No Good Deed (31 page)

“Not good enough,” Obidaan replied, and took him to the front of the balcony. “Here is a man, I am offering everything to. He sits in your upper echelon, the elite and yet he still feels he is above you. Now, tell these people you won’t steal from them.” Obidaan demanded.

In his most sincere voice, “In the past, I have had my men rough you up a bit in the name of the king, but times have changed. I must change. Rest assured that from this point on, I shall uphold the laws as laid down by you.” Ping.

“Liar!” Obidaan screamed. He produced Mystic and ran him through with the sword. A loud gasp ran through the crowd, “This is the fate that awaits anyone who does not obey me.” He removed the sword and Bilton fell dead on the balcony. He looked back at the crowd. “I am not trying to rip you off. I am trying to make sure you have a safe and secure place to raise your family, to fulfill your dreams, to do what you want to do without us massively intruding on your rights and property and personal beliefs. Do you understand that? Don’t you see what I’m trying to do? If you’re a good person, surely you can see this can’t you?” He looked over the crowd. Many didn’t say anything, a few nodded. One person nodded but Obidaan knew he was lying, he didn’t want the peace and prosperity, he thrived on the chaos and misery, he couldn’t have this. Obidaan spotted the liar and summoning Mystic once more and hurled her at the man. He seemed to make a dodge so he looked to be in two places at once. Mystic was not fooled and she struck true, right through his heart. He summoned Mystic back to his hand then she vanished. “Do you understand now?” Obidaan asked again. Everyone nodded no one pinged.

“By the gods, that was the leader of the thieves’ guild,” a voice cried out.

“I wouldn’t look for a replacement anytime soon,” Obidaan retorted. “Now, as I was saying, I’m just trying to make your lives easier. You have a question feel free to ask me, or any member of the Vanguard.” He pointed to his group. This put the advisors aback. “I’m sure my advisors thought I was going to mention them, but as we’ve seen they still have ties to the past, which they will be getting over soon; one way or the other.” He looked at the dead advisor still bleeding on the balcony. “You can consider these people my… marshals. If you have a problem with anyone, go to them, they will help you.”

“I wonder if we get badges,” Alister said under his breath. Terry wasted no time reaching over and hitting him on the back of the head.

“The reason I am doing this is because I want you to know that the Vanguard are not part of this town so can’t be influenced by its politics. They are free from corruption. They will help out of the goodness of their heart. You do not need to bribe them or offer them favors to help you. The Vanguard is a shining beacon of good that you can go to without fear.”

The rest of the group perked up when they heard that. It was nice to know they were going to play such a significant role in his plans, they just wish he had told them first.

“They will act independently and will answer only to me. These four have the power to solve
any
problem and if necessary — with extreme prejudice. And so you will know them, allow me to introduce them to you.” He waved for his wife first. “My wife, and Priest of the Seers, Relina;” people began to applaud, “Bard and Wizard Alister;” They were growing in intensity, “Monk, Don; and Ranger, Terry.” By this time the crowd was applauding loudly and began to chant “Vanguard.” Obidaan gave the crowd a newfound freedom and they wanted to take advantage of it. Alister, as usual was eating it up, while the others took it in stride. “Now go forth and have fun!” He waved goodbye and left the balcony. The remaining advisors followed him in followed by the rest of the Vanguard, except Alister. He stood on the balcony for a while, blowing kisses to the ladies and waving to the crowd. He was going to begin to sing except Don came back for him and yanked him into the castle.

“Excuse me, sire.” The grand vizier said, “may we have a word with you?”

“Of course.” Obidaan said, “Go into the chamber, I’ll be with you momentarily, I must address my marshals first.

She was about to protest but quickly remembered what he did the last time someone protested, “Yes, your majesty.”

“I’m sorry guys I don’t know where that marshal thing came from. I want these people to feel safe and y’all are the only people I trust. I hope you don’t mind.” He looked at his group. They smiled back.

“My dear,” Relina said softly, “I am glad you said what you did. We were afraid they were going from one bad dictatorship to another. At least now they know there are people to help them. We will gladly be your marshals.” Then her voice got a bit more stern, “This way we can also keep an eye on you.”

