Table of Contents – (spoilers)
Choke and Pinch quickly worked out their plan to deal with the potential ambush they were facing at their night watch on the fort’s wall. It was a simple plan, so this only took only a few seconds.
With his bow in his right hand and the fully shuttered lantern in his right, Pinch hurried down through the gatehouse and crouched down just inside the open door out to the courtyard. The sky was overcast and it was very dark now. Pinch could hear Choke start his slow walk along the wall up above, towards the soldier Cyrel at his post on the fort’s south-west corner. As Choke rounded the north-west corner of the wall, Pinch could just make out his silhouette against the sky above.
On the west wall now, Choke was just above the roof of the fort’s stables, built like a lean-to against the wall. Suddenly, from inside the stables was a loud whiny, followed by the banging of a powerful horse kicking its stall door. Pinch smiled grimly as he imagined that the men waiting inside had disturbed the horse as they were making their move. Sure enough, just a few seconds later, the human-sized door at the north side of the stables opened up, and three men crept out into the courtyard.
Hidden in the darkness of the gatehouse, Pinch stayed just as he was. He pulled an arrow and notched it, putting just enough tension on the string so that the arrow could be held in place by the finger and thumb of his hand holding the bow. Pinch reached down to feel for the lantern on the floor by his side. Careful not to burn himself on its top, he felt for the handle to mark its exact place in his mind. Then he watched his prey.
The three men from inside the stable were big, but did not seem to be equipped for war; there was the glint of steel in their hands, but no shields and spears. They moved quietly down the length of the stable, hugging the wall and keeping pace with Choke up on the fort’s wall above them, following his footsteps. Of course, from his perspective up on the wall, they were completely out of Choke’s line of sight. While Pinch could not see the stairs up to the fort’s west wall, located just around the back of the stables, he knew that was exactly where they were heading. When the first man reached the south corner of the stables he crouched down to peek around it up at the wall above.
With the men now well out in front of him down the length of the stables, Pinch grabbed the lantern and stepped out of the gatehouse. He moved just a few paces to his right, towards the stables, to get more directly behind them. When he was happy with his position, Pinch crouched down again and set the lantern on the ground, its closed shutter facing the men. Then he waited, just as they did.
Up on the wall, Choke walked with his steady pace towards its south-west corner. As he passed the stairs to the courtyard below, he glanced down them, but could see nothing. Cyrel was waiting for him on the south wall, most of the way to the closed door into the fort. He was facing Choke squarely. With both their lanterns shuttered, Choke could only make out Cyrel’s silhouette, but his posture suggested that he was pointing his crossbow at him.
With this realization, Choke decided not to endanger himself any more than he already had. He swiftly crouched down to take a knee and set his lantern down in front of him, flipping up its shutter. The lantern’s wide beam of light was by no means very bright, but it was plenty to illuminate Cyrel’s treacherous intentions.
Cyrel had set his own lantern on the wall to his left, and his left hand was hovering over its shutter. In his right was his loaded crossbow, pointed generally in Choke’s direction.
With his longbow held sideways in front of him, Choke drew and notched an arrow as Cyrel raised his left hand up in front of his blinking eyes.
“Cyrel! Drop the crossbow! Now!” Choke bellowed at him.
Cyrel raised up his crossbow and shot at Choke. Blinded by the lantern, he missed, just high and to the left. Choke rose up and returned a shot. His war arrow found its mark, driving its needle-bodkin head all the way through Cyrel’s chest and out the back of his leather armor.
When Choke lit up Cyrel, the three men lurking at the edge of the stable moved, heading around the corner straight for the stairs up to the wall.
Pinch flipped up his lantern’s shutter and stood to shoot the man at the rear straight between the shoulder blades before he could make it around the corner. As the man fell, Pinch left the lantern and ran hard after the first two.
Up on the wall, Choke could hear the men coming up the stairs from the courtyard, but could not yet see them. He spared the time to pick up his lantern to swing its light at the top of the stairs. This seemed to dissuade the men from coming up all the way, since, at the very least, the man in front must have seen Cyrel get shot on the wall up above him.
Choke set the lantern down to draw and notch another arrow.
