Chapter Five
Bright Heart Born of Darkness
"Well, would you look at that? Those men were kind enough to leave us some supplies." Yura, Raki and Clare had breakfast before moving on, ignoring the prone forms of the unconscious bandits. By the time they were done, the last of them had scampered off. In their haste, not one of them had bothered to grab their stuff.
Clare sat by, resting her back against her sword as her companions began looting the bandit's abandoned items.
Yura had found a large supply of dried foods, crude but he could do something with them. Raki found a good amount of jewellery, several money pouches and an ornate dagger. Raki weighed the money pouches in his hands and said "They must have been pretty successful bandits to get a hold of this kind of money."
"No doubt. They had almost as much money at hand as I do." Yura received a cold stare from Clare as he began rooting through another bag. "What? They tried to rob us, and turnabout is fair play after all."
They threw the discarded weaponry in the bushes and started walking, bags much heavier than when they had woken up. They walked for about an hour when a crashing sound in the undergrowth startled them. The brown horse that the bandit leader had ridden jumped from the shrubbery, and stopped in front of them on the road.
"Will wonders never cease?" Yura approached the beast, and took hold of the reigns. "A beast of burden lands itself in our laps. Come on Raki. Load up your bags."
It was an impressive animal. It was bred from warhorse stock, and had the appearance of being somewhat mistreated. The rich brown coat was coarse and unkempt, it was in desperate need of a shoeing, and it was slightly skinnier than a horse should be.
Within five minutes, Yura and Raki's bags were tied to the saddle, and Raki sat calmly in the saddle. It was interesting for him, as he had never ridden a horse before. "I'll lead it by the reigns." Yura had asked while they were tying their stuff if Raki had any riding experience. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride." The troupe began walking again. Yura and Clare increased their pace, no longer needing to worry about Raki falling behind. At this rate, they would reach Charrow by nightfall.
Miles away in a dark, damp ground level cave, a rag-tag group of men sat around a fire, grumbling and nursing scrapes, bruises and other minor wounds. The group of eight bandits were more demoralized than anything. How could they have been beaten off by an old man with a walking stick?
"What do we do now boss?" One of the henchmen asked, staring at his hands. "They took all our stuff. We got nothing left."
"Here's what we're going to do. There's a town a little ways off. We got our weapons back, so we're going to burn it to the ground, make up our losses. Charrow is a rich target."
"What about the old man? He's probably going to be there." The big man still couldn't walk quite right after that vicious kick. He sat at the back of the group. "You saw how he fought. He wasn't human."
"Of course he was. Probably a master fighter in his day, is all. We weren't ready for him, but we will be next time." The bandit leader took the scrap of Yura's coat from his pocket, clenched it tightly in his fist, and threw it in the fire.
The daylight shining through the entrance was cut down to a sliver. "You have his stench on you." A deep, rumbling voice echoed from the shadows of the entrance. "Is he the one you hate?"
"If you mean the old man, then yeah, I hate his guts." The bandit leader was trying to act tough, but inside, something about that voice and shadow terrified him, deep to his core. His men were cowering towards the back of the cave.
"Good. Then we will find vengeance for us all." The voice dropped in pitch, taking on a feral tone that sent shivers running down the bandit's spine. "You can also help us in another way."
Other figures crowded the entrance. Now, with the sunlight gone and the firelight illuminating the entrance, revealing grey, warped human-like faces, set with golden eyes and razor sharp teeth, eight mouths grinning in anticipation of fresh meat.
The nearly inhuman, animalistic screams of terror and pain that emanated from that cavern would have sent terror running into the heart of the most hardened warrior. But here, in the middle of the forest, no one could hear the screams.
By sundown, Yura, Raki and Clare had reached the outskirts of Charrow. It was a small city, but well renowned for its architecture. They were stopped for a moment near the entrance of a large horse ranch.
"I say we pull in here for the night." Yura had been walking all day, and Raki had stayed in the saddle. Despite the aching in his thighs and sores on his backside, Raki hadn't complained, as his walking would have reduced the pace.
"That's not an inn. It's a ranch. They don't just let anyone come in and spend the night in places like that."
"I disagree, Raki. They'll let us in. After all, I own the place."
"Really? I thought you lived as a travelling chef?"
"Indeed I do, but that's mostly for fun. I have investments and ownerships in so many businesses that I have a hard time keeping track of them all, and drop in on most of them during my travels. I plan on dropping off the horse here. He'd make good breeding stock." Raki seemed disappointed with that. He was secretly hoping to keep the horse.
Yura, guessing Raki's thoughts, smiled chidingly. "Now Raki, could you really take care of him, given your and Clare's low income and nomadic lifestyle? I think not. I'll have him saved for you, should you ever settle down, agreed?"
