Heart of a Hero the City of Ages

By Kevin Donald Biehn

Drazeryn a rogue from the streets who works as a stable boy finds himself embroiled into the life of a rogues network of spies, assassins and enforcers who force him to enter their ranks and become a deadly assassin. During the course of it all he finds love and many allies.
The allies he finds are mostly of a nefarious sort. As he contemplates the meaning of everything he finds himself with few answers. Later on when the city takes on a new form he must ally with many people that normally a rogue would never deign to notice. Meeting the son of the high councillor, a Knight of the Pure Heart, A Battleguard, a whimsical bard and the love of his life take him to new heights and conclusions of the meaning of love and life.
The companions find an evil rogues guild, called the Kadamari, which is much too disruptive for their liking. The idea of rogues fighting rogues is not an uncommon concept. The Pavakans fighting the Kadamari has been happening for a very long time in The City of Ages. Will the rogues destroy themselves or destroy the city trying to eradicate one another?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jun 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9781466985278

Kevin Donald Biehn

Brantford, Ontario is a small city of around 100 000 people. It's a town I love and cherish despite the fact that many dislike it. There are many endeavors that have enveloped my life. Heart of Hero; the City of Ages is one of my first works; it's part of a five book series. The second one is nearly finished called The Haunted Hamlet and the Watchful Arm. More of works include Ode to Ardor and Order a book of poetics, philosophies and theories of all sorts. Including politics, creation, science and culture. I enjoy taking walks by the river in the summertime and in the winter I love the fresh crisp feel of newly fallen snow. The air of any season invigorates my soul with the grace of the world.

Book preview

Prologue

The smell of freshly baked goods blew across the city on the swift wind that made dust fly through the hot Gahondaran marketplace. The city was home to people from every walk of life and seemed to be getting more lawless as time went on. The market was always busy with the many shops and booths having people moving in an endless cycle of buying, selling and trading.

Captain Mezrenden and Captain Tassandria walked swiftly through the marketplace followed by their retinue of heavily armoured guards and Knights of the Pure Heart. The metropolis had a strong justice system that once in a while surveyed the poorer section of the city to assess how lawless it was becoming. The two guard captains were discussing ways in which they could alter the current guard or knight structure to ensure the safety of the inhabitants of the city and to make it more efficient.

Fradaran was trying to hear his superiors moving through the market the noise was intense as citizens talked and mumbled. Although it seemed only peaceful trading was going on there was an underside to Gahondaran society that few noticed unless they were directly involved. Fradaran, Knight of the Pure Heart, and follower of Forseti knew there were injustices being committed against the poor citizens of the greatest city state on the continent. The Pavakan network and the Kadamari were warring against one another attempting to seize control of the darker side of Gahondar and in the middle stood the peaceful people that made it what it was today.

One of the Kadamari, Selnareth, a bold villain had stolen some horses from the horse rancher Brawnel Buckstar near the edge of the Terahn River within the city limits. Fradaran had been given the assignment to track the rogue down and bring him to proper judgement in the eyes of Forseti and Gahondar. Currently the rogue was known to frequent the Journey’s End Inn so that would be the start of the knight’s search. For now the captain’s of the city were speaking of how to better enforce the law in this seemingly disorganized marketplace.

Unfortunately the circumstances had it that the city would never truly rid itself of these rogues, mere annoyances. The idea of arresting them and putting them in jail or making them fight until they died in the arena seemed an endless task. The leaders of these rogues networks and their affiliates would likely recruit more people from the poorer sections of the city. The downtrodden were usually so desperate that they would do anything to get ahead.

Light glinted into his eyes from on top of his caravan. Squinting Fradaran determined the source to be an arrowhead with a rogue dressed in baggy clothes behind a bow. It seemed the bow was drawn and locked on Captain Tassandria. The two captains engaged in conversation seemed oblivious to the fact that an assassin stood behind the Khorza’kalar’s merchant’s wagon. Two arrows in rapid succession fired at Captain Tassandria right for her chest.

Look out! Fradaran yelled; its volume was so loud it seemed as though Forseti was yelling down from the heavens.

Fradaran pushing the other surprised guardsmen out of the way ran to protect the most beautiful woman from the onslaught. As the arrows nearly reached their destination Fradaran jumped with his shield in the air. Two arrows thudded into his steel shield bouncing harmlessly away. Another which Fradaran didn’t see struck him in the thigh, right through his chain armor. The assassin must have been good Fradaran thought as he landed on the ground.

Quickly he was on his feet breaking the arrow off. The assembled knights and guards were in a panic and couldn’t figure out where the arrows came from and Captain Mezrenden looked around in the direction of where the arrows came from. Fradaran grimacing from the pain started to run towards the assassin who started down the road at an astonishing pace despite the fact people filled the market. Fradaran forced his way through the crowd sweat dripping off him determined to catch the assassin.

While the assembled law enforcement agents stood around gasping Fradaran was nearly across the marketplace pursuing the rogue. Some of the crowd parted for the armoured knight others were pushed out of the way or trampled. Fradaran heard the rest of the retinue followed behind at a slower pace tripping over themselves and some of the citizens. The rogue started down a busy road Fradaran a little ways behind him.

Wagons and people littered the road making travel for the bulky knight difficult. The rogue on the other hand moved swiftly and easily through the throngs of people. Fradaran watched as the rogue turned arrow knocked and fired on him. The arrow sailed past him grazing his cheek, Fradaran’s head arched back. Fradaran nearly stopped for a moment expecting another arrow to come, none came.

As Fradaran continued to pursue the rogue further down the crowded street towards the seedier docks section the wooden walkways that were in place to keep people dry in case of a high tide came into view with a patrol of guardsmen walking on it. They turned on the road and started towards the assassin that Fradaran was chasing.

Arrest that man! Fradaran yelled.

