The Wizard's Chalice, page 16
part #2 of Gags & Pepper: Protection Agents Series
“Will the letters have consequences?” Gags asked.
Honian shrugged. “It will make Terzian look bad to some, and to others, they will say good for Terzian for stopping me from stealing ancient treasure that should have been shared with all the tribes.”
“But that would never happen,” Gags said, guessing the tribes treasured their independence too much.
“Quite right,” Honian said with a chuckle.
The caravan started with their conveyance in the middle of the wagons, and it became clear that even with the padding, the ride was rougher than Gags expected. The windows soon opened, and Gags enjoyed looking at the dry land countryside.
They rolled through a green valley.
“Excellent springs. It is the real treasure of Naneera. The valley is very fertile and provides much of the food for the city.” Soxus said.
“Treasure,” Mexius said and grunted as he huddled in a corner, looking uncomfortable.
Honian gave Mexius a tolerant style. “The value of anything depends on how much the owner or those who wish to own place on it. What was the value of Pepper’s priceless dagger when we were starving in the middle of the dry lands?”
“Spoken like a true merchant,” Gags said.
Someone knocked on the door after they had left the green valley and were again trundling along the rough road to Basheer.
“Enter,” Honian said.
A Feybeerian wearing a Gagareen headdress poked his head in the door. “Riders are coming from the west.”
“Terzian?” Soxus asked.
“Perhaps. That is from the right direction,” the rider said.
“The package wouldn’t have arrived yet,” Soxus said.
“No.” Honian looked out the window, but it was facing the wrong direction. “Are there any extra horses? Gags and Soxus will fight better mounted.
“I can scare up two mounts. What about you, sir?”
Honian frowned. “Pepper and I will protect Mexius. Prepare for a fight. I wouldn’t mind an excuse to make Terzian pay.”
“I will return with the horses and order the wagons into a defensive circle,” the rider said.
Gags found his weapons, but his staff was tied to the roof. He left the box, climbed on the top, untied his weapon, and returned just as the rider returned with two horses. The wagon stopped with the others. Gags mounted along with Soxus.
“I’m ready to fight,” Gags said.
“Good,” Soxus said. He looked at the rider as the wagons surrounded Honian’s box wagon.
“Are you a good fighter?” the rider asked.
“I am,” Gags said. “I fight with weapons and with magic.”
“Then you will be in the front with Soxus. Our inexperienced guards will protect the wagons.”
Gags followed Soxus through the scrub brush until Soxus found an outcropping of rocks. “This will be our shield,” Soxus said. “When they charge, remember where the rocks are. They will be exposed for a few strides even if they jump over them.”
“I have a few tricks of my own,” Gags said, observing them traveling on the dusty ground.
“Get them ready, fast. The Horoosh have about reached us.”
Gags nodded. He counted the bolts in his pocket. There were only five, but the ground was filled with pebbles. He bent down and grabbed a handful.
Soxus snorted. “Do you think throwing rocks will stop them?”
“Just watch,” Gags said. “I haven’t been in many battles, but plenty of fights.”
Soxus drew his sword and gripped it nervously. “I can’t help but be anxious,” the man said.
Gags nodded. “If you can conquer your fear, it is all right to be afraid,” Gags said, repeating something Pophius had told him.
“Good advice, and I’ve unwittingly followed it through the years,” Soxus said, barking out a laugh.
“Get ready.”
The vanguard of the attackers had formed, riding straight toward Gags and Soxus. The other riders were spread to either side. The Horoosh had not noticed the rocks, and the first riders pulled up. That was what Gags waited for. He spelled rocks into the faces of the first five riders, making them fall off their horses. The rest of the tribe veered off into the other riders.
Terzian angrily waved a sword at Gags and Soxus. “Come and get me!” He yelled from the other side of the rocks, likely thinking he was protected from a direct attack by the pair.
Three tribesmen quickly took positions in front of their leader.
