The Apprentices (The Crimson Guard Trilogy Book 1) (7 page)

“Well, I would like to kill you, but that would not be very sporting, so be gone.” Jes stated as the man ran for his life.

“The thieves in this town are not very strong willed are they?”  Jes asked Talon.

“No, not that I have noticed, the ssslaversss run thisss town.”  Talon answered

The two continued down the alley, Jes easily found the door.  Not very well hidden, Jes thought. 

For the next couple of days they explored the tunnels, but with no success.  At the end of the third week they finally found something. 

The tunnel had gotten very dark, and all noise had disappeared with the light.

“Wait!  Jesss did you hear that?”  Jes was startled by the sudden outburst.

“Come on man you scared me, and now I can’t hear a damn thing but your heavy breathing.  I am beginning to think that we are not going to find a way in.” 
Jes knew that he would never give up
but still the thought did cross his mind.

Talon ignored his comment.  “No itsss voicesss coming from over here behind thisss wall.”  Talon put his head against the wall.

“I bet it’s those ‘voices’ that the crazy old man hinted of.” 

What the rescue party did not know was that they were directly under the Library.

“Can you understand any of the words they are saying,” questioned Jes.

“Yesss, there isss sssomething about essscaping, but the ressst trailsss off into whissperesss.” 
The dragon’s unique hearing ability at least came in handy
thought Jes.

“Well smash down the wall and let’s see what they are really saying,” said Jes.

“Really? You want me to do that?”  Talon was puzzled. 

“Ya, Talon bust it down, why not?  Who would know and it’s not like I can.”  Jes drew a dagger and tapped the wall.  Talon smiled and drew his massive blade: in one swing dust and rubble mixed with the darkness.  Moments passed before the sediment settled and they could see.  The wall was obliterated in that single stroke.  To Jes’ surprise, in the room stood Lyndon and a very beautiful woman. 

9

“And that brings us back to now.”  Jes’ story shocked me as I had not known that he was looking for me. 

“So we are in Talons’ house?”  I asked.

“Yesss, thisss isss my home,” answered Talon.

“One more question Jes.  What happened to the young woman that I was with?”

“Oh, that was weird. She left soon after we arrived here; she said something about a message and ran off.  She was quite something, you know.” 

“Ya, I know, but I also think that there was more to her than what we may think. I am going to sleep, so shut that door.”  I slept for what seemed like forever.  When I finally opened my eyes the remainder of the day and half the night had passed.

From what I could see everyone else in the house was still asleep.  I decided to take this time to gather my thoughts. 
What was I to do? In the beginning I was alone, and now I have two others.  Is it safer now or will it ever be safe again?  Slowly I retrieved the rolled parchment.  If I read it now I must devote myself to this quest,
I thought. 
Well, I guess it’s already too late to turn back
.  

The hours slipped by as I sat and stared at the parchment. Finally, I decided to let my eyes gaze upon the dried ink.  The runes that I had not been able to understand earlier were now as clear as day.  

The Burning City would have once given many answers, but now only greed survived.  A place in this world will only be secured if the master’s apprentices come together and finish what their masters were too weak to accomplish. 

Great
, I thought,
a riddle
.  I had never been very good at riddles.  I knew that the four masters were the survivors of the Red Beach.  How was I going to find their apprentices, if they even had any?  For all I knew they were all dead.  Dread and disappointment filled me,
why must this always happen to me, couldn’t I just be normal?
 

“Hey, Lyndon what are you doing there?”  I had not seen Jes enter the room.

“Well, I am just looking at the scroll.”

“Tell me what it says.”  I handed Jes the scroll.

“Wow a riddle, now that sure puts a damper on the mood.”

“Wait Jes, how did you read that?  Not even I could understand the runes until now.”  I was shocked to see Jes reading the scroll.

“Oh yeah, about that, my former teacher thought it would be ‘important’ for me to be knowledgeable in many languages:  anyway what do you get out of this.”

“Hmm, I am not as uneducated as you think.  The master’s part is talking about the four mages that survived the Battle at Red Beach, Trimble, Doxen, Apox and Rem.”

“Hold on one second.”  Jes interrupted me.  “You are saying my former tutor is a survivor of that legendary battle.  I definitely have a much greater respect for him, and I thought he was just a washed up old thief.”

“Who was your master?”  I said anxiously.

Jes became very proud all of a sudden.  “I trained under Apox.”

Everything suddenly started to come together.  The apprentices are alive and real. 
In fact, I had found two of them.
I thought to myself.

“Where is Talon?”

“Oh, he went out this morning in search of some transportation.”  Jes had resumed his normal swagger.

Just then Talon burst through the door.  “We mussst leave thisss place; I don’t think we are welcome any longer.”  Talon was covered in blood and carried his sword in hand.

“What did you do battle mage?  Were you not learn some subtlety in all of that training?” Smirked Jes. 

“I was trained to beat facesss in, not sssteal from old ladiesss” retorted Talon.

“Touche.” Jes responded, looking a little green. 

