Red Valor

by Shad Callister

  Pelekarr took two sergeants, Bivar and Deltan, with him to the keep, where Lord Dectros welcomed them eagerly—and, all three mercenaries noticed, with more than a little amazement. The baron’s brother had clearly given up on them and despaired of their return.

  Dectros had finished his supper and received them in a smaller chamber, richly furnished, where his exchequer sat going over some accounts. He pushed goblets of wine on the three and sank into a chair, massaging his temples.

  “The news is bad, I can feel it! Out with it! Tell me, tell me quickly. By all the gods, what have I done to deserve my misfortunes?”

  The exchequer raised an eyebrow at that question, but no one paid him any heed.

  “Your lumber workers are gone, Milord,” Pelekarr said with just the right amount of professional detachment. “Your operation has been abandoned. I offer my sympathy, and regrets.” He sipped his drink.

  The pale face of the baron’s brother grew paler and his eyes fluttered. “All of them? All? Gone where?”

  “Take a bit of your wine with this news, Milord Dectros. It seems you built your lumber encampment directly on top of a mekkilak’s egg den.”

  There was a sharp intake of breath from the exchequer—the one with the barbarian lover, as Pelekarr recalled from the baron’s earlier outraged telling. But Dectros didn’t understand. “What? Speak Kerathi, man!”

  “A giant centipede, Milord, nearly a hundred cubits long. Even the barbarians flee in fear from this creature. Your garrison was slaughtered, and the woodcutters fled into the wilderness. We followed as far as we could, but a war-horde of savage tribesmen fell upon us. We fought desperately, lost many good men. In the end we conquered, thanks in part to the devastating arrival of the centipede itself, which had stalked us from the fort.”

  “A centipede! What of it now?”

  “Destroyed, along with all of its eggs. It will trouble you no more. But the upshot is that you will need to repopulate your labor force entirely. Your fort still stands. May I suggest that you see to the needs of this new encampment with greater attention? Start with a larger garrison. We may be able to help you there.”

  “Yes. Yes, of course. I’ll have to do that. But this is a disaster. This is terrible!”

  “It was terrible, yes. The fighting was intense.” Pelekarr sipped some more wine, and Dectros greedily followed suit to calm his nerves. Then Pelekarr set his goblet down and withdrew from his glove a small wax tablet.

  “There remains the conclusion of our agreement.” He set the contract down on a low table. “You owe us a quarter of all proceeds for the next three years, at a minimum. We are interested in helping you get production going as soon as possible. Please advise us on the progress of your efforts, and do let us know when you need guards to help in reestablishing the fort.”

  He cleared his throat. “Also, there is the matter of casualty reparations. We lost… let me see… thirty men, all told. At ten silver apiece, that comes to—”

  “Three hundred silver?!” Dectros shrieked, jumping to his feet. “You’ll beggar me, Captain! I cannot pay that!”

  Pelekarr spread his hands helplessly. “It is in the contract, Milord. You agreed to this when you sent us out. If you cannot pay, we will be taking full control of all assets in question and hold you liable for the debt. Also, we will need to speak to my lord the Baron Bax about the matter.”

  “How do I know you lost these men? Where is the proof?”

  Pelekarr grew stern. “My word is good here and across the sea, as all men know. If Milord sees fit to doubt it nonetheless, I can provide the dented and bloodstained armor of the fallen. If this does not suffice, I can lead Milord’s men to the graves we dug in the wilderness, and unearth the rotting corpses!”

  Dectros, thoroughly cowed, waved a hand and reached for his goblet. “No, I believe you, Captain. Forgive me, forgive me. I just… this is a shock, a grave shock.” He gulped and then put his face in his hands. “Beggared. Why do the gods hate me so?”

  “Hardly beggared, Milord,” Pelekarr soothed. “If you move quickly you can have lumber moving before the leaves start to fall. Rebuild these losses. Show the gods how a mortal man surmounts obstacles.”

