Nath gulped down the cider. “Ah!”
“Don’t go too fast on Granda’s cider. It’ll soften your bones.”
“I don’t care. I haven’t felt this good in a while, so I might as well enjoy it.” He burped.
Hacksaw rose from his chair. “I’ll get more cider then.” He left and returned with a big iron pot full of cider and another mug. He beckoned at Nath with his hands. “Here, here, let me refill you.”
Nath handed over the mug. Hacksaw sank the mug in the cider, filling it up, let the excess drip off, and handed it over. “Granda would bust my knuckles if she saw me being sloppy like this, but lucky for us, she sleeps like she’s petrified.”
Blanching, Nath said, “I hope not.”
CHAPTER 41
Hacksaw put Nath’s mind at ease as he moved on to talk about his adventures. He said the sword, Green Tongue, was taken from the commander of a goblin pirate ship he encountered on the Fallum Sea. The old warrior worked as a henchman and caravan guard, fought with the legionnaires, and even mined with dwarves. He went on and on, talking about many of the things he did and the people he’d met. Nath could have listened to him all night. He was fatherly, almost an uncle.
“So, do you have your own children?” Nath asked.
“Never married, though I was close once. She was a pretty little thing with silky hair and a voice as sweet as honey.” His jaws sagged. “I think I scared her when I lost me temper once. Not with her, but with another man that became snide with me. I busted him so hard in the face he didn’t wake up for days. It was never the same after that. There’s a time and place when you let the beast out like that, and you shouldn’t do it in front of a lady. They don’t understand.”
“Aye,” Nath agreed. With a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, he said, “Well, I’m chasing after a woman myself. She’s an elf as beautiful as you ever saw, but I’ve been nothing but sidetracked since I took after her.” He tossed another log on the fire. “Nothing has been right since I left home.”
Hacksaw packed more tobacco into his pipe. “And where might that be, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Eh, near Dragon Home.”
“You mean, the Mountain of Doom? You are from the settlements?”
“Near there.”
“I understand if you don’t want to say.”
“It’s complicated.” Nath took a long drink of cider. He looked at the hammer leaned up beside the hearth. “That hammer was taken from a slaver lord when I escaped from Slaver Town.”
“Slaver Town!” Hacksaw sat up. “That place is real?”
“As real as you and me,” Nath said. Without giving specific details, Nath filled the man in on everything he’d encountered. He told him about Calypsa and Rond. The betrayal he experienced by the Black Hand. How he rescued Princess Janna, only to be duped again and sold to the orcen slaver, Prawl. He went on at length about Slaver Town. Foster. His harrowing escape with Calypsa and Rond before being transported from the bottom of the world to the top by Ruffle. “After I killed the basilisk, I found myself here.”
Hacksaw blew smoke. “You know, there are good storytellers and there are great ones. You, Nath, are a great one.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I didn’t say that, but I’d be inclined to call you a liar based off what I just heard. Still, your words ring true, and I consider myself a pretty good judge of character. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but I find it hard to believe that you single-handedly killed that basilisk in the Nameless Temple. That’s the story of legends. And you’re too young to be legend.”
“So, you know about the Nameless Temple and the lizard then?”
“Well, sure, everyone does in the northwest. Anyone could say they slew it, because everyone is too scared to go up there and no one would believe them. At least, not without the monster’s head. But no one can glance at a basilisk and live.”
Nath wanted to say that he did in fact stare down a basilisk and live, but he thought better of it. “Well, have you ever seen a basilisk? How do you know?”
Hacksaw slapped his knee. “Ha-hah! You make a fine point, Nath. Who can really know for sure without seeing it with their own eyes, and that beast took over the temple more than a hundred years ago. But there was a man who lived here named Derek, and he claimed to have seen the beast. Told me all about it when I was a boy. He was old then, and died not long after he shared the story. The truth is, his story is all we have to go on.”
Nath frowned. “I suppose, his and mine.”