“Shall we end this?” Gags asked.
He pulled out one crossbow bolt and rode closer to the rocks.
“Do you think you can throw that spear all the way here?” one of Terzian’s men said.
Gags smiled. This was too easy, he said to himself until he spotted an arrow coming from the left side. He had focused on Terzian so much that he wasn’t aware of the other fighters. Gags tried to move the direction of the arrow down to the ground. The arrow dipped down, but the magic was too late, and the missile struck Gags in the thigh.
Pain filled his mind for a moment. But Gags had learned to conquer pain and fear, and he pushed the explosion of pain from his thigh and re-focused on Terzian. He let the crossbow bolt go and guided it around the guard in the center and into Terzian’s face.
The tribal leader fell from his horse. It seemed that the driving force of the tribe stopped the attack immediately.
“Retreat! Lord Terzian has been struck down!”
A few attackers didn’t hear the message and fought on for a moment until it was clear the battle was over. There were dead, dying, and injured on both sides, but Terzian’s attackers had already fled, taking the body of their leader and a few others with them.
Gags almost fell off his horse as he dismounted and sat on the dirt. He had planned a quick attack and a dust volcano to drive the attackers away. He had waited too long, and it cost more lives. He hadn’t intended to kill Terzian, but he wouldn’t have been able to fight mounted for another moment.
He put his head back and let the pain wash over him before he attempted to push it back again. Two healers were quickly at his side.
“Get the arrow out and then see to the others,” Gags said.
The healers cut away the robe pinned to his skin and then his trousers.
“Drink,” Pepper said, coming into Gags’ view.
“Gladly,” Gags said. He drained most of the liquor, more potent than wine, and lay there feeling the warmth of the liquid infuse within him.
“Bite on this,” one of the healers said.
Gags did as he was told and bit harder when the healers removed the arrow. One broke off the feathered end, and the other pulled the arrow out from the other side with a pair of pliers. The pain had pushed well past the alcoholic haze Gags found himself in.
“Drink this,” Pepper said.
Gags expected more liquor, but whatever they gave him was much more bitter, and he soon lost consciousness.
Chapter Nineteen
~
T he jostling of the wagon brought Gags back. He lay on one side of the bench that ran around the inside. His thigh felt tight, and it only accentuated the pain. However, the healers had done their work and the pain was manageable.
“Did the Horoosh return?” Gags said as his mind began working again.
Honian nodded. “The new chief will have a big pot of gold to get started, even if he melts down the artifacts.”
“Is there a chance that will happen?” Pepper asked.
“Not if the chieftain is smart. I don’t know who it will be,” Honian said. “I imagine the tribe will come back to me wanting to sell what I rightfully owned once upon a time. By the way, you were out for a full day.”
“You aren’t going to take advantage of the chief’s demise to attack them, Honian?” Pepper said.
Honian smiled and leaned forward, patting Pepper’s knee. “I am a businessman. I pay lots of money to the Sultan of Basheer in taxes. Why should I risk all the trust I’ve built during the years? That’s why I didn’t write a message to the sultan to raise a Gagareen army and obliterate the Horoosh. He attacked again, and thanks to the nobly wounded Vingus Gags, Terzian is the one who paid the ultimate price for treachery.”
“If you need further explanation, we can talk about the concept, Pepper.” Gags said. “I will have to exercise the same restraint for our protection agency.”
Honian’s eyes brightened. “Which is our next topic. Tell me about your plans.”
Mexius groaned. “I have to listen to that pitch again?”
“Yes, yes you do,” Honian said.
Gags smiled and struggled to a sitting position. He went over his brief history as a caravan guard and the demise of Sincinn Handygarb, the wagon master who lost his life on Gags’s last convoy.
“I think I can do better but doing it better means developing an organization. I have contacts in Artport, Japershing, the capital of Glorius, which will be my first route from Yearsend Vale to Artport. I’ll expand from there.”
