Death Or Fortune (24 page)

     As the sun
light filled the bedroom the halfling started to toss and turn.  Deep
inside his mind, he knew he had to wake up.  There was something important
he had to do today.  Yet he wanted just another moment there, among the
clouds with the wind in his face. Ever since the dragon attack in Eystlund Pare
had dreamed of one thing and one thing only, flying. While he had flown before
under his own power, something about riding a dragon made him feel alive.
 As the dragon dove down towards the ground, the world grew brighter as if
they were headed towards the sun.

      He
thought for a moment that can't be right, it should be green instead of this
light.  He opened his eyes and was blinded by the sun beam that had found
its way inside of his curtain. Cursing to himself for not closing them the
night before, he slid out of bed, hoping that if he could get them closed he
could catch up with Sparky.  The dragon in his dreams.  With his hand
held out ready to pull the curtain closed it came to him.
     "Yes, I left it open. You must be a paranoid soul
to trap a second floor window." Pare turned around and dove towards the
bed.  His hand slipping under the pillow he pulled out one of his daggers
and turned to look at the voice.  As he saw the man in front of him the
dagger slipped from his hand, falling to the floor.
     "I was given a pardon, full one even! What are
you doing here?" his voice was nothing more than a whisper.  His mind
was racing, long flowing black hair, blue scale armor, big. Well big for a half
elf.
     "I'm not here for you little one.  I am here
to help.  I thought I would get here in time to see Darmot but I was too
slow.  I was fast enough to catch the men outside of your wall last
night." Pare's eyes nearly doubled in size.
     "What men?" he asked with a touch of anger
in his voice.
     "The ones who planned on walking in here and
taking Lady Kromwell away. Not very nice men, you can take my word for it on
that. They had a couple weapons and a whole bunch of rope. They were planning
on taking her out of here.  Her death would have been a long time coming
and painful." Pare jumped back up on his bed, sitting there with his head
hanging low, his face pressed into his small hands. Kicking himself for falling
asleep when he should have been standing watch. "Like I said, I am here to
help little one. You are not to blame for any of this. Once I find out who took
out the contract on Lady Kromwell, this will be over soon.  For right now,
you and I will protect her.  So pack your bags little one we are headed
out."
     "What do you mean headed out? Where are you
taking us?"
     "I would like to say that we are safe here but
that just isn't the case. The lord’s district is far too condensed. So we will
head out to the Kromwell estate. Get us out of the city and in a spot where I
can see for more than five feet. I have a dwarven friend who is already headed
in that direction.  He and his pet will keep watch outside while we
protect the inside."

    
"What Dwarf?  How do I know he can be trusted, how do I know you can
be trusted? If anything happened to Jasmin I would never be able to make it up
to Darmot." Pare slid back off the bed and started to pace the floor.
"Not only that he might even kill me. Also have you seen that place?
Everything is covered in saw dust and there loggers are running all over the
place. How do we know we can trust them? One of them might get it in their head
to do something. Then we would have to fight a whole camp of loggers. I don't want
to fight a logger, they whip those axes around like crazy people. Swinging from
the tree's like a bunch of monkeys.  Have you ever seen a monkey?"
     "Have you ever talked so much that you passed
out?" Windfall asked with a slight smile on his face. Pare stopped in his
tracks, not sure if he should be insulted or not. "We have nothing to fear
from the loggers, if anything they will be the extra eyes and ears we may need.
 Darmot pays those men very well.  I would hate to be in their shoes
if something happened to his wife while they stood around and did nothing.
 So, pack up anything you might need and be ready in one hour.  I am
going to see Charles now."
     Pare went and picked up the dagger he had dropped on
the floor.  Other than putting on his armor on and getting his weapons
ready, he had no other packing to do.  He had hoped Darmot would change
his mind and take him along on the new adventure so his travel pack was ready
to go.  All he had to do was pick it up.  After he had his armor on
he went about checking the traps he had around the room. "All of them, he
disarmed all of them." he said out loud to no one at all. Pare then took
the time to go about and re-set them all. Once that was finished he closed and
locked his room.  As he listened, he could hear that the lower level of
the house was moments away from pandemonium.  As he made his way down the
hall he looked into Jasmin's room and saw her packing a light bag with normal
clothes.  He also noticed she not only had her bits of armor on, she had
Darmot's old sword strapped to her waist.

