Running Shadows: Rebellion in Numenor

Blade put his thumb and finger in his mouth and whistled. He waited for a bit until a horse came over to him. Blade immediately got on the back of the horse and rode back to the city to talk to his employer

 

Alice had wondered through the town when she had rested up for a bit and now was looking for some wares to buy. Then after exiting a shop she noticed Pan in the corwd and hurried over to her. "Hey! I didn't think you'd still be here..."

 

Pantalimon turned, hearing Alice's voice. "Just for awhile. I'm glad you found me, I didn't want to leave without saying hello again." she smiled at the girl. Alice now looked rested, fed, and less likely to fall over, all things that made Pan happy to see.

 

Alice couldn't help but to return the smile. But after a breif smile it faded slightly and she titled her head. "So you're heading out?"

 

Pantalimon nodded, still smiling. "Yes. I didn't plan to stay anyways; actually I don't entirely know where I am." she laughed at her own oblivion to the country right next door to her mountains. "But this place feels bad to me anyways, like I should get out while I can." shrugging, she laughed again, "And what are you planning to do?"

 

Atreyu sneaked a peak over his shoulder to see if that Dragon-hunter was following them. He didn't want anymore trouble than he'd already caused. He knew there was strain in Numenor, thanks to the rumors, and now he and his Dragon were about to cause more of it. The best thing he could do now was just stick to what Goldwin had told him to do. Now he just has to worry about how long he'd be out of town. Was there a way he could get word to his parents of where he was? And what food was he supposed to eat out in the middle of nowhere? Keiran could hunt for himself; and Atreyu still had the bag of goodies, but that would maybe only last for the rest of the day and the next morning. His safety wasn't a big problem wherever they were going because he had Keiran to keep an eye on him. After that display back there, Atreyu knew that Keiran wasn't going to let any harm come to him.

 

Goldwin let Boromir take their horses back to the stable when the reached the castle once more; the three had rode in silence, all seemingly deep in thought about the turn of events. Rumors spread like wild fire in any city, perfectly run or not, all the way from the rich, gossiping courtiers to the peasants and farmers.

Goldwin didn't know why, but if the people were already thinking of rising up against Moraning's awful dictatorship-mentally of ruling, she felt herself on edge; in her heart, she knew for a fact that both her parents were unable to command an army, run the country, and keep order in their state. The timing was horrible, and she found her hands shaking with anger and fear at her sides as she walked up the steps into the main receiving room of Numenor castle with Trys.

"Mi'lady?" he asked, his tone even as he observed her mood and brooding expression. "I understand you're worried, but don't push yourself too hard; it won't help anyone."

Goldwin gave Trys a forced, cold smile, hoping it portrayed some kind of confidence. "Of course. I'll go speak with my parents. Meet me in the salle when I'm done?"

"You're up for more sword practice?" Trys asked. "You've been at it every free minute."

"And you're to do what I say," Goldwin snapped, a little harshly. She swallowed and continued with a warmer smile, "Besides, you've been my sparring partner for my entire life; you're the only one that poses a challenge now."

Trys bowed and took his leave, and Goldwin squared her shoulders, sighed, and started up the stairs to her right, to the top rooms of the main section of the castle, to see her ill parents.

------------------

It was becoming clear to Gabriel that, no matter how insistent he was with the messenger on his currently neutral, undecided status, the man would not leave or take no for an answer. "Tell me what would be required of me," he began with a sigh, "should I consider this."

