Beyond the Crags - 9. Chapter 9

Adga hit the ground and stood. A fight raged in front of her. With the shaft above she could stand, but the corridor in front of her was too short. It was also littered with those Vyrax and his potions had taken down. She counted seven in total. Most appeared to be out. However, she delivered a few kicks to those who showed some signs of movement.

Crouching and fighting were not easy, but it was something Burntmetal had made sure to work with her on. Long weapons were out of the question. Foelay’s small mace would have to do. The problem was there was no easy way into the fight. With her crossbow back on her skimmer and so many in front of her, there was little she could do other than give directions.

Down a hall to the west, Ven and Vyrax were tangled with a Human boy and girl close to their ages. In the other direction, Rin was in a scuffle with an older teen with strange copper-colored skin and a Halforc girl. The girl was down on her knees holding her gut. Her right hand dripped blood.

Between Adga and Rin, Nuk had a bladed disk in his hand. While between her and Vendra, Tez, with bow out, used an old wooden crate for cover. Further down the passage, a figure Adga guessed was a small slender female Halfling was down on all fours. The girl clutched at an arrow in her hip. An older teen, with the beginnings of a mustache, was moving toward the Halfling girl. He had a shield in his left hand and a machete with a serrated back in the right. Well back, in the shadows, a burly-looking figure had a bow in its hand. The length of the bow combined with the figure’s size required the wielder to shoot while down on a knee. Adga guessed getting a clear shot was a much bigger problem.

Off to the right, in a small alcove, Razor was in a fight with a very large four-fanged lizard. Another four-fanger was writhing and smacking at its muzzle with its front feet. However, the four-fangers were poisonous. It also meant there was a good chance one of those they were fighting was an Animal Adept. If the four-fangers were controlled, they were a serious threat. “Ven, Vyrax! Push them toward the walls!” Adga commanded. “Make me a path!”

Vyrax and Vendra did what they could. Adga did the rest. She lowered her head, put her shield up in front of her, and pushed past bumping into all four fighting each other. Those facing Vyrax and Ven both took shots from Adga’s gauntleted fist and mace as she plowed past them. Adga gritted her teeth as one of the two robbers grazed her side. She didn’t stop. She advanced on the floundering four-fanger and swung. The mace knocked the meter-long lizard back. It hissed as it backed up further.

Tez and Nuk shot the gap Adga created. Nuk moved up on the Halfling while Tez advanced on the bowman.

The shouts echoed badly, but there was no mistaking Tez’s bellow of pain. Adga chanced a glance. An arrow stuck out of his upper arm, not far from where the one earlier had been removed. She stepped back to help.

Tez leaned against the wall, rolled his left hand, spoke an arcane phrase, and waved his right hand over the open palm of his left. Down the stone passage, orange tendrils erupted upwards and wrapped around the bowman. The tendrils constricted, holding him in place with very limited movement. The glow allowed Adga to see the figure was a Halforc. “Nice trick Tez!”

“Don’t have much magic left for the day Adga… But he has shot his last arrow!”

“Can you finish him with an arrow in you?”

“Yeah… right after I puke… Take care of the lizard.”

Adga nodded and stepped up on the four-fanger while shouting, “Vyrax, help Tez!”

Adga's concern for Tez caused her to nick the four-fanger instead of hitting it solidly. It tried to bite her but only got a face full of metal. A few meters down a side passage, Razor continued to tear into the other one.

The older Human teen moved up and glanced over at the two four-fangers, “Scamp! Viper! Run! Get help!”

The lizard facing Adga turned sharply away.

“Oh no you don’t!” Adga roared while sidestepping to block its path. At the same time, her shield flattened the nose of the teen. The kid staggered back, hands with weapon and shield still held went up to his face trying to stop the flow of blood.

The four-fanger snapped at her, jumped back, darted under her shield, and sprinted toward the ladder.

Adga managed to get in a hard blow, but it raced past everyone, jumped up onto the ladder, and quickly pulled itself up. Adga could do nothing but curse and watch. It was already faster than she was if she wasn’t hunched over. “AHHH!” she shouted. Her hand went to her hip. A dagger flew down the hall. It bounced harmlessly off the ladder and clattered to the ground.

The second four-fanger also tried to get away, but Razor was having none of it. Razor bounded onto its back and bit down. It thrashed madly. Razor was locked on. Another bite and it fell.

“No!” the Human with hands still up to his face shouted. He tried to disengage to get to it. The mistake cost him. It allowed Rin, with bloody teeth and claws, to move up. He hit the teen from the side while Adga bashed him from the front. He toppled. He tried to get up only to have Rin’s tail sweep his feet out from under him.

“No get up! Ya gonna make me mad!” Rin warned. A sidearm axehammer blow to the knee followed.

The teen cried out in pain, let go of his hip sword, and put his weapon hand back up to his face. His shield moved to protect his battered leg as best as possible.

The Halfling with the arrow in her hip suddenly sliced a dagger across Nuk’s shin, shoved him back, and bolted. She ducked under Adga’s attempt to smack her with a shield. She struggled to grab the ladder and pull herself up.

From his backside, Nuk tossed another bladed disk. It hit the Halfling’s left hand just as she hauled herself up with mostly arm strength. She lost her grip and fell hard.

Nuk got up to a knee and held up another disk while his other hand covered the slice on his leg. “I will cut you down if you so much as try to move!” The words were wasted. She was unconscious after falling on the arrow sticking out of her.

Adga angled over to help Ven. The female robber was too fixated on Vendra and protecting the bronze door behind her to notice until it was too late. Adga punched the ruffian in the side of the head with everything she had. The gauntleted fist drove the girl’s head into the door. A second fist sent the head into the doorframe. She crumpled, leaving a streak of blood as she slid down rough brickwork next to the door.

Before Adga could do more than grab the handle, she both heard and felt a bar drop on the other side. A hard shake of the door verified it was secured. She gave it a shoulder. It pushed in a few centimeters, then stopped against something solid.

Adga growled. She grabbed the girl’s sackcloth shirt ready to throw another punch. Unfocused eyes stared back at her, through her. Adga let go. The girl sagged back to the floor with a whimper.

In the distance, the sound of at least two more doors slamming shut, followed by bars dropping over them, told her the chances were good the rest of the bandits were securing as much of the area as they could.

A glance down the passage confirmed they had captured it. Tez, with an arrow stuck into his arm, held a blade to the Halforc’s neck while Vyrax wiggled weapons from under the glowing vines. The hall continued for fifteen meters before ending at another bronze door partially blocked by a collapsed section of the ceiling. Another doorway with a door was to the right of the collapse. A flickering glow told Adga there was a room beyond.

She took a peek with mace and shield ready. She smirked as she saw eight chairs, three of them knocked over. Some bread and an open jar of jam sat on an end table, Spice Cactus Flower she guessed by the peppery smell. The stone table had half-eaten chunks of bread, dice, and a smattering of tin and copper coins. It was clear many of those in the hall had been gambling just before the fight.

Another small table had five cups and a small wooden ball.

Five large candles on stone pedestals along the walls and a three-stem candle holder with only two big candles on the table provided the flickering light.

It was barely enough to see the entire room. But from the door, she could see a long table along the back wall with over a dozen locks. Many had metal picks stuck into them. In both back corners, stands held up clothing stuffed with leaves and grass. Both dummies were dressed like merchants and had dozens of bells sewn into them. She had seen the same thing in a thief’s den in a cave just outside of Dark Rock Springs while on patrol. These were training tools for fledgling pickpockets. If the bells rang, the attempt would normally be noticed. She bet almost every kid they had taken down had spent untold hours in this room. She shook her head in disgust.

