by Gil Hough
CHAPTER 4
A FRESH START OR AN OLD PROBLEM
Raven Keep, unlike many fortifications, was not located on a high spot. In fact, it was perched half way down a gentle valley. Farther down the valley, only a few minutes’ ride away was Raven Town. Even the kindest of folk would admit the town was not much more than an inn, a stable, the homes of the people that supported the local farming community, and of course, Raven Keep.
Many of the keep employees and their family members lived in Raven Town. Luckily for Rodregas, there was a turn off almost immediately that let him circle around the edge of town and then start heading out of the valley. He went north toward the town of Cruet. As dusk was falling there was little traffic. Luckily this part of the road was well cleared and open and the horses were fresh so he made headway even as it became dark.
He pushed hard until he reached the fork that headed west up into the hills. It was seldom traveled by anyone except fur trappers. Rodregas pushed on through the night and into the sunrise of the next day until even the horse that had been Korin’s ride, which he had tied to the back of the wagon, seemed to be tired and ready for rest. He stopped and let the animals take a break next to a small creek.
Rodregas was not sure what would happen when the relief guards went to the tower and found the other guards tied up, apparently by Ravenhurr himself. His assistant had been killed in the Master’s own room. Rodregas reasoned they would find the keep partially pillaged as well. He knew Captain Poir would probably do one of two things: either come after him immediately or head to the Celestial Path Guild Hall in the capital.
If Captain Poir headed immediately for the Guild Hall to report the strange happening, it would give him more time to find a place to lie low. However, it would be better for him if Poir went looking for Rodregas himself instead, and spread his men all over trying to find him.
There were only about twenty Ravenhurr guardsmen. If they were sent in every possible direction, especially in pairs, there was a good chance that he would come across no more than two of them at a time. If they were still confused about whether he was or was not Ravenhurr, he would have an excellent chance of overcoming them. On the other hand, if the forces of the guild came after him… The guardsmen of the Immortalist guild were known as the Immortal Guards and their reputation as the premier fighters of the realm was seldom questioned. If they found out what had happened at Raven Keep there was not much chance for Rodregas’ survival.
After a simple meal, a good rub down for the horses and a few hours of rest, Rodregas got the wagon back on the road. If he could keep up this pace, up he could be well hidden before any forces could find him.
At the end of the second day, before he had come to his last turn off, he realized that he would have to get some sleep. He was feeling exhausted. His body might be surprisingly strong and quick but apparently it still needed to sleep on a regular basis.
As soon as the horses were fed, rubbed down, hobbled and left to graze, Rodregas unrolled Captain Poir’s mattress and collapsed into it with a welcome sigh. Sleep came to him almost instantly.
In Rodregas’ life he had experienced several very unpleasant ways of waking up, but this was the worst: a searing hot pain stabbed into his stomach! He reared up from his mat, but he felt hands holding him down onto the mattress. It was dark, but he could see in the dim light of the moon that someone was shoving a knife into his belly.
He knew that in the next couple of seconds, his actions would decide his fate. He was bleeding, so he would be losing strength as well. Whoever his assailants were, they had him trapped. Rodregas violently kicked out with one leg, but his stabbing attacker avoided the blow. He did let up on the knife for a second though. Instead of following up, Rodregas used the momentum of his kick to swing his body sideways.
Skilled, close up fighting was all about leverage. Instead of resisting the attacker’s strength Rodregas pushed down on the earth with his hands and lifted his body up and to the side, curling the leg he had kicked out underneath. He planted his foot under his body. His attackers seemed confused, grabbing him and trying to counter his change of position. Rodregas only had one leg under him, but he pushed off with it with all his strength and thrust himself up. It should have failed with all the men holding him down, but he now had celestial strength, and even with the knife wound he was strong.
His attackers backed off, confused by the fact that he had gone from being their prisoner to suddenly rising. The person pinning Rodregas’ left arm got too far away. This gave Rodregas the leverage he needed to pull the arm free. He punched his assailant hard in the face. The attacker flew back and Rodregas jumped sideways to get more space.
Rodregas rested his right hand on the knife blade still sticking out of his stomach. He was relieved to feel that it was not too deep. He had not taken off his armor. Although the knife had pierced the leather weave, the tip penetrated less than an inch.
