The New Game Master

He looked at Raven, "You think they are after me?"

Raven nodded. "Yes, Duke. When I sent you back to your wagon they were looking for 'your master.' The only wagon they came at was yours. If you had asked me to call you Duke or I did it on my own you could have died badly and quickly. Arrows or bolts sticking through you bad. That was why I was purposefully insolent during that encounter."

He nodded, "I was going to talk to you about that but I understand your reasoning."

Raven looked at him, "My father talked about the habit of addressing people by rank or saluting a superior officer during a time of war. It was a bad idea. That placed a target on that officer for any nearby assassin to see."

The rest of the dinner passes peacefully. Raven had not been assigned any tasks this evening other than guard duty in mid-shift. He finished cutting down his arrow shafts and put the saw away with the other tools. Both smokers were going good and the air was filled with the smell of mesquite. The night passed quietly. They did see movement but it was well out of bow range. They knew they were being watched.

They did nothing to alert them to this fact. Sex was kept to a minimum; meaning no sex because of our distinguished guest. This did not stop him from nailing his consort, while his page nailed his royal ass in the process. He did not seem to care that it was on full display to all of us. Raven rolled over and went to sleep when the Duke fisted his pages ass.

He fisted his ass while jerking the guy off at the same time. His consort was sucking the cum out of his royal ass. He had heard of kissing ass for a job but that was just fucked up. Morning came and they packed up camp and Rosetta changed up duty assignments and wagon locations for the next leg. Raven was back by wagon three which use to be wagon two.

Wagon two has been moved up one spot. Now they had two casters watching his fucking royal ass. He hunted along the way and the smoker was doing its job. Andrea was now in the back of wagon number 1 and kept an eye on the smoker. She had her crossbow at the ready and a second loaded and ready. Raven did the mending on the straps before the trip started.

Also, a couple of the saddles, especially the one he was using. The horse had healed up nicely and seemed to be responding well even though he was the one who launched the fireball. The hunting was non-existence from this position as the wagons made too much noise. He did his best to just focus on scouting for trouble. He moved out to the woods several feet.

He wanted to get a look around and see if there was anything he should note. He saw a sniper laying on a tree branch. He rode forward some and then launch his only spell at him. A Magic missile. It hits the guy and Raven had his attention. Olivia saw his missile and launches one of her own. The sniper fell from the tree but was still alive. Raven dove off of his horse and pinned him to the ground.

A fighter came up helping to secure the prisoner. Raven detected magic and his crossbow was enchanted as were several pieces of his gear. He looked over, "Olivia, This guy has a lot of magical gear on him. Armor, rings, boots, amulet, backpack, bag, crossbow, and gloves.

That does not count anything in the bag or backpack. This guy is loaded."

Olivia called out, "Hold up Rosetta. I have to check this guy out. He has gear that could help him escape then I need to identify it now. She got down while they have him held down. She starts by stripping off his accessible gear. Gloves, rings, amulet, boots, and bag.

She starts identifying stuff and she starts by yelling, "Holy shit!"

Rosetta comes walking up. "What?" Olivia looked at the guy? "Everything he has is high-end gear. From his mithril chain-mail, the gloves disappear and hide tools. Rings of resistance, shooting stars. Necklace of protection. This crossbow is a piece of work. Designed to pierce.

The bolts are poison gas. This guy is no cheap assassin. If the new guy had not popped him with that magic missile I would not have noticed him. I popped him with a maximized and heightened magic missile which was enough to knock him off balance. Then the new guy jumped on him to keep him from doing anything stupid.

She looked at Raven, "You handle yourself too well."

He smiled, "I prefer not to handle myself at all. Just let the ladies do that for me. For all, I knew they could have been exploding bolts."

The big burly fighter slaps him on the back and laughed. They got his weapons belt off of him and the good news keeps rolling.

She finished going through his gear and he has over twenty magical items on him. Olivia looked at me with all seriousness. "If he had shot me with that bolt it would have killed me."

She gave him a great big kiss. He grabbed her ass while she did it. I looked at her, "You were not the target. At least not his target. You're a beautiful lady and the target of many a man or woman."

