I wrongly assumed that the pounding was just in my head. Tink, tink, pomp. Tink, tink, pomp. Over and over again. Bloody Hammer working at the forge. I mused rather angrily on why we ever installed a forge in House Roberto. I stuffed a pillow into either side of my head. It didn’t stop the pounding.
A loud boom shook the entire bed and traces of marble dust filled the air. I fell out of bed. ‘Merde’ it must be Saturday. Herald must be doing cannon drill, at least I hoped. I Brushed dust off of myself and I stumbled out and down to the hall. Pie was making coffee, he looked as bad as I felt.
“What happened to you? You look like crap”
Pie was short for Pie Eyed Piper. The first time I’d met him he was dead. Subsequently most times we met he was dead. He was a bard of infinite talent, but very bad timing. His jokes were terrible.
“Well those Ogre Lords wanted me more than they wanted to hate each other” Pie said sliding a cup of coffee across the table as he sat down.
I grinned the grin one grins when there’s no irony left just bitter truth and bitter coffee, which I sipped.
A whispery voice filled my head ‘Roberto come to the Guild House…’ Daenyra Mistress of Dragon Stone was calling.
I went to the roof where Hammer was still busy at the forge working on something. I stood next to him patiently I knew better than to break his concentration. Hammer looked up and pointed to a chest. “Your armors fixed, would you quit playing tag with whatever it was” said Hammer.
“I wasn’t playing tag, it was a Daemon and he surprised me while eating dinner” I replied.
Hammer shrugged “ok, if you say so”.
I went to the chest and started fitting on my armor. I looked to the North West corner and saw a huge devise.
“What the hell is that?”
Hammer came up next to me hands on hip and with the joy that only an engineer gets when seeing a mechanical gewgaw. “That my friend is a soul forge”
“What’s it do?”
“I have no idea but I can’t wait to find out”
Hammer went back to the regular forge. I put on the rest of the armor, donned my hat, all the while muttering and wondering if he was going to break the damned bank account. I returned to the first floor without even a ‘good day’. Not that Hammer noticed, he was already busy and bent over the forge.
I trotted past Daenyra’s home. Around Devlin’s Stable and another house to the Guild Hall. I walked in, there was no one else there but Daenyra. I looked about in studied indifference. I knew if I’d been called alone I was going to get orders and not ‘asked’ to volunteer.
“Roberto, how nice to see you” She said as she smiled. Whatever else you want to say about Daenrya she’s got a nice smile. Daenyra Mistress of Dragon Stone, Governor of Skara Brea, owner of Dragons, and not someone whom I would ever want to be on their bad side. Her smile is more dangerous than her war face.
I bowed low and sat on a bench in resignation.
She continued “I’ve got a note from the Queen in Ter Mur. Apparently there’s something wrong south of the bridge, and she’s asked me to look into it’.
I grunted my most elegant grunt. And raised an eye brow.
“I’ve got to go to the governors meeting. So you are going to do this. Ok?”
“Ok” I replied. “Anyone else?”
“Devlin, Pixie, Scorpion, and others went into Shadow Guard and they’ve not come back, so get going and I want a report when I come back from the Governors Meeting. Got it?”
“Got it” as I leapt to my feet with an exaggerated snap to and gave her a Salute. If she was going to go all Queen of Dragons on me I was going to try and not piss her off with one of my stupid remarks.
“And Roberto”
“Yes?”
“Thank you” and with a snap of her fingers she was gone and I was standing there alone. I hated when she did that. Can’t get mad at her when she says thank you.
I walked outside and got on my horse. I went a little east and picked up the road that went southwest to Devlin’s and then south to the bridge. I came to within sight of the bridge and Sio’s tavern the Mole Hole. Should I stop for a drink? Just one? Better not one always leads to three. I thought about seeing if Dagda was there. Dagda is a menace to the time space continuum with that bow of hers. She would be excellent back up. But no, you don’t drag your friends into the **** just because you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
I started to cross the bridge to the south. I will say this, the Gargoyles build a sturdy bridge. A lance of knights could have charged across that bridge and not made it tremble. In fact a lance of knights would have been very reassuring right then.
Almost immediately I found signs. Bad signs. I got down off my horse. A hand, a wing and other detritus littered the site. Long bloody trails headed to a narrow pass between the stone hills and the river.
I sniffed the air, no stench of daemons. I placed a hand on the strange tracks no sense of cold, so not creatures from the void. I climbed back on my horse, put on my helmet, pulled out my kryss, and pulled my shield onto my arm. I slowly made my way west. The trail continued near the river which bent to the south. I followed going slower and slower, something was just not right.
I caught sight of a pile of Gargoyle parts. Blood, gore, flies, and a stench that was off-putting from a cricket field away.
The sound of rocks falling behind me made me twist around as quickly as I could. There behind me a pack of a half dozen raptors were between me and the pass. Looking about I noticed several more at the cardinal points of the compass.
The largest one licked her lips and I swear laughed “hsss hsss hsssssss”
I didn’t think Daenyra was going to get her bloody report. I should have brought a lance. I put spurs to horse as I decided I was going to take that joking raptor with me. I drove my kryss towards the Joker’s eye and interposed my shield between its gaping maw and my throat. I screamed “I hate Patrols!’ and knew it was going to be another long day.
