AUTHOR'S NOTE: Updates from now onwards until Easter time will be sporradic and probably infrequent, due to my being back at school and being bombarded by my AS levels. Sorry to my fans (that's right, both of you!)

Chapter 3: The More You Know...

Despite Gan's advice, I didn't sleep very well. He seemed like an honourable type, in his own way, but from what I had seen of him so far I was still not yet willing to trust him. I had planned instead to make sure he was fast asleep and not planning to cut my throat in the night before I would in turn allow myself to rest. It didn't quite work like that. I'm still fairly certain he had no idea I was watching him, as he never mentioned it, but it was safe to say he didn't sleep. It seems I, in my limited knowledge of other cultures, was ignorant of the ancient Elvish tradition of meditating rather than sleeping- a tradition not commonly upheld, but given his apparent mental disposition I should have figured he would share the behaviour of a fundamentalist. Thus I was deprived of my sleep that night.

Our hunt never exactly went according to plan either. We had travelled through the forests for three days before there was even any sign that humans still roamed the woods. Before that, it seemed as though Gan had single handedly wiped out the Black Talon attack force in the dead of the night. Still no closer to tracking down our mutual enemy, Taurgosz Khosann, we shared a moment of mutual relief when, following the stream that had led me to the Elven village back towards the edge of the forest from it's heart a few miles south of the massacre, Gan finally picked up signs of our quarry.

"There!" he breathed through his excitement, pointing at the sparse foliage, "See here how the twigs have been snapped off, and here where the ground has been disturbed!" I saw nothing, but I let him continue, "These brutes made no effort to hide their passage. They did not move as if fleeing, they must have left in the night before I sprung my ambush. I presume they are on their way to report back to their superiors."

I didn't see quite how he was detecting all of this, but the last part of what he said did strike me. If they reported back to the Tenhammer, he would be on his way soon, and I wasn't quite sure whether or not I was ready to face him. My heart burned for vengeance, but my mind told me I would need more training if I was to thwart him. My mind flashed back to my father's death- my father, who had wielded the Fireblade, an ancient artifact of no mean power, had been tossed aside effortlessly; the magic of his sword snuffed out. With this in mind we picked up the pace, and utilising Gan's tracking skills we were able to track them around the outskirts of the forest. This struck me as suspicious- I had expected them to head back to the ruins of the Renegade Fists' base camp. Instead, we were circling the forest, and after an hour or so we were heading back into the deep woods.

"Stop." I called ahead to Gan, who was pursuing our quarry tirelessly, "We need to know where they are moving, not just where they have gone. Otherwise, we only ensure that they stay one step ahead of us. Is there no way from here that you can determine in what direction they are moving?"

He stopped to consider iot for a moment, then said: "There is a method, but not one I am well versed in the use of. It may not function properly in the forest." Having said that, he threw himself to the ground and put one ear to the forest floor. After a moment, he spoke again.

"We were fortunate, the ground here is solid enough to pick up their path. We are being misled by their tracks- they head due East." He stood up, dusting off his tunic.

"How far?"

"Little more than three furlongs in front of us. We could be upon them by nightfall."

"Very well then, let us go." Despite my bravado, I was tiring quickly. Gan was running freely in his tunic, whereas I had the weight of my chainmail to bear, and laboured under the burden of my shield as well. However, every hour or so, I was granted a reprieve as Gan once more listened to the signs whispered to him by the earth, telling him where to find our foes. The Sun was low in the sky by this point, and I knew they would need to make camp soon. Thus, it was with relief that I recieved Gan's information each time- Their pace had not increased, and so there was no indication they knew they were being followed. It seemed their trail-masking was simply a precaution. Now we would find their campsite, kill them in the night, interrogate one survivor and send him defenceless into the woods at night to deliver a message of cold vengeance to his master. It was a solid plan.

It was another two hours after nightfall that our prey ceased their march. The woods all looked the same to me, especially at night, but the trees were more sparse here than anywhere else, and I could hear a stream in the distance. It looked like the sort of place animals might frolic in the daytime, but it was the dead of the night now, and there was nothing to be heard.

On the other hand, Gan seemed to know exactly where we were, as a suspicious look suddenly dawned on his face. When I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, he silenced me instantly with a hand raised to his mouth. I took the hint- we moved very carefully now, the sound of running water growing ever louder in our ears. The ground was also gradually become rockier, with the leaves and twigs clearing away as we progressed. Eventually, it was like we were stood on a mountainside.

