Lorik (The Lorik Trilogy) (14 page)

“So basically, we’re checking the mud and making sure there’s nothing around here that might damage the wagon or spook the horses.”

“Yes, nothing better than walking the path to make sure everything is okay. I usually walk up one side and back down the other.”

“And this is why I needed a second pair of boots,” Stone said.

“This and the sucking mud,” Lorik explained. “If you happen to get caught in some, you may have to leave your boots behind.”

“How did I make it through the marshes without knowing any of this?”

“You got lucky, I suspect,” Lorik said. “Of course, riding a horse helps, and if you’re traveling light it can be done. You didn’t fall into any quicksand and didn’t get bitten by anything venomous, but most importantly, you didn’t lose your sense of direction.”

“I’ve always had a good sense of direction,” Stone said. “But these winding trails make it more difficult.”

“You’ll get used to it. Once you know what to look for, they stand out. The hard part is remembering which ones get you somewhere and which ones are dead ends, so that you don’t waste too much time wandering around. The key, though, is understanding that the marshes and swamps are always changing. So if you took a path today that was clear, it might not be clear the next time. You have to be willing to double back and change your route if you run into the unexpected.”

They returned to the wagon, and Lorik drove it across the flooded plain. Stone led his horse for a while after that. He hated the water that squished in his boots, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. The air was warm and very humid, so changing his boots would give him dry feet for now, but his first pair wouldn’t dry, and he might end up with two wet pairs of boots on the first day of the journey.

They didn’t have any other problems that day, and when evening came, they made camp in a fairly dry spot. There was plenty of scrub brush for a fire. Stone saw to the horses while Lorik situated the camp. There was a pleasant fire crackling when Stone was finished with the horses, and Lorik offered him some mead.

“I’m surprised you drink on the road,” Stone said.

“I don’t ever get drunk,” Lorik said, settling down beside the fire. “But finding fresh water can be difficult. I usually don’t bring an entire keg of mead, but with two of us I thought it might be wise. Also, I rarely cook, so having a bit of mead or wine makes the dried rations easier to stomach.”

“That’s a fact,” Stone said, pulling a small loaf of crusty bread from his pack.

“Do you regret coming along?” Lorik asked.

“No, why would I?”

“It’s not glamorous work,” Lorik explained. “Being in the Marshlands can be depressing.”

“How so?”

“Just look around, everything seems stunted and wilting. The weather is always wet and muggy, the colors bland. Not to mention there are a lot of dangers out here. Some people don’t like it.”

“I don’t mind. I didn’t grow up in the Marshlands but might as well have. We were close to the sea, and the streets in the poor section of town were always covered in thick mud. It stank of garbage and refuse. And I’ll take natural dangers over the human kind anytime. In comparison, the marshes seem like a haven of peace and safety.”

“Does danger always follow you around?” Lorik asked.

“No, I’m hoping to move past all of that.”

“All of what?”

“I guess it’s time for my story, eh?”

“I was hoping you might be willing to let me in on a little bit of your history.”

“Well, my father was killed when I was young. We had always been poor, but with my father gone we were destitute. I did whatever it took to survive. My father gave me the only bit of good advice that ever passed his lips right before he died: ‘A man with a sword can have whatever he wants,’ he told me. ‘No king or lord can own him.’ So I found someone to teach me how to use a blade, only it came with a price. I had to do some unpleasant things to earn my lessons. In the meantime, my mother was an easy target for brutish men. When I was old enough I set out to settle the score with them. When my sword master was killed, I avenged him and robbed the lord who had ordered his murder. Then I came here.”

“Well, that’s more truth than I was expecting,” Lorik said. “I’m hoping the Earl of Yorik Shire wasn’t the lord you stole from?”

“No, it was farther north,” said Stone.

“Good, we don’t need to stir up trouble if we can help it.”

“I really do want to put that life behind me, Lorik. I didn’t know what to expect to find at Hassell Point. I didn’t know if I’d stay in Ortis or book passage to another of the Five Kingdoms. But I want to make a good living, not just enemies. I want to have a life and not end up with a knife in my back.”

“Or an arrow,” Lorik said goodnaturedly.

“Or an arrow,” Stone agreed. “I got lucky.”

“Well, luck is usually earned through skill. I’d say that training in your youth has served you well enough.”

“It has served its purpose. I want a quiet life now. Do you think that’s possible?”

“Probably not,” Lorik said, breaking off a piece of bread and dipping it into his mead. “The pirates should sail away soon enough, but Marsdyn will not be as easy to deal with.”

“You think he’ll be angry?”

“It’s in his nature. He can’t allow an offense, real or perceived, to go unanswered. Men like that have a need to insure no one gets anything over on them. I can’t imagine he’ll just let bygones be bygones.”

“So how do I avoid it, move away from Hassell Point?”

“That’s one way,” said Lorik. “In the end, the only way he’ll let it go is if he gains something he feels is of equal value to the offense.”

“What do you suggest, that I offer him something? Coin or trade goods, maybe?”

“I don’t know. If you come back to the Point and start offering to buy him off, he’ll think you’re scared. He has to respect you before he will deal with you fairly.”

“And how do I earn his respect?” Stone asked grimly.

“Men like that respect only one thing, and that’s power.”

“How do you know so much about all this?”

“I’ve seen it before. Marsdyn wasn’t always in Hassell Point. In fact, the Riders are only the latest gang to set up shop here. All my life I’ve seen men like Marsdyn bullying everyone around them to get what they want. I try to stay quiet and out of everyone’s way, but I’m always watching. And I’ve been lucky enough to avoid crossing the wrong people.”

“Until now,” Stone said. “That gray-haired man you fought was a Rider. Your axe crippled him. How do you think Marsdyn will respond to that?”

