As each year past the hardy warrior returned thickened by battle and time, rangy muscles turned to bullish brawn. Now the youthful face was scuffed and hard as stone. His friend was on a lone mission that his even his forthcoming words could not explain. Venir was a talker, but said little about what was inside. Every time Venir left, Melegal felt it would be the last time he saw the man. He assumed the armament protected the man, but it did harm as well. A piece of his jovial friend disappeared little by little whenever he returned.
“Do you think that Royal boy learned his lesson?” Melegal wondered aloud. “Or do you think he’d have the gall to come after you again?”
He stopped as Venir caught up.
“I mean, the beating you gave him, it should have scared the life out of him.”
Venir gave him a strange look.
“Are you worried about that Royal brat, Tonio? If he comes after me again he’ll die.”
Melegal picked up the pace.
“Well, I’ve discovered he’s from a very high Royal house,” he said with a sheepish look. “They don’t like scum like us screwing with their own. They can be vengeful.”
Venir’s face was curled up, half sneer, half smile.
“Pah, I’m sure we put an end to it. Besides, he shouldn’t be able to walk or talk for days.”
“If you say so, Vee.”
After several more minutes of walking his fleet feet fell onto a wide cobblestone street that crossed between the alleys. People plowed through one another, bargaining in the buzzing market places. Shouting and bartering could be heard everywhere, passing from slick lips and hefty hips. The streets were alive with trading, soliciting, and stealing, amid shouts of joy, shock and surprise.
Not far from the cobbled road loomed the great southern gate standing five stories high. The mighty portcullis was a woven steel maul locked shut. Traffic of people, wagons, carts and mounts were directed in and out, through a smaller gate on the east side, by an assertive squad of the City Watch. It was the main gate that controlled the passage of all vehicles and pedestrians in and out of the southern part of the city. Desperate people tried to press inside, only to be beaten back by whips and thick watch sticks. One hapless transgressor was beaten to death by a six pack of the City Watchmen.
The wall surrounding the City of Bone was a sight to behold. It stood over four stories high, made of massive stones no group of men could have ever moved. None knew where they came from, and nor did they care. The story of the old seers was that giants had built and occupied the City of Bone. There was no evidence to support such a tale. Only the boulders knew where they came from and they had no interest in talking. On the top of the huge stone walls stood many battlements lined with smaller walls of brick and mortar. Dozens of guards in studded leather armor and helmets were posted in pairs, spaced along the wall, as far as the eye could see.
“Fun job,” Melegal said.
He would almost prefer the outlands than to stand hours on end, along that wall. He turned his eyes away.
“Let’s get you to the stables and out of my hair.”
Along the foreboding wall, a few hundred yards east of the main gate stood rows of massive barns. A dozen large wood-framed barns were laid out in two rows, each over twenty feet high and a hundred yards long. Melegal headed toward the barn in the rear, furthest from the gate. His feet were beginning to burn and the thought of a callous ate at his brain.
Gonna have to buy new shoes too.
Melegal tugged open a small nondescript door.
Finally here. Ew.
The smell of hay and manure magnified ten times when he stepped inside. He fought the urge to hold his nose; instead he tucked it inside his cloak.
Filthy.
Hundreds of stables lined the walls, and the sounds of stabled beasts rose to the rafters. Banners of the militia and Royal houses were displayed at the utmost northern end. An open roof cast light on several well-bred horses that were standing in the distance and being tended by stable hands hard at work with chores. He remembered those long days, frail arms shaking, face filled with sweat and grime. Urchins—the bottom of the barrel—worked here.
Pitiful, but I was smart enough to make it back to the castles and out of the stink.
Venir followed him into the southern end, away from the rustles and neighs that fell behind. The open roof was shadowed by the city’s wall, leaving the area quiet, undisturbed and run down. Another wooden fence, several feet in height, barricaded the south from the north. He climbed between the rotting planks as Venir pushed his gear through and climbed over the top, landing by his side.
*****
A curly-headed boy seated on a stool was buffing his shoes with a horse brush in the distance. Seeing the two coming his way, the young fellow squinted, jumped up and began running toward them, while trying to put his shoe back on.
“Venir!” the boy yelled, running up and wrapping two arms around his waist.
“Georgio!” he said, patting him on the head, trying to pry his arms off. “Easy, big fella. You’re getting stronger every day, I see.” Seeing the boy brought a smile to his face.
Georgio released him, beaming with pride.
“I want to be strong like you, Vee. The strongest man in the world! I moved five hundred hay bales this week!”
The big boy flexed his arms and stuck out his chest.
“Taking care of Chongo is a lot of work. I didn’t think you were ever gonna come back by.”
Georgio began skipping away and motioning for him to follow, but Melegal grabbed his arm.
“What about my mount?” Melegal began with a hiss. “I hope you haven’t been neglecting him!”
“Aw, let me go, Me!”
Georgio tried to jerk his arm away, but was held fast.
“Your stinking donkey’s just fine! All he ever does is sleep and poop everywhere.”
“Don’t smart mouth me,” Melegal said, poking him in the chest.
