Apparition

by Tom Liberman

  The only weapon on the four of them was Mike’s dagger which was small enough to carry without being obtrusive.

  “It is foolish but such are my orders,” said Adusko his eyes carefully watching the movement of the four.

  “This is murder,” said Lofo.

  Adusko nodded his head, “It is.”

  Mike noted that only one of the four wore heavy armor and Adusko himself only wore a light jerkin. They spread out to surround the three girls and Lofo. Adusko took a step back and toward a small park that was nearby.

  “You don’t have to do this, Adusko,” said Lofo. “You would be welcome in the armies of Tanelorn. You could make something of your life instead of this murderer, this butcher that you’ve become.”

  Adusko said nothing and flickered his eyes back and forth.

  Mike shifted the dagger into her hand and the handle felt cool and light.

  The man to right of Adusko gave off a cry and charged but at the same moment the great orc lurched forward with a cry, “I would never work for the likes of you,” he said but there was no emotion in his voice and he, apparently accidentally, slammed shoulder first into his comrade knocking the man to the ground. The man’s sword slipped from his hand and slid directly over to Rhia.

  Mike leapt forward and dodged under the wild swing from the second warrior and plunged her little knife directly toward the heavy chain links of the armor on his chest. The man brought forward a steel buckler to block the blow and cried out in pain when the little knife cut through it and sliced off the tops of all four of his fingers.

  The man lashed back with a backhanded strike even as he dropped his shield and fell to the ground. The pommel of his sword hit Mike a glancing blow on the top of her head and she fell to a knee.

  Meanwhile Rhia lunged forward, grabbed the fallen sword, Adusko staggered for a moment, and Lofo dove at him putting a shoulder into the great barrel chest. Lofo simply bounced off and fell to the ground, stunned. Adusko seemed to pause for a moment with no reaction whatsoever and then, almost as an afterthought, clutched his ribs and staggered back.

  Marianna simply shrieked and ran when the fourth attacker charged her with his sword raised. He laughed and shook his head. He started to pursue but then heard the sound of crunching bone and a stifled cry. By the time he turned his companion was lying on the ground with a blood spurting from where the top of his head had been a moment ago. Rhia stood over him having just pulled the blade from his skull.

  “Damn you,” he said and then saw Adusko staggering away clutching his ribs and the final member of the group kneeling on the ground clutching at his mutilated hand. “Adusko!” he shouted. “Where are you going,” but then Rhia was upon him. He raised his sword to block the first blow and the blades gave off a dull clunk as they clashed.

  Meanwhile Lofo shook his head to clear it and saw Rhia and the last of the four waving their swords at each other and staggered to his feet. He shook his head to clear it again and circled behind the ruffian. He caught Rhia’s eye and the girl made a quick rush throwing out a long jabbing strike with her sword that forced the man to back toward Lofo.

  Lofo rushed in with a lightning fast step and put his arms all the way around the man pinning his arms to his side. The fellow bellowed and tried to burst out of the hold but Lofo leaned back and lifted him off the ground. He started to tell Rhia to finish his grappled opponent but the butt of her sword was already on the way. A loud crack and the man went limp in Lofo’s arms.

  The wounded man staggered to his feet holding onto his bleeding hand with this good hand having dropped his sword. “I surrender,” he said and started to stagger away.

  “Oh no, you don’t,” said Lofo bending down to pick up the weapon the fellow dropped when Mike slashed off his fingers. “Stop right there and lay down on your belly or I’ll run you through.”

  The man looked at Lofo and then turned in the direction that Adusko had staggered off in, “Adusko!” he called but there was no answer. He turned back to Lofo and hesitated.

  “Don’t do anything foolish,” said Lofo. “If you surrender your wounds will be treated. You’ll be questioned by the Gray Druids and probably banished from Tanelorn but you’ll live.”

  The man looked around again and Rhia followed his gaze. There was a shadow of a movement, perhaps a huge, bulky figure, but then nothing. The man’s eyes went wide, “Death to the Gray Lord,” he shouted and charged at Rhia and Lofo. They cut him down.

