Chatper Eight: The Sinister Brothers

Alex and Hannah finally reached the town beyond the forest called "Dozeldridge". But little did they know their was trouble waiting for them inside from the hands and the blades of a couple of crooks.

"The archway is a bit much don't you think?" I stated with a grin looking down from Maybel's saddle towards Hannah, shrugging in response, seemingly unintrested.

 

With the bitter cold of the forest air behind us we finally reached our destination. We were greeted with the sight of a giant bronze angel attached to the middle of a large archway, holding a sign made of the same bronze material as the angel itself saying in chizzled letters the name of the town... Dozeldridge.

 

As far as I know, Dozeldridge is one of Solem's leading market places, next to the city of Solem of course. Shippments of goods from foreign neighboring countries would occasionally make there way through Dozeldridge for checking and later shipping to all the far corners of Solem. Of course with all these goods being passed around and shown in plain sight theirs bound to be an infestation of theifs ready and willing to steal them for there own personal gain. but when their's a slue of theifs there are men who are called up to duty to dispatch, irradicate, and dispose of the theifs; including, in paticular, the assassins of Solem. So who's to say that maybe one or two of those murdering b******s could be sneaking around Dozeldridge, hugging their bodies like shadows against walls away from wondering eyes.

 

Ever since we wondered through the archway of Dozeldridge everywhere I turned, from street corner to street corner, there was small local shops and buisness markets packed with a colorfull cast of potentail buyers, sellers, and common crooks littering the walkways and roads with their presence. As if the noise of the tremendous crowds and the clink clack of the horse hooves wasn't overwealming enough for me their was also the structures of the surrounding buildings I had to deal with. The entire town was built like a huge hedge maze, rows of stairs hugged outer edges of buildings leading to doors sometimes four to five stories high with men, women, and children traveling up and down going about their daily lives, uneffected by the enormous crowds and the countless stairways.

 

Dismounting off Maybel I secured one end of a rope to her rings with the other end of the rope wrapped loosly around my hand as I walked beside Hannah through the tightly packed and noisy streets.

"There's a Inn near the central plaza of town where I'm currently staying." explained Hannah as she tried to speak to me over the surrounding crowd, "I was planning on heading back there to regroup on my supplies so if you need a free place to stay for the night you can stay with me. Besides my payment for the room expires tomorrow morning so you might as well take the offer now and not wait till later." 

To be honest, I didn't really wanna take Hannah's offer but what other choice did I have? It wasn't like I knew my way around this damn crazy maze of a town.

"Sure, thanks." I replied with a slight smile.

 

Following Hannah towards the Inn near the plaza I began to notice the wondering eyes of the town folk, gazing upon me with cocked brows and carfull wispers, stopping in there tracks for a second glance just to clarify what their eyes have bestoude them. "Why is everyone staring at us? Did we do something wrong?"

"Their not staring at us Hannah-" I mentioned lowing my head slowly keeping my gaze towards my feet, "Their staring... at my hair..."

"Huh? Your hair? I don't see anything wrong with it. It's just as white as ever."

"That's the problem-" I mumbled to myself, frusterated at all the staring eyes, "It's too damn white." Apparently the people of this town wasn't acustom to a young lad with the hair of a elderly man's mane, I swear if I don't do something soon to fix my natural hair color it's gonna drive me insane if people keep on staring at me like this!

 

Making our way passed many zig-zags and twisty turns through the roads and alley ways of Dozeldridge we finally stood in the presence of the Inn Hannah had spoken of. It was a bright red building with two stair cases crossing over each other on the face of the Inn leading up to bright yellow doors, one on the left and another on the right near the top of the very colorfull sturcture. Above the main entrance, painted in forest green was the Inn's name. "Rainbow Inn?" I felt uncomfroable and slightly embarressed just to be standing near the Inn, "Your staying at a place called rainbow Inn?"

"What's so bad about the name huh?!" barked Hannah placing her hands to her hips angerly, "I don't see nothing wrong with it!"

"It's just... well... kinda unmanly."

"Well of course it's UNMANLY!" Shouted Hannah pushing the ridge of her glasses up to the bridge of her nose before crossing her arm over her chest, "In case you havn't noticed I'm NOT a man!"

"Oh I've noticed, trust me." I knew that I shouldn't of said that for she would probally go ape s**t all over me but the look on her face after I said it was absolutly priceless. Before I could react Hannah scored a blistering punch across my face, enough for tears to wallow up in my eyes from pain. "PIGS!-" screamed Hannah clinching her fist, "All men are PIGS! The whole lot of them!"

