Secrets at the Keep (Kingdom of Denall Book 2) (8 page)

“What do you mean?” She was sitting casually in her saddle and patiently waiting for an answer.

Getting tired of her games, Mylot narrowed his eyes. “It’s just not like you to ask me a question unless it is some kind of test. Why do you now care what I think?” He punctuated his words by pointing with his index finger.

“Who said I care what you think?” She countered. “I really don’t. I just want you to start thinking.” She tapped his head with her finger. “The faster you learn, the faster I don’t have to babysit you anymore.”

Suppressing his urge to throttle the woman, he answered as calmly as he could. “So you know what we need to do?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Of course,” she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Then why are you not just doing it, and showing me. I can learn by watching you,” Mylot said in a raised voice, struggling not to yell at her.

“I won’t always be here with you. You need to learn how to think. So answer the question. What are we going to do?”

Mylot thought for a moment. “Can we cut off the road and go south?”

“Good thinking. There are two paths leading south, one is up ahead, probably very close to the krydox. That is the path we were going to be taking. The other is back about six miles, it is seldom used and usually overgrown.”

“Do we need to use the paths or can we just cut through the fields and trees?” Mylot asked, pointing out into the open field on the south.

“If we were in dire need we could try to cut across, but while it looks clear now, it often runs into a swamp, bog, or dense field of wild briars. The swamps are more likely, especially when we get closer to the lake. It is usually best to use the trails.”

“All right, let’s go back; we can make up six miles pretty quickly…” Bethany began to laugh as she kicked her horse forward. “What?”

“Who are we?” Bethany asked over her shoulder.

Mylot urged his horse forward and answered after he was riding side by side with her. “Well, you are an obnoxious woman, and I am…” Mylot was cut off by a slap across the face he didn’t see in time to stop. Mylot clenched his jaw and fought the urge to press his hand to his red cheek.

“We are the King’s Guard!” she said sternly. Then she softened slightly, “we are commissioned to protect his people. Don’t you get it? Our job is to fight for the people who cannot do it themselves. We put our lives at risk to protect those who are weak or defenseless. What if an unsuspecting traveler was injured or killed by that animal, what if a family passes by this way today or tomorrow? Pretty much everyone going from Omer’s realm to Lexingar will use this route. We need to remove the threat or people will die.”

“Okay, I get it.” Mylot responded with an exasperated sigh.

Smiling, Bethany added, “Besides, I like krydox meat.” Mylot looked at her with a shocked expression. Nobody hunted krydox for its meat. It was a tough muscled creature that was rarely ever seen. When they did come out of the wilds they were hunted down and killed. They were pests like sand dragons in the desert, or drams in the north. They were dangerous but relatively rare as people killed them whenever they were found near civilization.

“Quick question. How are we going to fight a krydox with swords?” he asked tapping the weapon at his side.

“No little mouse, you are going to watch and learn and I am going to fight it with my hunting knife. I only use my sword when it’s a challenge.” Bethany kicked her horse forward and tossed her hair, as if being carefree while attacking a krydox was a perfectly normal thing to do. Mylot shook his head at how ridiculous she was acting, and followed close behind.

They continued down the road, Bethany in front acting casual and calm with Mylot behind shaking his head in disbelief. After a couple of miles, Bethany pointed to her left and Mylot saw the trail south. He knew that trail would lead them to Peyton, but he also knew that they were not taking this path. Several hundred yards after pointing to the trail Bethany dismounted and dropped the reins to the ground. Mylot also leapt from the saddle landing lightly on his feet. The excitement of the moment overcame his discomfort from the previous week of travel.

In the ditch to the side of the road a deep grunting noise sounded. Bethany drew her hunting knife and continued to move forward. Mylot instinctively drew his sword and began following, but she motioned him to stay with the horses. “Keep the horses clear. We won’t get far without them.” He reluctantly obeyed.

The sound from the krydox changed from a deep grunt into an angry growl as it rose to its feet. Mylot stood frozen in place. The creature was huge. It rose up almost ten feet tall as it stood up on its tight muscled hind legs. It tossed its head from side to side baring its sharp teeth, as it displayed its long sharp horns. When it pounded down onto its front legs Mylot felt the ground move even from this safe distance. Mylot watched in shock as Bethany continued to advance on the tall, black animal, taking a wide stance and holding her hunting knife ready for action. She waved her hunting knife as if gesturing for the creature to come meet her for battle. It was the craziest thing Mylot had ever seen.

The krydox was deceptively swift for an animal so large and it caught Bethany by surprise when it growled violently and lunged forward. Bethany dove to the right narrowly avoiding the initial charge. Her dive was not an elegant roll but a frantic sprawl that left her lying on the ground grabbing her knife and getting to her feet.

While she was readjusting her stance and the hold on her knife, the beast had turned on her again. It was getting ready to charge and Mylot knew that she would have no time to react. Despite his dislike for this woman, chivalry prevailed.

When the krydox began moving, Mylot waved his hands wildly and called out for it, then he grabbed a small stone from the road and threw it at the animal. Noticing the ruckus the animal maintained its momentum but made a slight right to head down the road directly at Mylot and the horses. It roared in fury as it thundered forward. Mylot slapped the horses and they scattered to either side while he stood his ground in the middle of the road. He had never struck the killing blow on a krydox hunt, nor had he ever seen a single person kill one, it was usually a group effort with the krydox skewered on one lance or riddled with crossbow bolts while the other men descended to finish the job.

Without time to think Mylot spun to the side as the krydox moved past he felt a strange surge within himself and his reflexes and strength seemed to work faster and better than they ever had before. He was easily able to avoid being struck down by the powerful animal, and as it was still charging past, he swung a low strike at the animal’s hind leg cleanly slicing it off as the creature was still running. The krydox screamed in agony and thrashed around on the ground.

