by Sam Ferguson
At the head of the table was Wallace, the town master. He stood and beckoned for Aikur to come inside.
“We have been hoping you would come,” he said.
Nolan reached to the empty chair next to him and slid it backward for Aikur. The large Konnon warrior nodded and went to the seat next to his friend.
“Does this mean you reconsidered?” Nolan whispered.
“My wife thought I should come, that’s all, but I am not fighting.”
Nolan wrinkled his nose and sighed as he straightened in his seat. “She’s clever, your Karyna. She might be able to convince you where I have failed.”
“Not likely,” Aikur replied.
Wallace cleared his throat and looked at Aikur. “Have you come to join our warriors?”
If the room was silent when he had walked in, it was near deathly now. Aikur could hear nothing but the beat of his own heart as it seemed everyone was holding their breath.
“As I have said in the past, my fighting days are behind me,” Aikur replied.
“Aren’t you the same man that slew three minotaurs singlehandedly when you had a broken leg?” Krip asked.
Aikur nodded. “That was a long time ago,” he started to say when someone else spoke up.
“I thought all Konnons relished war, and would fight at the drop of a hat.”
Aikur sighed. “Not quite. We are renowned fighters, but that is because we live in an area that demands it of us.”
“Well the goblins here demand it now,” Frebir spoke up. “You can’t just wish for goblins to go away. You have to show them the sharp end of a sword.”
“I have scouted the woods around my house, and I haven’t found any sign of goblins,” Aikur cut in. “I don’t see a need to fight.”
“A need?” Dremmond echoed sarcastically. “I have seven dead cows that would disagree with you. How am I supposed to provide for my family when my livestock are slaughtered and mangled?”
“Listen,” Wallace interjected. “We all look up to you, Aikur. You come from a land that is legend-worthy in our eyes. Each of us, even though we are far from the larger cities, has heard of the great Konnon warriors. My own father used to tell stories of one that was called Stonefist, and even now that history astounds me. Surely you can understand why we are eager to have you fight alongside us as we march deeper into the mountains.”
Aikur sighed. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I cannot start a war.”
A chorus of shouts cut the reverent air in the room.
“We need you!” Burren called out as he slapped the table.
“No we don’t, let him be,” Callen remarked.
“I don’t even know if there are any goblins anyhow,” Lanker put in.
Nolan folded his arms as the shouting grew loud enough that no one could be heard clearly. He cast a sidelong look to Aikur and arched a brow. “Now see what you’ve done?” he asked.
Aikur smiled, slightly amused at how disorderly the meeting was. Such chaos would never have been tolerated in the home of a Konnon warrior, much less during one of their council meetings.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to shout over the group, Wallace grabbed a large, spherical stone and clacked it down onto a stone plate. It took a few seconds, but the shouting died down and the men gave their attention back to the town master.
“We have not the time to quarrel amongst ourselves,” Wallace announced. “I have received notice that the farmers in Jeriston have been attacked by goblins.”
“Jeriston?” Aikur asked Nolan in a whisper.
“It’s a town about seventy miles south of here, nestled squarely in the mountains, as we are. They raise sheep there mostly.”
“Something to share with the group?” Wallace called out.
Nolan waved a hand and shook his head. “Just telling Aikur where Jeriston is located.”
“No doubt the great Konnon warrior should write to them so they know not to expect his help,” Grais said from across the table as he glowered at Aikur. Grais was a hard man, a little older than Aikur, with streaks of gray starting to win the war atop his scalp as the hard wrinkles around his eyes seemingly grew deeper with each day’s passing. Aikur wasn’t sure why Grais didn’t like him, but the reason didn’t matter much in the great scheme of things. The Konnon warrior ignored the man’s comments and kept his eyes fixed on Wallace.
Wallace said, “Grais, refrain from such outbursts, or leave. Aikur is a free man, fully capable and able to decide his own fate.”
