CHAPTER 1.02 - AFTER THE AMBUSH
The beautiful woman stands in the middle of the clearing, frustration written all over her face. “I SAID what the fuck is going on here? And who in the hells are you people?” The bearded man turns to her, pike not pointed at her – not QUITE but close enough. He frowns. The halfling whips his head round to them from watching his friend expertly hog-tie the crossbowman.
He assesses the pair in front of him, frowns slightly. While the girl merely sounds peeved, he is conscious that her right hand is curled, index and middle fingers extended in a point at her side. He saw what those fingers had done with a flick and some muttering on her part. He comes to a hasty decision.
“Good lady, I am Hugo, verypleasedtomakeyouracquaintance” at this, he dips his head in a brief bow. “And this –“ he gestures to his friend kneeling over the defeated ambusher “– is my friend Thae.” Thae looks around, small smile growing inside a look of mild surprise at Hugo, eyes then flitting to the man and woman. The half-elf’s eyes narrow, registering that the fighting may not yet be over. Tugging slightly on the knots binding their prisoner, the half-elf gives a satisfied nod and stands, leaning on the upturned warhammer like a walking stick.
Hugo pauses for a moment, eyes between the large man and the woman “…aand you are?”
The big man rumbles uncertainly “Rian” as the woman angrily spits “I’m not telling my name to a bunch of strangers.” Her hand comes up level with her waist. She’s ready to defend herself. Hugo pictures the carnage wrought by the tiny magical projectiles she had summoned. He raises his hands, fingers open, carefully projecting calm with his posture and expression. He nods towards the captive on the ground. “I’m not sure who this is, but I’d bet he is way more scared of…Rian, you said?” The big man nods curtly. “WAY more scared of Rian than the rest of us.” Hugo looks back to the woman appraisingly. Senses no de-escalation.
He spreads his hands further. “WE were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He smiles at the furious woman “..and I get the sense you were too, ma’am.” He pauses, purses his lips. “Buut: I can’t help but notice the similarities in the cut and stitching of Rian’s and our smelly friend’s armour. Pretty sure his pals used your name too, big man. You guys acquainted?” The wild man stares at Hugo. So much of his face is hidden beneath his heavy brows, behind his tousled hair and matted beard, that it’s impossible to read the expression. The man’s muscles tense, however, the tip of his pike shifting halfway between the woman and Hugo. In his peripheral vision, the halfling can see Thae swing the warhammer into a defensive posture, the half-elf’s head shaking slowly to warn against hostile actions. Thae’s following his lead, and Hugo is gratified for the support. “Come on now; we saw a man outnumbered, ready to be killed, and stepped in to help. We are neither of your enemies.” He pauses, handsome face falling into a charming smile “…so let’s not do something silly, shall we?”
The tension doesn’t seem to ease; in fact the big man seems to be on the brink of fighting. Rian grumbles “What are you doing in the forest? What were you doing HERE?” Hugo sees the man’s eyes flick towards a pouch at his waist, but files that away for a time less fraught. He responds in a voice dripping honeyed calm. “We are just looking for the road, friend. You may have noticed that the forest has been going mad?” At this, the girl’s eyes snap angrily towards him, but her hand drops a little. Okay, some recognition, a blink of understanding. He turns his attention to her “You might have seen that we had tied ourselves together? Yes? The first time that…blackout…happened, we almost lost each other. Didn’t want that happening again, right?” He looks back to Rian “…and again, and I can’t impress this enough, we HELPED you. At considerable risk to ourselves.” He looks back to the girl, gestures towards Rian with his hands. “I think the pretty lady and you are strangers, yes?” Tiny nod from both of them “…so it seems like maybe she was motivated to step in when she saw a stranger about to be murdered?”
The big man rests the haft of his pike onto the soil, no longer poised for combat. The woman sighs, drops her hands to her side. Hugo breathes, lets the quiet moment do the same. “Shouldn’t we shift our attention to our stinky ambusher here?” Another pause. “And maybe figure out what’s happening between our friend Rian and his…” Hugo scans the carnage of bodies “…his erstwhile group?”
The big man moves, more smoothly and quieter than his bulk would suggest, towards the hog-tied man. Thae’s stance shifts, head of the hammer turning towards the wild man. Rian pauses, looking slightly sheepish, pointedly eyes the would-be ambusher. “If he’s shat himself, it needs cleaned up…” Hugo grabs Thae’s elbow as the woman sighs in frustration and strides angrily towards the bound man. As she does so, her hands weave a sigil in the air while she mutters under her breath. Immediately, the smell – at least, the faecal edge of it – evaporates. While the bound man still appears terrified, some of the shame and discomfort leaves his eyes. The quiet shatters as Hugo erupts in laughter. All heads turn to the short man, who spreads his arms. “Well, I still don’t know your name, but you’re a handy person to have around, lady” he chuckles. While the woman’s eyes narrow in suspicion (perhaps that she is being mocked), Hugo can’t miss the ghost of a smile play across her lips. Progress!
Her voice remains grim business, however: “We shouldn’t stay here. I don’t know where that fancy fucker went.” The big man steps around Thae and Hugo, stooping towards the hog-tied man.
“A MOMENT, FRIEND!” Hugo’s hands are back to a ‘we come in peace’ pose, a tight smile on his face “Now, I don’t much care if this guy lives or dies…” The bound man breaks his silence, panic in his voice “I wish you would care…” He is cut off by the woman angrily snapping at him: “YOU don’t SPEAK until we say!” Her hand raises in the terrifying double-finger point, aimed (Hugo can’t help but notice) squarely at the man’s crotch. Rian also takes a step back, his free hand coming up to signal ‘stop’.
