Robert and Blade made their way through the quiet night streets. They’d stopped at the inn just long enough to change into their traveling clothes and pack their gear. Robert now carried his crossbow and six quarrels. Blade wore her old armor and sword. The new armor she’d bought creaked too much for sneaking around.
As they made their way toward the Prancing Pegasus tavern, Robert felt dozens of unseen eyes on him. Happily, no one was foolish enough to get in their way. The grim look on Blade’s face more than saw to that.
Near the south edge of the city they stopped in an alley beside a tavern with a winged horse sign in front. Across the street was a sturdy-looking single-story building. Just like the kid had said.
“Think she’s in there?” Blade asked.
“That looks like the building, but the hunter could have sent us on a wild goose chase. You’re the one with the magic, you tell me.”
Blade took the crystal rod out of the satchel she wore. She hesitated a moment then handed the rod to Robert. “You do it. I don’t like magic.”
Robert shrugged, took the rod, and pointed it at the building. It began to glow almost at once.
He grinned. “Looks like she’s in there. I wasn’t sure the spell would still work after Scratch died. Did I ever tell you when I was a kid I always wanted to learn magic?”
“No,” Blade said. “Why didn’t you?”
“My father was like you. He didn’t trust wizards and said he’d be damned before any son of his would study magic. We also spent so much time traveling I wouldn’t have been able to find a teacher even if I’d dared go against him.”
“When this is over and we get the reward from Shara’s father, I think you should give it a try,” Blade said.
“I might just do that,” Robert said. “Think you could stand being married to a wizard?”
“Married?” Blade said softly.
He looked at her, smile gone. “What do you say?”
She looked around the filthy alley. “Hardly the best place for a proposal.”
He grinned. “We seem to be doing a lot of skulking lately. Somehow it seemed appropriate.”
She made a face. “I’ll have to wear a dress.”
“Says who? It’s your wedding, wear whatever you want. That new armor you bought looks pretty good.”
Blade wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re on,” she whispered in his ear.
They spent the rest of the night taking turns watching the hunters’ chapter house. It was a long miserable slog, not unlike the previous night, made tolerable only because they had each other for company. No one stirred until the sun was well up and the sounds of the city coming awake filled the streets.
Robert opened his eyes when Blade shook him.
He groaned. “What?”
“They’re on the move. A group of five just left the building.”
Robert clambered to his feet. “Is she with them?”
“I can’t tell, they’re all wrapped up in cloaks.” She handed him the crystal rod.
Robert poked his head out of the alley. The group of hunters was walking at a steady pace down the street. Four of them surrounded a fifth. They all wore billowing gray cloaks that concealed their features. Robert pointed the crystal at the one in the middle and it started to glow.
He grinned, how predictable.
“They’ve got her. Shara’s in the middle. Let’s see if we can get ahead of them.”
They ran north parallel to the street the hunters had taken. It was still early enough that the majority of the population wasn’t out and about yet. The few that were gave them a curious glance that vanished when they reached for their weapons. The general consensus seemed to be that if a couple of heavily armed people wanted to run through the street, who cared.
They ran five blocks north of the hunters’ chapter house then cut across to the street the hunters had taken. He couldn’t see their prey, but when Robert pointed the crystal down the street it started to glow.
“Did we get too far ahead?” Robert asked between gasps.
“No,” Blade said. “We want to be far enough away that they can’t call their comrades for help. Come on. Let’s find a place to set up.”
Robert followed Blade further up the street without comment. She’d been setting up ambushes since she was a kid, so Robert felt content to follow her lead. When they reached a four-way intersection Blade stopped. On the left was a half-loaded wagon and across from it a shadowy alcove.
“This looks like the best we’re going to find,” Blade said without much enthusiasm. “Get behind the wagon. When the hunters come into view take out one on my side.”
“Right, be careful.” Robert kissed her then took his place behind the wagon.