“You men on the stairs! Surrender yourselves! Now!” he shouted.
Down below, Pinch had reached the edge of the stables where the three men had been waiting. He was all but standing on the man he had shot in the back, who was still writhing and gurgling in his death throes. Pinch ignored him and peeked around the stable’s corner. He could just make out the figures of the two men, hunkered down near the top of the flight of stairs.
“Surrender, I said!” Choke boomed from above.
Pinch stepped out around the edge of the stables and put an arrow directly between the two men as a warning shot. It bit into the wooden wall with a thunk.
“Surrender!” Pinch shouted as he notched another arrow.
Up on the wall, with all his attention focused on the top of the stairs, Choke was only just able to register the wall door into the keep being opened from within. The door swung inwards with a creak and a thump. Across the dark void between Choke’s position on the west wall and the keep, the open door was a black abyss. There was the sharp clack of a crossbow shooting from inside the doorway. The quarrel hit Choke dead center, just above his navel, and punched through his chainmail. Choke fell with an awful groan.
The two men on the stairs did not have a line of sight to Choke up on the wall, so Pinch was the only one who saw it happen. As Choke fell, Pinch shot the lead man on the stairs. However, the arrow only grazed the man, who hollered and ducked down to scramble up onto the wall. The second man, who had begun to raise up his hands in surrender, now dropped them as he too began to dash up the stairs. Pinch shot him as well. This arrow found its mark and put the man down. His shortsword fell over the edge of the stairs and clattered on the cobbles as Pinch began running for the stairs himself.
Up on the wall, Choke had just a few seconds after taking the gut shot before the big man came up the stairs and fell upon him. The quarrel had struck him like a heavy punch, and had winded him, but it had not penetrated too deeply through his chainmail and quilted under-doublet. While curled up in great pain, Choke was still nominally sensible.
The man scrambled up to him almost on all fours and moved to stab him in the neck with a wide-bladed fighting knife. Choke reacted instinctively and rolled into the man, raising up his elbow defensively as he did. This saved him. The knife sliced through his triceps, and was deflected up just enough to carve into the side of Choke’s head instead of his neck. Choke continued to roll into the man, with his arms up around his neck and head. The man raised up and stabbed Choke high in the side, but Choke’s chainmail turned aside the attack.
Pinch was now pounding up the stairs, so the knifeman gave up his attack. He ran along the wall and around its corner, heading for the open door into the fort. As the fleeing knifeman neared the door, a second crossbow bolt was shot from inside the fort. The quarrel hit him high in the trunk and he fell onto the walkway as the door was slammed shut from within.
“Oh, Stron, no. Please no,” Pinch murmured as he approached Choke, who was writhing and making agonized grunts. “Choke, it’s me! It’s Pinch! I’m here!”
With his bow still in hand, Pinch crouched over Choke and cast his eyes frantically around, thinking wildly. He finally calmed just enough to think of the next thing to do.
“Alarm! Alarm! Attackers in the walls! Alarm! Alarm!” Pinch shouted at the top of his lungs. He took a deep breath and shouted it again. He was about to shout it a third time, when he heard the call being taken up from someone high up in the keep. The alarm calls then spread through the keep, audible outside through the keep’s slit windows.
Pinch picked up Choke’s lantern and swung its light around. He and Choke seemed to be the only two alive outside of the fort, but then the big knifeman who had been shot running for the door began groaning. The wounded man did not seem to be going anywhere, however, so Pinch turned his attention back to Choke. He set the lantern down and gently rolled him onto his back to begin examining his injuries. Pinch was profoundly relieved to see that while the injuries were certainly serious, they were unlikely to be fatal. At least not with priests around.
The most serious wound was surely the crossbow quarrel in Choke’s gut. About half of its length was visible, which meant that Choke probably had about six centimeters of it inside him. Not good, by any means, but not immediately fatal. Pinch knew enough to leave the quarrel be. Of the knife wounds, the slash to Choke’s arm was the most serious, but was not bleeding enough to be significantly dangerous. Without any medical supplies, all Pinch could do was grip the arm wound tightly with both his hands to slow the bleeding. As he did so, he recommenced hollering until soldiers from inside the fort finally spilled out into the courtyard and headed their way.