Rodregas gritted his teeth and pulled the knife free. From the feel of its balance, it was not a real fighting weapon, but only a simple utility knife. Rather than try to use the unfamiliar weapon that was slick with his blood, he threw it into the dark. Quickly Rodregas remembered he was in a fight for his life.
He backed up from his confused opponents and gave himself more space. It was the middle of the night and there was only a sliver of moon, but he could still make out the forms of his attackers; there were four of them. No, a fifth stood away from the others and watched. The one who had stabbed him had the most aggressive posture: he looked tall and strong; Rodregas knew he had to take him out quickly so he moved in hard.
None of the attackers seemed to be wearing armor nor did they have any weapons, other than the largest man, who held what looked to be a garden rake. Rodregas charged, bulling his way into the lead attacker and knocking him down. The assailant fell, being surprised by Rodregas’ actions. Rodregas grabbed him by the hair with his left hand and hit him full in the nose with his right fist. The man crumbled.
Two others closed in with a group tackle. The one on the right came in too close, and Rodregas gave him a good hard jab with his elbow in the stomach. Rodregas heard his attacker’s entire breath exit at his blow and he followed him to the ground.
Rodregas followed up with a roundhouse kick and laid a good blow into the kidney area of the other man. Rodregas realized that his attackers were clearly not trained fighters. He felt himself relax as he realized that they posed no real danger to him now that he was on his feet and aware.
Just as Rodregas relaxed from the heart pounding life or death moment that had awoken him, the man holding the rake stepped forward. Rodregas realized that he was even taller and bigger than the first one. The attacker swung the rake right at him with all his weight behind it. Rodregas was too close to dodge, and the rake hit his wounded gut straight on with the full brunt of his attacker’s weight.
Rodregas swooned in pain as his fresh wound took the blunt of the blow. He had started to feel like he was faster and stronger than everyone else, and had not been expected the power of the blow. Rodregas went flying back down to the ground moaning. He rolled with it and came back up. Rodregas thought about the attacker and realized that here was one that would be a challenge.
Judging by the distance his attacker kept and how he was clearly keeping his center of gravity low and balanced, Rodregas knew this opponent was a challenge. He was not just bigger and stronger; clearly he knew how to fight. A good fighter, of course, knows you do not let an opponent recover.
His attacker came in hard and fast. Rodregas never saw the blow to his face, but luckily it was not a direct hit as Rodregas was already moving in close. Before the attacker could deliver another blow he was inside his opponents swing.
Getting close is not always the best strategy on a powerful larger opponent. His attacker’s large hand reached for his face. Rodregas turned into his weight and tried to use his momentum to drive the large body off balance. But the at
tacker was built like a bull: broad and full of muscle. Rodregas’ push against him had little effect.
Something felt odd about this last attacker; his body felt wrong, not human. Rodregas thought, “maybe an Orqui?” That would explain the muscular build, but that did not seem totally right either. The fighters separated. Sometimes there is a mutual agreement during a fight, especially when both are not sure who has the advantage.
The two of them started circling, and Rodregas tried to keep an eye out for the other men, but they seemed a little disoriented in the dark and appeared to be keeping their distance. Rodregas thought he saw other movement as well, farther out, but it was more animal-like. He was surprised any wild animals would be this close to the noise of a fight.
Rodregas waited for an opening, but it was hard to know exactly what was going on in the dark. He was bleeding from his belly wound, and decided that he could not wait. Rodregas decided to pull his short swords from the harness on his side and, at the same time, rush in on the big guy.
The large attacker was big and powerful, but his rake had shattered and Rodregas had his short swords on his harness. His attacker appeared to not have a back up weapon.
Then a voice rang out, “Stop, STOP, it is not him! It is not the Sorcerer Ravenhurr.” It was a woman’s voice.
Then a much deeper voice, one that seemed half growl, responded, “She is right. This is no sorcerer we fight.”
The voice was from his present combatant, the only one who had proven to be dangerous to him. “She is right,” Rodregas said, “I am not Ravenhurr.”
“We don’t know that,” challenged another voice from the dark. As he stepped forward he recognized the shape of the large aggressive man that Rodregas had first thought was the leader. “If he is not Gerald, then he must be Ravenhurr.”
