“It is also the trail thatdraws little notice,” Rhula chimed in. “Only those seeking to hideuse this trail. Is that supposed to endear us to your goodcharacter?”
“You have watched my party allday,” Garth stated. “Does it appear to offer harm to the greatnation of Elderal? I travel with children who are hunted and I haveoffered them my protection. I know the ways of the Elderal and wehave respected them.”
“You did not respect them whenyou came at us from behind,” reminded Rhula.
Garong gave her a glare to cease hertalk. “You have acted with skill and knowledge,” Garong said. “Yourparty may travel the trail in safety as long as you remember theways of the Elderal. We shall decline your gracious offer to shareyour camp and offer you these rabbits so your time in the woodswill not have been wasted. Remember, brother of the elf, you areresponsible for the behavior of your party. We shall watch youprogress through Elderal.”
Garong handed Garth four rabbits, twofrom his belt and two from Rhula’s. Garth tied the rabbits to hisown broad belt and nodded to the two elves.
“My thanks for yourgenerosity,” Garth said. “I also offer my compliments to KingGalever for utilizing scouts with honor and compassion. May he knowpeace and a good neighbor to his south when Alcearises.”
The elves sported puzzled looks asGarth walked across the trail to his campsite. They would notunderstand his parting comment, but Garth knew it would be relayedto King Galever. The elves could be powerful allies when the timecame and elfish ways dictated that they would not help others whohad not sworn friendship before a crisis began. Hopefully, the Kingof the Elves would remember hearing of the potential for a goodneighbor in Alcea and be predisposed to discuss analliance.
Garth entered the campsite and laid therabbits down for Niki to clean and prepare. Fredrik and Tedi werebattling with their staffs at a furious rate. Garth watched themfor a moment as they twirled, jabbed, and smacked with their long,wooden poles. Tedi was definitely the better of the two, but thatdid little to lessen Garth’s respect of Fredrik’s ability. Bothboys handled the staff with confidence and skill.
Garth gazed over to the area where Arikand Tanya had been practicing swordplay. Kalina and Tanya werehovering over Arik who was sitting on the ground. Garth hurriedover when he saw the large red smear on Arik’s chest, fearing thatTanya had seriously injured the boy. Garth bent down and wasrelieved to see that there was no serious cut to Arik’schest.
“What is it?” Garthinquired.
“I’m not sure,” Kalinaanswered. “It appears to be some kind of rash, but nothing that Ihave ever seen before.”
“When he removed his shirt,”Tanya interjected, “I was afraid that I had woundedhim.”
“Ha,” chuckled Arik, “there issmall chance of that. It started bothering me the first night wewere in Tagaret. It has grown steadily bigger and more irritatingsince then.”
“We have tried all the creamsand ointments that I can think of,” Kalina supplied. “Niki evengave a try with her healing ability. She has been pouring over thebooks I got her in Melbin and showed me some interestingspells.”
Garth cocked an eyebrow at the thoughtof Kalina learning anything from Niki, but soon realized thatKalina spoke the truth. The girl had some type of ability withhealth magic that was hard for Kalina to grasp. As with mostthings, magic was easier to learn from somebody who knew how to dosomething than it was to learn from a book.
“Well,” Garth summarized, “ifwe can’t do anything about this rash, we should stop wasting timeexamining it. You two should get back to practice before I get mywooden sword out.”
“Whenever you are ready,Garth,” Tanya quipped.
Garth ignored the taunt and walked withKalina back to the campfire. Arik stood and picked up his practicesword. “You shouldn’t tease Garth that way,” Arik cautioned. “He isprobably the greatest warrior that has ever lived. What if he tookyou up on your taunt? You would be sore for a week.”
“Garth is not the greatestwarrior who ever lived,” corrected Tanya. “Oh, he was definitely aTarga Ranger, I’m sure, and that makes him a great warrior, but youforget about Alexander Tork. He created and trained the Rangers. Heis undoubtedly the greatest warrior of all time.”
“Maybe where you come from,”Arik stubbornly stated, “but I never heard of this Tork before thistrip. So, he created the Targa Rangers. Garth has started the AlceaRangers.”
“It does not matter where onecomes from,” Tanya insisted. “Alex Tork is a legend. I have heardstories from all over this continent about Alex. Targa created twonew armies for him to command as he saw fit, the Frontier Divisionand the Rangers. They reported to no one except Alex, not even theKing of Targa. One time he was falsely accused of killing the Kingof Targa and his men stood with him to the man and helped him provethe accusation false. The Sultan of Sordoa was placed in power byTork after the man witnessed Alex behead the old Sultan who haddeclared war on Targa. And that was in the Sultan’s Palacesurrounded by thousands of Sordoan soldiers.”
“Well,” Arik argued, “Garth isnot old yet. He may accomplish much more before hequits.”
“Old?” Tanya laughed. “Theseare tales about Tork when he wasn’t much older than you. He had hisfirst battle when he was fifteen and put in charge of his villagewhen the Yaki attacked. He led the village to the other side of theBoulder Mountains to relocate.”
“Why are you so wrapped up inthis Alexander Tork?” Arik demanded. “If he is so good, then why isit left to Garth to save the world by protecting and training us?Maybe your Alex Tork wasn’t up to the job.”
“I am not wrapped up in him,”snarled Tanya. “I just believe in putting things in their properprospective. Alex hasn’t been seen since the Collapse. He andJenneva surely died then or the Dark One found them and eliminatedthem. Uncle Boris said that every Black Devil had been ordered tohunt for them because they had imprisoned the Dark One. Oh, what isthe use in trying to educate a fisherboy? Let’s practice beforeGarth does take me up on my challenge.”
Arik shook his head and raised hiswooden sword to meet Tanya’s attack. He still didn’t understandwomen. He got along with Tanya because she acted less like a womenthan any girl he had met, but every so often she went and didsomething that made absolutely no sense at all.
By the time Arik and Tanya completedtheir practice, Arik was tired. Tanya went to help with the dinnerand Arik walked over to join Fredrik and Tedi who were gettinglessons from Garth on knife fighting. Garth invited him into thelesson, but Arik just sat down and shook his head. He watched Garthinstruct the other two boys and was amazed at the man’s speed andadaptability to any situation. It was hard for Arik to comprehendanyone who could be better than Garth. Arik waited until the lessonwas over to approach Garth.
“Garth,” Arik opened, “what doyou now about Alexander Tork?”
Garth looked at him for a moment andthen swung his gaze towards Tanya. Eventually, he sat down next toArik and the other boys joined them. “I know a great deal aboutAlexander Tork,” Garth began. “He created, trained and led theRangers up to the time of his marriage to Jenneva. I used to be aTarga Ranger. The techniques that I use in fighting are histechniques. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it is just that somepeople have such a great deal of admiration for him and I’ve neverheard of him,” Arik answered.
Garth smiled and nodded his head.“Tanya mercilessly bombarded me with questions about him,” Garthsaid. “I imagine that she heard stories about him from her uncleand was disturbed with the way I downplayed Tork’s accomplishments.She has seemed to be pretty angry with me ever since.”
“Why would you belittle Tork’saccomplishments?” Arik asked. “Are the stories about himuntrue?”