Legends of Belariath

The Quest For The Baron's Silver

Rei-Kai – First Candelabra

I awoke in the Healers guild late in the night after previously sustaining wounds to my left arm and right wing from the one called Marot. I knew that I should not leave just yet but I still had a job to do and so left in the middle of the night. I returned to the inn and gathered the bundle of fruit Dakira had left for me. Thankfully it was still there upon my return and I quickly gathered up whatever supplies I could and headed out of the inn, heading east into the forest and following the leads given to me by the Bounty Hunters Guild. I walked through the forest, heading east and trying to pick up the trail of the thieves, for most of the day and night before I decided to stop for rest and began to eat some of the fruit that was given to me. It was a peaceful night but, my journey has only begun and I was lucky so far to remain away from any of the ones responsible for stealing the Baron’s possessions. However, despite my luck at this, I knew that it would not remain this way for long as I had chanced upon the tracks of men, heading east to where the encampment lies. These tracks appeared to be at least a day or so old and that means that they had been returning for supplies regularly. I must be careful when perusing them. In my weakened condition I would not fare to well in close quarters combat and my wing still needs time to heal. And so, I climbed up into a tree and decided to perch myself up there for the first night, knowing that it is safer up there rather than on the ground were any basic creature could gnaw at my sleeping and wounded form. For now I will rest, but my mission will continue when I awaken once more.

It is now the second day of my mission. I am in search of the Baron’s stolen Candelabra’s and my only information that was provided had led me east into the forest. After spending nearly the entire first day walking, due to an injured wing that prevented me from flying, I had come to spend the night up in a tree for safety and to keep off the forest trail. Unfortunately, I had awoken early the next mourning to the sound of hooves beating against the earth. I awoke in the tree, reminding myself to remain still even as I looked over to where I could hear the noises from. What I saw, was a large wagon being pulled by four brown horses. Two human men were driving it and several others walked along side of it as guards and lookouts. I could see what was in the wagon and they seemed to be hauling food and supplies as well as a medium sized crate that almost looks like a small prison cell. But, then I noticed that food and supplies were not the only cargo. I saw a few small chests of mehrials as well as a beautiful looking Dryad who seemed to be a slave to these men. It suddenly occurred to me that these men were some of the thieves that had robbed the Baron’s manor.

I watched on silently from the tree I was perched in. Unmoving and trying not to gain their attention. However, it seems my luck had run out as one of the thieves spotted me in the tree. I didn’t panic or look concerned though. I was going to use my outward lack of emotion or care to see if I can confuse them or at least convince them that I was only resting and that I had no idea what was going on. One of their number called up to me “Oi! You up there! what are ye doin jus’ lyin around?” I looked down at him, trying to move the smallest amount as possible. My arm and wing were still injured and I dare not aggravate those injuries. “I am just resting kind sir. I had been run out of a nearby town by a few of the Chirot residents that just happened not to like my presence there.” I said this so callously and with little emotion. My face I kept expressionless as the man tried to study me from the ground. The other men, however, looked ready to pull out their weapons at a seconds notice. “Well, ye look like ye hav’ been injured. Would ye kindly wish ta come down ‘ere and hav’ yer wounds treated?” At first I didn’t answer. I thought that this was such an obvious ploy to get me to leave my perch, knowing that once on the ground, my already injured form could easily be taken down by them. I studied their numbers again just to be sure of how well I’d fare against them in my current condition. 2 drivers, 3 guards, 2 lookouts and the leader of the group. 8 men in all and all of them are armed with daggers and a few with crossbows. My situation was looking bleak. Even if I were capable of flight, defeating them all would prove useless and I would either be killed or captured anyway. So I made my choice.....I came down.

Slowly, I began to shift my body, working my way to the lower limbs of the tree. Careful so as to not harm myself further while trying to be quick enough so as to not keep these men waiting. If they thought that I was telling the truth and I had been run out of a town by Chirot, then they may leave me alone thinking that I had no knowledge of what their group had done. I knew that the leader of this little group was skeptical about my story and was even more perplexed by my decision to come down peacefully rather than refuse them. He grinned at me and so did the other men. The Dryad seemed to look at me sadly with an almost pleading look, as if to tell me that I had just made a huge mistake. I knew right then that I was in trouble, but even though I knew this, I did not outwardly show it. Then suddenly, the three guards were upon me, kicking at me knees and pulling my arms behind my back. My left arm was still inured and the pain caused by their actions nearly made me lose consciousness as it was so sudden and the strength of its intensity. They instantly knew that I wasn’t feigning my injuries and they all laughed at my pain and my foolishness for coming down so easily. They truly believed that I had not suspected that they would do this and so got a good laugh at my expense. The Dryad looked away as the men bound my arms behind my back, not bothering with my wings, seeing that I wouldn’t be able to fly with them anyway, and stripped me of all my weapons. Their leader ordered them to lock me inside the cage. A cage, that was the crate I had seen. So, that’s what it was. The guards did so with a sort of dark humor about it as they opened it carefully as though they it were made of glass. “In ya go, yer majesty.” one of them said as they roughly shoved me into the small cage. It was rather small, barely any room to move any part of me, as if that were the bad part. The cage smelled as though someone had left both rotting meat and vomit in it. The stench almost sent me to choke up last nights dinner but I managed to suppress the urge to. I sat in the cage with my legs drawn up to my chest, my arms bound behind me and my wings cramped by the small space. “Well, tha musta been the easiest catch we had evr landed. Les’ hurry back ta the camp grounds to show th’master wha we had found.” their leader said and all of them seemed to enjoy that prospect. The only one who didn’t look to thrilled about the idea was the Dryad. She was the only unhappy looking person besides myself.

