Jon and Sorus woke late the next night after they slept all day and part of the night and then immediately turned in again for a few more hours of fitful rest until the morning sun alerted them to the new day. Sorus stood up and stretched mightily as his gaze fell on the twin rock piles that housed both Sir Germanius and Mikus and then he yawned again. “I don’t think I’ve ever slept so long before,” he said to Jon who lay on the ground and blinked his half-open eyes lazily. “We should get back into town. If we ride hard we might make it before nightfall.”
“No sense in rushing,” said Jon, as he also looked at the piles of rocks. “It’s not good news we bring.”
“More reason to get there sooner,” said Sorus. “Thorius needs to know his son died, and the town should know about Germanius and that dragon. If we delay, it might look like we didn’t want to come back as quickly as possible.”
“That’s true,” said Jon, stifled another long yawn and rolled over onto his side.
“C’mon Jon,” said Sorus and gave the sleepy giant a swift kick. “I’ll start packing up the camp and you find the horses. Remember, we turned them loose yesterday so they could find water and good grass after being hobbled for so long.”
“Mmm,” said Jon from under this blanket. “I remember.”
Sorus kicked him again, this time a bit harder, “Jon, I’m serious. We need to get back to town as soon as possible. I’ve been thinking about it, the mayor doesn’t like you to begin with and now his son is dead. We’re going to need to explain things.”
“All right, all right,” said Jon as he rolled over and sat up. “We’ve got the dragon horns to prove it and my sketch. No one could believe I drew that thing from my head. The mayor isn’t going to like me no matter what but this will prove I’m here for a reason and maybe I’ll finally get to talk with the First Rider. Once that happens everything will come around.”
“I hope you’re right, Jon,” said Sorus and busied himself with cleanup operations on the pots and pans accumulated from the huge meal the two made for themselves when they got to the base of the Mountains of the Orc. He remembered how they ate in silence and avoided the corpse of Sir Germanius laid nearby. It took them almost an hour to fill their bellies, but then they managed to drag themselves over to the rocks and finish the job with a second cairn. Finally, exhausted and weary, they fell into the sleep of the dead. Now, under the light of day things seemed slightly different. Sorus looked at Jon again and wondered what reception the town might give them. With Mikus and Germanius dead, they were the only survivors and maybe things wouldn’t go so well back in town. Sorus decided not to tell Jon any more of his misgivings as the young knight seemed so confident.
They rode hard all day but because of their late start had to camp again. They fixed a quick dinner and went back to sleep without a word to one another. The heavy weight of the sword at Sorus’s side didn’t seem as strange as it did yesterday and he guessed that pretty soon he wouldn’t notice it all. The next morning they rose and went through their morning routine without comment and soon the open road stretched out in front of them again. Within a couple of hours they spotted smoke from the chimneys of Black Dale and not long after that they rode into town.
“It seems sort of quiet,” said Sorus to Jon as they approached the small village. “Unless I’ve lost track of days and this is a holiday or something,” he went on as his eyes darted back and forth and he noted the lack of activity at the town gate. “Where is everyone?”
Jon shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, maybe there’s a festival or something out of town?”
“I don’t think so,” said Sorus as they spotted a woman across the open area between the gate and them. “Hey, Strenia! Strenia it’s me, Sorus Brew… Sorus.”
The young woman looked up and her eyes widened at his approach. “Sorus, you’re finally back, thank the White Mare. Where is Sir Germanius? We need him.”
“Why,” asked Sorus dismounting from his horse and looking back at their third and fourth horses, Germanius’s and Mikus’s neither of which had a rider. “What’s going on, where is everyone?” he said waving his arms to indicate the entire town.
“That’s his horse isn’t it?” said the woman suddenly, and she took a step back as her eyes widened again, not in surprise, but this time in shock. “And that’s Thorius’s that he loaned to Mikus. Are they both
…?” said the girl and her voice suddenly trembled.
Sorus nodded his head but did not elaborate except to say, “I can tell the whole story to the town tonight at a meeting, but what is going on around here? Where is everyone?”
“They’re all gone,” said the tall woman looking at the ground. “All except the mayor and a few of his friends. Everyone else went looking for the reptile men.”
