“Get this thing out of my foot” the guard with the ice cicle yelled.
“Get it out yourself” Jason replied. “I am on my way to get what passes as the city watch, I am going to let them sort this whole thing out.”
CHAPTER 13
Jason tried keeping his cool as Patrick Dawson was busy trying to flirt with the princess. He had just arrived a few moments earlier and already tried to sweet talk her and the two women she was with, both the daughters of two Dukes that were somewhere in the area. Mellony was able to eat alone but now the tables had been put away and the dancing began, sometime after that Jason would be recognized as the Champion.
“Mellony your guards look so dashing” Carla replied. “Somewhere some girl will be estatic to hear her man has become the King’s Champion.”
“Bells doesn’t have a girl anywhere” Mellony replied. “Neither does Doroteo” Mellony finished as she motioned towards Jason and Doroteo who were standing behind her as she sat.
“Well some poor commoner is really missing out” Sadie replied.
“Why are you looking at them anyway?” Patrick snapped.
“Because I don’t have a thing for fat little men who are losing their hair and has a big scar running down his face” Carla said dismissively. “My father wants mage blood in the family, not me.”
“How dare you?” Patrick said as he gripped his staff.
“What are you going to do about it?” Carla asked. “We were having a delightful conversation until you came over here. Mellony is not interested, I am definitely not interested and I doubt Sadie is that desperate. Why don’t you go back into your hole and away from decent people.”
“Carla that is enough” Mellony replied. “I am sorry Lord Dawson, Carla just had a trying day and I am trying to console her. Is there something you wanted from me?”
“I, uh” Patrick began. “I wanted to ask if you were privied to your guards attacking mine? I heard a lot of conflicting stories and wanted to know if your men could drop their accusations. I need my guards for the trip home, it wouldn’t do to have them holed up in this backwater.”
“Consider it done” Mellony replied then turned back towards Carla.
“I was also wondering how the queen was doing” Patrick began. “She has been stressing over your future.”
“I assume she is doing perfectly fine” Mellony said in a cooler voice. “And I have told her don’t bother, technically she isn’t even the queen, she is the King’s consort and can't even be labeled as a princess. I will be the Queen one day, I don’t need her help ruling.”
“I was talking about your future in a different way” Patrick replied.
“If you can find her a man that looks like her guard Bells then I bet she will be interested” Carla said.
“Bells is it?” Patrick said with a sneer. “He isn’t all that great, not too long ago I had him bloodied and in my dungeon begging for his life. Just because he gave himself a stupid name doesn’t change anything. Isn’t that right Jason? How is your father doing by the way? The last time I saw him he looked a bit pale and a bit dead.”
“Your Highness are you okay?” Grayland said as he popped in front of Jason and spoke over Mellony’s shoulder. Jason had no idea where the man came from as he was so focused on Patrick he didn’t keep track of his surroundings.
“I think Lord Dawson is feeling a bit ill” Mellony replied. “Can you and Doroteo escort him back to his table for me? Bells will stay here and protect me.”
“I can” Grayland said as he stood erect.
“Don’t touch me” Patrick barked as he pointed his staff towards Grayland. “I can find my own way.”
“Bells why don’t you go and clear up everything with Lord Dawson’s guards?” Mellony asked.
“Yes Your Highness” Jason said as he grabbed his halberd and left. Jason walked over to the building the city watch was using as a jail, in reality this place really didn’t have a city watch since it was so small. The people filling in that role came from out of town and was working in conjuction with the people native to the town.
Jason explained everything to the person watching the pair, they were still injured as no healer had come for them. Jason was leaving the building when he heard two voices that made his blood turn cold.
“Why are you in such a hurry to leave?” Baron Dawson asked his son.
“Those little bitches mocked me like I was some penniless commoner” Patrick said angrily. “They should be excited that a mage would even think about them romantically. I could rip them and their little guards apart by myself.”
“Why would they mock you Patrick?” Baron Dawson asked. “Maybe you are just confused.”
“No I am not father” Patrick replied. “And that commoner was there, the one who won the tournament.”
“It was nice to see he made something of himself” Baron Dawson replied.
“Fuck him” Patrick barked. “He is the reason this whole thing started. He looked at me like he was invincible standing behind a woman’s skirt. He wasn’t so brave when he was groveling in the dungeon crying about his father. If I ever get him alone again I am going to finish the job instead of showing mercy like you did father.”
“Patrick we both know those commoners were guilty of nothing except being handsome” Baron Dawson replied.
“They are commoners and they are only good for hard labor” Patrick replied. “At least the males are only good for hard labor. I miss those Halfin women, I wonder where they finally ran off to.”
“That is your problem Patrick” Baron Dawson replied. “You are only worried about your dick. Now behave respectfully while we gather our men, I thought I heard something about one of them being burned or something.”
“Probably the commoner you love so much” Patrick snapped as his father began opening the door. “You can never trust a commoner, if they thought they could get away with it they would kill as many nobles as possible.”
“Nonsense, Patrick you…” Baron Dawson began as he fully opened the door and was stabbed through the chest by a halberd.
