I hadn’t really noticed it when I was running from one catastrophe to another, but over the last couple of days, an intense sense of loneliness had started to take root within me. I guess that made a certain sense, because I was in a new world where I knew nobody, unless you count a couple of kobolds who I had beaten down in an epic fashion after our one semi-friendly conversation. I think that’s why I let my guard down a little too quickly with the herdsman.
As we walked away from the site of our initial confrontation, he seemed like he was in a good mood and starting to warm up to me.
“Well, friend, when we get back to my camp, we’ll both be starving,” he said. “You’ll have all of my food, but if you let me share a meal with you I will be glad to share my ale.”
I’m not going to lie. The idea of something other than river water to drink was pretty damn enticing. Quickly, I agreed.
“Man, an ale sounds really good. I think sharing a meal and a drink sounds like a great idea. I realize that we haven’t been properly introduced. I’m James.”
“And my name is Levan,” he replied. “I wish I had made your acquaintance under better circumstances.”
As we walked, we continued to chat. Our progress was slow as the creatures around us would stop from time to time to graze on one sort of tasty plant or another. I really wanted to know what the creatures were called but I thought I would give too much away if I confessed my ignorance. When Levan spied a plant he deemed edible, he would harvest it, saying that we could include it in our meal that night. Some of the plants I recognized, but others I didn’t know, so I studied them, thinking that the information would come in handy in the future when I was on my own.
After a couple of hours, we reached a clearing in the forest where a crude wooden split rail corral had been erected. In the middle of the area was a hide tent and a stone-edged fire pit. Hanging from a branch barely thick enough to support it was a bulging sack. I assumed it contained my provisions and they had been hung in the tree to avoid the predation of local wildlife. I know that on earth this is a common precaution taken during back country camping in bear territory, so maybe there were bears in the forest. Next to the fire pit was a haphazard stack of kindling.
After securing the animals in the corral, Levan pointed to the sack.
“Those are your supplies. Mostly they are things that are well preserved and aren’t the tastiest. I think we should eat your fresh meat before it spoils. Maybe a nice stew?”
“Stew sounds wonderful,” I agreed, placing the meat I had harvested in the pot. Then, I walked over to the tree with my bag, I untied the knot and lowered it to the ground. Opening the bag, I inventoried my supplies.
The contents of the bag were pretty much what Levan had described. There were a couple of loaves of some dense sort of bread that didn’t have too much mold on them, and a variety of dried and smoked meats. There were also some root vegetables and a couple of pieces of fruit that resembled slightly shriveled apples. If I rationed carefully, I thought I could get about a week’s worth of meals out of them.
While I had been inventorying my supplies, Levan had managed to start a fire. I winced when I saw him add some water from a small open barrel to the pot, but then realized since the stew would be boiled anyway it would probably be fine.
“Well, I guess I will have to take my flock into Sleetfield for shearing a little bit early,” Levan said with a smile. “You’ve cleaned me out of supplies.”
Shrugging, I replied. “I think you’ll be alright after you sell my father’s ring.”
“I think you are correct,” he responded. “I’m glad that we didn’t come to blows over the whole situation, and I still don’t know what you were thinking acting as you did, but what’s done is done.”
As he cooked, Levan tossed handfuls of the plants he had harvested that day into the pot for flavoring. Eventually, he stood and walked over to the tent, returning with a full skin of some sort of liquid. After taking a large quaff, he passed me the skin, and I took a couple of gulps as well.
It was obviously an alcoholic beverage of some sort, and since I was in a generous mood I think I might even call it beer. It definitely had a thick, malty taste, but instead of the hoppy bitterness I was expecting it had a piney tasting astringent quality. We continued sitting companionably, passing the skin back and forth but not really saying much. After a few drinks, I had adjusted my expectations a little and was starting to enjoy the beverage. My stomach growled as I watched the stew cook, reminding me that I had not eaten much in quite awhile. The drink was either fairly potent, or my empty stomach made the alcohol immediately go to my head, and I had soon caught a pretty substantial buzz. Sitting by the fire in the gathering gloom with food on the horizon, I felt content in a way that I hadn’t for quite awhile.
“I think the stew is ready,” Levan said, breaking the silence.
He pulled out a couple of wooden bowls and spoons, and filled them to the brim. Just as I was about to take my first bite, he interrupted me.
“Here, try some of this in your stew,” he said, pulling out a handful of leaves that he had harvested on the way to the camp. “I used to love this stuff but as I have gotten older, it wrecks my stomach.”
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After I nodded my head, he chopped them and added them to my bowl. Then, I gorged myself with the first warm food that I had eaten in several days. The meat was gamey and the taste of the plants was a little overpowering, but I was so damn hungry that I thought it might have been one of the finest meals that I had ever eaten.
After finishing up and rinsing off the bowls and spoons, I reached over to take another drink of the beer but noticed the skin was empty, so I just shrugged and took a pull from my waterskin. I half listened as Levan regaled me with the trials and tribulations of being a herdsman, but after time had passed I realized that my head was swimming. I stood to take my leave, but could only stumble for a couple of steps before I lost my balance, crashing to the ground.
Then, Levan stood and sneered at me in an unfriendly manner.
“You’re too damn trusting. You didn’t think I was just going to let all of this go, did you?”