Sorus shook his head and said, “What, wait, I don’t understand. What reptile men? I’ve been gone four days maybe five. What’s happened here?”
Strenia looked at Sorus and then at Jon, who also dismounted and led his horse over, and a tear almost seemed to appear in her blue eyes before she rallied, “You need to go see the mayor right away,” she said to both of the boys. “There’s been an invasion and the men are off trying to see to it.”
“An invasion!” shouted Sorus, “That’s crazy. How could the reptile men invade us, Darag’dal is a thousand miles to the north of here.”
“I don’t know,” said Strenia as she shook her head and looked at the ground. “But the First Rider sent out a notice and all the men went off looking for the invaders.”
“How long ago was this?” interrupted Jon as he moved up next to the girl and put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok, Sorus is a knight now, Sir Germanius knighted him. You can tell us and we’ll set things right.”
The girl looked up at the towering young gray knight and smiled, “Titia says you’re really nice,” she said with a bob of her head and a twirl of her hair. “Do you really think you can help us?”
“Of course we can,” said Jon with a broad smile as he slapped the sword at his side. “Now, tell us what happened?”
Strenia looked around the area and then lowered her voice, “It’s the mayor. He sent all the men out looking for the invaders and now there’s no one guarding the town. Everyone thinks the mayor forged the First Riders signature on the orders but no one can prove it. Odellius looked at the orders and I guess they seemed okay. Maybe there really is an invasion?”
“If there really was an invasion,” said Sorus, “the knights of Elekargul would see to it. We didn’t see anyone or anything like that near the Mountain of the Orc but I suppose it’s possible. Jon, come on, we’ve got to go see the mayor right away,” he finished and turned to the gray knight and grabbed him by the arm.
“I don’t like this,” said Jon. “There’s something else going on. This happened exactly how long ago Strenia?” he asked and turned back to the girl.
“Well,” she said, her eyes moving back and forth in their sockets for a moment. “The mayor made the announcement outside the church not last night but the night before. Then everyone gathered up and left yesterday morning.”
“We killed the dragon right about then, maybe before, maybe after,” said Sorus. “Do you think that thing’s master is behind this? How could they act so fast?”
“I don’t know,” said Jon. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense unless it’s just coincidence, but I don’t think that it is. With no men in town and the creatures in the mountain up in arms this place is vulnerable. They might invade anytime starting tonight. An army could march up those stairs and be here in forty-eight hours or even less.”
“We need to talk to the mayor, Jon,” said Sorus and once again tugged on the arm of the tall young man. “Maybe the note was a forgery, not from the mayor but from those creatures who want the staff?”
“You could be right,” said Jon. “Thank you for your help, Strenia,” he said to the woman. “Don’t you worry about anything. Now that Sorus and I are here, we’ll get this mess straightened out.”
“Did Sir Germanius really knight you,” she said and gazed up at Sorus with raised eyebrows. “Have you taken a name yet?”
“Yes, he really knighted me, and no I haven’t decided on a name yet. I think I’ll wait until all this clears up. I’m not even sure the mayor will approve it. His son, Mikus,” said Sorus suddenly as his eyes narrowed and his gaze turned to the ground, “Mikus was killed and Jon is the only witness to the knighting and he’s not a citizen of Elekargul.”
“Oh,” said Strenia. “But, the mayor has to approve you, otherwise he’s calling you a liar and no one thinks that,” she went on touching him on the shoulder and looking deeply into his eyes. “Everyone in town knows you aren’t that, even if no one wanted you to be their squire.”
“Thank you, Strenia,” he said. “Even Shia?”
The young woman laughed, “I think even her, but you need to talk to the mayor right away. He’s in his office with the only other knights that stayed in town, Thadeus Cormeus Brokenshield, Markus Brokenhand, and Decilus Brokenshield.”
“Thadeus Brokenshield?” said Sorus with a shake of his head and a look of puzzlement across his face. “He’s no knight, he’s a Brokenshield unless he performed some act of heroism in the time I’ve been gone. I don’t think that’s possible unless a beer keg needed saving from overflow.”
