The King's Gold: (The King's Gold Saga Book 1)

by Jenner, M

  “I will do that. Good luck on your quest.”

  “We’ll need more than luck, I fancy,” Galandrik grunted.

  “I’m sure you’ll find some,” Jarrow answered.

  All four walked through the house into the kitchen; Ltyh was cleaning up the pots and pans from their farewell meal. When he had finished, he walked casually out into the yard stretching his arms as he did. For the last few days he’d gone out each night and gazed up at the stars for several minutes; anyone keeping the house under surveillance would see only the same again tonight. But as he pretended to admire the full moon, he was actually scanning the area discreetly for any signs of movement or watchers. After a few moments he went back inside. “It’s all clear.”

  “Right, I’ll go. Grab the backpacks and pass mine up; I don’t think I can manage it yet,” Ty said.

  After making his way with Ltyh stealthily to the stable, Ty paused to check over his horse’s gear. “Thanks for everything, friend,” he said to Ltyh.

  “At least things have been more interesting lately,” Ltyh laughed. Then in a more solemn tone, he said, “It’s been my pleasure.”

  “Just as killing you will be mine!” Ty heard as Bok jumped out from his hiding place in a corner of the barn, launching a ferocious attack.

  Ty jumped back, grabbing a pitchfork and parrying the first two blows from Bok’s sword. A third blow swiped sideways straight for Ty’s stomach, and only a swift backwards arch saved Ty from the attack. Bok took the initiative as Ty arched back. Dodging the vicious tines of Ty’s pitchfork, Bok threw a vicious right hook, catching Ty square on the chin, spinning him round and felling him to his knees.

  Bok stood above him and raised his sword. “Die, you scum,” he hissed as he brought the sword down furiously.

  “No!” Ltyh screamed, as he tackled Bok from the side, sending them both through of the barn stable doors and to the ground. Ty’s leg was throbbing from the fall but he managed to get to his feet, and released his daggers into his hands. Through a haze of pain he advanced on Bok. Without warning, Joli lunged out from behind a water barrel, sword already in motion crashing down towards Ty. With a swift roll he dodged the blow and ended up sprawled on the ground, looking up at his second attacker. Joli’s sword hit the barn floor inches away from Ty’s left ear, sending sparks into the night.

  Bok recovered swiftly from Ltyh’s tackle; climbing to his feet, he grabbed Ltyh by the throat and hoisted him up from the floor. In his other hand he drew back his sword, ready to thrust it forward and up into the Ltyh’s midriff. “You are one stupid fucker,” Bok spat through clenched teeth as he savoured the moment. Ltyh looked at Ty trying to scream for help but Bok’s grip succumbed his voice, terror flooded his ash-whitened face and wide eyes.

  With a hoarse scream, Ty stumbled to his feet and scrambled towards Bok, forgetting his other attacker momentarily. Ty was knocked flat on his back by a swift kick to the face from Joli. Dazed, he watched helplessly as Bok forced his blade into Ltyh’s stomach. With a sickening twist, Ltyh fell to his knees. A trickle of blood slowly rolled down his chin and he fell onto his side, his wide eyes still staring at Ty.

  “Finish him,” Bok shouted, pointing his blood drenched sword at the thief on the floor.

  Ty tore his gaze from Ltyh’s form and looked up at Joli; his vision blurred as stars spun, twisting and turning in front of his eyes.

  “It’ll be my pleasure,” Joli answered as he raised his rusty sword above his head, grinning evilly down at the fallen thief. Ty tried to roll onto his side in an effort to get up, but the kick had disoriented him too much and he slumped facedown, waiting for the inevitable. He closed his eyes in resignation.

  The blow never came. “Another time, Rat, another time!” he heard Bok shout, then running footsteps fading into the distance.

  Ty roused to the sound of a familiar voice. “You okay?” Kern asked, helping the thief to his feet.

  “Look after Ltyh, he’s been hurt – badly,” Ty managed, leaning on Kern’s shoulder.

  “We know. Jarrow and Galandrik are carrying the boy into the house. They will send a servant to fetch Prolumus.”

  “What about Joli?” Ty asked, rubbing his bruised chin, his vision slowly clearing.

