“Yes, worth remembering,” Dram replied, as the warrior ignored the exchange. After the maid left, the dwarf poked his companion in the arm. “Ain’t feeling too social, eh?” he asked.
The human shook his head. “People don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said bitterly. The two sat in silence for another hour until the barmaid brought them another set of foaming mugs.
“That was our last coin,” the dwarf remarked, after paying for their third round.
His companion simply nodded.
Finally the man stiffened and turned his head to the side. He watched surreptitiously as the two knights they had encountered in the stronghold finally emerged from the temple. They were still dragging the hapless goblin, thoroughly shackled. They hoisted the creature onto the mule, mounted their horses, and started off at a trot toward the city’s western gate.
“Where do you think they’re headed?” asked Dram.
“Caergoth,” replied the man with certainty. “That’s where the Order of the Rose is, these days.”
“You know them two?”
The swordsman shook his head. “No, but the barmaid at Cornel’s called that one Reynaud. I’ve heard of Captain Reynaud. He’s a knight commander in Duke Crawford’s army.”
Dram whistled. “A damn good army, that one. I’ve seen it on the march-covers the whole horizon.”
“It’s a big one all right,” his companion allowed with a shrug.
They waited a good half hour after the knights had left. Night had fallen by the time they rose, led their horses down the side street, and tethered them outside the temple. Dram followed as the man approached the front door and tried the latch. It was unlocked, so they strolled inside.
They found themselves standing in a small, stone-walled chamber. There was a large gold merchant’s scale set up on a platform in the center of the room, with several rings of benches surrounding it. A huge pair of feathered wings, possibly a trophy claimed from a slain griffon, were prominently displayed on the far wall of the sanctuary.
A cleric dressed in white robes trimmed in gold emerged from a back room, bowing humbly before the two travelers.
“Greetings, Wayfarers,” he said. “Do you come to make an offering to Shinare of the Scales?”
“Not exactly,” said the human. “I wanted to ask you some questions about the Knights of the Rose. You work for them, don’t you?”
The cleric, a young man with cherubic cheeks and a rotund waistline, drew himself up stiffly. “I should say not! We may have common cause, as we try to bring order to this accursed place, but I do my god’s work, while they are in the service of their duke! The knighthood has no official power here in Garnet!”
The swordsman seemed to ignore the priest, walking slowly around the chamber, his hands concealed beneath his cape. On the far side of the large scale one arm emerged as he pointed to a strongbox on the floor. “Is this where you take donations? From the knights?”
“No! How dare you imply-” The chubby cleric shrieked as the warrior, moving with sudden speed, snatched the sword from his back-scabbard, whipped it over his head, and brought it down. Blue flames were already crackling along the blade as the keen steel edge smashed into the chest, slicing through the planks of the strongbox as though they were stale pieces of bread.
A cascade of coins and gems spilled out.
The priest staggered backward, gaping in horror as the man reached down and grabbed one glittering item. It was a golden medallion in the shape of a rose attached to a slender gold chain.
“I see that that someone pays you well,” he drawled.
“Outrageous! Go at once! Know that that is a simple donation from a faithful follower!”
“Well, then, you can keep the simple stuff,” said the swordsman, tossing it toward the cleric, who caught it clumsily in both hands, fingers clutching at the fine chain. “We can find plenty that is more elegant among the rest of this.”
He held his weapon, no longer flaming, in one hand, as the cleric glared at him. Dram knelt and scooped fistful after fistful of coins and jewels into a leather sack. The dwarf paused for a second now and then to admire a particularly fetching gem but quickly filled the sack.
“That’s about all it’ll hold,” the dwarf said, hefting the bulging sack. He was visibly disappointed, for there was still a considerable fortune strewn around the stone floor.
“It’ll have to do,” said his companion.
“Yeah, I suppose,” said Dram regretfully.
“How dare you?” demanded the priest angrily. “When the duke hears of this-”
“The duke has no power here. Garnet is a free city. Remember?” the warrior chided.
“Your insolence will cost you dearly,” warned the priest. With a sudden gesture he spun away, seized a tassle hanging from the ceiling, and pulled hard on the line. A gong sounded.
“Tch-tch. You shouldn’t have done that,” Dram said, shaking his head. The swordsman was already moving, stepping close to the priest. He reversed the heavy blade and brought the hilt down, hard, on the cleric’s head, sending the priest sprawling to the floor, unconscious.
“Halt!” A strong voice boomed through the round chamber, even as the pair were racing for the door.
Both the dwarf and his human companion stopped, as if their feet were frozen to the floor.
Another priest, this one wearing a gown of pure gold, stalked into the room. He was older than the first, with a fringe of gray hair and a massive belly that swelled his garment. He stared at them with an air of command-clearly, he was the high priest of this temple.
“So even a temple is not safe from such villains and scoundrels. You will pay for your insolence on the rack! Duke Crawford himself will enjoy the spilling of your blood.”
“Magic! I’m stuck to the floor!” Dram snarled in rage, snatched his axe from its belt strap, but he couldn’t decide whether to hurl it-the high priest was too far away to be sure that he could strike him. “Damn your greedy god anyway!” he spat.
The human warrior, on the other hand, drew a deep breath and collected himself before calmly turning around, his feet gliding smoothly over the floor. “Duke Crawford has no power in Garnet,” he said.
The patriarch glared indignantly. “You blaspheme the Balance of the Scales! He will, soon enough. Though you’ll have breathed your last before then!”
The intruder calmly sheathed his great sword and drew out one of the small crossbows that he wore at his belt, concealed beneath his cape. With a measured crank of his hand, he cocked the weapon.
“Cease!” cried the high priest, his fingers splayed in a gesture of command. “Drop your weapon.”
The warrior raised the crossbow, siting the weapon on the massive round target of the golden billowing robe. “Release my friend,” he said calmly.
“I command you both to remain!” shouted the cleric. “My power rules here!”
The clunk of the crossbow’s firing mechanism was the last sound he was fated to hear. The high priest groped at the dart that pierced his chest, looking in disbelief at the crimson rose-dyed in blood-that spread across his sacred garment. He collapsed with a groan.
The power of his spell was broken in that instant, and Dram stumbled free. “How did you get away from his magic?” he demanded of his companion.
The warrior pulled off his left glove, revealing a golden ring that glowed on the middle finger of his left hand. “A gift-from a lady who knows a thing or two about magic.”
The dwarf nodded knowingly as the warrior was already hurrying toward the door.
“Time to go,” the swordsman said. “This town is getting too religious for me.”
CHAPTER SIX
In the years of the Dragon Overlords Khellendros and Beryl, the savage tribes dwelling in the Garnet Mountains were hard pressed to find sustenance. The hobgoblins disbanded their great clanholds to scatter into the heights. Eating grubs and roots, they considered themselves lucky to discover such provender. They survived primarily through raiding, inflicting terror on many of the human settlements skirting the fringe of the range, pillaging from the hill dwarves with the aid of their teeming goblin lackeys. These raids inevitably led to reprisals from the Solamnic Knights, whose patrols drove the raiders higher and higher into the mountains.