Enlightened Enemies

After stumbling across another of his men while fleeing the woods, Sergeant O’Malley heads toward the prearranged meeting point with the disturbingly forthright; Madam Megarna.

“What do you mean ‘you failed’? There were over thirty of you fools!”

O’Malley had left his few remaining men a safe distance behind before facing the wiley, black clad, fortune teller.

“We did everything you said. We stayed well out of sight until Spider Murphy confronted them and then rushed out of our hiding places to prevent them fleeing. Our crossbowmen peppered them with waves of bolts and everyone held strong.”

Openly scowling, Megarna purses her thin lips.

“So what went wrong?”

O’Malley tries to meet the wrinkled woman’s grey eyes but fails.

“My old sword-mates triple crossed us. They happily took Spider Murphy’s offer to pass unscathed but then, literally, stabbed us in the back as soon as the opportunity presented itself.”

Her voice growing quieter, Megarna almost whispers.

“Go on. What else?”

O’Malley can feel the trap about to spring but can do nothing to escape it.

“The adventurers were too strong. The big, darkly armoured Fighter sliced through your Orc mercenaries as if they were just wheat to be harvested and the other two; the Dwarf and the Halfling summoned terrifying beasts I’ve never seen before!”

Her stare intensifying, Megarna utters just one more acidic word.

“And?”

Brow damp now, O’Malley finally reaches the point Megarna was waiting for.

“It was Spider Murphy’s fault; He let his personal vendetta against the Bard derail the entire plan. He jumped down too early and chased the Demi-Elf into the thicket. It wasn’t my fault we lost. I did everything I could. Without him commanding the crossbowmen, they fled, leaving my men uncovered…”

Madame Megarna lets him trail off until an agonisingly long silence builds between them.

“So it ‘wasn’t your fault’? You ‘did everything you could’? More likely, you spilled your guts about me to ensure your own survival. No matter; knowledge of the coven won’t help them any and Spider Murphy was far, far too vengeful for his own good anyway. Or ours. Meet me here again this time tomorrow for your next mission.”

Returning to his four men, one of them asks if he’ll go. In response, O’Malley chooses his words very carefully.

“Not likely. Whatever this is, it’s not worth our lives. We move out today, keep moving south as far and as fast as we can and try to keep our necks out of it.”

The same soldier presses the point though.

“What about Barbella’s betrayal, your lockbox and your magic sword?”

O’Malley looks back at his man in surprise.

“Fuck Barbella, fuck the lockbox and fuck the magic sword!”