The patrol stopped to regard Fradaran’s request and realized he was chasing the man in baggy clothes. Fradaran watched them start running towards the assassin sounds from behind him indicated that the retinue was close behind him. The assassin was trapped with no where to run but, it seemed almost natural for him to run down an alley. Fradaran pursued him drawing his sword as he went.

Fradaran saw the back of the rogue as he entered the alley running towards the other side of the alley. Heaving his sword over his head he let it fly with all his strength spinning through the air. The rogues back arched as the sword impaled the assassin. Who fell face first in to the offal that littered the alleyway. Quickly Fradaran ran towards the rogue and turned him over not knowing what to make of him. Briefly he wondered what rogues guild to which he belonged.

That looks like one dead Kadamari! Good throw! I’ve never seen anything like it before. A guard remarked from behind him looking over his shoulder.

The Kadamari grow bolder with every day that passes. Captain Mezrenden observed.

Fradaran looked behind and saw that the patrol and the captain’s with their retinue stood behind him weapons drawn. They all were looking around the refuse littered alleyway trying to determine if there were any potential threats. The area was rumoured to be infested with rogues.

New to the southern side of Gahondar Fradaran felt lucky to be alive. "What is a Kadamari? Fradaran asked.

All of the knights in the alleyway roared with laughter, it echoed throughout the network of alleyways that snaked through the southern section. Captain Mezrenden and Tassandria both laughed but, did so under their breath as Fradaran was feeling embarassed about the whole situation. A few of the guards slapped Fradaran on the back and rolled on the ground.

Captain Tassandria’s stern voice rang out over the laughter. That’s Enough! We have to figure out what we can do about this incident.

The assembled guards and knights all went quiet and stepped back. They straightened their stance and whispered apologies to Fradaran. Likely they were just doing it because of Captain Tassandria’s orders and not because they actually meant it.

Yes he certainly is a Kadamari. Tassandria said.

Fradaran didn’t know what to say, it was his first week on duty in the southern half and already he had killed someone. It was the first time he had killed anyone and he didn’t know the particulars or anything about the Kadamari or Pavakans or any organization in the south half for that matter.

I-I-I didn’t mean to kill him! Fradaran stammered upset. The other guards and knights were smirking and giggling in the background.

Tassandria fixed them all with her trademark authoritative glare and they froze. Well, brave knight it seems you did well in saving my life and tracking down the assassin. Better than any other of these more seasoned knights. Tassandria laughed and gazed at all the other assembled knight and guards.

Looking around at the rooftops Captain Mezrenden wondered. Why would they only send one assassin against so many knights? I don’t like this spot. It seems it would be a perfect place for an ambush.

As Fradaran heard Mezrenden say that he and Tassandria looked to the rooftops as if to expect something to happen. The sun blinded the novice knight and dark forms appeared on the rooftops as silhouettes. Fradaran dismayed as he realized he led them all to a trap.

Take cover! Mezrenden yelled and put his steel shield over him covering his whole body.

Fradaran followed suit with Tassandria seconds behind him. It seemed some of the other guards were still chuckling off some of their mirth. Most of them caught arrows that filled the alleyway as when one disturbed a wasp nest.

The arrows stopped a moment and Fradaran lifted his shield off to gaze up to determine the cause of it. As he did more arrows came in a rain of death. Nearly all of the other guards were dead and he looked back to see the two captains pinned down. Before Fradaran could replace his shield he caught an arrow straight in the abdomen. The pain was incredible coupled with the arrow that was broken off in his thigh. He was faltering and was then sitting on the ground with his legs curled up underneath the shield, his doom was coming he was sure of that.

Strong arms gripped the knight’s shoulders and started pulling him towards the exit but he dare not put his shield down. The arrow wound in his stomach bled profusely and the other arrow wound in his thigh prevented from easily standing up. The arrows were relentless.

Come on! Hurry! Captain Tassandria cried.

Exhausted Fradaran went with the pull of the knight captain with his shield steady over his head. Only three of the other knights survived the arrowfire and of course the two captains. Arrows still whizzed by them as Tassandria pulled Fradaran to his feet and helped him get out of there.

One look back was all Fradaran needed to see to know the ferocity of these rogues the alleyway was full of dead guardsmen and knights with arrows littering the whole place. It was like a blanket of feathers.

Fradaran and the others pushed their way through the crowds of people conducting business in the marketplace and barely got to the barracks that was responsible for policing the area. The young knight was in bad shape and needed to see someone to help him remove these arrows and recuperate. Many guards lined the area near the barracks ready to go and help during this crisis as they must’ve heard about the assassination attempt. Many of the guards jaws dropped when they saw the beleaguered group ambling up to their doorstep. He knew he looked rough with two arrows in him heavily panting and sweat coursing all over his face.

Captain Tassandria’s fine features looked at Fradaran and commented. It seems we are even now.

Fradaran dazedly turned in her direction never having faced such a life threatening experience before. Huh? What? He gasped.

Captain Tassandria looked him square in the eye and responded. You saved my life in the marketplace and now I saved yours. It looks as though we are even.

Captain then came to the front of the rough group and demanded. Do you have any Delukkar Rothar on duty?

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Drazeryn walked through the marketplace with the owner of the Journey’s End Inn, Stevlin, in which he was currently a stable boy. After seeing the assassination attempt on two guard captains he wondered what was happening in Gahondar. The young man didn’t know anything of his family history didn’t know his father or mother and knew very little about Gahondar itself. One thing he did know was the rogues guilds of Gahondar had become way more bolder than they ever have before. After the guards had pursued the rogues they came back and looked like they were missing all their knights and were sorely wounded.

As Stevlin walked up to negotiate with a Ravoran wine merchant Drazeryn was deep in contemplation about the whole situation. The rogues of the city, the Pavakan Network and the Kadamari were getting way out of control as time went on. The ones that made the attempt today on the lives of two captains he thought them to be from the Kadamari. The rumors of the streets were that the Pavakans and Kadamari were at war and it seemed the citizens of Gahondar were in the way, to them they were mere cattle.

