Chapter 23
I do not own claymore
A few days later, Sheila, Teresa and Riful set out for the town of Stora and its mill yard.
Unlike before they took a more direct route and unlike before, they were on horseback this time, with two more horses in tow, carrying the extra gear and clothing.
Sheila had with her the prototype arbalest and a set of drawings for it and two other versions.
One, a larger version was intended to be mounted on a pedestal and capable of shooting a yard long, heavyweight bolt.
The other was a smaller version intended for clandestine work, it shot a slender dart meant for more precise shooting.
An assassin's tool, Sid had called it and he had promptly ordered one.
Riful was like a cheerful young girl, out for an adventure with her two best friends.
Being so small, she could sit cross legged on the saddle or lie on her back staring up at the lightly clouded sky, the rocking motion of the horse's gait lulling her to sleep.
Teresa just rolled her silvery gray eyes at Riful's antics, then she grinned at Sheila's efforts to emulate the small abyssal and remarked. "Sheila...I'm afraid you've gotten waaay too big for that kinda stuff!"
Sheila grinned back and retorted, "I can do it, I just need a bigger horse!"
Teresa just laughed and replied,"There ain't any bigger horses, not here at least. Maybe there is some on that other land Miria told us about yesterday."
From where she lay seemingly asleep, Riful commented, "Yeah, what's up with that? Using this land for a test site and we're only the, what did she call them? Lab rats!"
Teresa remarked, "It does make sense if you think about it."
She caressed the gleaming handle of her massive claymore, "These swords are way too heavy for simple sword fighting, only our strength allows us to wield them like we do. They are hard enough and strong enough to cut through almost anything.
"Like Miria pointed out, I've never seen one bend, break or even chip, no matter how badly it was abused. They're unbreakable for all intents and purposes."
Riful sat up with a sigh and remarked quietly, "D'you suppose we abyssals were actually created intentionally as an experiment that failed because we were too independent? The organization certainly didn't tolerate warriors who were too headstrong. 'Impure thoughts' they called it."
She looked at her small hands and muttered, "I think once we've defeated the organization, I'd like to see more of this world besides this small island."
Teresa chuckled and remarked, "I'm inclined to agree with you. We'll finish the job and get off this island...I think I've seen as much of this place as I can stand for one lifetime...What about you, Sheila?"
Sheila looked up from her thoughts and replied,"Maybe I'll go to the northlands of the other continent, the ones here have too many sad memories for me."
Riful shuddered and said, "Brrrr! Not me! I like it where it's warm, it's the southern lands for me!"
Teresa smiled and commented, "Those southern boys'll never know what hit them!"
"Speaking of boys...D'you think Clare will finally hook up with that boy she traveled with? From what Sid and Galk said, it sounds like he's all grown up now and traveling with a little girl he says isn't his." Asked Sheila.
Teresa shrugged and replied,"It's hard to say, this island only has so many places to go, wander around long enough and sooner or later, you'll bump into people you've already met.
I am curious to see what sort of a man he is to have Clare keep searching for him."
Sheila remarked curiously,"Just how many places are there on this island? We saw a lot of it during our travels and haven't been to the same place twice."
Teresa laughed and said, "You've seen a lot more of it than most warriors your age. Many young warriors die in their first year, you've been with me almost four years, which makes you about eighteen now.
"With your strength and experience, if you had stayed with the organization, who knows what ranking you'd have by now."
Sheila grinned and replied cheerfully, "If I had behaved myself, I wouldn't have traveled with you and gained that experience you're referring to, and I would not have met Riful of the west, except maybe at sword point, which most likely would not have ended well for me."
Riful smiled and remarked candidly, "If you two had behaved yourselves I would've died, consumed by those awful, abyssal feeder things. I for one, am glad I met both of you!"
They arrived at the mill yard without incident which led Riful to comment drily,"That was one of my most uneventful journeys ever."
Teresa's sarcastic retort, "In that case, we could always scare up some of those feeders, if you're feeling the need for some excitement."
Was met with Riful's little pink tongue sticking out at Teresa and her crisp reply, "No. Thank you! I'd rather be alone with a room full of handsome men!"
"Someone needs to scratch an itch! Meeeow." Retorted Teresa gleefully.
Sheila merely smiled at the exchange between the two veterans.
Her using the arbalest to kill a reedbuck at two hundred paces was evidently considered nothing unusual for a warrior of her caliber.
The fact that the bolt had easily penetrated clear through the reedbuck's body was also considered routine.
Sheila's insistence on retrieving the bolt had annoyed Riful until Sheila testily remarked in her defense, "That bolt cost good money and I'm not gonna leave it for someone from the organization to find. They'll know about them soon enough!"
Roald, the mill wright carefully studied Sheila's prototype and her drawings before saying, "I can copy this, the metal work's fairly straight forward and our trip hammers can make short work of these bow staves. Getting the springy steel it'll require could be a problem. We'll need a fair amount of bone meal, leather scraps and charcoal for the case hardening process."
The travelers looked at each other and nodded, they knew where there was a lot of bones and no one would care if they took them.
"How many bones are we talking about here and can they be any kind of bone?" Asked Sheila.
Roald replied,"Dried limb bones work best, back bones as well. They're easy to break up and crush into a coarse meal before mixing with the leather bits and charcoal...You have a source?"