It was only a few moments later that we came upon their camp, and I realised that indeed we were on a mountainside, of sorts. The river I had heard ran at least a hundred metres below our current position, down a steep ravine. The mercenaries had made camp on the edge of the gorge. There was no campfire, nor was anybody posted to keep watch. Thus, silently, we surrounded the five tents and hacked them to pieces, with increasing frustration. This frustration came from the fact that each tent we slashed through was empty! There was nobody sleeping there for us to kill- the entire encampment was a dupe! Nobody cried out in pain. Our blades did not feel the meagre resistance of warm flesh. Nothing.

"What's going on!?" I cried, "I suppose they knew we were following them the whole time? They could be back with their master by now!" I was so angry I was seeing red, literally. I became confused only several seconds later when this red haze did not clear. I looked up, puzzled. the trees were cast in a pinkish background. I looked at Gan, and he was glowing a dark green. Where he had trodden, I could see dark green footsteps. I realised I must be seeing into the spirit realm! Twice in two days now magic had come upon me unbidden. However, the realisation that I was using magic brought with it a scarier one-

There were footprints of varying colours ALL AROUND ME!

This was most assuredly not good.

My eyes were adjusting to this new form of vision, and I could now see further into the shade of the trees. I could make out human sillhouettes now, which corresponded in colour to the footprints I could see. Gan looked even more confused than I was, but now it was my turn to silence his queries.

The were at least seven men approaching, but there could have been as many as fifteen. It was difficult to tell, for some of them had souls the same colours. It was really a very limited spectrum. I looked once more towards Gan and attempted to voice my concerns, but now words came out. Frustrated, i attmepted once more to speak, with the same result. Then, focusing all my will towards making contact with him, I saw his essence begin to shift like a writhing serpent. I felt an unquenchable thirst for bloody vengeance, tinged with a great sadness. I realised i must be probing his thoughts. He hissed at me.

"Why did you just violate the inner depths of my soul!?! How did you do that? I demand an answer!" His voice was kept low, but but the malice it bore would have frightened any lesser man. I, however, focused on projecting my thoughts into his, not recoiling from his mental barriers. I sent him a mental message of sorts: 'There are men closing in on us, I don't know how many. Don't ask me how I know this, it will take too long to explain. Circumstances have rendered me inable to communicate with you on the physical plane.'

He was clearly quite perturbed by this revelation, but he did not press the point at the time. Indeed, he was far too professional a warrior to take my warning lightly. Questions, he knew, could wait until after the bloodshed.

The men were emerging from the trees now, and with their essences no longer mingling with the natural harmony of the forest, I could make out their numbers more clearly- there were nine of them. They were, of course, armed to the teeth. One of them, presumably the leader, stepped forwards. He was the only one of them not to wear a helmet, and whilst I could not make out any distinguishing physical features, in my current attunement i sensed in him a motivation more powerful than simply lust for wealth or blood. I couldn't quite peg it, but I felt this man would prove to be an important connection to the answers I sought.

I flashed Gan another mental message: 'Remember, I can't speak until this trance-or whatever it is- ends. You need to do all the talking.' His conscience was now far more receptive to my intrusions, and he acknowledged me with the barest of glances before returning his focus to the mercenary standing before him.

The man drew his blade, prompting Gan to draw his katanas and me to rest my hand on the pommel of the Fireblade, adjusting to movement in this new world of colour and nature. Then the mercenary demanded in a coarse voice,

"You will come with us now. Hand over your weapons immediately and I will escort you to my superiors unharmed."

"Under whose authority?" replied Gan, his voice dripping with ridicule for the heavily armed cohort before us.

"By the command of Lord Taurgosz Khosann!"

Gan threw his head back and laughed to the heavens. "You seek to escort me to the camp of my great enemy, where I shall surely be killed or worse. I think I prefer to simply kill you all!" In response to this, the other eight mercenaries drew their blades, maces and other weapons. the tension in the air grew- these men knew they would not all survive. The leader grinned and sighed simultaneously.

"You will come with us now. Hand over your weapons immediately and I will escort you to my superiors unharmed." he repeated his previous warning, with a tired edge to his voice. Gan merely twirled his blades. I hurriedly drew my sword, readying myself for combat- still stuck in my new spirit vision.

"Your men slaughtered my friends and family and destroyed my home. For that, you die, NOW!"

