by
Joel Levy
The Valkyrie and the ninja girl rode south in companionable silence. The 2 hyanadons traveling with them as guards talked together in the birdlike clicks of their own language. They were on their way to the Talos Valley but in no particular hurry to get there. Even this far to the south of Volante the trees were bare and the midwinter weather clear and cold. Along the King's Highway camping sites had been carved out of the adjourning woods at intervals of roughly 25 miles. Thoughtful travelers kept these sites clean and restocked the wood they burned. It was a pleasure to be assured of at least minimal comforts each night. Sometimes they shared the campsite with other travelers, passing around a bottle of wine or whiskey, singing songs and telling tales of adventures on the road.
"So after I had slain the giant serpent that laired within the lake, one teamster bragged, I cut loose the naked princess left there as a sacrifice. She asked what she could do to thank me for the heroic rescue." A round of applause followed the conclusion of the ridiculous tale. Several wagon drivers offered totally obscene suggestions of how the princess could thank the entire caravan. Laughing, the Valkyrie rolled up in her sleeping blankets and fell asleep.
In the predawn the caravan rolled away north. Ginger and Raquel slept another hour then continued following the King's Highway to the south. The homelike taint of unburied dead was in the wind. Raquel and Ginger picked up the pace. They had entered the Talos Valley when there saw a familiar sight. It was early afternoon when they saw vultures circling the next campground. There were ravens feasting but not circling. Ravens zero right in to the sight of carrion like an arrow from a bow. "Looks like we just missed a bit of slaughter, Raquel remarked. I was getting tired of our peaceful ride along the King's Highway. Maybe this place will be more like homelike and my sword 'silver dragon' can collect a few heads from evil creatures."
An armored wagon had been rolled onto its side and ripped open. The dwarfs inside had died firing their repeating crossbows till the last. This was the first time either Ginger or Raquel had seen one of the massive war wagons of the dwarfs. The pair wondered what sort of creatures was strong enough to overturn and rip apart and armored wagon. A dozen humans, men women and children had shared the campsite. They lay scattered in death mostly with skulls crushed by massive jaws. They had been trying to escape not fight back. The Valkyrie dismounted and searched the wagons for a shovel to dig graves for the humans. Ginger took care of preparing the dwarfs for burial after searching for the jewels dwarfs always carried. After having buried the bodies without prayers or offerings of any kind, Raquel and Ginger rode on south. The Valkyrie was a paladin of Sif, goddess of life and love. She had no prayers for the dead. As for the dwarfs, no human knew what gods they worshipped if any.
When they rode into the courtyard of the Black Dragon Inn the place was a mess. The front door hung brokenly from its hinges. The barn was trashed completely. Servants moved listlessly here and there dragging away foul smelling bodies and buckets of entrails and feces to burn on a huge fire in the fields. A young woman had taken charge of the cleanup. She signaled them to care for their own horses in what was left of the barn. Afterwards they went inside for a drink and some food. The interior of the Inn was in better shape, having been scrubbed down and disinfected with lye and boiling water. Several small groups of warlike travelers relaxed by the fire talking about fighting some sort of unnatural beasts that had attacked the Inn.
Queen of the Ice Isle
Meanwhile back in Brocalinde province, the City of Lothian basked in an unusual peace. The war against the King Vampyre was won and over. Herds and harvests were plentiful. The City Lord's son and heir had taken a wife from the common people and she had given birth to twins a boy and a girl thus insuring the succession. No one gave a thought to the young soldier who had lost the love of his life when Prince Rupert married a commoner. How seldom we think of the ordinary people whose lives are ruined by the wealthy and powerful. During the war, the young soldier Tarn had killed powerful men and a few vampires. This taste of blood had shown him that the rich and powerful could be killed just like the rest of us. He determined upon revenge against the Prince who had stolen his love while Tarn was fighting for his city.
In that hour before dawn when those blessed with rest sleep the deepest, a young man slipped into the country chalet of Lothian's rulers. Tarn had not slept well in the last 2 years, not since he had discovered that the woman of his dreams was pregnant by and in love with Prince Rupert the heir to Lothian. Talisha, the beautiful daughter of a neighbor had dated him when he was home on leave and written to him while he was away fighting the insurgency. She considered their relationship a harmless flirtation.
Using the skills hard learned in 2 years of special operations with the Lothian army, Tarn slipped past drowsing guards and into the private wing of the palace containing the apartments of the Duke and his family. Talisha lay asleep in Rupert's arms, her young twins and their nanny asleep at the far corner of the large bedroom. It was a scene of domestic bliss. Tarn realized that Talisha and Rupert were truly in love. He sheathed his commando dagger and slipped silently away in the dawn. Next day he left the city and sailed toward the magical island some called 'Thule' that lay in the western ocean between Archangel Island and Brocalinde.
His few minutes in the Prince's bedroom had taught Tarn several things about himself. First, despite a year of war, he was not a cold-blooded killer. Second, was that he still wanted Talisha. The way to win her back was certainly not to kill her husband. That would only cause her to hate him. The heir to Lothian's throne had murdered his happiness. Revenge demanded not Rupert's death, but the destruction of his happiness. Now, the soldier sought an ally with as much reason as he to destroy the love between Prince Rupert and Talisha. In the Land of Thule with its sorcerers, half-demons and beautiful evil queen he thought he could find allies.
The End
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