Mercenary Little Death Bringer

by Banks, Catherine

  I sat upwards and realized I was bound by ropes. “Where are we?” I asked as my eyesight returned and I could finally see the room I was in. It was a small wooden shack with a bed, two chairs and a fireplace. I was on the bed, tied up tightly and a man was sitting in a chair across the room from me. The man was ugly with three front cracked teeth and a long scar on the left side of his face.

  He smiled. “We are at a halfway point. Shortly you will be picked up by a different person who will take you to your final destination.”

  “Why are you helping this person kidnap me?” I asked angrily as I slowly started twisting my wrist to escape from the ropes tying me. Thankfully it was the exact type of binding that Masters Sean and Martin had been working with me on. The loop around my throat tightened slightly, but I had enough room still to breathe freely.

  “It’s just a paying job,” the man said, “And stop trying to escape from the ropes.”

  I slipped the ropes down my wrist a little farther and asked, “What does this person have planned for me?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know and I don’t care. My job is just to get you here and wait for the next one to get you.” I almost got the loop off my wrist, but the man stood up and walked to me, dangling the medallion from his hand. “I told you to stop trying to get free. Now I’m going to have to use this.”

  “What is that?” I asked, “Why does it hurt me?”

  He pushed the rope higher up my wrist, wrapped the strap around my wrist and pressed the medallion into my palm. “I don’t know. I just know it knocks you out and makes it much easier to move you.”

  I tried to fight it. I tried to at least let go of the stupid medallion, but all I could do was faint again from the pain and energy sapping power the medallion had over me. Why? Why did it work against me and not these other men?

  * * *

  I woke up lying across the back of a horse, with my hands tied to my feet so that if I flung myself backwards off of the horse’s back I would just slide underneath its belly. If it had been Fire whose back I was on, I would have done it and then gotten the rope off of her butt, which she would have then stepped over so I would be free. Sadly this was not Fire and I had no idea if this horse would kick me or trample me if I tried it.

  I lifted my head slightly so I could look at my surroundings to try to figure out where I was, but nothing looked familiar about this area. It was heavily wooded and the road was dirt, but I didn’t believe I had ever traveled this way before. When I managed to get free I would have to ride in the opposite direction and hope I could find a familiar landmark. Unfortunately I had no idea how long I’d been out or how far we’d traveled.

  “You awake finally?” a new male voice asked.

  “I need to use the restroom,” I muttered sleepily.

  “Sure thing,” he said. I kept my head down and pretended to still be weak as he untied me from the horse and pulled me down to my feet. He held the rope which was still tied to my hands and led me into the forest off the side of the road. I stumbled forward like I was weak and leaned against the tree he was tying the rope to. “Do your business and let’s go,” he said as he walked backwards ten feet.

  “Can I have some privacy?” I asked as I started pushing my pants down.

  He shook his head. “Nope.”

  I groaned and walked around to the other side of the tree so I was at least partially hidden from him as I went pee. “Do you have any water or food?” I asked as I pulled my pants up and walked around the tree to him.

  “In my pack,” he said as he started untying the rope from the tree. I waited until his back was completely turned to me and then jumped up onto his back, looped my hands over his head and started choking him with the rope between my wrists. He grabbed at my wrists to pull them forward, but I planted my elbows in his back and leaned back to keep the pressure on. He spun around, hitting my side into the tree, but I held on, refusing to be dislodged and lose my one chance at getting free.

  He reached for his sword and I used my right leg to hit his hand and then held his arm down with my leg wrapped around it. He started slowing as the lack of oxygen took effect. Seconds later he dropped to his knees and then fell on his face. I didn’t want to kill him, but I had to hold the rope around his throat a few seconds longer to ensure he wasn’t faking.

  I released him, checked to ensure his pulse was still beating, grabbed a dagger from his belt and cut the ropes off of my hands. I couldn’t have him following me right away so I tied his hands behind his back and then tied his feet to his hands in a hog tie variation that was very difficult to free yourself from. I took his belt with his sword and daggers and strapped it onto myself and then mounted his horse and squeezed my legs. The horse took off at a fast gallop and we headed back in the direction he’d taken me.

  I rode for an hour and still nothing in the landscape changed and nothing looked familiar. Where was I? I wanted to save the horse’s stamina, but at the same time I wanted to be sure I rode far away from the people after me. I slowed the horse to a trot and opened the saddle bags in search of food and water, luckily finding both. I chewed on the dried meat like a starving dog and guzzled the water down. I really wished I knew how long I’d been out, but the only ones who knew that were the ones I was trying to avoid.

  I searched for the sun and finally figured out I was currently heading South, but since I had no idea if we had headed West first or East or Northeast I had no way of knowing exactly which way to head. I growled in frustration and felt like stabbing someone. Maybe I should have killed the man instead of tying him up.

  “You think Kristof will make it without any problems from that girl?” someone asked from around the bend in the road.

  I jerked my horse off the road and hid as the men came within view. There were three of them, the cloaked fencer, the man with the scar and the large man all rode together down the road, looking smug. I wanted to attack them, but I was too outnumbered.

