“It’s my knees,” said the old knight. “These stairs are too much, give me a moment to rest,” he finished and flexed first his left knee and then his right.
“Jon,” whispered Sorus, but the gray knight was already too many steps ahead to hear the voice. “Jon!” he said a little more loudly but even that voice seemed to die in the stairwell. “Wait here,” he said to Germanius with a pat on the old warrior’s shoulder. “I’ll get him and we’ll wait a bit. It’s been a long day and night, we all need to rest.” With that Sorus started off down the stairs in pursuit of Jon as he whispered out now and again, “Jon!” but he got no reply. He went down another hundred steps at a quickened pace and once stumbled as his toe caught an edge, and he almost fell head over heels but managed to catch himself with a quick hand on the wall and skittered to a stop, “Jon!” he whispered again, “Jon, wait, it’s Germanius!” But there was no reply. Sorus stood for a long moment and looked forward down the stairs and backwards towards Germanius and then sighed, “damn.” Then he began to trudge back up the stairs towards the old warrior. It took him longer than he thought but he found the man coming down towards him with hobbled little strides.
“Germanius,” he whispered as he came up to the old warrior. “Sit down, Jon’s gone ahead but he’ll realize he’s alone and come back for us soon enough,” although Sorus didn’t believe it even as the words came out of his mouth. After a month with young Jon Gray the brewer knew the boy’s habits too well and caution wasn’t one of his traits.
The knight of Elekargul looked at Sorus for a long moment as if he wanted say something caustic but then a pained expression came over his face and he winced badly. “Damn shooters, maybe you’re right, I’ll sit for a spell. That boy is headstrong but I can’t say I wasn’t the same when I was his age. He’s got a lot of responsibility for one so young.” With that the knight slowly lowered himself to a stair and, with Sorus’s help, came to the ground with only a small thump. “Ahhh, damn that hurts,” he said.
“It’s ok, Germanius,” said Sorus. “Now that I think about it, my knees hurt too and I’m exhausted. I’m a fifth your age. We’ve pushed too much. We should have stayed in that cave and waited until morning.”
“I should argue with you,” grunted Germanius, leaning against the wall and putting his legs out along the step, “but I’m too damn tired.”
“Here,” said Sorus and took off his heavy woolen jerkin, “use this as a pillow, it’s warm down here anyway,” he said and put it under the old knight’s head. “Get some sleep, Jon’ll be back eventually, he won’t just leave us.”
Germanius nodded his head and his eyes began to close even before he leaned back on the make-shift pillow. Within seconds his snores filled the stairwell and suddenly Sorus felt very sleepy as well. He knew he had to stay away to keep watch over the old knight but it wasn’t long before he dreamed as well. It seemed only a moment later that a rough shake of his shoulder woke him up. “Good morning,” said Jon and smiled down at him. “Did you sleep well?”
“Huh,” said Sorus, looking around. He couldn’t remember where he was for a moment. “Where are we?”
“On the stairs into the darkling land,” said Jon. “I let you sleep for a few hours, Sir Germanius is still out, but I’m going to need some sleep as well. Can you take over the watch?”
Sorus nodded his head, “At least it’s warm,” he said and groaned as he tried to sit up.
“What is it?” said Jon.
“My back,” said Sorus, reaching behind and putting his palm to his spine. “This floor is a bit harder than my bed at home or even that cot at the Smooth Strider. I’ll be ok.”
“We should have thought all this through before we charged away,” said Jon with a shake of his head. “I’m worried about the horses as well. We left them hobbled back at the camp site and they won’t survive more than a couple of days without water. We need to finish up here and head back as soon as possible. If Jane finds out about this I’ll never hear the end of it. Now, keep watch and give me a few hours of sleep. If Sir Germanius is up for it in the morning I know where to go.”
“Where?” said Sorus as he suddenly came fully awake and the pain in his spine vanished.
But Jon already lay on the stone step his eyes closed and his breath in an even rhythm.
It seemed to Sorus that each minute took an hour as he watched the two sleep that long, long night, but eventually Germanius stirred, groaned loudly, and opened his eyes. It took the old warrior a few seconds to focus in on Sorus and then Jon, still gently in slumber, but then he grimaced and began slowly to rise.
“Arrahgh,” he said. “That smarts,” and he grabbed at his back exactly the way Sorus did earlier. “How long did you let me sleep?”
“I’m not sure, how do you keep track of time underground?” said Sorus.
“You don’t,” said Germanius. “You pretty much eat when your belly tells you and sleep when you’re tired. I was underground once for almost a week chasing darklings back in the year Romius Openpalm was First Rider. We never caught them and we only found out how long we were underground later when we got back up. It’s a strange thing being underground.” All the while the old knight stretched and turned first his legs, then his arms, and finally his back. “I haven’t warmed up like this in years,” said the old knight, “but you should do it. It keeps the body limber.”
“I’m not too bad,” said Sorus, smiling and stretching his arms to the sky.
“I know that, because you’re young,” said Germanius. “But, you should learn to stretch everyday proper like and when you get older you won’t have as many troubles.”
“So, how do I do it?” asked the young knight and watched Germanius. The two went through a long series of small movements and by the end Sorus had to admit that he did feel a bit better. When they finished they saw Jon Gray watching them with a twinkle in his eye.
“I’ve seen morning salutations like that before,” he said. “In Tanelorn we’re allies with the elves of Alianus and they practice that sort of thing. One of my father’s friends, a dwarf named Sir Pedlow Fivefist has a son that married an elf girl and she tried to teach them to me.”
“A dwarf married to an elf?” said Germanius, “That must be some place, your Tanelorn. She must be an ugly elf.”
“It’s a long story but ugly isn’t the word I’d use for Appolonia,” said Jon and got up and started a routine similar but different from the one Germanius used.
“It’ll take me a wee bit longer to be ready,” said the old knight with a smile as he flexed his leg. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell it. I’m sure the boy wants to know,” he continued with a look towards Sorus. “Yes, even though you’re a knight now, I can still call you a boy,” he said which shut the objection that was on Sorus’s lips before it could emerge.
“About five years ago, I was just a kid then,” started Jon, “a group of orc kingdoms called the Five Nations attacked an elf nation called Alianus. My father has pledged never to lead a war of aggression and we only defend ourselves, but to get to Alianus the orcs either had to go through a gnoll kingdom called Grelm or Tanelorn. My father and many of the knights wouldn’t let the orcs pass so we got involved in the fight. One of the dwarves was the son of Sir Pedlow, a fellow by the name of Sir Strombolt Fivefist, and he went up to the elf lands for something or another. I can never remember the story, but he ended up saving the life of one of the elf princes, Halavar Evenday, but took a terrible wound doing it. Halavar took Strombolt back to his home in Alianus and his sister, Appolonia, nursed Strombolt back to health. Well, you can guess the rest. They’ve got a little girl now but I can’t remember her name. She bit me though, I remember that, when I tried to pinch her.”
“Maybe if I get wounded,” said Sorus, and Jon and Germanius looked at the boy with smiles on their faces.
“It’s a good strategy for finding a wife, that’s true,” said the old warrior and chucked Sorus on the chin, “but it comes with its own dangers.”