The Cavalier (48 page)

Jonas, Taleen, and Kiln sat alone at a table close to the fire. Bomm had saved it for them for more than an hour before the trio came back from their meeting at the Kulam. They were hungry and ordered Bomm’s recommendation, smoked mutton pie, oven baked and filled with onions, wild mushrooms, potatoes, mutton, and covered in gravy. They sipped cold water and discussed the new adventure ahead of them.

“Kiln, tell me of Moredin,” Jonas asked.

“Moredin is the ruler of Stonestep, a bandit city far to the east. Stonestep is a staging base for every invasion into Finarth, Tarsis, and Annure. On the surface Moredin stays out of most politics, but under the surface he is ruthless, conniving, and does whatever he can to gain more power, land, and wealth.”

“Who are his allies?” asked Taleen.

“None really. His kingdom is vast and surrounded by the nomad lands and Flatlands south of Mt. Ule. He usually allies himself with tribes from the Sithgarin and nomads from the Tarsinian Plains. He also has a decent relationship with Prince Bomballa of Numenell. Their relationship is one of convenience and they are not official allies,” Kiln added before he took a long sip of his water, his eyes scanning the room instinctively.

Many of the patrons cast curious glances at the trio. Kiln hoped that Bomm had kept his mouth shut about who he was. He knew that Jonas and Taleen would be seen for what they were, but he did not want his identity known. Many patrons smiled, acknowledging the cavaliers, but none had the courage to approach them.
 

“Why would Moredin risk everything by attacking Finarth? What is in it for him?” asked Jonas.

Kiln returned his attention to them both. “I don’t know. His chance of winning is slim if King Gavinsteal’s allies arrive in time. Even if they didn’t, Finarth’s forces should have no problem repelling Moredin’s army.”

“Even with Malbeck’s help?” Taleen asked skeptically.

“That I don’t know. The only way to know is to scout Moredin’s army. Find out how many men, cavalry, and siege machines exist, and if Malbeck has sent his minions there to help him.”

Kiln looked around the room again. Something didn’t feel right to the old warrior.

“Would Lord Moredin fight alongside orcs, boargs, and other monsters?” asked Jonas.

“I imagine so, especially if riches, power, and land were involved,” replied Kiln as he leaned back in his chair, getting a better look at their surroundings. He felt like they were being watched, and Kiln never questioned his instincts.

Out of the crowd came a buxom serving girl carrying a large tray of steaming food. She smiled warmly at them, setting the tray down. Jonas’s mouth began to water when he saw the food. Each plate contained huge slices of mutton pie. The crust was thick and slathered with gravy, mushrooms, and onions. Jonas quickly grabbed his plate and began to consume the delicious and hearty food.

“Can I get you anything else?” asked the rosy cheeked bar maid. She was pleasantly plump and her ample bosom was barely contained by her bodice. Her infectious smile was warm and made her average face seem attractive.

“No thank you. Thank Bomm again for the meals,” added Taleen.

“I will indeed.” The waitress quickly turned, disappearing into the boisterous crowd.

The three ate their food in silence. The succulent flavors were enough to halt their conversation.

As Kiln ate, he continued to monitor the crowd. The feeling was still there, the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up in warning.

Jonas looked at him with concern, his mouth full of mutton. “What is it?” he asked.

Kiln looked at him seriously as he set his fork down. He took a shallow drink of water before responding. “Something is wrong. I can feel it. Do either of you sense anything?”

Taleen and Jonas looked at each other, replying in unison. “No.”

“Would you sense something if it wasn’t directly evil?” asked Kiln.

“No. Our powers enable us to detect, or be warned, in Jonas’s case, of true evil, evil that is deep and black, but we might not detect a normal person who chose to do an evil act. It is hard to say, it really depends on the person and the situation.” Taleen took another sip of her water. Following Kiln’s lead, she leaned back in her chair, away from the table’s edge.

“I wonder why I didn’t detect the gnolls we fought up in the Dragon’s Spine?” Jonas mused as he drank from his mug.

