Freelance Heroics (30 page)

The old man shrugged. “You’d have to ask them. That sounds right to me, though.”

“Can you tell us more about this bandit?” asked Shava. “We heard that he only appeared in the area recently, but that’s it. Does he have other men or women with him? Adults, I mean. Where does he get his supplies? Does anyone know where he’s selling the ore, or where he learned the strategies we saw today? They were awfully sophisticated, for a bandit. Most wouldn’t even think of trying to suffocate us.”

“No idea, no idea . . . what was the third one?”

“Where he’s selling the ore.”

“And no idea to the last two!” said the old man brightly.

Shava looked to his wife for confirmation.

“Sorry, young lady. That’s all we know.” The old woman folded her hands on her lap. “I’m afraid we really don’t know much, save that you shouldn’t underestimate those children. They’ve weathered a lot for ones so young.”

“That reminds me,” said Mazik. “How old are they? I’ve never been good at guessing ages.”

“Oh? How old do you think I am?” asked the old woman.

“Not a day over thirty-nine,” Mazik lied, immediately and shamelessly. “And you, sir, I would guess are forty, maaaaybe forty-one.”

The husband and wife both laughed. “You really
are
bad!” said the old woman, though she was smiling.

When she had settled down, she rested her hands on her lap again. “Most of the children we know out there are twelve or thirteen. A few are older, a few younger.”

“Ah.” Mazik glowered. “That explains it.”

“Explains what?” said Raedren.

“They’re middle schoolers,” said Mazik darkly. “That explains why they’re so evil. Middle schoolers are the
worst
.”

While the others began to argue about what was the most evil age for kids, Raedren, Shava, and Uard stayed focused on the old couple. “Thank you for your help,” said Shava, bowing.

“Don’t mention it.” The old man looked away, then coughed. “There’s just one other thing.”

“Yes?” said Uard, politely inquiring.

The old man looked away again, and then back. “Well, I’d like to tell you to go easy on them, but I doubt they’ll go easy on you. This nosy old couple would be happier if those kids didn’t get hurt or die in those mines, though. Some of them still have family here, families that would like to see them back.” He looked down, sadly. “Not many of them, though.”

A lot of them must be orphans
, thought Raedren. He thought back to Ravelin Bilay, AKA the Blue Boar, a self-proclaimed superhero in Saffir who was orphaned as a child. Raedren couldn’t imagine what growing up without parents was like, much less if the children weren’t dealt cards as good as Ravelin Bilay’s. He was glad he never had to find out.

“Of course. We’ll do our best.” Shava bowed again. “Thank you sir, ser.”

“Well, we’ll leave you to your plans.” The old woman took her husband’s hand and pulled him to another table, where another couple their age sat. The husband gave a gruff goodbye and followed.

Raedren turned back to find Mazik’s gaze following the departing couple. He nodded to himself, then clenched his fists. “That seals it. We need to take these kids—er, this bandit down. Failure is not an option.”

“What seals it? And I don’t know. I still don’t like this,” said Gavi. “These kids took over those mines to improve their lives—probably,” she allowed. “And I still don’t think we should be fighting children.”

“I agree,” said Hectre.

“But you heard them.” Mazik gestured at the table the departed couple had sat at. “This Ungerr fellow, and whoever else he brought with him, could be doing who-knows-what to those kids. And even if he’s not, they still took over a mine that wasn’t theirs.” He crossed his arms. “Also, I don’t want to leave things as they are. Not after they whooped our asses. That would annoy me.”

“Which is the real reason,” said Gavi.

“Correct! Plus, I’d like to be able to afford our next few meals.”

Gavi scowled. “We’re fine for money right now, and you know it.”

“We won’t be for long, with that attitude.”

“Money aside,” interrupted Shava, “I agree with Mazik. We gave our word, so we need to finish the quest. Any problems with that? Hectre?”

“Er—” He hesitated. “No. That’s fine.”

Gavi shot him a betrayed look.

“Great. So let’s strategize.” Shava unhooked her armguards and laid them on the table. “Anyone have any ideas on how to improve our chances tomorrow?”

While the others bandied ideas back and forth, Raedren glanced at Uard. She had been silent for the past while, as she was wont to be. Raedren liked that, since he was the same. He just found it harder to build up the courage to ask what he still needed to ask.