  “He has seen his last starlight,” Kern answered, nudging something on the ground with his foot.

  Ty followed the movement of Kern’s foot; eventually his eyes focused on Joli’s body slumped on the barn floor, a dagger protruding from his eye-socket.

  Ty sighed. “Poor fellow never had the brains he was born with,” he said. “Bok led him a dog’s life.”

  Galandrik came back out. “We need to go now!” he said, his voice urgent but low.

  “What about Ltyh?” Ty asked, as Kern helped him mount his horse.

  “There’s nothing you can do for him. Prolumus is on his way, but Bok isn’t going to keep this quiet. There will be twenty town guards here before you know it. Jarrow is urging us to leave; he says he’ll make up some cock and bull story about Ltyh catching burglars in the barn.”

  The three companions finished mounting up, and without even a single glance back they raced from Jarrow’s house. Ty cringed as the horse’s gait made him wince with every hoofbeat, but he held the reins tight and kicked on.

  Jarrow looked sadly down at Ltyh lying on the leather chair, now ghostly grey. The older elf knew there was nothing more he could do.

  There was a loud knock at the door, and Jarrow sighed.

  Chapter Sixteen: Into the Mountains

  After two hours’ hard riding, the trio came across a rocky outpost. The landscape was slowly changing, growing hardened with more stone and rock and less grass; pathways of hard-packed dirt and mountainous terrain now replaced the green fields behind them.

  “I think here would be a good place to stop and give the horses a rest.”

  “I agree, Galandrik; head up that rocky slope,” the ranger answered, nodding at Ty.

  They climbed up the rocky path leading up a winding foothill, the leading edge of the Eastern Mountains; soon they found a clearing amongst the last few trees that littered the rocky hillside.

  “Here will do lovely,” Ty said, swinging his leg over his horse’s back and landing on the ground with all the grace of an orc.

  “Still in a bit of pain?” Kern asked, dismounting his steed.

  “Yeah, but it’s a hundred times better than when he first struck me with that lightning bolt. I honestly thought I was going die or lose my arm. It ripped the flesh like no pain I have ever felt before. I don’t think that fight in Jarrow’s barn did me any favours either; it’s killing me holding the reins,” Ty answered as he rotated his shoulder.

  “You were lucky to escape – and more than once,” Galandrik pointed out.

  “I think maybe Cronos should have named you ‘The Cat’ instead of ‘The Rat,’ the number of lives you seem to have,” Kern said as he tied his mount to a tree stump.

  Soon the three companions were seated, eating a quick meal. “So, you think the dragon will accept the eggs back?” Galandrik asked.

  “No idea. But even if she doesn’t, I won’t be taking them back to Conn,” Kern answered with a smile.

  “If she doesn’t, she will probably just eat us anyway.”

  “Even dragons wouldn’t eat dwarf,” Ty laughed.

  “At least I’d make a meal!”

  “And afters!”

  “I can see you’re feeling better,” Kern added.

  “I think I liked him better tucked up in bed,” Galandrik grumbled.

  “Whatever the outcome, we shall find out soon enough, I guess. But we did what’s right,” Ty said.

  “This is about the first time you’ve ever done the right thing in all the time I’ve known you,” Kern grinned.

  “Rubbish! What about in Glabow, when I helped the locals build their church? It was days I spent cutting, sawing, and nailing, wheelbarrowing rock and clay – my hands were red raw!” Ty snapped.

&n
bsp; “Only because the priest who was running the job had a stash of holy loot that you wanted to get your hands on. Helping them build was the only way to gain his trust and get invited into his house!” Kern shot back with a laugh.

  “Well…even so, I helped them!” Ty laughed and blow a smoke ring.

  “I think we should move on. It’s been a good three hours since we left Jarrow’s and we need to be well into the mountains by morning,” Galandrik said, stroking his mount’s mane as the beast munched an apple from his palm.

  The party gathered their possessions and left the clearing; slowly they picked their way over the rugged pathways up into the mountains. Low, rocky hills on either side slowly started to rise up like giant stalactites, the path between them widening as tree cover slowly disappeared.

  “It’s bloody bleak here,” Ty said, wrapping his cloak tighter around his shoulders.

  “And it’s not going to get any better, either,” Kern added.