“You should lisen to your boy” Jason growled. “This is for my father.”
Jason pulled his halberd out and was already pushing past the Baron and stabbing into Patrick’s shoulder. Patrick screamed as Jason pulled the halberd out and swung it hard on Patrick’s arm which held the staff, the halberd severed it at the forearm as Jason swung back and aimed for Patrick’s leg, severing it at the calf.
“I would tell you to say hi for my father for me but you are going to meet the Sorrow Bringer.” Jason said as he was about to bring the halberd down. An arrow pierced through Jason’s shoulder, causing him to lose grip of his halberd. Jason looked up and could see Doroteo with a bow, surrounded by five other men including Grayland.
“You fucking idiot” Grayland replied. “I tried to keep you out of trouble but I see I was too late. Get him.”
Jason grabbed Patrick’s staff and pointed it at the incoming guards and tossed a wall of flame at them and took off running as he picked up his halberd. Another arrow thudded into his back, catching him just below his other shoulder as he ran. Jason cursed himself for not killing Patrick, with any luck the man would bleed out. Jason knew he killed the Baron though, the strike was aimed directly for his heart and there would be no healers that could get to him in time. Patrick though would have to live without that arm or that leg, at least if he survived he would remember that moment for the rest of his life. Jason continued running down the road, he knew he would soon have riders after him but unless one of them were a mage they would be hard pressed to stop him. The sky was darkening quickly and the road didn’t have any torches lit unlike the town. Jason thought he had been running for fifteen minutes before he heard the sounds of some horses. Jason just stayed on the side of the road and kept running, he took out his white surcoat and tossed it in the bushes as he kept his stride. The clothes he wore underneath were light colored but not as much as the surcoat. Jaso
n could hear the riders gaining on him and turned around with his halberd and shot out a fireball. The brief falsh of light illuminated two riders, Grayland and Doroteo as their horses bucked wildly.
“Do not come back here Bells” Grayland said as he got his horse under control. “That was stupid what you did, if we catch you in the kingdom you are dead.”
“He killed my Da” Jason growled.
“So he did” Grayland replied. “And your Da wouldn’t have wanted you throwing your life away like this. Lord Dawson is going to survive, one of his men knew combat healing and used a few strips of cloth to stop the bleeding almost immediately. Toss him the pack Doroteo and let’s turn around.”
“Why are you doing this” Jason asked.
“Because you may be a stupid kid but you are a good man that helped protect the princess” Grayland replied. “The story is that it was too dark to follow you and you started casting spells, all things that happened. When Doroteo told me you may be leaving I didn’t want you going empty handed. Maybe a part of me knew you were going to do something stupid. Regardless, Baron Dawson was an ally of the queen and despite her Highness’s thoughts on her stepmother we must all play our part.”
Jason watched the pair leave and retrieved the pack. He wanted to toss it on but had two arrows sticking out of him. Jason just held the pack as securely as he could and continued running. He saw no more pursuers and easily snuck into the Untamed Lands. Jason traveled for only a little while before he settled down for the night in what he hoped was a safe area. Jason took a deep breath and yanked out the arrow sticking out from the front of his shoulder. Jason wanted to cry out but was happy he was dealing with armor piercing arrows instead of any with flared arrowheads. Getting to the second arrow was tricky but Jason eventually managed it. The pain and emotions of the day soon put Jason to sleep. When he woke up it was morning and the sun was much higher that he would have liked. Jason could see he was on a small hill and looked into the bag he was given. A few gold pieces were in a coin purse along with some long white strips of cloth. Jason smiled as he was about to wrap himself up and looked for the wound. The wound was gone, only bloody spots where the arrow entered his body were still there. Jason stuck it back into his bag and was going to start going at an easier pace when he heard far off voices. Jason was sure he knew who it was and even if he was wrong, staying put after killing a baron was stupid. Jason began running and finally got to a small hill where he could make out the border. There was cavalry all around and they were going in different directions, including towards Daum where Jason thought to go. Jason figured he could only travel away from everyone and deeper into the parts of the Untamed Lands he had never explored.
EPILOUGUE
“Alright boy, I have looked at some of your work and it is passable” Forger said as he walked into the small blacksmith shop holding a throwing axe. “What I want to know is how you did it. The human smiths around here barely can call themselves smiths.”
“My Da taught me” Jason replied.
“Faramedes saggy balls he did” Forger replied as he stroked his beard. “This here weapon is dwarven made, I can tell it in the pattern of the metal. In normal human hands this would just be cheap steel, in your hands you have turned this into something more. It would take a master human blacksmith using far better materials and equipment to make something on the level of this axe.”
“My Da is not a dwarf” Jason replied. “At least I think he is not.”
“What do ya mean you think he’s not?” Forger replied. “Either he is as tall as you are or he is not. Either way you shouldn’t have the technique or the ability to forge weld.”
“What is forge welding?” Jason asked curious. Jason had seen the dwarf often in the two years he had lived in Haven, the name given to the city state he was now in just outside of the Untamed Lands.
