Chapter 6

Aco and Robin

“Robin,” Aco said, “Calm down; I had to warm you up.”

Robin stopped struggling when she heard Aco speak. She felt Aco’s arms around her, holding her up. “What happened?” she asked.

“Ledger found me as soon as he left you. Those bastards were ready for you when you dealt with the two you wanted.” Aco opened the door, and the air stopped blowing. The cooler air of the washroom made both women shiver. “You made it through the ground troops, but the crossbows on the roof did a number on you. After you took several bolts, you called up a storm and froze them. As I was bringing you here, I heard the buildings in the Bard’s school collapse behind me.” Aco helped Robin lay on the bed and covered her with the fleece blanket customarily used in winter. “You somehow managed to begin healing on yourself, and all the bolts were pushed out. From the scream you let out, it was too much for you. That was when I arrived and got you out of there.”

Aco leaned down and kissed Robin’s forehead, “Now you need to sleep and rest. You are healing, but it will be a few days before you are back on your feet. I will see to some food for you. I will also let your boy-toy in to see you. He is upset with himself for not staying with you.”

Aco left them and shivered at the thought of the power her friend and lover now possessed. Even though she could speed jump, that was nothing compared to what Robin could do now. When she returned to her apartment, she found Aston was in and asked him to hold her for a while. He knew what was happening; he had been in her head to help should Claw get out of control.

Andrew and Brena

Andrew spent the next several weeks assisting Brena after discovering her healing talent. She would need a full day’s rest between each use. The last healing had been brutal. One of the streetwalkers, a whore, had been beaten and stabbed. The man responsible had been tracked down and was being held by the Thieves Guild for judgment. The woman in question was a high-level operative for both the guild and the crown. Brena had healed her, but she had not woken up yet from her recovery. Andrew had explained to the woman that he never did learn her name, the cost of being healed as she had been. That her hymen was restored didn’t upset her at all. It was the removal of the tattoos from her back that bothered her. “Ma’am, we did not know tattoos would be considered an injury.” That did not ease her upset in the least. She left, and he had not seen or heard from her since.

Andrew was relaxing in his favorite tavern after helping the Brotherhood deal with a rogue killer loose in the city. He had been assisting wherever he could with Brena being down so often. The Brotherhood had been teaching him some skills that could be useful to them. They also made it clear he was to avoid using the high road to get around the city guard. He was not limber enough to make the leaps from rooftop to rooftop. Now, he was relaxing and thinking about a rumor that had reached him a few days earlier.

Word was out that the brother of one of the knights who had died in the spy purge was hunting for him. Andrew figured he would explain what happened, and that would be that. He also knew that he was not fooling himself to believe that. When the doors opened, he glanced up from his thoughts, and several men entered. Andrew gulped; the lead man was huge. His skin was coal black, which gave him a clue as to which of the knights was being avenged. He asked the barmaid something, and she pointed towards Andrew.

‘Master, as much as I know you will not like this, do not draw me in the coming fight.’ The sword paused, then continued, ‘It might be wise to set me on the bench out of sight for now.’

Andrew wasn’t thrilled, but he did as the sword asked. He reached down and released the buckle that held the scabbard. As he completed that move, a giant hand grabbed Andrew by the throat before he could react. The man lifted Andrew from behind the table and slammed him to his feet on the floor before him.

“Boy, I don’t know how you killed my brother, but now it is payback time.” Andrew started to bring his hands up to defend himself, but he didn’t have a chance to finish the move. The fist that was more than twice the size of Andrews smashed into his face, right between the eyes. Andrew shuddered, then fell back to land, sitting upright. He was stunned and saw stars as his senses reeled about. The giant reached down and lifted him back to his feet by his throat, stunning him further when he slammed Andrew down on his feet. The power impact made his spine feel like it was being compressed. The effect did help bring him back to his senses a little bit. Andrew began punching the big man in the gut. He had delivered seven hard blows before he realized this wasn’t affecting the man. Andrew stopped and looked up, eyes starting to bulge as his throat was being crushed. What he saw made his stomach lurch. The man was smiling at him, and it wasn’t pretty. He was picked up again, and panic set in as the other big hand drew back to deliver what could very well be a killing blow. The man looked to the side and said, “Get the pretty boy’s sword. I want to keep it as a souvenir.” The man closest to the bench started to reach around to pick up Bloodrend when a serving girl stopped him and whispered something to him. He looked at her in disgust and shoved her aside. She landed on her butt with a loud “oof” sound as the wind was knocked out of her. He grabbed the pommel, and that sealed his fate. The big man was grinning when he heard the covered blade fall to the floor. Where his friend had been was now a sagging cloud of dust. The doors opened again as several city guards charged to stop the altercation. The breeze this created scattered the cloud across the room. The big man turned back to Andrew and snarled, “I am going to kill you, boy!” Andrew could tell the man was not kidding.

