“You still owe us then,” Walket said with a bit of a slur to his voice.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Esselles said, handing four of the glasses to Walket before carrying the rest of latest round back to the table.
“Well, I’ll certainly have some tales to tell when I return to Arator,” Pol said as he took his mug. “The grishmagi attack, the abduction, the uruk capture, the Kredo’s pendent, the demon, the demon home world, the attack on the castle, the medal of honor. I’m going to need a bard to tell it all.”
“It really is hard to believe,” Esselles said, then paused. “But it is amazing what you can do when you are forced to do it. That’s what drove me most of the time. I didn’t set out to kill the grishmagi. I had to, or it would have killed me. And I chased the demon down more out of fear than bravery. I was afraid the suregrave was going to maul me before I could explain the situation. About the only thing I did by choice was assault the castle.”
“As if that wasn’t crazy enough,” Pol said. “Three of you, attacking a castle full of uruks.”
“True. But if you are going to take someone with you, Kyell is a good choice. He was amazing in there. It is easy to see why the Uranthians are such feared warriors. And there was almost nothing he couldn’t do. You should have seen him climb the mountain. Which, by the way, he’s going to add to our training regimen.”
“Marvelous,” Andor said.
“So how’s it feel to have the ordeal finally over?” Randol asked.
“Pretty good. Although it isn’t completely over. Renamir is still out there somewhere. I’m going to get that bastard someday,” Esselles swore.
“Don’t get yourself killed trying,” Walket said. “Revenge has a way of doing that.”
“I won’t,” Esselles promised. “But I will have my revenge. And it will be sweet.”
The End…for now
About the Author…
Stephen L. Schultz was born in Tonawanda, NY, a suburb of Buffalo. He went to college at the Rochester Institute of Technology where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. He spent eleven years working at RIT’s Center for Imaging Science before leaving to create Pictometry International Corp, where he was co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. He has since retired. He and his wife, Vicki, live in Rochester, NY with their two sons, Skyler and Hayden.
Demonified (Hawkblood Chronicles Book 1) Page 33