     "Tell
me what you know about this Windfall?" she asked Pare when she saw him out
of the corner of eye.

     
"What I know for sure or what people say? From what I have seen they are
very different. The dark blue armor is his trade mark. The cloak, boots and the
armor, all of it is elven made. They had to make the armor special I would
guess. He is the biggest half elf I have ever seen. He is not to be taken
lightly and he is to be feared.  Those are all things I know for
sure."

     
"What about the things people say?" she asked with a slight bit of
hesitation in her voice.

     
"That he is part demon. That he can walk through walls. I heard from a
friend of mine, well a former friend that he saw Windfall punch someone so hard
that their nose fell clean off. He can turn invisible at will.  He can
breathe fire like a dragon though other people say it is frost breath like a
white dragon.  He can talk to the birds and trees so even they will help
him find you. Arrows will bounce off his bare skin and if you make him bleed
the demon inside of him will come out and eat your heart."

     
"So you don't know anything for sure other than what you have just
seen?" she asked.

     
"That sounds about right." Pare said as he tossed his hands in the
air. "I know Darmot is his friend.  He almost thinks of him as a
father figure, knowing what you told me about his real father, I am not
shocked.  So if Darmot trust him, I think we should too.  All I know
is that I am real glad he isn't after me."

     
"So who is after me? Did he say anything?" Tears of frustration
started to appear on Jasmin's eyes. Pare saw the fear in his friends face and
did not know, perhaps for the first time, what to say. He walked forward and
reached out for her hand. The two of them stood in silence for a moment, his
small hand engulfed in hers. For one small moment, nothing else mattered to
her. Only that she had a friend by her side. So much of her life had changed
over the last year. Since she had met Darmot and his friends, they were the
only constant.  While she loved her husband somewhere deep inside she
wondered if perhaps she was paying the price for his ambition. Shaking her head
she forced those thoughts away and finished packing with her friend by her
side.

     
After an hour had passed, like clockwork they were all on their way. All the
servants had been told that they could stay behind or they could return to
their families. A few stayed at the house as they no longer had a family to
return to.  Darmot having a soft spot in his heart for the widows of war,
employed as many of them as he could.  The only servant to make the trip
out to the Kromwell estate was Charles.  He had his own home on the
property and it would make the foreman of the lumber camp happy.  He would
not have to ride for half the night to make his daily reports.  Windfall
and Pare drove the carriage that carried Jasmin and Charles out to the home.
 Pare had trouble watching the road, instead spending his time watching
the mysterious half elf.

     
"Ok little thief, ask the questions I see in your eyes." Windfall
said with more than a bit of humor in his voice.

     
"Is it true that you are part demon? Can you really vanish from sight any
time you want? How did you learn to talk to birds?" Pare was interrupted
by the half elf laughing.

     
"Who told you that load of rubbish?" he asked.

     
"Well when you get around as much as I used to, you hear things.  If
you are not part demon how are you so strong?"

     
"No my little friend, I am not part demon.  As for my size and
strength well I don't know for sure what he did but my father had something to
do with it.  He also had a lot to do with who I am and why I do the things
I do.  Both my parents were wizards. She was an elf, he was human and they
met in Kemmermere. The how and why of them coming together I don't want to talk
about right now. What I will tell you is this, he loved her very much. My
father owned a home in Eystlund it is where my family lives now.  He
married her in Kemmermere and was bringing her to live in Eystlund after they
found out I was on the way. On their way there, they were attacked by a group
of bandits.  While they were both powerful magic users, they can only
fight for so long.  You know a wizard or two so I don't think I need to
explain why.  My father managed to fight most of them off using nothing
but his staff.  Yet in the end he was overwhelmed and it was only by
chance that a farmer and his two sons found them. They were still alive but my
mother was deeply wounded I am sad to say.  She only lived long enough to
give birth to me."

