Author's Note: I cleaned this up a little and now I don't hate it quite so bad… Feedback would be welcome.
Chapter 6…A Brief Chat With Bandits
"I don't understand why we're doing this, lass," Khelgar said. "I didn't take you for a bounty hunter."
Carona, having no confidence in his discretion, had not told him about her involvement with the Thieves Guild. That made it rather difficult to explain why she planned to sneak into the bandits' camp. She wished she'd come up with a more convincing story. Who is this missing friend you seek, he'd asked, and her vague answers made him frown. He didn't enjoy lurking in the countryside. Neither did she but they had made it through the night without another bladeling attack, so there were benefits to keeping off the main roads, it seemed.
"Besides," he continued. "I don't think you're going to reason with these blackguards. From the tales I'm hearing, sounds like they're a gang of murdering Baneites that need to be wiped off the face of Faerûn."
"If you're worried, you can wait for us back at Fort Locke," she said.
"Hey, now, none of that talk again." He lowered his voice in what was probably meant to be a whisper. "I'm not leaving you alone with that tiefling. You can't trust their kind."
"Just wait here," Carona said, trying to be patient. "If we're not back by dawn, head back to the fort and give Vallis the location of this camp. You're my safety line if something goes wrong." The little flaw with that plan was that she wasn't certain Vallis would take any action, even if he knew where the bandits laired. If he allowed his soldiers to prey upon travelers like bandits, what else did he allow?
Their entry into the camp was smooth and easy. Neeshka hadn't been bragging when she claimed she could stay out of sight. She seemed to have a knack for wrapping the shadows around herself that Carona could only envy. They climbed over the paling fence near the back of the farmhouse and slipped through the camp like ghosts. The bandits' prisoners were kept locked up in the decrepit barn and that part of the camp was heavily guarded. But Carona's goal was the farmhouse itself. She wanted a quiet little chat with their leader.
Neeshka had been right—there were a lot of bandits. Many of them were bunked down in tents or lean-tos in the farmyard. The farmhouse itself was nowhere near large enough to house them all in any comfort and she wondered what they were going to do once colder weather finally arrived. It seemed clear that this band had settled in to stay. Carona wondered how they thought they were going to do so. Did they believe themselves safe from Fort Locke? Did they have an arrangement with the fort's acting commander? If so, that would explain why the fort's soldiers hunted travelers instead of bandits.
Carona guessed that the leader Sarter and his inner circle slept in the farmhouse. The camp was quiet with all but the sentries bunked down for the evening. The farmhouse, too, was dark and quiet although gleams of light peeked through cracks in the shutters. All of the shutters stood closed to the chill night air.
A guard sat in the dark on the front porch. In addition to the bandits assigned to the prisoners, several wandered throughout the yard and at least one lookout watched the lane leading to the compound. Carona removed a crude bell trap on the back door through the kitchen and they were in.
Neeshka and Carona shared faces of disgust at the unwashed dishes stacked on the floor and the food lying out uncovered to the flies and the roaches. Carona's heart pounded with familiar excitement as she glided through the quiet farmhouse. The furniture had been moved out of the main room to make space for more bedrolls. A good dozen bandits slept on the floor near the fireplace. She and Neeshka made their way along the hall, keeping close to the walls to avoid any creaking floorboards. Towards the back of the house, a stairway led up.
Of the two rooms upstairs, one was unoccupied and appeared to be the treasure house for the pick of the loot. Neeshka's eyes gleamed. Later, Carona signaled. Two people slept in the other room. Carona stirred the fire to get a bit more light. She had no description of Sarter, but surely this was him. He was a large man with a grizzled beard. Even in sleep, he sprawled across the bed as if he would dominate it. The girl with him lay scrunched on the far side of the bed with her arms and legs pulled in. Although Carona noticed no apparent bruises or wounds, every nuance of the girl's posture screamed unwillingness.
To kill the bandit in his sleep was a simple task. To talk to him without alerting the sleepers below would be tricky. But Carona had come prepared for just such an eventuality. She pulled a small dark wand from her pocket and whispered the word of activation. This wand had been crafted for her by a friend of Ophala's and had been ghastly expensive, so it was with an inward wince that she used two of its few remaining charges on the bandit and his wench. She looked across at Neeshka, whose eyes were opened wide in surprise.
"Help me tie them and gag them," she whispered. "The paralysis won't last long."
