The naked man looked undaunted as if he’d expected such an answer.
Chancee leaned across the table and whispered, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he does this kind of thing all the time.”
Emerald nodded her head in agreement but said nothing. The man intrigued her. Something about his demeanor seemed almost familiar.
“You’ll be paid soon enough. We’ll earn the money somehow. For instance, I notice you—”
The man’s reply was interrupted by the drunken soldiers standing nearby. One of the soldiers had walked near one of the women. The look on his face gave little doubt what he had on his mind.
As far as Emerald could tell, the soldier’s target was a broad-shouldered woman. Her dark skin gave away her origin as somewhere from one the southern regions. The dark woman was as well-muscled as her male companions.
“I’ll show you how to earn some money, sweetheart,” said the drunken soldier as he reached out and tried to grab the woman by the shoulder.
That’s when things started to happen.
* * *
While the situation was more than a little embarrassing, Richard had entered the tavern confident enough. ‘The One’ often punished him when he was stubborn by taking away some or all of his gear. Richard had to admit, as stubborn as he was, he’d been in similar situations in the past more often than he cared to admit. He wasn’t concerned. In fact, he’d noticed the group of horses outside before he’d entered the tavern. The horses’ well-kept saddles and gear denoted light-cavalry.
Richard hadn’t met a group of soldiers yet where a few of them didn’t need at least a little healing of old and improperly treated injuries. Normally, they were willing to pay good money to have gimp legs and poorly mended bones made good as new. During previous missions where he’d been without gear, he’d been able to buy a new kit in short order as soon as the word got out a healer was in town. Consequently, he wasn’t too concerned. Unfortunately, he wasn’t alone this time. Things were different. He was with a group of beautiful women who were as unclothed as he.
Richard’s first sign of trouble was a snide remark from one of the soldiers toward Tam. To make matters worse, the foolish soldier actually tried to lay a hand on his friend’s shoulder. Mentally kicking himself for not foreseeing trouble, Richard took a step toward the two hoping to intervene. He was too late.
Tam was an ex-mercenary. She wasn’t one to take unwanted touching lightly. If the soldier had approached Trinity or Telsa or even Tia, they would’ve handled it in such a way as to defuse the situation. However, the man had picked Tam. She reacted exactly the way her hard life had trained her; with quick and extreme violence.
Richard didn’t make it halfway to the pair before Tam grabbed the soldier’s offending hand in both of hers and jerked it away from her shoulder. With a half-spin and a downward movement, she twisted the soldier’s arm behind his back as she reversed directions upward. Richard heard a loud crack that was quickly drowned out by the soldier’s scream. Tam released the arm and spun again, bringing her elbow underneath the man’s jaw. Richard heard another crack. This time the soldier didn’t scream. He dropped unconscious to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
The soldier’s companion drew a short sword and stepped forward with murder in his eyes. As he started to pass Telsa on his way toward Tam, Telsa bent forward and did a mule kick straight into the soldier’s groin. The man dropped his sword and bent over groaning. Telsa made a low sweep with her right leg and knocked the soldier’s feet out from under him. In the blink of an eye, she was on top of the man, holding his own sword at his throat while practically daring him to move. The downed soldier continued to groan but was somehow able to stay relatively still.
The remaining eight soldiers rose from their table as a group while drawing their swords. Two of the more sober soldiers raised light crossbows. They hastily pulled back the strings and inserted metal bolts.
Jerad stepped forward and raised a hand in a sweeping motion. As his hands moved, two tables near the soldiers slid forward and slammed into some of their legs, pushing them back against their companions.
The two crossbowmen released their quarrels in Jerad’s direction. Richard sensed a line of Power from Myers reach out and wrap around the deadly bolts. They froze in mid-air.
This has got to stop before it gets out of hand, Richard thought.
Richard stepped between the two groups. He wasn’t worried about the outcome. Six wizard scouts against ten soldiers was no contest. The soldiers in this land weren’t their enemies. He wanted to keep it that way. In point of fact, for all he knew, these soldiers might be future allies. This current fight was probably not going to help their situation; especially if one or more of the soldiers got killed.