Blade ducked into the alcove, her dark armor blending with the shadows so that he could barely see her. Robert loaded his crossbow. He’d only get one chance. He had to make it count.
After a nervous few minutes Robert spotted the group approaching. He took out the crystal rod again to make certain Shara was still in the center of their formation. He let out a sigh of relief when it started to glow.
As they passed between him and Blade, Robert drew a bead on the front hunter on Blade’s side of the street.
He held his breath and squeezed the trigger.
The bolt leapt from the string and struck the hunter in the side of the head, killing him instantly.
The moment the crossbow twanged the remained hunters turned to face him.
They drew their longswords and two of them advanced in his direction.
Robert put his foot in the crossbow stirrup and pulled the string up. When they turn to face you look scared, Blade had said.
No problem there.
Robert managed to get the string seated in the firing mechanism. He picked up a quarrel but fumbled it.
Look frantic, Blade had said. Make them think you don’t have a clue what you’re doing. Get them to lower their guard.
A quick look up showed the hunters still had their swords raised but they were both smiling. Robert wasn’t certain if that was a good sign or not. Probably not good for him at any rate.
They were almost within reach when the second hunter screamed behind them. Robert couldn’t see through the two hunters advancing on him but he had a pretty good idea what had happened. With any luck Shara was now free.
The remaining hunters turned toward their stricken comrade. When they did they parted just enough so that Robert could see Blade standing over the dead hunter and another gray form racing away.
She’s safe, thank heaven. The two remaining hunters charged Blade, no doubt hoping to kill her quickly and reclaim their lost bounty.
Stupid.
Robert quit fumbling and reloaded his weapon with the speed of long practice. Never leave an enemy behind you.
He put a bolt between the shoulder blades of the left hunter.
He collapsed, dead or dying, Robert didn’t care which.
The remaining hunter challenged Blade without his friend to back him up. Not a prudent decision if you desired a long life.
The hunter barged in obviously hoping to use his superior size to bowl Blade over.
He was fighting just about the same as Shale.
It seemed all they could see was a woman that couldn’t possibly be a match for someone twice her size.
He learned the folly of that thought when Blade sidestepped and drove her sword through his ribcage impaling both lungs.
The hunter breathed blood and died.
Blade pulled her sword free and cleaned it on the hunter’s gray cloak. “Nice shooting,” she said.
“Thanks, you all right?”
“Yeah, I’ve never fought hunters before. I was hoping for a better workout.”
Robert kicked over the hunter he’d shot. He had a silver pendant around his neck. A quick search revealed the others were low-level members as well. Ever practical, Robert quickly rummaged through their pockets and helped himself to their coin pouches and silver pendants.
“There’s your problem,” Robert said as he finished lifting the last hunter’s valuables. “They’re just a bunch of kids. I guess they figured once they had her, even this lot could keep her.”
“No,” Blade said. “What they figured was no one would dare interfere with them. Did you ever notice how people react to hunters?”
“Yeah,” Robert said as they started down the street after Shara. “Kind of like how a deer reacts to a wolf.”
Blade nodded in agreement. “When most people see a hunter they cross to the other side of the street. They’re scared to death of them.”
“Why is that, do you think?” Robert asked. “The odds of the average person having a bounty on their head are so small it’s almost a joke.”
“True,” Blade agreed. “The problem is everyone can remember someone they’ve pissed off in the past and when they see hunters they wonder, has that person decided the time has come to get even? The hunters have come to rely on that fear. They play on it to get what they want. Unfortunately for the hunters, they can hardly remember a time when the majority of people weren’t afraid of them. That leaves them feeling arrogant and wide open for an attack like this one.”
Robert smiled. “You’ve been giving this a lot of thought, haven’t you?”
“Not that much,” Blade said. “Most of it came to me when I was trying to think of the best way to rescue Shara.”
“Speaking of Shara, where did you send her?”
“I told her to wait for us at the next intersection. There she is.”