“There could be many reasons. Maybe they were too far away, or maybe they were not directly a danger to you. A cavalier’s power is very specific; each cavalier has different degrees of power as well as slight differences in how their power works. No two are the same,” answered Taleen. “How did you end up fighting them if they were not a direct danger to you? Surely you would have been warned if they attacked you?’

“We found the gnoll tracks which led us to them. We attacked them as they ate at their fire,” said Jonas.

“Without knowing their purpose?” Taleen asked with an edge to her voice.

“They were gnolls who stole my cattle,” answered Kiln as if that were enough.

“Are all gnolls doomed because of their race?” challenged Taleen.

“Have you met a gnoll whose heart was not black?” asked Kiln.

“No, but that does not mean that one does not exist. Not everything in the world is black and white, General.”

“Easy to say from one who can detect evil. For the rest of us, living in the realm of absolutes can keep us alive. It was a raiding party that would have eventually attacked. I learned long ago to take every advantage in battle, so I brought the fight to them before they could bring it to me and my men. By killing those gnolls as we did, I probably saved lives,” Kiln said.

Kiln suddenly shifted his attention to his surroundings. Jonas and Taleen both noticed the change in his demeanor.

“You are making me uneasy. What is it?” asked Jonas.

“I don’t know. Stay alert. My senses are not usually wrong,” added Kiln.

Jonas slid his left hand down to one of his swords. The bone handle gave him some reassurance and made him feel a little better.

Jonas watched Kiln close his eyes for a few seconds and then reopen them. His posture had changed and so had his eyes. He had just entered Ty’erm. Jonas, too, closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. After a few seconds he opened his eyes. He was in the relaxed state of Ty’erm and in that state the room seemed quieter, and everyone was moving more slowly, at least in his mind.

Jonas scanned the crowd, looking for anything that warned his heightened senses. He was able to focus on separate conversations and shut out the other noises. Kiln was also scanning the crowd, looking for anything strange and out of the ordinary.

“Do you see anything?” asked Taleen who had brought both hands under the table closer to her weapons.

“Not yet,” replied Kiln. “Wait,” Kiln whispered as he looked to his left between two men standing about four paces away. It wasn’t the men that caught his attention, but the man moving just beyond them. A dark haired man with an un-kempt beard moved toward them. It was his posture that triggered Kiln’s instincts. He was moving with purpose, and his pace was accelerated.

Just then Jonas’s eyes looked up, scanning the railing that lined the landing on the second floor. It was dark, but the many candles from the chandelier shed a finger of light onto the edge of the railing. Just enough to see the sparkling crossbow bolts slowly emerge from the darkness.

Instantly Jonas reacted, calling on his IshMian powers. “Crossbows! above!” he yelled, standing up quickly and raising his right hand. In his mind everything around him changed hues as he saw the spinning particles and the energy that moved them. Just like he had done when he practiced with the rocks, Jonas concentrated on the energy around them, drawing it into a translucent shield that covered the table in front and above them. He did this in a matter of seconds just as the bolts were fired. They hit the invisible shield, falling harmlessly to the ground. Everyone around them screamed in confusion, looking around trying to figure out what was happening.
 

Kiln instantly slid his chair out and drew his sword in one smooth motion. The dark haired assassin barreled through the two unsuspecting men and tried to lance Kiln with a sword that he had hidden in his long black cloak. Kiln side stepped the blade easily and flicked his razor sharp edge across the man’s throat. The move seemed casual and effortless, but the result was devastating to the assassin. Blood sprayed from the gruesome wound and the man crashed face first into the table.

As soon as the blades were out, everyone around the three warriors scurried out of the way in panic. Kiln scanned the crowd looking for another attacker.

Taleen had leaped back, drawing her sword just as the man tried to skewer Kiln. She saw movement to her left and pivoted out of the way as a huge axe came crashing down onto the table, easily splitting the wood. She brought her sword down onto the attackers arm, severing it cleanly. The man jumped back screaming, but not before the deadly cavalier reversed her swing and drove the point of her blade into his heart. He fell backwards, disappearing into the frenzied crowd.

