Free Drenai Series 03 - Waylander by David Gemmell Page A

died, and since no man lives in a vacuum you filled yourself not with hate but with emptiness. You have not been alive these past twenty years - you have been a walking corpse. Saving the priest was your first decent deed in two decades.'
    'So you came to preach?'
    'No, I am preaching in spite of myself. I cannot explain the Source to you. The Source is about foolishness, splendid foolishness; it is about purity and joy. But against the wisdom of the world it fails, because the Source knows nothing of greed, lust, deceit, hate, nor evil of any kind. Yet it always triumphs. For the Source always gives something for nothing: good for evil, love for hate.'
    'Sophistry. A small boy died yesterday - he hated no one, but an evil whoreson cut him down. All over this land good, decent people are dying in their thousands. Don't tell me, about triumphs. Triumphs are built on the blood of innocence.'
    'You see? I speak foolishness. But in meeting you I know what triumph means. I understand one more fragment.'
    'I am pleased for you,' mocked Waylander, despising himself as he spoke.
    'Let me explain,' said the old man softly. 'I had a son - not a dazzling boy, not the brightest of men. But he cared about many things. He had a dog that was injured in a fight with a wolf and we should have killed the dog, for it was grievously hurt. But my son would not allow it; he stitched the wounds himself and sat with the hound for five days and nights, willing it to live. But it died. And he was heartbroken, for life was precious to him. When he became a man I passed on everything I had to him. He became a steward, and I left on my travels. My son never forgot the dog and it coloured everything he did . . .'
    'Is there a point to this tale?'
    'That depends on you, for you enter the tale at this juncture. My son saw that everything I had left him to care for was in peril, and he tried desperately to save it. But he was too soft, and raiders came to my lands and slew my people. Then my son learnt the error of his ways and became truly a man, for he now knew that life often brings hard decisions. So he gathered his generals and worked on a plan to free his people. And then an assassin slew him. His life was ended . . . and as he died all he could see was a failure, and a terrible despair went out from him that touched me a thousand leagues away.
    'A terrible rage filled me and I thought to kill you. I could, even now. But then the Source touched me. And I am now here merely to talk.'
    'You son was King Niallad?'
    'Yes. I am Orien of the Two Blades. Or, more exactly, I was Orien once.'
    'I am sorry for your son. But it is what I do.'
    'You speak of the death of innocents. Perhaps -had my son lived - many of those innocents would also have lived.'
    'I know. And I regret it ... but I can't change it.'
    'It is not important,' said Oren. 'But you are important. The Source has chosen you, but the choice is yours.'
    'Chosen me for what? My only talent is hardly one your Source would admire.'
    'It is not your only talent. You know of my early life?'
    'I know you were a great warrior, never beaten in battle.'
    'Have you seen the stature of me in Drenan?'
    'Yes. The Armour of Bronze.'
    'Indeed. The Armour. Many would like to know its whereabouts and the Brotherhood seek it, for it threatens the Vagrian empire.'
    'Is it magic then?'
    'No - at least, not in the sense that you mean. It was made long ago by the great Axellian. Superb workmanship and the two swords are of a metal beyond compare - a silver steel that never dulls. With that Armour Egel has a chance - no more than that.'
    'But you said it carries no magic?'
    'The magic is in the minds of men. When Egel wears that Armour it will be as if Orien has returned. And Orien was never beaten. Men will flock to Egel and he will grow - he is the best of them, an iron man of indomitable will.'
    'And you want me to fetch this Armour?'
    'Yes.'
    'I take it there is some danger involved?'
    'I think that is a fair