Free Erik And The Dragon ( Book 4) by Sam Ferguson Page B

the cloak from the saddle bag and gently placed it over his legs as a blanket and leaned back into a couple of the young birch trees.
    “Well,” Al started. “Glad to see our work is appreciated.” The dwarf flopped down onto his bed and slid his hands under the back of his head. “We should be there before lunch tomorrow,” he said. “Then we can prepare the army.”
    “The army?” Peren asked.
    Al snorted. “Gorin, you take first watch, and fill Peren in while you are at it.”
    “Yes, King Sit’marihu,” Gorin said tongue in cheek.
    “See, you are coming around after all,” Al chuckled. Then he promptly went to sleep.
     
    *****
     
    Al stirred and scratched an itch on his left shoulder. The movement took him out of a dream that he could not quite remember and he sat up in his bed of branches. A small fire crackled nearby with a pot sitting in the flames. The dwarf put a hand to shield his eyes until they adjusted and then he reached for his axe when he saw a man squatting near the fire.
    “Easy friend,” the man said as he held his empty hands out to the side. “I mean you no harm.”
    Al jumped to his feet and glanced around the camp. He saw Gorin sleeping on the dirt and Peren was still slumped against the birch trees. Lady Arkyn was nowhere to be seen.
    “She went out after a wolf that was snooping around the camp,” the stranger said.
    Al gripped his axe and eyed the man warily. “Who are you?” he asked.
    “The name is Ferishe, I am a trapper,” he replied. He pointed over his shoulder to a pair of mules laden with furs and steel traps. “I was just passing through when I noticed your camp. I asked if I might put on a pot of coffee and share the space with you. Your lady friend said it would be alright.”
    Gorin snored loudly and turned onto his side.
    “How was it sleeping next to that all night?” Ferishe asked.
    “Not as bad as waking to find a stranger in my camp,” Al replied evenly.
    Ferishe nodded. “I can leave if you like.”
    “That isn’t necessary,” said a soft voice from the road. Al looked beyond Ferishe to see Lady Arkyn strolling back to camp. “The wolf is gone now,” she said.
    “You have my thanks,” Ferishe said. “I could have chased him off myself, but I am more than ready to rest my bones.” He drew back the hood to reveal a deeply wrinkled tanned face. Deep creases outlined the side of his mouth, and crow’s feet extended out from the corners of his eyes. “I am a good trapper, but I like to steer clear of wolves, if given the choice.”
    Lady Arkyn nodded. “It was the scent, you didn’t clean all of your hides as well as you should have,” she noted. “The smell of blood is what brought the wolf.”
    “Thanks for the warning,” Al said to Arkyn sharply. “I wake with you gone and a stranger leading wolves to our camp.”
    “Just one wolf,” Lady Arkyn corrected. “I asked him to leave.”
    “Asked?” Al echoed.
    Lady Arkyn nodded.
    Gorin snored loudly as he sucked in a breath, then the sound stopped abruptly and all three looked to him, waiting for him to exhale.
    “Should someone poke him?” Ferishe asked.
    Just then the giant man exhaled noisily and rolled onto his back, smacking his mouth a couple of times.
    “I apologize for the wolf,” Ferishe said. He glanced back to the furs. “I didn’t have the time I needed to clean all of my catch before I started my journey. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”
    “No trouble,” Arkyn said as she sat cross legged in the dirt nearby. “We are even , so long as I get a cup of coffee.”
    Ferishe nodded and bent over the pot to sniff the aroma. “Just a few more minutes,” he said.
    “You were in a hurry?” Al asked. “Why is that?”
    Ferishe snorted and pulled back from the coffee pot. “Tarthun scouts,” he said. “I spotted a few of them along a river that I lay my traps near. I usually work in the mountains to the east. I trap mink, beaver, and anything else the fancy