The Exodus Sagas: Book II - Of Dragons And Crowns (14 page)

“Do you yield, Sir Bernardus of Harlaheim?”

“This changes nothing Savanno. You are a wanted man, by the church, the king, and the knights you once led. You fled with these fugitives with a holy relic,
and
denied the word of your king. Your actions have spoke
n
for you, against you.”
h
e sheathed his rapier, one hand in the air, hearing his men scramble away here and there. Sir Bernardus dismounted slowly, three blades kept trained on him, and now the wizard and the armored priest surrounded him as well.

“I say we kill him right here, one less enemy.” Saberrak snorted with his axe now tapping the knight’s shoulder as well. His hot breath was venting down on the back of Bernardus’ head, the blue glow in his eyes was gone.

“Bernardus, you know me, you have for decades. We have fought in many battles side by side, and here you accuse me. Here, this night, you try and kill me. This is not the oath we took at the Mission of Saint Tarumin, nor the vows of knighthood we swore to each other several kings past.” Savanno was choking up, the words were forced out; he had never thought he would be on the receiving end of justice in the kingdom he had served so diligently.

“
We cannot just kill him, but we cannot have him following us either. Tie him up?” Shinayne looked to the reins on his horse, then to a tree, keeping her longblade near his chest.

“Your oath to the Order of Saint Tarumin and the knights thereof was broken when
this
occurred.” Bernardus drew out from his pouch the
white armband with the red feathered cross of Alden sewn into it. “Explain why
this
was found un
der the queen’s bed, Savanno.” t
he knight’s lip was trembling under his red beard, for he had looked up to this man in many ways, until now.
“I requested to be the one to bring you in, from the king. Your disgrace has hurt me in ways you cannot imagine.”

The veteran lord looked to his right arm, seeing the armband missing, and lowered his head. His shame was evident, shame not in his love for Rosana, but in disappointing his knights and the order. “It is far more complicated than you-“

“I do not care to hear it!
Now draw blades with me, or let me return to face dishonor. I will not lie to you though, I will gather more men and come for you. As wil
l Florin, Sebastian, and others.” Bernardus had let the hate take over, his duty was blind and deaf in the face of a man he thought a once mentor. “Y
ou have my word that your nephew
,
Sir
Sulian
,
will not be involved. Now make your move.” Bernardus placed the armband back in his pouch, and stood back awaiting the former Lord Knight Errant.
He had hoped they would let him live, leave, and then he would have Savanno’s title and glory for himself.

Silence. All eyes wer
e once again on Savanno Lisario. Though
he just wanted this day
to not have had happened at all, he drew his rapier. Hearing the same from his brother knight and charge, he
raised his eyes to meet him. “I am sorry, Bernardus, forgive me.
The king is wicked and needs to be removed.
”

“God will forgive you, these criminals you travel with may trust you, but I have no choice but to kill you old friend. You are a
n enemy to the crown!
”
t
he red headed knight looked around at the others, knowing they may well kill him after anyway. His teacher before him, he could not let this injustice simply pass into the night.

“Regardless, let these people take their leave to their journey. They will not harm you and I require your word that you will not pursue them. They have nothing to do with this Bernardus.”

“All I will vow is this. After I
kill you,
I
will
return to gather more men and knights in Harlaheim. That is all the time they will get. I have no control over the will of the bishop, and he wants them dead and wants the scroll.
The king supports this Savanno, you know our position.
However, I will do my best to not be a part of it. This I swear to you.” Bernardus was shaking, his honor at stake, his old mentor a traitor in front of him, he had never d
reamed of being in this situation
.

“Shinayn
e, Zen, Saberrak, Lady Lazlette, g
o on
ahead, let us settle this alone
if you will. Please.” Savanno bowed to them, pointing his rapier up the muddy road northeast into the foothills of the Zuran Mountains. He knew that Bernardus was a bit younger, bigger, and stronger; yet he knew that the man was no match for him with a blade, few were in Harlaheim. He needed to defend hi
s
honor, and respect the honor of Bernardus by meeting his challe
nge and beliefs with the blade
.

“Very well.” none spoke save the minotaur. He knew they would not approve, knew that their emotions may have other words to say. He spoke for them and turned to leave these men to their honor.

Saberrak and the others walked the road, knowing that not too far ahead should be this man’s cousin and hopefully James Andellis. The sound of ringing steel echoed through the night air from behind them. The light from Gwenne’s staff allowed them to follow the road with little difficulty, as it seemed she was the only one not accustomed
to traveling under cover of dusk
. None of them spoke, for they all had the same thoughts. Regardless of who would win, nothing would change. They were once again on the run, fleeing
from enemies they did not know
and searching for safety in places they had never been.
The walk, for all four of them, was a slow one that none cared to take
quickly
. Curiosity, concern, and fear of Savanno losing more than his honor made each step away harder to take.

Kendari I
I:I

Valhirst, Chazzrynn

“All I know is that they sent Kaya and the minotaur who killed Heathen to Devonmir! Stop, please! I don’t know anything else, I swear
!
They sent them to head off the ones that have some scroll and are seeking some place far to the north and west. I overheard Prince Johnas and an agent speaking
it in a meeting, that’s all!” t
h
e young boy, barely in his
twenties, felt the blood burn his eyes and drip into his dark hair from the cuts on his abdomen. He had been here fo
r the
whole night, locked in some shack in Valhirst with this cursed and marked elven demon.

