Chapter 4: Chapter 4 – Poor decisions

CHAPTER 4

“Chad, wake up.  Someone is banging on the door,” Koshiro shouted while shaking me.  

I sat up quickly and wiped the sleep from my eyes.  The other girls sat up as well to see what the commotion was all about.  The sheets fell, revealing three pairs of huge bare breasts that were glowing in the moonlight from the window.  “I’m gonna check it out.  You three just stay in bed.”

I was nude myself, so I pulled on my trousers and marched on to the front door.  I could see a troubled Malthar through the glass, which caused me to speed up.  I wasted no time opening the door to see a bloody drow standing in front of me.  “Shit, what happened?” The drow’s white shirt was soaked in blood, and he was huffing.

“Please send Koshiro to the fields at once.  We were attacked by passing adventurers.  They wanted to kill Henegar for his pelt and gall bladder.  I’m going to be okay, but one of the brute men stabbed Jamison in the gut with his sword.  Henegar was sliced up pretty good as well.  Artemis and his new deputy, Otha, showed up in time to run them off.”

My eyes were wide and red with rage.  “KOSHIRO!”

“I’m right here, Chad.  I heard,” Koshiro replied with distressed eyes. “Put your shirt and boots on.  I’m going back with Malthar now to help Malthar and Henegar.”

“Be careful.  Those idiots might come back.  I’m going to be right behind you.  Go!”

Koshiro looked at Malthar’s arm.  “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“We can worry about me later.  They are in need more than I,” the drow replied.  Koshiro nodded and ran toward the fields as fast as she could.

I darted to the bedroom to grab my shoes and shirt.  Claire and Muni were dressed and headed to the door at the same time I entered.  We almost collided.  “You heard?”

“Yes, this is horrible,” Muni replied.  “We’re on our way to help in any way we can.”

“By the Nine, this stuff doesn’t happen here...well, not since the Big,” Claire added.

“I know.  I don’t know who these adventurers were, but they’re dead men,” I said through gritted teeth.

*****

Jamison laid in a pool of blood.  Koshiro knelt beside him with her glowing hands on his stomach wound.  Henegar sat nearby his caretaker with a sweet look of concern.  I could see slashes on his side, but nothing looked too serious.  Koshiro’s healing skills should be able to take care of those superficial wounds easily.

“Jamison, how are you, my friend?”  I asked through quick breaths.

The lizard man nodded and gave me a small smile.  His green, scaly face was very pale and almost white. “I’m going to be fine, thanks to Malthar and Koshiro.  I can’t believe this happened.  These three humans in black chain mail just walked up and unsheathed their swords and told Malthar and I to move.  They said they were there to kill the bear.  They wanted his pelt and his gallbladder.  I grabbed a hoe and Malthar grabbed his scythe and we stood strong in front of my furry friend.  Henegar was attached to the plow, so he could not fight.  They charged us, and we did what we could.  I’m not a fighter and neither is Malthar.  Thank the Nine that Artemis and Otha were close by and heard the commotion.  Once the adventurers saw they were law enforcement, they took off.  I’m sorry, Chad, we did what we could.”

“Jamison, don’t apologize.  You two did a brave thing.  Where are Artemis and Otha now?”

“They went after them, but they weren’t as fast as these three humans were.  I hope Otha and Artemis are okay,” Jamison replied.

“Which way did they go?” I asked.

“They went toward the dungeon.  That had to be their destination.  I don’t know why else they would have armor on.”

“Chad, I’m done.  Jamison should be fine.  I’m going to check on Malthar now, then Henegar,” Koshiro announced.

“Thank you so much, Koshiro, and thank you, Malthar, for getting help.”

“I wish I could have fought better.  I’m ashamed,” Malthar replied sadly.

“Nonsense, I don’t want to hear such.  We are just farmers. We can’t take on three adventurers with armor and swords.”

“He’s right.  You did the best you could,” Muni interjected.

I stood and equipped my best set armor immediately.

“What are you going to do?” Claire asked, even though she knew the answer.

“What do you think I’m going to do?  I’m going to get those sons of bitches.”

*****

The three vicious attackers waltzed into the camp at Stonerock Dungeon, relieved they had lost the two lawmen chasing them. 

Myron broke his silence. “Those lawmen, we’re ridiculously slow.” Myron was the largest of the trio and was a head taller than Drake and Harry.

“Won’t they just catch up to us here?” Drake asked with a dash of anxiety.

Myron shook his head. “Not a chance. This place has to be out if they’re jurisdiction. I wouldn’t worry. It isn’t like we killed anyone.”

Harry raised a brow. “I clearly remember you stabbing that lizardkin in the gut. That fellow is definitely a goner. That was a fatal wound.”

“Who gives a shit? He was just a dirty, worthless lizard man. We made the world a better place if he dies. I hope he suffers in the dirt for a while before he takes his last breath,” Myron scoffed.

“Guys, we need to find a spot to pitch our tent. We need to get a good night’s sleep before we take on the dungeon tomorrow morning,” Drake replied as he scanned the area.

“You go right ahead. I’m heading over to the ale wagon and grabbing a mug. What do you say, Harry?”

“Yeah, I could use a drink. Come on, Drake, there are several empty spots over there. We’ll put up the tent later.”

“Alright, a couple of ales won’t hurt. However, I don’t want to be hungover tomorrow. We need to be at the top of our game.”

“We’re always at the top of our game.  You need to learn to lighten up or we’ll find us another rogue,” The B-rank warrior, Myron, replied.

Drake, the C-rank rogue, rolled his eyes and gave Myron the finger.  “You need my critical hits, and you know it.”

“Relax, relax, I’m just busting your balls… small balls,” Myron chuckled, and slapped the rogue on his shoulder.

