Disclaimer: I only own Alexandria, the Sparhawk chars belong to Eddings. Please R&R, thanks. It's set before Tamuli
Alexandria slowly made her way south through the dark forest, night had fallen a short while ago as she slowly lead her horse through the forest so it would not stumble. She was a short, dark haired woman of 20 although if you saw her you might mistake her for a boy as she wore dark hide trousers, a thick leather jerkin and long dark cloak. A large dagger from one hip and the hilt of a broad sword poked out of the top of her cloak.
She was carrying an important message, she didn't know what was in it she wasn't that stupid to look but she knew she had to get it there fast and safely. She had left her home in Thalesia and was now travelling over the Eosian continent to Elenia and its capital city.
She had so far out ran trolls, out sailed pirates, and out ran brigands all set on stopping her. Whether intentional or not she didn't know and was about to hang around to find out. It was more than her live was worth to let this message fall into the wrong hands, or so she had been told.
Her plans were to drop off the message and make it back to Thalesia before her family found out she was around. She had heard some very disturbing stories about them, ones she was very happy to stay away from. After all she still had enemies she was sure in Cimmura who would happily see her killed, so she had another reason to hurry. For the umpteenth time since she got this job she cursed her boss.
She was making a good living doing what she did for a living even if it was a little dodgy sometimes. However she had been pulled from her last 'job' and given the mission of delivering this message to Platime. She apparently, so Stragen told her, had all the necessary skills needed to carry out this job for him.
She was half worried he was selling her out but then he didn't know about her past no one did and she liked it that way. She had a chance to go back to her family after the troubles died down but she chose not to. She didn't want to make things awkward for them and she was quite happy being a sword for hire and occasional thief.
She was staying away from the main highway hence travelling through a forest in the dark. She hadn't found anywhere decent to camp. Finally she stopped in a small clearing and tied up her horse. She took of her saddle and brushed the dark monster down; he had quite a temper on him when he wanted to. She then curled up in her cloak and fell into a light sleep, staying watchful for any noise out of the ordinary.
OOOOO
She awoke a few hours later just before sun up and ate a light breakfast of bread and cheese. At the pace she was pushing herself and her horse they were both becoming weary and exhausted of travelling. But she thought she was only a few days away from Cimmura now. A city she hadn't visited in many years, one she hadn't planned to visit again. It held too many bad memories and a few good ones.
It had been about 6 years since she had left Cimmura on her own with no one to watch over her she knew it was too dangerous to stay behind in the city waiting for the time when Annias's men finally caught up with her again. She had barely escaped them the first time.
About midday she left the forest and rode Ch'al along one of the less well travelled roads that lead to the capital city. She decided at the next village she passed through she'd stop and get some more supplies to last her the next two days until she reached her destination.
Unfortunately because she was travelling the less well know roads it meant it was nearing dusk when she finally found a village. As she neared it something didn't feel right, it was way too quiet even for a village this small. The few huts had no lights in the windows and nobody seemed to be moving around.
She dismounted her horse and stood watching to see if she could either hear or see anyone. Ch'al flicked his ears and snorted, he didn't much like this either.
She looked around, she had picked a bad time to come across this village, dusk was yet beginning and the light was beginning to fade. She remounted deciding that if she needed to get out of here fast then she wanted to be ready.
She moved Ch'al on slowly through the village while she looked out for trouble. As she began moving past the few huts she saw the tell tale signs of a fight and from the remains of the bodies it was a very one sided one. I looked like some creature had attacked them.
From the fact that the blood hadn't begun congealing she figured that the attack wasn't all that long ago. Deciding she'd manage with what food supplies she had left she kicked Ch'al into a gallop.
Off to the right she save the creature, it was about six foot tall, brownish grey and massively built. It was definitely something from nightmares; it looked up at her as she hurtled past, it's dark eyes following her path but deciding not to follow her it went back to eating one of the villagers.
She shivered as the sun set and they kept the pace up for a fair distance. Once Alex thought she had put enough space between herself and the creature she slowed Ch'al to a walk. She dismounted shortly later and lead Ch'al along the rode giving the poor horse a bit of a rest.
They continued walking through the night and soon were in a small forest again. She planned to stop in a suitable area and get some sleep before continuing on to the city which wasn't far away now.
However that plan was ruined when she was suddenly knocked from her feet and found herself lying on her back in the dirt.
"We'll just take that horse sonny" came a harsh voice from up ahead of her. It took only a moment for her to realise what had happened. She flipped to her feet and drew her sword in one swift moment. She saw two bandit types ahead of her and one behind her.
The one making a grab for Ch'al's reins regretted it a moment later when the horse proceeded to bite his hand then stomp on his foot.
The other too moved towards her "you don't want to die for that horse now do you sonny?" asked the one that had spoken earlier.
She just grinned "do you?" She asked as she swung for the man behind her, her grin getting bigger as she parried his clumsy swipe and her sword bit deep into his side.
She turned back in time to dodge the blow from the talkative one, he was a bit better trained but was no match for her. She soon dispatched him and glared at the other man Ch'al was trying to stamp on, he looked at the bodies of his two companions and ran off into the forest.
She touched Ch'al's shoulder to calm him "it's okay" she said quietly to him. She looked down at the wood and feather shaft that had knocked her off her feet now buried in her taut stomach "shit" she said studying the wound more closely.
