A Warrior and his Dog

A Warrior and his Dog
By T.D.K.Alailima

         The last thing Thalin remembered, he was hanging upside down from the bottom of the Lionsgate Bridge, watching as a lone mercenary rode a large chestnut stallion beneath him accompanied by the largest wolfhound Thalin had ever seen.  Then the next thing he knew, he was falling through the darkness, flapping his arms, trying desperately and unsuccessfully to fly.
         Now, it seemed as though his body were on fire.  The back of his head had a sharp nagging pain that kept thudding incessantly sending reverberating aftershocks all through his body.  And to top all of this off, he felt hot breath on across his face, alternating with a slimy roughness that streaked across his cheek, his lips, his nose, all over his face.  Cracking open his eyes, Thalin could see an uncovered lantern in the left hand of the mercenary he had spied before.  He was a big guy, perhaps a dozen or so handspans tall, with shoulders maybe three or four spans wide.  And there didn’t look to be an ounce of fat on his frame.  Not that there was any on Thalin’s slender frame, but this guy had layers of muscle bulging through his loosely wrapped tunic.  Thalin wouldn’t want to meet this fellow on a dark street. 
         Unfortunately, that’s just the situation he found himself in.  And to make matters worse, the man’s humongous wolf-hound crouched silently above him with it’s huge gaping jaws only finger widths from his throat.  In fact, up close, Thalin was convinced that the beast was pretty much all wolf with no hound at all.  It had a wild, voracious cast to it, and seemed to be laughing at him, though in actuality it made no noise whatsoever.
         “Don’t mind Anali, falling stranger,” the mercenary joked.  “She’s completely harmless.”  At that the wolf, turned and seemed to glare at the man, but backed off gingerly, leaving Thalin to wallow on the ground in his misery.  Knealing beside Thalin, the burly fighter placed a soothing hand on his brow.  “Would that I had paid more attention to Kinar’s lessons on the medicinal properties of plants.  If I remember correctly, he had an herbal brew to help soothe and mend a blow to the head.  Even one as severe as your own.
         “Vest,”  Thalin found himself struggling to say.  “Pocket.”  Exhausted after saying those two words, Thalin fell backwards, chest heaving with exertion.  Fishing through Thalin’s vest pocket, the fighter pulled out a large black vial.
         “Is this what you want?” the man asked.
         Nodding, Thalin gurgled the word, “Potion.”  Here of course, was the perfect opportunity for this man to take off with his potion (which truth be told was worth a small fortune), not to mention his pouch and other valuables.  But Thalin had little choice in the matter.  He was too banged up to do much of anything.
         “Is it magic?” the man asked with a dark, challenging tone.
         “Yes,” Thaling gasped.  ‘Healing!”  And it had not been very easy to come by, especially for someone like himself.  Fortunately that priest of Adallia owed him a couple favors.  The man frowned a bit, but uncapped the stopper on the vial, and carefully poured a small portion down Thalin’s throat.  Thalin eagerly swallowed as much as the man poured.  But was grateful that the man poured only one or two swallows worth.  That stuff was expensive.  Almost immediately Thalin felt his headache lessen and then disappear.  His bones mended and the pain in his flesh rapidly diminished.  There would still be bruising, and some dull aches for a day or two, but he felt infinitely better.  “Thank you!” he managed to say, before weariness started to over power him, and darkness once again threatened to swallow him whole.  Magic the potion may be, but healing such damage still took a lot out of a person.  His last thought before darkness completely claimed him was, I hope some other thief doesn’t steal all of my stuff.


         This time when Thalin awoke, he found himself in a small, yet fairly comfortable bed.  It was in a small room, with a small wood burning stove, and a thin slit of a window overlooking a busy street.  If Thalin had to guess from the sounds and smells outside that window, he would probably place himself on or near Rangar street, the fishy smell, and sound of the smithy were a dead give away.  And though he had never stayed at this particular establishment, Thalin was fairly certain that this was The Axe and Shield, a working class establishment that tended to cater to the traveling mercenary type.
         Silently slipping out of bed, Thalin noticed all but his smallclothes had been removed and that his satchel had been lain carefully at the foot of the bed.  There were two doors leading from the room, one which looked to go to the hallway, and another that seemed to lead to an adjoining room.  Lightly treading his way to the hallway door, Thalin kept his eyes on the other door.  Standing perfectly still, he listened carefully to the sounds from the hall.  There seemed to be the low murmur of a woman mumbling and a wet banging sound.  Stalking his way to the other door, Thalin again stood perfectly still and listened carefully.
