Konic was stunned with the amount ofinformation that the bandit possessed. The man would make anexcellent spy. He had been in town less than a day and already knewmore than most of the townspeople. Master Clava sat next to thebandit and shook his head. “No,” he replied, “but whoever she is,she has too much interest in the boys for my taste. How do I knowyou are not allied with her?”
“If I was,” the bandit smiled,“she would still be here instead of chasing your boys up Northsomewhere. She will return, you know. Whatever she is after, shewill know by tomorrow night that the boys did not gonorth.”
“How do you know so much?”Konic frustratingly asked. “Just who are you?”
The bandit stared at his feet as ifdebating with himself as to how much to say. “My name is GarthShado,” the bandit finally stated, “and I mean no harm to you oryour boys. As to the witch, I saw her pass last night. She travelsin the company of Dark Riders, about twenty of them. How old arethe boys?”
Konic’s head jerked upright. The boyshad told him about everyone wanting to know how old they were. Heturned and stared into the bandit’s icy blue eyes. “You willexplain your need to know their ages,” Konic demanded with a toneof challenge.
Garth raised his hands as if to fendoff an imaginary attack and smiled. That smile was beginning to geton Konic’s nerves. “There are the Prophecies of the Collapse,”Garth said softly. “The Prophecies foretell of the children whowill rise up to slay the Dark One. Although the Prophecies don’tspecify when the children will be born, many believe that thosechildren were born in the year of the Collapse. There are rumorsthat the Dark One has ordered the death of any child born thatyear. The boys are close enough in age to draw a lot of attention,even if they are not the children of the Prophecies. I am afraidthat people will be interested in their age as long as they live.Some people, like myself, will only be curious. Others will have amore serious agenda.”
Konic was not sure that Garth had puthimself in the right category, but at least he now knew whyeveryone wanted to know the boys’ ages. “How do you know that thewitch will be back?” Konic asked.
“Because the Dark Riders willfan out and check everyone heading north,” Garth replied. “She willsoon know that she has been duped. It is only logical for her toreturn to the last place she sighted them to try and pick up atrail.”
Konic stood and faced the bandit.“Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me, Master Shado,” Konicsaid formally. “I will digest what you have told me, but know thatI am sincere where the safety of the boys is concerned. If you haveduped me with your intentions towards them, it will not diminish myresolve to protect or avenge them.”
Garth only nodded as Konic strode downthe street towards the quay. Konic was shaking with fear and he wasdetermined that no one would notice. He barely held his body backfrom running all of the way to the campsite. Instead of returningdirectly to the campsite, Konic waved to Alan and continued down tothe shore to sit and think. After a few moments, when Alan realizedthat Konic was not coming back to the campsite, he walked down tojoin Konic. Konic was sitting on the sandy beach and didn’t evenappear to notice when Alan walked up and sat beside him.
“What is the matter, friend,”Alan asked cautiously. “Are you all right?”
When Konic looked over at his friend,Alan could see that he was shaking and his eyes were moist. “It isworse than we expected,” Konic replied with an unsteadyvoice.
Alan wondered what had happened to makehis friend afraid. Konic had always been the steadfast one, nevershaken, never fearful. He wondered if the bandit had harmed him insome way. Alan could not see any bruises, but he knew a man couldbe broken without any marks. “What did the bandit do?” demandedAlan.
Konic gazed at the rolling surf, heardthe waves crashing against the shore. Strange, he thought, how someviolent actions were so soothing, while others so unnerving. “Itisn’t what the bandit did that bothers me,” confided Konic. “It iswhat he said that upsets me.”
Konic relived the meeting with thebandit for his friend, leaving no detail unspoken. “Then, even ifthese rumors are untrue,” Konic concluded, “our boys will neverknow peace or safety in their lifetimes.”
“Surely, if we explain it allto the town council,” Alan offered, “the whole town would standbehind the boys and help protect them.”
