Chapter 1

Our heroes try to rescue someone kidnapped by a gang of bandits.

My father said love is when you are willing to spend the rest of your life in a dank, dark cave if that's where she can be found. We'll see, but I could certainly do without the cave.

Holding a burning torch in my left hand, I walked through the cave's entrance. I swept my eyes across the room, looking for any metal plates on the floors, thin ropes hovering over the ground, or any sign that these bandits put any thought into defending this place.

Then I made the mistake of breathing. A flood must have hit this cave a few weeks before we showed up, and only left mere moments ago. Moisture covered the wall. On the bright side, the water droplets everywhere helped reflect the light of my torch.

Lana stepped forward and stood beside me. I looked into the flame to focus on her reflection. She stood with the authority of an oak tree and with the grace of a lilac. While I may have said otherwise to my captain, I don't know the first thing about Eldale geography. I am, however, well versed in the feeling I get when Lana looks down at me with those blue eyes and cracks that sly half-smile. My torch isn't the only thing burning, but we have a job to do.

"He should be here somewhere," I said.

"Yes," said Lana.

"You're not one for conversation," I said.

"I prefer to let my blade speak for me," she said. She threw her right arm to her left side, wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her blade, and swung it outward, as if there were someone in front of her. The concentrated light of my torch reflected from the polished steel of her sword - and for a thankfully brief moment, directly into my eyes.

"I guess I'm glad we don't talk much," I said. Maybe she believed me. For now, I had bigger problems than drawing banter from a priceless statue. I took two steps forward and held out my hand. Arm muscles tightened as I shook my hand. My fingers stiffened while my elbow tried to escape. I leaned back and closed my eyes. A loud crackle pulsed from in front of me. The sound bounced off the walls and filled whatever the cave equivalent of a great hall is. I felt a small explosion in my hand and opened my eyes. My sword - an iron-like blade with a bright green hue - was in my hand.

"They heard that," said Lana.

"And?" I said. "If they're smart, they already know they're coming. If they're dumb, then I could summon a thunderstorm in front of me and they wouldn't notice." She glanced at me, and then upwards. After a brief pause, she nodded. There's that half-smile. Every ounce of strength I had went into keeping a neutral face.

"Into position," said Lana. Back to business. "I don't sense our target nearby." In front of us stood a rectangle of thin planks of wood arranged horizontally. I couldn't find any hinges or knobs, and the hastily laid mortar blocked my view of the other side. Whoever designed this didn't exactly have ease-of-use in mind. Lana walked to the side of the door and pressed her back against the wall. She gripped the hilt with two hands and stretched her arms forward, with her elbows slightly bent. Shifting her weight to her left side, she lifted her left heel off the ground. Then she looked at me.

I walked toward her. She didn't wear much in the way of armor, but that was fine by me. Thick plate armor only slowed her down, and she valued agility. Whatever attacks made it into the leather behind her parries were my responsibility. I laid my hand on her shoulder. The warmth of her body went straight up my arm. It took a lot for me not to look into her eyes and lean in closer. In an instant, a jolt of energy flew down my arm and surrounded Lana with a soft blue aura. Then I stepped away to get back into position. I always hated that part.

Lana leaned toward the door and waited. Satisfied, she held up three fingers before centering herself. I flipped the torch upside down and smashed the flame into the ground. Holding my sword behind me, I glared at the door. I raised my left hand and held it open - palm facing the door. With my arm fully extended, I sent a spark of energy down my shoulder and through my fully outstretched arm. As more energy surged through my body, I pulled my arm back. The cold, musty air of the cave gave way to an invisible flame growing in front of my hand. I sent it crashing through those planks.

"What the - "

"Intruder!"

"Where?!"

Looks like Lana was right. They held their hands up to block the flash of light that exposed them. Wasting no time, Lana pushed her right foot off the ground and launched her right side around to face the bandits. Still holding her sword in front of her, she charged in. Two of them stood side-by-side, and she went for the double-kill without hesitation.

"I got you covered," I said under my breath. I knew my job: protect Lana by taking out the other guy she flew past. After a few quick steps, I tossed the torch behind me and hopped forward to align my steps together. Raising my hands, I snatched every chill I could find and threw them down at my feet. As a sprung through the room, I held my left arm in front of my face to block the wind, making sure to keep a small gap between my index and middle fingers so I could see my target. He shook off the daze, giving himself just enough time to see me grab his neck and use him as a landing pillow. How fortunate for him that he was more useful to me alive - for now.