         The first thing he heard was the soft giggle of a woman’s voice, followed by the playful chuckle of a deep male one.  Apparently, Thalin’s mercenary friend was entertaining.  But that was hardly surprising.  The road was no doubt long and lonely.  Pretty much every traveler tended to seek some kind of companionship as soon as they got into town.  Listening carefully, Thalin distinctly heard the man say, “Anali!!!  What are you doing?  Oh, Oh, Ahhhhhh!”  The rest was some fairly inaudible grunting.
         Thalin smiled.  They sounded like they were having fun.  He was walking carefully back to his own bed when something jogged his memory.  Anali was the name of the mercenary’s pet wolf.  Startled, Thalin misjudged his step and banged into the leg of his bed.  Almost immediately all sound in the other room died down.  Then, there was shuffling followed by footsteps, and then the door abruptly opened.  In the door, the mercenary stood looking somewhat disheveled, wearing the same breaches and tunic as the previous night,. The clothes appeared crooked an uneven , as if they’d been thrown on quite rapidly.  Which, no doubt they had been.
         “You’re awake,” the man stated.  Thalin repressed an urge to make a sharp comment at the man’s expense.  After all, this stranger had probably saved his life.
         “Yes, I was just getting up and thinking of taking a little stretch,”  Thalin replied innocently.  “The muscles are still a bit stiff after that fall.”
         “You’re lucky to be alive.  A fall like that would have killed most men, potion or no potion”
         Chuckling, Thalin responded, “Ah, I know how to fall.  Although usually I prefer not to fall from such a height.”  Thalin frowned.  That was the odd thing.  His boots had a special enchantment on them that allowed them to stick to surfaces as if glued to them.  He could, of course, walk normally when not scaling walls or ceilings, but never in all the years he had used them had the boots failed him.  Yet last night they had just lost their grip unexpectedly.  “Thanks so much for scraping me off of those cobbles, sir,” Thalin stated giving his most elegant bow.  “I don’t even know your name.”
         At first a guarded expression flashed across his benefactor’s face, before his face stilled into a calm expression as he said, “Most people call me Argan.”  Thalin was fairly good at reading people, but it didn’t take much to realize that ‘Argan’ was hiding something.  Like his real name.    But the name the stranger gave intrigued him. 
         Thalin was actually quite unique among people in his profession in that he was actually quite well-educated.  He found it interesting to note that his new friend had chosen a name that meant “defender of the oppressed” in Cantosi, the ancient language of the Great Eastern Empire.
         “Well, Argan, I owe you big,”  Thalin said extending his hand. 
         Grasping the proffered hand, Argan gave it a firm squeeze and a shake before turning back towards the other room.  “I had some breakfast brought up a while back.  Come and share some of the food.” 
         Argan guided Thalin into the other room.  Of the woman, Thalin could see no sign.  The only other occupant to the room was the wolf curled up contentedly in the center of the bed.  She must have slipped out while they were talking.  Which meant she was exceptionally quite.  Thalin had excellent hearing and he had heard practically no movement at all.  And glancing at the door, he noticed the locking mechanism engaged.  Perhaps it was one of the maids.  She no doubt had a key.  She must have been quite an adventuress though, if she had been willing to share the bed with that wolf beast.  Thalin had to admit he was rather intrigued. 
         Argan offered him a simple meal of eggs, bread and some passable oatmeal.  Thalin found himself voraciously hungry and quickly finished all that remained. 
         “So how exactly did you find yourself falling from the bridge like that?”  Argan asked.  “It wasn’t at the edge of the bridge as one might expect from someone falling over the side.  And there didn’t seem to be any holes in the bridge earlier in the day when we rode across it.  “
         Thalin was thankful his mouth was full, as it gave him several moments to think.  “Some friends had bet me that I couldn’t climb my way up the underside of the bridge and back down again.”  He had actually been waiting for a certain merchant and his caravan to pass that way.  But this was a plausible enough excuse.  Except that his friends knew him too well to take that bet.  Thalin could climb almost everything and never fell.  Well, except for last night.
         “How much was the bet?”  Argan asked.
         “Ten gold crowns, Imperial,” Thalin lied.  On the bed the wolf seemed to snort, before curling up to go to sleep.
         “Well I guess you owe them some money,”  Argan chuckled.
         Thalin sighed, “Yes.  I suppose I do.  And I owe you as well, for this room and the meal.”
         “Truth be told,”  Argan stated.  “I paid for your room with the gold I found in your belt pouch.”  Noticing Thalin’s panicked expression, Argan immediately reassured him, “I only took enough to pay for your room.  You still have enough to pay off that wager of yours.”  Again, Argan chuckled.  Thalin resisted the urge to run into the other room and check his belt pouch, but only barely.  There was significantly more that ten gold imperials in his pouch.  At least there had been.  If any of it was missing, life-saving or not, there would be hell to pay. 