“Would they?” queried Konic.“Would this town really stand against twenty Dark Riders and awitch? How about the next time when it was two hundred Dark Ridersand a dozen witches? What if one of the townspeople was a BlackDevil and nobody knew it? All it would take is one arrow, or oneknife, or some damn spell.”
Alan recalled stories of the BlackDevils from before the Collapse. The group was a society ofmagicians devoted to a wizard known as Sarac, the same Wizard whosupposedly had been chosen by Alutar, the Great Demon, to be theDark One and rule the world. If the stories are true, it was Sarac,as the Dark One, who had caused the Collapse of the Universes. “Youknow that I will stand with you until the end, Konic. No matterwhat the end may bring.”
Konic looked over and gave a weak smileto his friend. “I know that, Alan, without asking. It is not you orI that I am worried about. I would gladly trade my life for theboys, but even that will not help. The only thing that I can thinkof is to send the boys away.”
“How will that help?” Alanasked. He was just finally reunited with his son after three yearsin a bottle and he wasn’t too happy to even think of sending himaway. “They will be in danger no matter where they are. Whyshouldn’t they stay here?”
Konic rubbed the tears from his eyes.“Because if they stay here, the townspeople know how old they are.Someplace else, they can lie about their age and perhaps surviveuntil the rumors go away.”
“Well, why can’t we go withthem, then?” asked Alan. “That way, we could get them away from thetownspeople who know them and still be close enough to protectthem.”
“I thought about that,”replied Konic, “but we would stick out like a small bandit gangand, sooner or later, one of the larger gangs would eliminate allof us. If the boys go alone, they can make their way to anothertown or city and become apprentices without raising too muchsuspicion. If they lie about their ages when they first arrive,everyone in their new town will vouch for their ages because itwill be as they always knew. It is the only solution that I canthink of and I am going to miss them both very much.”
Alan could only nod in agreementbecause his throat was too choked up to speak. Konic reclined onthe sand and a few moments later was sleeping soundly. Alan figuredthe stress of the day had finally taken its toll on his friend andreclined to ponder the dilemma, hoping to discover some solutionthat was more palatable than losing the son he had justrediscovered. It was not long before Alan was also asleep andnobody woke Tedi to take his turn at watch.
Garth climbed the stairs of theFisherman’s Inn and opened the door to his room. Sitting in a chairreading was a beautiful woman in a long, black dress and long,flowing black hair. “Did you learn anything interesting?” sheasked.
“Quite a bit,” Garth smiled.“The father of one of the boys came to confront me. Even thoughmost of the people in town say that they are younger than what weare looking for, I believe they are all lying.”
“What makes you think thetownspeople would all lie to save two sons of fishermen?” shequeried.
“The townspeople are veryhesitant to talk about the boys, but quick to tell me their ages,”Garth answered. “The father’s face when I told him about theProphecies was the real teller. At least one of those boys was bornin the year of the Collapse, maybe both. I am sure ofthat.”
“Couldn’t the father be abetter actor than you think?” she teased. She knew Garth did notoffer an opinion as fact unless he was really confident about hisconclusion.
“The father is as honest a manas I’ve ever met,” Garth laughed. “He had the chance to lie to meabout their ages and he couldn’t bring himself to utter that lie,even when he knew the dire consequences. I like the man,
Kalina. Heknew me for the type of man that I am and he still had the spunk tostand up to me and even threaten to kill me if I harmed either boy.He meant it, too. I have no doubt that if he thought I had harmedhis son, he would spend the rest of his life tracking me down andkilling me. I think you should meet the boys socially without thefathers around.”
“Do you know where they arestaying?” Kalina asked.
“Of course, my pet,” Garthsmiled. “Did you think for a moment that such a small detail wouldescape my grasp?”
“Certainly not,” sheresponded, “but if I don’t keep asking, you will get lax. How areyou going to get rid of the fathers?”
Garth’s face grew serious. “I willnever be lax about this matter,” he protested. “Normally, theywould go out fishing for the day, but I doubt those two will befishing tomorrow. They will react quickly. Arik’s father used to bea soldier. A long time ago, perhaps, but his training will takeover and he will start to make decisions like he was on abattlefield. We have a day at the most before the boys are sent ontheir merry way. I’m afraid I told him about the DarkRiders.”
