Wolf of Dargoth

A lone man walked through the streets of a simple snow-covered town, leaving footprints in the snow in his wake. He was wrapped up in a tattered cloak, and held hands up to his face, blowing onto them as he tried to keep them warm. After a moment he drew near to a shanty and glanced around himself before pushing the door open and slipped inside. A Guardian cautiously followed at a distance, glancing around himself from time to time and making sure the man was unaware he was being shadowed. The Guardian paused when the man entered the shanty and after a moment stole up to the door, pressing his ear against it to listen before he drew away and slid in between the shanty and another building to make his way to the back as quietly as he could. A second Guardian sat on horseback, at the other end of the street for her companion. She was currently wearing a turban and heavy robe over her uniform, as she tried to look incognito though the Destrider she sat upon most likely gave her away to any passers-by, as only the Guardians had those kinds of horses. She had watched their target make his way to his destination, hopefully, the location of where he put intended slave victims before he transferred them to a river boat to get them out to the Black Fleet that was anchored out at sea waiting for its live cargo.

“Come on Boar.”She muttered softly under her breath, soft plumes of hot air escaping her lips, she clasped hands together and rubbed them together.“Finish it.”

Moments later the door to the shanty flung open and the man came flying out, skidding on the snow in a desperate attempt to evade the Guardian who came barreling out after him. They tore through the streets, with Boar shepherding the Slaver straight towards where Alixia sat on her horse waiting for them. The man tried to take a turn down another street but Boar beat him to it, cutting him off by clothes lining him which sent the Slaver slamming down to land flat on his back in the cold snow. Boar grinned a little as he pounced on the man, holding a fistful of tunic and tattered cloak as he leaned down until they were almost nose to nose and snarled at him. “You’re under arrest for several crimes against the Omarian people.”

“You ain’t got any evidence...”

Boar lifted his head and glanced over his shoulder as a handful of girls and young women hesitantly made their way out of the shanty, he then looked back down at his captive and flashed a toothy grin.“Oh, I think I have more than enough evidence and plenty of witnesses as well.”

The man huffed as he realized he couldn’t get out of this, and grunted as he was dragged up to his feet, with his hands manacled behind his back roughly. Boar had little kindness or patience for these kinds of men, he hated that they tried to make money of their own people. Boar proceeded to frog-march the man through the streets and to the town’s barracks where some soldiers stood waiting for their arrival. “Captain Barcuda.”Boar addressed one of the men who was dressed in a mismatched assembly of leather pieces and was armed with a rusty-looking sword at his hip.“I bring to you the Slaver Judas, I advise you keep him in a cell until transport arrives to take him to the City of Orlina where he will be put on trial for his crimes.”

The Captain nodded his head and jerked his head, a couple of the soldiers stepped forward and roughly escorted the Slaver through the barrack’s doors, he then looked back at the Guardian and offered a slight smile.“You have my thanks Guardian for dispensing justice in this town.”The words were good but the tone told Boar that this man was more than likely to set the Slaver free in the next twenty-four hours.

“You’re welcome, Captain.”Boar put on a false smile before he turned and strode back the way he came, he hated dealing with the Omarians, they were never thankful for any of the work that he did among them. They had the highest crime statistic amongst the other races, it was any wonder there wasn’t a revolt or some sort of civil war by those amongst the Omarians who were sick of living in fear. These men were willing to sell their own mothers to get a bit of wealth. It was truly sad how far this race had fallen in the five years that Boar had served here. He was looking forward to when his tour would be up and he would be able to return to the north.

Alixia had been busy while Boar had gone to the barracks with his prisoner; she had ridden towards the Shanty and dismounted when she saw the scared group of girls. They shied away from her when she approached, she had to slow her step and hold out gloved hands in a peaceful manner to gain their attention and some trust. “I’m not going to hurt you, I’m a Guardian, and I’m here to help you.”Then remembering her disguise, she threw off the turban and cloak, showing her armored uniform. This seemed to make the women calm a little. They huddled together in the snow, wearing little more than nightshirts or shifts and petticoats, they were very much afraid at the moment and held little trust for anyone and Alixia couldn’t really blame them for it. She pulled off her heavy black robe and hedged closer before offering it to one of the women who after hesitating, snatched it from her and wrapped it around herself. After a moment the rest of the women suddenly surrounded her, begging her not to go or leave them alone here.

