Alcingeria Chapter Seventeen: Further Plans

Now that The Scorpions have arrived in Riverguard, Vulrock they discuss what they should do now.

Chapter Seventeen Further Plans: We made our way to where we saw the crowd thinning. As we walked away from the town square the crowds got thinner and thinner. We walked along on the sidewalk until there was almost no one around us. Robert waked into an alley way between two shops and stopped. We walked into the alley after him. On either side of us was a grey stone wall. There were no windows on the walls in the alley. It was beginning to get dark. The sky above was turning a pale blue. It would soon be nightfall.

“So what is our plan? What are we going to do next?” Don asked.

“Yes, and what about the mystery of what was in the two men’s burlap sack in the forest?” I asked.

Robert scratched his chin.

            “Well, we can’t find out what was in the burlap sack in the forest. We must keep our eyes out for any clues that could tell us what it may have been. Maybe we can find a poster that says a certain animal pelt went up in price? I don’t know.” Robert says.

            “Alright, so what do we do next?” Don repeated.

            “Well, we could stay in Vulrock for a while. We can’t risk walking around in the forest because of the vampires and whatever else is out there. We’re a little short on money so we will need to steal some things and sell them, or we could steal some money. That way we can afford rooms at an inn.” Robert said.

Don nodded.

            “That’s a smart plan. So once we get rooms at an inn it’s business as usual?” Macalister asked.

I knew that ‘business as usual’ meant that we would just resume our criminal activities here in Vulrock.

            “Well it will be business as usual, except for the fact that we need to watch our backs for witnesses as well as vampires and whatever else is out there.” Robert said.

            “Yes, I would like to avoid any future run-ins with vampires.” Don said, rubbing his neck.

            “Yes. How are your necks, Don and Robert?” I asked.

Robert pulled down the collar on his shirt to reveal his neck.

            “How does it look?” He asked.

I took a look at his neck. I could see pairs of fang marks that were just over two centimeters apart. I could see the faint outlines of Ignacio’s other teeth as well. There were about seven bite marks in total. I shuddered. The bite marks were turning white.

            “Well it does not look too bad, but it looks like it may scar.” I told him.

Robert nodded in understanding.

            “What about mine?” Don asked.

He pulled down his shirt collar and I turned to look at his neck. His bite mark looked the same as Robert’s.

            “The same as Robert. It looks fine but it may scar.” I told him.

            “I really don’t like vampires much.” Don said as he crossed his arms.

Robert laughed.

            “I would drink to that, but I have no bottle.” Robert chuckled.

            “How does it feel? To be bitten by a vampire, I mean.” Macalister asked curiously.

Robert looked to Don. Don looked to Macalister.

            “It feels like two white hot needles have impaled your neck, and then you feel your blood leaving your body. Then you get dizzy and you feel like you’re going to pass out. The burning sensation does not stop for a few seconds after the vampire has removed its fangs from your neck.” Don explained.

His expression was sad as he reflected on his torment.

            “Ouch.” Macalister said.

            “Ouch is right.” Robert chuckled.

I clapped my hands together.

            “Alright. It’s almost nightfall and I don’t wish to sleep in a gutter tonight. Shall we steal some money to buy rooms at an inn, lads?” I asked.

This earned grins from everyone.

            “Yes, indeed we shall.” Robert said with a grin.

Macalister looked around.

            “Who are we going to steal from?” He asked.

            “Well, we can’t steal from a shop. That would raise too much alarm. We could rob someone, someone who is away from crowds.” Robert said.

            “That’s smart. Let us go find someone then.” I said.

I peeked out of the alley way that we were in. We didn’t see anyone here, the crowd had moved in the direction of the town square. I could hear chatter coming in the direction of the square.

            “We shouldn’t go in the direction of the town square. It sounds like there are a lot of people there.” I said, eyeing the road that we had just came down.

            “I agree. Come on.” Robert said, walking in the opposite direction.

I followed him and I could hear Macalister and Don follow me. Robert walked casually down the road and I did the same. We stuck to the sidewalk where there were shadows of the surrounding buildings cast by the setting sun. I looked over Robert’s shoulder and saw a lone man standing on the sidewalk. His back was to us. He was on the other side of the street about thirty feet away. I stopped walking.

            “How do you want to do this?” I asked.

Robert stopped walking, as did Don and Macalister.

            “If we’re quiet we can sneak up behind up nice and quiet. If he does not see us, we won’t have to kill him.” Robert said.

            “We can’t risk the attention that a gunshot will attract.” Don added.

            “Alright lads, follow my lead. Remember; be quiet.” Robert said.

