-1The caravan moved quickly over the first week. All three wagons were loaded full of travel supplies, which made my accommodations somewhat uncomfortable. Fortunately, I was not bothered with that sort of discomfort. I remained within the confines of the wagon during the daytime, only coming out to stretch my legs at night. It was only then that I had a chance to study Toresca's guards. There was something odd about them, that much I had quickly determined but not until I could focus more intently could I learn what exactly was different. The first thing I noticed was that none of them spoke. They looked at each other, as if communicating, but not with spoken words. As I looked more closely, I discovered that her guards all possessed a slight sheen of blue about their entire person. They were all human, but all had the same blue eyes and shaven heads. But it was that sheen, perhaps an aura would be a better term, of blue. I cast a spell to detect magic and quickly learned that all of them radiated magic. I spoke to Toresca about it.
"They are employed by the same man that employs me." She stated. "He has sent them here to make sure I return to his lands safely."
"You earn more than they do, no doubt." I pressed.
"No doubt." She smiled, almost knowingly.
"They seem a bit...quiet." I countered.
She looked at Duros, who sat across from me at the fire, tending to a small creature on a spit. He returned her look, then looked at me. "Our employer has some out of the ordinary types in his employ." He paused, poking at the meat with a dagger. "These are some of his personal guardians. They have been altered to keep them functional in such a cold climate."
Toresca added to her companion's words. "He has a thing for cold, as you no doubt already gathered from the magical little trinket you donated to your feathered friend."
"So I noticed." I agreed. "Quite the interesting...'trinket' as you put it."
She laughed as she carved a piece of the cooked beast and put it on a plate. I watched the guards for a while, the beginnings of an experiment forming in my mind. Once she and her companion retired for the night I slipped away into the night, moving away from the camp. I moved a few hundred yards away, then circled back. I had watched the guards and quickly learned that their patrol patterns were predictable. They walked over the same path over and over, down to stepping into the same footprints each time. I followed one for a bit, until he was far from the campsite.
Quickly I cast a spell dropping a blanket of silence over the area. Then, remaining in the shadows, I slipped up behind the guard. I readied my dagger and wrapped an arm around his mouth and pulled back. I expected him to be strong, and I was correct. He was not only strong, but quick as well. As I grabbed his face, he immediately reached up and grabbed my wrist. The pain was excruciating as I could feel the bones in my wrist grinding together under the pressure. But pain was nothing new to me. I spent most of my life in Menzobarrenzan in some form of pain. Not to be deterred, I quickly brought my blade up and drew it across his neck. I could not see it, but I could feel the warm liquid pouring from the wound and down my hand. It did not, however, have the desired effect as I found myself flipped over his head and landing on my back.
I flipped over to a crouch and drew my shortsword, watching my opponent. Other than warm, dark liquid leaking from his neck, he seemed to be in no distress, but also made no move towards me. Not knowing exactly how long my silence spell would last, I had to act fast. I leapt from my crouch at him, my sword leading. He lifted a hand to defend himself, but was not quick enough. My blade pierced his hand and pinned it to his chest. My weight and forward momentum carried the two of us to the ground. Not wanting to risk his strength, I quickly maneuvered my dagger to his neck, in an attempt to finish what I started. I pushed the blade into the wound and pushed down. I could feel some resistance as the blade hit what I assumed was his neck. As I applied pressure, his free hand came up and grasped at my neck. My eyes widened as I remembered what he did to my wrist. Desperate, I pushed on the blade, but to no avail. My vision began to darken as my air was cut off by the grip around my neck. My last image before I lost consciousness was the guard kneeling over me, choking me.
I had no idea how long I was unconscious. It was still dark when I came to. I rubbed my neck gingerly. It was raw, as was my wrist, but my ring was doing its job and I had no doubt my injuries would be healed soon. My dagger was resting on the ground but the guard and my sword were nowhere to be seen. I checked the ground for tracks, but I could not determine if the guard left. As I started to head back to the camp, a drop of something warm landed on my face. Drawing my dagger, I looked up. There, perhaps thirty feet straight up, impaled on a branch, was the guard, still with my sword pinning his hand to his chest. He stared down at me with unseeing eyes.
How in the hells did he get up in the tree, I wondered. I circled the tree, watching warily, expecting a trap. When after a few moments none came, I climbed the tree. The branch the guard was impaled upon extended from a larger branch and it easily supported my weight. I walked out and straddled the branch, wrapping my legs around it. I reached down and pulled my sword free, ready to roll away and drop to the ground. Nothing happened. Curious, I stretched out and examined the wound made in the guard's chest by my sword. Cautiously, I pried the wound open with my fingers and looked inside. There were no organs! This was no human, or humanoid, but a golem or construct of some sort.
I was about to head back to the campsite when something caught my eye. While there were no internal organs, there was something. I reached into the chest cavity and pulled out a fist sized sphere. It seemed to pulse, almost humming. And it was cold to the touch. I could feel the chill through my gloves. Leaving the guard in the tree, I dropped to the ground. I placed the sphere into my magical bag and headed towards the camp. I detoured over a small stream to clean the blood, or whatever the construct contained, from my gloves. I then returned to camp, slipping in through the remaining guards and climbing back into the wagon to examine my prize.
I pulled the sphere from the bag and set it on the floor. I sat before it and studied it intently. It was small, and I needed no spell to tell me that it was magical. It still pulsed a steady rhythm, though the glow was lessened somewhat. I had no other spells memorized that would assist me in analyzing the sphere so I placed it back into the bag and pulled out the books I had acquired from the gnomes. I flipped through the pages, searching for a spell that might help me learn more. The only spell in the books that would work was an identification spell, which was within my ability to cast, though I first needed the spell components. I put away the books and took my reverie until the morning, pondering where I could find a pearl on land, and what sort of bird was an owl.
The next morning I carefully watched Toresca, Duros and the guards. None of them seemed concerned, or even aware that they were short one guard. After paying close attention to the other guards, I confirmed my suspicions that they were like the one I fought that night. Their actions were definitely more programmed than random. Each guard went through a series of motions and when he, or it, was finished, it stood by the horses, preparing it for travel.
"Something interesting?" Toresca's voice startled me, though I did not show it.
"Your retinue is quite efficient." I replied, nonchalantly.
She nodded, smiling a bit. "Thank my employer. His personal guard."
I nodded in return, purposefully looking away from the guards to her companion, Duros. It was the first time I really had to study him. He seemed competent enough. He carried himself as a warrior, though he carried no weapons. His clothing suggested more of a traveler rather than a soldier. While I was not the greatest at telling the age of humans, he seemed middle aged, with graying hair, wrinkles on his face and spots on his skin.
"And what is his story?" I motioned towards the human.
"Duros?" She looked at him a moment, then back to me. "He is my personal bodyguard."
"Bodyguard?" I quirked a brow, looking back at her. "He hardly seems the type."
She laughed, drawing a curious look from Duros. "He has a rather...unique way about him." She nodded at him and he went back to work prepping for the days travel. "He has many hidden talents." She winked, then left me sitting at the fire pit.
I looked back at him, watching him. I tried to gauge whether or not he would be a potential threat to me, but he seemed completely indifferent. It was if he was a true mercenary, not caring who he worked for, as long as he was paid. From my limited dealings with him, I noticed that he really never offered suggestions or ideas. Instead, he simply did what he was asked without complaint. Perhaps if coin was what drove him, I might be able to retain his services at a later date. Only time would tell.