Knights of the Road 6

by Pfantazm

"Can I talk to you, Madoc?" Lennox asked the next morning.
"Of course," the High Guard replied as he pulled his tunic over his head.
The redhead looked around at the others. "In private?"
"We'll go down to the stables." Madoc grabbed his tabard and they headed down the stairs.
Lennox waited until they were on the ground floor to speak. "Bastian and I both heard what you and Thom said yesterday while you were carrying down the bed. Thom told me you two have had arguments like that before."
"He did?" Madoc stopped at the side door and turned to look at him.
"He said he didn't understand why you were sorry about one of the castle guards getting thrown out. The guard trying taking your face off?"
"Yes. We did have a disagreement about that." Someone was coming near to enter the inn with a sack of flour. Madoc stepped inside to let him pass, then continued on to the stables. He slipped into his tabard.
When they were alone, Lennox continued. "Most thieves live by a code. They don't steal from each other unless there's a problem between them. If someone has set his cap for something, the job is his and no one else takes a shot at it. That kind of thing.
"Thom's sense of right and wrong is stronger than it is in most thieves, but it's still not the same as yours."
They were now standing at Fleetfire's stall. "I don't understand why you were troubled about the guard, and I do understand why Thom is angry about Kraid.
"That was part of his legend, you see. No matter how rough a spot he got into with the guards, he had no blood on his hands, and now that's changed."
"Are you saying he still thinks of himself as the Dark Rogue? As a thief?" Madoc asked.
"Not exactly. I believe that he's stopped stealing, but the legend was very important to him. It made him who he was.
"What I think you need to do is to give him some time to get it right in his mind. He doesn't think about these things the same way you do. If you press, he'll only fight you. He'll figure it out, though."
Madoc looked at Lennox over Fleetfire's back. "How do you know?"
Lennox shrugged. "I see your side of it. So will he."
"Are you Sir Thom?" asked a female voice.
Madoc looked over his shoulders at her. She was standing nervously at the street entrance to the stable, as though something bad would happen if she were to step inside.
"No, I'm Thom's partner, Sir Madoc. Can I help you?"
"My name is Trissa, goodknight. My husband was the man who... well, Thom saved his life." She took a pot out of the bag she had with her. "I wanted to thank him for saving my husband."
Sir Madoc smiled. "He is preparing to leave, upstairs. I can take you to him, m'lady."
Trissa smiled as Sir Madoc took her arm and escorted her into the building. Lennox followed behind, curious.
Madoc seated her in the common room, introduced her to Lennox, and went to fetch Thom.
"Thom saved your husband?"
"Yes. He was one of the guards the town hired on for the Festival. I told him it was dangerous, but he insisted. It was a way to make some extra coin, he said. I told him, `You're only a tinsmith. You don't know anything about guarding a city gate.' Off he went, though, and he enlisted."
"What happened with Thom?"
"From what I gather, he came running to the garrison asking for help catching Kraid, of all people, and instead of sending the real guards, they sent bakers and butchers, and my husband. They catch him and my Gyles lays his hand on him. Kraid gets hold of a knife and--" The tinsmith's wife recoiled from the thought. "From there, Sir Thom took care of him: got him to the garrison and had the knife checked to find out what poison the fiend had on the blade. Lady Rumour even says Sir Thom killed Kraid himself."
"How is your husband now?"
"He's home resting in bed. I think he just likes the lazing around, but I'm so glad to have him still, I don't care. His friends have come by to see him, and to see `Kraid's last mark on him,' as he calls it. Trissa rolled her eyes.
Lennox heard Madoc and the others enter the common room.
"The cut wasn't deep, thank Katusha. They found an antidote to the poison, what was it, shadowwort, shadow--"
"Shadowbane," Lennox said grimly. Every thief knew of someone who'd died the slow, painful death of the toxin after tripping the wrong defense. That Kraid, a one who fancied himself a thief, would use it angered Lennox.
"Yes! That was it. What I know is, if Sir Thom hadn't acted just when he did, my dear Gyles would be dead today."
"M'lady Trissa?" Madoc said. The woman turned to look. "This is Thom."