“You have the capital to do that?”
“I own the fief, Honian. I’m developing mines on fief property to provide the funds.”
“Perhaps I’d like to participate on the Calessian side,” Honian said.
“There is no Calessian side, but when I’m ready, perhaps we can have some kind of relationship. Who arranged the wagon train we are currently in?”
“My company,” Honian said. “I’m doing much the same as you are. Perhaps my standards aren’t the same as yours, but there might be room for cooperation. Basheer Transportation on Caless and Gags & Pepper on Peria.”
Gags wasn’t sure he’d want to go into business with Honian, but he couldn’t miss the opportunity to make a Calessian contact.
“When I’m ready. It may be years,” Gags said.
“You’ve already met Patricia. She is the heir to my business. If you wait too long, you’ll be negotiating with her.”
Pepper groaned. “We’d lose, for sure.”
Gags laughed. “No need to worry about that now,” Gags said.
“How many riders did you lose?”
“Four,” Honian said. “Soxus is training the survivors to fight better as we travel to Basheer. He was very impressed with your magic. According to him, rarely do people live up to their boasting. You exceeded yours.”
Gags figured that was high praise coming from Soxus. He leaned back. “I think I’ll lay down again. But when I wake up, I’m going to be very hungry. That is a boast I will exceed.”
~
The wagon bounced, lifting Gags from the seat and waking him up when he landed.
“What was that?” Gags asked.
Mexius was the only person in the dim confines of the wagon.
“We are heading down from a pass in some hills. Honian said the ride might be a little rough and gave me the option of riding.”
“You declined,” Gags said.
“I’d rather bounce on cushions than on the back of a horse,” Mexius opened one of the drawers, revealing wrapped packages. Some had grease marks. The fruit appeared to be the same as what they loaded. “Honian said when you wake you can eat it all if you like.”
Gags grinned. “I am famished!” He worked his way to a sitting position, noting that the leg felt better. He rummaged through the food, sniffing packages and opening them before he ate everything within. Gags finished off with a few helpings of fruit.
“You really can stuff that gullet of yours,” Mexius said.
“That gullet might have saved your life. We were outnumbered by Terzian’s force, as I recall.”
Mexius shrugged.
Gags just smiled and took another packet and finished off lamb chunks in rice, using his fingers.” He sat back. “Ah! Now my body will heal better.”
“Magicians can self-heal?” Mexius asked.
“Everybody self-heals, Mexius, but a healthy magician can heal faster after another healer has done all the bone-setting and wound stitchery,” Gags said.
He sat back, content once he positioned his wounded leg properly. Honian poked his head in the wagon box.
“You two all right?” Honian asked.
“Right? I didn’t open up my leg and my stomach is full. That is about as right as I need,” Gags said.
“At least I didn’t hit my head on the ceiling.” Mexius rubbed his head, anyway.
“The road smooths out in an hour. It will be dark and we will stop and camp, but tomorrow night we will be in a town.”
“Another tribal city?” Gags asked.
“ No. A single clan started a small town with a stockade. You’ll see. Are you sure you weren’t damaged? That was the biggest rock this wagon can hit without disintegrating,” Honian said.
“I’m good,” Gags said. “But I will take a nap until dinner.”
“Dinner! You aren’t serious about eating dinner after eating half of what was in that drawer?” Mexius said.
Honian grinned and looked at Gags. “He is a true magician. Gags will be ready for another meal after his nap. Sleep tight, Gags,” Honian said.
~
“Up, up,” Pepper said, shaking Gags gently.
Gags shook his head and rose from his seat. He could only crouch, but he was able to get out of the wagon box unassisted and walked around with a limp. He found Pepper helping Soxus put up a tent.
“You aren’t sleeping in the wagon?” Gags asked Pepper.
“Neither are you. Mexius and Honian get the honors,” Pepper said. “This is for you and me.”
“Let me help,” Gags said.
“What can you do?” Soxus asked.
