He started up the trail after Grams. Moving slowly on the narrow ledge was not a matter of choice. One wrong move and no need to worry about anything but the quick trip to the bottom of the gorge.
It seemed to take twice as long to climb as it did when they came down. When they were almost to the top, Arden whispered, “Wait here while I make sure it's clear.”
Lindon and Cora waited in silence for Arden to return. After about five minutes, Arden's head appeared over the ledge and gave them the all clear to come up over the precipice.
“Well, Lindon, you're the one with the direction in your head so you’re in the lead,” Grams said.
Lindon gave a look up the trail toward town and the only home he had known. With a little sigh, he turned down the trail leading out of the mountains, heading for a destiny he didn't know anything about.
Chapter 6
They had been traveling for three days. Arden would consistently scout the road far ahead; anytime someone would meet them on the trail, he would come and warn Lindon and Cora and they would quickly find a place to hide off the trail until they would pass.
This time, however, the travelers came from behind, and they were coming fast. Arden was nowhere to be seen; as the horsemen came nearer Lindon and Cora could see that they were soldiers. Lindon was hoping that they were in too big of a hurry to bother stopping for two lone travelers, but when they drew near, the lead rider raised his hand, and the group of about twenty riders came to a halt.
The leader addressed Lindon. “You look like a strapping young lad; do you know how to use that sword?”
Lindon thought quickly. The last thing he needed was to wind up in some army. “Uhh…No sir; it was, uh, my dad's, but he did died.” Lindon hoped his attempt at appearing simple would come off well.
“That's a shame; we can always use good swordsmen.” The leader paused, thinking. “We also need cannon fodder, too.”
The men behind snickered.
“Oh please, don't take my only boy away,” Grams simpered. “He's all I have left after the sickness took the rest.
“Sickness,” the man whispered, and at the word, the men started to retreat a little. “What kind of sickness are you talking about?” he asked, now a little more cautious.
“Oh, it was terrible, sir. At first the fever would start, then the boils would form on the face and genitals.” Lindon figured the quickest way Grams thought to get rid of these men would be to threaten their manhood. “After that, the itching would start to drive them mad.” With a sorrowful look, she finished with, “And some of the men would scratch so hard, their privates would tear off—and even that wouldn't stop the itching—until finally they died.”
By the end of the story, most of the men were holding their hand over their crotch and slowly backing away. Finally, the leader turned his horse back down the trail and said to his men, “Head out men, the army don't need this retard boy or an old slut to win the war.”
At the word slut, Lindon almost pulled his weapon against the man, but Cora grabbed his hand before he could make a move. The soldiers rode off down the trail to whatever war they were fighting.
“Let’s get off the road and wait for Arden; we might not be so lucky next time we run into someone.” Grams was right; they had to get off the road.
They waited in silence for Arden's return. Now a man, Lindon imagined what it would be like to have the sickness his grandmother described to the soldiers. Shuddering, he was glad it was fictitious.
Arden finally arrived to take his mind off the thought.
Cora asked, “Did you meet the soldiers on the road?”
“I heard them coming and was able to get off the road in time,” he answered. “They seemed distracted and not overly interested in their surroundings.”
Chuckling she said, "I wouldn't be surprised, they came on us too fast for us to hide, and they were talking about a war they were going to and the need for recruits, so I told them that we were the only survivors of a particularly nasty little sickness." Grams was giggling like a little girl at what she had told them. Lindon really didn't think it was that funny, but he had to admit it was effective..
“If there is a war going on, it’s going to make traveling the roads quite dangerous. I just wish I knew where the fighting is taking place,” Arden said, trying to think of what they should do.
“We are about half a day's walk to the city of Kornas at the border between Salter and Corhan. In peace time it's not a problem getting across, but if there is a war going on it’s going to be impossible,” Cora stated.
“Why can't we just go around it?” Lindon asked.
“It’s not that easy; to the west is mountains and would take a month to go through if not longer, and to the east, there will be patrols. I had hoped to just go to the border crossing and talk our way through. It's a lot safer than getting caught trying to cross somewhere else. However, there might not be any choice.” Arden's tone was grim.
“We will also need supplies at the border town; we don't have enough food to make it to the next one,” Cora calmly stated.
“That settles it, then. We have to try the crossing and hope that the war isn't with Corhan.” With that statement, Arden got up and started back to the road. “One other thing, Lindon, try very hard not to draw any attention to yourself. Just keep your head down and let either Cora or myself do any of the talking.”
“I understand; I will just act slow and keep quiet.” Lindon agreed with them that he was completely unprepared to deal with strangers, having grown up in the little farmhouse and not dealing with many people.
“Good idea.”
With those last words, they started down the road.
After about an hour of walking, they came to the eastern crossroad. Most of the tracks turned east and the road south looked open. The border town was only a couple of hours away. Hoping that the trouble was all to the east and the southern road was clear of problems, the trio continued south.
