by Tom Liberman
Whitebone looked up sharply, “That is a matter more for your mistress than for you or me. I have no delusions about my own divinity and if Shinamar is able to disperse the power of the gods then so much the better for me.”
Tenebrous bowed as best a shadow might and offered one final piece of advice, “Shinamar, while not directly opposed to your interests is most powerful even in his current reduced condition. When he fled the vanished Das’von he took the magical tomes of Elucidor the Omnipotent, his former master. If he is aiding the Gray Lord and participated in the decision to send Jon Gray to Elakargul then this might be something of a concern for you.”
“It is not your business to tell me what is my concern and what is not my concern,” said Whitebone and stood, as the glare deep in his eye sockets glowed a deeper shade of red. “You have reported to me what you know. Now, get out of my site before I disperse you.”
Tenebrous’s shadowy form oozed out of the room and in a few moments Lord Whitebone sat by himself at his smallish stone desk. “Shinamar indeed … Jon Gray,” he said aloud and then threw back his head in laughter.
Chapter 6
Jon Gray sat in the small kitchen of the home of Sorus Brewer, sipped hot tea from a mug, and stared out the window at a small yellow bird that hopped along the ground and pecked at something with great vigor. “I wish I had something to do,” he said aloud just as a tall woman with long blonde hair emerged from another room and slipped on a light woolen jacket.
“I’d keep you quite busy again and again but I’ve got to get back to work or mother will have my hide,” she said with a smile and leaned down to give the boy a lingering kiss.
“You people are the most energetic bunch I’ve ever seen,” said Jon reaching around to grab the healthy young woman by the rear. She was taller than most girls, with a healthy tanned complexion that mixed well with her blonde hair.
“Weren’t you just complaining about being bored,” said the young woman and swatted away his hand. “Why don’t you go find Germanius, I’m sure he’ll have some scheme or another to get you killed.”
“That old kook,” said Jon with a laugh and tried to grab the girl around the waist but she proved too nimble, dodging away at the last moment and grabbing a biscuit from the pan on the stove as she turned to give him a wink and dashed out of the cottage.
“He’s not a kook,” shouted Titia her voice carried through the open window. “He’s just an old knight who wants to die in battle rather than in bed.”
There was silence for a moment and then her head popped into the window, “I’m serious, Jon. He’s a great hero from years ago. You could learn a lot from him. Go see him.”
“Fine, fine,” said Jon with a yawn and reached a hand out towards the biscuit pan on the stove but it was slightly out of his reach. He looked around the kitchen and spotted a broom. Using the chair opposite him he kicked it towards the broom which fell on the floor with a clatter. Then he grabbed another chair and used it to slowly scoot the broom towards him until it was within his reach. Then he used the broom as an extension of his arm, wacked at the pan on the stove, and sent it to the floor with a huge clatter. Finally, he dragged the pan, which fortuitously landed upright, towards him where he picked out one of the biscuits.
“What was that,” came Sorus Brewer’s voice from outside, and the boy opened the door and leaned inside.
“A pan fell,” said Jon and munched on the biscuit.
Sorus shook his head and stared at Jon for a long moment, “Why don’t you find something to do?” he finally asked.
“I’m waiting for the First Rider to come into town,” said Jon. “Odellius said that was the best thing and Sir Thorius won’t send out messengers looking for him because he thinks I’m a fraud. Half the town believes it now.”
“If you would get up off your butt and do something heroic people might think you were someone important,” said Sorus with steady eyes and an ever so slight shake of his head. “I mean, all you do all day is eat and drink and you don’t contribute anything. That’s not the way it works in Elekargul.”
“It’s the way it works in Tanelorn,” said Jon with a smile. “But, you’re right. My father always says I have a tendency towards sloth and my sister, well, you don’t want to know what she says about me.”
“So,” said Sorus and spread his arms. “Come with me to the Smooth Stride and you can learn about the brewing business.
“Yawn,” said Jon.