         “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to get yourself dressed.  They have a room with an actual bath in this place and I’ve reserved the room for the next half hour or so,”  Argan stated as he stretched and headed for the door.  If you don’t mind keeping a watch over my belongings while I’m gone.  It’s not much, but it’s all that I have.  And with that Argan unlocked the door and left the room, followed closely by his canine companion.  Oddly enough, Argan didn’t leave his sword in the room.  Perhaps he felt he might get accosted while taking a bath, Thalin thought wryly.  Or perhaps the sword was the only thing he had that was of any true value and he didn’t trust Thalin with it.  Thalin had, also, noticed Argan took his belt pouch with him when he left.  Trust only went so far after all. 
         Thalin didn’t hold that against him, of course.  He was shocked and amazed at how much kindness and trust this stranger had shown him as it was.  And while not the most honest of individuals, Thalin was not the sort to repay such kindness with cruelty and malice.  So he did his best not to take anything that belonged to Argan.  Although he did take the opportunity to look through his belongings.  No doubt Argan had done the same with him, while he was unconscious.  Fair was fair, after all.  There really wasn’t much of interest in Argan’s belongings, though.  Except for two large travel-stained books. The first was The Principles of War by Anal Sakat, historically, one of the Eastern Empires most devious of generals.  But it was the second book that sparked Thalin’s interest.  It was titled Magic and It’s Uses, by Fenris Olgendarch.  The first book was written in modern Cantosi, of course.  But the other was written in Arkeshin, a language that few would recognize.  Thalin could read the title, but that was all he could read. 
         Placing everything back where he had found it, Thalin returned to the other room, and began to dress.  Checking his pouch, he estimated that there were only a few silvers missing, nothing more.  Picking up his satchel, he checked his blowgun,  It didn’t seem to have taken any harm from the fall.  And the vials lining the sides of the satchel seemed intact as well.  Which was all Thalin could have hoped for.  Those toxins would have been very difficult to replace.  Thalin wondered what Argan had thought of all of this.  None of the vials seemed to have been opened and the markings on them were all in code.  It was unlikely anyone could tell what they were just by looking at them, but still they may have looked a bit suspicious. 
         Thalin was just strapping everything into place, when he heard Argan and his pet returning.  Several minutes later, Argan appeared in the doorway.  He had changed into one of the spare tunics and breeches Thalin had noticed among his gear.  “So we were planning on looking around the city a bit.  I don’t suppose I could impose on you to show us around.  This is our first time in Ti-Rin.”
         At first Thalin was wondering who Argan meant by we.  Until he realized that he was talking about himself and the wolf.  People and their pets.  They could be very odd at times.  “I would be honored to show you around,”  Thalin said graciously.  He had nothing to do today anyway, he generally worked at night and with last night’s fiasco, he needed a few days to recover.  “What would you be interested in seeing?”
         “Well, I was interested in some of you local apothecaries and herbalist shops.  Are you familiar with them?”
         Thalin was surprised at the request.  It was an unusual place for visitors to want to see.  But Thalin was indeed familiar with these shops, as he very often purchased things from them.  But Argan may have deduced that from the fact that Thalin had had a powerful healing potion on him when they had first met.  Such things were not common.
         “Yes, I know where you can find such stores.  I’ll take you there.”  As they left the Inn, they informed the innkeeper that Thalin’s room would not be needed any more.  He had his own lodgings, he didn‘t need others.
         Thalin led Argan quickly through the busy streets.  Ti-Rin was a bustling city, one of the largest and most influential in the region.  A great deal of trade between the east and west passed through there as they were positioned beneath perhaps the most passable route through the Great Fire Mountains.  So Ti-Rin tended to be filled with a variety of people.  Thalin himself, though a native of Ti-Rin, had none of the duskiness of the true native people.  Most of his ancestors, that he knew about, had emigrated from other parts of the continent.  Still, Thalin considered Ti-Rin his home, and he knew the streets of his fair town better than almost anyone.  In his profession, he had to.
         As they were approaching Satouri Square, where most of the apothecary and herbalist shops were clustered, there was a large commotion ahead.  It was still quite early in the morning, so many stores were only now just opening.  And apparently at one such store they had discovered another dead body.  Thalin was preparing to bypass the crowd, when Argan veered away and started heading towards the disturbance.
         “It’s probably just another of those dead girls that keep cropping up,” Thalin explained.  “We get one every few days or so.”  Thalin didn’t like dead bodies.  They made him think of his own mortality.  But after giving Thalin a weird look, Argan headed straight for the gathering crowd, followed by the hound, of course.  Thalin was miore certain than ever that that thing was all wolf.  Thalin reluctantly trailed behind.  He probably wouldn’t have to get close to or even look at the body.  But he should stay near Argan.  He had promised to show him around the city.
