Outside the palace, sounds of battle permeated through the 11 foot tall rectangular red hedges encircling the huge garden. In the center lay a destroyed fountain and exotic plants. Near the exit of the garden stood an almost black, green-scaled wyvern that reflected the sun setting rays of light. Standing nearly 16 feet tall on its massive two legs and it's extended wings reaching 100 feet easily tip to tip.
In front of this colossal being was a 5-foot man holding a 4 ft bo-staff fighting 6 knights at the same time. The speed the staff moved at wasn't visible to the naked eye as it kept these soldiers from advancing.
"Bjorn, do something" shouted the man holding the bo staff. The statue-like Wyvern was watching the scene in front of it with disinterest as it was focusing in front of it watching the doors that were behind the soldiers.
With a lunge, the beast latched onto an unlucky knight and threw it outside the garden over the hedges. With only 5 knights left, the Wyvern sprayed a translucent green mist from its mouth that seemed to seep into the knights and not the man in front of it.
The knights with wide eyes froze, unable to move as the mist paralyzed them. Soon after the bo staff, like a spring struck the soldiers as it punched straight through their heads and they fell lifeless to the ground in quick succession.
"You owe me a drink when we get back to HQ Graham" rumbled the beast as it began to shrink until it morphed into a 7-foot tall man with black short hair, a bulky frame, and two sharp green eyes with a faint scar underneath the left one. The man was garbed in dazzling green armor and had two sabers on his waist that had Golden handles and dark-blue scabbards.
"That's what you think Bjorn" laughed Graham, the 5-foot man. He had soft green eyes with blue pupils and was bald. He wore a simple grey cloak that covered his white leather-like armor. "Since the guards were mobilized, he's probably been arrested and jailed, we should retreat back to the safe-house and plan our next moves. Put your cloak on and blend in the crowd at the market-place. It won't be long until more knights come. See you later Bjorn." As he finished speaking he dashed out of the ruined garden towards the merchant stalls in the streets followed swiftly by Bjorn.
As they were almost out of sight, the doors that lead into the palace from the garden burst open as a platoon of 15 knights charged out with weapons drawn. Sadly, only to find their comrades dead and the garden ruined. They all trembled slightly as they thought of how the Emperor would react to his precious garden ruined. The knights charged through the garden towards the departing rebels, leaving two behind to take care of the dead knights.
As they ran Graham turned around to throw five poison darts towards the advancing knights. Four knights died from the darts lodging into their necks, while one just managed to block it with his bracer. As the two groups ran, this happened continuously until the marketplace came in sight. The two cloaked rebels ran into the crowd, almost as if they disappeared. The approaching knights, now widdled down to a group of six unbuckled their scabbard and started pushing through the crowd using their scabbard. After searching for an hour, they gave up and headed back to report to the no doubt, furious Kutsiva.
***
In a room of a small inn resided Bjorn sitting at a table eating some ribs with a tankard of mead on the side. There were three sharp knocks, then the door opened to a hooded figure walk in and sit at the table with him. "You really should eat more Graham, you look like A walking skeleton when you wear that" laughed Bjorn as he gulped some ale down.
Graham took off his cape and rested it on the back of his chair. "I probably would eat more if you didn't eat all the food we order" retorted Graham as he grinned at the man in front of him. "Well if you'd buy my drinks then I'd happily share more food with you" chimed Bjorn with an innocent look. "Haha, if I bought your drinks for you, I'd go bankrupt in a week" Graham said as he got up. "Where you heading off to Mr. Bossman" questioned the now grinning Bjorn. "Grabbing myself some food from the bar since you OBVIOUSLY didn't get enough for both of us" quipped Graham sarcastically as he walked away from the man-child blowing bubbles in his mead.
As he got to the door, he heard faint voices in the room next door. Listening closer, it just seemed to be a couple enjoying a passion-filled night. He inwardly laughed at himself being so tense. Graham opened the door and walked down a hallway that had 6 doors on each side until he reached a black wooden stairway.
