Death Or Fortune (48 page)

     I drew my
sword as I walked up that hill towards the tower.  The grim shapes of
those men standing before me let me know what type of animals I was dealing
with.  As we came closer to the crest of the hill Windfall knocked an
arrow into his bow, Pare was nowhere to be seen.  Not that I was worried
about him, he was just being Pare.  I signaled to Windfall to head to my
right when we got to the bodies of the Arcadian troops.  He stopped just
short of them and went down to one knee.  Aiming at the men we saw from
between the bodies.  I moved around the grim line to the left and headed
straight towards the six men sitting around the small fire. I stood there and
waited for them to see me.  I knew it would only be so long.  One of
the men, a smaller man with a rat like face saw me as he had a mouth full of
some kind of meat.  He reached out with his elbow and poked the man next
to him, then with one long greasy finger pointed my way.  All the men
gathered around the fire turned their heads towards me.  The one the rat
faced man poked stood up, placing his hand on the pommel of his weapon.
'Hey
look boys, they sent an officer to find the missing scarecrows.'
This drew
a round of laughter from the men seated at the fire.  The only one who
didn’t laugh was the rat faced man.

     I could
taste my anger, filling up my mouth with its foul taste.  I wanted to say
a hundred different things but in the end all I said was, you men are under
arrest.
'Wait right there, I will go get the boss.
' The only one who
continued to watch me was the rat faced man.  He squatted there, rocking
back and forth on his haunches, mumbling something.  All the while never
taking his little rat eyes off of me.  Six more armed men came out of the
tower and none of them had weapons drawn, except for the seventh man.  His
sword was the first thing I saw, it was attached to his arm.  A metal cup
covered the end of his arm and was bolted to the bone just below the elbow.
 As he came into the fire light, it was his face that drew me in.  My
first thought was that this was some kind of strange dream and that there was
no way there could be two men in the world that ugly.  From the mangled
face to the short cut red hair, I could not believe I was seeing him.
'Well,
well, well. If this isn't my lucky day. Tell me pup, did ya bring yer little
tart with you. I am mighty hungry.'

     I had
never expected to see Norris again after the tournament in Eystlund.  He
held up his arm for me to see.
'Do ya like it pup, cleric of Tempest thought
it would be a real hoot to do this to me. Gave me his blessing and everything.
He told me he would make me better; make me a real servant of the god.  It
never did heal right, sometimes when I gut someone the blade will push against
the stump you gave me. It bloody hurts pup but I think this time. As I stick
this in yer gut, I won't mind so much. I rather think I will enjoy it a bit.
When I am done with you, I am gonna take myself up the road and have a little
bit of that tart you left home all alone.'
 He held up the blade to me
and turned around towards the men behind him.
'Hey boys, sit right there and
enjoy the show. When this is done we will all get a little bit of his tart.'
He turned back to me with a grin on his twisted and mangled face.
'Come on
pup, I've been waiting for this for two bloody years.'
The men behind him
were cheering for him as he was pumping his bladed arm into the air while
looking at them.  Odds are he never even saw what hit him, I don't even
know if he could hear the words that were spoken to him as the light went out
of his eyes.

     I stood
there and waited for him to come to me.  He never took another step in his
life.  I could hear the knife as it was cutting its path through the air.
Twisting and turning on its intended path it flew by me from out of the
darkness and hit its mark.  The handle of Pares dagger looked like it had
sprouted out of the neck of Norris as if it was just another growth on his
skin.  I could see him looking down at it as the blood began to pour down
his chest.  A small dark shape rushed past me, silent as he moved towards
his pray.  I saw Pare dodge under the flailing bladed arm just before he
planted the second knife in the center of his chest.  Norris then fell to
the ground, never to move again.  I looked down at my small friend, his
chest was heaving from the heavy breaths he was taking.  He pointed one
finger down at the dead man and with a smile on his face he said to him.
'I
told you so.
' He then reached down and pulled his blades from the body of
Norris, he turned his face towards me and said
'I'm sorry Darmot but no one
talks about my friends like that.'
I nodded towards my small friend and
smiled.  No one ever crosses Pare the Halfling, no one at all.

