Fugitive: A Prequel to Spirit of Magik

by Richard Cluff

  "Doctor Zanna said I should find him if I needed work."

  "Really? How well do you know Zanna?" He asked.

  "I hardly know her, she just said I should come here and ask for Johann if I wanted work," Sherie grumbled.

  "Well, I have plenty of waitresses," the barkeep said with a sweep of his hand.

  "I don't do that shit. I'm a professional; I did my time in the Legion," she told him seriously.

  "I did my time in the Legion too, sweetie. And you and I both know that less than half of 'em were wearing the armor. What did you do, scullery?" He mocked.

  "I wore the armor. I was a commissioned soldier, and I mustered out as a Corporal," she told him defiantly.

  "Really? Wonders never cease. I will give you one thing; you are fast as hell."

  "Yeah, thanks. So are you going to introduce me to Johann, or are you going to stand there and keep staring at my tits?" She asked irritably.

  "Is it ok if I do both? Your rack isn't as nice as Doc Zanna's, but she isn't here..." he said sadly.

  Sherie just grunted in disgust. "Fine, where is he then?"

  "I'm Johann. Johann Storeal," he said with a smile directed at her bust.

  "I'm Jirai. If you don't look up soon, you'll have less eyes than I do," she snarled.

  Johann seemed to jerk his head up as if he’d been woken up, “What was that honey? I’m sorry I was completely distracted by these beautiful titties!” He said with a leer.

  She smiled, then took his left hand into hers as she drew a dagger and put it on his throat. She twisted his arm; this was a simple hold taught to Legionnaires to allow them to control people without hurting them. Those who served were eventually taught the counter for it as well, but not until they finished their training. She gave his outstretched arm a twist, and the big man cried out. She knew for sure that when he served it was as support, not a soldier.

  Looking behind her quickly, she could see that the audience wasn't too pleased by this; half the men in the room now hand their hands on weapons and were looking at her unpleasantly.

  “I’m not gonna tolerate your disrespect. If you didn’t believe I was Legion, you’d better believe it now. If you don’t have a job for me, just say so and I’ll leave,” she said it loud enough to be heard by the nearby tables. Looking over her shoulder quickly, she could see this had the desired effect; people that were near enough to hear were taking their hands off their weapons. Not many people will get involved when the receiver brought something on themselves.

  “I truly didn’t mean no disrespect, ma’am,” he breathed heavily. “I was just playin’ with ya, I swear it! Just let me up please!”

  “Fine. I consider it settled,” she said and let him up. She sheathed her dagger.

  Quietly he said, “Yer ale’s on me, as an apology. I gotta fill some orders, just give me a minute.” He bobbed his head and hustled away to where his waitresses were waiting for him. She scanned the room, and most of the patrons seemed to be settled now. There were a couple that still gave her the evil eye, though.

  She kept an eye on him, to see if he was going to go and tell someone to try to get revenge. All she saw was him mixing drinks and pouring liquors for customers, though. When he finished, he brought another pint of ale down with him, "You need another one?"

  “Is it free?” She asked.

  “Spirits, no! A man’s gotta make a living!” He told her.

  She just smiled and handed him a copper, “I’ll take it. So do you

  have anything for me?”

  Johann leaned across the counter and spoke quietly, “That depends on how you feel about your former chaps in the Legion. Jobs I know about might not be entirely… legal, you know?”

  Sherie just blinked her eye at this. Did that doctor really send her down here to this man to get involved in some kind of illegal operation? As far as criminals go, Doctor Zanna certainly didn’t look to be the type.

  “What do you mean?” She asked.

  “Look, if Doc Zanna sent you here, she thinks you’re Okay. But you still gotta prove to me you mean business,” he looked her right in the eye now, his eyes no longer roamed over her chest. “Do you need a room tonight?” He asked.

  “Yeah,” she said.

  “I’ll make you a deal then. I’ll give you the room, and a meal for free if you take care of a little thing for me.”