Walking down the stairway, a cozy bar came into view. On the far end was a wide fireplace, and across the room were dozens of tables. At the tables there were various people gathered at tables either sitting or standing. Eating and drinking, or betting on arm-wrestling contests. Graham smiled as he took in the scene, breathed in and smelled different meals, and the slight fragrance of mead, probably soaked into the floors.
Graham headed over to the bar that had an attendant. She was using a rag to wipe the bar top off. A startling white bar that had a dark, wooden base was it's appearance. Stools were lined along the bar except for a gap of 4 feet on the end where the small door to get inside the bar was. He sat on one of the stools as the attendant came over to him. She was slightly big and wore a white apron, stained from years of use. A tired face with red eyes looked at him and sighed.
"Hello dear customer, what would you like" questioned the woman in a rehearsed tone. "Ah yes, can I maybe have some of your spicy spark lizard stew with potatoes in it" inquired Graham. "Sure thing, will there be anything else sir" asked the lady in a nice tone. "No, that'll be- actually, can I have some bread and a small mug of mead please" questioned Graham. "Yes, of course, that'll cost 15 copper coins. It'll take a couple of minutes if you'd like to wait down here. If not, then we can have it brought up to you for an additional 3 copper"
"I'll wait down here, thank you though ma'am" responded Graham. As the attendant walked away, Graham looked around and his eyes landed on a table not too far away from him. There was a small crowd of people betting on an arm-wrestling contest between to burly men. Graham laughed and tossed a silver coin towards the unofficial ref and said " I'll go against the winner"
He stood in the group waiting for one of the two men to win, watching the two struggle against each other. The man on the left side won and the man on the right clutched his sore hand, glaring daggers at the latter. "Sir, go ahead" the "ref" said. As he sat down, he took a look at his opponent. With bulging muscles, red eyes, and a frown as he looked at Graham. Holding his accumulated pile of gold in one arm, he extended his right hand and clasped it with Grahams. Starting bets were made as the pair glared each other down.
With a leisurely smile on his face, the burly man said "Friend, I wouldn't want to hurt you, it's okay if you want to back out... Just give me two silvers as compensation for wasting my time" said the man arrogantly. Graham just grinned back at him saying nothing. "Fine, have it your way short-stuff" grunted the man. "Three, Two... one... GO" shouted their ref. as soon as he said go, the burly man stepped onto Graham's foot under the table to distract him. Graham, unfazed by it, slowly, and seemingly gently started winning as he smiled at the red face of the burly man. Eyes bulging, face red and frowning, the burly man lost as he stared incredulously at Graham. Everyone in the small group was quiet save for the ref. "S-sir, you've won, here's y-your winning share" uttered the surprised ref.
"Ohhh it seems like lady luck is with me tonight-oh hey, aren't those coins mine sir" Graham shamelessly asked the burly man that was trying to sneak away with the coins he had gathered with his winning streak. Instead of responding, the man made a break for it and headed towards the door. Graham ran up to block him off almost instantly and grabbed the coins. "Hey now, I thought we were friends, friends don't run off with each other's money. Tell you what, you can pay me two silvers for hurting my feelings, friend" mocked Graham. "Fine, fine just leave me alone" begged the burly man. He was scared because he hadn't even seen Graham run over to him. He took out two silver coins with a trembling hand and gave it to Graham. "Good, good, thank you friend I feel much better now. Well, see you around buddy!" As he said this, the burly man ran away like a frightened pup through the doors, knocking into a set of people that were about to come in.
As Graham turned around he noticed the group that was watching the arm-wrestling contests disperse and saw the attendant at the bar wave at him with his order waiting for him. He took it and instead of the 15 copper coins, he gave the whole bag of coins he had received save for 6 silver and walked back to the room with Bjorn in it.
He did the same knock as before and went into the room only to realize it was the wrong room and it was that couple that was having their "passion-filled night". He laughed awkwardly as they stared at him and he closed the door and went in the room Bjorn had gotten. As he came into the room, he saw a sleeping man-child on one of the beds. Graham locked the door and decided they'd make the rescue plan tomorrow, as he ate his dinner. After he finished eating he went over to the second bed, fell face-first on the bed and passed out.