by D C Ware
“Left with Oxley? For where?”
“Zafton, I presume. To find more stuff to sell.”
“Damm the Old Ones!! That stubborn girl is determined to get herself killed and me with her. She is going to sell that blasted compass. How long ago did they leave?”
“As far I can tell, yesterday.”
“Well if she is traveling with Oxley I know he does not have a horse and that fat oaf walks as slow as a Dimmerian wildebeest.”
“You mean to catch them?”
“Yes Midas. I have no choice but to. My business at Kings Castle will have to wait. If she tries to sell that compass in Zafton she will be in grave danger and I will be to blame. And she is all Tristan has in light of their father’s decline.”
“Do you want me to come with you Maverick?”
“No. Stay here and keep an eye on Tristan like you have been doing. If I need you I will send word with a runner or a raven.”
Maverick mounted the horse Mayor Brufson had loaned him in one swift leap and prodded the mount into a gallop. Midas yelled after him, “Be careful Maverick!!! And don’t turn your back on Oxley!!”
Maddox could hear the fat kid breathing from a quarter mile into the forest. He could hear when he was eating even further away than that. Based on their direction he and the girl were heading to Zafton.
Maddox had double backed to Milestill after rendezvousing with Granger but came across their trail before he was half way there and had started following it.
They had gotten at least a two day lead on him to Zafton but being mounted he had closed the distance in less than a day and was now within range of overtaking them whenever he chose.
For the time being he was content to simply follow them. Granger had insisted that the girl not be harmed but judging from the way she was armed if he tried to ambush them she intended to put up a fight and then anything could happen.
The fat boy was not a problem as Maddox could dispatch him when he chose but still even that would alert the female and once again prompt her to fight. Instead Maddox intended to wait until they camped for the night. If he knew anything about overweight kids the fat boy would probably fall asleep first. If so Maddox could simply wait until the female fell asleep and then collect their weapons and bind her up. He doubted if the fat boy would even wake up during any of it.
On the other hand, if the girl fell asleep first, then he would simply kill the fat boy and then collect the girl’s weapons and be off with her.
Even as he worked it all out in his head the pair began to move off the road to a clearing where they could bed down.
Maddox dismounted and started leading his horse by the reins. Watching them unpack and gather loose saplings for a fire, Maddox started to tie the reins of his horse to a tree…just then someone’s left arm wrapped around his neck in a choke hold and their right arm pierced a silver dirk into the side of his neck…
“Who are you? And why are you following my friends?”
CHAPTER SIX
Statuettes
Morcai sat at his desk. He had papers strewn about and small statuettes situated strategically on top of a large map spread out in the center of them all.
To his right he had reports from the North that neither Dwarfhaven or Elf Mountain were reacting to the rumors of King Overlord’s death. This either meant word had not reached them yet or they would not come to any new king’s aid. If Morcai was lucky it was the latter but more likely than not it was the former as he had dispatched a large force of Nemesis Knights to that region to prevent any such news from making it to either of those strongholds.
If their forces started to move his plan would be doomed before it began.
To his left he had messages from the South. The Father of Morsh Monastery had started heading for Kings Castle accompanied by two of his disciples and a troop of warrior monks. That was a problem. Morcai didn’t have the strength to engage the highly skilled and fervently devoted holy warriors of the monastery at this time. He would have to let them be. Until they actually reached the castle, if they reached the castle, the monastery would not be a factor in the events that were about to unfold.
That brought him to the documents directly in front of him… the map and the markers. Heymann and his Nemesis Knights had made it to Wooddam and had set The Ferret loose. And he had slipped past the Third Knight ‘Swift’ and would soon be visited upon his prey. If that went well it would be the domino that would set all the rest of Morcai’s plans into action.
Also on the map was a marker carved in the shape of a black butterfly “The Lady Gabriel” – cypher of The Oracle of Light in the Darkmen’s Domain. The Lady had not left that domain in over half a century yet she was on the move. Undoubtedly toward Kings Castle as well. What secrets she carried with her, he did not know; but it was obvious whatever dark omens she bore were such that they could not be revealed except upon the king’s death. And now he would know them before any other. Heymann and his knights were already heading toward her and her party. If he could win her as an ally, the power she would bring with her was incalculable. The magic of that domain had not been seen in this land since the Town of Misery was consumed and before that during the Great Red War.
If she could not be won as an ally then she must be pushed back into that dark crevice from which she had crawled out of (there were enough Guardians in the land to contend with as it were). But not before being made to reveal the secrets she surely carried.
Finally, underneath everything else on his desk was one torn piece of parchment with a single name inscribed upon it… Maverick. This parchment was the most peculiar of them all to Morcai. The name meant absolutely nothing to him but it was the piece of parchment that it was written upon that commanded his attention.
The parchment had come to him from the monastery. From a spy of his that had infiltrated it not many months past. Morcai had tasked the spy with learning what the monastery knew of the king’s lineage and of any potential heirs other than that ‘heathen son’ he had sired with the Queen who would never be accepted as king of The Overland.
