Free The Bones of the Earth (The Dark Age) by Scott Bury Page B

he said.
    “ No? You never heard of Herakles, or Zeus, or ... “
    “ Sorry.”
    “ Hmm. Well, I’ve been doing all the talking today. Tell me the stories you have heard.”
    “ The only story that I know is about my great-grandfather, Medvediu.” Javor could not stand the pain in his leg any longer. He sat on a log beside their path and stretched his legs in front of him, letting the pack fall into the brush behind.
    “ Medvediu—that means ‘bear’ in your language, doesn’t it?” Photius asked, putting down his own pack.
    “ Sort of. Medvyd is ‘bear.’ I never thought about that, before. He was a soldier in the Imperial Army, and fought against the Persians. He went to the Caucasus Mountains and killed a giant that had been terrorizing the people around, and he threw its body off a cliff, but no one ever found its body. Then he took some treasures from the giant’s cave ... ”
    Photius pulled a small metal bottle out of his pack, then gingerly parted the torn trouser leg and applied two drops from the bottle onto the long, red welt that ran the length of the thigh. “Just as we did yesterday, your great-grandfather took that enchanted knife and magic amulet, and passed them down to you,” he said.
    “ Yes. That’s why I had to get them back, you see: they’re the only things of any worth that my family ever had, and my mother gave them to me at my—my birthday ...” Tears welled up in Javor’s eyes, and finally a dam of some kind broke in him. He sat down by the path and cried. His father, his mother, six brothers and sisters, all killed one by one by pestilence, by a silent, mysterious death in the cradle, or in their mother’s womb—and now, most unbelievable of all, by a monster. Javor cried until he felt drained.
    The sun was high. Photius gave Javor a small towel to dry his face. They sheltered in the shade of some beech trees, sipping Photius’ wine.
     
    They started again when the afternoon had worn on and a northwest breeze cooled the air. Javor stepped gingerly on his left foot until he was sure the pain had decreased. His thigh was still uncomfortable, but he was surprised by how well Photius’ potion had worked.
    “ I know how hard it is,” said Photius as he shrugged his pack onto his shoulders and led the way. “I lost my wife, too, to a pestilence, a mysterious plague from the East, when we were visiting in Persia.”
    They continued in silence until Javor asked “How long have you been were you following it, searching for it? How did you come to my village a day before this—this monster?”
    “ Indeed, I was looking for Ghastog. As I said, I belong to an ancient order of learned men (and some women, too, by the way) whose purpose is to find and destroy as many monsters, fiends, ogres and dragons as we can.”
    “ But why?”
    “ I told you: they’re inimical to mankind. It is the theory of my order that the legions of Hell began a war long ago and conquered the Earth, destroying many of the gods. And there is another phenomenon happening now: the arising of the one God. I am not certain what it means, but the old gods, it seems, are dying out.”
    “ What does all this mean to me?” Javor asked, impatient.
    “ It is your destiny, Javor.” Photius stopped dramatically. “You have been chosen.”
    Javor stepped around Photius and kept walking. “Chosen? For what?”
    “ To help rid the world of monsters, to clear the way for the development of mankind. You are destined to carry on the struggle to rid the world of monsters.”
    “ Forget it, old man. I’m going back to my holody and putting my parents’ farm back together. I’ve had enough of monsters.”
    With another dramatic gesture, Photius swept back his cloak to reveal a long sword belted to his side. “A long time ago, I was chosen. I have carried the struggle on. In my time, I have destroyed dozens of such things, werewolves and ogres and monsters that beggar description. I have seen comrades, friends,