“That is probably for thebetter, Garth,” Kalina responded. “In the morning you will show mewhere they are staying. When the time is right, I will move and youwill remain hidden. Now, we should get some sleep. Fishermen areknown to be early risers.”
* * * *
To the north two Dark Riders came to ahalt.
“There is no way that theywent north from the town,” the older rider said.
“As she half suspected,”sighed the younger rider.
“That will mean a fast rideback to the town and the men are beat now as it is. Let’s rest themen until morning and then decide that the boys didn’t come thisway,” ordered the older rider.
“You will get no argument fromme or the men,” answered the younger rider. “In the morning, wewill be sure that they did not come this way.”
* * * *
Tedi woke as the sky lightened somewhatand looked around the campsite. Fear set in when he could not seeeither of the two men and he quickly shook Arik awake.
“What is it?” Arik askedgroggily. “Is it my turn for watch already? It feels like I justgot to sleep.”
“It is past the time for yourwatch to end,” snarled Tedi. “Nobody woke me for my watch andneither of our fathers are here.”
Arik jumped to his feet and grabbed hisbow and quiver. Tedi also grabbed his and the two boys looked forsigns of a struggle. Arik quietly motioned to Tedi to search theinland side of the camp while he went towards the sea. When Arikreached the beach he saw the two bodies sprawled on the sand andshouted for Tedi to come running. At the sound of his shout, bothmen leaped to their feet and looked around in confusion. Seeing nodanger, the men sat back down as Tedi came running out of thewoods.
“What is it?” yelled Tedi.“What happened?”
“That is what I would like toknow,” demanded Arik. “Nobody woke either of us for our watch. WhenI got here I thought you both were dead. Why are you here on thebeach and why weren’t we awakened for our watches?”
“You will make a fine officersomeday,” Konic laughed. “I feel as if my Sergeant has just caughtme asleep at my post.”
“That is exactly how youshould feel,” Alan stated, “except it was my responsibility to wakeTedi. It is my fault, not yours.”
“Let us not start this day offwith ill feelings,” Konic decreed while looking at Alan. “I wantedto think last night and I like smelling and hearing the sea when Ithink. I’m afraid that I enticed Alan down here. That is not what’simportant though. You two boys get breakfast started. Master Markeland I will be along shortly and explain everything.”
Arik looked at Tedi and shrugged. Hecertainly was not about to argue with their fathers and breakfastsounded like a fine idea. Arik and Tedi went back to the campsiteand Arik started a fire while Tedi got a couple of pots of waterfrom a nearby stream. Within minutes the coffee was underway andthe two men showed up with handfuls of clams. “I think these willstretch that oatmeal a little bit.” Alan quipped.
Konic fished in his pouch and broughtout the Lanoirian Star. He handed it to Tedi as he began to relatethe basics of the story of the previous night. Both boys satlistening as Master Markel took over the cooking. When Konic hadfinished the story, he asked the boys what they should do next.Alan handed out the bowls of breakfast and sat studying theboys.
“Why did he give thisLanoirian Star back to you, Master Clava?” Tedi asked.
“He sent it back with amessage, Tedi,” Konic began. “It is a message that you both need tohear and remember. He wanted it to be a reminder to you that youshould never underestimate your opponent. He demonstrated quiteadequately that he could just have easily put that between youreyes.”
“So you think he might be afriend?” asked Arik.
“I don’t know what his gameis,” admitted Konic, “but I know a killer when I see one and thisman is a very capable killer, probably the most capable that I haveever seen. He acts like he has no interest in you two, but I knowthat is a lie. Still, he could easily have killed you both when youwere in the woods talking about the witch.”
“What do you mean?” askedArik. “When did he see us in the woods? If you mean the time that Ithink you mean, there is no way he could have been around. I wouldhave heard him.”
