Ingrandor bent his knees, slightly turning his right foot to his right in order to give Hellrien less of a target. He held his sword in his hand somewhere between his body and the shield he kept at chest level in his left hand. Hellrien lifted her sword and dagger up in striking position, brandishing the blades in the air in an unpredictable manner as she carefully circled around Ingrandor, keeping her eyes keenly fixed on his.
Ingrandor moved his body as Hellrien moved, always making sure that the shield was kept between them and the sword ready for counter-attack, his eyes fixed on her. In that moment he deemed she might not expect it. He kept his shield where it was but attempted a slight stab at her left hand closest to him to disorient her a bit. Hellrien attempted to dodge the attack but she was too slow. The blade chinked against her armor. She swirled around and tried to swing her sword towards Ingrandor’s back as she simultaneously lifted her left foot to kick his front side. Ingrandor saw the kick coming quite early and as he still had his arm extended from his previous attack he pulled it right back, hitting her leg with the pommel of his sword to block it. He lifted his shield to protect himself from the slash coming towards his back. As the sword clanked against the shield Ingrandor slashed across her chest. The blade chinked against the scales of her armor.
”Ugh”, Hellrien said, staring at the blade across her chest. ”Seems like I’m dead.”
”Yes, but we can continue.”
”Doesn't seem to be my day, Ingrandor!”
At that moment a young boy ran through the gate and stopped at the Dawnhall yard. The watchdog woke up, started barking and ran towards the boy, who quickly retreated outside of the fence. The dog stood in front of the entrance and kept barking. The child stood outside, looking helpless.
”I was lucky”, Ingrandor said. ” I am sure I can't compete with a woman with a hat.”
Hellrien stared at the glaring sun, then at the boy behind the fence. ”A messenger boy”, she said. ”I wonder what he wants?”
”Oh... who does that? We have mail.”
”Let’s go see what he wants.”
Hellrien followed the other sellsword to the cobbled path that ran across the yard by the dais. Behind them the Dawnhall’s bleak outlines stood against the gray rockface. The Bloody Dawn banner flapped fiercely in the wind. Ingrandor shooed the dog, but it refused to back down. He grunted and walked closer to the beast.
” Let's go, shoo dog, go away!”
The child outside the fence waved his right hand, showing a piece of rolled parchment. ”This is for lady Hellrien!”
Hellrien walked to the gate and reached her hand to take the parchment. ”Who’s it from?” she asked as she rolled it open.
”From a man with a long beard. He said his name is Fiontann.”
”Alright, thanks”, Hellrien muttered and flipped the boy a coin as she read the message. The boy grabbed the coin, bowed deeply and ran away.
Hellrien,
I had a visit today from a man for a contract. As my company here are not sellswords we cannot take it, which suits me fine as it is perfect for the Bloody Dawn. Meet me at the Thirsty Boar at Hamglen, 8 Long Street.
Fiontann
”Who’s it from?” Ingrandor asked.
”Fiontann. The new Captain. He wants to see me - in Hamglen. Do you know where that is?”
”South of Bree. No more than seven miles to the northeast. Turn right on the third path before Chetwood. I have been there once. They have cheap drinks.”
”I guess I need to go then. Thank you for the match, Ingrandor.”
”Until next time.” Ingrandor smiled, took off an invisible hat and waved it before heading back to the Dawnhall.
Hellrien went to fetch her horse and nodded at the guardsman by the gate. It was a new horse, a gray mare named Bitsy. Half-Pint had started to get a little too long in the tooth for active service, so Hellrien had pensioned him off. He had gone to a good home. Once she was outside of the headquarters she spurred Bitsy to a full speed. The wind was howling strangely. As she rode northeast toward the small village called Hamglen where the new captain Fiontann had his inn, she pondered about the recent sword contest. Her performance had been miserable, and she was sure Fiontann would want to address her right away about it once he heard. Ingrandor had beaten her overwhelmingly. Hellrien had barely managed to attempt anything at all against him. She couldn’t blame the wind for her bad performance, as the weather conditions had been equally bad for both contestants. And Ingrandor was so much older than Hellrien, who was still in her early twenties.
Hellrien shook the thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on watching the verdant woodlands and ridges. A grove of elms came into sight. Hellrien rode through the gate and rode straight along the main road until she reached the house in the end. She liked the look of the tavern and it’s polygon structure, outdoor tables and benches and trees casting long shadows over the downward-sloping yard in the last light of the setting sun.
