A Modest Request

The slurping of the horse's hooves combined with the dreary rain and wind causing havoc among the trees made the two riders uneasy. Mara tightened her heavy fur cloak about herself, but the cold seemed to seep in from everywhere. Every once in a while she would push her long damp cherry brown hair away from her face so she might look into the darkness of the Forest of Kydom more clearly. Rain droplets flew from her chocolate eyes as she tried to blink them clear to see better into the darkness surrounding her. She silently cursed herself for not wearing more than her simple robe and heavy cloak, for they were already soaked through. She shuddered from the cold as she turned on her horse to her companion on the ride. Her usually melodious voice seemed lost in the rain as she asked: "Who are we going to see again?"

"Nobody knows 'is name, or where 'e comes from." Charles's deep voice hinted at a small amount of annoyance. He hated the rain, and he loathed being out at night. Charles had been grumbling to himself the entire time the two had been riding, though quietly so that Mara would not hear. The rain ran down his balding head into what was left of his long, dark hair. What he lacked on his pate he made up for on his face. Some say Charles was half dwarf for the way he wore his beard. He kept it braided on either side and groomed it more than he sharpened his large war axe, which was always kept to a razor edge. Mara looked him over quickly with a disapproving glance, as he started grumbling to himself again. He was less intimidating up on his horse. Slouching on his horse, an animal he had no love for, his blue-gray eyes did not seem as fierce as when was home, dry and full of ale. If they were on foot, Charles would be a half a foot taller than her and yet on the shorter side of human males. While Mara looked at him she noticed that Charles had grown quite the belly. His excessive drinking had apparently gifted him with a keg to go along with his large barrel chest. She tried to stifle a laugh but her giggle betrayed her to Charles's droopy ears. His long soaked beard slapped against the side of his tight studded leather armor as he took his eyes away from the surroundings to look back at her. He gave an annoyed grunt and quickly turned his eyes back to scanning the surroundings.

"What's he look like?" Mara asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"We've already gone over all this Mara."

"I just want to talk about something. It's so dreary and wet out here." Mara flung her long hair back over her head as she looked into the darkness that was the forest.

"Rain's usually wet Mara." Charles grumbled into the damp air.

"Oh hush Charles! Just tell me more about this no-name man."

Mara strained to hear what Charles was mumbling to himself, but was quickly subdued by the low droning of his voice that subdued the rain. "Nobody 'as ever seen 'im. At least nobody 'as ever lived to tell about it, or wanted ta. I don't know when 'e came exactly. But you 'member 'ow this forest used ta be don't ya? Was full of rotten thieves." With that Charles spat onto the already soaked ground. "Well that ended pretty quick, and I'd bet me last two coppers that yer no-name had sometin to do wit it. Bandits been found all over the place. Throats cut. Bodies mutilated and full a 'oles where der shouldn't be none. He's a deadly one, yer no-name is. Not one to be trifled with, and I promise ya that I wouldn't be puttin ya in no 'arms way if I didn't think that this be the only way. If anybody's able to do it, yer no-name is him."

Charles led their horses off the trail a bit into a small clearing in the forest. The large man quickly jumped off his horse and tied him up to a branch. He then strode over to Mara and helped her down saying: "We be walkin from 'ere on out. T'is not a trail fer 'ourses. Gets steep quick." With that he started up a narrow side trail that went into the depths of Kydom.

The climb was rough, and the muddy trail kept falling away from them. Mara became flustered quite quickly. Used to the comforts of a warm fire and her study, she was untrained at harsh terrain navigating. Charles strode up and up without a problem. It seemed his heavy, burdening armor had no effect on his pace or footing. Mara quietly noted to never make fun of Charles's slow steady pace ever again.

Stopping to take a break, Mara turned to Charles to ask a question she'd been thinking about during the climb: "So if nobody's ever seen him, how do we know where to go?"

"'ow am I supposed to know? I just 'ear things when I'm..." Charles paused for a second, seeming a bit uneasy. "I just 'ere things at the pub is all."

"Have you ever done this before?" Her voice sounded a little bit too accusing for Charles's taste.

"I've come out 'ere as a bodyguard for some rich chap when I needed some extra coin for me..for when I needed some coin." Charles quickly looked over his equipment and started up the trail again, a bit flustered. Charles knew Mara didn't like his drinking. It wasn't that Mara viewed drinking as bad, but it was that Charles could drink so much. He'd won several contests, only being bested by the hardiest of dwarves, and Mara was afraid he was going to get hurt one of those times. His anger was weakly checked when he was sober, and the only thing that stopped him from causing a ruckus when he had downed a few was his lack of interest in anything but the drink itself.

"Der be a clearing up a'ead. You 'ave to go out by yerselves. Place yer money on t'e stump in t'e middle. D'en you state yer request, be loud now. It'll be raining and ya gotta make sure 'e 'ears ya. And t'en 'e'll let ya know if 'e'll do it er not."

"And what happens if he doesn't want to?"

With a grave look and a set jaw, Charles looked back to Mara. "E'll let ya know." He strode up the steep muddy slope at a faster pace, to create a little more space between the two. Further questioning had been cast aside.

Charles kept going without looking back, except once to catch Mara and keep her from sliding down a few hundred feet. As the slope began to level out, Charles led Mara to the edge of a large clearing, looking back at her. "I go no farther Miss. It's all up to you now." With that he gently pushed Mara out into the clearing.

As soon as she came out of the protection of the trees the rain slashed at her in a wild torrent. It had picked up quite a lot, and now was cutting off almost all sight and sound. Through the sheets of rain, she could barely see the stump she was supposed to go to. Inch by inch she made her way to the stump, struggling against the rain all the way. She began to wonder why this man would be out in weather like this, and if this would actually work. She carefully took the bag full of coins out of her bag and set it on the stump. The weight of the bag easily held up against the rain that tried in earnest to throw it to the ground.

"Ten thousand gold!" she yelled in to the distance. Her voice threatened to be swept away, so she screamed as loud as she could: "Thile in town! He has a gem of great importance! I must have it back! Its power can be used to defend our country, but he just wants to keep it on display and charge people money to look at it! Please, I need your help!" Mara pushed her hair back around her head, looking around the clearing for anything that might be a response. At a low whisper: "Please...I've tried everything else."

A whistling sound pierced the torrent of rain. Mara stumbled back in fright as a dagger embedded itself into the stump, through her moneybag. She quickly tried to look through the rain for her man but her eyes found only Charles who was waving her to come to him. She stumbled back to him, finally reaching him with her entire body shaking with cold shivers.

"Don't you worry miss, you'll get yer gem back."