  Dectros, biting his lip and eyes shining with unshed tears, nodded. The exchequer rose from his seat and brought forth a heavy leather bag, which he dumped upon the table and began to count swiftly, dropping each counted coin back into the bag.

  The sergeants grinned broadly, but Dectros flinched each time a coin clinked in the bottom of the sack.

  “Perhaps you’re right, Captain,” the noble rallied at last, pouring himself another large goblet. “Lumber prices are rising. What trees this land grows! My dear brother says that lumber orders have tripled in the past year.”

  “So good to hear,” Pelekarr murmured. “All the more reason to expedite your venture.”

  “Well spoken! Just between ourselves, the king is going through ships like swine through slop.” The wine was having its effect, and the man rubbed his hands in glee. “War is good for business, gentlemen!”

  “Indeed it is,” Pelekarr drawled, and the exchequer, still counting coins, gave a rueful smile.

  It was a perfect evening back in Dura.

  Far to the west, the sun was sinking behind the Atacanthian Mountains, a fiery wonder rendered hazy-soft by distance. East of the range, evening shadows grew long in deep purples and blues. The air was clear and still, save for a riot of birdsong. From inside the inn came the sounds of revelry—the company was spending some of its hard-earned money on liquid refreshment.

  Keltos leaned against a doorpost of the Tooth and Blade Inn, letting the sounds of revelry within wash over him. Over his right shoulder, in a corner by the fire, Captain Pelekarr sat deep in conversation with the young blacksmith they had brought out of the forest with them. Perian sat next to the captain, sharpening her silver dagger on a smooth stone with a soft wheet wheet.

  The young cavalryman drew a deep breath, eyes fixed on the far western mountains. They were working their usual spell on him and he smiled at their invitation. He sat down on the broad steps of the inn’s front porch, leaning his elbows back on the steps and filling his lungs with the smell of summer grass.

  “Lucky spear-pushers,” he said, under his breath. “Someday I’ll make it out there myself.”

  “Who’re you talking to?” Makos plopped down beside him with a groan. “Mishtan above! I’m sore.”

  “Told you that saddle girth was worn. You should have replaced it.”

  “The day I need a sorry guttershink like you to tell me about saddles,” Makos began, but trailed off. “This sun feels nice on my aching bones. It wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t bending over all day, mucking out the stable-yard and cutting hay. Why haven’t we hired some stable boys by now? We’re soldiers, not dung haulers. I noticed a few of those idiots in second troop got a lad from town to do their chores.”

  “Stable boys cost money.”

  “Not much. If we pool with Somber and Arco and a few others, it will come to nothing at all.”

  “Arco’s gone, Mak.” They both frowned at the memory, still fresh. Their tent-mate hadn’t been the only comrade lost in the latest campaign, though. Keltos continued, unwilling to spoil the evening with too much talk of the dead. “Anyway, we’ll need better pay than we got from Bax’s brother if we’re to be hiring servants.”

  “Speak for yourself. My marvelous body needs its rest. I say we hire a stable boy, and if you won’t, then Somber will.”

  “Got to save my pay, Mak.”

  “Well, if all goes well you’ll be able to bring your mother and Nealtha over by next summer. You should let me help. I could write to my father, and he’d send me the coin for it whenever—”

  “No, Mak. Thanks, but no.” Though Keltos missed his family fiercely, he had to be the one to pay for passage. It was personal. He was already in debt to Makos’ family, more than he could ever repay, for taking in his mother and sister
after his father’s execution. Makos’ father was so rich he could send half the province across the sea, but the Kuron family had already burdened the Vipirion family enough. And anyway, Keltos wanted a place for them to live when they got to Ostora.

  “Hell’s onion’s, Kel. In a couple of weeks, Damicos will be marching out of the mountains with saddlebags stuffed full of loot. There’s nothing to worry about. And then I hear that the pale apes are running amok down south, overwhelming the settlements. Any day now we’ll get word from some baron screaming for help and willing to pay in gold for easy killing.”

