Hope (Knights of Av'lor - Book 1)

Chapter 37

Drewton held his sword at the man's throat. "Vikten, I suggest you start talking and start talking now, before I give you a permanent smile."

Mikael watched from the doorway, protecting Drewton's back.

"I have nothing to say to you. Now put your sword away before my men return and I'll consider forgiving your intrusion. As you can see, I'm in the middle of important business." Vikten gestured toward the two terrified prostitutes crouching in the corner behind the bed.

Drewton pressed the blade ever so slightly against Vikten's throat and a trickle of blood began to run down his neck. Vikten winced at the cut, but still maintained his look of hatred. "Who hired you to disperse the hit contracts for the knights?"

"All right, just get that damn sword away from me." As he pulled his sword away, Vikten suddenly fell to the floor and started convulsing. Cursing, Drewton wiped his sword, returned it to its sheath, and then reached toward Vikten to try to halt his convulsions. Mikael hastily closed the door and knelt to assist Drewton with Vikten. Before their hands reached him, he had stopped. Vikten's dead eyes stared up at the ceiling as foam and blood trickled from his mouth. The smell of a Death spell emanated from him and Drewton quickly withdrew. He herded the prostitutes out of the room, and then heard the sound of footsteps.

Drewton pulled Mikael to the wall behind the door. "Lak'oth vin'tes'malor." Drewton cast a Chameleon spell over both of them and they blended with the wall as the door opened to reveal a dozen of Vikten's mercenaries. "Boss? Boss, what's wrong?" one voice shouted—the voice of an unintelligent man.

"Idiot, he's dead, that's what's wrong. He told him not to talk about it. Even talking about it to a prostitute could lead to death. Let that be a lesson to all of you. With Vikten dead, that leaves me in charge since I was his second."

"Bullshit! You may have been his second, but I command the men!"

Before a full-blown brawl erupted, Drewton and Mikael slipped out the door and left the scene. Nobody marked their passage, but they chose to take an indirect route back to Drewton's barracks. Drewton wasn't sure who the mysterious "he" was, but he had a feeling he would find out eventually.

"You were definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You're telling me." The bloodied knight hung by his wrists with the fine rope cutting into him. "What do you want anyway? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anything about an orb." His tormentor backhanded him, making his head hit the wall.

"I know you don't know anything, but this is just too damn fun. You knights think you're so high and mighty, but you bleed just like everyone else. Your wings only give me other appendages to cut off."

As the tormentor grabbed his saw off the table, the knight began to struggle against his bonds. The tormentor gestured to his comrade and the man cleared the shadows to stand next to the knight. "Turn him until his back is to me. I'll give him a reason to scream even louder."

"No, Goddamnit! I don't know anything! Why are you doing this?" The knight writhed in an attempt to break free.

"Isn't it obvious? Pleasure, of course," the knight's tormentor said with relish as he positioned the saw at the base of the knight's right wing. "I wonder if you can still fly with only one wing. By the way, I thought you knights only worshipped the Goddess. No matter."

Before he could begin sawing, Drewton stuck a foot of blue steel through his throat, while his friend from the shadows had a less elegant blade through his. A third man, hiding in the corner, fell to the teeth of Mikael's dog. Drewton cringed at the thought of teeth ripping into his throat. Too close to dying at the hands of the Daemons for his taste.

"I've never wanted to kill any man as much as him," Mikael said as he cleaned his sword, and then patted the dog's side.

Drewton cleaned his own blade and nodded. It took all of Drewton's willpower just to watch as his men got into position. They had received word that Vikten's former squad had captured a knight. It wasn't hard to track them to this warehouse on the south edge of town, but it was necessary to secure the area before taking them out. Vikten's soldiers may have been stupid, but they were still skilled swordsmen.

"Pevet, I need your skills over here. Hurry," Drewton called as he removed the knight's bonds and lowered him to the wooden floor.

"I'm here, sir. Let me see him." Pevet placed his hands upon the knight's forehead to Assess his condition. "Mel'int ent'bel'ak." Pevet had picked up the healing arts many cycles ago while he had dated a healer. While the relationship hadn't lasted, he had found he loved healing and had increased his skills as best he could. Having a healer in Drewton's squad was a lifesaver, literally. "There's a lot of damage, Drewton. I don't have the skill to fix him, but I think he'll make it to the castle without bleeding to death."

"Okay, we'll have to carry him then, unless he can walk," Drewton said with a tired sigh. It had been a long day and he was a big knight. Drewton hoped the knight would be able to walk to the castle. "Knight, can you make it back to the castle if we help to support your weight?" The knight just looked past him, constantly blinking as he tried to focus through the blood slowly running from his forehead. "Knight, you don't need to be able to see, just walk. Can you walk?"

"I think so. Help me up and I'll try."

Drewton and Mikael pulled him to his feet and steadied him as he swayed where he stood. "What's your name, knight? We'd like to know who we're rescuing," Drewton said as he looked around at his gathering men.

"Hal. My name is Hal."

The knight named Hal had only made it halfway to the castle before he had collapsed and refused to rise. That left Drewton and Mikael no choice but to carry him the rest of the way. With Drewton's squad around them, the knights at the castle gate were wary until Drewton moved toward the front and announced himself and whom he carried. The gate opened and the guard sent one of the other knights to fetch a healer.

The Master Healer, Vetera, appeared a few minutes later and directed them and their charge into the nearest infirmary. Drewton's men remained outside with their weapons in the hands of the knights to avoid any type of misunderstanding. Drewton and Mikael remained standing for over an hour in Hal's room, and then were rewarded for their vigilance when the master healer rose and left the room with a tired sigh.

"Thank you. I don't know how you knew I was there, but I can't say how relieved I was to hear that bastard stop talking and start gurgling." Hal's eyes looked haunted. "If there's anything I can do to repay you—"

"Killing that vermin is all the reward we need. Perhaps a mug of ale will ease our thoughts sometime," Drewton said with a grin. Word of the friendship between a knight, a Guardsman and a mercenary would start a few songs. Not bad for business.

"I remember you," Hal said to Drewton. "You were in the market that day—the day the old woman sold that poisonous figurine to Kate."

Drewton nodded. "Yes, I remember you as well although we haven't formally met. My name is Drewton, a mercenary. This is Royal Guardsman Mikael. Now that you're recovered, we must speak with Sir Lanclor about this incident. With your leave?"

Hal nodded with exhaustion. "Be safe, Drewton. Mikael."

"Be safe, Knight Hal," Drewton and Mikael said in unison.