His question was met with three enigmatic smiles and he muttered, "Perhaps it's better I don't ask any more questions."
Teresa, Sheila and Riful left the mill yard at dawn, taking only the barest of essentials and several empty canvas bags with them.
Riding at an easy pace, they retraced their route back to where they had found the aftermath of a battle between a pack of yoma and a single warrior.
They had buried the warrior with honors and left the fly blown dead yoma to the carrion birds and beetles.
After the several months since they'd found the battleground, the yoma bodies were now only whitened skeletons bleaching in the sun.
The carrion feeders had picked their bones very clean.
Working quickly, they had gathered most of the yoma bones into a pile, then broke them up with the flats of their great swords to disguise their origins and filled the canvas bags.
By nightfall, they were ready to head back to the mill yard in the morning.
As a tribute to the fallen warrior, Sheila took the twelve yoma skulls they had found and carefully piled them atop the grave of the solitary warrior who had killed them all, before being killed herself.
In the morning before leaving the site, they took a moment to pay their respects to the fallen warrior.
Riful gazed at the grave site and said quietly, "She was a fighter, she fought bravely in spite of knowing she was doomed. Twelve yoma against a single warrior are not good odds, even for a low ranking single digit. She has my respect."
Teresa muttered half to herself, "Unfortunately, our only meeting left me with a bad impression of her. I'm happy to say I was wrong about her and saddened that I couldn't say it to her while she was still alive."
All three of them gave the warrior's great sword pommel a gentle caress before mounting up and riding away, leaving the sword standing there as a silent sentinel, guarding hallowed ground.
The return trip was a bit more challenging as they now had several bulky and awkward bags of crushed yoma bones to contend with.
The biggest challenge was refording the river they had crossed earlier and keeping the bone fragments dry.
Fortunately it had not rained in the last few weeks and it was down to an easy wade for the horses.
Riful thankfully, did not have to resort to her previous trick of releasing her awakened form and extending herself across the river with all of them clinging to her tendrils.
Returning to the mill yard, they saw a couple of well muscled workmen tending a glowing pit of coals.
Sticking out of the fiery pit was a number of red hot bow staves.
One by one they were plucked out of the glowing mass and laid across a massive anvil.
An older man pulled on a rope and a huge trip hammer pounded the glowing metal repeatedly as it faded to a dull red.
The now noticeably different, bow stave was then plunged back into the hot coals to reheat while the next bow stave in line took its fellow's place atween the great hammer and anvil to be reshaped still further.
Roald, the mill wright grinned at the three women staring in fascination at the hellish spectacle unfolding before them.
He called out cheerfully, "It's our own invention, the hammer weighs about five hundred pounds and the anvil weighs nearly a ton. It can really pound steel and wrought iron into shape!"
He pointed out the mechanism of the great trip hammer and said, "The water wheel turns a shaft that powers everything here. Right now, it is driving the big bellows pumping air through all the forges and powering the trip hammer."
He pointed at the older man with the rope, "He's the master blacksmith and operates the trip hammer while the journeymen manipulate the forgings."
Roald beckoned to them and led them to another, no less noisy part of the forge.
Smaller fire pits and individual blacksmiths were busily pounding hot metal into shape, accompanied by the incessant din of hammers striking hot metal.
"These men are making the smaller pieces of your device and our locksmiths will file and fit the pieces together. We're very efficient here!" He said with a grin.
Sheila smiled at him and said cheerfully, "Well, I'm impressed. Anyway, we got you your bone meal for the case hardening process you mentioned."
"Good! I'll have a couple of apprentices mix them with the charcoal and the charred leather for the packing." Said Roald with his normal grin in place.
"Packing?" Asked Sheila.
"Yes, the bow staves and the tumblers will be packed in a bone meal, charred leather and charcoal mixture, sealed in an airtight box and placed in the heat treating furnace for at least a day. Heated to a red heat, the steel will absorb carbon from the packing and become stronger, harder and tougher." Explained Roald with a big grin.
With the delivery of the yoma bones to the mill yard achieved.
Teresa, Sheila and Riful paid a visit to the young warrior's grave.
She had been killed by the monstrous spiderlike thing that had taken over the mill yard and they had buried her after killing it.
To their pleasant surprise, the grave was well tended.
Decorative white stones had been placed around the grave while flowers had been planted upon it.
At the base of the great claymore marking her grave, a small stone plaque had been laid on the soil and on its face was carved the words: Here lies an unknown warrior who died in our defense, we will never forget you. Rest In Peace.
While Teresa and Sheila quietly paid their respects.
Riful began crying, what began as a trickle of tears, soon became a torrent of grief and sorrow.
Riful slowly sagged to the ground and lay curled up on her side while she bawled her eyes out in her grief.
Sheila sat down beside her and simply held her protectively while she sobbed herself out.
After a bit, Riful got back to her feet and wiped the tears from her eyes.
She sniffled slightly and said almost in surprise,"Where did all that come from? I mean I felt badly about this young girl's dying so senselessly like she did, then it was like everything sad I've ever experienced just came up at once, and I just lost it!"
Teresa smiled at her and said gently, "That happened to me when I met Clare. Like all number ones, I was a casehardened bitch."
She said quietly,
"She broke through all that and one day, we had a very good cry together."