Yesterday one of the most notorious of the Kadamari, Selnareth, had taken it upon himself to steal a dozen of Brawnel Buckstar’s fine horses. No one could figure out how he got them out or where he would hide that many horses as the horse ranch was within the city walls. Drazeryn surmised that was why Selnareth was rumoured to be one of the more skilled rogues. Even the guards couldn’t keep them at bay as was shown in the marketplace today.

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Forzaryn gazed out over the sprawling metropolis that was Gahondar, the City if Ages, light reflected off the black and white marble towers of Authamar palace. There was a stark difference in the types of structures prevalent in the north side and the south side. The north side had stronger stone materials within their structure housing the upper classes of life. The southern half of the city tended to focus on less expensive material with which to build their structures, mostly wood and a bit of stone. Even the roads were made from different materials the north were mostly cobblestone and the south were mostly dirt. The south was more chaotic, disorganized and full of rogues. The knights and guards couldn’t keep it in order at this time.

Just this day an altercation between the guards, knights and rogues led to open violence in the marketplace. Apparently the rogues had baited the knights to an alleyway and had annihilated many of them. To the point where a small group of Dellukar Rothar, the elite group of spellcasters that defended the city from many threats and his personal guards, had to be sent in to investigate. The street war betwixt the two roguish factions; the Kadamari and the Pavakans and the two law inforcement groups; the Gahondaran Guard and the Knights of the Pure Heart.

The whole debacle was getting way too costly. The guards and knights were expensive and took much time and money to train, people with better moral fiber were getting harder to find and the city had to test their loyalty. The rogue groups replenished their people much easier as the poor were easy to tempt with money, they were desperate and had nothing. They would take nearly anyone as long as they could hold a weapon and swing it. The leaders and more powerful ones likely had their expertise from the way they had to fight to survive.

Forazaryn as a high councillor, soon to be emperor in his mind briefly wondered why he let it all happen this way. On the morrow he could have a nobles meeting to gather all the ancient magical aptitude the city had to offer and go on a rogue hunt throughout the city. The combined power of all the Dellukkar Rothar could likely handle this small task with help from the guards and knights. It wouldn’t take much to locate and destroy all of these rogues. But why didn’t he?

They were important for a few reasons. One the Pavakans kept a watch on the southern side for him and two politically Forzaryn’s opposition would love to say how heartless he was in dealing with such a situation. The rogues had ties in with the smugglers which brought many goods from many lands to the southern side which attracted merchants and visitors to the coliseum games. Not only that the Kadamari could elevate themselves and take the south away from the Pavakans which was not permissible and could make the problem worse. The delicate situation had to be dealt with care.

The Pavakans were completely under his control as they were sponsored by the Pavakan noble family. Forzaryn gave them free reign in the south as long as they didn’t upset the guard too much, which they usually did anyway. Their family patron, Niles Pavaka kept an eye on everything in the south half for him as they could get into places well known guards could not. In a way they were just as valuable as the guards their leader was in Forzaryn’s back pocket.

Most of the good noble families which were Forzaryn’s main opposition disliked the family of rogues however they had a large following throughout Gahondar and even the land of Terahn’talan as a whole. The Pavakans knew that if they ever got too far out of line the other noble families, elven houses and dwarven clans would utterly crush them. It turns out the Kadamari were giving the Pavakans more than they bargained for with rogue wars happening in the streets.

Chapter 1

It was a dreary morning at the start of the spring. The sun was blocked by the clouds and a light pitter patter of rain echoed through the bustling marketplace. It was in the crowds that Drazeryn saw his first lucky break that changed his life forever. The streets of Gahondar were rough for a young man of twenty one winters. Mugging’s and such were very common and evil wizards prowl the night time streets with undead servants trying to capture people for experiments that twist the soul. From this morning on Drazeryn knew something big was going to happen, very big.

Drazeryn walked calmly through the marketplace trying to keep a low profile. The city built a thick wood platform surrounding the coliseum suspended by a rope mechanism over the marketplace so merchants could sell their wares unhindered by the elements, such as rain and it provided shade from extreme heat in the summer months. There was even talk of the cities engineers making it a permanent platform as they could eventually make it a multilayered market so it would increase the amount of space for the markets daily operations. The real benefit to Drazeryn was the rain made a constant sound on this platform so to silence footsteps just that much more. Making it easier to ply the only trade a poor orphan could know, thievery.

There were tables everywhere along the edges of the coliseum, except at the five entrances; the huge structure dominated the center of the market. The platform was hooked on a rope and pulley system. The pulleys were suspended from the coliseum, by ropes from various angles that crossed through the pulleys that supported the platform. The boards that comprised the platform were made of strong Greenwood. Intuition gave Drazeryn the realization that if one cut a certain rope part of the platform system would come crashing down. This would have devastating effects on the market crushing more than a few people and raising the guards suspicion and they would probably hunt the person responsible down. A good escape route would be any of the small alleys that lined the sides some had lots of fences for losing guards, Drazeryn quickly surmised.

All Drazeryn needed was an easy target to rob and there were few possibilities in the poor southern half of Gahondar. The market was busy, despite the bad weather conditions. There were many tables a couple Dremeni food merchants, incense merchants from the Banaric states, silk and spice vendors from the nation of Tilianos-Quan, dwarven metal and weapon merchants, Ravoran wine and furniture merchants, Khorza’kalar enclave, that most people knew sold slaves and illegal items, and a table devoted to adventuring equipment as adventuring was a huge part of the Gahondaran culture.

In fact Drazeryn was eyeballing a large satchel on the side of an adventurer now; he wore greenish gray robes and a dark cloak with a short blade at his side. So the orphan thief thought he wasn’t likely a wizard probably another street person like himself just in better clothes. Standing near the Khorza’kalar table he was discussing something with many people around him.

