by Jamie Davis
"Kay, if you've still got that healing potion, use it. I'm using mine."
Kay nodded and rummaged through his pack until he came up with the red glass flask. Hal pulled him out, too, and they both downed the draughts.
The cool liquid tasted a little like sweet peppermint, and a wave of warmth swept across his body.
HEALING potion effect +16
REMEMBERING what they were there for, Hal started searching the body of the Slaver Boss. He came away with two keys. One large and thick, made of black iron. It must be for the pens outside. The other was a strange box-like key with an intricate pattern milled into the metal.
QUEST COMPLETED - Find the key to the slave pens.
100 experience points awarded!
"I GOT THE KEYS," Hal called out. "This other smaller one has to be to the chest in the corner."
"Bring it here," Kay said. "I want to know what he had in here that needed to be locked up so tight."
Hal took the key to Kay who inserted the key into the lock. Just before he turned it in the lock, Hal called out.
"Stop!"
"What is it, Hal?"
"We should check for traps first," Hal suggested. "This guy would definitely be paranoid enough to trap this chest. Look at how he bolted the thing to the floor."
"Hmmm, good idea. You better do it. I think you're better at it than I am."
Kay stepped back to make room for Hal.
Crouching down in front of the chest, Hal leaned forward and inspected the lock, the chest, and the floor around it.
It was on inspecting the floorboards that Hal noticed the thin gap between two boards right in front of the chest, right where Kay had been crouching moments before.
Hal stood back and to one side. He leaned over and inserted the key in the lock, turning it.
With a click and popping sound, a broad blade shot up from beneath the floor extending two feet up into the room just in front of the chest. A sticky paste visible on the sides of the blade told Hal it would have been deadly to anyone who was nicked by the blade. The Slaver Boss had coated it in poison.
"Wow, good call, Hal," Kay said. "That would have hurt."
"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one," Hal replied.
Careful to avoid the blade now protruding from the floor, Hal lifted the lid of the chest. His eyes widened when he saw stacks of gold coins, bowls filled with semi-precious gems, and a few flasks that looked suspiciously like a collection of magical potions.
Hal and Kay both removed their packs and began loading down their packs and pouches with all they could carry.
Hal made sure to grab the flasks, too. Each had a rune or symbol etched in the side of the ceramic flasks. He'd have to find someone to decipher them later.
Hal didn't have room in his pack because it was full of gold coins from the chest, so he handed the flasks to Kay to hold in his pack.
They left with all they could carry, and they still hadn't emptied the chest. They'd stop by with the ladies on the way out and have them carry out the rest. Hal didn't want to leave any resources for the slavers behind. Hopefully, this would put them out of business for a while.
Hal walked past the desk and glanced down. A small leather-bound ledger lay open on it. The heading on the top of the page. "Noble Slave Disposition and Locations" was the title. On a hunch, Hal picked up the ledger and tucked it into a pocket of his cloak.
It was time to free the women of the Gilded Cage and payback a debt he owed to Serena.
17
WITH THE KEY IN HAND, it was easy to open the pens. Soon, the group of twenty-seven women clustered around Hal and Kay, thanking them in hushed tones.
"Ladies," Hal said putting his hands up in front of himself, fending off the women. "I know you're all grateful for the rescue, but we're not clear yet. We have to get you all to the docks."
"We also have to pick up some gold for each of you for the journey we've arranged," Kay added. "Follow me, and stay quiet."
Hal made sure all the women were accounted for and then stood watch while Kay started to the boss's building and began loading the women down with the remaining gold. They would now each have a good nest egg with which to restart their lives.
"That's it," Kay said after a few minutes. "All the gold is divided up. Let's head for the gate."
"I'll go first, Hal said. He flicked up his red slaver's hood and pulled the now tattered and torn red cloak around him as best he could. He still had his black cloak underneath and planned on dropping the bright red cloak at the first opportunity once they were free of the slave compound.
Hal reached the gate and pulled it open. At the same instant, the door to the nearby barracks opened, and a slaver guard came out, pulling his cloak around himself against the night's chill. He stopped staring at the women by the open gate, trying to process what he was seeing.
Knowing they only had seconds to react and feeling the slot machine begin to rattle again in his head, Hal shouted, "Run!" and charged straight for the guard.
The man opened his mouth to yell out a warning when Hal plowed into him, knocking him to the ground. The fall knocked the air out of the guard, and he lay gasping for breath giving Hal time to draw one of his daggers and shove it up under the man's chin into his brain.
400 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED.
"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU...?" Another slaver asked walking out behind Hal. The last of the women were running through the gate, covered by Kay. Hal was on his own and judging by the slot machine still rolling in his head; his luck was still engaged.
Hal kicked backward with one leg and swept it through the slaver's ankles, knocking him from his feet. This one had been able to draw a curved scimitar from his belt as he fell. Hal rolled away and bounced to his feet as the slaver guard stood up.
"I don't know who you are," the slaver said. "But you're messing with the wrong folks."
"I was just about to say the same thing," Hal said. "I've killed every other slaver in this place. I may as well finish you off, too."
