The Roar of a Dragon (3 page)

One of the knights behind me chuckled, then was stifled into silence.

After a quick glance at the offending comrade, the knight turned his attention back to me. ‘Well, scum, obviously you don’t know your true place in the world, so it becomes my job to teach you.’ With that, he took a couple of threatening steps forward.

Thanks to my uncle, I had read many books, so at a guess I considered myself to be smarter than the average peasant. I had read many stories of knights in battle, so I knew to observe my opponent.

Obviously, he knows how to use that sword, but he seems to be a better talker than he is a fighter. Also, he’s still drunk, so his senses and his reflexes are likely to be off…

Still, it wouldn’t pay for me to underestimate him. Even if he had ascended to his position through lies and deceit, he had to have some ability to fight, or he wouldn’t have been a soldier at all.

The first thing I knew right away was that my meager ‘weapon’ would not be able to block his sword — one swing of his sword would likely split the hoe in half. And due to my blacksmithing skills (or lack thereof), the hoe would basically be rendered useless, no matter what I did.

The second thing I knew was that I was a complete imbecile for even
trying
to fight an experienced warrior.

I ducked as the first blow came at me horizontally from my left. The knight swung again immediately, almost using the sword like a club. I ducked again, and swung the hoe with every last bit of strength I had.

It bounced harmlessly off of his heavily-armored right shoulder.

Both of us stood there in shock — I suspect he was in shock because I had actually attacked him, and I know I was in shock as it was so monumentally stupid for me to swing the hoe like a flailing child, without putting any actual thought as to where it might prudent to strike him, considering all of his armor.

He glanced at his shoulder, then at my ‘weapon’, and laughed mockingly.

But his overconfidence cost him — I knew from reading books on combat tactics to take advantage of any chance that came my way.

And he had just given me a
big
chance.

I once again swung the hoe as hard as I could, this time aiming for his legs. Having worked on a farm my whole life, I had a great deal of strength, and my desperate tactic succeeded — the hoe swept his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground.

Behind me, the knights’ murmurs grew louder.

The knight floundered on the ground for a moment, like a turtle on its back, before he was finally able to regain his feet; I had to imagine that navigating in that armor could be difficult sometimes. After struggling to his feet, staggering a bit from inebriation, the knight glared at me, fuming.

My resolve cracked, just a little.

‘How dare you, boy,’ the knight growled, and it suddenly seemed that he sobered up even more. ‘Clearly, you don’t know your place in this world. Now, I’m going to show you where scum like you reside.’

He then began to stride toward me, obviously ready to finish this altercation — whatever ‘finishing it’ meant.

Any anger I would have felt at his insult was instantly smothered by overwhelming fear. My mind froze, and I tried to scurry away backward. But in my panic, I tripped over my own feet, and crashed to the ground. The knight continued his pursuit, and I scrambled to my feet. Now desperate, I did the only thing I could think of, though it probably wasn’t the best choice — I swung the hoe again, aiming for the knight’s head.

But the knight, having already underestimated me, was now prepared for battle, which only served to frighten me further. Almost nonchalantly, he brought up his sword and blocked my blow, shattering the hoe and sending the head of it sailing away. That turn of events froze me in my tracks, and the knight took advantage of the opportunity to close the gap between us. He grabbed me by my hair and drove his knee into my midsection.

I’d been kicked by horses and other animals many times, but never in my life had I felt pain like that — the blow from the armored leg drove all the air out of my body, and hurt terribly. Now completely at the knight’s mercy, I was helpless as the knight, still with a handful of my hair, forced me to turn so that my back was to him and give me a violent kick to the back of my leg, forcing me to my knees.

Now
my anger had reached the boiling point, but by then it was far too late — I was completely at the mercy of the knight, who probably outweighed me even without his armor. He shoved me into the ground face-first, and then laid on top of me while he crushed my face in the dirt. Coughing and sputtering, I growled as I tried to fight back, but it was pointless — pinned to the ground, there was nothing I could do.

‘Time for your daily meal, peasant,’ the knight whispered in my ear, a taunting note in his voice. ‘Now eat your dirt like the pig you are.’

