Days of Red and Gold [End of Arc One]

The wielder of the greatsword took a step forward and lauchend a far-reaching thrust.

“Die!” he yelled.

His companion stayed in the background while the other two tried to attack me from both the left and the right at the same time.

I had no choice but to keep backing away, as the three of them continued with this pattern, until I grabbed one of the chairs and hurled it at one of the attackers.

There was no counterattack, as their leader kept me at a distance with a sweeping strike.

But at just the right moment, I managed to hit the stomach area of my victim—who was still trying to get back to his feet—with a well-aimed throw of my dagger.

I moved further away and knocked over a table, which now served as a barrier between me and the them.

Now it was the man with the short swords who stepped in. He sprinted forward, leaped onto the table, pushed off from there, and attacked me from midair.

I was able to parry the attack, but his other sword was aiming for my flank.

What he hadn't counted on, however, was that I grabbed the blade before his attack could gain momentum.

In his confusion, I had a chance to deliver a quick blow to his chest with my sword.

The wound certainly wouldn't be fatal, but it caused him to retreat once more.

His attack had given my other two opponents time to flank me, and I found myself with my back to another table.

I jumped onto the table, but the approaching greatsword knocked me off balance, and I stumbled backward and fell to the floor.

The other attacker jumped after me and threatened to attack me from above, when a blade struck him in the back of the neck—Carver's blade!

The struck enemy fell toward me; I rolled to the side and finished him off.

The greatsword-wielder had now circled the table and lunged toward me, aiming for a powerful blow.

I was able to duck out of the way before the strike hit, but as he swung, he changed the direction of the blow and nearly severed my legs.

My only option was to roll forward, and as I got to my feet, I was able to impale him from the side through his torso.

The man froze and spat blood as I twisted the blade around and pulled it out. He swung his left fist at me and hit me right on the nose.

For a moment, a blurry light filled my field of vision, but he wasn't able to take up his weapon for another strike. He was just leaning on the big sword, gasping for air.

I looked around, but couldn't see the last of my enemies anywhere, so I delivered the mortal blow to the man wielding the greatsword.

“Are you okay, Ino?!” Carver called out as he rushed over to me.

“It’s fine. Everything is fine. Where is the last one?”

“He's taken off—he's out there!” the boy replied, pointing to a door on the upper left side.

“What about the other Churls?”

“They're still breathing, but you really gave them a hard time—well, except for Vedel, who just can't see anything again.”

“Good.”

“What was the meaning of all this? Who's pulling the strings here?”

“Do you know?!” the juggler's voice rang out. “No hero takes a knee.”

“What is this?!” Carver flinched and cowered.

The creature had leaned forward and was juggling its bones right in front of the boy's face.

“You can see me! But you can’t see me!” the troll cackled.

It opened its jaws wider and wider, as if it wanted to devour us, and just as the light streaming from its maw blinded me and I had to squint, the juggler was already gone.

“Where did it go?! What was that?!”

“A troll. I think it's haunting me—it wants something from me.”

I scrambled to my feet and wiped my sword clean on the clothes of the man who had carried the greatsword.

“That's not good at all! A troll!? By the gods! The Golden, the Blacks—crooks like that have nothing to do with trolls!”

“You’re probably right, but there is someone out there who does business with them, the Churls and those trolls.” I said as I searched for my dagger.

“The Churls?! No!”

“Why do you think they turned against me?”

I pulled the dagger from the chest of the dead henchman of the Golden.

“That must be a misunderstanding! Gerner surely knows more—you can talk to them and clear this up! Hern, Stooke, and the Master—they've always kept their word!”

“I think it's a little too late for that. I'll go easy on them this time. But tell them that next time, I'll take them out for good.”

“Ino!”

“No.”

I left Carver standing there and took my leave, knowing I had won an important victory. The Golden were severely weakened, the Beadle was dealt with, the Churls were intimidated by my generous gesture, and the Blacks my allies. A strong position, but there was still one step left to take.

They were already waiting outside—Frovis and three other burgh knights. The three guards I had taken out earlier were gone.

“Did you clean up your mess, lad?”

“It seems Gommond and his Golden friends had a falling out and turned on each other.”

“Sure, they did. What a tragedy.”

“Any witnesses?”

“Churls. They didn't see anything. The Golden had captured a boy who is one of their own. The honorable Gommond tried to convince them to let him go, and that's when things escalated.”

“What a story, lad. Now come along!”

“The Bureeve?”

“No, the First of Aur.” Frovis joked and his comrades rolled their eyes.

I was exhausted from the events of the past few days; I deserved some relaxation at the bathhouse, a feast at the Cray market, and the warmth of a bed and a woman.

Finally, we arrived at the Twins, at the castle of the Bureeve.

Once again, we made our way to the hall on the second floor and, after knocking, waited for someone to open the door—which happened more quickly than last time.

There stood Mirrond in front of the low table, looking at me expectantly, his hands clasped behind his back.

We bowed to each other.

“Inomar! How nice! You’ve been pretty busy, haven’t you? And with that bet, you let down both good old Gommond and me. Seven, ha! Although that was after the leaping house. Now there are far more bodies, right? Oh yeah, good old Gommond. It’s a shame about him, but I guess it was inevitable. He aimed too high and hadn't realized that some places can't be reached by stairs.”

“It really is a shame, Lord Bureeve.”

“I think your appearance here has brought to light something that's been going on in the shadows for far too long. That's a good thing. But a lot of eyes are on you now and on the frailty of the peace I keep on the Mareeve's behalf. And that's a bad thing.”

“What do you suggest I do to secure this peace?”

“Is that what you want? Peace?”

“All I want is to find a place for myself. And if that place were with you, in the service of the Mareeve, by all means!”

“That's the answer I was hoping for. But we want you outside my city’s walls. At least for a while. First let me reward you for your bloody deeds and then give you a new goal—a quest on behalf of our beloved Mareeve! Sounds great, doesn't it?”

It did. Too good to be entirely true. But now was the time to bow my head, rather than raise my sword.