As the first men came up the wall to join him and Choke, there was an awful moment for Pinch as he realized that they too might be there to kill them. However, the men were of Lieutenant Cooper’s first squad, and immediately set about helping Pinch to help Choke. A medical kit was called for, and Lieutenant Cooper joined them just before it was brought.
“Blackguards!” Cooper raged. “Who! Who did this evil?”
Pinch was too preoccupied with tending to Choke, so Lieutenant Cooper was left to discover the answer to his question for himself. He picked up the lantern near Pinch and cast its light around. Around the corner of the wall towards where it connected with the fort were the two prone forms: the first, dead, was Cyrel, who Choke had shot; the second was the knifeman who had been shot by the crossbowman inside the fort. The knifeman was moving around and groaning.
“Whose is that?” Lieutenant Cooper demanded, pointing at the knifeman. “Friend or foe?”
“All are foe, sir,” Pinch said as he and another soldier began bandaging Choke’s arm wound. “That fucker’s the one that stabbed him!”
“Right then! Men! Seize that man!” Lieutenant Cooper ordered his adjacent men.
The man yowled when he was heaved somewhat upright by the three soldiers. They dragged him back around the wall in front of Lieutenant Cooper. The man was shot high in the shoulder, just under the collarbone.
“Ah. It’s you, is it? One of Orel’s mongrels,” Lieutenant Cooper said as he shone the lantern upon him.
At this, Pinch looked up from what he was doing to check the man. He recognized him as the big trooper who had been drinking with Corporal Butters in the loading bay when he, Choke, and Knuckle had gone there seeking a scourge to whip their men with.
“This man has been crossbowed. You both have proper bows. Who shot him?” Cooper asked Pinch.
“Whoever shot Choke, sir. From inside that door there, which was opened up from inside. With me bearing down on him, this guy gave up trying to kill Choke and tried to escape that way, but the guy inside shot him too!”
“Ah. That is the way of it with this kind of scum,” Cooper said. Then he turned on the knifeman: “Well, you wretched swine, I tell you it would have been better for you if your fellow had better aim. You will rue this for the rest of your short life! I will see you scourged to bone for this!” Cooper raged as he finished.
The man was in a great deal of pain, roughly propped up as he was by the arms between two strong men, with a crossbow quarrel in his shoulder. Cooper’s angry shout straight into his face brought him around somewhat, though.
“Please, sir… please… ahh! It hurts! I need healing. Please!” the knifeman mewled.
“Healing you say! Not very bright, are we? If we heal you up, you will have the strength to last longer in what is coming to you. Healing! Ha!” Cooper barked.
Lieutenant Cooper reached out and grabbed the quarrel by its flights and gave it a bit of a twist. The man shrieked.
“This is not bleeding sufficiently to end you before we get what we need. Corporal!” Cooper barked at a nearby man.
“Yes, sir!”
“You three take this bandit to the dungeon and chain him down to something. See to it that he doesn’t die. Do not injure him further. Not yet. I want to talk to him before that starts.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Sir!” Pinch interjected from Cooper’s feet, where he was still fussing over Choke. “Choke, I mean, Lieutenant Pekot, is gut shot, sir! He needs healing! Please!”
“Ah! Of course! My apologies, Sergeant! You care for your officer well. Yes! You, you, and you,” Lieutenant Cooper pointed out three of his men. “Help the sergeant lift Lieutenant Pekot! Sergeant: I shall accompany you to the infirmary, to be sure that no more evil befalls Bartholomew this night. Let’s move!”
Pinch and the three men got Choke down the stairs without hurting him too badly. Choke was still conscious, and bearing up well. He could not, however, stifle all his groans.
In the courtyard in front of the keep, it seemed that almost all the soldiers left in the keep had gathered. Lieutenant Cooper and his men had been the first out, and Cooper had ordered his platoon to secure the fortifications, so the ones now milling about were mostly Lieutenant Hamon’s men. Their current commander, Sergeant Euan, who Choke had gotten the two men for the watch from, was standing in a cluster of his soldiers near the keep’s main doors. As Lieutenant Cooper and the men carrying Choke came around the corner of the stables, Sergeant Euan moved towards them.
