Merchant Crab

***

The sun had set and an eerie quiet now enveloped the edge of the woods, the pale silver light of the full moon glistening through the droplets of dew hanging in the air like tiny sprites.

It was quiet. Way too quiet.

The kind of quiet that would make one prone to dozing off when idly vacant.

Or at least it would, if it wasn’t for the manor.

The dark, haunting house looming over the hill not too far away from the edge of the forest.

Its foreboding presence felt as if a watchful eye observed everything around it with malicious intent, sending a sense of unease down the spine of those dwelling around its grounds.

The young man couldn’t wait to leave that place.

He had been given the duty of patrolling the outer fence of the property all day because he was the youngest of his unit. What the novice town guard still did not understand was what business they had protecting such a creepy place all the way out there, far away from the city.

He did not openly question it, of course. He knew better than to make himself a target, being of the newer recruits of Marquessa’s prestigious city guard.

But it still felt wrong that after months of training and preparation to take on the job, and after finally getting it, they would be sent there to guard that place, despite nobody knowing who exactly lived there.

The young man couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss with that whole situation. He signed up because he wanted to serve his city, to help protect the people. Not stand in the middle of some woods keeping watch over some strange house all night with no idea if he should be more worried about what might come out of the woods or whatever lived in the manor itself.

But he also knew it was not his place to question the commander. The orders were coming straight from him, and to challenge his instructions would be treason. He had not spent years working to become a Marquessian guard just to fall into dishonor because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Not to mention he still had a few payments left on his new horse carriage. It was definitely not the time to be out of a job.

The recent visitors to the manor weren’t making it any easier, however. At first the young Marquessian chalked it up to paranoia, too many shifts spent around that creepy place making him imagine things. But now he had little doubt the rough-looking individuals he had spotted coming in and out of the cellar in the late hours were in fact bandits.

Why would the commander have city guards stationed at a property way out of the city and then allow bandits to come and go from it? What reason could the city guard have to be collaborating with lowlifes like that?

The novice did not know, but if his fellow guards were not speaking up either, why should he? Best to keep his head down and follow orders like he learned at boot camp. That was his job after all. Just a grunt. A cog in the machine.

Whatever bigger design was happening there was clearly above his pay grade anyway. Surely the commander knew better. Maybe he was under specific instructions from the mayor herself. Maybe this was all a very clever undercover operation because of all the stolen cargo cases recently.

Yes, that had to be it. It certainly made him feel a lot better, so that was the conclusion he would be sticking with.

Just another half hour and his shift would be over anyway. Best to put all those paranoid thoughts away.

There was nothing nefarious happening between guards and bandits behind the scenes. There was no evil figure living in that old manor. And definitely no danger was going to emerge from those dark woods while he was patrolling.

Everything was fine and soon someone would come so he could finally go get some shut-eye.

A twig snapped somewhere behind the bushes and the young man jumped in place.

“W-who goes there?” the guard asked with a crack in his voice, nervously tightening his grip on his spear.

No answer came, and he tried to control his breathing, assuring himself that it was just an animal. Or the wind. Or maybe nothing at all.

“Just my imagination…” he muttered.

As he was about to turn away, leaves ruffled nearby and a large bush shook with movement.

The novice guardsman nearly dropped his spear in fright, but bravery or merely training kicked in, and he stood his ground, ignoring the initial instinct to run away.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Who’s there? Reveal yourself!” he loudly called, trying to sound commanding.

But nobody responded.

Fighting his better judgment, the novice slowly approached the bushes, spear pointed forward.

As he got closer, the guard could hear what seemed to be breathing from behind the foliage.

Reaching forward with a hesitant hand, he moved aside some shrubs to look behind them.

“Boo!”

With a gasp, the young man fell back on his bottom as a skinny green creature with big eyes poked its head out of the bushes with a big smile on its face. For whatever strange reason, it was wearing a wizard hat on its head.

As he fumbled to stand back up, the guard realized something else stood behind the goblin.

A larger creature lurked from the darkness of the woods, rearing itself over the other, its eyes two piercing yellow slits fixed on the human with an intensity that made his legs tremble.

“Oh mama, I’m not getting paid enough for this!” the young boy cried as he dropped his spear and started running away toward the manor.