“That’s enough!” Richard said as he held his hands up between the two groups. Richard looked at one of the soldiers who had the appearance of an officer. “This will accomplish nothing. Have your men stand down, and we’ll do the same.” When the officer hesitated, Richard added, “You’re outmatched. We’ve got abilities you can’t begin to imagine.”
The officer glanced nervously at the two crossbow bolts still hovering in the air. However, he didn’t lower his sword.
“What do you expect us to do?” the officer asked. “Stand around while one of our own chokes on his own blood. The king would have our hide and hang us for cowardice. I’d just as soon die fighting, thank you very much.”
Richard sympathized with the officer’s dilemma. The soldiers were caught between a rock and a hard place. He sensed no Power reserve from any of them. None of them were mages, and they had no magic weapons of any kind.
Jerad stepped forward. “We’re soldiers too. We can respect someone who won’t leave one of their own without a fight.” Jerad turned and looked at Richard. “Can you heal him?”
He knows darn well I can, Richard thought. He’s asking will I.
With a sigh, Richard knelt down beside the soldier whose jaw Tam had broken. The man was coughing up blood as he struggled to breathe.
“Geez, Tam. Did you have to break bones? Now I’ve got to clean up your mess.”
Tam didn’t look too apologetic. “Yeah, well, the life of an emp-healer sucks. I guess you should’ve picked a different career track.”
The soldier coughed violently as he grabbed at his throat. Richard sensed blood pouring into the man’s windpipe. Wrapping the soldier with Power from his healing reserve, Richard compared the man’s injured body with how it should be. He pulled the difference into himself. Richard’s arm jerked and gave a twist upward until his bone cracked. He felt his Power twist his jaw until it snapped as well. A sliver of bone tore into an artery. Blood poured into his mouth until he started coughing so violently he couldn’t even scream to relieve the pain. As soon as the man’s injuries were completely replicated on his body, Richard sensed his Power heal the man.
Almost immediately, the soldier stopped coughing.
After what seemed an eternity in pain and struggling to breathe, the soldier was completely healed. Richard felt his Power healing his own injuries. Within seconds, he felt his arm and jaw heal. Then the blood flow ceased, and he stopped coughing.
By the time Richard became fully aware of his surroundings again, the situation had calmed down immensely. Although the soldiers hadn’t put their weapons away, they were no longer raised. Telsa had released the soldier she’d pinned and was handing him back his sword. The man said nothing as he reached down and helped the soldier Richard healed to his feet. They both rejoined their companions.
In an act of showmanship Richard wouldn’t have thought to try, Myers walked over and plucked the two crossbow bolts out of the air. As he did so, Richard sensed the line of Power his brother was using to levitate the bolts disappear. Moving toward the group of soldiers, Myers held out the two metal bolts in the direction of the officer.
“I believe these are yours.”
The officer hesitated, then sheathed his sword an
d accepted the crossbow quarrels from Myers. He looked at the wizard scout and gave a wry smile, saying, “Yes, they are. This keeps me from having to fill out paperwork to explain why I need replacements.”
At the officer’s words, Myers did something unexpected.
Is he smiling? Richard wondered. I didn’t think he knew how.
The officer nodded his head and gave a friendly smile back. He turned to his men. “Show’s over, boys. Put your weapons away and get back to drinking. It’s liable to be a long campaign. You might not get another drink for months.”
Some of the soldiers remained standing with their swords drawn a few seconds longer than their companions. Once their friends began gulping down tankards of beer again, they sat down and joined them. Soon, only the officer and the soldier Richard had healed were left standing.
The previously injured soldier took a step toward Tam. She didn’t move, but Richard sensed her muscles tighten in preparation for an attack.
“Sorry,” apologized the soldier. “Sometimes I let my drink go to my head. I don’t normally act like that.”
Trinity had moved beside Richard. She leaned toward his ear and whispered, “He seems to have sobered up rather quickly.”
