A simple delivery
Hello everyone, it’s time for the first story in the Roll of the Dice challenge. A Discord/Minds challenge I created myself.
The premise is I’ve selected some people from both Minds and Discord. And whoever’s name gets rolled up on my dice gets to give me a genre of story and the word it’s based around.
For my first challenge, I rolled a 4. So BayleyDosStraps, a friend of mine from Discord has come up. He chose the Genre: Adventure, and the Word: Warrior. Now with the mold set, let the adventure begin.
“By the Gods, when I signed up for the Warrior’s Guild, I wanted to become an adventurer!” Complained one Garrick Harland.
“To fight villains and be a renowned hero of the land. When does it include playing guard dog to a messenger?” The blonde-haired warrior growled in annoyance.
“Excuse me great hero! Pardon me if I’m not some damsel in distress or a great warrior on some kind of quest!” Growled the lanky messenger dressed in peasant garb.
All around the two the trees rang with spring, birds chirping. The sky above was partly cloudy.
Garrick sighed and looked over his gear not for the first time. The long sword he carried was in its scabbard ready to come out. His shield strapped to his left arm, his chain mail suit still new.
“Why did Guild Master Martin have to give me a lowly job such as escorting a petty messenger.” Garrick growled.
“You’ve done nothing but complain and gripe since this journey started." The messenger retorted in a cross tone.
"I’ve got a lumbering behemoth with no brains complaining and slowing me down! I could get these through easier on my own!” The chestnut-haired messenger complained.
The warrior glared at him. “You? Bah, you wouldn’t last long on your own in this forest. Between Ramoth and Velegrad there’s been reports of bandits causing trouble.” The warrior stated.
Garrick’s eyes glinted in open disdain.
“Now that is something I could deal with. Yet Guild Master Martin instead has me escort a messenger! I could be applying the combat skills I've trained in since I was old enough to hold a blade.”
The messenger grumbled something derogatory about the warrior.
“Since when is this lowly messenger so important?” Garrick growled as they continued down the forest road.
As they walked the warrior kept his ears tuned. Garrick's father had always said, “Boy pay attention to your surrounded. The warrior who doesn’t is most likely to get killed!”
The 19-year-old warrior knew better than to disregard his father’s words. He knew of some people who had not done so and paid for it with an injury or death. And the application of that lesson was what allowed him to pick up the faint sound of footsteps.
And then he heard the faint noise of a bowstring pulling back. Without another word the young warrior barreled into the messenger knocking him over. He raised his medium shield as he heard the twang of the bow release.
The arrow struck the metal shield and bounced off of it. Garrick swore and snapped, “We have bandits, run for it!”
The two ran as arrows fired from the forest yet missed them. “Hey, I thought you Warrior’s Guild members believed in standing and fighting!’
“There’s a difference between bravery and being stupid! Now shut up and run!” Garrick roared.
The two ran into the trees as more arrows flew by. Somehow the two managed to stay together as they made their way through the woodlands. Garrick’s blood pumped as they fled through the woods not daring to look back.
Garrick's father had always taught him never look behind. Always pay attention to what’s ahead if you need to run. Remembering that advice from his father was what saved them.
The two ran into a forest clearing. That’s when they saw the figure in blue and the two leather clad bandits come out of the woods. Garrick grabbed the messenger and the two dove to the ground.
Spikes made of pure ice shot past where they'd ran and struck the trees behind them.
The two got to their feet and Garrick felt his heart sink. The leader of the three before them was a man dressed in Ice blue wizard’s robes. His pale skin and sneer left no doubt in the young man’s mind about who this was.
“Norton ‘Iceheart’ Groarshum I presume?” Garrick inquired trying to sound more confident than he felt.
The wizard did a flamboyant bow. “With pride, what can I do for you?”
The messenger was on his feet his face paling. “Did you say Norton Groarshum? As in the renegade elemental wizard and master of Ice Magic? The one responsible for the slaughter of the town of Kenbraris?”
The man waved it off and quipped, “Oh come now! You’re making me blush at the knowledge of my accomplishments young Brandon Clarke.”
Garrick’s face furrowed but then saw the messenger’s face go even more pale. “How did you know my name?” the messenger asked.
The Ice Mage wagged a finger. “We wizards never give away our secrets. What I can say is I have ears in the cities of Ramoth and Velegrad.
"I know the rulers have been talking about dealing with my associates and this little group. I can’t allow that as we have our own plans for this region!”
The wizard then extended a hand. “Now hand over the documents you young whelps! Hand them over and I’ll make your deaths quick!”
Garrick drew his sword and readied himself. He stepped in front of the messenger and said, “You’ll not take him without going through me!”
The wizard laughed in derision. “A little amateur like you thinks they can battle me, how amusing.”
One of the two with the wizard stepped up. “Hey boss, you want us to skewer them now?”
The wizard smirked in amusement. “Patience Rogart, I like to play with my victims a little before I kill them.”
Garrick meanwhile was racing through his options. The evil renegade wizard was right, Garrick was no seasoned veteran. He didn’t even have any enchanted weaponry, or items.
So, he was at a clear disadvantage here. Wait a second, the young warrior thought as the idea struck him head on.
That’s not true, I do have a magical item! Mom and Uncle Graham’s gift to me. They said don’t use it unless it was for defensive purposes, well this is as defensive as it gets,
Garrick smiled and said, “Messenger Clarke, stay behind me, I have this!”
