad as the stun. The poison won’t kill you, but it will paralyze you. They eat their prey alive.”

  “The poison is used by certain unscrupulous people. I’ve heard that if a person is poisoned with the venom of a Stun Lizard, they will be unable to move for up to 8 hours. They can’t talk. They lose control of their bladder and they don’t feel anything, but it doesn’t kill them. If you think about it, collecting that venom might be helpful if you don’t get eaten alive.”

  So the next day Roland ensured he had plenty of elixirs. He picked up some small vials for venom samples. He then went to the leather armor shop. He needed to know if the hide of a Stun Lizard would be good to sell. He had purchased some armor made of a lizard hide. It was ok, but it wasn’t the quality of his Manticore leather armor.

  The leather armor merchant agreed to buy the scale leather from him. He was under the impression that the poison would just kill you outright. He didn’t think the poison would cause paralysis, instead he believed that it would just kill. Either way, the result would be the same. A person would be dead quickly, or dead by being eaten alive. He would have to experiment with the poison.

  When he arrived home, he found that Hazel had purchased his large canteens. She also provided a ceramic jug with a large cork lid. The jug had leather padding around the outside of it. It also had the moonshine inside to preserve the glands. He finished filling up his pack with jerky, travel bread, and some dried f
ruit. He would be leaving the next day. He pulled up his skills panel before going to bed, wondering if he could get some of the skills boosted up during this adventure.

  Skill Panel

  Tracking

  Expert Level 3

  Archery

  Expert Level 2

  Herbalism

  Experienced 6

  Toughness

  Experienced 4

  Illusion

  Expert Level 8

  Meditation

  Experienced 4

  Knives

  Experienced 1

  Security

  Beginner Level 5

  Security wouldn’t be boosted on this trip. Not too many locks to pick in the desert. Tracking, archery, toughness, and illusion should all be boosted during this trip. He was hopeful.

  He was up early and walked Hazel to her tutor’s house. They said good bye and she gave Shadow a big hug. He made sure that if she ran into trouble that she should go to Eli’s house for help. She seemed a bit put off by the idea. She insisted that she could take care of herself. She had been on her own long before she met Roland.

  Roland and Shadow left by the southern gate of the capitol. They quickly went from open land to part wooded land to part farm land. In places where there weren’t trees, there were farms. This part of the continent was the best place to farm. Probably why the capitol was originally picked. The temperature for this part of the country was temperate, with rains that could be counted on throughout the year.

  They started heading toward the east and slightly south. The Painted Mountains where directly ahead. They wouldn’t be seeing the mountains themselves for another week. They were named the Painted Mountains because looking at them from the direction of the Painted Desert, they took on a very colorful look. Coming from the west of the mountains and traveling east, they looked like any of the other mountain ranges on the continent.

  Most people avoided this mountain range because there were a large number of magical creatures living there. The east side had the desert, so rarely did anyone travel through that area. The land to the west of the mountains was fairly populated because all the roads traveled away from the mountains, where people tended to live. People used the roads to get their crops to market. With magical creatures living in the mountains, why put oneself at risk by entering them?

  The area where Roland and Shadow were traveling was good for hunting game so they ate fresh meat every night. They did stop at a few homesteads to buy some fresh bread and vegetables. The farmers were happy to sell their goods without having to travel, and they wanted to hear about what was going on in the capitol. Roland was amazed that the little information he had was gobbled up by the homesteaders. He always received a good meal and a nice place to stay.

  The closer they got to the mountains, the fewer farmers were to be found. This was a very wild area. They had seen a herd of unicorns running near them. The horned horses slowed down just enough to look in Roland’s direction, but quickly picked the pace up and disappeared. Two of the nights they had been woken by pixies. Shadow tried to eat a few but was never able to sink his teeth into one of the creatures. They in turn seemed to think it was a great game. That just made Shadow angrier.

  There were other creatures in the area that they weren’t able to see. The smell was there, but without seeing the creature they weren’t able to determine what was in the surrounding trees. Shadow said one of the smells was like a horse. Another time, he thought they had passed some type of large cat. These were all new smells, ones that were definitely different than any they had ever come across.

  They finally came into range of the mountains. They looked close, but Roland knew that they were big enough that it would take some time to get to the base of them. They would be traveling round the north end of the range. They wanted to take the quickest way to the desert and that meant going to the very northern part of the range that they could easily hike through.

  The weather in this part of the world moved from west to east. The rain clouds would cross the country until it hit these mountains. The clouds would then drop their moisture, continuing to climb higher to cross over the mountain. The moisture would fall onto the mountains, but after the clouds made it over the top, they would break up and dissipate into the dry air over the desert. Very rarely did any clouds drop its precious cargo onto the desert floor.