Richard whispered back out the side of his mouth, “Yeah. When I heal, I heal everything. I don’t know how to pick and choose. My Power saw the alcohol as a poison. Consequently, it removed the alcohol from his body.”
“And you too,” said the soldier as he nodded his head at Richard. “Thanks.” The soldier appeared to probe the inside of his cheek with his tongue. “Even the two teeth I lost in a fight last summer are back. My knee doesn’t hurt either. It’s been years since I could say that.” The man looked down at his boots and scooted some loose sand into a space between the floorboards. “Uh, thanks again.”
“I’m a healer,” Richard said. “It’s what I do.” That wasn’t exactly the truth, but he had discovered long ago people tended to see healers in a different light than they did other strangers.
The officer nodded his head again and turned to rejoin his men. He stopped and looked back at Jerad. “I guess this little incident is over…for now. I’d recommend you get some clothes on your people. Otherwise, your womenfolk are just going to get you in trouble.”
Tam stiffened. “Well, if someone tries to make trouble—”
“Tam,” said Jerad. “Please. Let me handle this.” Looking back at the officer, Jerad gave a shrug. “We’d like nothing better. Unfortunately, we don’t have any clothes to spare. We haven’t got any credits to buy anything either.”
Jerad gestured toward Richard. “I don’t suppose any of your men might be willing to pay to have some old wounds healed. Rick here’s pretty good at it.”
He’s being awfully generous with my emp-healing ability. Even though healing the soldiers for money was his original plan, it irked Richard to have it suggested by someone else. Before he could voice his opinion of Jerad’s plan, the approach of a new player in the drama caught his attention.
A middle-aged dwarf who’d been sitting at a table near the common room’s fireplace walked over to Jerad. She was tall for a dwarf; just a little smaller than Telsa. She was dressed in a leather jerkin with a long dagger hanging from the left side of her waist belt. Richard sensed magic coming from the dagger. Strong magic.
“Excuse, me,” said the dwarf. “Don’t mean to stick my nose where it might not be wanted, but my friend and I might be able to help.” She gestured to a tall, blonde haired woman standing a few steps behind her.
Like the dwarf, the woman wore a long dagger on her belt. Unlike the dwarf, the woman’s dagger was not magic.
Jerad glanced back at Richard as if checking to see if he wanted to take charge. Richard gave a slight back and forth motion with his head. Given the instructions by ‘the One,’ he’d already planned on seeking out the dwarf as soon he’d noticed her in the tavern. But words weren’t his best weapon. He had no doubt Jerad could handle any delicate negotiations a lot better than he.
Jerad looked back at the dwarf and smiled. “Any help would be appreciated. As you may have noticed, we came slightly…how shall I put it…ill-prepared.”
The dwarf smiled ever so slightly.
Richard thought her eyes even twinkled for a moment. He had the fleeting impression of a cheerful dwarf who’d been forced by circumstances to be hard in a cruel world. Then the cheerfulness was gone, and only the hardened outer shell remained.
“I suppose that’s one way to put it,” said the dwarf, “but perhaps we can help.”
“Any help would be greatly appreciated,” said Jerad. “What kind of help are you offering?”
“Well, first off, let me introduce ourselves. I’m Emerald, and this is Chancee.”
Jerad made a quick introduction of the other wizard scouts, Matthew, and Tia.
Tam took advantage of the awkward silence after the introductions. “Well, it’s all well and good for all of us to be so polite and everything. But I’m getting tired of being stared at. Plus, I’m cold.”
Chancee said, “Now there’s a woman of my own liking; blunt and to the point.” Smiling, she pointed at Tam and Trinity. “I can’t help your two friends since they’re shorter than me, but I’ve got some extra clothes upstairs that might fit the two of you. You’re welcome to them if you’d like.”
Without waiting for Jerad or anyone else to approve, Tam said, “I’d definitely like. Come on, Trinity.”
