Preserving Hope (11 page)

Their nervous laughter quickly turned to the evil cackle of men ready to perpetrate a crime. Will could feel their greed and anger, and sense their glee at finding an unarmed man to provide them an even greater haul of treasure without needing to work, for they recognized Will as one of the master Traders who had profited so greatly throughout the day. The three men drew their swords and advanced on Will.

Will sighed. “This happens to me all the time. Three guys with swords attack me when I’m unarmed. Is there no honor among you thieves?”

The man who’d joined the two who had jumped the local residents cackled. “Cut the fancy talk and hand over your gold.” He swiped his blade at the empty air in front of him, and the sword created a swishing sound meant to intimidate Will into surrender.

Will considered the demand, then shrugged. “No, I think I’ll hang on to what I have. And the three of you can return what you stole.”

The thieves looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then they advanced on Will, blades at the ready. “Hand it over, now!” The leader of the trio seemed to prefer the option where Will refused again, so that they could rough him up as they’d done to the others. Will guessed this without even needing his telepathic or empathic skills. Not wanting to disappoint, he complied with the unspoken wish. “I rather like my coins, so I’ll just keep them.”

The leader of the thieves laughed. “I’m not giving you a choice.” The three thieves pounced on Will, swords slashing at the man.

Their swords slashed through empty air, each man striking one of his companions. They were in shock, partly due to the savage wounds the blades had inflicted, but partly because they had no idea what had happened to their target, a man who just a moment earlier had been surrounded without means of escape by their tightening circle.

“You gentlemen okay?” Will called from behind them. “I hear there are some criminals on the loose. You should find shelter before you get hurt.”

“How… how did you get over there?” the leader spluttered. “We had you surrounded… and… you can’t be
there
, because you were
right here
!”

Will frowned. “I’m not certain what you mean, sir. I’m standing here and asking if you and your companions are well. Oh, dear.” Will saw the blood staining the men’s clothing. “It seems the criminals have found and attacked you. Did they take your money?”

“No,” the leader replied. “They—” He slapped at his pockets. “Hey, where did the money go? I just had it here in my pocket!”

“Yeah!” one of the others snapped. “The loot I took from that guy is gone now. Where’d it go?”

“Don’t look at me!” the third growled. “My money is gone too!”

Will arched an eyebrow. “You’re all injured and you’ve all been relieved of your coins. It sounds as if you’ve been robbed and hit on the head. Let’s get you over to the Dented Sayler and see if we can’t stop that bleeding.”

The three thieves stared at Will. Was it possible they’d imagined him earlier? Had they actually been robbed and not realized it? The leader of the trio, the man who had feigned being an incompetent merchant, glanced at Will, glanced back at his companions, and shrugged. He walked after Will, and the other two followed close behind.

They arrived at the Dented Sayler and entered the building. Nicholas breathed an audible sigh of relief at seeing Will unharmed, but looked anxious as the three strange, bleeding men entered his inn. But he moved to fetch more cloths to use to cover the cuts and gashes. The thieves sat on chairs around a table, looking dazed, while the two men they’d robbed earlier look at the trio with great apprehension. Finally, one of the victims swallowed and addressed the thieves. “You… you’re the ones who robbed us earlier. Why are you here in this inn?”

The leader looked at him, dazed. “Did we, now?”

The victims looked at each other, and then at Will. “What did you do to them?”

Will looked confused. “I didn’t do anything. I went to see if anyone else had been hurt, and found these men several streets over, injured, and complaining of missing coins. Since I knew Mr. Nicholas was already caring for victims, I thought I’d bring them back here as well. I don’t think there are any more injured people out and about tonight, though.”

Nicholas walked in, and nodded. “That’s good, Mr. Will.” He looked ready to add something else, but seemed to think better of it. Will pulled another gold coin from his pocket and handed it to the man. “You’ve been serving these men, though they aren’t even guests of your inn, giving up sleep to do so. We’ve done well this trip, and I’d like to use some of my proceeds to thank you for taking care of them. You’re a good man, Nicholas.” With that, Will began to walk away.

He paused, as if remembering something. “I almost forgot,” he said. Will reached into another pocket and pulled out two large coin purses. “I found these while I was walking, and thought they might be yours.” He tossed the coin purses to the two victims, then left the room.

Will didn’t go far, however. He paused, trying to read the thoughts of the thieves. It seemed unlikely that three men could be responsible for the wave of crime in the city brought on by outsiders; someone would have recognized a pattern by now. Even if they rotated the three men between the role of the trader and the role of cargo, they’d eventually have to repeat the pattern and risk exposure and the end of their scheme. That could mean he was seeing one of two possible scenarios. The first possibility was that the men would only visit each town and city three times, rotating the “visible” person each trip, before leaving and moving on to the next town. If that were the case, then there could be other towns and cities they’d robbed, and more that they planned to go to next. The other possibility was that they were part of a larger group that rotated teams of men among towns and cities. With that type of organization, the criminals could attack multiple cities at once without allowing time for warnings to to travel to other towns and cities they’d eventually target.

He needed to know which scenario was occurring, and the only way to be sure was to invade the thoughts of the three criminals. He reached out with his Energy into the minds of the three men, sensing primarily confusion. They were doubting whether he’d ever been in their clutches at all, for surely it was impossible for a man to move so quickly. The other thoughts were filled with worry, concern over their fate should they return to Richard empty-handed. The last group to do so had… well, they hadn’t gone on any further treasure hunts. Will scoffed internally. People could use words to make anything sound noble; assault and robbery simply didn’t have the same air of nobility as “treasure hunt.” He’d learned that this was a larger scheme, though, orchestrated by a man named Richard.