“I have a message from Mazik,” said Gavi, right next to Raedren’s ear. He jumped. He found Gavi crouched next to his chair. She leaned around Raedren to speak to Uard. “Do you mind if I borrow him for a minute?”

“Of course.”

She turned to Hectre. “Can you two switch seats for a minute?”

“Of course, of course.” Hectre rose and Raedren slid over. Gavi beckoned him into a huddle.

“Here’s the message,” said Gavi. “Mazik says, and I quote: ‘Stop being such a wuss, you scaredy-cat, who is also a wuss.’” Gavi smiled wryly. “I think he’s telling you to get it over with and ask her.”

“That’s exactly what I was saying,” whispered Mazik. Raedren and Gavi looked up, and found him peering over Gavi’s shoulder.

“If you were just going to join the conversation, why was I relaying your message?”

“Because I thought it would have more impact if—”

Gavi clamped her hand over Mazik’s mouth and pushed him away. “Either way, you should ask her. It’s not like you’re asking anything rude. Or if you’d prefer, I can do it for you. I don’t mind.”

“No, that’s okay,” said Raedren quickly. “I’ll do it myself.”

Mazik pried Gavi’s hand away from his mouth. “Chop chop. We only joined them for this ‘easy’ quest so you’d have more time with her, and since they were going the same direction anyway. Please don’t squander our pain.”

“Gods forbid. I understand.”

Raedren glanced over at Uard, who was chatting with Hectre. He just needed to ask her, to find out whether he would have more time to get to know her. Knowing would be better than not knowing. He understood that. He just needed to ask, even if it brought an end to his current happiness.

Raedren swallowed.

He leaned around Hectre and waved at Uard. She tilted her head to the side. “Yes?”

“Er, um. Would you . . .” Suddenly, Raedren shot to his feet. “I’m going to get another drink. Would you like anything?”

He could hear Gavi and Mazik groan. He ignored them.

Uard placed a hand over the mouth of her mug. “No, thank you. I’m fine.”

“Right.” Raedren drained his beer. “I’ll be right back.”

“Wuss,” hissed Mazik. Raedren ignored him and headed for the bar. Before he got out of range, he heard Mazik behind him. “Okay, sorry about that. As I was saying, I have a plan. Here’s what I’m thinking . . .”

“Turns out, my plan was not a good one,” said Mazik.

“You think?” Gavi grabbed his shoulders, trying to pull him up. Her feet slipped, and she landed on her butt. “Come on. Use your legs.”

Mazik looked down into the pit he was dangling in. His feet were millimeters away from the sharpened stakes below, and the sides of the pit had been greased. “Can we start fighting back now? Ignoring these kids is not working. They’re
mean
.”

“No, we cannot. Now use your legs, dammit!” Gavi grit her teeth and pulled.

It was the following day, and the six adventurers were back in the mines. Mazik’s plan was simple: bring water and shields. If they couldn’t use lethal force against the New Lyfe Gang, they would have to weather their attacks until they found Ungerr. For this purpose, they had acquired three large shields, which Shava, Gavi, and Hectre had carried. The water was for putting out fires.

Now, Mazik was clinging to the side of a pit by his armpits. As it turned out, fire was not in the New Lyfe Gang’s battle plans for today. That was small relief for Mazik as he clutched the only ungreased rock within reach. Ahead was another barricade, this one a clanking monstrosity of metal weaponry fastened to a rickety chassis, and similarly covered in grease. Arrows and rocks filled the air from yet more murder holes, while archers overhead rained crude arrows onto them.

The room they were in was the largest they had found so far. It was an L-shaped chamber, tall enough not only for them to stand upright, but to also have several ledges along the right and back walls which were higher than even Raedren could reach. It was on these ledges where the tiny archers had crouched, firing their tiny bows. Now the archers—who couldn’t have been more than eleven years old each, Mazik guessed—were scampering down to the other side of the barricade. The murder holes drilled into every wall continued spewing projectiles.

“Come on, help me here,” said Gavi. Her pointed shield lay next to her, green barriers protecting her as she pulled at Mazik’s shoulders. Further ahead, Mazik could see a kneeling Raedren, his legs covered in the grease that was on everything. He was supporting a dazed Uard, his repeated shouts of “
Horvér!
” vouching for how busy he was.

