Wil Ogden - The Nightstone

"Isn't robbing from the rich to give to the poor a bit cliche?" Marc asked, "It’s like something from a bard's fairy tale."

"First," Pantros said, keeping his voice almost to a whisper as the tavern began surging back to life, "this will be the only conversation we ever have about my professional work. Second, I don't usually give to anyone, rich or poor. I pretty much just hoard everything. Ed was stealing from easy targets who couldn't afford to miss a penny. I simply returned to them what had once been theirs. Grey Ed's actions were getting the city ready to organize a night watch, watching for burglars. I did what needed to be done to keep my income methods safe. And third, weren't we leaving town?"

"Yes." Sheillene grabbed her bow, her quiver and her satchel. "Marc, grab Thomas and Tara, we're walking. We'll walk slowly until the three of you catch up. Out the front door and left to the edge of town, then keep going."

Pantros grabbed his sack and followed Sheillene out the door. Once outside he asked, "So are we making a run for it? Keeping them safely left behind?"

Sheillene didn't even look at him; she just shook her head and said, "I was serious about the additional numbers being helpful. We're walking slow and letting them catch up. Once they do, we'll be keeping as fast a pace as possible. I want to make it to Melnith in as few days as we can. We're even taking the dangerous route. It means we'll probably have to deal with Vulak raiders, too. Again, the additional numbers will play to our favor when the Vulak attack us."

"If numbers are so great, why not go back and get Bouncer?" Pantros asked as they walked towards the west end of town.

"Time is also important. If those things attack every day, the fewer days before we remedy the curse, the better." Sheillene motioned back towards the Inn. "Those two will be plenty for the numbers part anyway. Heck, Marc is probably several of those numbers. I don't know if he can really use those swords, but with his mass and what speed I've seen, training and skill aren't going to be all that important, not against such foes as Vulak or Giants, anyway."

The first two days travelling along the old road through the forest went uneventfully aside from the daily hellhound attack. As Sheillene predicted, dispatching the demons became simple, particularly with her being able to use her bow. Pantros felt relieved that he didn't have to draw his sword again; he wasn't ready for another awkward conversation with an old Abvi soul. Marc, on the other hand seemed a little let down that the beasts never came close enough for him to use his weapons.

Sheillene could drop them long before Pantros was at risk. When, on the sixth day out of Stonewall, no demons appeared in the morning, it set everyone on edge for the remainder of the day.

"We should be passing into the Kingdom of Relarch today," Sheillene said after lunch on the seventh day. "We've been lucky. Since the disbanding of the Ignea government, I've not heard of anyone travelling the highway without being attacked by raiders of some sort."

"We don't have anything of value with us to raid," Thomas said. "It's not exactly obvious that the boy has a king's ransom in his satchel."

"Thanks, Thomas," Pantros said. "What if some bandit scout is listening?"

"Then Marc might finally get to show you that he does know how to use his swords," Thomas said.

Sheillene tilted her ear to the wind. "We're alone, here. There's an odor in the air, though. Something nasty is near to the west. Before dinner we should pass through the Abandoned Arch, and then we'll be on the heavily guarded roads of Relarch. Don't let the name fool you, the last time I passed through the Arch, it had a dozen Knights stationed there. But even on the safe kingdom kept roads, it's best not to mention who has how much coin."

"That pack's got to weigh as much as Marc," Tara said. "I couldn't lift the one you left behind the ovens."

"That was all coins," Pantros said. "I brought my gem bag. There are only a few handfuls of gold. Mostly, it's gems and jewelry with some folded felt to keep the pretties safe."

Marc pointed over the next hill along the road. "That banner there, those are Relarch's colors?"

"Should be," Sheillene said.

Pantros could barely see the tip of a flagpole until he got closer. By the time he could make out the black and gold striped banner, he could hear people yelling.

"Battle?" Marc asked.

Sheillene ran ahead, nocking an arrow as she ran. "Come!" she yelled.

Marc drew his swords, and followed after her. Pantros followed as well but left his rapier sheathed. Looking back, to see if his sister followed, he saw Thomas holding his sword and staying close to Tara, both of them jogging along behind..

As they crested the hill, they passed Sheillene who'd stopped and was reloading her bow after releasing her first shot. Below, Pantros saw a stone archway with a tower beside it but his attention was immediately drawn by several armored men battling against large humanoids with greenish-gray skin.

"Trolls?" Pantros asked, setting his satchel on the ground.

"Yes," Sheillene said. "They're hard to kill, you have to pierce their heart or sever their neck."

"I was hoping not to have to do this again," Pantros said as he ran down the hill towards the fight. He drew his sword as he came within twenty paces of the back of one of the trolls. Marc had already engaged another. *Trolls!* the swords voice spoke in his mind.*You have to pierce their heart. It's the center of their bellies, not in their chest like a human or Abvi.*

Pantros didn't respond. He hoped to sneak up to the fight without being noticed. He approached a troll that was facing a knight. The grayish skinned troll stood twice as tall as Pantros, and he had to reach up to thrust his rapier through the center of the monster's lower back. The deerskin the troll wore draped over its shoulder did not hinder Pantros' blade. The troll spun, swinging a huge clawed hand at Pantros. It caught his shoulder and threw him through the air. Unable to get his feet beneath him, Pan hit the ground rolling. He came to his feet between the legs of another troll.

The troll looked down at Pantros with a grin of many large sharp teeth. Pantros quickly thrust his rapier up through the trolls chin and into its brain. The troll fell to the side. Pan thrust the rapier a few times through the creature's naval, just to be sure. *I got the heart,* his sword said.

Pantros looked around to decide where to offer his help next. Marc hacked through the neck of the troll he'd been fighting. Two of the Knights were still standing, both fighting the same troll. Pan was about to head over to get behind that troll when Marc yelled, "Pan, behind you!"

Pantros spun, swinging his rapier at whatever would be there. The sword bit into the thigh of a troll, but the troll didn't seem to care as it clawed at Pan's face. Ducking and parrying and giving ground, Pantros couldn't find an opening to launch a counterattack. A sharp pain tore through his left ear so he dove to the right as three arrows sprouted from the troll’s belly. The troll fell forward, missing Pantros as he rolled to his feet. Sheillene was standing only a couple paces away.

"Sorry about the ear," she said. "One scratch is better than the four you'd have gotten from that claw. Besides, I'm sure I keep my arrows cleaner than those fingernails."

The shreds of silk that used to be his shirt were now covered in blood. Much of it was his blood, and not all came from the nick in his ear. When the troll had tossed him, several of the troll’s talons had caught a little skin.

"We're done here?" Pantros asked noticing that none of the trolls still moved. *Clean me before you put me away,* his sword said.*unless you'd like to chat a little, maybe?*