In a matter of seconds everyone around the trio had run frantically out of the way, leaving the warriors alone with swords drawn and glistening in the firelight.

Jonas saw the men from the landing stand up and reload their crossbows. There were three of them, but it was still too dark to make out their features.

Jonas quickly looked around for something that he could use against the dangerous crossbowmen. He didn’t have his bow so that was out of the question. Or was it? Jonas saw two of the crossbow bolts that the assassins had fired lying on the ground in front of him. He quickly seized the bolts with his mind, lifting them in the air. He used his telekinetic ability to fling the bolts toward the men who were now leaning over the railing with reloaded weapons.

Jonas focused on two of the assassin’s throats and the bolts smashed into their windpipes before they could fire their second volley. They dropped the crossbows and grabbed the feathered shafts that were buried in their necks. One fell back into the darkness of the landing, while the other fell over the railing to land hard on a table, shattering it into several pieces.

The third assassin got his shot off as his comrades died. The twang of the crossbow was followed by the
phhhhhht
of the bolt as it zipped through the air. It took Taleen in her right shoulder, causing her to stumble backwards against the rock fireplace.

Jonas didn’t have time to see if she was okay, because four men with swords drawn were running at them. They were all hard-faced men, wearing black, loose fitting clothes. Jonas drew his blades and sprang towards them with Kiln at his side, attacking the assassins with deadly silence.

One man lunged at Jonas with his long sword while the other chopped downwards with a powerful stroke. Both of Jonas’s blades worked independently. One slapped the lunge to the side while the other blocked the downward stroke. Jonas quickly brought both blades swinging back across each other towards the opposite opponent. His razor sharp weapons cut each man in the thigh and they stumbled backwards, bright blood gushing from the wounds.

Jonas silently thanked Kiln for the many lessons on how to fight more than one opponent at a time. It was one thing to face a skilled swordsman, but facing two or three at a time required a totally different skill set, techniques that now were paying off.

Moving forward, Kiln’s left arm snaked sideways, hurling his hunting knife into the throat of the nearest attacker while he engaged the second man with his long sword. The nearest assassin’s eyes opened with shock as the hunting knife buried itself to the hilt just under his chin. He fell backwards like a limp rag doll.

The other attacker quickly engaged Kiln, his long sword vainly trying to find any gaps in Kiln’s defenses. The cloaked man parried a strike and flicked his blade toward Kiln’s throat. Kiln stepped into the attack, pivoting sideways. He grabbed the man’s sword arm at the wrist with his free hand and used his sword to slice him from his groin across his inner thigh, lacerating an artery. Kiln’s face was right next the assassins, his cold eyes stared into the man’s face as the fatal wound did its work. Kiln pushed him away and he fell to the ground, blood quickly pooling around him.

The two men that Jonas had been fighting fell backwards as their free hands instinctively grabbed at the deep lacerations on their legs. Jonas used the brief distraction to his advantage. He lunged forward with his right blade, skewering one of the men in the heart. The man grunted and fell backwards, but the second assassin was faster and he quickly got his blade up to block Jonas’s second strike. But the retreating wounded man could not stop the third and the fourth strikes. Jonas fell into the attack quickly and had both blades cutting devastating wounds across the man’s chest. The assassin groaned, stumbled to his knees, and fell across a table, upturning it in the process.

Jonas scanned the room for more attackers. His heart pounded and his hands began to shake as the energy of battle still surged through him. These were the first men he had killed, and despite the fact that they had tried to kill him, he felt strangely sad about it. He saw Kiln to his left doing the same, blood dripping from his sword. Now that he had time he glanced back towards the fire and saw Taleen holding herself up against the wall, one hand on her sword and the other holding the shaft that protruded from her shoulder. She smiled weakly at him as she saw his look of concern.