“Son,” soothed Konic, “he saidyou were on a game trail looking for Tedi and finally found him. Hesaid you were talking about a witch in a blue dress and that youeach addressed the other by name. He said that was how he learnedyour names.”
Arik turned beat red as he realizedthat the bandit had been close enough to hear the conversation andhe hadn’t even heard him. He blushed further when he remembered hisboasting about how good his hearing was and how he would be able todetect anyone within one hundred paces. “His advice aboutoverconfidence will be well taken,” admitted Arik.
Tedi, who had been quiet and reservedduring the previous exchange looked sadly at his father. “The onlyproper course of action is for Arik and I to leave Lorgo. If westay, we endanger both of you and the rest of the town.”
Alan started to protest and Konic laida hand on his arm to quiet him. Arik looked up, his face still red,and nodded. “If we can get a new start in another town, we can . .. sorry, Father, but we can lie about our ages and try to establishnew lives.”
Konic went over and hugged his son.“Don’t be sorry, son,” he soothed. “I have always told you that thetruth will never hurt you. I was wrong. You should always try totell the truth, but this is one lie that we can live with.” Hepushed his son to arm’s length and looked him in the eye. “But itis the exception, mind you. Don’t let me catch you making a habitout of it just because I excuse you one lie.”
Arik laughed and hugged his father. “Iwill miss you, Father.”
“I will miss you, too, son,”Konic cried, “but not today. Today we have much to teach you andmany things to get ready before you leave. I also think it is hightime for you to call me Konic. From now on, I will think of you asmy friend and should we meet again, that is what you will be tome.”
Nearby in the woods, two black cladfigures watched the emotional scene in silence. As patient astrees, as quiet as the earth, they stood and waited.
Chapter 5
Departure
The boys were still having a hard timegetting accustomed to using their fathers’ names, but nobody spokeof it. Konic was laying out the plans for the day. “I figure thatif you two leave tomorrow morning, that should be soon enough. Whatwe need to do today is get everything organized for your departure.Alan, your first task will be to see if the bandit left town or ifthe witch has returned. I will go round up whatever money I canfind so that you will not have to be beholden to anyone until youfind a place to settle down. You two will talk and try to decidewhere it is that you are going. You will not tell anyone where youare bound for, not even Alan or myself. If nobody knows, there willbe no chance of anyone discovering it. We will be back in a coupleo
f hours.”
As Konic and Alan turned to leave,Kalina tapped Garth on the arm and he turned soundlessly and movedalong a path back to town. Once he was out of hearing range, hebroke into a run. He would be back at the inn well before Alancould make it walking through town.
Kalina waited silently for over tenminutes after everyone had left and then she noisily started alongthe path that would enter the clearing. Almost as soon as shestarted walking, Arik started and turned towards her. Kalina couldhear the two boys talking quietly, but could not make out what theywere saying. She waved to them as she got closer and called to themjust as she entered the clearing. “Hello there! I seemed to havegotten lost on my morning walk.”
Neither boy called back to her, but shecould see one eyeing his bow and the other looking around for thebest escape route. When she got all the way into the clearing, sherealized that the two boys had intentionally divided themselves sothat her attention would be split between the two. She wonderedwhether it was the result of talking or they had done itsubconsciously. She walked right up to within ten paces of Arik andstopped. “Good morning,” she began. “I am staying in Lorgo and Iwas taking a morning hike. I feel silly admitting this to two boys,but I have become lost. Can you point the way back totown?”
Both boys spoke at the same time andpointed to the path that their fathers had taken. “Thank you, kindSir,” she said to Arik and turned towards Tedi. “And you, as well,Sir. That is a most beautiful necklace that you have,” she said asshe walked closer. “Would you consider selling it?”
“No,” Tedi almost shouted.More reservedly, he continued, “I mean no, I would not considerparting with it.”
“Well, I don’t blame you,”Kalina cooed. “It is very beautiful. Your mother must have been aPrincess. Well, thank you both again for thedirections.”
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