“I too feel uneasy on this road,” said Kael. “I feel eyes upon me.”
“Perhaps the Keltaran are in alliance with some group we’re unaware of,” came Tepi’s voice from just inside the nearby grove. “Perhaps they scout and shadow the roads, planning an assault on the kingdom.”
The squat, bald trader stepped from behind a pair of trees and approached the trio. He wore his flowing robe of thick brown wool. His hands were still covered in heavy leather gloves and he sweated profusely.
“The day the Keltaran decide to assault the kingdom of Zodra, they’ll not need to scout the realm,” laughed Ader. “There’s one way and one way alone to assault Zodra. Bring everything you have to bear upon the capital city. Keltaran warriors won’t bother with the outskirts of the remote town of Ymril.”
Tepi sneered at Ader and turned a honey sweet smile to the young men before him.
“The old always consider the old ways as the right ways. Those of us in a more contemporary mind are willing to accept all possibilities,” smiled Tepi.
“Humph!” chortled Ader as he turned and strode toward the grove. “I suggest you gentlemen return to camp. And Eidyn, please leave the prairie deer to their dinner!”
Tepi waited until Ader was out of sight then turned to the remaining men.
“Don’t listen to old fools and their old ways. We’re in a time of war, and no quarter should be given to the enemy. I understand this Keltaran is a servant, a thing I’ve never heard of, but he should be kept on a tight leash,” said Tepi to Eidyn. “One day that staff he carries just may break your neck.”
“I don’t fear him, Master Tepi,” stated Eidyn. “But I will heed your advice and take care.”
The Elf made his way back into the grove.
“Elves. Arrogant and useless,” said Tepi shaking his head. “You’re in a troop of fools young man. Best for you to go home and let them kill themselves.”
“I’ll stay with my master,” said Kael.
“Suit yourself,” said Tepi as he turned and trudged back into the grove.
Kael did not want to return with the trader. The man troubled him and the boy preferred to wait. Kael turned and looked back over the scrubland stretched out before him. His thoughts wandered over the possibilities Tepi presented. It would be nice to go home and forget all this nonsense. The army was there to protect the people. Why was he traveling north toward danger? He longed to see his father, but Brelg would surely return to Kelky once his business was done? Kael was lonely. He missed Aemmon.
As he stood thinking, he swore he heard the faintest of whispers out among the thickets.
“Get out of my head and leave me be!” shouted Kael as he spun and tromped into the grove.
CHAPTER 19: LED THROUGH DARKNESS
The group lazed in the grove for an hour. The horses were watered and munched on the long grasses that grew next to the stream. Tepi refused to unharness his carthorse, so Flair did it for him. Flair also provided dried beef to the travelers, even offering a share to Tepi. The trader turned his nose up at the boy and retreated to a shadowy corner of the grove to eat his own provisions. Granu kept well out of sight, down by the stream. Finally, Manfir rose and scooped his saddle up with one hand.
“We spend far too much time here. We must be on our way,” said the Zodrian prince.
The group gathered itself together and mounted their horses. Flair harnessed Tepi’s carthorse while the trader grumbled about the delay. However, the remainder of the group waited patiently and soon all were on their way. The assembly made its way back to the road and turned north. Granu trailed in his usual place. Tepi’s nag found it difficult to keep pace with the group, but every time the cart fell back toward Granu, the sweating trader whipped the horse mercilessly to garner speed.
The sun slid toward the horizon once more and progress was slowed. Tepi unexpectedly found a great deal of compassion for his cart horse and frequently halted to water the nag at a roadside brook or stream. The land was full of such streams. Everywhere Kael looked, the land rolled out toward the horizon with small breaks and ravines. To the west the plains elevated at an almost imperceptible rate to the mountains beyond. To the east, they slid toward the grasslands of the Erutre. Essentially, Zodra was an enormous washbasin, collecting the runoff from the mountains to the west and north. Hours of similar, unending landscape passed before them.