Lana ran toward her opponents. The taller of the two turned around to see Lana charging at him with a sword. He raised his axe and swung across with all his might. Lana threw her entire body back and slid underneath the attack. The weight of the tall man's axe sent him lunging forward. Digging the heels of her boots into the ground, Lana grinded to a stop. She spun around and thrust her sword into the tall man's back, straightening his posture, if only for a moment.

The shorter man must have been staring at the alleged door when we "opened" it. He brushed his eyes with absolutely no sense of urgency. His ears must still be ringing. Lana plotted her next move.

"Give him a second," I shouted. Lana nodded, turned her body toward the small man, and waited. "Now's fine."

"Agreed," said Lana. As the shorter man regained his sight, he dropped his arms and turned to Lana. She spun toward him as she yanked her sword free, sending blood splashing on his face. The shorter man had a dagger in his hand. He pressed his free hand on his cheek and observed his now-red fingers. Then he looked to the other end of the room and saw me with my left arm wrapped around my opponent's neck and my sword pointed straight ahead.

"Nope," said the smaller man as he threw his dagger to the ground and lazily held his hands up. "I'm not dying for Richter." He reached into his pocket, grabbed a small brown bag, and tossed it at my feet. I heard soft metallic jingling sounds as it crashed to the ground. "It's all yours." I looked at Lana. She shook her head, grabbed the bottom of the taller man's cloak, and used it to clean her sword. When she was finished, she looked at me. I pointed my sword at the dagger on the floor.

"How about you?" I said to my hostage. "Do you get paid enough to find out how good her aim is?"

"I'm not telling this wench anything," he said with a raspy voice. It's hard to sound tough when you're trying not to spit out your own blood.

"Then he's useless to us," said Lana. The bandit's eyes widened.

"She makes a good point," I said, "don't you think?"

"He's not here, you fool," he said, struggling to stand up straight. I almost felt bad for him. I could only hold my arm up so high. Then again, I was more than happy to make that his problem. "Do you really think we had no idea you were coming?"

"Actually, I did," I said. "It seems I was wrong." He laughed. "But I suppose that means she was right." He didn't like that part as much. Lana took this moment of silence to pick up the dagger. She flipped it and pinched the tip of the blade between her thumb and index finger.

"I don't know where Richter took him," he said as he grabbed my arm.

"Then why are you here?" I said.

"He told us - "

"Louder," said Lana over the shuffling of his feet as he struggled to remain semi-standing.

"He told us," he said, "to wait here and take out the dogs of the city watch."

"She's no dog," I said. "She's quite beautiful, you know." I wish I could have seen Lana's reaction, but that would have made it too obvious. Then again, ignorance might be bliss. Having no more use for him anymore, I released my grip. He quickly stood up, pulled the collar of his tunic down, and breathed an hour's worth of breaths at once.

"A wench will always be a wench!" He reached his hand into his tunic. I raced to plunge my sword into his back. As his neck snapped back, I realized Lana won the race. He crashed to the ground.

"Right between the eyes," I said to Lana. "Nicely done."

"He annoyed me," said Lana.

"What about the other guy?" I said while grabbing the brown bag. "What if he goes to Richter?"

"And tell him what?" said Lana. "Richter already knows we were coming."

"Where's the nearest tavern?" I said.

"Martel's Coast," said Lana. "The Floating Flounder."

"These might be useful," I said as I held the bag over my hand and emptied its contents.

"I've no intention of being your drunkard," she said, crossing her arms. That soft warmth I felt earlier ignited. My stomach felt as cold and dead as this cave. Think, Roland, you idiot. There has to be a way to save this. I looked around the cave. Nothing but us and those two dead guys. Then I turned to the open doorway. There used to be three, but before that, there were none.

"You see these two idiots on the ground?" I said.

"Yes," said Lana. Her arms remained motionless, with her hands wrapped around her biceps.

"What kind of idiots try to fight fully armed and battle-trained watch guards?"

"I don't know," she said. "Drunk idiots." I saw her hands slide down and rest on her forearms. "Why?"

"Richter needs more drunk idiots," I said. "And where do you go when you need drunk idiots?"

"The tavern," said Lana. She lowered her arms and looked up again. Then she nodded and gave me another half-smile. "Lead the way, Roland." Thank the Gods.