Where Wolves Are Men (Part 2 of 4 actually) (494 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1 on 6 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by sword (View user info) at 2005-03-03 13:37:38 EST
Part 1 : http://www.ubersite.com/m/61050
Appius had agreed to give to me the treasury of a small city in exchange for my cooperation in the Liscus affair and I had grudgingly accepted. Partly because an essential piece of my psyche just couldn't allow me to turn down that much money but also because I had a healthy fear of irate Roman nobility which was likely a major reason for my old age.
Unfortunately it didn't take me much time to discover things about Liscus; I identified him rather quickly from the first contact I tried, a wizened old tax collector in a nearby town. What I learned was that Liscus would be a hard man to kill and a dangerous one at that. Liscus was a Celt who had come to work for Rome, for what objective nobody knew, and he was currently stationed in a make shift fort of his own construction with a band of 100 of his own loyal soldiers that was located about a solid week's ride along the main road. To make matters worse the local governor had taken a shine to Liscus and rumors had it he had a few friends in the senate as well.
After Appius had left my humble abode I packed my bags for an extensive journey and with one of my retainers and four of my fastest horses I set off at once for the nearby city Hadrinium, which was a good choice for two reasons. First of all it was on the way to the area where Liscus had supposedly set up his fort and secondly Hadrinium was well known for its activities and vested interests in illegal markets.
The ride there was all together uneventful and I entered the city gates under the guise of a traveling scholar and poet. After entering the city I had my servant, Marcus, take our additional horses and belongings to a nearby inn of good repute, I gave him some money as well to ensure we could find lodging there. I myself rode down to the poorer quarters of the town and wandered a bit before selecting one of the seediest taverns I could find. I tethered my horse outside and forced aside my fears that it would be stolen and entered the establishment.
Inside there was a bigger crowd then the shabby exterior might lead one to suspect. A man behind the bar doled out drinks and two patrons sat on stools in front of him. Two sets of three men occupied different tables and in a far corner were two men deep in conversation. One of them was the type of man I was looking for.
I idled a few moments and purchased a drink waiting for one of the two men to leave. The bartender gave me an appraising look but was all to happy to take my money, the men at the bar were too drunk to care about me but the younger groups of boisterous situated else where throughout the bar were sizing me up. I didn't carry any noticeable weaponry, which was in retrospect a mistake, and my clothes were of a quality rarely seen around these parts of town. It was only natural for them to think me rich and unarmed and thus they assumed I was an easy target.
Two of the men from the closest table stood together and walked over toward me. "I don't know if anyone told you" he began, his speech slightly slurred from drink "but there is a fee to get into this bar and stay here."
"And if I don't pay?"
"Then you leave" he said dropping his hand slowly and emphatically to the hilt of the gladius strapped to his belt. Perhaps if I hadn't liked money so much I would have paid him off, but that wasn't the case and at any rate it had been a while since I had seen any real adventure. With contempt I spat at him and leapt to my feet stepping back as I did so.
With the ease and control of an accomplished warrior the man drew his blade and fell into a fighting stance, his companion moved off to flank me and to step in between myself and the door.
"That was a mistake" the man growled before slashing out with a relatively slow probing strike to my right shoulder. It was a mistake many veterans made, to begin by testing their opponents and seeking their enemies strengths and weakness. It was not a flaw I made.
With a slight twist I ducked under the blade and hopped out past it while drawing my long bladed knife from its wrist holster and stabbing out with it in the same motion to catch my assailant in the hand. The knife blade slid in deep and he screamed in pain and dropped his sword. His comrade was undeterred and charged in to tackle me. The speed of his attack caught me almost by surprise and I was bowled over to the floor and my attacker came down on top of me.
We grappled for a moment before he got the better of me and wrapped his hands around my throat. As he choked me I managed to untangle my arms and holding my hands out flat box his ears. He gasped in surprise at the pain and his hold weakened slightly, but enough for me to pull up my legs and gain purchase against his hip and belly with my feet. I pushed off hard and he rolled off of me relinquishing his grip. I scrambled to my feet and got up before he did, I kicked him as hard as I could in the back of the elbow breaking his arm and ceasing his attempt to rise again. The third member of their party was nowhere to be seen so I simply extracted my knife from the hand of the first man and set back down at the bar.
Before long one of the two people at the back table got up and walked away, by that time the two men I had injured had also hobbled out of the tavern and the remaining three men no longer were eyeing me. I stood up and went to the man at the back table.
