Morgans Tale Part 14
He vaguely heard someone call out behind him, but ignored it, instead willing himself to run faster.
The predawn streets were for the most part empty, affording Morgan ample space to frantically dig in his pack as he ran through the city. He tried to draw one of the dark steel maces, but it caught sharply on something. He tugged harder and heard a rip as the mace slid free. Morgan flung the pack onto his back and continued to run. Sweat was beginning to appear on his forehead as he drew the second mace out from over his shoulder.
By the time Morgan reached the stables the muscles in his legs burned painfully. The main doors were closed, as they should be at this time of the morning. The building sat quietly in the darkness. From the outside, it looked to be undisturbed.
Morgan breathed heavily and carefully tested the main door. Locked. He put his ear to the wooden wall and listened. He could hear some faint shuffling from inside, but nothing else. He stepped softly in the loose dirt that ran along the side of the building, cautiously making his way along the outer wall until he had circled around to the back end of the stables.
The rear entrance hung opened widely. The faint light that should be spilling out behind the building was absent. He steadied his breath and slowly crept towards the door. As he neared the entrance Morgan could hear the shuffling, it was much clearer now.
He edged closer, and peered around the door. It was dark inside. He could make out the edges of two rows of stalls and not much more. Moving guardedly, Morgan stepped inside. Many of the horses treaded about nervously, peering wide-eyed into the darkness, their hooves making the rough shuffling sound as they crunched the dry hay beneath them.
Morgan heard a sound. His head shot up as he tried to pinpoint the source. It had come from somewhere near the center of the building. It sounded like a person. He pushed farther into the stables, keeping close to the wooden walls. He stayed below the heads of the horses, so as to not spook them and draw unwanted attention to his presence. Just ahead of him, one of the stall doors hung open.
The ranger paused for a moment, silently debating the best course of action. If there were more of those men in here, he may not be able to scare them all off. For that matter, he now stood alone more or less directly at the center of the stables. Suddenly he felt a bit foolish. It was too late to turn back now. He frowned inwardly and slowly poked his head around the corner.
A dark shape lay in a heap in the middle of the stall. Morgan strained to make out any detail in the darkness. It was a body. Something was protruding from its back. A hilt, from a small blade or dagger, maybe. His heart sank. They had already been here. He was too late.
The ranger forced his eyes from the body and continued to scan the stall. A small wooden stool rested on its side on the dirt floor against the wall, it looked to have been kicked over. It was Renna's. The slender girl sometimes had trouble grooming the heads of the taller horses on her own.
Then he heard the noise again, a whimper. It came from the back of the dark stall. It was definitely a person. He listened closer. He could distinctly hear breathing. It was uneven though and erratic.
"Renna?" Morgan whispered.
He heard the girl's breath catch, and a startled rustling.
"Renna?" he whispered again, more anxiously this time. "Are you all right?"
There was a pause.
"Morgan... is that you?" he heard her voice whisper back.
He rushed into the stall, nearly tripping over the body in the center. Renna sat huddled up in the back corner. Her legs were pulled closely and tucked beneath her arms. The girl's small frame was trembling. Tears rolled down her face.
"It's me," Morgan replied, "Are you hurt?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but could only manage to stare at the dead man. Morgan moved to block her view of the body. His foot crunched loudly on some hay. He glanced nervously over his shoulder and out into the darkened stables.
"Are you hurt?" he repeated hurriedly.
She shook her head meekly.
"Can you walk? We need to get out of here."
Renna wiped at her eyes and sniffed. "I think so," she said quietly. She took Morgan's hand and slowly pulled herself to her feet. She glanced down at the man lying on the ground. Immediately tears began to well up in her eyes once more.
"Don't look at it," Morgan said gently as he guided her past the body. He poked his head out of the stall and looked both ways. Even with the faint light leaking in through the back entrance, the building was still dark. He did not see anything, though it did little to assure him that no one was there.
The ranger cautiously led Renna out into the center of the stables. Staying close to the wooden stall doors, they began to creep back towards the rear entrance. The young stable hand stumbled lightly a few times, but caught herself. As they neared the back door, a loud shout rang out from just outside the main entrance. It was deep and barbaric sounding.
"Go! Quickly!" Morgan exclaimed urgently, dropping the whisper. But before either of them had the chance to reach the back, the front doors were blast open. The lock was blown off and shot forward into the stables several paces. A resounding clap echoed through the building as the main doors smacked violently against the front wall. Their hinges screamed in protest, but held. Renna gripped Morgan's arm tightly.
The moon's dim light poured into the stables, illuminating the inside of the building with a soft, pale glow. Several horses reared up in their stalls and cried out, spooked by the sudden disturbance. Morgan tightened his grip on his maces and whirled around to face the entrance, ready to fight.
