As they returned, Douglas and Brollerth were surprised by the sound of the jail. Or perhaps, more precisely, they were surprised by the lack of sound. They entered and cautiously looked around. The large man in the armor looked like he had been bitten, but both goblins were unconscious. Even that pair of idiots didn’t take long to figure out at least part of what happened. “We, like, owe you a drink,” Brollerth said to Valbrand.
Valbrand laughed. “Ha! I am always thirsty, my friends. I will gladly accept!”
Gwen ignored that. “Did you two find Hubert?”
Douglas didn’t look up from the reflection in his kukri, but nodded dismissively. “Chief Chief will be glad to know Othdan’s okay,” Lucky Days said. “We should head back. I want to go for a run in the morning and it’s getting late.”
Gwen nodded. “Yeah, I’m definitely tired. Let’s go rest.”
“Come on,” Lucky Days said to Valbrand.
“You two go ahead. I’m going to catch up with Rodd Rigez for a bit,” the big man said.
“Okay. Bye Coach!” Lucky Days said with a wave as Valbrand pulled a stool next to the bars.
Rodd Rigez chuckled. “You should go with the black ones tomorrow,” he said. “They won’t show up sweat and tomorrow is leg day.”
“Coach!!” Lucky Days gasped, scandalized.
Gwen rolled her eyes. “Just ignore him,” she told the other girl. “He’s just trying to get a rise out of you.”
The two girls arrived to find the others having a bite of dinner. “Hungry?” Kermit asked.
“I’m starving!” Lucky Days said, her stomach audibly growling. “Let’s eat!”
Gwen went to the Longhouse’s cook. “Just some bread and cheese for me, thanks. I’m gonna do a little target practice before it gets any later.” The older man nodded, handing her a small sack containing what she asked for, as well as a ripe apple, another favorite of hers.
She went outside and set up her targets, but this time in a new configuration. She put a smaller target overlapping a larger one, almost – but not quite – covering the center of the larger target. Then she began practicing her shots, doing her best to hit the big one in the center without hitting the small one. During the day’s fighting, she realized that she was too worried about hitting her allies and had been overcorrecting, so she needed to practice enough that she could confidently make the shots in the heat of battle. After more than an hour of practice, it was clearly paying off, but she would have to wait until the next time she fought for real before she would be able to confirm the effectiveness of the practice.
The next morning, she was awoken by a knock at her door. “Who is it?” she asked, pulling on her tunic.
“It’s Kurst,” a voice answered.
She quickly crossed the room and opened the door. She hugged her cousin. “You look better,” she said. “Did you finally sleep?” He was wearing his dress clothes and had shaved. Definitely an improvement.
“Yes,” he said with a nod. He sat down on her bed. “I… talked to father. He told me what you found at the Plague House, and how there’s no way Rodrik killed himself. Thanks, cousin. I’m glad at least one of us could keep her head.”
She nodded. “You did the same for me when Mother died.”
He nodded back. “Fair enough. How was it?”
She considered how to answer that. “There were ghosts. Also, have you ever had to get a man’s leg out of a bear trap?”
He laughed at the exasperation in her voice. “Well, not a bear trap, exactly. But there was this one time Brollerth stepped on one of his own landmines. Took us an hour to carefully get a rock heavy enough on there fast enough that it wouldn’t explode. Granted, Rodrik did most of the work.”
Gwen laughed. “That’s right. He told me about that one. Uncle chewed all three of you out for that, as I recall.”
“He made Rodrik clean out the stables for a week,” Kurst reminisced. “I got lucky and was only stuck cleaning the barracks.”
“And Brollerth got double guard duty for a month.”
“In hindsight, that might not have been the best decision Father ever made. That’s when he started hanging out with Douglas.” The two erupted in a fit of laughter at that. “It feels good to laugh.”
“It does,” Gwen agreed.
“I’ve moved the ceremony for Rodrik up to today. Around noon. I don’t think Father’s in any shape to go, but will you be there?”
“Of course,” Gwen agreed.
“Good. Now I just need to find Hubert and tell him. He and Rodrik were close, after all.”
“Last I heard, he was going to see Halgra.”
“Strange, Halgra told me that when I found him, to tell him to come see her.”
What? “But Douglas and Brollerth… those idiots never found him,” she said in disbelief. They had lied to her! “He was taking Othdan to his mother’s house.”
“That’s what Halgra said. I stopped by there and Othdan’s mother said he still hadn’t come home. I didn’t mention that he had been found. She thought I was investigating the disappearance.”