  Rhia looked at Lofo who gazed down at the man already dead but still bleeding on the ground and then to the other two figures, one dead and one unconscious. “Pillswar’s men,” he said.

  Rhia nodded and said, “You must have broken Adusko’s rib.”

  Lofo put his hand to his shoulder, “I might have broken my shoulder. He’s built like a fortress. It was a lucky shot I guess. I never wanted to face him in battle and I’m glad to have survived. This means Pillswar is ready to act.” Suddenly he stopped and looked around. He spotted Mike kneeling on the ground her hands waving sporadically although there was no sign of Marianna.

  “Mike!” said Rhia noting Lofo’s gaze. She rushed over to the girl and knelt beside her. “Are you wounded?” There was no sign of injury on the girl and Mike blinked her eyes several times.

  “He got me on the head with his back swing. I wasn’t fast enough. I’m fine. Just a little dazed.”

  Rhia helped the girl to her feet, looked around, and called out, “Marianna! Where are you?”

  “She ran,” said Mike putting one hand to her head and pointing with the other. “I saw her when that fellow went after her. She went that way.”

  “We need to find her,” said Rhia looking at Lofo. “There’s no telling where she went. She could be in danger. Adusko is still around and there could be others. There’s that damn dwarf, Yulvo. He could be anywhere. Marianna!”

  Lofo took the sword from the man they knocked unconscious and shook his head. “I have to report this to Jane Gray and Scar Blackrose immediately. I don’t like the idea of you two wandering around out here looking for Marianna. There’s something big in the air or he wouldn’t have tried to kill you like this. It’s lucky I happened to be with you.”

  “I’m not going to go back to the Gray Lord’s house,” said Rhia shaking her head. “I’m going to find Marianna. She’s our friend.”

  Mike nodded her head, “That’s right. We’ll be fine. Rhia has a sword now and I’ve got my knife.” Suddenly she stood fully upright and snapped her finger. “Marianna might have been frightened for a moment when that man came at her but she’s no coward. She went back to the inn to get her bow. She’ll be back here in a few minutes, I just know it.”

  Rhia nodded her head and flipped the sword around in her hand, “I think you’re right, Mike. She’s no coward.”

  “This is only part of Pillswar’s plan,” said Lofo shaking his head. “I can’t afford to stand around. He’s going to try and take over Tanelorn and he’s doing to do it tomorrow at his rally. That’s the only explanation. I have to talk to the Gray Lord right now. You’ll be ok?”

  “We’ll be fine,” said Mike nodding her head. “I’m feeling better already and Marianna will be back soon. With her bow, my knife, and Rhia’s sword I’m not afraid of anything. Not even Adusko.”

  Rhia looked at Mike and felt the enthusiasm surging through her own body and pointed to the unconscious fellow and the two corpses, “Mike’s right. Marianna will be back in a minute or two. You go tell the Gray Lord what happened. We’ll watch this fellow and the bodies.”

  Lofo nodded his head, “All right. I’ll have some Gray Knights and Gray Druids here. Valary has magical means of communicating with whoever he wants whenever he wants. I know he doesn’t look like much but he is more powerful than anyone in Tanelorn. More powerful than anyone in the world perhaps.” With that he looked at the bodies and the downed man one last time before turning to retrace his steps back to the Gray Lord’s home.

  “That was exc
iting,” said Mike her eyes now clear. “What happened to Adusko? He was the one I was worried about.”

  Rhia looked off in the direction where the orc staggered, “Lofo charged him and broke his rib I think. He went that way. He’s not as tough as he makes himself out to be.”

  The two girls didn’t have to wait long before a winded Marianna returned, as predicted, with her bow and a quiver or arrows slung over her shoulder, “I’m sorry I ran away!” she panted as she ran up and saw them standing there.

  “It worked out fine,” said Rhia smiling.

  Marianna then dropped to her knees and started crying.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Rhia stepping over and putting her hand on the girl’s shoulder.