“How in pit can you make this and not know about forge welding?” the dwarf asked. “You basically get high heat and bang two metal pieces together until they become one. Humans don’t have the strength to apply the correct amount of pressure to make something as good as this axe. Their smiths would have just cast the entire thing without the need for any real hammering, they would have just put an edge on it.”
“My Da used to smith like that” Jason replied. “I just got lazy one day and tried just using the hammer and anvil, it worked out alright.”
“I thought you said you didn’t know your Da?” Forger asked. “I think someone has been trying to teach you dwarven secrets, I want to find out who. Many humans have wondered how we get our metal so strong or our stone shaped so perfect.”
“Don’t know anything about stone cutting” Jason replied. “Now what do you really want?”
“I haven't had an apprentice since I left the stone” Forger replied. “None were worth having until I saw your work.”
“Apprentice?” Jason laughed. “I have been in charge of my own forge since before my Da died, why would I want to be an apprentice? And why haven't you found someone else, I am not the only smith here in Haven.”
“Your stuff is barely passable” Forger replied. “Here is my personal axe, you think you can make something like it?”
“What metal is this?” Jason said as he grabbed the axe and looked it over. “I don’t think I have ever seen it before.”
“Because it is closed off to human kind” Forger replied. “Only those who are blessed by the God of the Forge can make it.”
“The God of the Forge?” Jason asked.
“You humans think you are the only people who worship?” Forger asked. “Unlike your kind we dwarves don’t have any false gods and we know our history. Thousands of years ago no one ever heard of Tamil the god of the sky or Gaea the god of earth. Only one of your gods I believe is real is Sapina, and only because there is documented evidence of the goddess from way back and it is said some of her followers can do things others can't.”
“Well I don’t worship the God of the Forge or any of the others you mentioned” Jason said angrily. “I worship the Light Bringer and I will not have you insult the goddess in my presence.”
“Why would I do that?” Forger asked. “Celeste is not a human goddess.”
“What do you mean by that?” Jason asked.
“Although they are few in number, there are dwarves that worship the Light Bringer” Forger replied. “She is the only one out of the seven gods other than Smelt himself that dwarves allow in. But if you got her power it should be in healing, not forging.”
“My father used to talk about about other races” Jason began. “I never believed him at the time, I thought dwarves was something he made up.”
“How can I be made up if I am sitting right here in front of you?” Forger asked.
“I know you are not fake now” Jason replied. “But I think compared with the goddess Sapina’s people you may have gotten the short end of the stick.”
“Nonsense” Forger replied. “She concentrated her magic into just a few while every dwarf is born with the power to work the metal and shape the stone. That is the way to go, even Elvara spread her magic across her pointy eared bastards.”
“The goddess of the elves?” Jason asked.
“Of course the goddess of the elves” Forger replied.
“Maybe those aren’t gifts at all” Jason said.
“Not gifts?” Forger said offended. “Well then find a human that can make anything on my level. I can take the exact same materials and make something greater out of it. Take my mithril axe you haven't let go of yet. In human hands the best you could hope to accomplish is imperial steel, I can take those same ingredients and make them into mithril. A mithril axe to a dwarf is like an featherwood staff is to an elf, a product of our magic that humans could only hope to imitate.”
“I don’t think I have ever heard of featherwood” Jason replied. “Then again I have never seen an elf.”
Forger was about to reply when a bell could be heard ringing. Jason and Forger l
ooked at each other for a moment then scrambled for their weapons. Jason knew of the bell, it was to alert someone that an intruder or intruders were coming. Jason had heard the bell when he stumbled upon Haven, they let him stay as long as he followed their code which was only three rules. The first rule was that everyone was a fighter and was expected to help defend Haven, anyone who couldn’t or wouldn’t was not allowed to stay. Because of that, bows or crossbows became popular among women, children and the disabled. The second rule was that crime was not tolerated, you could be thrown out of Haven or executed. The third rule they took the most seriously, every family living in Haven had to contribute in someway to the welfare of the town. Jason helped fix little things in town with his smithing but was also a member of the guard force. Jason’s background with the Knights of Death, the army and as guard to a princess gave him a significant advantage over the others who wanted the job or the man he supplanted for the job. Jason’s skill with the halberd made sure he did not have any challengers and was third in charge when it came to defense and he was expected to be at any thing that happened out of the ordinary. Jason made his way to the gate where the bell was ringing and noticed that although a decent amount of people were there, the bell ringer was still going at it strong.
“Commander Bells” Telfarin said as he came running up to Jason. Normally they just called each other by first name, they had other jobs after all that had nothing to do with defense of the city. The fact Telfarin used an honorific made Jason nervous.
“Report” Jason said looking down at Telfarin.
“There are riders heading in this direction” Telfarin replied. “Three of them and they are whipping their mounts hards. About three miles behind them are at least one hundred other riders, I think they are trying to overcome the small group.”
“What are our defenses looking like?” Jason asked.
“Our archers are setting up now” Telfarin replied. “Only ten of them for now, no melee fighters other than yourself have come forth yet, I think they are putting on their armor.”
The Warrior of Sapin Page 14
