Wandering Warrior: Judge - Chapter 19 (Patreon)

Chapter 19

“Presents?”  Leedy approached the bar cautiously, acting like he was afraid they would bite.  “What kind of presents?  How did you afford them?”

“Oh, don’t be like that.”  Jess pushed one of the smaller piles at him.  “Murphy and I did a great job bargaining for half of the raptor skins at the tanner.  For some reason, the man at the counter just went along with whatever I suggested!”  The smirk on Murphy’s face as he looked the woman up and down told me it wasn’t the raptor skins the tanner had been interested in.  She pushed the largest pile toward me, oblivious to Murphy’s actions.  “We saved the other half of the skins for when we get to Greendown, but for now, these will definitely help.  Just open them and find out.”

I carefully untied the wrapped packages one at a time, revealing a set of wood and leather armor, along with a thin cloak that had an oversized hood and matching leather gloves.  Everything was dyed a dark green, which would blend well with the forest and surrounding hills.  By reflex, I cast my identify spell and I was surprised at the results.

Item: Woodsman Scouting Uniform (Cloth and Leather with Wood reinforcement)

Type: Light Armor

Grade: 6/10

Description: Leather vest and pants with wooden sections that protect the chest, back, shoulders, thighs, and shins.  Waterproof cloak and gloves improve stealth in rural and forest environments.  Only effective for camouflage in urban areas during night operations.  Above average protection without sacrificing flexibility or mana absorption.

“Wow.  Thank you, Jess.  I don’t know what to say.”  I looked at what the others had received while she blushed at the praise.  Leedy and Murphy only got the cloak and gloves–since they had Warden armor–while Cross and I had the full set.  Well, Cross didn’t get any gloves.  Probably a tactful choice by Jess.  She had gotten herself one a few shades lighter in color, with smaller sections of wooden disks that overlapped one another instead of being a solid piece.  I approved of her getting herself the best set, considering she had the least amount of time as a warrior.

Jess started pulling her own armor on over her clothes, settling it in place while she talked.  “I know we can get much better armor in Greendown, but I thought it would be good to have something now, especially considering what we have been through so far.  And this way, the group can hide better in the forest.”

“Wh-why did you get these for me?”  Cross looked like he didn’t know how to feel.  The young woman he tried to kill had just given him an obviously expensive gift, intended to protect him from harm.  “I’m a prisoner.  I don’t need armor.”

“No, you’re not a prisoner, Cross.”  Jess gave the disgraced captain a smile somewhere between genuine and feral.  Which was definitely something interesting to see.  “You’re one of us now, whether you like it or not.”

“There’s no way I’m one of you.  Once we get back to a real city, I won’t be a prisoner for very long.  In fact, I think you’ll be surprised at how quickly our positions are going to reverse.”  Cross looked at me quickly after he spoke, trying to make sure I wasn’t about to give him a thumping for opening his mouth.  Before I could, Jess dropped a truth bomb on him that hurt far more than anything I could do to him.

“Oh, poor man.  You haven’t figured it out yet?”  Jess pointed to her own neck, tapping her jugular.  “Those vampires marked you, not any of us.  Your best chance of survival is sticking with James.”  Cross paled, but she wasn’t done with him.  “As far as the Warden’s leadership goes, do you think they’ll be happy with how you handled all of this?  If I were in your shoes, it wouldn’t just be the vampires I was worried about.”

“It’s not like that…”  Cross trailed off, brows furrowed in deep thought.  “The Commandant won’t punish me for something out of my control.  No one could have known how strong the wanderer really is.”

“Maybe they won’t punish you for losing to him, but you certainly can’t be a captain anymore.  You can’t perform magic, so you aren’t qualified.  The best thing you can hope for is a quiet retirement, where you get a small stipend to train other Wardens.  There’s always the chance you can take a demotion to Private and serve as a foot soldier, I’m sure.  Unless you are the kind of person who enjoys doing paperwork.  You could certainly be a secretary for the next captain.”  Jess pushed the armor and clothes towards him.  “Or, you could redeem yourself.  Join us, and try to make things better.  Help people, like you swore to do all those years ago.  Wash the stains off your soul.”

