• Chapter Two: Skirmish in the Dark



    The six had enjoyed the dinner, which had cooled for five of them, then among them drank two pitchers of the white wine, the pitcher of water, and the pitcher of tea. It was two hours later that Jason found himself, Martin, and Ken in the wagon heading for the northeastern gate of the city.

    "I hope there aren't that many there," Martin was saying as he twitched the reigns to get the horse team to hurry up a bit. As they neared the gate Jason ducked back into the canvas-canopied bed of the wagon along with Ken.

    "Are you ready Lord Ken?" Jason asked the crouching figure on the opposite side of the wagon from him.

    "I thought I asked you to stop calling me lord," Ken laughed and Jason joined him, neither dared risk more than a chuckle though. They waited patiently until, as expected, the wagon came to a stop.

    "I don't have anything of interest to you!" Martin said to someone on the other side of the canvas.

    "I say you do," a snakelike voice hissed back, "Bulgar, Saxon, check the wagonbed." This was it, Jason freed his sword from the crate that held it as Ken did the same for his. When the flaps on the back cover began to shift the two of the leapt from the wagon as the two their blades simultaneously piercing two torn coats. Daggers dropped from the two dead men's hands as they fell to the ground. Freeing his blade Jason turned about ready to defend himself from an attacker that turned out not to be there. Martin came around the corner of the wagon.

    "There was only the three of them, what a drag," he said leaning on the staff of his spear. Jason wiped his sword on a scrap of canvas, one of the thugs had cut from the wagon's side then passed it to Ken who did the same. As he sheathed his sword he turned to Martin.

    "That means the mass was either at the southwest gate or the northwest gate," Jason looked at the two then continued, "lets go through to the rendevouz at the outside of the northwest gate and hope that's where the mass of the rogues are." Martin and Ken nodded and the three of them climbed back onto the wagon.

    ~*.Southwest Gate.*~

    Lily gripped her cloak closer around her as she sat on the bench next to Lord Nathan. They were nearing the southwest gate and they could see at least four, no, five figures in the street. She pulled her hood over her face so that she could get into roll. Then they reached the gate.

    "Aye, you there, stop the wagon," a gravelly-voiced man said. Lord Nathan complied and Lily thanked her luck that the five were all there were. "Do you mind if we look in the back of your wagon sir?" Gravelly asked with a smug grin on his face.

    "By all means do, please don't impede us further though", Lord Nathan said, "You see my daughter here cannot abide the cold night air and we wish to reach the warmth of the woods." Gravelly nodded and signalled three of the four to go around to the back of the wagon. After a few moments of foot-tapping, the Gravelly man yelled at the other three, "For the money's sake does it take that long for three grown men to look into the back of a wagon!" Laeon walked around the corner of the wagon grotesquely licking the bloody blade of one of his daggers.

    "They tasted good didn't they fangs," he said kissing the middle of the dagger blade, "perhaps we should open the fat one's veins next." Lily was taken aback. She had heard the tales about Laeon, "The Rogue's Nightmare", but after seeing him, she had believed them only to be tales. Gravelly stood there unable to move, Lily could literally see him held there by the fear that gripped him.

    "Nateous didn't say anything about the Nightmare," the other one whined, but he too was scared stiff.

    "Aw, this is no fun, they don't have any will left in them now," Laeon pouted, pouted! "We'll let you two finish these off." Laeon walked back around the corner and Lily threw back her cloak pulling her staff free from it's loop at her side.

    "Pyr Myra Calask!" she cried swinging the staff and flames burst around the two rogues. They didn't even have a chance to scream before they were charred to cinders.

    "I told both of you not to over-do it," Lord Nathan said shaking his head. Lily sat down and sniffed at him.

    "Over-do it? They would have killed us given the chance", she said allowing her temper to take over. So long as she didn't attack Lord Nathan she was fine.

    "The young lady is right, better to make them afraid of you than to be afraid of consequences," Laeon said joining the two of them on the wagon bench, "Now let's go to the real party. I'm betting they had the most of their people at the northwest gate since it leads onto the route that would take us to Neopolis." He smiled caressing the handle of one of his daggers, "my fangs are still too dry for tonight." He said a psychotic light shining through his eyes. Lily shivered before she could stop herself, all the same though, she was comforted that Laeon was on her side.