     
"My father was destroyed if not in body but his soul. He cursed himself
for being weak, for not being able to keep his mate alive. He drove himself to
the point of madness finding the right spells. He never wanted me to be the
victim that he was. When he perfected the magic he needed he went to work on
me. My strength, my reflexes were all enhanced by him. When I was close to
fifty years old he did the last spell on me. What it was, I do not know but it
did something to my mind. I have to chase them down he told me. The thieves,
rapist or any of those who kill the innocent. In a way I hate him for doing
this to me. If I stay at home for too long I start to get sick. If I am not on
the trail of someone like you or someone worse I get crushing pain in my head.
 All I have to do is put my mind to finding someone and it goes away but
it isn't something I enjoy.  How I managed to find a wife and father two
children is beyond me."

     
"Why would your father do that to you? Was he an evil wizard?" Pare
asked.

     
"No, I do not believe he was. Today I do not know. I've not seen him in
years since he did that last spell on me. I don't even know if he is still
alive. I went west to Kemmermere once to find my mother’s family.  I
wanted to tell them of her fate. They all shunned me, well all but one.
 My uncle traveled the world a bit and he seemed to be a bit more
understanding.  When he returned home he opened up a black smith shop.
 He is the one who made my armor.  He measured me and told me to
return in one year’s time.  He gave me the armor, my cloak and my boots.
 He told me he put all the love he had for my mother into the making of
it.  It has not failed me yet." The two of them rode the rest of the
way in silence. When they arrived at the Kromwell estate they unloaded both
passengers and the goods they brought along.

     
While it seemed Jasmin and Charles were busy enough for ten people, Pare found
his self alone in his new room with nothing to do. The room was smaller than
the one at the house in the lord’s district but overall the house was bigger.
Not that Pare minded he didn't need much room. He only hoped Windfall was
right. That they would be safe here and that they did not have to worry about
the crazy axe throwing loggers. After a quick trip down to the kitchen only to
remember that there was almost nothing to eat in the house yet he decided to
try out his new bed. It was closer to the floor but nowhere near as soft. Not that
any of that mattered to him as he laid his head down on the pillow that night.
He closed his eyes and let sleep over take his tired mind. After a night of
frantic flight on the back of Sparky, Pare felt better. More than anything, he
felt at home.

    
I awoke to the sound of swearing from the deck above. I left my small room that
I shared with the other three and went top side. The sky was blue, clear and
not a bit of wind. The sails hung from the mast, limp and lifeless. I asked one
of the deck hands how long it had been like this and he said since the middle
of the night. One of them said something about being cursed, forever to drift
on the still waters. I ignored the paranoid soul and continued to look around.
All things given, it was a beautiful day. I saw Zender at the side of the ship
looking out and figured he would be better company than the sailors. I just
stood there for the longest time waiting for him to say something. He was still
a mystery to me then, I wasn't sure what to say. In the end I didn't have to
say much at all.
    
'Do you have any siblings Darmot?'
he asked me.
I told him I had a half-brother who I had never met.
'I have one younger
brother. His name is Rathnel, I have known him his entire life and I am still
not sure I know him. He is a lot like my father.  I guess we both are in a
way. My father taught him how to pick a lock at the age of eight. Something I
never had an interest in. He would tell us to catch a thief you must think like
one. Understand his way of thinking and know what he is capable of. Soon as we
were both old enough to hold a weapon he trained us to fight. I saw a bit of
that training in you during the tournament. I did well with it and can hold my
own. Yet it isn't my passion, I wanted to please my father yet at the same time
had a different calling in my heart. So I looked elsewhere. It wasn't until I
was on my knees in front of an altar that I knew who I was. It was then that I
saw the world before me and knew what I had to do. The order of Solarth was
broken years ago by evil and itself. Somewhere along the line they forgot in
order to do good work, you have to get your hands dirty. Other people, my
superiors sometimes think I go too far. If they knew my father, they might
understand what drives me. I will not stand by while evil goes unchecked.'
    