Adga verified the room was empty. She moved back in the direction Rin had come from. The Halforc girl was curled up holding her gut and bloody hand. The copper-skinned kid was face down. Deep claw marks ran down the head, over a shredded ear, and ended at the shoulder. A dagger, buried to the hilt, stuck up from the right shoulder blade.

Rin ignored them. His focus was on Tez. She stepped back to take a look.

Adga knelt and looked at the arrow with a wince. “How bad?”

“Hit da blood on da bandage. Me think it no badder den one before. Be between bone like one earlier, too. Think me might be able ta poke out a hole udder arrow made. Ven ain’t powerful ‘nough ta do much on it. Maybe try da healin’ goo?”

“Yeah, use one of the potions Sir Avery gave us. Let’s see what it does…” She pushed Tez’s dagger sheath into his mouth so he had something to bite down on, then gripped him in a bear hug so Rin could push the arrow through. She felt him almost pass out. Figured it would have been better if he had.

Tez let out a hiss as the arrow was shoved through, the head snapped off and the shaft pulled out. She knelt and used a thumb to wipe at the tears welling up in Tez’s eyes. “Ain’t no shame in crying.”

Tez nodded but clenched both fists and bit down on the sheath of his Dagger of Light as Rin applied the salve in one of the vials. She felt him trembling as a new bandage was put over the wound.

Adga pulled him over to a wall and handed him a waterskin. “Ven, keep an eye on him for us. Vyrax, they have a full thief training room with locks, picks, and bell dummies. I need you to check them all from head to toe. Make sure they have nothing to use as a weapon or lockpick.”

Vyrax gave a hard nod and moved up to the closest kid. He spoke loudly as he knelt. “If any of you give me a hard time, I’ll cut your clothes off. All of them… then I’ll find a potion to feed you.”

Adga had to bite back a snicker as several kids, even those badly injured, looked up with wide eyes. She stepped over the two seriously wounded thieves. As she did so, she could see what the problem with the girl’s hand was. She could see over a dozen deep punctures in a straight line.

Adga’s eyebrows went up, “Rin, did you bite her?”

“Me did! Claw her belly too! Her poke me in da eye! No good idea ta put hand up ta mouth of a dragonling! Bite hard. No able ta poke eye again! Not wit dat hand!” He paused for a second, “No good flavor. Like non-Orc type better.” Rin turned and put an arm up on one side while he kept Tez on the other to hide a grin Adga knew was there.

However, the words were clearly taken at face value by many along the walls. Several turned pale, a few started softly crying and judging on the smell, at least one moistened a loincloth.

The glare Vyrax sent Rin’s direction made it clear he also smelled the release of urine.

Adga turned her attention back to the opposite side of the ladder with a smirk. The hall went a few meters before there was a door on the left-hand side. It was ugly uncared-for bronze. A single pull told her it was locked or stuck. Further down another bronze door, green with age, hung open by a single hinge. The area beyond the doorway expanded into a much larger room. Her heat vision picked up no major color variances. She stepped in and pulled her glow-charmed blade. The light didn’t make it to the far side. The floor had a lot of trash on it. Heaps of no longer usable sackcloth, worn-out shoes, boots, cut pouches, threadbare face cloths, broken pots, and tattered blankets were only part of the refuse scattered across the whole of the room. The scent of sweat, under-washed bodies, and stale urine-sodden loincloths hung in the air. On the plus side, it had a higher ceiling. She could fully stand. Even with the taller roof, her hair touched the sculpted stone top. It made her scalp itch.

The room had two exits, both had hinges dangling out of the stone. The doors themselves were gone. She kicked at the trash carefully. A few rats scurried away from her. A boot came into contact with something metal as Adga advanced without picking up her feet. She knelt and poked at the ripped britches and loincloth, along with whatever was underneath, with Foelay’s mace. A bronze-toothed trap snapped with a loud clang. “Predictable.” She muttered. She grabbed it and stood. Feet shuffled even slower through the refuse.

Four large game traps and two wooden shutters with scores of nails poking up later, she made it to the first door frame. Beyond was an even larger room. There was a spiked and bladed bronze plate along the doorframe. It extended up on both sides. This wasn’t uncommon. Many eating establishments used them in their food storage areas. The plates, while extremely dangerous, kept rats and other vermin out. She stepped over it and slid to the side so no one could try to push her back into it.

The glow from her knife didn’t make it to the corners. Heat vision caught a crouched figure covered with a cloak. Adga had to give whomever it was credit. There was no movement. Without heat vision, the figure would have blended into a rubbish pile in the far corner. To an untrained eye, this chamber was also junk-strewn. Broken open chests of all sizes were scattered across the room, many with items hanging out. The floor was littered with clothing of all kinds. But instead of unserviceable, much of what she saw looked worn but usable. There was even a large chest with backpacks and another with waterskins. Yet another had weapon belts. A few of the items looked to be standard guard issue.

Behind Adga, Nuk appeared limping lightly. His Dwarven Steel dagger with a tiger’s eye gem glowed much brighter than her knife. “What were those loud clangs?”

Adga held up her hand to stop him from entering the room behind her. “Game traps. Big ones. Follow the path I made or stay out! If you come across, they have vermin plates on this door.” She backstepped over the vermin plate and shuffled into the other room. She signaled him to move toward her. “What’s our status?”

“We have fourteen thieves down here. Only one adult. But we took some hard hits.” Nuk responded. “Tez is the worst off. Sir Lenti Avery’s concoction has the bleeding stopped, but judging on Tez’s reaction, it must burn and itch. Rin’s not letting him touch it, but both Rin and Ven took a couple of stabs as well. Vyrax is the only one who came out basically clean. I also want a few of those inebriated potions or whatever he calls them. He took down more between the cold and the stagger potions than all the rest of us combined!”

“Never seen them until today,” Adga stated with a bemused grin. “But I want a few myself! But more important, we need to get Tez a shield.”

Nuk snorted, “You know the more metal us spell casters wear, the harder it is to cast through it.”

“Warrior Adepts have less spell casting abilities, but can more easily cast with armor on, so I only kind of know… but Tez might be willing to deal with it after getting two arrows in the same arm in a matter of a few sandglass turns.”

Nuk snickered, “He just might! You’ll have to show him how to use one properly. It’s not something either of us got taught…” He paused. “You really shouldn’t scout on your own…”

Adga nodded then pointed up. “You’re right. But I wanted to be able to stand.”

Nuk laughed, “You get any taller you will have to crouch in here!”

“I noticed. What about the other two nobles?”

“Rebklos and Thul-mora just got down. Vyrax told them to guard the prisoners while he joins us.”

“Will those two be able to stop them if they try to escape?”

“They are not going anywhere. The caravan master lent us one of his guards to help.” Nuk stated with confidence. “Besides, Taglon sent Mora and Reb down with leg and wrist chains, lots of them.” He grinned, “Don’t think they are as heavy as their packs, though.”

Adga chuckled. “Who thought giving ‘em so much crap was a good idea?”

“Probably did it on their own. When I went to grab my Rite of Nobility gear there was a whole bunch of basic equipment: Extra waterskins, rations, clothing, sharpening stones, wood axes, hammers with pitons, tinderboxes, bed rolls, walking sticks, face coverings… you name it, I could have grabbed it. My guess is they both grabbed as much as they possibly could. Maybe they thought they could sell some of it or… who knows…”

“Pretty dumb.”

“Yeah, but they might have thought they would be going out every day and could store much of it back at the hiring hall. At least I hope so.”

“They knew they were coming here to fight first…”

Nuk sighed, “I guess they did not think hard enough.”

“They better wise up fast.”

“Pretty sure the challenge on the street got the message across. If not, you will just have to give Tez and me a second round with them.”

