The Tracker: Book 1 of the King's Hand Series

by B. A. Monaghan

  When they left the gate heading to Waterville, Shadow came out of the woods after they were about a half mile down the road. He was in all the glory of a Mountain Wolf. No illusion this time. They welcomed each other. Shadow liked the wyvern vambraces. He tried to bite through them and proclaimed them good enough to wear. He smiled, if a wolf can smile, and headed off into the woods. Greyson road up to Roland well after Shadow went into the woods.

  “Are you sure that animal isn’t going to attack us? I mean that was a Mountain Wolf. I didn’t think they could be made into pets?”

  “He isn’t a pet. He’s my brother. Believe me when I tell you nothing is going to get close to this caravan without Shadow knowing about it. He’s a level two in the Adventures Guild too. It wouldn’t be good if the guild found out he was attacking the caravan he was given the job to protect.”

  “A member of the guild? Who knew? Well I’ll leave the scouting to someone who must have an advantage on us humans.” Greyson road back to the caravan.

  It was a long boring trip that day. Shadow went and checked on the bandits. They were watching from a hill close to the camp site. They would know the caravan was coming and they would be trying to steal what they could. Shadow followed the bandits to the camp. The bandits were getting ready. Most of the bandits had knives. Three had bows but they weren’t very well built bows. Three had swords, eight had axe and two had pitchforks.

  Roland let Greyson know what was in the woods and that he and Shadow would be setting up some traps for the company tonight. Everyone was on edge. The bandits outnumbered the caravan but not by much. The wagon drivers wouldn’t fight. They always let the bandits take what they wanted. Generally, they left the drivers alone if they didn’t fight. So that left 7 guards including Shadow to fight the bandits.

  Roland put some spiked traps out. He placed a small amount of asp poison on the tips of the spikes. He set five traps out and he was confident five bandits would be down. This should demoralize the group. Sure enough all five traps worked. They always traveled up the same draw. They had a trail a blind man could travel on without getting lost. The side of the draw had a steep rock faces. They stopped about a half mile from the caravan and were waiting for dark. Roland went on the attack before it got dark.

  He shot the three archers first. The leader went down next. They finally realized their friends were dying. Mayhem was in the camp. Roland was camouflaged well above the rock wall. They were confused because they couldn’t see him. Those who had swords went down. Then the axe wielders started to fall. By the time the third axe man died they started running for the hills.

  Roland collected the swords, axes and bows. He could barely carry it all. They did have some coins on them but on much. The swords would be his best bet to resupply his silver he had spent in Alondale.

  Greyson was watching as he walked into camp. “We heard a lot of yelling in the woods a bit ago. It didn’t sound like a fight but you obviously won.”

  “You can’t fight what you can’t see. I was in a position they couldn’t see me. Sort of like shooting fish in a barrel.”

  “Normally the guards split whatever is taken off bandits. But seeing how we didn’t even see them we will let you have everything. You keep this up and the rest of the guards and I are going to appreciate you.”

  Unarmored humans with little experience weren’t too much of a challenge for Shadow and Roland. The issue he would have to keep in mind was how many could he take on without being overwhelmed? The other issue was what to do about magic beasts and mages? Could he shoot through good armor? His experiences were limited. He could see the smart thing to do would be to group with more experienced people. Someone who knew how to fight different types of beasts and the sort. So far the bandits he had seen didn’t impress him.

  The next night the caravan stopped and nothing unusual was in the area. They stopped along the river. This section of the river was slow and deep. Roland took the opportunity to wash off the dirt and grime from the road. Walking on a dirt road was a filthy job. He was glad he wasn’t behind the wagons.

  Greyson was sitting across the fire from Roland while he was contemplating what life would bring to him. “How in the world did you end up with a Mountain Wolf as a friend?”

  “Well he and I don’t have much use for orcs. They are green, ugly dangerous, and they steal from everyone. We sort of found each other killing the same orc and we made a good team together. We decided to stick with each other. Not much more to tell except we know we can depend on the other. Things don’t work if you can’t depend on the other.”

  “Surely there is more to the story than that?”

  “Not a lot. That pretty much covers everything. We do hunt well together though.”

  “I’ve seen that necklace you have on. How many kids your age have a set of Alpine Grizzly claws and teeth. You wouldn’t be wearing that if you didn’t make the kill.”

  “Well I am wearing this for Shadow and myself. We made the kill together.”

  “Greyson was apoplectic. Son you can’t give the minimum information in a story. You are supposed to give us the details. Make it sound tougher than it really was. That is what we do when we sit around the camp fire.”

  Roland had to think about that for a bit. “Oh, sorry about that. We didn’t talk a lot at home. That and I have no charisma. I’m sure no one at the camp has low of charisma as I do.”

  One of the guards laughed. “At least your honest about it. If you ever want to give us the whole story behind the wolf and the grizzly, I’ll be all ears.” The whole crew were giving their affirmations with their buddie’s remarks.

  The rest of the trip was uneventful. Shadow stayed in the surrounding trees. There were a few large cats and some lowland wolf pack got close. They smelled the Mountain Wolf and that was enough to keep the larger animals from wondering too close.