Soon after words, the carriage started moving again as it had been before I was discovered. The Dryad was told to keep an eye on me from outside the cage and to make sure that I didn’t try to escape. “yes m’lord.” was her only reply as she climbed into the back of the carriage and kept her eyes on me. She was curious though, about my strange appearance. She had never seen a Torian with such strange markings and eyes before and I could tell by the look on her face. And so, the carriage traveled on with its cargo, the Dryad, thieves and myself as their prisoner. We went on throughout the day, only stopping to feed the horses and the men. The Dryad was given whatever scraps the men didn’t want and I was given nothing. I could do without food for a while, but my mind eventually went back to the sack of fruit that was given to me. It was still back up in the tree and was never taken along with us. I could hear my stomach begin to growl lightly towards the end of the day, as I hadn’t eaten since the night before. The Dryad, seeing that I was hungry, tried to give me some of the scraps that were to be her food. But one of the guards saw this and yelled at her; “If you feed that damned birdman a single damned crumb, I’ll be making sure that you’re punished for a week straight!” The Dryad stopped on her tracks almost immediately out of fear and moved away from my cage. She looked at me sadly, thinking that I may soon share her fate or one far worse. Not having even water to quench my thirst was worse than the injuries I had sustained. My throat was parched and if I even wanted to speak, I wouldn’t have been able to. The thieves knew that I was starving and that I hadn’t had any water and they refused to give me any. I spoke is a raspy voice from the lack of hydration “Please sirs, may I...have a glass....[couch] of water?” One of the drivers turned around and looked at me. The man felt no sympathy whatsoever and turned away from me. One of the guards hopped into the back of the wagon and sat near the cage with a flask of water. “So, ye be needin a refreshment eh? Ah, I be needin one as well.” He then opened the flask and began to drink the water, right in front of me. Smiling as he did so. Mocking me and laughing at my situation. He soon went back to his duties and got off the wagon. The Dryad, I knew, felt sorry for me but we both knew that she could do nothing to aid me. And so, we traveled on.

Somehow, despite my condition, the cramped space, hunger and dehydration, I fell asleep within the cage as we traveled on into the day. I was startled awake when I heard strange noises. I could see that it was now night and that we had traveled much further by wagon than I could have on my feet. However, when I looked around to see what was making those noises, I could see none of the thieves near the wagon. I looked around again and saw a campfire near the woods and around it, were the thieves and the Dryad that was their leaders slave. Now I knew what, no, who was making those noises. I could make out each of the thieves having their way with the Dryad at her expense. Each of them using her as they pleased before tossing her over to the next in line. Such a sight sickened me to no end and fueled a desire within me. Not one of lust, but one of DEATH! Reikimaru’s feelings dwelled within me, the same as his consciousness does. He had always wanted to nothing more than to help everyone, and right now, those feelings made me want to help this Dryad whose name I have yet to know, and I can do nothing from within this cage. Bound as I was, wounded and deprived of food and water, I could do nothing against them. But I swore to myself, that when we get close enough to the camp grounds where the candelabra has been stashed, I was going to make them suffer for all they had done. To me, to the Baron, to the Dryad, and to anyone else they had ever wronged. But for now, I could only wait and bide my time. And so, I tried to sleep once more, but the sounds of lust were always reaching my ears and I instead place myself into a meditative state to block out these sounds and the images that I had seen. Soon it was over, the thieves had all had their fill of the Dryad and left her on the ground, covered in their filthy fluids. They gathered up their clothes, laid out their bed spreads and quickly fell asleep. I kept my eyes on them and the Dryad, studying them and looking around. I tried to guess how much farther we had traveled and what I could use to my advantage should the time arise. After a while, I saw that the Dryad began to stir. She seemed to have been keeping her eye’s on the thieves as well, making sure that they were all truly asleep before moving away from them and over to a small stash of food and water that was onboard the carriage. At first I as puzzled until she brought it over to me quietly and made a gesture for me to keep silent. I did as she asked, then she whispered to me; “We must be quiet sir, so that we don’t disturb my masters. I will give you food and water now, as long as you do not tell them that I had done so.” I nodded to her, my mouth to dry to speak. Despite my nonverbal answer, she believed me and began to pour water through the bars and into my open mouth. I tried to drink slowly, the water was cool and refreshing. She could tell instantly that just the water had begun to refresh me and she moved onto some of the food she had taken for me. A slice of bread and some berries was all that she could take without the thieves finding out about it. I felt foolish, having to be fed like a child through the bars, having to open my mouth when she was going to place food in it. It was embarrassing and foolish, but it was also very amusing as well. No matter how much I disliked my situation, this all seemed so awkwardly funny to me. The Dryad was happy to see me smile after she had fed me, but we both still kept silent and I made gestures that told her that she should hurry and get to bed. She knew that if one of the thieves woke up then we were both in trouble. She nodded slightly to me and moved silently back to where she had lain before, the only difference being the worn blanket that she gathered from the carriage before she walked over there. She fell fast asleep and I began to drift off as well. My strength was returning and now I had a plan of escape all ready devised in my mind. For now I would sleep, and then tomorrow, I shall see what else is in store for me on this mission of mine.

