Barlok\'s Escape

Keldean isn\'t sure why he\'s here. Part of him is screaming to turn around and go back to the Pony, but another part is desperate to grasp at a small chance to earn some extra coin. He\'s always seeing the dwarves and other well-to-do citizens in such better clothes, with plenty of money to buy food, and shoes, and other belongings. Keldean wants a piece of that pie very badly.

The boy sneaks in quietly, taking his time to watch and listen for guards in the headquarters. They always seem to be sleeping this late at night, but the teen still takes precautions. The key ring is heavy in his pocket, a weight on his conscious if nothing else as he makes his way to the cell holding Barlok.

[Nob(#16122)] The guards have grown lax. (As if they weren\'t already!) Now there is only one, instead of the two that have been here priorly. And the Chief isn\'t around either. Why /are/ they keeping this man locked up anyways?

Barlok, the fun of tormenting the guards losing much of its appeal when they\'re not around or listening, is standing inside the door to his cell. All that can be seen from outside is a square of shirt but there is a strange scratching noise.

Keldean whispers softly, \"What are you doing?\" after pressing up against the door. He\'s glad there\'s only one guard tonight. It makes him feel a bit more secure in his questionably ill-intended excursion. His hair is hanging in a tangled mass around his face, an annoyance at best, and he\'s wearing the same worn clothes as previous visits.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok seems entirely unsurprised by his visitor - he neither starts nor stops what he is doing immediately. Neither does he turn around or answer though not right away. The scraping sound goes on for several minutes, and then the man\'s voice says evenly, \"Scratching, haven\'t you got ears?\" Now he turns and backs up so that he doesn\'t have to bend over to see through the window, and his voice sounds a bit disgusted. \"Don\'t you ever wash, boy?\"

\"Just get dirty again.. \" Keldean mutters with a frown, stuffing his hands into his pockets, his fingers wrapping around the cold iron of the keyring. \"How much did she pay you? The woman that hired you?\" He asks, his voice that carefully hushed whisper.

[Nob(#16122)] \"And stink up the woods for miles around in the meantime,\" Barlok says, irritably. \"If no one heard you crashing around like a troll, they\'d smell you!\" Abruptly, his voice turns sly and silky. \"Who said it was a woman?\" he asks the boy, and his eyes spark gleefully.

\"You think that you\'re the only person I talk with?\" Keldean asks, rubbing his thumb along the ring. \"So? How much was it?\" The teen queries a second time, his brown eyes watching Barlok closely, his nervousness either lessened tonight, or he\'s learning better control over it.

[Nob(#16122)] \"Plenty,\" Barlok says, chuckling to himself. Then his face turns dark. \"Didn\'t get paid for sitting in jail though.\" Sly eyes glance towards the lad. \"What business is it of yours?\" he inquires, conversationally.

You say, \"Well. Someone has to pick up the slack around here, what with that other man, Rolph, dead. You\'re in jail. I\'m sure Tamara would be willing to pay me for work. I just figured I would find out what she pays you first.\" Keldean is bluffing, but he\'s riding on his usual nervousness to cover up any lie that Barlok might detect in his words. The teen knows that Tamara is dead, but he\'s trying to find a way to make some money without resorting to the keys.\"

[Nob(#16122)] The man laughs, a soft but somehow unnerving sound, and his teeth flash in the darkness. \"You need to learn to listen better, boy,\" he says mockingly. \"Told you, didn\'t I? Wasn\'t no woman paid me. This Tamara might or might not need a chore-boy, but how much she chooses to pay for one is nothing on me. And she\'d probably want one that looks a little tidier.\" His eyes scan Keldean\'s thin form.

\"Tamara didn\'t send you to kill Cordelia?\" Keldean asks, taken by surprise. He had assumed as much by what Cordelia told him back at the Pony early one morning. \"Who did?\" He asks, brow furrowing as he ignores the jibe at his appearance.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok shrugs, conveniently ignoring the boy\'s final question. \"Never heard of this Tamara,\" he says, watching Keldean intently. Lying? Telling the truth? Impossible to tell - it sounds like he speaks the truth, but who could be sure. \"Who told you she paid me for anything?\"

\"She did.\" He answers. If they\'re both lying, well.. there may be a lot of misconceptions flying around. Keldean releases his hold on the keys, a soft clink accompanying the action as they drop to the bottom of his pocket.

[Nob(#16122)] The man\'s eyes drop at the sound, then lift again. \"This lady called Tamara told you she paid me?\" he says, sounding startled.

\"Yes.\" He answers, watching the shadowed face closely, struggling to learn something or get some kind of edge with the man. Keldean knows he shouldn\'t be here at all, but Cordelia didn\'t give him the whole story and the opportunity to possibly make some real money is hard to resist.