Drazeryn started to make his way through the crowd slowly trying not to bump people around or cause a ruckus. Drazeryn snuck right near him and could tell the man hadn’t noticed him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he got by him cutting the satchel string with one hand and catching it with the other. Thinking he had easily gotten away with his best catch ever, then it all went wrong.

Deal The adventurer called out in exasperated tones. As if he had gotten a great deal on something.

Drazeryn could almost see him reach to his satchel and realize it wasn’t there. He looked back briefly to see the five people the man was talking to were in fact his friends. Drazeryn heard quick footsteps behind him but no cry of alarm that was no surprise in the city that knows no rest. Not caring about getting caught by the guard patrols so much. But he greatly feared being caught by thugs and rogues. At least if he was caught by guards then it would be only a tossed into the arena to fight a gladiator and not death at the hands of ruthless thugs and his body sold to wizards to animate in some undead thug squad. Drazeryn started into an all out run towards the one rope he hoped would save himself; knowing he had very little time to get out or be crushed by the platform. Drazeryn only had a dagger which he was extremely accurate at throwing. It was all he could afford being a poor rogue and all. Luckily he was at least thirty paces ahead of them and before Drazeryn was the rope and beyond that an alley way with no fence, a straight run, he knew he was going to get away, perfect the rogue thought.

With three small slices of the razor sharp dagger the rope split. Drazeryn ran full tilt toward the alley way and ducked his head and rolled into it. However, on the way he felt a small prick on his neck. At this moment he couldn’t discern what it was, he didn’t have time.

A large part of the south western section of the platform came crashing down destroying much of the marketplace. People screamed as they were crushed and tables broke under the great pressure and all sorts of merchandise went flying everywhere. Drazeryn hardly believed he had gotten away with it. The Knights would certainly be looking for him now. There were small guard barracks on many corners in the southern district, one of which was right in the marketplace. They would have seen him running through the market and he knew he was going to draw their attention by sprinting like a cheetah. But, those are chances one takes to survive in the harsh streets of Gahondar.

Drazeryn came up running from the roll that saved him and kept running. It was good because one of the thugs had managed to escape the collapse of the market, footsteps echoed from behind. The sting he felt was a small dart, then it hit him, these men are hired killers, assassins. Drazeryn’s arms went numb and his legs as well, the dart must’ve been covered in some kind of poison. At least he wasn’t totally disabled however he had no choice but to face his assailant. A small rogue with his dagger and numb limbs against a trained killer with a razor sharp sword, Drazeryn whirled around.

The world was spinning as the poison was taking hold making him dizzy and his limbs felt like rubber. Pulling out his dagger it slipped from his throwing arm as he turned, as he had very little control over his limbs, Drazeryn couldn’t believe his eyes.

It hit the assassin square in the neck gashing his throat clean open. His assailant fell backward with a crash. Offal, refuse and broken crates went flying as he hit the ground. There was no time to pick up his only dagger, Drazeryn kept running. It was a crazy obstacle course, with all the crates and garbage everywhere, and a numb body didn’t help matters either. As a result, the thief went face first into sludge many times. Tripping on crates and bags of garbage Drazeryn kept his hand on the only thing that mattered at the moment, the satchel. Speaking of which it felt almost weightless but looked full which made him wonder.

Drazeryn had went past three alleys, tripping up a few times as the sedative was in full effect and he was ambling on like a drunken mule, suddenly he realized that he had to turn out of the next street to get there. It was a short jaunt and on the way he had tucked the satchel into his soaked pants and covered it with his wet shirt.

As Drazeryn ran on he tried to think of a place he could go. The only place he could think of was the Inn he worked and stayed at on a regular basis. The stable, which was his responsibility, was necessary for the Journey’s End Inn to operate as all the patrons that stayed there needed a place to keep and tend their horses. It was the largest inn in the southern half of Gahondar. Mainly catering to rich merchants and it had a splendid view of the Terahn River. There were a few other buildings that also lined the river such as Brawnel Buckstar’s Estate. It belonged to a horse merchant and had a very large estate with a ranch. A large warehouse operation which catered to the nobles in the north half of Gahondar, which was right across the large river, goods carried across the river on barges were unloaded on the North side.

It was owned by an independent merchant who went by the name of Muttolokko. He was one of the men who made the market in the south half of the city operational. Drazeryn didn’t know anything about the north bank of the wide river except that he had never been there.

Drazeryn had a large room on the top floor of the Journey’s End Inn, one of the best Inn’s in the southern half of Gahondar. There were a few other lads and lasses that worked the Inn as barmaids, cooks and servants they all had their separate rooms. Drazeryn hurried through the taproom that was full of patrons so none of the others had noticed him with his hood low, he climbed the stairs panting and ran down the hallway to another set and scaled those haphazardly. He got to the top sweating and gasping for breath, he opened the door to his room. Slamming the door behind him and throwing himself against the door half expecting city guards to come breaking the door right behind him. The room was eerily quiet for a few moments as Drazeryn was braced against the door, he could hear his heart pounding above the noise the taproom made from two floors below. All of a sudden he felt the sting of many cuts and bruises from his flight at the marketplace.

After Drazeryn’s heart calmed down he moved from the door and over to his bed and took out the stolen satchel. He pulled the string on the satchel and peered in. The satchel seemed nearly endless inside. There was an emerald ring, a large silver amulet, lots of platinum pieces and a large curved sword. He dumped the contents on the bed and looked into the bag in disbelief. He stuck his hand inside the bag and realized his whole arm went inside of it. He had heard of these magic devices which could hold more than what they seemed. Then he went to the ring and slipped it on and found an old pair of work gloves under his bed and slipped them on over top so no one would see it. As he did this he noticed his small cuts and bruises were beginning to feel less painful. He gazed at his skin in a few places he knew to be cut and bruised and noticed they were healed. Drazeryn couldn’t believe his luck and slipped the amulet on next half expecting to turn into a giant or something, to his surprised nothing had happened.