  “He’d better not have any problems with her. He has the medallion if she starts getting feisty,” the scar man said.

  “Does anyone know why the medallion works on her and not us?” the large man asked.

  “The fencer knows,” scar man said, “But since he doesn’t talk it’s a mystery to me still.”

  My horse must have felt lonely or known the other horses because when they were almost out of sight he neighed loudly. “You idiot,” I grumbled as I kicked him and we bounded out of the forest and onto the road. I kicked him again, forcing him into a gallop in the opposite direction of the men and hoped they wouldn’t catch me.

  “Get her!” scar man yelled.

  I urged the horse to go faster, but their horses were steadily catching up to us. “Dammit can’t you go any faster?!” I screamed at the horse. The scarred man pulled up on my left side and reached out for my horse’s reins, but I steered my horse to the right, avoiding his hand and then pulled a dagger from the belt. “Just let me go!” I yelled at him.

  “Come on girl, this isn’t personal it’s just business. We aren’t here to kill you,” he said as he steered his horse closer to mine.

  I held the dagger sideways in my left hand, preparing to slice at him if he got too close, but he was the least of my worries as the scarred man yelled, “Whoa,” and the horse I was riding came to an abrupt halt.

  “Thistles!” I screamed angrily as I hopped off the horse and started running through the woods.

  “You can’t run forever!” scarred man yelled.

  “I can run a lot longer than you!” I yelled back as I turned left and headed South parallel to the road as I tried to outrun them. Unfortunately the cloaked fencer had galloped ahead and swerved off the road into the forest ahead of me and leapt from his horse to pin me to the ground. I tried to get out from under him and stab him, but he was incredibly strong for such a thin man and held me down.

  “Get the medallion,” he said in a loud, deep voice.

  His voice seemed familiar, but I couldn’
t place it. I tried to look at his face, but the cloak hung down so I couldn’t see him. “Who are you?” I asked softly.

  “Just a mercenary doing his job,” he replied.

  “Please let me go. Please. I haven’t done anything wrong and I don’t deserve this.”

  “Most do not deserve what happens to them,” he said as he was handed the medallion by the scarred man. I thrashed against him, but scar man held me down as the fencer started wrapping the medallion’s strap around my wrist. He noticed the sapphire bracelet and took it off.

  “Leave it!” I yelled at him. “Do not take that from me!” I yelled as I tried to strike him and get out of the scarred man’s hold.

  He ignored me, put it in his coin pouch and then pressed the medallion against my wrist as he tied it. I screamed in anger, but the medallion forced me into unconsciousness again.

  I woke up three more times and they let me eat, drink and use the restroom, but then they were quick to use the medallion again to keep me sedated. I didn’t know if hours, days or weeks had passed since they’d taken me from Favian. All I knew was I planned to kill them all as soon as I could and the cloaked man was my first target since he had taken my bracelet from me.

  I tried to fight them every opportunity I had, but they worked together and I was no match against three skilled mercenaries. By the fourth time I woke up my fighting spirit had dwindled and I had started to give in to my fate. I felt like crying, but refused to do so in front of these men. I would hold my female emotions in until I was alone.

  The scenery changed from forest to mountains to valleys of lush green grass. We stopped at several inns, but our final stopping place was a giant castle owned by a human whose name they kept hidden from me. Apparently the human had been run out by rogue mercenaries years before and other mercenaries had come and kicked them out. Now it served as a safe house and my prison.

  “Finally we made it,” scar man said with relief. “Let’s get her down to the dungeons and shackled quickly.”

  “I hope there’s food. I’m starving,” the large man said.

  “You’re always hungry,” scar man said with disbelief.

  I had one last burst of spirit and I kicked scar man in the chest when he untied me from the horse and I tried to run, but the cloaked man grabbed me and foiled my escape once again.

  “I’m going to kill you,” I said to him seriously, “I don’t care if it’s three years or ten years from now, but I will find you and kill you.”

  He said nothing as usual and carried me into the castle and then down the stairs to the dungeon which was littered with bones. It hadn’t been used in years and I had to hope they put me in a cell with rusty chains that I could break. Sadly they searched through each until they found good chains and locked me up in them.

  “Food,” I whispered.

  “Fetch her food,” scar man said to the large man.

  “Okay,” he said giddily as he went off in search of the kitchen and storage.

  “Now if you are real nice we will keep the medallion off of you, but if you try to act up I’ll strap it to your arm again without a second thought,” scar man warned me.

  “Couldn’t you at least have had the decency to kill me instead of dragging me here to my death? As a fellow mercenary I would have given you that bit of respect,” I grumbled.

  “You are not a fellow mercenary. You are a girl playing games and attempting to ruin what is a glorious line of work,” he said angrily. “And if the fencer hadn’t grabbed you when you tried to run the first time, you would have had an arrow in your back.”

  “I am not ruining anything. I have performed well in various missions and proved myself worthy.”

  “You have only performed well because you had the elf at your side. Without him you are nothing.”

  It couldn’t be true, but part of me felt that he was right. With Favian at my side we had accomplished everything, but what if I didn’t have him? Could I perform just as well without him?