“You would go to Numenor Palace," the man began, his tone almost relieved happiness, as if he had been told to tell Gabriel the details from memory. "Do not let anyone know of your origins; make up whatever story you see fit. At this point, you seem to have a creative enough imagination and more than above par skill at lying to make up a tale that will not raise suspicion. You will get connected with the princess somehow; both her parents are older, ill, and will die soon… either naturally or by another… accident. If they start a war… I’m sorry, when the country starts a war, if you’re close enough to the girl to lead her into a trap to make their defeat easy, Lord Michael will officially be able to rule over Moraning and Numenor… the rest of the world will follow quickly.â€

“Again,†Gabriel began, though he had to admit he was interested that he was being suggested for such a seemingly-important job, “what exactly is in this for me?â€

“You’ll be paid more than enough money to live as you see fit for the rest of your life,†the man said as if it were obvious. “A chance to make a difference in the upcoming, inevitable events that will shape this world… and,†he added with a sharp grin, “a good amount of time to practice and hone your skills with blood magic. Dark Summoning is something best learned with experience.â€

“How is Summoning the dead, manipulating souls, and causing immoral damage with ghosts have to do with seducing a princess?†Gabriel frowned. “I don’t see how I am the only one that meets the requirements for this job of yours.â€

“The request is also a formality,†the man laughed bitterly. “Lord Michael has ordered this job for you; no more pulling off wanted posters and murdering spies and thieves in alleyways to pay for your food each night. But if I must explain, you befriending the princess and making her trust your judgments up to a crucial point in war is what matters most. When our army and blood magic is on their doorstep, you will be the key to inishing her, and the rest of her rebel country, off for good.â€

 

"YOU DIDN'T GET THE DRAGON" yelled Blade's client when he found out the news

"thats correct. The dragon fled before I could catch it" Blade said calmly standing infront of the client.

"then what the heck are you still doing here go catch it" the client yelled in anger

"sorry, I told you that I would try and catch this dragon. but if if fled away from me I would not waste my time chasing it" Blade said turning away from the man "you should have made a down payment like I asked. I am true to my word and would have continued to go after it" Blade said walking away

The client got extreamly mad at Blade "I lost the chance to gain so much riches if that dragon was caught and now that chance is gone" The client yelled and drew his sword "I'LL KILL YOU" the client yelled as he ran forward at Blade

 

"Yeah this place is rotten..." Alice muttered to Pan's comment. She was spaced as she walked along side Pan, standing still got them brushed aside and bumped into several times. Alice found an area off to the side to stand and talk. "And I'm not that sure... I kind of came here on an impluse so I have no actual plans." She finished with a nervous giggle.

 

Pantalimon moved aside from the crowd to talk with Alice after giving the passing people an exasperated look. She knew she liked people but was starting to think she only liked them in small quantities. No don't think that way, these people are probably just stressed. she scolded herself. After Alice giggled, Pan tilted her head to the side. "On impulse? I thought you were going after your friend, to bring her back to your clan?" she reminded Alice, a hint of suspision in her voice.

 

Alice quickly said 'exactly' to avoid further suspision and buy her time to think up of something to say. "I didn't even know where she went or packed for the trip properly. I couldn't even make it to this town before running low on water. And I didn't even think of if she'd want to come back or not or let me travel with her..." Alice mentally cringed. She hated lying, especially to someone as nice as Pan. But she couldn't bring herself to fully trust anyone, not after all of the betrayals she had to go through. Plus it was best if people didn't know what she did, it was against her people's law to talk about the Seer after all.

 

Pantalimon looked, for a breif moment as though she was disapointed. She opened her mouth to say something, shut it again, thought about Alice's words, and shrugged. Her smile returned to her face as if nothing had ever been wrong. "I hope you find her. You're a very dedicated friend. I'm not entirely sure why, but I respect that."

 

Alice frowned and looked away. She repescts me... A liar who gets lost easily. Not only that, but I was trained to live in the wild and yet I still cannot find my way around... "Yeah... I just hope she's okay. And that... And I hope we can be together. She's like my sister after all." It was easy to lie when talking about real thinggs. And the real thing she was talking about was her friend that died only a year before. She never talked about it, not even to the tribe. So mentioning it now made her eyes watery; they were now briming with tears.

