Caged: Book 2 Of the King's Hand Series Read online

  Caged

  Book 2 Of the King’s Hand Series

  Copyright © 2017 Brad A. Smith

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Brad A. Smith

  ISBN: 978-0-9994491-0-3

  Acknowledgement

  I wanted to thank my beautiful wife of 28 years for all her hard work assisting me in this endeavor. I also wanted to thank Doug for his assistance. Kevin, thanks for the awesome cover art along with Kannon.

  The cover art was done by Kevin Hicks of Hicks Graphics Co.

  https://www.facebook.com/hicksgraphicsco/

  Chapter 1: Hazel

  Chapter 2: Thieves and Pirates

  Chapter 3: The Painted Desert

  Chapter 4: Business Partners

  Chapter 5: Bank Heist and A Jail Break

  Chapter 6: Ogre Faced

  Chapter 7: Into the Endless Swamp

  Chapter 8: Pirate Captain Baal

  Maps can be found at the following web page.

  https://bksmith829.wixsite.com/1234

  Chapter 1

  Hazel

  Roland entered the Adventures Guild in the capitol. A beautiful young lady was sitting at the desk. “Imala, how have you been?”

  “Roland, it is so good to see you. We were worried about you and the other teams that went with you to Port Orchard.”

  Roland had signed on with a team from the Adventures Guild. The team leader was Mateo. They were one of three teams sent out to protect a caravan heading to Port Orchard. They had been attacked twice on that trip by orcs. Once they arrived in Port Orchard, they assisted the city and successfully defended it from orcs and pirates.

  “We did OK. The orcs weren’t hard to find and it’s not as if they are smart by any means. When I say they are stupid, believe me, they proved that time and again.”

  Imala had a look of excitement on her face when she said, “You will have to tell me all about it sometime. Sitting here at this desk is boring. I live an exciting life vicariously through all my adventure friends. So, when you get time I want to hear all about it. I also have a message for you. It was dropped of this morning. It just has your name on the front so I have no idea who sent it.”

  “Thank you Imala.” Roland tipped Imala for the delivery. Then he headed up the stairs to pay the guild tax. The guild charged 20% for all jobs taken with the Adventures Guild. This paid for the cost of Guild halls and other benefits the guild provided. Roland had just finished guarding a caravan that was returning from Port Orchard. It didn’t pay much, but when you needed to travel you might as well get paid for it. It was also good if he was to level up in the Guild. His next level was coming up and he needed at least 10 jobs completed for the guild.

  Roland had done more than was required, but to gain the next level he would need even more. So, to keep leveling up in the guild he continued taking on the caravan jobs. They were quick, easy, and convenient. He didn’t need the money. A few years ago he had killed an orc who possessed a Lava Stone. It was one of the largest stones anyone had ever seen. Mages use them on their staffs. Fire mages, especially, because it helps cast spells with greater magnitude, as well as greater efficiency. The guild had auctioned off the stone for Roland. No one knew whose stone it had been except the guild banker. He wasn’t telling anyone and Roland was sure he would never tell another soul. The amount of money Roland earned from the interest was enough for him to live on for the rest of his life.

  Roland was now 18. He didn’t let anyone know, but being 18 was exciting for him. Getting older was a bonus for him because he was a Half-Elf. His race would gain +2 dexterity every time he got a year older or whenever he leveled up in experience. This allowed him to concentrate on leveling intelligence, wisdom and endurance.

  He had acquired a number of rare skills. The first was Animal Bond. This innate skill was rare in Elves, however as a Half-Elf, Roland had a greater chance to acquire this particular skill. He had bonded a few years ago with a mountain wolf whose name was Shadow. They could communicate with each other no matter where they were. It was a type of telepathy. Roland benefitted because his own smell, sight, and hearing improved. Shadow became smarter on his part, and gained the ability to live a longer life. Roland would be blessed with his gifts for the rest of his life. Shadow would be smarter for the rest of his life, too, but his life span would be much shorter than Roland’s. It was the one thing about the Animal Bond that was bad. Heart ache would happen over and over for Roland. He would live several hundreds of years. The animals he bonded with would not.

  Roland had also inherited two skills from his parents. One was from his father, the other from his mother. His father gave him the skill of Tracking. Given the ability to track, along with the additional ability to smell like a mountain wolf, would bring success to Roland on his adventures. The only things Roland could not track were fish and birds.

  His mother was an Elf and she had taught Roland well. He knew both High Elf and Low Elf languages. She also taught him the skill of Illusion. This was his most useful skill at the moment. Because of the prejudices he faced, Roland always had an illusion cast upon himself. When entering into a human city, the only thing anyone saw was a young man with his dog. Shadow hated looking like a dog to get into a city. Roland was also taught Herbalism by his mother. The herbs would help with healing and mana regeneration, along with stamina. Several types of poisons could be made from the herbs as well. Elixirs and poisons worked over time whereas the potions sold by alchemist worked instantly.