Drazeryn’s hand immediately found its way to the sword. It was curved, and was called a falchata, he had seen one somewhere before. It was the finest weapon he had ever laid eyes on before. It was light and the hilt had been fashioned into the shape of a dragon’s claw holding a red orb. He swung it around a few times in a mock fight and it was swifter than most other blades. Drazeryn draped his old hooded cloth about him and hid the sword beneath it making sure it couldn’t easily be seen if he ever needed to carry it. Then he counted the coins and realized he had a small fortune in platinum, about seventy five pieces. His arm reached around all the coins and scooped them into the endless bag and he put the sword back in there too.

Drazeryn then remembered he had to tend the horses and it was nearly his shift start time. Suddenly his daily pay of two silver was paltry in comparison to the satchel he lifted. However, he didn’t want anyone to get suspicious so he went to work all the time wondering whom the person was that he had stolen the satchel from. Then realizing the person was speaking with a person from the Khorza’kalar enclave he pieced it all together. That night he slept praying to the Gods that his wizard friends didn’t come looking for him, the falchata lay under his pillow just in case he might suddenly need it, he knew he would have to leave and likely very soon.

Drazeryn awoke to the sound of a strong male voice he heard from the doorway to his room. It’s the Gahondaran Guard, we know you are in there open up! Drazeryn sprang from his bed and got his things together.

Looking out the window the wall looked hard to scale and he thought he might try anyway. The guards wouldn’t likely see him as his window was on the side of the building. So Drazeryn scaled the wall nearly slipping a few times. When he got to the bottom he snuck to the edge of the building and peered around the side. Seeing many guards crowded around the front of the inn he quietly moved towards Brawnel Buckstar’s Estate, from there he made his way to the market place, to try to determine where to get this whole satchel and its contents figured out. There had to be wizards there and with the owner of the satchel likely dead or mortally injured he felt pretty safe. So he turned north up the Sea Way. Took another left back nearer to the market, he still didn’t feel comfortable showing the sword in public. That would bring too much attention. The market was bustling again much like the day before and the sun was shining bright in the sky however, the platform was nearly fixed so little sunlight was getting into the market shading the market goers from the sun. The market had fared better than Drazeryn thought from the incident the day before. However, he noticed some merchants were not around, probably injured or dead Drazeryn thought. On the other side of the market he saw a sign on a shop. It read Pavakan Weaponry and Strange items, exactly the type of place Drazeryn was looking for.

Drazeryn entered the place cautiously. There was a desk at the far end and the ringing of hammers working on weapons could be heard loudly from the basement below. Four guards in leather armor were in each corner of the large chamber. All about the walls were all kinds of strange weapons. Like one weapon, he heard it called a mancatcher which had a closing hook device it was used to trap someone, and hold them, many assorted weapons and armor were everywhere about the small shop. Behind the desk was a human with straight dark hair tied back and peculiar eyepatch over his right eye. He was fairly tall and asked What do you want?

I’m looking to identify and possibly sell some magic items? Drazeryn proclaimed confidently, showing him the falchata and necklace.

The shopkeeper’s eyes widened and he looked at the falchata and his guards. Two of them immediately blocked the only exit and the other two flanked the rogue. The man behind the desk pulled a small hand crossbow and pointed it directly at Drazeryn’s head.

I’ll be taking my friends things back now the shopkeeper threatened with a calm cold voice.

Drazeryn felt something clamp around him and felt something pierce through his abdomen. He turned his head and saw the one guard wielding one of those closing hook devices had Drazeryn within its embrace. They held him to the ground while the other three beat Drazeryn senseless for what seemed like an eternity. They had Drazeryn caught with a curved spike through him and metallic pincher encircling him. It was painful and surprised Drazeryn that he wasn’t dying. Have you ever heard of the Pavakan network? The man with the eyepatch questioned Drazeryn. Well you see I am the one that runs that network. The man stated calmly.

They kept asking him questions about who sent him and why. Drazeryn didn’t know what they were talking about. The rogue kept screaming No one! In desperation Drazeryn finally gasped.

The one in charge looked at him his one eye cold with malice. You now have two choices now my wiry friend. You can join our network or you can die a slow painful death.

I wanna join the network. Drazeryn didn’t really think it was a good idea however, he didn’t want to die.

And he felt the hook let go and the curved spike slide out of the wound. The wide wound that was through his abdomen was so painful Drazeryn got sick all over the floor. He slipped in it and landed facedown. Breathing heavily, he crawled over to a nearby wall that had various pieces of armor on display, and he pushed up and sat himself against it. Drazeryn was gasping for air. The man with the eye patch motioned to one of his cohorts and a vial of red liquid was forced down his throat. Drazeryn felt the wound closing and he was breathing easier, for the moment.

The man with the strange eyepatch stared at him and commented in an even tone. You’ll get your chance considering you killed four of my skilled rogues and stole that treasure. Drazeryn didn’t realize the treasure belonged to such a well connected man. Thinking to himself, what have I done?

As he lay crumpled leaning against the wall the man with the eyepatch over his right eye stood over him. So here was the famed leader of the Pavakan Network. They were known to specialize in thievery, extortion, spying and assassination. He gave Drazeryn instructions to meet a contact near the thinking pool by the name of Mordevan Vordanie. Vordanie was one of the three elven houses present in Terahn’talan. Drazeryn had only really heard about them. Drazeryn was to meet him there at dusk, surprisingly he let Drazeryn keep the falchata and amulet and gold saying it was payment for completing the task. Still Drazeryn had thought it strange that Niles would let him keep such valuable items, there had to be a catch.

As the sun waned Drazeryn made his way to the famous park that had a small wooded area on the south side of the city. The park was famous because it had a unique sundial pool and three statues on a circular cut stone area with a three foot raised stone wall enclosing it. Beyond the wall loomed a large precipice of rock that curved with three quarters of the circular stone area of the park and it was a twenty foot drop to the bottom. At the bottom was a sewer exit which connected to the southern part of the city’s extensive sewer system.

