Ahren- the 13th Paladin
Page 36
Ahren was glad that everyone seemed to be in a relaxed mood. Their latest victory and the harmonious feast had done everyone good, and he himself felt full of derring-do this morning. Hoping he wouldn’t destroy the mood, he asked, ‘so what happens next?’
Falk answered calmly, ‘first we have to leave Evergreen, then straight through the Knight Marshes to King’s Island. That has the only harbour with a connection to the Silver Cliff. And, from what I’ve last heard, there we will find a dwarf, who would be suitable as an Einhan’.
‘Who is he?’ asked Uldini curiously but Ahren was hardly listening. He would ride through the length of the Knight Marshes, he would land on King’s Island, a small island that contained a capital city of the same name! And he’d never seen the sea before! And they’d even travel by ship! He tried to hide his excitement.
Falk answered Uldini’s question. ‘At the moment he doesn’t have a name. He’s staying on a Lonely Guards’.
Uldini whistled through his teeth and Jelninolan snorted with disgust.
Ahren gave a questioning look, and much to his silent delight, Falk answered immediately. ‘It’s common among the dwarves to give certain, usually very difficult tasks to individual dwarves, who then have to fulfil them. Until they have done this, they are left on their own and don’t have a name. They first get this back once they have performed the task, with a new syllable added in recognition of their service to the community. You can recognise the oldest and most decorated of them by their terribly long names.
The elf priestess shook her head and Ahren understood why. It sounded tough enough to his own human ears, sending an individual into exile and without a name, in order to do something for the community. It had to sound like pure barbarity to elves with their understanding of harmony.
Uldini followed up with a question. ‘And you think he’ll help us? You know what dwarves can be like’.
Falk nodded. ‘I know him from before. He’s the only dwarf I can think of who would be worthy, and would help us without too much persuasion. And anyway, he’s on the Silver Cliff at the moment. Trogadon’s shield is stored there as well. That will do for our ritual and it’s not important to the dwarves. It’s only used for ceremonial purposes every couple of decades when a new master blacksmith is being appointed. That way we’ll avoid having to go to Thousand Halls’.
Ahren racked his brains, trying to remember what he knew about dwarves. There were two dwarf settlements. Thousand Halls, the actual kingdom of the dwarves, lay to the south, beneath the Eastern Sunplains. The High King had his seat there and most of the dwarves’ military might was based there too. The Silver Cliff on the other hand, was a small enclave, which specialised almost exclusively in trade with Kelkor and the Knight Marshes, and lay on the banks of Kelkor. Ahren could understand why Falk would prefer to go there. The journey was half as long and the Silver Cliff dwarves were considered to be much more open-minded than their southern cousins.
Uldini nodded approvingly and said, ‘that sounds promising. Let’s hope that your friend has finished his task by the time we get there’.
Falk shrugged his shoulders. ‘Even if that isn’t the case, the dwarves are a pragmatic folk. As non-dwarves we can give him a hand, and usually it’s only something like smoking out cave spiders or things like that. The dwarves don’t possess any magic but you, Uldini, should be able to manage whatever it is he’s supposed to do in a day’
The Arch Wizard pulled a face. ‘I hate spiders and now I feel I’m being used’.
Falk responded calmly, ‘it’s time you made yourself useful’.
The verbal combat showed to Ahren that the informative part of the discussion was now over and he began to think over what he had just heard. The Knight Marshes, a voyage on a ship and visiting the Silver Cliff. It all sounded incredibly exciting and would ease the pain of leaving the Elf Forest.
He looked over at Jelninolan and a wave of pity came over him. She would have to leave the community of elves for a long time. Ahren was beginning to feel what this meant for an elf creature.
He leaned over to her and whispered, ‘maybe you could come later to some agreed meeting point after we’ve found the dwarf. You and Uldini could talk to each other using magic’.
She smiled at him and said, ‘that’s very nice of you but it really is time that I moved away again so as not to lose my connection to the outside world. We have a tendency to withdraw too much. Anyway, I have no intention of letting you out of my sight until you’ve been named. Too many enemies are after you, and you’re going to need all the help you can get’.
Grateful for her support, he settled down to breakfast, all the time listening to the playful conversation between his master and the Arch Wizard.
When he was finally finished eating, his master looked at him with eyebrows raised. ‘We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn, which means that you have the rest of the day to continue with your disrupted training’, he said firmly.
Ahren nodded guiltily, then took his bow and Windblade in his hand and went out to look for a quiet place to practise.
The day flew by. The quiet atmosphere in the forest and the familiar activity gave Ahren time to think and mull over the events of the previous days. Falk came by from time to time and gave him new tasks or asked him a complicated question at difficult moments in the training. Jelninolan provided him with company too, and tested his knowledge of the plants and animals in the forest.
Above all, he enjoyed Uldini’s visit. The Arch Wizard entertained him with anecdotes about the Sun Emperor’s court. Late in the afternoon his master gave him climbing exercises to complete until finally, shattered and exhausted but nonetheless content, the apprentice made his way back to the guest lodgings. A hearty stew was on the table and Ahren helped himself. Then he curled up under his blanket, relaxed his exhausted muscles and dozed off to the sound of his companions’ quiet conversation. The day had almost been the same as in his earlier existence in the forest cabin, and as he drifted off, he thought of the wonders and adventures that awaited him and a smile spread across his face.
The three others looked over at the sleeping youth and Jelninolan said, ‘he’s come a long way in a short time. How long have you been training him now, two years?’
Falk nodded proudly. ‘I’m glad we can give him a little breather now’.
Uldini chuckled quietly. ‘Breather? We’re going to travel through a kingdom full of feuds, go on a voyage half the the length of the eastern coast, and then we have to help a dwarf on his Lonely Guard. What could possibly go wrong?’
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Acknowledgements
My thanks to everybody who supported me with my first novel.
A journey may always begin with a first step, but no-one said that you have to walk alone.
Also available in English, from german author Sylvia Rieß:
SONG OF A FALLEN STAR -HOMECOMING-
When a child dreamed the first of all human dreams, Gar'Erui the world beyond the veils came to life.
Human hopes and desires filled the newborn realm with all kinds of magnificent and cruel entities, resembling the best and the worst of mortal souls.
No one knows that better than Fenia. Raped and tortured she reappears in the human realm four years after she was supposedly killed by the boy she loved.
Where she has been, what has happened to her remains a mystery to family, friends and the police, for not a single word slips her tongue.
Only Dave, father of one of her classmates, can draw a connection between her disappearance and his own story. He realises what must have happened beyond the veils since he left:
The magic world is doomed to fall to the all-devouring Shadow, unless the ancient spell is woven again and the redeeming Star o
f Erui is revealed.
- The journey starts with the return. -