 

Pantalimon put her hands on Alice's shoulders and touched her forehead to Alice's. It was an old calming act a man she'd traveled a few days with had shown her when she got very worked up over a dead deer body. "I'm sure you'll find her. And when you do, you must find me some day to introduce us. I would love to tell her exactly how lucky she is." with the last statment, Pan let go of Alice's shoulders and was pleased to see that her tears had disapeared. Little tricks like that always came in handly.

 

Blade's former client ran straight at Blade in anger and slashed his sword at Blade, but was surprised when he noticed Blade had already drew his sword and blocked it

"I advise you sheath your sword and be on your way" Blade said as both men's swords clashed against each other

"no I'll kill you. If I cant get the dragon then I can at least get the fame of killing one of the top mercenaries in the world" the man yelled and jumped back and ran forward towards Blade once more

"I warned you" Blade said as he ran forward also with his black sword in hand. Both men ran straight at each other. The man raised his sword up high to slash downward at Blade. Blade was too quick for the man and slashed upwards and cut the man's arm off.

The man's hand and sword both fell to the ground. The man immediately fell to his knees and screamed in pain

Blade calmly looked at the man bleed and then closed his eyes "be gracious that only your arm was severed" Blade said as he began to walk past the crowd that had already formed around them

 

"Where are we going?" Atreyu wondered out loud. They were supposed to be flying south, but the mountains looming in the distance suggested they were going north. Atreyu frowned. They were going north; those were the Targon Mountains. Atreyu was trying to puzzle out why Keiran would go there. Maybe he thought it was a good hiding place because of the lack of travelers, or the remoteness, or something like that. He didn't mistrust Keiran's judgement, he just wondered about its reasoning.

 

Goldwin entered her parents chambers and her heart dropped even further; they both lay in bed, more gaunt, tired looking, and pale than ever. Neither of them noticed she had entered until she stood at the head of the bed, inclining her upper body in a short bow.

"Are you feeling, my lord and lady?" Goldwin asked, more loudly than her normal speaking voice.

"We've been better, dear," her mother replied quietly.

"An emissary from Moraning arrived this morning," Goldwin began quickly. "I spoke with him... he wants to raise the taxes ten more percent, and that we have spies and mercenaries out in their lands trying to corrupt them because we're unhappy! I couldn't persuade him otherwise, and it's so upsetting-"

"No one could have," her father interrupted, his voice a little stronger than her mother's. "Nor is there anything you can do."

"Nothing?" Goldwin growled. "Honestly, they are starting all these problems and then blaming them on us so they can start a war and do whatever they wish! It's ridiculous."

"I'm sorry, dear, but if you make a move that's what they want. You cannot respond unless they are at our gates. Understand?"

Goldwin bit her lower lip, hard, swallowing all her retorts. "Yes. Of course," she managed.

Gabriel thought for a moment. "If this is an order, persay," he began now, "when do I leave?"

"Tomorrow," the man said, satisfaction in his eyes. "Don't worry, sir; this task will be to your benefit."

"Yeah, we'll see," Gabriel muttered, uncomfortable with being forced into this "job" by the Lord of his country, just after his latest victory on the streets. "Now would you mind going, please? If I leave so soon on such short notice, you should let me sleep."

The man nodded curtly and left the room.

 

Alice smiled weakly at Pan. "Thank you. I am glad I met you." Alice hasn't known anyone as kind as Pan that would be nice to strangers in recent years so she counted it as a bleasing. Alice promised herself to tell Pan the truth if she ever got the chance to get to know her better. However they were likely to slipt paths now and the chances of their paths crossing again were slim.

 

"You too of course." Pantalimon off handedly replied, glancing up at the sky. "Well I want to travel on in..." she turned in a circle, gauging which direction was which, "That way." she finished, pointing south out of the city. "Which way are you headed?"

 

Alice scanned the horizon. "I'm not exactly sure... I think... I think I should got to Moraning..." She muttered under her breath, trying not to draw any attention as if just the word was posion.