Through his swimming vision Cleave watched the half giant jog away with the knight over his shoulder. The elf was in great pain, but at that moment, he felt very, very sorry for Padwin.
THIRTY SIX
Tarka ran along with Cleave until he was out of sight. She knew she couldn’t keep up with him, damned her stubby legs. The kobold ran back to the battle, weaving her way through the fighting. Her short sword was drawn and she was attacked, but she parried all blows that came at her.
There was still some fighting around the wooden dock. Of the original dock workers and guards there defending the boxes, there were only a few left. Other guards fought those defending the boxes and some of the sailors from the Wave Skipper came down to join the fray.
The guards and dock workers surrounding the boxes were asked to surrender several times but they continued to fight. Even with death imminent, they still fought on. Tarka arrived to help dispatch the ones that remained.
When those around the boxes were dead, the Clearwater guards went back to the grand melee. The fight was a confusing mess with guard fighting guard and townsperson fighting townsperson. It wasn’t clear who was on who’s side, but there was a great deal of blood spilled.
A few halfling and elven sailors from the Wave Skipper went with them. Instead of trying to fight, these men and women called out to the combatants and asked for peace. They told all involved that the threat was neutralized and there was no sense in this fighting.
Not many listened, but those that did banded together to fight those who continued to fight. The group called out as they fought, begging them not to raise weapon or fists against their brothers and sisters, and to join them to stop the violence.
The people getting beaten within an inch of their lives were the first to join them, not wanting to face more punishment at the hands of others. A few of the guards that fought lowered their weapons and also joined the group.
The faction calling for peace steadily grew, spending less time fighting and more calling out for peace among their fellow citizens.
As order was slowly restored on the beach, Tarka went through the bodies of the fallen guards and dock workers originally with the boxes, looking for anything incriminating on them. In the pockets of one of the guards she found a glass vial.
There were several almost microscopic holes drilled into it. The vial was separated into ten different compartments by glass. In each was something that looked like a small black ant, walking around in a frenzy. She eyed one of these creatures closely and saw small green crystals coming from its back.
Two halflings and an elf from the Wave Skipper joined her. She showed them the glass vial and explained what she thought it was. The small group went through the boxes on the wooden dock and found nine more of these special vials, each containing ten bewitched termites.
Tarka and the other sailors showed these vials to a few of the halfling guards not calling out for peace or still fighting. This halfling told others, and soon all of the halflings on the beach found out about them.
Tatarna had joined in the fighting, working to protect the weaponless from guards that wished to do them harm. She was dueling two halflings that was trying to take their ire out on a defenseless human woman when all three heard the call of the peacemakers and saw the massive group of halflings coming toward them.
The tiger girl and halflings made peace and joined the group. Tatarna saw Tarka talking to a few halflings. She walked over to them.
Tarka held up a few of the glass vials for her to see.
“I guess Cleave was right,” Tatarna said.
“Yep, when I saw them I couldn’t believe it myself. But, there you are, magic termites,” Tatarna said. “What happened to the jerkoff in the grey robes.”
“He ran off, but I managed to find out who it was.”
“Padwin?”
“Who else?”
“I take it he got away.”
“He did, but Cleave and Anfalen, that captain, were chasing after him.”
“Shit. I hope he doesn’t escape. If he does, then we won’t be able to tie all this together.”
“Maybe we won’t have to do all that. Did you tell any of the halflings about the termites?”
Tarka nodded. “Why do you ask?”
Tatarna looked to the crowd. Most of the fighting had stopped. The halflings and other peoples calling for peace eventually outnumbered everyone else and, because those remaining didn’t want to be on the losing side, joined them.
Those that were hurt during the fight were carried toward the city and those that fell were being gathered to be collected. There was a general mood of sadness around the beach. Many of the people mumbled among each other, giving apologies and talking about the state of the city. A few were talking about the magic termites and came up to see the magic insects.
Tatarna placed her hands to her mouth.
“Halflings and the other people of Clearwater, may I have your attention?”
Many stopped talking and turned to the tiger girl.
“I wish all of you to know I am sorry what happened here today. The city I have called home for some time, and most of you much longer, is currently in the grip of a terrible epidemic. Businesses are closing, farms and merchant ships are getting attacked. Today we found a few attempting to destroy the ship of a merchant who frequents this city and supplies many goods that you all buy,” Tatarna said.
There was some mumbling among the crowd. Tarka was emboldened by the tiger girl and spoke up.
“Your mayor and those in power blame the elves, but the elves are gone and this crap is still happening. The elves were mainly the first targets of this horrible plague on Clearwater, but halflings have lost their shops and halfling farms are being attacked. Pretty soon, Clearwater will be a ghost town. All of you deserve answers for what’s going on, and I think the best person to start asking is the mayor,” Tarka said.
There was a louder murmur throughout the crowd, many nodded. A few of the guards looked like they wanted to speak up, but the numbers agreeing with the kobold and tiger woman kept them quiet.
“You’ve all seen the evils at work here first hand. Let’s go to the mayor and the rest in power and see what they have to say,” Tatarna said.