There was a silent response to that statement, but finally one of the other men lit a torch and held it up. Rodregas quickly realized that in front of him were five of the eight prisoners who had been held in the dungeon.
“How did you track me here?” Rodregas asked. The one with the torch waved it over toward the lone female of the group, the half AElfin maiden from the tower.
“I am afraid you are not much of a woodsman, not that it is easy to hide wagon tracks,” she stated, her voice hinting disapproval at his skill. “Still, it was far too easy, even though my people do not count me as one of their better trackers.”
Rodregas thought of asking her if she was referring to her AElf or her Nymph heritage as her people, but decided it was best not to ask. He had to admit she had a very nice soft voice to go along with that killer body and exotic look.
There were three human men, all large and well built, the AElf maiden, and whatever the large man was. While the guy that he had tagged as the leader was nearly as tall and well built as Rodregas’ new body, the other two men were also very impressive. They were all men that Ravenhurr had been testing for use as replacement bodies. Rodregas’ present body had “won” as the most gifted human male that Ravenhurr could find.
Rodregas now remembered that the very large male was something else: half Orqui and half Infernal Daemon, one of those known as the Hellborn.
The Hellborn was actually a good head taller than even Rodregas, and even more broad and muscular. In fact, his chest was so broad that it looked almost deformed, and something bulged in the middle of both of his shoulders, though the cloak he wore blocked the details of the strange bulge. His face was blunt, except for incredibly sharp cheekbones, and his skin had a reddish brown hue. His head was crowned with a pair of horns like a goat’s. The horns were curled into his black bushy hair which was long, very thick, and very wild. It was sticking out in weird ways from his head.
All the guards had been confused as to why Ravenhurr had kept him, as it was against the Guild rules to use any of the Hellborn in the ceremony. The Immortalist was trying to become Celestial not a member of the Infernal realms. It was a very stringent rule that everyone knew not to break, not that any of the guards was going to mention it to the Guild.
“Who are you?” asked the man that Rodregas had tagged as ‘the leader.’
“I am not sure who I am,” Rodregas responded. “And I think I will keep any answers that I figure out to myself for now.”
“You are not Gerald though are you?” asked the AElf maiden.
“Not to ask a dumb question,” Rodregas asked in a curious tone “but who is Gerald?” Silence followed his query but finally he got an answer.
“He is the man that you appear to be, whose body you now… have,” responded the maiden.
“And what are you five named?” Rodregas asked. There was a pause at his question. He knew this was an important moment because once people say who they are they are much less likely to do violence. Rodregas did not understand the reason, but he knew that to be true.
“I am Imeralda,” said the AElf maiden.
Then came the Hellborn, “My name is Doi’vanaomeraldioan, but humans usually call me Doi’van,” he stated in a slow careful way in a very deep, deep voice.
The leader, after a pause, said, “I am Audrian of family Corin.” The other two men identified themselves as Brit and Geor. Geor, the one with the torch, was blond and like the other men, unusually good looking and well built. Brit said little and was of dark hair and light skin. Offhand, Rodregas thought he looked to have come from the northern Kingdoms.
“Gerald was a friend of ours, we went through a lot together in the Raven Keep dungeon,” spoke Audrian. “If you are neither him nor Ravenhurr, who are you? Only another Immortalist sorcerer should have been able to steal a body from Ravenhurr,” Audrian finished.
It was a good question and one Rodregas was asking himself. He wanted to spill the story, but he did not really trust these men. He had spent hard years on the road and knew not to trust people that you have just met. You especially do not trust people who try to kill you while you sleep.
And as long as people thought he might be Ravenhurr, maybe a little crazy from a spell gone wrong or something, the less likely the Guild of the Celestial Path would send the Immortal Guards against him.
So Rodregas said, “Let’s just say I am trying to figure out who I am. You can call me…,” he thought for a minute, making it obvious he was making up a fake name. He did not want to use his real name. He thought to himself, “Who do I want to be?”
“If I’m going to try to fight against the Immortalists, then some sort of name fit for a Celestial Paladin, or maybe one fit for an Infernal adversary was needed,” he thought with a smile. The only way he could have survived the ceremony would have been divine intervention, so he said the first thing that came to mind, “You can call me Sir Paladin, that will work for now,” he said it with a smile and a slight snicker at his own joke.
