Summary: One holds the past, the other the future, which will prove to be more powerful in this game one has set up.
Past and Future
Chapter 1 By:
TsukasaTheFominian
Kendel wasn't too worried. Sure, there had been roomers of bandits in the area, but most bandits were just small groups of people with swords. There wasn't much that could beat both a well trained Herald and his Companion when they worked together. At the age of 30, Ken was a seasoned Herald who'd been on circuit before, but the recent tales of bandits near this boarder had spooked many of the locals. Most of them dealt with problems every day, but these bandits had been in the woods for a few weeks, and the people couldn't flush them out.
:To be honest dear: came his Companion, Marrie. :The nobles are the only ones complaining. The regular towns folk haven't been bothered at all. No thievin' from them, no pillaging or raping, just constant thefts from the local Lord.: Ken felt his friend smirk. :And from what I've herd, that's not such a bad thing. That Lord seems as crooked as they come:
The man could only smile. He knew that his partner was right, that the current Lord of the region was scum, and that he hadn't lost anything that would crush his household. Ken and Marrie also knew that the "bandits" had also been spending their money at the villages on either side of the forest, helping the local economy as well as leaving the people alone.
:True, but the law is still the law. And thieves are still thieves. I'm still a Herald and its my job to uphold the law as best I can, even if it involves catching harmless thieves.:
If he had saved that thought for only a minuet later, he would never had called them harmless. Three men jumped up from the earth and attacked the duo. In the brief time that Ken could think, he saw that they had dug holes in the ground and covered the tops with blankets covered with dirt, moss, and grass, making it impossible to tell there was anything there.
The Herald felt confident of his chances before one of the men threw something at his Companion. Something that, when it connected, trapped Marrie's mind making it impossible for her to use Mindspeech, let alone help him. Or even stand for that matter. The horse fell to the ground, forcing her rider to jump off her back, where he was over taken by two of the bandits, while the third pressed something against his mouth and nose. The shock of what happened in the course of five seconds forced him to breath in the rag, and the magical vapors which the cloth was soaked in caused Ken to feel sleepy. A few more seconds passed and the Herald was out cold.
A whistle from one of the men, and a group with a cart was there, ready to take the prisoners back to camp.
"Kid's toys really work great, don't they?"
"I've heard that Fid been teaching him how to do it."
"Somebody must be teachin' him. The brat may be a mage, but he's still only 15, no matter how skilled he is."
"Stop yappin you idiots." Their group leader yells. "You can chit-chat when we get back to camp."
With that, the men loaded up their prisoners and haled them away. In a tent back at their camp, a young man 20 years of age laid back on some pillows and smiled. "This should be a fun game." The young man's eyes unfocused and he simply stared at nothing, but all the while looking at something else.
The future.
Kendel had hoped it was all a dream, but knew it wasn't. The restraints that bound him were ample proof of that. Nothing really hurt at all though, and that was something to be happy about. A survey of his surroundings told him that he was in the middle of a tent, a large tent with only one exit. The pole he was tied to was in the exact center of the prison, making it easy for his two guards to see if he was trying to get out.
One of the guards looked like a well off bandit; his cloths and equipment weren't junk, but it wasn't brand new either. Ken could also tell from the man's stance that he was very good at what he did.
The other man… scratch that, this other person was just a boy. A teen at the most, maybe 16 years of age. The boy's blue eyes, slight build, and black hair were well cared for. He didn't seem afraid or worried. In fact, the looked pleased and excited.
"So it really worked." Ken assumed the boy was talking to himself. "Fid told me it would, but its still cool to see it happen."
As fun as it is listening to you talk to yourself kid, I wana know what's happened. "Where am I? What happened? And who are you?" They were standard questions yes, but every prisoner should know what's going on.
"To answer your second question, those men use powerful magical items to knock you and your Companion out. For the first, you are in our main camp. And last, I'm known to most as Kid."
Ken needed to get some info fast, so he decided to use his Mindspeech and dig around for some information. Unfortunately he soon found out that he couldn't. Something was blocking his Gift. It was something close by, because he couldn't even hear the thoughts of the two in front of him. He couldn't imagine the man blocking him. He looked like a fighter, pure and simple. The boy however, was dressed in robes like a mage.
"Are you the one who's blocking my Gift?"
The boy just smiled like it was all just a game. "Yes and no." He looked silent for a moment, like he wasn't going to continue, but he elaborated. He started by tapping on a metal band that was on his arm. "I made this thing to seal Mindspeech. As long as you wear it, the only time you'll be able to Mindspeech another is if you're touching them and if they're wearing one of these too." Kendel wondered if Marrie had something like that too, but Kid gave him the bad news. "Your Companion has the same thing on her. You guys may be our guests, but we can't let you go telling everyone what we're doing and where we are."
"You're a mage? And what do you mean guests?"
The young man simply made a bow. "I am Kid. Journeyman level mage, soon to be Master if I can do everything right. And you are the prisoner/guest of Mr. Evandar Skeith, leader of the No-Names."
Ken just wondered where the hell he was and where this teen's sanity went. The guard seemed to understand what Ken was thinking and explained for him. "After Evan's group got to be around 10 members, the member's started to wonder what we should call ourselves. Evan didn't really care what our name was, so people just started flinging suggestions out. Someone said that since we didn't have a name, that maybe we should just be called the No-Names. Everyone liked it, so the name stuck."
"Reso, I wanted to tell the story."
"You weren't even here when we decided the name."