    The three of them passed through the gate and travelled around the city via the wall road that surrounded it. It took them only a few moments to reach a hill outside the northwest gate. Across the miniature valley created by the two hills on either side. On the hilltop opposite a red-burning lantern-light shone. Laeon reached up and pulled open the shutter on their lantern. The shutters on the lantern opposite them across the valley flap twice. Laeon repeated the signal and the light on the other side went out. Laeon closed the lantern and said, "Jason and I will take care of them for awhile, we'll need to have fresh fighters in case they have reinforcements. Once you hear them shouting open that lantern full blast and watch the show," he unsheathed his fangs and got that psycho look in his eyes again, "I'm sure you'll enjoy it." He disappeared into the moonshadows toward the miniature army of rogues. A few minutes later Lily's ears were met with a terrifying sound, "RrreeeeAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!! ShAkE In FeAr WoRtHlEsS RoGuEs. THE NiGhTmArE Is UpOn YOU!!!!!!" Laeon screamed from down the hill then two sounds happened almost simultaneously, Laeon let out another insane laugh and the rogues began letting out death screams. Lily grabbed the lantern and tossed it onto the ground down the hill and to the left of the wagon. The flame's burst into a bonfire and Laeon was there standing in front of the flame, his daggers dripping with blood. "My FaNgS ArE HuNgRy!!" he screamed and charged, daggers behind his back, blood trailing from their tips, down into the middle of the paralyzed rogues. They fell like an intricate row of tabs right after the lead tab had been tipped over. It took only a few moments before the rogues had dropped like flies. There didn't appear to be any more coming either. Lily hopped aboard the wagon and whipped the reigns, barely giving Nathan time to climb aboard himself.

    ~*.*.*~

    Jason wiped his sword on the coat of a dead rogue. The scene was grotesque, nausiatingly so, Laeon had not been kidding back in Haven when he had told Jason that he really was a rogue's worst nightmare. The bodies of the rogues he had killed were nearly unrecognizable as human any more. They looked like they had been chewed up in the fangs of some monsterous beast and spit out on the side of the road like a bad plum. Laeon himself stood in the middle of the butcher's yard his arms slumped at his sides still gripping the daggers he had used to create the pools of blood that dotted the miniature valley of the northwest gate. The daggers themselves still dripped from the tips creating two tiny pools on either side of the Rogue's Nightmare. Lily stood nearbye ready to leave, but not wanting to go away from the man she appearantly saw as both completely insane, and a noble fighter. Jason sheathed his blade and called out to the two of them.

    "If they are simply waiting for word of failure we won't have much time to be gone," he said turning to head toward the wagon he, Laeon, and Ken would be taking. Laeon and Martin switching places had been a decision made to throw off the rogues. If these rogues had people watching them, they may believe the man to change wagons had been Ken, and go after the wrong wagon once again. Jason felt bad separating from his friend for however short a time this early in their journey, but it couldn't be helped. The switch was necessary to their plan. Laeon pulled a cloth our of one of the pouches on his belt and cleaned the blades of his daggers. Before sheathing each one he kissed it on the flat of the blade.

    "You are right, Jason, if they did have messengers then the stalker won't waste time in getting the rest of his men together. He wasn't here or else I would have known. They wear light armor lacquered black under black cloaks so we would have recognized that type of victim." He turned and his face was taken over by a look of pleased startlement to see Lily still standing there, "Forgive me my lady," he said taking her hand and kissing it, "but I must be leaving you for the time being. When we meet again I'll have to show you my favorite tavern in Neopolis. The owner doesn't mind if a little dirty fighting is done so long as no-one from Syphar gets killed," He grinned at her as he released her hand, and, to Jason's surprised, she grinned back and nodded. The two of them turned backs to each other. Laeon joining Jason to board the wagon where Ken was waiting, and Lily strolling toward the wagon on the opposite hill where Nathan and Martin were leaning idly against one wheel chatting Idly about what leaf was best.

    "So you're a friend of a Lord, a psychopathic killer of rogues, and a lover of women who could burn you to a crisp in three words," Jason said as more of a statement of observed facts than a question. Laeon threw back his head and laughed a completely sane sounding bellow of laughter and turned to Jason when he was finished.

    "You are correct on all but the last account my friend. Twas not I who went to fair lady with my heart, but she who handed her's to me on a golden chain," he laughed again, "she found her way to me in the middle of the battle and told me that she loved me while at the same time hurling balls of fire at screaming attackers." He laughed again just as heartily, "I'm surprised she didn't scorch me by mistake. Most strange of all though is that I feel that I can return her feelings." Laeon looked down at his hands and shook his head, "My only worry that these hands are too bloodstained to hold hers with a clean conscience."

    Jason looked over at his friend confused at first. What Laeon did in battle was completely separate from what he did in his normal life. At any rate, the people he killed were Chyran rogues. It wasn't as if he had killed innocents. "What do you mean?" Jason finally asked. Laeon shook his head.

    "We don't have enough time for me to tell you here. I'll explain once we are a safe distance from Kanira." Laeon boarded the wagon's bed and Jason climbed up on the driving bench beside Ken who was eager to depart. Though Jason was not sure of what Laeon felt guilty about; he knew one thing for certain. He would never forget this night or their skirmish in the dark.