  Roland walked into the office of the Guild where he paid his taxes. The old man behind the desk waited patiently. Roland paid his tax, as well as the taxes for Shadow. As far as Roland knew, Shadow was the only animal ever allowed to enter the Adventures Guild. It had to do with his real name. Because Roland knew what Shadow’s real name was, he was able to pay his fee to join, and to write his name down for him. When Shadow took a job with Roland, he was paid just like Roland so he paid the Guild tax just like Roland. Shadow didn’t care about the money or the jobs. He just wanted to be with Roland.

  After paying the taxes, Roland returned to his house near the southern gate of the capitol. He had rented the house before he departed to Port Orchard. He liked the additional privacy it afforded him and it was convenient getting Shadow in and out of the city. The gate was close enough that Roland could cast Invisibility on Shadow and he could get out of the gate before the illusion wore off.

  He unpacked and began cleaning his equipment and weapons. He put on a clean pair of buckskin shirts and pants that he had left at the house. He went across the street and dropped off the clothes he wore during his trip to be washed. On the way back, he picked up food from a street vendor. Shadow was off in the woods to the south hunting for his own food.

  Once Roland was back home and his hunger was satisfied, he picked up the envelope delivered to him by Imala earlier at the Guild. The envelope was made from a thick, expensive piece of paper. It was sealed with red wax in the shape of a dragon’s head. His name was written in calligraphy. The black ink looked to be of good quality. Roland broke the seal and pulled out the message.

  Dear Roland,

  It is good you have returned from your endeavors in Port Orchard and in one piece. I have been keeping track of what has been happening at the coast. Because of your absence, I haven’t been able to help train you in the mage school of Animal Bond. Please come by tomorrow morning so we can continue your education.

  Sincerely,

  Eli Shatris.

&
nbsp; Eli had the Animal Bond and was Roland’s mentor. He really didn’t train Roland other than discuss what could or couldn’t be done with the Animal Bond. The Animal Bond was an innate magic. You either possessed it or you didn’t. The training was a good reason to keep in contact with Eli. He was one of the King’s Hand, or rather he helped those who were the King’s Hand. These were men and women who worked for the crown as undercover operatives. Roland was very new to the King’s Hand and really didn’t know much, other than that they gave him jobs to do where the goal was to keep the country safe. They used the Guild as a cover to give Roland the jobs. The King’s Hand had its benefits and they had been kind to him.

  Roland possessed quite a number of skills already. Or, he felt like he had. In this world, every person could pull up a digital panel to check their status and skills. People could only look at their own panels. Skills were kept close to oneself. Skills were valuable and most of them were kept within guilds, or within families. Roland decided to access his panels since it had been a while since he had last checked his status.

  Level

  22

  Age

  18

  Health

  320

  Title:

  N/A

  Mana

  615

  Heath Regen

  0.001/Second

  Stamina

  375

  Mana Regen

  0.0005/Second

  Vitality

  32

  Stamina Regen

  0.01/Second

  Strength

  25

  Race

  Half-Elf

  Endurance

  50

  Bonus

  Dexterity +2 per level

  Dexterity

  78

  Wisdom:

  68

  Active Status Conditions

  Intelligence

  55

  Animal Bond

  Charisma

  9

  Available Points

  0

  He was doing well. He was within 3 levels of getting appointed to level 3 within the Adventures Guild. One had to be a level 25 and have performed 25 jobs for the Guild. They also had to be in good standing with the Guild. Roland had done way more than the required 25 jobs. In fact, he had lost count of the number of jobs he had completed for the Guild. His leveling up had slowed down considerably. The higher the level, the more difficult things became to advance to the next level. Being a member of the Adventures Guild meant anyone could level up at a faster pace. Leveling faster meant putting yourself into danger. Putting yourself into danger meant that the mortality rate of Adventurers was high.

  Roland was experienced in most of his skills. He was at Expert Level in Tracking, Archery, and Illusion. He was hoping to gain Expert Level in the other skills soon. The levels of skills started at Beginner followed by Experienced, Expert, and Master.

  Skill Panel

  Tracking

  Expert Level 3

  Archery

  Expert Level 2

  Herbalism

  Experienced 6

  Toughness

  Experienced 4

  Illusion

  Expert Level 8

  Meditation

  Experienced 4

  Knives

  Experienced 1

  His Illusion skill was his highest skill. He never went anywhere as himself. The world didn’t like hybrids and because he was half human and Half-Elf, humans looked down at him the same way elves looked down at him. So, he just went about with an Illusion upon himself, making himself look human. When he went into the woods, or out adventuring, he went camouflaged like the surrounding countryside. In the city at night, he would cast an Illusion that made himself and Shadow look like shadows. It was one of the few times Shadow liked having an Illusion cast upon him.