They splashed through a rock strewn, shallow stream and Tepi shouted for a halt. Kael turned to see the trader throw his hands up in frustration. Manfir reined in his stallion and the party halted.
“Master Rin, I’m afraid I fouled a wheel,” called Tepi.
“This fool will be the death of me,” grumbled Ader as he shook his head.
Surprisingly, the bald headed trader heard the Guide.
“Perhaps, if you weren’t in such a rush to get yourself killed in battle, I wouldn’t have run pell-mell into these rocks, old man. Haste makes waste,” said Tepi.
“Perhaps, if you drove with both eyes on the road, instead of on the Keltaran, you would have missed such hazards,” snapped Ader.
“I don’t delude myself as to who my enemies are,” growled Tepi.
Kael edged back toward the stream and saw Tepi’s right front wheel splintered between two of its wooden spokes. The wood appeared rotten and worn. Granu strode up to the group.
“What’s wrong? That nag drinks more than a battalion of Keltar warriors,” said Granu
The giant knelt near the wheel and inspected the break.
“Hold your tongue Keltaran, and keep your paws off of my cart,” snapped Tepi.
The trader showed surprising agility as he jumped from the seat of the cart into the stream with a splash. Water sprayed into the Keltaran’s face. Granu wiped himself clean with the sleeve of his robe and calmly backed away from the cart.
“As you wish, Master Tepi,” he said.
Manfir rode back to the stream and shook his head.
“That wheel won’t hold for another league,” said Manfir. “And I’m sure you don’t keep a replacement handy.”
“It takes room away from my goods,” whined Tepi.
Manfir looked about the landscape and spied a tall, lonely elm.
“Perhaps we’ll be able to mend it quickly and get back on the road. The elm should provide some timber,” said Manfir.
Flair was already on the move. The boy galloped to the tree and dismounted. He tied his horse to the nearest thicket and produced a hatchet from a bag on the horse’s side. Tepi stared at the wheel and shook his head.
“Master Tepi. Get that cart over to the tree. We must prop it up and remove that wheel,” commanded Manfir.
The trader snapped out of his brooding and glared at the Zodrian prince. He slowly climbed back into the cart and coaxed the old nag over the rocky surface to the tree. Kael unhitched the nag. Tepi leapt down as Manfir used his sword to gouge a hole in the ground near the wheel of the cart. Flair cut a sturdy thick post about a yard long. The boy came over to the cart and stood ready with the post.
Manfir grabbed an edge of the cart next to broken wheel and heaved upward. He strained on its weight and it slowly rose. The cart hovered over the ground for a moment and Flair fixed one end of the post in the hole. Flair tried to wedge the other end under the cart to keep it propped in the air. However, Manfir did not lift the cart high enough. The prince glanced over his shoulder at the group standing behind him. Granu mumbled something and threw back his hood. The fading sun shown on his scarred head as he stepped forward and threw a shoulder into the cart. Immediately, it rose high in the air and Flair slid the top end of the post beneath. The two men let the cart settle onto the post and stepped away.
“How long, Master Flair?” puffed Manfir.
“Two hours for a proper job,” replied Flair.
“How long for a repair that will get him to the next village?” asked Manfir.
“Less than half that time,” said Flair.
“As quickly as you can,
” said Manfir patting the boy on the back. “The rest of us might as well take a break.”
Flair worked diligently on the cart’s restoration. Kael had never watched a wheel repaired so he stayed and helped the young man with any requirements. In Kelky, they brought their damaged carts and wagons to Jemer the blacksmith. Often, small towns employed men like Jemer, who wore more than one hat out of necessity. Blacksmith, wheelwright, carpenter, mason, Jemer did it all.
Flair lived on his grandfather’s ranch. The ranches were normally self-sufficient and young men like Flair were taught any number of skills. Kael was certain Flair performed all kinds of tasks on request.
After an hour, Flair sufficiently restored the wheel. Manfir inspected the work and was quite satisfied. Flair cut strips of green wood from the elm and bent them inside the wheel frame, supporting it from the inside out. It was lucky that the wood was fresh and pliant. The group gathered up and once more made its way north.
