Outside of town, a bald-headed giant of a man moved swiftly through the thick trees away from town. The tree trunks he called arms pushed away the thick underbrush and branches that got in his way. After a good distance, the man suddenly stopped, taking a look around, as if to get his bearings. Satisfied that he was in the right place, he raised a hand up to his mouth and issued what sounded like a very loud birdcall. The man then dropped his hand and waited.
He didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later he heard a slight bit of rustling not more than ten feet away from him. The rustling sounded more like a small animal; a squirrel or maybe something as large as a raccoon, but by no means could it be mistaken for a person. But sure enough, when he directed his attention to where the sound had come from, what looked like a child emerged from the underbrush.
As this new person came closer, the bald-headed man noticed the eyes of the child, eyes that showed more age than seemed apparent in the child-like person. Eyes that didn't seem to belong to such a small man. But man he was and when he saw the bald man, he quickly came forward, offering his hand. "Coron! It's about time you got back. I think the boss was getting worried."
The tall man, Coron, shook his head as he shot the smaller man a threatening glance before he answered him in what could safely be called a whisper. "Fer some'un who can move around as quietly as ya do, ya sure do have a big mouth. Just when I start think'n that the boss couldn't find a better lookout, ya hafta go and open that big mouth of yers. Fer the god's sake Teran, ya really need to learn to just shut up." Despite his harsh words, Coron couldn't keep a smile off his face. He really liked the little man, who was always good for a laugh.
Teran, not seeing the smile that now spread across Coron's face, frowned and turned back towards the woods without another word. His small legs carrying him quickly back towards the underbrush, the green traveling clothes the little man was wearing blending immediately with the rest of the forest. Coron, seeing the little man was waiting for no one, quickly made his way to where he had just watched Teran disappear and followed the little man.
Coron had been moving swiftly through the forest before, but now he was forced to increase his speed to keep up with Teran. Only when Coron could see the broken light of a large campfire through the thick foliage did he slow at all, sure that he could find the rest of the way to their camp without any more help. When he finally did come into the light, he found himself in a large clearing. Looking up he saw the clear night sky showing through the break in the trees. Coron found himself smiling. The boss sure can pick'em. I don't remember ever having a camp that worked out so well.
The camp did work quite well at that. They weren't too far out of town, but the thickness of the forest kept them from being discovered by the light of their fire. In this case, the boss even knew some paths that led from a place not far from this clearing to the town. Of course Coron and the other twenty or so members of their band were instructed to stay off these paths until the time was right since there might still be people walking these paths tonight. And so Coron was forced to push his way through the brush until he could get a guide back to camp.
Now, as he moved through the camp to the one tent that they kept with them, the bosses tent, he was relieved to not have obstructions every couple of feet. The two men who stood guard at the entrace to the tent let Coron through without so much as a glance. When he entered, Coron was amazed as he always was upon entering the tent. Softly glowing orbs hovered in midair right over the bosses small desk, orbs that emitted enough light to make it almost as bright as day. Coron had asked the boss several times about the strange orbs, but all he ever got in answer was They were a gift and a small twisted smile.
The boss was bent over the desk, looking at a self-made map. His head didn't lift until a few moments had passed. This gave Coron enough time to look over this average sized man that more than twenty men took orders from. A black cloak was wrapped around the man's shoulders, hiding the tight muscles that were normally apparent even through a shirt. Long hair, almost as dark as the cloak, was worn loose, obscuring the man's face. Only when he finally looked up at Coron was his face finally visible. The man's tight features betrayed no emotion, the deep set blue eyes that seemed to freeze even a man as large as Coron in place were locked on him now. Coron's eyes, as always, moved to the defining feature of the boss's face. A long scar ran from the man's eye down to his jaw line. Coron suddenly realized he was staring when he noticed a look of impatience suddenly come to the boss's face.
* * *
The man who everyone simply called "The Boss" sighed as he looked up at the man who had entered his tent a moment before. The giant of a man looked extremely nervous to the boss's eyes. When the boss noticed that Coron was staring at him, he quickly grew impatient. The giant quickly stammered out his report.
"Ev'rything is goin' exactly as you said it would boss. The entire town is caught up with this fest'val thing. I don't even think they've got any guards posted."
The boss rolled his eyes at this point and brought a hand up to the scar on his face, a sign of agitation in the powerul man. "Of course there'll be no guards. It's a damn festival promoting life. Anyone who goes there goes in peace." He was pretty sure he had explained this to the man before he sent him out on his scouting trip.
A big grin came to Coron's face, "Except us, right boss?" The grin quickly vanished when the boss answered it with a disgusted look. Coron began to back away slightly, as if he was growing wary at this. The boss could tell that the big man still didn't trust him entirely. The boss, however, was more disgusted with himself at the idea of attacking an innocent village at a time when they're most vulnerable than he was with Coron.
His thoughts were interupted by Coron's stammered words. "Boss. . . do you think I could maybe leave now?" He looked back to the giant's face, seeing the agitation and worry in the man's face.
He had just been wondering why he would be upset attacking when they're vulnerable, was he supposed to wait until they were prepared for his attack? At which time many of his men, including himself, could be killed. "Yes Coron, you can leave. Just tell the rest of the men we attack tomorrow at sundown. By that time all the booths should have made a great deal of money. And make it also clear to the men that I want no one killed in the attack tomorrow, our men or theirs. Do what you can to get the money, but nothing more. I'll not have us thought of as murderous thugs. So anyone who does any killing will be answering to me, understood?" The boss noticed the impatient and somewhat frightened look on Coron's face as the man kept edging toward the door. "Alright, you're dismissed Coron." The boss watched as Coron virtually ran from the tent. He found it funny that such a big man as Coron would scare so easily.
The boss turned back to his map, sighing heavily as he wondered, wondered as he had a thousand times before, How did I end up as leader of a band of thieves? His hand trailed up to the scar on his cheek as if it had the answer.
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