Strenia laughed again and shook her own head, “Mayor Thorius said all able bodied men, including Brokenshields, were to assume duties as knights. Thadeus, Decilus, and Markus jumped over all the others in town and are the lieutenants to the mayor.”
“Brokenshields are mostly that because their wives died in childbirth,” said Jon, “Those two should be ok, right?”
“Most of the time that’s the reason but sometimes it’s cowardice or dishonorable behavior. Both of those two are in that group,” said Sorus “This way,” he continued and walked away from the town gate.
“Strenia,” said Jon. “Go get someone from the stables to take care of the horses while Sorus and I see to the mayor,” he said with a wink at the woman.
She nodded her head, “Shall I take them to the gates and hitch them?”
“Can you handle all four?” asked Jon and turned his head to the side to look at the steeds.
“We’re a horse people,” she replied, “it’s not only the knights that need to handle them and girls get trained as well. I’ll take care of them, don’t you worry. Just see what you can find out from the mayor and his guards.”
“Come on, Jon,” said Sorus already a dozen strides ahead. “Stop flirting with every pretty girl that comes across your path and get to work!”
A few minutes later they stood outside the building that housed the mayor. On the streets they saw only women and young boys, and they gave the two knights strange glances as they rushed past.
“Mayor Thorius,” shouted Sorus as they approached the building. “Mayor Thorius, it’s Sorus and Jon Gray with important news.”
If anyone in the building heard the cries no indication came forth immediately, and the two young boys continued forward until they reached the front door of the building. Normally the way stood open to visitors during daylight hours but not this time. Sorus walked straight up to it and tried to push it open and met immediate resistance. “By the Black Horse, why is this locked?” he asked and then pounded on it with his open hand. “Mayor Thorius, Mayor Thorius. There is important news from the Mountain of the Orc. We bring word of danger.”
Again only silence greeted the outburst and the two waited for another long moment. “What should we do?” said Sorus and turned to Jon
The big gray clad knight shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure we can do anything about the mayor. We should either try to catch up with the rest of the warriors and Odellius or try to find the First Rider and report directly to him,” said Jon and added his own considerable weight of fist to the pounding on the door. “I don’t even know if coming straight here was helpful at all.”
Suddenly a low voice from behind them spoke and they spun around, “Do you think the First Rider is in charge of Black Dale, or perhaps you think it is Odellius the mason?” it said. It belonged to a middle aged knight with a badly shaved face, a disheveled jerkin, and a scar along his cheek.
“Oh, it’s you, Thadeus,” said Sorus and did not attempt to conceal a sneer. “I hear you’ve been restored from the ranks of the Brokenshields?”
“In order to be a Brokenshield you must be a knight of Elarkgul once, brewer boy,” said the man, his words slow and even. “Now that I’m restored you must treat me with more respect,” he continued, “call me Sir Thadeus or I’ll have you whipped.”
“Sir Germanius knighted me,” said Sorus and stood up tall, although he had to brace himself against the alcohol fueled breath, the stink of decay, and several black rotted teeth.
“Oh he did now,” said Thadeus with a little smirk. “Where is that old fool anyway? I doubt he’ll remember doing it and I wouldn’t be surprised if you just made the whole thing up.”
Sorus’s eyes opened wide and then narrowed into a gaze that burned, “Sir Thadeus, we are knights of Elakargul together and we work for the same goals, the nation, the orders of the First Rider, and the Black Horse. We might have our differences but that doesn’t mean we must be enemies.”
“I remain unconvinced you are a Knight of Elekargul,” said the man, “and don’t expect to use the gray fraud here to back up your claim. The mayor thinks he might be part of the invasion plan.”
“What do you mean?” started Sorus and put his hand to his scabbard, but Jon put his own hand on top of the boy’s to prevent any rash action.
“And a coward as well,” said Thadeus as he noted that Jon did not draw his own blade. “You let me insult your honor without showing outrage? Only a false knight would do such a thing.”
“He’s not a coward!” screamed Sorus and rushed forward to shove Thadeus in the chest with his forefinger, but the older knight saw it coming, twisted aside and caught the oncoming finger in his hand and twisted it hard. Sorus yelped in pain and suddenly found himself on his knees as he looked up at the former Brokenshield. “Let me go!”