More voices, angry voices, spread through the crowd like wildfire. The group formed together while some began walking into the city.
“We need to all stay together,” Tarka said. “The mayor will be more likely to listen to you all that way.”
Some of the guard organized the people together. Stern-faced halflings followed the guard’s direction. Even those that raised weapons against each other worked together until they were one organized mob.
A few officers beckoned Tarka and Tatarna over. When everyone was gathered together, they marched into the city.
THIRTY SEVEN
Vera called up to Cleave. The wounded elf looked down to see the halfling beckoning him down. She apologized for not being there and explained that she went to fetch Krug. Anfalen had led the guard and the halfling mob away and had been captured and were now coming for him.
The halfling mob returned and were coming toward the building. Although it pained his body to do so, Cleave pushed himself up and jumped down three stories. He knew it was going to hurt, he just hoped he’d have a few hit points left to run away.
Vera ran over and caught the elf. She helped cushion his fall, but his weight caused her to stumble back and slam into the ground. The halfling suffered little damage and she was able to help Cleave up.
They ran between the alleys, looking for a place to hide from the mob. They found a wooden manhole that led into a sewer and ducked inside.
They climbed down a ladder into brown water came up to Cleave’s knees and Vera’s stomach. It smelled rancid. The noxious fumes threatened to make him pass out. He was thankful none of the wounds he suffered were below his knees. Otherwise, they might get infected.
Cleave and Vera stayed hidden in the darkness.
They heard several halflings running above, shouting to each other as they ran over the manhole. After an hour the sounds faded.
Vera climbed the ladder and told Cleave that she didn’t see anyone. They both went back to the surface. There was a great deal of noise coming from the west of the city, toward the docks, but the local streets were quiet.
Cleave and Vera snuck toward her shop and encountered no one on their way. They quickly ran into her shop and locked the door behind him. It was nearly pitch black inside. The only light was from the sun leaking in through the boarded up windows.
The trapdoor was open. They went into the cellar and walked into the back. When they entered the room, they found Krug standing over Padwin. His armor had been removed from the human’s body and piled into a corner. He wore a simple brown tunic and breeches. He was tied to the wall with long straps of leather. There were several bruises on his body.
Krug smiled at Cleave and Vera.
“Cleave, Vera, it’s so nice of you to join us. I’ve been enjoying a fun little conversation with our friend here. Say hi to my friends, Padwin.”
Krug raised his massive fist and Padwin cringed.
“Hello,” Padwin said in a high and quivering voice.
“Padwin, why don’t you tell my friends what you told me?”
Padwin’s gaze grew steely. He looked up at Krug.
“Why don’t you suck my nuts, you big fat troll,” Padwin said.
“Padwin, that’s not very nice,” Krug took the knight’s ear lobe between his thumb and forefinger and twisted. Padwin screamed and shivered in the chair.
“Now,” Krug released the man’s ear, “place nice, or I’ll do that again.”
“Fine,” Padwin said through gritted teeth, “what do you want to know?”
“Why are you here?” Cleave said.
“I came to cause trouble,” Padwin said.
“Economic trouble?”
“Any kind of trouble I can.”
“Did the Crimson Kingdom send you here?”
“No, I came here on my own.”
“Are you sure?” Krug said.
“Yes. Unlike you fuckers, I can work on my own.”
“What about the elves and those dryad essence wands?”
“The elves and I found some dryads, we killed them, chopped up their trees, and made wands out of their crystals.”
“Where were the elves from?” Cleave said.
“A local tribe, I guess.”
“Who is their leader?”
“I don’t know. I never bothered to find out who they served.”
“I don’t believe you,” Cleave said.
“Uh oh, you fibbed to my friend, now it’s time to play this little piggy,” Krug said.
Krug tightly grasped one of Padwin’s hands and took hold of his forefinger.
“This little piggy -” Krug moved as if he were going to break Padwin’s finger.
Padwin was a dick, but he didn’t want to torture him. Cleave was about to speak up but the knight beat him to it.
“Okay, okay I’ll tell you everything,” Padwin squealed.
Krug stepped back and smiled.
“I was sent by the Crimson Kingdom to cause havoc in the city. My master wanted to gain a foothold here, but I decided to carry things further. I made friends with some elves and we came up with a plan to cause chaos,” Padwin said. “I bought off a few guards and hired others to impersonate guards to harass some of the poorer merchants and Posie and her elves caused problems for the farmers outside of the city.”
“I managed to get in good with the mayor and was able to convince him the elves were causing all of the trouble. I’m sure you noticed all of the anti-elf propaganda. A lot of shops were closing and the farmers were on the verge of losing their land. Pretty soon, there was gonna be a revolt. Once that happened the elves and Crimson Kingdom were gonna come in and fill the power vacuum.”
“I don’t know how you would have done that with less than a hundred elves and your guild,” Cleave said.
Padwin laughed. “Less than a hundred? There were at least a hundred of them. I ought to know, I saw them. They probably have more where their clan is located.”
“Is Posie the elven chieftain?”
