Chapter 19: Man Down

Gwent's eyes became slits. “You two? Dammit, you were in the attic, weren't you?”

Finn held his dagger by the point, ready for the mayor to make any move that’d force him to use it. “You have quite a bad squirrel problem, I must say.”

“Curse you!” He pointed his hand that held a glass of whiskey at Finn. “I'll have the guards cut you down where you stand for barging in here!”

“Would you like to try that?” Hazel asked, an arrow notched in her bow.

The mayor looked between her and Finn without a word.

Finn allowed a victorious smile, “You're thinking of a way to get out of this, but you know there isn’t one.” Just then, he yelled “Hawksbane!”

La'Quet and Gronan were inside in an instant, weapons drawn.

“What you are doing is wrong,” Finn continued. “You know about your wizard being a necromancer and are allowing him to bring your wife back as a husk just to talk to her. It's wrong, Gwent.”

“By the Goddess,” Gronan whispered.

Gwent looked away, “I am doing it for her.”

“Cut the trintshit, you're doing it for you. We both know that. You have to tell the guards about what is going on.”

He let out a heavy sigh and shot the rest of his drink down his throat. He looked at the glass in his hand for several moments before he put it on the bar. “Do I really have a choice in the matter?”

Gronan lifted his battle-ax and rested it on his shoulder, “Not really.”

He nodded. Finn watched as tears began to form in the man’s eyes. One fell, sliding down his cheek before he quickly wiped it away. “I just want her back,” He said hollowly.

“We have all lost people,” Hazel said as she unnotched her bow. “But at what lengths are you willing to go to bring her back? This man who is helping you has done and is still doing terrible things to people. Finn could feel the anger in her voice as she asked, “Don’t you know that?”

The mayor was quiet but gave a slight nod. “Fine, I'll tell the guards everything.” He stiffened his quivering lip. “But I regret nothing.”

“Good for you,” La’Quet remarked sarcastically.

“Gronan, will you?” Finn asked.

Gronan nodded and took the mayor by the shoulder, pushing him in front of the group as they went out the back door. Before they left, Finn quickly went to the counter, pulled the dagger out of the counter, and slipped it into his belt but kept the other one in hand just in case. He joined back with the group and they went out into the pitch-black streets.

Even though they had managed to convince this man to give up Fendrin, the necromancer, he didn’t feel so good about their circumstances. He knew how the world worked, when someone was just beginning to feel as if things were truly starting to go their way, the world spit in their face and rubbed it in the mud.

And unlucky for him, for once in his life, things were truly going his way.

#

The mayor walked with his head down. I had seen a look like that before, one of udder defeat. But I couldn't bring myself to feel bad for him, from what Finn had described he was having the necromancer bring back his stuffed wife just so he could talk to her. That was on a whole other level of effed up. Yet, I couldn't help but wonder how many people on Earth would've done the same thing. I figured it wouldn't be a small percentage.

We made it to the guard station and went inside. Immediately, I could tell we all came to the same question as we noticed Milanda was behind her desk, reading a paper. What is she doing here at this hour?

“Suppose the captain is not in at the moment?” Gwent asked.

“No,” She said as she continued to read.

“Can you get him?”

“It would take a bit for me to walk over there.”

“You and I both know you don't have to walk over there.”

She looked up at him and then to Gronan who still held him by the arm. She gave Gronan her inhuman smile. “Fine,” She pointed to the air with her index finger and a blank piece of paper on her desk went up into the air. She closed her eyes for just a second and then the paper folded itself to look like a letter before the edges became lit with flame and seemingly dematerialized.

“Thank you. Now, Gronan, can you let go of me? I won’t run anywhere.”

Gronan did so.

He flexed his now-freed arm. “What will they do to me, Milanda?”

She gave a slight shrug as she went back to reading a paper. “If you tell them everything, you can wish for demotion.”

He nodded and went silent, his face contemplative.

“What the hell are you?” I blurted out to Milanda.

“Just the front desk clerk,” She said as she signed the paper with an inked quill.

“Who are you?” Gronan asked.

“Milanda.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Not one to give up your secrets, are you?”

“I hold no secrets, I just guard my information.”

“Isn’t that the same as secrets?” I asked.

“Some may say so,” She grabbed another paper from the stack and began to read from it.

“Do people think this is normal?” I asked.

“Not many normal people come in here,” The mayor answered, his thoughtful face unchanging. “Other than me and the guards, and they have seen plenty of weird things before.”

“But she's not an Adventurer,” Gronan said. “How did she get those powers?”

“Who's to say, really?” She asked.

I could see the questions piling up in the rest of the group too. But knowing this lady, she wouldn't give a clear answer and the rest of us knew that too. Instead, we all stood silently until the front door opened and the captain, David, walked in.

He didn't have on his usual, dressy attire. Instead, he wore a blue nightgown and his hair was a mess. His voice was groggy as he spoke, “I was told to come in for a message?”

“Yes,” Hazel answered, “The mayor would like to tell you all about the bad deeds Fendrin has committed.”

He blinked several times, his brain clearly trying to understand the words that she had just spoken.

The mayor cleared his throat. “Fendrin is the necromancer. He has been using the town's graveyard as a means of practicing this unholy magic to fuel his research of conquering death itself.”

David nodded slowly, “Well, I can't say I was expecting that but okay,” He took a breath and seemed to process what he had just been told for a moment. He nodded again and looked at everyone seriously, “I will get everyone ready. This is a serious crime and must be dealt with in a serious manner. Do any of you know if he is home at the moment?”