“Sir! Are we under attack? Oh shit,” he said as he saw Choke being carried.
“Sergent Euan! You are to take all your men back to quarters. Lock them up tight! No one from your platoon, yourself included, is to leave. To quarters! Now!” Lieutenant Cooper bellowed, his rage overflowing once again.
Sergeant Euan blanched. His features contorted even further as he glanced down at Choke being carried by and saw that he was alive.
“Sir! If we are under attack, we should be—”
“Do not!” Lieutenant Cooper screamed, drawing his sword to point it at Sergeant Euan as he stepped towards him. “Do not question me! Do you question my order?”
“No, sir.”
“Well get on with it then! Now! Any of your people that I see out of quarters tonight will be clapped in irons! Is! That! Clear!”
“Yes, sir.”
Lieutenant Cooper left Sergeant Euan to get on with it and moved to follow Pinch and the others into the keep. However, before he could enter, Knuckle’s voice boomed from inside:
“The fuck! Fuck!”
Knuckle came striding out of the keep, moving to get around Lieutenant Cooper. He was unarmored in just his jerkin, but had his weaponbelt on. In his hand was his greatsword, unsheathed. Seeing the murder in Knuckle’s eyes, Lieutenant Cooper skipped straight back into the courtyard as though fencing, keeping in front of Knuckle as he faced him.
“Sergeant! Stand down!” Lieutenant Cooper barked at Knuckle, raising his own sword high to get his attention.
Knuckle stopped, but otherwise ignored Cooper as he cast his eyes around the dimly-lit courtyard. He soon spotted his target: Sergeant Euan.
“Cocksucker!” Knuckle roared as he moved to get around Lieutenant Cooper at him.
“Sergeant! Stand down, I said! Halt!” Cooper shouted as he skipped to the side to interpose.
Knuckle did halt, glancing down at Lieutenant Cooper. Then he leaned to the side to stab his index finger straight at Sergeant Euan.
“Yar dead, motherfucker!” Knuckle shouted.
Sergeant Euan’s men already had their weapons drawn, and they tightened up around him defensively.
“Sergeant! I order you! Stand down! Get inside the keep!” Lieutenant Cooper shouted, now raising his own sword threateningly.
“Knuckle!” Pinch shouted from the keep’s doorway. “Dumbass! Get in here! Choke needs us! Hurry the fuck up!”
The combined effect finally got through Knuckle’s killing rage. He backed away from Lieutenant Cooper, but kept his gaze steady on Sergeant Euan as he did.
“Yar dead, cocksucker. I’ll get to ye. Ye mark that. Dead!” Knuckle said before he finally moved to join Pinch.
“You all heard that!” Sergeant Euan shouted. “That man threatened to kill me! You heard it, Lieutenant! Are ye gonna let him get away with that?”
“Shut! Up!” Lieutenant Cooper roared. “I should have let him have you, man! How dare you?”
“How dare I? Lieutenant! He—”
“Shut up, I said! One more word out of you, Sergeant, and I swear to Stron that I shall see to it that you are busted down to trooper by dawn! Now follow my fucking orders and get your men to quarters! Do it now! And not another word!”
This shut Sergeant Euan up. Lieutenant Cooper glared at him for a while before hurrying into the keep and then through to the infirmary. There, Father Gerban, who had been roused by the ruckus, was shooing Knuckle, Pinch, and the other soldiers away from Choke, who had been laid on an examination table.
“Oh, dear,” Father Gerban said. “Now, what do we have here? Oh. It’s you, Lieutenant Pekot. Oh, my! Well, it seems you have had a bit of a rumpus, haven’t you? Okay, all is well. All is well. Do not fear, Altas shall mend you up. The rest of you step away. Let me see, here…”
Father Gerban continued to babble in his genial way as Pinch and the three soldiers stepped away from Choke. Knuckle continued to stand by Choke’s feet, breathing hard, with his greatsword still unsheathed in hand.