         As big as he was, Argan had no difficulty pushing his way through the crowd, and everyone gave that wolfhound a wide berth, many startled pedestrians jumped rapidly out of the way when they saw the beast.  Thalin didn’t blame them.  But he slipped through the crowd behind them as best he could.  It was so tempting once or twice to cut a purse or two as he did.  But Argan looked to be taking his time and Thalin would need to slip away quickly if he pilfered from anyone here.
         The body was splayed out among the crates of a small shipping company, Arris and Sons.  She looked to be about 15 or 16, somewhat undernourished, and dressed in rags.  A typical urchin trying to make a living on the street.  Ti-Rin had scores of girls just like her.  Argan knelt before the body and turned her head slightly to look at the gaping scar across her neck.  That was fairly typical to the accounts Thalin had heard.  The girls typically had a large slash across the neck.  But just as now, there was oddly no blood pooled around the body.  And hardly any at all on the clothes either. 
         Meanwhile, the wolf circled the body, sniffing the cobblestones.  Then, it too approached the body and started poking his nose all about her prone figure.  Many in the crowd grumbled at this, but none did anything.  That animal looked as though it could bite any one of them in two with little or no effort.  Once the beast finished sniffing the body, it went back to it’s inspection of the surroundings.  As it circled through the area, it displaced, dislodged, and spooked many of the surrounding audience out of its way.  Which Thalin found infinitely amusing to watch.  At least far more amusing than the dead body which Argan was apparently feeling up, or down, or whatever it was he was doing.  He seemed to be carefully pressing and feeling all over the dead girls body.  Thalin had to admit he was a bit creeped out by all of this.
         “What’s all this then?”  a steely, authoritative voice cut through the crisp morning air.  “You there what are you doing to that body?”  A large, burly soldier in the tabard of the City Guard pushed his way through the crowd followed by a squad of about five common soldiers. 
         Glancing up, Argan, gently laid the dead girls foot back into the position he had found it.  Slowly and gracefully, he straightened, and then gave the approaching Guardsman a courteous half-bow.  “I happened upon this dead woman, and was curious to see what had caused her demise.”
         “Well that’s really none of your business, now is it?”  the guardsman barked.  Thalin judged him to be a sergeant.  He thought that’s what that design around his collar indicated.  None of the others even had tabards, though their armor did bear the sigil of Ti-Rin.  “Unless of course you are the killer, and your trying to destroy evidence of your crime?”  The sergeant eyed Argan suspiciously. 
         Thalin was tempted to speak up, but thought better of it.  He didn’t recognize this guard, but his reputation may have preceded him.  Anything he said might only cast more suspicion on Argan. So instead he tried to blend in with the crowd as much as possible. 
         “If I had tried to destroy evidence, doing so in front of a crowd would not be a good idea,”  Argan pointed out.  “And I’ve seen enough of the dead to at least get some idea of what caused one’s death.”
         “So what do you think caused this death?”  the sergeant demanded.
         “Something drained a great deal of blood from this woman very quickly,”  Argan said.  “And they did it while causing little or no bruising, and without breaking any of this woman’s bones.  It doesn’t appear as if she fought back at all.”
         At mention of the blood loss, several of the on-lookers gasped.  There were murmurs about vampyrs and demons and many made warding sign against evil.  But all of this was not new.  All of the victims seemed to have been killed in just such a way.
         “What’s you name and where are you staying?” the sergeant demanded. 
         “I’m called Argan and I’m staying at the Axe and Shield.”
         “Well this is none of your affair.  You go on your way, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you Argan.  So you be careful now.”  And with that, the sergeant waved Argan out of the way as he and his men surrounded the body.  Oddly enough, the sergeant knelt down and began inspecting the body, in much the same way that Argan had.
         Argan obediently backed away and left, followed by his faithful wolfhound.  And moments later, Thalin peeled away as well to trail after them.  They were a ways ahead when Thalin finally slipped out of the crowd.  The man actually seemed to be talking to the dog in low conspiratorial tones, and the dog actually looked like it was listening.  People were strange, and pet owners were stranger than most.  As Thalin approached, both man and dog turned to look at him and became silent.  Which only made Thalin more curious about what he warrior could possibly be discussing with a dog.
         “Well that was entertaining,” Thalin said drolly.  He shivered again at the thought of the dead body.  “Are you still interested in those apothecaries or have you changed you mind?”
         “No, we’re still interested,” Argan replied.  “Lead the way.”
         Thalin led Argan several blocks down the boulveard they were on, until it opened into a large square.  “Satouri Square,” he pronounced with a flourish.  “The place to go when you want to find the odd potion, powder, ointment, or herb.”