The wizard and his men let out derisive laughs. Finally, the wizard said, “You’re nothing if not amusing Garrick Harlund. What could you have against me?”
Garrick moved to his belt. He pulled the special enchanted alchemist fire his mother and uncle had given him. He tapped the cork which glowed a fiery red and shook it three times.
“How about this!” The warrior snapped.
He threw the bottle of liquid at them. The three stepped out of the way as the bottle shot past them and landed on the ground. Garrick turned to see Brandon grimace in consternation.
The warrior turned to see their opponents step back to where they'd been. The wizard chuckled and quipped, “You missed fools, now little boys you die!”
The man raised his hands over his head as they began to glow with mystic power. Brandon Clarke muttered, “Well you wanted adventure, you got it warrior! Only I don’t think we’ll be getting out of this alive.”
While Garrick heard the messenger, he was also intent on the red glow behind the wizard and his two lackeys!
“When I’m done gentleman, take the messenger's scroll case from them. Then feel free to use them for target practice.”
The two goons nodded and readied themselves. But then the thug Roggart asked, “Um boss, why does it feel like it’s getting warm and what’s that red glow behind us?”
The wizard glared at him in annoyance. “Roggart what are you blathering on ab….”
Whatever the arrogant wizard had been thinking died on his tongue as he turned around. He saw what Garrick had noticed. The magical enhancement spell his uncle Graham had put on was taking effect.
At which point the young man grabbed Brandon as they made a turn to the left. “Come on Messenger Clarke time to go!”
“What’s happening?” The other young man asked.
“Disaster, run for it!” The warrior yelped.
The two scrambled into the forest as the three men realized what was about to happen. The two young men dove into the cover of the forest as the bottle of enhanced alchemist fire exploded! Garrick felt his body shake from the power of the blast.
Garrick saw their enemies scream in horror and pain. Their flaming bodies flung into the sky like stones from a catapult. The gaping look of Clarke's face told Garrick he'd seen what happened too.
Garrick and the messenger got to their feet and crept out into the clearing. There they saw the charred remains of where the explosion had taken place. A crystal blue staff lay on the ground before them.
Garrick walked over to the staff and touched it. The staff wasn’t hot, in fact Garrick was able to pick it up. And then the true ramifications of what had happened struck the young warrior.
“I can’t believe my mom and Uncle Graham let me have something so dangerous! How could that only have been for defense?”
“Who cares, it got rid of those three didn’t it?” the messenger pointed out.
Garrick nodded, “Agreed, but best we make haste out of here. No telling when some more of those bandits will show up! And chances are they’ll be out for our blood in earnest soon.”
The two young men scrambled past the scene and into the woods. It didn’t take them long to find the cobbled road. The two continued at a very brisk jog.
It didn’t take them long to see the gates of the large city of Velegrad before them. As they approached the gates, they saw the guards at the gate had noticed them.
Brandon called out, “Message for Duchess Mera of Velegrad! Clear the way!”
One of the guard’s nodded and said, “You heard him, let these two through!”
The two rushed into the city, then they slowed to a walk. They travelled down the busy streets of the city and soon came to the Duchess’ palace.
Outside was the elegant and regal ruler dressed in her royal attire. Garrick recognized the other with her. It was Ronald Morgan, head of the Velegrad chapter of the Warrior’s Guild.
Young Brandon walked up to the Duchess. Both warrior and messenger bowed in respect. “Milady, I have a message and important information from Duke Carlick of Ramoth ma’am.” Brandon explained.
The woman nodded her approval. “Well done messenger, I’ve been expecting this information. Now Carlick and I can make plans on how to deal with these troublesome bandits in the region!”
Morgan approached his long black hair tied into a braid. He nodded his approval to the young warrior.
“Well done, Garrick. You did well in getting young Messenger Clarke through. You’ve done a great service for this region.”
And then his eyes widened as he saw what the young warrior carried. “Garrick, may I see that staff?” he ventured.
Young Harland did as the Guild head had asked. The Duchess saw what was going on and her eyes widened in surprise. “By all that’s holy, young warrior where did you get this from?"
“Your Ladyship that’s quite the tale.”
“Please tell us,” Morgan insisted.
Garrick related what had happened on the way to Velegrad. When he finished the Duchess explained, “Young man, you’ve done this city a greater service.
“Norton ‘Iceheart’ Groarshum was one of the leaders of the bandit group. They've been trying to seize control of the region from Carlick and myself." the ruler explained.
"By defeating that monster and taking his staff you've earned the bounty on the head of that fiend. In fact, by bringing me Winter's Heart, his staff, I will see you receive an extra bonus from my treasury.”
Garrick gaped then turned to the Guild head. He noticed the sheepish expression on his face. “Um, Guild Master are you all right?” the young warrior inquired.
“I’m fine but um…this is a little embarrassing.” He explained.
Garrick sighed and asked, “Sir what happened?”
“Well, I received a letter from my counterpart in Ramoth. He wanted me to send some men to find you. He forgot to mention the bandit leaders were powerful wizards.
"He figured you’d need some of the more experienced warriors to push through.”
At this Garrick gaped and thought, oh for the love of the Gods! Now Guild Master Warrens tells me!
And so, the 'Roll of the dice' challenge has begun. This was a simple story I admit. But I hope it was enjoyable and you’ll stay with me for this challenge.
Stay tuned readers because there’s more to come.
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