“I’m sorry to have offended you, Nath. But as I said, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps, you can go back to something that I can relate better to. Tell me about Riegelwood and these adventurers called the Black Hand.”
CHAPTER 42
Nath departed Huskan. He wasn’t alone either. He was on a horse equipped with saddlebags, a bedroll, rope, rations, and other supplies. Hacksaw rode with him. The big man rode tall in the saddle, leading the way with a sway in his broad shoulders. The old adventurer had geared up in a suit of leather armor. He wore bracers and had scuffed-up metal guards on his arms, shins, and shoulders. Green Tongue hung on his left hip. Two daggers were belted on the other side. A full quiver of arrows was on his back, and a short bow he said was for hunting crossed over his back.
With snowflakes drifting down from the gray clouds above, Hacksaw said, “It’s a fine day for a long ride. And I haven’t been south for a long time. I’m looking forward to the warmth.”
Riding alongside the man down the dirt road that led into the grass-covered hills, Nath said, “I know we’ve been riding for a while, Hacksaw, but I wish you would let me talk you out of this. It’s my problem, not yours.”
With his eyes ahead, Hacksaw replied, “No, you are in need of a friend. And, well, I feel a calling. The truth is, I’ve been very restless the last few seasons. I still hunger for a trial. I just can’t stand around and split logs all day. I need to do more. I was meant for it.”
“Granda seemed very upset.”
“She gets upset easily with me. She’s always wanted me to stay home.”
“Well, I was more worried that she was upset with me.”
“Hah, I suppose she’ll blame you.” Hacksaw shook his head. “No, when I heard your story about the Black Hand and these Men of Whispers, I knew I had to help. I’ve crossed men of that foul ilk before. I can’t stand the thought of them.”
“How do you know that you have to help? I certainly don’t owe you anything. I’m a complete stranger who wanders into your tavern looking for food, and now you’re following me to Riegelwood.”
“Actually, you’re following me. I don’t think you know where you are going.” Hacksaw petted his horse’s neck. “The Black Hand has crossed you up once, and they’ll do it again if you don’t have a good plan. Please, tell me, how do you suppose to get your precious items back?”
“Well, I haven’t had time to plan it out, but I know where they will be. The Whistler or the Oxen Inn. I’ll find them, and let them have it.”
Hacksaw shook his head. “That’s the worst plan that I’ve ever heard. Not to mention that they’ll see you coming from a mile away. All you are going to do is wind up back in Slaver Town again.”
Miffed, Nath replied, “I said I really hadn’t had much time to think about it. I’ll come up with something better.”
“No, we’ll come up with something better. Tell me something, Nath. Do you want your items back, or do you want vengeance?”
“I want both, actually.”
Hacksaw turned his head and eyed him. “Are you willing to kill them for it?”
Nath swallowed. “Well, I don’t know about that. They certainly need to be exposed or taught a lesson. They are thieves. They should be punished for it.”
“I’m all for justice, but you’ll have to decide how far you are willing to take this. If you go at them head-on, it’s going to be a nasty fight that you might not be able to fin
ish, but you could just steal back what you’ve lost. If they don’t know that it was you, you might just get away with it.”
“You’re suggesting I steal my items back?” Nath looked up. A flock of geese flew in a v-formation moving south. “I never thought about it like that before. I just assumed that I would reclaim what is mine.”
“You said you’ve been a slave for over two years, and you haven’t put any more thought into this?” Hacksaw shook his head. “That’s bad planning. If I’d been locked up, I’d be planning my strategy every day. I’d run it through my head to perfection.”
“There were a lot of distractions.”
“Don’t take this personally, but based off what you told me last night, you haven’t had a plan since you started. You are looking for this little elven girl without any idea in the world where to start looking. Am I right?”
Frowning, Nath said, “Yes.”
“That’s pretty stupid. To be honest with you, I’m not even sure how you made it this far, but you have, and that’s what fascinates me.”
