“Fine! I suppose we can wait for you to get us in but you better make sure we don’t wait all day Elling,” Jedem said. “We’ll be at the Pig and Whistle Tavern. Come along Oslis; let’s give Elling some time to work his magic.”
“Ye had mae at tavern,” Oslis responded.
“Watch yourself in Old Town Jedem,” Elling warned. “By now word of your arrival in town has probably spread across Stormwind and you-know-who will want to have a word with you.”
“He would probably like to do more than have a word,” Jedem said. “But that can’t be helped now.”
“You take care of yourself Jedem,” Elling said. “It has been nice seeing you alive and I would hate to have this be the last time we talked. You owe me a few stories regarding what you’ve been up to the past few years.”
“Goodbye Elling,” Jedem said as he exited through the office door with Oslis at his side.
“I’m serious about being careful Jedem,” Elling said as the pair walked down the stairs.
“I’ll be fine,” Jedem replied. “And besides, it’s not like we’re going to wander around lost in the Old Town. If anything does happen, I do have a battle tested dwarf to protect me after all.”
“Ha! Laddae ye better nae be leading me into trouble,” Oslis said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. ”Or it’ll be me that ye have to worry aboot.”
“Looks like you’re in good hands,” Elling said as he laughed, clapping Jedem on the back. “You two take care and watch for my messenger. I think you should leave your mounts here and walk to the Old Town to avoid any more attention.”
“It better nae be a long walk,” Oslis said.
“Don’t worry, Oslis. It is a short trip even for a dwarf,” Elling responded. “You may also want to leave your pet here as well. It’s a rather large attention getter.”
The pair walked out of the cheese shop and pulled the items that they needed from their horses. Oslis told the wolf to stay put and the two began the short walk to the tavern. When they crossed the canal bridge into the Old Town area, Jedem stopped and looked around.
“Do ye see anything?” Oslis asked.
“No I don’t,” Jedem answered. “But I have a feeling that there is more than one pair of eyes watching us. We better hurry to the tavern and wait for the messenger from Elling.”
The two walked into the Old Town and headed towards the tavern. When it was almost in sight, the two noticed that all the normal city noises had suddenly stopped.
“It’s very quiet,” Oslis said.
“It’s a little too quiet. I think you should prepare yourself, just in case,” Jedem warned quietly. “I’d rather that we get to the tavern and feel foolish for worrying than to not be ready for a fight. I’d like to avoid a fight as much as you do.”
“It’s a little too late for that!” a voice suddenly called out from nowhere.
“So much for that idea,” Jedem said. “Come out where we can see you! Unless you’re afraid of a fight.”
“It’s you who should be afraid,” another voice said from behind him.
A braying laughter suddenly began from their left side.
“Oh no,” Jedem said.
“What’s tha matter?” Oslis asked as he looked around trying to see who the voices belong to.
“I’d know that laugh anywhere,” Jedem answered. “Come on out Badger. We don’t have to do this.”
“The hell we don’t Jedem. You should have stayed gone,” Badger said as he emerged from a darkened doorway. He had a weasel like face, a large irritating smile, and was wearing a bowler hat. “You should have known that you once you made him your enemy, it would never be safe for you to come back.”
“Look I don’t want any trouble, I just want to go about my business.” Jedem said. “Just let us through peacefully and no one will have to do anything that they will regret.”
“I don’t think so. He wants to see you but he never said that we can’t have a little fun bringing you to him,” Badger said with an evil look in his eyes. He whistled in three short bursts and suddenly several rough looking men appeared all around Jedem.
“Trust me you don’t want to do this,” Jedem warned.
“Oh but I do,” Badger said. “He doesn’t have time for people like you, who botch a job and run at the first sign of a guard. That job cost him a lot of money.”
“It wasn’t just one guard and you know it,” Jedem replied. “I can pay him for what he lost just let me go and I’ll make sure he gets it.”
“Oh. Well that changes everything,” Badger said. “Give it to me and I’ll make sure that he gets it.”