The knight-errant stepped forward. "How do you do?"
"I'm well, and thanks to you, so is my husband."
"I heard you telling Lennox about it. Your husband is very lucky."
"If he is, it's because Katusha acted through you." She held the pot out to him. "I'd like you to have this. You deserve more, but it's all we can spare."
Thom remembered the Code of Chivalry. He was to refuse once. "You don't need to do that, goodwoman."
"Sir Thom, you gave the man I love back to me. Please."
He took it, awkwardly, and said thank-you.
Trissa smiled, stood up, said her goodbyes, and, kissing Thom, left the tavern.
"Lennox," Thom said, "could you use a tin pot?"
"I suppose I--"
"Here, then." He tossed it to Lennox and turned to go back upstairs.
"Thom?" Madoc began.
"Don't," his partner warned before heading back up to the garret.
Lennox stood up and laid a hand on Madoc's shoulder. "He needs some time, Sir Madoc," he reminded him.
The High Guard nodded and went back out to the stables.
The three horses were resting.
The four men had ridden back eastward through Erral Pass and northwards again toward the area Bastian and Lennox had divined Damon to be in.
"Do you know what happened in the room where you were recuperating?" Madoc asked before biting into his pear.
"We think," Bastian replied, "that when Lennox healed me, he stopped too late.
"What he seems to do is to take whatever magic I am doing and reflect it back at myself. After any discharge of magick, a mage starts to produce more. It may be that when a mage burns out, he does not use all of his power up, but nearly all. It would take more than my lifetime to recover with what little magick I still had in me after saving Lennox."
The redhead nestled closer to Sir Bastian at the sound of his name.
"However, Lennox was helping me to recover, and he was speeding it up. It eventually got to where I had far more magick than I had when I was on my way to the warehouse."
Thom looked stunned.
"Do you still have it?" Madoc asked.
"No. It has dissipated. I used up most of it in the room that afternoon. That's what all the commotion was: the excess power discharging.
"I learned that I have many more spell points I can try to develop. They're very faint, though. I think it was through one of them that we found Damon.
"Can you tell where he is now?"
"Almost. We have a vague sense of where he is," Lennox said. "I don't remember much, but I know I could do things. Now all I have is a faint connection to where Damon is."
"You said he didn't have a horse. Is that still true?"
They thought a moment, then said, in unison, "I think so." Lennox finished, "He's moving slowly enough."
Thom and Madoc looked at each other. The High Guard simply said, "We should still try to catch him quickly before he comes by a mount."
"In this country?" Thom said. "I think there's scant chance of that, but I agree. No sense dragging this out. We catch him, and that's the end of it."
Bastian and Lennox led the party to Damon, but it was Thom who spotted him first.
They rode up close and dismounted. Lennox led the horses away, to keep Damon from getting them, and the others raced after him on foot. The last Marauder heard them coming and fled along a mountain ledge.
The knights closed in on him. Their quarry had been walking for quite some time, while the others had been riding. The distance between them lessened as the pursuit went on.
Damon ducked into a cave, hoping to hide.
The three approached. "Isn't that--?" Bastian whispered. Thom and Madoc nodded vigorously. It was the cave they had slept in, the one that had led to the dragon's lair.
Madoc whispered into Thom's ear. "Take Bastian and go to the exit we found. I'll flush him out."
Thom looked grim, but couldn't argue. He was no match for Damon, and Bastian would not be able to find the exit alone. "Be careful," he whispered back. The knight-errant and the mage hurried off.
Madoc licked his lips. His back was pressed to the stone near the cave entrance. He took a deep breath and dashed inside.
He remembered the layout of this chamber, more or less. It was vaguely round. The floor was gritty soil. The only way further into the mountains was down a sinkhole to the back. The cave was not very well lit, even on this bright afternoon. He didn't recall there being a hiding place in here, but the knight kept an eye on the entrance, just in case.
Madoc crept around the perimeter of the cavern, his sword out and ready. He had to move cautiously but he needed to keep pace with Damon.
When he was sure Damon had moved on, he dropped down the hole leading to the next chamber.