     I walked
forward towards the body of Norris to stand next to Pare.  I looked at the
gathered men who were looking at us in a stunned silence.  I said to them,
I am Lord Darmot Kromwell. You can surrender now and face trial for your crimes
or you can join him in the afterlife. I almost expected them to toss down their
weapons and give up.  I never in a hundred years would have expected them
to try to fight.  That is just what happened though.  Four of the men
came rushing forward with weapons drawn, I stepped in front of Pare to protect
him from the rush.  Holding up my shield I waited for them to come.
 While I expected Windfall to start shooting from my right, arrows also
started hitting them from my left side.  Where there shouldn't have been
anyone standing.  I yelled to Pare to check and see who was behind us as I
fought off the men in front of me. I cut two of them down by the time I saw the
figure in white running forward to join in the fight.
'Looks like Bryce and
Michaels followed us.
' Pare told me as I cut down a third.

     As the
bandits continued to file out of the tower, Michaels and I cut them down.
 Only one man did not put up a fight. The rat faced man still squatting
down next to the fire, rocking back and forth watched as we continued to fight.
 I kept expecting him to attack but he never moved. Other than the rat
faced man, the men who followed Norris fought us to their last breath.  I
never knew this until much later but it would seem the jail cells in Klassen
have a very bad reputation. The cells are underground and always damp.
 Combine that with the smell of fish constantly hanging in the air, it
makes for a rather unpleasant stay.  The men we fought that day would have
rather died than spend any time in those cells.  After the last man fell,
I told Pare to check out the tower. The rest of us gathered around the fire,
standing over the rat faced man.  I asked him who he was as he looked up
at me and tilted his head to the side as if he did not understand the question.
 I went down to one knee and asked him who he was again, looking at him.
'My
home, mine. Mean men give food. Give me drink. I share home. Mean men gone now,
my home, mine.'
The rat faced man sunk lower to the ground, putting his
chin between his knees, his eyes now locked on the fire.

     I assumed
that when Norris and his men took over the tower, they never knew about the
squatter.  There were three levels in the tower.  The first floor
held food stuffs, tools and weapons. The second level was filled wall to wall
with cots.  There was one large bed that I assumed belonged to Norris.
 The top level Pare found a pile of rags that the rat face man used for a
bed.  The rat faced man had been living in that old tower for only the
gods know how long, it was next to impossible to tell.  We found a chest
full of coins that was going back to Klassen with us.  I then found the
one thing I wanted, a shovel.  The four of us went about the grim task of
taking care of the bodies that were posted outside of the tower.  They
were good men who died in service to their country, they deserved a proper
burial.  Michaels saw to all of it once the holes were dug in the ground.
 The bodies of Norris and his men were all burned and they were still
burning when we were leaving the tower on our way back to Klassen.

     Once we
had our horses I told Pare and Windfall to start heading back.  I needed
to talk to Bryce and Michaels.  Once the two of them were gone I just
looked at the two men and waited.  I then asked why my orders were not
followed.  The two of them just looked at each other and then back to me.
'Well
sir, you just told us to make sure that the men were moving out on time to make
it to Rohloff.'
Bryce had a half assed grin on his face while he spoke.
'You
never said we had to go with them. We gathered the men together, told them your
orders and then came after you. They are good men and they will make it on
time. The ship should be loaded by the time we get there.'
I then looked at
Michaels and asked him what he had to say.
'I could not let you go off into
danger without me. You must reach the island or we are doomed to fail.'
I
asked him what in the hell he meant by that.
'I only know what the good god
has told me. If you are not with us when we land on the island, we will fail.'
I
tried to assure him that I wasn't that important.  Even today, I still
have no idea what he meant by that.

     With one
minor stop in Klassen to drop off the chest of coins with Sheriff Tomas we were
on our way to Rohloff.  I told Tomas that he shouldn't have any problems
with bandits in the future but he should still see to the man left in the
tower.  I didn’t like leaving him all alone out there. He needed
help.  Help that we couldn't give him at the time.  Michaels went
back to riding ahead of us with his banner held high.  We caught up with
Windfall and Pare about an hour outside of Rohloff, his horse had lost a shoe
and they were walking.  Windfall ended up riding double with Michaels and
I had Pare on my back once again.
'Did you yell at those two?
I am
sure they just wanted to help. Are they in trouble? Are you going to put
someone else in charge? I don't know if those guys would listen to me so you
better pick Windfall to be the leader.'
I turned about best I could to look
at the halfling asking him what made him say that.
'Well when you sent me
and Windfall away, he told me you were going to outline the chain of command to
them. To make sure that they understood who gave the orders. Speaking of which,
I don't see a chain on you? Where is it, can I see it?
' I just laughed at
my small friend and continued to ride.