She snapped the feathered end off and left the rest in place; it would stem most of the bleeding her main worry was infection setting in. She would now have to skip her sleep and push on to the city.
She kicked herself mentally for not paying more attention as she cleaned and resheathed her blade. She searched the two fallen men in case they had anything useful on them but they were petty criminals so had nothing useful at all, not even some food.
OOOOO
It was getting on for evening when they finally reached the gates of the big city, Alex was weary and sore by the time they did. She passed through the gates and headed straight for the seeder side of the city. She made her way to an inn that was safe for people like her run by one of Platime's people. She Stabled her exhausted horse giving the stable boy a few extra coins to make sure he took good care of him.
She decided to head to Platime's cellar first knowing he'd have a sawbones to patch her up and she wanted to get rid of this message as fast as she could so she could leave first thing in the morning.
She gave the relevant passwords that Stragen had given her and past through and down the stairs. She was led over to the enormous man talking to a couple of well armed men.
She sat and waited for them to finish talking. Without appearing to she studied the two men talking with the chief of thieves in Cimmura. She realised that only was hardly more than a boy but of large build, similar to the young man sitting beside him. From their appearance they looked to be related and both seemed to know how to handle the weapons they were carrying.
As they walked past her she thought that they looked a little familiar but she couldn't place where from.
She stood up and walked over to where Platime lounged on his large chair munching on some chicken. Still standing with her hand pressed against her aching side she held out the message tube "Stragen wanted this delivered to you" she said to him.
He wiped his greasy hands down his trousers before accepting the tube and opening it. He read the contents twice before he looked up at the messenger seeing her holding her side he asked "you hurt?"
"Got caught by bandits and took a hit, you got a sawbones around who is decent and can patch me up before I leave tomorrow, if you want to send a message back you'll have to let me know by then" she told him.
He smiled at her "sure I'll get him to have a look at you, wait over there that's his area" he said pointing off to one better lit corner while he sent a boy to get the doctor.
She went to where he indicated and watched as a small balding man wearing spectacles came in. He walked over to Platime and the two talked, she was too far away to hear what they said. But she saw the doctor look over at her and nod.
He walked over to her "ah my dear would you come this way, take over your cloak and vest and please pull up your shirt so I can see your wound" he told her "please lie on the bed when you are ready" he added.
As she undressed he pulled a curtain across and started bringing out his instruments, she noted that they were all very clean looking. She lay down on the bed and pulled her shirt up past the area with the arrow in it. She could smell drink on the doc but his hand seemed steady as he examined the wound.
"Hmmm I think that I'll give you something to dull the pain before I deal with removing that arrow" he said to her. A short time later he returned with a mug "please drink this all up" he said to her.
She complied and drunk the bitter tasting drink. Soon she felt her eyelids drooping and knew that it wasn't just a pain killer in the drink but a sedative as well. She tried to move but her exhausted and injured body couldn't fight of the drugs and soon all she knew was blackness.
OOOOO
The doc finished treating her as fast as he could before the drugs would wear off. He then signalled the two men playtime had sent over. They carefully wrapped her in blankets and picking up her and her belongings they carried her out to the waiting cart. They had strict orders of where to take her and fearing Platime's threat if they didn't took her straight there. Just to make sure Platime went with them riding along in the front of the cart.
He had to explain to the guards why they were wanting through and after a tense 5 minutes they were admitted to the court yard beyond. They stopped their cart just inside the gates. They had no wish to stay here any longer than they really had too. The two helpers were unloading their charge when she started moving.
OOOOO
Alex had come too just after the cart had stopped for the second time. It took her a few moments to realise she was wrapped up in some rough blankets and lying on the back of a cart. She didn't know where they had taken her but she did know they had drugged her and moved her, she knew it wouldn't be good and that Platime must have betrayed her.
She silently vowed to gut the old git before she was killed. She could only think that he had sold her out to some of Annias' old acquaintances, as far as she knew there was still a price on her head.
She knew she had no weapons on her as she had removed her main ones so the doc could treat her. She had two knives in her boots but she couldn't reach them just yet.
She waited until they had their hands full moving her off the cart before she made her move. She kicked out at the man carrying her feet; she smiled as he yelped in pain as she caught him somewhere tender.
As she fell she managed to unwrap herself from the blankets and she leapt up to attack the other man. She brought the heel of her hand up to break his nose before hitting him in the stomach with the other hand and then bringing her first hand up she hit him with an uppercut to the jaw.
As he fell unconscious to the floor she spun to punch the other guy who was just recovering. She hit him square in the face, the force knocking him off his feet and on to his ass. He groaned before falling backwards.
She shook her hand as she turned to the fat man standing by the front of the cart "you sold me out" she growled as she reached down for one of the knives in her boots.
As she did she realised her surroundings "shit!" she swore looking around to the gates and the two armoured guards there watching with amusement on their faces. She saw the high forbidding walls and the keep, she knew this place was not easy to get out of. She was wondering how the hell she was going to escape when one of the figures who had been watching from the shadows stepped in to the light and asked in a shocked voice "Alexandria?"
"Shit!" she swore again as she slowly turned around seeing who it was her mind and body decided it had had enough shocks for the day and she slowly, gracefully sunk to the ground.
OOOOO