chapter five

Chapter Five

 

 

 

 

Light danced over the gold coin’s surface as it flipped through the air before dropping into the palm of a very grubby hand.

The hand overturned, dropping the coin back into a small sack of other gold coins.

“Those were some interesting characters” Said a quiet voice behind Sage.

“Yeah,” Sage said, “I don’t understand why she hadn’t killed him already, Larlie, they were talking together outside of that tavern”

The girl called Larlie laughed, “She was lying about him being dead”

“How do you know that?” Sage asked.

“Outside the tavern they we talking about faking his death so he could be her apprentice, or did you forget I could lip read?” Larlie said.

 Larlie and Sage were outcasts because of their miss-matched eyes; the people of the regions looked down on them and called them mutts.

Sage had one brown eye and one green eye, he had always just been an orphan at Rivendor but the town started getting poorer and poorer until sage and the other orphans were on the bridge of starving to death so he took to the streets and used whatever he could steal to take care of the orphans, who were all younger than him.

“No I didn’t forget that” Sage said, tossing dirty blonde hair the color of moldy-hay out of his face.

The two of them sat across from each other in a tight, shadowy alley way between the butcher’s shop and the Rivendor inn across from the tavern.

“She said she was a Black Fox agent, who are those?” Sage asked Larlie.

Larlie had one brown eye and one Blue eye, she could easily read lips and she always knew if someone was lying. She knew three languages and was picking up bits of a fourth. She knew if someone was coming and how far away they were just by listening to their footsteps or how loud their voice was. She was good with maps and never forgot a voice.

Her face was plain, pretty, smudged with dirt and altogether forgettable besides her mismatched eyes and curly red hair she pulled up into a ponytail with a piece of black string. Despite her best efforts strands of hair always fell out and hung across the sides of her face, which as a courier she was trained never to let happen.

Ok, history lesson time, Larlie thought. Her mother was a historian that worked at a library towards the base of the Icx, she had wanted Larlie to follow in her footsteps but Larlie had more of a taste for adventure so she headed the Battalon to become a warrior.

But the battle master at Swordsmaer Hall turned her away, mostly because of her one blue eye but also because she was a girl. She moved on to plan B and went to the Citadel of Magic to train, but was also turned away, because of her one brown eye (they didn’t care that she was a girl).

An opportunity arose for her to become a courier so she took it without a second thought, but became sick of people calling her a mutt and not trusting her with their documents. By chance she happened through Rivendor and met Sage. Larlie decided to stay and help take care of the orphans with Sage, finally finding something she felt appreciated for.

“The Icx, Battalon, Stailleon, and Norhail were once four different countries until Norhail joined the four together to defend them against the empire of Calira. After they stopped the empires spread the countries stayed together and became one big Norhail, even though the regions still hate each other” Larlie explained patiently, it seemed like Sage’s memory was limited to sneaking about, stealing and always making adults very angry at him. “In order to avoid civil war the Black fox corps was created, the agents smooth things over using whatever means necessary”

Sage nodded thoughtfully, “whatever means necessary? Does that mean they could kill the king if it meant peace?”

“I guess so… I’ve never thought of that” Larlie said. Sage’s memory wasn’t great but he was by no means simple minded.

“I bet we would make good Black Foxes” sage said standing up.

Larlie stood too, “I bet we would” she agreed.

Larlie picked up footsteps approaching… above them. Larlie spun around and stared up, whil Sage spun the other way, also looking up.

Two figures cloaked in shredded black robes leaped off the roofs above them and landed like shadows on either side of the back-to-back outcasts.

Both Sage and Larlie involuntarily tried to step back in fear but bumped into each other.

“No need to be scared little mutts,” said the first figure, whose voice sounded like a snake’s that was trying to be nice but simply couldn’t. “You come along with us and do what we say and we will get along just fine”

“Why should we cooperate with you?” Sage demanded.

“Gold. That’s why.” Said the second figure, he was much shorter than the first and wider too. His voice sounded like a choking toad.

The first figure made an impatient sound and tapped its foot on the ground, “What Toad meant to say was that if you help us succeed you will be richer then you could ever imagine and seated in a place of power-which ever seat of power you want”

How fitting, the toad-man is named Toad, Larlie thought

“And what does ‘helping you?’ mean?” Sage asked sounding quite annoyed.

“Information dear boy” said the one Larlie has decided to call Snake-Woman, “anyway, let’s talk agreement latter”

Toad-man grabbed Larlie by the neck and jerked her up against him while drawing a sword that he held across her chest.

Too terrified to scream, Larlie screwed her eyes shut and thought through every high king of Norhail from the first to Leotull the Seventh to calm herself down.

“Let her go!” Sage yelled, turning so he could see both of them.

“S’all right, tell us where the Black Foxes went and we’ll let the little girlie go” Toad-man grunted.

“The Black Fox, That’s what this is about! Don’t tell them Sage.” Larlie said

“They went north out of village, something about someone called Cenred” Sage said without hesitation.

Toad dropped Larlie who punched Sage’s arm.

“Dagger! Shadow! Take these two too Moonfall, Toad and I will track down the Black Fox agents” Snake-woman ordered.

Two more shadow cloaked figures leaped off the roof and landed in the alley, one of which was carrying a very heavy-looking club that he smacked both Larlie and Sage over the head with.

Author's Note

sorry long chapter, but it gives good background about norhail and the regions