“We’ll take you back to your homes, where you belong.” She said trying to soothe them but that seemed to frighten the women all the more.

“No! No, we cannot go home; it was our families that sold us.”Said one woman in a high, anxious-pitched voice.“We are seen as useless, so they sell us to the slavers to get money to feed the family.”

Alixia managed a weak smile as she had no idea what they were going to do with all of these women. She turned in the crowd and saw that Boar was making his way back and lifted a gloved hand to wave at him, before returning her attention to the women as one little girl had started to cry. She picked her up and settled her on her hip, peering at the child through her mess of curls and smiled gently as she said softly. “Then we’ll just have to find a safe haven for you all to go to.”She looked around at the other women.“But first, we need to get you out of the cold, and into some warm clothes.”She glanced around and spotted what looked like a tavern and walked over to it, followed by the huddled group of women.

“You can’t come in here!” shouted an outraged-looking Tavern Owner when he had seen the Guardian and the barely clad group of women approaching.

Alixia answered by kicking the door off its hinges before she stepped in and motioned towards the hearth. “Warm yourselves up.”She directed before she turned and faced the Tavern Owner who was staring at her in horror.“I need blankets and food for these women, I’m going to leave them here while I go and get them some clothes. If I come back and find that they are gone I will skewer you on my sword. Do you understand me?”

The Tavern Owner slowly nodded his head as he watched the women huddle around the hearth, he then looked to the door as a second Guardian had stepped inside and was watching the whole scene, his shoulders slumped a little and he turned to head into his kitchen grumbling as he went.

“Making threats so early in the morning?”Jested Boar as he approached where Alixia stood with a child in her arms.

She turned her head and smiled over at him, before handing the child over to him as she said softly.“These people are unbelievable. These women are afraid to stay amongst their own families; they think they will be sold again.”

Boar nodded his head and muttered. “I’m not surprised, I have a feeling that Slaver will be out come tomorrow.”He looked at the girl who was playing with some of his braids then he glanced back at Alixia with a slight smile. “I’m going to get them clothes, stay here so that nothing bad happens to them.”She said before she smiled at the girl, then moved to hurry out into the street and made her way towards the tailor's shop and then to the general store.

Boar looked at the girl who gave him a little smile, and he moved to sit down in a nearby chair, with her perched on his lap as she didn’t seem in any hurry to leave him. He looked over at the other women who seemed to have calmed down since their experience at the hands of the slaver. He nodded to the Tavern Owner as he came out of the kitchen with a tray of bowls of soup and bread for the women to eat. Making it clear that he was keeping watch and was their protector seeing as they could not rely on their own people to save them.

It wasn’t long before a couple of armed men entered the Tavern and grinned at the women who screamed and quickly huddled in a corner closest to Boar. “Here be the pretty girls eh?”One of the men chuckled then he glanced at Boar.“I have been told you gone and had my brother locked up.”He waved at the doorway and the man that Boar had taken to the barracks earlier sauntered in.“Money talks in these here towns.”He said as he slowly walked towards the hearth.“And you gone and messed up one of our deals.”

Boar looked at the girl and gently set her on her feet, she quickly hurried to the women who drew her in amongst them while he slowly stood up and turned to face the men.“I am simply going to ask you this once. Surrender and acknowledge your crimes and you’ll just be arrested for bribery. If you don’t I’ll take you to the tribunal and you’ll be charged with abduction, assault, and false imprisonment among other things I could think up off the top of my head.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”The slaver stalked up and flicked at one of Boar’s braids.“You ain’t got any power and besides, there are only two of you here.”He grinned slowly.“You can’t get any help.”

Boar bowed his head slightly then said quietly.“Only two Guardians are ever sent out on patrols as only two Guardians are ever required.”His eyes lifted to meet that of the Slaver. Then he moved with incredible speed, reaching out to grab the man in front of him by the throat while drawing out two throwing daggers from his belt. He flung them out at the other two men and hitting one in the thigh and the other in the shoulder. He looked back at the Slaver who was struggling with the grip on his windpipe, and said softly.“We are the Justicars; I suggest you start paying attention.”He then rammed a fist into the man’s stomach and dropped an elbow between his shoulder blades. The Slaver ended up face-first on the floor unconscious. Boar looked over at the other two, who quickly scrambled to get out of the Tavern. He stooped to hogtie the Slaver and dragged him over to a corner where he could lay and not disturb the women. Dusting his uniform down he looked over towards the women who had silently watched him defend them and smiled slightly.“I believe it’s your tea time.”