“Count on it.” A finger motioned him over. Once Nuk was close Adga pointed to the back corner of the next room while keeping her hand between the door and her shield. “More junk. Probably has more nasty traps under it all. Just give me some of your light to make sure.”

Nuk held up the dagger and twisted the gem. The blade got even brighter.

Adga blinked, “OK, not so much… Geesh!”

“Sorry.” Nuk’s voice, combined with his grin, said the opposite.

Adga continued to blink out some spots. “Nice blade. I noticed Tez has one, as does both the other nobles. Who makes them?”

“No idea. Every once in a while, a Dwarven friend of Burntmetal comes into the Spires with wagons of really expensive goods. He always has a couple of crates of these. They are called Daggers of Light. All have the Tiger’s Eye gem and are made of Dwarven Steel. Almost every noble has one since they are handed out at the time of the first Rite of Noblehood. There is a Dwarven smithy in the Southern Spires that sells them for 575 silver. They always have a dozen or so. They are fully magic including a real sharp blade. They can even hurt the bad dead walkers.”

“While stupid expensive for us commoners, that’s super cheap for a magical blade. Especially with the ability to light up and hurt the big nasties! I’m going to have to find a way to get all of us one.”

“Tez’s brother had one. We were given full spoils on him, so you can take his.”

“It was stolen. Won’t the Shunrals want it back?”

“Take a look at your pin. You are part of House Shunral! Besides, full spoils means exactly that. Prior ownership is forfeit.”

“I’ll sure take it, as long as you’re sure. But I’ve still got to find a way to get Rin, Vyrax, and especially Ven one.”

“Maybe by the time this is over you will have enough to buy the others one; I will be happy to go buy them for you. If we’re really lucky we’ll come across one or two as we kill dead walkers after the Dead Storm.” Nuk’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I am not seeing anything in there.”

“You will...” Adga whispered back while pulling apart the jaws of one of the bronze traps. She set the pin and grinned. Without warning she spun and flung it across the room. It hit the back corner with a bang, followed by a clang as it snapped shut.

The figure under the cloak jumped, pulling a street sword as he did so. “What in the name of Seriff!?!” The slender small boy looked down at the trap. His light brown eyes wide, he looked up. “Are you insane…?” his voice caught in his throat.

Nuk glanced over to Adga but held his fighting staff at the ready. “He’s good. Even with my Dagger of Light out, I never saw him…”

“Wouldn’t have either without him being hotter than the rest of the room.” Adga focused on the boy. “Next time put a chest lid or something solid between you and the door to block your heat…” Her eyes narrowed, “I don’t want to hurt no little kid, but I will. You’re worth food and coin to us. So you can come easy or hard, but you are coming.”

The boy’s eyes darted around. Suddenly he yelled, “We’re breached! Got regional guards pushing through the trash room! Dassen! Help! I’m trapped in the discard room by a monster Orc-thing!”

“Hard it is!” Adga snarled as she carefully shuffled into the room. “I’m going to give you a fist of Orc-thing upside your head, boy!”

The boy slashed at Adga, hit her shield, and darted away.

“Fast little bastard…” She moved. Another swing was knocked aside. She lunged. Her hand hit nothing. She growled as the kid snagged a boot off the floor and threw it at her. She got within two steps. The kid hopped over a large chest, swung his blade, and hit the shield. Once again, he scurried out of her reach.

Adga snarled as a thrown hard-soled shoe caught her in the side of the face. “Nuk, keep a eye out for whoever Dassen happens to be but guard the door. This brat ain’t getting out of here!”

Vyrax appeared at the door. He exhaled as the kid ducked, slashed wildly, and scampered out of reach. “Problem, Ad?”

“Nothing I can’t handle…” her hand sailed over his head. She then had to use her gauntlet to block another sword swing. The kid came up out of a roll with the blade held ready. “You little rodent! Ya ain’t goin’ nowhere! Give up before I hurt you…”

“Buyin’ time. You ain’t getting in no deeper to our home!”

“Home?” Nuk asked with skepticism.

“Closest place to home and family I’ll ever get!” The lad snarled.

Adga kicked a chest lid at him. He brought up his blade defensively. The bronze-bound top deflected but knocked the blade out of his hand. He jumped clear of another lunge while shaking his hand. “Cheater!”

“There’s no cheating in combat,” Adga countered. “There is win and lose. Survive or die. I’m a winner and a survivor!”

The boy’s hands reached behind his back. He pulled out two wavy daggers, “So am I!”

“Whoa!” Nuk barked. He stepped into the room and pulled a couple of bladed disks. “Careful, he is a Viper!”

The boy’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Nuk, “And you’re an Eagle.”

“You want to dance?” Nuk queried with a challenging, yet hopeful, tone.

“What do I get out of it?”

Nuk glanced over to Adga, “Permission to make a deal?”

“I’ve never seen two Sect Warriors fight… Normally I’d say yes, but he’s just slowing us down and giving the others more time.”

Nuk nodded. “OK. So how about this… You surrender now. Once we gain control, the two of us dance. You beat me, you can leave with your gear and one other buddy of your choice. If I win you give us the full layout of the place.”

“You ain’t tying me up while you fight. And I want me and three others, all with our gear and food stashes to leave and you not come after us for at least a full day.”

Adga shook her head. “You’re too fast and clever for a little kid. You let us shackle you. You have my word, as a Spires patrol leader we’ll keep our part. If you win, you and ONE other gets to leave with what you’re wearing, a few things out of here, and a small pack with food and basics. No excess loot. You’ll be on your own and I promise not to come after you nor will we tell others to do so. If you lose, we get the full layout, and you give us the names and any known bounties of everyone we capture.”

Vyrax pulled a vial from his cloak and moved next to Nuk, “Or you can taste a potion and all three of us take you down right now.”

The kid glared but took a step back from Vyrax. “Not giving me much choice. I saw what your cold brew and wobble liquid did to my buddies! But I want at least two others with me!”

Adga let out an exasperated breath. “Fine! Deal.”

With a sigh, he lowered his fangs. “And I’m not a little kid!”

“You’re like eight or nine!” Nuk snickered.

“I’m 35, human equivalent of 14…” the fangs disappeared behind his back. He withdrew his empty hands and held them up.

Nuk shook his head. “No way.”

Vyrax moved up, potion in hand. His other hand reached under the kid’s shabby cloak and undid a weapon belt, including back sheaths with two sets of wavy daggers. “You’re a Q-ling, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“A what?” Nuk asked.

“Q-ling,” Adga answered while Vyrax cleared him of other weapons and used the kid’s weapon belt to secure his hands behind his back. “Short for Quaterling or Quasiling. It doesn’t really matter. Neither are nice. They weren’t meant to be. Q-ling at least sounds better. A Q-ling is a mixed Halfling and any other race. Judging by the dark beige skin, white hair, and real light brown eyes, I’d bet it was someone close to Tez’s bloodline.”

Adga continued to talk as she carefully made her way through the trash room and back to the others. “The term Halfling itself is a slight to most of them. Halfling actually means half-a-human, a reference to their size difference to Humans and many other close-to-human-sized races. In their language, they call themselves Petikin, literally translated as little-kin or small-folk. However, as Humans gained more control following the Elvin-Dwarven Wars, the Human racial slang name of Halfling took over.

“Anyway, more than any other race, Halflings shun their half-breeds. They are usually too large to fit into their homes before they even get close to the age of ascension. Making matters worse, Halfling women often die in giving birth to something so big from their bodies. Halfling men who impregnate larger and studier races, even Dwarves, are seen as having been a toy or plaything to the woman of the other race. It is a no-win for the Halfling parent and less so for their kids. Since angling more toward being a patrol guard, I’ve seen at least a dozen Q-lings abandoned, most at a very young age. We take them to orphanages when we come across them. Once there, they are smaller than most others including those of their age. They get picked on, beat up, mugged, and worse. From what I’ve seen, most flee the second they are old enough to think they can make it on their own.”

