CHAPTER 88: The bandits
“Okay Shane, I’ll bring Hana back as soon as we’re done.”
Said Schneider sitting on a cart next to a quiet Hana who insisted on doing the driving. I knew Hana well enough to know her silence meant something was eating away at her, but we would have to deal with that when she got back. As the cart pulled away Karato waved goodbye from the back of the cart like royalty waving to the crowds from inside a carriage. Why was I the only one feeling down about Hana leaving. Seriously, she wasn’t even further than fifty paces from me and already I regretted changing her slave status, not that I would’ve done otherwise even if I knew the outcome.
It didn’t take much convincing to get Schneider to invite Hana to visit the merchant guild with him. After all, it only cost me a storage ring with half a meter cubed worth of space in it. He first spouted nonsense about merchant privileges and guild rules, but all of that vanished when I presented him with the ring. He suddenly recalled that he could register Hana as an apprentice, and he could just squeeze her in while asking some of the administrative staff to overlook things with bits of Ironwood he accidently left on the table. After all, it was the legal section of the library. Nothing sensitive there and hardly anybody ever went into that room. It was a perfect place for Hana to do her work.
Karato joined Hana and Schneider as an opportunity to update the king and speak to the labour guild. When Mr. Papadopoulos heard of Hana’s freedom from the slave collar his face went white. Although he insisted that we report that issue to the labour guild immediately. He didn’t want any problems coming from it.
I forced myself to look away when their cart disappeared into the surrounding bush. Hana could look forward to having her own life back, it was me that seemed to have the vacuum. I didn’t have too long to wait when the next takeover team would arrive in a few days’ time. I drifted aimlessly to the elves new quarters that stood about two storeys high on four heavy wooden poles. Underneath each house a planted sapling that I swear grew a foot taller since they were first put in. The sapling would eventually grow through the middle of each house, a hole already in place for the trunk to pass through. From what the elves explained, the trees would send branches out which were used to support the floor of the house and the other branches left to grow outside the rooftop. The elves carefully controlled each step of the process. When the tree trunk was thick enough to hold the house, the poles would be removed, and the house would integrate into the tree. Apparently the wood the house was made from was specifically chosen to match the type of tree so that the house could easily integrate.
“Argh!”
A hard knock hit me on the back as a heavy hand tried to integrate my spine with my sternum.
“What the?”
I turned to see who my assailant was, only to see Sustelia smiling back at me.
“Oh, it’s you Sustelia.”
Was all I could say with the only enthusiasm I could muster.
“What, is that all you can say? I greet you and you make a sound like a dying goblin. I think it’s long past time you went out for a decent hunt.”
She suddenly picked me up, threw me over her shoulders like a prize animal and headed towards the camp gate. There was no point in trying to escape, she was at least twice my strength. From my uncivilised inverted position, with my face at her rear end, I noticed the rest of the Minstrels waving at me as they followed us out.
“And where are you going? There’s a lot of paperwork to do you know?”
“Ha! Don’t worry, I’ve been given the best assurance it’s not going anywhere, I’m sure everyone will leave it dead alone.”
Everyone laughed at that except me.
“Where are we going then? My ribs are hurting.”
“I dunno. Let’s see, the winds blowing from the south today, let’s go there. Perhaps we’ll catch a couple of bunnies duking it out.”
Sheesh she was crude as ever. It made sense though, heading upwind meant no animals would catch our scent.
“I haven’t got any weapons or armour with me.”
“You know, you’re no fun. You’ve done nothing but complain since we invited you. If you don’t lighten up then we’re going to leave you here to eat worms on your own.”
I sighed.
“Sorry, I’ll have fun. Just put me down and I’ll willingly go with you.”
She dumped me unceremoniously onto the ground.
“From what I heard, you got two balls over there you can swirl around like magic. Karato told me you killed an ogre general with your balls.”
She pointed vaguely at the pockets in my pants while stifling a laugh.
“Stop pointing there. Firstly, they’re metal spheres, not balls. Everything you say makes it sound dirty. Besides, get me close to any monster and the last thing that will go through that’s monster’s mind are my steel balls.”
“Bwhahaha. He said he uses his balls!”
“He said balls!”
“Yep, the truth always comes out of hiding!”
“Aw, just grow up everyone.”
Bugger. At the worst time I called it the very thing I wanted everyone to forget. I concluded that I was my own worst enemy. Judging by the Minstrel’s red faces and gasping sounds, I at least gave them a good laugh. They were so enamoured by their joke that any monster happening to frolic into our team’s surrounds would have to wait its turn for their attention.