At those words the women rushed out of the corner and over to him, all babbling about how much they wanted to thank him. He just smiled and motioned them towards their unfinished broths and pieces of bread before settling in a comfortable chair by the hearth once more with a soft little sigh. This was turning out to be quite a job, not so cut and dry after all.

Alixia returned after her little trip to the tailors and general store, she found that Boar had fixed the front door to the Tavern, and noticed the Slaver hogtied in the far corner of the common room. She smiled slightly as she looked over at the women who seemed a bit more relaxed at the moment, which was a good sign. Maybe there was hope for them still. She then looked over to where Boar sat at a table eating a meal and made her way over to him, joining him in the booth. He offered her a leg of chicken which she happily took before she spoke. “Visitors?”

“Three.”He said as he finished a mouthful.“I’m expecting more tonight.”

She frowned slightly. “You think we should stay?”

“Well we can’t really leave them behind, and if we are to take them with us, we need to arrange for transport, I don’t think that can happen all in one day.”

Alixa pondered this then she pointed her chicken leg at her companion. “Why not use the Slaver’s own boat, but instead of heading to sea, we go upstream and into the lake.”

Boar eyed the woman of a moment then snorted.“We’d have to go against the current, how would we do that?”He huffed.

“We’d ask the Destriders to pull us upstream.”Came her response.

Boar sat there a long moment eyeing off his companion, she did have a point there. He leaned slowly back in his seat, idly poking at some salad before nodding his head. “Alright, we’ll do that, move at dusk because I have a feeling that the Slaver’s friends will hit at midnight.”

He settled in to finish the rest of his meal, then pulled out parchment, quill and ink from a pouch at his hip. Boar proceeded to write out a report of the latest happenings, he was finding Omar less and less a nice place to work in and really hoped that Mycol moved them to another land. Anything but the Omarians.He finished writing with a flourish then stood to his feet and moved outside to whistle softly into the air. Moments later a falcon flew down and landed on his arm.“Hello, my fine friend.”He murmured as he slipped the rolled-up parchment into the band at its leg.“Fly to Ramoth and let our friends know of the headache we had to put up with today hmm?”He lifted his arm and the bird of prey rose up swiftly on strong wings, flying off towards the north. For a moment it reminded him of the battle at Eagles point and the arrival of the great dragons. Lifting a hand he touched fingers to his chin as he recalled the girl who had been the reason behind the dragons coming to their aid. She had disappeared soon after they had won that battle, never to be seen again. A slight sigh escaped him as he turned back to re-enter the Tavern. He had to pack for a long journey along the river, this had not come into his equation of saving these women but he would not let it be said that he’d ignore anyone helpless and with nowhere to go. Though while he had thought instinctively of the Shan-gri-lia, he was not sure if they would take these refugees. With that in mind, he quickly sat down and reached for ink and parchment again, another letter would need to be sent.

***

As the sun began to set a group of travelers left the town’s simple little tavern and with a Guardian leading them, made their way down to the river where a second Guardian was hitching up two Destriders to a river boat. Once the women and children were safely onboard and down in the cabin, Alixia stepped onto the boat and cast off, carefully coiling the thick heavy rope that had been used to anchor the boat to the little river jetty. She then raised an arm and signaled to Boar who nodded his head to lead the Destriders along the river bank. So far the plan was working well, and Alixia had a good feeling that they wouldn’t be seeing the Slaver’s friends unless the Tavern Owner talked. She sat by the steering wheel, keeping the riverboat gliding lightly alongside the bank, and prepared herself for a long night.

“You know you don’t have to lead us like we were a pair of dumb horses.”Stated one of the Destrider as Boar walked along the bank.

He chuckled quietly as he glanced over his shoulder at his own particular Destrider who called himself Tarda.“I know you’re not dumb, but you’re both hitched up to that riverboat. And if someone was to attack you, you’d get yourself tangled up in the tack trying to kick out.”

Tarda let out a heavy snort and tried to bite the back of Boar’s neck, though he quickly evaded his four-legged friend and wagged a finger at him.“No more sugar cubes for you if you keep that up.” He scolded, which only got him a glare from both Destriders this time.“Oh very well, I’ll go and sit in the Riverboat with Alixia while you two do all the hard work.”

“Ahem….we always do the hard work.”Retorted Tarda, with a shake of his thick black mane.“We’re the ones that get you from A to B faster than any other kind of four-legged creature can.”

