“Money-motivated Merlin is making Marvin move with maddening momentum,” Orb said. “See, it’s not so bad. Now you try.”
Charlie put a finger over his lips and tried to remember the sentence. “Money-motivated Merlin is…I forgot it again.”
Vetica eyed them. “It doesn’t count as a tongue twister if you’re saying it telepathically.”
“Tongue twister, mind masher, who cares? It’s something to do and being on the road is so boring,” Orb said.
The wagon was moving at a faster pace than usual, but Charlie wasn’t sure if Orb’s tongue twisting mind masher was completely accurate. If anything, Marvin was just as excited about the money. Merlin had been making suggestions on how they could spend it since they left Arroane’s camp. Marvin neighed in excitement anytime Merlin said a word he liked. So, Merlin had pretty much been slipping the words hay, carrot, and mare into his list every once in a while, to keep Marvin the horse engaged. Charlie thought their countryside travels were fairly pleasant. The breeze was nice, and the wagon’s canvas kept the sun off them. Mousifer and Bleedy were both curled up in Vetica’s lap. She’d dedicated one hand a piece for petting. By the content looks on their faces, she knew what she was doing. Charlie and Orb were passing the time playing games.
“Can we do something else? This is too hard,” Charlie said.
Orb huffed. “Well, we can’t play, I spy! You always pick the same thing.”
“Do not!” Charlie crossed his arms.
“Charlie, you spied something blue twenty-seven times in a row. It was me. Every time. I’m not convinced you know how that game works,” Orb said. He paused and floated towards the roof of the wagon to peer over the driver’s bench. “Hey, looks like we’re nearly there! I see the windmill up ahead! Sweet!”
Merlin was in the middle of adding to his shopping list. “And new shoes, and sweets, and…carrots!”
Marvin neighed excitedly.
Merlin looked up and realized where they were. “Oh look! The windmill!” He turned to look over his shoulder. “Hey guys, we’re almost there!”
Orb entered a state of free fall and smacked against the wagon’s floor. “Can you believe we let this guy drive? He can’t even see anything with all those dollar signs in his eyes. I’m starting to think that the bump we ran over earlier was someone’s grandma.”
“At least one of Merlin’s body counts would be up to one then,” Vetica mused.
Charlie tilted his head. He didn’t know what she meant. “Huh?” he asked.
Merlin scoffed. “Hey!”
Orb burst into laughter. “Dude, that’s priceless. Even in a fantasy world, calling someone maiden-less is hilarious.”
A few jokes at Merlin’s expense later, the wagon finally rolled into town. Merlin took the time to turn the cart around to face the way they’d come from. “I’ll run down the street and grab the gold, then we’ll double back, hit capital road, and head to Port Carrus. Sound good?” he asked.
Vetica nodded. She patted the wagon so Bleedy and Mousifer would hop off her lap. Then she climbed up front and stretched her legs out. “We’ll be here. Don’t take too long or I might fall asleep.”
Charlie crawled over to Bleedy and laid his head down on the racooneever’s side. Mousifer climbed up onto Charlie’s chest and curled up on him.
Orb slowly rotated in the air. “Hey! Is everyone going to sleep? What am I supposed to do?”
Three out of the four of them were already snoring. Vetica looked over and laughed and then closed her eyes as well. “Relax, Orb. Unsentience yourself for a little while. Take your mind off things,” she said.
“You’re lucky dungeon cores don’t poop. I’d poop in your rations. I really would.”
Merlin
Just like the last time he’d been in here, it was empty. No one sat at the rickety old tables. The second-floor walkway was barren, and its bedroom doors pulled shut. If they hadn’t already decided to head straight to Port Carrus, Merlin would’ve considered renting one of the upstairs rooms for the night. System knows the guild could use the business. Darren, the guild master/bartender, was hard at work polishing a glass that looked suspiciously similar to the one he’d been polishing the last time. Merlin wondered if over-polishing was a thing. The door slammed shut behind him and Darren’s head shot up. He nearly dropped the glass in his hand.
“M?” he asked in disbelief. He swallowed, lowering his voice. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
Merlin threw his hands out. “What? Can’t a man come to see his friend?” Well, there really wasn’t much of a reason to beat around the bush. “Actually, I’m here to collect the rest of the money. I had a run in with the man who placed the contract, and he said I could have the rest as a reward. He didn’t send word ahead of me? He promised he would.”
Darren stared at him, open-mouthed for a second before nodding. “Oh, right. He did. He sent word. Just uh, give me a moment.” Darren set the glass down on the counter and crouched to look under the shelves. He steadied himself with one hand, and with the other he moved full coin-purses to the top of the counter, one by one.
Merlin looked around. Something was off. Darren was acting weird. It was giving Merlin a bad feeling. “No customers today either? I thought the tavern was how you guys made money, but that’s twice now nobody’s been around.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Darren forced a laugh. “Well, you keep coming during the day. Folks are working right now. They’ll be here tonight, I’m sure. Say, the other day, that guy I sent you with, was he nice to you?” Darren asked.
Merlin shrugged. “Uh, which one? There were two of them. I don’t actually recall their names, though.”
Darren placed a sixth coin-purse on the counter and stood. He leaned forward and rested both hands on the counter. He stared right into Merlin’s eyes. “No. I just sent one. It was just you and him. One guy.” Darren’s eyes pointed upward and behind him. He didn’t turn his head, though.
What the hell was that? Merlin wondered. He looked up at where Darren’s eyes were pointing. To the door just above him on the second-floor walkway. There was nothing special about it.
Wait. One guy? Oh no. It hit him what was going on. Darren was trying to warn him. Merlin threw a hand toward the counter. His cloak flapped as he moved. At the same time, a door upstairs burst open.