“Just what kind of Paladin would you be?” Imeralda asked him.
“Why, it should be obvious to you more than anyone,” Rodregas said with a slight bow to the beautiful half AElf. “The kind of heroic Paladin that rescues beautiful maidens in distress and frees’ innocent prisoners from the dungeons of evil sorcerers.”
Rodregas could not help but smile at his own line. He had always found that a good joke was like a good insult; the best always had enough truth in them to sting. Geor smiled, but the others seemed not to have appreciated his little joke.
The AElf maiden just looked at Rodregas quietly and thoughtfully. The Hellborn Orqui smiled, but with a look that said he did it because the other men smiled. Rodregas had a feeling that Doi’van lacked much of a sense of humor. The other three men simply shook their heads at his idiotic statement.
Not that his statement did not have a hint of truth to it. Rodregas was sure everyone here had lost a loved one, at some point, to an Immortalist. But, no Paladin of the Gods had ever come to their rescue. The truth was that even if one of the gods was backing Rodregas, it was more likely to be some god who was piss
ed off at the Immortalists; one looking for a chosen champion for their own selfish reasons. As a child Rodregas had dreamed of being such a champion, but Paladin’s were always chosen from the ranks of the Order of the Soaring Heavens, and while Rodregas had once served the Order as a squire he had never came close to achieving knighthood.
“All right, Sir Paladin, I have to admit I have talked to the Sorcerer Ravenhurr a few too many times, and you definitely don’t seem to be him. Nevertheless, we are taking your wagon and your supplies. We will let you go in peace in the morning,” said Audrian in that tone of voice that implied that he just expected people to follow his orders.
“Hand over the shorts swords,” Audrian continued, gesturing at the two blades that Rodregas had yet to pull. “We will return one in the morning.” Rodregas smiled and nodded and pulled the two swords out simultaneously. He was starting to think his new body was ambidextrous, equally comfortable with both hands. That could prove useful, but would require some additional training to take full advantage of.
“Actually, since I was kicking your ass barehanded, even with a knife in my belly, how about this: I won’t kill the bunch of you if you keep your distance and leave my camp at first light?” Rodregas’ tone was casual. “And, if you ask nicely, I will even leave you a few supplies to get to the nearest town if you promise not to tell anyone that you saw me. And you will promise that in the name of the All-Father, or you will die at my hand.” Rodregas did not smile now, nor did they.
“So you think you could kill all of us? Put your sword down now!” demanded Audrian.
Rodregas stepped forward and buried just the tip of his right-handed short sword into Audrian’s chest, hitting the ribs but not shoving the blade through. Audrian gasped in surprise and fell back.
“Swear you will keep my secret and you live, do not and you die. Choose!”
Audrian just stood there looking at him. Then he nodded and said, “In the name of the All-Father, Lord of Sky and Earth and Water, I swear that I will keep your secrets.”
Rodregas nodded and relaxed slightly; few would dare break a promise to the All-Father.
Rodregas decided that Brit and Geor were like pale shadows as they quickly followed suit. When he turned to the last two he saw that they were very interested in what he was saying.
“Where do you go, Sir Paladin?” He showed no sense of humor at Rodregas’ little joke about being a Paladin; Rodregas hoped Doi’van had not taken him literally. “As far as I can, is my main plan at the moment. Clearly the Guild of the Celestial Path is going to be looking for me. Let’s just say I don’t wish to be found anywhere right now.”
“And if they find you… and they will in time, will you then become a Vengeance Daemon?” asked the Hellborn.
Rodregas simply flourished his short swords and smiled and stated, “Let’s just say that it should be interesting.”
The Hellborn nodded very thoughtfully at Rodregas reply. The half AElf had followed the conversation between them with obvious interest, and quickly followed Doi’van’s’ lead in swearing the oath to the All-Father. But with the two of them the oath seemed different, more easily said and with no need for threats. Rodregas was not sure why, but he decided it was something to think about when he had more time.
The rest of the night passed quickly as Rodregas did his best to bandage his stomach wound. He did not think the knife had cut into anything too important; at least it was not bleeding too badly. He was surprised that he was not more tired; maybe his new body handled such things better and could make do with less sleep.