'My brother however has not a single care in the
world. He took what father taught him and ran with it. Never has he committed a
crime but I can see it in him.  How we have the same parents I will never
know. He begged my father to take him out on the trail with him for years.
Depending on who or what he was after he would take him. We were all together
just before I left Eystlund, Rath was headed south. Said he wanted to explore
the land a bit, he also had a girlfriend that he took along. Windfall said he
was headed north, said it had something to do with a female assassin who
managed to avoid his reach. We are spread out to the four winds and my mother
sits at home. Strong woman she is, married to an obsessive half elf who is
never at home for more than a week at a time and she raised two sons who only
have eyes for the horizon. I think when this is done I will take some time and
spend it with her. Family is important Darmot, if you ever get a chance to find
this brother of yours you should.'
     I then told him about my mother and father.  I am
sad to say he knew as much about my father as I did.
'Keller keeps his hands
clean but he knows where the bodies are hidden.'
he said to me. I then told
him about my brother Raell. This was next to nothing other than what my mother
had told me when I took Jasmin to meet her.  I've often wondered where he
ended up and if I could find him. The last letter I received from my mother
told me that Keller was in his den screaming about a bastard half elf.
 Something about a shipment of his being returned to the rightful owners.
 I wish him well in his quest to ruin my father. If I ever get a chance to
meet him I would love to shake his hand. Show my son that he has more family
than his mother and I.  Pare is good with the boy but he isn't a real
uncle.  If nothing else I would like to meet him for doing the thing I
dared not to do. Take on my father head to head and win.
     As the day passed we were still sitting helpless at
the lack of wind. Yet somehow Zender did not seem worried, saying that it was
only a matter of time. I still wonder to this day if he knew what was going to
happen. If this was something they had talked about while I was sleeping. The
crew of the ship gave us a wide birth but when Lomark came out on the deck you
could feel the hate in their eyes. Most men just don't trust magic or those who
use it. It did not help that his robes were black as the night sky. I am
guessing more than a few men blamed him for the weather.
'Did you get it
figured out?'
Zender asked his robed friend. The man in black only nodded
his head and went to the back of the ship near the ships wheel.
'Come with
me, this should be quite the show.'
The cleric told me as he started to
follow the wizard. We found the mage near the ships wheel talking in low hushed
tones with Captain Nathan.  I tried to hear what they were saying to each
other but it just too low.  It was then that I noticed that Zender hand
his hand firmly attached to his weapon.
    
'We may be required to defend our friend here from
the ship’s crew. You ok with that?
' He asked me just as the captain turned
and started shouting for the men to clear the deck.  Lomark deep in his
own world began to chant the language of magic, spreading his arms out to the
side. By the time Captain Nathan returned to the wheel I could see that the
sails had started to fill.
'You lads had better agree to make a heavy
sacrifice to the goddess when we make land or my men may try to kill you before
you step foot off the ship.'
I told the captain that I would make sure of
it, not knowing or even caring what it called for.  I just didn't want to
have to fight off the crew of the ship.  As Lomarks voice reached its
peak, the sails were fully set and we were underway.  I looked on in
wonder of the wizard.  Hetaron had never shown any interest or ability to
control the weather.  Lomark later said that little things like that were
not outside of his scope, just not something he concentrated on.  I could
not get over him calling controlling the weather a little thing.  Once he
was locked back up in our little room the captain was screaming for his men to
get back to work.
     Zender and I stood around top side for a while,
speaking with the Captain. He wasn't happy about having the wizard on his ship
but wasn't complaining about the wind. He told us we would be at our drop off
spot by the next morning. Something Zender had said while talking about
Windfall was nagging at me. I wasn't sure at the time what it was but there was
something there, just under my skin. So I stood there by his side, asking
questions about him and his family. Then it came to me. I stood there, gripping
the ships railing was the only thing that had kept me from crashing to the floor.
Windfall was after Cynthia for some reason. Zender did not know the name of the
female assassin but I knew in my heart that was it her. I had taken that woman
into my home, invited her in even. She had seemed so harmless and Pare had even
taken a great liking to her. Yet, what did I really know about her besides that
she seemed to be attracted to me. Did that allow me to overlook the darkness
behind her eyes?
     While I had never claimed to be a man of great virtue
or honor, I did try to live a life that someone could look up to, be proud of,
perhaps even inspire. I had never felt as low in my life as I did at that
moment. The world started to go black, my vision was fading. The grip I had on
the ships rail was the only thing keeping me up right. Was I really any better
than my father? I had left behind my family in another attempt to find glory.
To top it all off, I had paid a woman who I knew next to nothing about to kill
someone I had called my friend.  While I knew he had betrayed me, threatened
to kill me, something wasn't right.  I had forgotten who I was and who I
am.  The poison Hetaron had infected my heart with had spread and I was
looking down a long, cold and dark road.  I had taken the first step down
the road towards the destruction of my own soul.  I could feel my heart
pounding in the palm of my hands as I held onto that railing. Zender’s hand was
on my arm, his voice in my ear, yet I could not hear him.