Andrew saw he had an opening and took it. He had been lifted just high enough, and his hands were free. As Aco had taught him, he lashed out as hard as possible in an open-palm strike. He repeated the strike five times. Andrew heard the intake of breath from the on-lookers as he crushed the big man’s balls further with each impact. When Andrew looked back at the face, he could see the eyes were blank, unseeing. The grip on his throat loosened enough that he was able to scramble away, gasping for air as the giant of a man fell forward like a toppling tree.

The floor did shake when he slammed down face-first onto the hardwood. Andrew looked around to find Bloodrend. Andrew spotted Bloodrend on the floor under the table he had been sitting at. Andrew grabbed the scabbard, pulling the weapon free. He scrambled shakily back to his feet. Feeling the matter was settled, Andrew sat back on the bench where he had been when the attackers had entered; His drink was undisturbed. He watched as the guards asked around and listened to the witnesses around him. One theme was familiar: the man blowing apart as dust. That did focus the Guard’s attention back on Andrew and the big man. The big man had regained enough of his wits to move, attempting to regain his feet. One of the guards could pull the big arms around and tie them behind his back. Another guard looked at Andrew and held his hand, asking for something.

Andrew quirked an eyebrow at the man, “You don’t want to ask that,” he told the Guard.

“Actually, I do, Andrew Markenen. There are a lot of stories about that weapon. It needs to be secured away so it can’t do any more harm,” the man said insistently.

“So, you know who I am then, good.” Andrew stood and resecured the sword and belt around his waist. “Then you also know I am the only living man that can safely handle Bloodrend.” Andrew looked the Guard in the eyes, daring him to try and take the sword from him. One of the others had been watching and listening and reached out to take the wrist of the Guard about to get dusted. “Fool, he gave you every chance to continue living. I should let you touch it.”

The city guard spun and saw the interloper was a castle royal guard. “Butt out, old man, the bounty for that weapon is more than I would make in ten years, so I intend to collect.” He reached for the hilt, but Andrew had pulled it out of reach.

He asked, “What bounty and how much?”

The Guard sneered at Andrew, “One hundred plat royals is the bounty; as to who issued it, well, that, boy, you will have to find out for yourself if you survive.” He lunged across the table to make a grab for Bloodrend from Andrew. The Guard was almost close enough to touch the hilt when a hard glass wine bottle was slammed down on his skull, shattering both the skull and the bottle. The Guard dropped and twitched a few times, then was still. Blood, brains, and red wine ran off the table to the floor to spread out in a smelly mess. Andrew looked down and heaved a sigh of relief, then said,” That was a waste of good wine, you know.” The bartender just shrugged and went to get a mop.

“I am getting sick and tired of this stupidity,” Andrew said. The tavern was silent; all eyes focused on the owner standing over them. He held the neck of the broken bottle in his left hand and a large meat cleaver in the right. He looked at Andrew, then the door. Andrew got the hint and left as fast as he could. He heard the door slam behind him with several men shouting for him to stop and be arrested. He ducked down a dark, trash-strewn alley to get some cover. He hadn’t taken two steps when a voice from the dark said, “Step to your right and go inside.”

The door was where it was supposed to be, so he entered. The entry was to a back room of a neighboring tavern. “Follow the raven if you want to escape this mess this night.” It was the voice from the alley again. Andrew quietly walked from room to room until he ran across a girl with a raven tattoo on her upper arm. She smiled up at him and left the room through another door. This building was a maze of halls and rooms. He took time to notice that all the women and some of the men were nude. ‘Great, a house,’ he thought. Bloodrend had been quiet up till now. ‘Better this than the city jail,’ Bloodren muttered. ‘True. Did you know about the bounty?’ Andrew wondered.

‘No, can’t say that I did. I am insulted, though. One hundred Plat Royals? I am worth many times that amount,’ the sword groused. Andrew followed the girl until she opened the door to the outside. Then she stood as high as she could and gave him a kiss, aiming for his cheek. Andrew turned his head and made the kiss on her lips, one that she would remember for a long time. Gasping for breath, she shoved him outside, closing the door before he had a chance to stop his staggering. Andrew worked at staying out of sight as he returned to the Broken Sword.

Andrew stayed away from the groups of people in the lobby and made his way to the lift. The girl running the lift this evening smiled and greeted him warmly. Andrew knew she had a bit of a crush on him, but he didn’t do anything to encourage the feelings. Back in his apartment, he was met by an older woman as she dragged two miserable young girls out behind her.

Andrew knew what that was about, so he didn’t say anything. He just gave the woman a slight nod and a faint smile. This only made her angrier at the girls as she dragged them out the door. Andrew closed it for her after she had her daughters in the hall so she could keep a firm grip on them. Andrew checked on Brena. She was asleep sitting up on the main couch. He covered Brena, then closed the door so she wouldn’t be disturbed. Andrew poured himself a large mug of red wine and sat on the balcony, thinking while he watched the city below. He knew he needed to leave the city.