A loud boom shook the entire bed and traces of marble dust filled the air. I fell out of bed. ‘Merde’ it must be Saturday. Herald must be doing cannon drill, at least I hoped. I Brushed dust off of myself and I stumbled out and down to the hall. Pie was making coffee, he looked as bad as I felt.
“What happened to you? You look like crap”
Pie was short for Pie Eyed Piper. The first time I’d met him he was dead. Subsequently most times we met he was dead. He was a bard of infinite talent, but very bad timing. His jokes were terrible.
“Well those Ogre Lords wanted me more than they wanted to hate each other” Pie said sliding a cup of coffee across the table as he sat down.
I grinned the grin one grins when there’s no irony left just bitter truth and bitter coffee, which I sipped.
A whispery voice filled my head ‘Roberto come to the Guild House…’ Daenyra Mistress of Dragon Stone was calling.
I went to the roof where Hammer was still busy at the forge working on something. I stood next to him patiently I knew better than to break his concentration. Hammer looked up and pointed to a chest. “Your armors fixed, would you quit playing tag with whatever it was” said Hammer.
“I wasn’t playing tag, it was a Daemon and he surprised me while eating dinner” I replied.
Hammer shrugged “ok, if you say so”.
I went to the chest and started fitting on my armor. I looked to the North West corner and saw a huge devise.
“What the hell is that?”
Hammer came up next to me hands on hip and with the joy that only an engineer gets when seeing a mechanical gewgaw. “That my friend is a soul forge”
“What’s it do?”
“I have no idea but I can’t wait to find out”
Hammer went back to the regular forge. I put on the rest of the armor, donned my hat, all the while muttering and wondering if he was going to break the damned bank account. I returned to the first floor without even a ‘good day’. Not that Hammer noticed, he was already busy and bent over the forge.
I trotted past Daenyra’s home. Around Devlin’s Stable and another house to the Guild Hall. I walked in, there was no one else there but Daenyra. I looked about in studied indifference. I knew if I’d been called alone I was going to get orders and not ‘asked’ to volunteer.
“Roberto, how nice to see you” She said as she smiled. Whatever else you want to say about Daenrya she’s got a nice smile. Daenyra Mistress of Dragon Stone, Governor of Skara Brea, owner of Dragons, and not someone whom I would ever want to be on their bad side. Her smile is more dangerous than her war face.
I bowed low and sat on a bench in resignation.
She continued “I’ve got a note from the Queen in Ter Mur. Apparently there’s something wrong south of the bridge, and she’s asked me to look into it’.
I grunted my most elegant grunt. And raised an eye brow.
“I’ve got to go to the governors meeting. So you are going to do this. Ok?”
“Ok” I replied. “Anyone else?”
“Devlin, Pixie, Scorpion, and others went into Shadow Guard and they’ve not come back, so get going and I want a report when I come back from the Governors Meeting. Got it?”
“Got it” as I leapt to my feet with an exaggerated snap to and gave her a Salute. If she was going to go all Queen of Dragons on me I was going to try and not piss her off with one of my stupid remarks.
“And Roberto”
“Yes?”
“Thank you” and with a snap of her fingers she was gone and I was standing there alone. I hated when she did that. Can’t get mad at her when she says thank you.
I walked outside and got on my horse. I went a little east and picked up the road that went southwest to Devlin’s and then south to the bridge. I came to within sight of the bridge and Sio’s tavern the Mole Hole. Should I stop for a drink? Just one? Better not one always leads to three. I thought about seeing if Dagda was there. Dagda is a menace to the time space continuum with that bow of hers. She would be excellent back up. But no, you don’t drag your friends into the **** just because you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
I started to cross the bridge to the south. I will say this, the Gargoyles build a sturdy bridge. A lance of knights could have charged across that bridge and not made it tremble. In fact a lance of knights would have been very reassuring right then.
Almost immediately I found signs. Bad signs. I got down off my horse. A hand, a wing and other detritus littered the site. Long bloody trails headed to a narrow pass between the stone hills and the river.
I sniffed the air, no stench of daemons. I placed a hand on the strange tracks no sense of cold, so not creatures from the void. I climbed back on my horse, put on my helmet, pulled out my kryss, and pulled my shield onto my arm. I slowly made my way west. The trail continued near the river which bent to the south. I followed going slower and slower, something was just not right.
I caught sight of a pile of Gargoyle parts. Blood, gore, flies, and a stench that was off-putting from a cricket field away.
The sound of rocks falling behind me made me twist around as quickly as I could. There behind me a pack of a half dozen raptors were between me and the pass. Looking about I noticed several more at the cardinal points of the compass.
The largest one licked her lips and I swear laughed “hsss hsss hsssssss”
I didn’t think Daenyra was going to get her bloody report. I should have brought a lance. I put spurs to horse as I decided I was going to take that joking raptor with me. I drove my kryss towards the Joker’s eye and interposed my shield between its gaping maw and my throat. I screamed “I hate Patrols!’ and knew it was going to be another long day.
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