This section of the cave had changed. The small sinkhole in the roof had widened considerably, lighting the large space. The passage Madoc and Thom had taken was now a blob of dark, black rock. Madoc guessed that the dragon had caused a small eruption, sealing off its tomb. That meant Damon had to be here.
"You're trapped, Damon," Sir Madoc called out. "I've been in this cave before. You can't climb out the roof, you can't go back the way we came, and there are no other open passages. The only way out is by rope. I don't have one, and I don't think you do either."
"Then yeh're trapped wi' me, knight."
Madoc couldn't be sure where the voice had come from, but he'd found his quarry.
"Why don't you step out where I can see you?" Madoc said.
"Why do I need teh? Yeh know I'm here. And I can see ye good and fine from here." Damon chuckled from the back of his throat. "Where's 'at scrappy little blond friend o' yehrs who made such a mess of our camp that first time? I've seen 'im wi' yeh before. Came into our home calling himself Dark Rogue, and saved ye. Lady Rumour says 'e's passed on and ere I see him alive. What is he, 'zactly? Knight, or thief?"
"Knight, and nearby."
"`Forthright and true'?"
That was from the Knight's Oath. Was it coincidence? Damon couldn't know it....
"Funny how yeh don't answer that one," Damon said.
"What does it matter to you, Damon? I have you. Either you die today or tomorrow at dawn after all of your kind."
"Are yeh sure yeh have me? Or do I have ye?"
A third voice came from above. "Sir Madoc?"
"Lenny!" Damon yelled jovially. "Such a joy teh hear yehr voice again. It's been too long a while. Why don't yeh drop in?"
"Damon and I are both trapped here, Lennox. Go get Thom and Bastian, and a rope. Thom will know where this is. Just mention the hole in the roof."
"I'm going," Lennox said.
"Yes, run, Lenny! Run teh the pigs, yeh rat! I'll finish yeh later." Damon laughed again.
"And now we wait," Madoc said, still ready.
"Will yeh look a' ye? Standin' there like I'm going teh jump out the shadows and take a bite out yehr leg. Yeh're my way out, Sir Madoc. I kill ye and them three'll leave me in here teh rot.
"This isn't a way for two men of action teh be settling this. We'll do this like men."
A sword came out of the darkness to land in the patch of sunlight.
"You think I'll trust you?" Madoc asked. "I remember what you did to me. You have no honor."
"`I pledge my life, soul, and body teh the Crown. No force on this plane or any other will stay me from my duty. I will be a knight of the realm, forthright and true.'"
Sir Madoc stood dumbfounded.
Damon cackled. "Yeh know there's only one way I could be reciting the Knight's Oath teh ye. Hate teh say it, but I was a pig meself."
"What happened?"
"Got meself thrown out. Brutality, they said. Can yeh imagine?" He laughed at his own joke. "I have the honor, Sir Madoc. I just have no reason left teh be loyal.
"Now ye, yeh're something else. Yeh took a lot of punishment from me. Yeh're still walking besides. Yeh were the kind of man I was proud teh have as brother-in-arms. Yeh were caught on the shade in that field, the Marauders sneaking up and grabbing yeh. Not sporting 'tall.
"Why don't yeh get rid o' that sword and get rid o' mine too, and we'll settle that. I want to know if yeh're good enough teh beat me on the square."
Madoc didn't move.
"The brethren meant a lot teh me, Madoc. Losing that was nearly the end of me. I swear, as a Knight of the Realm, it'll be a fair match. We grapple to a fall and pin, and that's the finish."
Madoc walked into the center and hefted Damon's sword. He backed to the wall and rammed it into the rock. "Come out into the light."
Damon stepped forward, while Madoc was still in shadow. He stood an inch or two taller than Madoc. A trim, black beard framed a wickedly grinning mouth. His heavy brow kept his eyes in darkness.
"The belt. Throw it here," Madoc commanded.
Damon unbuckled it and threw it, and the knife it held, over to the knight. He picked it up and pitched the dagger where he hoped Damon wouldn't see it.
