Search for Dastardly Part 6

And now for those who have been waiting for the "conclusion"... here's a part almost long enough to be split in two ;P  

In all seriousness though, the main scene worked better as a whole, and the epilogue should answer a few questions about other characters' motivations.

Previously on Search for Dastardly:

Renda, Waory and Nuff have discovered that there are remnants of the freelancer wandering around, remnants that Krotar will likely seek out if he wants to get his revenge.  Meanwhile, Sir Adrian has been captured by what appears to be a familiar face...

Adrian currently hoped that he could stall the crazy man long enough to figure a way out. The ropes binding his arms and legs were tight and not very thick, but it would be painful to rub the fibres together if he wanted to weaken them.

The room around him seemed to be a deserted publican, complete with barstools covered by white sheets and cobwebs lining the roof. The only possible weapon Adrian could think of was the old broom that rested against the wall.

There were two entrances: saloon doors to the knight's right and a pair of wooden doors behind the bar. Neither were close enough to reach before “Dastardly” or his accomplice could stop him.

'If you really are him,' he asked, 'then what is your real name?'

“Dastardly” hesitated before stuttering the line he had said three or four times since Adrian became conscious.

'...b...b...bai'm called Dastardly,' he said, his voice straining against something.

'What happened to that friend of yours, the one you told me about that time in Sponge Country?'

'Friend? I work alone, Sir Adrian. Anyone who I call friend just hasn't outlived their usefulness.'

'Yes, about that Dastardly,' said the dirty man with the raspy voice, 'what are we –'

'Silence! Listen to me when I'm being important.'

'Look, “Dastardly”,' the knight said. 'It should be obvious that I'm not very convinced. If there's nothing else I can help you with, I'd rather just be on my way.'

'Fred, there's someone outside. Can't you hear them yelling?'

The false Dastardly turned around and begun, 'For the last time, I'm not...' before the back doors burst open. Sitting astride Sal as she replaced her hoof was a knight.

'What the..?'

As the dust of the smashed wood settled, Nuff leapt into the room and fired a crossbow-like weapon at the ratty man. Out of the end came a small net that swung around the target's head, causing him to fall over. Nuff waved to the horse-rider and called out, 'yep, he's in here!'

“Dastardly” dived for the front doors but was too late as the armoured knight – wearing Adrian's armour! – dismounted the horse and threw the broom like a spear at the man's head. The false Dastardly went down and the knight approached Adrian. The figure removed it's helmet, revealing itself to be Renda.

'Aren't you a little...' Adrian continued despite his better judgement, '...shapely to fit that armour?'

'Aren't you a little tied up right now?' Renda replied drolly, though a friendly smile flashed across her face like lightening. She went to untie Adrian while Nuff thumped “Dastardly” with the butt of his shooting device. In the other corner of the room, the ratty man struggled to his feet, took one look at the man he had called Fred and ran out the back door.

'Leave him,' Adrian said. He brought his arms forward and massaged the wrists. 'Good job, by the way,' he nodded to the gnome. 'Clever little net-sling-thing you've got there.' The knight stood up and winked at Renda. 'And the broom? That was genius. How did you know where I was?'

Renda and Nuff exchanged guilty glances.

'Well there was your horse...'

'And gnomes have a good sense of direction...'

The mercenary sighed. 'You mean you didn't hear that?'

Adrian appeared puzzled. 'The ratty guy said he heard shouting.'

'We tried two other buildings on our way over here,' Renda grinned and ventured a shrug. 'So maybe people were a bit surprised.'

A heavy silence hung over the room, broken by the false Dastardly groaning.

'Did you find out what happened to Dastardly?'

Nuff gave the man on the floor another casual bump on the head. 'More or less.'

'What does that mean?'

Renda knelt down and grabbed the unconscious body's legs.

'Give me a hand?'

Adrian obligingly lifted the head and together they walked out the back door.

'The Book says that when the Regent poisoned Medieval, he left behind some remnants, separated from his body. I guess you've already met his face.' They swung the limp man over the horse's back.

The knight simply raised an eyebrow.

'Don't expect me to tell you how,' Renda said harshly. 'One remnant is the façade that he put up, including what he looks like and that silly name; the other – his soul – is in the Troll Underworld, whatever that could be.'

'What do we do next then?' said Adrian, poking his head back into the building. He then turned left to see Nuff waving to somebody. Waory rounded the corner of the alley and shook a large key at the others.

'The librarian told me where we can go to find out – hi Sir Adrian, glad to see you're alright – the place the book mentioned.'