Once they had been bound and gagged with strips cut from the foul mattress cover, Carona stopped to look around a bit. "Search the other room and take what you can easily carry," she breathed to the tiefling. "Look out for traps." Neeshka grinned and glided silently away.
The girl woke first and her confusion turned to terror when she realized she was bound. Carona held up her hand in a signal she hoped would be calming. The girl, although still terrified, stopped struggling. Carona, trained as an acrobat by the guild and strong for her size, lifted the girl out of the bed. She doesn't look over fourteen or fifteen, Carona thought with an unwelcome surge of anger. Staggering under the girl's weight, she laid her on the floor near the doorway where—should the worst happen—any attackers coming into the room would trip over her. The girl trembled with fear or perhaps from cold. A moment's pity made Carona pull the blanket off the bed and drape it over the girl, to cover her nakedness.
The bandit leader stirred at last. He rubbed his head against the pillow in a sleepy attempt to remove his gag. When that didn't work, his eyes opened to slits and he tried to move his bound hands. It took another moment or two for the reality of his situation to enter his consciousness. When it did, he erupted into anger. He thrashed about, trying to break his bonds. When he at last turned to see Carona, who stood next to the bed with a deliberately provocative half-smile on her face, his fury redoubled.
Carona let him struggle long enough to realize that he could not free himself. This took awhile. Stubborn as an ox, and perhaps as intelligent. That did not bode well. At last she tired of him. She drew her dagger, grabbed him by the beard, and poked him right below the eye. That quieted him down although the rage on his face was not encouraging.
"You might be wondering why I am here," she said in his ear. She pulled out her medallion and let it fall onto her chest. She feared there wasn't enough light in the room for his human eyes to see it clearly but he blinked in what she hoped was recognition. "I have come to deliver a message."
Through the gag, he made a low growl.
"The message is this. You have overstepped your bounds. Your greed and stupidity have disrupted trade in this area. That will not be permitted. I have come to offer you a choice. Leave the Sword Coast or die here."
The man glared.
"I am going to remove your gag so you can give me your answer," Carona said. She laid her blade across his throat. "If you try to call out, I will kill you. Clear?" He nodded and so she pulled out his gag. His mouth worked as he tried to swallow.
"Who are you?" he asked. "Thieves Guild?" She nodded. "Come for your cut? And you call me greedy. I work for myself and I don't need you or this brotherhood of yours."
"You're wrong. You needed us but it's too late now. You've made a gods-damned botch of things here. You've drawn too much attention to yourself. You're as big a fool as Vallis if you think there'll be no consequences from Commander Tann's disappearance."
"I don't know nothing about that."
"Is that so?" He shrugged, his eyes flat and opaque, not giving much away. Carona didn't know if she believed him. "Who took him then?" He shrugged again.
"Seen plenty of lizardfolk about," he said. "And something else. Someone—"
He took a deeper breath than Carona thought he needed. She clamped her free hand over his mouth before he could yell. He bucked and kicked with his bound legs, trying to knock her loose. He bit her fingers but she jammed her hand deeper into his mouth so he couldn't scream. He gagged and choked but he wouldn't stop fighting. She dug her dagger deep enough into his throat to draw blood. He jerked one last time then stared at her with rigid fury.
"I need your answer." She pulled her hand out of his mouth and kept her blade firm against his throat. Her hand was bloody and bruised from his bite. "You will release your prisoners and leave the area. Yes or no?"
"I can cut you in for a share of the take."
"Yes or no?"
"Yes, damn you. I'll tell the boys we'll be moving on. Plenty of other geese to be plucked, the way things are these days. We'll need some time to get everything together."
Carona studied his face. He lies. He had no more fear of the Thieves Guild than he had for Fort Locke. Now that he was warned, he'd be watching for retaliation. He'd hole up here like an outlawed king until Lord Nasher sent the Greycloaks to knock down his walls. That would be bad for business all the way around.
"You know," she said. "I don't think this is going to work out after all." How did you reason with cruel, fearless greed? With a blade. Before he could do more than widen his eyes in reaction, she cut his throat.
She turned at the muffled thud behind her. The bound girl stared at her, not in terror, but with a certain grim satisfaction. Carona knelt beside her. "Be quiet," she whispered. "I'm not here to hurt you." She looked up to see Neeshka in the doorway. The tiefling grinned and patted her bulging pockets. Then she caught sight of the body.