As sunset grew near, they came in sight of the border town of Kornas. Lindon was unprepared for the site. Having grown up near the little village of Mentell, he had never thought someplace could be so big. The fortifications were massive; they must have been fifty feet high. One way extended to a cliff face of huge mountain, and the other way curved around the city. He guessed that it must go all the way around it, but could only see the side they approached from.
Unaware of the stupid look plastered on his face as they approached the gate, Lindon at first didn't see the four guards standing in front blocking their way. Lindon was too busy looking around at the fortification; he could see some movement behind and off to either side of the main gate. There were slits cut in the stone where arrows could be shot at anyone approaching the gate, and huge pots at the top on stands that could be poured on anyone attacking.
Lindon didn't have to worry about pretending to be slow-witted for the guards; the amazed look on his face convinced them better than any words. With very little hassle, they were waved in through the massive gates that stood open to allow traffic through.
Walking through the gates, a horn sounded and the large metal gates started to swing shut. Lindon could see on each gate, a team of horses was hooked up to some kind of pulley system and with their power, the gates closed. He then saw four men, two on each side, turning large wheels mounted on the side of the wall that slid a huge beam into place, locking the gate.
“Let’s find a place to sleep for the night and first thing in the morning, we will get the supplies we will need for the trip. If we're lucky, maybe we can find some horses too. It would be nice not to have to walk the entire way; I am not as young as I used to be,” Grams said.
“Sounds good to me,” responded Arden.
Lindon didn’t have any comment about it; he had never been on a horse in his life and had only walked or ran if he needed to get anywhere.
Walking the streets of the city was a new experience for Lindon; he had never seen such a mean-looking
place. There were people passed out on the sides of the street, their faces completely devoid of hope or even the will to live.
They came upon a building with a bed and a mug hanging on a sign. “This place looks as good as any,” Arden said. Leading the way, he opened the door and entered.
It took a few seconds for Lindon's eyes to adjust to the dim light of the room, and what greeted him was one of the saddest sights he had ever witnessed: Men were hunkered over their drinks, barely able to keep from falling over. Almost all the patrons were like the ones outside—devoid of all hope and laughter. “How can people live like this?” he whispered more to himself than to anyone.
“Some people have just given up on life and drink until they can feel no more pain; it's the only way they can go on.” Arden had heard him and answered knowingly.
Thinking back to when he first met Arden, Lindon realized that the man had been in this position himself and was talking from experience. If Arden could come out of his despair and help him and his grandmother, Lindon realized, maybe these men could too, when they were ready.
Understanding that there was nothing he could do for these people, Lindon followed Arden and his grandmother to a table directly across from the bar. It looked like the cleanest table of the entire place.
When they were seated, a woman appeared at the end of the table. “What can I get for you?”
Arden spoke. “What's the food special?”
Lindon was more than happy to let Arden ask. This woman was causing him all kinds of problems. Without a doubt, she had the largest breasts he had ever seen, and they looked like they were fighting to be free.
“Roast bore or beef; your choice.” Her voice lacked emotion.
Lindon was sure that she could see him staring, but she was probably used to the looks she got.
“We'll have three beef, one ale, and two small beers.” Arden smiled at her as she took the order.
“You can close your mouth now, Lindon,” Grams said as the barmaid left the table with their order.
Quickly closing his mouth and looking down at the table, Lindon felt his face turn bright red from embarrassment.
“Got to give her credit, though; she does fill out her top quite nicely,” Arden said with good humor.
“Don't encourage him,” she said crossly at Arden.
“Yes, ma’am,” Arden wisely said giving Lindon a quick wink.
Lindon quickly looked down again to hide his smile from his grandmother.
Arden got up from the table and said, “I will go talk to the inn keep to see about some rooms, and we can get out of sight as soon as we eat.
Grams just nodded as he left the table. Lindon was looking around the common area when he noticed a man in the corner starting at Arden as he went up to the bar.
“Grams,” Lindon whispered, “that man in the corner seems to be watching Arden a little too closely.”
“I see him. Just keep an eye out for trouble,” she whispered back.
Arden sat back down at the table. “We will only have one room; after we eat I suggest we go up to it as soon as we can.”
Lindon was in full agreement; there was something about the people here that made his skin crawl. He didn't know what the feeling was just that he had to be on the lookout.
The food came and they ate in silence, not wanting to spend any more time in the place than they had to. When they finished their meal, they stood to leave. The main door swung open. Four men came in: three large men with swords and one tall skinny man in a long black robe.
The trio immediately knew they were the reason the men had come, yet hoped they could get up the stairs before they were seen. Lindon was not surprised when the skinny one pointed at them and yelled, “There they are, get them!”
