Rampage, p.6
Rampage, page 6
part #1 of Land of the Elementals Series
A massive city sprawled out before him, surrounded by a huge stone wall. There was a road down below, and he could see small figures and carts moving along. He could also see an open gate, where people and carts were lined up. It seemed that he’d finally reached his destination.
With a sigh of relief, he began the long trek down to the road below. It took him the better part of an hour, but he finally reached the road. Upon reaching the road, he realized how tall the walls actually were. Made of massive stone blocks and piled atop one another, the wall stood over fifty feet tall. Walking towards the gate, he was soon forced to stop and wait his turn until a cart in front of him moved on ahead.
“What’s your business in Grend?”
Arbor looked down in surprise. A short, red-skinned figure dressed in a guard’s uniform was looking up at him with a bored expression on his face. The man, or gremlin, Arbor supposed, had deep red skin and short pointed ears. He had a long thin nose and a narrow face. His eyes were slanted and had bright yellow irises. Green hair peeked out from under his helmet, and Arbor noticed short claws on the hand that gripped his spear.
The guard just sighed as if he were used to this.
“First time here, then. What business do you have here?” he asked again.
Arbor had prepared for this in advance. Silver had warned him that he’d need a cover story once he reached the city.
“Better not to let anyone know why you’re there,” he’d said.
When Arbor had asked why, Silver had replied in a tone that suggested he think before he speak.
“That man Ramson may have friends in the city. Best not to tip him off if he’s there.”
Arbor had felt a little annoyed at Silver’s tone of voice, but in the end, had decided he was probably correct.
“I’m a jewel merchant, here to trade my wares,” he said smoothly.
The guard gave him an appraising look. Arbor was dressed in tattered clothes and the heavy spike of his sheathed glaive peeked over his shoulder.
“It’s been a long road here,” he was quick to explain. “And one can’t be too careful when carrying valuable merchandise.”
Apparently, his story wasn't very convincing because the guard just snorted and shook his head, though he didn’t seem to care either way, as he launched into what sounded like a well-rehearsed speech.
“There’s an inn a bit down the main road called The Swan. They have decent rates on rooms and board. The local jeweler is in the market district on the east side of the city. If you are selling jewels, you will have to pay the standard thirty percent tax on all items sold in the city.”
“Thirty percent? Are you nuts? That’s highway robbery!” Arbor exclaimed.
He couldn’t pay thirty percent of the diamonds’ value! He needed every copper he could make.
“It’s the standard tax. If you don’t like it, you can leave.”
The guard’s eyes narrowed, and his grip tightened on the haft of his spear.
“No. It’s fine,” Arbor said quickly, not wanting to cause a scene.
“Good,” the guard waved him past. “And don’t go stirring up any trouble.”
Arbor nodded, then headed through the massive open gates, trying not to gawk. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. There were people everywhere he looked, and for someone who grew up in a small town, it was a bit overwhelming.
The crowd seemed to be a mix of mostly humans and gremlins, but there were a few dwarves mixed in as well.
Silver’s description of them is spot on, he noted.
The short bearded men seemed to move the crowd around them as they walked, their broad forms easily standing out from the red-skinned gremlins and the taller humans.
He kept walking down the main street until he saw a wooden sign swinging over a door with the word ‘Swan’ written on it. He was about to go in, when he remembered he had no money, only the jewels he had taken from the blacksmith’s shop back home.
He walked past the inn and headed for the east side of the city, staring at the tall towers and all the people around him. The buildings ranged in size, from tall spired buildings to smaller family homes. Everything was made of stone and Arbor couldn’t even imagine the amount of time it must have taken for this all to be built.
It took him a little under half an hour, but by constantly asking for directions from annoyed passers-by, he finally made it to the trading district. He wandered around a bit, looking at all the stores lining the street and marveling at the variety of different goods being sold. He finally spotted a small sign with the picture of a diamond painted on and guessed that that was the Jewelers.
He heard a bell tinkle overhead as he walked into the small shop. There was a dwarf behind the counter, looking at a stone through a small eyeglass. He looked up as Arbor walked in and slipped the stone into his pocket.
“How can I help you?” he asked.
The dwarf had an odd accent that Arbor hadn’t heard before. He placed inflections in odd places, so the word ‘you’ sounded more like ‘yee.’ Walking up to the counter, he removed the small leather bag from his pocket.
“I’d like to exchange these for some gold,” Arbor said handing him the bag.
The dwarf’s eyes bulged as he looked inside.
“Are you crazy, lad?” the dwarf asked. “If you go flashing around that much wealth, you’ll catch a knife the back!”
The dwarf was sweating and looked around the empty shop nervously.
“Are they really worth that much?” Arbor asked, more curious than afraid.
“Yes!”
He looked around once more, then walked around to the front of the counter.
“Follow me around back, and we’ll get you sorted.”
Arbor followed the dwarf to a small door on the side of the counter. He had to stoop a bit to enter through the low doorway, but the ceiling was high enough for him to stand once he’d entered.
“Have a seat, lad.” The dwarf motioned to a chair by a small table. “This might take a few minutes, so best get comfortable.”