Cross sat down heavily on the nearest stool, holding his wrist where his hand used to be.  “You want me to join the person that maimed me?”  He looked up at Jess, his eyes rimmed in red as he tried to hold back tears.  “Why would I ever do that?”

“Because deep down, you know what happened was justice.  You might have been a good man a long time ago, Cross, but you aren’t any more.  You know James is telling the truth.  He’s here to help people, and punish the ones who deserve it.”  She motioned to Murphy, and the young man somehow knew exactly what she wanted.  Which made one of us.  Both Leedy and I were shocked at the entire exchange.  Nothing she was saying was wrong, but trying to recruit him to our side?  That’s crazy, even for me.  She accepted the sheathed sword that Murphy had gone to collect from his pack.  The sword with the markings of a Captain of the Wardens running up and down the sheath and hilt.  Jess gripped it tightly, and slowly pointed the hilt at Cross.  “Will you join us, and change your fate?”

Cross looked up, and slowly reached out to take the hilt of the sword.  He took a deep breath and instead of taking it from her, he pushed it away.  “No.  I won’t join you.  I know how this story ends, and I want nothing to do with it.”

“Fine.”  Jess took the sword back and sat it on the counter.  “It’s your choice.  Even if it is a bad one.  Hatred will only poison your soul.”

“I think that’s enough attempts at recruiting for the day, Jess.  Let’s get this gear on, and try to find those lost villagers.”  While I admired her flash of wisdom and ambition, I had no hopes of Cross joining me in any positive fashion.  I put my own armor on, tucking the gloves behind my belt.  I wouldn’t need them unless it was cold outside, and wearing them might mess with my wrist gun.  The armor set was a little uncomfortable when I put my ruck back on, but I would get used to the way it rested on the back armor.  Otherwise, it was a vast improvement over the whole bunch of nothing I had as armor before.

Cross was the last person ready to go.  Getting armor on without two hands was quite the chore, but he was unwilling to accept help from anyone.  Once we were all ready to leave, I had to admit we looked a little intimidating as a group.  Cross was still unarmed–Murphy had his sword slung across his back–but the cloak hid that fact from any onlookers.

“Are we going to have any problems leaving?”  Leedy had his hand on the door handle, trying to look outside through a crack in the door.  “Should we go out the back?”

“We’ll find out together.”  I motioned for him to get a move on.  “Just let me do the talking if the werebear tries to stop us.”

“Of course.  I’m sure nothing will go wrong with you in charge of negotiating.”  Leedy’s sarcasm was noted, but I chose to ignore it.

Our motley group of five exited the inn, and walked down a deserted main street that shouldn’t have been empty at this time of day.  It was barely past noon, yet not a single person was out and about.  Images of western movies with a showdown in the streets flashed through my head.  I moved to the front of our group, my staff in one hand with a wind blade ready in the other.  The feeling of impending violence was palpable, and when a stout woman with gray peppering her dark hair stepped out into the street to confront us, our group spread out across the road.  Well, most of us did.  Cross just stood behind Leedy with his hood pulled low.

“Ah, there it is.  Time for the showdown, I take it?”  I tapped my staff on the ground, and looked behind us to see a young woman with features similar to the lady in front of us leaning against the side of a building.  “Or is this supposed to be some kind of ambush?”

The stout woman shook her head, and stepped within range of my staff.  “That depends on you.”  She put a hand on her hips, and pointed a finger in my face.  “What were you thinking, beating up on my husband like that?  Don’t you know the kind of trouble you’ve caused?”

“Your husband?”  I looked her in the eye, and saw her dark brown eyes flash yellow.  “Ah, the bear shifter.  I take it you’re one too?”

“That’s right.”  She raised her chin toward the young woman standing behind us.  “And that’s my oldest daughter, April.”  Everyone around me tensed up when they realized they were surrounded by two bear shifters.  Jess even let loose with a low growl in her throat, her own shifter instincts coming to the fore.

“Well, before things get any more interesting, why don’t you tell us why you’re keeping us from leaving town?”  I tried to motion for Jess to calm down, but she was completely ignoring me.