         “Hmm, thanks, we’d probably like to tour several establishments.  You’ve been so helpful,  We shouldn’t trouble you any longer.  I’m sure we can find what we need here.”  Thalin got the distinct impression that Argan didn’t want him around when he visited these establishments.  So its highly likely that he was seeking something rather elicit.  Which intrigued Thalin even more, as he had an intense interest in every elicit traffic in the city.  Even those he didn’t choose to market in. 
         Still, he couldn’t just but his nose into Argan’s business, not after the man had practically saved his life and most definitely saved a large portion of his accumulated wealth.  So he let him and his wolfen companion pad off toward the nearest store.  Laban’s Potions and Poultices.  A fine enough establishment, that caters to the wealthier clientele.  If they got anything from Laban, they would likely be paying a bit more than the item was worth.  But that was none of Thalin’s affair.  He decided he’d go do some shopping as well.  He’d heard that Radu had some interesting new mixtures that he could use.  One created a dense fog, and another enabled one to see in even the dimmest of light.  But first he would have a drink or so.  He hated shopping on an empty stomach.
         So an hour or so later, Thalin found himself in the back of Radu’s store sipping a glass of port he had brought to help loosen Radu up.  They were busily haggling over the price of these two potions when the bell rang indicating the entrance of a new customer.  Radu got up, gave Thalin a penetrating gaze, and said, “Don’t touch anything!” And with that he straightened up his multi-colored robes and pointed hat, and passed through the beaded curtains toward the main part of the store.  Radu did care for his appearance.  Of course, he was no more magical than Thalin.  Radu was a merchant, plain and simple.  He bought all of his trinkets and brews from mages and priests who probably had no idea quite how much Radu sold their lives work for.  But Radu, had a right to make a profit.  And profit he did.  Pacing near the beaded curtain, Thalin was startled to hear a familiar voice other than Radu’s.  Peeking outside,  he saw Argan and the ever present wolfhound standing before the counter.  The wolf seemed to be staring directly at him, but Argan didn’t seem to notice.  Concentrating, Thalin was able to follow their conversation quite easily.
         “Well, of course I deal in black tar root, and Dagoran stones, “Radu answered smoothly.  “About how much would you require?”
         “Hmm, well actually,”  Argan began.  “I’m looking for a man who may have purchased those items sometime in the past week.  He would have wanted the roots to be extremely fresh, and the stones to be completely unblemished.”
         “Well,”  Radu said coyly.  “You can’t expect me to just give away a listing of my clients to just anyone.”  Thalin heard the sounds of coins being stacked on the counter.  “And an equal amount more if the name and address you give us is the one we seek.”
         “Hmm, well, I may know of someone who has made such a request,”  Radu began.  “In fact, he’s a fairly regular customer.  I would hate to lose his custom over this.”
         More coins hit the counter.  “And again, double, if the man you give us is the one we seek.”  Thalin glanced out to see how much coin was actually being offered and almost gasped.  There had to be about fifty imperial gold marks resting on the counter.  Radu would have sold his father, if he knew who he was, for less than half that. 
         “The man you seek is in a large house on the corner of Malarch and Belion’s Way.  It is right near a sewer entrance, you can hardly miss it.  The place practically reeks.”
         “Thank you,” Argan said.  Seemingly ready to leave.  Except there was a whining.  “What is it?”  Thalin stood perfectly still, he felt intensely that he was being watched.  Then Argan said, “Good day, shopkeeper!”  And then, there was pacing and the door soon opened and closed.
         Radu re-entered the back room, grinning from ear to ear.  “So how about those potions?”  Radu, was in such a good mood that Thalin was able to get the potions for significantly less than he’d originally thought.  And as he left Radu’s shop, he started to wonder.  Who exactly lived at the corner of Malarch and Belion’s Way, and why was Argan so interested in him? 

         Well, Thalin could not resist a mystery, so he spent the night on the roof of the building across from the house on Malarch and Belion’s Way.  There could be no other house.  Radu wasn’t lying about the stench.  Sure there was a sewer entrance nearby, but the house seemed to have a stench of it’s own.  No doubt it’s foundations were just too close to the sewer itself and some of the waste had leaked into the structure itself.  Thalin didn’t understand why anyone would choose to live in such a place.  But he saw people coming in and out of the place.  Darkly dressed people, with deep hoods that covered much of their faces.  He was definitely curious about what they were up to.
