Part 36 (1/2)

”Sorry!” The jaguar's eyes flashed. ”I think what Amar is trying to say is that you'll need protection while in Gessler since the crowd isn't pleasant. I have an idea. Instead of meeting at the Blood Sea platform, I'll make my way to Gessler, but it will take 23 Peaks to get there. I want you to arrive the next Peak. My brothers and I will be hiding in the shadows in case you need us. Get off the hippogriff and make your way to an inn called The b.l.o.o.d.y Trough. You won't see us unless you're attacked.”

George responded, ”Kepler, it scares the c.r.a.p ... wait ... it scares the garesh out of me that you can hide like that. I can't tell you how happy I am that you're on my side.” He reached down, picked Maldwin up and scratched the back of the rat's head as he continued. ”Your plan is a good one. We should do it. Will you ask Maldwin if he can project his visions to a group of people?”

Unsure where George was going with his question, the demon spoke with the rat. Once finished, the demon relayed Maldwin's answer to George. ”He said yes, but if it's a big group, they'll all see the same vision.”

”Exactly how big is too big of a group before they start seeing the same thing? How many people can he project his visions to before he has to stop?”

Again, Kepler asked and responded, ”He said more than three and they'll need to see the same image. He has projected visions to his entire family before and they total more than 200.”

The manipulator smiled. ”Holy gares.h.!.+ I bet he has no clue if he can do more than that. So ... less than three, he can project separate visions and more than three, they'll all see the same thing. Is that what he's saying?”

Again, the undead cat asked the rat to confirm. ”He said you're right, and he imagines he can project his visions to many more.”

George put Maldwin on the ground and then put his hands behind the back of his head as he started to ramble off another plan. ”Let's figure out what the three of us will do until Kepler gets to Gessler. I think we should go back to Lethwitch. We can spend some quality moments with our loved ones and work on the problem regarding rival kingdoms...”

George continued to ramble as he outlined a complete plan.

Three Nights Later Fellow soul ... before we go on to the next part of the story, allow me to interject another small history lesson. This particular lesson is about The b.l.o.o.d.y Trough Inn located in Gessler Village.

The inn acquired its name before it was built. When the people first began to travel to Gessler, the center of the village was used for watering the area's horses. The people built a three-pace-high, twelve-pace-long, sloping, rock wall on the spot where the inn would later be built. Twelve troughs, six on either side, each formed out of rock, had been laid into the base of the wall.

A natural spring bubbled to the surface not far away and provided water for the area. Through a series of pipes, the people of the village used gravity to direct the flow to the top of the wall where the water funneled into each of the troughs.

One night, while the village slept, a double murder was committed. The bodies of the beheaded men were thrown across the top of the wall. The corpses plugged the flow of water, and when morning rolled around, their blood had stained the walls of one of the troughs and turned the water inside it red.

Though the blood faded over the seasons, this one trough had been labeled, and the family who built the inn decided to use this label as their inspiration. The inn was named The b.l.o.o.d.y Trough. To this Peak, a man can take his horse into the tunnel below the inn and leave it to drink.

The a.s.sa.s.sin, Double D, had made his way through the first part of Skeleton Pa.s.s, and he was sitting on a stool inside The b.l.o.o.d.y Trough. He was drinking ale and had been contemplating his trip through the second part of the pa.s.s when an unexpected event occurred.

The a.s.sa.s.sin had been paid over a season ago by one of the n.o.bles of Bloodvain who lived in the Barbarian Kingdom to kill an arrogant sergeant for sleeping with his wife. The job was not one Double D would have normally accepted, but the pay had been up-front and substantial.

However, when Double D acquired the contract, someone talked. When his future victim heard that he had been solicited to kill him, the spineless piece of garesh fled before the a.s.sa.s.sin could establish a plan.

As always in life, things had a way of coming full circle. This particular barbarian, dressed in furs and heavy, leather pants, happened to walk into the same bar where Double D was sitting.

As Double D studied his future victim, the a.s.sa.s.sin knew the man did not know who he was. He could toy with the barbarian and slay him later.

”How's it going, friend? Is it still raining out? Slight chill out there, eh?”

”Hmpf!” the man grunted.

The a.s.sa.s.sin smiled at the shortness of the exchange and asked another question. ”Where you from, friend?”

The man did not respond and kept drinking.

Double D tried again. ”Say, friend, where you from?”

The barbarian slammed his mug against the bar. ”I have no desire to speak with a sad excuse of a man from Brandor. You're pathetic. You're garesh. You're less than garesh. I'd rather spit on you.” He pushed the mug off the bar and demanded a refill.

The barbarian was large, more than a pace taller than Double D, and like most men from the north, he was strong. His long, dark hair hung to the right side of his rock jaw. The coldness of his eyes would have scared most men, but Double D was not most men.

The killer excused himself and walked to the far side of the bar to take a seat. He would wait for the big man to go out to the waste shed to relieve himself. Watching him pound one drink after another, the a.s.sa.s.sin knew it would not take long before the need would arise.