     We arrived
in Rohloff and made our way to the docks.  The ship was loaded with the
supplies we had brought along, the men were waiting and outside of finding a
very irritated Ebbit waiting for us things went smooth.  When Windfall
asked him what was wrong he said
'I've got an army of angry ogres marching
through my head.'
I laughed and told him he shouldn't have had any of that
ale.
'Yer sticking me on a ship for three months, I needed that drink lad.'
We boarded the ship and set sail just after high noon.  The captain of the
ship was a man by the name of Giles. He had been the captain of the 'Chosen
One' for seven years.  Before we had been on the water an entire day he
asked me how much I valued Pare.  While most of us were just trying to get
settled into our small rooms aboard the ship, it seemed Pare took that time to
introduce himself to everyone on the ship.  He asked questions about every
aspect of the ship and life at sea.  From what I understand, he came close
to getting tossed overboard more than once.

     Outside of
a minor incident when passing through Toryth Vol the first month on the ship
was quiet.  Windfall and I spent a lot of time on the deck of the ship.
 He had brought with him two practice swords made from bamboo.  The
man is fast as a viper and strong as an ox, when he landed blows on me it was
something I regretted.  Still it was a good way to pass the time.
 From what I understand, some of the men took to betting on our fights.
 Not that they had anywhere to spend their coin where we were going.
 When I wasn't having the snot beating out of me by my old mentor, I took
the time to get to know the men who were going to be with Bryce.  One late
night while standing top side one of the men named Wayne came to me.  He
stood there silent, waiting for me to say something. When I asked him what it
was that he wanted, he just looked at me and said he wanted to tell me
something.  As I told him to go ahead, he stepped forward placing his
hands on the rail.

     'Things
were not going well for us.  The SOMA troops were hitting us hard and
fast.  Those devils from Katja lor can fight, I will give them that much.
 Even if they were fighting for the coin, they fought with a passion that
I can almost admire.  I was afraid that day, afraid we were going to lose.
 I knew there would be no pity from them.  They would have killed us
to a man if they were able.  I still don't know why we let so many of them
run. Anyway, I thought we were going to die.  Had things stayed the way
they did, we may have.  I remember watching you bring in your men.
 Charging down that hill, most of them didn't even have armor but they
were there. Fighting for their home with all that they had.  The sight of
you and your men coming to the aid of the king... It is something that has
always inspired me.  We did the impossible that day. Most of the men that
I served with that day talked about your unit. Full of farmers and drunks,
unfit to put on a uniform let alone pick up a weapon. We were all sure you were
just going to be run over. Honestly, most of us just hoped you slowed the enemy
down enough for us to hold the line. Yet you won and by joining with us, we
were able to rout the last of the SOMA troops. That is why I am here now. I
believe in you sir.
'

     I told him
he was giving me too much credit and that I had a lot of help that day. While
the grin was in my heart, I did not let it show on my face. I then told him
that if it wasn't for Pare, we would have lost that day.  That we very
well may have all died to a man. When he asked me what I meant I told him he
would have to find out for himself.  I encouraged him to talk to Pare
about what happened that day.  Pare loved telling the story of being a
dragon and each time he told it, it was just a little bit more fantastic than
the time before.  He had an odd look on his face as he walked away from me
that night but said he would seek Pare out.  It was a rather cruel trick
to play on the man but I knew Pare would love the attention.  Truth be
told, I was worried about the attention he was getting.  Pare and Miri
were never more than five feet apart, all of their time was spent together.
Touching hands when they thought no one could see them.  Looking back, I
was happy for my small friend.  I was happy that he found someone that he
could love.  If only I could have seen how wrong things were going to go.
 If only I could have prevented the pain he was going to feel.