“I can use a little magic to make sure the tent is attached to the poles and the stakes,” Gags said.
“Then you can show me how to do the same for my tent,” Soxus said with a faint smile.
“Gladly.”
Gags was able to do more than the magic bit and in a few more minutes Gags found himself doing the same thing to the riders’ tents. Soxus picked up the spell after Gags told him it was a variation of locking a door.
“Dinner!” a shout went up.
Everyone lined up and were fed, courtesy of Basheer Trading and Transport. Honian circulated among everyone in the company and spoke to each of them. He didn’t make it to Gags, Pepper or Soxus, but Soxus said that Honian had already recognized their contribution to the thwarted attack.
“Why tonight and not last night?” Gags asked.
“We were too close to Horoosh territory. Now we are well away from that tribe and no one behind us can see any fires,” Soxus said.
“That makes sense,” Gags said.
“Of course, it makes sense. Tomorrow we will join a principal road between Rahdeem and Basheer. There will be roadside inns and a few towns. We won’t have to sleep on the ground again, which is fine by me.” Soxus grabbed a tin plate and let the cook slop food on it.
Gags did the same and didn’t feel the need to ask for seconds. The food was filling, but Gags had acquired a sense for Feybeer cuisine to know mediocre food when he ate it. This was a little less than mediocre.
The light was dwindling when he was done.
“You can come and sit by the riders’ campfire,” Soxus said.
Gags wasn’t quite as recovered as he thought and left the campfire early. He wouldn’t miss the dry lands, he concluded.
~
Basheer sounded like home when they rolled through a city gate. Gags was walking without a limp at that point and four nights of sleeping in a real bed had done wonders for his body. That morning, Gags had worked out with his iron staff. He wasn’t up to full speed, but it felt good to get his muscles unwound after weeks on horseback, hiking in the dry lands, and bouncing in the back of Honian’s box wagon.
The wagon stopped at the inn he stayed in before. Honian gave them the two horses and left them to their own devices until they were summoned. Mexius and Honian’s deal hadn’t been completed yet, and that was why Mexius would be staying elsewhere. Gags and Pepper shared a large room and finally had a non-moving place to stay for more than a night or two.
“I’m just as glad,” Pepper said. “I’ve never met a man that clouds up a room with rotten attitude like Mexius Dapple.”
“Don’t tell Portia that,” Gags said.
“You think she doesn’t already know? I think she does. I’m sure the Mexius she married isn’t the Mexius today.” Pepper said.
“I’m not qualified to judge the past,” Gags said. Pepper frowned and was about to send a retort when Gags held up his hand and declared, “I am qualified to judge the present and I agree. Mexius can dampen any positive mood just with the arrogant look on his face.”
Pepper grinned. “I knew you’d think that way.”
“Now, what are we going to do while we wait to find out when we return to Artport?”
Pepper pulled out his priceless dagger. “This is all that remains of the Rezzuran treasure I found.”
Gags scoffed. “All you did was dig a hole from one room to the other.”
Pepper shrugged. “I was the first to lay eyes on all that loot after thousands of years.”
His friend had a point and Gags put out his hand for the dagger. “Why don’t we paint this black or something to get the gold hidden?” Gags said, looking at it closely.
“You mean make it so it looks fake?” Pepper asked.
Gags nodded. “Maybe Patricia can help,” he said.
“You think she would?” Pepper looked hopeful.
“Patricia will know where we are. Let’s see if she shows up tomorrow.” Gags said.
They sat down for a late dinner after a slow descent down the stairs, and soon after Gags ordered two dinners, Patricia walked in.
“I heard you had a little excitement,” Patricia said to Pepper. “I thought I’d get my information directly from you.”
“You’ve already seen Honian?” Pepper asked.
She nodded and smiled. “As soon as I heard he had returned. I had expected a few wagons loaded with opportunity, but he disappointed me. You were the only successful treasure hunter.”