He launched towards the captain in a flurry of steel, each shining razor edge meaning death to any who met it. The captain backpedalled rapidly, momentarily taken aback by the speed of his opponent. Then, a mere moment later, I felt a surge in his spiritual energies. The moment before Gan would have decapitated him, he traced a sign in the air, projecting a blue bubble around himself which deflected the edge of death speeding towards him with a mere 'tchoom' sound. Always at the ready for treachery, Gan merely repositioned himself and began a barrage of light, tapping attacks. It was good to know he knew what he was doing:- The globe of invulnerability would weather a set number of impacts above a certain strength, so by conserving his strength he was actually lowering the barrier more quickly, as it would only withstand the same number of these quick attacks as it would stronger blows (until a strike would reach the terminal point of strength at which the shield would shatter regardless). Indeed, this strategy paid off; within moments the forcefield parted ineffectually beneath Gan's blades as the remaining foes looked on in awe. They had yet to engage, and as I brandished my blade towards them they stayed back, unwilling to commit to a slaughter. The captain fell to the floor, and as Gan prepared to deliver the death blow, I prepared to advise him against it; we needed the man alive, after all. But then I noticed something that made me cast that thought aside: the captain was not afraid. He radiated calm, as if he was in control of the whole situation. I racked my brain for everything I knew about mages, and the only possible answer made my blood run cold.

'Quickly! Out of the way!' I screamed a mental projection at Gan, 'He has a contingency set up!"

Gan responded to my caution instantly, abandoning his coup de grace and flipping out of the way just as a sunfire went off at his feet. Unfortunately, whilst Gan was able to execute a flawless chain of acrobatics and keep himself from harm, I was caught unawares by the edge of the blast radius. The heat and pain knocked me off my feet. I felt the skin on my chest burning, and my nostrils filled with smoke from the burning leather and singed flesh. Worse yet, my chainmail had retained the heat, and was burning lines of agony into my skin. For the same reason I was forced to abandon my shield as I climbed uneasily to my feet.

Looking around, I briefly saw Gan dueling with the captain again, before I felt a mild tremor in the spirit realm. Acting on instinct, I turned and impaled one of the mercenaries who had thought me an easy target. As he slid from my blade, another two stepped forwards, wielding maces. They rushed me as a pair, but I was able to parry their attacks effortlessly- it was much easier to read the intentions of my opponents now that I could see into their souls. They were tiring quickly, and I saw an opening in the defences of the man on my right. I leaned away to the left, then came back and cut his legs from underneath him. Then I pirouetted away from the combat and his falling body, cutting his throat as I did so.

The blood from the two men I had killed had done something to heal my wounds, but not nearly enough for comfort. My chest was still searing with pain- unusual given the amount of blood I had spilled- and the mercenaries were lining up for a shot at me. I needed to improvise, quickly. Only one idea came to me, and I acted on it immediately, igniting the Fireblade. Its powers were much easier to maintain now, but I could feel my insight into the minds of others failing. I would have to act fast.

I swung my blade up to guard above my head, shearing in half the mace destined for my skull, then I hewed downwards through the splint armour of the other mercenary I had perviously engaged. Preparing to kill the other six, I briefly checked to see how Gan was doing. I saw that he had disarmed the captain, and was just about to behead him once more. However, yet again the blade bounced off ineffectually, this time from his skin. I grimaced- protection from normal weapons, presumably. I saw another rain of blows cascade off the magical protection, with no visible result. This level of magical competency was very hard to overcome, and I wouldn't have been surprised if the man could have maintained it indefinitely.

As I was thinking this, I casually brandished my blade in a direction I didn't care to note, feeling it shear through another chain hauberk, only vauguely noting the screams of the dying man, yet fully aware of the sudden absence of life. Another of the Black Talons broke off, supposing Gan to be an easier target. In response to this Gan, without missing a beat, reached behind his back with a single katana and cut off the man's arm. The Black Talon fell to the ground, clutching his bloody stump, while his scimitar spun away off the edge of the cliff. Then Gan turned to resume his combat, but as he faced the captain he realised, as did I, that those mere moments had been all the captain needed. He had already drawn a small tanto from his sleeve, and thrust it into the crook of Gan's left arm. He dropped his katana from that arm, but he fought on, pulling out the tanto and casting it aside.

I noticed now in my urgency that my burns had started to heal. Looking down I saw the smoking corpse of the man I had just slain, his face locked in a rictus of surprise and pain. What caught my attention though was the steam rising from his body, which was penetrating my armour and treating my burns. this was something I found to be very interesting indeed- it seemed that if I was dealt elemental damage, my regeneration could cover that as well provided that I had dealt my foe a similar injury.

