The Black Sword Trilogy: The Poacher (18 page)

              “If you first put your pack on your shoulders,” She said to him, “you’ll find the sword fits perfectly between the pack and your back.  It also has a belt to attach it to your armor for use in battle.”

“What battle?” He asked quickly.

“Eventually, you’ll find yourself in one.  With the sword and your armor, you’ll be virtually invulnerable.”

              He stepped towards the sword then found himself not being to go any closer.

“Wait a minute.” He said.  “I can’t do this.”

“Yes you can.”

“No I can’t.”

“And why not?”

              Now he found himself nearly in a panic.  Once again, everything was hitting him at once.

“First of all, I’m not Farraday.”

“I’m well aware of that.”

“I can’t use that sword.”

“Yes you can.”

              “You don’t get it!” He said in desperation.  “That’s a sword for kings; for heroes.  I’m not a king.  I’m just a guy from the hills who got caught poaching.”

“And now you’re here.” She said in a soothing voice.  “The sword is yours and you must use it.”

“But I’m not…”

“Farraday was a simple farmer when the sword first came to him.” She interrupted.  “His only desire was to work his farm, marry a pretty girl and have children until destiny selected him.”

“Yes and look what happened to him.  He died a slow, agonizing death after the war.”

              The woman looked down sadly and sighed.

“Yes, he did and that was very unfortunate.  But he understood the reason for it.”

“And what was that?”

She looked back up at him and smiled again.

“You’ll come to understand that when the time is right.”

He carefully stepped up to the sword and took it in his hand.  Again, he felt its energy flowing through him and he felt more confident and stronger.  He still had doubts; but holding the sword in his hand had him feeling as if he could overcome them. 

             
“I’ve also packed some gold coins in your pack as you will, eventually need them.”

Kenner looked at her as if to say that it was forbidden.

“Don’t worry.” She said to reassure him.  “I’m allowed.”

“So…” he began again.  “This armor; is it also Farraday’s?”

“No.” She answered.  “It’s yours.”

             
She led him out of the cave.  It was bright and sunny and almost all of the snow was melted.  He hadn’t noticed it before, but the view was breathtaking.  The mountains opened up before the farm fields and the plain of Walechia and he could see for what seemed hundreds of miles.  He saw the Serpent River cutting through the plain and off in the distance, he could just barely see Kallesh and the Great Tower.  His eyes followed the river and there, off in the distance he could see what looked like a black mass at the edge of a thin, white line he imagined to be the Northern Wall.  It must be Grail’s army, he thought.  He was then reminded of his mission and the promise he’d made to his Captain.

              “It’s a three day journey from here to the gate of Parabas,” She told him.  “From there, it’s another two days to Bayton and the ferry.  At some point your friend Shela will find you and she’ll be able to carry you the rest of the way to Kallesh.”

“That’s nice.” He said.

“I wish we had more time to talk now, but we must both go our separate ways for the moment.”

“That’s ok…wait a minute!  Where are you going?”

“I have things I have to do; but I’ll be keeping an eye on you.  And I’ll check in on you from time to time.”

“What will I do if anything happens?  What if I need you for some reason?”

She turned and smiled at him again.

“You have the Black Sword and magic armor,” She reminded him.  “I have confidence that you can handle anything that comes your way.”

             
Kenner looked down the mountain and saw the road winding down.

“I trust you’ll remember to keep the location of this tomb secret?” She reminded him.

“I don’t even know how I found this place.” He replied.

“Take care my friend.  Until the next time.” She said to him and began to walk away.

“Thanks, I’ll do that.”

              He watched her walk away, and then called out to her.

“Wait a second!” He said.  “You’ve been around for as long as I can remember.  Why did you never talk to me like this before?”

She turned again and, still smiling said, “It wasn’t time.”  And then she disappeared behind a large rock.

Chapter Twenty Two

              The journey down the mountain was far easier than the journey up.  The road meandered easily down much softer angles and curved gently.  It was much less gritty as the road had been as well and Kenner had no trouble with his footing.  The weather was cooperative as well with very little wind and no snow.  One night as he stayed in another cave, it had rained, but it was over by the morning.

              The armor was surprisingly light; in fact, Kenner could barely feel it at all.  It was almost as if he were nothing over his normal clothes.

              “Shadow” (as he now referred to her) had packed more than just apples for his downward journey.  She had packed dried meats, cheese and bread along with the fruit and he ate quite well.  The road followed a little stream flowing down the mountain meaning water was plentiful.  Quite by accident, he discovered that one of his canteens was filled with ale.

              Towards the end of the third day, he started hearing the unmistakable sound of a crowd of people and he was relieved to hear them.  Reaching the bottom of a hill, he found a wider road with travelers heading toward, what he believed would be the gate of Parabas.  He had made it through the mountain pass.

              There were only a few at first, but then hundreds, and then thousands and he found himself entering a town.  It had small buildings with shops, stores, stables with horses and what looked like a temple.  He heard noises of people shouting and laughing coming from one building and as he looked in its direction, he saw a man being thrown out from its open door.

“Get out of here, you filthy drunk!” Hollered the man throwing the person out.