Hugo gestures for calm, hunching slightly for emphasis. “We need to establish why this…this…” Rian sneers, deep voice intoning “Bandit.” The three look to him, but apparently the wildling is finished. “…why this bandit wanted you dead, big man.”
In a surprising move, Rian hands his pike to Thae. Startled, the half-elf grabs the pike shaft as the big man stoops to heft the bandit onto his shoulder. Three pairs of eyes turn to him, noting the lack of apparent effort. The archer isn’t heavily built, but Rian lifts him as though he were a child. As Rian straightens, he nods to the woman. “The lady’s right. Wiln probably has friends in the forest. They’ll be looking for us.” His eyes scan the other three, pauses for a moment. “…Looking for me.”
The three look askance at Rian. He frowns, looks to the ground for a moment, seems to arrive at a decision. He sighs. “I saw some of the bandits murder a…man yesterday.” He grimaces, spits on the ground. “Didn’t see me, but they knew someone was there. I’m good in the forest, but all today they’ve been on my track, no matter how I tried to shake them.”
Thae speaks for the first time, a pleasant, cultured voice “The man in the cloak was holding something, looking at it…”
“Perasta”. The group turns as one at Wiln’s strangled whisper. The woman’s mouth twists, her arm beginning to raise towards the bandit. Hugo catches her eye, raises his open hand to interrupt her. “I’m sorry? What were you saying, friend?” His expression is friendly, interested invitation. “Oh! You have permission to speak on this subject, go ahead.”
The bandit takes a shuddering breath, eyes fixed upon the furious woman. A pause. “His name is Perasta. He turned up the other day, paid gold to hunt some guy. He went out into the forest with Nevin…” At this, Hugo and Thae both notice Rian stiffen slightly. They catch one another, Thae’s expression questioning. Hugo cocks one eyebrow, subtly shakes his head. Thae nods. “…and a bunch of the guys. Like a BUNCH, must’ve paid Dolf a pretty penny. Sent out twenty of us, no questions asked.”
Rian’s face is blank. There is a knot of …concentration? …anger? between his eyebrows, but Hugo can’t see any play of expression, nor a flash towards violence. Still, the halfling keeps an eye on Rian while he urges the bandit to carry on. “So, this was yesterday?”
Wiln seems to warm to his audience, though his eyes remain fixed on the pale lady. “Yeah, whole crowd of us trekking through the forest. I would’ve said ‘led’ by Perasta, but he was useless, Nevin had to nursemaid him so he wouldn’t break his stupid neck.”
Rian scowls at the second mention of “Nevin”, spots Hugo’s interest, stares square at the halfling. Hugo raises his eyebrows slightly, noting Rian actively deadening his expression. Big, he thinks, but not stupid.
Wiln continues: “The mage kept looking into his wee box, pointing us off in directions like he was in charge.” He chuckles grimly. “Nevin didn’t like that one bit.”
Rian speaks, evenly but with suppressed urgency “So: Nevin’s hunting us?” He looks ready to leave right now.
Wiln seems oblivious, chuckles. “No, no. After he came back from…” He seems to realise who is holding him, clears his throat. “No, Rian, I mean he came back from yours this morning, got back just when we was heading out with Perasta. He was pissed. I mean, he was pissed off enough after yesterday, after the lads found that guy.” Rian glares at the bandit, a feral growl in his throat. Wiln twists in his hog-tie, tries to make himself small. “After the lads killed that guy. Perasta was all shouting, even at Nevin, telling the guys to get away so he could search the body. THEN, he accused the boys of stealing something off of the corpse. I thought Nevin was going to end him there and then, but Nev…Nevin was tracking. I think he maybe heard you. He shut that wizard UP, got us organised and after the witness.”
Hugo looks to Rian, asks “Dolf?” The big man’s face returns to neutral. “He’s the leader of these bandits. ‘The Ram’, he’s known as.” He looks to his new companions, querying. The woman shrugs, Thae shakes his head. Hugo returns his gaze, his own face betraying nothing despite having heard the name before. He turns back to speak calmly to Wiln, trying to refocus the terrified bandit. “You said…Nevin…?” Rian now looks quizzically at Hugo, rumbles “One of Dolf’s lieutenants.” The halfling nods, friendly face still focusing on Wiln “…isn’t out with you today?”
Wiln breathes for a second, head beginning to nod. “Yeah, yeah, sorry.” He takes another wobbly breath. “We were heading out this morning. Only me and…” his voice breaks, as he nods to his comrades scattered across the clearing. “…only me and what you see. Nevin went straight to Dolf last night when we got back. Some of the boys said there was an argument, but it was in Dolf’s chamber. Seems like he changed Dolf’s mind some, like more gold changed hands but Perasta wasn’t getting as many men as he wanted.”
“Anyway, as we were heading out with Perasta, Nevin was coming back from yours, Rian. He looked like he was spitting teeth, never seen him so angry. He didn’t come out with us.”
Thae speaks up again “What does this mean? Sounds like we might all be hunted now.”
Hugo looks pained, sudden realisation hitting him. “Aww shit; oh shit you guys…I think another of those…”
The halfling doesn’t get to finish his urgent warning
as
suddenly
the
world
gooeess
aaawwaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…