She laughed at that and pulled away slowly. He looked at them, "He is not going to tell us anything. He has told us plenty."

Rosetta looked at Raven, "Like what?"

He looked at her, "They want him dead, but he must be carrying something they want.

They could have taken a wand of fireballs and just blasted the carriage apart. Instead, they want to poison the occupants stealthy. Then they can hopefully get in and search for what they want without us noticing it. We should check the woods for a horse. This is the kind of guy who works alone or with one partner.

If he has no horse waiting then he is likely working with someone up the road. That person would try and infiltrate the coach. They would have to do it before our next stop."

Rosetta looked at him, "Go check for a horse; see if you can track this guy. "Olivia laughed, "Those boots leave no tracks. That is their enchantment."

He looked at her, "I will ride straight out and then head in the direction of our caravan for a distance. If he was looking at coming down and riding ahead and then dropping in again a horse would be in that direction."

She shook her head at Raven, "No Frankus you go with him. We will try and extract something useful from this one. They rode for about twenty minutes. he saw the 'horse' and he stopped dead in his tracks, "Get Olivia. Tell her we have a nightmare out here."

He turned, "I will get her."

He returned with her and a few others, "She looked at Raven, "You might as well leave kid, this will require magical weapons." he looked at her, "I am an arcane archer; My arrows are magical."

She looked at him, "Prove it?"

He pulled an arrow and lined up a shot at the horse. he let the arrows fly and it sank straight into its side. They now had the creature's attention. She hit it with a cold-ray and the fighter went to engage as it charged at us. A few strikes later and the horse went ethereal and ran past the fighters. It headed straight for them.

Raven dropped his bow and pull his father's sword. As it reappears to take on the other caster. She got up a mirror image before it arrived. As it came back from the ethereal he struck it with the black blade. Olivia fired another magic missile into him. The fighters came in from behind and struck. Raven slammed the blade down hard again and the creature fell.

Olivia looked at me, "Where in the hell did you get that blade?"

He looked at her as he sheathed it, "It was part of my inheritance from my father."

She looked at him, "I knew your father. I heard he had died but had no idea he had a son."

He nodded, "Yes he died but he made it home before he died. It has been hidden away since then. I do not advertise having it."

She nodded, "It does have a history so that was wise. You do not use his name?"

He shook his head, "Better to use one of my own. Given the history of his name. He made a lot of enemies. I would rather have my own enemies."

She laughed, "I can understand that."

She looked at the other guys, "No mentioning of the sword to the others. They will find out in time. His father was a friend."

They nodded and patted him on the back. She handed Raven his bow. He looked at her, "I may be young but I do have some skills."

She smiled, "Yes you do. Rosetta is all talk about your skills."

He laughed, "I am happy to know I left an impression."

She smiled, "Oh yeah! You left an impression all right. She has been trying to talk me into joining you two for another night. Now that I know who you are. I think that might very well happen."

He looked at her, "Did it ever happen with my father?"

She looked at him, "A lady never kisses and tells?"

He laughed, "Rosetta did."

She looked back at him, "Well, to be honest. Yes, we had a moment or two. However, he could not accept the fact that I also enjoyed the company of a woman."

Raven smiled, "I find that odd because I find I enjoy the company of women."

She laughed as we cleaned out the assassin's saddle and saddlebags. The saddle was much better quality than Raven's saddle. he took it and put it on his horse. Along with the saddlebags as they were all non-magical. She nodded. "You earned that too."

She rode off as he sat there and skinned the nightmare.

He carried his old saddle and put it with the others. Rosetta looked at the new saddle, "Heard you had some fun out there."

He nodded, "Learned a lot about Olivia. Skinned another horse. This one was a nightmare. That skin might bring a pretty penny from an enchanter."

She nodded, "It just might be worth quite a bit actually. They are pretty rare. Olivia mentioned you two had a talk."

He nodded, "She knew my father. That also means she KNEW my father. She also told me you two have been talking about me."

