Free Knight Eternal (A Novel of Epic Fantasy) (Harbinger of Doom Volume 3) by Glenn Thater Page A

for the previous three hundred years, boasted
commanding views in all directions.
    Several merchant ships of
various sizes lay in port loading and unloading cargos, both
pedestrian and exotic, though of The White
Rose there was no sign. As The Falcon tied off to a
well-kept pier, the harbormaster approached.
    “ Ahoy
there, Black Falcon ,” said the harbormaster, a burly
graybeard.
    “ Ahoy yourself,” said
Slaayde as crewmen lowered the gangway.
    “ I’ll brook no troubles
from you and yours this time, Slaayde. I warned you the last, and I
will not warn you again.”
    “ Dear Hogart, you wound me
with your words,” said Slaayde sardonically. “I who love thee like
a son.”
    “ If you were my son, I
would have sold you to the gnomes.” Hogart’s face reddened when he
spied Ob scowling at him from the rail.
     
    “ We
shouldn’t linger here,” said Theta to Claradon. “Ask after The White Rose and let’s
be on our way.”
    “ I have to pay my respects
to my uncle,” said Claradon. “He’s the lord of this fortress, and a
good man, but he would take offense if I passed here without
calling on him. Besides, Glimador should be here long since, and we
could use his help on this voyage.”
    “ We shouldn’t stay the
night,” said Theta. “Every moment we delay, Korrgonn gets farther
away.”
    Tanch stared up at the
fortress, which loomed high above the harbor. “Oh my, it seems a
frightful walk up to the castle. It must be two, perhaps three
hundred feet up the rock face.”
    “ Three hundred fifty I’d
mark it,” said Ob.
    “ The road must be terribly
steep.”
    “ There’s no road, laddie.
Far too steep for one. That’s why the Malvegil’s built here—it’s
almost impossible to assault. To get up, you have to take a hoist
or climb the stairs,” said Ob, pointing to a wide stair built into
the rock face.
    The stair was steep but looked solid and
safe, equipped with a sturdy wood outer railing and toe boards. The
stair switched back multiple times as it scaled the cliff’s
face.
    “ There’s a second stair
around the other side.”
    “ Oh my, look at that,”
said Tanch. “What a climb. My back cannot abide that. No, no, I’m
afraid that I would never make it. My apologies Brother Claradon,
but I’ll have to await your return here on the ship.”
    “ No need,” said Claradon.
“We’ll take the hoist.”
    “ Hoist? What are we, bales
of hay?”
    “ Around the bend a ways
there’s a series of big hoists that are used to haul up supplies
and people,” said Ob. “A good deal easier and a fair bit quicker
than the stairs.”
     
    The largest of the hoists
comfortably held nearly a score of armored men. Theta, Claradon,
Ob, Tanch, Dolan, Artol, Slaayde, Seran, and the other knights of
Dor Eotrus: Sirs Paldor, Kelbor, Ganton ‘the Bull’, and Trelman
loaded onto the large cabin, all dressed in their finest. Duke
Harringgold’s soldiers, save Seran, remained with the ship, as did
the balance of Claradon’s men and Slaayde’s crew.
    The hoist’s rectangular cabin was almost
eight feet tall and built of heavy planks and timbers. A dozen
thick ropes with looped ends hung one to two feet down from the
ceiling beams. The hoist operator stepped in last. He swung closed
the cabin door, or rather, the half-door, since it was but three
feet tall. “Grab the ropes and hold on,” he said.
    Claradon gripped one of
the looped ropes; several of the others followed suit. Ob looked up
at the rope above him, far beyond his reach, and grabbed Claradon’s
sword belt instead.
    The operator tugged on a chain, which rang a
loud bell mounted atop the hoist cabin. Seconds later, the cabin
lurched, sending the men reeling to one side.
    “ Ha! I told you to hold
on.”
    After it moved a ways, the cabin steadied,
swinging just a bit to the side as it ascended. Some of the men
stared at their feet, some closed their eyes, and the rest stared
bug-eyed out the door. The operator ignored the view