The messenger and his guards walked briskly along the road. Just before dusk they reached a fork in the road they chose the path that lead away from Askari.
Ton's intention was to catch the messenger and steal the Cup away from him long before it could be put to some dastardly purpose. Ton had assumed they'd acquire transportation just outside of New Brindol, his confidence faltered each step further that they didn't have a horse. Askari was a long distance off, you certainly wouldn't go on foot.
Wherever this messenger intended to go must be reasonably close. Either Jibari had incorrect information or Ton was trailing the wrong messenger.Ton recalled all the times he'd relied on Jibari. It was a lengthy list, and in none of them was Ton led astray.
He had chased this messenger far too long to be able to backtrack and hope to discover the correct one. Best to press on and hope whatever letter this man carried it would be of some use.
When the sunlight faded the group left the road, and walked into the forest far enough to lose sight of the road to make camp for the night. They pitched a few tents and built a small cookfire to prepare dinner. Once that was done they left one man on watch and settled in for the night.
Ton was relieved that he was skulking through the woods beside them. Otherwise he'd have obliviously went right by them. It was a little early for him to take any action, so he sat and leaned against a tree to get a few some rest.
Sometime later he awoke and was pleased to see that the moon was still in the sky. In the east the sky was just starting to brighten, dawn was still a couple hours away but he'd have some light to work with. Ton began creeping toward the camp.
There were four tents; one in the center and the other three around it. Only a single guard was awake, sitting by the smoldering embers of their cookfire. Instead of watching for signs of intruders the guard was busy packing his gear.
Ton smiled at the ease of making it into their circle of tents. He hardly made a sound as he pulled open a flap of the central tent and slipped inside.
The messenger was still asleep, wrapped in a blanket. His pack and gear was piled next to him. All save for one pouch, which he was using for a pillow.
Ton frowned, the pouch didn't look terribly comfortable. The leather didn't look particularly soft, and no doubt the buckles would make for a lumpy pillow. Knowing it was likely futile Ton resigned himself to examining the pile of equipment in case the messenger was more careless than it seemed.
He crouched down and pulled the pack toward him. One of its straps hooked on something, causing the bag to tip over spilling some of its contents. As the things thumped and clattered to the floor Ton gripped the hilt of his dagger and stared at the messenger.
The sleeping man's head camp up. "Huh...? Dawn already?"
Ton dove onto his back and mashed his face into the pouch, muffling the rest of the messengers questions. The messenger was stronger than he appeared and was slowly pushing Ton off of him. Ton realized that his attempts at silence would be wasted if the guards were alerted. Releasing the messengers head Ton thrust the dagger into the man's back.
The messenger let out a gurgle and convulsed, throwing Ton off his back. Soon his movements lost their vigor until he lay still.
Ton stood up, careful not to step in the growing pool of blood. So much for doing this without violence. Jibari better have been right, he'd feel wretched if it turned out this man wasn't working for a heinous cult.
After a few moments without anyone outside reacting to the struggle, Ton assumed he'd kept it quiet enough. He'd already spilled this man's blood, might as well see what he could learn. After all he was a messenger, he'd be no use without some message to deliver.
Ton dug through the man's pockets and came up empty. Well the handful of coins wasn't a waste, but not really what he was after. Ton continued his search through the rest of the tent. Clothes, assorted knives, shoes, crossbow, dry food, throwing blades. This man was awfully well armed for a messenger, especially with the retinue of thugs he was travelling with. Finally he found it, a metal tube with a red sun seal holding the stopper on.
Ton dug back into the pouch hoping that by some chance that the cup would be there as well, when he heard a voice from outside.
"Oy, Lorak. Off yer duff already. Not worth my hide letting you be late. You better have your stuff stowed afore we get the camp packed."
Ton flinched at the sound. He looked at the corpse fairly certain the guard wouldn't get the response he sought. Acting wasn't something Ton was particularly good at, and he would need to hear the messengers voice to attempt mimicking it.
"Lorak! I'm not playin round here. No one'll care if you're being drug full of broken bones, so long as you still got that letter with you." Heavy footsteps were heard outside the tent.
It was past time for Ton to leave the camp. Ton peeked outside the tent, the guard was at the edge of the camp. The sun still was only peeking above the horizon and shadows still pooled around the camp.
Ton moved silently, stooping low to keep himself in the shadows. He had to stick to a slow cautious pace otherwise he'd alert the guard with some noise. With the guard marching toward the tent he knew he didn't have much time, all it would take is a glance inside the tent for the alarm to be raised. Still he maintained a slow silent pace, but every time he placed a foot he expected to hear a shout.
Ton was just past the last tent when the guard shouted murder. The rest of the guards sprang out of their tents and weapons scraped as they were pulled from sheaths.
Giving up the silence for speed Ton made a break for the trees. He still stopped low hoping to remain concealed in the shadows, and relied on the guards own noise as they organized a search to cover his footsteps.
Mot Another guard stepped out from behind a tree. He must have been relieving himself, as he was hastily fastening his belt.
Ton stopped and gaped at the man blocking his path. The guard hesitated a moment as well. Ton didn't give him time to decide between grabbing his blade and keeping his pants up. He reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt which he flung into the goon's face.
The guards hands flew to his face as he cried out in alarm. Other shouts came from the men in the camp as they turned and ran to aid their companion.