No sooner had I realised this than my spirit vision started to wear off. The world blurred around me, and I found myself once more able to see the world in a normal light. Unfortunately, I also found myself on the floor, with my magical blade extinguished and no more strength to summon up its powers a second time. Looking up, I saw the remaining three mercenaries rushing me.

I acted out of sheer urgency now, rolling to the side to avoid a rather forceful sword strike and pulling a dagger from the girdle of the last man I had killed. This I threw upwards so quickly that my target had no time to parry it away, and it went under his guard and sunk into the space between his ribs. He gurgled twice, his mouth filling up with blood; then he fell on his own blade, which made a tearing sound as it penetrated through behind his shoulder blades and he dropped to the earth.

I stood to face my final adversaries. Glancing over my shoulder to the left, I saw Gan was holding his own, but with difficulty. He could barely stave off the magically augmented attacks of his foe, and the few strikes he got in were harmless against the captain's magical protections. Still, I knew before I could help him I needed to mop up the others. One of them was a grimy-looking woman with a flail. As she swung it a circles above her head, I perpared a counter. She swung for my stomach, but I whipped my blade out to the side and entangled it in the chain. Noting the look of shock on her face as she struggle to free her weapon from physics, I grinned. Then I withdrew my blade, shattering the chain and sending shards of broken metal into the air, while the spiked-ball sank into the ground and stayed there. I dealt her a mercifully swift death blow, then, piercing her heart almost melodramaticall, and bloodying my blade once more.

Now I turned to face my last opponent. He was plate-armoured, and wielded a hammer the size of a large child effortlessly. I thought he might have been a half-orc, or something like that. He advanced slowly, sizing me up- then he struck without warning. I ducked under his swing, then had to leap another one before I was ready to, surprised by his speed. The next blow I was forced to parry, and as my blade screeched against the head of the hammer, I felt my wrist jarr. Switching hands quickly, I was then able to deal a glancing blow to the armour around his shoulder, scratching a deep gouge into the plating where it was thick. This was not to be enough, though, as he recovered quickly and swung again, knocking my sword from my surprised hands. Frantically, I looked for a way to improvise. Instantly, I siezed upon my discarded shield. Retreating out of the range of his attack, I scooped my boot under it and kicked it into the air towards my assailant. As I had predicted, he simply smashed it out of the way, but he did so with enough force that it shattered into pieces. Still, the loss of my shield was a fair price to pay for the distraction it offered, as while he was momentarily blinded by jagged shards of metal, I was able to pick up my sword again and cut the head from his hammer, leaving only a wooden pole. He stepped back, aghast, and dropped it limply. Not feeling so tough now with only his plate armour to protect him from my magical sword, he tried to run, but he was encumbered by his armour so I caught him easily and hamstringed him. I wasn't taking any chances with this one however and so I swung downwards again, for his head. Given that I was using my left hand, I think it's an acceptable result that I merely sheared off one side of his face, at the very least it was enough to ensure he wouldn't be fighting any more.

I looked over once more to see how Gan was doing- it wasn't good. His face was speckled with blood, his blonde hair dirty and matted with sweat. He was clearly exhausted, breathing hard, and there was a long gash running down the side of his face. His sleeve too had soaked through entirely red from the wound on his elbow, and he had dropped his other weapon. The captain, as before, was unharmed. Now he reached out and grabbed Gan by the throat, proceeding to the edge of the cliff.

"Now you die." He growled in his coarse, emotionless voice, " And soon your friend will follow you into the abyss!"

As I jogged up to them all I could think of to shout was, "Gan! Get ready to catch the cliff face!" As I said this, the captain dropped him and turned in shock, but not quickly enough to stop me sinking my blade through the back of his knee. His magical defences were no protection against my enchanted blade, and he fell to the ground, his will to fight on broken by the sudden breaching of his spell.

Gan was gone, I presumed that he had managed to catch a safe handhold on the cliff. At the time that wasn't as important as interrogating this man and finding my next lead to Taurgosz. I pointed my blade at his throat, prpping him up into a sitting position so that he could look into the eyes of death as it lingered close to him.