“Certainly not,” The mayor said, “He is most likely at his lair. He will be back home around sunrise.”

“Then we'll wait until then. Everyone, get some sleep. We will gather back here right as the sun begins to rise-”

“Wait,” I cut him off and glared at the mayor. “Mayor Gwent has more to confess.”

Gwent cleared his throat, “Well, yes, I have to admit that I knew about Fendrin for some time now,” He sighed. “He knew my secrets and if he aired them out I could’ve been voted out as mayor. But I have come to my senses and now know that this matter is more important than simple secrets. When you take down this monster, I will make it my duty to speak to everyone in town so they may know what you and the rest of the town guards do to keep this town safe.”

David nodded, “Duly noted, and I am grateful you look so highly of me and my men.” He looked at all of us with an unreadable expression before looking back at Gwent. He was about to ask him what the secrets were and this man would be ripped away from leadership, I just knew it. “I understand that it must have taken much courage to come to me about this issue then. I am proud to have such a mayor who would determine status matters less than duty. Get some rest and when you awaken, we will have gotten rid of the nuisance that is Fendrin.”

“I fully believe in your capabilities to do so.”

“If that is all, I will take my leave.”

“It is.”

“But,” My voice came out meekly.

David turned to all of us with a look that demanded us not to speak.

I sighed as I watched David leave.

“I believe I have done what you wanted me to,” The mayor said, a sly smile on his face.

“Suppose you won't tell them about how you were keeping your dead wife in a secret room?” I asked.

He shrugged, “I don't see how that is relevant. Besides, there's no way of you proving that, especially since some vandals seemed to have burned that secret room.”

Finn's hand bawled into a fist, “How did you...”

“I have my ways, friends,” He said, putting his arms behind his back. “Now, I will go now to get some restful sleep. I wish you all the very best.”

And then he walked out, leaving only us and Milanda in here.

“Just like it always goes,” Finn snarled.

“Guess that's one more similarity to my world,” I said defeatedly.

“Try not to sound so down,” Milanda said as the desk drawer opened from some unseen force. “You should celebrate the fifty gold you all are being rewarded with for taking down the threat to the trint farm.”

Finn was immediately at the drawer and held up quite a large sack of gold. He threw it to Gronan, who distributed it to all of us - giving each of us ten pieces of gold and the last ten was put into the group fund.

“Sounds good to me!” Finn said as a large, genuine smile touched his face. “I suppose the rest of you are going to spend the night in the inn?” He asked.

Hazel answered him, “That we are, brother. Have fun,” Her words were thick with sarcasm.

“I will.”

Hazel shook her head as Finn left the building. “Always a one-track mind with that one. Come on, let us be off to get some sleep.”

#

I didn’t expect the few hours of sleep we got to be good but I slept like a baby. Though, as we all - except Finn - left the inn, I felt groggier than ever before. I felt Gronan’s large hands run through the top of my head, rubbing it hard, “Wakey wakey.”

I pulled away from him and slapped myself a few times. That helped.

To my surprise, Finn was already back at the guard station and had his back resting against the entrance, waiting for us. “Did you enjoy your night without us?” Hazel asked.

He gave her a devious look, “The sleep was fantastic, and the actions beforehand even better.”

“Ew,” Hazel winced. “I have no need to hear about it, let us go inside.”

Finn opened the door and went in first.

Inside, men stood in a circle around Captain David. All of them wore plated iron armor and holstered swords besides two who held spears. We joined the circle.

“Good to see you four made it, and just in time for my speech on the situation,” David said. “Everyone should know by now that Fendrin, our town wizard and mayor's right hand, is a necromancer. Our mission is to take him into custody. By now, he should be inside his house. First, we will have the Adventurer's take point in front of us,” He pointed to Finn. “This man, Finn, will go inside and sneak up on him. When he gives the codeword…”

“Hawksbane,” Finn told him.

“Hawksbane, the rest of the Adventurers will go in. Only if they are given any trouble will we go in. A necromancer is a big job, a sort of job that is usually only tasked with Adventurers, that is why we have chosen for them to go in first. Is that clear?”

Everyone nodded their approval.

“Good, secondly, if Fendrin should try to run,” He pointed at Hazel. “Hazel will shoot toward him to hopefully take him down. Along with this, I will need Mike, Edward, and Henderson to be our runners,” He pointed at each man as he spoke. “This is a fairly simple plan but even so anything could happen. From what little I know of necromancers, it is to my understanding that they do not go out without a fight, so be prepared. And if Fendrin should conjure any one of his creations,” He pointed at the two spearmen, “Jerard and Tyler, you two will throw your silver-tipped spears at them. Does anyone have any questions?”

I had the question of why iron-tipped spears but decided not to ask. It must’ve come from some sort of legend that silver killed unholy creations much like how it was on Earth. I only hoped that in this world that legend was true.

No one spoke up.

“Alright, good,” He clapped his hands. “Then let's be off!”

We followed the large group of guards out of the building and down several houses before the captain whistled. Everyone stopped. “The next house up is Fendrin's, Finn!”

Finn nodded and took out a dagger from his belt.

“And please don't kill him,” He muttered.

“I'll try,” He said bluntly. And then he was off. I watched as he dashed down the road and went to the side of the house toward the back.

Several silent moments passed. I held my sword tightly, its leather hilt in my hand felt good. This was it, we were going to take this guy down. The plan was straightforward enough which was probably best, it gave it less of a chance for failure. At least I hoped that’d be the case.

But then the front window shattered and I watched as Finn tumbled out of it. It seemed this plan definitely hadn’t worked out.