Gears began turning in Gwen’s head. “Something’s wrong,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“We missed something! There has to be another conspirator. Please, tell Halgra! I need to go find Hubert and Othdan!” she said, panic in her voice as she put on her shoes.
“Cousin! What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know!” she said. “But the town could be in danger!” They had missed something. There were more conspirators, but what they were after was unclear. What if they intended to overthrow the town? Kill the men and drag off the women to… no, the thought of it was too horrifying.
“Okay, I’ll go,” Kurst said. “If it will make you feel better. But promise me you’ll come to Rodrik’s funeral.”
“I’ll be there,” she said. “But the safety of the town comes first.” Kurst left as she finished getting ready. Gwen then hurried to the dining hall. She hoped at least one or two of her temporary companions were there. She would need help to find Othdan and Hubert.
She was in luck, as three of the others were there. Kermit and Jazier were at a table playing some kind of game involving making marks on a three by three grid while Glenn watched while he sipped his coffee. “I told you,” Jazier said. “I am cursed.”
“I’m starting to consider that a strong possibility,” Kermit agreed. “Statistically speaking, you should have at least managed to get a draw by now.”
Gwen ignored those three and went to Qumeel, who was sitting in contemplative silence as he ate his breakfast. “What is it, young Gwen?” he asked as she sat down across from him.
“Something has gone wrong,” she said. “We might all be in danger. I need help.”
“See?” Jazier commented to Kermit after overhearing that. “Cursed.”
“Indeed,” the grippli agreed.
Gwen ignored them and explained her concerns to Qumeel. “That does sound like an issue. I will go to the jail and question Douglas and Brollerth, then look into the location of Hubert. As I recall, his home is not far from the jail.”
“I’ll go with you,” Kermit said. “Valbrand is probably still over there. If things do turn bad, we’ll want him close by.”
“Thanks,” Gwen said. “I’ll go wake up Lucky Days and make sure Halgra knows we’re looking into it, then I’ll stop by Othdan’s house, just in case he arrived home sometime after Kurst’s visit.”
“She’s already up,” Kermit said. “She went for a run.”
Gwen cursed internally. As fast as the girl was, she could be anywhere at this point. Then she had an idea. “That man, Rodd Rigez, he’s her coach, right?”
“Yes,” Kermit said with a nod.
“Did you and Valbrand have a way to contact him if you got separated? Maybe he taught her your signal and she’ll come running if we use it.”
“Ah, yes,” Kermit said. “Glenn?”
The man in the pelican suit fished around his pack, producing a strange firework and offering it to Gwen. “Thanks,” she said.
“Just light it outside and aim it into the air. If he taught her about the signal, she’ll come.”
“Thanks,” Gwen said as the trio left for the jail. She went outside and was surprised that Jazier had followed her.
“I’m not staying here by myself,” the wizard said nervously. “I’ll go with the two of you.”
“Okay,” she said. “Light this, please.”
He held out his fingers and chanted. The fuse lit immediately and a small ball shot out of the end of the firework, producing almost no light and making a strange sound that Gwen was having trouble placing. Seconds later, Lucky Days appeared from around the corner, running impossibly fast. “MOO!” she shouted as she arrived, looking around frantically.
“So Rodd Rigez taught her the signal after all,” Jazier commented.
“Signal?” the girl asked, confused.
“You know, the sound of the firework?” Gwen asked.
“What firework? I came because I heard a cow! I wanted to pat its head!” That was it. That was what the sound reminded Gwen of. It sounded like the mooing of a cow. She explained the truth to Lucky Days, who looked disappointed but agreed to come along. “I was really hoping for some milk,” the athletic girl grumbled as they set off.
They reached Halgra’s home and found her oldest daughter, Pearl, teaching Ruby how to throw knives. “Good morning, Gwen. What brings you here?” Pearl asked.
“I’m afraid I need to speak to Halgra. Something’s wrong, and while we’re looking into it, I think she needs to be updated.”
“That’s… not a good idea. Mother’s in one of her moods. It’s best to steer clear until she’s had time to calm down.”
“I wish I could,” Gwen answered. “But I fear it could relate to the safety of Trunau.”
“I see. I wish you luck. You’re going to need it.”
As Gwen and Pearl talked, Ruby approached Lucky Days. “My brother said he saw you running in town. He thinks that you’re almost as fast as a horse, but I told him that couldn’t be true.”
“It’s not,” Lucky Days answered. “I’m much faster than most horses.”