The pool was commonly referred to as the thinking pool as there were usually many troubled people seeking answers, sometimes aloud, to their problems, hoping the gods would answer. These statues depicted the three heroes responsible for the creation of Terahn’talan. These statues were standing to represent how the races can co-operate and thrive if they stick together and work in harmony. The small grove of trees played with the lighting and cast eerie shadows on the statues. Drazeryn felt a hand on his shoulder, turning with his falchata drawn he saw nothing. Then a voice came from the opposite direction Drazeryn in a harsh cold tone. Drazeryn turned to see a figure in thick black robes with a hood on. Gold hair spilled out from beneath the hood.

I am Mordevan the chilling voice echoed. You keep your life and possessions if you can kill the orcish brute in the The Thirsty Dog Tavern across the way. He pointed, and Drazeryn turned. There were four thugs outside the bar with sword’s attached to their hip. Drazeryn turned back and he was gone. Drazeryn thought for a minute and he formed a desperate plan. Then he started toward the tavern.

As he approached the thugs, two turned to him and one mumbled rather drunkenly You have to pay to get in here

Really, how much? Drazeryn asked, walking toward them the whole time his feet nimbly never missing a step.

Two gold! The other man declared.

So he threw twenty silver pieces clumsily and they fell on the ground. They bent over to pick it up and out flashed the falchata. With quick slashes to not very intelligent thugs they died fast. Wiping his falchata on the shirt of the men he looked around carefully. No one was around. Outside the tavern was quiet, inside however Drazeryn could hear the orc, loudest in the place. Peering through the window and realizing the brute was sitting with ten armed bandit type figures in rusty chain mail armor. The brute was seven feet tall of pure muscle and had a fearsome glare through bloodshot yellow eyes. The thief put his falchata away knowing he couldn’t fight this brute in melee combat and reached for his daggers.

Drazeryn burst open the door and saw the orc standing at his seat, four daggers flashed through the air. One hit the orc’s shoulder, one went through the bicep, another totally missed and the last hit him square in the face. Falling forward he crashed into the table. For nearly ten seconds the whole scene stopped completely. The thugs sitting at the table saw Drazeryn and gave him a look that promised death or worse. So he did what any good rogue does against ten armed thugs. He ran.

Luckily the city’s engineers laid large wooden planks which were elevated above the road closest to the docks which had quite a bit of mud on them but, still had enough board showing for traction, the planks were on the mud road was mostly for wagons to traverse. Good thing the planks were there otherwise Drazeryn would’ve slipped into the mud and been caught. He ran straight down the street full tilt back toward the park. He could probably use a hit and run tactic and pick them off one by one, the thief thought.

Drazeryn entered the concrete slab area containing the pool and the three statues. He ran straight for the nearest statue, climbing seemed the only way out of this. So he looked to the statues as he was still moving fairly quickly. He heard the hoots and hollering of the group of thugs and Drazeryn knew he was doomed. That is what took his attention away from what was in front of him. He thought he was going to climb a statue and hold them off, however the Gods had other plans for him this day. He tripped on a loose rock on the platform around it and flew end over end into the Terahn River entered into the Talaran Sea and the fall seemed to take forever. But, poor Drazeryn was so tired from the lack of sleep and constant running from the last two days, he couldn’t get his feet underneath him as he landed in a steady stream of sludge that continuously flowed from the sewer entrance. So he plummeted, Drazeryn hit the ground hard, an inky darkness claiming his consciousness.

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Drazeryn awoke with a hell of a headache. The sound of footfalls came towards him. It was Mordevan. The shocking part was he wasn’t making any effort to hide his footfalls.

You did well last night Mordevan casually explained. There may be hope for you yet.

Mordevan came over to Drazeryn’s side and forced two flasks of some red liquid down his mouth. Drazeryn almost didn’t feel safe taking it from an assassin. But did he have a choice? His body was aching, the red liquid seemed to revitalize him very fast, Drazeryn felt he could move his limbs again. So he got up from the gross sewage and mud covered ground and attempted to brush himself off. His clothes were pretty much unwearable at this point. Blood and sewage were all over everything. Drazeryn couldn’t walk in the streets like this. Guards would likely question him about it. No doubt he was a wanted man after the marketplace incident.

As if sensing Drazeryn’s thoughts about walking in the open street, Mordevan replied Don’t worry we can get some clothes at the Thirsty Dog Tavern.

Drazeryn’s mind tremored at the thought he knew that was the tavern where he killed that orc. People there would probably turn him in or kill him.

Again as if sensing his thoughts Mordevan implied. Don’t be so worried, we own it now, thanks to you. We’ve been waiting a while to take that place from those brutes.

Drazeryn felt a swelling of pride at the thought. But such is the evil bloodiness of the southern half of Gahondar. In the period of a few days Drazeryn became the killer for hire known as an assassin. Not knowing what to think of it, he couldn’t go back to his old life, so this would have to do for now.

We acquired it. And now the others are waiting for us there. We have big plans. Mordevan explained further. Let’s go he finished.

As they walked the relatively short distance to the tavern Mordevan spoke. You know those thugs that were chasing you were not very experienced warriors. You could have taken them out yourself.

But, there were ten of them and one of me. I am but a small rogue with a sword. Drazeryn was tripping over his words as they came out. He felt as if he was making excuses.

They were drunk, foolish and clumsy. I thought one was almost going to hold his sword by the blade and strike me with the hilt. Mordevan laughed.

You mean you killed all of those thugs! Drazeryn blurted.

Mordevan flashed an evil grin and Drazeryn knew the answer.

They walked silently toward the The Thirsty Dog tavern under the guise of near darkness. The street was empty with a few people on it. It was early morning and the sun was not even fully awake yet. Gahondar always got busier as the day pressed on.