When the barbarian did stumble out and into the night, Double D followed. The a.s.sa.s.sin watched from the shadows as the barbarian opened the door to the waste shed and disappeared inside. He gave his unsuspecting victim a few moments, and then he pulled a mask out of his pack.

The mask resembled the face of a skull. It had been intricately painted and possessed a deviant appearance. The value of the mask was worth nearly 10 Yaloom. It was inlaid with gold and onyx to accent its features, but it was the magic that filled the mask that made it priceless.

As he placed the mask over his face, Double D vanished beneath a veil of invisibility. Without a sound, he walked toward the shed, opened the door and then stepped inside before he let the door close behind him with a thud.

The barbarian looked in his direction.

Double D smirked as the barbarian grumbled and turned back around to continue to pee into the large hole that was provided for the b.l.o.o.d.y Trough's patrons.

Double D shook his head from under his invisible veil. Many of the men from the north were crude. When drinking, the less educated liked to drop their pants around their ankles to show off their manhood. They did not care for privacy or modesty. This animalistic display did not bother the a.s.sa.s.sin, in fact, the barbarian's mannerisms made his job easier.

Double D moved toward his prey. With the big barbarian's back to him, he slid the mask to the top of his head and re-materialized. With a big smile crossing his face, he looked down at the leather pants that were bunched around the barbarian's legs. A large knife rested in a sheath on the big man's belt. It was army issue-the pride of the barbarian kingdom carved into its handle. The a.s.sa.s.sin moved closer and crouched into a position where he could retrieve the blade.

The man was so drunk, his stream of urine was moving all about as he swayed back and forth. At one point, the stream caught the edge of the barbarian's pants. The splash from the spray landed on Double D's hand.

Disgusted, the a.s.sa.s.sin pulled his victim's blade free of its sheath. He lifted the tip of the weapon within a width of a fist of the barbarian's b.u.t.tocks.

The blade-three hands long, half a hand high and half a finger thick at its widest point-had hooks that ran along the top of the blade and rolled back toward the a.s.sa.s.sin's hand. The barbarians took pride in their craftsmans.h.i.+p. They claimed that a sharper blade could not be found in all of Southern Grayham.

Savoring the moment, the a.s.sa.s.sin shoved the blade into the barbarian's r.e.c.t.u.m. A twinkle of satisfaction filled Double D's eyes as he lifted upward in the direction of the hooks and then ripped the knife out.

Chunks of the barbarian's flesh fell to the floor of the shed as Double D ducked to avoid the barbarian's elbow as the man from the north spun around.

Blood flowed freely in all directions as the barbarian's drunkenness caused him to lose control of his spin. His leather pants tightened around his feet and caused him to fall face first into the hole.

The a.s.sa.s.sin made sure he gave his victim the necessary moments to roll over so that he could see his face. Satisfied that the barbarian knew his imminent death had been dealt by the hand of a man he had earlier degraded, Double D nodded. He pulled the mask back over his face and darted out of the shed, leaving the barbarian bleeding profusely and lying in a pile of p.i.s.s and garesh.

The screams the big man released were horrific, but his cries would go unanswered. The barbarian's tormented sounds would leave an everlasting impression in Double D's ruthless mind. He would relish his enjoyment of the moment as he made his way to the other side of the village to enter the second leg of Skeleton Pa.s.s.

The people of Gessler would find the barbarian the next morning. He was covered by maggots and flies, and small, flesh eating bugs called sysers. The barbarian was unrecognizable-his face eaten to the bone, and there was no telling how many drunken beings p.i.s.sed on him during the night and had not realized it.

CHAPTER 26.

Sick of this Royal c.r.a.p SAM, SHALEE, BJ, AND Helga arrived in the town of Empire five nights prior to Double D slaying the barbarian in Gessler. Empire was a small town with little military presence, despite being a part of Brandor's kingdom.

Sam won his first fight in front of this populace who wors.h.i.+ped the G.o.ddess of Fire. His fight was to the death, and his ribs took an awful beating. They were bruised, and the skin above them was lacerated, and Sam did not have the necessary Peaks to heal before his next fight.

Meanwhile, Shalee worked with Helga to increase her power. She continued to astonish the older woman with her successes. Shalee had still suffered just the one failure since her first day of training in Angels Village. For privacy, the girls practiced outside of Empire in a heavily wooded area. Not one soul bothered them, and this spot proved to be the perfect place to go back to each night.

Helga's staff was planted in the ground, and the orb at its top was providing light. The older woman took a step back and watched as Shalee commanded Precious to rip a ma.s.sive tree from the ground and send it high into the air. Foreseeing a bad outcome, Helga grabbed her staff, pulled it out of the ground and then put up a protective barrier.

The trunk, almost three paces in diameter, smashed into the ground. The area around them shook. The noise was deafening, and the tree limbs splintered in all directions. Wooden missiles thumped against Helga's magic and fell to the ground as harmless pieces of kindling.