“Wow!” Ruby exclaimed.
“What are you doing?” Lucky Days asked the girl.
“I’m practicing. I can almost get it in the circles every time. Want to try?”
“Sure!” Lucky Days said, taking the offered knife. She then dashed, covering the fifty foot distance in less than three seconds and stabbing the knife dead center into the target. The movement caught everyone’s attention.
“That was amazing,” Pearl said. “But you’re supposed to throw the knife.”
“OH!” Lucky Days gasped. “Sorry, she didn’t explain that part.” She pulled the knife out of the target, dashed back to where Ruby was standing, then spun and flung the knife, once more hitting the target dead center and embedding it up to the hilt in the wood.
“We could use someone like you helping defend the village,” Pearl said.
“Sorry, I’m just here because Coach said it would be good training. Once I’m done, I’m gonna go back to racing horses.”
“Oh, so you’re a horse rider?”
Lucky Days shook her head. “I don’t ride horses. I race them.”
“If you don’t ride horses, how do you… Huh.” Pearl looked amazed as the implications finally hit her.
Gwen took the opportunity to butt into the conversation. “Lucky Days, Jazier, we need to head inside.”
Jazier sighed. “Let’s get this over with,” he said, following her in, but not before watching Pearl and Ruby struggle and fail to remove the knife embedded in the target.
The atmosphere in the home was pretty tense. People were talking in hushed whispers, desperate not to be the ones to attract Halgra’s attention. Gwen felt decidedly like she was marching into the lion’s den. But it was necessary. It had to be done. And she knew that if Kurst had come here to find this situation, he would have decided to come back later, so there was a good chance Halgra still hadn’t been informed.
The approached the door to Halgra’s office and knocked. There was no answer. Gwen flagged down another of the woman’s children, confirming that she was indeed inside, and decided to make her report to the door. After about a minute of explaining, Jazier just opened the door, revealing Halgra asleep at her desk.
He then walked over and checked her pulse – assassins had tried to kill him, after all – while Lucky Days put a blanket over her. Gwen, while mission-focused, was not suicidal. She jotted down a quick note explaining her suspicions and detailing her planned course of action, and left it right in front of the sleeping woman’s face.
Then the three left, quietly shutting the door behind them. They only stopped for a bit outside to explain to Pearl what had transpired before heading off to begin their investigation proper.
As Qumeel and Kermit approached the jail, they heard the sound of screaming. It was muffled, but it was definitely angry rather than scared screaming, so they were not overly concerned. It was a jail, after all. “Sounds like they’re having fun,” Kermit said.
“This man inside, Rodd Rigez, he’s a friend of yours, right?” Kermit answered with a nod. “Is there anything I should keep in mind about him?”
“The number three,” Kermit said sagely, heading inside.
Inside they found that someone had hog-tied the goblins and suspended them from the ceiling. They had been gagged as well, and were still screaming in rage. The assassin looked pretty calm, having grown accustomed to the sound. And Katrezra looked to be attempting to meditate and put the sound from his mind.
But the half orc they’d taken as a prisoner looked terrified. He was pushed all the way back into the corner of his cell, trying to make himself appear small in apparent hopes that anyone entering the jail would overlook him. Qumeel wasn’t sure what to make of it, but, after all, the man didn’t appear to be in any worse shape than when they’d captured him, so it wasn’t likely due to mistreatment while in the jail.
They found Valbrand lazing on a stool next to the cell where Rodd Rigez was hanging upside down. The large man greeted them heartily, raising his mug in salute. “What brings you here?” he asked.
“Young Gwethlantithwen believes we have a problem,” Qumeel answered, explaining everything about the missing men and the suspicious nature of events. “By the way, where are Brollerth and Douglas?” he asked. “Weren’t they supposed to be here?”
Valbrand shrugged. “No idea. They left while I was napping.” He turned to Rodd Rigez. “You observed the town for a bit before you got caught, right? Any insight into where we might find this guardsman?”
“He seemed the punctual sort. And definitely a good fighter, well respected by the other guards. Definitely reliable. If he’s missing, that is indeed odd. My suggestion is that if you want to find him, seek out the drunk. He seemed to be trying to help the man, so if anyone knows where he is, it’ll be him.”
Valbrand and Kermit exchanged glances. “Omast?” Kermit suggested.
“Omast,” Valbrand agreed.
“Well, there you have it,” Rodd Rigez said. “I suggest you get looking. It’s my experience that if you don’t find these people within twenty four hours, it’s likely you won’t find them.”