         Long after the moon had risen and begun it’s decent once more, Thalin saw two figures stealthily approach the building.  One was almost certainly Argan.  There were few men his size in Ti-Rin, and Thalin had seen the dark tunic among his clothes.  But the woman who accompanied him was someone Thalin had never seem before.  She moved with a catlike grace Thalin had to admire.  He considered himself one of the stealthiest men in all of Ti-Rin (there was perhaps one or two people more stealthy than him, maybe).  But this woman glided along the ground as if she hovered on air.  She scarcely disturbed the ground she walked on and practically flowed across the street.  Argan too moved with a certain degree of grace, but he was nothing compared to Thalin, and Thalin was nothing compared to this stranger.  Thalin wanted very much to know who she was.  And for more than professional reasons.  The woman’s body was lithe and contoured like an adolsecent boys dream, and the way she moved both mesmerized and inflamed him. He couldn’t see her face of course, covered as it was by a strange dark cloth, but he didn’t care.  The woman just radiated animal magnetism, and he found himself drawn to her like no other woman before this.
         The two approached the door to the building.  For once Argan was not accompanied by that ever present dog, but he suspected the creature was around somewhere.  Perhaps lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on anyone who threatened her master.  Argan paused to scan the street while the woman inspected the door, slipped some metal implements from her tight tunic, and swiftly opened the door.  Thalin smiled.  She was a woman after his own heart.  He simply had to meet her.  They disappeared inside the building and Thalin had a decision to make.  Did he wait out here, or follow.  Gingerly trying his boots on the wall below him, Thalin found that they seemed to grip the wall just fine.  Jogging nimbly down the wall, he quickly crossed the street and penetrated the building.  He liked to think he resembled naught but a shadow as he glided across the open area.  Not quite in that woman’s league, but not too bad.
         The stench of the house was even worse inside, and Thalin had to tie a scarf around his mouth and nose just to keep from passing out.  He couldn’t believe all of those people came in here willingly.  His eyes were watering, as he passed through a wide empty hallway.  It came to a tee-junction and across from him was an open door.  It appeared to be a stairway going down, and there seemed to be a commotion emanating up the stairs.  Thalin was about to go down, when out of nowhere a figure lumbered at him from  the darkness to his right.  He heard a brief shuffling warning before an axe came whisking through the place where his chest had been.  Thalin dove backwards and lashed out with his left foot spinning mid-air.  He felt it connect followed by a muffled grunt.  On his hands and knees he scissored his legs together, trapping his opponents ankles and spun rapidly effectively tripping his assailant.  Springing to his feet he drew his dagger and drove it into the throat of his attacker.  Only then did he notice the hideously deformed face and the repugnant stench of the man.  Backing away from the twitching body, Thalin almost lost the contents of his stomach.
         Glancing once more at the stairs, Thalin considered turning back.  This was already much more than he had bargained for.  But he had already come this far.  And he was dying to see what this was all about.  Stepping around the body, Thalin entered the stairwell and descended.  If he had any doubts where the stench of the house came from, those doubts were soon completely removed.  The stench became even more overpowering the farther he descended.  He had to pause several times to regain his strength, before he could move on.  All the while the sounds of yelling and crash of arms continued to rise.  When Thalin finally reached the bottom  he almost tripped over two bodies.  The looked much like the ’man’ he’d killed upstairs.  Not quite the same deformities, but grossly distorted faces all the same. 
         The stairway opened up into a large room.  Inside, the floor was decorated with myriad designs.  In the center of the floor Argan was surrounded by half a dozen shambling misshapen soldiers.  They tried to rush him, but he was surprisingly fast for someone so large.  To Thalin’s left, Thalin saw the woman engaged with four more combatants.  Along the far wall, Thalin saw a bound woman lying in the center of one of the complex designs.  She didn’t move but Thalin thought he saw breathing, so he figured she was alive.
         Argan danced between two of his opponents and lashed out with his sword in a blinding double slice that severed the heads of those two combatants.  But as they dropped there was a sharp hissing noise as a large spinning metal disc imbedded itself in Argan’s back.  Argan collapsed to one knee and his remaining assailants quickly closed on him and grabbing him from both sides and from behind.
         “I may not be able to use my magic around you Warrior, but I am not completely helpless without my spells.”  A dark robed man strode into Thalin’s view.  Apparently there was an alcove to his left that was concealed for his sight.  “I have my loyal servants after all, and I have been trained in several deadly arts.  It’s a shame that Dol Kimber didn’t truly finish your ilk like he said he had.  But if I have to finish the job for him, I will.  Then all will know that, I, Tahor was the one to truly kill the last of the Warriors.  The emperor will be pleased.”  Tahor approached Argan, with a wicked dagger held poised in his hands, ready to part the veins in Argan’s neck.  The woman howled lashing out at the nearest of her attackers, burying a dagger inside his chest.  Then, she seemed to blur and all of a sudden was the raging wolfhound Thalin had seen the night before.  She jumped at the robed man, but he sidestepped and made a single diagonal swipe that opened a huge gash in the gigantic wolf’s side.  Then, there was a blur again and now a giant snake, was attacking the dark clad figure.  But the misshapen soldiers grabbed hold of the snake and bore it to the ground, before it could slither more than a few paces. 