“Do you promise to behave,” said Thadeus a wicked smile on his face.
“Go to the darkling land and eat purple mushrooms,” said Sorus, and then yelped again as the older knight twisted his finger back to the point of breaking.
“Let him go,” said Jon his large frame suddenly looming over the former Brokenshield. Thadeus stood just a shade short of six feet tall with a pronounced paunch but his arms were still strong. He looked up at Jon and a sneer started to form on his face, but the expression of the young gray knight stopped the word’s utterance. Jon’s eyes burned with intensity and the muscles in his forearm were massive and bulged beneath the chain jerkin as they flexed ominously. “Let… him… go,” said Jon and his huge hand descended and clapped onto Thadeus’s shoulder with an audible thump.
“You can’t threaten me,” started the knight but as Jon’s hand began to squeeze harder Thadeus tried to pull away, “ow, hey,” and then a strange look came across his face, first anger, then shock, and finally, as the pressure became greater still, a look of stark fear, and the knight released Sorus’s thumb. Jon immediately let go of the shoulder and Thadeus took two steps back as his hand came to the imposed upon limb and rubbed it. He looked up at Jon and his expression of fear slowly retreated until the snarl returned. “You can bet I’ll get revenge for that,” said Thadeus. “I’ll carve you up. The bigger they are…” He started to threaten but Jon simply turned his back on the man, walked over to the door and, completely in stride, lifted his boot, and lashed forward with a kick.
The sound of splintered wood and ripped metal hinges crashed through the air, followed by a thump as what remained of the door fell inside the entranceway. “Mayor Thorius, I am Sir Jon Gray, ambassador of Volorius the Gray Lord of Tanelorn, I have immediate business with you regarding the future relations of our states. You can come out and talk to me or I’ll come in and drag you out, I leave the decision to you.”
A moment later Mayor Thorius walked down the hallway towards the broken door, an expression of amusement on his face as he looked at the destroyed entrance way, the wood splintered from where the door hinged and then to Jon and Sorus who stood at the entrance side by side. “All you had to do was knock,” he said with a smile. “Events overtook us swiftly here in Black Dale while you and my son were out gallivanting around. I’m sorry if don’t have time to come running every time you whistle at me.”
“There is a goblin force up in the hills that might well attack Black Dale at any time,” said Jon.
“First things, first,” said the mayor looking around. “It’s not that I don’t trust you,” he said and spread his hands wide, “but I’d like to have the report from my son. He is a squire of Elekargul and you are merely a visiting… dignitary… and the boy is simply a journeyman brewer.”
“I’m a knight…,” started Sorus but then remembered the fate of Mikus and his tone changed from anger to quiet calm. “I’m sorry mayor, Mikus died in the Mountain of the Orc, we buried him in the foothills near the trail leading up.”
The mayor’s smug expression suddenly changed as his eyes narrowed and hardened, “He died?”
“We were ambushed by goblins just as we went onto the mountain,” said Sorus. “One of them hit him in the head with a sling bullet. I’m sorry.”
“I trusted you with my only son,” said the mayor and turned to Jon Gray his eyes filled with hate and his lips curled in anger. “What did you do, kill him yourself so that he wouldn’t report back on your plot to destroy Elekargul?”
Jon simply looked down on the man with his jaw stuck forward and his gaze steady and certain. “I’m here to help. You can take it or not.”
“An unlikely offer,” said Thorius and pushed past Jon and Sorus. “Thadeus, arrest both of these boys on suspicion of murder.” He looked around the small open courtyard for a moment, “I suppose you killed Sir Germanius as well,” he said with a shake of the head. “I can see now you came for the express purpose of distracting us while your reptile allies prepared for invasion.”
“This is madness,” said Jon turning to Sorus. “Come on, let’s go somewhere where real men need our help.”
“You’re under arrest Jon Gray, if that is your name,” said Thadeus, and another man, this one also reeking of alcohol but standing taller and broader than Thadeus with orc blood in his veins, suddenly appeared from where the mayor had recently emerged.
“Jon, he’s the mayor, he’s the extension of the law of the First Rider,” said Sorus. “If he says we’re arrested then there is nowhere to go. They will post arrest notices for us everywhere in Elekargul, we’ll be fugitives if we run.”