  “Rubbish, it’s the best landscape in the world! The smell of the rock and the beauty of the mountains are like nothing else in Bodisha,” Galandrik insisted.

  “What beauty? What about the rolling hillsides and lush green forests? Now that’s beautiful,” Kern argued.

  “I would rather be in the Orc’s Armpit rolling bone dice,” Ty said drily.

  “Typical from you,” Kern replied.

  Just then a black shadow streaked across the moonlit landscape, covering them in darkness. A rush of wind surged around and through the party, and cold air engulfed them as their horses reared wildly. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone.

  Kern struggled to regain control of his mount, then drew his longsword. “What the hell was that?”

  “No idea; storm clouds?” Galandrik answered doubtfully, drawing his huge axe. “We are getting up on higher ground.”

  “You always draw your weapons when it’s going to rain?” Ty said, spinning around on his mount.

  “Good point,” Kern replied, “but let’s move on.” He kicked his mount into a quick canter

  A shriek from above suddenly echoed through the mountains; Galandrik’s horse reared once more, sending the dwarf crashing to the ground. Kern, trying desperately to control his own beast, spun round, looking up to where the noise seemed to have come from.

  “Wyverns! Quick, into that cave!” Ty shouted, spurring his mount on. Kern reached down and grabbed Galandrik’s hand, pulling the dwarf up onto the back of his own horse.

  The wyverns swooped. Galandrik watched in terror as the creatures dived towards them, wings flapping in the night sky and shrieks filling their ears. “Hurry up, they’re gaining on us!” Galandrik yelled.

  Ty reached the cave opening first. Jumping from his horse, he grabbed his backpack and then slapped his mount, sending it racing on upwards into the mountains.

  Kern and Galandrik tumbled from their shared mount; taking a stance with drawn sword and raised shield, Kern faced the swooping wyverns. In his fear, Galandrik neglected to grab the backpacks from the side of Kern’s mount, and instead dived straight into the cave where Ty stood watching and urging his companions on to safety.

  Hellthorn spread its great wings to slow his diving approach. Fierce talons ripped into the haunches of Kern’s mount, slashing flesh and bone. Draygore crashed into Kern’s shield, teeth shrieking against metal, and sent Kern falling backwards towards the cave entrance, dropping his sword. Kern’s horse, screaming in terror, crashed to the ground as Hellthorn ripped into its throat. Blood poured from the wound, and the horse thrashed briefly, then twitched and lay still.

  Draygore, now standing in front of Kern, lunged again, swiping its head towards Kern’s shield and knocking it from his hand. Scrambling to grab his sword, Kern settled into a defensive crouch, readying himself for another attack. Draygore’s head snaked forward, biting and snarling. Kern rolled under the attack and lashed at the wyvern with his blade, cutting deep into the beast’s leg. Thick black blood oozed from the cut, sending Draygore reeling back from the attack. With a flap of its giant wings, the creature flew up into the air, screeching in thwarted rage.

  Hellthorn advanced from Kern’s blind side, sinking razor sharp teeth into his shoulder. Thrown off balance by the impact and sudden pain, Kern fell forward, the weight of the wyvern pinning him facedown. The wyvern ripped into his armour, but Kern’s scream of pain was cut short as he lost consciousness.

  Rushing from the cave, Galandrik swung his mighty axe at Hellthorn’s back. The blow thudded into the wyvern’s shoulder with a sickening crunch; the wyvern turned, swinging its black wing into Galandrik and knocking him back into the cave entrance.

  Abandoning Kern for the moment, the wyvern turned its attention to Galandrik, stalking forward with its mouth widely open in a hiss that showed razor-sharp fangs, blood-coloured spit oozing and frothing like a rabid dog. Galandrik braced himself for the oncoming attack – then suddenly a bottle flew from the cave entrance and smashed into the wyvern’s chest, covering it in an oily liquid. Hellthorn reared its head back with a screech, fangs glistening like bloodied daggers in the moonlight. Enraged, it readied itself to lunge again at Galandrik.

