Thieves of Blood and Gold

Chapter 1 - The Raid

The rain had cleared just in time for the attack.

Three men hid in the bushes at the edge of the forest, waiting for the carriage to roll past with the money they were after on it. One man held a crossbow, one held two short, thick rods with handles jutting out from the sides, and the third man held a warhammer.

“I thought you said they'd be here by now,” the man holding the tonfa whispered. His name was Ashley, and he gripped the rods so tightly that his knuckles began to pale. He was looking forward to the fight.

“Be patient,” Adrian, the man with the warhammer said quietly, picking at a piece of loose thread at the end of the handle. “They might have hit some bumps on the road.”

Francis snorted, adjusting the crossbow against his shoulder. “As long as they get here before the sun goes down, we'll be fine.”

The three men lapsed back into silence. Adrian peered out through the bushes, checking the road diligently. He kept his eyes open for any sign of them passing silently, and his ears open for the sounds of horses or carriage wheels.

It was a few silent minutes later before they heard the quick thudding of horse's feet hitting the ground.

Adrian smiled widely. “They're coming,” he said, readying himself with the hammer.

Francis and Ashley moved from their kneeling positions so they were crouching, still hidden behind the bushes on the side of the road. The rolling wheels and clomping steps grew louder.

Soon, they could see the dust rising off the ground.

Across the road, another man delivering the final blow to a tree, knocking it into the roadway.

The horses whinnied loudly and stumbled backward; the carriage driver snapped the reins, trying to calm them down.

“What's going on?” came a muffled male voice from the inside of the carriage.

The driver turned around and pulled back a small door on the carriage to tell them, “A tree fell in the path, Sir! We'll be up and going soon enough!”

When he turned back, there were eight men standing there, each of them holding some deadly weapon or another.

Adrian jumped onto the driver's seat. “Hello, good sir. Hope you don't mind, but we're taking over from here!”

With that, he shoved the driver off the carriage and lifted the seat – he knew exactly where nobles stashed their best things and it was in the place no one would think to look.

No one but him.

Adrian pulled out several small, solid golden statues and shoved them into his bag. It didn't matter if they broke, in fact, it might be better if they did. He could get more gold for a gold chipping if the buyer didn't realize that the whole statue wasn't damaged.

When he had emptied the seat, he peered through the small door the driver had used. “You must be Lord and Lady McGuffin of Ellond,” he said, chipper. The older couple were sitting there on the plush cushions, huddling into the corner furthest from the door Adrian peered through.

He feigned a face of remorse. “You might not want to sit there.”

As he said this, Ashley pulled open the back door, causing Lord McGuffin to fall out from his spot against the side of the carriage.

Adrian hopped down from the driver's seat and walked around to the back. Ashley held his tonfa threateningly, keeping one eye on Lord McGuffin and he other on the woman still frozen with fright in the carriage.

“Please don't hurt us,” Lord McGuffin begged, clambering to his knees. “We'll give you anything you want, just don't hurt my wife or me.”

Adrian turned to Francis, who stood nearby as a lookout. “Did that sound like an offer to you?” he called out.

Francis nodded. “Yes it did.”

Adrian crouched down beside the middle-aged man and held out a hand. “Give us all of your money.”

With shaking hands, the lord began to detach a small leather pouch from his waistband and hand it to the thief.

Adrian clucked his tongue. “I know you have more than that,” he told the man.

The shaking lord did not answer.

Adrian sighed, standing up. “Elias,” he said in a normal voice. “Tear Lady McGuffin's right arm off.”

A large man about the size of an oak tree stepped forward and was just about to climb into the carriage with the wide-eyed and now-screaming woman when Lord McGuffin yelled, “Stop!”

The leader of the thieves turned back to the man, raising a single eyebrow.

He let out a shaky breath. “Helena, get the trunk out from under the seat,” he told his wife.

“George...”

Adrian leaned into the carriage. “I'd do as he says, Helena,” he said simply. “Elias has no qualms about tearing limbs off. In fact, once he starts, I usually can't get him to stop.”

The threat jolted her into action. She fell clumsily out of her seat and onto the floor of the carriage, pulling out a trunk from under the cushioned seats. She pushed it toward Adrian.

“Please just take our gold and leave,” she pleaded in a quiet voice.

“We plan to,” he assured her, grabbing the small trunk and hauling it out of the carriage. He handed it to Elias, who took it with one hand. “Take this back with you. Kill anyone who tries to take it.”

Elias nodded once before turning and walking away – stomping away, really, with his large feet and thundering footsteps. He leaped over the tree they had knocked down before disappearing into the tree line.

The others began to disperse, Francis being the last. He walked past Adrian and took the bag of golden statues that was held out toward him. “Take this one to town,” the thief leader said. “Get as much as you can for it.”

Francis gave Adrian a satisfied smirk before leaving. 

Adrian pulled out a single gold coin from the leather pouch, flipped it in the air a few times, and then threw it towards Lord McGuffin. “Thank you for your coopporation,” he said sincerely. “I hope we meet again soon.”

As he walked away, Adrian saw a picture of his face on a tree; a picture with the words, “WANTED FOR TREASON” above it. Fifty thousand gold pieces for whomever could bring him to the palace – dead or alive.

He ripped it down, crumpled it up, and threw it into his bag.