“Yes, yes you can.” Obidaan left the hall and headed for the royal chamber.

“I don’t know about you guys” Alister said, “but I’m going into town to meet our subjects, party too much, and wake up someplace else.”

“Sounds like a great idea,” Terry said, “You’ll need company. We’ll all go.”

Obidaan entered his chamber, walked to the throne and sat. The advisors were on the podium, and seemed a bit nervous, angry, and frustrated. “What can I do for you?” Obidaan said cheerfully ignoring their mood.

“We need to discuss our place in your new regime,” the vizier said.

“We’ve already discussed that,” Obidaan got up, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do.”

“Please, sire,” the Vizier began, “that was before the mention of your marshals. We were curious as to how we fit relative to them.”

“I believe I made that perfectly clear. If you screw up, they have permission to kill you.”

“Yes,” she was nervously trying to get to her point, “yes but it seems they’re running things now.”

“No,” Obidaan turned to her, “they’re correcting things. If you sycophants think you can keep on gouging the people, if you think extortion and bribery are going to continue to be the norm, you are sadly mistaken, and you have two choices. Get with the program or die. As I said, you’ll keep your status, you’ll be paid well, and you will get to run the country. If you don’t want that, then be prepared to die.”

“Couldn’t we just flee the country?” she asked.

“Are you crazy? Do you really believe I’d let a bunch of power hungry, lying, cheating, stealing sycophants loose in world? Again, your only choices are follow me or die. That’s it.” Obidaan left the room.

The rest of the Vanguard had a great time that night as people celebrated their freedom. Alister, as usual went overboard. However, even Don and Terry were able to indulge and found people who were very happy to see them and willing to show it.

Over the next few months, Obidaan and the Vanguard kept things in order. Soon the advisors stopped complaining and did things Obidaan’s way and got richer than they had before. The land began to prosper because people stopped worrying about having to pay exorbitant taxes or getting beat and thrown in jail for no reason. The Vanguard did have to bust a few heads in order to get the message, but with their special weapons, no one in the city was a match for them. The biggest moment came when a few of the guards tried to shake down an inn a few months into the peace. They were grumbling that even though they were better paid they didn’t command the fear they once had and they wanted that back. About ten of them in armor went to a tavern, the same one Obidaan first entered when he came to town. It was now called the Freedom Tavern.

The guards came with a few of them positioned themselves inconspicuously by the exits. Others grabbed a table near the middle of the room and sat down. The leader moved to the bar where the owner was serving up drinks. “Pretty nice now.” He said.

“Yes, yes indeed,” the owner replied, “with all the extra revenue, I’ve been able to fix this place up rather nicely. It’s turned into quite a hot spot. As a matter of fact, I’ll give you and your men their first drink free,” he said with a smile, he was totally oblivious to the guard’s true intentions.

“How about instead,” the guard said, “you share some of that wealth with us.”

“What? Are you daft? You of all people should know that there’s been a crack down on extortion. I suggest you get out of here before something bad happens.”

“That’s funny,” the guard began to laugh, “considering we’re the ones in power at the moment, no marshals are coming anytime soon, and the paladin sits up in his castle, oblivious to the little guy. Yeah, he had his moments, but they’re gone now. Now it’s time for business as usual. Now, about that cash.”

A couple of people were headed for the door but were blocked by the guards. They made sure no one could get out. Those coming in were forced to sit and watch.

“I’m waiting,” the guard said.

The bartender pulled out a silver coin. Rubbing it, he flipped it to the guard. “Why don’t you take that and we’ll call it even.”

The guard grabbed the bartender, “Look old man, I just was some cash so we don’t rough up you and this place. However, if you’re going to act like this, I’m not above a demonstration. Don’t you worry; I’ll keep the bruise to the chest and stomach area, so you can cover them up,” he laughed.

