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Chapter 25

Kantor

The fairy festival lasted into thedarkness, but the Rangers still chose to leave before first light.When the fairy village learned the Rangers were setting out ontheir journey, the entire village assembled with thousands of tinyfairy lanterns and lined the path out of the orchards, singing asong about a coming battle and the glorious fairy army. Arik tookthe lead with Midge perched upon his shoulder talking nonstop intohis ear. Midge told Arik that he was witnessing the proper sendofffor a fairy army marching off to war and signified that it was thegreatest honor, which could be bestowed on anyone leaving the fairyvillage. After leaving the orchard and waving farewell to thefairies, the Rangers angled southward to pick up the trail that ranalong the Black River and followed it westward.

The terrain grew less mountainous eachday as they headed downstream towards the western coast of what hadbeen Cordonia. Kantor lay at the mouth of the Black River and wasthe capital of Cordonia before the Collapse. The only major townbetween the fairy village and Kantor was Paso and the Rangers gaveit a wide berth, keeping well to the north side of theriver.

When they got within a day’s ride ofKantor, a large mountain loomed over the flat coastal terrain.Garth recognized it as the mountain that he mentioned to the groupduring their discussion of Kantor, the mountain that had replacedthe Presidential Palace. For the first time on their journey, theRangers began to see other travelers. Most of them had been on thesouth side of the Black River and were ignored, but occasionallythey passed travelers on the north side and drew strange looksbecause of their blacksuits. Midge usually hid in one of Arik’spockets whenever anyone got close.

When they got close enough to see thewalls of Kantor, they started to see roving army patrols andavoided them. Garth suspected that there were not many armed groupsof travelers in the area and the soldiers would want to know whothey were and where they were going. The questions would have to beanswered sooner or later, but Garth hoped to enter the city withoutincident.

They arrived at the city gates late inthe day and were immediately surrounded by several dozen soldiers.An officer approached Tedi, who was in the lead, and started askingquestions. Garth immediately rode to the front of the group andassumed the leadership position for the Rangers.

“Officer,” Garth greeted, “weseek entrance to your fine city and wish to do sopeacefully.”

“We do not like bandits orarmed groups within the walls of Kantor,” the officer stated. “Youcan leave your weapons here and retrieve them upon your exit or youcan turn around now. It is your choice.”

“We can do neither,” Garthdeclared. “We seek passage to the Isles of the Sea from a ship inthe port of Kantor and we wish to take our weapons with us when weleave the city.”

The officer hesitated and Garthrealized that there were no firm orders to back up the officer’srequest to leave their weapons at the gate. The soldier was merelytrying to keep a band of bandits from entering and causingtrouble.

“We also will require lodgingfor the evening,” Garth suggested. “Perhaps we could check ourweapons with the innkeeper until passage is booked. We wish noaltercations during our short stay in Kantor.”

The offer did not seem to convince theofficer as he looked at the blacksuited party. “You will beescorted to the General’s office by my men and he will determineyour fate. If one of you even touches a weapon, my men will slayyou all. We give little advantage to the likes of you and youneedn’t worry about a trial.”

Garth nodded to the officer and allowedthe soldiers to escort them to the General. The escort of severaldozen soldiers led them through town to a large mansion with a gatefacing the street. Soldiers manning the gate opened it and admittedthe Rangers and their large escort. When they had ridden down thewide pathway that led from the street to the front of the mansion,the column halted and the officer disappeared inside the mansion.Within a few moments, the officer reappeared followed by an olderofficer with short, gray hair cut in a military fashion. The manwas distinguished looking, but sported a thin scar running from histemple to behind his ear, probably a sword scar. The man wasobviously the General and Garth smiled when he recognizedhim.

“General Fernandez,” Garthgreeted, “your hair has grayed since we last met.”

The General stopped and focused hispiercing eyes on Garth and it took a few moments before his eyeslit up with recognition. “Colonel!” General Fernandez announced. “Inever expected to lay eyes on you again. Dismount so I don’t haveto break my neck looking up at you, and I’ve told you before thatyou can call me Julio.”

“As you wish, Julio,” Garthsmiled, “and you can call me Garth. I am no longer aColonel.”

The General switched his gaze to therest of Garth’s party with a suspicious look as Garth wasdismounting. He turned to the officer and said, “Keep a close eyeon the rest of them while I talk privately with thisman.”

The General turned and walked into themansion with Garth on his heels. The General did not break hismilitary stride until he reached an office with two guards postedoutside. He opened the door and entered the office, allowing Garthentry before he closed the door, and then sat at his desk, wavingGarth to a chair.

“The years have not been badto you,” General Fernandez smiled.

“The color of your hairappears to be the only change you have suffered,” Garth smiledback. “I assume that you are the control behind Kantor thesedays?”

“There was no one else I couldtrust,” laughed Julio. “Speaking of trust, I notice that you do nottrust your own party. Are they a threat here in Kantor?”

“They are not a threat to youor me,” Garth answered. “Your men can safely standdown.”

“Then why do you hide thingsfrom them?” quizzed Julio.

“Habit, mostly,” Garthadmitted. “The years since we last met have not been peaceful onesfor Kalina and myself. We have been hunted for years and I am surethe hunt still continues today. It is safer this way.”

General Fernandez shouted for his doorguard and the door opened to admit one of the men. “Sergeant,”Julio ordered, “bring me the papers we found on the Black Devillast week. Also, dismiss the escort and invite our guests into thesitting room where they will be more comfortable and see to theirhorses.”

The Sergeant disappeared and returnedalmost immediately. He handed some papers to the General and closedthe door behind him as he left. Julio rifled through the papers andwithdrew two that he handed to Garth. Garth accepted the papers andlooked at them. His eyes widened, as he looked at pictures ofKalina and himself, complete with physical descriptions andnotations about Arik and Tedi. The description of the boys wasincomplete, as if made by someone who had heard about them but hadnever seen them. The Dark Rider, Klarg, immediately came tomind.

“What else did you find onthis Black Devil?” Garth asked.

The General passed over the rest of thepapers and Garth flipped through them. Most of them meant nothingto Garth, but he stopped at one sheet that mentioned Lord Wason.Reading the sheet thoroughly, Garth picked out the descriptions ofthe five Children as they had appeared in Tagaret, including Niki’sred dress, which she had worn only during the prison break inTagaret. Oddly, there was no mention about General Gregor orSergeant Trank, which led Garth to believe that someone in theRoyal Palace was serving two masters.

“You always were good atgathering intelligence,” complimented Garth. “I can see now thatGarth Shado will have to disappear.”

The General took the papers back andlooked at the one, which had interested Garth. “This does appear tobe your party,” noticed General Fernandez. “You have been travelinga great deal. Why have you come to Kantor?”