Fragments Gallery
Mercenaries: Exchanges
Kali idly sharpened a blade on a whet stone as she waited. She leaning against a ramshackle signpost at an ice swept crossroad. The writing on the pair of arrows pointing the way had long since worn down.
The snow on the roads leading up to the sign remained untouched; there was no trail leading through the snow to show how she had gotten to where she was. It was an old trick her mother had taught her, she found it unsettled her clients and led to better deals. These days she did it automatically.
She held the blade up higher in the dim light, careful to hold it far enough away that her breath didn't condense on the cold steel. The truth was she was bored. Her contact should have shown up over an hour ago. She was patient however. Eventually he would come; he had too much riding on this meeting. So did she but he wouldn't see it coming.
It seemed like she was always doing this; waiting for people to bloody well show up.
A northern sparrow cried out from across the road and Kali smiled at its sound. Those birds didn't come this far south, that was the signal that a party approached. She continued to sharpen her blade as she waited for their arrival.
She didn’t have to wait long for them to come over the hill before her. They looked taken aback when they saw her. What a sight she must be to them; alone in the wilderness, surrounded by untouched snow. Dressed in black leathers edged with subtle chain mail and equipped with a pair of broad swords strapped to her sides, a recurve bow on her back and assorted smaller blades strapped about her person.
The leader recovered his calm and strode boldly towards her. His companions, five soldiers in the employ of the leader, stayed slightly back. They kept their hands on their weapons; clearly they did not trust her. She kept an impassive eye on the man as he approached.
"You're late," She commented.
"I arrived when I had to," he said arrogantly, it was as though he were saying that he had arrived precisely on time. The first time she had met him his clothing and posture had told her all that she needed to know about his personality. He dressed rich and walked richer. He was a pompous rich idiot who thought he was better than everyone else.
It was a good thing she didn't like him, otherwise she might have some qualms about what she was going to do.
"Do you have what I asked for?" He demanded, his eyes glittering in the light.
"Actually I do," she said retrieving a small parchment tube from beneath her cloak, "Do you have the payment we agreed on?"
"Not with me," he said evasively, "Hand that over and we'll see if it is worth what you claim it to be."
Kali sighed, making no move to hand over the tube, "That's not how this works; you tell me to retrieve something and I retrieve it. For a fee."
The man gestures and blades rasp in their sheaths as the soldiers draw closer.
"Come now," he said, "Just hand it over and you walk away in one piece."
"Had you actually held up your end of the bargain this may have gone differently," She said calmly, "I have other plans."
Her fingers twitched as she signed her lieutenant to act. Her mercenaries rose all around, surrounding soldiers and her target. She gestured again and her men moved into disarm the soldiers and restrain their leader.
"Send someone ahead," she murmured to her lieutenant as he moved up beside her, "Let the baron know we're coming."
He nodded and moved off to issue orders. Once the soldiers were disarmed her men roughly sent them on their way. It would take them a while to get reinforcements; by the time they did she and hers would be long gone with their captive. Bringing him in to the baron would pay more than retrieving the scroll would have anyways.