Manfir attempted to increase the pace, but Tepi lagged. The sweaty trader complained and worried his wheel might collapse. The temporary repairs created a hitch in the wagon’s turn. Every time the wheel reached the affected area, the cart jumped and rattled. Tepi grumbled about his aching back. Kael grew annoyed.
“Why don’t we go on and just leave him to his business?” whispered Kael to Teeg.
“Courtesy, my boy,” answered Teeg. “When you’re out on the open road, you try to help others. We offered him our companionship and he accepted. To leave him now is quite a breach of good faith.”
“But he’s in no danger,” replied Kael. “Those repairs will last all the way to the Northern Wastes, if he were inclined to drive there. He simply slows us down.”
“I know you’re anxious to see your father, but whether this Tepi is an ass or not, we promised to travel with him,” said Teeg. “We will not be with him long.”
The sun crawled down to the horizon and Manfir’s expression became grave.
“We ‘ll not make Ymril today. The journey requires several more hours and unfortunately the sun is setting. The moon will be hidden by clouds tonight, creating a dark evening. I don’t wish to tempt the fates and make a horse lame while stumbling through this darkness. Delays cost us a warm bed and a hot meal,” frowned Manfir. “We’ll pull off the road ahead and make camp once more.”
They traveled for several more leagues and found another brook spilling through the countryside not far from the road. Manfir led the group to a clearing near a wide field of tall, wild grasses.
“We find both water and food here for our mounts. There is less protection for us from the elements and anything else, but I don’t think we’ll find any better,” said Manfir.
“Agreed,” said Teeg. “The land is similar to this all the way to Ymril. We will find no better.”
The group pulled into the clearing and set up camp. Flair and Kael quickly built a fire and the young cattleman stewed some meat within minutes. Eidyn and Teeg cared for the horses. Ader walked to the far side of the clearing and surveyed the horizon as the sun passed beneath it. Tepi parked his cart awkwardly in the middle of the clearing. The fat trader once again agilely leapt from its seat with a blanket in hand. He stomped toward the fire and looked into the pot in which Flair prepared the meal.
“Call me when it’s ready,” demanded Tepi.
He walked to his cart and ducked underneath it, curling into a ball under the blanket. Within minutes the sound of his loud snoring filled the campsite. Granu took several water flasks from the saddles of the horses and disappeared into the tall grass in the direction of the brook. Manfir pulled some maps from his saddle and studied their contents near the fire. The sun set and the light from the fire danced inside the darkness surrounding their little enclave.
Kael and Flair sat near the fire and talked about their day as they prepared the meal. Kael looked toward Ader and saw the old man standing near the tall grasses. The field grew so high it nearly reached the old trader’s head. Ader stood gazing into the distance softly humming to himself. Kael felt the uneasy sensation he shared with Eidyn earlier in the journey. He suspected that he was being watched. Kael stood and tried to survey the grassland about him. The darkness was impenetrable. A light breeze played off the grasses and the light of the fire touched their golden stalks.
Kael approached the old man and Ader stopped humming. He turned to the boy.
“Is the meal prepared yet?” smiled Ader as he swept past Kael.
“Uh, it will be shortly,” replied Kael.
He stood watching as Ader ambled to the fireside and complimented Flair on his hard work. Kael turned back to the tall grasses and stared into their shifting wall. The uneasiness crept over him once more. Teeg and Eidyn finished with the horses and moved to the fireside as well. Manfir stood a few paces from Tepi’s wagon sharpening one of his daggers and the heaving lump under the cart informed Kael that Tepi continued his slumber. The boy quietly approached the swaying wall of grass and slipped inside.
CHAPTER 20: THE LESSONS OF PREJUDICE
Immediately he was plunged into darkness. The soft seed stalks of the wild grasses brushed one another just over his head. He still sensed someone or something just beyond his sight. Kael slowly picked his way through the field. He tried to create as minimal a disturbance as possible.
