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Payoffs
“How are they?”, asked the head librarian worriedly when she got sight of the old man who had stepped through the door of the ward.
“I wish I knew. Lendear hasn’t woken yet. I checked for stabbing wounds, but his skin is unscratched. That shop owner had a pack of lies in stock for us, that much is clear. Malda will be all right though. Rescuing the boy and the summoning have taken their toll, but she is strong and I’m sure she will recover soon. Now there is nothing for us but to wait and leave it to the skilled hands of the druggist.”
“What on earth was Lendear doing in the mountains? What made him leave Brougoth?”
“Again, my dearest Khozo, I come up empty-handed”, he sighed, “but I do suspect we would find some answers if we had another little chat with that crooked nosed wretch. I should have taken more time with him”, he added.
“Don’t worry, this man is going to pay and if it is the last thing I will be doing. At least he won’t be able to leave the city, the guards will see to that and he can’t hide forever.”
“Which reminds me, there are matters at hand we have to attend to. You are right, the shop owner will eventually have to answer to us, but even though I must confess that I too feel the urge to have a little revenge and the truth must be found, I can’t help but to fear for my dear cousin. Finding the street boy with a slit throat leads to troublesome conclusions. May I suggest you stay here with Lendear and I head back to Brougoth. Now that we have found him at last and we know him to be in the best hands, it should be sufficient if one of us is here to greet him should he wake up.”
“Certainly, Thealdi. I will stay here with the boy. If anything should need your attention I will have someone over to fetch you.”
She paused as if searching for words.
“And Thealdi,” she looked him in the eyes with an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry it is not for us to meet tonight, I was so much looking forward to it…” and trailed off.
“Oh Khozo, none of your fault…”, the old man was deeply touched and in a uncommonly rare occasion of lacking words, he silently embraced the head librarian. He too had been looking forward to their meeting, his feelings for the past lover hadn’t changed much in all these years. Eventually they let go of each other, the latest events unfolding their pressure anew and so the two headed off towards the cloister with Khozo Mas opening the gateway for the old man to allow him a quick return to the Brigshack through her private quarters in the town’s library.
Thealdi lost no time and hurried back to the Brigshack, anticipating his cousins presence, but the house stood empty except for the bow master who had been left behind to await Turglinds return.

“You want what?”, he bellowed, “you must be out of your mind after this performance you gave today. If it weren’t for me, the item would have never reached my hands. You screwed up, you didn’t follow my orders, count yourself lucky I’m sparing your life, you miserable doofus! You’re going to leave the city straight away. I won’t debate this any further. Do as you are told and you’ll get out of this unharmed.”
“Hey, I told you before: Stop threatening me! You’ve got what you wanted and it was me that made it possible. So hand over my payment, we have a deal”, the shop owner insisted and to backup his words, he issued a short, shrill whistle. An instant later, the two brawlers were surrounded by a good dozen youngsters, daggers drawn, ready to strike.
“Bad mistake, you jerk, I’ll teach you and your little…”, but before he could finish his sentence, the boys were on him. He managed to knock several out, being a skilled and experienced fighter, but they were simply too many. He had already received numerous blows, several deep slashes dealt with the daggers and his vision began to blur when the fight found an abrupt end through the use of a cudgel that made severely painful contact with his temple, sending him to the ground.
“That’ll teach you, you bastard”, commented the shop owner and dealing out a final kick in the victims stomach he snatched the item from the clenched body.
“Ah, you don’t mind, do you?”, he mocked while he retrieved the moneybag and added, “I think I’ll keep all of it as a little compensation for my extra efforts. And it will be you who is leaving this city if you care for your life.”
The shop owner paused, as if he was making up his mind, then added with a sinister smile:
“Let’s make sure you don’t try anything funny.”
Turning to the boys, he ordered:
“Gag him!”
They went to work immediately, one of them ripping off a piece of cloth from the victims robe and stuffing it in the mans mouth.
“Now hold his arms outstretched”, came the second command.
When two others held the debilitated victims arms in position, the shop owner gave each elbow a hard kick, thus braking the joints.
The man’s screams were muffled, eyes snapped wide open, his agony only earned him indifferent looks from his tormentors. The shop owner bent down and whispered:
“If I see your face again, your current sufferings will be nothing compared to what is to await you. I’ll spare your legs for now so you can make a run. And you better hurry before I change my mind.”

The worries for his cousin and the uncertainty about the boys health had prevented the old man to find much sleep. Miglim had set out shortly after the old mans return to the Brigshack in search of Turglind and had returned in the morning empty-handed.
“What a night”, he greeted the bow master, “I really appreciate your efforts, my friend”. He mastered a weak smile, Miglim merely nodded.
“I’ve changed my mind about informing the High Council. It’s time I see Groonhark Minh and fill him in. There is a chance that he will have a good guess regarding the whereabouts of Turglind. He won’t be too pleased however when he learns that my dear cousin is in the possession of the Messenger’s weapon. Not to mention the state of the boy…”, he sighed heavily and added, “I’ve failed miserably.”
Miglim put a hand on the old mans shoulder, eyeing him.
“Not so”, was all he would offer, being concise as ever. Thealdi gratefully took in both words and gesture, when he heard a knock at the front door.
“Turglind!”, he called and sprinted to the door, ignorant of the fact that his cousin would have just entered rather than to announce himself. The disappointment upon the sight of his visitor quickly changed to relieve. The woman from the Order had brought good news for Lendear had finally awakened and apart from a general weakness he was in an overall satisfactory state. The girl had recovered well and the treatment from the druggist had helped to restore most of her strength. Khozo Mas had managed to get a rough picture about most of the happenings out of the boy and so Thealdi was filled in with the events of the previous afternoon. He’d have a lengthy conversation with the boy, but first he’d have a meeting with the abbot.
“These are indeed troublesome news, old friend”, Groonhark Minh announced after Thealdi had relayed the information.
“I’m glad however that the boy survived. I wonder what he was up to and it riddles me how he could have left the grounds of the city unnoticed, his departure should have been impeded by the guards. I will have to have a word with them. And with the boy”, he added.
“Certainly, your Excellency. I will arrange for a meeting as soon as the boy has fully recovered.”
“Very well, now let’s concentrate on your cousin. You said he is in possession of the skean. Given that he is still within the city, we stand a good chance of finding him.”
Thealdi was about to inquire, but stopped short, calling himself to patience and waited for his interlocutor to elaborate on his own account. The abbot eyed him, reading the old mans expression.
“You have doubts, my friend? Let me tell you about the origin of the skean, I’m sure that will answer some questions.
When the High Archmage who had forged the weapon, mounted the gem to the handle, it broke apart. He was forced to make a new handle with a proper fitting for the now bisected gem. Since the power of a gem is not related to its size, all apparent damage the mishap had caused was the extra work of making a new handle. Much later it turned out, that the two halves of the original gem had retained a certain connection. And even though the High Archmages for centuries attempted to reproduce the effect, these two pieces remain unique until this day. It is for this reason that I had chosen the skean to become the new Messenger’s weapon. I hadn’t of course anticipated that the need would arise so soon to make use of this singular attribute of the gems, but I have good hopes that we succeed in finding your cousin as we get to use this option.”
Thealdi was about to contradict the abbot by laying out the connection between his own and Lendears gem, but was forestalled by the abbot.
“Of course many gems have connections, I needn’t to mention the ones that are used by the Order for example, but with these particular two it is quite different. In addition to igniting a glow within its counterpart, the gems can be made to gravitate towards one another over great distances.”
Thealdi immediately realized the implications, if his cousin was still in town he wouldn’t have much trouble to spot him.