Seeing the kid nod, Adga let out a long breath and patted him on the shoulder, “What orphanage?”

“Bitter Creek.”

“Never heard of it.”

“Long way from here…” The kid blinked out some tears, “A green place. Tall trees, lots of rain, cool breezes without sand, some snow in the winter… Few snakes, no damned scorpions, four-fangers, or spider lizards. Dead walkers were myths. A place where you wake to bird songs at the first light of Zeris and you get serenaded to sleep by crickets as Lunara’s light appears in the night sky."

A tight grin crept across Vyrax’s face as he led the kid out to the hall to join the other captives. “I kind of remember such a place. Mom talks about such things all the time. Dad says the components for many of his potions would cost too much to try to go back.”

The conversation stopped suddenly. A four-fanger fell from where the ladder was. It splattered upon impact. One of Fonklob’s guards jumped, then let out a long breath before returning his attention to those who had been captured and chained. The face of the boy gladiator appeared in the square hole leading to the ladder. With a shake of his head and roll of his eyes, he prodded a Human girl who was bleeding from multiple locations including the nose and mouth. Her eyes were mere slits because of swelling around them. The young gladiator dropped six waterskins over her shoulders and smacked her with the side of an axehammer. She yelped, then whimpered as she made her way down, favoring her right leg the whole way.

Once the girl started to descend, the young gladiator hefted several oversized full waterskins, a large pack, and a bulging sack. He followed. The moment his feet hit the stone floor; he shoved the girl hard. She hit the wall and fell with a whimper. The boy pulled locking ankle chains off his belt and tossed them at her. She squealed again as the metal smacked into the side of her head and side. The gladiator dropped wrist chains on the lap of a boy already in chains. A point with the axehammer was all it took for the boy to gulp and scooch over so he could chain the girl’s feet and hands. During the whole time, the gladiator said nothing. Words were simply not needed; his demeanor and gestures spoke forcefully enough.

Taglon came next. Once the girl and gladiator were clear, he dropped the overstuffed nobles’ packs down. They landed with loud thuds and poofs of dust. The man rolled his eyes as he helped the young nobles grab the ladder down. All three carried several waterskins which greatly slowed their descent.

Taglon let out a long breath. “Took Thul-mora and Rebklos back up for more water. Wind suddenly shifted and it's already blowing sand in. I don’t think we have as long as we thought. Oh, and as you can see the caravan’s young gladiator snagged two more thieves. The other will be down shortly.”

“If we leave now?” Adga asked only to see the redhead and the Halfelf thieves come down the ladder. They struggled to bring heavy packs and extra waterskins down the metal rungs. Their progress was further hampered by shackles around their wrists. In addition, both appeared to have problems with their left arms and were sobbing. Fonklob came next, followed by one of the other guards who had been with Count Kandahar. Like the others, they all carried large quantities of water.

Fonklob dropped eight oversized waterskins even as he shook his head. “There are horrifying red streamers arcing up into the air and hitting not far from the cliffs outside the city!” Fear was evident in his eyes as he added, “I swear they look like they are alive!”

Taglon nodded, “Many think they are. So to answer your question, Patrol Leader, no. We are out of time. The streets are clearing. Under orders of Count Kandahar, the rest of the city guard handed to me, along with two other royal guards, commandeered the stone cart house caddy corner from the inn. They pulled all your gear and remaining food into the building and are going to shelter in place there. The carts are going to the nearest tower cellar.”

Fonklob pointed at his guard, “Need you up top with the others. I’ll leave Tur to help down here.” He pointed at the gladiator, “Tur, until I say otherwise, you are to obey the Illorc patrol leader as if she owns you. And Tur, remember, the axehammer is out of the shoulder of the guy she took down and is hers. Also, the patrol leader only gets food bounty if those she captures can shovel when this horrifying tempest ends.”

The boy nodded, turned, and gave Adga a bow while holding out the axehammer.

“Keep it if you like it,” Adga stated as Fonklob stepped out of the way of the ladder.

Another of the count’s personal guardsmen pushed another boy, who looked even worse off than the girl the young gladiator had led down. With sobs and whimpers, he carefully lowered himself rung by rung. It was clear he couldn’t put any real weight on his left foot. He also carried extra water, a pack, and a full sack.

The guard looked down. “Caravan leader, if you’re coming back up, get a move on! The warning chimes have started!” He then stuck his head all the way in while extending a hand to help Fonklob. His eyes focused on Adga. “There is not room in the stone building for everyone. Lord Kandahar orders you to hold in place here. He cannot risk losing you or your patrol to the storm. He sent extra food for you, which he made sure to have me tell you is not part of the offered bounty. Royal Guardsman Taglon, you are to stay with and keep a record so proper bounties can be paid once the storm breaks. All other guards, up top!” As the other adults scampered up the ladder and out, the royal guardsman shouted, “First tendrils have hit the city! Move! Move! One of you down there bar this door after I close it!”

The young gladiator didn’t hesitate. He moved up the ladder and slammed a thick wooden brace through metal brackets in the heavy wooden trap door the second it slammed shut.

Adga shook her head. “Just great, stuck here when we could have a bed in a hiring hall.”

“Bed?” Vyrax snickered. We haven’t seen an inn with a bed big enough for you in four or five years, Ad!”

“Only in my barracks and only because Burntmetal had them make me one, but I still have the heavy hemp hammock he had made for me so I don’t get bit sleeping on the floor. Ain’t nothing down here to hook it to. So I’m carrying almost four kilos of hammock for nothing!”

Conversation stopped as the gladiator slid down the ladder and shoved the latest arrival into the wall. The bigger and older kid fell with a yelp and broke down in tears. This was ignored by Tur. Instead, he held out the axehammer again.

Adga again held up both hands and shook her head. “It’s yours until your owner says otherwise.”

The gladiator twirled the weapon and nodded yet showed no remorse to the captured teen. He used his foot to kick the chains hanging off the pack the kid had been forced to carry down. He pointed the axehammer at the same kid who had chained up the girl, then smacked the flat of the weapon against his armored thigh for emphasis. Even chained, the kid crawled over quickly and secured the older boy.

Rin glanced at Adga. His neck muscles flared out as he cringed. However, he quickly focused on the problem at hand. “Do we warn dem we fightin’ about da big blow, Ad?”

She glanced over to Taglon expecting him to take charge.

“I’m here to verify bounties and help keep captives guarded. This is your patrol and bounty mission, young lady.”

Adga almost pointed out that he was a royal guard, so he must have held rank over her but thought better of it. If he took over, the food bounty she was after might go to him instead. After a few moments of debate, she took a deep breath and shouted, “Dead Storm coming! Dead Storm! Lock down everything and don’t try to flee! I offer a temporary truce! DEAD STORM COMING!”

A deep male voice echoed down the passage, “How we know this ain’t no trick?”

“Poke your head up and look for the red tendrils!” Taglon shouted back, showing clear support for what Adga proposed. “If they don’t peel your skin off and kill you, you’ll see the beginning of the Dead Storm!”

A female voice joined the shouted conversation. “How long of a truce?”

Adga glanced at Taglon. He pointed back at her. Her shoulders slumped. She looked over at Rin and Vyrax, “What’d you think guys?”

“Unless we move on them now, they’re going to fortify,” Vyrax warned.

Rin shook his head, “If we fight and them run, them die. We no get nothin’. Den we have ta re-kill after da big blow. We hurt too. Need more time to patch Tez up if healin’ brew no work, too.”

Tez shook his head, “Sir Lenti Avery’s stuff always works… sometimes too good, but they always work. Unless I end up scratching off my arm because of how bad it itches… Don’t worry about me."