  “I was scared and I ran. I wasn’t thinking about helping you. I just wanted to live. It was only after I got away that I went to get my bow. I’m a coward. I ran away.”

  Rhia said nothing and looked over to Mike with raised eyebrows. She made a little motion with her head toward the crying girl.

  Mike opened her palms and mouthed, “What?”

  Rhia pointed to the girl and motioned with her head again.

  Mike put her lips together and gave off a little sigh before walking over, “You’re right that you ran away and that was cowardly,” said Mike.

  Rhia stuck out her chin and gave a violent little motion with her head.

  “But you came back,” continued Mike putting her own hand on Marianna’s shoulder. “That’s what is important. Next time you won’t run away.”

  Marianna continued to sob.

  Not long after that a group of Gray Knights and Gray Druids arrived. They carried bright lanterns and spread out over the area. “What’s this then?” said the apparent leader of the group. She was a tall half-elf girl with pointed ears and slender wrists. She wore a green tunic and carried a long wooden staff with many figures of animals etched onto it.

  “They attacked us,” said Mike. “We killed those two and knocked that fellow down. One of them got away. Adusko.”

  At the name everyone stopped, “Adusko Trul?” asked the half-elf woman.

  “Yes,” said Mike.

  “Everyone!” shouted the woman. “Trul’s out there. Pair up. Nobody is to be alone. Call out if you see anything! Don’t be a hero.”

  The other Gray Knights and Gray Druids looked back and forth between each other, paired up, and began to move more cautiously.

  “You’ve done all you need to do. Lofo knows you?” said the woman.

  “Yes,” said Mike.

  “We’ll be in touch if we need anything. You can go home. Do you want an escort? I doubt Trul is hanging around looking for another chance but you never know. He’s not one to mess around. I’m surprised you’re alive. These three and Trul?”

  “We took care of him,” said Mike with a grin.

  The woman looked at her and shook her head, “He didn’t want to kill you would be my guess. If he did, you’d be dead.”

  Mike laughed, “We’re tougher than we look.”

  The woman looked at Mike and shook her head, “Go home now, little girl. Be careful.”

  “I’m not a little girl!” said Mike shoving her chin forward, the old expression of indignant rage on her face. It was the first time Rhia had seen in it since they left Acanthus.

  “Go home,” said the woman and turned her back on the three.

  “Come on,” said Rhia taking Mike by the arm. “There’s no point in arguing with her.”

  Mike didn’t seem inclined to walk away and Rhia had to pull her several more times before she reluctantly began to move, “Little girl! Ha. I’ll show her. We beat Adusko and they’re all afraid of him.”

  Rhia nodded her head and smiled, “We did, didn’t we! I mean Lofo is the one who did it but we helped.”

  As they made their way back to the inn where Rhia and Mike had a room the strange sound of banging made itself heard from somewhere off in the distance.

  “What’s that noise?” said Rhia although her mind was still filled with images of their recent victory and her heart was still racing.

  “Sounds like hammering,” said Mike. “From over there I think,” she added pointing toward the west. “Is there going to be another Taking the Gray ceremony? They might be building a platform.”

  “It could be that,” said Rhia and suddenly felt a lurch her in stomach. “Or it could be something else. Should we check?”

  Mike nodded her head, “Come on, let’s go. Nothing can stop us.”

  Rhia watched Mike walking with a spring to her step and suddenly felt very nervous, “Mike,” she said. “Wait a second.”

  Mike stopped and turned, “What?”

  “We still need to be careful. Yes, we beat Adusko and his thugs. Yes, we’re still alive, but that doesn’t mean we can beat anyone. If Borrombo and his nephew are still here they could be trouble. Pillswar is no fool. They could have a hundred swordsmen with them. Let’s be cautious.”

  Mike nodded her head, “That makes sense, Rhia. Why don’t we circle around from outside the city and come up on whatever they’re doing from the west?”

  “Good idea,” she said and looked over at Marianna. “Do you agree?”

  The girl was even more pale than usual and her eyes were red from crying but she seemed relatively steady, “I think so,” she said.