She sighed and said wistfully, "I had hoped to find another family for her, for her to live as a human. But, fate decreed otherwise and here we are."
Teresa smiled and exclaimed, "The one good thing that came out of it was that Clare insisted on having my flesh implanted within her body. To do that my body was retrieved and now, I'm alive again!"
The sudden silence of the water works caught their attention and they saw that the great water wheel had stopped after its flood gates upstream had been closed.
The mill yard was shutting down for the night.
Leaving the well tended grave site behind, the trio approached Roald as he was locking up the works for the night.
He smiled at them and said cheerfully, "Everything's in the coal bed and it will take a day or so to cool down enough to retrieve the packing boxes. Then we can open them up and see how everything turned out."
"Then what?" asked Sheila.
"Then we reheat the tumblers and quench them in cold water to harden them. The bows we'll leave be as they'll be nice and springy!" replied Roald with his ever present grin.
"And after that, then what?" Asked Riful.
"After that, you'll take your parts back with you after we've settled our accounts."
Sheila looked a little surprised at his remark about a bill being paid and was about to speak up when Roald grinned and said roguishly,"After this, we won't owe you a thing!"
Flummoxed by this, Sheila spluttered while Roald laughed and said cheerfully,"Did you honestly think we'd forgotten what you did?
"That monster killed my oldest boy and one of my best tool makers, we ran for our lives while it trussed them up.
"Our spears had no effect on it whatsoever and all we could do was run like rabbits. We asked for a claymore and they sent this girl about my daughter's age...It killed her too."
He looked towards the grave site and said quietly, "We fixed up her grave a bit and put that marker there so others would know what she had done. It was the least we could do."
Roald looked Teresa and Sheila over, "I remember you two, you and those other two took out that monster and left in the morning when those claymores and the fellah in black showed up."
Smiling at Riful he said, "I don't remember you and I know I would remember a cutie like you!"
Riful smiled prettily and replied coyly, "I was there alright, I was very sick at the time and barely remember any of it."
Teresa said quietly, "She'd been bitten by the monster while it was trussing her up. She helped by putting up quite a fuss and we were able to kill the beast while it was distracted by her struggling."
Roald smiled, "That means you were in that bundle Stretch here was carrying. Small wonder I missed seeing you."
"Stretch?" Remarked Sheila with a raised eyebrow. "Stretch...Really?"
Teresa chuckled and said cheerfully, "Well...It does fit. You are taller than most people, it's certainly better than 'bean pole'."
"Har, de, har, har!" muttered Sheila.
Riful chuckled and remarked drily, "At least people think you're an adult. Me, with my small stature? Good luck getting a drink at a tavern, if I'm by myself."
Roald asked out of curiosity, "Where are you ladies staying?"
Teresa muttered, "We hadn't planned on staying anywhere, and that tavern in Stora got a little too hot for us the last time we were there, so we bailed."
"Didn't want the claymores to see you?" he asked.
"Not so much the warriors, we can speak their language, it's that whole sisters in arms thingy. The man in black was the one to avoid, we would prefer they didn't know of our whereabouts." Remarked Teresa.
Roald chuckled and said softly, "Then you'd better take horses without a brand from the city of Rabona, next time you're out this way."
Their eyes looked in the direction he was pointing and there in plain sight, was the distinctive cathedral within a circle brand on the horses right thighs.
Teresa grimaced and muttered, "Well, shit! Somebody screwed up!"
Roald smiled again and said, "We're very discreet here! You can camp out here at the mill yard, no one will bother you."
Riful suddenly spoke up, "Maybe these two don't wish to go to the tavern but I do. I didn't get to enjoy myself or have a drink, the last time I was here and I'm thirsty!"
Roald grinned and said, "In that case, may I buy you a drink, pretty lady?"
Riful flashed a beautiful smile and said gaily, "Why, I would love to have a drink with you, kind sir!"
Before either of the two warriors could speak, Riful whispered, "Don't either of you dare to interfere. I haven't had a man flirting with me in waaay too long. Don't worry, my intentions are purely carnal, not dietary!"
Riful smiled at the two astonished warriors and said a cheery, "Don't wait up for me!"
As she took Roald's burly arm and he led her to his wagon, where he helped her climb on board.
Moments later, the wagon had disappeared from view.
Sheila shook herself, blinked and blurted out, "Why didn't you stop her?"
Teresa laughed and said gaily, "Riful is a big girl, she can handle herself, although I suspect she is going to handle him pretty thoroughly tonight."
At Sheila's dumbfounded look, Teresa grinned and retorted, "Don't make me draw pictures...Sheesh!"
Sheila started laughing and when Teresa asked, "What's so funny?"
She replied drily, "Out of all of us, Riful is the only one who's been with a man. The rest of us are like nuns, living in a damn convent!"
Teresa shrugged and commented, "It takes a very horny man to bed one of us, especially after he's seen our scar. Most men will back away after seeing it."
She said quietly, "You've seen her naked, ever notice she lacks that scar? Apparently, the incision heals itself when a warrior awakens."
Sheila remarked casually, "I've heard that Helen can be quite the cat in heat when it suits her."
Teresa shrugged, "Why not? If she can let off a little steam with a willing partner, who're we to judge?"
Sheila said quietly, "That boy who traveled with Clare, do you think he and Clare...?"
"If you're so curious, why don't you ask Clare yourself?" Muttered Teresa.