As she walked the hardwood flooring in the hallway Hellrien could hear the sound of her own footsteps echoing from the hardwood walls. A pounding headache had nestled behind her eyes. The large common room was crowded with people and they were all talking, laughing and shouting. A familiar, bearded figure was sitting alone at a table in the back of the common room, tankard in hand, pipe in mouth, a cloud of smoke around his head. Hellrien walked at him and stopped in front of the table. Fiontann looked up at her and smiled politely as he took the pipe in his right hand, the tankard resting on the table. He nodded once and motioned her to sit with him.
”Sit please.”
Hellrien slumped on the elegant wooden bench across Fiontann. Fiontann’s tight, sparkling gaze drilled into her eyes.
”That was fast, I have to admit. Do you want something to drink?” he asked.
Hellrien hesitated for a moment. But hell, Fiontann couldn’t have learned about the match already, now could he?
”Thank you, sir, some beer would be nice”, she said politely.
”Of course.” Fiontann turned his gaze towards the counter and raised his voice a little, not shouting but enough to be heard.
”Anriett, can you bring a tankard of beer?” he said and inhaled some smoke, blew out rings of smoke and turned his attention back to Hellrien, eyeing her up and down a moment. ”It seems that for many people I will always be a sellsword.”
Hellrien wondered what he meant by that and what this meeting was about, but didn’t let her hesitation show in her eyes. A moment later a short and petite redhead from the bar walked towards their table with with a mug and set it down on the table in front of Hellrien. She smiled at Hellrien and Hellrien smiled back.
”Thank you.”
”Thank you, Anriett”, Fiontann said.
”Anytime!” said the redhead and walked away.
”So”, said Hellrien, ”what is going on, sir?”
”I had an interesting meeting with a merchant yesterday. He wants his goods back and he wanted to hire us to get them back for him”, said Fiontann.
Hellrien became instinctively alert, and Fiontann must have seen it too over the table – her fair, round and heavy features, hard steel blue eyes and scars on her forehead and left cheekbone.
”I understand. Who do we need to hit?”
”Oddly enough, this wasn't a contract for a hit. A pleasant surprise.” Fiontann leaned in closer, putting his tankard aside and keeping his right hand on the table, pipe in hand. ”Some time ago, brigands stole his merchandise. They were arrested but they never said where it was. And as always the useless Watch didn't care much and just banished them from Bree. Our man though is not naive and he has coins, lots of coins. So he had some folk watch those brigands and follow them.”
Fiontann stopped for a moment to take a sip of his ale before continuing. Hellrien took a big gulp from her own mug and listened.
”The brigands go north, somewhere in Evendim, those people follow. Soon they find out that the bandits have buried the goods and aim to get them once things cool down. But they don't as our man is clever and wants back what's his. But our man has more coins and also hires a woman! One of loose morals.”
”The merchant hired a seductress, sir?” Hellrien queried as Fiontann grew silent.
”Don’t they all do?” Fiontann grinned slightly and sipped his ale.
Hellrien nodded her head. ”So what it is you want me to do exactly?”
”Last our merchant has heard, his spy was in the Soot and Stain, a low morals place in Trestlebridge. A brothel in common. I want you to go and meet that contact and retrieve what you can from her. Once you learn what you can, I will leave it up to your judgment. Try to learn where the bandits or the goods are if possible, or return and report so that we take up action in violence.”
”I don't understand. Why doesn't the spy just tell her information to the merchant? Is she hiding out in Trestlebridge?”
There was a bit of commotion in the tavern, and Hellrien glanced over her shoulder to see what it was about. She saw a man enter with bloody hands and a dead deer over his shoulders. A hunter, Hellrien thought and turned her attention back to Fiontann.
”The merchant has lost contact with the spy. It's been at least four weeks since the last letter. She usually sends a report every two.”
”I see, sir. So my mission is to find out what she knows, and why she's being holed up in Trestlebridge. Does she have a name?”
”Exactly. She goes by the name Lily.”
Hellrien felt a presence of somebody standing nearby and looked to her left. It was the hunter – a tall, dark-haired man in his late thirties, she presumed. He had gotten rid of the carcass of the deer by now. Fiontann turned to look at him and smiled. ”This is Dawn matters.”
The man walked up to Fiontann’s side. Standing behind him he greeted Hellrien with a single word: ”Evening.”