“Then go by the mason’s and learn about rock cutting. You seem to admire Odellius enough, I’m sure he’d be willing to give you something to do if only haul stones up from the quarry,” said Sorus. “Really, Jon, all you do is spend time with Titia and she was betrothed to Jatius before you showed up. That hasn’t helped your reputation in town either.”
Jon shrugged, “How is it my fault if she likes me better than him. Besides, I haven’t tried to pull anything with Shia so why are you complaining?”
Sorus suddenly blushed and shut his mouth tightly. “Fine, Jon. You just keep doing nothing and see if that gets you any closer to the First Rider. What would that father of yours, that you’re always talking about, say?”
Jon stopped the movement of his jaws for a moment and looked at Sorus, “Hey, it was a long trip here and not many men could have done it and survived,” he said. “I deserve a little break.”
“You’ve been saying that for near on a month now Jon,” said Sorus. “Maybe the First Rider isn’t here because he wants to see if you really are someone to talk to.”
Jon gave off a long sigh, looked at the pan of biscuits with a bit of a forlorn cast to his eyes, and then stood up with a great yawn. “Maybe I’ll go talk to that crazy old coot that’s trying to get himself killed. There might be something interesting there.”
“Sir Germanius isn’t an old coot,” said Sorus. “He’s a highly decorated knight of the realm but he’s gotten old and hasn’t managed to get himself killed in battle yet. It’s a stain on his reputation. The older he gets the more he wants to go out in a blaze of glory.”
“I’ll never really understand you people,” said Jon. “He should be laying back and enjoying retirement supported by all the people he’s helped over the years.”
“That’s not the way it is here in Elekargul Jon,” said Sorus. “But, you’ve been told that many times so I don’t see the point in repeating a lesson that won’t be learned. You should talk to him; see if you can find something to do with him. He’s a good old egg if you’d give him a chance.”
Jon stood up and grabbed a leather jerkin casually tossed over the back of a chair and noted a large yellow stain prominent on the front. He tried to brush this off, and managed to remove some of the crusty material, but what was left behind wasn’t any more appealing. Finally he gave up the attempt and threw the thing over his shoulder and left the house. He was pretty familiar with the town by now and walked directly to the tanner where Germanius lived and worked.
In the back yard four or five boys busied themselves with various tasks while the real operator of the shop, Titus Tanner, barked out orders and kept the young apprentices in line. He was a short man with some child of dragon blood in his veins as his neck had a few scaly spots as did his arms. “Hey Titus,” said Jon with a wave and several of the young boys looked at Jon their eyes alight with excitement. “Have you seen Germanius?”
Titus pointed with his head towards the grizzled old veteran whose gray hair was just visible from around the side of a shed. Jon ambled over in that direction and found the old man as he hobbled along with the help of a cane and tried to drag a deer hide to the back of the yard. “Let me grab that,” said Jon and took the thing easily in one hand and threw it over his shoulder. “Here, put your arm around me and I’ll get you back to your chair,” said Jon to Germanius.
“There’s going to be a fair?” said Germanius and looked at Jon suspiciously and then to the sky. “It’s a little too early in the year for the summer fair,” he said a bit
too loudly and Jon smiled.
“Chair,” he said and pointed to the big rocking chair the old knight usually occupied. “I’ll take you to the chair,” he said in a loud voice that enunciated each word.
“No need to yell,” said Germanius with a smile and patted Jon on the back. He put his arm around the big gray knight and let himself be helped back to the chair which he sank into with a sigh. “Damn knee,” he said. “It’s never been the same since them Grelm orcs attacked in the year of Stanus Brokenhand’s second tour as First Rider.”
“You’ve told me that one, old fella,” said Jon with a smile. “Listen, I was thinking we might take a trip up the river to that old cairn I spotted when I was coming out of the hills. It had a symbol on it I’ve been thinking about.”
“Eh, what’s that?” said Germanius who leaned over and cupped his ear with his palm.
“Up in the Mountains of the Orc, a symbol,” said Jon loudly into the ear of the old warrior.
