The moments sped by in intense anticipation. Aadi’s eyes danced from the good lady and her daughter to the cottage path. He watched for any sign of approaching horses and listened keenly for the sounds of clopping hooves. His alertness contrasted against the serenity of the environs. All around him, everything was quiet, save the little girl’s laughter and her mother’s happiness. Nary a soul would have stated with any confidence that this area would presently become a battlefield. Pity the coward. Pity the unforesightful.
‘Clop, clop. Clop, clop.’ Aadi’s ears twitched as the distant sounds reached him. He suppressed his urge to move, not desirous of giving his position away. His left hand clenched around the bundle of weapons that he held and he furrowed his brows. He had a few options. Aadi could intercept the law keeper and his coterie further down the road, away from the cottage and its residents. He could warn the lady and her daughter to secure themselves inside their house. Then, he could either face his oncoming foes outside the cottage, or join Flint’s family inside. The latter option would entail a ranged fight at least in first few minutes.
Aadi hadn’t scouted the cottage, though. He had not an inkling as to what lay inside. He couldn’t be certain about the availability of makeshift weapons therein. That made fighting inside risky. If the woodcutter had been present – if Aaron Flint had been there at that moment – Aadi would have taken that risk. Between the two of them, he was sure that they could have put paid to the law keeper and his thugs in the inevitable melee. Unfortunately, Flint wasn’t around; not yet.
Intercepting his enemies farther down the cottage path made a lot of sense, except that Aadi was afraid of altering the memory too much. In any way that mattered, he had no experience in doing this. He instinctually preferred minor alterations to Flint’s memories. He didn’t think a large change would have a beneficial outcome. That train of thought left him with one option and a few approaches to going about it. He would wait for the law keeper to approach and let Flint’s memory play out, to an extent.
The clopping hooves drew closer and Aadi espied three large figures astride horses that had seen better days. The sun overhead illuminated their forms clearly and he immediately recognised the law keeper’s thugs. They were burly and armed with belted short clubs. Prior to fighting alongside Ember, Aadi wouldn’t have crossed blades with those two. He wouldn’t have had the confidence then. Now, however, was a different matter. Stout, yes. Large, yes. Dangerous to him, perhaps. They weren’t the Unflinching, though.
Aadi’s eyes shifted to the rider leading them. He glowered as he scrutinised the law keeper’s appearance. Unlike his goons, this ‘man of the law’ wore chain mail beneath his tabard and his long, iron mace was belted to his mount’s saddle. He rode with a swagger born of arrogance that comes with power, his head held high, and surveyed his surroundings like the lord of the land. Aadi’s instincts impolitely demanded that he strike the villain down forthwith. He suppressed those urges vehemently, not because he didn’t agree with them, but because it was too soon to act. The right moment would arrive. He had to be patient.
The trio continued up the path towards the cottage without a care in the world, as if they owned the place and claimed all the rights to it. Their horses protested their loads, but the equus were just as yoked to their evil masters as those who dwelled in this land. They neighed sullenly and plodded forward. Eventually, the weary beasts reached their destination and the law keeper’s lips stretched into a villainous smile. His lecherous eyes stalked the good lady, who studiously ignored him and his coterie. Nevertheless, with a quick sweep of her hand, she pushed her daughter behind her protectively.
Her act didn’t escape the law keeper’s notice. His smile grew broader and with a great flourish, he dismounted his horse. The mount snorted in relief and shook its head. The law keeper ignored it. His goons followed suit, staying two steps behind their paymaster. “Come now,” said the law keeper, leering at the good lady, “Greet your guest.” When the lady made neither move, nor reply, the law keeper repeated, “It’s impolite to keep us waiting. Greet your guests.” His companions growled under their breath and Aadi noticed Flint’s wife flinch. Her daughter saw her mother’s reaction, too and grabbed the edge of her dress with a tiny hand. The little one was too scared to say anything.
The good woman said nothing still. The law keeper’s patience was running thin. His smile began to fade and he took a single stride towards Flint’s family. His coterie followed suit, although each one of them stamped their foot on the ground for added effect. It was then that the villain froze, for he had heard something. It was a sudden, short, sharp sound. It was followed by an even shorter human scream that was silenced almost immediately. The law keeper twisted his head towards his goons. His eyes went wide as he saw one of them simply topple over! The brute’s body hit the ground with a dull thud. A short piece of wood was lodged in the side of his neck.
The villain’s gaze followed a human shape that was running past the second thug. The next second, the shape disappeared into the bushes. The remaining thug turned left and right, looking for his companion’s assailant. Watching him stare helplessly, the law keeper grunted and pointed at the bushes nearby, “Whoever it was went there. Kill him!” The brute’s eyes followed his master’s finger and focused on the indicated bush. Without any hesitation, he charged. It would have been better for him to have exercised some caution.
As he rapidly approached the bush, he failed to notice a pointed object emerge from it. Its business end measured a forearm’s length and the wooden hilt supporting it was longer still. Like a cheval de frise braced to repel horses, this tool of death was made ready to impale any and every oncomer; and it didn’t disappoint! The thug ran straight towards the bush, brandishing his club in one hand. He raised it high, ready to swing it down and exact revenge. A moment later, the weapon dropped straight to the ground as his hand flew towards his stomach! It clutched the wooden shaft protruding from his belly and the brute stared at his wound in horror.
In his shocked state, he failed to see a human emerge from the bushes and move towards him. That person moved gently, almost carefully. His steps were silent and his body was turned to present a narrow profile. The man wielded a short stake in one hand and a long spear in another. By the time the goon noticed the stake approaching his neck, it was too late! His eyes darted from the bleeding wound in his belly to the hand that held the instrument of his death. He had to evade it. He had to move somehow.
His body refused to obey. He was frozen in place and couldn’t even open his mouth to scream as the stake pierced his neck. Aadi let go of the stake and walked past the goon, who presently slumped to the ground. A few steps placed him directly opposite the law keeper and he turned to face the villain eye-to-eye. The law keeper clenched his fist and slowly loosened his fingers. In the same vein, he reached for his iron mace and brandished it in one hand, slapping its head against his other fist. “You are spoiling my fun,” the evil man said, “You are under arrest.” “Huh?” remarked Aadi and pointed at the mace, “Are you planning on arresting me with that?” The law keeper grinned evilly, “Dead or alive, it doesn’t matter to me.” Aadi nodded and muttered, “That figures.”
The law keeper frowned. He hadn’t come across many folks who got uppity with him. His was the power of the law. He was the law! His triumph was thus assured, always. When he met a self-confident ‘hero’ who decided to defy him, he would put that hero down. He would stand victorious over their corpse. It was his presence, his word, and his fist that mattered and nothing else! Still, something felt wrong. He didn’t recognise the man who defied him. The law keeper was certain that he knew everyone who lived in these parts. Even newcomers couldn’t escape his notice for long. However, this man who stood before him fearlessly, he didn’t know. That was a problem.
The law keeper was evil, power-hungry, ambitious, and merciless. He wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t going to regard Aadi carelessly, like his coterie had. He’d fight cautiously. He’d fight to win. These were the stakes and only one result was acceptable.