The slaver snarled his rage and charged at Hal, swinging his scimitar down in a slash at Hal's exposed head.
Raising his two daggers up over his head, Hal crossed them and caught the descending blade between them. He flicked his wrists, deflecting the blade to one side and stepped forward to get inside the man's guard.
A punching stab at the man's shoulder drew a spray of blood, and the slaver cried out and stepped backward to try and escape the series of attacks Hal launched at him.
Pressing forward, Hal drove the man backward until his back was against the wall surrounding the compound.
Another punching thrust drove his second dagger into the man's other shoulder.
The slaver’s arm fell limp, dropping the curved sword to clatter on the stone pavers of the slaver's compound.
The slaver cringed expecting a fatal blow to fall at any minute. Hal had other plans.
"I'll let you live if you carry a message to the Wardens," Hal offered.
The slaver guard nodded, his teeth set in a rictus of pain.
"Tell them there's a new sheriff in town, and his name is..." Hal paused in thought for a moment. "Tell them his name is Robin the Hood. Got that?"
"What does that even mean?" The confused guard asked.
Hal rolled his eyes.
"Just repeat it back to me, so I know you've got it," Hal insisted.
"There's a new sheriff in town, and his name is Robbing the Hood."
"Close enough," Hal said, and he clouted the man on the temple with the butt end of his dagger.
The guard's eyes rolled up into his head, and he collapsed in a heap on the ground. He'd wake up with a headache and an interesting if confusing story to tell.
The rattling slot machine stopped and the chime sounded once again.
Kay and the women were already heading down the street when Hal sprinted from the Slaver Compound and joined them. The glow on the horizon told Hal that dawn was coming and that was perfect
. Their chartered ship would be leaving on the morning tide, getting the women away before the authorities started searching for them.
The captain was waiting on the pier beside the gangplank to his ship when Hal and the others arrived.
"These are my passengers I take it?" The captain asked.
"Yes, this is all of them," Hal said. "There are three fewer than the thirty we counted on, but you may keep the remaining fares as an added incentive for taking them to safety, somewhere far away from here."
"You can count on me, sir...?"
"Robin, Robin the Hood," Hal said. He was liking this idea better each time he said it. "Come back with proof they're safe, and I'll add more to that."
"How will I find you to provide this proof?"
"You know Griff at the Chum Bucket?" Hal said.
"I do."
"Tell him you've got the proof I requested," Hal said. "If he's satisfied, he'll pay you the extra bounty."
The captain nodded and started shouting orders to his crew.
Hal and Kay stood on the pier as the lines were cast off and the ship drifted away from the dock. The sails unfurled and the ship's rigging creaked in the light morning breeze, filling the sails to take the women of the Gilded Cage to freedom.
QUEST COMPLETED - Free the women from the slave pens.
1,500 experience points awarded.
HAL CLAPPED Kay on the shoulder and pulled his friend close.
"We did it, Kay. I think Selena would be proud of you."
Kay looked over at him, and Hal was surprised to see tears in his eyes.
"You think so?"
"I know so," Hal answered. "You saved her girls and made sure they made it to safety and new lives elsewhere. I don't know what else she could have wanted."
"She would want revenge on those who ordered her death," Kay said wiping tears from his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Don't worry, Kay. I don't think we're done with the Wardens yet," Hal said. "I suspect now's when it starts to get interesting."
18
HAL AND KAY stood watching the departing ship until it disappeared in the glare of the sun rising over the horizon. Smiling at a job well done, the two companions started back towards the base of the pier.
Morning market stalls were open, and a small crowd of townsfolk from the Harbor District had already gathered to purchase the fresh fish and farm goods brought in before dawn each morning. Hal's stomach rumbled, and he realized how long night it had been.
"Hey, friend," Hal said to Kay. "I'll buy you breakfast. Want some fried fish and some summer biscuits? That stall over there is calling my name."
"I think I could eat my weight in food," Kay replied.
"Good, then I'm buying. Come on."
Hal and Kay stepped over to the food vendor's stall in the market at the foot of the pier. The stall's proprietor was having an animated conversation about something as they walked up.
"...The rumor has it all the remaining Wardens have put out a bounty on this new bandit lord who's taken residence in the city. He's attacked two places in the last week. They think he's the one who assassinated the Harbor warden and burned a factory's warehouse over near the east gate. The latest attack was just last night. I heard he raided the slavers' compound and freed all the new slave girls from the Gilded Cage."
"And no one knows who it is?" The other customer asked.
"Nope, but I overheard one of the guardsmen this morning saying he called himself 'the Hood' or something like that."
Kay leaned in, whispering, "How's it feel to be famous, Mr. Hood?"
"Shush, I was just having a little fun, that's all," Hal replied. "Go ahead and order yourself something to eat. Get me one of the fried fish balls. That looked good."
Kay ordered for them both while Hal enjoyed some people watching in the bustling market. More townsfolk had arrived in the last few minutes, and the market was filled with people now.
Heads turned at a disturbance across the market. Hal couldn't make out what the problem was, but there was shouting and jostling in the crowd. He was about to push forward to see what it was when he spotted the guard uniforms through the crowd.