 

Nursing my sore cheek and listening to Hannah gripe about how every single man are nothing but dirty swine I was unable to pay any attention to the sound of lumbering footsteps behind me.

"Hey buddy!-" Alarmed, I turned around to the mysterious heavy voice, reaching for the hilt of my father's sword; unfortunally my relfexes couldn't get the upper hand and I found myself being strung by my hair, danggling like a spider, "What's up with your hair mate?" chuckled a large bald man with tattered garments, holding me in his grip as I roared out in agony. The brute was companied by a rather thin, brown haired man with a narrow hawk like face wearing a filthy cloak and a red scarf.

"AHH, URUHH! L-LET ME GO!" I screamed, kicking my legs through the air struggling to break free of this trap, "What are ya gonna do about it whity?" sneered the brute, "Are you gonna beat me up? Haha!" the brute laughed holding his large gut. "HEY! Let him go you creep!" Like lighting Hannah rushes over towards the brute drawing back her fist and grinding her theeth, ready to take on the grizzly man head on.

 

In the blink of an eye the man with the red scarf took off like an speeding arrow, stopping Hannah with a rusty dagger held against her throat the split second before she could land her strike.

"Best not make another move lil girl-" wispered the red scarf man into Hannah's ear, his words like burning embers upon her eardrums, "or you'll be seeing the ground stained with your blood." Hannah's eyes widen with fear from the man's words, lowing her fist ever so slowly as to not to make any sudden moves to provoke the red scarf man.

The surrounding towns folk seem willingly unaware of the situation tha has bestoud upon Hannah and I on their busy crowded streets, or rather they had noticed but choose neither to lend a helping hand nor a striking word to these crooks, it's safe to say that tragic accidents like this happen so often that the people of this town see it as the norm and leave it to be dealt with by God's hand.

"Alright lil girl hand us your bagpack and that old mag of yours." demanded the narrow face man with a smootgh voice and a sinister grin.

"The h-horse isn't mine-" says the paralyzed Hannah turning her sights on me with cold fearful eyes- "It's... h-his."

"Ohh... is it now?" the narrow face man turns attention towards me with demonic eyes. I still hung from the hand of the brute, kicking and shouting trying to get loose but the effort proved useless.

 

"Little brother," Acknowledged the narrow faced man to the brute, "would you be so kind as too dispose the white haired freak so I may claim his old mag?"

"Can I rip his head off big brother?! Just like I did last time?!" questioned the brute with a stupid expression.

"I suppose so."

"Ah! Thanks! Your the best!" Raising his arm the brute lifts me higher in the air chuckling happily as he saw that he was putting more strean on my scalp making it feel like it was going to peel off at anytime if I hung there for much longer. With his blade still against Hannah's throat the narrow faced name watched with a snicker as his younger wrapped one beefy hand around my neck and let the other hand loose from my scalp but not before taking quite a few strands of hair along with it. O knew that one day my hair would be the death of me but I never knew it was going to be to a litteral extent. Feeling so scared and so helpless, tears drop from her cheeks as Hannah closed her eyes as tight as she looking away and waiting for the unholy sound of the snapping of my neck.

"Alright mate!" wailed the brute iwith a caniving smile, "It's time to die!" I didn't know what to do when the brute clamped his thick fingers coiling around my forhead, ready to steal my skull from it's body. My hearts beats slow and the sweat on my brow drips as I close my eyes and wait for the end.

 

To my surprise I felt nothing; no pain, not even a punch of a squeeze of the throat. Suddenly I felt the grip of the brute loosen and I fell to the ground like a sack of potatos with a mighty thump, bruising my a*s in the process. I heared shrills of agonny coming from both the brute and the narrow faced man as I open my eyes to find Hannah looking up right beside of me from the floor just as starttled and confused as I. A long tip arrow skewared through the forearm  of the brute and a matching arrow through the shoulder of the narrow faced man.

"There be non of that infront of meh place of buisness!" Gasping for air I swiftly turn towards my savior, likewise for Hannah, to find a heavy built woman holding two twin crossbows aimed directly at the crooks. She spoke in a gravel voice and and had a very muscular structure, more man then woman I suppose but saves no differents to her good deed; wearing black overalls and a blue bandanna tied over her brown curly hair. Gripping their fresh wounds the crooks snarled at the heavy set woman with great dislike, trying to make themselfs more threating then they appear to be; but it was no trick to the crossbow woman.