Rosetta laughed, "I am surprised by that. We will have to talk about it later. The guys are waiting for you to pick two items from our former prisoner. You were correct he refused to talk, right up until the end."

He sighed and went over and looked at his gear. He liked the armor but was worried about how distinctive it might be. The armor was a black and gray coloring to it with no pattern. Worn under clothing it might be alright. He decided not to be too greedy. He went with the armor and the backpack. The others nodded, at his choices. Then they went through different people claimed different things.

He emptied his pack into his new backpack. The crossbow went to Andrea; which was a good choice for her. Olivia passed on the gear. Apparently, that gave her a higher position for the next choice. He asked, "How did I get two items?"

Rosetta looked at him, "Found the would-be assassin and then pinned him down. You are new yet you handle yourself well. You staved off two ambushes. You got two picks."

He nodded, "Alright. I wanted to make sure the protection and resistance items went out to different people. Spread the protection. That and I keep using your wagon for a lot of storage, I figured the backpack was a good option."

She smiled, "It will not hold all the extra saddles but your arrow making stuff and the skin you just picked up sure. As well as the current backpack stuff you have and old armor. It was a wise choice and a sweet choice.

The armor pattern is not known to me so I think you are safe on that front."

He smiled, "Then I guess I will have fewer layers." She laughed at that. She got the wagons moving again and the Duke stayed quiet as they worked over the assassin from what he heard. He tied off his horse to the back of her wagon and went inside the smoker area and change armor.

He stored his old stuff in the new pack. The smoker was not running at full right now as the 'hunters' in front had not brought anything in today. he went back out and got on his horse. Olivia looked at me, "Nice look for you archer. Now we just need to get a little bit more arcane into you."

He smiled as he got on his horse. He paced her for a moment. "Maybe it would rub off on me if I had an arcane sharing my bed."

She laughed her ass off on that comment. I went further back and the Duke looked at him, "You are no fool. You have worked to save me at least twice now. You are a brave man."

Raven smiled, "Duke. I am a fool. Those others who are going to be coming will be looking to take me out as well.

Because they will want my head right along with yours. Just as soon as they know who busted up the first two ambushes. My guess is they will come in force next time. They want something you have. Not just you dead. That I am certain of given the strategy today. I would move to the other carriage if I were you.

If he did have a partner he may come to search this carriage along the way." He nodded and left Raven to his duties. He remained in his carriage. he rode up to Rosetta, "Can I tie off on the carriage Olivia is driving and sit on the roof for a while? To keep an eye on her back. That and the royal fool's back."

She laughed, "Sure. Given what we have seen you are good with that bow.

It would be good to have a right seat guard today. But tie off to mine."

He nodded and tied his horse off to hers and climbed up with Olivia. She looked at him, "Something going on?"

He shook his head and got on the roof behind her. They sat back to back, "You watch my back and I watch yours. I fear someone jumping onto this roof and catching you by surprise. Let alone your passengers."

She patted his shoulder, "Thank you for that."

Fortunately, the rest of the day went by quietly enough. After evening meal Rosetta came up to me. "The Royal fool is not happy with the smoked rations. They are fine but he prefers variety. Can you go out with the hunting party first thing in the morning?"

He looked at her, "I could if I was not a split shift. I have to prepare spells in the morning. You put me on the first or third watch for this one night I could go hunting in the morning."

She looked at him, "You got the third watch tonight so you will be saddled and ready to go when I tell the guys to head out."

He nodded, "That will work." She smiled, "I try to work with the casters and your spells have helped. Also, your second night will happen. Olivia wants to join us."

He smiled, "How many days until we get to an inn?"

She laughed, "Too many."

He headed to his bedroll after eating. he slept until woken early so he could prepare spells. Rosetta took his shift. He got his spells ready. he took care of the straps on the smokers and another saddle before standing watch. The watch went by. Three of them head off hunting two people. Gregor and Sara.

he looked at them, "I hunt better alone but it is up to you."

They nodded and head off to the right side and he went off to the left. The wind was coming in from the left. He was downwind of anything. he went ahead and enter into the woods slowly. He followed a small hill and saw a few deer on one side and a bandit camp on the other.