“How are we on rations?”

Taglon answered. “Count Kandahar made sure to send four days of rations for everyone and some extra for captives, but seeing this…” He gestured to those along the wall. “Probably got three days’ worth and as much water as we and your slaves could carry, but we may need to ration it.”

Adga felt her voice get caught in her throat as she turned sharply, “Slaves?”

Nuk let out a long breath, “Patrol Leader, I was concerned your hearing was off after taking the Sound Burst from the Mage. Or you were winding down after the devastation you wrought on the archer, Mage, and cart. Regardless, there was a fear you did not fully realize what Lord Kandahar decreed when he handed you these two.” He gestured toward the still sobbing Halfelf and redhead.

The male voice echoed down the passage, “How long a truce is you offerin’?!?”

“How about you shut up and take whatever I give you before we come pound on you all right now!” Adga bellowed.

Taglon snickered, then turned and shouted down the corridor. “Our fledgling patrol leader needs a few to calm. So how about we start with something real basic? We know you have sick and poisoned. We have anti-toxins. So you hand them over now, we deal with their poisons and they belong to us. We then start with a two-sandglass truce to give all of us time to work out something firmer. Agreed?”

There were sounds of movement followed by the deep female voice. “Three sandglass turns to start, you give us Wyger, if he’s alive, or Baqunna if he ain’t, and you got a deal!”

Vyrax glanced over to the Q-ling, “Which ones are Wyger and Baqunna?”

“The big Halforc is Wyger. Baqunna went up top with those Gojiness took to grab pouches. She isn’t here… Neither is Gojiness. Gojiness is our best Mage…”

“Fat woman with yellow and green sun cloak?” Vendra asked.

“Yes,” the Q-ling cocked his head. “That’s Gojiness. You know her?”

Nuk snorted, “Our patrol leader is wearing quite a bit of what is left of her and the Elvin archer.”

“Pretty much everyone on the street has some of both those two on them,” Tez added. He held up a tattered and blood-splattered satchel with his uninjured arm. “What’s left of her spellbook is in here... And this book pouch looks a whole lot better than what’s left of the former owner!”

Several kids looked up with wide terrified eyes as the Q-ling spoke. “That was hers alright… You really killed her?”

Taglon let out a snort. “Kill is a vast understatement, kid. I’m not sure pulverize would even go far enough.”

“Be a gunch, dat what it be!” Rin responded with a wide grin. The smile faded as he glanced down at the Halforc and kicked him hard. “But dem ain’t gettin’ him back! Him shot Tez and be too good a warrior!”

“What about the other one, um Baqunna or whatever her name is?” Vendra asked.

The still weeping redhead boy spoke up, “She… was the other…. archer… guarding Gojiness… and the cart.”

“Da one me huff fire on?” Rin asked.

Next to the redhead, the Halfelf wiped at his eyes with his right arm while doing his best to push his left into his stomach. “Uh-huh. Did you kill her too?”

“She was alive last I saw her,” Vendra stated. She glanced over to Rin, “The guards took her after you dropped her.”

Vyrax frowned. “The real question is: Why do they want one or the other?”

The Q-ling answered. “They are our Healthmen. Maybe you can offer them the one with the flat nose… Fuwend. He ain’t Secondary Echelon like Wyger or Baqunna. Not even officially Primary, but he’s been training under them since before I got here. Wyger said he was sure Fuwend could pass the Primary Echelon guild test a moon or two ago. And he’s the only other fully trained Healthman we got.”

Vyrax nudged Adga when she didn’t respond. “So do we offer to give them flat nose or not?”

Adga blinked. She had heard the conversation but was too fixated on being told the two boys were slaves. Her slaves. She stared at the blank black scarves hanging off neck collars on both of them as she swallowed hard. “Um… What do you guys think?”

Vendra spoke up while holding up her wrapped arm and pointing to a temporary bandage on her upper leg. “We took some hits, Ad. We could all use the time.”

“Give them one to get three is a good exchange for us, Patrol Leader.” Nuk added.

Adga tore her eyes off the black front sashes on the boys, turned her head and shouted. “I’ll give you the scrawny one wearing the tan armor.”

The male voice echoed down the hall. “We want Wyger or Baqunna!”

“You’ll get skinny with tan armor and give us the three sick, or we stop talking right now and pound on each other as the Dead Storm slams into the streets above!”

Vyrax shot Adga a devious grin as he added, “Which means we’ll leave dead on both sides lying around to come back on us. Then we may have to join forces to stop them from turning the rest of us into dead walkers!”

“Fine!” the female voice shouted with a note of revulsion in her voice. “We’ll move the sick into the dining hall. One of those you captured can tell you how to get there. Bring Fuwend so we can exchange. We get him first and he comes with his and Wyger’s Healthman satchel!”

“Done!” Adga shouted back.

“One last thing,” the female shouted. "If there’s really a Dead Storm coming, we all need access to the well! We also want some time to grab stuff from the storeroom!”

“Well? There is a well down here?” Adga inquired to those chained and sitting along the wall.

The Q-ling spoke. “Beyond the other doorway in the trash and trap chamber. Door to the left. Leads to a locked door with a well room beyond. Lots of hexarats and twin tails get in there through a mostly collapsed archway, so we oil the steps going down to keep them from coming up.”

Fuwend continued to clutch at his smashed nose, spit out a chunk of tooth, and held his head in his hand. “Over the past few years, we lost quite a few fledgling trainees and even two fully trained kids before we put up the locking door… Three or four moons ago a couple of hide walkers managed to get in there, so don’t send any of the little ones in alone… All who enters must be ready to fight to get water, and we don’t want critters or dead walkers getting into the rest of the complex, so only guilded leaders and a few others have the key. It also gives the leaders more control over new urchins they recruit since keeping them down here and limiting food and water are a couple of common punishments.”

“Any in here have a key?” Adga demanded to know.

The Q-ling answered. “Wyger and Bardard… the one with the dagger in his back. It’s on cords around their necks… He glanced over to where the older teen still clutched at his nose with one hand while his other gripped his chained ankle. “Pretty sure Fuwend got one not long ago…”

The moment Adga shot Fuwend a glare, the older teen held up a hand, “Not on me. I left it in my room since I’m not allowed to take it topside and was supposed to take the next group up… We thought the warning was for a monsoon rain… People scrambling around to get supplies makes it a great time for the little ones to practice the skills we teach and snag us pouches…” As Adga frowned he gulped and quickly changed subjects. “Is it really a Dead Storm talked about in the bars by the old timers?”

“Yeah,” Taglon stated. “When you get back to the others tell them if they go up, they will die and will probably kill everyone down here by opening us up to the storm. Keep weapons ready in case there is any failures to the doors out of here.”

“Then I need my weapons too…”

Adga frowned but picked up his weapon belt and added it to the two satchels full of Healthman herbs and equipment. “You can take it when you leave. Not before. Rin, see what you can do for his knee and face.”

The Q-ling scowled, “What about our deal?”

“Still in play,” Adga responded. “Once I give my word, it doesn’t change. You’ll just have to trust me for now.” She glanced around and moved up to the Halforc. It snarled and spit at her as she grabbed for the cord around its neck. She punched it in the mouth. A tusk shattered and teeth bounced off the stone wall while blood splattered across the faces of the three closest captives. The burly guy’s eyes rolled up into its head and it fell over onto the lap of a Human boy who looked up with terrified eyes.

Adga wiped at the spittle on her cheek, “The next one of you who spits at me or my squad or does anything else stupid gets hit harder with the spikes on my gauntlet uncovered! Got me?”