The rest of the morning turned out to be surprisingly fun, we caught a few celibate forest rabbits that didn’t even see the danger coming until a metal sphere dropped squarely on their heads. With my air sense and Ara’s help, the Minstrels watched me dispatch the rabbits one by one.
“Sheesh, that’s some skill you got there, son.”
Aaryan watched in amazement as the sphere came down like a whisper until the sound of a dull crack confirmed the kill. Forest rabbits were usually solitary animals unless they were in breeding season which continued for a lunar cycle. It seemed Sustelia was right, she must have known it was rabbit breeding season because we crossed paths with more than one group of socialising rabbits. From our vantage point on a small hill overlooking a dip about fifty meters ahead, a handful of rabbits chased a female around the dell. We were well practised up to then.
Deciding beforehand who would go for which rabbit, I launched the spheres high into the air then allowed them to drop down on my targets. I used three spheres to give the other three archers a chance to fire, then used my fingers to show the others my countdown and with six seconds to go, the archers pulled back the arrows on their bows and let go. On four seconds remaining, Sustelia let go a whistle loud enough to raise the dead. Every rabbit stopped, looked up at our direction to see what caused the noise and all of them died three seconds later. Beautifully orchestrated and executed. Only a well-oiled team could do that.
Of course, I didn’t just kill fluffy bunny rabbits all day, I collected an assortment of plants, always keeping my eye out for the unusual, which why I picked up something, well, unusual. It was a common herb-like plant, about waist high with sturdy brown twigs that pointed towards the sky like they wanted to always to be in the heavens. Except one twig was bowing down, as if thrown from its position by force. It took quite a bit of strength to break those flexible and stringy twigs.
“What’s wrong?”
Aaryan’s perception was sharp as a knife as he picked up on my sudden attitude change. Immediately the Minstrels took a defensive stance as we approached the bush. Swords were pulled out and bows notched, and tension placed on the strings for quick pulling. I could sense them gently tense up.
“I’m not sure. Just checking something.”
In a field full of shrubs, trees, and grass, looking at one twig’s story may have looked like idiocy. But when I followed the direction of the twig’s fall, I decided to go in that direction in case there was something else worth investigating. The Minstrels surrounded me as we moved. Only a few paces from there I hit paydirt in the form of a horseshoe imprint on the ground.
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“Look here.”
Aaryan tested at the horseshoe imprint I pointed out by pressing the ground.
“It’s still fresh. Travelling parallel with the Old Forest Road.”
A quick observation pointed out numerous horse tracks, widely dispersed over the area. Probably around thirty horses move through there earlier that morning.
“Whose horses are these?”
Aaryan asked. My blacksmithing experience came to the fore. I certainly didn’t’ think I could use it in that capacity.
“It’s not someone from our camp, or from the palace knights. I’d recognise their horseshoe imprints any day. Their horseshoes seem well made, all similarly finished and patterned but broader than the military’s horseshoes, so they’re made for off-road terrain. So, in a nutshell, they’re a large, organised group heading east. They can operate in this environment and seem to be avoiding main road.”
“Bandits?”
“No. Bandits usually are a ragtag group of people and not this organised, and yet these prints are showing bandit behaviour.”
“That’s a good analysis Shane.”
Aaryan’s unexpected praise surprised me.
“Thanks, but it’s not a conclusive answer.”
“Ha, ha, ha. None of us would’ve figured that out the way you did.”
The timing and the implications of a large group of bandits in the area at the same time Hana, Schneider and Karato left for Shimmerstal, didn’t escape anyone, least of all me. If they intersected each other then it would turn into a battle. Even for the combined forces of Hana, Karato and their escorting adventurers, thirty bandits with unknown abilities might be a bridge too far. Aaryan sensed my hesitation.
“Shane, what do you want to do?”
“There’s no time to delay, I’m going to follow these horse tracks to their destination.”
“I would’ve preferred to go ourselves, but our job is to look after the camp. I know better than to try and convince you otherwise so in that case you’re not going alone, Sustelia is going with you.”
In turn I knew better than to argue with Aaryan about the situation. That I didn’t get on well with Sustelia didn’t count for squat if Aaryan ever needed to explain my death to Hana or Karato.
“When will you return?”
“Difficult to say because I don’t know where the tracks will lead me. I’ll send feedback to Sebastien or yourself. I can’t tell you how, but you’ll know for certain at the time.”