Tahor approached the snake cautiously.  Apparently it was a poisonous variety he recognized.  It writhed in the grip of its captors, but they managed to keep their grips on the slithering beast.  Tahor approached from the side, preparing to slice the snake in two.  But Thalin almost before he knew what was happening, had his blowgun in his hands, loaded, and to his lips.  One quick blow, and the dart buried itself in Tahor’s neck.  Spinning to face Thalin, the man pointed a crooked finger at Thalin and muttered some strange incantation.  At first the man looked shocked when nothing seemed to happen, then glancing at Argan, he cursed and made a lunge toward the disabled young warrior.  But that was when the poison took affect.  Thalin was surprised that it took so long.  In the past the effects were almost immediate, but this man seemed more resistant.  Just to be sure, Thalin planted another dart in his neck, and the man collapsed like a sack of potatoes.  The misshapen  guardians seemed disoriented by this and the snake took this opportunity to wriggle free and bite two of them.  Yes, it was definitely poisonous.  The two immediately began to writhe on the ground, frothing at the mouth.
         Then the snake blurred and in it’s place was a gigantic bear, clubbing down all of the remaining guards.  Then, in one final blur the woman was back, clutching Argan in her arms and weeping over his wan seeming frame.  He looked incredibly pale.  Entering the room, Thalin came to Argan’s side. 
         “See To-Rel, I told you that Thalin was hiding in the back at the apothecary’s store,” the woman chided in rich musical tones.  He could see her face now, and she was stunning.  Easily the most beautiful woman Thalin had ever seen.
         “And I said I believed you, Anali,”  Argan stated weakly.
         Thalin reached into his vest and pulled out his healing potion.  He was preparing to pour it down Argan’s throat when he noticed the slash in Anali’s side.  “You’re hurt as well.  I could try to split the healing potion between you.”
         “No,” she said firmly.  “I do not need it.  I will heal on my own, but my beloved’s wound is mortal.  He will die without your potion.”
         “Alright,” Thalin agreed, but we’re gonna have to pull that blade out of his back first.  It won’t heal properly otherwise.”
         Cradling the warriors head in her hands, Anali gazed in to his eyes.  “Beloved, do you think you can stay conscious long enough for the potion to take effect?” 
         “It isn’t necessary for him to stay conscious,”  Thalin reassured her.  “The magic will work regardless.”
         “”No Thalin, it will not,” she stated harshly.  “For you see, the potion is magic, and near my beloved, To-Rel, magic cannot function unless he wills it so.”  So that was his real name, To-Rel.  Suddenly many things became clear.  And Thalin was overcome by a momentary pang of resentment and anger.  All of this was his fault.  Argan/ To-Rel hadn’t really saved his life.  In fact, the blasted warrior had nearly killed him.  Thalin never would have fallen if not for him.  For the briefest of moments, Thalin considered withholding his potion.  But only for the briefest of moments.  The hulking buffoon had had no idea that Thalin was above him and that it was magic holding him in place.  And they had helped him out when he had fallen.  They didn’t know they had caused his misfortune and still they helped him.  Besides, he kind of liked them.  So as Anali prepared to yank the bladed disc from of To-Rel’s back, Thalin prepared to give him the potion. 
         “Are you ready?”  Thalin asked the two of them.  To-Rel nodded weakly, as Anali gave a firm shake.  She quickly drew the disc from him, and then reached out to support him.  Thalin watched as To-Rel’s eyes initially glazed over, but then hardened into steely determination.  Then, he poured the remainder of the potion down his throat. 
         Almost immediately they could see it’s effect.  His pallor became more rosy, and the wound on his back sealed itself before their eyes.  Thalin smiled.  Magic was truly an amazing thing.  The wound closed and became scar tissue and then took on the pinkish cast of newly healed flesh.  And the scar that remained was no doubt cleaner and smoother than any that a barber or medicant would have left behind.  Magic was a wonder and Thalin loved to see it in action.  But it was a very expensive wonder.  And as far as he was concerned, these two owed him big.
         Once the healing was done To-Rel collapsed into unconsciousness, while Anali gently cradled and caressed his head.  “But what about your wound?” Thalin asked.  Anali parted her tunic where it was slashed and brushed away the dried blood.  Underneath was nothing but the faintest of scars.
         “I heal quickly,”  Anali stated flatly.  “Or at least I do when my beloved is awake, or when we are parted.  But I do not enjoy it when we are parted.  I do not enjoy it at all.”  As she gazed into the sleeping warrior’s face and stroked his hair, Anali’s eyes seemed to shine with an inner light.  Thalin was at once jealous.  This woman was amazingly beautiful, incredibly skilled, and wonderfully magical.  She was everything Thalin loved all at once.  Well, she would be if she were also, fabulously wealthy.  But then the way these two were throwing around gold sovereigns, she may in fact be fabulously wealthy.  But it wasn’t Thalin she was interested in.  No one else seemed to matter to her except her beloved To-Rel.  He was indeed a lucky man. Thalin suppressed a sigh and turned away.