“Listen to the brewer boy,” said Mayor Thorius with a smile. “If you are innocent, as you proclaim, then a jury will find as such and you can go then.”
Jon looked at Sorus and then at the two hired thugs and finally to the mayor himself, “Sorus might be subject to your laws, but I am not. I answer to no one except the Gray Lord and if you try to arrest me I’ll pummel the men you send.”
The taller, broader orc blooded knight smiled and cracked his fingers. He stood well over six feet with shoulders near as wide as Jon’s and the thick body of a man in the prime of life. “I’d like to see that,” he said and nodded his head. “We haven’t met yet, Jon Gray,” he said. “I’m Decilus Valerus Brokenshield. I served with the First Rider and rode down the champion of Adas Jdar after we broke their invasion. He was taller than you and fully a man but my lance cut him down quick enough. Do not think you frighten me.”
Jon stared the man in the eyes for a long moment and neither showed any signs of retreat. “Sorus, you can stay in town, but the trial is rigged, you’ll be found guilty of associating with me, and I’ll be found guilty of planning an invasion or some such nonsense. We have to find the men of Black Dale or the First Rider to prevent something terrible from happening,” he said and turned his gaze to Sorus who stood with his mouth agape. “Now, Sorus, take a knightly name because you know that Sir Germanius granted it to you. Take your name and come with me or stay here and die.”
“Don’t listen to him, son,” said Mayor Thorius sidling up to the boy and putting his hand on his shoulder. “He’s a spy for the reptile men and hopes to clear the way for their invasion. He tricked you, but we won’t hold that against you in a trial. He fooled everyone in town except me and my son. I don’t think you killed Mikus, I’m sure it looked like an ambush but how did they know you were coming, how did Jon escape without any wounds, ask yourself that Sorus. You won’t be blamed; testify against him and I guarantee your safety and the safety of your family.”
Sorus stood for a long moment as his eye darted back and forth between Jon and the mayor and then to the hulking Decilus and his sidekick Thadeus. His hand clenched and unclenched at his side and then he felt the weight of Sir Germanius’s sword on his side, he remembered Jon carrying the old knight up all those stairs and how they buried him together, he remembered how the dragon creature knew Jon’s name. He turned to the mayor, “My name is Sorus Nightwalk because I slew my enemies underground in the darkling realm. I do honor to Agrium Nightwalk who led the midnight attack on the orc fortress we now call Agrium’s Keep. I pledge to honor his memory and hold his name to the highest standards of Elekargul. Today I go with my friend Jon Gray and any man who tries to stop me will feel my wrath!”
“Fool,” spat Thorius and looked to Decilus, “Kill them both.”
Decilus smiled and drew his sword, a long blade of black iron with strange yellow sigils carved up and down its side. Next to him Thadeus looked back and forth between the mayor and Jon Gray and appeared almost ready to run but then found his courage and drew his own blade, a slim steel weapon curved towards the end in the style of the humans of Doria. “I’ll take the boy,” he said and moved to face Sorus.
A number of passersby heard the exchange of words and saw the swords glint in the sunlight. Some of them stayed to watch the battle while others ran off to spread the news.
“This doesn’t have to be this…,” started Sorus, but Thadeus wasted no time and lunged at the boy before he even pulled out his weapon. Sorus jumped aside as the blade scraped over his left ribs and a sharp sensation of pain quickly followed. He took two quick steps backwards, pulled out his sword, and felt a momentary slickness as his hand brushed his left side.
Jon and Decilus circled one another for a moment before the orc blooded knight raised his sword and brought it around with a long low sweep designed to take advantage of Jon’s exposed legs. The gray knight didn’t even bother to draw his own sword but simply raised his boot and brought it crashing down on the wrist of his opponent which shattered like an old tree limb with too much ice in a heavy windstorm.
Decilus screamed in pain and spun to the ground, pinned there by the weight of Jon’s foot as the gray knight reached forward with his right hand and put it fully around the neck of his foe. Jon’s wrist flexed and Decilus’s neck pressed backwards to an unnatural angle. The Brokenshield punched at Jon’s face with his other hand, connected with a solid blow, but the boy ignored it completely and continued to push the neck backwards. A second snap followed a moment later and then the big warrior lay glassy eyed on the ground, his eyes bulging hideously and his neck muscles frozen in clenched rigor.