As he tripped and staggered through the branches and bushes in his mad dash for help, he suddenly saw a human figure appear from around a large tree.

“Hey!” he called, running toward the man. “Over here! There’s…”

The runaway guard came to a stop in front of the taller man and his expression turned into a frown.

“Wait, you’re not a guard. You’re—”

With a quick blow to the neck using the side of his hand, the older man sent the young boy sprawling limply to the ground, his eyes rolling as he lost consciousness.

“Sorry, son,” Captain Leander said. “It’s nothing personal, but we just can’t have you sounding the alarm on us.”

***

“He looked tired anyway,” said Balthazar, stepping out of the woods with Olivia and Suze. “He deserved some nap time.”

Captain Leander dragged the young guard behind a tree and carefully sat him against it before searching his pockets.

“Here, catch it,” he said, tossing a large iron key at Olivia, who caught it in her hand. “That must open the side gate.”

“Nice,” the girl said as she turned the key and the small iron gate unlocked. “Let’s go, before someone else comes and finds him.”

Balthazar hung back for a moment as the others marched into the manor grounds. Looking up through the dark wrought iron bars of the fence, the crab saw Damask Manor against the moonlit night sky.

It was an imposing place, its black roof shingles like a sinister crown over a haunting facade with more windows than the merchant cared to count. One in particular stood out for being lit. It was the window at the very top of the last floor, the one the blueprints showed as the master bedroom.

She’s home.

“Come on, Mr. Balthazar,” Leander said, heading to the gate. “No time to dawdle now.”

With one last glance at the creepy manor up on the hill, the crab followed the old captain into the gardens.

“Whoever lives here,” Suze said, “they’re not big on gardening.”

The group navigated through a dense mess of branches and vines, tall grass covering most of the ground where they stepped, with not a flower in sight, only weeds.

“Maybe she likes it this way,” Balthazar muttered as he focused on where he stepped.

Arriving at an unkempt hedge by the end of the garden, the crab’s team crouched behind it—except for Balthazar, who was already at the perfect level to peek over it.

They could see the front door across the open area of the driveway. It was a short distance away, but there was no cover to hide them from watchful eyes.

“No guards here,” Leander observed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“They must be inside,” Olivia whispered. “Probably don’t like being out here after dark. I still don’t get why you wouldn’t bring your men from the cabin to help us, Lee. It would make this a lot easier.”

“Strategic thinking, my impatient girl,” the captain responded. “Not enough men to mount a proper assault, but too many to carry an efficient stealth approach. I’d rather have them watch over your aunt until we can finish this here tonight.”

“That key we got from the guard won’t work on that door,” the little girl next to the crab said.

“How do you know?” asked Olivia, looking at the kid with a raised eyebrow.

“I can see from here that the keyhole is totally different,” the other responded with confident sass. “Trust me, I know locks.”

“Alright, we’re going to need another way to get inside then,” Balthazar said.

“We could just kick the door open and jump them,” the mayor’s niece said. “We already have the surprise factor, let’s just use it before we lose it!”

“Or you could boost me through one of the windows and I unlock it from the inside,” Suze suggested.

“My idea is better,” said Olivia.

“No it’s not!”

Balthazar sighed. “Both of your ideas are bad.”

“Perhaps,” Leander started while scanning the building carefully, “we could check one of the backdoors first.”

“That’s a good idea,” the crab said with a nod. “I could have Druma check—Hey, where’s Olivia?!”

The group looked around, searching for the young woman, when they realized she had already made a run across the driveway and was by the front door of the manor.

“What is she doing?!” Balthazar muttered with exasperation.

The niece of the baroness looked at the door with a frown and then tried the handle.

Captain Leander let out a tired sigh. “This girl…”

“Get back here!” the crustacean tried to call in a hushed tone.

Olivia eyed the handle and the lock placement on the door before taking a few steps backward.

“Is she gonna…” said Suze.

Leander dropped his shoulders. “She is.”

“Oh no…” Balthazar mouthed.

Breaking into a sprint, the Marquessa girl ran toward the entrance, putting all her weight into a kick that hit the wood right under the handle, sending splinters flying as the door broke open.

“Come on, you scumbags, let’s rumble!”