The Third Day, Executing the Plan.

I, Rei-Kai, awoke early this morning so as to keep a better eye on my captors before they could wake up. I had my plan all laid out, but I needed crucial elements to play a factor in it. Slowly, one by one, each of the thieves began to wake under the bright mourning sun. It blinded them temporarily as they seemed to just want to go back to sleep. I would have too if I weren’t in this cage. When one of them was fully awake, he went over to the Dryad and lightly kicked her until she awoke “Alrights missey, time fer breakfast so start a makin’ it.” She bowed slightly to him, though still half asleep “yes [yawn] m’lord.” she then went to work by moving over to the carriage and pulling out the necessary packs of food, water and pans that she would need to cook with. The first thief to wake up then began to wake the others as he went along. I quietly kept watch on them, though a little hungry myself. The Dryad went over to where they had made the previous fire for last night after gathering a bundle of dry sticks and branches and began to build a fresh fire to make the men their breakfast. Once all eight of the thieves had fully awoken and dressed themselves, they began to look through the carriage to make sure that nothing had been taken during the middle of the night. Everything seemed to be in order though some were wondering who took a slice of bread and they all started blaming each other and pointing fingers. I chuckled lightly at this, this having been the most amusing thing that I have seen thus far during my mission. Their leader came over after hearing their bickering and seemed to share the same amusement that I held for this scene. The thieves looked at me as they heard my chuckling and they looked ready to just jump over to me strangle me for it. Their leader, looked over to them after the Dryad had quietly spoken to him and he said; “Oi! You lil’ buggers shut yer traps and sit yer asses down! Brek’fst is ready.” All the men seemed to forget about me instantly and went to sit near the fire as the Dryad began to serve each of them their mourning meal. Bacon, eggs, sausage, buttered toast, pancakes, sandwiches of all kinds, and all served with a glass of red or white wine. Water was given to those who wanted it, but they all enjoyed the wine. I couldn’t help but look at all the food that was being served to them and I felt my stomach lurch. I sweet aroma outweighed the putrid stench of the cage and made my mouth water. This caused me to nearly lose track of my plans and I shook my head as if to rid myself of the though of food at this time. Everyone of the thieves and even the Dryad, looked over to me saw how badly I wanted to eat what they had and they all laughed loudly. The Dryad laughed lightly though, she apparently thought my drooling over seeing the food must have been cute or something. I admit that seeing someone drool over seeing food would indeed be funny. But if it was because he was starving then it wouldn’t be that amusing. Still, I laughed slightly along with them, still feeling that my predicament was only getting better and better.

