01 - The Price of Talent (51 page)

So, what’s up?

You’ve not done a particularly good job of this whole fleeing the church and Caer Sud thing have you?

Oh? What do you mean? We needed to find out about Meredith’s father, and since we were almost captured doing that, we haven’t really had much time for strategy meetings beyond trying to stay ahead of the soldiers.

That’s exactly my point. You didn’t really think things through. You didn’t plan. And as much as I like the possibility of being able to split heads again, I’m not a big fan of hopeless causes. You’re surrounded and have nowhere to go. I don’t think they’ll just let you go this time.

No situation is ever hopeless, there may be a way out of here. The very fact they haven’t attacked us already means that there could be a chance for a compromise.

Oh, you think they’ll try and negotiate your surrender? Do you really believe they will honor any deal you make? They tortured Meredith’s father to death for information. They sent killers to your parents’ house to apprehend you. For all that they were nice enough with you in Caer Sud, these people are no strangers to violence.

Do you have a better idea?

You need to make a break for it.

We’re both exhausted. We ran all afternoon and barely got here before they were on top of us. How are we supposed to run?

Not right now then. But if you can make it to tomorrow night without getting captured, I think you two need to make a break for it under cover of darkness.

Oh, and we’re just going to waltz passed a battalion of soldiers with dogs?

You might be able to, if you made a big enough distraction…

That might work actually… What if I set a bunch of tents on fire in the middle of the night and we try and escape while the soldiers try to put them out.

Consider also using fire to panic their dogs and horses. The more confusion the better. Then you and Meredith can sneak out while everyone is confused and running around.

It seems really risky though. If they spot us, we would be in trouble.

If you stay here, you’re doomed though. Your friends couldn’t defend this place, and it’s already been burned down once. Either you take your chances and make a break for it, or eventually, you two will get captured. You’re not going to escape by standing still.

You’re being surprisingly helpful… You sure you’re feeling all right?

I think you’re stupid and smell bad. Does that make you feel better? That an inanimate object with no olfactory senses thinks you smell bad?

Surprisingly, it does make me feel better.

Truth is kid, I have no interest in being captured either. I’m done with spending time in jail cells and warehouses waiting to be studied by some puffy church official. As dumb and annoying as you are, you’re far better than the alternative.

Thanks for the compliment. I think…

              He was right about our situation. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure running would get us all that far either. They had dogs to track us, and we had nowhere to go. I’m not sure when I fell asleep, but these were the last thoughts I remembered having that night.

              I awoke suddenly with Meredith shaking me. I’m not sure what time it was, but it looked like the sun had just risen above the tree line.

“Tyr, something is going on in the camp,” she said, quietly. “I’m not sure what, but I think you need to be awake now.”

              I remember my dreams that night. They were full of fire and blood. Dogs barking and biting. I’m guessing my subconscious mind had taken my sword’s suggestions and run with them. It was a restless night full of dreams of being chased; of blood, fire and death. Not good signs.

              Fortunately, the dawn rose without the troops mobilizing for an attack. I couldn’t tell if they were just content to wait us out, or if they were waiting for something in particular. By mid-morning, I had my answer. As we were going from window to window, checking on the troop disposition around us, I noticed two men walking out from the middle of the camp. These two were not wearing soldiers’ outfits. As they came forward, I recognized both of them.

“Well, now we know what they were waiting for,” I said to Meredith. “If I’m not mistaken, those two are Malvolio and Claudius.”

              Meredith didn’t respond verbally, but she did grimace in recognition of the two. When they were close enough to the longhouse that they knew we could hear them, Malvolio cleared his throat and addressed us.

“Tyr, Meredith, it’s over. Why not spare yourself the pain of a fight and come along peaceably.”

“Yes, Mal and I have been discussing your cases, and we think we can agree to be lenient with you two,” Claudius said. “Despite having killed more guards in your escape from Caer Nord, and having spit on our generosity in trying to bring you into the fold of the church, if you surrender now, we can avoid any further bloodshed.”

              I was considering my response to this when I was surprised by Meredith shouting out the window at them.

“You killed my father! He didn’t do anything! What kind of leniency can we expect from murderers? How do we know you won’t just kill us when you have us safely locked away from prying eyes?”

“Your father didn’t do anything?” Malvolio said with a laugh. “Don’t be droll. Not only was he harboring a fugitive, but when we inspected his books it turned out that he had been embezzling tax revenue from us for years. Worse, when confronted with both, he refused to talk. Refused to hand over what was ours. He had a chance to avoid his fate and spat on it!”

“And I’m supposed to take the word of a murderer for this?” Meredith yelled. “You admit to killing him for information, and then expect me to think that lying is somehow beneath you? Don’t make me laugh!”

“You want proof?” Malvolio asked. “You grew up in a nice sized manor house. Ever wonder how your father afforded that with just his small stipend from being the mayor of a small farming community? While both he and your mother were well off, they hardly had enough to afford all that. Or were you blind to their largess?”