Sheila fell silent and stared into the cheery fire she had built.
The bits of wood crackled as the flames slowly ate into them and consumed them.
"First off, he was a boy of about 13 or 14, hardly a man able to seduce a warrior. That she cares for him is fairly obvious and what she does when and if they meet again, remains to be seen.
"This Raki should be a grown man by now and more to her liking. Sid and Galk's mention of him carrying a claymore is what interested me.
"Why would he carry such a blade? Does he expect to fight yoma's with it and how would he be able to spot one?"
Her soliloquy finished, Teresa lapsed into silence and she too, stared into the small fire Sheila had built.
They woke up with the dawn and watched as the mill yard was opened up by the shop foreman.
He inspected the fire pit where the packing boxes had spent the night soaking in the heat.
The fire pit was still pretty hot when he gestured to a couple of well muscled laborers, who took long handled hooks and began retrieving the packing boxes by pulling them out of the hot coals by their handles.
Watching the men at their labors, Teresa muttered, "I can't say I blame Riful for wanting to play, they are nice and muscular!"
Sheila found herself nodding in agreement, then remembered her age and blushed, to Teresa's amusement.
It was late morning by the time Roald, with a look of stunned disbelief on his face, and Riful, with a look of smug satisfaction on hers, arrived at the mill yard.
All the packing boxes had been retrieved and opened, the contents inspected and assorted by that which required further heating and quenching and that which was finished.
The tumblers were already heating up to be quenched while the bow staves were ready for delivery.
Sheila was admiring the subtle colors left by the casehardening process, when she realized there were far more bow staves than she had originally ordered.
At the look on her face, the shop foreman grinned and said cheerfully,"The boss told us to make a few more of these, he said you wouldn't mind."
"And what if I did mind?" Asked Sheila, "I asked for twenty-five to be made, I see nearly double that amount. Not that I really care, I kinda figured he'd see a market for these and make a few extras. I just like to be kissed before I get screwed!" She grumbled.
The shop foreman looked very uncomfortable and stammered, "S...Sorry miss, I thought it was okay."
"It's not your fault, you just work here. Roald made that decision, not you. I'll bet he'll put his name on them too. Even though they're my design, he'll doubtless claim credit for them!"Grumbled Sheila.
By the end of the day, the job was finished and Sheila carefully loaded the extra horses with the bow staves and tumblers.
When she was finished, she nodded at Teresa and Riful then mounted her horse, Teresa mounted up and Riful said a quick good bye to Roald before mounting her own horse.
She smiled to herself as they rode away from the bustling mill yard and Teresa remarked quietly, "I take it you enjoyed yourself?"
Riful smiled wickedly and replied coyly, "He was mildly amusing and came well equipped. Yes, I enjoyed myself, you could say."
Teresa merely smiled at her reply.
Not paying attention to their chatter, Sheila rode along, lost in thought. She was wondering if the Rabona city armory could make all the wrought iron tips that would be needed for the bolts.
She didn't feel like dealing with Roald anymore after his little performance earlier.
Riful's voice breaking into her train of thought caused her to grumble, "What?!" in reply.
Riful looked at her in surprise and said crisply,"Don't you take that tone with me, young lady!"
Sheila glared at her briefly then said testily,"While you were out scratching that itch with Roald, he was not only screwing you...He was screwing me! They made a bunch of extra bow staves and tumblers and will doubtless, take credit for my design. In short, I got screwed and didn't even get to enjoy it."
Riful looked surprised, then sighed and said quietly, "If you like, we can go back and I can put some fear into him."
"Don't do that!" cried Sheila, "It's only money. We need you to remain dead to the organization, if you go back and scare him, he could report you to the organization and our efforts at hiding you will be all for naught. No, it's okay, really, it's okay!"
They rode on in silence and after a while, Riful said softly,"For what it's worth, I'm sorry about what happened to you back there, I should've been more alert."
"It's not your fault really. I was a little too trusting and just wanted to get my arbalests made, we'll have to wait and see what he does next. I just don't see myself rushing to his aid next time around." Replied Sheila.
The ride back to Rabona was mostly uneventful, except for when the trio bumped into a pair of warriors they'd met before.
Patrice No. 24 and her presumed lover, Claudia No. 36.
Stopping to water their horses, the trio had dismounted to stretch their legs a bit, when the two warriors emerged from the dense brush near the watering hole with their sword hands hovering near their sword handles.
Teresa looked at them with almost insolent casualness, she was clearly not impressed.
Sheila smiled at Patrice and said cooly, "You may as well relax, we're not interested in fighting you two. If we were, you'd be dead already."
Claudia glared and tugged on her sword handle.
There was a loud 'Clang!' and her claymore went flying while she stood there with a stunned look on her face, her hand stinging from the shock of being disarmed so quickly.
Teresa merely smiled as Sheila rehung her own claymore while saying bluntly, "Don't be an idiot!You have no concept of how foolish a move you made just now."
Patrice said quietly, "You've been training, I don't recall you being so fast with your sword before."
Sheila smiled at her former training companion and replied,"I've had a few very good teachers. That, and a bunch of yoma killings and fights with awakened beings, will sort out a slow learner fairly quickly."
"I'll bet it did, that trick with the unhitching, slashing and rehitching your sword all in one move, was not taught during training. You learned that from someone, a powerful someone!" remarked Patrice.
