The Hordes of Chanakra (Knights of Aerioch) (38 page)
Read The Hordes of Chanakra (Knights of Aerioch) Online
Authors: David L Burkhead
The seeming Shillond had given Keven was that of a moderately well-to-do merchant. Marek's, of a simple workingman, shorter and broader than Marek’s natural giant size. Mute, of course, given his inability to speak Chanakran.
Keven wondered for a moment where Kaila had gotten the coin to fund their ruse then decided he did not want to know.
The cafe sat across the square from the North Gate. The gate proper stood open but twin portcullises blocked the passage through the wall. The setting sun cast long shadows across the square, a square filled with people seeking exit from the city.
Keven took a sip of his ale and let his gaze drift over the square. Large crowd, clamoring at the gate seeking egress.
Keven nudged Marek and nodded in the direction of the gate. Spear armed soldiers barred the way as the inner portcullis rose. Keven watched as the soldiers ushered two carts, a wagon, and a half-dozen people on foot through the now open gateway. One person tried to dash through only to face a leveled spear. The man backed away.
The portcullis dropped, leaving the little party isolated within the gateway. Keven could not see, but he could imagine the arrow slots to either side and the murder holes in the roof ready at any instant to rain death on those within.
A green glow descended from the ceiling of the gateway and washed over the people within. It held for several heartbeats then faded. Keven fancied he could hear a shout within the gateway. No. He must have imagined it. How could he hear even spoken word over the clamor of the crowd?
The outer portcullis rose and the party within the gatehouse departed. Another party, from outside, entered. As Keven watched, the outer portcullis closed and the inner opened.
So, Keven thought, they were only interested in those leaving the city, not those entering. No doubt they sought him and his companions.
Motion to his left caught Keven’s attention. He turned his head. Marek seemed different. Was he taller than a moment before? Yes. Yes he was.
“Come,” he said, still playing his role. “We have business to be about.”
Marek cocked his head to one side, staring at Keven then his eyes grew wide. He nodded and rose.
Keven dropped some coins on the table as he stood. Marek was definitely taller, his body shaped shifted from the stocky shape of a serving man to the more defined musculature of a seasoned warrior.
The spell, Keven thought. Whatever spell had caused that green light had, weakened by distance perhaps, started to dissolve their seemings, their magic disguises.
Ahead, Marek pushed through the crowd, forcing a passage between the people and the buildings. Keven followed in his wake. Despite their faltering seemings, changing their appearance and their voices, Marek retained his true size and strength.
Marek now stood a full head taller than the tallest other person visible, his true size. Instead of the clothes of a man serving a moderately successful merchant, he wore a simple tunic and breeches. His hair had extended to below his shoulders, the length it had grown to during his captivity.
Keven looked down. His own seeming was likewise gone.
"There!" The shout came from the soldiers at the gate. "Stop that man!"
In the confusion, Marek snatched a pole from an awning that shaded a shop's entrance. He swept the tip of the pole at knee height. Keven heard the thumps as the pole struck several men who did not move back fast enough. Marek reversed the poll, bringing the opposite end back around at head height. The crowd retreated further.
For a moment Keven hesitated. Marek's great size marked him but Keven's appearance did not stand out. No one had yet noted him. If he slipped away he could come back with the others and, what? Rescue his father? And if they decided not to capture but simply to kill.
No.
He regretted that he did not have a sword as he drew the dagger from his belt.
Marek had turned, seeking to drive his way farther from the gate. Despite no longer needing to maintain their subterfuge he still had not spoken.
A stocky tough moved into the gap between Keven and Marek's turned back, a club upraised in his hand.
Keven struck. His dagger bit deep between the ribs of the tough. The tough stiffened and dropped the club. With a practiced twist Keven drew the dagger free and pushed the falling body of the tough aside. The body fell to the ground, twitching. Keven leapt lightly over it and shouted, "Run, father!"
Marek thrust three times with the staff. Three men fell gasping to the ground, curled around their own bruised guts. Marek darted forward. Following, Keven scooped up another of the awning poles and slid his dagger back into its sheath. A staff would be a better weapon in this crowd than his dagger.
Keven kept close behind Marek, striking judiciously with the staff to keep the disorganized crowd from closing to near behind them. He spared a glance in the distance behind and saw the detail of soldiers from the gate forcing its way through the crowd.
Unshy about using their spears to speed the crowd's separation the soldiers were gaining.
They were not going to escape.
David L. Burkhead is an Indiana writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy. He has also written on technical topics for
The World & I
magazine and
High Technology Careers
.
In addition to his writing, he works in a consulting laboratory in Atomic Force Microscopy and Nanotechnology. His work ranges from measuring samples in the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) to refurbishing used AFM's for resale to writing software for measurement of AFM images. More than half the DVD production in the world, and the development of Blu-Ray, is supported using measurement software he wrote.
David and Geoff presented the SpaceCub concept at the 1994 Northeast Space Development Conference, the 1995 International Space Development Conference, and other venues. Short articles appeared in Popular Mechanics and the Brazilian magazine Istoé and David was interviewed about SpaceCub for an AAAS radio broadcast. Shortly after these events, other people started talking about reusable, suborbital rockets to carry humans into space. As a direct consequence, Peter Diamandis created the X--------Prize foundation and the original Ansari X--------Prize. The prize goal could have been taken directly from SpaceCub's proposed specifications: a reusable rocket carrying passengers to an altitude of 100 km. This prize lead directly to the development and successful flight of Dick Rutan's SpaceShip One and to the ongoing work by the Rutan's and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. Rutan and Branson, in offering private suborbital tourist flights, continues the model originated with SpaceCub.
Other works by David L. Burkhead
"Jilka and the Evil Wizard",
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine
, Winter '91
"The Future is Now",
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
, April '91
"Match Point",
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
, February '93
"EMT", originally published in
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
, December '93
"Splitting Seconds",
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
, January '99
"Her World Exploded",
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
, April '05
"With Enemies Like These",
Lawyers in Hell
(anthology), pub. Kerlak Enterprises, 2011
"Time for Tears",
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword & Sorceress
(anthology), pub Norilana books, 2011
"The Place of Fear",
Rogues in Hell
(anthology), pub. Kerlak Enterprises, 2012
"The Knife Edge Bridge",
Dreamers in Hell
(anthology), pub. Perseid Publishers 2013
Also Available on Kindle from Amazon:
"FTI: Beginnings" 2014 containing "The Future is Now" and "Match Point"
You can find an updated list at my blog:
http://thewriterinblack.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
David L. Burkhead can be reached at his blog
The Writer in Black
.
