Chapter 6 - Part 1

Ermos

A hundred guards surrounded them. It was likely even more. All of them were armoured in steel plate, with their red surcoats hanging cleanly over the top. All of them had curved swords sheathed at their hips that they were able to draw at a moments notice, but for now, they all wielded their bows.

They had the strings taught all the way back, with an arrow notched and ready to be. It was difficult to predict when and if they would fire, for not even their eyes could be seen through the steel bucket helmets that they wore.

And then there was that voice, booming and annoying, as loud as a God's would want to be.

"LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS, STRANGERS, OR WE WILL BE LAYING DOWN YOUR LIVES!" The man roared. Ermos noted that he was clearly different to the rest, possibly a man of rank. He did not wear a helmet on his head like the others, nor did he have a bow in his hand, even his armour was rather strange, but one thing was for certain, the man was a warrior, one that had seen many battles.

"Oh no, we were a bit late, young Pash," Ermos said, not as annoyed as he otherwise might have been.

"It seems so master," his apprentice said, not showing as much fear as he once would have. Ermos was pleased to see that, if only because it made their aggressors more annoyed.

Better than his fiery young apprentice hardly showing a reaction was the colossal boulder hound that stood in front of them. Never had a creature been so feared and respected. With every tiny movement their hound made, the soldiers would jump several feet back, thinking that he would lunge out at them and gobble them up.

"DO YOU HEAR ME, STRANGER? I HAVE SEEN YOUR FACE. DO NOT THINK YOU CAN RUN. A BOUNTY WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU FLEE TO," that warrior bellowed again. His black hair was cut short in a crew cut and his face was hard and angular and littered with scars. He was an extremely large man as well, he towered over his men. Ermos noted his height with a frown. It seemed like everyone they were running into as of late was big.

"A bounty?" Ermos repeated, not liking the sound of that. He'd always thought about collecting bounties as a way to make himself rich, but never had he considered that he'd have one placed on him. "But we've done nothing wrong," he protested.

"YOU HAVE DISTURBED THE PEACE AND PRESENTED YOURSELF AS A THREAT. TO BRING A MONSTER SO CLOSE TO THE CITY WALLS IS ONLY TO INVITE THE HOSTILITY OF THE GUARDS. IF YOU WISH TO RIGHT YOUR WRONG, THEN SURRENDER YOURSELF, NOW."

"Why are you shouting?" Ermos asked.

"…I do not need to show courtesy to criminals," the man said, though he quietened down anyway. Rather than full steel armour, he wore a lighter black leather, with only steel shoulder pads and grieves. A belt ran from his shoulder to his hip and in it, there were sheathed five throwing knives.

If one were to merely look at his armour, then they'd be able to make the fair assumption that the man preferred to fight with a lighter weight, that he preferred speed rather than bulk. But then, the massive sword on his back contradicted all that. It was even bigger than he was. A straight slab of solid steel, three hands wide. Ermos had never seen anything so ridiculous.

"Look, I don't want to sound cocky, but aren't you guys being a little bold?" Ermos asked, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, he is a boulder hound after all. I don't really know what he'll do. It's best not to get on his nerves."

"Are you threatening me?" The man asked. Ermos noted that he did not say 'us', but instead chose to take the offence as though it was directed at him alone.

"Not really, I'm just trying to avoid something troublesome. You guys weren't doing your jobs properly and you were letting these entertainers abuse their animals, so we had to step in and set them free ourselves," Ermos said.

The man wrinkled his nose and looked towards the tent. The muffled screams of the entertainer could be heard coming from inside.

"What have you done with him?" The warrior asked.

"Nothing, we just locked him inside a cage," Ermos said with a shrug, "no harm done. He deserves worse, but I'm not the law, am I? I was just setting him up for you guys. It's one of those things, I forgot what you call them."

"Citizen's arrests?" Pash suggested.

"Yup, a citizen's arrest. We saw some trouble happening and so for the good of the people, we took care of it," Ermos folded his arms as he said that, rather pleased with the story he was concocting. Obviously, it was nothing like what he had said. Their decision to put the entertainer in a cage had merely been a matter of impulse.

"Are… Are you… Are you lacking a brain?" The warrior was growing so angry that he could hardly get his words out. His face was bright red with fury. "I will not stand here and take this. Do you not know who I am? Are you so foolish as to think that a mere boulder hound is enough of a weapon that you can talk down to me?"

"…I don't know?" Ermos said, not really sure what answer he was hoping for.