Robert began to walk quietly and cross the road. I did the same. I could hear Don and Macalister right behind me. Robert dropped to a crouch position and stuck to the shadows. I followed his lead. I looked around above us. I saw three story residential buildings all around us. There were balconies on most of them but they were empty. That meant that no one would spot us from above. I looked over Robert’s shoulder again. We were approaching the man. Robert was now about five feet away from him. After a few more silent steps Robert lunged forward and put the man in a headlock, clamping one hand over his mouth and one hand over his eyes. The man began to scream and flail around in Robert’s grip but the man’s screams were lost in Robert’s hand. Robert held firm and the man’s struggling reduced slightly. I ran forward and began to search the man’s pockets. I reached into his left pants pocket and pulled out a handful of gold pieces. I counted eight in total. I heard Macalister arrive behind me. He helped Robert in restraining the man. I reached into the man’s right pants pocket but found nothing. I searched the man’s shirt pocket but came up empty.

            “We have what we need! We must go!” I said to Robert in a quiet voice.

Robert leaned in close to the man’s ear and whispered something;

            “If you turn around in the next five minutes, we will shoot you. If you tell anyone about this, we will find you. Understand?” Robert said.

The man realised his hopeless situation and his shoulders sagged. His head bobbed up and down once, signaling that he understood. Robert and Macalister both released the man.

            “Your five minute countdown starts now.” Don said cockily.

With that, we turn and ran in the opposite direction, towards the town square. It was getting darker by the minute. I looked over my shoulder to see if the man had turned around. He hadn’t. I turned my attention back to my front. We turned a corner in the road so that we were out of sight of the man if he turned around. We decreased to a walk.

            “What did you get?” Robert asked.

            “Eight gold pieces.” I said, reaching into my pocket and holding them out.

Robert examined them.

            “Nice work, Redmond.” He said.

The chattering that hung on the air became louder and louder as we approached the town square. The fountain came into view and the sound of rushing water became audible. A crowd of people was gathered in the town square. Some of the people retired to their homes for the night. I saw a few walk out of the mass of people and enter residential buildings.

            “Shall we find an inn?” Don asked.

Macalister nodded eagerly.

            “I’m tired.” He said with a yawn.

I looked past the crowd that lingered in the town square. I saw signs that marked a blacksmith, armor shops, weapon shops, general stores, eateries and other shops. I finally found the familiar sign that read; Rest Your Head! Two Dollars Per Room! It was hung over the doorway of a grey stone building. I had seen this sign on our way into Vulrock.

            “There!” I said, indicating the inn.

I began walking towards the inn and the others followed me. I made my way through the gradually thinning crowd of people in the square and I found myself at the doorstep of the inn in no time. I pushed the door open and stepped through, holding it open for the other three. To our right was a counter with a middle aged man behind it. The room that we found ourselves in, the lobby, had windows all over the walls. It was getting dark outside but candles flickered in holders along the walls. There were tables around the lobby. A few of them were occupied but the room was quiet.

            “Hello! What can I do for you folks?” Asked the middle aged man behind the counter.

I looked over to him and saw that he was talking to us.

            “We would like four rooms, please.” Don said.

The man behind the counter nodded.

            “The rooms are two dollars each. Will you be staying?” The man asked.

I reached into my pocket and withdrew the eight gold pieces I had stolen from the man on the street a while ago. He had eight gold pieces; just enough to cover the cost of four rooms for us. That certainly was lucky. I put the gold pieces on the counter.

            “Yes, we will be staying.” I said with a smile.

The man took the gold pieces and put them into his pocket.

            “Alright, let me get your room keys.” The man said.

He then walked out of sight and I heard a door opening and then closing a few seconds later. The man walked back into sight holding four keys. He laid them on the counter. They hit the counter with a clink as they hit against one another. Each key was about four centimeters long and each was brass in color.

            “Thank you very much.” I said with a nod.

            “Thank you for your business. All of your rooms are down that hall.” The man said, pointing to the entrance to a hallway that was at the back of the room.

I reached out and grabbed a room key. On the key was a number: 210. This must have been the room number that the key was assigned to. The other three grabbed their keys.

I then had a thought. It was a question that had been in the back of my mind since we got here.

            “What is this village called?” I asked the man behind the counter.

The man looked to me.

            “This village is called Riverguard.” The man said.

            “Thank you.” I said to him.

The man smiled and nodded to me.

            “I’m going to go to my room now. I’ll see you all in the morning.” I said to the others

            “Good night, Redmond.” Robert said.

I nodded to him and located the entrance to the hallway that the man had indicated. I walked over to it and entered the passage. I glanced at the room numbers that were on the doors. I had to walk for another minute to pass the rooms between one hundred and two hundred. I arrived at the door marked by two hundred and I walked down a few more doors.