"You could say that!" replied Sheila with a grin.
Claudia, having retrieved her claymore from the brush where it had landed.
Slowly rehitched it and worked her sword hand while waiting for the tingling sensation caused by Sheila's sudden move, to go away.
She said quietly, "Are you all responsible for killing the monster at the mill yard and burying that young warrior's remains?"
"And if we are?" Replied Teresa cooly.
Claudia said quietly, "Then I owe you my thanks...That warrior was my cousin Friede, she was a number 40, it was only her third assignment."
Teresa's silver eyes narrowed and she growled, "Those bastards may as well have sent her to be executed...She never had a chance. It took the four of us to kill it and afterwards, we found her remains. We buried her and left her ascot where it could be found by the organization's men."
"How did you and your cousin Friede get mixed up in this?" Asked Teresa.
Claudia thought for a moment, then asked her own question. "How do I know you won't relay my answer to the organization?"
Teresa chuckled, "Seriously? I could be asking you the same question. Did you report our encounter in that alleyway or did you conveniently have a 'memory lapse'? Hmmm?"
Patrice grinned, "Touche! She has a point. No, we did not report our encounter with you guys. We figured the questioning and the likely punishment we'd get wasn't worth it."
Claudia said quietly, "Our village was attacked by several yoma and we hid while our parents fought them. Somehow, one of the yoma was killed and that made it even worse. They went crazy after that and killed every adult and older child they found. The next day the men in black showed up and took Friede, myself and one other girl. They sold her because she was too old for implantation, while Friede and I were taken to the east."
Teresa looked over at Riful and Sheila, "Maybe there really is something to what Miria said about the pattern of yoma or awakened being attacks and the sudden appearance of men in black, who then take all the young girls."
"That certainly is my story and Sheila's as well, I'll bet Patrice has a similar story to tell..." Said Riful who had been listening quietly.
Patrice frowned then said, "Claudia pretty much told my story, word for word. I won't bore you with the gory details, but I've heard simlar tales from other girls about their joining the organization."
She looked at Teresa and said, "Of course, we don't let the men in black overhear us talking among ourselves about these things. They would frown upon it and wouldn't tolerate it. Still, we do form friendships based on our mutual need to survive. I met Claudia here during training, after Bean pole here left with you."
Sheila rolled her silver eyes as Teresa and Riful snickered at her trainee nickname and remarked, "I think I'd much prefer being called 'stretch' rather than 'bean pole', if you insist on saddling me with a stupid nickname."
Patrice smiled at her and said cheerfully, "Sorry, but when I first saw you, it was right after implantation and you were the tallest, skinniest girl I'd ever seen. Naturally we came up with 'bean pole' and while you're still the tallest girl I've ever seen, you are definitely, not skinny anymore!"
Teresa chuckled at Sheila's look of surprise and commented,"You may not have realized it but you really do stand out, you're taller than even Captain Galk and you have looks to go with your height. In short, you're really well built."
Claudia remarked solemnly, "Go ahead and say it. Sheila...You're built like a brick shit house!"
Sheila's face reddened as the others shared a laugh at her expense.
After wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes, Patrice said cheerfully, "It was a pleasure seeing you all again and catching up. Things you all said have given us much to think about in regard to the organization.
"This Miria you speak of, she must be quite the leader to have warriors like you on her side."
"It isn't so much as she is a leader as she has a mission in her life. Miria has explored this island more than just about anybody, gathering evidence and facts to support her arguments. "She recently revealed much of this to us and her revelations answered a lot of those little questions hiding in the backs of our minds, questions we all tried to ignore." Replied Riful.
"Such as?" Asked Claudia.
Sheila chimed in, "We just left the biggest mill yard around. They can make all sorts of things out of iron and steel with some really big machines they've built."
Sheila unhitched her massive claymore and held it out.
"Yet, in spite of all their machinery and the skilled craftsmen working them. They could not duplicate this sword, nor can they make a metal as hard as this."
Sheila looked at the two warriors and asked, "Have either of you ever heard of one of these bending, breaking or even getting chipped? How many times have you accidentally hit something while fighting a yoma or an awakened being? Plenty of times I'll bet, I know I've cut down more than a few trees by accident while fighting in a forest."
Gesturing at Teresa, she said, "Teresa has probably fought more than most of the new generation of warriors combined, yet her sword looks very much like a new one except for the well polished handle, side by side they'd look very much the same. If anyone could break one of these, it would have to be Teresa of the faint smile."
"And your point in all this?" Asked Claudia.
"My point? My point is that these swords could not have been made here, they had to come from somewhere else. Miria claims that even the organization lacks the means to make these blades and that mill yard certainly couldn't, we checked it out pretty thoroughly."
Claudia mulled over Sheila's last remarks and said, "Now what? Do we just go our separate ways now, after hearing all this?"
"Yes we do, you go your way and we'll go ours.
"You'll keep this meeting to yourselves and you'll keep a low profile. You'll continue to be good little warriors and you'll keep your eyes and ears open."
Admonished Teresa.
With that said, the clandestine meeting broke up and the trio remounted their horses to ride away.
Before they departed, Patrice remarked candidly, "You guys might want to use horses that don't have the cathedral in a circle brand on them. Everyone knows that represents Rabona, the holy city. It wouldn't be hard to figure out where you all are staying."