Raki nodded happily, and got off the horse. The trio began walking down the path to the ranch house. A wiry man about a decade younger than Yura appeared to be, with black hair came out to greet them. "Hello Myles." Yura greeted the man with a broad smile.
"Good evening Master Yura. Haven't seen you in a while."
"Good to see you too Myles. It's been too long. My guests and I will be spending the night, and maybe a few days, depending on how their work goes. Could you and your wife perhaps prepare a room for us? And find a place for this lovely horse here?"
"Will do sir. Should we have Jeremy prepare some dinner?"
"No thank you my friend. I think I'll handle dinner. It's the least I can do for you taking care of things for me. And you've been taking your share of the profits, and paying the workers as usual?"
Myles took the reigns of the horse. "Yes I have been, sir. And I'm glad to hear you'll be making dinner. We're all decent cooks here, but nothing compared to you." Myles then began walking the horse to the nearby barn.
Clare looked at Yura quizzically. "I wouldn't have expected someone like you to own a business."
"There are two ways a being like me can survive in this world. I could make a hermit of myself, live in a cave somewhere and live off the wildlife, or I could live among the people, and make my way as they do." Yura smiled. "You can guess which I chose. With a life as long as mine, owning and working in several businesses keeps me from getting bored. I also turn a handsome profit. And I am happy to note that you said 'someone' as opposed to 'something'."
Dinner was fabulous. Raki found that Yura was being honest about marinated raw meat being delicious. There were also various types of fish, small delectable portions of poultry and that was just the appetizer. The main course consisted of large sides of beef, potatoes and garden vegetables, cooked and seasoned to perfection. It was followed by dessert, a pie baked by Myles's wife and daughter. It was the most elaborate meal that Raki had ever seen.
The ranch house was small, but elegant. The supports were carved wood, with stonework in between. There were four bedrooms, one for Myles and his lovely wife, Elena, another for their three children, Jeremy, Michel and Elizabeth, and finally two for guests. Jeremy was only a little younger than Raki. Mitchell and Elizabeth were of similar age to each other, both less than ten and maybe a year apart in age.
Elena was a lovely woman for her age. She was in good shape, and grey had only begun to creep into her sandy blonde hair. Jeremy looked almost exactly like a younger version of his father, while Elizabeth took after her mother. Conversely, Mitchell looked a great deal like his mother, but with shorter hair and a stronger jaw.
They all seemed to view Yura as a member of the family. They talked boisterously, and were very friendly. The children even referred to Yura as an uncle.
The whole family liked Raki instantly, and though Clare wasn't much for conversation, they did get over the general concern that most people tend to have with her people. This was in part from Yura's confidence in her, and the fact that she was there to rid the town of its Yoma problem. They talked a bit. Just enough to understand that Clare led an unpleasant life, and they politely stopped trying to talk to her.
The family was doing well. They sold a large shipment of war horses to a nearby city, and were making large profits for themselves and Yura. Elena was just starting to show signs of another pregnancy.
They also updated Yura on the status of the other employees. They lived in town, and spent the night there, working during the day.
Yura boisterously regaled them with the tale of the bandits on the road, downplaying his part and claiming Raki did his share of the fighting, just to hide his superhuman abilities. "They hardly seemed like bandits, to be honest. They were scrawny vagabonds at best."
Yura laughed gently. "I hardly needed Raki's help. I swear, young Elizabeth here could have handled them just as fairly." Everyone seemed amused at that.
"How did you meet Yura?" These were the first unprompted words that Clare had spoken.
Though no longer afraid of her, the family still felt uncomfortable around Clare. Myles hesitantly responded. "I met him about twenty years ago. We've been good friends for most of that time. I met him as I was trying to rob him."
"What?" Raki scowled at that. "That doesn't make any sense. How do you rob someone, and then become friends?"
"It wasn't a robbery for profit. It was for survival. I was starving on the street. He took my knife, kicked the snot out of me, and then bought me a meal. You don't find that kind of compassion in the world very often." Yura smiled at Myles's story.
"We talked a bit. I told him that I had worked at a horse ranch for most of my young life. I had done well at it, but the owner died of old age, and all of his workers were left in the street, including me. On the spur of the moment, Master Yura bought the ranch and put me in charge, if you can believe it. I met my wife there, and had my kids in this house. That about sums it up"
Wow. I had no idea he was that rich, or that nice."
Elena smiled broadly. "He's both. I don't know where we'd be without him. He drops by pretty regularly, and we all think of him as a member of the family."
Elena had Elizabeth take Yura's ripped coat, and promised it would be repaired by tomorrow night at the very latest.
With that, everyone went to bed.