“I’ve been there many a time,” said Germanius sitting back in his rocker with a smile. “Me and old Mikus Brokenhand went up there. When was it, about forty years ago the year of … who was the First Rider that year? I remember that young Buffalorider fellow tried but it was a Coinkeeper. Magnus or his brother Quintus I think. But, no Quintus was a Wingedhorseman, one of the last before the Hoof Rot wiped out the stock. In any case we found a cave with one of those ruins from the Old Empire but it was still pretty much working because we accidently summoned something from the demon world. A fire creature as I recall, a real beauty she was, tried to kill us of course, but Mikus charmed the socks off the poor thing and had his way with her right then and there. He was always a bit of a ladies man but that’s messing with fire if you catch my drift. I remember once when we were boys; that was in the year Cincattus took First Rider for the sixth or seventh time. That boy Cincattus, now there was a real knight.”
Jon Gray sat quietly and let the old man tell his stories for a while and soaked up the mid-morning sun until one of the boys in the yard came over and gave him a cup of ale which he drank with large and practiced quaffs. Normally on a day like this several of the young apprentice tanners might come over to him and ask him about the excitement of his long journey to Elekargul or about life in Tanelorn but they didn’t seem to be as interested in the last week or so. “So, Germanius,” said Jon, leaning back in his chair, and stretching mightily as his long arms reached for the sky. What do you say, into the mountains for glory?”
“Glory?” said Germanius his ears suddenly perked up.
Jon nodded his head. “Glory it will be!”
“Is it dangerous?” said Germanius his body suddenly alert and his eyes gleamed.
“Very,” said Jon loudly and nodded his head in exaggerated movements.
“When do we go?” said the elderly warrior, flexing his knee and looking Jon steadily in the eye.
“Tomorrow morning?” said Jon as he pursed his lips.
The gray haired old warrior nodded his head. “I’ll be at the north gate at dawn.” Then he got up and limped slowly out of the yard while Jon watched with a shake of his head.
“That old coot will forget by morning,” he said aloud and smiled. “Still, I’ll see if Sorus wants to join me and I might get in good with young Mikus by inviting him.” With that the young son of the Gray Lord stood up and decided to head to the Smooth Stride first to talk with Sorus and then over to the manor house and talk with the son of the mayor.
An hour later, Sir Thorius sat in his usual place behind the wooden desk while his son eagerly explained the events a few moments before. “He wants me to come with him up to the Mountains of the Orc!” said the boy his eyes wide in excitement. “He’s taking old Germanius, so it must be dangerous. I’ll get a chance to do something heroic, gain my knighthood!”
“Germanius agreed to go,” said Thorius as his hand gently rubbed his chin. “He might just be grasping at straws for his last charge,” mused the mayor, “he doesn’t think particularly clearly these days and we haven’t had an invasion in five years.”
“It would give me a chance to spy on Jon too,” said Mikus putting his hands on his father’s desk as his eyes glowed with eagerness.
Thorius looked up at his son lazily and smiled, “Don’t try and con your father, Mikus. You want to go for the glory of it. But, you make a point. If the son of the Gray Lord does something cowardly you could tell everyone about it. Who else is going with you, anyone of importance, that damned Odellius?”
“I think Sorus Brewer is coming. Jon lives at his house but I don’t think any of the other knights are coming. Everyone is kind of bored with Jon now. He just sits around doing nothing,” said Mikus his shoulders drooping a little. “But maybe this will shake him out of it!”
“Possibly,” said Thorius with a sly smile as he sat back in his chair. “I’m beginning to think that boy is not nearly as brave as he wants people to believe. He is strong, there is no doubt of that, but he’s probably led a life of luxury, the son of a ruler, everything has gone his way. Now, he faces real adversity and he responds by lazing around drinking, eating, and whoring with what’s her name that little tramp.”
“Titia,” said Mikus.
“The one who’s married to that Openpalm boy?” said Thorius and sat up in his chair.
“No, no,” said Mikus. “Her younger sister. She’s not married but she was engaged.”
