Chapter 168: Chapter 102

Harry glared as Tibs entered the room.

Don had convinced the guard leader to allow Tibs to be present, but Harry wasn’t happy about it. Don looked smug, and for once Tibs thought it was justified. He couldn’t think of one thing the sorcerer could have said to make Harry agree. With them was Cross, who, as someone who worked with the caravan, and hadn’t pissed off the guards, could justify being there and a cleric Tibs didn’t know overseeing Casper’s, the caravan rider, recovery. Tibs didn’t understand why, but unless there was an urgent need for them to leave, the clerics always stayed nearby for a while after healing someone.

Carina had wanted to come, and Jackal had reluctantly said he should be there too, but Don made it clear Harry only agreed to let Tibs come. Mez hadn’t shown an interest in the meeting, and Khumdar had yet to make an appearance. Tibs figured he was still rooting out secrets within the town.

Harry focused on the man reclining on the bed. “Tell us what happened.”

Casper was still pale. His physical injuries were healed, but he was malnourished and dehydrated and looked around nervously, as if he expected someone to jump out of the shadows and drag him back. Tibs wondered how long he was under the care of Sebastian’s people before escaping.

“We were a month out when they attacked,” the man said, his voice rough. “They overwhelmed our guards. There were so many of them we had no chance. They could have captured a city, there were so many.” He fell silent and when he spoke again, his voice was softer. “Few of us died in the attack. They wanted prisoners. Bandits don’t want to keep anyone alive, they just want riches. Most who died did so when it came time to get the caravan moving again. To convince the caravan master to cooperate.” He was quiet again, his gaze distant. Tibs saw no lies in his words, sensed no secrets that felt pertinent.

“Who gives the orders?” Harry asked in what, for the man, felt like a considerate tone.

Casper looked around, surprised and fearful, then calmed. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “I never saw anyone other than our guards. They’d come and take someone away anytime there was a problem. That person never came back. They laughed at us, and those who thought they could make demands on their boss. Some always looked eager to take us away. Some used us for their amusement.” He shuddered.

Tibs glanced at Harry as the man looked at him. They knew who gave the orders. Even if Sebastian wasn’t present, this was his ploy. Was the question to confirm that he was there? Would his presence mean the guild would do something this time?

“I lost track of how long we traveled. They chained the feistier of us to the wagons and forced them to keep up. We just walked along at our pace, so long as we didn’t go too slow for our guards.” He looked at his hands. The right wrist was scared raw where a manacle had been attached. It now looked like an old wound, after the cleric had healed him, but Tibs suspected that for a time, Casper had been chained to a wagon.

“The longer we walked without causing problems, with pacing the wagons, the less the guards paid attention to us. Enough that some thought they could run off. They couldn’t. I didn’t think about running. I knew it was hopeless. We would get where they were taking us and they would end us. I’d given up. I think that’s why I agreed when the others needed people to cause a distraction. We’d fail, but at least it would be over for me then and there. I was tired of waiting.”

The man’s voice turned hollow as he spoke.

Cross placed a hand on his arm and he jerked. “You’re safe,” she said in a soothing tone. “What you tell us will help us save many of them.”

“They can’t be saved,” he replied quietly. “There were a dozen of us. We all rushed through the guard and went for the horses. Five of us made it. I nearly didn’t. I was cut bad as I reached one, but I made it on and galloped off with them. More fell to arrows. I blacked out and woke nearly falling off the horse. I was alone. I didn’t stop. When I found the track, I didn’t know if I was heading toward them, or away anymore. I didn’t care. I rode as hard as I could. Slept in the trees, hoped for something to kill me in the night and end my torment. When I saw the smoke, I thought I was back at Tarlage, instead I’m here, where I’ll die with you.”

“How certain are you about them being in green and black?” Harry asked.

Casper glared at him with the first show of emotion. “I saw those colors anytime they took one of us. Anytime one was taken to be punished or played with. When she took me to—” He stopped.

“How far behind you are they?” Tibs asked as gently as he could.

Casper shrugged.

“Why would they bother with the caravan?” Cross asked.

“My brother want’s to use it to take us by surprise,” Harry said, thoughtful. “I don’t think your escape is a ploy, so he has too many people there for the chain of command to be effective. He won’t know we have been warned, so we can turn this to our advantage. It will have to be discreet, but we can arrange the clearing leading to the town into a trap for them.”

“It’s going to have to be big,” Cross said, as Tibs stared at Harry in surprise. “The caravan I came on had thirty wagons. There could easily be twice that one this one.”

“You’re going to protect the town?” Tibs asked, suspicion and dismay mixed in his voice.