Both Arden and Lindon reacted at the same time, pulling their swords free. As the men approached they spread as far apart as they could to give each other room to fight. Likely thinking that the boy wouldn't be much of a problem, the men split up and two of them went for Arden and only one after Lindon.
As Lindon watched the man move toward him, he noticed the way the man favored his right side just a little, and guessed that the man would try to take him out quickly with an overhead strike to knock the weapon out of Lindon's hand. He was prepared.
That was exactly what the man attempted but instead of blocking like the man was expecting, all he did was sidestep. The attacker stumbled forward, not meeting Lindon's sword. Lindon hit the man on the side of his head with the pommel of his sword, knocking him out cold.
Looking over at Arden to see if he needed any help, Lindon saw that one man was down already, and the second was bleeding from his left arm. Turning toward the man in robes, he noticed the angry red glow surrounding him just before a streak of blinding white light raced at him. Thinking he was dead where he stood and remembering the bolts that Grams had sent at the men who attacked them on the mountain, Lindon was completely surprised when the bolt hit him. He could feel a warmth surrounding his body but there was no pain, and he was still standing.
Just as Lindon registered the shock on the man's face, one of those deadly bolts tore into him, and he was blasted back out through the door he had just entered. Arden had trained him not to let shock or surprise stop him from acting, so as soon as he no longer had an attacker, he turned to help Arden and was just in time to see the last attacker fall, clutching his stomach and hit the ground.
With all of the attackers dead or unconscious, Lindon looked around the room. He was surprised to see that the drunks that had been passed out on their tables were still there, not even able to react to the fight. These men were too far gone into their own troubles that they were oblivious to the world around them.
“We have to get out of here; it won't be long until more come,” Cora said urgently.
Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, they could hear a commotion out on the street. Arden was the first to react. Going around the bar, he confronted the bar maid. “Is there another was out of here?”
The frightened lady was unable to say anything coherent, when from the back of the bar the man that had been sitting in the corner watching Arden urgently said, “This way. Hurry before the town guard comes.”
Not having any choice the trio quickly grabbed their belongings and hurriedly followed the stranger. He led them down into a cellar. Thinking that he had led them into a trap, Lindon pulled his sword and was prepared to attack the man when he pulled one of the torches downward, and the wall opened up behind him.
Lindon felt a little foolish but kept his sword out anyway, just in case. He still didn't trust the man, but he did seem to be leading them away from trouble.
Back up in the bar, one of the drunkards whom they had passed on the way out suddenly lifted his head. If anyone had been there, they would have noticed the milky whites of his eyes started to drain. He had been blind for near twenty years ever since he was in the army, and a wizard had cast a fireball in his general direction and caused his eyes to lose their sight.
Now as he stared at his hands in complete disbelief…He could see again! He had no idea how it was possible. He stood up and was stumbling toward the door when in rushed the town guards. They rushed the man and bore him to the ground, and before he could even protest he was shackled and was hauled out toward the dungeon.
The man whom Lindon had knocked unconscious started to sit up just as the guards were leading the drunkard out of the inn. Lightly touching the spot where he had been hit, he felt a large welt that had formed from the blow. Seeing that he was still alive and relatively unharmed, he looked over at his comrades and, seeing their dead bodies, suddenly made a life-changing decision. He quickly got up—he was a little dizzy still—and made his way to the back of the building. Seeing no one was around, he jumped out one of the windows. He knew how his former employers questioned people, and he did not want to be the one being questioned. And with a feeling of freedom that he'd not felt in a very long time, disap
peared out into the night.
The drunken man sat in his dark cell, barely aware of where he was. He was too enthralled with being able to see again to worry about what was going on around him. When the cell door opened, he looked up and in walked a large man in robes. At first he couldn't see under the hood of his visitor, but when the man removed its hood the drunken man was stunned into immobility. What stood before him was the most beautiful face he had ever seen, but there was something evil underlying the beauty.
Shaking with fear, the man could not move as the creature approached, when it was just an arms length away it stopped, bent down at the waist and stared in his eyes. No matter how hard he wanted to look away, he couldn't so much as move a muscle. The creature held him for what seemed like forever as his life passed before his newly awakened eyes.
As the creature stood upright, the once blind and drunken man slumped to the floor. His eyes were open, but he would never see anything again. Not long after the creature had left the cell, the rats soon came out to explore the body, and as they started to eat the flesh, they died too. Their sightless eyes were open as well, and their bodies ridged—almost like they had been dead for days, not just seconds.
Chapter 7
Unaware of what had happened back at the inn, Lindon, Arden, and Cora followed the mystery man through a maze of tunnels. Even if he tried, Lindon could not have retraced their way back to the establishment. After about an hour of traveling in the dark, the man stopped in front of a door. When they were all gathered together, the man said, “Do nothing to attract attention, just keep your head down. Do not make eye contact with anyone. We will be going to the door on the right side. Okay?”
Shaping Magic (Mistakes Return) Page 4