Later, after they had all had their fill and even decided to show a little mercy and give me and the Dryad the leftover scraps of food that was left, began to pack up their supplies and started out towards the camp grounds once more. I didn’t particularly enjoy eating another mans leftover food, but when one has barely eaten, any type of food would suffice. Cold, hot, rotten, or previously chewed didn’t seem all that important as long as it was food and that if satiated one’s hunger. I was lucky as in it was only cold. Well, I started to go through the last parts of my plan in my head as we continued on to the camp grounds. I estimated that we had been traveling at a much greater pace than that of walking and that we would arrive at the camp grounds by the end of the day. I noted from the previous day how they would stop the carriage every five hours to rest and feed the horses as well as give themselves a snack. Then, as we were nearing the end of the day, their leader called out; “Oi! All’s you’s lil’ buggers! We’re nearin the camp grounds and we sho’ be there in a’few ‘ours. We’ll be a makin one mo’ stop soon so ye all better get yer’ selves clean’d up befre’ we meets back wit’ the boss man!” All the men seemed to groan at this. They were being told to take a bath and clean themselves, something they obviously didn’t like to do. My only mental question was how they were going to clean themselves. That unspoken question was soon answered as I heard the sound of rushing water close by as we continued on. It was a river that I was hearing and it was also where these men were going to bathe themselves. This seemed to follow my plan perfectly. I knew that they would not all go at one time as they still needed someone to keep an eye on their cargo and their prisoner. Eventually, they stopped the carriage on the other side of a column of trees that were close to the rivers edge. Their leader took four of the other men with him to go and get cleaned up with, leaving three of them behind. One lookout, one guard and one driver. The Dryad was also left behind, working further to my advantage. I waited until the lookout was out of sight before I spoke to the guard; “Hey you, let me ask you something. Why have you taken me prisoner and what do you plan on doing with me?” he turned from his post, quite irritated that I had spoken to him. “Look birdy. I ain’t tellin ya nothin. Yer jus’ a damned winged folk and ye have slow’d up ar’ work wit’ yer showin’ up.” “What? Are you all afraid that I’ll find out something that I shouldn’t know? Damnit, I was run out of a town by a group of Chirot and do you know what else? It wasn’t just because I am a Torian, No! It was also because they were hired by someone searching for their stolen treasures. They blamed me because I showed up soon after the robbery and was immediately going to be arrested and taken to the gallows to have myself hanged. I managed to get away with only a few injuries and then only to find myself here, stuck in a stinking cage with a group of men I don’t know about taking me to some camping area for god knows what reason, and to be talking to a walking pile of Mino-shit with nothing but stones in his head and salt in his sack!” The guard was at first taken aback at what I had said to him, only to next be filled with rage and nearly charging at the cage, trying to get at me. “Why ye damnable winged abomination! I’ll hav’ yer head mounted on me wall when this is ovr’ and ye’ll wish ye had not crossed us!” He grabbed onto the bars of the cage as he said this, almost as if to try and be intimidating as he vented his anger on me. “Well why don’t you try saying that me like a man you pathetic cunt! You talk and act so tough to a Torian whose behind a cage and already wounded, but your still just a big fucking wuss! You can’t do shit to me like this unless it looked like I was escaping and I’m sure as hell not going anywhere soon!”

My words had the desired affect I was looking for. Out of anger and rage, he took a key from out of his pocket and almost jammed it into the lock of the cage, twisting the key almost violently and throwing open the bar door like a mad bull. The driver was listening to us bicker at each other and decided to let us be his entertainment for the day. The guard, however, reached in and pulled me out of the cage, tossing me to the ground and drawing his dagger. “Get up ya foul beast! If’n ya gonn try an’ prove that I be not a man, then stand up an sho’ me how ta be one!” I landed on the ground with a slight grunt. My left arm was still a little worse for where, but was almost back to fighting condition, despite the scar that will remain there. Ever so slowly, I began to push myself off the ground only using my legs and upper body as leverage. My arms, bound behind my back still, would be of no use until the rope was cut. I had to be quick now, as the guard was still raging mad, waiting for me to charge at him or try to escape. Either way it would have given him reason to attack. Now, my plan was in play and I had to act fast. I leaped into the air a bit and brought my legs up to my chest while straightening my arms behind my back and swinging them under my scrunched up legs. I could barely get them under me in time as I landed back on my feet on the ground seconds later. My arms, now bound in front of me instead of behind, would be much more helpful than before. The guard looked at me, still raging mad but also surprised that I had been able to pull off that little maneuver. However, I was chanting silently to myself as I was doing this, readying myself for what I am about to do. Invisible energies flowed into my wings, making their edges akin to blades and as strong as them too. My right wing was still injured, but my left was in perfect condition. The guard could tell that something was wrong when I smiled at him next. The Dryad however, was frightened by my actions and words to the guard. She decided to hide behind one of the trees until things settled down. However, with me around, things would not settle down. As I completed the Feather blade spell, I used my now enchanted left wing to cut the ropes binding my hands together. The guard knew then, that he was in trouble. Without trying to give me any sort of chance, he lunged at me, dagger in had, and tried to pierce my heart with it. Unfortunately for him, my spell would hold out for a little longer as I managed to move to the side just enough to avoid his attack then, I brought my spell enhanced wing down upon him as he was diving past me in the air. My blade wing struck true, slicing him across the middle of his back and nearly cleaving him in two. He died almost instantly as blood sprayed and splattered from his body, barely able to utter a scream of pain as he died. The driver, now convinced from the sounds of our fight, that it was not good to be by himself at the moment and he rose from the carriage and tried to make a break for the column of trees that led over to the river where the other thieves were bathing. There was no time for thought as I gathered a light yellowish energy into my right hand and fired an energy bolt at the retreating driver. The bolt struck him in the back, knocking him to the ground but wasn’t enough to kill him. He tried to force himself back up quickly, but I could not allow him to warn the others and ran at him, using my vambracers, that were still left on me during my capture, as a weapon, I struck him hard on the back of his head. The blow seemed to crack his skull, killing him by way of massive physical trauma to the head. The Dryad peeked from around the side of the tree she was hiding behind and looked on in horror as she sees these two men laying dead on the ground, covered in their own blood with me slightly covered in it myself. She could not speak, not that she needed to. Her expressions and her shaking portrayed what she was feeling, but I had no time to be distracted by her. I had used much of my energy on these two men alone and six others were still alive. The lookout could be back at any moment and I wasn’t sure I could deal with him at the moment. So, I rushed back to the carriage and sifted through it, looking for my stolen weapons. I found them in a single bundle, all of them except my mithril dagger. Their leader must have taken it as a prize so I was down to my normal dagger and my ‘cats’ whip. I couldn’t take long as I felt my mystical energies slowly returning to me and I had to deal with the rest of the thieves quickly and effectively. The lookout would return soon and see what I had done, the other thieves may return at any time so I devised a means of taking them out one by one. I first made my way into a tree that had long branches and was overgrown with leaves and moss. This provided excellent cover for me as I waited for one of the other thieves to arrive. The Dryad had decided to hide herself under the carriage, fearful of what I or the other thieves might do to her after seeing this incident.

