The horse struggled to maintain footing in the mud created by the pouring rain. The ruts in the road were deep here from the wagon traffic into the small hamlet ahead. The cold rain dripped inside the eye slit of the dark knight’s helmet as he urged his mount to go faster. He wished to move through this community quickly if he was to make it to Ravengro in time for the services.
The weather-worn, straw hatched hovels lining the road spoke to the poverty of this small farming community. The sun had set hours ago, but the gift of dark vision, accorded him by his cursed blood, allowed him to see the community in great detail. They were poor people, scraping by upon the meager offerings of the thin soil. He saw no constable or guards. The community looked to be bound only by a common social contract. His back tensed at the thought that such a group of men, women and children could be at the mercy of a life without the security of formal justice.
The glow of lanterns surrounding what appeared to be the inn at the center of the hamlet caused his vision to switch back to light based sight. As he approached the center of town he slowed his horse to ensure that a drunken patron of the inn did not wander into his path and get trampled. It was at that moment that he heard a piercing scream and saw the door to the inn swing open. A man with a cowl pulled low raced from the door with a small pouch in his hands. A large woman who looked to be the innkeeper’s wife stood screaming in the doorway
“Stop, murderer, thief! He robbed and killed Oren. He hit my husband and stole our coin. We have been robbed! Oren is dead. Someone please help!”
The fleeing thief paid no heed to the plaintive cries of the innkeeper’s wife.
Without a moment’s hesitation the black knight pulled back on the reins of the horse and slid to a stop in the thick mud. He leapt down from the horse only a few paces in front of the assailant.
“Stop”
The voice echoed from deep within the blackened steel helmet. The voice seemed other worldly and for a moment the robber in the cloak came to a halt. As he slid forward on his heels, the cowl of his cloak was thrown back.
On the face of the criminal, Grimm could see the same set of eyes he had looked upon so many times in the past; eyes of simple cruelty and limited cunning, eyes which held no respect for the law, eyes without remorse.
These eyes would soon know fear.
“What say you to charges of murder, assault and robbery?” echoed Grimm’s voice, amplified by the helmet and reverberating through the night.
“To hell with you. You’ll never catch me in all that steel” and the thug turned on his heels to run into a small alley.
Before he could take a step, he felt a cold, steel, gauntleted fist grab his cloak from behind. He was swung around and his face smashed into the nearby lantern post. A burst of blood and teeth shot from his mouth. He was then swung down and planted face first into a muddy pool in the road.
Rek Fen had spent the last 3 months robbing the lawless hamlets of the Ustalavian countryside. He had murdered, he had raped and he had stolen what little he could from the poor people of the region. The militia here was nonexistent. There was no sheriff, no city guard, and no constable. The people were easy prey. He would dine at the local inn, beat the innkeeper and make off with a purse filled with coin. If anyone resisted they met his blade. It had almost seemed too easy. He had become fearless.
Now he was face down in the road, and his mouth, nose and ears were filling with the grainy mud.
Right before he began to choke on the mud filling his throat, he was flipped over. Through the pouring rain and muddied eyes he looked up to see the dark steel helm looming over him. Green eyes glowed from within the eye slit…green eyes that he could not look away from.
“What say you to the charges?” the voice asked again.
Even in this perilous position, a lifetime of ruthlessness and savagery could not be so easily abandoned. Rek spit mud up into the face of the knight.
“Go to hell. You’re not the law. There is no law here” as he said this he could see the green glowing eyes flash brighter within the helm.
Rek began to feel fear.
“….let me go and I’ll split the coin with you. There’s more. I’ve been robbing and killing fools like them for months” he replied through a bloody toothless smile.
Once again the eyes flashed brighter.
“O…o…ok..ok it’s all yours. Must be 30 silvers there. Take it all just let me go!” he said, now plaintively crying like a child.
Grimm Cores’tar of Abadar looked up to see the innkeeper, appearing bruised and battered, alongside his wife a few paces ahead of them, standing in the pouring rain. They were looking on in stunned silence.
“What does the law dictate be done with murderers in this land?” Grimm asked of the innkeeper.
“N..n…n…nothing….there is no law sir. We take care of our own. H…h…h…he killed Oren with a knife when he tried to stop him. He had been my friend for years” said the innkeeper, now sobbing.
“The last killer in these parts was a long time ago…h..h…he was put to the sword” the innkeepers wife said quickly.
“So be it, this man will be judged according to your justice.” rang out the voice from within the black helm.
“For the crimes of murder and robbery you are hereby sentenced to death” and with that the black knight grabbed Rek’s head within the cowl and snapped his neck sharply. The innkeeper’s wife, upon hearing the sickening sound of snapping tendon and bone, fainted suddenly into a heap on the muddy road.
Grimm rose.
He pulled the purse of coin from the robbers cloak and tossed it to the innkeeper.
“Please, provide this man a proper burial. I trust you to take what is rightfully yours and to then do your best to return the balance of this coin to its rightful owners. I must be on the road for I am late to an important obligation. I will try and pass by these parts again on my return. Do not disappoint me.”
The innkeeper pulled back when he too saw the green flash from within the eye slit of the knight’s helm.
“Y…y..yy..yy…yes sir I will” he stammered.
The black knight stepped up into the saddle of his horse and with a tap of his spurs rode out into the night with great haste.