"Humph," was all she said.
Carona opened the shutters to the bedroom window and looked down at the back of the house. There was no one in sight. "Go on out and wait for me on the other side of the fence," she told Neeshka. The tiefling nodded and left without a sound. Before Carona could stand, the girl clutched at her with her bound hands and tried to speak through the gag.
"Be quiet," Carona said but the girl wouldn't let go, not even when she pointed her blade at her face. In exasperation, she pulled down the gag. "What?"
"Take me with you!"
"No."
Before she could replace the gag, the girl clutched her knee. "They'll blame me for what you did."
"They won't. You're tied up."
"They'll kill me anyway, like the others." Carona hesitated. "Please! I'll show you Sarter's hidey hole."
I bet I'm going to regret this. Carona cut loose the girl's arms and legs. "Get your clothes on," she said. The girl nodded in relief and rummaged through a pile on the floor. "Hurry."
Once the girl scrambled into her clothes, she scrabbled at one of the floorboards and pried it up with her nails. The wrapped bundle Carona pulled out was small but reassuringly heavy.
"And Sarter has a real nice sword," the girl whispered. "Look behind the dresser."
Carona thrust the bundle down her tunic and looked at the sword. The blade was long for her taste but gleamed with an enchantment. The belt and scabbard looked like wyvern skin and should fetch a fair price. She slung the belt over her shoulder and motioned the girl to stand near the window.
"Can you climb down without making a racket?" she asked. The girl nodded vigorously. "Wait."
Carona widened the hole she had cut in the stinking mattress earlier, and fluffed up several large handfuls of the straw stuffing. There was an ash bucket by the fireplace; she used it to shovel hot coals into the bed. The straw burst into flames. With any luck the whole farmhouse would burn down.
The sword belt hung awkwardly, but she managed to climb out the window and drop lightly to the ground. The girl hesitated only the slightest moment before jumping after her. Carona caught and steadied her.
As expected, Neeshka was nowhere in sight. Carona looked around the still quiet camp a moment. She pointed to the fence and mimed that she would give the girl a boost over it. The girl shook her head. She grasped Carona's shoulder and leaned into her to whisper in her ear.
"My pa's in the barn. We got to get him out."
Carona shook her head. "Come with me now or I'll leave you."
The girl looked close to tears but she nodded. At the fence, Carona made a stirrup of her hands and boosted the girl so she could grasp the top and scramble over. Her bare foot was cold as ice but she moved like a strong active farm-girl. Carona wondered how long she had been a prisoner here. Not long, she guessed.
Carona looked back at the farmhouse. Orange light streaked from the now-open shutter and she fancied she could hear the crackle of the growing fire but since the window faced the back of the compound, there was nothing yet to alarm the sentries. Would the fire burn out or would it spread? It had been a hot, dry summer and a cool, dry autumn. She thought the chances were good that the fire would spread.
She climbed the fence and found the farm girl shifting from foot to foot. As soon as they reached the cover of the trees, Neeshka joined them. Seeing the girl, the tiefling raised one mocking eyebrow. Carona shrugged, embarrassed. She had to agree that bringing the girl along was a foolish decision but what was done was done.
The girl grabbed Carona's arm and shook it. "We got to save my pa and the others. They're going to kill them soon as they get the ransom money. Sarter said so."
"No."
"Please. You got to do it."
"I can't." Carona tried to shake her loose. The girl tightened her grip.
"I'll pay you."
Neeshka snorted. "With what?" she asked, the tip of her tail twitching.
"My ma's raising the ransom money now. And the others—they'll pay you too."
"How much are we talking here?" Neeshka asked.
"A lot!" the girl said but Carona just shook her head. "Then—then I'll do it myself! Give me that sword." She glared at Neeshka's low laugh.
"You can't take on all those bandits by yourself. Nor can I," Carona said. She stared at the girl until she was sure that her words had sunk in. The girl still looked mulish, so she added, "You can lead the Greycloaks back here and rescue your father. You said yourself that the bandits will keep them alive until they get the ransom."
"The Greycloaks won't help us. We already asked. Too scared."
Carona held up her hand to stop the interruption. "There's one thing I can do. I'll watch the camp a bit longer. If the fire spreads and the bandits are busy trying to put it out—well, maybe there will be a chance." She held up her hand again as the girl's eyes lit in excitement. "I'm not making any promises now. You go with Neeshka where's it's safer and do what she says. We'll see what happens."