Zanadar stood planted in the doorway. The big man's armor glistened casually in the moonlight. He held his large sword at his side and gazed into the room with an icy glare. Elandar stood behind him. The old man looked into the stables for a moment then turned up his nose.
"Where are all the thugs?" he asked impatiently.
Zanadar lowered his sword. "I don't see any," he said, his voice somewhat disappointed. The big man spotted Morgan and Renna near the back entrance. "That was a brilliant idea running off like that alone, by the way," he added.
Morgan exhaled slowly and eased back on his maces, though Renna still held his arm tightly. Zanadar and the old man entered the building. "We didn't miss all the fun did we?" the big man asked. As he passed, he glanced into the stall Renna had been hiding in. "Oh," he said soberly. "Are you two all right?"
"We're fine," Morgan answered.
"Did you do that?"
Morgan shook his head.
"You?" he pointed towards Renna.
She nodded slowly.
Zanadar studied the girl for a moment. "I see," he said. "Was he alone or were there more?"
"There were more," she sniffed. "And they may be coming back, we should go."
Zanadar patted his sword. "Let them come back. So, what exactly happened?"
"I was here getting your stupid horses ready when I thought I heard someone at the main door. It was locked though," she paused to wipe her dark eyes, "and we are never opened this early so I ignored it. But when I came in I left the back unlocked, I closed it, but that didn't stop them. I heard them come in, at first I thought it was you three until I turned around..." she trailed off.
"And then what?" the big man asked.
"They came after me. I ran into one of the stalls and climbed up into the roof," she pointed upwards, "They couldn't get up after me so they left. I stayed up there for a while, incase they were just waiting for me to come down. Then two came back, I tried to stay hidden but it did not take them very long to find me.
"One said that if I didn't come down he was going to start killing the horses. He didn't know I had a knife though. I didn't want to kill him," she looked up at the big man, trying to hold back tears, "...I had no choice."
Zanadar shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned he got off easy. What about the other?"
"I cut him across the face when I jumped down. I think I may have gotten one of his eyes, because he ran as soon as I stabbed his friend." Her face took on a frightened look, "He said he was going to come back and find me. We need to go."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Zanadar said, "If they come back we'll be able to handle them. Did they say anything else?"
Renna stared coldly at the big man through her teary eyes. "They said a lot of other things. I killed one of their friends. I know their type. They are going to come back for me, only next time it's not going to be just one man. How long did you plan on staying?"
"They weren't here for you," the big man stated.
"What are you talking about?"
Morgan cut in. "We came from a forge near the other side of the city. When we got there, a group of men was waiting for us. Fortunately, I think they underestimated what Zanadar was capable of. In any event," the ranger continued, "one of them told us there'd be men waiting here too."
"Are they the reason you're leaving the city?"
Morgan shook his head. "No, Adlus is sending us to Rindol Field to check on something. He doesn't seem to think its anything serious though. We should only be gone for a week or so, you can come with us if you'd like. By the time we get back the guard should have rounded up all the rest of those men."
"Absolutely not." Zanadar said stiffly.
"What?" the ranger asked, turning towards the big man.
He pulled Morgan aside a few steps. "She can't come," he said.
"Why not?"
"No other people, just the three of us."
"Can't you see how scared she is?" Morgan whispered harshly.
"...and don't think I'm not sensitive to that Morgan, but--"
"But what?" Morgan said, becoming a little annoyed. "If Elandar isn't going to hinder us than neither will Renna. Listen, I've been pretty appeasing to this point. First, you bring Elandar along and I know Adlus wouldn't be happy about that if he found out. Then, someone looking for you tries to kill me. Maybe that's a common thing for you, but nobody has ever tried to murder me before. As if that weren't enough then they try to hurt Renna... and she had to kill one of them - all the while with not so much as an explanation from you. No, we are not going to just leave her here, you might, but I won't. "
The big man gave Morgan a look that suddenly made him feel a bit less sure of himself then glanced back to Renna.
"Fine," he said loud enough for everyone to hear. "Are the horses ready?"
Renna nodded. Morgan straightened himself, he was a little surprised the big man had actually changed his mind.
"Good, then let's go."
A faint smile touched Renna's tear-streaked face. "Thank you," she said softly to Morgan.
Elandar scratched his head and looked up into the wooden beams supporting the roof. "How did you get up there?"
She pointed towards one of the larger horses, a foul looking, dirt colored gelding. "His name is Grayus, I climbed up his back. He doesn't let anyone else near him."
"If I were in his condition I probably wouldn't have the best disposition either," the big man said sourly.
"You don't have the best disposition," Elandar pointed out.
"Which one is mine?" Zanadar asked shortly.
Renna pointed to a large black horse in one of the stalls near the back. "That one," she said.
The big man grabbed his saddlebags off the ground and stomped off towards the animal.
"That back door looks to still be rather unsmashed," Elandar called out behind him, "Please try to resist any urges you may have to break it."
