Ascent of the Unwanted (The Chronicle of Unfortunate Heroes Book 1) by Nathan T. Boyce Page B

from his wicked looking club. The first one into range would take those spikes into whatever part of the body presented itself and it did not look like it would end there. Erik may not be muscular but he was still tall and his lanky frame held the club with a purpose.
    “Aw, you’re not worth it anyways. From the looks of you you probably don’t even have half a copper on you! Come on let’s get out of here, but I wouldn’t walk into any more alleys `round here if I was you!” They turned and ran off whooping and laughing as if nothing at all had happened.
    Erik bent to help the beaten man to his feet. He was large, not as tall as Erik, but twice his width and dressed in rags and furs. Erik wondered again how such a craven group could pick on someone like this. His coarse dark hair was wild on one side and matted with blood on the other. One of the man’s eyes swelled shut and his stunted bloody nose were obvious signs of the recent beating. A large protruding brow was covering his dark eyes in a perpetual shadow and a large under bite with a snaggletooth combined to give him a primitive appearance. A scar ran down his high, chipped and uneven cheekbones, splitting the hair on his left brow,but it left his eye unmarked. Old scars giving proof of the beatings this man had taken in his life.
    “Thank you, sir. Lawt is grateful,” he said in a slow deliberate slur, not one hindered by drunkenness but by difficulty in forming words with his pronounced mandible.
    “Not a problem. It looked like you could have used a hand.”
    The man stood there looking at Erik with a dumb look on his face, apparently not knowing what to say next.
    “So, Lawt, that’s your name, right? Why would you allow these guys to do that to you? You seem to be a large man. A few swings with those paws of yours would have taken the fight right out of them.”
    “Lawt could not do that, sir. Lawt might have hurt them. Lawt cannot hurt anyone.” he said with a restrained look of resentment on his face.
    Erik did not know what to think about this man. He obviously did not have the slightest bit of survival instinct and was not too bright, but his demeanor was too much like a lost puppy to keep Erik from not liking him. At an impasse Erik blurted out, “You want some hot food? I can take you to a place that has food where we can sit and talk a bit.”
    “Yes, please, sir. That would be nice,” Lawt said walking next to Erik out of the alley with a pronounced limp.
    “So, what brings you to the fair city of Armeston. I take it you are not from around here.”
    “Lawt got here three days ago, sir. The city is not a nice place to Lawt. No one talks to Lawt but Lawt found a pretty thing and Lawt hoped someone would pay money for it. Will you buy my pretty thing?” Lawt said holding a white crystal. Two pyramids fused together at their bases about the size of the last digit of Erik’s thumb sparkled in the man’s hand.
    “Sorry, I don’t know anything about crystals or jewels and don’t really need one anyways. Besides I would not know what would be fair to offer you but I know where a few merchants are who may be interested.”
    “Oh no, sir. Lawt has already asked many merchants. They yell and throw things at Lawt. Sometimes they say Lawt steals things and try to take my pretty thing away.” Lawt said.
    “Well it can’t hurt to try again. If I go with you they may not try that again,” Erik offered.
    “Okay. If you are with Lawt, sir, Lawt will try.”
    “Well let’s get out of here then.”
    Erik knew of two jewelers in Armeston and he headed for the one farthest away from them first. Whatever the first one said Erik would want corroborated by the other, and by putting the second one into the return trip back to the tavern made it easier to do.
    When they arrived it was not the welcome Erik expected. The jeweler’s face turned purple red. “What are you doing here, boy? And you!” He said pointing at Lawt. “I have already thrown