The Defender: Stoneford

Two

Allan stood on top of a warehouse near the docks. He watched a young man wind his way through the alleys between the dockside structures.

It had taken him a week of nightly searching to be able to follow the young man. On his first day in the city, two shopkeepers had told him, in passing, that their neighbors had jewelry stolen from their homes. Another had hinted that the shop across from his, Victor's Pawn Shop, seemed to have a light on late at night.

After two nights of watching over the pawn shop, Allan observed a young man come to the back door. He knocked once on the door, went inside, then came out moments later. Allan followed him through the city to an abandoned home past the dockside district.

Allan went by the home the next day while on his rounds. He sensed five souls in the burnt-out shell. He flew there that night. He saw five boys sitting around a pot eating cold stew. Their conversation came in bursts, revolving around begging and finding a good home to break into. Four of the boys appeared to be in their early teens. The fifth was around the age Allan had been when he'd first fled to Darien's old castle.

The oldest boy was called "Davy." He led the conversation, and told the boys they'd have to keep begging until "Victor says otherwise." From that night on, it was a matter of going to the house and seeing if any of the boys left.

Earlier that night, Allan saw one of the younger boys leave the house. He took to side streets and alleys until he came to a house in a prosperous neighborhood. The boy was in and out of the house faster than Allan would have guessed. He followed the boy to the pawn shop, and was now following him to his home.

I'll see if this take me anywhere.

Sure enough, the boy wound his way back to the home he and his friends occupied. Allan chose to land behind the structure. He used a wind spell to push in the back door. He walked into what had been a short hallway that connected the back entrance to the main room. He heard one young man's footsteps. When the boy came around the corner, he cast another wind spell.

"It can't be!" he heard another boy say.

He walked around the corner. "It is!"

One of the four boys left, the largest, was just about to come at him. The others were turning toward the main entrance. Allan closed his eyes. He cast a strong light spell.

Two of the boys cried out. When Allan opened his eyes, he saw the four remaining boys staggering around, hands over their own eyes.

Allan drew his enchanted club. He charged at the nearest boy. He struck the boy on the back of his neck. The boy let out a low moan, then fell to the floor. He hit two more boys before they recovered their sight enough to fight back.

The last boy turned out to be Davy, the one the others had deferred to. He backed away when Allan turned towards him. He reached up one of his shirt sleeves and removed a dagger. He held it in front of him, but didn't come at Allan immediately.

"Come, boy," Allan said, "try to hurt me with your tiny blade."

The boy jabbed, but didn't move closer. He jabbed a second time, then a third. Allan noticed that after each attempted strike, the boy backed up half a step. He's going to try to run away.

He heard a sound behind him, like the sound of someone getting up. That first boy isn't staying down. He took a couple of large steps forward, then sidestepped to avoid Davy's thrust. He swung at Davy's arm. Davy crumpled to the floor.

He turned to see the last boy almost upon him. He thrust his club up so it hit the boy in the face. The boy let out a muffled half of a groan, then went down.