  “Nothing easy about killing apes, Mak.”

  “We’ve learned. Next time will be different.”

  Keltos grinned. “They’ll smell you coming.”

  Makos eyed his manure-encrusted boots sourly. “You see? We need a stable boy.”

  “I thought you liked that smell, Mak.”

  “That’s because you’re an addlepate.”

  “And you’re a bumbledunce.”

  “You’re an insolent pup. I would get up and bloody your lip if I weren’t so tired,” Makos said, yawning. “When do we eat?”

  “Just been waiting for you.”

  “Wait’s over. Let’s go.”

  Makos rose and they stepped inside the inn with the tired but contented slouch of hardy young men after a long day of labor. Makos entered first, and for a moment Keltos paused on the doorstep.

  He glanced back at the distant glow beyond the mountains for a moment, and it reflected in his westering eyes briefly before he, too, disappeared inside.

  Here ends Red Valor

  Book Two of Tooth and Blade

  Read on for the appendix material, and sign up to be notified of the release of Book 3: Wrack and Ruin. You’ll also be able to download the Tooth and Blade Fan Pack, which includes a short story starring Tibion and Sojac, and a sneak peek at the cover for Book 3.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Shad grew up on Tolkien, Narnia, Star Wars, and the rest but never quite got enough. Now he writes to satisfy that urge for more epic stories.

  He writes sci-fi and fantasy from his home in the western US, and welcomes suggestions and questions at books@bardepress.com.

  “Thanks for reading– it means a lot.”

  Find out more about this and other Barde Press titles at bardepress.com.

  Appendix

  Heroes and Villains in order of appearance:

  Loku: an exiled shaman of the Wolfsbane clan, bent on dark vengeance

  Leisha: queen of a lost city in the Ostoran hinterland

  Damicos: infantry commander of the Tooth and Blade mercenary company

  Pelekarr: cavalry commander of the Tooth and Blade

  Dectros: younger brother of Baron Bax, owner of a lumber operation in the interior

  Jamson: wealthy explorer and impresario who wants to discover the lost city

  Kairm: Ostoran trapper who claims to have seen Leitra, the lost city

  Keltos: young cavalryman serving as bannerman to Captain Pelekarr

  Makos: noble young cavalryman, best friend of Keltos and fellow bannerman

  Leon: Damicos’ infantry lieutenant and right-hand man

  Cormoran: a veteran infantryman in the Tooth and Blade

  Tibion: the company cook, known to the men as Crumbly Tib

  Perian: female shaman of the White River barbarian clan, acting as guide to the Tooth and Blade

  Ashon: aging leader of the lumber settlement of Ashtown

  Gladwin: guardian of Leitra, right-hand man to Queen Leisha, a beast-rider

  Humexes: a young blacksmith who seems to have found a surprising secret

  Harnwe: a young Ostoran archer who joined the company as a skirmisher

  Redtusk: the god of the Ostoran wilderness, a gigantic red-furred mammoth that controls other beasts

  Pantheon of Kerathi Gods

  Mishtan – King God, God of Heaven

  Kera – Queen God, Goddess of Wisdom

  Rukhal – God of Hell

  Yillitha – Goddess of Death

  Khoris – Goddess of Mercy

  Mokar – God of Justice

  Kif – God of Thieves

  Meru – Goddess of the Hearth

  Beqissa – Goddess of Pleasure and Love

  Quel – Goddess of the Hunt

  Telion – God of War

  Taxases – God of the Forge

  Drasss – God of Wealth

  Hemela – Goddess of Peace

  Yaff – God of the Harvest

  Isoba – Goddess of the Sea

  Jequinia – Goddess of Marriage and Family

  Pellia – God of Health

  Felevus – God of Weather

  Kyrasha, Tova, and Dalica – The Three Fates

  Tooth and Blade Troop Structure

  Captain Ios Pelekarr (over the Cavalry)

