Forbidden Quest (7 page)

“Now this is my kind of place, earthy atmosphere and the smell of stale beer.”  Jack declared as he headed for the bar, shoulders back, puffed chest out in what he thought to be true barbarian style. He was ready for action. "Inn keep, you have my weapons." He announced in a low, snarling whisper.

"
Ya
ain't
gettin
' '
em
'till
ya
pay.
"
Came the reply from a large, fat man standing
behind a slightly higher version of the tables that surrounded him
.
The barkeep leaned over the
rotting gray wood of his makeshift bar and scowled openly at Jack. The man was
incredibly filthy, his stench surpassed the stable boys by tenfold
.
His clothes contained stains on top of stains, which covered his shirt so completely Jack was certain it
hadn't
begun its service to its husky owner as a darker shade of brown it now appeared.

Jack stopped a few paces short of the bar not wanting to bathe in the stench again. He took several gold coins from one of the bags and tossed them on the counter.  Then Jack scowled back at the Inn Keeper. "That should cover it."

"Not hardly.
"
The old man leaned forward.

Jack grinned wickedly realizing he had mistaken the dirt on the old man's head for hair. "I can see we are at an impasse. Perhaps once I examine the goods, I could be persuaded to greater generosity.”

"In the storage closet.
"
The man smiled back, revealing a mouthful of black rotted teeth as then motioned toward the far end of the bar.

Jack cringed, he tried to flash an evil smile before he turned and headed toward the

small
door located deeper into the heart of the tavern.

Nicole galloped to the southern end of the corral, pushing the speckled stallion to
his top speed. As they neared the highest stretch of fence, Nicole leaned forward and
whispered to the gentle steed. "Over the wall to freedom my friend.
"
She smiled
wickedly, "And
l'll
take you on a great adventure."

The stallion shivered in response. Surging forward, it cleared the fence
.
Straining with the effort yet landing silently on the grass in the meadow beyond. Nicole's shout of praise was cut short as the snorting challenge of a large, black stallion reached her ears
.
The speckled gray screamed in panic, backing away from the charging beast.  Nicole could feel the young stallion's fear as she fought to control him. Rearing in an attempt to free itself of its master the small stallion shot forward trying to race back toward the fence.

Unprepared for the sudden movement, Nicole fell onto the grass. Rolling with
the impact, she arose quickly, effortlessly as the pounding hooves approached quickly.  Nicole spun to face the advancing stallion. She thrust out her arms and called to the beast without thinking. "Hold! We mean no challenge!
"
A
small voice inside her screamed in panic
as
she moved forward trying to place herself between the stallion and its prey
.
The black beast slowed slightly,
then
changed directly at Nicole.

Stunned at the immense height and beauty of the animal, Nicole felt no fear. She could only stare in awe. The stallion came to a sudden halt inches before her.  It pawed and stomped on the ground as it watched for her response. Standing silently before it, Nicole stared into its dark eyes.  ''I know someone who is perfect for you." Nicole whispered reaching out to touch its nose. "You are so much more beautiful than he, more beautiful than any horse I have ever seen."

The stallion allowed her touch and calmed to her soothing voice.  "You are magnificent.” She continued as she moved closer to stroke the stallion's throat.  "This is not the life for you, shut away
from the rest of the world. You should be free to wander like the wind." Surprised at her own words, Nicole's smile deepened. "That shall be your name, Wind.”

"He
ain't
part of the deal and he
ain't
for sale," Came a small voice behind her
.
Nicole turned to find the
stable boy
opening a small gate in the fence.  She smiled as the speckled gray pushed quickly past him back into the first corral. "I know." She answered, as she met his gaze.

"How?
"
The boy's eyes narrowed as he closed the gate, defensively placing it between them.

"No one can own the wind." Nicole stated simply.  “Look around.”   The fence that enclosed the large meadow was much taller than the first but just as old and in disrepair. The tree line ran across the length of the corral opposite the stables. "He has allowed you to feed and care for him while he waited for us."

"That so?
"
The boy grinned shaking his head suspiciously.

"Do you really think this patch of
run
down fence could hold him?" Nicole answered, casually stroking the mane of the giant steed.

"It has so far." The boy answered defiantly.

"Has it?" Nicole released the stallion. Without a word the black beast turned and headed for the boy
.
Clutching the fence in alarm, he gasped as the horse crossed the short distance and leapt over his head with ease.

“That's not fair!" He shouted at Nicole. "You told '
em
to do that."

"He's been doing it all along." Nicole laughed, "That chubby mare over there is

going
to give you a beautiful black foal."

"You're a trouble maker!" The boy spat, ducking quickly as the stallion jumped

back over the tall fence to stand beside Nicole
.
"That stallion
ain't
let a soul near '
em
in

the last three months
!
You bewitched '
em
! All you woodlands are wild just like the trolls and nymphs! "

“Woodlands?
"
Nicole frowned.