Seeing this, he concluded that this must be a tavern.  Kenner thought for a moment that this was where he should turn around on the road and begin heading towards Bayton.  However, as it was growing dark and he hadn’t slept in a bed for weeks, Kenner thought a stay at an inn that was no doubt part of the tavern might be a good idea.

              Walking in the open door, he noticed a few eyes looking in his direction; but he was largely unnoticed, despite wearing armor and carrying a large sword on his back.  The very large, burly man who had tossed out the previous patron stood at the door and looked over Kenner; but then seemed satisfied that he wasn’t an immediate threat.

The tavern was full of, mostly men; but there were some women, a few dressed in more revealing dresses and being extra friendly to the male patrons.  He saw one woman rub the leg of a man at a table, then remove his purse from his pocket.  The tavern was filled with smoke from many pipes and the pungent aroma of different tobacco blends (among other smoking substances) made the air thick and almost as hard to breathe as the top of the mountain.

When he stepped up to the bar, a short, older man with a bald head and a thick, grey beard washing a plate approached him.  He had a short pipe sticking out of his mouth that looked almost permanently attached.  He acknowledged Kenner with a simple nod.

“Do you have any rooms?” Kenner shouted above the noise of the crowd.

“Aye, rooms we have!” The old man shouted back.  “Baths too as you look like you might be in need of one.”

Kenner laughed a little.

“Yes, I’ll be needing a bath too.” Kenner answered.  “Can I get an ale?” He asked and pulled out one of the gold coins and set it on the bar.  The tavern keeper’s eyes looked almost they were going to bulge out of his skull.  He studied the coin as if in awe and then bit it.

“Laddy,” he said, “With a couple of more of these, you could buy this establishment and I could retire.”

“I’ll just take a room for a night and a hot bath.”

“You’ll get the finest room in my house, sir.”

              A few seconds later, the tavern keeper returned with a pint of ale for Kenner.  He then leaned forward.

“Will you be needing any company, lad?” He asked with a wink.

“No thanks.”

              Kenner then felt a strange feeling, as if someone were watching him.  Trying not to look alarmed, he slowly turned to the side and tried to use his side vision to see if anyone was watching.  Off to the side in a dark corner of the tavern, he saw several men sitting at a table.  He saw one of them watching him, but then lower his head.  Kenner was, indeed being watched.

              “Oi!” He heard a woman’s voice say to him.  He looked and saw a woman with a low cut dress barely hanging on her shoulders.

“That’s a mighty big weapon you’ve got there,” She said in a sultry voice.  “Do you know how to use it?”

Not knowing what to say, Kenner simply smiled and nodded.

              The room to which he was shown was larger than any he’d ever seen.  There were houses in his village that didn’t have as much space.  There was a large four post bed that he thought could fit an entire family and large windows looking over the town’s central road.  The tavern owner also showed him into an adjoining room in which he found a white bathtub filled with steaming and frothy water.

              Sitting and soaking in the hot water caused Kenner to think of better times.  He hadn’t had a bath like this since before being captured.  He’d been able to wash himself as much as possible, but to simply sit and relax in a tub full of hot, soapy water was a joy he’d nearly given up on ever experiencing again.

              Across the room, he could see a mirror and he found it hard to believe that the image he saw could really be him.  His curly, black hair was longer and his beard was fuller.  He looked a little thinner and his eyes seemed more sunken.  And strangely, he thought he looked older than the last time he saw himself in a mirror.  He no longer saw the young man he thought he knew.  This new image was of a much older person; one he barely recognized as himself.

              It had also been a long time since he’d slept in a soft bed.  The last time he could remember was back in Kallesh, the night before leaving for the fort.  Since then, he’d slept on straw, dirt floors and even on cold, hard stone.  As he lay in the bed thinking, he also began to think of staying another night or two in this inn.  However, he remembered that he had a promise to keep.

              He wondered, too about his friend Terri and Captain Krall.  Had she made it past the fort and across the plain?  Would she be able to make it through the Blackwoods undetected?  He didn’t know much about the people there; but had heard that they were not fond of strangers.  Of course, he had heard the stories of it being a mystical and magical place; and his recent experiences made even the strangest stories he’d heard seem true.

              He also thought of Captain Krall and his (what Kenner thought) suicidal mission.  Even following the Wolfen army a mile behind them, there would be no way, he thought that Krall could go unnoticed.  He found himself wondering if he’d ever see either one of them again.  Thinking these thoughts reinforced his commitment to his mission and his promise.

              In the middle of the night, as he slept, he was awoken by a high pitched ringing sound.  Looking around in the darkness, he found that the noise was coming from the sword, leaning against the nightstand next to his bed.  He grabbed the sword as if doing so would quiet it and it did stop.  But then, he heard another sound; whispering of several voices outside his door.  He couldn’t make out what the voices were saying, but he could tell that there were, at least three people standing outside.  One of the voices seemed more stressed, as if commanding the others and then he heard a slight creak of the door beginning to open.  And then he saw a foot slide in on the floor.  He drew the sword half way out of its sheath and it made a loud ringing noise.  The door then shut quickly and he heard hurried footsteps moving away from his door.