“Enough, you two. Man, can’t you guys get along? You know Georgio always takes care of Quickster.”
Venir grabbed the boy by the shoulder and turned him away.
“Not last time he didn’t. Quickster was sick ’cause of him.”
“That wasn’t my fault, Vee. That dumb donkey started eating from the slat bins.”
“He’s not a donkey. He’s a pony!” the thief said.
“It’s a pony that looks like a donkey and eats crap!” Georgio said, jumping away as Melegal swatted at his curly head.
The hefty boy moved with speed that belied his formidable girth. The thief started after, but Venir obstructed him again.
“Let it go. I’m sure he’s fine this time.”
“He better be or I’ll bust Georgio’s butt.”
Melegal straightened his cap as he walked away.
“Take the boy with you, eh. If you run low on food you can always cook him.”
Venir watched Georgio finish his trot to a stable many yards away. The boy was nodding and mumbling between the planks of the gate. The stable was quiet, more so than normal. Something was missing. He crooned his ear expecting hear the eager baritone yelps of Chongo. The barking did not come. He watched Melegal walking towards the boy and the skin on his neck began to itch. Something was amiss. Venir started to turn.
“Don’t move!” a raspy voice said from behind. He froze.
Ahead of him, Melegal had whirled back his way, daggers drawn. He saw the thief’s chin dip, eyes flaring wide. Melegal’s lips were mouthing the word … Tonio.
Another chill creased his spine as he lifted his sack-filled hands up, and made a slow turn. Indeed it was his latest adversary, Tonio. Now the man he’d busted to bits stood there without a noticeable scratch around his curled sneer. The pupils of the man’s eyes were big dots of coal, glaring back at him. The quivering hands were now wrapped about the trigger of a double crossbow that was pointed dead at his chest. Venir fought the urge to lunge underneath. He began lowering his two sacks slowly to the
ground.
“Keep those sacks up! You in the back, toss the blades.”
Venir heard the daggers clatter behind him. He could hear the boy asking, “Who’s that guy?”
“Can’t believe I’m better, can you?” Tonio said in a throaty voice. “You should have killed me. Because I’m a Royal, I have the best healing at my disposal.”
Tonio’s voice was tense, slurred and wavering.
“Too bad your poor hide won’t get any such treatment. I’ve got you now dog! Nobody messes with me—nobody!”
Tonio motioned him backward with the crossbow and he backed up, stopping as he came alongside Melegal.
The Royal spat, made a tight face then spat again.
“Let’s take this party a little further back. A nice stable full of manure should make for a nice grave.”
Tonio’s chuckle was low and wicked.
“Hey, fat boy back there, stop fidgeting! Get those hands back up, all of you!”
“Do as he says, Georgio,” Venir said, stepping back until they all stood side by side.
He watched the tips of the bolts swing from belly to belly. The boy’s labored breathing caught his ears. He couldn’t have been is a worse situation if his pants were down. No weapon or armor. How did they miss the man? Tonio was sweating, hands clammy and eyes dilating. All those signs made the situation more dangerous. Venir kept his cool.
“Don’t stop, you two! Boy, go open that empty stable back there, or I’ll shoot your friends.” Tonio said.
The boy fumbled over his feet, clutched at another stable door and pulled it open. Georgio managed to conceal himself behind the planks on the other side.
Venir and Melegal moved backward, step for step, along the opening of the stable and stopped again.
“I said don’t stop!” Tonio yelled. “Are you deaf? Keep moving! Get in there! ”
Venir watched the man’s finger twitch on the triggers. He and the thief stood motionless, ten paces away, blocking Tonio’s view of the boy.
“Fine!” the Royal shouted. “You can die right there!”
Taking aim, the young warrior hesitated for a moment as Venir showed an awkward grin.
A low growl erupted from the stable along Tonio’s side. The Royal took a peek over the closed stable gate.
“Eh …?”
A pair of lion-like paws reached over the gate and tore into Tonio’s face. A burst of snarls and barks followed as the claws pinned the man to the gate.
“Aagh!”
Tonio wailed and thrashed as a massive dog head snapped at his head. Tonio raised his crossbow, eyes bearing down on Venir like charging lances.
Clitch! Zip!Zip!
Venir dove to the ground as a bolt shot his way and clipped the back of his calf. He didn’t notice as he scrambled back to his feet.
The crossbow fell from Tonio’s limp hands as he screamed, fighting for his life. The beast kept pulling at him, tearing his clothes to bloodied shreds.
“No! No! NO!”
A massive maul bit down on Tonio’ horrified face, gripping it tight, while another set of teeth sank into his neck. A resounding crunch sent a flock of doves from the rafters in a plume of white and grey. Outside the stables a few noticed their flight, for it was nothing extraordinary to a commoner’s eye, but one person noticed the uniqueness of the event.
Venir saw Tonio’s body go limp. Two giant dog heads came into full view, shaking the body a couple of times and dropping it to the stable floor like a discarded toy. He pulled the man’s still breathing body out of the way and swung the door open.
