From the brow of the hill, Annie and her sister Mary watched their wagon convoy approaching from the south. Mary, her older sister and fifteen years old could already ride horses and she managed to convince their father to part with it for a short while so that they could ride a few minutes ahead of the convoy. The adventurer group protecting them mentioned that the number of beasts they subjugated over the last few days had reduced significantly which indicated civilisation wasn’t far away and soon they would start to see farmland and Hafeld’s walls. How they dreamed to see a city again. Father said they could go only if they promised certain things, one was to run when there was danger they other was to keep a constant lookout in case a beast tried to sneak up on them.
“Mary are you sure we are safe from the beasts? I’m glad we’re not having to deal with wild beasts again but I feel a bit exposed here.”
“Don’t worry Annie, we’ll be there soon. From here we can see anything trying to approach us.”
Annie trusted her sister. She loved her whole family dearly and couldn’t wait to settle down in a house again, not some wagon. When she At first a wagon seemed romantic
After the grind of three month’s travelling, Annie longed for a hot bath. None of the villages on the way owned a single bath, the only thing coming near to it were wooden barrels of cold water and nobody could soak for long in one of those. She was still day dreaming of her next hot bath when Mary’s sharp eyes noticed something in the distance.
“What’s that?”
She pointed to the east. From their vantage point they noticed black figures, spread out over the grassland, and quickly approaching the convoy.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t look like beasts. They’re not behaving like beasts. Could it be people?”
Every nerve in Mary’s body lit up as the truth dawned on her.
“Those are bandits.”
“Bandits, here?”
They watched in morbid fascination as the group approached. That’s when Annie noticed a similar set of black dots in the west.
“Look there’s more of them.”
That revelation spurred Mary into action, but she felt conflicted. If bandits were attacking it was possible for her to warn the convoy, but she didn’t want to head into the danger with Annie in tow. She quickly came to a compromise.
“Annie, climb off the horse. I need to go warn them.”
“But what about me? I’m not leaving you. I want to go too.”
“Annie, you’re safer here for the moment. Climb off and hide behind those rocks until I come to get you, understand.”
She pointed to a small rock outcropping a few meters away. Annie understood that arguing with Mary wouldn’t help. Once her sister stubbornly put her mind to something she never wavered. She slipped off the horse and watched Mary push the horse into a gallop down the hill. Annie watched Mary ride like the wind until she reached the first wagons and then Annie realised she stood alone on the hill and needed to hide. By the time she found a spot where she could still see the goings on below from over the top of a large rock, she couldn’t find Mary amongst the throng of people milling about. She suddenly felt alone there and didn’t feel safe.
Galway didn’t call himself a bandit. That’s what others called him, but he preferred to call himself a freelancer. Even though he bastardised the word, freelancers could freely choose what they wanted to do and whenever. And right at that moment he instigated an attack on a wagon convoy entering the outskirts of Hafeld City in a move that even his men considered pushing the boundaries.
But the wagon convoy never stood a chance. They were not expecting bandits to be operating that far north. One moment the convoy folks were looking forward to seeing Hafeld City walls in the distance, and the next they found themselves surrounded by a large band of 150 bandits hellbent on looting everything the convoy worked so hard to protect over the last three months. The bandits didn’t damage the wagons, after all they wanted the transport and the goods in them. In fact, the hallmark of these particular bandits was their propensity of avoiding fire.
“Your strategy worked.”
Galway’s second in command, Sharpe, praised.
“Yes, it did, but it’s far from over. When the convoy fails to report in on time, the city garrison will launch an investigation and come looking for them.”
Sharpe smirked at Galway’s comment.
“We’ll be long gone by then.”
“Yes. But this will be the third time we have successfully used this strategy and I’ll bet they will be arranging a counter offensive against us this time.”
“It will take them a while to discover that though. We didn’t use any fire so no one will see any smoke. Would you like us to retreat?”
“No. When we’re finished, send the minimum number of people needed to return with the slaves and the wagons. I want us to stay here for a bit longer and give the wagons time to return to Blackrock.”
Galway intended posting a few men at the scene of the battle and killing anyone stupid enough to come across the scene of the battle. The longer they hid the battle scene the better. Regular city patrols combed the road, but they only typically contained a handful of soldiers. Twenty men should quickly sort them out. Hopefully that would add another half day to their escape.