Down the row of seated and chained captives, heads bobbed in near unison. She yanked at the cord around the Halforc’s neck hard enough to snap the lanyard while also leaving the unconscious guy with a lightly bleeding cut halfway around his neck. She found two keys.

“There are two.” She held them up in front of the Q-ling.

The Q-ling let out a long breath, “The one with the twin loops in the base is to the well room. The other opens the adult wing and sergeants’ quarters. Don’t know what’s back there… many of the girls and a few of the bigger boys can fill you in, at least as far as where he sleeps.”

Adga caught the clear implication. She kicked the unconscious Halforc in the crotch as hard as she could. The keys went into her pouch.

Adga took a deep breath and shouted, “We’ll move to your pilfer training room and hall around it for now. You have one sandglass turn to come grab what you want out of the room, get water, and put the sick where we can get them! Once the first turn of a sandglass is done and until we work out a full agreement, you can send two or three at a time to get water as needed. As long as they don’t try anything stupid, I’ll leave ‘em alone.”

“Bargained and done!” the female responded. “I’m sending two to get more waterskins and other gear out of the storeroom and three others to get water. Leave them be. As soon as they get back, let Fuwend come to us. As soon as we have him, we’ll move the sick out to the dining hall!”

“Fine, but don’t try to screw us!”

“Last thing we need is any of the three sick ones dying on us with a Dead Storm overhead. No telling if it’ll bring them back!”

Adga didn’t respond. Instead, she returned her attention to the captives. “Get up and move slow to the training room. Sit along the walls and don’t give me or my people any problems or…” she pointed at the Halforc. She punched her left hand into her open right.

As those who could stand did so, Rin pointed at two of the least injured. “Ya help dem who can’t walk. Me’ll work on bad hurt when me get chance. Any ya give problem, ya get more hurt and me no fix!” he paused and let out a snarl. “Try ta run, er hurt me ‘er me friend, me’ll take bite. If me like, take more bite. Don’t think none a ya want ta find out if me like yer flavor, sssssso be good!”

Taglon’s eyes went almost as wide as the captured pickpockets. However, Adga noticed he caught a wink from Vyrax. The man had to quickly hide a laugh behind a cough. Best as Adga could tell, none of the captives caught the exchange. She smirked. “Remember, he can cook his food as he eats it. From what I’ve seen the burn hurts almost as bad as the bite!”

Taglon let out another cough and shook his head as several detainees whimpered and a couple openly cried. He turned away to hide a smile and pointed at the gladiator. “Give me a hand dragging this one.” He pointed at the unconscious Halforc.

The boy snorted, grabbed the Halforc by a leg, and dragged him in the direction of the shuffling line of cutpurses.

“Or do it yourself….” He eyed the boy as the Halforc’s head bounced over the rough brickwork floor. “Strong little bastard.”

Adga cocked her head to the side as she watched. If the boy struggled with the body, he sure didn’t show it. “Saw him fight in the arena. One of his fights was fists only, so he came out in only a loincloth. There’s a lot of muscle under all that armor.”

“How did the fight go?"

“All his way. He left three robbers quite a bit bigger than him bloody messes on the arena floor, but not before toying with them. He’s as fast as he is strong.”

Taglon let out a long breath, “I saw him up on the street. He chased down both the boy and girl after they grabbed food off a cart and ran. They were wearing street clothes and he was in armor and armed. He still caught up to them and beat them close to senseless. One of the caravan guards had to call him off the boy… It makes me nervous to have him down here without his owner.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him and see how he does.” Adga shrugged, “But I bet he’ll be fine. One thing is for sure; he’ll keep those we snagged in line.”

“So we let him keep his weapons?”

“Letting him keep his weapons will show a degree of trust. Besides, as I saw, what he can do with fists and feet is right on par with what most can do with blade and mace. So taking them won’t do much good if he wants to do something to us."

“Your call, but…”

“The caravan master sure trusted him out by the river and again when he handed him over to help us. We need to give him a shot.”

Taglon took a deep breath. He knelt and picked up one of the badly wounded thieves as Adga did the same to another.

As they made their way into the thief training room, Adga carefully put the girl she was carrying down, then glanced over to the Halfelf and redhead. “Now what is this nonsense of these two being slaves, let alone my slaves?”

Taglon responded with obvious confusion in his voice as he gently put the boy he carried down. “Did you not hear? Count Kandahar gave them to you, Patrol Leader.

“He gave them to me to clean weapons and gear...”

“No, Patrol Leader,” Tez responded. “You asked for the use of them for such tasks. Count Kandahar went far beyond your request. He handed them over to you in place of the food and coin bounty.”

Adga shook her head, “No! I mean, yes, but only until we can go back to Twin Spires…”

Nuk shook his head. “No, Patrol Leader. He gifted them to you.”

“I just wanted them to help with gear and… You know… For labor and to…” She stopped as she realized Nuk, Tez, Vyrax, Taglon, and both the other young nobles all shook their heads. “I didn’t… this is only until the storm passes and we clear the city of dead walkers, right?”

Tez shook his head, “A gift is not a temporary thing, it is a granting of wealth from one to another. Lord Kandahar decreed, that by gifting these two, their thievery warranted the punishment of slavery which, while extreme, is his right as a noble and Lord of Scorpion Falls to do with any criminal in his city."

“But when we’re done here, they go back to the count, right?”

Taglon grabbed the Halfelvin boy by the back of his shirt and lifted him to his feet. As he spun the youngster, he pulled down on the shirt to fully expose a slave collar.

Adga verified the black front scarf hooked to a slave collar was blank. While the scarf was blank there were markings on the collar. She gulped as noticed the rank of patrol leader and the sponsorship marking of House Shunral she wore burned into the hide covering the metal. She felt her heart speed up.

Adga took a deep breath and forced herself to think. Slave collar markings were common, but not official. Plus, while the design pointed strongly toward her, it wasn’t like she had her own signet or crest. She was a commoner!

However, as the guard yanked up on the shirt sleeve exposing the boy’s inside forearm, ownership became obvious. Angry, burned, and blistered skin was clearly visible. While difficult to see, because it was still fresh and covered in some kind of oily coating, the burn showed Adga’s sponsorship pendant, along with the four-pointed star emblem of the Combined Desert Realm. On both sides in the middle of what looked like a ring of chains, there was the written symbol for Illorc and guard leader. There was little question that it would be clearer as soon as the burn healed.

Thul-mora moved over and held out the redhead boy’s arm, even as both kids shook like leaves in a stiff wind, and tears poured down his cheeks. “Their new brands say otherwise, Patrol Leader.”

Adga cringed and looked away, “Rin, is there anything you can do for them?”

Rin moved up and looked at the deep burn on the redhead. “Been treat already, Ad. Some calmin’ and healin’ herb put on… Can give orange berry, treat wit sssstar clover and burn herb, den bandage tight. It’ll help a little… Be few days fer it ta heal and look more like what them burn-in. Be longer fer no hurt. But herb ta treat da brand better and take away heat no be cheap Ad.”

“Do what you can. I’ll buy you more as soon as we get out of here!” Adga felt a cold shiver go down her spine as the redheaded boy let out a yelp, then bawled as Rin pulled up his sleeve and went to work. “I didn’t think… I can’t own a slave!”

Tez spoke up, “Any free person can own a slave, Patrol Leader. This you know since you were trying to buy off Vendra’s fine so you could own, then free her. Fortunately, she was freed before you had to hand over such a large sum. However, slaves, just like any commodity, can be bought by anyone with the coin to do so.”

Taglon quickly agreed. “The lowest squatter, should he or she find a treasure, could buy a slave. It would have to be a tremendous find. However, in theory, it could happen. And while the award of these two to one of your caste is unusual, very… here we are. However, as a long-time royal guard to Lord Kandahar, my guess is he probably wanted to sate your anger and show you, along with all of us, how impressed he was with your combat prowess.