They were about to get started when the two guards at the front door screamed. People turned and it looked like both of them were attacked from behind. As they fell to the floor, there stood Alister, his rapier, with blood, in one hand and his other still holding three magical bolts between his fingers. “Someone is roughing up my favorite bar, and I don’t like it,” he began. “Why don’t you all do yourselves a favor and beat feet, before things get ugly.” Alister looked around and surveyed the situation.

“It’s just him,” the leader said, “Get him.” He now turned his attention to Alister, as did the other seven. They all came at him at once. He let off three bolts one at each of three guards. They hit, doing some damage, but not enough to drop any of them. He then attacked a fourth with his rapier, which went through his armor like it was cloth and gave him an electrical charge. This dropped him to his knees and forced him to catch his breath. Six left. Alister had more devastating spells he could use but he did not want to damage the bar, further he was trying to pull them outside, where he could unleash his fury. They didn’t go for it. They grabbed him and threw him inside, on a table dislodging the rapier from his hand. They began to hit him with their fists, pounding through his leather armor and his face. He summoned the rapier to his hand and shocked a guard, five left, but they were too many. He could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. The overwhelming numbers and inability to cast were costing him the fight. He wasn’t rugged like the others. He had to hold his own at a distance. This was too much. Just before he was about to lose consciousness, a long poll came in through the door striking two of the guards and moving them off of him. Then a spinning sword came through, hitting one more guard and two arrows each found their mark on the remaining two. It was Don and Terry. She caught her sword, and using a familiar maneuver, turned her bow into a bo stick and they charged the room. Between the two of them, they made short work of guards who were still awake.

Don began to tie up the guards and Terry went over to heal Alister, “What happened?” Don asked.

“They,” the owner began, “they tried to extort money from me. They thought it was safe since it’s been a few months since everything happened.”

Don closed his eyes and sighed hard, “Obidaan is not going to be pleased with this. Make peace with your gods, now,” he told the guards.

“Alister!” Terry said. “Alister wake up! I don’t believe it, my healing isn’t working on him. The Darkness is affecting me. Get Relina and Obidaan.” Don raced off to the castle.

While Alister lay in a state of shock, Terry began questioning the bartender again. “It was strange, we were walking around when Alister said meet him here, he used a solo teleport to get here, beating us by several minutes. Do you have a coin or something of his?”

“Yes,” the bartender began, “many people.” he stated. “Alister gave them to us several weeks ago saying if we run into trouble, rub it and it will alert him. He told me it was a ‘beer call’ coin.”

Terry laughed a bit. “For him, more like a ‘booty call’ coin. He gives those out to his many mistresses and they let him know when they’re available.” She looked down at Alister, “Glad to see you put those things to a more practical use.”

“Thanks,” he said, coughing up blood.

“Rest, Obidaan will be here soon.”

A few minutes later Obidaan and Relina arrived on the scene. “Where is he?” Obidaan asked. He looked around surveying the situation. Don had already filled him in. Relina spotted him and ran over to him.

“My poor brother,” she said, “You just relax and I’ll have you fixed up in a moment.” She cast a spell on him. Any other time he would be up and ready to go but not this time; it healed more of his damage but not enough. “I don’t get it? You should be turning cartwheels now. You look like I only did half the job.”

“It is the Darkness.” Obidaan said. “It’s beginning to affect divine spells now since we’ve been out of contact with gods. However, I have a feeling, since I’m a paladin.” He laid hands on Alister and healed him completely, “As I suspected. I’m probably the only one around here at full power.”

“Do you think it’s just you or do the other paladins have it as well?” Terry asked.

“Now that I think about it,” Obidaan said, “It would make sense that all of the paladins are still empowered. Arcane of course is still usable since it comes from the planet but it can’t heal. This does however; inform me that we must move quickly with our plan. But first, justice must be done.” He looked over at the guards now tied up. “Do any of you have anything to say before I hand out my sentence?”

They were all silent.

“Very well. I have increased your salaries, made sure you got better armor, food, uniforms, and bunks. Still you find it necessary to engage in thuggary. Were you just common thieves I might just throw you in the dungeon, where your ex—king remains. But you are guards, keepers of the peace, and defenders of the realm. For this grievous transgression, there is one sentence, death. You shall be executed in the town square right now.”