Free Of Shadows and Dragons by B. V. Larson

her into something—something full of false vigor.”
    Therian nodded. He looked around the clearing. “We’d best be leaving.”
    “What of the girl? What of the hunt?”
    “The girl will wait for the next man to find her. Of the hunt… do you hear the hounds?”
    Gruum listened. All was silent save for the whisper of the wind. “No,” he said.
    “Do you hear the thunder of hooves, the winding of horns, or the crashing of the great stag’s antlers?”
    Gruum shook his head.
    “Then come. The hunt is over—if it ever was. We shall return and have words with our hosts.”
    “Yes,” said Gruum, his lips compressing tightly. “Let us have words.”
    Therian rode uphill then, and Gruum followed on foot. As they were about to leave the clearing, he dared glance back at the crushed girl. Margaret remained hopelessly broken on the snow. Her eyes… he thought to see them still. They followed his every step, staring.
    Gruum realized her eyes had never blinked since the moment they had snapped open to meet his. Not once.

-14-

    When Therian and Gruum arrived at the hunting lodge, they found the gate standing open, but no one was there to greet them. Therian dismounted and removed a leather pouch from his saddlebags. He handed the pouch to Gruum.
    Gruum almost dropped the pouch when he recognized it. He held on with trembling fingers.
    “Milord, do not ask me to carry this shadow,” Gruum said.
    “It will do no harm until you release it.”
    “Release it? I have no intention—”
    “You will know the moment. Remember the girl in the snow. Remember what it is we face. And remember the sun that should be shining and bright here, bringing life and good cheer to all.”
    Gruum’s face hardened. He nodded once and followed his master into the courtyard. He carried the leather pouch carefully, as if it held a viper. In truth, he knew he carried something far worse.
    The Duke stood just inside the open doorway that led into the Great Hall. He did not come forward to greet them, but instead stayed within the shadowy interior. Gruum wondered as to the Duke’s true nature, and whether he could leave his house at all in the light of day. Was that, perhaps, the true mission of these beings? To end the tyranny of sunlight completely, so they may walk the cold earth in everlasting darkness?
    “Hyborean,” called the Duke from the dimly lit doorway. “You return early from your hunt. How was your luck?”
    Therian stepped forward several more paces before answering. Each step was measured, unconcerned. He walked as if he were strolling in his own palace gardens back in Corium.
    As Therian approached, the retainers of the house stirred themselves. Silently, glancing around, a handful of them filed out into the courtyard. Others stood behind their Duke in a knot. Gruum reached with his left hand and loosened his saber and dagger in their sheathes. He kept his right fist tightly wrapped around the mouth of the pouch. The pouch bulged with its strange contents, but felt as if it were weightless. It reminded him of carrying a blown up bladder full of nothing but air.
    “My luck has failed me this day, Duke Strad,” Therian said, halting his advance. He took no notice of the men who gathered around.
    The retainers squinted in the sunlight and rubbed their gear with their gloved thumbs. None of them smiled.
    “How so?” asked the Duke.
    “I took a man at his word, and he betrayed me.”
    The Duke stared, all playfulness and jocularity gone from his face. “You dare insult me in my own house, standing before my own servants?”
    “My apologies. It is rude of me to have hard words with a man in his own house. Come outside into the light of day. Let us set matters straight in the open air as two gentlemen should.”
    The Duke attempted a smile, but failed. If anything, his pale, oval face looked longer and less pleased than before. “I would instead invite you inside. Let us discuss your grievances by the hearth.”
    Therian