Valbrand stood and gathered his pack, handing the heavy stuff over to Glenn, who sighed silently. Before they left, Qumeel had to know. “What’s so important about three?” he asked Rodd Rigez. The hanging man looked surprised, then turned to Kermit, who winked.
“Who can say?” Rodd Rigez answered.
“Have you found four yet?” Kermit asked.
“Not yet,” Rodd Rigez said, sounding annoyed – not at the question, but at the failure of his search.
“Okay,” Kermit said. “By the way, we used your firework. Have any more?”
“Sure. Give me a sec.” He popped his arm out of its socket again, rooted around in his pants and tossed another firework to the grippli. “There you go.”
“Thanks, Rodd,” Kermit said.
“Anytime, bud. Now you all should get going. I need a nap anyway.” But before they could leave, there was a loud but dull thud and through the prison bars, they could hear the sound of hundreds of voices as well as what sounded like the beating of drums. In his cell, the half orc whimpered in fear.
Outside, the first evidence that something was wrong was when Gwen spotted a giant boulder flying overhead. Then it hit a building and all hell broke loose. The trio looked around them, and from where they were on the bridge, they could hear screaming. “What do we do?” Lucky Days asked.
“The beacon at the Commons – Halgra’s home – needs to be lit,” Gwen said.
The other girl pulled out a torch and held it out to Jazier. “Light, please!” she said. The wizard did so with a word, and the girl sprinted off impossibly fast.
“What do we do?” Jazier asked.
“We should follow her. Halgra will know what we should do. Probably run orders and find a position to defend…” she turned as she spoke, noticing a throng of women and children running their way. “Off the bridge!” she shouted, and the two sprinted to the far side and leapt out of the way of the panicked crowd.
From that side, they scanned the area, looking to see if anyone was pursuing the group, but found no one. It was just general panic, and not an imminent threat in the inner part of the town. So they followed the crowd heading up to the commons.
Meanwhile, Lucky Days had quickly made her way up there, found the tower that contained the beacon and climbed up, which took a bit longer as she was holding the torch. From her position, she saw the crowd, and also an army of orcs surrounding the village. There were numerous orcs scaling the outer walls.
She lit the beacon and turned just in time to spot a boulder flying right at her. She jumped down from the tower and landed just in time to spot the boulder clip the tower and fly into the roof of the house. Halgra, who was standing outside the door, looked dazed and was having trouble trying to answer the panicked crowd that had surrounded her.
“Look out!” Lucky Days shouted as the boulder rolled out of the front door. But it was too late. It struck Halgra and sent her flying. The boulder continued its roll, hitting several women in the crowd who were desperately trying to protect the children. From her position, Lucky Days saw the last victim struck, a young woman with blue hair who had dived into the crowd to push aside a small child. The boulder then came to a rest against the wall of a building. Thankfully the wall was stone, so the flaming rock didn’t ignite anything.
Wait. Blue hair?
“Gwen!” Lucky Days shouted as she dashed over to help.
Back at the jail, Valbrand assessed the sound. He and Kermit nodded at each other, and the grippli summoned out the power of the Guyver once more. The large man turned to the suspended Rodd Rigez, who chuckled. “Sounds like it’s going to be a hell of a fight,” the hanging man said.
Valbrand bared his teeth in a bloodthirsty grin. “It does. I hear catapults. And drums. It’s time for you to stop being lazy and do your thing.”
“Just like that time with the angry Keleshite governor?” Rodd Rigez asked as he easily slipped out of his rope.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking!” Valbrand said with a laugh as he drew his axe.
“We will be up to our ears in grateful maidens when this is over.”
“I will be. I suspect they’ll stack over your head,” the large man joked.
“It’s a good thing I can hold my breath, then,” Rodd Rigez said as he sucked in his stomach and easily squeezed out through the bars on the window.”
Kermit flexed his claws. “Let’s get moving,” he said, dashing out the door.
“Right behind you,” Valbrand said, though he stopped as he noticed the assassin and half orc. He realized that if they were involved, it would probably be a smart play to kill them now, before their allies could spring them.
Qumeel noticed his gaze. “I’m not entirely sure what you’re thinking,” the cleric said. “But I have a suspicion. Ask yourself if you have time to deal with that right now, or if your time would be better spent dealing with the more pressing threat.” Then the cleric left. It wouldn’t have been right to let the man execute the prisoners out of hand, but at the same time, he also knew that he didn’t have time to deal with it. There were more pressing matters for him as well.