“I could always ask Anyia to take me somewhere next time I am sent on a mission.” Boar countered. He grinned a little as Tarda didn’t respond to that, the great Gold Eagle being quite famous for getting people swiftly to various destinations that the Destriders couldn’t reach. He turned and made his way back behind the Destriders and jumped onto the boat, making his way along the edge, and then stepped into the back where Alixia now stood.

“What are you doing here?”Came her demand.

“The Destriders thought I was babysitting them.”He sat down on a crate and stretched out his legs in front of him then smiled over at his fellow Guardian.“So we get to relax while they do all the work.”

Alixia let out a little laugh, shaking her head slightly, one hand resting on the boat’s rudder wheel as she regarded him.“You are mean to them sometimes, you know that?”

Boar just flashed a little grin and shrugged his shoulder slightly.“They were the ones that made the suggestion.”He glanced upwards, noting the stars that were coming out one by one in the sky high above.“And from the looks it will be a clear night, which will not favor our friends if they decide to try anything.”

“I don’t think they will.”Alixia said as she got comfortable on her crate, leaning a little on the rudder.“They’ll attack that Tavern, then turn the town upside down looking for us. When they find the Riverboat gone they will assume we went downstream instead of up, because we didn’t tell the Tavern Owner where we were going, only that we were going to take the boat.”She grinned a little and looked over at the ex-shadow warrior.“Sometimes the plans we come up with scare me.”She joked softly.

Boar winked at her and chuckled as he shifted to stretch out in front of the cabin door.“That’s because we work well as a team.”He flashed a little grin before bunching up his cloak as a pillow and settled himself for some sleep.“Wake me when the moons are full, I’ll take over.”

Alixia rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. She would keep watch until the moons had risen high in the sky. There was a lot to think about and certainly, a lot to ponder over in regards to Omar and how they thought about their people. If they were willing to sell their own women and children into slavery then their ethics and morals had to be at an all-time low. This proud nation was falling fast into a deep pit of corruption and it would take a miracle to dig them out. She did feel satisfied with the fact they had whisked away this small group of women and children from becoming slaves. Just a little bit of good in a whole big world of hurt.

A few hours later the sound of wings beating in the air caused Alixa to stand up. She held out her arm as a large gray owl landed with a message on his leg. She carefully drew the parchment out and let the Owl hop onto the boat railing before unraveling the parchment and reading what it said .She looked down and kicked Boar in the ribs waking him up.“Got word from Shari, the Shan-gri-lia will send a boat out to meet us when we get to the lake.”

Boar grunted, rubbing at his side as he peered at her half asleep.“You had to kick me to tell me that?”

Alixia grinned as she rolled the parchment up and pulled out some of her own with quill and ink and wrote a response.“Only way to get your attention sometimes.”She finished writing and rolled up her response of agreement. Then sent the Owl on its way before sitting down with a satisfied sigh.“Everything is falling into place.”

Boar just grunted in response, rolled over, and went back to sleep again. Alixia smiled a little as she rested a hand on the rudder, making sure the barge glided along without hitting the river bank.

***

Water lapped softly against the Riverboat as the Destriders reached the mouth of the river and the opening of the lake. Boar stood on the bow, regarding the huge expanse of water that stretched out before him, and then jumped off the boat, landed in the water, and waded a little bit to shore. He then turned to help the Destriders pull the Boat up onto the sand before calling out.“Alright, people off you get, this is where we change boats.”He watched as Alixia helped the women get down out of the boat and gather on the sandy shore. He then turned and moved to unhitch the two Destriders, rolling up the tack and tossing what was no longer needed into the back of the boat, before saddling them up.

One of the women looked at Alixia, she was a bit anxious as she took in where they were currently.“What other boat? I don’t see another boat waiting for us. You are just going to sell us like the others.”

Alixia sighed as the other women began to worry and make similar accusations. She held up her hands to get their attention then spoke.“I am a Guardian, first and foremost I don’t dabble in slavery. Secondly, I promised to get you somewhere safe and I am, I’m taking you to the Island of Shari.”

“The Island of Shari?”One woman laughed and stared at the Guardian.“We aren’t peacekeepers lady, and certainly don’t want to become one.”

Alixia scowled and got close to this one particular woman who seemed to be a bit of a troublemaker.“Well, I could have left you back at the town to get sold all over again. On the Island of Shari, you can at least get asylum for a while and the Peacekeepers might know what to do next.”She turned away then and stomped over to where Boar was finishing with the Destriders.