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“Guys, are you coming or not?” Harry, the B-rank duelist, shouted from the ale wagon.  Drake and Myron didn’t even notice that he had moved on.

“See if these bastards have any mead.  I’m in a mead mood tonight,” Myron replied.

“Sure thing,” Harry nodded.

Myron put his arms around Drake and they walked to the wagon and awaited their spirits.  Each of them held up their mugs and clanged them together, then took a large gulp.  Myron belched immediately upon taking his mouth from the brim of the mug.  “This is shit, but it’ll do.  Those fucking elves don’t know what they’re doing half the time. They need to stick to making wine.”

Harry pointed to another wagon they hadn’t noticed before.  “Shit, there are some dwarves.  They always know what they’re doing.  We’ll go there next. I’ve never had a dwarven ale that I didn’t like.”

“Fuck yeah,” Myron replied as he took another swig.  He finished the ale and tossed his metal mug on the ground and marched toward the dwarves’ spirits wagon.

Drake shook his head. “Goddamn, he didn’t waste any time, did he?”

“I’m gonna finish this off quickly as well. I don’t want to put this dirty cunt water in my mouth any longer than I have to,”  Harry replied as he took a large gulp finishing the ale.

“This isn’t as bad as you guys are saying.  I actually like it.  You guys are too picky,” Drake said with a shrug.

Myron and Harry purchased a couple of drinks from the dwarves and stood by the bonfire in the center of the camp.  Drake continued to sip his elven ale happily as he listened to a bard playing some sort of stringed instrument close by.

“Hey man, did you go into the dungeon today?  How was it?” Myron asked a human warrior standing close by.

The bearded warrior was pounding down a dwarven ale as well. “Yeah, we went once.  We’re here for the week.  I’m hoping we can loot some gear that will help us tackle a night dungeon.  We’ve heard that those runs are brutal.  A party of B-rankers just came out all bloody and beaten all to the Shade.  What’s your name?  I’m Ulrich.”

“I’m Myron, and these are my buddies, Drake and Harry.  We just got here a short while ago.  We hope to do some runs over the next two days.  We’re only licensed for six runs this month.  I don’t know if we can get that many in during the next couple of days or not, but we will try.”

“Nice to meet you, fellows.  Did you have a pleasant trip in?  Did you come in on foot?”

“Yeah, we just came through Summerstar a couple of hours ago.  We caused some trouble,” Myron laughed.

“Really?  What did you guys do?  Summerstar is a peaceful town.”

“Well, we saw a grizzly in the field behind a restaurant.  That fucker was pulling a plow. You don’t see that bullshit every day.  I was thrilled. I wanted to get his pelt and gallbladder. Grizzly gallbladders are selling for a lot of credits in Falcor. The alchemists can make some good potions and elixirs with them that sell for a lot of credits.  There was a lizardkin and a drow who tried to stop us.  We sliced them up pretty good.  We got a couple of slices in on the bear before two lawmen showed up. It would have been an easy kill because the bear’s mobility was almost zero with that plow attached to him.  I didn’t want to end up killing a lawman, so we took off. I didn’t want that kind of heat on our asses.  Fuck, I wanted that gallbladder,” Myon chuckled.

Ulrich laughed loudly and shook his head.

“What’s so funny?” Myron asked in a frustrated tone.

“Was the name of the restaurant New Beginnings, perhaps?”

“Fuck if I know.  I didn’t pay attention. Who cares?” Myron replied as he crossed his arms.

Drake stepped forward and broke his silence.  “Yes, that was the name.  What does it matter?”

Ulrich laughed again.  “You guys are fucked.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry asked.

“A man named Chad Stone runs the restaurant, and he just started a little farm out back of his restaurant.  That bear you were trying to kill belonged to him and his kitsune girl. The bear’s name was Henegar. He’s brought him here a few times. Cute.”

Myron furrowed his brow. “So?”  

“You fucked with the wrong man.  You’ve made the biggest mistake of your life.”

“Why is that?” Drake asked with wide eyes that reflected the large bonfire close by.

“Chad Stone is a barbarian,” Ulrich laughed even louder, which caught the attention of several other adventurers close by.  They walked over to see what the commotion was all about.

“I think the three of us won’t have a problem with one measly barbarian,” Myron growled.

Ulrich stepped up on a crate a few feet to his left and turned to the crowd.  “These guys tried to kill Henegar and a couple of Chad Stone’s friends.  They don’t realize what they’ve done.”

There were gasps which turned into laughs from the men, women, and beastkin in the crowd.  Each of the three thugs’ cheeks reddened.  They were still clueless about what they did.

“What have we done, exactly?” Drake asked in an apprehensive demeanor.

“You, my friend, have made an enemy of a barbarian — a S-rank barbarian.  The man is well known in these parts.  He owns the restaurant, the farm, and the bear you tried to kill.  He even does dungeon carries here.  I suggest you run away as fast as you possibly can.  You are fucked and not in a good way,” Ulrich continued to laugh along with the crowd.

Drake’s face turned as white as snow, and he shivered. “By the Nine, what have we done?”

Ulrich leaned over and squinted. “You’ve signed your own death warrant.”

Harry stayed silent and looked toward Summerstar.

Drake grabbed Myron’s arm. “Myron, we’ve gotta get out of here… now.”

Myron nodded, clearly terrified. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They turned and saw an enormous man standing at the gate of the camp.  They couldn’t make out many details because of the night, but they could identify a large battle ax in each hand.

Ulrich shaped his hands like a megaphone immediately.  “Chad, these are the three men you are looking for.  I hope your friends and Henegar are okay.  They’ve been over here bragging about what they did. They are assholes.”

All three of the terrified men turned toward Ulrich and back at the approaching barbarian, frantically shaking their heads.

Chad slammed both axes together and roared.

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