“But that’s just it, isn’t it?” Grais fired back. “He isn’t deciding just his own fate. We all know what Konnons can do. He is worth five of any of us, and he would be a great ally, but he won’t fight with us. He’s a coward.”
Aikur burst up from his chair so quickly that his seat toppled over behind him and skidded across the floor several inches. “I will not be spoken to like that by you, Grais,” Aikur snarled. “I am Aikur Anarin, fourth son of Arays Anarin, and leader of the Fourth House of Ger’dul. I have led countless battles and not ever suffered a single defeat.” Aikur gripped the handle of his dagger and ripped it free of its sheath. “I will not fight, because my honor demands that I work for peace! I made a promise to my wife before we left, before we were…” The proper word here would be shunned, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. “Before we departed from my people and all that we held dear, I swore to her that I would build a life much better for her and for our children. Now, if goblins come down from the mountains and look for a fight, then I shall give them one, but for now I have seen no evidence of goblins invading our lands. You are blind dogs, scared of the noises you hear and do not understand, so you assume the worst and panic.” Aikur stabbed the knife into the table between them and glared into Grais’ eyes. “If you think me a coward, then take up my knife and attack me. I think you will find that I will not run from a direct challenge.”
There was a moment of silence as Grais looked from the knife to Aikur, and then back to the knife.
Finally, Grais rose from his seat and spat on the floor before turning to walk toward the door.
“One more thing,” Aikur called out.
Grais stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look sideways over his shoulder.
“I am worth a hundred of you, not five,” Aikur said.
Grais flung the door open and slammed it behind him.
Aikur wriggled the knife free from the table and sheathed it before gathering his chair from the ground and sitting down once more.
“Well,” Wallace said after a moment. “If that is how you handle those who simply insult you verbally, I dare say you would stop an army of goblins should they ever come as far down as your home.”
A few nervous laughs helped cut the tension.
Aikur smiled and offered a nod to Wallace. “As I said, should they come to us, I will fight. It is pre-emptively attacking them beyond the reach of our borders that I disagree with.”
Wallace tapped his fingers on the table and leaned back into his chair. “Well, that is something, I suppose.”
“And what are we to do until then?” Dremmond asked. “Shall we wait for more attacks until there is a proper invasion force?”
Aikur shook his head. “My wife suggested that I might serve in an advisory capacity.”
Dremmond threw his hands in the air and puffed air before starting to stand up.
Wallace held up a hand. “Dremmond, sit down,” the town master said. “What kind of advisory capacity?”
Aikur shrugged. “I can help train your men, and I can look at the defensive measures put in place around the village.” He stopped and leaned forward so he could look at Dremmond. “I can come to your home and help you put a few things into place that would stop anything, goblin or otherwise, from predating upon your livestock.”
Dremmond’s eyes softened and he gave a short nod. “I’d appreciate that.”
Aikur smiled. “That’s why I came,” he said. “I am happy to do what I can
to bolster our defenses. I think you will find me quite knowledgeable in that area, and I will be able to help each of you secure your homes and your families.”
“Then it is settled,” Wallace said. “We will assemble the new recruits as we were discussing before your arrival, Aikur, and get them started with their training. In the meantime, if you will see to shoring up our defenses, that will greatly help to assuage the sense of worry gripping our little village.”
“I may need to ask for materials,” Aikur said.
Wallace nodded. “Well, if it is reasonable, then have each homeowner see to their own materials. However, if something is vital and beyond a person’s reach to obtain, then come to me and the town will figure out how to acquire the necessary items.”
Aikur nodded. “Very good.”
“Looks like you are back in command after all,” Nolan whispered.
Aikur let the comment roll off of him, but he had to admit, it felt good to be useful again.
Chapter 3
“That should do it,” Aikur said as he pulled on the post one last time to ensure it was secure in the ground.
“That’s it?” Dremmond asked. “A few trip wires and fencing will keep out goblins?”