“Even if that were true, which I have no reason to believe, that hardly justifies torturing him to death,” she replied. “You killed him and then hid the truth from me, even lied in the report so you could set a trap for us if we escaped. We have no reason to trust you.”

“No reason to trust us?” Claudius interjected. “Meredith, while it is true that we hid the truth from you, it was for good reason. We wanted to spare you from being implicated in your father’s crimes. You’re such a talented young woman, with a bright future ahead of her among the church’s medical staff, we didn’t want you to ruin it all chasing after a deceased embezzler.”

“And you Tyr,” Claudius continued. “I thought we were passed all this running away nonsense. You also have a bright future ahead of you, even now despite all you have done. All you need to do is surrender now, make penance, and it can still be yours.”

“You want me to join the very organization that killed my parents as well as Meredith’s?” I asked, also rhetorically. “How could I ever look myself in the mirror knowing I was a part of that?”

“Killed your parents?” Malvolio asked, with a scornful laugh. “Tyr, their deaths lie at your feet, not ours!”

“Horseshit!” I responded. “You sent a bunch of trained killers to ambush me at my parents’ house and accept no responsibility for the destruction they wrought? Are you insane?”

“Are you?” He asked back. “Tyr, none of the people who were sent to capture you had the capacity to blow up an entire farm. Very few people in the entirety of the priesthood now living have that kind of power, save for the high priest himself. No Tyr, while the confrontation was inevitable, its outcome is your fault. You blew up your farm and killed everyone inside it.”

              I was left with nothing to say, so shocked and angered by his response. That he could so easily wipe his hands of his role in the deaths of both Meredith’s and my Parents infuriated me to the point where I temporarily lost my powers of speech. Fortunately, Claudius took that moment to interject, inadvertently saving me from having to respond.

“Tyr, Meredith, you have your options,” he said. “Either surrender and avoid bloodshed by throwing yourselves on the mercy of the church, or stay locked in there until we send in troops to dig you out. You both know the right thing to do. You know that further killing will gain you nothing. In one hour, I expect you both to surrender. So think well on your options.”

              That next hour seemed to last forever. It didn’t take us very long to decide that surrender was not an option. The problem was that, we didn’t really want to just sit here in the longhouse while they threw waves of troops at us. I knew I could probably do some damage, especially in this confined space. But Meredith’s knockout spell only had a short range of efficacy, and she had a limited number of arrows to go with the bow we found. The best plan of action we could muster is wait for an attack and try and slip out during the confusion. Or, failing that, try to make it to nightfall and I would start lighting tents on fire, panic the animals and try and escape during the confusion like my sword had suggested.

              Towards the end of the hour, or as near to it as I could figure given how far the sun had risen, something odd happened. Claudius and Malvolio were at the edge of the camp ready to come ask for our surrender when a soldier came running up to them. He was gesturing like mad to the East. Suddenly, both Malvolio and Claudius took a keen interest in what he was saying. While this was happening, more and more troops were joining them. It appeared like they were running from eastern side of the clearing.

“Tyr! Come here and look out the window!” Meredith practically shouted at me, despite being in the same room.

              I quickly ran over to the window she was staring out of and saw a sight I had not imagined even in my wildest dreams. Out of the woods was marching what looked like a platoon of heavily armored men. It was only as the last remnants of the church troops ran by that I realized their proportions were off. They were shorter and much broader than the church troops. And while the church troops had light leather and chainmail armor, these new arrivals were in heavy plate.

“Are… Are the runes on their armor glowing?” Meredith asked, still looking out the window with me.

              She wasn’t wrong. On the plate armor that this new platoon was wearing, there were intricate runes that I didn’t recognize. At first it looked like they merely glittered in the morning sun, but they still had a shine on them even when out of the light.

“Are they… Are they Dwarves?” I asked out loud.

“It’s like… It’s like right out of fairy tales…” Meredith said, clearly in awe. “Except, I don’t think they’re all dwarves… Those two clearly aren’t dwarves anyway.”

              Then I saw what she was referring two. Two taller figures were coming to the front of the now stationary platoon of men, or dwarves, or whatever they were. From their silhouettes and hair, it was a man and a woman.

“Why would dwarves have human leaders?” Meredith asked.

              As I was pondering just this question, Malvolio and Claudius walked out between the two groups, with their soldiers forming defensive lines behind them. The church troops formation being obviously less disciplined and orderly than their counterparts.

“What is the meaning of this?” Malvolio asked, with no small amount of hostility in his voice.

“Yes, please, we’d like to know who you are,” said Claudius. “For surely the Low King hasn’t decided to break the truce his grandfather brokered with the High priest all those many years ago…”

              With this opening statement, the man from the new arrivals walked forward and turned and smiled at us through the window. It was then that I recognized him and the woman standing beside him.

“Holy shit, that’s Devlin and Moira! We’re saved!” I shouted with elation.