Ton took advantage of the distraction and darted around the last guard and into the forest. Stealth was out of the question, with the number of lumbering oafs now giving chase he'd never dodge them all. He just ran and hoped they were less spry than they looked.
The plan seemed to be working, the guards were falling behind. The problem was that no matter how fast you are, when you run out of ground to run upon your pursuers will catch up.. This point was driven home when the forest ended at a tall cliff.
Ton skidded to a halt right at the edge, struggling to keep from running straight into the open air. When he was finally under control he leaned over and looked down.
It was a near vertical drop along a stone wall, down into the shadowed depths below. The predawn light wasn't bright enough to reveal the bottom, but it seemed very far away. Behind Ton the guards were crashing through the forest.
Ton's eyes went wide, he wanted to flee but there was no where to go. Ton gritted his teeth and clenched his dagger as he turned to face the forest. He calmed his thoughts and readied himself for action. He was determined to make any of the thugs who crossed blades with him regret that decision.
A few seconds later the first of the guards burst into view. He was a full head taller than Ton, and wielding a sword. Shouting in rage the man lunged at Ton.
Ton immediately regretted the plan. The guard's sword had much better reach than Ton's dagger. Combine in the man's longer arms and Ton knew he was in trouble. It would take some very skillful work for him to maneuver close enough to score a meaningful blow.
The guard knew what he was doing. Not only was Ton unable to get close enough to strike, but he was driven back to where his toes were barely on solid ground, his heels hanging in the empty air past the cliff edge. The rest of the guards were getting close, their shouts and footsteps weren't far away.
In a panic Ton was desperate for a plan. He latched on to a desperate idea, then positioned himself so he appeared vulnerable. The guard took the bait and made a powerful thrust which would have skewered Ton on the blade. Except Ton wasn't there, he had leaped up and off the cliff. Then Ton's arm lashed out to grab the befuddled guard's arm and pulled himself back toward the guard. Finally Ton was close enough to strike the guard, and strike he did. One clean cut across the throat that put an end to the duel.
Ton smiled at having pulled off such a move, then a realization set in and his grin vanished. The guard was leaning forward from the thrust, and Ton pulling on his arm further toppled him forward. Ton wasn't on the ground, merely holding the guard, as the corpse fell over the cliff Ton went with it. He twisted in midair to put the guard's body between him and the ground and hoped the fall wasn't as long as it seemed.
Much sooner than Ton would have guessed, the fall came to and end Ton smashed into the corpse and his vision started to fade.
Voices came first, indecipherable and distant. Then his eyes started to work again, first jsut seeing blue sky then soon shapes began to form. At the top of the cliff a few heads were visible looking down over the edge.
"Ain't no man could have survived that fall. This cliff's at least two hunnerd feet high."
"Sun's still too low to see where they landed, we'll have to hike to the bottom if we're to find the bodies."
"We're to find those bodies. You can report to the high priestess what happened to her message, I'll be here finding a way down."
"I'll not bring her ill news. Has to be a trail down somewhere, I don't relish climbing down."
Ton told himself to keep still, even in the dark the guards might have seen the movement. In reality the guard's body barely cushioned the landing. Ton was dazed and bruised, it was likely that he couldn't have kept on his feet had he dared try to get on them. The guards had left, but he still lay there unmoving for a while.
Looking around Ton could see that hadn't gone all the way to the bottom, a small ledge protruded from the rock wall which stopped his fall. It was far enough down that these early rays of light left it in shadow. Before long the sun would be high enough that the shelf would be revealed, and guards would discover how he had survived the fall.
Wincing in pain Ton rolled over. Battered muscles protested the movement, but complied with the request. He massaged a particularly sore spot on his chest, and found the somewhat flattened scroll tube. It might not have been a clean job, but he'd gotten away with his prize.
He considered his options. The shelf didn't reach very far, so he had to go up or down. His aching body didn't make him feel confident about climbing. The thugs were looking for him so he had to get moving. They were heading to the bottom, which probably meant that going up would keep him away from them.
He found a few handholds and ignoring the pain from his bruised muscles started to climb.
The guards weren't waiting at the top. They had taken their camp with them, all that remained was messenger's body lying in the blood soaked grass.
Ton leaned against a tree and ran a hand through his hair. As he made his way toward the road he pulled out the scroll tube, and cracked the seal. As he walked he read the letter the messenger was to deliver.
We have gained the Cup! The patsy was ignorant of our purpose and won't speak of the matter for the time being. In a few days I will ensure his silence is permanent.
I'm told the preparations in Rodinia are well under way. I shall send the Cup there post haste so that the ritual can be completed. If only those fortunate souls there can be told of the honor they have, to be the first to perish and be reborn in the service of our Lord Asmadi.
The Red Dawn will rise and the Glorious Rebirth will be brought to this world!
- A. Bolas
Rodinia was the nearest town to where Ton's family lived. Far too close for him to be comfortable permitting the cult to carry out their plans.
His options weren't very promising. Were he to report their crimes the militia would be sent again. They had failed before and allowed the cult to survive, and the trip to Rodinia would give them ample to to go into hiding again, and possibly complete their plans as well. He could think of no others that would even move against the cult. Askari was too far removed, a frontier land that is barely established. Too few had strong enough ties to make them act in time.
Ton hurried his pace. He needed to get back to New Brindol and find a faster means of getting there. It would take incredible luck to catch the messenger with the cup. Even if he arrived late it seemed he might have a little time to discover where the Red Dawn was operating and put an end to their efforts.
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