“Gather the people, it’s time to introduce them to how things are going to work from now on.”
The convoy people were about to discover that the bandits didn’t just want their wagons and goods. Blackrock, the headquarters of all bandits, only existed on the back of slaves. Those people became the future lifeblood of the city. Without slaves, banditry’s operational costs became prohibitively expensive to the point where a normal day’s work looked like a good career choice.
Sharpe had the privilege of introducing the scared folks to their new reality. His horse towered over everyone forced to kneel on the grass in front of them, about eighty people in all. The adventurers tasked with their safe keeping lay dead on the ground some way off.
“From now on you will call me boss, and your name is slave. Your lives have permanently changed. Forget ever seeing the walls of Hafeld City, it can no longer save you. You will be long gone before anyone finds out that you are missing.
You’ve been travelling for three months already, a few more will not hurt you. My men’s order are my orders. Obey them because they are the only things standing between you and suffering. If you try to escape or disobey my orders, I promise you that death will be the last thing we will meet out to you, although you will probably wish for it. You are far more valuable to us living, so we will make the effort to keep you alive.”
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He stopped for dramatic pause. He had already done this speech two times before and knew his next lines well.
“Now, I want all men to move to that side, he said pointing to his right. And I want all women and children to shift to the opposite and if anyone makes a sound while doing that, I’ll use you as the first example of what we do to folks who don’t listen.”
He felt disappointed that everyone obeyed his instructions. In the last two groups, fights and arguments broke out when men refused to be separated from their crying children. Naturally everyone towed the line when they used those men to show what they meant with suffering.
“Every person form into two single lines, men, and women apart. If you have children too young, they will be carried in wagons. If carrying your child the entire day works for you, feel free to object. You will be keeping pace and if we must take your children off you for some reason, it will be the last time you see them.”
Two lines formed and then they were each given a collar around their necks. Each collar had an iron ring on it. Those were not proper slave collars; they were only there to feed a thick rope through the rings to keep people together in two lines.
“Do not touch the rope. If you do, you are trying to escape and we will be merciless.”
“Sharpe, return with these slaves and I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Yes sir.”
With all preparations completed, they immediately set off west, trophy wagons first followed by two lines of people all connected by one long rope.
Galway watched the wagons leave into the distance. He called one of the commanders to him.
“Night isn’t far away and there are still preparations to be made. Have you arranged the twenty men?”
“Yes sir, as per Shape’s instructions.”
“Good.”
He said looking into the sky. He felt certain it would rain that night and he wanted to be as far away to the south so that he could to ambush the next wagon convoy heading towards them, ignorant of what happened to the previous convoy and what fate waited for them. With luck the rain would wash away their tracks, making it even more difficult to predict their next ambush site.
Annie couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly those bandits moved when they first attacked. For one thing, they all travelled on horses. Everything seemed chaotic to Annie, but she picked out the bandit’s strategy. Most of the bandits isolated the adventurers from the start and didn’t shift focus from them until the adventurers stopped moving. Only then did the bandits consider the other people. She continued watching as the bandits rounded the people up then strung them together in lines. The bandits split up, the first group with her family moved eastwards and many of the bandits took off southwards. There were a few bandits that stayed behind, but they moved to a side of where the battle took place and camped there.
For two hours she waited for Mary to come and fetch her, but she realised that wasn’t going to happen. Afterall, she witnessed herself what happened to everyone, and she knew what the bandits did there. She hesitantly looked north along the route the wagon convoy was heading and realised that Hafeld would be her only hope at a rescue. She sat on the southern slope facing the bandits, if she moved, the bandits might see her even at that distance, but if she waited until the sun set, she might be able to sneak off.
A couple of hours later the sun set and darkness started to quickly fall. Using that small window of opportunity before it became too dark she shifted location over the brow of the hill and for the first time got a good look at the northern side of the hill. As much as she could at least see in the dark. A few things became abundantly clear to her.
She didn’t know where in the north the city lay. To keep warm she didn’t have more than a jersey she took with her for the horse ride. She didn’t have any food or water.
“Think Annie, think. What did father teach you.”