The pair entered the tavern and there were no patrons in the dimly lit taproom. As they stepped in the small bar was in the far left corner with a rectangular opening directly above it to serve food through. The door to the kitchen was next to it and another beside that. The bartender looked around very scared especially since there was an assassination the previous night. He most certainly recognized Drazeryn and Mordevan. He literally shrank beneath the bar. They walked across the taproom and toward the part of the tavern that was closest to the kitchen door. Mordevan knocked lightly on the large wooden door that Drazeryn could tell was locked from the other side.

It’s Draz and I. Mordevan stated. The door opened revealing the room beyond.

There sat the man from the shop who had ordered those thugs to put that hook device through Drazeryn. He had dark hair with a light complexion whose one uncovered eye saw through Drazeryn’s soul. Also there was a dark blonde haired maiden with dark chesnut brown eyes. She was the most gorgeous woman Drazeryn had ever seen. Living in the poor district as a lad he never saw a lady of this calibre before. She was wearing tight earthy coloured clothes with a forest green cloak draped about her shoulders held together by a clasp that depicted the symbol of the Pavakan family crest. When she noticed him looking she smiled at him with those dazzling brown orbs that seemed to entrance and hold him in place a second. Drazeryn couldn’t help but offer a nice smile which made his cheeks blush red. He looked down at his clothes that were covered in so much blood and sludge and wondered why she was actually smiling. Maybe she would be one who didn’t judge based on appearance. Maybe she could be the one for him.

They were all sitting at a rectangular table with that man with the eye patch at the head.

It’s the man of the hour. Welcome, welcome. The man applauded Drazeryn and started to clap, the others joined in.

Two barmaids came from the tap room and brought over bottles of wine and mugs of beer for all of them. One barmaid brought out some nice clean clothes and some leather armor and pointed Drazeryn in the direction of a small room to the left he could get washed up in. So Drazeryn cleaned up in a washbasin and got dressed. When he donned the armor he noticed there was a small white patch right over where the heart is which depicted a dirk and a man-catcher device that crossed one another. It was exquisitely detailed and Drazeryn nearly laughed aloud at the irony of the man-catcher. And there was even a larger dark cloak similar to the one Mordevan wore to conceal his weapons and armor. So it appeared as if he were wearing clothes.

When Drazeryn entered the room again he noticed that door had been deadbolted, which made him nervous. This was probably again for security, he hoped. The four seated at the table and one empty chair for Drazeryn with his choice of beverage and some cooked eggs and sausages on a plate for him. So he sat down and dug in famished after his exhausting experiences in the last couple days.

Whoa slow down Drazeryn. I would like you to meet the other three lieutenants of the Pavakan network the man implored.

Niles, the man with the eyepatch over his right eye, introduced himself then before he could introduce Drazeryn to the young woman. She introduced herself as Dellan. She giggled lightly and beamed another smile at Drazeryn their eyes were locked at this point.

She is my niece Niles stated harshly.

They unlocked their eyes and looked around the room knowing that they would not be able to keep far apart from one another. They felt warm feelings for each other. Drazeryn forgot for a few seconds that he was in a room with lieutenants from a notorious rogue’s guild. He dreamed he was in meadows with golden green grass with just her and him.

The dream dissipated when Niles woke Drazeryn from his reverie and bade Drazeryn to sit. Niles knew that Drazeryn was not a noble. And it would be a disgrace if Dellan took him in seriously as a consort. Drazeryn knew that if he and Dellan were too see each other they would have to do so in secret. He knew she was interested because she would give him an occasional smile and they were staring at each other once again.

And this is Dahem’nal Sataran and you’ve already met Mordevan Niles stated plainly, trying to keep the group on course with the business at hand. Drazeryn and Dellan started to stare into each others eyes and Nile stared in their direction. The two both snapped back to attention and waited for him to continue.

We form the basis of the network. Niles explained. These are my lieutenants. Dellan, the most newly appointed of the network, is in control of the thievery operations, Demnal deals in spying and information and Mordevan deals with enforcing and assassinations.

The brute you killed last night ran this place into the ground and scared off potential business. That is not the way our network likes to see things done in our half of the city. Niles smiled as he said this.

We have serious problems that we have to get under control! Demnal declared rather angrily. There are Kadamari taking over small areas in our territory. They are taking our businesses. He seemed really high strung and was pouring sweat.

All in good time let our new friend eat and we still have to go over the rules with him. Niles requested.

While Drazeryn was eating Niles explained things never to do within the network. It was very complex but had a unique simplicity all its own. Assassinations were even somewhat accepted by the noble and merchant families as long as no one ever found out the real truth of the crime. Which was no one could find out who was behind it. It had to be clean and only the highest ranking assassins of the guild would be offered these jobs in locales in the somewhat far away north half of Gahondar. Other assassinations like the one Drazeryn performed were left to the less capable assassins. However, once in a while there was a fresh assassin that can do the exceptional jobs right off the bat.

Niles went on to say that Demnal’s spy branch and Dellan’s thieving branch worked different than the assassin part. And he said that he wanted me to spend time learning all the aspects of the Pavakan network so Drazeryn would have to spend time with Demnal, Dellan and Mordevan. Drazeryn knew he could get along Mordevan and especially Dellan, who was still kinda staring at him. But it seemed like Dahem’nal was giving him a menacing look. Drazeryn could somehow sense something invading his thoughts telling him that he should be rid of this Demnal, relatively soon.

Drazeryn felt good after eating well. The conversation started out that apparently some thieving band that called themselves the Kadamari had taken over a small glass blowing workshop that a rich merchant had previously owned.

It’s time to take it for ourselves!! Demnal yelled. That could be a very valuable outpost for us and I hear the gnome that works there is not picky about who he works for. He is rumoured to be the best inventor in Gahondar.

Very nice intelligence gathering Niles complemented. What is the name of the gnome?

Scrinklorfink Duflummie Demnal said with a grin of pride.