He needed to know where to find this man, the general of an army of thieves. This crime wave needed to be stopped at the source. Stopping three of his men would simply tell Richard that he needed to send other men to Richland, or modify his scheme. No, Will decided, he could do this, using his abilities to prevent the robbery of good and decent people like those here in Richland.

Will walked back into the common room, feigning a yawn. Nicholas glanced at him. “Having trouble sleeping?”

Will nodded. “A bit too much exercise so late at night, and apparently it’s not helping me.”

Nicholas nodded at him. “I’ll fetch you some wine; that should help.”

“I’d be most grateful.” Nicholas hustled off.

Will glanced at the two men victimized by the thieves. “How long have you lived here?”

“All my life,” one replied. The other nodded in agreement.

Will glanced at the thieves. “And how long have the three of you lived here?”

“We are not from here,” one replied. “We’re from—”

“Shut it,” the leader snapped. He faced Will. “We’re simply weary travelers looking to trade honestly for a few coins and then will be on our way.”

Will nodded. “I know the feeling.”

He glanced up at Nicholas as the innkeeper hustled back into the room with his wine. Will sipped it; it was watered down, but he had no actual need for the alcohol. His conversation had gotten the reaction he’d wanted. The men hadn’t named the location of their headquarters, but he had gotten something even more valuable.

They’d visualized their homes when Will had asked about them.

Will chatted briefly with the five men, and offered to walk the two injured men back to their homes. “You gentlemen enjoy a good night’s sleep,” Will said to the thieves, and beckoned for Nicholas to follow him for a private conversation before departing.

“You’ll want to alert the sheriff come daylight; those men
are
responsible for the robbery of the two men I’m walking home. I don’t think they’ll cause any more harm, though, so you should get some rest until morning.”

Nicholas glanced at the thieves, a nervous look covering his face. “I’m uncomfortable leaving them unguarded.”

Will smiled. “Trust me, they’re not going anywhere.” As he spoke, he sent a small portion of his nanos to the three men, forming them into encasing shells, and ordered the nanos to prevent the men from standing up.

Nicholas tried to smile. “If you say so.”

Will nodded, and headed out. He walked both men back to their homes, figuring that anyone watching would think the two had been out late at the pub and needed an extra hand to make it home upright. After ensuring the second man had gotten safely inside his own small home, Will walked toward the shadows and the deepest darkness he could find in the town. After forming a thick, invisible exoskeleton of all his remaining nanos, he took a deep breath, pictured the scene the thieves had projected of their home, and teleported there.

It was a simple camp for wandering vagrants, comprised of a series of tents, and dotted with small fires built for warmth and cooking. The fires provided the added benefit of frightening away nighttime predators. Sentries armed with large, gleaming swords patrolled the perimeter for any who might look to relieve the gang of their ill-gotten gains. None of these precautions were sufficient to impede Will. He glanced around the camp, identified the largest tent, and walked toward it.

A shout went up; he’d been spotted. Men spilled out of tents, drowsy from a night of drinking, most still in nightclothes. All quickly mobilized, and Will found himself surrounded by armed men who slowed his progress. “I come bearing a message for the one called Richard,” he said, his voice carrying throughout the throng of men, some thirty in number.

“I think he has a message for you as well,” one man shouted, drawing his sword across his neck, simulating a throat slash or beheading. The crowd roared with laughter.

“I’d be delighted to hear it,” Will said. “But I must deliver my message in person.”

“We should give the boss the chance to kill this guy!” another man shouted. The crowd began to chant Richard’s name. After a few moments, the tent flaps opened, and a tall man with long brown hair emerged. Will had to admit that the man looked the part of a leader, and Richard exuded a charisma that, while not driven by Energy, was still quite powerful.

“I see we have a guest,” Richard said. The men laughed. “You’ve come at a rather inopportune time, I’m afraid. We can certainly offer you no hospitality at this late hour.” He pulled a huge broadsword out of the sheath on his back. “But we can certainly offer you a place to… sleep.”

“Very impressive,” Will said. “Thirty armed men against one unarmed man. I can see why these men flock to you; your singular bravery must be an inspiration to all of them.”

Richard’s face darkened, and an uneasy silence fell upon the camp. “What do you want, stranger? And how is it that you know my name, and I know not yours?”

“The three sent to Richland have elected not to complete their mission. They had sufficient encouragement not to return, not the least being that they were discovered before successfully relieving the townsfolk of their hard-earned coins. Messengers will be sent to other nearby towns, alerting them to you and your schemes. My message to you is simply this: disband, and find honorable work to do. Your days of thievery are over.”

Richard looked pained. “Oh, dear. We’ve been found out? Well, boys, I guess this is the end of the road. Pack it up and head home.” He turned as if to head back to his tent.

There was a pause as the crowd murmured in confusion. Richard then lunged at Will, raising the massive sword over his head before bringing it down on Will’s head with the force of both arms.

The sword bounced off the top of Will’s head with a loud clang, and shattered in Richard’s hands.

Richard stared at the hilt of his sword, the only piece of the weapon still intact, and then at Will. Will used his Energy and empathy skills to encourage the fear felt by all of the men in the camp at that point.

Will walked to Richard, and removed the hilt of the sword from the man’s hands. “I think that’s excellent advice, Richard.” He faced the crowd. “All of you! You heard the man! Pack up, head back to where you came from!”

The men, dazed, did as they were told. Tents were folded up as the emerging morning sun adding a small bit of light to the camp. As each man collected his belongings, he walked away, or rode a horse if he owned one.

Richard was the last to depart. “How?” Richard asked. “How did you do that?”

“How did I do what?”