He was usually a light sleeper and was very surprised that they had been able to get the drop on him. His guess was that the AElf maiden had cast some sort of spell on him to mask their approach, and he kept a close eye on her to make sure she did not repeat the effort. Of course she was also very nice to look at, so he did not need much of an excuse to enjoy the view.
In the morning, he slowly pulled out some of the supplies and bundled them. He tried not to show how much he hurt. The wound might not kill him, but every movement hurt. He also handed Audrian a few of his coins. It wasn’t much, but it would get them started; they were lucky he was being so generous. Rodregas felt he owed them, and if he had been in their place he would have tried to kill Ravenhurr.
Clearly the three human men were eager to get started back to the main road. He noticed that the Hellborn Doi’van and Imeralda seemed to be hanging back. As the three men started to head down the road Doi’van walked up to Rodregas and stated,
“I would rather travel with you.” That was it; he just stood there like some huge tree after that simple statement.
Audrian seemed as surprised as he was. They both spoke at the same time, their thoughts strangely in agreement. “Are you crazy?” asked Audrian at the same time as Rodregas said, “That is crazy.”
“Look, the Guild will be after me,” Rodregas stated. “It will not be safe to travel in my company,” he added.
“I know,” stated the Hellborn in a voice that was so deep it was like stones grinding. “But still, I would travel with you.” Again he made the statement and showed no interest in explaining his action.
“Actually,” added Imeralda shaking her long curly hair behind her as if to clear the way for her decision, “I was thinking the same thing. I am not safe from the Guild anyhow. My natural magical talent is very strong, and until I am better skilled in it, I am very vulnerable,” she stated “And frankly, while Audrian, Brit and Geor are very brave to let me travel with them, I fear that I put their lives in danger. You, on the other hand, are in more danger than I am, and should be even more motivated to stay out of the sight of the Guild.” After saying the little speech that she had clearly been practicing in her head, she added, “Joining you makes sense.”
Rodregas hesitated, but she had an excellent point, and of course turning away such a beautiful young woman was a difficult thing to do. She did have a point and he did have a reasonably safe place to hide that he had been heading toward. So, even if he did head out on a raid of the Immortalists, she should be safe enough. The human men would be of least interest to the Guild and the easiest to blend in.
On the other hand, while the Hellborn were feared and disliked, the Immortalists should not be interested in Doi’van. He was also clearly a gifted warrior and between the two of them they would make a dangerous duo. However, the Hellborn were feared because of their daemonic natures; they had hungers and urges and famously bad tempers. Doi’van could be just as much of a danger as help. Rodregas had to admit though, that in the little time he had dealt with him, he kind of liked the big guy.
It looked like Audrian was going to argue, but Rodregas just cut him off and stated, “Very well, you two may travel with me, but let’s get on the road. Audrian, make sure you and the other two do not forget your oaths. I will expect no one to know that we head for the Northern Coast.”
Audrian looked like he was going to say something. Rodregas thought the loss of the Hellborn did not bother him, but the beautiful half AElfin maiden was another matter. However, her point about how she put them in danger clearly made him hesitate.
Rodregas just headed for the wagon and got it going. With a last confused look from Rodregas, Audrian and the other two headed back towards the nearest town.
The three talked little as they traveled. Rodregas set a hard pace and Imeralda sat in the back of the wagon. Doi’van weighed too much to ride in the overburdened wagon or to ride the horse, so he jogged next to the wagon. He had impressive endurance.
Right before dark Rodregas was watching carefully and found the faint signs of the rocky trail that he remembered. He turned the cart onto it, and after going down the path a bit he came across a good place to camp for the night. As Doi’van and Rodregas set up camp, Imeralda went back, doing her best to erase their tracks. After dinner they all took turns sleeping and keeping watch.
Rodregas took the fir
st watch and several times he thought he saw something. It was not the men they had left behind, but some animal that never came close. It seemed to be hanging on the edge of the camp.
“A wolf maybe?” Rodregas thought. It seemed to be watching the camp, but it was not doing anything aggressive.
He remembered thinking he had seen an animal during the fight. “Maybe we were in a wolf pack’s territory, and they were just making sure that we were not disturbing their young,” he thought. Happily, this night proved to be more restful and peaceful then the last.