  Shadow returned home early in the evening. Roland and Shadow both went to bed before the sun set. Shortly after midnight, they both arose and headed out into the city. Roland cast an Illusion of shadow on himself and on Shadow. They really did look like shadows moving through the city. Roland took to the roofs, jumping from one building to another. Shadow took to the streets. They could patrol an area four times faster than any two guards of the realm. That, and they could scare the pants off any thief or thug.

  Roland was also getting used to his ring. He had taken a ring from a dead orc shaman. It was called the “Gossamer Ring.” If he put some mana into the ring, he became light as air. It lasted just a few minutes, but in those few minutes he could jump onto city walls, onto rooftops, or over small streams. He once tried to jump the Great River but he didn’t even make it a fourth of the way across before the power wore off.

  As far as Roland could tell, he was dropping five mana into the ring at a time. This would give him about one minute of air time. At most, he could put ten mana into the ring. This didn’t give him any more time, but he could jump higher. It wasn’t by much, so it didn’t give double the distance or height.

  Before, when he and Shadow stalked the slums in the capitol, Roland would have to come down from the roofs to make it across wide areas that he couldn’t jump across. Now, there wasn’t any place he couldn’t go in the city. Tonight, they were just working out how to use the ring effectively. Well, that was the plan.

  They were in the poorest part of town when they had scared away a pair of thieves who were waiting for an unsuspecting target. They were just being observant when a cry came up from an alleyway a few houses over. Roland was heading in that direction across the roofs while Shadow was stalking the street.

  Roland was listening carefully, trying to determine what the problem was. Then, he heard a gravelly voice. “None of that my little pet. I would hate to cut your throat before we could have some fun. You want to have a little fun don’t you? Now, I’m going to let go of your mouth. If you scream, I’m going to be forced to cut your throat. There isn’t a guard in this district anyway. All you would be doing is scaring the neighbors. Do you understand? Shake your head either yes or no. That’s a good girl.”

  Roland peered over the edge of the roof. A skinny man was standing behind a young girl with a knife to her throat. She was a street urchin. She was filthy. Her hair was a matted mess. Her clothes were a mish mash of discarded strips of cloth. A trickle of blood was dripping down her neck.

  The skinny man began to speak again. “Now, listen to me closely pet. I have friends who need some women where they live. There is a shortage of your type. You will probably otherwise die here in this city if I didn’t get you out. What we are going to give you is a future. Now, you be a good little pet and let’s walk down the street arm in arm. If you let out any type of alarm, I’ll have to kill you. I don’t want to kill you, so don’t force me to do such a harsh thing.”

  That was all Roland needed to hear. As the man and young girl were walking to the end of the alley, Shadow stepped into view, blocking the exit. Roland dropped down behind the couple. He grabbed the man’s knife hand, putting his own knife to the man’s neck. “I think you might have picked the wrong city to commit your crimes,” he said.

  The girl started to run, but Shadow had scared her so badly she just stopped and froze in place. When Roland suddenly appeared, she turned around and was scared even more than she was before, but she was also relieved. She was away from the evil man. She didn’t know what to do, so she remained frozen.

  Roland continued to speak to the man. “Now, I’m going to tell you what is going to happen. First, I am going to let this young girl go and you will never bother her, or any other girl, ever again. Second, I’m going to let you go but not until you’re punished. Am I making myself clear?”

  The man nodded his head in the affirmative. Roland then cracked him over the head, dropping him to the ground. He then cast the Illusion for looking human upon himself. His shadow disappeared. The girl was still in shock. Shadow kept an eye out for any more trouble.

  Roland spoke to the girl now.
“Listen to me. Everything is going to be fine. I’m not here to hurt you or take advantage of you. I do think you should get away from here for a bit. Do you have any place to go?” The girl shook her head. “Ok, then if you want, you can come with me. I’m not forcing you to go with me but I have a place for you to stay for the night that will be safe. Would you like to be safe for tonight?’ She nodded her head. “Follow me.”

  They began the walk back to Roland’s house. Shadow was a block ahead, looking for trouble to give warning. As they walked out of the alley, the girl rushed forward and grabbed Roland on the arm like it was her life line. She was shaking very badly.

  By the time they arrived at Roland’s house, the girl was doing better. He opened the door. The girl was a bit hesitant to enter, now that she was at the house. “It’s ok,” Roland said. “I’m not going to hurt you. This is my house. You can leave at any time you want.” Roland cast Persuasion on her. “I invite you to my home as protection. I will not harm you. I’m here to help.”

  They walked into the house and Roland lit a couple of candles for light. “My name is Roland by the way. I have a friend whom you saw in the alley. He followed us home. He is a protector. Just don’t be shocked when you see him. He is friendly.” Shadow came inside, and instead of dropping the shadow Illusion, Roland cast an Illusion to make Shadow look like a nice big fluffy dog. He didn’t think she could take a mountain wolf staring her in the face. Shadow didn’t actually mind the Illusion this time.

  Shadow walked up to the girl and licked her. She smiled and put her arms around him and gave him a big hug. Roland interrupted the embrace. “So, do you have a name?”