Teresa grimaced once more and muttered, "Wait'll I get my hands on that idiot stable boy!"
She grinned at Patrice and said drily, "You're not the first to make that observation and likely won't be the last!"
Several hours later, they stopped at the Broken Plow tavern for a meal and a drink.
After putting their horses in the corral and relieving them of their saddles and loads.
The trio went inside the cool tavern and found an empty table.
Moments later, a young tavern maid came up to them with a cheery, "Hi! Welcome weary travelers, how may I help you?"
Riful looked the slender, fresh faced girl over and said cheerfully,"You must be new here! I would like a thick, juicy steak, very, very rare, in fact, raw would be just fine and a tankard of ale."
Without batting a lash, the girl replied thoughtfully, "I don't know if I'm allowed to serve ale to someone your age."
Teresa burst out laughing at the look on Riful's adorable little face and said gaily,"It's okay honey, she's of age, she's just small statured!"
The girl nodded her acknowledgement and asked,"Is there anything else you'd like ma'am?"
Teresa grinned, "Two small roasted fowls and two tankards of ale for my friend and I here." She gestured at Sheila, who merely nodded.
Their orders arrived in good time and soon, they were tucking into their meals and ale.
The food and ale was good and both quickly disappeared.
Riful ordered a second nearly raw steak and was soon demolishing that, while Teresa and Sheila nursed their second tankards of ale.
They were on their third tankards, when there was a loud clattering of horse's hooves outside the tavern and moments later, a small troop of loud, obnoxious, heavily armed men came barging into the tavern.
"Service!" yelled the apparent leader, "We want food, drink and wenches!"
He eyed the slender tavern maid and jeered, "Are you the best they got?"
The girl looked aghast as he turned to his fellows and cried, "This skinny little bitch is their tavern wench! Think she could handle all of us?"
He roared with laughter at his own jest while the girl went quite pale.
The landlord hollered bravely, "We're not that kind of an establishment...Please leave, we don't want any trouble!"
The leader laughed uproariously and yelled, "Who do you think you're talking to? We're not a bunch of hayseed farmers, we're entrepreneurs seeking a little food, drink and female companionship. Give us what we want and we may let you live!" He grinned and licked his chops.
Riful muttered to herself, "I've been such a good girl... As a reward, I think I deserve something sweet to eat!"
Teresa murmured in reply,"Do what you like, just be discreet about it. We don't need any witnesses."
The landlord bravely picked up an old sword and brandished it. "I know how to fight, I'm warning you!"
The bandit leader guffawed and declared, "Forget it old man! You're outnumbered eight to one. Even if you were in top shape, you'd still be outmatched...Just give up the food, the beer and the pussy, and maybe, we'll let you live!"
Teresa nodded at Sheila who then stood up.
Towering over everyone, she stepped over by the beleaguered girl and said, "Sorry boys, to get to her, you'll have to go through me first."
She drew her knife for emphasis.
One of the bandits squinted at her and said nervously, "Hey boss? Me thinks she's one o'them claymores, lookit 'er eyes!"
The bandit leader looked closely at her and laughed, "She's no threat to us! Don't you know they have a rule against harming any humans? If they break that rule they'll get hunted down by their own kind."
He grinned and said, "Besides, we still outnumber her by eight to one, how good can a claymore be against eight, armed men?"
Sheila whispered to the frightened girl,"Leave the room, take your boss with you and close the door behind you...Don't come back in until I call for you...Okay?"
When the girl nodded that she understood, Sheila gave her a playful swat on her pert little fanny and she yelped as she scurried out of the tap room, dragging her boss with her.
When the stout kitchen door slammed shut behind them, Sheila stepped in front of the kitchen door and stood there, knife in hand.
Teresa meanwhile, had casually sauntered over to the tavern entrance and stood blocking the exit.
She did not bother with pulling any blades, she only stood there with her enigmatic trademark, faint smile in place.
The eight bandits stood in the middle of the taproom looking puzzled, what was going on? They all wondered.
Riful rose from her chair, stretched like a cat and began removing her clothing to the obvious delight of the bandits.
Riful smiled and said coyly, "I don't want to get any blood on my clothing, it can be so hard to get out of the fabric!"
She stood naked before them, a small woman barely five feet tall and somewhat childlike in build, with small, firm breasts, svelte hips and delicate curves that caught their lustful stares.
One of the bandits muttered, "I don't like this, somethin' ain't right!"and he made a break for it, straight at Teresa who merely cuffed him about the head and sent him staggering back to his fellows, her faint smile still firmly in place.
Riful smiled at the bandits, glanced heavenward and purred softly, "Thank you for this lovely meal!"
Seconds later, her awakened form had filled the taproom, her blades slicing and dicing with appalling speed and chilling accuracy.
The bandits never even had time to scream, their deaths came so swiftly.
A few minutes later, Riful had reverted to her human form and as she pulled on her clothing, she burped and muttered, "They weren't the best tasting I'll admit, but they were filling!"
When she was dressed again, they checked the taproom for blood spatter or missed gobbets of flesh.
Finding none, they nodded at each other and Riful whispered, "I'm very tidy when I eat, I always cleaned my plate when I was little!"
"And you still do!" remarked Teresa as she gathered up the abandoned weapons left behind by their departed owners.