The two faces of Chongo bounded out, his two tails wagging with enthusiasm. The pair of monstrous, bloodied heads licked Venir like a happy puppy. He tried to fight the giant dog off, but it was in vain. Chongo came out of the gate, standing the size of a small horse. Venir’s canine friend, now a two-headed beast was one of a kind in the world of Bish. The shaggy red-brown coat shone in the morning light as Venir tried to calm his excited pooch. He rubbed the massive dog’s chest and belly as it rolled onto his back.
“Good boy, Chongo. Good boy.”
He scratched the dog’s ears and looked about for the thief and boy. Georgio stood shaking at the gate staring at the crossbow bolt imbedded in it. He signaled the boy over. Melegal, with a foul look on his face, was leading a shaggy, dark gray pony out of another stable.
“See what you’ve done!” the thief blurted. “The City Watch is gonna be all over us. The Royals will have a price on our head so high we’ll never be able to come back. They’ll be hunting us nonstop.”
Melegal paused as he inspected the teeth and ears of his pony.
“Now, I’m gonna have to go with you. I knew this would happen—I bloody knew it! I told you we shoulda been worried!”
Melegal began cursing under his breath, glaring at him.
“Now what?”
“Be silent!” Venir said, looking about with caution. Tonio couldn’t have been alone.
Venir held two fingers to his chest, paused, and held up one. Melegal repeated the signs back to him, and handed Georgio the saddle of his pony. With a parting glare, Melegal shook his head and disappeared.
“Where’s—”
Venir tugged at the boy’s ear.
“Oh …”
Georgio scrambled to saddle the pony. They moved like soldiers breaking down a camp. Venir slung Chongo’s leather saddle over his back and was ready to move out.
Georgio stepped in Chongo’s stable and pulled an old rake off the wall. The boy stretched it upward, catching it high above the rafters and yanked at something. An angled wooden walkway dropped down at the back of the stable. It opened into a deep passage facing south and slanting down.
The mysterious passage had been revealed to Venir by an old stable hand. The old man said he had seen it used only used once when he was a boy. It was just another forgotten secret among a thousand in the great City of Bone.
Venir grabbed the big dog by the scruff of its chest and led both animals into the tunnel. Back inside the stable, the boy raked at the hay, manure, and dirt and waved. The secret door closed and Georgio’s broad smile left his sight.
It was pitch black. Venir traveled at a sluggish pace for over a mile. He crossed over a large metal grate, with the sound of water running far below. Venir always assumed it was a large storm drain, but wondered if that was its only purpose. From there, the passage began sloping upward and he came to a dead end. There he waited ….
At last the dead end opened up and scattered daylight poured in. They were inside a small cave. Georgio’s flushed pie-face appeared, whispering.
“Coast is clear.”
“Good job, Georgio. Now, help me adjust Chongo’s saddle. I’ll keep him calm while you tighten the buckles.”
The husky boy closed off the secret passage and took the large saddle from Venir’s shoulder. Venir sat Chongo down, talking to him and scratching his head while the dog-beast growled as Georgio saddled him. Venir kept Chongo calm long enough for the boy to finish the last buckle, and tossed each head a red apple. Chongo chomped them down, whirled and began barking at the boy who backed up on ginger feet.
“Heel!” Venir said.
The dog lowered his heads and lay down at his feet. Venir loaded his two sacks onto the giant dog. One head licked at his boots, while the other kept a wary eye on the boy.
“Why’s he doing that Vee? He never does me like that in the stables?” Georgio said as he clambered onto Quickster’s saddle.
“Ah…he’s just testing you. Besides, he doesn’t like me saddling him either.”
Venir slung himself up on Chongo’s back and led the way. It was late morning, and the two suns were hot over the dry, open land. The City of Bone’s southern wall stood like a blackened monolith over two miles away. In the south, the barren Outlands looked dry and dreadful. Venir smiled.
The air was fresh and pure, the sunlight hot on his face. The clouds had broken apart as the rain traveled into the dist
ant north. He could still see several groups of nomadic people and farmers clustered near the distant walls. Most were not welcome in the City of Bone. It was either sell or be sold if you weren’t careful. The main caravan trail was busy with the comings and goings of all types of trade. Heavy clouds of dust from the beasts of burden obscured the figures traveling along with their carts and wagons. Fools. But what better choice did they have.
Georgio rode along his side as he set off.
“Where to?” the boy said.
“I’m taking you home. Melegal will meet us in a couple of hours. You’ll be safe; the City Watch don’t come out more than a day’s ride.”
Georgio frowned as they rode in silence. The dog led the way, with a fluid gait, tongues hanging out in the heat, ears and eyes all alert.
“Why didn’t Chongo bark when you showed up?”
“He sensed danger, I guess. He’s good-natured. He doesn’t like bad people. I think he can sense evil.”
“How come Me has this dumb pony? Why can’t he have a real horse or something?”
“I told you before,” he said as irritation rose in his voice, “quick ponies move just as fast, but they carry like a pack mule. Melegal thinks he’s going to find a hoard of treasure one day. Besides, it didn’t cost him anything; he won Quickster in a bet.”
The Darkslayer: Book 01 - Wrath of the Royals Page 14