“Of course, I’ll defend the town,” Harry snapped back. There were no lies in the words, but Tibs knew better than to trust that. Harry never lied, but that only spoke of what he believed or wanted, not what the guild would order him to do. Tibs shifted to Casper and again spoke as gently as he could. “Do you know if anyone there has essence? Does magic?” he added at the man’s confused expression.

He shook his head. “I just saw the guards.”

“Adventurers aren’t cheap,” Cross said. “It’s why caravans don’t use them. And wouldn’t the guild know about it? You have to report what you get paid for, right?”

“Those who’ve paid their dues,” Harry said, his tone darkening, “aren’t required to be part of the guild. And not all who leave us do so to go back to a quiet life.”

“And Sebastian has enough coins he can make people forget who they should be loyal to,” Tibs added.

“He isn’t going to throw money at adventurers,” Harry said, “When the cost for one of them can pay for an army.”

“We chased him out of the town,” Cross said. “And if he thinks the guild will get involved this time, can he think that’s going to be enough?”

“My brother is counting on the element of surprise. It’s why he attacked the caravan and not the town with the people he has.”

Tibs shook his head. “He’s going to have adventurers. Even if he thinks a lot of us died in the dungeon.” Knows many did. Tibs wasn’t telling Harry how many of Sebastian’s spies they’d found. That was an argument he didn’t need. “He won’t think we just went back to how things were once he fled.”

“You’re Omegas and Upsilons,” Harry said with only a hint of contempt in his tone. “A few Rhos and not even a handful of Lambda. None of you are far in your trainings. What you did had more to do with luck than being a match for him.”

“Luck isn’t a thing,” Tibs said. “And we had plans, and they work. And we’re going to make plans this time, too. Sebastian knows—”

“You will stay out of this,” Harry ordered. “This isn’t a place for children who think they’re adventurers. I will—”

“Yeah, sure,” Tibs said dismissively. “And while you keep the town safe, just like the last time. We’re going to make plans to do the same. This time we know he’s coming, and we’re all here, not away since the dungeon’s closed. The only thing we need to work out is how long we have until they get here.”

“How long did you ride for?” Cross asked Casper, and the man shrugged.

“If it helps,” the cleric said, surprising Tibs, who’d forgotten the man was there. “The gash in his side had the feel of an injury about a week old.”

“So we have under a week,” Tibs said.

“No,” Cross countered, thinking. “He pushed his horse as hard as he could. That would get him here four, possibly five times faster than the caravan. Unless that man wants to kill the horses before he gets here, there’s only so fast he can move it. We can count on two weeks at a minimum before they get here. To know more precisely, you’ll have to send scouts.”

“I’ll send someone to find out where the caravan is,” Harry said.

“A Runner will—”

“I think this is the guard’s responsibility,” Don said, “not yours.”

Tibs bit back his initial response. “I’ll need to know when the caravan will be here, so I can have my—”

“No,” Harry said. “You will not—”

“Won’t it be better,” Don said, “if Tibs is aware of what the guards are doing, so he can make sure the Runners don’t get in your way? You know they are going to do something. Tibs can’t keep from interfering in your work. So controlling where he goes and what he does will let you better do you work.” The sorcerer looked at Tibs. “You will follow instructions if Harry keeps you involved, right?”

Tibs searched Don’s face for deception. He hadn’t lied, but there was no way he believed the guild would do anything that helped.

“He’s going to hide in his building like last time,” Tibs told Don.

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“I will not,” Harry replied through clenched teeth.

Tibs snorted.

“If you want to be involved,” Don said in a calm tone Tibs hadn’t known the sorcerer capable of. “You need to remember Harry and the guild are in charge here.”

Tibs saw the lie in the words and was comforted that Don wasn’t believing the guild was their ally either.

“Fine. So long as you don’t try to keep us out of the coming fight, we’ll follow your plans.”

* * * * *

Tibs knew they had a problem before Jackal said anything. Tibs looked over the empty room as he stepped into the inn Jackal stood at the counter, with Kroseph and the others who worked there.

“We have a problem,” Jackal said.

Tibs nodded. He knew where the Runners were. He had them setting up ambush points along the road leading to Market Place. It was only one day since Casper’s arrival and Harry hadn’t left the guild building or sent word as to what the plan was, so Tibs was setting up his own battle plan. If Sebastian stuck to pretending it was just a regular caravan, they would have a progression from the entrance of the town to Market Place. Tibs would have people at all points ready for an attack.

That should have left the entire inn for townsfolk to enjoy.

“The town knows my father is on his way.”

“How?” That had been one thing he and Harry had agreed on easily. They weren’t telling the town. “It’s not Don,” he added as Jackal opened his mouth.

“Well, he’s out there now, telling everyone they don’t have anything to worry about. Are you sure he didn’t start this to make himself seem more important?”