After thinking about it, Aaryan decided to go with it. Besides what could he do about it anyhow, especially since I was his employer.
“Alright, we’ll wait for your word at the camp.”
Accepting the situation, the Minstrels disappeared into the forest. I commented to Sustelia.
“I’m surprised Aaryan didn’t put up more opposition to my suggestion.”
“You’re kidding right? You’d have to be moss on a rock not to know what happened with Hana and yourself during the monster invasion of the Blister Oak Forest.”
“You know about that?”
“Know about it? Heck every guild was proclaiming it like propaganda to rid themselves of the stigma of the number of adventurers that died.”
“I didn’t know that many died. I knew some of them.”
“Yeah, me too. But don’t get your knickers in a knot about it, we’ve other problems to solve.”
Sustelia was right. I needed to focus on finding out where the bandits headed.
“Sustelia. Could you do me a favour? I need to turn around. Disregard whatever you hear happening behind you until I tell you turn around. It’s going to be easier for everyone if you do.”
She shrugged and turned around, nonplussed. I took out the creation core from my pocket space storage and retrieved a mustite bar from it.
I watched as a transfer storage released hundreds of scolems, which under Ara’s preprogramed instructions, scurried off eastwards, following the bandit trail. The heavier milk-cow refuelling scolems and their escorts trailed them behind more slowly. Soon all of them melted into the forest. What shocked me most was just how quietly they moved. Although I could hear them, it would be difficult to know what just happened unless I happened to see them.
“You can turn around now.”
Sustelia didn’t know what just happened but the story the dust on the ground told her spoke volumes. Thousands of tiny tracks littered the ground.
“You know Shane. Just when I think I’m starting to like you, you do creepy things that make me seriously doubt myself again.”
I just smiled my creepiest smile for her.
“How do you think I survived in the Blister Oak Forest?”
I started laughing at my own joke.
“Please stop that. You’re creeping me out.”
She didn’t tease me for a while after that incident. As evening fell we continued walking using the infrared light torches Ara made, pushing the boundary until and exhausted Sustelia asked me to stop. I didn’t persist, that would be foolhardy, even I wasn’t immortal. We ate some rations, and I called the first watch, quietly releasing enough scolems into the surrounding area while Sustelia slept on the first watch. No monster would bother us, and if they dared come close, scolems would ambush them with transfer storage. After the dark elf incident, I realised those critters of mine proved to be exceptionally efficient, so I didn’t hesitate to fall asleep. When a flustered Sustelia woke me up with a rough shake a couple of hours before dawn she didn’t mince her words.
“Are you trying to kill us? Why did you fall asleep during your watch and not wake me up?”
“Sorry Sustelia, we were perfectly fine, in fact we were well protected last night but I didn’t want you to worry about it.”
“Okay, I understand you got your mysterious ways, but man, at least tell me what you got planned so I don’t behave like a total dufus. We’re on the same team after all.”
“You’re right, I apologise, I’ll play open cards with you. I guess I’m not used to operating without Hana.”
Sustelia didn’t say anything except.
“Okay I trust you. Start a fire since you let the other die out.”
I couldn’t complain and got the fire going. When Sustelia disappeared behind a tree for lady things, I popped a few raw meat and vegetable skewers and toasted them on the fire. They smelled wonderful.
“Eh, did you secretly kill a rabbit last night and butcher it?”
She said as she tucked into another skewer.
“No. I have a means to store food for a long time. I’ve prepared some food for occasions like this since Hana and I always seem to get ourselves into difficult situations. Besides, it beats those awful rations.”
“Really? You know, I stick to my comment that if you just told me that last night we could’ve eaten this instead of rations. You don’t happen to have some hot tea somewhere in there as well, do you?”
That’s Sustelia for you, not one to let something get her down and always quick on the rebound.
Midday a scout returned. The futility of my secrecy suddenly dawned on me as the scolem scurried towards us at a high rate of knots and Sustelia pulled out her sword, ready to defend against it. From her perspective we were about to be attacked by a spider-looking monster.
“Wait. It’s mine.”
“What’s that thing?”
I didn’t answer but quickly put the creation core on the ground and the scolem moved onto it. When I touched the core, Ara reported back to me, and I interpreted that information to Sustelia.
“It seems there was a battle about six hours ahead of us. Bandits were involved in a skirmish with the cart, but it was over before my scouts arrived. The bandits won, although they took heavy casualties. Our team seems to be alive but captured.”
I sighed a breath of relief at that point. At least there was some good news.