The more Hacksaw talked, the worse Nath felt. Like a fool, he’d charged headlong into a world he knew little about. He’d read about it, heard about it, but it wasn’t anything like experiencing it. He’d been miserable since the day he left, and he left with all of the right intentions. “Everything went backward on me,” he mumbled.
Hacksaw cupped his ear. “What’s that?”
“Nothing. So what were you going to say about stealing my items back? I’m listening.”
CHAPTER 43
“Now, don’t get me wrong Nath,” Hacksaw said. “I prefer a straight-up fight, but sometimes, it’s best to flank and blindside your enemy. One of the best ways to do that is to divide and conquer.”
“I’ve heard about that,” Nath said. He’d taken a spear out of a leather sleeve mounted on the horse’s saddle. He eyed the leaf-shaped head. “Not to change the subject, but what is this spear for? Fighting or hunting?”
“Both, but in the case of this journey, hunting. Have you ever hunted with a spear? Or bow for the matter?”
“No.”
“I’ll show you how it’s done. The woodland is filled with tasty varmints. We’ll find us one and feast like kings.”
Nath wasn’t completely honest about his skills with the bow and spear. He’d been trained with most all weapons, but he’d never actually hunted with any of them.
“Tell me a little more about the Men of Whispers and this orc? What was his name? Crawl?”
“Prawl.”
“Yes, Prawl. He sounds like a nasty one, not that any of them aren’t, but some are formidable. Give me details. We’ll need an angle.”
“The Men of Whispers are common folk who work behind the scenes. Many of them are actual soldiers working for City Lord Janders. He was oblivious to their cause.” He spun the spear in his hand and put it back in his sleeve. “Prawl is in charge of them. They work with the Black Hand, but they are not the same. I believe they have a rivalry of sorts. Prawl doesn’t like them, and they don’t like him, but they serve the same evil cause.”
Spurring the horses to a brisk trot, they crossed a small stream. The horses whinnied as they clopped through the icy waters.
Hacksaw said, “I’d say they are still doing the same business. It sounds to me like the Black Hand chooses the people, and the Men of Whispers are the support system. It’s all a clever setup that starts the moment a newcomer enters their city. It’s a big operation. We won’t be able to bust it up, Nath. So don’t start feeling too heroic. We need to be focused on just one thing, getting those items back. The trick is to get one item, and then blame it on the other.”
Nath’s eyes brightened. “Ah, well, you know, I think I might have an angle on that.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“One of my items is the Gauntlet of Goam. Prawl had his eyes on it, but Nina claimed it. He was very bitter that he didn’t get it.” He scratched his neck. It still itched from where he’d worn that collar; if there was one thing that he was thankful to Ruffle for, it was that his irons were gone. “On the trail to Slaver Town, I told him about my treasure and the items. His beady little eyes sparked. He knew he’d been duped.”
Hacksaw’s bearded smile went from ear to ear. He jabbed his index and middle finger at Nath. “Now, that’s the smartest thing you’ve done since you began your trek.”
“It is?”
“Yes, you planted a seed. We can work with that.”
“So, what are you suggesting? For all we know, Prawl might have it already.”
“Perhaps.” Hacksaw shrugged. “But we know nothing, so it’s best to plan based off what we know. I imagine they are still going forward with business as usual. We’ll know quickly enough when I check out the Oxen Inn. That is where Nina is, correct? And she had this Gauntlet of Goam?”
Nath nodded.
“Tell me about the gauntlet. If we’re going to use it to push a wedge between the groups, I should know what we’re looking for.”
“It’s made of a supple leather, open fingers, with a blue jewel over the palm. I can punch like a mule kicks when I have it on.” Nath clenched his fingers in and out. He didn’t say any more about how it gave him greater strength, but that should have been obvious. He hadn’t used it much, so he wasn’t certain if it had any other powers or not.
“I’ve never heard of Goam, either,” Hacksaw commented. “Is that a person or a place?”