Further still, Mazik could see Shava and Hectre, facing off against some of the kids from the previous day. These larger kids were pushing the clanking barricade forward with long pike shafts, while smaller kids grabbed the greased pikes and swords fixed to it, waggling and thrusting them at the adventurers. Shava kneeled in their way, her tall kite shield digging into the stone floor as she held the contraption at bay. Hectre stood next to her, his new, larger shield dropped in favor of his buckler and short club. Punctured water bags lay everywhere, mixing with the grease to make the red stone Mazik was clinging to even more slippery.

Mazik took a deep breath and willed more strength into his rattled muscles. Below him, sharpened sticks had been embedded at the bottom of the pit. The trap had been disguised with a rust-colored animal skin covered in gravel, which gave way when he stepped on it. He was just glad he had reacted quickly, with a burst of alteration that threw him against the side of the pit. He didn’t know if his weight was enough to make the sharpened wood pierce both his barriers and his boots, but he was glad he hadn’t needed to find out.

Mazik grunted, and with Gavi’s help, he pulled himself up. He had dropped his new club at the bottom of the pit, but he left it there. He crawled away from the edge and sucked in several grateful breaths. “Phew. That was close. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Mazik watched as the last of the tiny archers fled down a small tunnel ahead and to their right. The larger kids stopped struggling with Shava over the barricade and retreated as well.

“What now?” Hectre’s arm twitched, and a swirl of yellow-tinged winds swept around him, batting projectiles out of the air. He flicked his wrist, and more wind tore a pike off the barricade. It crashed against the wall sideways, eliciting high-pitched shrieks from those on the other side of the murder holes.

“We go after them, of course.” Mazik leaned over the pit and, with a flick of his own wrist, tore the gravel-covered animal skin off the spikes. Taking it in both hands, he carefully stomped over to the barricade and draped it over the grease-smeared monstrosity. Now that he could touch it without slipping and cutting himself, he shoved it out of the way.

“Can we even fit in there?” Hectre craned his neck, peering down the tunnel into which the children had fled.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” said Shava.

“I’ll make sure we do, even if I have to widen the damn thing myself.” Mazik growled and stalked over to the opening.

“See anything?” asked Gavi as she came to stand beside him. Shava was right behind.

“No. It’s too damn dark.” Mazik ducked into the tunnel, examining the walls. The other two followed, doing likewise. “Hold on. Let me get some light in—”

There was the patter of falling rocks behind them, and then a metal door slammed shut. Mazik whirled, blue light in his hand. “It was hidden in the ceiling again,” he said, recognizing the scratches on the upper half of the door, and the spot of light that was leaking out from beneath. “But I just checked there. What the hell?”

“So did I. It must have been hidden.” Gavi nudged some loose rocks with her boot. They weren’t there when they had passed that spot. That meant they were trapped, cut off from the rest of their team.

Shava was examining the walls, more closely this time. “I don’t see any holes this time.”

There was a rumble ahead. Mazik, Gavi, and Shava spun to face it. The two women stepped to the fore, both of them digging their shields into the ground and stabilizing themselves. Mazik remained standing, both hands raised, a blue barrier filling in the gap between their shields. The commotion grew louder.

“Oh, gods
dammit!
” said Mazik as a brown bear, of all things, rounded the corner. It roared as a spherical wooden cage crashed into Shava’s shield and split apart, spilling raw steak into her lap.

Daggers appeared in Mazik’s hands, and his lips curled in a delighted snarl. “Finally! I get to kill something.”

The following day, they went in even more heavily armed. Everyone had shields, and they were all carrying heavy blankets to put out fires or cover grease. They still had water, too—or rather, Raedren did. He carried it for all of them, in a metal barrel as big around as two of him put together, which they had pounded inward on one side to make it somewhat fit the contours of his back. Gavi, who still walked behind him when they were single file, helped him carry it when the tunnels were too short for him to stand up, which was pretty much all the time.

They were all wearing plate armor, too—on their chests, arms, and thighs. It was secondhand, excess they bought from the local smith, who sold it to them for cheap since they hadn’t needed it to be tempered against magickal attacks. The armor was sweltering, turning the formerly cool mines into something more akin to the summer air outside—but it would turn aside arrows, making it easier for their defensive magick to protect them. Mazik also had a new bearskin sash, which Gavi felt was a bit much, even if the meat they sold to the butcher and the skin they sold to the tanner had helped defray the cost of their new equipment.