by Thomas Hardy on January 2nd, 2011, 4:07 pm
Tom was about to give up after a long night when he heard voices. He peered around the tree and saw a small family making, consisting of a father, mother, and small child, its way towards what looked like shelter for the night.
The father, leading a small packhorse, was armed with a broad sword. He looked like he had done some heavy work in his life, but not an excessive amount. Maybe a small country farmer of some sort. He was wearing a jerkin that would give him negligible defense.. His wife, was slight of build and armed with a small dagger. She looked like she had done almost no work in her life. However, she was extremely attractive and would fetch a great price as slave entertainment or a maid. The child looked unarmed, maybe 3 years old. If Tom had led a completely different life, he would have felt it repugnant to separate such a beautiful family. As it was, Tom smiled with anticipation.
He slowly drew his weapons and pressed a small button on his bracer. A small stilleto blade, aimed to the stomach, hit the substantially away from the point of aim, and into the man's right shoulder. Screaming in pain, the man fell over. He yelled to the others to run for it. Foolish. I'll get you all eventually. he thought. He aimed another projectile, a dart this time, at the man. This time it hit his leg, causing minimal damage but spreading a poison into the man's system.
By this time, the man had gotten out his broadsword with his left hand. He clumsily attacked him with a broad left hand swing. He was obviously not used to using his weapon with his left hand. Tom dodged and punched him in the gut. The man screamed in agony, much more agony then he should have, and slumped over.
The woman and child had gone a few meters down the road by this time. There weren't too far and a skilled shot would have been able to take them out with almost contemptuous ease. However, Tom wasn't the best shot in the world. He shot the blade hidden in his dagger in a vain attempt to hit them in the legs. The blade soared over to the couple and hit the child in the neck.
They screamed in unison. The woman bent over the child, desperately trying to assess the injury. Or perhaps repair it through sheer willpower. Whatever the case, the blade had done its work. There was no way to salvage the boy and he knew it. However, the woman was the most valuable one here and she needed to be dealt with properly. He may not have been able to hit a moving target, but at this, much closer range, he would easily be able to hit a standing target. Tom threw his knife and it hit her in the ankle. Tom easily jogged her down and knocked her out with a swift backhand blow of his swordbreaker.
Tom inspected the child for a moment then frowned. The child would make him no profit like this. He picked up the woman's limp figure and dragged her back to the packhorse.
First, he collected all the blades from his victims and put them back in their appropriate springs. Having no horse of his own, he would be hardpressed to carry these two all to Sunberth without a packhorse. He put the man into stocks, because he would cause the most trouble if escaped. Digging through the packhorse's saddlebags, he found a length of hemp rope, as well as an assortment of other things that could be valuable. He took the rope and bent down to look at the woman. He sighed. She really was quite beautiful. He stroked her hair once before tying her up. He cared to leave some rope left over. He took out some of the more valuable things from the saddlebag and put them in his backpack. He dropped the rest on the ground, along with the saddlebag and the saddle. He then tied the couple of new slaves to the horse's back. He then led the horse out of the clearing and on his way to the city of Sunberth. He took care to keep close attention on both them and the road. It was a dangerous place and if one of them woke up on the way to Sunberth, he would have to knock them out again. Tom smiled to himself. With this profit he would be able to hire a crew and live the life he dreamed of. The life of a pirate.