“Almost as good,” said Thorius and rubbed his hands together. “Almost as good. I was worried about this Jon Gray fellow for quite a bit but it turns out it was all for nothing. All right, Mikus, go with the boy up into the mountains and look for your glory. The worst that can happen is you don’t find anything. If you do, then outshine that gray knight, show him what a knight of Elekargul can do.”
“I’ll do my best, father,” said Mikus. “I’m going to be a knight!”
“Yes, yes,” said Thorius with a look to his young son as he nodded his head. “You’re only fifteen so that will be a feather in my cap. Have you thought about what name you’ll be taking?”
“Brokenhand of course,” said Mikus as his face broke into a huge smile. “Just like you!”
“That’s the boy,” said Thorius his own face a mirror of his son’s. “Now what are you going to take with you up to the mountains?”
“I’ll need some cold weather gear because it can get chilly up there at night. I’ll need my sword and armor of course and I’ve already got that polished and ready,” said Mikus with a smile that ran from ear to ear.
“What else?” asked his father as he nodded his head in approval.
Chapter 7
The next morning the four stood at the little northern gates of Black Dale with both their horses and a small crowd of well-wishers. Germanius had a beautiful gray mount that was long in the flanks and had the narrow head of a runner. He stood next to the massive Odellius who helped him onto the horse and gave him some final words of advice, “Now then Germanius, don’t get yourself killed in the first run, take down a few of them first will you?”
The old man smiled down at Odellius and said, “You’re not my son, but it’s kind of you to say so.”
Odellius looked up at the old knight and laughed aloud. He then turned to the others gathered nearby and shouted out, “He’s so deaf he wouldn’t hear a halfling whore faking an orgasm for her half-giant paramour!”
Several of the women gathered nearby shook their heads but laughed, and young Shia and Rhia, who stood near Jon Gray with wool blankets and boxes of food, giggled into their shoulders as they couldn’t cover their mouths.
“Be careful, Jon,” said Shia and stepped up to the boy. He looked down at her and smiled although the tall blonde woman nearby kept a close watch on the two. “Take these blankets to keep you warm in the mountains and I made you cookies,” she said and held the blanket and the box towards him.
Jon leaned down, kissed her on the forehead, took the offered items, and stowed them in the bags on his
trotter. The horse was freshly scrubbed and looked spry with its tail high in the air.
Rhia’s lower lip trembled and her eyes showed just a tinge of wetness as she held up a small package for Jon, “I knitted you some socks,” she said, “but I’m not very good at knitting, I’m gonna be a knight like you when I grow up!”
“Girls can’t be knights,” said Shia and gave her little sister a small shove.
“Sure they can,” said Jon. “In Tanelorn anyone can be a knight if they want. They just have to be brave.”
“Not here,” said Shia.
“I can too if I get the purple face disease!” said Rhia and defiantly stuck her chin out towards her sister.
“You can die if you get that, stupid,” said Shia with a shake of her head.
“I don’t care,” said Rhia. “I’m going to be a knight just like Jon.” With that she turned to the tall young knight, grabbed him by one massive leg, and gave him a hug. “Will I ever see you again?”
Jon patted the young girl on the head and smiled, “Of course you will, I’m just going up in the mountains for a few days. I’ll be back soon enough and we’ll start you learning about swords, how does that sound?”
Rhia stepped back with a huge smile on her face, “You promise?”
“I promise,” said Jon, bent down, put his huge hands around her tiny little waist and lifted her high in the air.
“Wheeee,” said Rhia.
“Come on, Jon, the morning is passing,” said Sorus, his own little horse carefully brushed and spry, although not nearly the beast that Germanius rode nor even equal to the black charger of Mikus Swift.
Mikus stood next to his father and discussed something quietly, with an occasional look at Jon and the others, but at this word from Sorus stuck his hand out to his father, “Well, father, wish me luck!”
“Good hunting Mikus,” said Thorius and took the proffered hand in a firm grip. “Make me proud.”
“I will,” said the boy with a smile, turned to his own horse, mounted it with ease, and then waved to the two dozen or so people gathered at the gate. “Tally ho!”