Now, all I needed to do was wait.

After a few moments had passed, I was lucky to discover that the lookout was returning from his rounds and heading back to the carriage, discovered the bodies of the guard and the driver lying dead on the ground. He then saw that I was missing and that the Dryad was hiding under the carriage, this caused him to panic and he was bout to call for the others, when I sent my dagger sailing through the air, impaling itself into the back of his skull and killing him upon impact. Small rivers of blood seeped from around the dagger as his body fell lifelessly to the ground. Only five more to go and then I could start the second phase of my plan. This time however, the Dryad seemed to have enough of seeing so much death and blood all in the course of one day that she passed out under the carriage. This was all for the better as the rest of the thieves were beginning to head back from their bath. I readied myself as best I could, keeping myself hidden within the tree as best I could as the remaining thieves made their way back to the carriage, only to discover the carnage that had occurred while they were gone. “Oi! Wha’ the fuck is a goin on ere’!?” I gave them no more time than that as I swiftly took out my ‘cats’ whip and snapped it at the nearest thief and the cords wrapped tightly around his neck. I pulled at it with all my strength, pulling him into the air and strangling the life out of him as he tried to take air into his lungs and fail. The other thieves took notice of this as soon as it happened, but were shocked at my show of strength as I lifted the man higher into the air from my perch in the in the tree. I had to use both of my hands to do this, even though it was a great strain on my left arm, due to it not being fully healed. The thieves waited to long as their fellow member died, only when that happened did they finally shake off their shock and let anger take them. 2 of the remaining 4 pulled out crossbows and fired upon where my whip was seen coming from. The tree still offered me cover, but I knew that against such weapons, getting lucky was not an option and I moved higher up in the tree as quickly as I could as I released my whip, letting the body of the thief fall to the ground. However, I did not move quickly enough to avoid the arrows completely and one of them managed to cut across my left shoulder. The wound wasn’t deep but it did hurt. I had been doing well so far, but now I no longer had the element of surprise on my side and had to rely on whatever skills I had learned and developed over the course of my life. However, against four armed human thieves, my chances of survival were slim at best.