“Not going as smooth as planned?”He queried lightly as he turned to glance at her.

“Ungrateful, like any Omarian.”Was her muttered response, as she dug around in her saddle-bag.

“That’s how Omarians are.”He reached over and gave her shoulder a light pat. Then turned and smiled.“And look, here they come.”

Alixia turned then, she could see a gray boat slowly gliding towards them with a lone lantern casting a little bit of light into the lake’s waters. She smiled slightly as she glanced over at him.“Almost finished eh?”

Boar nodded as he patted Tarda’s neck and then moved towards the women standing on the sandy shore.“Ladies your ride is almost here.”He waved towards the coming boat.

“They’re taking us directly to the Island right? No funny stuff?”It was that woman again.

Boar looked at her and smiled slightly. “What’s your name?”

“Delilah.”Came her response, she stuck out her chin defiantly as she answered.

“Well Delilah, I can assure you that the Peacekeepers of Shari will behave when they pick you up and take you to the island. And you all will be given the best accommodation you’ve ever experienced in your lives and the best food you’ve ever eaten. They will then organize a place where you can go as you can’t stay on Shari forever.”He clasped his gloved hands together as he looked over the other women and then back at this one woman.“Does that meet your approval?”

Delilah scowled a little at the Guardian but nodded her head slightly. “Yeah, sure.”

Boar nodded his head before he turned to give his attention to the boat; it had gotten closer as he had been speaking. He moved to wade out into the cold waters to help draw the boat onto the shore and smiled lightly as four gray-robed men got out and walked with him onto the shore and over to the women.

“Ladies I would like to introduce you to Valiant, he will be getting you to Shari tonight.”He motioned to a tall-looking man who stood next to him; his hair was gray, long, and tied back with a black ribbon.

Delilah eyed off Valiant then looked over towards Boar with a look of distaste. “How do we know we can trust him?”

Boar smirked slightly at the woman.“I thought Peacekeepers were trustworthy.”He turned then.“It’s time to go, we are wasting enough time.”

“I refuse to get on that boat.”Snapped Delilah, she folded her arms over her chest and lifted her chin slightly. “You can’t make …”

Alixia by now had had enough of this attitude and stalked over to the woman before letting fly with a fist to the jaw, dropping the woman unconscious down onto the sand.She looked at the other women who stared horrified and spoke.“Either you go with them to Shari or we leave you here at the mercy of your own people. Which is it??”Her voice was loud and tinged with anger.

The women quickly made a beeline for the boat, with Delilah being carried over and put in the boat. The Peacekeepers then pushed the boat back into the water, and after clasping hands with Boar, Valiant motioned to his three brethren who drew out oars and began to row across the lake back towards the Island from whence they had come.

“Lost your temper didn’t you?”Boar turned to look at where Alixia stood by the Destriders and smiled as he walked up to her, and took the reins of Tarda from her.

“She got on my nerves.” Alixia shook her head slightly before putting a foot to stirrup and swung up into the saddle.“I really hope I don’t see her again.”

Boar chuckled lightly as he settled into his saddle and glanced around themselves.“So do I.”He paused a moment then looked over to her.“Why don’t we head over to the Brazen Pony Inn and get a well-earned rest eh?”

Alixia smiled lightly, nodding her head. “I’ll drink to that.”Then she nudged her horse forward.“The first one there buys the first round.”She shouted as she urged her Destrider into a gallop.

“Hey wait a minute!”Boar let out a little laugh before Tarda took off after the black-haired Guardian. They raced along the lake shore splashing water up along the large horse’s legs and wetting their pants and cloaks. The two Destriders loved to stretch out their long legs. Being larger than all other horse’s it was a difficult thing to keep a slow stride; moments like these were greatly enjoyed. It was no longer a race between Alixia and Boar, but a race between the two Destriders.For even these large intelligent beasts had moments of wanting to see who was the fastest or who was the strongest. Tarda and Sliver had learned to work together and often held quiet conversations when their two-legged counterparts were sleeping. While the two Guardians seemed to be in charge most of the time when on missions, it was the Destriders who gained further information from the land and animals around them and often seemed to know more of what was going on than Boar or Alixa.They liked to rub that in every so often, however they worked as a unit. A well-trained and highly dangerous unit that was bred and trained for war.