  “What kind of thing?” She asked.

  “You see that guy over there?” He nodded to a young man with a shaved pate. “Baxin ran up a bar tab, and now he’s just hanging around here, in me establishment without buyin’ nothin’. He’s getting his friend to buy ales for him, and he gave me an attitude about payin’ me what I’m due.”

  Sherie didn’t care much for the sound of this. She looked at Baxin, and the young man didn’t look to be much of a man in her eyes. He was wearing a loose-cut long sleeved shirt and common trousers. If he was doing his time in the legion, by the look of him he’s one that would be doing running work, and “morale work”. That was the Legion name for whoring. He was being bounced on the knee of an older man that looked to be keeping his mug full. She didn’t much care for where this conversation was going.

  “What, do you want me to beat him for you?” She asked.

  “Well… nothing quite that extreme.” Johann said. “Just put the fear of the spirits into the boy, like you did with me. Make him so scared that he’ll either pay me, or he’ll at least quit showing his face around here for a while. Hurt him some if you’ve gotta.”

  “It looks like he’s kind of popular. What are you gonna give me if I have to fight his man, too?”

  “Free drinks, if you don’t start the fight with him, but you still gotta fight him,” he said seriously.

  “What if he’s an ex-legionnaire? What if he was an officer? I’d have a tough time with that,” she told him truthfully. That was the understatement of the day. If he had been an Officer, he was likely a master too. If he had been a master and was still in decent shape, he would cream her.

  “Him? Naww, he's just a furrier. The only things he's killed is animals. He is a damn fine shot with a bow, though," Johann assured her.

  “Fine, I’ll do it.” Sherie drained her mug and got up.

  “Atta girl,” Johann said cheerfully.

  Sherie knew that now she had truly fallen. She was walking over to a table right now to rough up a civilian for money. She was now officially a thug. And she was doing it so she could get a free room and meal tonight, and convince Johann she was worth considering for another job. One that was probably even more illegal than this one, if her gut feeling was right.

  When she approached the table, the older man smiled at her and said, “So the new face has come to join us? I thought you wanted to drink alone woman.” He said dryly with his hand resting on a curved long knife.

  “This ain’t none of your business, old man,” she said sharply to assert her authority over the situation, just as she would have done during an arrest in the Legion. She didn’t have the legal authority now, but she could still see if she could intimidate him down anyway.

  Baxin didn’t seem to have a weapon. And he didn’t seem to be even one bit nervous. She said, “Mister, you need to either pay your tab or get out. Johann’s sick of your shit.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” His fresh young face looked completely innocent, and his breathing didn’t even quicken. That’s when she started feeling like something was wrong. She could see that his neck was heavily muscled now that she was this close. He sat his drink on the table calmly.

  She reached out for his collar, and the two of them exploded into movement. Baxin slid down to the floor and they both tried to reach each other and grab the other’s wrist or collar. Each of them were using the proper blocks and movements to frustrate the other’s attempt to grab onto them.

  Baxin was no boy, he just looked young. She was sure he wasn’t doing any morale work either. He was a fighter, one that had been well trained in t
he Legion’s combat arts. He was as strong as any man she’d ever sparred with that was sure, but as usual, she was faster.

  Fast enough to make sure this man couldn’t get a hold of her. She knew she couldn’t afford that. Not against a man like this. One mistake and this fight would be over.

  And she would lose.

  He began throwing kicks into the mix, and she began guarding those and returning the favor. When they spread out for a moment, they circled each other while watching for an opening. She could hear people in the bar laying bets. Baxin was huffing air a bit more greedily than she was. “Good, he doesn’t have my endurance,” she thought.

  “You're good!" Baxin complimented her with a smile while looking for his opening.

  “Yeah,” was all she said as she came in with two front kicks followed by a roundhouse. Baxin blocked them, but he was forced back. He seemed to be getting tired, and sloppy. That was when she drew her short sword with her right hand. It was a draw-strike attack from her left to right. She swung the flat of the blade right at his temple. If he doesn’t dodge it, he’ll go down.