“I don’t have it with me,” Jedem said.
“Shame. If you had, I’d have had your gold and the pleasure of knowing I got to hurt you,” Badger said cruelly. “My boys and I have been looking forward to hurting you for a long time.”
“Yes, I’ll bet you have,” Jedem said.
Suddenly from behind, one of the men threw a punch at the back of Jedem’s head. He shifted his weight and leaned his body to the left so that the punch hit nothing but air. Jedem grabbed the goon’s arm and pull him with all his might, sending the attacker flying through the air into another of the men.
While Jedem was busy, one of the other men grabbed Oslis from behind and picked him up in a fierce bear hug. Oslis tried squirming out of it but he saw that he was effectively trapped as the man started tightening his grip. The man had lifted him high enough that their heads were almost lined up and Oslis decided to do the only thing he could: he head butted the man as hard as he could. The attacker cried out in pain, took a step back, and dropped the dwarf who turned quickly and slammed his fist into the man’s stomach, doubling him over. Clasping both hands together, Oslis used them to uppercut the man and knock him down.
“I’ll say this for ye mage, ye’re definitely not a boring person to be around,” Oslis said as he threw himself at the nearest attacker.
Jedem punched one guy in the face with all his might and was rewarded with the sight of the man dropping to the ground unconscious. “I’d save the humor until we get out of this mess.”
Oslis was about to reply when he was picked up by two of the attackers and thrown into a wall. The dwarf hit the wall hard but he managed to get up to face his attackers. He pulled something from his pocket and brought it up to his mouth. The two men approaching him stopped and looked at each other in confusion over what the dwarf was doing. They began slowly edging their way to the dwarf when suddenly a shadow appeared above them.
Bad Wolf landed on both men and growled loudly. The men were too frightened of the wolf to do anything but stare.
“Good boy,” Oslis said to the dog as he got up. He kicked each of the men in the face, knocking them out.
The remaining four attackers took a few steps back, unsure if they wanted to join the fight. “Get in there and beat them or I’ll make you sorry that you were born!” Badger yelled at them.
“Looks like they fear us more than they fear you and your threats,” Jedem said. One of the men decided to charge him. The man grabbed Jedem around waist and lifted him to slam into the ground. Jedem clasped his hands together and brought them down on the man’s back causing the attacker to release his hold on Jedem. Jedem brought up his knee to the man’s stomach. When the attacker bent over in pain, Jedem spun and threw a roundhouse kick at the man’s head, knocking him to the ground and out of the fight.
Oslis didn’t wait for the remaining men to attack and jumped at one of them, knocking them to the ground. He threw several punches as he fell and rolled away to quickly stand up. Bad Wolf pounced on the fallen attacker and kept the scared man down. One of the other men tried rushing Oslis from behind but the dwarf dodged out of the way and kicked at the attacker’s knee. He was rewarded with a loud cracking sound followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor
The last remaining attacker was standing back watching his friends get beaten and he turned and ran away. “Get back here you worm!” Badger yelled at the running man’s back. “You’ll be sorry you ran!”
Amidst the fallen attacker’s bodies, Jedem and Oslis looked at each out. “You ok dwarf?” Jedem asked.
“Fine enough ta catch a badger fer breakfast,” Oslis replied.
“Looks like it’s just you and us now Badger,” Jedem said.
Jedem and Oslis started walking towards Badger when suddenly he pulled a crossbow out of bag and aimed it at Jedem. Badger than said “Wrong again; it’s just you. Now back away from me.”
“Easy now Badger, you don’t need to hurt anyone,” Jedem said as he backed away. “Besides you’ll only be able to get one shot off before we get to you and I remember your aim being horrible.”
“One shot is all I’ll need to end your miserable life,” Badger said as he edged his way around all the bodies. “Will you take that risk?”
“We can rush him laddae,” Oslis said. “He’ll nae be able to stop us before we can get him.”
Do you let Badger go or do you rush him?
BADGER RUSH
ReplyDeleteRush him!
ReplyDelete