The file the spy eventually sent back had only half a dozen parchments or so most with possible claimants to the throne that were well known and all of whom Morcai had ‘accounted for’ in his plans. But that one piece of torn parchment with that one name was found in the space between two other folded parchments. Just that piece and just that name
It could be the name of a potential heir or it could be the name of the monk or scribe who had dictated the rest of the parchments.
Morcai had sent word back to his spy to search the monastery for more information on the name but by then the rumors of the king’s death had started spreading and Father Wilmont had departed from the monastery with his contingent - and Morcai’s spy - before he could get any other news.
“Ah so be it”, thought Morcai. I have too many other matters of great significance to attend to right now than a bastard boy, if indeed he is a son of the king.
Hammund granted the Third Knight Swift an audience reluctantly. He did not like the King and he liked his arrogant knights even less. Still it did not do to offend one of them and certainly not to offend the king.
Swift entered in full plate armor. He held his bassinet helmet under his left arm with the visor down. His large two handed sword hung on his left as well, meaning the knight could draw it in an instant with his free right arm and bring it to bear before the best of his guards could get their staff into the guard position. It was no wonder he entered alone without an escort from his vassal knights.
“My good mayor, it is good of you to entertain the king’s presence!”
“So now you are the king, Swift?”
“You know lord Hammund when you entertain a knight of the realm you entertain the king.”
“Well ‘the king’ owes me money. Will his knight of the realm pay that?”
“The king owes no one money. All you hold, you hold in trust for him.”
“I’m
sorry I misspoke, Lord Knight. The realm owes me money.”
“Then that is a matter you should take up with the Seneschal.”
“So it is. But how can I honor you today Third Knight?”
“I would know what you know of the Nemesis Knights that my men and I recently dispatched on the road into your town mayor?”
“I know what you already know… that they were out there. They have been out there for the past week. Apparently waiting for someone to arrive, or to leave. I do not know which. I have had my constables watching them but sitting by a road is hardly enough of a crime for me to arrest subjects of Fire Castle.”
“And who is this someone they were waiting for?”
“The Ferret.”
Swift’s expression froze with the mention of that name. Instantly he knew why the Nemesis Knights had barred their way earlier on the road. They were not trying to keep the knights from entering the town, they were buying time for someone to leave it. The Ferret!
Swift turned on his heel and immediately started heading out of the mayor’s mead hall where the audience had been granted. Hammund rose from his high seat and called after Swift..
“And what of your business with me Lord Knight”
Without looking back or breaking his stride, Swift replied. . . “the King is dead!”
Maddox tried to break the young attacker’s grip but the young man was stronger than his size belied. Maddox was about to test his strength one more time when the dirk pierced so deep it drew a sprout of blood.
“Listen to me carefully friend, and measure the threat in my voice, you make one more move and I will drive this dirk straight through this end of your thick neck and out the other end.”
Maddox knew that not only was his young assailant not joking, but judging from his voice, he had done it before. He had killed.
“Maverick? I am a friend indeed. Granger ‘Greyhound’ sent me to find you.”
Maverick eased his choke hold a little but left the dirk in place.
“Granger you say. What business does the Grey Ranger have with me?”
Just then Maverick felt a serrated blade in the small of his back.
“I mean to warn you about making for King’s Castle. Now let Maddox go so we can join your friends and talk.”
“Granger? I had a feeling someone was following me.”
“It’s not me you have to worry about following you Maverick. That’s why we need to talk.”
“Okay then. Let’s talk”
Maverick pushed Maddox away and slid his dirk back into his waist. Granger sheathed his hunting knife and Maddox landed on his knees and coughed.
“You bastard!!” He yelled as he sprung up from the ground and rushed at Maverick. Maverick swung and delivered a devastating kick into Maddox’s stomach, followed by a double fisted blow down to the back of his head when he doubled over from the kick. Maddox fell to the ground again, this time on his side, writhing in pain. Granger bent down and grabbed Maddox’ head by the hair.
“Do that again Maddox and I will skin you myself… and make you watch!”
“Is it over?” Maverick said, “cause if you get up and I don’t like the look on your face I’m going to plant your own sword in your belly.”
Just then Maddox noticed that his short sword was missing and that Maverick had disarmed him at the same time that he had taken him down. Only one other man had ever done that to him and it was Granger. And if Granger had trained Maverick, Maddox was lucky to be alive.
“It’s over son, you hurt my pride by catching me off guard. But you hurt my gut just now so my pride will just have to deal with it.”
“Good”, said Granger. Let’s join Lyla and Oxley.
Maverick paused and shot Granger a look. . .“just how long have you been spying on me?”
Lyla and Oxley were surprised to be awakened by the unexpected guests that had showed up at their camp in the middle of the night. Lyla was especially surprised as Oxley was supposed to be keeping guard.