Both Tam and Trinity followed Chancee to the stairs. Before starting her climb, Tam turned back with a big grin. “Sorry, Telsa. Be sure and keep the nice men in the corner entertained. Maybe you can do a dance for them or something.”
Telsa lifted her right fist and raised her middle finger in a very unladylike gesture. Tam dashed up the stairs laughing. Richard heard Trinity give a muffled laugh as well.
“Don’t worry, ah…Telsa, was it?” said Emerald. “You’re not much taller than me. Some of my clothes might be a little baggy on you, but they should do you better than the nothing you’ve got on now.”
Telsa nodded gratefully. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“What about me?” asked Tia. “Even baggy clothes sound good considering the situation.”
The dwarf laughed. “Good point. As it so happens, I do believe I can scrounge something up for you as well.”
Before Emerald left with Telsa and Tia, she turned to Jerad. “Sorry. You and your men are on your own.”
Jerad shrugged and smiled. “Aren’t we always?”
The dwarf smiled back before growing serious. “I’d like to speak to you when I return. I think I was sent here to find you.”
Jerad glanced at Richard with a questioning look.
Richard shrugged his shoulders. Should we keep our mission secret, or lay all our cards on the table? Finally, his marine training took over. He decided a charge straight down the middle was as good a solution as any. I hate subterfuge anyway.
“As it so happens,” Richard told Emerald. “I believe we were sent here to find you as well. May I ask who sent you?”
The dwarf turned to look at Richard.
He had the impression she wasn’t surprised to hear him take charge of the conversation.
“Who sent us?” said the dwarf. “The Oracle sent us. Ever hear of him?”
Chapter 18 – Orders from the Past
______________________
Six hours passed without the return of the wizard scouts. Sergeant Ron pounded the top of the galley’s table. “I want some answers. I have ten battle computers on board. That’s more processing power than a fleet of dreadnaughts. Yet you have the audacity to tell me that none of you know what’s going on?”
After the initial confusion of the six wizard scouts and the teenagers disappearing, life onboard the Defiant returned to normal. As the hours passed, Sergeant Ron became increasingly worried. He finally called another impromptu meeting with Terrie, Stella, Charlie, Magnus, Comstar, and Felspar along with
all of the battle computers. So far, the meeting only produced more questions than answers.
“Actually,” said Margery over the galley’s com-link, “Danny and I aren’t technically battle computers anymore. We’re more like—”
“Don’t give me any of your lip, Margery,” Sergeant Ron said. “My grandson and Tia are missing. Maybe the wizard scouts can take care of themselves, but don’t waste your time trying to convince me the kids aren’t in any danger.”
Terrie removed his battle helmet and placed it next to the line of other battle computers. “I’ve got a couple of questions for all of you battle computers. That includes Danny and Margery as well, so listen up. Do any of you have information about the disappearance of the kids and the wizard scouts you aren’t telling us? As a former wizard scout of the Empire, I’m ordering you to tell us if you do.”
The battle computers remained silent.
Pointing at his own helmet, Terrie said, “Taylor, I haven’t got any command authority over the others, but we’re linked. We both share a part of my mind. I’m asking you point blank, do you know where the other wizard scouts have been sent?”
“I’m sorry, Terrie,” said Taylor over his helmet’s external speakers. “I’ve scanned my databanks 247 times. They contain no information pertaining to the disappearance of the wizard scouts. I’ve also requested the information from the tele-network, but I’ve received no reply.”
“So no one knows anything?” asked Terrie. “Now isn’t that just a little too convenient? For some reason, I don’t believe it, so one of you battle computers had better fess up.”
A voice came from a small box at the end of the table. It was the box Gaston Myers had placed on the table before the scouts were teleported out. The voice belonged to Danny, the former battle computer of Wizard Scout Janice Deluth.
“Uh, I may have some information of interest, wizard scout.”
Sergeant Ron thought the ex-battle computer sounded unsure of himself.
Margery’s voice came over the com. “I calculate a fifty-seven percent probability this isn’t the time to discuss the information in question.”
Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Page 18