  The town of Waterville was surrounded by water on two sides of a triangle. The river Alondale from the Alondale Forest came in from the northeast and it met up with the Green River coming in from northwest. They met on the opposite side of Waterville and formed the Grand River heading south for a day and then turning east and flowing to the Great Ocean of the East.

  The main road from the north went through a 20-foot-tall wall. It was made out of quarried stone. The gates were made of thick timber. It would take a large battering ram to get through that door. The two roads coming from the southwest and southeast came in over bridges. The center span on the bridges could be dropped into the river. They had improved the defenses almost a century ago because of the great orc wars. The had almost been overrun by the orcs and changes were made to defend from almost any army.

  As they entered Waterville Roland cast an illusion on Shadow. He was able to enter in the gate without any problems at all. They headed straight for the Merchants Guild. The buildings in this town were almost entirely made out of wood. It was a bit amazing how just over 100 miles’ apart towns and cities could be completely different. Waterville was much bigger too and there were more homeless and vagrants. One of the vagrants was on an intercept course with Roland when Shadow got between them and let out a low growl. The man turned a bit pale and headed the other direction.

  The merchant’s guild had a large two story building. A large walled fence surrounded the back side which contained several warehouses. Each warehouse had a porch that allowed the wagons to be backup onto them and it made unloading the wagons easier. They had plenty of room for all eight wagons and it made securing them much easier.

  Roland pulled the knives, swords bows and axes out of the wagon along with his pack. He headed to the main office. Inside was a several clerks. Carter came in soon after. “Put all your items here on the counter Roland. I’ll write up a recommendation and Jaxon here will help evaluate the price for your weapons.”

  A young man a little older than Roland stopped his work in his ledger and began looking through the weapons. “None of these weapons are very good quality. You proba
bly could already see that though. The swords we can sell easily enough. The axes will have to be sold cheap. The rest will be even cheaper. I’ll give you 8 silvers for the lot.”

  “With that price you will triple your return. I’ll not take anything less than 20 and I’ll be living on the street while I’m here.”

  “20!!! Listen wild boy, we have a standard in this place. If you can’t provide better quality items, it’s not my fault. I’ll be generous and give you 10. More than that Carter would cut my pay in half.”

  “I’m in a bit of a hurry. If I lived here I would take the weapons and leave. The insults you put on these weapons is painful enough. You have me at an advantage. Since I’m in need of some funds I’ll let you have them for 15 silvers.”

  “Who is taking advantage of who? Carter here shows you some curtesy and you think the whole merchant guild will give you the same curtesy. I’ll have you know I will not be taken advantage of even though you have friends here in high places. My last offer is 12 silvers.”

  Roland smiled. He was getting better at negotiating but, he was sure he had been out maneuvered. “You’re taking the very food out of my mouth and Shadow here. We’ll take it out of necessity.” Both young men smiled shook hands and 12 silvers were handed over. Jaxon struggled with getting all the weapons in his arms and carried them out to the warehouse.

  Carter walked back over to the counter. “Here is your pay. I’ve written a recommendation for you and Shadow. You can give this to your next caravan you sign onto. This letter here is for your guild to let them know we appreciated what you did along with Shadow. If you’re ever in the area again we would always take you two on a guards. Thanks and have a great trip to the capitol.

  The city was busy and Roland wondered if it was always this busy. He had been warned by his parents that the bigger the city the more aware of your surroundings. Shadow really helped. He kept people from getting too close to Roland.

  The Adventures Guild House was near the docks on the southeast side of the city. This guild house had several more members present. They still had a bar and the guild house manager was behind it. “My name is Roland and this is Shadow. I’m here to pay our 20% for the caravan we were on. I was also given this letter to give to you.” Roland handed over 2 silvers.

  “My name is Owen. I run this guild house.” He took the letter and the silvers. “It says here your wolf is part of the guild. I’ve never heard of an animal being in the guild, and that dog is not a wolf.”

  Roland dropped the illusion on Shadow. “Well here is his medallion. You can see he is a level 2. Same as me.”

  Owen stepped back quickly as the illusion dropped. “He isn’t dangerous is he?”

  “No, but don’t irritate him by denying him his membership privileges.”

  “I wouldn’t think about it. Membership has its privileges. What else can I do for you?”

  “We would like to get a room and I’ll take a meal.”

  “That will be 10 coppers for the room and 8 coppers for the meal. The evening meal will be served in about an hour from now. We serve breakfast at sunrise and that goes for about 2 hours. You can pay for that if you want it in the morning when you get breakfast. Our job’s board is back behind that wall over there. Most people don’t realize where it’s at so I always tell everyone. Here is your key to your room.”

  Chapter 5

  Harpies

  Roland walked over to the job’s board. He was needing another caravan headed in the direction of the capitol. The only caravans were either going back to Alondale or heading east to the ocean and port towns. Well he had more than enough money to stay for a few days. If nothing turned up he could just head in that direction on his own. He would relax a bit first.