  The next day, they spotted what looked like a trail going over the end of the range. The trail was made up of horse tracks. The smell wasn’t quite right. Both Roland and Shadow could tell the smell was just different. Whatever type of horse this was, was not the normal horse they had smelled. They continued over large ridges and a few passes through the ridge lines. The trail they were on was definitely the easiest path to take.

  They stopped for the night in one of the valleys. They had a small stream, and game was plentiful in the area. They had easily picked off a few ducks. Shadow liked his duck fresh and Roland liked to cook his first. After they finished dinner, they settled in for the night. Shadow took to the trees and Roland cast Shadow Meld on himself as he slept. Shadow Meld was a spell his father taught him. Trackers used this spell. They would become one with the shadow and it would hide the person casting the spell if they didn’t move.

  Later that night, something like the sound of thunder could be heard, as well as felt. The ground was vibrating. Roland stayed still and Shadow was watching from the trees. Shadow was the first to communicate between the two. It is the horses we have been smelling. There must be a large number coming this way. Stay still, maybe they will pass us by and we can see what these creatures are.

  It made sense to Roland. No reason to bring attention to oneself with an obvious numerical disadvantage. Suddenly, the first creature came around the corner and into the clearing where they were hiding. They weren’t horses, they were centaurs. These were horses on the lower half of their bodies, and humans on the upper half. There were at least 20 centaurs. They were huge. They had to be the size of draft horse, with the human part being bigger and more muscular than any human Roland had ever seen. Half the centaurs went to the west and blocked the path in that direction. The other half stopped to the east.

  They made a semi-circle blocking off the best way of escape. Neither Shadow nor Roland thought this was going to turn out well. The centaurs carried spears that were pointed in, toward where they had hidden. The biggest centaur stepped forward.

  “I smell you, human, or whatever you are. Elf, maybe? I also smell the wolf you travel with. Why have you come into our land?”

  Shadow and Roland thought it might be best to just stay quiet. The centaurs knew that the fire Roland had cooked his duck on was in front of them. They might just be guessing that they were still in the area.

  “We might not be able to see you but it wouldn’t take us long to stomp through this area and you will be crushed under our hooves. So, I’m giving you one more opportunity to step forward.”

  Well it didn’t look like they were going away. “Why should I step forward and make it easy for you to kill me? You might be right that you are able to stomp me to death, but I can assure you I will take a good many of you with me.”

  The big centaur smiled big. “I’m glad to hear you’re tough. I am looking for a tough human or elf, or whatever you are. I have a proposition for you. You come out and speak with me or we come in and we fight to the death. I might die, but you will surely die. If you come out and speak with me there is a good chance you might survive this ordeal.”

  “I’m not sure I like your wording. I might survive this ordeal.”

  “Why don’t you come out and at least speak with me? I promise that we will not kill you out right.”

  “So, if I come out and listen to you, what happens after we speak? Will you just not kill me when you can see me and I’m more vulnerable?”

  “I’ll tell you what I’ll do. After we speak, if we can’t come up with a solution to a problem I’m facing, then I’ll give you a ha
lf a day’s head start before I come looking for you.”

  “If you give me a half a day’s head start then you’re just letting me go.”

  “If you’re as good as you say you are then I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”

  Shadow, what do you think? I’m thinking this might be the way to go. There are just too many of them with what looks to be like well-made spears.

  I don’t like it, but I think speaking with them is our best way out of this situation.

  “OK, I’ll come out and listen. I have a friend with me who will stay out of sight though.”

  “Good. We know you have a wolf with you. We have seen him traveling with you. Why anyone would travel with a mountain wolf, or even survive with him, is a question I would like answered.” The centaur had a deep loud voice.

  Roland cast invisibility, stood and walked up to the big centaur. He dropped the invisibility as he placed his Elven knife against the flank of the centaur. The whole group of centaurs all startled and jumped back as Roland became visible.

  “Don’t move now. This knife will go through even a dragon hide. If anyone of your fellow centaurs thinks of betraying me, you will die along with me.”

  “Oh human, you are full of surprises. I like you better and better. We need someone with your abilities.”

  “Why would you need me?”

  “Let me speak plainly. We have a problem with an Ettin. Do you know what an Ettin is?”

  “I believe it is a two-headed giant.”

  “Well educated, and human,” the centaur replied. “Or at least educated in bestiary. Yes, well we have one that lives up in the mountains above our normal ranging area. He is a bane to us. He has killed several of our kind and we need to put a stop to the killing. We want you to kill the thing.”

  “I can understand why you would want to kill the beast, but why do you want me to kill it? You should be able to kill it on your own. You really don’t have need of me.”