“I want to know why you beat up my husband, and hurt all those young men.  What did our village do to you, that you think it’s okay?”  She crossed her arms in a huff, and gave Jess some side-eye.  “And if I don’t like your answers, we’ll just see how well you handle two angry bears.”

I sighed, doing my best not to grind my teeth in frustration.  I couldn’t wait to leave this crappy little town.  “Look lady, like I told your husband, they jumped me.  All I did was defend myself.  Your husband demanded I pay for them to get healed, and I refused.  He didn’t like that answer, so he went all ‘bear-man-angry’ on me, and I knocked him out.”

“So, you’re telling me that a man capable of handling an alpha werebear was threatened by a bunch of young men barely old enough to grow chin hairs?”  She shook her head, and her fingernails started to grow.  “I don’t think so.  I think you need to be taught a lesson about respect.”  Hair sprouted along her arms, and I twisted my staff, the spear point snapping into place.

“Stop!”  An almost-naked man stumbling out into the street shouting at the top of his lungs would make most people pause–and we were most people–so we all froze.  “Michelle, calm down.  There’s no point in continuing this.”  He limped over to his wife, and put a hand on her shoulder.  In my personal experience, telling an angry woman to ‘calm down’ had never ended well, but just this once it worked.  The hair and fingernails went back to normal, and everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

“I’m glad to see you up and moving, mayor.”  I twisted my staff, the blade disappearing back inside the shaft with a snick.  “Now that this is settled, we’ll be leaving.”

“This isn’t settled yet.  You aren’t going anywhere.”  The mayor’s frown would have probably had more impact if he had been wearing more clothes.  Although, the threat of having to fight three werebears did carry a certain amount of gravitas.  “The fight with me shows you aren’t a killer, but my wife has the right of one thing.  If you can beat me, you could have handled those boys without hurting them so badly.”

I shook my head.  “They pulled blades.  The way it ended was on their heads, not mine.  What if they did the same thing to someone less capable?  It’s about them learning to not be in that position in the first place.”

“And they’ve learned that now.  Which is why you need to pay for their healing.”  His frown only deepened when I shook my head.  “Okay, how about you only pay for the boy who started it?  I can still pressure his father to cover the healing for the others, but only if his own son is uninjured.”

“That’s not my problem, mayor.  Convincing the boy’s family of his responsibility isn’t my job.”  I turned to leave, and he grabbed me by the arm.  He tried to squeeze, and seemed surprised when I easily pulled my arm free.  “We’ve already seen how this ends.”

“Sir, this man is on Warden’s business.  We’re trying to leave so we can track down your missing people.”  Leedy stepped between us, throwing back his cloak to show off his armor marking him as a Warden.  “Please, allow us to do our jobs.”

“I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?”  The mayor looked Leedy up and down.  “Aren’t you the Corporal that covers the region a little farther to the west?”

“Yes sir.  I’m on a mission that requires us to go to Greendown.”  Leedy looked back at the inn we had left before turning to face the mayor.  “When we heard about your people that went missing, all of us agreed to search the region between here and the city to help find them.  Please.  Let us help you.”

His sincerity seemed to get through to the stubborn man, and he finally backed down.  “Fine.  If this man can beat me on his own, I’d much rather have him out looking for my missing townsfolk than going for a second round.”  The mayor turned and growled at me.  “Even if he does deserve a good thrashing.”

“Oh, shut up, would you?”  I was done dealing with this place and its crazy inhabitants.  “I’m leaving, and if you try to stop me again, I won’t go easy on you this time.”

The mayor snorted in disbelief, but I wasn’t willing to warn him again.  He would either fuck around and find out, or leave me the hell alone.  Either way was a win for me.

Leedy pulled the mayor and his wife off to the side to talk, probably to try and get more information about the routes their people might have decided to take.  Jess and I left, heading for the gate on the far side of the village.  As we walked out, I was surprised to see only a single guard.  I guess the werebear hadn’t been stretching the truth about how short-handed they were.  They would just have to make due with the bare necessities.