He headed toward the dear slowly and they did not sense him. He took aim, shot, and dropped a small doe. The other five started to scatter and he put an arrow into a big buck who stumbled from the injury. He rode toward him as he tried to move off with a broken front leg. He sank two more arrows into him as he got closer to the road and he stayed down after he got a kill shot into him.

He went back and roped in the doe and drag it to the buck. I drug them both onto the road. He started back toward the caravan. He caught a crossbow bolt in the shoulder and kick the horse into high gear while still pulling the 2 deer. He leaned over the horse to lower his profile. A second bolt shot past him. He looked behind him and he had one pursuer on horseback.

he turned around and locked his feet into the stirrups. He took aim and put an arrow into the front of the pursuing horse and then a second. His horse slows up and he turned sideways. raven put one into him for good measure. Right through his leg and into his horse who reared up and threw him to the ground. He stood as the other two hunters came out of the woods and cut him down. He reached back and slowed his horse.

They saw Raven leaned over the back of his horse and they came riding toward him quickly. He looked at them as they approached and they had a few rabbits and a couple of turkeys. They look at what he had. Sara laughed, "Two deer and a bandit." He shook his head, "No two deer and a bandit camp. You might want to get that body on the horse.

Then help me drag these guys back so I can find a healer. She looked at the bolt sticking into his shoulder and she reached over and pulled the bolt and healed him. She looked at Raven, "Ranger!"

He smiled, "Nice, I had six deer and a bandit camp. I got two deer and one bandit who saw me. I do not know if he has friends coming or when he will be missed.

We should get going. They nodded and worked on getting the body and he worked on dragging the catch further down the road. He stopped and field clean them off to the side and then continue with the lighter load. They caught up to him without the body on the horse. She looked at me, "You nailed that horse pretty hard. We got the body on it.

We got her off the side of the road and put her down."

He nodded. They attached ropes and helped him pull the deer back toward the wagons. They saw them and Rosetta stopped as they rode in. She looked at Raven, "You are early we expected you further down the road."

Raven half laughed, "As do the bandits. I found these deer and a bandit camp.

The camp is off the left side of the road further down from where I drug these deer out. I left a nice trail onto the road. There was a hill in the woods and they are camped on the far side. I got nailed with a crossbow bolt by one as I was leaving the woods. I nailed his horse with two and then him with his horse for one.

The horse threw him and these two came in and finished him off. I counted almost two dozen in that camp. She looked at the catch, "Just load it. Leave the birds with Andrea she knows what feathers you like. I can assume you have a plan?"

He laughed, "Not unless you have more magical casters than two and a shit load of wands to blow that camp apart. The one thing I would recommend is getting the royal out of the carriages and into the back of the other wagons. Those carriages are going to be big targets."

She looked at me, "That idea was brought up with the Duke every night for the last three nights. No, go on getting him to move."

He smiled, "That confirms my suspicion. Ask him if he will move to the other carriage.

If not he is hauling something in that carriage these guys desperately want and it does not breath. If we are risking our lives then we should have a clue as to what we are risking our lives for. If it is something big we should have had a hell of a lot more guards."

He looked at Rosetta and she got down, "Get the animals in the wagon. I will go talk to him."

We got the animals loaded and she came walking back with the Duke screaming at her, "What do you mean you are abandoning us out here?!"

She looked at him, "You would not be alive to complain about it and whatever the fuck you are carrying. You are carrying something as you refuse to leave that carriage. We will leave that carriage and you can ride in the other one."

He screamed out, "All right the carriage has something in it! I cannot tell you what it is but the King wanted it moved."

Raven looked at him, "Duke you fool. How in the hell do these bandits know what in the fuck you are carrying unless someone wants it and you out of the picture? You do not have enough security to handle that kind of problem. So figure out what is important to you. Your lives or the 'secret' everyone know but the people protecting you."

He looked at Raven, "Both! We paid for extra security."

Raven laughed, "For you not for what you are hiding. She is willing to take you away if you leave the carriage. The question is. If it is so important you have to make us believe it."