Jon turned to the mayor and saw that the man had a knife in his hand and circled behind Sorus, “Don’t do it,” said Jon his voice low but filled with menace. “Let them finish it.”
Mayor Thorius looked up at the huge boy and then his eyes came to rest on the dead Decilus and his courage fled. He tossed the knife at Jon but the blade spun badly and only the hilt struck him in the midsection. The mayor then fled back into the building as he shouted, “murderers, murderers, save me!”
The crowd didn’t seem inclined to heed his call and stood silently as Sorus and Thadeus circled one another; their blades leapt out to strike now and again but neither man gained any advantage. “You fight well for a brewer,” spat Thadeus to Sorus and flicked his blade towards the boy’s head but came up well short as Sorus thrust forward with his own blade. Sorus tried to remember the things he watched when the other squires worked with their masters but nothing seemed to be real in this fight as the steel blade of his foe flicked out and back. Whenever he circled to his left there was a strange pain in his side that he couldn’t quite pinpoint but that bothered him nonetheless.
He feinted at Thadeus but the experienced knight simply parried and moved again to his right and forced the painful turn. “You’ll bleed out soon enough,” said the newly restored Brokenshield and moved away from Sorus with a broad smile on his face. At that moment his path took him across the corpse of his ally and his foot hit it with a thump. Thadeus stumbled and his eyes opened in horror as he saw the frozen death mask of his friend.
“Now, strike,” whispered Jon to himself but so quietly that only he heard it.
Sorus noted the distraction but did not attack and instead circled to gain a better position and Thadeus snarled, “You bastard,” and regained his balance as quickly as he lost it. “I’ll kill you,” he said and moved forward, his sword a blur of motion. Sorus managed to block the first few blows but was driven quickly backwards and suddenly felt a stinging on the side of his face and then another on his shield arm.
“Now you die!” shrieked Thadeus lunging towards the former brewer with the tip of blade aimed directly at the center of Sorus’ chest.
Sorus suddenly remembered how Jon had stepped forward when the dragon child attacked him and did the same while also turning his body slightly sideways; this caused the thrust to slide inches past him. His own blade, the heavy sword of Sir Germanius, came down on the area between Thadeus’s shoulder and neck and bit ten inches into the flesh.
Thadeus’s momentum took him into Sorus and the two collided with a thud that sent them both backward a step. Thadeus snarled, and then the shower of blood that coated the left side of his face and body seemed to catch his attention as he reached up and touched the wound. The expression on his face went from anger to puzzlement, and then his legs collapsed out from under him, the blood gushing from the deep wound. He stayed on his knees for a second, his gaze still fixed at Sorus as his mouth opened and closed silently. Finally he managed to gasp, “A brewer boy?” and fell face first to the ground.
“Well fought, Sorus Nightwalk,” said Jon as he came up behind Sorus. “You should have taken him when he stumbled, but you hesitated.”
“I know,” said Sorus with a look down at his fallen foe. The blood geyser slowly abated although the pool of reddish brown ichor continued to grow. “I’ll need lessons.”
Jon nodded his head, “You did well though. The only badly fought duel is the one you lose. Now, I suspect the people in town will support us against the mayor, but I think it best if we don’t put them in that position. Shall we try to find the First Rider or look for Sir Odellius and the other townsmen?”
“I… I don’t know,” said Sorus. “Let’s just get the horses and get out of here for now. Is that all right Jon?”
The big gray knight nodded his head, “That sounds just about perfect to me, Sir Sorus, after you?” he said with a motion of his hand towards the stables. “They probably haven’t even finished brushing down the horses yet.”
Sorus started to lead the way but then looked back at the two bodies in the dirt, two men who, moments before, stood vibrant and alive, and thanks to a stupid disagreement now lay dead on the ground. Sorus knew that Thadeus had a daughter and maybe a son as well from a marriage that ended sometime in the past, and he now remembered the party just two months ago at the Smooth Strider where Decilus celebrated the birth of his first son. He looked at the two lifeless bodies and felt not just an overwhelming sadness at their death, for dying happened to everyone, but that he caused the death and not indirectly at that. His hand found Sir Germanius’s sword sheathed at his side and he bit his upper lip as he stared at the bodies for a long moment.