[Nob(#16122)] The man shrugs. \"She lied to you, boy,\" he says, suddenly sounding - almost regretful. Certainly very nearly gentle. Next minute, it is gone he is laughing - quietly but mockingly. \"Wet behind the ears,\" he jeers. \"Tell you what, get me out of here and I\'ll \'pay\' you. Oh yes, I will.\" He sniggers, eyes growing bright and flat as they rest on Keldean\'s face.

\"What, by killing me? I\'ll pass on that..\" Keldean grumbles, but he\'s chewing on his lip, obviously hooked by the thought of getting paid. Chopping wood and hauling water is mighty exhausting over time. \"Why would she lie?\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"Now why would you think a thing like that?\" purrs Barlok. His eyes glitter in the dark cell. Then he shakes his head. \"Dunno. Why do you like about stuff?\"

Keldean frowns, not answering that question. He slips his hand back into his pocket, wrapping his fingers around the key ring again. He looks over towards where the guard is sleeping, watching intently for a moment, then returns his attention to Barlok. \"You think I\'m not any good at your kind of work?\"

Nob(#16122)] Barlok watches the boy for a few minutes without saying anything. A faint smile curves his lips. \"Now, then,\" he says silkily. \"I never said a thing like that.\" He smirks, coming to the window again, and taking hold of the opening with his fingers flexing them experimentally. He has particularly thick fingers.

\"You have.. \'wet behind the ears\' and all that rubbish. But you\'re wrong.\" Keldean steps back away from the door to what he gauges is out of Barlok\'s reach. He pulls the keyring from the pocket and holds it up with a small smirk, watching for the criminal\'s reaction.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok shrugs with obvious unconcern. \"Well, sure,\" he says, smirking wider. \"But I never said you weren\'t any good at my kind of work.\" The smirk becomes a chuckle. \"Said you were bloody awful, I did. But not that you weren\'t any good.\" His eyes follow the keys, then move to the boy\'s face, and with exaggerated praise and astonishment, the man says, \"My goodness me! Can that be the /keys/ you have there? Now what would a good little boy like yourself be doing with those?\"

Keldean\'s face twists into scorn, the reaction not at all what he was hoping for. The man is stepping all over his pride and he\'s not terribly receptive. \"Thought I might make some money, guess I was wrong.\" He hisses coldly, and begins walking away.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok is still laughing quietly, but he calls after the lad, \"Told you I\'d pay you good if you got me out of here, didn\'t I? Not my fault you don\'t believe me.\"

Keldean pauses, looking back with an injured expression on his face that he isn\'t quite managing to hide. \"Why should I believe you? That would make me a bigger fool.\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"Now you\'re talking sense,\" Barlok says approvingly. His eyes take in the hurt feelings evident on the boy\'s face and he smiles but nothing of this comes out in his face. \"But where\'s that going to get us, hm? You don\'t trust me - and I can\'t exactly trust you, now can I?\" He waits for an answer.

Would you try to hurt Cordelia again?\" He asks, slowly crossing his arms. \"How much would you pay me?\" Both important questions in his mind.

[Nob(#16122)] \"Why would I want to hurt her?\" Barlok counters. Then he looks the boy up and down, slowly. \"How much do you reckon you\'re worth?\" he asks after a long pause, during which the guard grunts, snorts, and resumes snoring.

Keldean thinks hard on that question, his brow furrowing in concentration. \"At least a few silver coins. What would you do if I -did- unlock the door?\" Another important question, though he quickly adds, \"After you took me to get my pay.\"

Nob(#16122)] \"What if I haven\'t got silver?\" Barlok returns, and then he rolls his eyes. \"Leave,\" he says patiently. \"Don\'t be any sillier than you have to be. You surely don\'t imagine I\'d just sit here and stare at the door, do you?\"

\"You said you could pay good. What did you think I wanted, gratitude? How much money do you have? I\'d want my money right away, before you can skip out of town. You said you had coin hidden away.\" Keldean is growing frustrated, his tone growing more agitated as Barlok keeps dancing around in the negotiation.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok, strangely, grows more calm as the boy gets more agitated. \"I said I\'d pay you,\" he says, his voice heavy with something. \"I have plenty of money, I was just asking.\" His eyes gleam in night. \"Come along now, lad, unlock the door, we\'ll go on out and find my ... stash. Yes, that\'s right...\" His voice lowers, becoming hypnotic almost, and his gaze is strangely compelling.

Keldean hesitates as that gaze catches him, knowing that the man tried to kill Cordelia.. knowing that he could be in a world of trouble if he\'s caught at this business. Still.. a pittance of copper a week isn\'t much, and he\'s tired of having to sneak extra meals all the time to fill his stomach.