  It took them almost an hour to walk to the south and jump over the low Gray Walls, for they decided to avoid the gates of the city, and then circle back around. The moved slowly and carefully. Luckily there was a goodly amount of cloud cover and almost no moon so the darkness was all but complete. The hammering sound guided them and soon enough they could hear the voices of the workers.

  When they finally arrived on a low hill outside of town they dropped to the ground. It looked like someone was building a stage similar to the one in the ceremonies used to induct new Gray Knights and Gray Druids. They had a number of lanterns set up to illuminate the area and there were about half-a-dozen of them.

  “It looks like it’s just what you thought,” said Rhia with a smile.

  “I don’t think so,” said Marianna shaking her head and listening to the men and women who were doing the work. “They don’t sound like Gray Knights to me.”

  “Shh,” said Mike putting her finger to her lips. “I’m trying to hear.” A storm was in the offing and the wind picked up in little gusts that brought the voices to them now and again. They could only pick out bits of the conversation but the talking did not seem to be anything Gray Knights might say. The word revolution came to them more than once and the people doing the construction seemed to be in excellent spirits. “It’s definitely Pillswar and his people,” said Mike after hearing enough to be certain. She peeked up to take a better look at the workers.

  She counted seven of them and they were clearly constructing some sort of platform or stage. She couldn’t see any swords but all of them had tools which might well be used as weapons in a pinch. None of them was wearing any sort of armor although a couple of them looked like they might know how to fight.

  “I think we can take them if we want,” whispered Mike and put her hand to the dagger at her side. “They don’t have weapons. There are seven of them but we’d have surprise on our side.”

  “I don’t want to kill a bunch of people hired to put together a stage,” whispered Rhia back to Mike while shaking her head.

  “They work for Pillswar,” said Mike with narrowed eyes. “They plan to overthrow the Gray Lord and you know what will happen if he gets put in charge of Tanelorn. We’ll have to run away or be killed.”

  “That’s true,” whispered Rhia back. “But I still don’t think it’s right to kill a bunch of people who are just putting up a stage, no matter who they are working for. It’s just wrong. They haven’t done anything to us and they’re not threatening to do anything to us. What do you think, Marianna?”

  “I could probably pick them all off from here,” she said eyeing the distance between t
hem.

  “I didn’t ask if you could kill them,” said Rhia with a frown. “I asked if you think it’s a good idea.”

  “They work for Pillswar. They’re building something for him. If we stop them from building it, don’t we stop his plan?”

  “No,” said Rhia shaking her head firmly. “They’ll just send someone else to finish building it and this time they’ll post armed guards. Those people have families, sons and daughters. We’d be wrong for just killing them. I won’t do it.”

  “We can do it without her,” said Marianna pulling the bow off her back.

  Mike looked back and forth between them and said nothing.

  “Not only will I not help you but I’ll try to stop you,” said Rhia firmly. “It’s wrong. The more I think about it, the more wrong it is. If we did this we’d be acting for the Gray Lord as his agent and I know that he would never want us to do this. Lofo said we shouldn’t interfere in other people’s business and that applies here as well. If Pillswar wants to build a stage, if he wants to say something, then he must be allowed to say it. Whether we agree or not. Otherwise why couldn’t someone kill us because we were going to say something or build a stage?”

  “He would kill us,” hissed Marianna pulling out an arrow and fitting in her hand ready to put it to the string. “That’s the point. In this exact same situation he would order us dead without a second thought. I know better than either of you.”

  Mike reached out and put her hand on Marianna’s, “Rhia’s right. The Gray Lord is right. I see it now. I’ve been foolish for a long time. Foolish about a lot of things.” She stood up and started walking down to the men and women building the stage.

  “Where’s she going?” whispered Marianna to Rhia but the half-orc girl stood up as well and was following Mike down to the construction site. Marianna paused, the arrow still in her hand, stood up, put the arrow back in the quiver, slung the bow over her shoulder, sighed, and then followed the other two down.

  “What are you doing?” said Mike loudly as she approached the workers.