     I could
feel it coming as my stomach started to clench.  My eyes and mouth started
to water at the taste of acid building inside of me.  As I let lose over
the side of the ships rail I could only think of one thing.  This is what
betrayal taste like.  A second spasm shook my body as I once again got
sick over the side of the ship.  As my vision started to return to normal
I could hear two things. The captain was laughing at the land lover for not
being able to hold down lunch.  Zender was praying to his god to cure me
of my sickness.  I looked at him and told him not to bother. This was
something I had brought on myself.  His god could do nothing for me and
that this was something I would have to cure myself.  With Hetaron's
betrayal I had turned and done the same to myself.  Betrayed who I was and
the things I believe in.  Betrayed who I wanted to be, betrayed my family.
 I thanked Zender for his kind hand and returned to our little room hoping
to find some rest.

    
Zackary was off drinking with the crew and Lomark was deep into one of his
spell books. Zender had followed me back to the room, asking me if he could do
anything for me. I told him I just needed to rest.  I laid down on my back
and stared at the wooden planks above me wishing sleep would come and make me
forget all the horrible things I had done.  It was then that I could feel
his eyes on me.  I looked over at the wizard his eyes were cold and hard.
 I felt as if he was trying to study me as he would one of his books.
 I turned back to the planks above me and closed my eyes.
'Well now
Lord Kromwell'
he said with every ounce of contempt he could muster.
'What
seems to be your problem?'
I told him that it was just a little sea
sickness but he seemed to know better.  As I have learned over the years,
Lomark knows when he is being lied to. He did not call me on it, instead he waited
for me to tell him the real reason I was ill.  I told him I had done some
horrible things as of late, things I had come to regret.

     His eyes
continued to bore into my flesh.  He was drawing out the details without
so much as saying a single word.  I told him about my dealings with
Cynthia and how things fell apart with Hetaron.  I told him how I felt
guilty for leaving my family behind when there was a danger there that I had
invited in.  I told him about my first meeting with the bandit leader and
how I struck him down in cold blood.
'You had no control over that. He
wanted you to kill him. It is how those creatures gain power.'
I asked him
if he was sure because I honestly had no intentions of letting him live once
the fighting started.
'That was him driving you. You have made mistakes that
should torment one such as you but that is not one of them.'
Honest to a
fault when pointing out the mistakes of others, Lomark was good at this. I
asked him if he had any family hoping to change the subject.
'Yes, I had a
family but this is not about me. This is about you and your guilt. The thing I
find most humorous is this, you have no idea about the thing you should feel
most guilty about.'
I asked him what he meant by that and he only shook his
head.

 
    
'The staff Hetaron carries is cursed.  I could see it the moment I laid
eyes on it. If I had the chance to study it I might be able to tell you what it
is doing to him but that will never happen now.  It was in a tomb he told
me, a tomb it should have never been taken from I do believe. What is it like
to know that you stood by and did nothing while your friend killed himself?'
I could not believe a single word that was coming from his mouth. Could it be
possible that he was right and the reason Hetaron had turned on me was this
staff, I wasn't sure what to believe.  I thought about it for a while in
silence in the end I decided I was not to blame for what Hetaron took. He knew
what he was doing when he turned on me and he knew what he was doing with that staff.
 He should have been able to tell what it was that he had.  I
remember when he found it, how excited he was.  Would he gladly accept
something that in the end would only doom him?  By the end of the night
the only answer I could come up with was this.  If it granted him more
power, he would welcome it with his arms wide open.