'Slow down,' the mercenary said, removing Adrian's gauntlets from her smaller but certainly not dainty hands. 'What is that key?'

Waory stopped shaking it. 'This? Mr Parch said that we should take the key with us, as long as we're on our way to Skim. The Illuman book is safely locked away for now.'

'We're going to the river town?' Adrian was taken aback. 'What the heck for?'

'Mr Parch said that if we really want to find Dastardly, the real Dastardly, we need to go to the Liquid Library.' The advisor clearly didn't quite understand what that meant, but continued anyway. 'The easiest passage to the mountains over there is north of the river delta.'

'You can't be serious,' Adrian groaned. 'This is a quest you're talking about. Just when I thought this stuff was over...'

Renda shook her head. 'Don't you get it? Whatever happened to Medieval can't be normal. And we've got to keep one step ahead of Krotar! Let's get moving!'

Nuff sidled a little closer to Adrian.

'I don't think the knight's so stupid. Listen lady, you've been a big help since I met you, but we don't even know what this Krotar is after – all we have is your word that he wants the freelancer.'

Scowling, Renda threw the remaining armour pieces on the ground.

'I'll find him alone if I must. You three had better be ready for when Nius catches up on your trail.'

Waory jumped in front of her as she stormed up the alley.

'Hey wait, I need to –'

'Out of my way.'

'Hey, hey, hey people!' Adrian manoeuvred a shoulder between them and eyeballed the mercenary. 'None of us have a good reason just to turn on each other.'

'Oh yeah? Then why are you so reluctant to get going?'

Nuff switched tact. 'Do I sense a hint of softness for Mr Medieval?'

'It's not that at all.' The knight's face hardened. 'Renda always wanted to be an adventurer, that's why she joined the mercs. This is just an excuse to go gallivanting around the countryside after ideals and treasure.'

The woman opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but nothing came out.

'I knew I was right. This isn't about rescuing anybody. Nuff – was it her idea to burst through the door like a knight in shining armour?'

The gnome offered no rebuttal, and Renda's eyes stared, empty, into the middle distance while Adrian continued. 

'You want a reason to quest across the land and defy fate – right, Miss Rogue? You want to laugh in the face of Death. Let me tell you, Renda, I've seen Death, and she's the one thing you don't make light of.'

Waory backed away as the mercenary slumped to the ground.

'Wow,' she said. 'You certainly know how to wind a girl.'

From her kneeling position, Renda looked up into Adrian's stern eyes. They appeared to soften a fraction. Then, she thrust her fist between his legs.

The knight squeaked and toppled backward, hands covering his crotch.

'That was low,' he said, in a voice that was anything but. The mercenary stood up.

'Thank you for wrapping up everything I am into one neat package.' She spat on the ground beside the knight. 'Bet you wished you kept your armour on now, right?'

When Adrian had finished making the sounds of a dying mouse, she offered a hand to help him up.

'We're going to Skim, Sir Knight, and on the way you can tell me all about my adventurous aspirations.' Renda glanced at Waory, who had managed to hide behind the far wall of the building without apparently moving.

'Regent's advisor, would you care to show us the way out of the city?'

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Epilogue

Mr Parch the librarian choked, his eyes rolling towards the ground. Nius, whose hair and beard ringed his face like a lion's mane, released his grasp on the librarian's neck but remained holding the knife blade to his throat.

'The Land-Regent knew everything about what was going on in the north,' said Krotar calmly. 'We simply wanted to do his job so we could get close enough to steal the Book.  Not only did that fool Medieval beat me to Hox, now the Regent's in prison and the Book is back here. My friend doesn't like that. He needs the Book, and I need Dastardly gone. Give us the whereabouts of both and you'll live to see another dry, musty, indoors day.'

'I can't give it to you,' Mr Parch said, still whispering, though much more frantically. 'The other librarians are the only ones who can unlock the quarantine vault...'

'Then give us your key,' Krotar said. 'We'll leave you alive at least until we come back.'

Nius grinned like a carnivore before pouncing. He opened his mouth to release a sound that shall not be described here, but it was a sound that shook the librarian's psyche to the core.

'I can't.'  Mr Parch tried to smile for his small success. 'It's out of the city by now.'

'Don't worry,' Krotar sneered. 'We already know who you gave it to.'

With that, Nius sniffed the air and directed the enthralled mercenary out of the library. They were on the trail – on the hunt for prey.

To be continued in the Ongoing Adventures.