choose your own adventure, episode 8a
KNIGHT SWORD, EPISODE 8A
“Wait,” you say, still staring at Dietrich. “Let’s go to the Ghost Boar Inn.”
Caius frowns, that terrible bleakness still in his face. “That den of thieves? Why?”
“I used to hear Father talk about how smugglers moved gems and ingots in and out of the town, to avoid the Count’s tariffs,” you say. “He said it happened at the Ghost Boar Inn. Maybe we can find someone to get us out of the town.”
Caius blinks. “You want us to entrust the holy sword to thieves and brigands?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
Caius says nothing, and you come to realization. He must have been a soldier – he’s not used to thinking for himself. He’s used to taking orders, not giving them.
“You don’t understand,” he says. “We can’t let the Night Ravens take the sword. The sword is more important than anything else. Even our lives.”
“Why?” you say.
“It’s a soulblade,” he says, staring at the sheathed blade in your hands. “A Paladin’s sword. The Blood Queen killed all the Paladins and locked their swords away. This is the last one, the only one that she hasn’t found. Jerome and I have hidden it here for years.” He shakes his head. “How did she find us? We were so careful. We…”
“Caius,” you say. Some distant part of your mind realizes that you’re the one who should be going to pieces, not him. “We can’t stay here.”
He nods. “The Ghost Boar Inn, then. This way.”
With one last glance back at Dietrich, you follow Caius through your father’s ruined house.
The streets of Moridun are narrow, with tall stone houses blocking out the starlight. You see torchlight flashing in the alleys, hear the tramp of boots against the cobblestones, the shout of orcish voices. Ulmoch’s orcish soldiers are moving from house to house, searching for the sword. And Moridun is only home to six thousand people or so.
If you don’t get out of the town, they will find you, sooner or later.
Caius stops before a narrow wooden door. It has no sign, but the enormous skull of a boar hangs from chains over the doorframe. He takes a deep breath and pushes open the door, spilling dim light into the alley, and steps inside.
You follow him.
The interior of the Ghost Boar Inn is dimly lit and reeks of smoke, beer, and unwashed flesh. Perhaps a dozen rough-looking men sit on benches and at tables, drinking and talking. Two bouncers stand near the door, huge men with scarred faces and arms. One man sits in the corner, legs propped on a table, honing his sword with a rasping noise. A gaunt innkeeper in a dirty apron presides over the scene.
Every eye turns upon you and Caius.
“Aye?” says the innkeeper, beckoning you close. “Name’s Rodrik, and this is my inn. What brings a respectable fellow and his daughter into the Ghost Boar at this time of night?”
You do not like the glint in his bloodshot eyes.
Most of the men at the tables seem to have forgotten about you, but the man in the corner is staring at you. He’s wrapped in a cloak, so you can’t see his face, but the whetstone has stopped moving over his sword.
“I need a way out of Moridun,” says Caius. “Tonight.”
Rodrik grins.
“Indeed?” said Rodrik. “Why, not an hour past, this orc with no nose stopped by my inn. Said a man and a girl would be looking to get out of the city, and that they’d have a sword with them.” His eyes shifted to the soulblade in your hands. “The orc said anyone who aided them would earn the High Queen’s wrath.” He beckons, and the bouncers approach from the doorway. “And that anyone who captured them and the sword would receive a bounty of ten thousand golden coins.”
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.