Maverick had made short introductions of Maddox and Granger before moving off with Granger where the two began rekindling the pairs camp fire so they could talk.
Lyla and Oxley sat at the other end of the camp with Lyla sitting with her knees up against her chest and her arms folded across her knees. Every now and then she would shoot Oxley an icy stare, but he would not look back at her.
Oxley simply sat open legged on the ground supporting his weight with his arms locked straight down behind his back. He didn’t know what Lyla was so upset about anyway. Maverick was the one who had surprised them. She should be mad at him. Besides if she was thinking she didn’t have to pay him just because Maverick and these other adventurers had showed up then she was wrong.
Maddox sat opposite from Lyla and Oxley and away from Maverick and Granger who were in the center by the fire.
Maverick knelt on one knee with an arm across it and his other arm holding a stick stoking the fire. Granger sat “skraeling style” with his legs crossed and his left arm resting on his right thigh and his right arm holding a stick also stoking the fire as Maverick was doing.
“What do you know of the rumors of the king’s death?” Maverick asked Granger.
“I do not know if he is really dead Maverick. I will tell you that first. The Lionheart is not above such a ruse as this to lure his enemies out.”
Lionheart was the name Granger and the men of the Unknown Islands had given to King Overlord. It came from tales of a great king in a land that gave birth to part of the Overland who was known as “Richard of the Lionheart”. The men of the Unknown Islands said King Overlord and he were one and the same.
“Then I must go to the castle and find out Granger. You know that. So why have you sought me out.”
“Maverick when the king brought you to me at the age of 16 and asked that I train you in my disciplines, I made him tell me why a boy of your youth needed to learn such arts. And the king explained to me that he believed your fate was intertwined with that of the Overland itself and not just our Kingdom of Overland, but the Overland entire from The Continent of Men to Bozz and beyond.”
“Why have I never heard of such things Granger. My uncle never told me about any fate. Only that he and the king were friends from the Crimson Wars and that the king had promised to squire me when I was of age. That is why I was sent to you under the care of the Third Knight Swift.”
“Maverick, your uncle Forn was a great warrior during the Crimson Wars and a proud knight. Many were the times we thought him dead only to discover that the ‘Winter Fox’ was not so easily killed. But even your uncle could not know the things that the king of all the land is privy to. “
“Be that as it may Granger. Why now? What of my fate bids you seek me out now.”
“Well that’s an easy question to answer Maverick. If the king really is dead then whoever killed him will seek for you next.”
“Me?”
“Yes you Maverick.”
“Why me?”
“Because you are more than the king’s squire Maverick… you are his son!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Heirs Apparent
“Lord Heymann!”
“Report Dubois.”
“I have located the Lady Gabriel and her party. They are less than a days ride outside the forest between the Only Oasis and the Infested Mountains.”
“And what of Rebel’s Bane? Has The Second Knight Horatio rode out to meet her?”
“He follows her Lord. Though I am not sure if she knows.”
“Oh she knows Dubois. How many knights and how many soldiers has Horatio brought with him.”
“Five knights and some fifty soldiers lord.”
“We are too few to challenge them then. And no doubt, Swift and his retinue have left Wooddam and even now are trying to track The Ferret. Dubois can we intercept her before Horatio sees us.”
“I believe so my lord. Here, north of the Only Oasis. She will reach this point just as The Second
Knight is passing under the shadow of the mountain. If we are there waiting for her he will not know of it until he clears its heights.”
“Then we make for there now Dubois. And send a rider back to Fire Castle. Tell Morcai the Lady has been sighted and we will have need of his arts soon.”
“His arts, my lord?”
“He will know the meaning of my words Dubois. Now send word but not by you. You have done well today and I would have you by my side when we meet the Lady and her men of the dark. I don’t like the people that dwell in that realm and more importantly, I don’t trust them.”
“As you say, my lord”
Gabriel had not traveled these lands in many years. The open air, the sun and the breeze were foreign to her. Little of either of these ever pierced her realm. It was good to be out, even if but for a while. She had even indulged herself by walking part of the way barefoot on wet grass following an afternoon’s rain. Though few believed it, she was still a woman and her body still had “senses” and it felt good to once more indulge them even if in this simple way.
“A flower my Lady?”
It was Friar Damian, commander of The Sons of Cain the excommunicated warrior monks she had brought with her.
“Thank you, Damian. I mean Friar.”
“Damian is fine, my lady. I saw you with your eyes closed on your mount a few miles back basking in the sunlight. I thought this flower might remind you of our time here when we are done.”
“That was kind of you Damian, though you know it would not survive in our realm.”
“Nonetheless my lady, it lived. It was. As are we all.”
“True again Damian. And thank you again. Any news of Horatio? Has he drew any closer.”
“No My Lady. He still follows and at the same distance. I suspect he has heard the rumor and is unsure of my lady’s intentions.”
“Perhaps Damian. Or maybe that is what Charles wants us to believe.”
“Charles, my lady?”