"Tell me where to find Khosann!" I demanded harshly, "Tell me now and I may spare your life" He seemed to be aging before my eyes, looking now like a man who had spent weeks in the desert of Amkethran with nary a drop to drink. For the first time, his dry, cracked lips forced a smile, and he laughed, coughing as he did,

"You should have adhered to our demands" he rasped, "We would have taken you to him..." He trailed off, breaking into another laughing/coughing fit.

"You would have taken us in chains to his gibbet! We are not your prisoners! Now tell me where to find him and I will let you live!" To emphasise the point I pressed my blade harder to his neck, a drop of blood beading on the tip.

"You know as well as I do that the moment our eyes met it was certain that we would not both leave this place with aspirations to a continued existence. Besides, there is nothing else for me to live for." He swallowed and looked me in the eye, "I remain loyal to my masters, even in death."

As I was contemplating a way to force the truth out of him, I was interrupted by the sound of scrabbling on rock as Gan clambered over the precipice, his eyes mad with rage, aggravated by the pain of having scaled the cliff face harbouring an arm injury. Without any warning but a snarl of feral rage, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and thrust it deep into the captain's throat. The man stiffened in the barest surprise, then smiled as he fell to death's embrace. I looked up at Gan, incredulous.

"You idiot! We needed him alive! We needed to know what he knew. Without him the trail ends, we're just stuck in the forest, with nowhere to go to pursue our enemy!"

His face remained composed, "Abdel, I know men like him: zealots; fanatics- he was devoted to his cause endlessly, he would not have given anything. Besides," he said, stooping, "Sometimes we find all the information we need in the form of carelessly discarded personal documents."

With that, he searched the man's pockets, and was rewarded with a folded up piece of paper procured from a less than desirable location- somewhere I would definitely not recommend searching unless you know you will find something good. He unfolded it carefully and read it quickly to himself, muttering,

"It seems to detail the arrangements of our execution in the government district of the City of Athkatla. It has postings for Khosann and his guard, as well as several other reputed businessmen and nobles, or so I gather."

" Let me see that." He passed it over to me. It read:

Men of the Black Talon Company, each of you have been entrusted with this information on the grounds that you are in possession of talents that our master could use in case anything goes wrong. This message details the execution of Dosan's brat, which is scheduled to be held outside the Council of Six Building in Athkatla exactly two weeks after his apprehension and delivery to the city. Saviol will retrieve him from the forest, after his unit deals with the elves harbouring the scum. Lord Khosann himself will attend the execution, and you must protect him at all costs. Also present will be commander Tazok. Our ultimate master, however, will not be attending, as it puts too much pressure on his profile to be seen in Amn. Tazok is attending in his place. The grand merchants of Athkatla will also be present and if something goes wrong we should take measures to ensure they are not hurt, as it would give us bad press if they learned that young Abdel is in fact not the source of the Iron Crisis. Oh, and one more thing. Angelo Dosan will be there as well. Apply any necessary pressure to ensure he makes no move to prevent the killing of his last remaining kin. We have to ensure he, and the Fist, remain securely in our pockets. Remember, botching this will mean a fate far worse than death.

On the other side of the message was a map with a route drawn to Athkatla from the various places the Talons and their associates had holed up. I noted outposts in Luskan and the Gate, but also one from the site of the elven village, which I was sure Gan could lead us back to.

"Well then," I said, "Athkatla... It would appear we have our destination."

Gan grimaced from the pain again, "You suggest we attend our own execution?"

"Yes... I believe that is what I'm proposing... I wonder what links they could have to the city of coin? And Angelo Dosan? He could be the brother that Taurgosz spoke of... he could be my uncle. We have to attend, immediately. We'll need to find a means of infiltrating the city, but they'll get their show alright- lots of nice death for them. I need to find out what links this Angelo has to my father" Most of this I said to myself, and so I addressed Gan properly. "We'll see to your wounds along the way, with the help of the forest you should fix up just fine. Can you lead us back to the village ruins by sunrise?"

"Yes, I can. We should rest a while there though," he said, getting into the idea, "After all, we're not expected for another two weeks."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Abdel's spirit vision was more wild magic, and it won't be too frequent. I'm sure you already saw some pros and cons, and can think of more.

To the person who mentioned the Eldreth Veluuthra to me, I will be incorporating them into Gan's backstory, but not for a while yet.

Sorry there are no new characters, we'll have one soon! I promise :)

Also apologies for the delay, as mentioned above.

So.. on to the big city, where many connections and oppurtunities await. We're just beginning to unravel the tangled strands of fate here, readers! see you there!