         Across the room, Thalin heard an gasp.  There he could see the woman he had noticed before.  She had obviously awakened and was attempting to free herself from her bindings.  Rushing to her side, Thalin quickly sliced the cords and released her from her imprisonment.
         “Where am I?”  she asked.  “The last thing I remember I was walking home from the Temple, when there was a foul stench and then, two men grabbed my arms.  After that everything went black.”
         “Hmm.  No doubt you were drugged,” Thalin explained noting the woman’s great beauty and the fine cut of her clothing. “Do you have a name?”
         “Talia.  Talia Maresi.  My father is a gem merchant on Dovali Way.”  Thalin couldn’t help but smile.  Her father was one of the wealthiest men in Ti-Rin. 
         “Well, Talia.  My name is Thalin, and that is the Lady Aneli and her personal bodyguard, Argan.  We just happened to notice a couple of vagabonds carrying a suspicious looking package through the streets.  Seeing as how such dastardly things have been happening all over the city, we felt it our civic duty to investigate.  Hence we happened upon this den of deformed villains just as they were preparing some vile incantation.  No doubt they intended to sacrifice you to their dark god or something like.  Well, as you can see, we dispatched them handily, but not without suffering some grievous wounds ourselves.”  As she listened to his oration, the young Talia seemed suitably impressed and mesmerized. 
         “Now we must ensure that you are returned to your father safe and sound,” Thalin said placing his arm protectively around the beautiful young woman and slowly ushering her through the carnage and towards the stairwell out of this place.  He, of course, knew the way to Talia’s father’s mansion quite well.  He had broken into the place about a year before.  It was very nice, and had some really nice stuff that they had no doubt replaced by now. 
         “Will you be able to handle things on your own, Lady Anali?”  Thalin asked courteously.
         Anali eyed him suspiciously, but stated, “Yes, I’ll take care of ‘my bodyguard’ and see that all of the rest is put in order.”
         “Good, Good,” Thalin said calmly, as he ushered Talia into the stairwell.  “And by the way, that poison I used isn’t fatal.  It merely is intended to render it’s victim unconscious.”
         Anali smiled at this.  “That’s good to know.”

         Two days later, the three gathered together atop the Lionsgate Bridge (the actual top this time).  Anali was in human form and was perched behind To-Rel on his horse.  That would be uncomfortable for any long journey, but no doubt Anali would assume a more travel friendly shape after they were well away from the city.  Thalin sat on the lip of the bridge looking down on the cobbles below.  It was a long way down, he thought to himself.
         “Well things turned out pretty well for everyone,”  Thalin stated.  “We all got a nice reward for saving the merchants daughter.”  Thalin had actually enjoyed all of the accolades, and he had taken a few opportunities to steal a kiss or two from the lovely Talia.  He was a thief after all.  And he had plans of taking things a step or two further in the future, but he would have to be careful.  A rich merchant’s daughter was not to be trifled with.
         “Oh by the way, what did you do with that Tahor character.  I knew you were looking for him.  I guess things turned out alright in that respect as well.”
         To-Rel and Anali looked at each other uncomfortably, then at Thalin.  “Tahor is dead, but he wasn’t the man we were looking for, “Anali said coldly.  “Nor did he know where the man we seek is.” To-Rel looked even more uncomfortable.    He no doubt didn’t not approve of whatever Anali had done to get that information.
         Sensing this, Anali countered, “Tahor was a pig of a human being and deserved everything I did to him and more.  You know what he did to all of those women, and if it would bring us any closer to catching Dol Kimber, I would do it again, and again, and again.”  To-Rel sighed but said nothing.
         “Who is this Dol Kimber anyway?”
         “He is the man who killed my father,”  Anali stated coldly.
         “And he plotted the downfall of my country and killed my parents as well, “ To-Rel added reluctantly.  “Though I never really knew my parents.  And Kinar tells me my country was doomed to fall sooner or later anyway.  Dol Kimber just hastened it along.”
         “He’s a rotten, stinking animal and you know it,”  Anali growled.
         “Yes he is,” To-Rel admitted as a harsh determined expression covered his face.  “And I will see him die by my hand someday.”
         “Not if I get to him first,” Anali challenged.
         “Well happy hunting,” Thalin called out as they road off.  He had only known them such a short time, but already he missed them.  Perhaps someday, he would go out on the road.  There were always other cities with other gem merchants daughters, and other mansions to break in to.  Perhaps he’d see those two again.  In fact, he was already looking forward to it.