“I shall leave you to it, then, Father,” Lieutenant Cooper said. “I will be right out in the chapel with Pekot’s sergeant here. What’s your name, Sergeant?” he asked Pinch.
“Nikolas, sir,” Pinch said.
“Nikolas. Yes. Come with me to the chapel. You three,” he pointed to his men, “find Sergeant Neil and see where he wants you. Alright, Sergeant Nikolas, let’s go to the chapel so you can tell me everything.”
“Ah!” Father Gerban startled up. “Lieutenant, before you go, would you say you expect more casualties this night? Are we under attack?”
“Oh. Right. My apologies, Father, you would not be aware. No, Father, I expect we are not presently under attack. We have one other casualty, crossbow shot, but he should live. And even if he doesn’t, it is no great loss. He’s the scum that gave Lieutenant Pekot the knife wounds. Isn’t that right, Sergeant?” Lieutenant Cooper asked Pinch.
“Yes, that’s right, Father.”
“Well, if that is the case, I think I can use my more potent healing to have Lieutenant Pekot join you presently. Just wait a moment, please,” Father Gerban said.
Father Gerban closed his eyes as he lowered his eyes and grasped his holy symbol around his neck: a small golden sun, representing Stron’s holy father, Altas.
“Altas, blessed father. Please, in your mercy, heal this man of this wound,” Father Gerban said as he pressed his hand down around the quarrel in Choke’s gut.
Unlike Stron’s healing, which would have caused a good deal of pain as it forced the quarrel from his flesh, Altas’ healing was painless. Choke breathed a deep sigh and sank back as the quivering tension in his frame relaxed.
Father Gerban then repeated his prayer twice more as he healed the wounds to Choke’s arm and head.
“There you are, my son. Right as rain,” Father Gerban patted Choke on the chest kindly. “And may Altas bless you going forward, for surely you have a rocky road ahead.”
“Thank you, Father. And thank, Altas. Praise Altas,” Choke said as he traced the Wheel over his breast.
“Indeed. You are welcome, my son. Now, Lieutenant Cooper, you mentioned that you have a prisoner who was responsible for this, at least in part. I do wish to be a help to you in your duties, tonight. But, I am ashamed to say that I am getting a touch old for staying up all night. I would most like to return to bed.”
“Of course, Father! Yes, of course! Please do! Do not bother yourself further on our account. We shall do our duty. You may take your rest, Father,” Lieutenant Cooper said.
“Thank you, Lieutenant. However, I do understand that you shall probably want to sharply question this man in your custody. And I would hate to think that my selfish laziness limited you in any fashion. So, here, follow me. Come! Come. I have something for you.”
Father Gerban moved away from Choke across the infirmary, gesturing for Cooper to follow.
Choke sat up, looking dazed, and was quickly wrapped up in Knuckle’s strong embrace. Pinch joined them and the three shared some quiet words.
Over at the infirmary’s storage shelves, Father Gerban unlocked a chest and produced a small leather flask, which he handed over to Lieutenant Cooper.
“A potion of healing, Lieutenant. If it seems like your prisoner is set to expire prematurely, do feel free to use as much of that as you need to keep him going”
“Thank you, Father! This is not necessary, though. I am sure we can manage without it. You should save it for those that may need it.”
“Tut, tut! Nonsense! I can make more of that, don’t you worry. I am not yet as useless as all that. And timely information may well save more lives than this potion otherwise might. Only Altas knows. Yes? So take it, and use it to good purpose.”
“Well, thank you father. I will,” Lieutenant Cooper said emphatically.
“Not at all. Not at all. And, with that, I think I shall take my leave of you now. Good night. And happy hunting, all,” Father Gerban said, waving genially as he moved through the infirmary, heading for his private quarters.
Everyone thanked Father Gerban again effusively, who waved their thanks away. Then, Lieutenant Cooper, Choke, Pinch, and Knuckle were left alone.
“Well, then, Bartholomew!” Cooper said, with a gleam in his eye as he clapped Choke on his bloody shoulder. “I don’t suppose you would like to come along with me to have a few words with the man who stabbed you? Come! You can tell me all about what happened on our way to the dungeon.”
Muse Vassal 