“Is there any way for us to get to Sarsha?” Joe asked the small ruffian at his side.
“I could … easy. I saw three of the town watch around the farm. Pevmick the Tracker was by the shed. He thinks he can track me, but I’ve given him the slip more times than I can count,” the gnome boasted. “You are the problem. Unless you have a stealth-ability you haven’t mentioned, then we are going to have to come up with something more elaborate than a simple sneak-in-and-out.”
“And complicated plans are recipes for disaster,” Joe groaned.
“Huh?” Kaid grunted, looking at Joe with a slightly astonished expression. “Where did that come from? You seem so straight-laced. Who would have thought there was a hidden scoundrel in there?”
“I’ve planned plenty of heists. I’ve just never had to physically enact any of them before,” Joe replied, thinking of some of his favorite thief characters and campaigns.
“Ok, Mister Mastermind. What do you think we should do?”
“That depends. Do we want a plan that gets us in, and then we get away afterward? Or are we ok with healing Sarsha and getting caught?” Joe asked. After a momentary pause, he amended his words. “Well, I would get caught for sure on the way out. I think you’d get away.”
“The first one. Duh!” Kaid made an exaggerated face at Joe.
“Then I’ve got nothing quite yet. The classic ‘distraction over there’ only helps us get in, but afterward, the guards will be on high alert, so getting out and away with me is pretty improbable.”
“Did you leave anything at the Dellhams that Pevmick could use to track you?”
“Maybe,” Joe uttered, thinking. “Bandages?”
“Yeah, but those were on Missus Dellham. Unless he pulled them off right after we left, they’d be no good for his skills. Your scent, or whatever he tracks with, would be covered by her. I’m sure Nella washed or at least aired out the sheets, so he can’t use those.”
“Where are you going with this, Kaid?”
“I like your distraction idea to get in. The other two guards were Cembu Reze and Lonny Yuggs. They are good at fighting goblins or roarbacks, but they don’t have any enhanced sensory skills, as far as I know. As long as Pevmick doesn’t have your ‘scent,’ then we should have enough time to figure out a way to get you away after we save Rhy’s mom. I say we try it,” the small man exclaimed, still keeping his voice down just in case. “What is our distraction? Are we going to start another fire?
“No. Let's not add arson to our list of impending charges,” he argued. “There was this one game …,” Joe began.
----------------------------------------
Joe crouched in the wheat field, being tickled by the growing stalks of grain. He was feeling a bit of Deja Vu being once again surrounded by a large swath of high grasses. They had decided that all Joe would do was run to the side of the farmhouse when the time was right. The sneaky gnome and his accomplices would take care of the rest.
The sun had gone down over an hour ago. The night sky was a mixed blessing. A bright, gibbous moon gave off far too much illumination for their comfort, but the sky was a patchwork of clouds, giving them sporadic moments of deep darkness to work in. This whole plan was at the whim of timing and shadows.
Joe’s [Smoldering Staff] had been covered by one of Konren’s cloaks, which Kaid had grabbed a few hours ago while telling the Dellhams their plan. He was now just waiting on the little gnome to come and get him when the time was right.
When that moment occurred, Joe almost blew everything. Out of nowhere, a voice hissed in his ear.
“You ready?” it asked, and Joe barely stifled a potentially loud squawk of tense surprise.
“Geez, man! Don’t do that,” he huffed a second later, trying to get his heart rate back under control.
“You knew I was coming,” Kaid uttered in a quiet, bewildered voice.
“Yeah, but I have been hiding in the field for an hour now. A bit of warning would have been nice.”
“Sorry. Everything is set. I got Rhy and Buck out of the house. They are by the sheep pen, and the gate is already open. Kip’s there too, ready to beast-shape into a wolf.”
Kip was the girl from the dock. A couple of years older than Rhiley, she had a druid class that allowed her to transform into various animal shapes. A wolf was about as big as she could turn into, but that was all they needed to get the sheep running through the farm. Joe’s original scheme was a cattle stampede, but the Dellhams only had four cows. There were more than enough sheep on the farm, so a mini-stampede was planned.
“Here they come,” Kaid whispered. They could both hear a wolf’s howl and the braying of sheep coming closer. “As soon as that cloud covers the moon, we go,” the small rogue stated, pointing upward.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
When the shadow fell over the farm, the world shifted from silvery light to a near-complete darkness. Joe was almost blind; he could just make out a slightly lighter, blurry blob that was his hand in front of his face. Kaid pulled him forward, his gnomish eyes far more adept to the dim light than Joe’s.
Shouts of deeper voices called out from the guards stationed around the farm. Suddenly, Konren’s deep baritone was added to the mix. “Rhy, take Buck and go wrangle the sheep. I’ll get the wolf.”
This was a ploy, as the farmboy and sheepdog were with the lupine-shaped Kip at the back of the flock, driving the herd past the house.
“No. Everyone has to stay inside by order of the Lord Amberwroth,” countered a man from near the barn.
“Lonny. You know I’m not going to let any of my girls get eaten by some wolf. Now get over here and help Rhy round them up. Then, you can go back to looking for your felons. I’m going to get that wolf, and there ain’t anything you can do about it unless you want me to tell Mercia about how you treat your neighbors ever since you got this town watchman gig.”