Tying them into a bundle she said, "I'll turn these over to the armorers, they'll make use of them."
Teresa nodded at Sheila and she opened the stout door to the kitchen again, saying cheerfully, "They're gone and they won't be back!"
The girl looked very relieved and she was about to ask what happened when the landlord said gently, "Some things are not meant for you to know, leave it at that."
He grinned at Teresa and said, "I was a small boy when my village was attacked by a bandit horde, a claymore showed up and killed them all...In fact, you kinda look like her. But you couldn't be her, I heard she was killed by the organization, so it's just a coinkydink!"
Teresa grinned at him and said pleasantly, "We do tend to look alike to most people who rarely look us in the eye."
He shrugged and commented,"Claymores do tend to be a little scary in their dealings with people...I guess being half monster tends to harden someone..."
Suddenly remembering who he was talking to, he stammered, "S, Sorry I didn't mean anything by that half monster comment...You seem pretty nice by comparison."
Teresa shrugged and replied casually, "I'm still half monster, make no mistake about that. I just don't need to be the scary claymore warrior anymore, I've outgrown that."
To their mutual surprise, the young tavern maid approached them and handed Teresa a slip of paper, it was the bill.
The landlord looked at the girl in amazement and spluttered, "Are you daft girl? These ladies just saved our asses and kept you from getting gang raped and you're gonna hand them a bill?!"
He snatched the bill from Teresa's hand and tore it up.
"This is on the house!" he declared.
The girl looked like she was about to cry and she stammered, "I...I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do, I've never been in anything like this before!"
Riful's low chuckle interrupted their exchange and she said, "How long have you been working here, dearie?"
The girl answered in a low voice, "Two days..."
"That's why you didn't know I was of drinking age, you're new on the job!"
Declared a smiling Riful of the west.
Riful smiled at the girl, "Name's Riful, pleased to meet you!"
"Same here Riful, my name's Susan!" replied the young tavern maid.
As the two shook hands, Teresa wondered if she had any idea that she was shaking hands with a century old being that could devastate the entire countryside, if she so desired.
Teresa smiled to herself, Riful had become quite the city resident in the three months since she had arrived from the west.
While she still kept a low profile, she had let the hidden warriors know that if Rabona came under attack, she would help defend the city.
Leaving the Broken Plow behind them, riding their own horses and with the string of horses once owned by the small bandit horde in tow, they made their way to the great gates of Rabona, the holy city.
Riful as always, shamelessly flirted with the blushing young guardsman as he checked over their baggage and hastily admitted them after his sergeant said, "They're the good guys, let them through!"
Stopping at the city guard stables, the returned their horses and Teresa had a little 'pep talk' with the stable boy who'd given them horses with the city's distinctive brand marked on them.
The bandits horses gladly joined the others and were soon mingling with the rest of the herd.
Sheila continued on to the armorers, where she handed over the captured weapons, the finished bow staves and other parts to the arms master.
He smiled at her and invited her to observe their progress on a larger, pedestal mounted version of her design.
What she saw was a pair of stout, oaken boards about eight feet long and spaced about two inches apart, mounted in parallel with the tumbler and trigger mechanism placed between the boards.
At the front of this doubled up beam would attach the heavy, ten foot wide bow that would propel the yard long wrought iron bolt.
The back end supported the permanently mounted windlass that would pull the heavy bow back into 'battery' for the next shot.
At the balance point, a stout pintle was fitted that would be inserted into pre installed sockets located along the city walls.
The arms master grinned and said, "For now, we're making this semi-portable. Four men can carry this beam assembly while another four men can carry the bow. Two more men can carry the ammunition.
"Right now, we're installing sockets to accept the pivot pin atop the higher guard towers and a supply of ammunition will be kept at those locations. In a pinch. the arbalest can be worked by resting it on a battlement, it won't be real accurate but, it'll work.
Grinning, he showed her some of the wrought iron bolts the black smiths had been hammering out.
One in particular looked especially grim, it had a barbed head designed to inflict great injury if pulled back out by an enraged awakened being.
Sheila idly picked it up and examined it while he said cheerfully, "That's so it cannot be easily pulled back out!"
She merely smiled and laid it back down amongst its grim fellows.
"When will it be ready?" she asked.
"It's almost ready now, most of the pieces are finished and being fitted together...We should be able to conduct a few test shots in a few more days. We'll start assembling the two man arbalests tomorrow morning." He replied.
Sheila paused a moment and asked,"Out of curiosity, just what name is going on these weapons?"
Without hesitation, he replied cheerfully,"Why, your name of course! The Ericcson arbalest will really help our troops defend this city."
He paused briefly and asked, "That is what we agreed upon months ago, isn't it?"
Sheila smiled at him and remarked, "The mill yard that made the bow staves, apparently made a number of extras without asking me and may be selling them as their own design with their own name on them. Yes, I am not happy about it and I am prepared to do something about it."
With that remark, she took out her sketches of the great water wheel and trip hammer, she had seen at the mill yard near Stora.
Handing them to the arms master she waited while he studied her sketches.
A smile formed on his ruggedly handsome face and he said quietly, "We can copy this. Except we'll have to use horses to power the great wheel."
Sheila grinned and remarked, "It just so happens, the herd has suddenly acquired a dozen new animals."