In my current position, it took very little effort for him to continue this humiliation. His forearm on the back of my neck, he leaned into me more heavily, burying my face in the dirt. I suddenly realised that he was trying to suffocate me. Gasping, I desperately summoned all of my strength and shoved, but I don’t think he even felt it.

I was going to die.

I could hear the other knights yelling something, but I couldn’t tell what. Suddenly, the weight of the knight was gone — I could
breathe
again. Turning to my side, I coughed and retched as I gulped deep breaths of air. I began to wonder what had happened. I could hear a commotion behind me.

The beating sun was blocked out as a shadow fell over me. A very large man in armor was standing defensively over me, separating me from the bully knight.

‘Before you go any further, Norvin,’ a deep voice rumbled, ‘let me remind you that while you have that sword pointed at me, you are breaking Delmar law.’

There was a pause, and then the sound of a sword being sheathed.

‘I’m sorry, Sir Garridan!’ the bully knight sputtered. ‘I didn’t know it was you! That… that
peasant
attacked me!’

‘Indeed?’ the deep voice answered. He turned and looked back at me, revealing ice-blue eyes that peeked out from under his large helmet: it was emblazoned with a red eagle, which also appeared on Delmar’s flag, and had a plume of white hair (I believe it was horse hair) sticking out from the top. He had a medium-length grey beard.

Before I could defend myself, the oddest thing happened.

The knight winked at me.

Bewildered, I watched as the knight turned back to this ‘Norvin.’

‘Interesting… it certainly didn’t seem that way from
my
vantage point.’ He glanced back toward the barn, and I swore I thought I could hear a smile in his voice.

So he had been watching, this entire time. Why hadn’t he interjected sooner?

Norvin sputtered indignantly. ‘There’s no way you could have possibly seen the whole ordeal, General —’

General?

‘Oh, but I did, Sir Norvin,’ my savior responded. ‘I was on my way to meet you when I found that you had taken a bit of a detour, to this young man’s farm. Imagine my surprise when I saw what came next.’

Sir Norvin’s eyes widened in surprise; he hadn’t been expecting
that
. The eyes quickly narrowed again in contempt. ‘Just showing him the way of the land, that’s all.’

Sir Garridan strolled toward Norvin slowly as he spoke. ‘There is no law that says you can attack a farmer, baker, carpenter, butcher, blacksmith, or
any
’ — all of us jumped at the sudden rise in Sir Garridan’s voice — ‘citizen for that matter, for your own personal amusement.’

He stopped in his stride, and Norvin took a step backward, eyes wide, looking as though he were getting ready to dodge an incoming blow.

Sir Garridan stood like a majestic stone statue in the middle of my field. ‘Thanks to my intervention, a tragedy has been avoided. Today, you will walk away, Norvin… but if I catch you doing any such thing again, I will report you to the king; you will be stripped of your knighthood, and you will spend the rest of your life in a dungeon cell. Do you understand?’ Sir Garridan stated in a deathly calm voice.

Norvin’s response was a shaky nod that was defiant in its nature, and he turned and jumped on his horse.

As soon as Sir Norvin and his party had left, disappearing down the dirt road in a cloud of dust, Sir Garridan turned and walked back toward me. Despite the fact that he had saved me, I was still very apprehensive; I didn’t know this man at all, and had already had one bad encounter with a knight that day.

‘Did he harm you?’ Sir Garridan asked me, his voice seeming to be genuinely concerned.

Not at all. We were just messing around. I think I’ll invite him over for tea later
. I bit back my sarcastic retort, and started to answer, but I was so nervous that I couldn’t find the right words.

The general put up his hand, stopping me. ‘Forgive me… That was a foolish question. All things considered, however, things could have turned out much worse.’

I conceded in my mind that he was right, but I was still angry and embarrassed. And then, for some stupid reason, I felt like he was going to arrest me, and the thought terrified me. I was also scared because I had never heard of a knight having any kind of sympathy or respect for the common people. To hear people talk in nearby towns, knights were as bad as any noble, and I had certainly got an example of that already.

‘I didn’t start anything with that knight, sir…’ I was still stuttering my way through an explanation, but Sir Garridan gently put his hand up, silencing me.