Kaid pulled Joe up to the side of the house as a flustered reply lamented through the night air. “Come on, Kon. You know we got a job to do. Don’t bring the missus into it.”
“Then, help us get the sheep back in the pasture and mums the word,” the large farmer countered, clearly having fun with his part in this subterfuge.
As planned, the root cellar had been unlocked from the inside of the house. Just before the two sneaking fugitives lost their cloud cover, they eased open the diagonal trapdoor and slipped down the steps leading under the farmhouse. When the panel was closed again above them, Joe and Kaid both let out a deep sigh of relief.
By now, Kip had swapped her shape into another sheepdog or ran off, whichever worked better to get her clear. Konren would ‘hunt’ around the farm with his heavy crossbow for a little while before returning to the house.
Nella stood on the stairs up into the kitchen, covering most of the light from a small taper with her hand. Joe eased his way across the dirty floor to her while Kaid locked the bunkhead behind them.
“How’s your mom?” Joe whispered as he reached her.
“I think she’s getting worse, Joe. Kaid said you have some new spells.”
“I do. Is it safe for me to come up?”
“Yeah. Ma’s in her room. We hung a blanket over the window. Nobody will see us,” the girl replied, taking Joe’s hand and pulling him up the steps, clearly worried.
When they reached the parent's bedroom, Joe agreed that Sarsha looked even worse than when he first treated her yesterday. Her skin was completely waxen, and her breathing was harsh and ragged. The black, snaking veins now reached past her elbow.
Nella must have recently unwrapped the hand, knowing they might only have minutes before one of the guards stormed in. Konren was doubtful the men he had grown up with would barge into his home, especially in light of Sarsha's condition. On the other hand, Kaid mentioned Lord Amberwroth was not someone anyone wanted to get on the wrong side of. Fear of the callous noble might cause the town warders to be overly zealous.
‘Here goes,’ Joe thought internally before he directed his mind outward to his unseen acquaintance. ‘Can you give me any advice here, Hawking? Is there a right or wrong way to use these spells?’
While I cannot provide guidance regarding the specific spells in question, I can give you a small degree of advice regarding skills in general. Intent has a high degree of influence on how a skill functions, especially a newly acquired skill. Focusing clearly on what you want to occur will provide you with the highest likelihood of achieving that end.
‘Ok. Thanks,’ Joe sent back, a little surprised that he got even that much from the inscrutable entity. Back to himself, he issued the command, ‘Focus on intent.’
He pictured pushing the infection out, a bit like squeezing toothpaste out of the tube or popping an acne pustule. Just before he applied the [Dispel Rot] spell, Joe felt another one of his skills flicker and pulse for the briefest of seconds. It was his [Coin Catcher] skill. Even though this oddity piqued his curiosity, Joe pushed that thought away. He couldn’t afford to distract himself with a new mystery when he might only have one try at saving Sarsha.
Focusing on the puffy hand, Joe activated the witch spell, resulting in a surprisingly powerful discharge of pus. A bubbling froth of pale, dead blood cells spurted out of the wound, sprinkling both himself and Nella with small white droplets.
“Oh gross,” the young lass gasped.
“Yeah. That was pretty bad. Sorry.” The smell was not great either. He gathered his mana again and used [Dispel Rot] to push again. More gunk oozed from her palm. The second push elicited a groan of pain from the infirmed woman, making Joe realize he had forgotten a step. With over two hundred mana now, Joe could afford to be thorough. [Dispel Rot] used more mana than his other spells but should be able to cast around ten of them before he’d have to rest. Moving up above her elbow, Joe began driving the blood poisoning down her arm and out the hole in her palm.
He lost Nella for a few minutes while her stomach rebelled on her, but like a trooper, she was back as soon as she got her unruly gut back under control. Using warm water and a series of clean cloths, Sarsha’s daughter wiped away the pus and bad blood, helping Joe to see the best spot to send his next use of the spell to.
By the time Joe had spent three-quarters of his mana, there was no more infection left. Using [Healing Touch], he began to restore her strength. Given how much that skill had improved, he barely needed a second dose.
You have restored 3 points of Sarsa Dellham’s health. Her current health is at 100%.
Your skill [Healing Touch] has increased to rank 13.
For the first time, Joe finally got to see Sarsha Dellham’s eyes fully clear and alert. Her skin was pink, and her aura, while showing hints of grey from weariness, was a robust blue. As Joe spent some of his dwindling mana on [Efferous Endurance] to boost her energy levels, Nella slipped past him to fold herself into her mother’s arms. The girl could finally let go of her brave face and let all of her fear and worries out.
Joe stepped back to give the gently crying lass and the comforting mother some space, only to have a strong hand land on his shoulder. Dread filled his heart. Thinking his time was up, Joe snapped his head around. Instead of a hard-faced guardsman, his eyes found Konren standing beside him. The large farmer was blinking back his emotions as he gazed on the two women. A deep squeeze to Joe’s shoulder spoke more than words ever could.