“It isn’t just a fence,” Aikur said. The wire on the fence is a tension system. Any animal, or goblin, breaks it, and the spikes we set before will be triggered. They’ll come up and slam into the intruder, giving a quick and clean death.” Aikur mimicked the motion by slamming his fist into his chest. “If it’s good enough for the Kottri, it will handle goblins with ease.”
Dremmond chewed on a wad of tobacco leaves and then spat a small amount of brown liquid from his mouth before nodding. “I suppose it will have to do.”
Aikur laughed. “Ever the skeptic,” he said. “Just make sure your kids don’t come and play out this way. The fence will work regardless of who triggers it.”
“Jaydeen knows better than to mess with your contraptions,” Dremmond said. “She’s fifteen after all.”
Aikur nodded. “I need to head back into town and check on the recruits.”
“Very good.” Dremmond turned and spat again. “Oh, before I forget. My wife baked you a shepherd’s pie. She wanted to show her thanks for your help. Since you have been working with us, we haven’t lost a single cow.”
Aikur smiled and waved the idea off. “I don’t need payment, I am glad to help if it eases her worry. Go ahead and eat the pie yourself.”
Dremmond laughed. “I already did,” he said with a wink. “I just thought I should let you know she had meant it for you.”
Aikur pointed to Dremmond’s tools. “I’ll leave those here for you.” They bid their farewells and then Aikur departed through the forests around Dremmond’s pastures before turning westward for the town. He took a deep breath of the pine-scented air and smiled. Everything had gone well in the three weeks since the council meeting. Grais still gave him the stink eye, but even that old codger admitted that Aikur had done wonders to strengthen the town’s defenses. Dremmond’s farm was the last one to be upgraded. Now that it was done, neither goblin nor wolf would be getting in.
The large warrior found the new recruits training in a clearing a mile outside of town, using wooden poles as they dueled with each other. Leading them was Krip, the town guard captain. From what Aikur knew, Krip was a veteran that had served in the imperial army under Lord Consuert’s direct command. Though, if he understood correctly, Krip had only ever been in one battle, and that was east of the mountains that marked the edge of Kelsendale and separated it from the deserts beyond. Still, Krip was a level-headed soldier for the most part, even if his experience wasn’t as extensive as Aikur’s.
Twenty men stood facing Krip in four neat columns five recruits deep. When Krip gave a shout, they would step forward and strike at imaginary foes with their training weapons before returning to their original stance and waiting to repeat the drill.
Aikur sighed and shook his head. He was still far from convinced of any goblin threat, but he couldn’t bear to see training wasted in such a useless, monotonous exercise. He approached the group and removed his shirt, revealing a set of rippling, black muscles that stretched his skin to its limits.
“Aikur, nice of you to join us today,” Krip said as he called a halt to the training exercise. “How goes the fence building?”
A couple recruits snickered, but most kept silent. Aikur noted those who had laughed and approached Krip with a proposal. “I wondered if I might show the men something?” he asked. “I know I haven’t been able to spend much time here, but I thought I might impart a little to them.”
“We are nearly done with their training,” Krip said. “Another two weeks and each of these men will be ready to face off against goblins or any other threat that comes knocking.”
Aikur glanced to the men and nodded. “Good, then how about I pick seven of them for an exercise?”
Krip hesitated. “Well, I’m not sure the men will…”
“Unless you don’t think they are ready,” Aikur added.
“I’m ready!” one of the men shouted.
Aikur smiled when he saw that it was one of the recruits that had laughed at him. “Good, come forward.” Aikur pointed to another. “You come as well.” He then continued pointing out and calling recruits up until he had all seven that had laughed. “Krip is right, I have been busy building fences while you have been learning to fight. Still, I wager a gold piece each that I can take all of you in a fair fight.”
“Aikur, perhaps this is unnecessary,” Krip said as he stepped in closer.
“If your men can’t take on one man, then they have no business defending the town against, how did you say it? Any threat that comes knocking…”
The seven men grouped in front of Aikur and tossed their weapons to the ground.