The bandit's red tunic hung straight down. The faded green trousers he wore were losing their dye with age. "I've done my bit. As a man of honor, I expect the same of ye."
Madoc hesitated, then drew his sword and rammed it into the wall. Damon's grin broadened.
Both men began to strip. Damon kicked off his boots and tossed them aside.
Madoc folded his tabard carefully and set it down.
"Ground rules," Damon said as he undid his pants. "This sandy dirt here should be plenty soft. We stay in here. We get too close teh the bare rock, we move back to the middle."
"Agreed," Madoc said as he unrolled his hose. "The first fall and pin decides the winner. I don't want to be all day at this."
Damon laughed at this. "I feel the same." Off came the red tunic.
His body was crisscrossed with old scars. The fur covering his chest was parted by pale trenches of scarred flesh. He wore only the brief double- triangle that kept him decent.
Madoc stepped out, similarly unclad.
"The marks I left on yeh. They've gone. I've kept mine." Damon turned to the side and raised his arm. There was a nasty red gash in his side where Madoc had stabbed him in the shack. "I nearly died o' that. I was very lucky. Fair is fair. No hard feelings."
"Let's just get this done."
Damon held out his hand. "I'll enjoy this."
Sir Madoc shook it without a word.
Fist in fist, they crouched slightly. Then their bodies collided as the test of strength started.
Damon overpowered Madoc and forced him to the ground. The knight felt the soil scratch into his hip as he landed. The two men struggled to gain an advantage over the other. Madoc wrapped a leg behind Damon's thigh and tried to pull himself up on top. Instead, Damon rolled them both over and ended up on top of Madoc's leg.
The knight pushed the robber's body away with his arms. He dug his free heel into the dirt to brace himself. Damon hooked his own leg around Madoc's. He was climbing on top of him.
Madoc twisted his body and pulled himself half out from underneath the bigger man. He used the momentum to flip Damon onto his back. Madoc tried to get onto Damon, but the robber reached up and threw him clear over his body. Madoc landed on his knees, and he scrambled to his feet, ready for another attack.
Damon was standing now as well, and he laughed. "No more play, now, Madoc."
He came at Madoc, but the knight dodged. He wrenched Damon's arm behind his back. His other arm tensed around Damon's neck.
The robber tried to flip Madoc over his back, but the knight jerked against him to stay on his feet. Damon tried again and succeeded this time, laying the knight flat on his back.
Madoc began to sit up, but Damon skipped around and pressed him back into the dirt, his body crossways on top of him.
Madoc gritted his teeth and tried to heft the bigger man away, but Damon's size was against him. His shoulders fell flat to the ground.
Damon counted. "One... two..."
With one quick burst of strength, Madoc jerked up and got himself out of the pin.
Damon continued to dominate the fight, leaving Madoc struggling to keep his shoulders from the floor of the cave. Madoc was tiring, but at least Damon seemed to be wearing out as well.
Madoc was on all fours, Damon over him. The knight was tensing his limbs to keep the highwayman from pushing him over. When he judged the moment was right, he turned quickly and reversed the hold. Damon tumbled onto his back.
Sir Madoc pounced on top of his opponent and pressed down on him.
"One..." he counted.
The robber squirmed, trying to force the knight off, but Madoc stayed fast.
"Two..."
Madoc saw Damon prepare for one last-ditch push, just as he had done earlier. Damon swung his legs up. Madoc forced a knee between his and pushed down.
"Three!"
Damon collapsed. The guard maintained his position. "Yeh beat me," he said.
Now Madoc relaxed. He was breathing heavily. He was drenched with sweat and both men's skin radiated heat from exertion.
"I did," Madoc said. He stood up and retrieved his shirt to wipe his face.
"Yeh beat me fair and square, Madoc."
This time there was no warning. The knight was grabbed from behind and picked up. "I haven't fought fair in years." Damon threw him across the cave.
Sir Madoc landed badly. Before he could get up, Damon was on him again. He grabbed Madoc by the hair and smallclothes and pulled him to his feet. His eyes watered in pain.
In retaliation, Madoc grabbed the highwayman's neck. If he could choke him into unconsciousness, he could wait for the others.
