2/2 The Rose Pendant

At the same time that Vinon was becoming a solider of Talestrial States, Tuster was still in the town of Resport. Tuster was never told of his lineage by Baldarov. Instead he was treated by Baldarov as his own son and brought him up. Baldarov wanted Tuster not to have any memories of his parents being killed. So he told him he was an orphan and he lived in Resport since he was little. During the ten years spent in Resport, Tuster learned the ways of survival. Life was hard and sometimes he would steal from people for his own survival. No one except for Baldarov knew about his true identity.

On this day, Tuster was spying on some bandits. He had spent the day hunting along the outskirts of Ulseeker’s Woods to the south and caught a rabbit. This was his dinner and he intended to return to his home and hid it so it would not be stolen. On his way back, he had stumbled on a group of bandits and they came back with a wagon and a girl as hostage. He assumed they had robbed some merchants and took the girl as a slave and had sold their loot, from the gold-filled pouch on the belt of one bandit. Some dried-blood stains were seen on the wagon and Tuster assumed the merchants were cruelly murdered. It was this girl that caught his eye. She was dressed in a light-blue dress and he can tell she is a noble by birth. Her face was quite pretty even though there was dirt on it. It must have been there when the bandits pinned her down and capture her. She looked about the same age as him and could have been eleven years old. Her eyes were blue and Tuster was surprised that there were no signs of crying. Tuster thought it would be cruel to see such a pretty girl become a slave and the thought of rescuing her crossed his mind.

The wagon entered the city of Resport by the south gate and parked itself near the center of the town and beside a large building surrounded by stone walls. The bandits started to unload their loot while Tuster hid himself in a small dark alley opposite the building and observed the bandits. One of them, a small stocky bearded man carried the girl on his shoulder and entered the building through a wooden door. The rest of the bandits followed through.

Tuster eyed the building. His experience of infiltrating any building in Resport was second to none. But this was the building of one of the strongest bandits groups in Resport, The Bander Buccaneers they call themselves. Their leader is Norton Gilyers, which many people in Resport believed to be the strongest. Going up against Norton and his men will be suicidal but his sense of adventure was too much to overcome. This was a good time to test his thieving skills against the strongest bandit groups in Resport. He can make a name for himself, just like Norton.

He noticed the sun was setting so he waited until it was dark before he approached the building. There were about six storeys and each had two openings for air, except for the bottom level. Each opening was big enough for a adult to squeeze through so he figure he can scale the walls of the building. However, he can find no foothold or grip holds to help him in his climb and there was a man standing on the inside of the building watching the door, which Tuster can see from the openings. Instead, he circled the building, looking for any unguarded entrance. He found a back door which he entered that lead to the kitchen. There was no one in there but he smell of the burning logs suggested someone was not very far away. The cook must have gone out to serve his newly cooked dish. He sneaked past the kitchen and entered into a dining hall where it held a lot more bandits.

On any other day, one would easily spot Tuster from where he emerged from. But on this given day and time, Tuster was lucky that about forty over bandits in the dining hall were busy feasting and celebrating what he believed to be a successful raid and were too engrossed to notice Tuster. A well-built man in his mid-forties was boasting about his achievements about a merchant raid and with each sentence he was greeted with lot cheers. Tuster guessed him to be Norton. He did not stay for long. He stayed among the shadows and evaded the half-drunken crowd. He managed to reach the end of the hall where a spiral staircase lighted by burning staves on the walls lead up. As he ascended the stairs and wondered where the girl may be, he heard a female shriek from one of the rooms on the level above him. He traced the sound to a large wooden door. As he stood in front of it, he heard another shriek from within. This was the room and he guessed someone must be in the room with the girl. He pulled at the steel handle and the door opened with a creaking sound.

The room was a bedroom and Tuster guessed it belonged to Norton, for it was quite big and decorated with many tapestries which Tuster thought to be loot. His attention was drawn to the center of the room where a huge bed lay. The girl he had seen this afternoon was on it but the stocky bearded man was on top of her, in the midst of taking her clothes off. She was struggling in vain and he had a hard time doing that. Immediately, Tuster grabbed a large golden candle stand and used it to smash the back of the head of the man. The man fell on top of girl and lay motionless. The girl continued to kick and shove at the man’s face until he fell motionlessly onto the floor.

The girl was sobbing uncontrollably as she tried to cover up some parts of her body which was exposed by the man with a blanket. Tuster held up his hands, the candle stand still in his left hand.

The girl eyed him for a moment before she finally spoke through the tears and mucus that had built up. “Who are you? Are you one of them?” She asked. Her face still showed fear and suspicion.

Not knowing what to say, Tuster gave the most honest and direct answer he can think of. “I am not one of them and I am here to rescue you.”

Before the girl can answer, Tuster could hear footsteps from coming from the staircase. Without thinking, he closed the door and bolted it. He turned to face the girl. “We need to get out of here.”

“There is no other entrance except through that door.” The girl explained. She was not so much afraid of Tuster now but she still could not muster a smile at him. She was more worried about what will happen if the bandits break the door down.