Grabbing his staff, he started whaling on me with it. I tried to get up and defend myself, but I was having trouble moving in any sort of coordinated fashion, so I feebly flung out my arms to eat some of the blows. There hadn’t been that much beer in the skin, and there was no way that I could have been this drunk. I thought back to the plant that he had put in my stew. Sure, you have stomach troubles, you poisoning bastard.
My efforts to defend myself were not very effective. The beating continued for quite awhile. Helpless and wracked by pain, eventually I was granted release when I lost consciousness.
When I awoke, the sun was shining high in the sky and we had left the forest behind. I was strapped down to a travois of some sort that a couple of young men that I did not recognize were pulling across the ground. We appeared to be in a long valley surrounded by mountains, traveling on some sort of rough dirt road or trail. The two young men were dressed similarly to Levan, who I couldn’t see from my current vantage point. My packs were gone, my weapons were absent as well, and my pockets felt empty. These bastards had cleaned me out. Around me walked some of the animals from Levan’s herd.
Besides what felt like the mother of all hangovers, I actually felt pretty good, all things considered. My body must have been hard at work healing itself while I was unconscious. Thanks for the gift, Juma. Wiggling my feet, a could feel the hardness of my folding knife in my boot. I wasn’t bound all that tightly as they clearly had not expected me to regain consciousness so soon.
As I bounced roughly across the ground, I worked to get my boot high enough to reach into it with my hand. Eventually, I was able to wiggle it up close enough and I grasped the knife. Pulling it free of the boot just as we hit a rough patch of ground, it was almost bounced out of my grasp but I held on. After getting a firm grip on it, I brought it to the middle of my body and was able to open it with my other hand. After that, its sharp edge made short work of the ropes holding me.
Now that I could move, I rolled over on my side and peeked in the direction that we were headed. I could only see the backs of the two youngsters pulling me, but noticed Levan was about twenty yards ahead of me. My pack was on his back and my rapier was belted around his waist. One of the men in front of me had the straps of my fanny pack fastened around him. Based upon the similar builds and hair color, I assumed that these two other men were some relation to Levan. I also saw that there were more of the animals around us than there had been previously. Maybe these two had their own herds.
I knew that as soon as I left the travois, the two men pulling it would notice because of the difference in the weight. I needed some sort of plan to deal with all three of them, because I expected that if we reached where we were going, then I would likely never escape. As I sat there and tried to come up with something, anything that I could use to defeat my three opponents, I started to become enraged. I had traded with this jerk in good faith, and what did I have to show for it? Getting robbed and smacked around, that’s what. I picked a shitty time to let go of my trust issues. I mentally berated myself for being such a fool. Again. Finally, I decided to just go for it, realizing that soon my captors would probably come check on me. Right now, I had the element of surprise and I needed to use it.
I waited until I felt the travois hit the next big bump and then rolled off of it to my right, springing to my feet. That placed me directly behind the man who was pulling the left side of the travois. With a grunt of surprise, he started turning towards me. I lunged forward with my knife, my improved balance and coordination showing dividends as the knife plunged into the side of his neck. Blood erupted out of him in a crimson spray, splattering me and the other young man next to him. He weakly slumped to his knees, clutching his ruined neck in an attempt to staunch the flow.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement portending an imminent attack. The other young man spun towards me, his fist flailing towards my head. I instinctively blocked the strike and countered with a sharp kick to the side of his knee. His knee distorted and bent in a direction knees are not meant to bend, and with a scream he fell to the ground. That placed his head at a nice kickable height, so I drove myself forward, and twisting myself to channel as much force as I could into the blow, obliged him with a powerful straight legged front kick to his face. His head slammed backwards and then rebounded off the ground. When I glanced down at him, he appeared to be unconscious but breathing, his nose bent sharply and flattened against his right cheek.
I don’t know if you have ever had the chance to experience it, but kicking bone hurts. It felt like I had broken something in my foot and my shin was screaming at me as I hopped around cussing. A quick glance at my first target showed that he was down and unlikely to ever get up again.
At the smell of blood and further startled by the scream, the animals around me became agitated, milling around in confusion. When I looked towards Levan, I noticed that he was sprinting towards me with murder in his eyes. He slowed slightly as he approached, taking the time to draw the rapier from his belt. I knew that my four inch pocket knife was no match for the length of the rapier in a stand up fight, but I didn’t know where my gun had gone. Glancing down at the corpse of my first victim, I could see that although he had my fanny pack around his waist, he was not wearing my shoulder rig.
With no better option and time running out, I turned towards Levan and settled into a fighting stance.
“My boys!” he cried. “What did you do to my boys?”
I looked up at him and shrugged my shoulders. I imagine that I looked savage, my face spattered with one of his son’s lifeblood.
“You couldn’t leave well enough alone and your greed got the best of you,” I replied angrily. “I didn’t cause this, you caused this. If you ever get the chance to explain this to their mother, which I hope you won’t, make sure you emphasize that point. Now, it’s time for round two, you asshole.”
Then, I started shifting to the side, trying to use my agility to even up the odds a little. With an enraged scream, he lunged forward, attempting to skewer me with my own damn sword. I was able to dodge, wincing as my weight came down on my damaged foot, and the fight was on.