He heard a small noise to his left. Was it a light laugh? What was out here? He moved in its direction. Once again he heard a small noise in front of him. He picked his way through the field. Here and there Kael passed small scrub trees that spread their branches several feet above the deep pasture. The field thinned under these trees, creating small, empty pockets in the sea of grass. The spreading trees stood like dark islands rising above the waves.
The wind whipped. The stalks ahead parted for an instant. Was that a small figure darting ahead of him?
“Hey! You! Stop!” ordered Kael. His call was lost against the wind.
Kael increased his speed and worked his way left. No one was there. He moved ten yards further and came to one of the scrub trees. Its canopy created a void of darkness beneath. Twisted branches and a gnarled trunk were barely visible under the canopy. Kael stopped and sat with his back to the tree trying to concentrate on his surroundings. Perhaps he would be able to sense movement once more. He let his heart slow and controlled his breathing. He reached out for any sound to alert him to the figure’s whereabouts.
“Are you afraid?” came a husky whisper from directly behind the boy.
Kael started and shot a glance over his shoulder to the opposite side of the trunk. A blackness, deeper and more tangible than that created by the tree, hovered just beyond his reach. The twisted trunk of the scrub tree obscured the figure.
“No,” lied Kael.
“It is foolish not to fear the unknown. Fear is healthy, as long as you control it,” said the voice. “You are curious? You want to know what shadows your group?”
“Yes,” replied Kael.
“Curiosity is also healthy, when tempered with caution,” chided the voice. “Fools let their curiosity lure them to their deaths. The wise man uses caution as his aid. Time reveals all.”
“What are you, foolish or wise?” asked Kael in return.
Kael heard a rustling and noted movement inside the blackness. It fell away like a curtain and Kael looked into the visage of Granu Stormbreaker staring at him from behind the gnarled branches of the tree. The Keltaran giant crouched under the tree with all but his face completely covered by his black robes.
“I’m neither foolish nor wise, for I’m a servant of my Creator and my path was chosen for me. If my decisions seem foolish to some, so be it, as long as they conform to the wishes of the Master,” murmured Granu.
The duo stared at one another for a while. Finally, Granu’s face broke into a wide grin.
“Are you afraid now?” whispered the enormous man.
“No,” lied Kael once more.
“I don’t believe you, but that is the correct
answer,” said the giant keeping his voice low. “What are you doing out here?”
“I saw .... or maybe heard someone in the tall grass. I tried to discover what it was,” replied Kael.
“Hmmm, interesting,” said Granu. “Did you see someone or did you hear them? Surely you know if it was one or the other. If it was a person why did you say you tried to discover ‘it’?”
“I ... I am not sure. I guess I heard it first and followed it into the grass. As I followed it I thought I saw someone,” said Kael frowning. “I might ask why you are perched under this tree?”
“A valid question,” answered Granu. “I was returning with flagons full of water...”
The giant pulled several water skins from beneath his robes and shook their contents.
“... when I was distracted by the sound of movement in the underbrush. I followed its course and tried to surprise it by running ahead and lying in wait. After several moments you skulked through the grass and sat there opposite me,” smiled Granu.
“I didn’t skulk, I was tracking,” grumbled Kael. “Nothing came past before me?”
“Nothing.”
Kael shook his head in dismay.
“It was right in front of me. Not more than three paces. I almost captured it,” said Kael.
“Whatever it was, it was playing with you, Kael Brelgson,” said Granu.
“How so?” asked Kael.
“When I returned to the clearing with the water, I entered from the north and made a wide circuit through the clearing to its south side. I like to get a feel for a place. Learn its strengths and weaknesses. I heard movement to the south of the clearing in the grass. I suppose that is where you entered. I tracked the movement east. I followed from in the clearing as the movement turned to the north, then once more to the west.
“Your phantom led you in a circle around the campsite. I passed this tree when I strolled from the brook earlier and knew exactly where to hide when I reentered the tall grasses. You sit on the opposite side of the camp from where you entered the field.”
“I ... I wasn’t paying attention to my path,” said Kael.
The Merchant and the Menace Page 24