“What are you doing?” Aikur shouted. “I said I wanted a fair fight, pick up your weapons, all of you!”
“Aikur…” Krip began.
Aikur turned to the veteran and smiled. “You might want to step back.” Aikur waited until each recruit had gathered his weapon and then he motioned for them to circle around him. “Surround me, and then whenever you are ready, attack me. Do not come one at a time, however, you must make this like a real battle. Come at me all together, and show me what you can do with those sticks of yours.”
The recruits looked at each other and then began laughing.
“You can’t be serious,” one of them said. “We’ll kill you.”
Aikur smiled back and shrugged. “You just keep that gold piece in mind. If you win, you get a prize.”
“All right, let’s do this,” another one said.
Aikur shook out his shoulders and flexed his fingers. He took in a breath, steadying his nerves and calming the surge of adrenaline threatening to spike his efforts beyond what they needed to be. He wanted to teach them a lesson, but he didn’t need any of them seriously hurt.
The tall warrior waited until someone on his right charged in.
A less experienced fighter may have moved immediately to counter the attacker, but not Aikur. He waited a half second longer, until the recruit was swinging his staff and others were joining in, then he broke out to the left. The staff whiffed through the air where Aikur had been standing, but the recruit had put so much effort into it that he spun round and struck one of his comrade’s in the chest, knocking the man down. Meanwhile, Aikur reached up and stopped a downward chop from a recruit on his left, seizing the recruit’s wrist with his left hand before pivoting and bringing a knee up to slam the recruit in the chest.
Two down on the ground, and he had only made contact with one.
A recruit jabbed toward his chest, but Aikur spun away, grabbed the end of the shaft, and yanked the recruit off balance, blocking off the first attacker who had now recovered from knocking out his comrade and was back in the fight.
Aikur dropped his left elbow down onto the recruit in front of him, landing a solid blow
to the base of the recruit’s neck. A half second later Aikur slammed his knee into the recruit’s face.
Three down.
Another recruit came in wild with a wide swing that only barely missed another recruit’s head as it arced toward Aikur’s face. Reflexes took over. Aikur put his left arm up, his forearm moving into a shielding position while his right hand shot out to attack the staff with a palm strike. The weapon snapped as Aikur’s battle-hardened hand connected with the wood. Aikur moved like lightning, wrapping his fingers around the broken piece and flipping it upright to wield like a club. He moved his club up as if to strike, but just as the recruit lifted what was left of his weapon, Aikur launched a front kick to the recruit’s solar plexus that knocked the wind out of him and left him heaving and gasping for breath on the ground.
Four down.
“YAAAAAAH!” a recruit shouted from behind.
Aikur dropped the broken shaft and lashed out with a donkey kick that caught the fifth assailant in the stomach. To the recruit’s credit, he only doubled over for a moment before recomposing himself and charging in once more. Aikur spun around, connecting with a back-fist with his right hand to the recruit’s jaw and then landing a solid left cross to the man’s face. The recruit dropped like a sack of manure.
“That’s six,” Aikur said aloud as he turned to the final recruit.
“I quit!” the recruit said as he threw down his staff.
Aikur felt his blood boil. Where he came from, quitting was not an option. Surrender inevitably meant death. Before he realized what he was doing, Aikur lunged forward and grabbed the recruit by the collar, yanking him close so that they were nose to nose. “You can’t quit you spineless vulc-wyrm! You surrender, you die!” He let go with his right hand and poked the recruit in the forehead. “Boom! Arrow to the face. You’re dead.” He then dragged the side of his hand along the recruit’s neck. “Sword to the neck, you’re dead!” His left hand released the recruit’s collar and then latched onto the man’s neck. He didn’t squeeze the throat, however. Instead, he used the tips of his fingers and thumb to mimic a Kottri’s teeth. “Snap! Fangs to the neck. You’re dead!” Aikur then shoved the recruit onto the ground.