  She saw his eyes go wide at the sight of her blade coming right for his head, and he leaned right back to let it go over, just as she hoped he would. There wasn't much else he could have done against that since he was nearly back against a table. Unless he'd been a master. Then he might have been able to block the blade. She'd heard there were masters that could do that with their bare hands.

  With his back arched to let the blade go over him, Sherie just took a step in and gave Baxin a good front kick to the jewels, and let nature take its course. The entire room full of men seemed to cringe and breathed “Ooooh!” sympathetically at that moment.

  The man went down on his back and promptly turned into a ball of pain. He didn't make a sound that could be heard over the roar of approval coming from the crowd, though.

  She sheathed her blade and went over to him. “You’re either gonna pay, or you’re gonna go now, you hear me?” She yelled at him.

  She felt a touch on her blind side and turned with a dagger in hand. The waitress hopped back and squealed. Sherie was irritable about scaring the poor girl, and snapped, "What is it?"

  “The boss wants to talk to you, ma’am.” The young woman gestured to the bar.

  Sherie looked over to Johann and saw him wave to her. When she walked away, the furrier went to Baxin to help him up.

  When she reached the bar, Johann stood there with a very pleased look on his face and the mug of ale she hadn't touched yet. "Not bad," he was nodding. "I didn't tell you to kill him, though, why did you try to take his head off?"

  “I didn't. I was just going to swat him with the flat of the blade to knock him out. I figured he'd either get smacked or lean back since he didn't have the room to back off. If he'd tried to duck it, I still would've got him," she said, actually, pretty proud of her victory. Baxin had really made her work for it.

  Sherie was on the fifth rung of learning of the Legion combat arts. But because of the training her father had given her, and her speed she was often paired up with higher tiered opponents. “What rung is Baxin? He’s older than he looks, isn’t he?”

  “I don’t know what rung he is, but I do know he’s twenty-two summers. He’s no slouch, and neither are you. You passed,” he told her with a smile.

  She took a drink of her ale and said; “Thanks. So what’s this job you need me for?”

  “I’ll tell you tomorrow, over breakfast when everyone is here. I don’t like telling things twice.”

  Wednesday June 13th 1612th year of the First Great City In for a copper...

  Sherie wandered down the stairs with her saddlebags over her shoulder. She'd been awakened by a knock at her door and was instantly alert. Well, mostly alert; she had tied on a pretty good drunk last night. She had her weapons belts on, and her bags over her shoulder in under a minute.

  The room was small but warm and dry. She couldn't complain. The most irritating thing was convincing the drunken men that she wasn't going to bed them. A scowl and a flash of steel convinced them, it was just annoying to have to repeat herself as often as she did.

  When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she could see Baxin, the

  furrier that had been bouncing him on his knee, and two other men.

  Johann was on the other side of the bar, too. He was pouring coffee

  for everyone.

  “I'll take one of those, and some breakfast," Sherie said. “Coffee’s free for all of you, but breakfast ain’t.” He said. “Fine with me,” she said as she sat on an empty stool. Johann talked to one of his employees, and she went back to the

  kitchen. “She’ll find you something edible, this isn’t exactly a breakfast place you know.” “Right," she said. The bar was empty except for the six of them and the girl in the back. It was strange to see this bustling bar so empty today. It was also strange to see Baxin here at the bar after Johann had tried so hard to get him out of here last night.

  Baxin was wearing a boiled leather cuirass with two daggers, a long blade, and a club. The furrier just had a few straight daggers and his curved long knife.

  The other two men were less noteworthy. They were young, (still older than she was, though) like Baxin. They didn't seem to be in the good shape that she or Baxin were. One man had a dagger and a walking staff, the other man had a mace on his belt alongside a few daggers. Every man had a quiver of arrows and a bow leaning against the bar.

