Death's Sword Book 1: Finding and Seeking

Chapter 11, part 2: Day 15 continued

The gnome turned himself around. Unnoticed during the argument, some men had emerged from the small copse nearby. They were an unprepossessing bunch, wearing tattered rags and scraps of rusty armour. Their weapons looked clean and sharp, though. They were ronin, masterless warriors. Three were on dorvei, whilst the remaining four were on foot. Slowly, they began to approach, fanning out as they did so. Kleymin moved to prepare his sword. "Be still, boy. Wait until I say," hissed the gnome, from the corner of his mouth.

The biggest ronin, astride a shaggy grey dorvei, wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "Nice of you to drop in on us," he said, conversationally, "You'll eat with us tonight?" His men grinned and fidgetted with their weapons. Burrowwold swept his gaze obviously over the band of ronin. "Do we have any choice?" he asked, mildly. This seemed to amuse the big man, "No, not really. Not unless you want to end up dead. You'd better hand over your weapons, we don't want anyone getting hurt, do we?"

"Hur, hur, hur, that's a good one, Mak!" chortled one of the other ronin, a stupid smile on his face. A look of pain and exasperation crossed the leader's face. "Strange company you keep," remarked Burrowwold, pointedly.

"Sometimes, a fellow doesn't get much choice," sighed Mak, "Your weapons, honourable guests."

Kleymin sat stock still as Burrowwold dropped his kodachi and a small crossbow to the ground. Lotus Blossom threw her belt knife and a long dagger to the floor. "Come on, Klaydark, give the nice man your shiny knife," wheedled Burrowwold to the boy. "The girl's brother. He's a bit slow," he confided to the robber. Slowly, playing at being reluctant, Kleymin drew his belt knife and tossed it towards the ronin. "Good boy," encouraged the gnome, giving him a sly wink.

"Now," said the ronin leader, " down from the dorvei and walk. You're lucky; it's not far to our camp."

"Yeah, don't want the girl to tire herself out walking. Get plenty tired later," leered the robber who had spoken earlier. "You leave the girl alone until I tell you otherwise, Tetsu," warned Mak, scowling. Lotus Blossom had gone pale beneath her tan.

The group started towards the nearby woods. Three bowmen joined them from the copse. Burrowwold shot Kleymin a significant glance. That was why I didn't want a fight earlier, the glance said. The boy nodded slowly. Another lesson to learn. I saw the signs but did not make the connection, did not realise what they meant. He stored the experience away in his tidy, logical and very thorough manner. He would not be so unwary again.

"How did you know they wouldn't search me?" Kleymin asked Burrowwold, once they had been left in the cage. "I thought they might forget the same way I kept on forgetting to ask you about what you've got strapped to your back," said the gnome, rubbing the end of his long nose. Kleymin's mouth twitched into a small, momentary smile. Seemed like the sword was taking care of him as well as itself then. For a tiny instant, he felt a little happier – then he remembered his current predicament.

They were confined in one end of the cellars of a ruined manor, with a bronze lattice fence fixed in place to keep them in. There was a smaller hinged section through which they had been pushed earlier, which was now locked. The place was filthy, festooned with cobwebs and Kleymin could hear rats chittering in a far corner. Sacks and bundles had been tossed down the stairs, then pushed aside to make room for more. A treasure-trove, of a kind that proved how poor were the pickings for the band of ronin. A guard sat negligently on a broken crate at the far end of the room. He picked his nose in a bored and idle fashion.

Kleymin began to examine the guard and to calculate the distance between himself and the guard's neck. He was testing for wind direction with a small piece of straw held gently in his hand when Burrowald interrupted his thoughts, saying, "I don't know what it is you're carrying, boy, but it's powerful." There was a brief pause. "Now, let's see about getting out of here," continued the gnome, keeping his voice low.