Merlin was already moving toward the front door. He had to escape.
Darren had been trying to warn him about a trap.
He heard footsteps behind him. Merlin risked looking over his shoulder.
His pursuer was covered from head to toe in a strange-looking leather armor. There was a mask attached to it with a zipper straight up the middle. On one side, the mask was blue, on the other brown. The rest of the outfit was a typical brown leather with blue trimmings. The masked creep wielded two finely sharpened daggers with blue gemstones embedded in their handles.
Something whistled through the air. Merlin ducked to the side just in time. A bottle smashed into the ground in front of him.
“Shit! Sorry! Missed!” Darren called out. He’d thrown it. Was he trying to help Merlin? To be fair, Darren had tried to warn him. Though the bottle he’d aimed at Merlin’s attacker was now more of an impediment for Merlin. Glass shards littered the area in front of the door. Merlin grimaced and did his best to step around it. His best wasn’t good enough. A few shards poked the bottoms of his shoes. He groaned but pressed forward. His hands worked quickly. He created a large, ominous black hex that filled the space behind him. Hopefully, it would buy him time. He burst through the door mere moments before the person behind him caught up.
Charlie
Bam!
Charlie shot up from his nap. “What’s going on?” he asked. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. A blurry figure was running towards the wagon. He squinted and his sleepy eyes focused.
It was Merlin. He was running really weird. “Um, Vetica, you should see this. Merlin’s being weird,” he said.
Vetica groaned. “I just fell asleep. Can’t he manage on his own for five minutes?” she asked.
Orb shot forward. “Why is he running like that? All high-kneed and flailing his arms about. He looks like a freaking titan man. Did he like step on something or what?”
Merlin waved a hand. “Tell Marvin to go!”
“What?” Orb asked.
A figure exploded through the wall above the doorway that Merlin had just escaped from. The person had a blade in either hand and a creepy mask on its face. It was like some kind of leather clown. The stranger sheathed the blades quickly, then pulled out two hook like devices. It threw each of them like darts ahead. They penetrated the rooftop of two houses on opposites side of the street. The figure quickly tested the rope, pulling back on it to make sure they were secure. Then it started walking backward. The rope grew more taunt, until finally, it snapped. The momentum pulled the strange figure through the air. They rocketed towards Merlin like a missile.
“Bleedy! Marvin! Go!” Vetica yelled, jumping over the wagon’s bench and into the back of the wagon. Bleedy scurried up front and grabbed the reins with his paws. He shook them violently. Marvin pulled the wagon forward slowly, warming up his legs. Merlin ran as fast as he could, but he couldn’t outrun the man shooting through the air behind him.
Orb watched in awe as the figure flew towards Merlin’s back. “Wow, do you know who that is? It’s humanity’s greatest soldier. Hey Merlin! Protect your nape!”
Vetica flung a throwing knife. Merlin’s eyes widened, but she’d aimed true. Her knife flew a few inches above Merlin’s head and directly towards the pursuing figure. The stranger was forced to raise both of his knives to deflect the attack. The awkward movement killed his momentum, and he tumbled back to the earth.
Marvin was finally awake. He kicked off, and the wagon started moved more quickly. Merlin was only a few feet away now. He clenched his teeth and ran as hard as he could. Vetica leaned forward and grabbed the side of the wagon, holding out at an arm. Their hands clasped. She pulled him inside and they collapsed on the wagon floor. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief.
“Uh, guys, we aren’t done yet!” Orb yelled.
The masked figure was already setting up another one of its slingshot tricks. Charlie shook his head. “Not on my watch!”
“Dungeon Manipulation!”
A mass of soft rock shot up from the ground and covered the stranger’s legs. Charlie forced it to harden as soon as it had wrapped around the figure. The person tried to free themself to no avail. Realizing the chase was over, the masked figure gave up and stared at them as the distance between them increased.
Charlie let out a breath. “Who was that?” he asked.
Merlin shrugged. “I don’t know. He was waiting for me. No idea why.” He pulled off his boots and inspected the bottoms. “Okay, not totally ruined. The glass poked me a bit, but luckily it didn’t really break the skin. Darren had better work on his aim. It was almost over for me.”
Orb floated over to Merlin. “Buddy, what did you do? Do we need to talk? Listen, from one playa to playa to anotha, I understand if you see a cute girl, it’s only natural to ask for her phone number. Or…pigeon number? I don’t know how you do things in this world. But next time, please make sure her murderous assassin boyfriend isn’t standing nearby. Please. I get it’s tough out here for a pimp. But you’ll do better next time. So, pick up that crown, king.”
Merlin stared at Orb. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Orb floated away. “See, that’s the problem with you young bloods. Old heads try to put you on game, and you act too good for it.”
“Who do you think that person was?” Charlie asked. “Maybe a Rawlin?”
Vetica leaned against the wagon’s side. “No. Definitely not a Rawlin. I’ve never seen armor like that either. If it belongs to an organization, it’s not one I’m familiar with. That weird rope trick is new to me as well. For now, we should focus on getting to Port Carrus. But we’ll need to be more careful going forward.”
Orb sunk in the air. “Man, we can’t catch a break. It feels like there is always someone after us. Heck, not to mention the fact we missed out on all that gold. We could’ve really used it. Oh, well.”
Merlin cleared his throat. There was a smirk on his face. “Wait a minute. Whoever said we didn’t get the gold?” he asked. He opened his cloak to reveal the coin-purses hanging on either side of its interior.
“Dude, you look like one of those sketchy salesmen in a cartoon. But like you’re selling pouches of gold. That’s freaking awesome!” Orb said.
Charlie smiled. There’d been a bump along the way, but now they were heading to Port Carrus, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that good things were ahead.