“Back to the matter at hand, I have found usss a man that needsss protection for pay.  I figured that ssshould be usss.  He isss willing to feed and pay usss handsssomely, but we mussst leave now.”  The urgency in his voice frightened me and made my mind wander to Juleen.  I hope I will see her again.

“Ok, let’s go then, Talon lead the way.” 
I will have to worry about the riddle and the four apprentices later.
 

As we made our way to the front gates I expected an attack.  My nerves were on edge, but no one was to be seen on the streets, which seemed very odd.

The man Talon had arranged for us to protect did not seem to need it; when we finally reached his caravan. He was very tall and bulky.  I could not tell if it was muscle or fat, and I hoped that I would never have to. 

“Hello sir, we are your new hired hands.  Where is our destination?”  I asked.

“Ah, you must be a mage.  You have no weapon at your side and I already know the man with the white sword.  But, who is he.”  His gaze was focused on Jes.

“But sir, I am only a lazy thief trying to survive in a town crowded with our scum.”  The man chuckled and gave a slight nod.

“Ah, well seems that we are ready to leave.”  The large man started to turn away.

“But sir, what is your name?”  Jes asked.

“I am Ashton.”  The man had no more time for us and continued to pack the caravan.

Ashton,
I thought, tha
t name is very strange, yet familiar.

10

Two years previous

“The road seems very clear, sir.  No one has been attacked on this path since the pirates were decimated.”  The young knight had never been hired out before and he still didn’t know why he let his brother, Samson talk him into it.

The road from Brenton to Crestville had not always been a smooth ride.  During the days of the pirates, no coastal road was passable.  Ever since the king led the Cleansing, the way had been safe. 

“Well, Sonny, you can never be too sure.”  This made the knight very worried.  The caravan was quite large and was practically an army in its’ own right. 
So then why did the man hire all of these extra soldiers?
  The more the knight thought, the more it put him on edge. 

“We will camp here tonight.  My personal guard will keep first watch and then your men will take their turn.” 

The caravan had stopped at a bend in the road.  On one side was a huge meadow and on the other a small grove of apple trees. 

“But sir, this is a bad place to camp.  There is no cover and we cannot watch the road.”  The young knight was now becoming very alarmed.

“Didn’t you say earlier that this road was safe?  Stop being so paranoid.”  The young knight knew that he should not question a superior order. For one, he was paying him and second, the caravan leader was huge.

“Yes, sir, we will take second watch.”  With this the knight gathered his twenty men, including his brother, and helped them set up camp under the apple trees. 

The night was very clear and the mercenaries had quickly fallen asleep, all except the young knight. 

A sudden yell brought the man out of his thoughts, “We are under attack!  Help!  Where is everyone?”

The Knight Samson was the first to heed the warning.  The caravan was completely deserted, none of the private guard remained.  The man yelling was a business man that had hitched a ride, in the last town. 

“Samson, you must gather your men we are being attacked by a band of…”  Before the man could finish, a well-aimed arrow silenced his plea. 

“Men, we are under attack!  The caravan has been deserted.  We no longer fight for money or someone else’s property.  We now fight for our lives.  If you wish to return home, then kill those who oppose us.”  A roar from his men gave Samson pride and a clear conscious, for he knew that they had been betrayed.  “Now go and survive.” 

The young knight’s men rushed into battle, swords drawn and armor glistening from the full moon.  The clanking of swords filled the night’s air.  To Samson’s dismay, his men were all slain one by one.  The enemy’s casualty count was awesome, but their numbers never seemed to diminish.   Soon only Samson and his brother remained.  “Samson what do you think we should do?”

“Brother we need to run.”  The enemy was too involved with searching the dead bodies to see the two men sneak away. 

They had not gotten far when they saw the caravan’s leader’s return.  From Samson’s hiding place he could just hear the men talking. 

“Well done, sir.  You have saved my goods from these horrible mercenaries.”  The leader glanced to the bodies littering the ground. “And here is the pay that I owe you,” a large bag of gold changed hands.

“Thank you very much; we were just glad that we could help a noble.”  The man bowed and departed, leaving the very large man and a member of his personal guard. 

The conversation between the leader and his personal guard angered the brothers.  “We need to find better warriors; my personal treasury is running low.”

“You may have to stop the wagering until we can find some quality soldiers.”  The guard replied.

“Yes, that is a good idea.  Tell the other caravans that I am out of the running for a while.  I cannot afford all of the weaknesses and I thought the Samson and his brother would fare better.”  The caravan leader almost seemed depressed.

“I am off by your command, Sir Ashton.”

“Yes be gone.”  With a wave of Ashton’s hand the guard thundered off into the darkness.

It suddenly all made sense to the young knight; the open meadow, the odd watch rotation, and even the attack.  It was all a game, the caravans would hire the best men they could find and have them attack each other.  It was a game to them, the loss of life, for the amusement of fat old nobles.

His brother broke his thoughts.  “We most go, they will find us if we are stationary until daybreak.”

“I will find you, Ashton, and you will pay for all that you have done.”  Samson whispered under his breath.