Arbor nodded his thanks and sank into the chair as the dwarf emptied the small pouch onto the table. There were sixteen gems in all. Five were blue, six red, four yellow, and one clear. They varied in size, with the yellow being the largest and the clear one the smallest. The dwarf took his looking glass out once again, and muttering to himself, began examining the stones.
After a while of looking, muttering, and note-taking, the dwarf looked up.
“You really do have quite a lot of money here,” he said.
“How much are they worth?” Arbor asked with interest.
“Well, the yellow ones are worth roughly fifty gold apiece, the reds are seventy-five, the blues are around two hundred, and the clear one is around three thousand.”
Arbor had to suppress a shout of glee when the dwarf said that. Back home, the average person only made between thirty and fifty gold a month! The crotchety old blacksmith must have been saving for years to have so much stashed away.
He’d never been any good at math, but even he could count these numbers. That was over four thousand five hundred gold! He said so out loud, and the dwarf nodded.
“Four thousand six hundred and fifty to be accurate. I can give you a hundred gold in coins, the rest I can give you in traders notes.”
“What are those?” He’d never heard of trader’s notes.
“Traders notes can be exchanged for coin at any trading guild or bank owned by the kingdom. I would recommend the guild, though, as their taxes are far less than the king’s,” the dwarf said with a wink.
“So, do we have a deal?” he asked, holding out his hand.
Arbor reached out and shook it. The dwarf smiled, then swept the gems back into the bag and placed them in his pocket. He opened a drawer and began counting notes. He placed six notes in front of Arbor.
“These are each worth one thousand,” he said, pointing to four of the larger notes. “This one is five hundred, and this one is fifty,” he pointed to two smaller notes.
Arbor picked them up. They felt odd in his hand, not like paper at all, more like cloth. There was an official-looking seal on all of them, with numbers declaring their value. The dwarf then placed a small sack of glittering coins, containing copper, silver, and gold on the table as well.
The way currency worked in Laedrin wasn’t too complicated. The lowest denomination was the copper coin. There were ten copper to a silver and one hundred silver to a gold. There were also larger gold bars that banks and merchants used, worth anywhere from one hundred to one thousand gold, depending on the weight.
Arbor picked up the small sack of coins a tied it to his belt.
“I thank you for your business, lad. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?”
Arbor thought on that for a few moments, before nodding.
“Do you know where I might be able to buy some horses?”
Arbor now stood inside the stables. The dwarf hadn’t just told him where he could buy a horse but had also told where he could find trail rations and new clothes as well. The stable master was a nice enough man and gave him a fair price on two horses and a full set tack for both. He also showed him how properly saddle and care for them after a day’s ride.
He directed him to where he could buy feed for the horses. It took Arbor another hour, but at last, he was done with his shopping spree. His coin purse was now sixty-three gold and six silver lighter, but he had everything he would need for a month-long journey. He also bought a small metal cylinder on a thin chain where he could store his trader’s notes. This he slipped over his neck and tucked under his shirt to rest near his other valuables.
The light was starting to fade as he headed back to the Swan to see if he could still get a room for the night. He was passing a narrow alley when he heard a scream echo from within.
He looked around quickly, trying to see if anyone was going to help. He was shocked though, when everyone just turned the other way, ignoring the obvious sounds of distress. Arbor felt his blood boil as he watched this.
How could people so callously ignore someone in need?!
Quickly dismounting, he tied his two horses to a nearby post, then ran into the alley. The light was noticeably dimmer inside the alley, and it took a few moments for his vision to adjust. What he saw disgusted him even more than the people outside who were ignoring the cries for help.
Four male gremlins were standing around a single female gremlin and beating her. The female was on the ground, trying to cover herself as they mercilessly kicked her, pleading for mercy. Her face was tear-streaked and he could see she wouldn’t last much longer.
“Leave her alone!” Arbor shouted, running up and grabbing one of the gremlins by the shoulder.
The guard turned around, a sneer coming to face.
“This is official city business,” the gremlin said, pointing to a patch on his chest. “Now move along unless you want to get hurt.”
The other gremlins had stopped beating the girl and were now watching him in obvious interest.
“You’re supposed to be city guards?” Arbor asked, appalled.
Why were city guards beating an innocent girl?
Arbor didn’t care who they were. He couldn’t stand bullies. So, drawing his glaive, he took up a fighting stance.
“I won’t ask you again. Leave or die. It’s your choice.”
“Look at this. The little shit thinks he can beat us,” the ringleader said, drawing a sword from his belt. “Let’s show him what we do to lawbreakers around here.”
Arbor took a step back and widened his stance. The alley was narrow, so they would only be able to come at him one or two at a time, though they would still outnumber him. As the first gremlin approached, Arbor quickly stepped forward, thrusting the heavy blade towards his midsection. The blade sunk a few inches into the red creature with a sickening squelch, and he looked at Arbor in shock.
Arbor quickly pulled the blade out and spun it, knocking the second gremlin’s sword to the side with a loud clang. Bringing the spiked end around in a wide sweep, he cracked him over the head, knocking him to the ground, where he lay dazed.