The armed men pushed through the crowd and seemed to be accosting anyone in armor or wearing a dark colored cloak. Hal could guess who they were looking for.
He looked down at his own leather breastplate. There were fresh gashes in it, including the huge rent in it from the Slaver Boss's axe. That coupled with the dried blood stains made it clear he'd been in a fight recently.
"Kay, forget the food. We've got to go."
"Why, I just ordered it?"
"Pay the man and let's go. The guards are searching the crowd for us," Hal said.
QUEST ACCEPTED - ESCAPE THE WARDENS' guards
KAY CRANED his neck to look around.
"How could they know to look for us so soon. It's only been a few hours."
"It's been long enough for our food vendor friend to know about it," Hal said. "Word spread about the raid on the slaver compound faster than expected, or someone gave us up. Either way, we have to leave, now."
Kay slipped the man in the booth a few coins and joined Hal.
"Which way do we go?"
Let's head back to the pier and try to slip down below to the secret entrance," Hal said. "We can lay low in the room there while we plan what to do next."
The crowd had grown thicker still since Hal noticed the guards and it impeded their press through to the pier. People were curious what the commotion was about and were pushing forward in an effort to see what was going on.
Hal and Kay didn't make it far when he heard the words he'd worried about.
"You, you there in the black leather. Hold and be examined by the Wardens' Guard."
Hal considered trying to push forward and make a run for it but the crowd had seen them, too and the people closed in to see what the fuss was about. Hal placed a hand on his dagger and turned in place to face the guardsman who'd called out his name.
He recognized the face immediately. It was the slaver guard he'd left alive with a message for the Wardens. There were still blood stains on his shoulders where Hal had wounded him before leaving the slave compound. Someone had given him a healing potion or something and sent him out looking for Hal with some backup.
The slaver's eyes met Hals, and he saw the recognition dawn in the man's eyes.
Hal didn’t wait. He kicked his boot into the man's chest, knocking the guard backward into his companion before he could sound the alarm. The guard coughed and gasped as the wind was knocked from his lungs but quickly regained his composure. Drawing his sword, he charged back at Hal.
Out of the corner of his eye, Hal saw Kay jump at another guard who'd been with the slaver, taking him on. They had to work fast. There were more guards nearby.
The four Warden's guards with the slaver drew their swords, too and tried to push through the crowd to come to the defense of their comrade.
Someone in the crowd screamed at the sight of the bared steel, and the press of people suddenly moved in the opposite direction opening space around the combatants.
The movement of the crowd slowed down the progress of the other guards for which Hal was thankful as the slaver attacked.
Hal parried the initial thrust with a quick counterattack.
"You shouldn't have left me alive, Hood. I get to kill you and claim the bounty the Wardens just placed on your head."
Hal countered with a thrust from his second dagger, but the slaver danced back out of the way.
"A bounty, on me?" Hal asked. "How much?"
"Five hundred gold crowns," the slaver said. "Enough that I won't have to work as a slaver anymore."
The slaver slashed downward with his sword.
Hal had to duck under the blow and was unable to counter with an attack of his own this time.
The slot machine began rattling in his head again. He figured that was a good thing. He needed some luck right now.
&
nbsp; "Five hundred, really? Maybe I'll turn myself in and collect the bounty on my own. Can I do that?" Hal laughed at the man.
"Laugh if you must, Hood," the slaver snarled. "I'll be the only one collecting anything today."
"If by collecting, you mean collecting pointed steel and getting stabbed by my daggers again, I'll be happy to oblige you."
The slaver's rage flared, and he charged forward with a collection of slashing attacks on Hal.
TAUNT RAISED TO LEVEL 2.
HAL AVOIDED the initial attack with ease and found a gap in the man's lowered defenses to slip past the attacks and bury his dagger in the man's side. The look of surprise on the slaver's face almost made Hal laugh.
"I guess I'll collect that bounty after all," Hal said.
The slaver fell backwards to the cobblestones, blood pouring from the gash in his side. His mouth moved as he tried to say something in return to Hal then he fell backward and was still.
400 EXPERIENCE POINTS.
HAL TURNED to lend Kay some assistance against the slaver's companion, but Kay had just dispatched his opponent, too.
It was none too soon; the four other guards had pushed through to the circular opening in the crowd.
Hal was tired, and he knew Kay was too. They'd be hard pressed to take on these four guards and get away uninjured. There had to be another way.
An idea started to form in his head, and Hal knew he had to act without delay.
Slipping his two dagger blades up under the straps of his backpack, Hal cut through them with a single slash. He spun in place and grabbed at the falling pack, flipping open the straps holding the flap closed.
Continuing his spin, Hal flung the backpack, heavy with gold coins from the slaver compound, into the air between he and Kay and the approaching guards.
"Free gold! Courtesy of the Hood," Hal shouted.
Gold coins, glinting and sparkling in the early morning sunlight, spun free from the opened pack and sprayed everywhere.
The chime sounded once again in Hal’s head, and he knew the plan would work.
Bared steel was one thing.