  “Here,” the large man said as he entered the dungeon and stepped inside my cell. “I had to go outside, but I found fresh apples and some dried meat.”

  “Thank you,” I said as he set them in my outstretched hands. I knew most would think I was crazy for being nice to them, but they were honestly just obeying orders on a job and I couldn’t fault them for that. I ate my food and then relaxed against the wall as the men went exploring. The cloaked man sat in a chair outside my cell and never moved and always kept his face hidden. “What are you?” I asked him. “Elf? Goblin? I know you aren’t human.”

  “He’s annoyingly quiet,” scar man said as he came back down into the dungeon. “Though I too am curious as to your origins.”

  The cloaked man remained quiet and still as though he couldn’t hear them.

  “Out with it, what are you?” the large man asked.

  “He is not of your concern,” a new voice said from somewhere in the dungeon. “I do not want my mercenaries squabbling about nonsense. Is the girl here?”

  “Yes, sir,” scar man said.

  “Then you are dismissed. Meet me in the dining room and I shall give you your payments.”

  I was going to be alone with this new man?! I didn’t want the cloaked man to go. I wanted him to stay so I could get my bracelet back. “Wait!” I said angrily, “The cloaked man took something of mine and I want it back!”

  “Come gentlemen, let’s eat and have you on your way back home,” the man said.

  I jerked against the chains and tried to get them free of the wall, but that seemed to upset the cloaked man who opened the cell, strapped the medallion to me and pushed me down against the wall as I passed out. “I hate you,” I whispered just before I went unconscious yet again.

  ~~~~

  CHAPTER TEN

  I woke up with a pounding headache and a grumbling stomach. “I am really tired of that damn medallion,” I said angrily.

  “If you cooperate then there will be no need for its use anymore,” said the voice of the man who had hired the mercenaries. I turned my head to the left and found him sitting inside the cell on a wooden chair. He was handsome for a man in his late forties, but his eyes were dark and filled with hatred. He was an assassin, no doubt about it, not a mercenary.

  “What do you want?” I asked as I sat up and arranged the chains attached to my wrists comfortably.

  “There are many things I want, Marin, but currently I have what I want. You,” he said with a smug smile.

  “Why? What do you want with me?” I asked as I looked around at the escape exits, which was sadly only the cell door behind his chair which was closed and probably locked.

  “Sweetheart who do you think you’re talking to? I’m not an idiotic bandit. I am a top rate mercenary.”

  “You mean assassin,” I corrected him.

  He laughed. “Touché. Yes, I am an assassin, but you need not fear me, yet.”

  “What is your name?”

  “Lawrence.”

  “Well Lawrence, if you’re going to kill me then just do it now,” I said bitterly. “I have no information I can give you that I will reveal in torture.”

  “You are so ignorant, which is understandable since you are so young.” He scooted forward and stared into my eyes. “You see my dear I can learn whatever I want by torturing you. Truly I could learn the very blueprint of the Elven kingdom if I wanted to, but that is not why I have you.”

  “Why then? Why did you go through all of this trouble to kidnap me?” I asked feeling slightly more fearful.

  “What do you remember about your life before the elves found you?” he asked me as he played with the medallion, turning it over and over again.

  “I remember I had a mother and father and we lived in a small town where I played with the headman’s son often. I remember the ogres attacked and I watched as my family was murdered. Then I remember being carried by Cesar as he took me to the Elven Kingdom. Why? What does any of this have to do with why you kidnapped me?”<
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  “You are the first girl to be allowed to attend the Academy, do you remember what you did to impress them enough to let you in?” he asked as he set the medallion on his lap and folded his arms across his chest, looking like he was chatting with his friend. He was dressed well and had a beautifully crafted pommel on his sword. None of it impressed me though.

  “I fought against some of the students and won,” I said nonchalantly, “I had been training privately with the male elves since I came to their realm. I was not suited for the arts of women. Really it wasn’t a fair battle since I’d been training with elves and the students I fought were human.”

  “You fought fifth years and won in sword and hand to hand combat, correct?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And you hold back when you fight the other students so you don’t make them feel bad that they were beat by a girl, right?”

  “Not all the time,” I said honestly I never held back against Favian, “Mainly when I fight against the first or second years,” I lied

  “Isn’t it true that you defeated over one hundred ogres by yourself at the Elven Kingdom?”

  “How did you know about that?” I asked in shock.

  “Is it also true that you have no recollection of the event?” he asked.

  This guy knew what too much. I shut my mouth and stared blankly at him, refusing to confirm or deny his question. Just who was he?

  “Playing mute will do you no good since I already know the answers,” he said in a cheery voice, “Who do you think ordered the ogres to attack the Elves? I did.”

  “What is that medallion?” I asked him to change the subject.

  “This is an ancient artifact that was found in a tomb of the god and goddess, one that had been unvisited in several decades.”

  “What does it say?”

  “It says, ‘sent to protect the innocent, but reverting to the dark, use this to steal their light’.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” I asked angrily, “I’m not using evilness. I’m a mercenary who protects everyone. I have never killed an innocent. I have never…”