  The next morning as he was eating breakfast a man about 24 or 25 stepped up to his table. “Hello my name is Ryan. Would you mind me sitting down we might be able to help each other?”

  “Have a seat. My name is Roland and this here is Shadow. He is level two in the guild.”

  “Never heard of an animal being part of the guild before. The reason I’m here is that Owen said you might be able to help my group. We are needing a tracker and he said you were commended along with your wolf by the Merchant’s Guild. I have recruited 3 other people all level 3. I’m a caster, we have an archer, melee and a healer. The Mages Guild has sent out an open job to recover a staff. Some harpies attacked a caravan a month ago. They killed a mage and took his staff. The staff has a large sapphire on it and with the harpies’ electrical attacks it could be dangerous.”

  “We went into the woods to the southeast and we found signs of the harpies and we saw a few flying around. We haven’t been able to find where they are roosting at. Another group went out to find them but they haven’t been seen for over a week and the worst is expected. We were hoping you could help us track them down. My group is all level threes which would usually give each of us a bigger share than level twos but we have all agreed to even shares. So what do you think?”

  “My goal is to get to the capitol. So far there isn’t any caravans headed in that direction. How long do you think this will take us?”

  “Well that will depend on you really. The last time we went in search for them we were out for 10 days. If you found them quickly it could be as little as three days maybe four.”

  Roland looked at Shadow. Harpies are half bird half woman. They are ugly can cast magic. I know they lay eggs and they only have females. Well that is what I think I know. I could be wrong about that. The alchemist said that they had a gland at the bottom of the neck that produced their mana. They would pay for that gland. Shadow just gave an image of killing a bird.

  “We will accept your offer. Shadow is part of the group so he can share the experience. He doesn’t want a share but he would ask for the glands of the harpies that produce mana, if any are killed.”

  “That is acceptable. I don’t think anyone wants to cut up a harpy to get a mana gland. It’s all Shadows. What are your full names and I’ll add you to the group?”

  “My name is Roland Forestson and this is Shadow.”

  “Add Roland Forestson and Shadow.”

  Roland pulled up group screen.

  Party Panel - Waterville

  Ryan - Level 31

  Status: Healthy

  Jon - Level 28

  Status: Healthy

  Wyatt - Level 32

  Status: Healthy

  Landon - Level 29

  Status: Healthy

  Roland - Level 12

  Status: Healthy

  Shadow - Level 12

  Status: Healthy

  “How soon can you be ready?”

  “I need my bag and I’ll need to purchase some food. Then I’ll be ready.”

  “Good get you’re pack the rest are outside waiting. There is a general store just down the street on the way out of town.”

  Roland picked up his bag and headed out the door. Ryan was waiting on the street with three other people.

  “Roland, this is Jon our healer, Wyatt obviously an archer, the man with the shield is Landon our fighter. Everyone this is Roland our tracker and his wolf Shadow. If you look on the Party Panel you will see that Shadow is part of the guild. His share will be the mana glands found in the necks of the harpy. The reward for the return of the staff is 5 gold. We will divide it equally amongst the rest of us. Any questions? Ok we are on our way.”

  The group was strange. Ryan wore heavy brown pants and a blue shirt. He carried a staff with him. Roland thought mages wore robes. Misconception one. Jon had heavy chainmail and a mace that would scare any young child. He didn’t look like a healer. Misconception two. Wyatt had a short horn bow, leather armor and a sword at his hip. Not so much a misconception but why a short bow? Landon had scale armor. He had a kite shield and a short sword on one hip and a mace on the other. No misconception there. He was exactly like a warrior should look. Big, muscular and scary.

  When they got into the woods Roland
spoke to the group. “Shadow and I will head out in front. If you don’t see us don’t worry about it. If you need to change direction, I’ll come and get you. So don’t worry. If you don’t see me, it is safe in the direction your walking.”

  Roland cast his illusion on himself and headed out in front of the group. It wasn’t as simple as Roland thought it would be. He had to back track three time the first day. The main group would begin to circle back. Not one of them had a sense of direction. No wonder they couldn’t find the harpies. It was a miracle that found their way out of the forest.

  The harpies didn’t leave a trail like most animals. They did leave droppings though. Shadow followed the direction they saw a few of them flying. They also followed the direction where more dropping could be found. The first two days they had seen 3 sightings of the harpies.

  The third day they saw 5 harpies flying in multiple directions. They must be close. Roland stopped the main group and had them hide amongst some brambles. Shadow took the northeast and Roland took the southeast. After going a mile, they both turned east. They stayed parallel to one another. They could see the same harpy at the same time. They flew high most of the time but a few flew just above the tree line. Three miles away Roland saw the first nest. Well if you could call it a nest.

  Roland didn’t know what you called a bunch of harpies so he called it a flock. The nesting area was in an area about 100 yards in diameter. The nests hung below large branches. They were made up of plant matter and trash. The harpies themselves smelled horrible. (Why do all monsters smell bad?) They didn’t have much of a sense of smell or they would have found Shadow and Roland. They did have good eye sight.