I was about to resume my assault from the tree, when suddenly, we all began to hear light feral growls coming from some of the trees and bushes close by. It started low and then rose higher as a group of female cat-people leaped out at them. There must have been at least six of them, who came out at the human thieves and attacked them. Whether this was good or not didn’t matter, it was now quickly becoming part of my plan. They had already noticed my presence and considered me just another poor fellow that happened to cross their path. One of their number began to scale the tree I was in and I just began to notice that the Dryad was beginning to wake up. There was no time for rational thought, these cats were swift and I was still injured. The human thieves were beginning fall and I had no other options left to me. I dropped from the tree as the female cat tried to take a swipe at me. I may not be able to fly at the moment, but I could still glide if I arced my wings correctly. And so I did, but it was still painful for my injured right wing as I glided to the ground near the carriage. The thieves were almost finished and were all going to die soon and one of the cats was still trying to come at me. I didn’t want to fight any further, especially not against a woman. A part of me just did not enjoy fighting a woman in combat when life was at stake. I managed to get past her with only minor gouges along my side as I ran to the dead bodies of the thieves and retrieved my weapons from them, while avoiding as many of the female cats as I was able to. The were much faster than I was, but their physical strength was not great enough to do any serious damage to me. The only thing I had to really watch out for was their claws. I had to get out of there fast, one by one, the human thieves died and that let more of the cats turn their attention upon me and the Dryad. I had no other options left to me as I grabbed the Dryad out from under the carriage and tossed her onto the drivers seat as I fended off the cats as best I could. “Quickly, let us depart before our luck runs out! I can’t hold them all off alone!” In an instant, the Dryad grabbed onto the reins of the already frightened horses and snapped them to action. The horses screamed and then we were off, nearly flying down the forest path in our haste. The cats were giving chase and one of them managed to leap into the back of the carriage. She then tried to leap at me and slash me with her claws, but I had had enough of going easy on them. I caught her midair and tossed her off of the carriage and one of the tree that we had been hurriedly passing. The rest of them stopped giving chase in order to help their injured member. “That was close,” I said aloud “I guess we should be thankful that the thieves were back. I may have no sympathy for them, but if they hadn’t of returned, we may have not escaped with our lives.” The Dryad would have shared my sentiments had she been calm, but she was still terrified by the recent events even while driving the horses. I soon took the reins from her and slowed the horses down, she immediately looked at me with such a frightened and saddened look and buried her face on my chest. She began to cry. I felt sorry for her, for maybe she had cared for the thieves or maybe that although she hated them, she would never have wished the death of another for any reason. I used my left hand to try and comfort her as I kept my right holding the reins. I felt truly sorry for her and yet I knew, that such an event could never have been avoided. All things happen for a reason whether we wish to believe it or not. For what reason this happened, I do not know, but it has passed and the Dryad and myself are alive and unhurt. well, she is unhurt. I had suffered more injuries because of the battle which I then took my still healing left hand to cast small heal spells on me after the Dryad had settled down and cried herself to slumber. We went for a few more hours, and then I could see the camp grounds a short distance from us. It was night now and fires were lit. Small streams of smoke were rising from within the camp. I stopped the carriage and headed back a ways, giving us at least a two mile distance from the camp grounds. I could not afford being discovered now. My goal was in reach and soon my mission would be over. But for now, I made sure that no one was near here myself and the Dryad were, and then I covered her over in one of the better blankets that the thieves had stolen and that was on of the cargo. It was made of fine silk and stuffed with an even filling of cotton. It was both warm and soft to the touch. She snuggled with the blanket which I found most amusing and I smiled. But then, I thought of the woman I love, solange, whom I had left behind when I left for this mission. I had not uttered a word of this to her at all and now I was beginning to worry about her. I wondered how she would react when I returned all battered and beaten and the thought brought me to slight laughter. “Of course. She would tend to my wounds and speak on how much she enjoys taking care of me. And I would tell her that I love her, then I would here how I’d have to take better care of myself. Then I will promise her that, I will refrain from fighting and adventuring for a time. That will be the day and soon as well. Oh solange, how I miss you. Those glacier blue eyes and that beautiful and innocent smile. So kind, so soft, so full of love. How I would love to be in your embrace at this moment.” I smiled to myself, opening up and showing my feelings to no one except the sky, the stars and the forest around me. Tears came to my eyes at the thought of seeing solange again. But I must push these thoughts away until my return to Nanthalion, for until this mission is complete, I cannot return. And so, after eating some of the food I found in the carriage and drinking some water, I pulled out another blanket for myself, not as comfortable as the one I had lain on the Dryad, but still it would keep me warm during the night. For now, I will sleep until the morning, when I will finally get what I was sent out to gain possession of. The Baron’s candelabra.

The Fourth Day, Thieving a Thief!

It was a cloudy morning when I awoke. My back was a little stiff and I felt like a wreck. My joints were all stiff and my muscles were all knotted, my body felt as though it had been tossed down a mountain. But, I did discover that my wounds were bound with fresh bandages and I could also smell something, something good that made my mouth water and my stomach grumble. I looked over, away from the carriage and saw that the Dryad was preparing breakfast. Why she got up before me, I don’t know. But this was certainly welcome as I hadn’t eaten since the other day and I was rather hungry. I rose from where I had slept and moved over to the small fire she had made to prepare the food. She greeted me with a warm smile and handed me some hot food. “Thank you miss. This smells wonderful,” I said to her, my voice soft and kind. She smiled to me and gathered some of the food for herself, then she said, “No, it is this one who must thank you, sir Torian. If it were not for you, this one would still be a slave. When sir killed this one’s master, you freed her from being his slave, but now this one must run and hide from now on. If Slavers were to find this one, surely this one would become a slave once more.” I looked at her as I sat near the fire, thinking about where she could go to escape becoming a slave again. I at first asked her, “Little one, what is your name? So that I may come to know you and help you further.” She looked to me timidly, slightly surprised that I would want to know her name. She said, “This one is called Kristania, from a place some call the forest of the spirits, where many of this ones kind and that of others exist.” I smiled to her, as I thought of a plan. Then I spoke, “Kristania, a beautiful name. But I must ask you something before I can make any other decisions. I must know if you will help me get into the camp grounds of the thieves so that I may retrieve an item that I was set out to find.” She looked at me, wondering if I was serious to be asking her to risk her freedom just for some piece of property. “It is highly risky,” I said, “and there is no guarantee that we will escape once inside. But, will you please help me?” She looked away from me and stared at her food. “Can this one,” she said, “have time to think?” “Yes.” I said to her, “But whether you come or not, we must move after breakfast. I’m sorry.” She nodded to me and then we began to eat in silence. It was frightening in a way, knowing that success and failure all depended on the aid of one girl. It didn’t matter to me from what race she belonged, but that I needed help and that she was the only one who could help me.