Maybe it is time to strike against the Kadamari. Niles said. Who’s got the time to sneak in there and get me some numbers and positions of their men?

Both Dellan and Drazeryn looked up from staring at each other to say We will simultaneously.

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Far away in the Illdrakenar Forest to the west of Gahondar, Ewardar and his companions were looking into a large lake. The lake seemed somewhat devoid of life as there was no algae clinging to the rocks and no visible fish. It seemed surreal, there was a large lush forest all around with tons of insects, biting and stinging, this was a dead lake. There was no way this was naturally possible Ewardar thought to himself. A lake was a natural entity existing with all of its parts in harmony with one another in an interconnecting web of life.

There is a cave at the bottom Pike of Gloryblood plainly stated.

The statement broke Ewardar’s concentration. Then he thought the lake is not natural. Something must live in it.

Something must live down there Ewardar muttered.

I could probably swim it and back Pike mentioned.

Ewardar didn’t doubt that. Pike was a very large warrior priest of Belatu-Cadros known as a Crusader. He hailed from an abbey near the Obantal mountains known as Gloryblood. They were ferocious in battle. With the healing powers granted to him by his God Pike was nearly unstoppable. Ewardar’s two other companions Barendar Dravellan and Chrystellar Altonal were also very accomplished adventurers. Barendar was a Knight of the Pure Heart and Chrystellar a elven scout from the Gahondaran military. Both were from noble families of the great city of Gahondar. Ewardar himself was a minor wizard even though he was very strong and could fight a good battle with his staff if need be. Also he was the son of the high councillor Forzaryn Authamar. The nobles of the city always conspired against Ewardar’s family so most of the companions really set him on edge, except Pike. They claimed Ewardar’s father was evil and had conspiracies with evil spirits and devil’s from the abyss so they thought Forzaryn was not fit to rule. Also the nobles claimed that their family ancestry had demon blood in it. Ewardar knew better. His father was a very capable man and the city was home to many different races from all walks of life. So how do you outlaw things when everyone wants them in the city? Ewardar thought, the city was home to orc’s and other humanoids which were somewhat under control mostly as slaves. The majority of the city was of the goodly races. So it wasn’t like the city had demon’s or devil’s roaming the streets, besides he knew his father was a good man. The reason they were there in the first place was to help the elven peoples of Illdrakenar rid their hot sweaty forest of lycanthropes and Suadarh. There were even rumors of many dragons in the area intent on ravaging the Alfarh elves, so the elves were in a heap of trouble, and now the heroes found this mystery lake.

Who’s coming? Pike exclaimed.

I’ll come Barendar said. As he knew Pike probably wouldn’t let them leave until they investigated the strange lake.

Get ready Pike barked as he took off his bloody and rusty chain mail. He tossed it on the grass.

Ewardar called a few electricity incantations to memory just in case sly Chrystellar Altonal decided to put a dagger in his back. Chrystellar the cute sly little elf wielded two shortsword’s. Ewardar wasn’t too worried he knew he could get a spell off that would fry her head before she could get two strokes with her deadly blades. As a backup plan he had a teleport spell stored inside his magical ring his father had given him.

After Pike and Barendar stripped themselves of most of their belongings, they took deep breaths and dove into the warm water, Ewardar watched them go down.

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Pike could see the bottom of the lake clearly. In fact it really didn’t seem like much of a lake. For when he got to the bottom he realized the whole bottom of the lake was actually a U shaped cave. So he and Barendar swam down around and up. Now Pike was starting to run out of breath. Hopefully there was an end to this, he thought as his lungs were quickly running out of air. Pike knew there had to be if he kept going up unless some strange magic had reversed gravity. Up and up as the air was just running out of their lungs they surfaced the water. Pike pulled out a light stone after many huge breaths full of air. He looked around and saw they were in a very large cavernous room. The light stone could only see so far in to the gloomy blackness. So the two soaked adventurers found a ledge and scrambled onto it. Pike held his light stone in one hand and called to memory a spell which transformed his sword into a deadly frost sword which dealt much more damage than his sword. After casting the spell the sword was shimmering blue with ice shards falling lightly from it. He had been surprised when he found the spell and even more surprised Belatu-Cadros had granted it to him. Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was fate.

As they walked across the large cavern, Pike cast a spell that conjured a ball of light to appear above his head. A deep rumbling voice boomed Who disturbs the lair of Thraxtilar the Terrible. The closer they got they both realized the mortal danger they were both in. The closer they got the more light revealed until the dark end of the chamber was fully lit.

There was Thraxtilar upon a huge pile of coins gems and items. He was a enormous green dragon with glistening glossy green scales. His body sat a top the treasure hoard with his tail wrapping around the hoard, the end of the tail writhing, Although, he was probably the size of a small ship.

The two adventurers were in awe of the dragon majestic and awesome power. Never before had either of them seen such wicked splendor.

You Die!!!!! Thraxtilar roared and breathed in to use his lethal gaseous breath weapon. Both Pike and Barendar were in full flight back to the water hole in the floor. They dove in feeling the hot gas peeling away the bottoms of their leather boots as the gas roared in over top of them. They swam as fast as they could both knowing from stories that dragons could swim and that the dragon could fit through the hole. They both glanced back for a second and Thraxtilar was right there. His giant head snapped forward and Barendar barely got his sword in front of him in time. The dragon clamped hard and teeth the length of two handed swords clamped across his torso tearing flesh and bone. Barendar knew he was doomed so he started flailing his sword at the dragon’s head hitting hard scales not finding any soft spots. They rounded the bend Pike’s feet inches from flailing Barendar’s arms, their lungs were bleeding for air. The way up was a little better. Barendar gave Pike a little bit of time, a tiny bit.

The dragon with Barendar in his mouth was also trying to get Pike in his mouth at the same time. Pike then thought. Why run? He turned frost sword in hand. The dragon swam towards him and he swam to the side of the mouth with the flailing human in it and grabbed on