Guard Duty

I started my shift fitting my chainmail armor over my clothes. I grab a spear and shield from the weapon’s rack. It’s only after I leave that I realize the shaft of the spear is still stained with goblin blood.

What a wonderful start to the day.

I can’t do anything about it now. I report to the front gate.

The first part of my shift goes by fast. There is a steady flow of merchants and travelers entering the city. No one starts any trouble. It’s just fast-paced enough to keep me busy, but simple enough to keep my spirits high. It’s a pleasant mix.

And it’s about to end.

The next few hours are sheer boredom. There’s no travelers, no merchants, nothing. It becomes so tedious that I take to counting every stone brick in the city’s massive wall. I count four hundred and fifty before I am relieved.

Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the day. There’s a disruption in the marketplace I am summoned to check out. After five minutes of moving through the crowded mid-day street, I round the corner to see a distinguished-looking elf yelling at a plump orc woman in the middle of the marketplace. The conversation is heated as I arrive.

“Is there a problem?” I ask. The orc regarded me warily, but the elf was immediately more receptive to my presence.

“This…woman…” he sneers when he says it. “Is charging way too much for fruit. Price-gouging is illegal in the Zephere. I would like to file a report.”

Well, the elf is half-right. Exorbitant prices for common goods are illegal in the Kingdom, but such regulations are set well-above my pay grade - and fall similarly beyond a simple fruit dealer in the marketplace. Only the most profitable ventures are subject to these decrees, and that’s assuming they don’t weasel out of it somehow.

Yet the decrees are commonly-known, and usually complicate my job at least twice a week. Usually it’s some misinformed yokel trying to get a better deal by using the threat of legal action on some poor merchant.

“How much is she charging?” I ask.

“Five copper,” the elf says. “It should be three. At best.”

“Seems reasonable,” I say. I grab some grapes from the racket above the woman’s green head and pass her a single silver piece. “Keep the change.”

“This is unacceptable,” the elf bellows as I walk away. “I’m filing a report.”

I turn to him and smirk.

“Well, since I’m the only guard on duty,” I reply. “Would you like to file that report now?”

The elf narrows his eyes at me, but he doesn’t move towards me.

“I thought not,” I say. “Why don’t you move along?”

The elf proceeds to take his business elsewhere, something he is very particular to remind everyone involved. I gave a curt smile to the orc woman before moving to the rest of my rounds.

The rest of the day proved uneventful.

But then night fell.

The brawls came fast and frequent once the sun went down. While I was grateful for the overtime, I had to keep my head on a swivel. Once the drinks started flowing, the street became a powder keg waiting to explode.

Action came early tonight. I saw several fellow guards rushing down the street, their chain mail glimmering in the glow of moonlight. I followed them, struggling to keep up and not trip over my spear.

It had been a long day already.

I watched as the guards charged into a bar room several blocks away. I was almost halfway there when an explosion of splinter sent the same guards spirling into the street like rag dolls. 

A large troll emerged from the bar, wiping blood and whiskey from his mouth. He moved towards my fallen comrades and began to raise a large blade over one of the fallen guards, who struggled to come to his feet.

I leapt forward and hurled the spear into his backside. The troll cried out in pain, turning away from the injured guard.

That was the good news.

The bad news was the troll now flashed its angry eyes at me.

I gulped audibly and then rushed forward to do battle with the troll.

He threw a punch at me, but I managed to duck, prying my spear out of his back. The troll let out a muffled cry of pain as blood popped from his wound.

The troll clasped both his hands together and brought the full weight of his power down upon me. I raised my shield, absorbing the first blow, as well as the second and the third.

I didn’t know how much more of this I could take.

Fortunately, my comrades had returned to their feet by that time. They rushed the troll and while they couldn’t do much against him, they could keep him distracted, long enough for me to bury my sword into its gray and massive thigh. The troll cried out, staggering forward only to finally be toppled over several guards, who had hopped atop of him by that point.

“I’m really getting tired of this routine, Garyk,” I told the troll, but he didn’t hear me, nor would he - until he sobered up.

I returned to my quarters not long after. I stripped off my chain mail, returned my weapons to the quartermaster and headed in for the night. I had to do this all over again in the morning.

A squire awoke me five minutes later.

There was a dragon sighting along the south wall.

I sighed and put on my chain mail before returning to gather my weapons.

All in a night’s work.