"Tell my pa that his Linny is waitin' for him."
"Fire?" Neeshka asked. "What fire?" Carona waved this off.
"Take her to Khelgar," she told the tiefling. She handed her the bandit's treasure and sword. "If I'm not back by dawn, go on to the fort without me."
"Idiot," Neeshka whispered. "If you get caught, don't think I'm going to come rescue you, because I won't." There was little she could do but nod in agreement.
"Are you a demon?" she heard the girl ask Neeshka.
"No, I'm a walking, talking goat," the tiefling snapped. "Come on and shut up or I'll leave you here by yourself."
There were no conveniently placed trees where Carona could hide and watch the compound from the outside. She scaled the fence again and lurked in the shadow of the lean-to covering the wood pile, trying to convince herself that there was a sensible reason for her to be doing this. Perhaps Sarter had an able lieutenant who would take over as soon as his body was found. Perhaps it was her duty to strike a deeper blow at the bandits' organization. Clearly the garrison at Fort Locke was in no position to do so. Maybe the reward money would make this all worthwhile.
Or maybe she was an idiot, as Neeshka said, feeling pity for a girl with false bravado and cold feet.
Either the bandits downstairs were sound sleepers or they had been overcome by smoke, for the alarm wasn't raised until a corner of the roof of the farmhouse burst into flames. The ensuing panic and confusion was everything Carona could have hoped for. There was so much pushing and shoving at the well that one of the bandits dropped his bucket—apparently one of the only two good buckets in the camp—down the shaft. His angry comrades came close to sending him headfirst down the well after it but they settled for beating him unconscious while the farmhouse burned.
Even a slight breeze would put the whole compound in danger of burning but the night remained still. All of the bandits guarding the barn were either trying to fight the fire or were clearing any combustibles away from the farmhouse. Carona slipped inside. A mage-light lantern hung from one of the rafters. So at least one of the bandits was a wizard. I hope he roasted in the farmhouse.
Fifteen prisoners huddled on a dirty pile of straw, either asleep or lying quietly. The barn stank of human waste. Was it too much bother to dig a damned privy? A guard slumped against a wall, asleep. Carona made sure he'd never wake again. As she stood and sheathed her knife, Carona noticed a prisoner watching her, a large fellow with dark hair and a beard streaked with gray. From the lumps and bruises on his face, he seemed to have been treated rougher than the others. Most of the prisoners were older men but a few, she noted sourly, were young women. She put her finger to her lips and he nodded and started silently waking his fellows. How was she going to get them all out of here? Was it even possible? Such a large group would never make it through the yard without attracting attention. Nor did they look up for much of a fight.
There was no back door out but there were a couple of large shuttered windows about shoulder height that could be opened to allow more ventilation in the summer. She pulled back the shutters as quietly as she could and then rolled a keg over to serve as a step. By the time her preparations were complete, all the prisoners were awake.
"Who are you?" the dark haired man asked.
She shook her head. "Can everyone travel?" she asked.
He nodded. The others watched her anxiously. "I'm going to take you out a few at a time. Everyone else, stay still and silent. If a guard comes in, pretend you're still sleeping." She paused to make sure they seemed to understand. "As soon as you're over the fence, make for the woods. You can wait for the rest once you've got cover but be quiet. And don't wait too long."
"I'll keep watch," the dark haired man said. He took the dead guard's blade. She nodded, pointed at four of the prisoners and beckoned them to follow her.
Moving the prisoners was a nightmare. Some of them had trouble climbing out the window, even with the keg to help. But that was nothing compared to what it took to get them over the fence with no convenient ladders, barrels or crates to boost them. Carona winced at every grunt or loud thud caused by a body falling off the fence. If someone breaks an ankle, I'll kill him myself, she vowed.
Luckily for them all, part of the farmhouse roof collapsed with a huge shower of sparks and a loud racket of falling timbers. The bandits were far too busy to check on the barn. The dark haired prisoner came out, the last of the prisoners. He held the mage lamp in one hand, covered in a sack. Carona was glad to see she didn't have to do all the thinking for the group. He stared at the burning farmhouse in dismay.
"My daughter!"
"Is her name Linny?" The relief on his face was answer enough. "She's already safe," Carona said, hoping it was true, and then she gave him a leg up over the fence.