By the time the two arrived fifty yards up the hill Jon stood in a small clearing where a campfire and gear indicated the creatures had spent the night. One of them was dead, his head crushed so badly that it took Sorus a moment to realize that it was a goblin, and a second was on his knees with his hands held up in surrender.
“One of them put up a fight,” said Jon as he pointed with the mammoth blade, “but his friend thought better of it.”
“They killed Mikus,” said Sorus.
“They’re just boys, goblin boys, younger than you,” said Germanius with a shake of his head as walked over to the survivor and talked to him in the guttural language of the creatures.
“You speak that?” said Jon to Sorus and the brewer shook his head in the negative. “No, not much. Germanius said something about blood but I’m not following it much. The goblin wants mercy, that’s ‘hugara’ that he keeps saying. Germanius is saying something about killing our friend and wanting payment but I’m not sure.”
At that point the old warrior turned to Jon and smiled. “You were right, there’s something big going on up in the hills. Those boys said there is a dragon up there and a child of the dragons gave orders to the goblins and orcs to come down from the mountain and attack the freeriders,” he said as his smile broadened. “A dragon, can you imagine that. What better way to die than fighting a dragon.”
“Better than getting killed by a goblin with a sling,” said Sorus. “Poor Mikus. I never liked him much and his father is an ass but that’s no way for a squire of Elakargul to die. Should we kill him?” said Sorus and pointed with his blade to the goblin. “If we don’t, won’t he just head back up to his tribe and tell them what happened?”
“I don’t like killing in cold blood,” said Jon, his huge blade sheathed. “Let him go. We’ll pile up a cairn for Mikus and follow the little rotter up into the hills. He’ll lead us right to them.”
“Careful, Jon,” said Germanius in a whisper, his face away from the goblin boy, “he might speak Elakargul better than he lets on although I doubt it. You’re right though, give the bastard a head start and follow his trail. We’ll come up on them at night, take them down, and find out where this dragon is holed up. By the Black Horse, a dragon! Jon, you’re a man true to his word.”
Jon nodded his head and made a motion towards the little goblin who immediately peed all over himself, “Scat” he said and the creature got the idea well enough and fled headlong up the trail.
It took the about ten minutes to pile rocks on the body and find a suitable stone to carve Mikus’s name on. Germanius said something over the body but Sorus couldn’t bring himself to take part in the ceremony, more than to stand by with a dazed expression on his face, and soon they were on their way up the hill as they followed the trail of the little goblin. The creature didn’t do much to hide his path in its headlong flight and they were able to follow it with relative ease. By the time they cleared a small crest it was near dark, and Jon and Germanius picked a spot next to a small rise to tie up the horses.
“Get out the food but no fire,” said Jon to Sorus. “Germanius, you help him. I’m going up to find their cave or village or whatever. It shouldn’t be hard once it gets dark. I’ll be back in an hour at the most. I’ll call out like that little thrush bird that’s always around town, the trilla trilla sound so as you don’t kill me, right?”
“Got it,” said Sorus and suddenly felt his heart beat at a normal pace for the first time since the attack. He looked at Germanius who busily set up the camp and then he suddenly cried, great sobs shaking his shoulders and tears streaming down his face. The old warrior didn’t even look up and continued about his business while the strange episode continued for quite some time. Sorus tried to stop himself but each time broke more deeply into tears until after ten minutes he finally regained control of his emotions and began to help the old warrior. “I’m sorry about that,” he said and pulled open a tin of flat biscuits good for sustenance but not particularly tasty.
“It’s just fine,” said Germanius with a pat on the boy’s back. “First time you’ve killed anyone?”
Sorus nodded, “And the first time I’ve seen one of my friends get killed. It happened so fast, Mikus was just walking along and then he was dead, that could have been me. I could be dead right now.”
Germanius looked at the boy for a moment and then nodded his head, “Or me, or Jon, but it wasn’t, and that’s the way it is. Either you’ll get used to it or you’ll be the dead one, either way there’s not much to be done.”
Sorus sat for a moment on his haunches. “I always thought it would be more glorious,” he finally said.
“It’s never glorious in the doing,” said Germanius. “It’s in the remembering. That’s what’s glorious. Mikus is dead but he died helping us survive and we have to remember that. If we don’t then it was a wasted death. Jon’ll be back soon and then we’re gonna go up there and kill a bunch more of ‘em, maybe find a dragon, maybe find that Staff of Sakatha thing that Jon talked about, or maybe not. Maybe we’ll all die. Do you think you’re doing it for a reason?”
“I thought I was doing it for me,” said Sorus and thought for a long moment his eyes shut as he listened to the crickets that began their nightly song. “But, maybe I’m doing it for Elakargul, maybe wanting to be a knight isn’t about me at all, it’s about our country, about being free from the orcs, the old masters. I guess being a knight is good for me too, Shia might love me, people might respect me but being a hero, doing things, getting famous, that really helps the country more than me, I guess. I’m not sure. I have to think about it, I guess.”
“You’re a good lad,” said Germanius. “You keep with Jon there, maybe when this is all over you head north with him back to Tanelorn, make yourself a life. You fought well back there but I’m not going to knight you yet. You can do better and you will, and then I’ll knight you before I die. Even if that damned dragon grabs me in his talons the way the great black had Tractus Brokenhand the day he saved Simious Coppercoin, I’ll live long enough to make you a knight.”
“Thank you, Sir Germanius,” said Sorus. “I’ll… I’ll try and do better next time.”
Germanius nodded his head and pursed his lips, “You will boy, you’ll do fine, but remember what I said, you stay with that Jon Gray, that boy is something special. I’ve never seen his equal, not among the best of my old friends. That Tanelorn he talks about, his father, and now he’s down here to collect that thing, there is something going on in the world Sorus. I don’t know what it is and I won’t live to see what comes out of it, but there is something going on and you should be part of it. Promise me you’ll stick with Jon no matter what.”
“I will,” said Sorus. “He moves so fast and you didn’t see it, but he cut that goblin in half with a flick of his wrist, he didn’t even swing hard, the blade moved so fast I didn’t see it. That sword is thicker than my leg, how can it cut like that?”
“Magic, Old Imperial magic,” said Germanius. “I’ve seen enough of it over the years to recognize it.”
“Jon said his father was collecting relics from the Old Empire, putting them away where they can’t influence people,” said Sorus as the darkness slowly deepened. The air was noticeably cooler even just this short distance into the mountain. “Here, we should put on our woolies and thick socks,” said Sorus and moved over to the horses. “And get out Jon’s also, he’ll be wanting them when he gets back.”
“You’re right son,” said Germanius. “I’m an old fool. My blood is a boil from the battle and I’m not thinking clearly,” he said and moved over to help Sorus unpack gear from the horses.
“That old magic is dangerous,” mused Germanius as they grabbed the mountain gear. “They could do things in the old days, you’ve never been to Doria, have ya?”
Sorus shook his head and said, “I hope someday.”