Jon watched the boy for a moment and remembered a similar moment in his own life, when he fought against the orcs of the Five Nations and left behind him a trail of corpses. His father stood next to him that day and told him someday he’d have to encourage young knights in the same position. “I knew someday I’d be the one leading others, telling them how to behave, I just didn’t think so soon,” he thought to himself and turned to Sorus. He let the boy look at the bodies for a moment longer and then stepped up behind him and spoke, “They’re dead and only dark magic can bring them back. You killed Thadeus because that is the way the world spun today. Tomorrow someone might stand over your corpse and wonder why. I don’t think there are any answers,” he went on and put his hand on Sorus’s shoulder. “My father says the only reason for anything is that which we give it. There is no grand scheme, no power to guider our destiny, we make our own way in the world, and if that’s not enough then too bad.”
Sorus looked up from the bodies. “Your father is a hard man,” he said to his friend. “I’d like to think there is meaning behind all of this whether it be the Black Horse, the White Mare, or some other god of the orcs or the dragon children, or the Dorians, maybe. I don’t know.”
“Give it meaning,” said Jon. “That’s what my father always says. Nothing happens for a reason but we go on living anyway.” The young man suddenly got a faraway look in his eyes and stood up straight:
“Because my life is my own to lead
Because my destiny is my own to forge
No one else can guide my hand
No one else can govern my mind”
“What’s that,” said Sorus as Jon began to walk off towards the stables.
“It’s part of the gray oath,” said Jon. “When a gray knight invites you to join the order you stand in front of the gray wall, plant a flag of your old allegiance on it, and say the oath.”
“Oh,” said Sorus. “So if I were to come back with you to Tanelorn and become a gray knight I’d have to give up my loyalty to Elekargul?”
Jon looked at him as they walked and nodded his head, “That’s right, Sir Sorus. When you become a gray knight you foreswear all other oaths and promise to lead your own life.”
“But isn’t that swearing an oath to the Gray Lord then?” said Sorus as they approached the stables. Their horses still stood out front as a young groomsman carefully brushed them down.
“No,” said Jon. “That oath is really to you, not the Gray Lord, not Tanelorn. You swear to be true to yourself no matter what. It’s a surprisingly difficult oath to say and to keep.”
“I suppose your father is the one who made it up?” said Sorus with a smile. “Ho there, Junius,” he shouted to the boy who brushed down the horses. “Saddle up mine and Sir Jon’s again, we’re heading back out.”
“Hey Sorus,” started the dark haired boy with a smile but then caught himself, “I mean Sir Sorus.”
“Word’s getting around then, is it?” he said with a smile and walked over to his friend. “There was trouble at the mayor’s,” he said. “You’re probably going to hear some bad things about me and about Jon but I’m on your side in all this. Jon and I are going to get to the bottom of this trouble, don’t you worry.”
“I was mostly worried that Sir Arturious was going to tan my backside for not brushing down the horses fast enough, so two less is a good thing!” said Junius and broke into a large smile. “I can’t wait until his twelve month is done, the First Rider has to put someone better in charge next time.”
“It’s good to worry about the things that affect you most,” said Jon as he meandered over and patted his trotter on the flank. “A good tanning of the backside is of more immediate importance than an invading reptile army. Let that be a lesson to you, Sir Sorus.”
Sorus nodded his head, “I see your point,” and then he stood and watched as the boy saddled up both of the horses.
“We keep a supply of grain and rations in saddle bags for emergencies,” said Junius looking at Sorus. “In case someone doesn’t have time to pack. I can get a couple if you like?”
“That’s a very good idea, Junius,” said the young knight and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go grab that while Jon and I finish prepping the horses?”
The boy nodded his head and ran off into the stable.
“I should have thought of that,” said Sorus to no one in particular. “I’m still getting the hang of being a knight, and now I’ve got to learn how to be a fugitive!”