| 1 |  | A fat friar is about to be robbed in the woods by Alf and another, two elves whom have encountered Hawk before (Vol. 1 Issue 3 perhaps). The Friar has news for Hawk. Hawk stops the robbers who attack him. He swipes his sword across the taller one's belly and sticks his sword into the smaller one's belly who runs right onto the sword. The Friar passes out. Deep in Greenwood Forest: Windy and Hawk talk to the Friar as he recovers. The Cardinal tells the Queen not to burn out Shadowmarket's slums. They can be made to give money to the Cardinal. With the Cardinal is a boy–elf wearing a few plates, knee pads, shoulder pads, a helmet with eye pieces, and straps and little else. Falcon mistrusts the Cardinal, who insults him and the Queen. Bovan talks with the dairyman in a pub in Shadowmarket. The Tax Collector, a hunchback with the boy–elf (later this issue named Dove) and page boy guards come in to raise his taxes. He was going to eat a turtle soup. The Tax Collector wants to repossess the turtle. Hawk and his gang show up. Dove attacks Hawk. Windy rescues the turtle. Dove wants to bring Hawk down a peg or two; Hawk tells him, "Then you'd better use both swords, bootlick." Purebreeze breaks a page boy guard's wrist. Hawk deswords Dove. Springstorm and Purebreeze pass quips to each other as they make two guards unconscious (he grabbing one's shoulder, she taking out an eye with her elbow). Bran knees a guard between the legs and he yells, "My balls." Bran corrects him, "Correction: ball." Bran knees him again, "Now you can say balls." Bran is smiling all throughout. The Tax Collector gets away to bring reinforcements. Hawk kicks Dove in the face. Windy tells Turo he will name the turtle Mister McTutt. Hawk tosses the Tax Man's bag of gold to the crowd to pass it out among themselves. The men elves in the crowd will take good care of Dove. One asks, "What'll we do with him?" Another says, "What won't we do with him? Haha." As Hawk and gang talk of returning to Greenwood Forest, three fur wearing elf boys watch and must report to the master. The Queen blames Dove, the Cardinal's bodyguard for the defeat. Even now Dove is awaiting his punishment in the torture chamber, Cardinal tells the Queen. The Queen wants the market burned to the ground. Cardinal plots against her. Far below Shadow Market, three fur wearing elf Pack Rat boys with long thick brown hair, one wearing face suspenders (?) report to the Master––the Overlord. The Packrats steal for Overlord who runs the Guild. To not belong is to die. Overlord is told it is Elflord Hawk Erickson. Overlord says, "First his father, and now..." he chases the three cowering half naked boys so he can meditate.
Layouts, pencils, inks and colours: Barry Blair, additional inks: Alex Szewczuk, additional pencils: Pat McEown and Bruce Blair. |