The teen turns to look back at the guard again, making sure the fellow is still asleep. Finally Keldean digs his hand into his pocket again and pulls out the key ring once more, clutching it tightly in his now sweaty grip. \"Back up to the far wall until I have it unlocked.\" He says, obviously not completely at peace with what he\'s doing with the way his voice trembles, but money is proving to be a powerful lure.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok backs up obediently, standing quietly and motionless at the far end of the cell his back against the wall and his arms hanging loosely at his side.

\"Try anything and I\'ll yell..\" Keldean warns in a low voice, not wanting the man to scare him at -this- juncture. He\'s already feeling horribly jumpy. He looks down at the keys and begins softly trying them in the lock, moving slowly as each sound suddenly seems to amplify through the quiet building. It doesn\'t help that his hand is shaking, but after the third key Barlok will hear the satisfying *click* as the lock releases. Keldean shoves the keys back into his pocket swiftly and can\'t help looking over at the guard again, holding his breath with a worried expression on his face.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok is smiling, his teeth white in the gloom but it is not a particularly happy expression. Rather a hungry, eager one. The door clicks open and the man takes two long strides forward, shoving the door open with a sort of controlled violence that makes it swing back swiftly, but silently, and stop before banging into the wall. He is past the boy and soft-footed loping down the hall and into the dark room and the door to the street opens just as quietly though with a swirling gust of cold air.

Keldean is ready and hurries after the man, not hesitating now as he dogs Barlok\'s heels. He -will- get his pay for this, if he has to chase the man across Bree. It\'s not as if he has any desire to hang around in the jail.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok is running down the midnight street, long strides taking him swiftly to the west. He angles up towards the North Gate, then switches back and begins to climb Bree Hill. He is not much of a runner though able to keep his steps from being terribly loud. Perhaps some hear him pass, but he shouldn\'t, at least, be waking the whole town. Keldean likely can keep up fairly well, if he is in any kind of decent shape.

Keldean is frequently running around town, since he\'s often getting into trouble in some way or another. He keeps on the man, and if he closes the distance he\'ll try to grab him by the arm to stop him. \"You\'re going to -pay- me.\" The teen demands, hissing the words in the night air as he pursues.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok doesn\'t pause or slow his steps as Keldean grabs at his arm he just tries to shake him off irritably. \"Yes, yes, fine, I said it didn\'t I,\" he says in an annoyed whisper - he is not at all out of breath, despite the steepness of the climb finally causing him to slow down. They pass the dark rounds of hobbithole doors, and Barlok makes an abrupt turn, heading straight up the hill. He is climbing now, no longer running or even jogging slow, but steady. A long-distance runner, not a sprinter.

Keldean lets go when the man agrees again, and keeps up with following him. The teen is actually very quiet on his feet, all that sneaking around and eavesdropping working to his advantage. He doesn\'t have nearly as much as Barlok in the way of endurance though, and is beginning to breath heavier from ongoing climb. Still, he stubbornly follows.

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok finally begins to slow, casting about him and ignoring his shadow entirely. Finally, he stops, squatting down and shoving aside a few rocks then snatching up a pouch and standing again. The fingers of one hand curl slightly, flexing in and out, and the man stands head up, almost as if he scents the night wind.

Keldean catches up while the man is shoving the rocks aside. He\'s breathing heavily, but still has that determined look on his face. \"Pay me enough and I\'ll tell you where to find Tamara.. Since she lied about paying you.\" He pushes hair back from his face that stuck to his sweaty brow.

[Nob(#16122)] \"Why should I care what she says?\" Barlok asks, irritably, his attention returning to the annoying teenager who has been following him. \"She lies, I lie, we all lie...\" But he slips open the mouth of the sack, reaching in a hand, and then flipping a few coins out at Keldean. They spin through the chill moonlight - and the boy cannot possibly catch them all before they all. Barlok turns as if to lope away then swayed by some impulse, turns back to watch. Will this lad scrabble for the money in the rotting snow and icy mud? The man watches, grinning.

Keldean watches Barlok, and more importantly watches that pouch that probably has money in it. He begins to tense, impatience growing as he waits for a response. An idea starts to grow in his head and when Barlok obnoxiously flips the coin to the ground the teen springs forward in a grab for the pouch, intending to snatch the bag and run for it.

[Nob(#16122)] The man might not be a swift runner, but his reflexes are panther-fast. His hand darts out, grabbing for Keldean\'s wrist and twisting to put the boy on the ground. \"Bad move, boy,\" he says menacingly. \"I\'ll get you for that.\" Then he is gone turning and loping off into the darkness, regardless of what Keldean does behind him - fall, or keep his balance, or scramble up again and give chase once more.

Keldean is too off-balance from his manuever to recover when Barlok grabs him. His arm twists painfully and the teen is brought cleanly down to the ground, dropped hard to the wet mud and snow. By the time he\'s able to scramble up again, Barlok is gone. Kel rubs his wrist, looking around for a moment, then sighs and begins the search for the tossed coins.