“No, but she’s close. Awesome girl. Total badass. I’d try to hook up with her if she wouldn’t shoot me full of arrows first.”
“Was anyone else working with you and the mayor in the city?”
“Oh yeah. I used him and all of his greedy little friends in his cabinet to wreak destruction all over this worthless city. They took a big cut of all the merchandise the guard stole from the merchants.”
Padwin told them of the magic termites and admitted he’d start targeting halfling merchant ships after he took out the Wave Skipper.
“After a couple of halfling ships went down, I figure that would have been enough to start a rebellion. Now, you know everything,” Padwin said bitterly, “go ahead and kill me now so I can go back to my guild and have my master kill me again.”
“That isn’t our place,” Vera said. “You’re going to tell everything you told us to the people of this city. Whatever they do to you is their business. They were the ones you hurt, not us, we were just trying to stop you.”
Krug and Cleave nodded. The trio made sure Padwin was firmly secured by tying his legs to the legs of the chair then, chair and all, carried him outside.
There was a great commotion coming from outside. Many halflings and a few other people passed them. Cleave worried they would try to capture him, but they were running toward an even greater cacophony of sounds.
Padwin tried to struggle as he was being carried but it was to no avail. So he sat still as Cleave and Krug carried him. When they got close to where all the noise was they saw Tarka.
Her eyes lit up when she saw Padwin.
“Oh, you caught him. Awesome. There’s a lot of things I want to do to that bastard,” Tarka grinned wickedly.
“I think we should leave that to the people of the town. Speaking of, what’s all that noise?” Vera said.
“There was a big fight on the beach. It broke out when asshole there,” Tarka pointed to Padwin, “tried to use his magic termites to destroy the Wave Skipper. Eventually the fighting stopped and Tatarna and I gathered them together to march on the mayor’s office. More joined us on the way. Now we have a huge angry mob that’s demanding to see the mayor.”
“What luck,” Cleave smiled, “now Padwin can tell everyone what he’s been doing to them for the past couple of months all at once.”
The group carried a screaming Padwin toward the main thoroughfare of the city.
THIRTY EIGHT
Tatarna was at the head of the mob, leading them in a chant to see the mayor. Several halflings pressed against the iron barred gate that surrounded the mayor’s home and fenced in barracks beside it. Halfling guards poured out of the barracks and tried to leave the small training compound, but the mob forced them to stay inside.
A few halfling soldiers came out of the administration building in an attempt to quell the people clamoring for answers, but their shouts were silenced by the deafening roar of many citizens. These halflings pulled weapons and walked toward the gate but quickly backed down when other guards in the crowd stepped up and brandished theirs.
Eventually the mayor came out of the administration building. He was an extremely round fellow. It looked like he had to move half of his body to walk each step. He waddled down the steps and faced his people behind the large iron fence.
The citizens of Clearwater all shouted for answers to all of the happenings. They yelled and screeched while some of them shook the fence, rocking its foundation. The mayor looked frightened from the display of force, but he quickly composed himself and threw up his hands.
Tatarna and the other guards in the crowd beckoned them to be silent, and with a little coaxing they were.
“Noble and great people of Clearwater, I hear your cries and know why you
’re here. Our town has been wracked by a plague, a plague of lawlessness that is tearing our community apart.”
There was another loud roar from the crowd, followed by more fence shaking. A few halflings picked up rocks and threw them against the gate, leaving small scratches on the metal. It took another round of silencing by the leaders of the mob to stop the ferocious crowd.
The mayor’s beady eyes scanned the crowd. He swallowed hard and fidgeted in place. When his eyes fell on Cleave’s party and saw a disgruntled Padwin tied to a chair, his face lit up.
“I understand your pain. This time has been hard on all of us, but I have come out to announce that this menace has been stopped. The terror that brought our town to its knees is finally over. The elven menace, the one that was threatening to take over our economy, the one my guards have worked to purge, is over.”
There were many shouts from the crowd that the economy was already ruined, followed by a few angry murmurs.
“Our economy is weak now, but it will be stabilized soon. Our offices are already at work to return merchants to stores, merchants that sell halfling goods and not those from other sources, which hurt the local craftspeople.”
This quieted the people a little. There was a gleam in the mayor’s eye.
“I am sorry things have been so hard, but we had to take extra action to make sure the problem of elven merchandise flooding into our city was squashed. There was a smuggler bringing in these wicked wares into our city and selling them to unscrupulous vendors, who broke the law by buying and selling them to the public. That man was at large, until today.”
The mayor pointed at Padwin. “Our administration has been looking for that man there, the leader of a notorious smuggling ring bringing offensive items into our city gates. He’s been at large for a while but has finally been caught.”
A slight smirk appeared above the official’s many chins. “I ask his captors to bring him to me so I may reward them personally.”
Some of the halflings screamed that they wished to hang him immediately, while others still banged at the fence, demanding more answers from the mayor.
Crisis at Clearwater - A LitRPG Virtual Fantasy Adventure (Book 2 Unexplored Cycle) Page 20
