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A Simple Delivery

hustin1hustin1 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,458 Arc User
edited September 2014 in Art and Fiction
Thia sat on the outdoor deck of The One-Eyed Orc and leaned back against the rail. The mead was okay today—not good and certainly not great, but bearable, at least. It was an unusual place for a ranger, and an elven one at that, but there was gold to be made here, and at least a break from fighting for it. As she idly eyed the passerby on the docks, she noted that nary a one gave her a second glance anymore, and wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

“Ahoy, the Cyclops!” a faint voice carried from far down the dock. She had stopped turning at the sound of every ship’s arrival long ago, but the breeze was warm and fresh, and she was curious to see what vessel would boast such a name.

“Hmm. Calimshan,” she muttered, eyeing the standard, and inwardly winced—some ranger, indeed! The crew shipped oars as she watched, the nine yards of sail already furled. They were late furling the jib sail, which she knew would earn a sharp tongue from the harbormaster. A sudden gust and they would crush the pier with that monster.

Now she did wince.

Something else caught her eye, however, and her inner embarrassment vanished, at least for the moment. In the distance, a gnat compared to the hulk of the Cyclops, a small vessel was approaching through the harbor mouth. She shielded her eyes against the late sun and peered—the small ship was fore-and-aft rigged, an unusual sight in any waters. It steadily grew in her sight, running under full sail in the breeze, its sharp hull cutting cleanly through the surf.

“No. It can’t be,” she said. “Already?”

She picked out a Neverwinter standard in the glare, and all too soon, the familiar voice rose.

“Ahoy, the Dervish!”

Thia glanced at the afternoon sun. Drat!

She forgot her mediocre mead and briskly made her way west, and the Dervish was already tying off when she arrived at the pier. You just had to come today, she thought to herself, at least thankful that she would be the first to receive her goods. As it was, the timing could not be worse.

As soon as she saw him she waved. “Captain Kreel!”

A tanned, clean-shaven man in a loosely-fitting shirt and trousers turned, his graying ponytail swirling around behind him. “Hello, Thia! Umberlee was kind to us!” He beamed a smile and waved back, and she forced herself to smile in return. He would earn extra coin from his many clients for the speedy delivery, even though it might cause her all sorts of grief.

It seemed that an eternity had passed before the captain approached with another man in tow.

Thia nodded in acknowledgement. “Adept Covinion.”

“Thia Duskwalker,” the young wizard responded, likewise nodding. The red-haired man couldn’t be a day over twenty-five, she surmised, yet as always she still found his bearing unnerving. At least he wasn’t Thayan.

“Here it is,” the wizard said, and proffered a small box. “I’ve only just removed the ward. You’ll have to hurry.”

“Thank you,” she replied. It wasn’t the hurrying part that bothered her. It was when she had to hurry.

She signed and paid for the package, and all but ran toward her residence. She gathered up what supplies she had, slung her bow on her back, and checked her blades before heading downstairs to the stable.

Five minutes later she was leading her small stag out. “I hope your ears are sharp tonight, Wheat,” she said. “We’ll need them.”

Thankfully, the south gate was nearly empty this late in the day, but one particular voice caught her ear as she approached.

“Still no word? They were supposed to be here this morning!” She turned and saw a Turmian merchant, his visage near-frantic, talking to one of the guards.

“I’m sorry, not yet,” the guard said.

She led Wheat up to Corporal Pollard and cocked her head toward the two.

“Perfume merchant,” Pollard said. “Been here all day. Heading out?”

“Yeah,” Thia said and pointed to the box strapped to Wheat. “Bristle spider eggs. I’ve got to get them out tonight. How are the roads to Ebon Downs?”

Pollard grimaced. “Roads should be good. Ebon Downs, you say?”

She nodded. “There’s a wizard a little north of there, just outside the swamp. He wants them and he’s paying, but the trick is getting them to him before they hatch.”

He swallowed hard and waved her through. “I hope he’s paying well. I’d better let you get going, then, Thia.”

She laughed. “No worries. I’ll be back some time tomorrow.”

Pollard nodded, and she thought he looked a bit green before getting on Wheat and riding off.

* * *

She found the South Road well-kept and well-guarded, even at night, and made good time before she had to turn east. As Neverwinter became more distant, road became path, though the ruts of wagon wheels yet remained to tell of travelers past.

A glint ahead caught her eye, something on the ground briefly illuminated by the moonlight. As she reached it she stopped and dismounted to inspect it. She found part of a broken glass bottle, one that smelled heavily of perfume.

Little alarms in her head went off and she surreptitiously looked around. She spied a few other pieces of broken glass as well as many footprints. It was hard to tell in the gloom, but she thought a pair of wagon tracks led south off the road.

As calmly as she could she got back on Wheat and continued east. Let them think I’m not interested, she thought to herself. She didn’t know if anyone had even been watching, but her instincts advised caution. The road ahead wound around a hillock, and she kept a steady pace until the site of the ambush was out of view.

Upon rounding the hill Thia dismounted and crept up to the top. A forest rose not far to the south, and she figured that therein lay the culprits. She couldn’t resist a quick glance down at Wheat and the small box. She had a little time, enough to at least determine who had attacked the caravan. Perhaps the Neverwinter guard would deal with them or perhaps not, but it was something.

The moon wasn’t full, but she worked out a path that kept her out of direct line of sight of the forest for as long as possible and made off. It wasn’t long until she reached the treeline.

She slowed Wheat down to a walk and crept forward, paying as much attention to the young stag as to her surroundings. It had taken her some time and indeed training to learn to read Wheat, but she hoped that his prey instincts would alert him to danger—and her as well. He could certainly move quietly through the woods, far quieter than any horse.

A twitch of his ears brought her gaze to her left. Trusting in his senses she turned that way and was eventually rewarded with a flickering light in the distance amid the sounds of carousing. Bit by bit she inched him forward until she could get a clearer view.

The small silhouettes and bits of language told her: goblins—a great deal of goblins. She guessed at least twenty that she could see, and wondered at how many she couldn’t.

It was time to go.

The minutes passed as they left, and she was within sight of the treeline when Wheat tensed and froze. Thia quickly glanced all around before eyeing him closely.

He was looking toward her right, and she followed his gaze. It was nigh impossible to see in there, but she thought she could see a tiny bit of heat twenty yards away. With so much underbrush, she couldn’t be certain, but if Wheat was, then so was she.

She nudged him forward—one step, then two, then three.

At four the brush exploded with goblins.

Thia kicked Wheat forward and they burst free of the trees in seconds. It was perhaps two hundred yards to the road and she made a quick decision—the wizard’s residence was a lot closer than Neverwinter, and she might need Wheat’s endurance more than once.

As he reached a gallop the forest alongside came alive with the unwelcome sounds of goblin horns.

“Run, Wheat,” she whispered.
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Comments

  • sprawlfxsprawlfx Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    That's some nice writing. Thanks for sharing it.
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