‘Worry not, my lad,’ he said, his voice tinged with humor at my apparently noticeable fear. ‘As I implied to Norvin, I witnessed the entire ordeal. Norvin has a gift for finding trouble, or creating it.’

‘T-thank you for saving me, sir,’ I stuttered. ‘If you hadn’t, I shudder to think what might have happened.’

The general’s eyes rose in approval. ‘Good manners, and to hear you speak, well educated. You impress me more and more every minute.’

He was impressed, by
me?
Why, because I hadn’t cried when Norvin drove my face in the dirt? Because believe me, I had wanted to.

Then, another thought occurred to me. ‘If you saw everything, why —’ I hesitated, as I was about to ask the general a very bold question.

The general nodded toward me, encouraging me. ‘Out with it, lad — do not be afraid to say what is on your mind.’

I wasn’t sure if he was serious, but I took a deep breath to summon courage I didn’t feel and continued anyway. ‘Why didn’t you stop him sooner?’

The general’s face fell, just a bit. ‘Please forgive me, son. I must admit, my reasons are selfish, but here it is — I saw Sir Norvin staggering toward you, and I was about to intercede. But when I saw you pick up the gardening hoe, I became very intrigued. And then, I saw your ability to dodge and fight back, and I couldn’t help but be absorbed by what I was watching. Your skills in combat were quite impressive. I have never seen a farmer display such natural talent before.’

I was too young to realize it at the time, but his statement was also an implication, one that I didn’t respond to since I was oblivious to it. Instead, I looked back at my shattered weapon, then down at the ground, tremendously happy at his praise, yet utterly embarrassed that a gardening hoe
was
my weapon.

Sir Garridan must have sensed what I was thinking. ‘Do not be ashamed, young one. On the battlefield, even the most unlikely of weapons can save your life. Do not expect mercy if you are unarmed. Anything you can hold in your hands will suffice.’ Sir Garridan looked me up and down. ‘How many years have you seen, young man?’

‘Sixteen,’ I answered, and Sir Garridan nodded approvingly.

‘You’re a good size lad for your age,’ he said, smiling a little. ‘What is your name?’

‘Aidan,’ I answered, lowering my eyes in a slight bow. But my fumbling attempts to be respectful in the presence of a knight finally wavered and crumbled under the weight of what I had just endured, mentally and physically, and I could feel my emotions beginning to pour out of my soul, not unlike water out of a cup that has just been knocked over. I closed my eyes, my head sinking with sudden exhaustion and anxiety over what I had just endured. I could feel myself shaking, and for a split second, I wasn’t sure who I was, or where I was. Looking back on it, I can see that my young mind had suffered too much emotional trauma at once, and I couldn’t handle it.

Sir Garridan, of course, could see this immediately — he took a step forward and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. Even though this man was a stranger, this unnecessary, yet considerate, act had an instant calming effect on me; I was unexpectedly reminded of my father.

Sir Garridan bent low to look me in the eyes. ‘You handled yourself better than most soldiers I have ever seen. You should be proud of yourself. Always remember — when you can walk away from a battle, be grateful, because there is always someone who won’t enjoy the same luck.’

I nodded, knowing that he was right, but finding his philosophy hard to grasp at that particular moment. I just stood there silently, so the knight continued.

‘Again, forgive me… I praise you for your manners, yet I find mine lacking. I am Sir Garridan Winslow, general of the White Army of Delmar.’

What? This man was the general of the White Army…
and
he was named after a famous warrior from the Second Age?

My mind reeling from all of this new information, I didn’t know how to respond. Unfortunately, when I meet new people, I always end up reacting to them like a fool. So, since I was in the presence of such greatness, I did the only thing my frozen mind could think of to do — I dropped to a knee and bowed my head.

‘It is an honor to meet you, sir.’

Sir Garridan erupted in laughter, a deep, hearty belly laugh at my fumbling attempt at respect.

‘Well,’ he said, in between chuckles, ‘I can say — with all honesty — that has never happened to me before.’ He looked down at me, his head tilted to the side a bit, and said, ‘I am a general, not a king, lad. Please rise.’