  Ty stepped from the cave holding a torch. He hurled it towards the wyvern, and his aim was true. The torch took Hellthorn in the middle of its chest, sending sparks and flames in all directions and igniting the liquid splattered on the wyvern’s hide. Within seconds the wyvern was ablaze, spinning and thrashing, screeching as the flames burned into its flesh. Its frenzied movements only fuelled the fire and finally the creature fell to the ground, giant wings flapping feebly as the flames engulfed it.

  “Burn, you devil,” Ty muttered. Then, helping Galandrik to his feet, he said, “You all right?”

  “It’ll take more than a bat to stop a dwarf lad!”

  “Good. Help me with Kern then.”

  As they grabbed Kern under his arms and dragged him into the cave, Ty glanced up and saw Draygore swooping back down towards them. Pulling Kern the last few feet to safety, he then retrieved Kern’s sword and Galandrik’s axe before stepping back into the cave. The burning wyvern was now motionless and silent, and the smell of burning flesh filled the cave and their nostrils.

  Once safely inside, Ty lit another torch and they carried Kern back into the depths of the cave, propping him against a wall. Galandrik inspected Kern’s torn shoulder; fortunately, the armour had taken most of the damage and the wounds were not as deep as he had feared. Ty helped Galandrik dress the wounds, and after Kern was patched up Ty pointed the torch towards the cave entrance. He watched as Draygore tried in vain to get its huge head into the cave opening. Scratching and snarling the beast tried to force its way in; after a while the wyvern disappeared and the noise stopped.

  “It won’t get in here; it’s far too big to fit into the entrance,” Ty said.

  “Good, go set fire to it! Like the other one,” Galandrik suggested

  “I can’t. That was the only oil we had, unless you want to go outside and get the other from the saddlebag,” he answered, sitting down looking through his backpack.

  “I’ll give that a miss; I think burning its mate has probably made it a bit mad,” the dwarf said with a wry smile.

  “We’ll wait until morning; it might have cleared off by then,” Ty replied.

  Kern opened his eyes blearily and, with a grimace, looked down at his shoulder. “Ouch,” he whispered, shaking his head as if to clear it. “What happened to the wyverns?” he asked.

  “Ty used the torch oil to burn one, but the other one is still about,” Galandrik explained.

  “Did we get all the belongings?”

  “We managed to salvage one backpack, but the horses either bolted or perished.”

  “These were sent for us,” Kern said, rolling his shoulder.

  “You think so? Maybe their home is in these mountains and they saw us as a threat to their young.”

  “I don’t think so. I think they were sent to kill us.”

&nbs
p; “You think we have made the King angry?” Galandrik said helping Kern to his feet.

  “Most definitely, we are wanted… badly.”

  “Story of my life,” Ty interrupted. “I think we’ll have to go deeper into this cave,” he continued as he squatted down, squinting his eyes trying to see into the darkness at the back of the cave. “Looks like there’s a little passageway heading downwards at the back here.”

  “I don’t think that beast is going anywhere, judging by the screams from outside,” Galandrik agreed.

  “We only managed to keep Ty’s backpack, so rations will be in short measure,” Kern said.

  “We are short on everything!” Galandrik said, picking up his axe.

  “That’s a point. How’re the chests?” Kern asked.

  “Fine; I checked them. They’re made of sturdy stuff. How’s the shoulder?”

  “Not too bad at all, to be honest,” Kern answered, rolling his shoulder experimentally.

  “Let’s make a start, then, before that thing attracts more attention than it already has,” Ty said, waving his torch down the passageway.

  They walked cautiously deeper into the cavern. The stale air was stinking and the floor was slippery with water that trickled in downwards from the cave entrance. After ten minutes’ walking, the passageway had still not changed; it sloped downwards at a steady decline, and the further they walked the worse the smell got.

  “Is this damn corridor ever going to end?” Ty said, shaking his head.

  “Dunno. Is your moaning?” Kern replied.

  Ty opened his mouth to reply, but Galandrik interrupted. “I see you two are back to normal!”

  The party walked on until the passageway opened into a circular cavern that was clearly more than just a natural chamber. A door sat at the far side of the room; barrels and crates lay strewn about the room, and the rotten fruit and meats that filled the crates gave off a nearly unbearable smell that permeated the room. Some of the leaking barrels still held mead that had gone off long ago, adding to the stench in the air. The party covered their faces with cloaks and hoods, trying to protect their nostrils from the stink.