  Captain Dalcon Damicos (over the Infantry)

  Lieutenant Leon Stonehand

  Troop 1 (cavalry)

  Sergeant Bivar

  Keltos

  Makos

  Arco

  Domnos

  Kibrantes

  Reln Osla

  Troop 2 (cavalry)

  Sergeant Deltan

  Boros

  Tolanos

  Tall Wikios

  Short Wikios

  Mellibax

  Beetleboy

  Troop 3 (cavalry)

  Sergeant Keresh

  Lazuli

  Pelios

  Umbas

  Tekon

  Tanos

  Havinch

  Troop 4 (cavalry)

  Sergeant Caspar

  Myro

  Roxos

  Scathos

  Atalecto

  Wender

  Machaon

  Troop 5 (infantry)

  Sergeant Urcan

  Meeks

  Tumos

  Thalides

  Hobban

  Fieron

  Indymios

  Troop 6 (infantry)

  Sergeant Copper

  Mirion

  Corba

  Scuthos

  Scorchy

  Mast

  The Yak

  Troop 7 (infantry)

  Sergeant Hocano

  Chendos

  Cormoran

  Kidon

  Tolon

  Korintio

  Tethios

  Troop 8 (infantry)

  Sergeant Kalabax

  Andion

  Lobo

  Rictan

  Tamwrit

  Pevos

  Sandshark

  Troop 9 (infantry)

  Sergeant Hundos

  Driccan

  Sephemes

  Octos

  Leorda

  Tern

  Iperion

  Troop 10 (skirmishers)

  Sergeant Grutt (archers)

  Elantos

  Taff

  Mingo

  Jimba

  Harnwe

  Kaecha

  Corporals Lopontes and Quelos Ukan (slingers)

  Ascalos

  Jascos

  Omu

  Darco

  Corbos

  Shadder

  Corporals Stevos “The Sickle” Adda and Sojac (javelins)

  Alakkon

  Gorantha

  Orcu

  Kadifos

  Bastamesh

  The Asp

  Calendars

  Kerathi Calendar:

  (twelve-year repeating cycle)

  Year of the:

  Elephant

  Goat

  Bull

  Camel

  Jackal

  Serpent (current year)

  Horse

  Lion

  Leopard

  Gazelle

  Monkey

  Swine

  Month of the:

  Oak

  Cypress

  Cedar

  Myrrh

  Chestnut


  Tamarind

  Olive

  Date

  Pomegranate

  Fig

  Pistachio

  Mulberry

  Ostoran calendar:

  1 – The Moon of Great Cold

  2 – The Hunger Moon

  3 – The Moon of the Breaking Ice

  4 – The Moon When the Sap Runs

  5 – The Moon of the Green Leaves

  6 – The Egg Moon

  7 – The Moon When the Birds Cast Their Feathers

  8 – The Moon of the Ripe Plums

  9 – The Moon When the Birds Fly Away

  10 – The Moon of the Falling Leaves

  11 – The Moon of New Snow

  12 – The Ice Moon

  Current Ostoran year: The Year of the Howling Claw-rat

  Sign up to be notified of the release of Book 3: Wrack and Ruin, and you’ll also get a free download of the Tooth and Blade Fan Pack:

  - ARTWORK: large map, cover art, and commissioned painting of Damicos' duel.

  - FREE STORIES: a series short story, a fantasy novella, and a sci-fi action tale from Shad.

  - THE EXPANDED APPENDIX: tribes, companies, bestiary, chronology of battles, and more!

  You'll also be the first to hear when Shad's next title is ready so you can get in early on crowdfunding opportunities and access even more epic fantasy novels as they come out.

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  Find out more

  about this and other Barde Press titles at:

  bardepress.com

  Thanks for reading!