Arbor was shocked that it had worked at all. All that time with Silver and he hadn’t managed to hit him once. Now he’d taken down two opponents in a matter of seconds!
The other two approached, more wary now that half their number was down. One tried to get around him, but Arbor shifted his stance and slashed his weapon, intending to take the gremlin’s head off. But the nimble bastard jumped back, cursing and narrowly avoided the blow.
Arbor sensed it then, the light thrumming in his chest and he knew what would happen next. They would both rush him at once, thinking to overwhelm him. One would slash at his legs and the other at his head. It seemed that the gremlins didn’t know much about taking on someone with a two-handed weapon, as it wasn’t a very good plan.
They both charged at him and slashed at the same time. Arbor turned his glaive in a half-circle and neatly knocked both to the side at once. Then allowing his grip to slide up near the blade, he pulled it back and thrust forward, stabbing one of them through the eye. He pulled the blade free and turned to the last gremlin, who’d already begun stepping back.
“Looks like all your friends are gone. Care for a fair fight?” Arbor growled, taking a threatening step forward.
The gremlin’s eyes widened in terror, then he dropped his sword and ran from the alley, throwing dire threats over his shoulder.
“The guards will be here for you soon! You’ll be hanged for this!”
Arbor just sighed and sheathed his weapon. He went over to the gremlin girl and bent down.
“It’s okay. They’re gone. They won’t hurt you anymore. My name is Arbor, by the way. What’s yours?”
The girl looked up at him then and he finally got a good look at her face. Arbor was slightly taken aback. She was pretty in a weird, alien sort of way. She had a lighter red complexion than the gremlins he’d seen so far. Dark blue hair hung to her shoulders, and small, pointed ears peeked out from within.
She had bright blue eyes that looked back at him from under slanted brows. She had a small pert nose, and full lips colored a darker red than her face. She also a rather impressive bust with just a hint of cleavage showing. A narrow waist and wide hips completed her rather fetching figure. Now that she was standing, he could see that she was slightly taller than the other gremlins, standing a little under five and a half feet.
“Thank you for saving me.”
Her voice was lighter than he’d expected.
“My name is Grakvine, but you can just call me Grak,” she said, wiping her tear-streaked face.
She had some visible bruising on her face and arms, and he was sure that her long dress hid further injuries.
“Can you tell me why they were hurting you?” he asked.
“I didn’t have enough money to pay my taxes this month,” she said, with a sniff. “The city guards are awful, constantly raising taxes and claiming them in the name of the king. And when you can’t pay them…”
A loud horn blared, interrupting Grak in the middle of her explanation. Then an alarm began ringing, and Grak’s face paled.
“We need to leave now!”
“I take it we’ve been found out?” Arbor asked.
Grak nodded, then grabbed his hand and ran for the alley entrance.
“You killed three city guards. They’ll hang you for that, and likely me along with you!”
“Well, that’s not good,” he muttered to himself.
Dying wasn’t an option right now, at least, not until he managed to save his sister and avenge his family. They came running out of the alley and Arbor stopped, looking for his horses.
“Why are you stopping? We need to run!” Grak said, pulling his arm.
Finally spotting them, he pulled her towards them.
“I have horses! Which way is the fastest out of the city?”
“That way, there’s a small gate on the south side that might still be open,” she said as the two of them mounted up.
The alarm was now ringing louder and Grak spun her horse to the south gate, kicking it into a gallop. Arbor followed behind her, yelling for people to get out of the way. Men, dwarves and gremlins alike dove out of the way, cursing at them as they galloped through the crowded streets.
Finally, the gate came into view, but what he saw made his heart skip a beat.
They were closing the gate!
Arbor spurred his horse faster, kicking its ribs and shouting. He overtook Grak and bolted towards the gate guards at what was surely a dangerous pace for his horse. He drew his glaive and threw it like a javelin at one of the guards. He was only trying to distract the gremlin, but the blade actually hit him, sinking deep into his shoulder, causing him to spin away from the gate.
That was all they needed.
The gates stopped closing and they galloped past the guards, Arbor reaching out as they passed and ripping the glaive free. He heard a scream of pain follow him and did his best to block out the deaths he’s just caused.
He heard shouting behind him and looked over his shoulder to see one of the guards shaking their fists at him. Grak pulled up alongside him as they came onto the main road.
“Why aren’t they chasing us?” Arbor yelled over to her.
“They will, but probably not until morning.”
Arbor figured she was right. There was barely enough light to see by, and going out now would be a bad idea. Even with torches, the dark moonless night would be treacherous for the horses. They rode off the path and into the woods, deciding that it would be safer that way, continuing until there was just the barest glimmer of light left to see by.
Once they'd dismounted, they tied the horses to a tree and collected some deadwood. Since no one would be following, it was safe to light a fire. Arbor struck a few sparks into his tinderbox and soon had one going, though he made sure to keep it small.
Grak sat across from him, shivering and wrapping her bare arms around herself in an attempt to stay warm. The nights were becoming colder as the dark months passed. Soon the winter moon would be rising and it would be truly cold.
