Free The Contention by Jeremy Laszlo Page B

pair nears now. Also Sara has risen from her slumber and comes as well.”
    “Very well Borrik, and thank you, but I’ll be needing one more thing before you go,” Seth added, and continued without awaiting a response. “See if a couple of your men can bring myself and Sara something to eat and drink. I have a feeling it will be a long night for the both of us.”
    “Very well. Connor Falion is already on his way to fetch you both a meal. Will that be all?” Borrik asked.
    “Yes Borrik, that will be all,” Seth smiled. “Now go get some rest, mingle with the men, do something that amuses you. It is no matter to me what you do, just go and take a break for the night.”
    Without another word Borrik turned and left the chamber, ducking slightly through the doorway as he turned into the hall. Seth listened as his footfalls grew quieter with each step and eventually disappeared altogether. Seconds later he heard new footfalls in the corridor, and a moment after a pair of Seth’s werewolf troops entered the room. These were his common troops, slightly larger than normal men, well-muscled, and covered with a layer of downy fur. Their stunted muzzles and sweeping foreheads with long pointed ears gave them a very canine appearance, though inwardly they were actually more human than wolf. Seth felt somewhat ashamed as the men entered, bowed low and greeted him as their master. Truth be told, the hybrid beasts, through their feral understandings, believed him to be their creator. In their eyes he was a living god who walked among the inhabitants of Thurr. Call it a twist of fate, but thus far the arrangement had no downside that Seth could discover.
    Motioning for his men to rise, Seth bid them to each display the items they brought with them upon the table in the center of the room. They quickly did as they were told, and Seth was rather impressed by their selections. Neither of the men, probably former farmers or other working men of little material wealth, had chosen decorative armor pieces. Not a single one upon the table was even polished let alone adorned with any unneeded decoration. These were simple items, cheap and effective. Wolves were generally shown as noble and wise creatures, and Seth could not help but wonder if these traits had transferred during the men’s alterations, or if it was just coincidence. In either case, Seth quickly got to work. He was nearly finished with his first set of armor for the day when Sara and her personal bodyguard, Captain Jonas, arrived.
    Sara bounded into the room, obviously well rested and excited about something. Seth smiled, watching her in a mood he had not seen in some time. She had an air of happiness about her, which in such dire times was both unexpected and much needed. Just seeing her smile lightened Seth’s mood as well, and in an instant it was as if the burden placed upon him had decreased substantially. Pausing in his work, Seth stepped past the pair of his troops as Sara rushed into his arms for a welcome embrace.
    “What is it that has you in such a mood this afternoon?” Seth asked grinning.
    “A couple of things actually,” Sara replied before she elaborated. “First off, I am clean for the first time in what feels like forever. Secondly, tonight I will begin learning how to fight, and also I may have found a way for us to abide the light,” she added with a grin of her own and a wink.
    Dressed in the leather outfit Seth had purchased for her months earlier, Sara reached down into the waistband of her skin-tight pants and pulled out a small object. Though Seth could not make it out at first, as Sara held it up to the light he recognized the small shard for what it was.
    “I was bathing nearby at an inn when the sun came out from the clouds. Fortunately for me, at least to an extent,” at this point Sara both paused and smiled sheepishly, “the only window in the room was far up on the wall and designed with several different colors of glass. Though I