Mylot wanted to run over and end the animal’s suffering, but as he took a step toward the krydox he stumbled and felt dizzy. He stood in place for a moment trying to regain his balance, wondering what caused the temporary dizzy spell. He then ran to the large animal and with a single stroke delivered the killing blow, ending the animal’s pain.

“Now that was impressive,” Bethany said as she approached. She was no longer looking vulnerable or in any need of help, but instead she walked confidently and there was a look in her eyes that looked almost like pride.

“What were you thinking?” Mylot’s voice was filled with concern. “You could have been killed attacking a krydox with a hunting knife.”

“Well my plan wasn’t to actually kill it with my hunting knife. I had a secret weapon.” She lightly tapped Mylot on the chest and smiled. Mylot stood dumfounded for a moment as he watched her slowly walking away.

“This was your plan the whole time?” he asked in surprise. Mylot stood for a moment looking at Bethany with skeptical eyes. What else was she holding back? Was everything she did part of some kind of training she felt he needed? This kind of on the job training could get him killed, but it was also the exact kind of danger and adventure he yearned for when he agreed to join the King’s Guard, so he found it difficult to be angry.

“Not the whole time, I just wanted to see if you would endanger yourself to protect someone else, someone you were not terribly fond of, I might add.” She emphasized her words by pointing at herself.

“Well, that is my job now, as part of the team,” Mylot said with a grin.

Bethany did not answer but instead beamed with a smile. “We’ll stop early tonight and enjoy roasted krydox. I think you’ll like it. You’re making the fire.”

*****

The next few days were much more pleasant. Since the krydox attack, Bethany acted a lot more friendly, and she stopped asking him if he was ready to quit. It was as though that was the final test before she realized that he was really going to stick with this training, and be a member of the guard. Mylot began to see how their duties were part of a larger goal; helping the people of Denall. Surprisingly he was very satisfied in playing his small role to help king and country. He was also much more satisfied as their saddle bags were filled to capacity with krydox jerky, which was a little stringy, but had a nice flavor.

“We’ll get to Peyton’s cottage tomorrow around midday.” Bethany called out as Mylot gathered some firewood.

“That sounds great,” Mylot replied. “Then we can get some information that may turn out to be a complete waste of our time.”

“We can only hope,” Bethany said sincerely.

Mylot looked up from the pile of wood he had collected. “What do you mean?”

“Honestly, Mylot, do you want Mordyar to be coming?”

The question caught Mylot by surprise. In their travels, he hadn’t really stopped to think about what their mission might mean. Maybe some missions were better to end as a fruitless pursuit. “No, but I’d also like our trip to not be pointless.”

“Pointless?” Bethany turned on him. “You have seen the trails east of Lexingar, killed a krydox, learned how to start a fire, set up snares, and gather edible food. I think that was a month well spent for you. For me on the other hand…” she said with a smile and slight tilt of her head.

“Fine, it hasn’t been completely pointless,” he conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. “But, I would really love for you to teach me how you have such quick reflexes.” In their evening training Bethany was still consistently beating Mylot every time they fought. He had the advantage of strength, but Bethany moved so fast that he couldn’t keep up with her.

“Hold out your hand,” she said.

“Again?” He was tired of failing at this little game she played.

“Yes!” Her hand shot out and rapped her knuckles on his head as a friendly reminder to not question her authority.

Mylot held out his hand and Bethany placed three pebbles in his open palm. “How many?”

“Take two leave one.” Before he could complete his sentence she had grabbed two stones from his hand. He hadn’t even seen her flinch or begin moving, it was like the stones were simply gone. In the past week, he had tried everything he could think of and nothing worked. He watched her eyes, or her hand, or his hand, or the tight muscles in her shoulder, anything that would give him a hint that she was about to move, but every time before he knew what was happening, the stones were gone. Even when he tried to distract her, she was easily faster than he was.

“Showing me that you’re fast doesn’t help me.” Mylot said in frustration.

“Quiet.” She held out her hand showing the two pebbles she had taken. “Now, take just one.” Mylot grabbed for the stone as quickly as he could, but she easily closed her fingers before he could touch it.

“Mylot, when you struck down that krydox, how did you move so quickly?” He lunged for the stones again, and again her hand was closed.

“I don’t know, I was just in the moment and I did it.” He looked away as if in deep thought then lunged out to grab the stones, but missed a third time.

“Nice try,” Bethany said shaking her head. “Before I tell you this, I have to do one more thing for the last time.” Bethany slapped Mylot playfully across the face before he could move to stop her. She nodded in satisfaction.

“What was that for?” he asked innocently.

She shrugged her shoulders playfully. “After today’s lesson I won’t be able to do that anymore.”

“Thank goodness!” he said. “Why didn’t we have this lesson sooner?”

“It was more fun this way.” He grabbed for the stones and missed again. “When you dodged the krydox and sliced at its legs, you moved so quickly because you were using your gift.”

“What are you talking about?” Mylot thought back to the confrontation with the krydox. He had concentrated on using his gift of strength, but how was speed connected to strength? Was there more to being a strongarm than just being powerful? “Let me try something.”

Bethany held out her hands with two stones in her open palm. Mylot concentrated on using his gift of strength then, not knowing how, he pooled that energy into speed instead of brute strength. In a flash, Mylot’s hand darted out. Bethany closed her hand on top of his with his fingers grasping a single pebble. “So, little mouse,” the name was no longer said with disdain, “you have learned something very important on this trip.”

“Yes I have, Beth.”

“Beth?” she asked with her eyebrow raised.