She encouraged herself to think. Throughout the journey, Annie’s father regularly told her about his antics as a young man. He liked to travel and when her parents settled down in Port New Hope he first worked as an adventurer for a short while until deciding to follow more lucrative business options.
She also learned things from watching the adventurers and other people on the trip. Like using straw to insulate a bed or using it to cover someone to keep them warm. Tents and wagons were never warm, they offered shelter yes, but that was about it. What Annie would give even for a tent at that moment. On a clear night, the bright stars offered some hope because as little starlight as they gave, a person with night vision could still walk by it. Those same stars offered direction. Her father taught her where to find the south star and how to always keep it at her back. That way she knew she headed north. Annie couldn’t be totally sure, but at a point on the northern horizon she thought she could see a dim glow, as if the sun never set. It lay slightly to the right of her northern aim and lacking any other landmark she decided to head in that direction. However, it wasn’t long before clouds covered the sky and then it rained.
On the day that Grud heard the news of the bandit attack, he decided to visit the city garrison. It had been a while since he turned up there, but if he wanted news, he needed to get it personally. The military types didn’t like divulging information to just anyone, especially news about bandits operating near their city.
The guards knew him well enough to arrange an escort to the commander. He arrived at the commander’s office and was immediately ushered in.
“Hello guild master, what brings you to our humble quarters?”
“Hi Rothman, you can drop the honorifics, I’m only here for a quick visit.”
“Then I take it you want to know about the bandits.”
“Ah so you’re a mind reader and a knight?”
“No. I’m just good at understanding some people.”
“Should I be concerned?”
“Not at all. I’m happy to see you anyhow. Would you like a drink?”
Rothman always offered Grud a drink when he visited which probably explained why the commander never visited the guild. The drinks there didn’t match the standard of the small glass of alcohol he shared with the commander.
“When did we last meet?”
“During the dwarf incident.”
“Oh yes, how could I forget? It must be selective amnesia after dealing with our mayor.”
Grud chuckled at the memory.
“Has he recovered from that yet?”
“No, not really. In fact I use it as a tool to get rid of him when he bothers me. All I do is refer to something related and he outright dismisses me. Hasn’t failed me once.”
“Thanks for that information. I’ll remember that pointer when dealing with him.”
“My pleasure, so what would you like to know?”
Rothman moved on to the point of Grud’s visit.
“First give me an overview of what you know.”
“This morning we picked up a small girl, twelve years old, wondering alone on the south plains’ road. She turned out to be someone from the next wagon train that was supposed to arrive three days ago. She was separated from the others before the bandits attacked and she managed to escape. From her information we know that a smaller contingent of bandits left with the captured people and wagons, heading east.”
“It’s incredible to think a small girl survived that long out there, I’m glad you found her. I suspect those bandits are headed for Blackrock?”
“I think you’re correct, at least it makes sense because the lager group went south. Unfortunately, we can only focus on the larger group.”
“I see. I bet those bandits almost certainly intend ambushing the next wagon convoy.”
“Exactly. We dispatched almost the entire division of men to intercept and protect the wagon train, hopefully before the bandits can.”
Grud’s brain maths told him that mission would be difficult at best. First catching up before the bandits found the convoy and then fighting off bandits.
“That’s a tall order for your men.”
“It’s probably a fool’s errand but the mayor doesn’t want our military to be seen sitting on its hands in this situation, especially after the third incident this year. He’s under pressure to be seen doing something about the bandit problem.”
No one could solve the bandit problem. So many invested parties stuck their fingers in that proverbial pie that people would be shocked to know who really supported the bandits and why.
“It seems your men are already dealing with the problem, what can the guild offer if anything?”
“I’m not sure at this stage. Asking adventurers to get involved is asking a lot from you.”
“I’ll give it some serious thought, after all they did kill our fellow adventurers. I better get back and discuss it with the others. If you need anything, come and see me. You needn’t be afraid of our alcohol, the dwarfs seemed to like it.”
“Bah, those people will drink anything.”
And on that mixed note Grud bid farewell to Rothman. Imagine his surprise when just a couple of hours later Rothman turned up at the guild with a surprise in tow. A young girl called Annie, of around twelve years old sat in his office with Rothman. Her simple styled, short, cropped hair spoke of being in a wagon convoy for a while, but she still looked cute.
“You want me to do what?”
“Please save my family.”