“
Keep it to a whisper please.” the Nadderi cautioned. “
Then why were you following me, if all you know is of the orders given to someone else,
Pe
idri
of Valhirst, agent of the White Spider?” Kendari twisted his enchanted longsword that was emitting waves of rippling clear heat, Shiver.

The boy screamed
as the gloved hand of his captor covered his mouth. His wide eyes kept
staring into the branded black swirls and menacing emerald eyes that decorated Kendari’s pale face. His pointed ears and tied back black hair only added to the s
hadowy presence of hopelessness
as he tortured the boy that hung from his ankles upside down.
The hand removed.

“They only wanted me to report where you were going, nothing more!” more blood ran down his chest, sizzling flesh and small cuts he assumed now covered hi
s stomach. He would not cry, tried not to
cry out for help, knowing that this infamous killer would end him here if he did.
Yet the pain was unbearable.

“SSShhh…Pe
idri
, my friend, you must remain quiet, remember? I do not want to have to cut off yet another finger, but if you insist on not whispering, well…” The elf bearing the Nadderi curse smiled, looking at the mutilated left hand that only held a thumb and an index finger. Had they boy been quiet, told the truth, and not been a member of the White Spider, he may
have been more merciful. But
since he had an underworld price of ten thousand in gold coin on his hea
d from this
organizat
ion of assassins and criminals,
Kendari felt quite justified in making an example and getting some much needed information in the process.

“No, no more fingers please.
I need them, please don’t.” t
he young man whimpered softly, not wanting to die here. He had joined the White Spider from the streets he worked as a petty house
thief and fence. He accepted the
spider
brand, the brotherhood, and the safety of using his talents for someone that needed them and could keep the law off of him. Pe
idri
had no idea that
something like
this could happen.

“Who else are they looking for? And be quick about it, t
he night is coming to an end.” t
he cursed elf cut him
slowly
again a
cross the ribs, slightly, carefully
, waiting till the blood ran and nothing more. A little grimace of pain ended the cutting for a moment.
The sound
and aroma
of burning flesh filled the small warehouse office the Nadderi swordsman had led the criminal youth to.

“The captain of the guard, the new one, Balric.
He
, he, he is missing they say, and took the Prince’s whore and wizard with him. Harlian man, and very quiet that one. We all thought he was a spy from
the north. That’s all I know!” h
e whispered to the black clad killer in the dark, seeing only a faint trail of moonlight trickling in from a separation in the doorjamb.

“And me? Why such a heavy price so suddenly?
I killed many of you, yes, a month ago or more. Who set the price, Johnas?” Kendari poked Shiver into the human’s ribs, then again quickly, keeping the bloodflow and attention to his liking. More moans of agony and fear, which in his experiences
,
always produced the best results.

“No. It was Salah-Cam, your old employer who put up the coin for your head. He met with the Prince and then we were notified. There are many assassins looking for you and that gold, be sure of it.” Peidri squirmed, wriggled, trying to shake loose or fall so that he may have a chance to reach his shortsword and run for it. His broken nose throbbed, the cuts all over him burned, and he wished only to be free from here. He would tell anything to this murderer and never return to Valhirst if it meant living to see another night.

The cursed elf laughed, his fingers tickling the pyramid pommel of his other enchanted longsword as he paced circles around the youth
who hung from the rafters
. “Well then, there is no issue, heh, heh. Tell your prince that Salah is dead and he can keep the gold for himself.
I killed him over a month ago, my friend.
That should solve
that
easily enough, unless he wishes for more of his men to die at the end of my blades.”

“I doubt he will believe me if I told him that, perhaps you should.”

“Why would that be, poor Peidri? I could carve it on your chest, slowly. I am not stupid enough to meet your prince here in his city, so
unfortunately, you will have to be the messenger.” Kendari chuckled and thought of how pathetic Salah-Cam, his old wretched wizard employer, must have been to pay others to do his dirty work.
What a sniveling coward, good riddance. Armless, headless, and still his legend of failure lives on
, he thought cheerfully. He eyed the boy, wondering how much room he would need for a message on his flesh.

“He won’t believe me because Salah-Cam is with him unde
r the city, he arrived three days past
.” Peidri closed his eyes, feeling that those words may either throw this elf off track, or end him right now.

“That is impossible boy.”

“I swear it, do I look in a position to lie? He is old, thin faced and even sickly looking, almost like he is a walking corpse he’s so old. Some of the men said he had an odor to him, and that his eyes glow a strange shade of black and green.
He has strange lacerations on his arms and neck, and some say he does not breathe.
The men fear him because he seems as if he should not be alive, yet he is and-“

Kendari plunged his straight blade down through the
top of the boy’s throat and out the base of his skull. The choking and gurgling struggle mingled with the sound of searing blood and skin put the elf’s mind at ease. The boy flailed for a few moments, then he withdrew his sword, cleaned it on his victim’s cloak, and took a seat in the chair in the corner of the small office. He listened to the sound of dripping blood onto wooden flooring and thought of how that cursed sorcerer could be alive. He had cut off his arms and head, destroyed his vials of magicked liquids, even pierced his chest straight through. Kendari thought long and hard about his next move, to stay in Valhirst and finish Salah-Cam again, or head north after the noble elven beauty, Shinayne.
There was no money in either, yet k
illing an elf with pair of swords felt better than taking a second attempt at slaying an old half-dead wizard any night to the Nadderi
, especially in a city filled with men and women looking for him.
He longed to see her eyes once more, smell her fragrance and fear, and cross blades with her; this time to her end.