"My name's Dare."
"Edgur." He offered his hand, but the boy stared at it as if he'd never seen the gesture before. "Where's your home, Dare?"
"Over there," the boy said with a vague wave of his hand. "I go where I want and do as I please. I spend a lot of time at this tree."
"Don't your parents mind?"
"Parents?"
A throaty snarl interrupted their conversation. Edgur fumbled for his sword, while Dare scampered up the oak tree with the agility of a squirrel.
"You know what's out there?" asked Edgur, putting his back against the tree.
"Panther warrior," said the boy. "He's been after me for a long time."
Edgur started to sweat. "Panther warrior? Aren't they just legends?"
"They're real. I hope there's not a whole pride of them."
Edgur swallowed hard and gripped his sword with both hands. He'd been outfought already today by Joren, and he felt none too confident of his ability to hold off one of the fearsome panther warriors, a twilight race of panther men who haunted the forests of Terisiare.
He said, "I wish I had more light!"
"Take up the lamp if you want," returned Dare.
Keeping his eyes on the darkness, Edgur squatted and felt about until his fingers closed around a smooth, warm rod about as thick as his thumb. It was stuck in the moss at the foot of the tree. He plucked it out easily and brought it up to eye level. Only then did he see it clearly. The lamp was shaped like a snake, about ten inches long and rigid as an axe handle. It emitted a warm, yellow light.
Edgur let out a yell and dropped the glowing reptile. The same time it hit the ground a dark shape moved across the periphery of his vision. Blindly, he lashed out at the moving form and felt the sword tip dig into something yielding. He recovered, and a gut-wrenching snarl, very close, drove him to strike out again.
This time Edgur's blade met real resistance. He leaned against the hilt, and the sword ripped into whatever it was. Something whispered past his face, followed by a spreading sensation of heat. Suddenly there was a crack, and his sword came loose. Edgur found himself tumbling in the dirt. Terrified, he struggled to his feet. The ironmonger's second-best sword had snapped off half its length.
Fingers tapped lightly on his shoulder. Edgur spun around, broken blade out. Dare caught the iron stump in his small, pale hand. In his other hand he held the strange snakelamp.
"Be at ease, Master Edgur. The panther man has fled. "
Breathing hard, Edgur lowered the ruined weapon. "I never even saw him, " he gasped.
"He saw you, all right. " Dare rubbed a finger across Edgur's cheek. He had three parallel scratches on his face, all bleeding. The boy showed him the blood.
Edgur sat down heavily. "It's not been a good day. "
"You saved us both, " Dare said brightly. "I'm happy about that. Aren't you?"
"I'm cut all over, I'm lost, and the love of my life has been taken from me, " Edgur replied.
"I can help you."
Edgur dropped the broken sword and sighed. "I'd appreciate directions back to Argivia."
Dare held the snakelamp close to his chest. "I can do more than that. With my art I can heal your wounds and repair your fortunes."
Edgur raised his head. "You're a sorcerer?"
The boy spread his arms wide. "I am the guardian of this place. The mana of living things flows through me, and for your service to me, I will repay you."
He pointed the glowing snake at Edgur. It seemed to grow brighter as it neared the older man's face. Dare's strange revelations frightened him, but he was too weary to run. Inches from his face, the snake's eyes suddenly snapped open. They were as green as emeralds. Edgur flinched away, but the snake lengthened in Dare's hand until the reptile's head lightly touched his slashed cheek. A flash of heat passed through Edgur. His head reeled, but when he recovered he found his cheek completely healed.
Edgur slipped a hand inside his torn shirt and found his chest wound was gone. There was still dry blood on his shirt, but no scab or wound remained. His chest was as unmarked as it had been when he left Argivia at noon.
He fell to his knees. "I thank you, great one!"
Dare smiled and bade him stand. Edgur got to his feet. Around the clearing the bushes and trees were filled with pairs of glowing eyes, all looking at Dare. Edgur shuddered with the realization he was in the presence of a nature spirit, a tree nymph perhaps, despite his external appearance as a human boy. The eyes, hundreds of pairs, watched in total silence.
"I-I'll be going now," Edgur murmured.
"I've not finished," Dare said. "You had two other requests. I intend to honor them."
He held up a hand, and there was a flutter from the line of trees. An enormous snowy owl settled on the boy's wrist like a tame peregrine. "This is Phreus, one of my sentinels. He will guide you within sight of Argivia, though he may not enter its environs himself."
The owl regarded Edgur with vast black eyes. Edgur blinked; Phreus blinked. Startled, Edgur repeated the motion, and the owl imitated him perfectly.
"Don't mind him, he's feeling playful. Lastly, you've lost your love, I think you said?"
"Uh, yes," said Edgur.
"Who is she?"
"Her name is Riliana." He broke the owl's spellbinding gaze as he formed the image of Riliana's face in his mind. "She's the eldest daughter of my master, Perrick the Coppersmith."
"Does her father approve of you?"
Edgur's face fell. "No. He favors Joren, scion of the house of Homdallson, senior master of the Bookbinders Guild."
"A wealthy and powerful family?"
"Yes, damn them. Joren has every advantage that I lack-a full purse, powerful alliances, manners, education, looks… but I know Riliana loves me and would choose me if Joren were not in the way!"
Dare thrust the rigid snakelamp tail first in the ground and sprang easily to the low limb of the oak tree. The owl flapped silently to a nearby branch and resumed staring at Edgur. The older man followed Dare to the base of the tree, his hands working as he spoke.
"I challenged Joren to a duel," he said, voice rising. "We met in a meadow not far from here an hour before sundown. Wouldn't you know he's had fencing lessons- fencing lessons, while I've spent every waking hour of the past six years learning my trade!"
"Your problem is a simple one," said Dare, drawing his bare knees up to his chin. "You wish to best Joren, do you not?"
The words came out too easily: "I want to kill him!"
Dare's green eyes fixed him with an unerring gaze. "Killing is easy. What takes care is the afterward."
"What do you mean?"
"There are any number of ways to kill your rival. The trick is not to get caught or to be blamed for the deed. Your fair lady cannot wed a man who has a date with the hangman, can she?"
"True… but you have powerful magic, great one. There must be a way!"
Dare's eyes glittered coldly. "Are you sure of this?"
He wasn't, but he thought this might be his best and only chance. "I am," Edgur declared.
"An assassin might do the job." The boy twined his fingers together behind his head. "Humans are unreliable, though. When caught, they tend to talk too much."
"An animal, then? Perhaps a venomous serpent?"
Dare sighed. "Vipers are too random, I fear. They tend to bite whomever they feel like and often just decide on their own not to bite the one man you want them to."