“Don knows how bad people panicking will be. There’s going to be a run for the platform as they try to leave and—”

“That’s the second problem we have. People are already there, but the Attendants are gone. Yarton had word sent to me they were being evacuated well before the coming attack. If you’re sure Don isn’t behind it, then I don’t know who let the information out. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for the town to realize the platform is useless, but once they do, they might just start running. I don’t know if anyone here is ready to deal with the wilderness.”

* * * * *

Tibs called over the Runners he saw as he headed for the platform and he had nine of them, not including Jackal, Mez and Carina, who had been running for the inn when he exited it. When he reached Market Place, the crowd was so tight he couldn’t see more than three rows of stalls, and of the platform all he saw was the top of the pillars. They were going to have to push their way through if they wanted—

He felt the essence weave in time to glance at Carina, trying to guess at what she was going, then the thunder clapped over their heads.

“Abyss,” Jackal said, looking like he shouted, but his words were muffled by the ringing in Tibs’s ears. “Warn us next time.”

Tibs agreed with the fighter, but decided, as he saw the crowd turn their way and part, that it was worth it.

Tibs marched to the front.

Don stood on the platform, with his team around him. He looked haggard, the regal robes he’d taken to wear as his badge of office as Voice of the Guild were dirty, and the man looked like he hadn’t slept since they had left Casper to rest. He didn’t look happy to see Tibs, but motioned to the center of the platform instead of commenting.

“What happened?” Tibs demanded once they were there. The distance, along with the runners, keeping any of the townsfolk from hearing them.

“Someone talked,” Don replied. Tibs limited his reply to a glare. “Not one of the guards as far as I could find out. Harry is livid this got out, and he’s ready to throw you in a cell for it.”

“It isn’t me or my people.” Only three Runners outside of his team knew: Quigly, his rogue, and sorcerer. Tibs trusted them.

“I told him as much. That leave everyone in the guild, because as soon as Harry told what he learned from Casper to those who had to know so he can get what he needs to defend the town, word spread. I had people there ask me to confirm what they’d heard.”

“Of course, it’s the guild,” Tibs said. He motioned around them.

“No idea where they are. I came as soon as I learned about the people massing. There were fights the guards managed to break up.”

“The Attendants have left. Jackal got word from someone he knows among them.”

Don ran a hand over his face. “This isn’t good. Without this way to leave, we’re not going to be able to keep anyone from walking out, and the wilderness will kill them if they don’t run unto the caravan, which would be worse, since that’ll tell that tyrant we know he’s coming.”

Tibs looked over the crowd, which had fallen quiet, but was looking expectantly at them. “How do you want to deal with this?”

Don stared at him. “You’re going to let me talk to them?”

“You’re the Voice of the Guild, the Hero of Kragle Rock. I’m just the Savior of the Dungeon, and only to those who remember that. I don’t know how to talk to a crowd. I’m a rogue.”

Don’s expression went from worried as he look the people over, to resigned, then confident as he took a breath. “Okay. You stand by me, you keep your mouth shut, and keep that fighter of yours silent. I might have a way to keep them from running.”

Tibs followed Down as he stepped through the Runners.

“Don’t react to anything Don says,” he ordered Jackal as he walked by him to then stand next to the sorcerer. Hopefully, the shock on Jackal’s face would last until this was over.

Don raised a hand and the growing restlessness of the crowd calmed.

Tibs was impressed.

“Citizens of Kragle Rock,” Don said, voice firm and carrying further than Tibs thought possible without essence. “Today you have learned that the bandit who we chased from our town is on his way back.” Fearful murmurs spread and Don waited a few seconds before raising his hand and, again, the crowd calmed.

“We beat him before. We can beat him again. Not only because we are rightful in our defense, but because this time, the guild will be at our side. We know the enemy is coming. We know when he will be here, and we have time to prepare our defenses.” The crowd became agitated and when Don raised his hand, it took longer for them to quiet.

“I know this is scary. I know that you wanted to be away from this, especially those of you who survived the Siege. I do not know where the Attendants are, but rest assure that the guild will contact them, and they will arrange for the evacuation to begin in an orderly fashion. But know that in the event the Attendants prove to be too cowardly, we will keep you safe. I will see to it that not one of you suffers this time. This will not be a repeat of the Siege.”

The cheers were mixed with fear.

“Some of you have not known him since you arrived after the Siege. But by me stands Tibs, Savior of the Dungeon, who single-handedly kept villains from taking your livelihood away from you. He and the Runners who are responsible for how safe Merchant Row is will be working alongside me and the guild. We, all of us, will keep you safe, no matter what happens.”

This time, the cheer was loud and confident. Don’s smile grew as he straightened, and Tibs’s mood darkened as he began considering the sorcerer had arranged all of this to make himself more important. Then he heard what Don muttered under his breath.

“I fucking hope Tibs has a plan, otherwise we are fucked.”

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