”Evening, sir.”
”Dawn matters”, the hunter repeated to Fiontann. His voice was very deep and gritty. ”Since when are you involved with ’Dawn matters’?”
”Since Taala and Eroforth asked me to take over. This is Hellrien. Hellrien, this is Sigfread.”
”I believe I’ve seen you somewhere before. Either way, well met”, said Sigfread.
Hellrien stared at the man for a moment. There was a sense of strange familiarity to him, but she couldn’t remember if and when she had ever met him before.
”Nice to see you, Sigfread”, she said, playing it safe. Whether she had met him or not, whether she remembered him or not, that response gave away nothing.
”Sigfread is a good friend of mine and Taala too”, Fiontann said.
Hellrien nodded and went back to the matter at hand. ”And the bandit? What’s his name?”
Fiontann leaned back and puffed his pipe. ”Their captain's name is Seyton Redwood. He sounds like an imposing figure. So keep an eye out. I know that we have a garrison there but it will be better to keep a low profile. His men may be there, or may not. He may be there too. The fact that Lily hasn't sent a report for four weeks worries our client.”
”I know the proprietor of the Soot and Stain but don't remember any Lily. I guess I have to play it by the ear, go there on a ’vacation’ and see how things are.”
”Exactly, and since that Lily is a spy she must be new there, or one of them that uses an alias. The merchant's name is Bruner Stouttrush. If you meet anyone named Lily greet her by ’The lilies are stout in Bree’. She will reply with something like ’but slim and fair in Trestlebridge’. I think it was what she used to meet the other spies.”
Hellrien got up. She had heard enough. ”I guess it's best that I leave right away.”
”Take your time, prepare for it. Make sure you are safe. Then set out. Let me know when you do. Actually, let's go outside. I'll familiarize my raven with you. That way I will have an eye on you every now and then.”
”Alright, sir.”
”I’ll be back”, Fiontann said to Sigfread.
Fiontann exited the inn and Hellrien followed him, taking her hat from the rack and putting it on against the cool night air. The sun had already set. Fiontann outstretched his fisted hand, and soon a dark raven landed on it. There was a pouch tied to the raven’s left leg. Hellrien could see it was for messages.
”Nice neighborhood”, she said and meant it.
”Thank you. I made it myself not long after forming the first incarnation of The Black Steel. Now this is Aingen, I trained with him, just before we set off for the Misty Mountains when I was still in the Dawn. He was the messenger between us in the mountains and the others that stayed behind.”
Fiontann brought the bird slowly closer to her to let it peck at her shoulder and hair.
”He wouldn't peck my eyes out or anything like that?” Hellrien asked nervously.
”Not at all. Let it take in what you look like. I will use him to send you messages and to make sure that you don't get in trouble. If you see him distressed and circling above you like crazy there is trouble.”
”And if I need to send a message to you?”
”It can't do much but if he flies and dives like mad, then trouble is approaching. Lift your hand up, let it get comfortable.”
Hellrien did as Fiontann asked. Fiontann brought his hand closer to hers, urging the raven to move from one arm to the other.
”Once he takes in what you look like and feels safe he will allow you to tie a message. But mind you, it may take a while to reach me. I will head to the Misty Mountains within five days. Though I may leave him with you so that you may send a letter when you get there.”
”Sounds good. Anything else I need to know?”
”That's all I know myself. The names of the bandit captain, our client and the contact. The rest is for you to find out. And when you do share with me so that we do make a plan.”
After a while of calm talking between Fiontann and Hellrien the bird seemed comfortable enough to move up and down Hellrien’s arm. Fion nodded and extended his arm again. The bird got on it and then flew away.
”He is comfortable now”, he said. ”And make sure you take no risks. My priority for my people is safety. Then everything else. I rather you don't leave at night but at dawn. The less risks the better. But it is up to you. You have my trust as you can see.”
”Thank you, sir. But I think I need to go back to the barracks at least. I have some things I need to take with me.”
”Yes, that's what I am saying. Don't leave at once. Get ready and travel with light.”
”I suppose I need to return now. Long ride to the Dawnhall.”
”You can stay here if you wish. As you can see there are others here too. If you are hungry, stay and eat.”
” Nah, I best be off. I must get prepared for tomorrow. Thank you, sir.”
”As you wish”, Fiontann smiled. ”Stay safe, Hellrien.”
”I’ll do my very best.”