            “Two hundred eight, two hundred nine, two hundred ten.” I counted aloud.

When I reached my room I inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it to the right. I heard a click and I opened the door and stepped inside. I shut the door behind me and put the key in my pocket. The room was dimly lit by the light of the setting sun. There were no candles around, which was fine because I wouldn’t be staying awake very long. There was a simple bed in the far corner of the room. There was a window to the right of the bed. The floor was made of light colored oak wood that was sturdy and creaked slightly as I walked across it. The ceiling and walls were made of the same sturdy oak wood. There was a small desk to my left complete with a quill, an ink well and a stool. There was a rug about a meter in diameter in the middle of the room. A shelf that was about my height was next to the desk. The ceiling was about six feet high. I laughed as I pictured Macalister needing to duck to avoid hitting his head, as he was 6’6”. There was a room to my left that appeared to be a bathroom. It contained a toilet, a wash basin and a mirror. I was feeling fatigued and stiff from being Ignacio’s captive. I walked over to the bed, layed down and pulled the blankets over my head. My mind replayed the events of the last few days;

Don Robert Macalister and I were going on a heist to steal fifty thousand dollars from Jonathan Haywood at his estate. We managed to steal the money and make off with it but we had attracted Queen Mycta’s palace guards. They chased us through the woods for a long time and eventually caused us to crash by shooting our wheels with their flintlocks. We were thrown around inside the carriage and Don, Macalister and I were injured. Robert, who was driving the carriage had gotten away on the horse. As Queen Mycta’s guards closed in on us, Robert drew a few of them away. After a short gun fight Macalister and Don were both shot by Queen Mycta’s guards and I was too injured from the carriage crash to continue fighting. When everything looked like it had gone completely downhill, we were rescued by a mysterious man named Ignacio. Although he didn’t save us out of the kindness of his heart. He turned out to be a vampire who was under orders from King Lucias to apprehend Don Robert Macalister and I dead or alive. However he held us in his cellar to harvest us for our blood for a while. He would then bring us to King Lucias and collect his promised reward. Ignacio told us that four of Alcingeria’s leaders, King Lucias, Queen Yuka, King Bunsen and King Desmond all use vampires to catch criminals who became too dangerous for Humans to kill or apprehend. Upon hearing this, we deemed it possible that other supernatural creatures from stories that we heard could be real. We devised a plan to escape from Ignacio’s cellar, but Ignacio bit Don and Robert when we were in his cellar and they began to turn into vampires. Ignacio offered us a cure to revert the vampire transformation in exchange for the fifty thousand dollars that we stole from Jonathan Haywood. We accepted the deal and the cure turned out to be Ignacio’s blood. Ignacio took the money and fled immediately. Since we had no idea where we were, the four of us began to make our way in a single direction until we came across a village. Along the way we met two men in the woods who had a burlap sack with something inside it. We asked them if we could accompany them to the nearest province which happened to be Vulrock. They told us the way to Vulrock but told us to wait thirty minutes before following them because they didn’t want us to get close to their ‘score’ which was what was inside the burlap sack. The men said that they would shoot us if we were caught following them before thirty minutes had passed. Whatever was inside that burlap sack, they really didn’t want us finding out what it was. After thirty minutes passed we headed towards Vulrock and came to the village of Riverguard. We bought rooms at this inn.

Once I was finished recalling the last few days I realized how insane that it all sounded. I felt my eyelids droop and they soon closed all the way.

 

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Author's Note

Please tell me what you think!

Reviews

[KeithKVH]

Okay, pretty good here. First off I do like seeing the Scorpions doing what they do. Robbing someone out in the open like that will always be pretty risky, but for the most part they get all the variables they can under control barring someone turning down the street or opening a door suddenly. Speed is the key in this situation, and since Kid is the master thief it was good he was getting the money. I did take note of Don and his cockiness as he taunts the man while they're making their escape.

The headlock Robert uses somewhat confuses me a bit though. I can't picture how he can cover both the mouth and eyes while having a very solid grip on a grown man. Other than that my only issue is the recap at the end. I've read this from the start and admittedly taken my time with it, and I really didn't need to be reminded of anything yet. If you just want to show him going over the events for himself, the part "My mind replayed the events of the last few days;" already covers it without actually showing all his thoughts.

[Ryan Henderson]

I am glad that you liked it. As for the recapping of the events, I just did that because some readers (myself included) have a bad memory. I am glad that you have a good memory and haven't forgotten anything, but I just thought that I'd sum up key parts of the book there for my own sake as well as for other readers' sake. Thank you so much for the review!