  Johann handed Sherie her mug of coffee last. “Alright then, are you all ready to hear it?” The big man asked. They all nodded. The old furrier said, “Just get on with it, you old fart. I ain’t gettin’ any younger!”

  Everyone chuckled at that. When it was quiet, Johann told them, "Alright. I got a shipment of ale I'm sending down to Grax. This one is a special shipment, though. Baxin, you all are going to be goin' by your mom's place to get the special goods."

  Sherie just spoke up, “I thought you didn’t like this kid?” Nodding to Baxin.

  “You're right, I don't like him. The spirits didn't mean for him to be suckin' cock, they meant for him to be given me grandkids instead! But he's still my boy, and I'd never be mad enough to turn him out of my house. Giving him a good beating once in a while is something I'll do, though."

  Baxin smiled and laughed. “It’s been over a year since you found someone that could take me down until she did, Dad. I’d love it if you tried it yourself some time!” The shaved youth cracked his knuckles.

  Sherie just gawked. This had to be the most messed up family she’d ever heard of.

  Johann just shook his meaty fist and said, “One of these days, boy!”

  The other three men just shook their heads and chuckled, like this was a completely normal conversation in this family.

  The woman brought out some lukewarm stew with a roll for her to eat.

  Sherie thanked her, and she went about sweeping.

  The old furrier said, “So we’ll want to put the special barrels in the middle, and stack the ale on top.”

  “Yep. I know you won't be able to lift ‘em with your back. Girl, you think you can lift an ale barrel with one of the men helpin'?" Johann asked Sherie.

  “It ain't "girl" it's Jirai. And I suppose I could. I haven't heard anything about payment, or what the special cargo is." She said.

  “For the transport of the ale, you're getting two silver marks. For the "special cargo," you'll be getting two gold coins for each barrel. There should be six. That'll be two for each of you, and two for me when you get it back to me. As to what's in ‘em, you'll find out when you're on the road," he told her.

  “I will tell you the truth, though. If you get caught with ‘em, you're either gonna be wearing a collar, or a noose at the end of the day. One of the two, so if you want out, get out now," Johann said in a deadly serious tone.

  Sherie thought about it for a moment. Well, she’d gotten this far, and none of the other men looked like they were going to back out. By
the looks on their faces, they knew what they were risking, and they knew what the special goods were too, but they were still willing to do it. Being paid two gold coins and two silver marks for a single job was a lot more than she would have made legally. She would get a silver mark every other week working for the Legion.

  “How long does it take to get to Grax from here?” She asked.

  The furrier spoke up, “It will take about three weeks one way.”

  That was really good money for the time. She nodded and said, “I’m in. What do you need me to do?”

  Johann smiled, and said, “Well, all of you will work like dogs and get my wagons loaded. Gerald will get your camping gear and food loaded up.” He nodded to the furrier. “Jirai, make sure you have a rainproof cloak before you go, it always rains at least once on a run like this.”

  She told him, "I'll get it on my way out of town."

  “The job is to guard the goods on the way to Grax, and to make sure they get there. That’s all you have to do,” Johann told them.

  “That’s all I have to do,” she thought. For the kind of coin he was offering, she had to wonder what would put her in a collar or a noose if she was caught?

  * * *

  She and the other three men that could lift the barrels had just finished loading the wagons. The two wagons each had four wooden wheels and a hitch between the wagons. They had loaded forty-five barrels of ale on them. Jirai had no idea how heavy those things were before she'd started helping to move them. She wasn't as strong as any of these men, but she was stronger than most women, so she was able to make it work. She was paired with Baxin since he was the strongest of them.

  She’d talked to Baxin and he told her where she could get a raincloak. Gerald said he wouldn’t be ready until at least the thirteenth hour anyway, so she could go quick and get one. She had wanted to get a horse too, but there was a team of six draft horses pulling the wagons, and she could just ride on the side anyway.

  When she returned, everyone was ready to go. Gerald nodded to her, Baxin jumped down from the wagon, and gave his father a hug. “You be careful, boy," Johann told him.