“His gifting of them also sends a strong message to the whole garrison of Scorpion Falls. Actually, it sends it to the entire Combined Desert Realm. You should be given respect, not only for your rank and sponsorship but more. Much more. His decree and orders to make an individualized brand for you elevates your authority. You are no longer a mere skilled peasant guard, nor just a patrol leader. This is why the generic symbol for a guard leader, not a rank was put into the brand. It is something usable as you advance.”

Thul-mora pushed the boy back toward the wall and pointed for him to sit. “As I got my rite gear, I was told I should be honored to serve under you. Lord Kandahar made it clear to me, my parents, and several other nobles you are to be seen as a higher caste being and should be treated as such. My guess is he will petition House Shunral and the Twin Spires garrison to promote you to patrol commander, which will give you your own detachment of four squads and allow you to set your own patrol schedules. It will also give you rank of senior lieutenant.”

“Wow!” Nuk whistled. “This means there was more behind their gifting than I realized! His gifting of these two and the possible gift of the brother of the one tells everyone he not only fully supports you as a patrol leader, but also your noble sponsorship. It also explains what he said about your sponsorship… His words regardless of how you took them, about being a rough gem were his way of telling all the rest of us he sees you as extremely valuable to our Combined Desert Realm. A large rough uncut gem is worth considerably more than a smaller cut one.

“The brand on these slaves is most certainly going to be offered as your signet within the Combined Desert Realms, and with both a House Shunral sponsor and House Kandahar backing, you will soon be a provincial officer with your own detachment. From what Tez and I have overheard several times in the last few moons, more provincial units are needed after our decade-long conflict with the Colossus hoards. It is time to rebuild the regional guards now that the Colossus have been pushed back deep into the lower desert again. Not only this, but to my knowledge none, save you, Rin, and Vyrax know any navigable paths through the Crags.”

Taglon pointed toward Nuk, “Exactly what he said. And it is why Lord Kandahar has made a formal offer to help Vyrax and his mom and dad. Know it or not, believe it or not, your actions both outside of the city and on the streets of Scorpion Falls, while extreme by most standards, impressed Lord Kandahar today, Patrol Leader. And as one of Count Kandahar’s personal guards, I can tell you with certainty, that it is extremely difficult to impress the Lord of Scorpion Falls.”

“But I’m just a big ugly Illorc…”

“No, you are a patrol leader, one who, according to young Lord Nuk-lem, can also read and write,” Taglon stated. “You took them through the Crags along a path you know. Such a thing is extraordinary! Is it true you are also a guilded Ruinseeker?”

Adga nodded, showed her guild pin, and glanced over at the two boys. “I didn’t ask for slaves…”

Taglon let out a whistle. “A fully literate patrol leader as well. Less than ten percent of our guards and only twenty percent of our patrol leaders have any literacy. Survive and help take back Scorpion Falls and you will certainly be an officer, if not something more. I am sure we are looking at the first Illorc in the Combined Desert Realm to become a true leader.”

Adga ran her hand across her face and fingered her tusks. “I’m just an…”

“Do not say it, Patrol Leader,” Tez stated while still clutching his arm, “You are not ugly nor a mere big Illorc.” Even after getting the arrow removed from his arm he managed to smirk, “But I give you the big part!”

Nuk snickered, “Agreed.”

Adga let out a long sigh, “I’m not even age of ascension. What am I supposed to do with those two?” She pointed at the redhead and Halfelf. “What about giving them freedom?"

Tez shrugged. “You could do so, Patrol Leader. They are your property. However, they are gifted from the Lord of Scorpion Falls, so releasing them anytime soon would probably be seen as a serious insult both by and to him. Selling them once we retake Scorpion Falls from the Dead Strom would be a better option but could still be seen as a slap in Count Kandahar’s face.”

While Adga groaned, Tez continued. “Both Nuk and I wondered why you didn’t outright refuse or ask for a term of indentured servitude. However, based on our conversation, Vyrax’s guess was you didn’t either hear or fully understand what gifting them to you meant when Lord Kandahar awarded you these two and the one’s brother.”

“Why didn’t someone say something?” Adga asked with exasperation.

“Not our place.” Tez stated as he clutched his arm back into his stomach. “Keep in mind, we are on our Rite of Noblehood and you have almost as much power over us as you do your slaves. We would have risked failure of our rite to say anything against such an award, especially in front of the noble making the offer. To do so would have been akin to us undermining what Lord Kandahar clearly sees as a way to show his full support for your sponsorship by House Shunral. “Furthermore, had your non-noble friends spoke up, it would have been a serious insult, so we made them hold their tongues. Both Rin and Vyrax are on the verge of being granted a higher caste. Look at the giftings and help Sir Lenti gave and the fact Lord Kandahar made it clear he is willing to help Vyrax, buy his potions, and has made an offer to let Rin talk to him. It is not unlike the treatment we received in Avery lands by Sir Lenti Avery.

“You may not understand the implications of what you did, but taking us through the Crags, proving you, Rin, and Vyrax know them to any degree, has elevated your status. All three of you are on the cusp of something most can only dream of. Nobles who find out early and gift you in various ways, are staking claim to your success.”

“This is ridiculous! I just graduated to guard a couple weeks ago!”

“Graduated early by actions from your own hand, from what we heard.” Taglon interjected. “You should listen to what the young lords say, Patrol Leader. As word spreads you not only poke around in the Crags but know of any path through them, even to skirt Burning Lion Point, your fame will grow. There was nothing your friends or either young lord could have said without risking the wrath of Count Kandahar. His offer was to you, a gift which he backed up by putting his personal Metal Worker on quickly making an artistic personalized brand to mark your property.” He grabbed the redheaded boy’s arm again and held it out. “What is under this bandage is something no one else down here has, a personalized crest. The chains surrounding the center design is premade, what is in the center was certainly sculpted out of wire by the count’s master Metal Worker so these two could be marked as owned by you.

“Even as we huddle down here and await the end of the Dead Storm, I would bet every silver I own a duplicate brand, made of better metal, is being worked on so it can be used to burn this mark into leather, armor, or other belongings that can withstand such a mark burned or melted into it.”

Vendra took a deep breath and finally spoke, “Ad, they’re yours. Maybe in a few years, you can find a way to grant them freedom… But as a slave… former slave… I can tell you and them… since they are owned, there are far worse beings to be owned by… like my former owner… The day you killed him was one of the best of my life. Accept them for who they are, not what they are. Just like you did me. Look at the upside. You are on the verge of being a leader. Your ownership of them will send a strong message to all those who may doubt.”

“Vendra’s right, Patrol Leader,” Nuk stated. “What you were given by noble decree puts you well into the merchant caste. If we do well after the Dead Storm, you will certainly get a detachment. As an officer and a merchant with royal house backing, most likely with your own signet, you will be on a level with any high merchant in the Combined Desert Realm. If this happens, you will be granted access, and probably overnight stay rights in the Southern Spires. Vyrax and even Rin are not far behind.

“As far as your slaves, while they have no say over their lives, you do. I saw the same thing with Tez and Amacord. It could be worse for them; for there is a possibility Lord Kandahar could have declared them slaves and had them sold on the open market. If not, and as Lord Kandahar already suggested the arena would certainly be their home for the next several moons. Dead Storms badly drain noble and royal coffers. We all saw the resources the noble houses within the Spires sent to the north side to help. I have no idea where it all came from, but once the alert sounded and word of a Dead Storm went out, every house servant in my estate was taken to help load the wagons. I would have been there too, and it sounds like moved to be part of a guard detachment had I not already agreed to take this task as my rite.