"I have an odd job that needs doing" I said by way of introduction "and I am looking for a few men who could do it. They would need to be strong though."
"I could probably find a few such men" he answered "How many are you planning on using?"
"12, by tonight" and with that I put down 2 coins on the table. "I can meet them here an hour after sunset." He paused and considered a moment before scooping up the two coins and exiting the bar.
Later that night I met the 12 mercenaries the information broker had found for me and I bartered hard with them until they accepted service with me for slightly less then fair wages. Together the 14 of us, myself and my servant along with the mercenaries, traveled down the city to the house of a minor government official who was in charge of ordering the food distribution for the Roman armies.
My servant pounded on the door until the official came to open it. As the door swung slowly open I held my hand rigid like a blade at my side, when the door was fully open I sprang forward and stabbed out with my hand catching the homeowner right underneath the sternum and sending him staggering back inside his house. My servant shouldered the door open and struck the man in the throat with his balled fist. In a rush everyone else entered and made short work of the government official with knives and daggers.
"Marcus" I said to my servant "find the papers we are looking for. The rest of you may take what you like from here but be silent about it and if anyone sees you then kill them." The mercenary company, glad for this bonus, set off gleefully looting the house ensuring that when this scene of murder was investigated it would look like nothing more then common burglary. Marcus hurried off throughout the house in search of the documents we had come here for.
I walked through the entry hall and down to an as yet unused door by my party. I slipped my knife from its sheath and silently eased the door open. Beyond the door was a large and lavish kitchen and bustling about inside of it was someone who I took to be a serving girl. Continuing with my slow speed of motion I came through the door and hugged the wall as I slipped to the far side of the kitchen and around the girl's back.
She was barely illuminated by the faint glow of a candle that provided just enough light to guide her work, which was apparently washing dishes for the morning repast. I inched closer and closer towards her. Eventually I came to a distance where I could see her more clearly and I was struck by her beauty, she was lithe and thin and had a face that belonged in the Pantheon. The way her exquisite hands slowly and perfectly performed their simple chore with the dishes enthralled my mind and I began to know the first tingling of a romantic inclination.
With a wordless whisper I called out to her and she turned in curious surprise. Like a snake I leapt forward closing the remaining distance between us and stabbed up with my knife catching her underneath her chin. The blade pinned her mouth together so she couldn't cry out for help and to cement the cleanliness of her death I punched her hard in the stomach twice. Then I pulled out my blade and slit the girl's throat.
I searched the kitchen for anything of interest but found little and soon I abandoned it. After I had Marcus returned to me with the documents I needed. These forms showed the location of every local Roman army and also the names of their leaders. Smiling I had the mercenaries regroup. We made a brief stop at the inn where we had lodging and then fled away through the night.
Before going to sleep that day I studied the documents carefully, they revealed not only the location of nearby Roman armies but also the location of my ultimate target, Liscus. After my study I decided on who the next mark would be. General Haius Glenn was stationed only three days march from Liscus' fort and had a sizable army with him. One that could easily eliminate a small fort and 100 people before anyone else found out. Now all that remained was to convince Haius to let me use his army.
User Reviews
Submitted by simple_catalyst (user info) at 2007-06-11 20:08:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
WTF is this?
Submitted by sword (user info) at 2005-03-03 22:54:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
punching her was so she couldn't scream when he pulled out the knife, because she would be out of breath.
also williamson what do you mean +2 for pity? I don't care at all about the ratings if they aren't what people think
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-03-03 22:39:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Pretty good. This guy's a terrible spy though, getting into a big fight in the middle of a bar like that. And I didn't see the point of him and his servant using non-lethal force on the man who answered the door if the mercenaries were just going to stab him until he was dead anyway. If he's really the cold, efficient killer that I believe you're trying to make him out to be, he would have killed that guy as soon as the door was open.
Good job with killing the servant though: it establishes him as a man not to be fucked with. Though I dont' know how gut-punching her made her death any 'cleaner'.
Submitted by williamson (user info) at 2005-03-03 22:03:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for pity.
Submitted by fudgepacker (user info) at 2005-03-03 15:29:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
not getting many reviews, huh?
here's a +2 if it makes you feel better.
Submitted by sword (user info) at 2005-03-03 14:50:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
what the hell man if they are comin at you , means they want somthin ,more better you look after them and care for them ,than they get on the street uh?