After we had eaten and after I had packed up everything back into the cart, I walked over to her, not uttering a word, but she knew what my silent question was.

“Can you first tell me?” she said softly, “Tell me what your plan is for this one in helping you gain this ‘item’?” I replied coolly, “I need you to bind my hands behind my back and I must be placed back in the cage. I need you to drive the carriage into the camp grounds. I know they will be suspicious in not seeing their men returning, that is when you must tell them that their men were attacked by a group of cat-persons about a few miles back along the forest trail. Also, say that your master had told you to drive the carriage back to the camp grounds and to wait until he and his men return. That, Kristania, is what I ask of you.” She looked to the ground for a moment, thinking over my plan. Knowing that with me back in the cage, they would believe I had been captured and that while she still wears the collar with her former masters name on it, that they may believe her. Everything had to be perfect and Kristania was my only way of getting into the camp grounds with the least amount of trouble. I waited patiently for her answer and then she looked up to me and said, “If this one helps you and if we manage to get away safely, how will this on be able to stay free and not be sent back to being a slave?” I looked to her, a kind look on my pale face, whisks of black and red hair stirred slightly in the soft breeze. Then, I said to her, “I know of a place, to the south of here along the mountains known to me as the Chiasses. There, a clan of Chirot dwell high up on the mountain, within caves they themselves had carved out into magnificent cities. There, a friend of mine by the name of Kilala dwells and in the forests near the base of the mountain lives a friend of hers, a native of the forests. There, you may find yourself at home with them and be safe from the rest of the world. I myself will come by after a time and check up on things and see how well you are faring. There, you will be free and safe from harm, surrounded by friends who will love and take care of you.” At this, she threw her arms around me and buried her face in my chest, letting herself cry into my shirt. I was a bit startled, then I placed my right arm around her and smiled as she whispered, “I...I will help you. Oh by the spirits of the forest, this one will help you.” I smiled and looked down to her, trying to calm her a bit with my words, “It is alright Kristania. I know that you are happy to hear that you will be free and that you will have friends to take care of you, but that is only when my mission is complete. So please, I beg of you, dry your tears and let us be off. Only then will we be able to finish this and only then will you gain true freedom.” At this, she looked up me and smiled as she whipped her tears away. It was now time for us to be off and we settled ourselves back into the wagon. She bound my hands behind my back as I had instructed, careful not to aggravate my injured left arm, and I crawled back into the small, disgusting cage. Kristania locked it up and seated herself in the drivers seat and picked up the reigns and snapped them. We were now off towards the camp grounds of the thieves.