He asked, "May I keep these? I'll have my designer look them over for ways to adapt them to our needs."
Sheila nodded a yes and he smiled, "Come back in three days and by then, we'll have all of them assembled and ready for issuing to the guards. Maybe we'll even have the big one ready by then too!"
Three days later, Sheila climbed the spiral stairs to her hideout as the great bells tolled the two o'clock hour, she'd been out since early morning observing the testing of the two man arbalests prior to their being issued to the guardsmen.
Then she had watched with bated breath as the new prototype crew served arbalest, slammed a yard long wrought iron bolt right through a heavy sheet of iron backed by a stout tabletop sacrificed for the test shots.
The idea was to simulate awakened being hide, well known for its resistance to the spears and lighter swords wielded by human soldiers.
A midday discussion with the arms master and his designer, ended with the conclusion that the facilities envisioned by Sheila would not fit inside the city walls.
New facilities of that size would have to be built outside the safety and privacy of the city walls.
Facilities that would cost money and the city fathers were notoriously tight fisted.
Rubbing her throbbing temples after returning home, Sheila concluded that she missed battling yoma and awakened beings!
Life was so much simpler then, wander about, detect a yoma aura, enter the village, find the yoma or the awakened being, draw her sword and commence fighting.
Afterwards, leave the corpse either for the carrion feeders or disposal by the human survivors of the attacks.
Accept either payment or heartfelt thanks, then leave before anyone from the organization showed up, asking a bunch of questions.
She needed some exercise!
With all that in mind, she opened the door to their hideaway and got a real eyeful!
A very naked Miata was scampering about trying to evade the grasp of her very frazzled looking handler, Clarice, the color headed warrior.
Clarice was vainly trying to get Miata into the bathtub and Miata wanted no part of it.
Seeing the door's opening to admit Sheila, the wild eyed child made a break for it.
Miata dashed straight towards Sheila and the open door, beyond which lay freedom from the tyranny of baths, smelling nice and proper behavior.
Seeing Miata bearing down on her, Sheila braced herself for the impact.
Miata, while still only a child was a former number four warrior and therefore, quite strong.
Strong enough to tear yomas apart with her bare hands.
Out of nowhere, a dark, ribbonlike tendril wrapped itself around the fleeing pre-teen's slender waist and lifted her off her feet.
Miata's legs flailed uselessly and she wailed, "No fair! Auntie Riful, I don' wanna take a bath, I hate baths!"
Riful drew the rebellious pre-teen back to her as she sipped her tea.
Setting Miata back down again, Riful's ebon hued tendril remained snug around her waist as Riful said firmly, "You are required to bathe regularly just like the rest of us. Girls are not supposed to smell bad, we'll leave that to the boys! Now...Go take that bath like a good girl!"
Knowing that she could not possibly escape from Riful's incredibly versatile hair strands, Miata sagged slightly and mumbled, "Yes, Auntie Riful!"
Riful smiled as her dark, ribbonlike tendril returned to its normal appearance and length while a greatly relieved Clarice took her capricious young charge by the arm, "Thank you, Lady Riful!" and led the dejected pre-teen to her doom of cleanliness and smelling sweet, like a girl.
Riful looked up from her tea and noticed Sheila standing there with a smirk on her face. "And what are you smiling about?" Demanded Riful.
Sheila merely grinned and replied pleasantly, "I don't feel so bad now about being called 'stretch', Auntie Riful."
Riful 'harrumphed' and commented tartly, "Don't you have something to work on, instead of finding new ways to annoy me?"
Sheila laughed and retorted, "You know you love it, we all do, we're all family now."
"Yeah, yeah!" muttered Riful as she stifled a grin, Sheila was right.
For the first time in her very long life she was surrounded by fellow warriors, warriors united by a common cause...Bringing down the organization.
For once, she had allies who were volunteers, not those coerced under threat of a ghastly death.
She liked it and smiled as she sipped more of her tea while Sheila sought out a sparring partner.
Sheila eyed her opponent warily as they circled the gym floor.
Galatea had cheerfully agreed to spar with her and now her glistening skin showed the results of her decision.
Stripped to her underwear, Sheila's bare skin bore the marks of Galatea's prowess with a blade while her own skin merely glistened with perspiration.
Galatea's wooden sword had marked her repeatedly while she had yet to score even a single hit upon the former number three.
Sheila gritted her teeth and lunged at a perceived opening in Galatea's defenses, only to miss like she had so many times before.
Less than a moment later, she felt the stinging riposte of Galatea's reply.
Galatea being a former number three, was leagues beyond Sheila in terms of fighting skills and in reading her opponent's youki energy flows.
In short, she knew what Sheila was going to do before Sheila herself even knew what she was about to do.
She was also quite willing to share her skills with the lesser warriors in the small rebel group, even if the lessons often left its share of bruises on her opponents.
Galatea smiled at the bruised and battered Sheila and said encouragingly, "Don't feel bad, you're better than you realize, you've come very close to hitting me and very few warriors can say that!
"We here have an advantage no deserters before us have had in the past. We have the covert blessings of the holy city of Rabona and each other to train with and watch out for each other!"
Sheila grinned at her tormentor and raised her wooden blade.
Break time was over and moments later, the private gym hidden above the vaulted ceiling of the great cathedral in Rabona resounded to the clacking of wooden blades and shuffling feet once more.