“That’s true,” said Jon, stifled another long yawn and rolled over onto his side.
“C’mon Jon,” said Sorus and gave the sleepy giant a swift kick. “I’ll start packing up the camp and you find the horses. Remember, we turned them loose yesterday so they could find water and good grass after being hobbled for so long.”
“Mmm,” said Jon from under this blanket. “I remember.”
Sorus kicked him again, this time a bit harder, “Jon, I’m serious. We need to get back to town as soon as possible. I’ve been thinking about it, the mayor doesn’t like you to begin with and now his son is dead. We’re going to need to explain things.”
“All right, all right,” said Jon as he rolled over and sat up. “We’ve got the dragon horns to prove it and my sketch. No one could believe I drew that thing from my head. The mayor isn’t going to like me no matter what but this will prove I’m here for a reason and maybe I’ll finally get to talk with the First Rider. Once that happens everything will come around.”
“I hope you’re right, Jon,” said Sorus and busied himself with cleanup operations on the pots and pans accumulated from the huge meal the two made for themselves when they got to the base of the Mountains of the Orc. He remembered how they ate in silence and avoided the corpse of Sir Germanius laid nearby. It took them almost an hour to fill their bellies, but then they managed to drag themselves over to the rocks and finish the job with a second cairn. Finally, exhausted and weary, they fell into the sleep of the dead. Now, under the light of day things seemed slightly different. Sorus looked at Jon again and wondered what reception the town might give them. With Mikus and Germanius dead, they were the only survivors and maybe things wouldn’t go so well back in town. Sorus decided not to tell Jon any more of his misgivings as the young knight seemed so confident.
They rode hard all day but because of their late start had to camp again. They fixed a quick dinner and went back to sleep without a word to one another. The heavy weight of the sword at Sorus’s side didn’t seem as strange as it did yesterday and he guessed that pretty soon he wouldn’t notice it all. The next morning they rose and went through their morning routine without comment and soon the open road stretched out in front of them again. Within a couple of hours they spotted smoke from the chimneys of Black Dale and not long after that they rode into town.
“It seems sort of quiet,” said Sorus to Jon as they approached the small village. “Unless I’ve lost track of days and this is a holiday or something,” he went on as his eyes darted back and forth and he noted the lack of activity at the town gate. “Where is everyone?”
Jon shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, maybe there’s a festival or something out of town?”
“I don’t think so,” said Sorus as they spotted a woman across the open area between the gate and them. “Hey, Strenia! Strenia it’s me, Sorus Brew… Sorus.”
The young woman looked up and her eyes widened at his approach. “Sorus, you’re finally back, thank the White Mare. Where is Sir Germanius? We need him.”
“Why,” asked Sorus dismounting from his horse and looking back at their third and fourth horses, Germanius’s and Mikus’s neither of which had a rider. “What’s going on, where is everyone?” he said waving his arms to indicate the entire town.
“That’s his horse isn’t it?” said the woman suddenly, and she took a step back as her eyes widened again, not in surprise, but this time in shock. “And that’s Thorius’s that he loaned to Mikus. Are they both
…?” said the girl and her voice suddenly trembled.
Sorus nodded his head but did not elaborate except to say, “I can tell the whole story to the town tonight at a meeting, but what is going on around here? Where is everyone?”
“They’re all gone,” said the tall woman looking at the ground. “All except the mayor and a few of his friends. Everyone else went looking for the reptile men.”
Sorus shook his head and said, “What, wait, I don’t understand. What reptile men? I’ve been gone four days maybe five. What’s happened here?”
Strenia looked at Sorus and then at Jon, who also dismounted and led his horse over, and a tear almost seemed to appear in her blue eyes before she rallied, “You need to go see the mayor right away,” she said to both of the boys. “There’s been an invasion and the men are off trying to see to it.”
“An invasion!” shouted Sorus, “That’s crazy. How could the reptile men invade us, Darag’dal is a thousand miles to the north of here.”
“I don’t know,” said Strenia as she shook her head and looked at the ground. “But the First Rider sent out a notice and all the men went off looking for the invaders.”
“How long ago was this?” interrupted Jon as he moved up next to the girl and put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok, Sorus is a knight now, Sir Germanius knighted him. You can tell us and we’ll set things right.”
The girl looked up at the towering young gray knight and smiled, “Titia says you’re really nice,” she said with a bob of her head and a twirl of her hair. “Do you really think you can help us?”
“Of course we can,” said Jon with a broad smile as he slapped the sword at his side. “Now, tell us what happened?”
Strenia looked around the area and then lowered her voice, “It’s the mayor. He sent all the men out looking for the invaders and now there’s no one guarding the town. Everyone thinks the mayor forged the First Riders signature on the orders but no one can prove it. Odellius looked at the orders and I guess they seemed okay. Maybe there really is an invasion?”
“If there really was an invasion,” said Sorus, “the knights of Elekargul would see to it. We didn’t see anyone or anything like that near the Mountain of the Orc but I suppose it’s possible. Jon, come on, we’ve got to go see the mayor right away,” he finished and turned to the gray knight and grabbed him by the arm.
“I don’t like this,” said Jon. “There’s something else going on. This happened exactly how long ago Strenia?” he asked and turned back to the girl.
“Well,” she said, her eyes moving back and forth in their sockets for a moment. “The mayor made the announcement outside the church not last night but the night before. Then everyone gathered up and left yesterday morning.”
“We killed the dragon right about then, maybe before, maybe after,” said Sorus. “Do you think that thing’s master is behind this? How could they act so fast?”
“I don’t know,” said Jon. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense unless it’s just coincidence, but I don’t think that it is. With no men in town and the creatures in the mountain up in arms this place is vulnerable. They might invade anytime starting tonight. An army could march up those stairs and be here in forty-eight hours or even less.”
“We need to talk to the mayor, Jon,” said Sorus and once again tugged on the arm of the tall young man. “Maybe the note was a forgery, not from the mayor but from those creatures who want the staff?”
“You could be right,” said Jon. “Thank you for your help, Strenia,” he said to the woman. “Don’t you worry about anything. Now that Sorus and I are here, we’ll get this mess straightened out.”
“Did Sir Germanius really knight you,” she said and gazed up at Sorus with raised eyebrows. “Have you taken a name yet?”
“Yes, he really knighted me, and no I haven’t decided on a name yet. I think I’ll wait until all this clears up. I’m not even sure the mayor will approve it. His son, Mikus,” said Sorus suddenly as his eyes narrowed and his gaze turned to the ground, “Mikus was killed and Jon is the only witness to the knighting and he’s not a citizen of Elekargul.”
“Oh,” said Strenia. “But, the mayor has to approve you, otherwise he’s calling you a liar and no one thinks that,” she went on touching him on the shoulder and looking deeply into his eyes. “Everyone in town knows you aren’t that, even if no one wanted you to be their squire.”
“Thank you, Strenia,” he said. “Even Shia?”
The young woman laughed, “I think even her, but you need to talk to the mayor right away. He’s in his office with the only other knights that stayed in town, Thadeus Cormeus Brokenshield, Markus Brokenhand, and Decilus Brokenshield.”