Free Against the Giants by Ru Emerson - (ebook by Flandrel, Undead) Page B

the Jotens. Somewhere among those peaks and valleys lay the Steading.
Lhors swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, then stood in the stirrups to take the
weight off his already stiff backside. Movement well to the rear caught his eye.
Lhors stared hard, but the figure was much too distant for him to tell much.
    “Malowan? I think there’s someone following us.”
    “Yes,” Mal said without looking back. “I saw him earlier.
Arkon the Adamant.” The paladin’s voice was dry, and the corners of his mouth
twitched.
    Khlened, who was riding just ahead of them, reined in so they could catch up
to him. “Green whelp,” he growled. “Believe I’ll go back there and teach him the
meaning of ‘no’! ”
    “Leave him be.” Vlandar had apparently been near enough to
catch the whole exchange. “He’s not worth the trouble. Save your horse for the
journey ahead. The boy will either grow up or he won’t. At this point, it’s his
choice.” He kneed his mount and went back to the head of the party.
    Khlened moved back to where he’d been. Lhors could hear him
mumbling under his breath but couldn’t make out what he was saying.
    They rode at a ground-devouring pace, though Pferic made
certain they took frequent stops to rest the horses and donkeys. Khlened
objected—mildly enough for him—but Vlandar backed the horseman. “We’ve at least
two days to reach Flen and our boat. We’re between two prosperous cities and on
a well-traveled river. This is still no place to be caught afoot. Others besides
honest travelers and king’s men frequent this way.”
    Still, they made a long day of it to make up for the lack of
speed. Most of the afternoon had been a subtle climb—enough to prove a
discomfort to a man riding who wasn’t a horseman, Lhors decided wearily. He was
ready to fall from the saddle when they finally stopped for the night just after
sundown.
    The few oak trees around their camp were heavily festooned
with vining leather-leaf, a parasitic plant that only grew at higher elevations,
and the evening air was cooler than it had been in the city.
    Pferic set the boy Zyb to gathering firewood while he hobbled
the horses for the night. The lord’s soldiers had set guard around the camp
already and apportioned watches. Lhors helped Pferic, giving a handful of grain
to each animal before he accompanied Zyb to help collect kindling.
    The next day was much like the previous, but just after
midday, they rode into Flen. The boat turned out to be two flat-bottomed boats,
each surprisingly small with a long rudder oar and two poles per side. There was
a small cabin midships and a sturdy mast just before that. Lhors, who had never
set foot on a boat in his life, stared wide-eyed at the arrangement and was
slightly disappointed when Khlened and Nemis showed them how the sails were
furled. It was a very simple operation, one even he could manage to help
with.
    Vlandar bid farewell to their escort and divided up the party
right away. “I have given some thought to this, so if you dislike my choice, I
suggest you try to live with it, since we all must function as a team from now
on. Once you know which boat is yours, get your things aboard as quickly as
possible and come back out to the dock. There’s a captain coming from the
company that patrols the rivers. We’ll all need to know what he can tell us, and
he’ll be sending four or so of his men with us to bring the boats back.”
    Vlandar then sent Lhors and the rangers to the lead boat
where he would be, leaving the second to Malowan, Agya, Khlened and Nemis. Lhors
looked around in the brief silence that followed the announcement. He couldn’t
decide if anyone was displeased or not, but he was grateful not to be in close
quarters with Agya.
    “What of the horses?” Rowan asked.
    Vlandar spread his hands. “What I said back in Cryllor still
holds. Unless this Captain Holken tells us otherwise, I’ll want someone besides
Pferic on horse to keep