"Oh, I know who you are. You're one of them all right
.
Woodland Elf, sister to the forest nymphs. 
Yer
one with the animals, they flock to ye.  Do
yer
ever
biddin
’. Not like the true elves with your magic spells and all. Well, don't try any of your magic on me
!
It
ain't
gonna
work, I
ain't
no one's slave!
"
He screamed and ran back to the stables stumbling the entire way in his terrified haste to escape.

Moving around the end of the bar, Jack opened the only thing in the tavern that appeared intact, the tall wooden door of the storage closet. The small room held several racks filled with an assortment of weapons and what appeared to be climbing equipment
.
The dim light from the main room landed on a long intricately carved double-sided broad sword
.
Just as Jack reach
ed for it, a shout came from behind.

Jack spun to see three elfin warriors running toward him. Each wore the same dark green body armor as he and Nicole, only adorned with weapons. Each raised their swords above their golden heads as they rushed toward him. Snatching the broad sword, Jack freed it from its sheath and met the blows of the attacking soldiers without hesitation, his spirits soaring. Now it was his turn inherent traits to surface.

Knowing Nicole would be in serious danger if he tried to escape to the stables,
Jack stood his ground. After all he was a barbarian, born to battle
.
Surprised at the
speed and strength of his movements, Jack took control of the attack. Dodging the blows of his adversaries, he lunged at the closest warrior, driving his sword deep into the young elf s belly. A look of shock and intense pain came over the warrior's golden face. Blood poured from his mouth as he sank to the floor. This took Jack by surprise, shook him to his core. The distraction nearly cost him an arm as the two remaining
elfs
screamed in rage and doubled their efforts.

Unnerved, Jack lost his taste for blood and the battle turned into a defensive struggle. As Jack attempted to force the angry warriors back toward the entrance, a high pitched scream pierced the air
.
Nicole came crashing through a small boarded up window near the back of the tavern. Her petite form rolled as she hit the floor. Jumping to her feet, she rushed to Jack's defense armed only with the
stable boys
small knife.
 
The two warriors separated. The one farthest from Jack met Nicole's incredible
onslaught. Distracted by the unbelievable entrance Nicole had just made, Jack stood
gawking as she joining the battle, completely unaware of the warrior's raised sword
before him.

"Jack!" Nicole screamed, dodging the second warrior's savage assault.

Without thinking, Jack swung his sword forward and sliced open the
elfs
midsection as he ducked and rolled past the elf’s advance. Anger and sorrow filled the
older elf’s face. He fell to the floor clutching at the pulsing flow of blood.

"That is so disgusting!" Jack muttered, then turned to find Nicole standing above the body of the third warrior, Nicole's chest heaved as her triumphant laughter filled the tavern. Before Jack could berate her for joining a battle in progress armed only with a knife, Hopper stormed through the tavern door waving a large tree limb over his head and shouting to his friends.

"It's over Hopper” Jack announced, soberly
.
Turning to the Inn Keeper, he growled, "You set us up!"

"No!" he gasped, scrambling away as Hopper moved toward him. "I swear it!  Take
yer
weapons and escape while there's still time!" The frightened old man threw the gold coins Jack had tossed on the counter back to them, ducked under the bar and bolted for the door.

“Oh man! You killed these guys?" Hopper asked, astonished at the sight of the

bloody
corpses lying all around them.

"It was us or them.
"
Jack
didn't
know why he was explaining.

"We kicked ass!" Nicole jumped over the slain soldier and searched

through
the closet for her weapon.

"Hopper, it was so realistic.
"
Jack managed tearing eyes away from the still form of the elf he'd just slaughtered
.
"I thought we were going to be searching for talismans, not slaughtering people.
"
Looking at his bloody sword, Jack felt more like an amateur serial killer than
someone
on vacation.

"Let's get our supplies and be on our way. You heard him there could be more coming.”  Nicole said, returning from the closet with a small silver short sword. "This will do nicely, much better than that toy knife the boy gave me."

Hopper reached in, hoisted the climbing gear onto his back, grabbed a bundle of
bed rolls and moved toward the door
.
"I'm heading back to check on Sarah, you get
the rest."

"Nice club." Nicole called after him, laughing as she turned to snatch a large
leather satchel from the closet. "The room behind the bar is probably the kitchen I’ll
check for food. You grab anything else that looks interesting."

"Niki," Jack called after her quietly as he moved back to the closet and grabbed a set of long knives and a couple of empty water skins. "How did you learn to fight like that?"

"Same way you did.”  She answered nonchalantly.
"Instinct."

"But you didn't know you could do that when you busted in."

"I'm the elf warrior, remember? And you needed help
.
What was I going to do?
 
Stand outside and oh and ah like a frightened little mouse?" She called from the kitchen.

"Didn't it bother you when you killed that elf?
"
Jack moved to the doorway of the
small
pantry and watched as Nicole stuffed skins of wine, chunks of bread, cheese
and
dried
meat into the satchel.

"Why should it?" Nicole winked as she stuffed the last of the food in the satchel

and he headed for the door
.
"It wasn't real, Jack."