“Dammit!” Valbrand cursed. He turned to the imprisoned men. “If I catch either of you outside of here, understand that I will not hesitate to end your lives,” he threatened, then charged after Qumeel.
Glenn, who had witnessed all of this, was surprised. Perhaps the cleric would be a good influence on the infuriatingly brash man. Not sure what else to do, the pelican suited man opted to wait a few minutes. They were close to the town’s inner wall. It was best to wait for Valbrand and Kermit to clear out the danger.
Outside, the three spotted a pair of guards fighting a quartet of orcs at what Qumeel knew was the town’s inner gate beacon. It needed to be lit to allow the townspeople to know where to escape to in the event that smoke clouded vision.
One of the guards was fighting like a madman, but was overpowered by his foe, taking a blade to his gut. As he fell, they recognized his face. It was Omast. The other guard saw how outnumbered he was and immediately retreated.
Kermit roared, the unearthly sound filling the air as he charged the nearest orc. Valbrand followed, shouting, “Gorum!” as he ran. Qumeel drew his blade from its now-smoking sheathe, and it burst into flame with the blessing of his god, and charged as well.
One of the orcs intercepted Kermit, slashing him and leaving a shallow wound which dripped a small amount of an unearthly pale liquid. “I hit you!” the orc said in disbelief. “That should have killed you! Why aren’t you dead? I’ll make sure you die on the next one!” As he had spoken in Orcish, Valbrand was the only one who understood him. The large man just laughed as Kermit clawed into the orc. He then charged in to help, but his blow glanced off the orc’s armor.
A second orc quickly quaffed a potion and disappeared from sight while a third aimed his short sword at the down, but still alive, Omast. “Surrender or I will kill your friend!” the orc commanded in broken Common.
Qumeel calmly strode forward, channeling healing energy, stopping the bleeding of Omast’s wounds, but also healing the injured orc a bit. “I have healed your friend. Step away from mine,” the cleric demanded.
The orc laughed. “I like you. I will enjoy killing you,” he said, pulling his sword away from Omast and pointing it at Qumeel.
“I don’t need your pity!” the injured orc shouted as he swung at Qumeel, who easily blocked the blow with his shield.
“Gorfus, you asshole,” the invisible orc said under his breath as he moved to help, but it was too late. The injured orc’s movement took his attention away from Kermit, who immediately capitalized on the inattention and tore out the orc’s kidney, dropping him, then he charged the orc nearest Omast.
The invisible orc reappeared as he struck Kermit, who weathered the blow.
“He was an idiot, but he was OUR idiot!” the now visible orc shouted in rage.
Valbrand laughed as he engaged the warrior. “Face me!” he roared in challenge.
Qumeel tossed aside his shield and held his blade high. Holy light enveloped him, and his body burst into golden flames, becoming almost incorporeal as it did so. He quickly ran past Kermit and Omast, holy energy infusing both of them as he passed and healing them.
Kermit easily downed the second orc as Valbrand fought the third. The fourth orc, who had spent his time trying to tear apart the beacon – he wasn’t sure what it was for, but it looked important – turned to the fighting and launched a javelin, which bounced off of Valbrand’s shield.
The fourth orc then pulled out a toad. “Trunau is not as undefended as believed. Tell Skreed to send in Crusher!” he said in Orcish. The toad began to hop away, but Kermit was more than familiar with the hopping movement of toads, and jumped after it.
Omast awoke and pulled the dagger from his gut, then quickly made his way towards the beacon, trying to put it right. Valbrand took enough of a blow that he knew he needed healing, so he leapt back and cast the spell quickly. The orc pursued. “Face me, coward!” he shouted.
Kermit caught the toad. “Let go of Mister Cricket!” the orc who had spoken to it demanded. But alas, he had spoken in Orcish, and Kermit did not speak that language. So the guyver’s jaws opened wide and bit the toad clean in half. The small creature disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The orc fled, leaving his companion all alone as Qumeel charged at his exposed back. “Please!” Omast wailed. “I need help lighting this!”
Kermit chased after the fleeing orc, and the sounds of his brutal death were Glenn’s signal to come outside. He made it out just in time to see Qumeel’s charge complete. It was punctuated by a swing of his blade from low to high, continuing in a circular motion over his head. He let go of the blade at just the right angle, sending it flying through the air and embedding itself into the pile of wood next to Omast.
The dry wood caught immediately and the beacon erupted in flame, providing the light of hope for the defending townspeople as the men immediately began moving to intercept more orcs on the town’s inner wall.
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