"I'm gonna give ye no good gents till the count of tree to get out of meh sight!-" warned the woman as she flips her cross bows to opposite ends revealing intimidating sharp jagged blades attached to the stocks of the crossbows,

"One!... Two!..." the two crooks shared a concerned glance at one another; even though they had her out numbered two to one they still couldn't muster up the courage to face her head on for there was nothing worse then a woman's wrath, especially one such as her.

 

Like a flock of spooked chickens the crooks sprint as fast as they their legs would let them into the busy crowds of Dozeldridge out of sight with the arrows still embedded deep in their flesh. Gently setting the crossbows onto the ground the woman swayed from side to side as she walks over with heavy steps to help both Hannah and I off the ground with her massive strenght; to her we were as heavy as a new born infant. "Ye fella's alright?"

"Well my scalp is on fire-" I stated rubbing my fingers through my tangled mane,"But other then that I'm okay I guess." I turned my attention to towards my savior; she stood with a seemingly unexpressive face, almost as if she's sick of helping people like us.

"ehh, thanks fo..."

"Don't ye go thankin meh juss yet lad." interupted the woman holding out her hand, "I ask fur a fee fur meh services. If not I can juss as easily take yur tings as those crooks would have done. Yur choice lad."

"Unbelievable!" I thought astonished by the greed of the over-sized woman.

 

I faced Hannah jaw dropt to find her acually digging through her pocket purse; giving into the heavy set woman's purposal.

"Will this cover it?" said Hannah placing a silver coin piece in the palm of the woman's hand. Brifly the woman looks it over trying to determing if the piece Hannah gave her was real or not.... it was.

"Ay, pleasure to be a service too ye. The names Bonnie by the way." stated Bonnie with a nasty smile that could only be sen on a swine. Big Bonnie, as I like to call her in my head, staggered back towards her crossbows that she sat on the ground eariler and lifts them up with ease. when Big Bonnie was out of ear shot I leaned towards Hannah who was still placing her pocket purse inside her lab coat and began to wisper.

"Why in the hell did you pay her?! Considering how ungodly large her girth was I bet we could have made a run for it no problem!"

"Under normal circumstances I would have but-" Hannah slowly lowered her head and sighed, "She's the Inn keeper."

"The Inn keeper? Of Rainbow Inn?"

"Yes, so even if we did make a run for it all my stuff tha I left in my room would be her's or whomever got their grubby mitts on them."

"Fan-freakin tastic." I mummbled sarcasticlly.

 

Carrying crossbows in hand Big Bonnie comes back to Hannah and I with a cocked brow.

"Ye kno yur purtty lucky lad-" Big Bonnie said with a grin eye balling me,"If ye friend over their wasn't stayin at meh Inn I would have let those crooks have their way with ye." I didn't exactly know how to respond to Big Bonnie's words; just a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomache on how lucky I was to have been traveling with Hannah at that moment.

"Well-" grunted Big Bonnie,"Are ye gonna step inside meh Inn or are ye gonna stand all day out in the streets?"

"Yea we're coming in arn't we Alex."

"Ehh, sure" I nod hesitantly rethinking if I should really enter the Inn owned by such a woman as Big Bonnie.

"Alright then lads, grab ye horse and..." She stopped talking and stared puzzled at Maybel who seemed blissfully unaware of the entire situation,"Umm... that is ye horse is it?"

"Yes it is." I stated with a slight smile grabbing Maybel's rope slightly,"Then tie the beast at the post near the troath over there" Big Bonnie nods her head behind her to the post near the Inn. Without saying another word Big Bonnie steps away into the Inn carrying the crossbows in hand leaving Hannah and I to our thoughts.

"Hannah, may I ask you something?" I asked Hannah calmly surcuring Maybel to the post.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Why this Inn?"

"What do you mean?" question Hannah,"I mean there's bound to be more then just one Inn in this town. So why did you pick this one?"

"Ohh, I liked the color of it." Hannah snickered shrugging. For a girl who seemed extremly wise Hannah's choice of Inn's were not exactly in good favor.

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Sorry that it's been awhile since my last chapter but I hope that you can forgive me and take a read at this chapter if you will. I will love you forever if you do. please be honest about my writing

Reviews

[ScarlettTheDreamer]

Nice chapter. I noticed you capitalised the 'i's in all 'inn's when you needn't have. And the 'foreign neighbouring countries' should be just 'neighbouring countries'. The descriptions of the town were really good. Can't wait for the next chapter :)