“I rode out with those wagons. There were tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of silver worth of goods in them! All the royal houses pitched in. Other wagons were being readied to take to other nearby settlements. It sounded to me like stockpiles are kept somewhere for Dead Storms to prevent widespread starvation and sickness. There was talk from my father to Duke Valarian Oldsurn of preparing coin reserves to reacquire what was sent out as soon as the trade routes were reopened. It sounded like my house’s coffers were going to be close to dry within a few moons. Therefore, replenishment of funds will be a priority over the next couple of years. Arena games and the selling of criminal slaves will be a big part of making up some of the expenses incurred. Giving you a larger contingent so you can scout out bandit camps and take them out will bring in more blood for the arena and slave markets. Spoils gained from their raiding camps will also provide coin and other valuables to the royal houses and local lords.”

“It holds the potential to make you amazingly wealthy,” Taglon added, “for detachments sent out to hit raider camps get a percentage of said spoils. “If such a thing is to be in your future, and I think it is… And as long as we survive the Dead Storm and its aftermath, I would be willing to be one of your patrol leaders...”

Adga leaned against the wall and took a few breaths. She was a new guard… Nothing more… This was too much. There had to be a way to bow out. A glance around the room only added to the feeling of a nest of sand lizards running around in her stomach. All eyes were on her. Not just her friends, but Nuk, Tez, Taglon… But it wasn’t even them. Everyone looked at her. She was in charge. The young gladiator, the other two young nobles, captives, her slaves… Her slaves… The thought caused nausea. They were branded, skin burned with markings showing they belonged to her. It was horrible. Misunderstanding, not fully hearing, or whatever else had gone wrong, it was her fault.

She finally glanced over to Tez, “I managed to get myself into this, how do I get myself and the slaves out of it?”

Tez shook his head, “You cannot, Patrol Leader. At least not without serious detriment to you, your friends, and even your slaves. It will certainly turn out worse for them if you do anything but accept their gifting and all the prestige and responsibility that will certainly follow. Once you prove yourself to the combined houses, you will be granted more leeway. For now, and at least for the next few years, your actions will be scrutinized. Having the likes of Royal Guardsman Taglon as your second would be a great start. It would show the royal houses you take the task seriously and give them someone they trust to send reports and keep spoils records.

“Nuk, Vyrax, and I held this conversation quietly while the offer was being made and continued it on the way over here. Like it or not, want it or not, your sponsorship has been elevated by Sir Lenti Avery and now Count Kandahar through the giftings they provided. Your future is bright, but you must now walk a careful line so as to not step on the toes of those who are extending their hand to lift you up toward their world.

"Nuk and I have seen this before… Not to a commoner guard, but there is a first time for everything. Mistakes are expected. Insults are not, nor is a blatant disregard of things the likes of Lord Kandahar think you should be appreciative of.”

Adga hung her head. “How? Not only do I not want slaves, I don’t want these two to be slaves!”

“Treat them how you want,” Taglon stated. “However, Lord Saban Kandahar will expect to see them tending to you and or your property whenever he sees you. So will other nobles as word spreads. Like it or not, you need to show some gratitude for their gifting. To do less will be seen as you disrespecting Lord Kandahar, and by proxy, all nobles within the Combined Desert Realm. While I have an idea, I am certain by the reactions I have already seen out of you, you will not like it.”

Adga let out a long breath, “Since I like little of what I am hearing, you might as well hit me with whatever it is.”

“Train them to join you out on patrol.”

A deep confused look crossed Adga’s face, “I don’t understand.”

Nuk let out a low whistle, “Patrol Leader, they have admitted to being in Training Echelon, so they must have the needed magic to be trained and guilded. Just like the gladiator, Tur, slaves can be trained to fight. Many have greater freedom than normal slaves and can even be armed on the streets with the owner’s permission. Many carry coin and are allowed to purchase items for their owner, which means with your permission they could buy small items for themselves to use, eat, play with, whatever. Everything bought would belong to you, however, as with the slaves, you are free to do what you want with your property.

"If they do well in combat training, you could use it as a reason to grant freedom once they are fully guilded and spend at least a five-year term under you as a conditional free slave. If they do their guardsmen duty to you and the Combined Desert Realm for the full term, the conditional part could be stripped away under a request from you. They could have the brands changed, just like Vendra’s was.

“You could then use your discretion to add them on as free guardsmen. After a couple of years of them under your command, they could enter the guard of any community. They probably would never gain rank, but they would have guardsman rights and pay, which is far more than a normal freed slave.”

Nuk glanced over at Vendra. “If Adga does get her own detachment, and I would place large bets pieces are being put into place so she does, this would help you as well. She could add you to her patrol permanently. It would give you unfettered access inside the Northern walls.”

As Vendra’s eyebrows shot up in clear interest, Adga knew she was missing something. It sounded like a good idea, with no downside. “Why should I be against this?”

Vendra lowered her head, “Ad, they would have to be marked as an authorized armed slave… The brand would have to be added to.”

Adga felt her heart sink. “Brand them again?”

“Yes,” Tez stated. “The same as a gladiator brand; a weapon above a shield surrounded in chains.”

As if on cue, Tur yanked off his armor and exposed his shoulders. The right had a normal slave brand, the left a gladiator brand, only his was of a hand holding a blade with a chain hanging off the wrist that wrapped all the way around the hand and blade to form the chained loop. He also shucked his armored britches. The sides of his thighs held the same brands.

Taglon let out a low whistle, “By the gods, you have the build of a Sand Tiger!”

This got a momentary thin grin out of Tur, the first sign of any facial expression Adga had seen from the boy. It gave her heart to see some sign of emotion from him.

However, her focus was quickly turned back to the situation at hand as Taglon pointed to the brands. “Eagleonia’s gladiator brand is different than ours, but it is obvious what it stands for. Most kingdoms are just as clear. It is also common, and in the Combined Desert Realm required, to have backup brands. Because the chances are good of getting them cut and scared too badly to see, gladiators are branded in two separate locations. So to answer your question, yes. They would have to be branded again; three times.”

Adga had to force back bile. She swallowed hard and took a long drink of a waterskin. Spit some back out. She started to turn to the two wide-eyed kids to ask, but Vendra stepped between her and the boys. “Ad, it is your decision, not theirs. Their time behind a shovel will be as slaves and I am certain the guards will treat them as such. They will be strongly disciplined for any real or perceived act of defiance, laziness, or disrespect. They need to learn and learn fast, they have no real choices in their near future. It needs to start now before you hand them over to shovel sand.

“You also need to understand what they are. You treated me far better than anyone had from the moment you first met me. To you, I was a person. The first I can remember who treated me as one. The Channelers at the Zeris shrine were certainly nice and worked to free me, but I was still property. I was given the worst chores and least sleep of all acolytes. In their eyes, the shrine is where my owner paid them to teach me to become a Channeler, not for the betterment of Zeris, but for him. It became better after you killed him because they realized I had a desire to be a Zeris Channeler. However, I was still a slave and the chores handed out took my property status into account.

“The same holds for these two. You decide everything for them, including what you provide for them. I know you heard me say this several times when you bought me equipment to explore caves near the Spires. The gear either belonged to you or my owner if they found one. Not me. I was lucky. The coin you allowed me to keep was split between me and the shrine. The lead Channeler even allowed me to keep the gear and treat it as if it were mine. But it wasn’t. Only after being marked as free could I own anything."

Vendra pointed at the two trembling boys, “Those two own nothing. What they wear is not even theirs, it is yours. You have an out for them. Not an easy one, but it gives them a chance. You decide if it is worth it, not them. They don’t yet understand, can’t understand, what it is to be nothing more than property. Their futures, their very lives are no longer in their hands. It is in yours.”

Thul-mora let out a long sigh, “For the duration of this rite so is ours, Patrol Leader… all of ours.”