"That doesn't mean I couldn't have told the story."
Despite having the name thing cleared up, Ken was still slightly confused about the whole prisoner/guest thing. The Reso character understood that as well.
"As for the other part, Evan told us that while you couldn't leave the campground, that you also were not allowed to be hurt by anyone, for any reason. In one respect, you are our prisoner, but in the other, you are our guest."
Ken simply wondered what being a prisoner/guest entailed, and simply wondered what the future held. "Can I see Marrie? I'm not really used to not being able to talk to her."
"As long as you have a chaperone with you, you can go anywhere you want. The only places that are forbidden are the Captain's Tent, Mage Tent, and Fid's Tent." Reso was busy untying the Herald while he explained this. Kid took it upon himself to give further explanations.
"The Captain's Tent is where Evan and Gael stay, make their plan and interview people. Mage Tent is where I keep all of my magical supplies, and Fid's Tent is where Fid stays. We'll show you where those are so you won't try to go there by mistake."
That's a nice way of saying that if I go there, they'll skin me alive. Despite that knowledge, Ken thought these people were being very nice. No threats, no rough treatment, no pain, if he didn't know any better, the Herald would have assumed they were a group of mercenaries, not bandits. The people outside his cell/tent gave him the same feeling and impression. Some were running chores, some had guard duty, others were just relaxing, but Ken didn't get the feeling that he was in danger or that any of these people would hurt him.
The three off-limits tents were easy to spot. They were the largest in the group, but not by a lot. Captain's Tent was largest of the three, second was Fid's Tent, and last was the Mage Tent. These three tents were larger because those used them were important. Ken could understand why their Captain would get a larger size (he didn't know who Gael was but he planned on asking) and why the Mages would get a large one too, but he didn't know why this Fid person would get a tent to himself.
He chose not to ask because they were getting close to the horse corral near the center of the camp. There he saw his Companion Marrie chained to a thick fence post. She had enough slack so she could walk around a little, but not a lot. The chain seemed well secured too, it was impossible for her to break free and try to get help. These guys are too good. How do they know so much?
When she'd seen them coming, Marrie had walked as close to the fence as possible. After getting permission, and Kid's cheerily reminding him that he was a guest and could go anywhere he wanted except outside of the tent perimeter and to the restricted places, he walked hopped the fence and walked up to his Companion. He noted that her restraints didn't have a lock on them, making them magically sealed. He put his hand on his friends neck and got a blast of Mindspeech.
:-YOU HERE ME?! PLEASE TALK TO ME KEN!!: Marrie was worried, anxious, and most of all, loud.
:I can here you now love, I just needed to make contact with you.:
Marrie changed her tone back to normal :Thank the gods, I was going crazy not being able to talk to you. How did you know we needed to touch?:
:That's what that Mage over there said. It seems we're in a strange situation.: Ken filled her in on everything that had happened, there restrictions, and that he hadn't been harmed.
:There hasn't been much going on my end. Whatever they used paralyzed my mind and I didn't know what was happening. When they undid everything, I was already chained up and had my Mindspeech blocked. I have learned that while their captain Evan is important, this Fid is equally special.:
:You know why?:
:Just that he seems to know a lot. He's the one who taught Kid how to make those magical items, who helps Even and Gael plans their raids, and he also knew about Companions being intelligent. To hear the men talking, you'd think he knows everything.:
:You sure seem to know a lot, do you know who this Gael is?:
:She's Even's lover and Co-Captain. I know so much because the bandits seem to be more open mouthed around horses, even after Fid's warnings.:
:Huh?:
:One of the bandits said they should watch what they say around me because Fid said I was intelligent and could understand what they're talking about. Some of them seemed to believe because they moved to talk elsewhere, but others just laughed saying that Fid had finally grown a sense of humor.:
:He sounds like a mage to me.:
:Whoever he is, he's one of the top dogs.:
The two talked for a while longer before Ken finally decided to leave and try to learn more. When he looked back at his guards, he found only Reso was left.
Kid had finally gone to visit Fid. The Mage knew about his friend's powers and understood that man would never jeopardize the group. Kid also knew the Forseer, the Prophet as some of the men called him sometimes, loved to play games and have fun. He wanted to know if there was another way they could have done everything or if the man had lead them down their current path just for his amusement again.
As he approached the large tent, he thought he heard Fid talking to someone. When pulled back the tent flap the young mage herd his friend say, "…ready, set, Go." A quick glance around the tent didn't tell him much, so he tried the direct path. "Who where you just talking to Fid?"
"Just the future my young mage friend. What brings you here?"
"Don't you know already?"
"It wouldn't be very fun to look at everything that's going to happen."
Kid just sigh, "Alright, are you sure it was a good idea, capturing the Herald like that? What if they come after us?"
"They were already after us my young friend." If you could do anything to piss Kid off, it was to treat him like a little kid. You're only 5 years older then I am! That's not enough for you to talk like you're my father or uncle. "This Herald was very good at tracking. If we'd left, he would have eventually found our campsite, followed us, and eventually caught up with us. All the while learning what he could and reporting it to the Heraldic Circle." He laid back on one of the many large pillows in the room. The man's condition made him weak, so he was kept as comfortable as possible.
"Now we'll have a few weeks until they discover their Herald is missing and decide who to send to search for him. If they send just an ordinary Herald, then it won't be as fun. But… if He decided to go along, then things will get very interesting."
"He?"
"Yes, the one who holds the past."