“It could be either. I don’t know, it was a gift to my father that was handed down to me.” Nath reflected on Balzurth’s throne room that was covered wall-to-wall with treasure. All of it was tribute given to the dragons from all of the races in the land for millennia. He missed the treasure room. Some of his best memories were playing there and being with Maefon.
I hope that I will see her again. I need to find the truth.
“Nath, when we get to Riegelwood, you are going to have to lay low. And if you see the enemy, you can’t act out on it,” Hacksaw said. “Remember, they have eyes everywhere and can certainly recognize you. That’s why I have you covered up in that traveling cloak. But you still have to keep those eyes averted. I’ve never seen a man with eyes like that. No one would forget them.”
“I will.”
Hacksaw continued. “I’ll search out Nina in the Oxen Inn. If she is there, I should be able to feel out her situation, but it might take a few days. You, in the meantime, will be squirreled away somewhere out of sight, while I handle it. And if the Men of Whispers work within that devious network, as you say, we’ll find the gauntlet, steal it, and pin it on Prawl. This will bring all of the hungry rats scrambling out of their holes. In daylight, we will expose them.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“Hah! Not one single thing about it is easy, but if it was going to be easy then it wouldn’t be any fun.” He took the bow from his wide shoulders. “I’m getting hungry. We have rations, but let’s preserve them. Besides, I’d rather hunt. Are you ready to learn?”
“No, I’m eager.”
CHAPTER 44
Maefon stood on top of Stonewater Keep, staring over the battlements at the rushing river below. It was early morning, and the fog hung over the surging waters roaring below. Dressed in black raiment with her arms and shoulders bare, she leaned farther over the edge. At the bottom, an elf lay still, his body dashed against the rocks. Crows and carrion birds were picking at it. It was one of the Caligin, a fine male who crossed Lord Darkken at the wrong place at the wrong time.
She rubbed her neck and swallowed.
Something sent a spark of rage through Lord Darkken over a week ago. Standing atop the keep with rain coming down in sprinkles, Lord Darkken addressed the Caligin. Maefon stood by his side, basking in his glory, nodding in agreement to everything he said. That’s when it happened. A Caligin, standing in the second row, coughed. Maefon could see what happened next as plain as day. The Caligin was ripped out of the ranks by invisible hands. The e
lf came right into Lord Darkken’s iron grip. The Lord of the Dark in the Day lifted the man over his head and, howling with rage, hurled the man clear of the battlements.
Maefon shivered.
There was a break between the battlements where a platform jutted out over the river. Bodies could be dropped from there, straight into the churning waters. That had happened before, but this was pure anger. She actually laughed when it happened. Not because she approved, but because she felt that was what Lord Darkken would want. She didn’t want to show the fear that festered inside her chest. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time. Lord Darkken departed shortly after that without a word, leaving them all in the cold.
Among the jagged rocks that crowded the riverbank, a large figure climbed over the rocks. It was Monfur, the nine-foot-tall ogre who guarded the entrance to Stonewater Keep. The birds feasting on the dead Caligin’s body scattered from the hulking brute’s approach. With one hand, the ogre picked the rotting elf’s body up like a ragdoll and flung it in the river. One of the elf’s arms fell off, landing at Monfur’s feet. The ogre picked it up and started eating it.
Lips tight, Maefon turned away. Hands behind her back, she started to pace. She tried to block out the abominable sight. There were other problems. Ones that she wished she didn’t know, that she was certain Lord Darkken would be angry about.
For two years now, she’d shared his bed on and off. She never knew for sure where she stood. Lord Darkken seemed to push her to her limits by merely showing a frown at her mastery of magic and new achievements. In one moment, he was imposing, and in the next, a sheer delight. Elves were very straightforward in their personalities. She was used to that, but she couldn’t get used to Lord Darkken’s unpredictability.
Enslaved: The Odyssey of Nath Dragon - Book 2 (The Lost Dragon Chronicles) Page 13