Tuster looked around the room. He grabbed a metre-long oil lamp and used it to reinforce the door by placing it sideways on the bolt. The door started to knock and from the other side came a voice, “Galter, open up.” Next, Tuster snatched at the long blanket that the girl used to cover herself. “She was puzzled by what he was doing and gave it up after some hesitation. She unbuckled the dagger from the stocky man’s belt and cut herself a makeshift shirt using the pillowcase. While she was doing that, Tuster tied the long blanket to another and secured one end of it to the bed. After he was done, he threw the free end out of a nearby window and tested its strength. It was okay. Their escape route was secured. By this time, the knocking had become louder and more frequent.

Tuster cut himself some cloth from a curtain and wrapped them round his hands. He motioned the girl to do the same and she did so quickly and quietly. The knocking became loud banging sounds and the bandits on the other side were forcing it open. But the reinforced oil lamp ensured the door do not give way. Tuster grabbed the girl’s hand and guided her hands to the blanket.

“Slide down using this.” He said.

“No way! You want me to die?” she exclaimed “It’s at least twenty feet off the ground from here.” Tuster grabbed her by the shoulder and looked her in the eye. “Trust me on this. I will protect you.” The girl was momentarily stunned by his reaction and she found herself screaming all the way as she slide down the blanket. The cloth wrapped around her hand protected her palms from friction. As her feet touched solid ground, she made a secret promise to her that she would never do this thing ever again.

Once Tuster noticed the girl was safely on the ground, he then proceeded to slide down himself. Just he was about to do so, the door gave way. The figure standing at the door was flanked by bandits on both sides and all of them were wielding cutlass that cut flesh. The man in the center was the one that was boasting in the hall just now and his face did not look too happy at all. His eyes and Tuster’s met for a second before Tuster slide down the blanket. Once his feet touched solid ground, he grabbed the girl who was waiting for him and they made off down the streets.

Tuster did not know where they would be going before they are safe. He figured out that the only way was to find a place to hide from his pursuers now until they give up chasing him. They navigated the streets and dark alleys of Resport and stopped when they thought they could no longer hear the sound of chasing men. Tuster then took stock of their surroundings and he knew he had to get to a secret hiding spot of his which only he knew if they were to be truly safe. He led the girl through the dark streets for about half an hour before they found the place. It was a cellar of an abandoned temple and its trapdoor was expertly carved to be of the same design of the floor. Tuster had only stumbled on it when he was tripped while exploring the building. In the cellar was a small hole where only a child could burrow through. Tuster lead the girl through until they emerged into large underground cave where a statue stood in the middle of the cave. A strange slowing moss gave the cave some light. There they stopped to catch their breath before they finally spoke.

“Thanks for rescuing me.” The girl said. “I don’t know who you are but thanks for saving me. Otherwise I would become a slave.”

“You are welcome,” Tuster did not know how to explain why he rescued her. “My name is Tuster. I am an orphan and I have been living in Resport since I was young. I saw you on my way back from hunting for my dinner. I thought it would be a very cruel thing if a girl like you would become a slave so I decided to rescue you.”

The girl paused for a while and she eyed Tuster for a moment. She only knew him for a few hours and she felt an emotion that she had never felt before in her life when she talked to him. She felt a sense of closeness to him and she could trust him. It was a little while before she broke the silence between them again.

“My name is Mercaine. I am the daughter of a merchant. My parents were killed by the bandits when they ambushed us. We were on our way to my uncle’s place in Humvale from Lestalk.” She started crying again.

“Look Mercaine,” Tuster reassured her. “I will take revenge for your parents by killing Norton. He will take the pain that he has put you through. I will defeat him, I promise.”

Mercaine managed a smile at Tuster. “I appreciate your kindness but we are still kids. Besides, Norton has scores of bandits under him. It will be difficult to even approach him.”

“Dun worry,” Tuster gave her a smile too. “Leave it to me. But first, I need to find Boulder. We will be safer with him around.”

“Who is Boulder?” asked Mercaine. Her eyes displayed a puzzled look.

“He is my guardian.” Tuster replied as he peeped at the entrance they had entered the cave from. There was no sound from outside. His pursuers must have given up chasing them. He turned back to Mercaine and checked his equipment. He still had his dagger and his dinner.

“I mean who is this guardian of yours?” Mercaine asked again.

“Boulder has been with me for as long as I can remember.” Tuster replied as he finally sat down on the floor facing her. “He’s been like a father to me. I treat him as my father and he treat me as his son. We have been taking care of each other since I was small.”

Mercaine paused and thought for a while. She was about to speak when Tuster interrupted her.

“Its time to go,” he said.

“Go?” Mercaine was puzzled. “Where are we going?”

“We need to get out of here. Norton Gilyers is the leader of the Bander Buccaneers and he doesn’t like people barging into his home and kidnap his slave. He will probably want to kill whoever’s involved with this. Makes him lose face in front of his underlings.” Tuster explained. “Come on. Let’s head by the west gate. We are going to Humvale to find your uncle”

Mercaine was about to protest but Tuster grabbed her hand and led her through the small tunnel, to the cellar and back onto the streets.