Instead, Damon kicked Madoc's foot out from under him, and he fell down with a yelp. The bigger man was left clutching a handful of cloth.
The two really grappled now, hands in faces, grabbing arms and rolling around in the dirt.
Madoc kicked against the robber, scrabbling to find purchase to pull away even as Damon gripped him.
In the end, Damon got the knight on his stomach, the full length of his body atop him. The robber's legs were around those of the knight.
Sir Madoc was immobilized.
Damon's undergarment had torn and twisted, exposing his penis. It was rock hard against Madoc's exposed rear end. The knight stayed frozen as Damon shifted around.
His cock grated against Madoc's skin. Wetness flowed slowly in between the cheeks of the knight's ass.
Sir Madoc had no emotional connection with Damon, as he did with Thom, but he knew what the bigger man was thinking.
"Do it," Madoc whispered.
Damon stopped moving.
"Just let me get to my knees. It'll work better for you."
The bearded man paused to let it sink in what he was hearing, then roughly picked his captive up off the ground. Madoc found himself on all fours, with Damon's on hand on his shoulder, and the other on his balls, gripping tightly. Madoc knew Damon could grip more tightly if he tried anything.
The knight's body was trembling. His eyes were wide and his teeth were clenched. It would take Damon only a moment to decide to go through with it, and then....
He screamed in pain as Damon's cock entered him. He'd done it in one solid stroke. He felt tears at his eyes as the searing pain drove through him.
The robber was moaning as he penetrated him. He felt hot breath on his neck, and a hairy chest across his back. Holding him as he was, Damon was very close to him. Madoc's own body was twisted and tense with pain, and Damon was everywhere around him, through him.
Damon pulled back, then rammed forward again. The knight felt as though he were being torn up by Damon's stiff dick. All he could do was bear down against the pain.
Another shout escaped his lips. Damon groaned an "Oh, yeah," into his ear. His ass became more tender with every thrust of Damon's hips.
In time, the hurt did fade some, and Madoc could concentrate on the sensation of being fucked. Damon's monster buried itself deeply within him time and again. It rubbed against that place inside him where Thom had felt with his fingers, only now the feeling was much more intense.
Madoc squeezed, as he sometimes did when he jerked off and his pleasure grew when he did it.
Both men moaned. Damon sped up. Madoc dared to do it again. The robber growled contentedly.
The hand that held Madoc's balls released its grip some and began to roam. It drifted up Madoc's shaft. He was erect too.
Damon reached back with his other hand and tore off the rest of his smallclothes as they fucked. His fingers slid up to the crown of Madoc's hard cock as they felt their way along. His first arm returned and wrapped itself around Madoc's chest.
The knight's flexing around Damon's manhood finally pushed Madoc past the brink. He came just as the fingers got to the head and they caught sticky fluid all over them.
"Fuckin' 'ell, yeah, yeah, yeah...!" Damon panted as he slammed his hips against Madoc's form and released his own cum into the knight's guts.
Afterwards, they stilled again as realizations of what had happened crept over them.
Suddenly the highwayman pulled out and stood up. Madoc turned back to look. He saw Damon's penis with spots of brown and red before they were wiped away in his torn smallclothes. Damon dressed.
Madoc got up and did likewise, assuming he was free to move again. He ached all over.
The tone in the cave had changed. Damon was clearly on edge. He kept looking back at Madoc, his brown eyes just a little too wide, his jaw set just a little too tensely.
Damon pulled his boots on and dashed for the cave wall. He was headed for the swords. In just his tunic, Madoc raced after him.
The robber made it to the wall first and tugged on Madoc's sword. The knight arrived a moment later and freed Damon's weapon easily. The blade flew to Damon's throat. "Don't move!" he commanded.
Damon's mouth was open. He let go of the hilt of the other sword. "You left my sword free? But ye're not supposed to be sneaky. Yeh wouldn't 'ave...."
"Thom is a knight, but he wasn't always. I'm learning from him. I never trusted you completely. Up against the far wall!"
Damon backed away, genuine fear in his eyes.

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