After a few hours, around noon, we reached the outskirts of the camp grounds. Kristania was nervous, but I encouraged her to go on and lead us in there. She rode us up to the front entrance where e were stopped by several guards who asked who she was and what she was doing here. She told them what I had instructed her to say, about the my capture, the attack, and how her master had told her to go on ahead to the camp grounds. At first they seemed suspicious, but upon seeing me in the cage, my injuries bound as they were, and of how utterly uncomfortable I looked, they believed her story and allowed us to enter. One of the guards was told to lead her to the storage tent where the supplies would go and had another guard take me from the cage and lead me off to an empty tent which they had saved for any captives or slaves. I was taken in there and a separate rope was tied to my bound hands to a large post to keep me there. Two thieves stayed outside to act as guards and they didn’t look that strong, they must have their strongest guarding the stolen treasures. I suspected that Kristania was going to be busy unloading the carriage and so I had to move quickly. If the thieves had even the slightest clue that I may try to escape, anyone with half of their wit would suspect me to do so during the night. However, I wasn’t going to wait that long. I waited only about fifteen minutes before I made my escape. I chanted silently to myself and cast the Feather blade spell, effectively making the edges of my wings akin to that of blades. My right wing was still in no condition for battle so I used my left one to cut through the ropes. The fools didn’t even consider to check my person for weapons, let alone any money. The two thieves who acted as guards didn’t realize that I had escaped until it was to late. I cut through the tent and loped off the head of one of them with my spell enhanced wing and used my mithril dagger to slit the other throat in a few swift motions. They never expected me to just about as quick as them so I had an advantage, but not for long. It was light out and soon someone would notice that I had escaped and everyone in the camp would come after me. I had no time to spare and I snuck around and through the tents, keeping out of sight and keeping track of all the thieves that I saw. I got close to a large tent when I heard some talking from inside of it. Several thieves were congratulating themselves on their success of stealing the barons candelabras. I peered into the tent through a tiny slit and saw that one of the candelabras was right there. It was time for a distraction so I went over to a previous tent, still keeping out of sight, and grabbed a lit brazier. I used it to then set fire to several of the tents and then tossed it onto the one where the thieves were celebrating. Several of them screamed, “FIRE! FIRE!!” and many of them came to douse the flames, but to no avail. The thieves soon left the tent, running and trying not to get burned, and that is when I rushed in there and grabbed the candelabra and hurried out of the tent. It angered me that I could only find one of them but it was enough for now. They had now discovered the dead bodies of their fellow thieves and knew that I was the one responsible for the fire. Many of them began running and trying to find me, but most had to stay back and try to control the flames that threatened to burn the whole camp down. Kristania had heard the commotion and knew that I had already begun my raid and escape, so she stayed in the tent with the carriage as the men who were there unloading it, ran off to help in my search and capture. I was lucky to have avoided them this long, but that is not something I depend on and so I ran to the tent where Kristania was and cut the horses loose from the carriage. She looked at me, a bit frightened and was going to ask me something when I said, “There’s no time for questions Kristania! We must hurry before they kill us both!” I quickly removed the reigns from the horses as I heard loud voices and yelling closing in on the tent. I didn’t even both with a saddle as I climbed onto the back of the horse and pulled Kristania on in front of me. She wrapped her arms around the horses neck and I grabbed onto it’s mane with my left hand. I sheathed my weapons and kicked the sides of the horse with me heals and sped out of the tent just as several of the thieves had reached the entrance of it. This forced them out of our way and we sped off to the main entrance. I had secured the candelabra into a sack I had found in the tent and tied that around my waist as we were heading to the main entrance to the camp, but I could see that a number of the thieves were guarding it. Perhaps seven or eight of them at most and this definitely posed a problem for us, but I didn’t care. “Hold on Kristania! I’ll make sure that we get through them!!” She didn’t realize what I had meant but clung to the horse tighter as we neared the main entrance. Most of the thieves there had crossbows and they were cocked and ready, just waiting to kill us. We sped closer to them, but I never made the horse stop. I chanted quickly and cast the feather blade spell on myself once more as a volley of arrows were sent at us. I used both of my wings as a shield, though my right wing was still injured it was still capable of performing this feat under such strain. As we sped on, most of the arrows were deflected by my spell enhanced wings, but several of them managed to get past my defenses and pierced my right wing, causing it further injury and several managed to cut across my right leg as we rode past them. The wounds weren’t deep but they weren’t going to help me any. As we sped past them, they were cocking their crossbows again, yelling at me and cursing. I didn’t give them a second chance to attack as I launched an Energy bolt spell, though not using my full power only for the sake of conserving energy, it was enough to stop them as the bolt struck the earth right in front of them, causing a momentary burst of dust and debris to fly in all directions, blinding them for a moment and causing them to step back away from the blast. At last we were speeding away from the camp grounds, with the treasure I was sent out to gain and for the most part unharmed. But we weren’t out of trouble until we were a safe distance from the camp and far enough away from those thieves. They would have given chase, but it seems the fire I had started was keeping them preoccupied. We sped on, never slowing down for a good distance, until the horse seemed to be getting tired. I stopped the horse near the river where we had been once before and let ourselves all have a rest. However, I knew better than to stay in one place for too long out here. We rested for at least a good hour before I rushed us along and we sped down the forested path on the horse, making good time in heading back in the direction of Nanthalion, but still not quite close there yet. Kristania clinged to the horses neck as we rode and I held onto its mane with my right hand, my left still wasn’t in a well enough shape to handle things. We rode on, off into the day, trying to reach the forests surrounding Nanthalion. And so, on we went, towards the direction of the town and towards the end of my mission.

It was very, very late in the day when we reached the outskirts of the forest that would lead me back to Nanthalion and so, it was time to send off Kristania to safety with my friend, Kilala, in the mountains to the south. “It is time for us to part ways for a time Kristania. From here, head south as I had told you before and also,” I took a moment and plucked on of my feathers from my left wing, it was both black and red and I handed it to her, “take this and show it to Kilala and he will know that I have sent you. You will be safe there and you will be free, just as you desired.” She smiled to me and thanked me, but she still looked worried as not all my wounds were bound now and they were beginning to slow me down and affect my movement. I could see that she was worried, but I only smiled. “I will be fine Kristania, but you must hurry now. We have escaped the thieves but far greater dangers can be found here, so please go now and be safe. I promise you that, we will meet again.” At this, she left with the horse, riding through the forest and in the direction of the southern mountains. And then, off I went with the sack holding the candelabra, heading through the forest and towards Nanthalion, tired and wounded still. I dragged myself along and never did I once, allow myself to fall. My mission was over and now, now I could collect my prize.

With thanks to Rei-Kei

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