“Well, you said yourself it was a fair fight, no retaliation needed. It might have been enough to get me by for a day or two, and with Marsdyn going raiding he might have let the incident go altogether, but not now.”

“Because we partnered up?”

“Yes, he’ll paint both of us with the same brush, so to speak.”

“I’m sorry,” Stone said.

“Don’t be. I made the decision, and I knew what I was getting into.”

“So what do we do?”

“I plan to mind my own business,” Lorik said, then drank the last of his mead.

“And if Marsdyn won’t let you?”

“I figured you would take care of that,” he said with a smile.

“I would if I could,” Stone said. “I’ve taken on worse odds, but that was when I had nothing to lose.”

“And what have you got to lose now?”

Stone looked at the fire, his face a mask, but Lorik could see the conflict just beneath the surface.

“Look, Vera is not in love with me. You can talk about her whenever and however you want.”

“It’s not that,” Stone said. “It’s just that I do have things I don’t want to lose. I want to have a home, a legitimate business, a family. I’m not taking for granted the fact that you were willing to take a chance on me. I’ve found more in Hassell Point than I dreamed.”

“And now you’re afraid of losing them,” Lorik said.

“I’ve lost everything else I’ve loved,” Stone admitted.

“That’s the chance you take with love. You can’t open your heart up and not risk being hurt.”

“Well, I won’t let Marsdyn or anyone else hurt Vera. And I’m not going to do anything to harm our partnership.”

“That’s good to know, and on that note, I’m going to bed.”

“Should I take watch or something?”

“No, not as long as we’re in the marshes. We’ll be safe enough. I generally sleep on the wagon, depending on what cargo I’m hauling. Bags of rice aren’t soft, but they’re better than sleeping on the ground.”

Stone stood up and crammed the last of his bread into his mouth. The dry bread seemed to suck all the moisture out of his mouth, and chewing it wasn’t easy. He sipped some more mead to help get the bite down.

Lorik checked the horses and then arranged himself on one half of the wagon. Stone kicked dirt onto the fire and drank the last of his mead. He had to admit having something to drink besides water made a big difference. Then he climbed up onto the wagon. It was hard to see details in the darkness, but he could make out Lorik on one side of the wagon. The older man seemed to be asleep already. Stone wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down on his side with his wounded shoulder up the air. It was aching slightly, but as long as he didn’t make sudden movements or touch the wound, it didn’t hurt too badly. He fell asleep thinking of Vera.

The next several days passed much as the first had. Lorik was not in the mood for being a big conversationalist, and other than showing Stone things he thought the younger man needed to know about navigating the marshes, he remained silent. They shared the mead each night, each eating the rations in their own packs. One night Stone boiled some water from his canteen and made a stew, which he offered to share with Lorik, but it was really only enough food for one man and Lorik declined.

At night they talked about life in Hassell Point and occasionally the world beyond. Stone had never been outside of Ortis. Lorik sometimes ventured into Falxis on business, but he preferred to stay close to home. They talked about what the war would mean, if the rumors were true. It would make their job harder outside of the Marshlands, but little would change in Hassell Point, except that the busy port might see a lull in business. Most of the pirates would want to take advantage of the kings being off to war. It would bring out the lawless side in more men, but there was nothing Lorik or Stone could do about it.

On the fourth day, they were halfway through a swamp when a mud dragon swam close enough to get Lorik’s attention.

“Keep your horse calm,” he warned Stone. “There could be more than we can see.”

They were in water that was as deep as Stone’s knee, so he was riding his horse. The ground was rocky, so the wagon was able to get traction and roll through it.

“More what?” Stone asked.

“Mud dragons, see?” he said, pointing.

“Isn’t that just a log?”

“Nope, not in the marshes. Have you seen a tree that straight since we started this trip?”

“No, I can’t say I have.”

“That’s a mud dragon. Some people call them other things, but it all means danger. They can swim underwater and you’ll never see them. If that one goes under, we could be in trouble.”

“Surely they won’t attack the horses?” Stone said.

“The horses, you or me, even the wagon if they’re hungry enough. If that’s a female there’ll be more around. The males are territorial, and they will run off any other mud dragon that tries to hunt in their territory.”

“How do we kill it?”

“We don’t, if we don’t have to. Their skin is thick and hard to penetrate. Anything but a killing blow only makes them more dangerous. They have a soft spot on the back of their skull if you’re close enough to hit it with a crossbow.”

“What about your longbow? Couldn’t you kill it with that?”

“No, I’m not that good a shot. Besides, they don’t usually sit still long enough for you take careful aim.”

“You’ve got javelins, right? What about killing it with those?”

“That’s what I got them for,” Lorik said, “but mud dragons strike so fast that it’s hard to drive them off without some type of casualty.”

“I don’t want to lose my horse,” said Stone. “She’s been with me through a lot of tight spots.”

“Well, maybe we’ll get lucky. Keep your eye on that one and I’ll see if I can find any more. Let me know if it submerges.”

“All right,” Stone said.

He was riding his horse slowly through the muddy water. He watched the mud dragon and rubbed his horse’s neck, speaking soothingly to the mare.

“Oh, hell!” Lorik said. “There’s another one on the bank. I can’t see it very well but the mud slide from it is plain as day.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means that there could be more in the water that we can’t see. Our best bet is to make a run for it.”

He flipped the reins and shouted at the big Shire horses, who thundered ahead, splashing water in all directions. Normally, Lorik wouldn’t risk getting the rice wet by rushing through the swamp, but he didn’t really have a choice. They were almost to the far bank, if it could really be called a bank, as it was little more than a muddy swell rising up out of the swamp waters, when a mud dragon launched itself at Stone’s horse. The mare reared onto its back legs, avoiding the snapping jaws of the mud dragon but tossing Stone into the water.