even let himself live long enough to face the King. " Better to die with the boy if that happens ", he thought.
They trotted the horses across the large bean field into the woods on the other side. They set up three tents, and their cook stove and other camping gear. Then they staked the horses on the edge of the bean field in reach of both water and the soybeans.
Jason and Ender went out to gather wood, both with axes to chop up fallen branches. There were many of those lying about.
“Pomroy said he sparred with you last week. Was he telling true?” asked Ender.
“Yes. He put up quite a fight.” Jason knew that Ender was called Ender because he did just that. He was the best swordsman in the Elite squad since Daffor had left so unexpectedly. Pomroy was very good to, and usually sparred with Ender. They were both born in Southport, and learned to fight young as all did there. Pirates were a problem on the ships.
“He says you tore him apart with those two skinny swords you carry. His shield only delayed things some, he says.”
“They were gifts from Mary, Elven. She won’t tell me where or how she got them“.
“Yes. I have seen the Elves fight with such, faster than men. Not as fast as you though. How do you do it, Justin?”
Ender had stopped chopping, and gathered up his cuttings, looking at Justin with the question in his eyes.
“If I tell you then I will have to kill you”, said Justin with a smile.
“Never mind then”, he laughed. “It will all wash out.”
They gathered stones and placed them around the kindling so fire would not spread. The fire was healthy and warm in short order, with enough wood to last the night stacked near by. The men shared a large bottle of wine over dried venison and greens with biscuits and molasses, a prized import from the north.
“Tell me Rolph, have you seen any action against the Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Ghouls damned and possessed, you know, the dark ones?” asked Justin who had never seen one.
“ He is only fourteen after all ”, thought Ender. “ He is past deadly with his swords, but only fourteen .”
“Sixteen years ago I was with the General Army Elite Unit under Kirkland’s father Edgar, the King at that time. My Captain’s name was Tracker Olsen”, said Rolph. “We were returning with a group of miners and about six hundred pounds of star metal from the Northern slopes, just entering the Elven Forest with permission from them. It was a cold, gray day, and snowing. Sixty seasoned troops rode to protect one hundred miners, their equipment, and the priceless metal. Our two Magi, Melinda and Albrite, were the first to warn us by casting a counter spell that destroyed a cloaking that had hidden the ambush. Over a hundred fell creatures were exposed, lying in wait within the trees ahead. The damned were the worst though. They were human once, and they can be what were called Malagae instead of Magi. We formed a wall in front of the miners with our pike men to the fore while Melinda and Albrite attacked the Malagae with powerful lightning bolts, heat flashes, frost bolts, everything they had. We were half blinded by the magic, yet none of the enemy’s blood magic reached the troops. The beasts were not yet ready to attack, so we did instead. We fired a volley of arrows that managed to take out all the damned except not the Malagae. Then we charged into them with pikes and swords, killing the toothsome goblins, and the fleshy ghouls. There were a dozen Orcs with long axes and two Trolls with giant clubs. I saw men eaten alive, swarmed by those vermin Goblins and their companions the Ghouls, so engrossed in their feeding that they hardly noticed as we cutoff their heads or ran them through from horseback. The beasts swarmed over the dead horses, becoming mindless feeding things easier to dispatch. There was blood everywhere and the screams were maddening. Tracker was killed by a Troll, and he
They trotted the horses across the large bean field into the woods on the other side. They set up three tents, and their cook stove and other camping gear. Then they staked the horses on the edge of the bean field in reach of both water and the soybeans.
Jason and Ender went out to gather wood, both with axes to chop up fallen branches. There were many of those lying about.
“Pomroy said he sparred with you last week. Was he telling true?” asked Ender.
“Yes. He put up quite a fight.” Jason knew that Ender was called Ender because he did just that. He was the best swordsman in the Elite squad since Daffor had left so unexpectedly. Pomroy was very good to, and usually sparred with Ender. They were both born in Southport, and learned to fight young as all did there. Pirates were a problem on the ships.
“He says you tore him apart with those two skinny swords you carry. His shield only delayed things some, he says.”
“They were gifts from Mary, Elven. She won’t tell me where or how she got them“.
“Yes. I have seen the Elves fight with such, faster than men. Not as fast as you though. How do you do it, Justin?”
Ender had stopped chopping, and gathered up his cuttings, looking at Justin with the question in his eyes.
“If I tell you then I will have to kill you”, said Justin with a smile.
“Never mind then”, he laughed. “It will all wash out.”
They gathered stones and placed them around the kindling so fire would not spread. The fire was healthy and warm in short order, with enough wood to last the night stacked near by. The men shared a large bottle of wine over dried venison and greens with biscuits and molasses, a prized import from the north.
“Tell me Rolph, have you seen any action against the Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Ghouls damned and possessed, you know, the dark ones?” asked Justin who had never seen one.
“ He is only fourteen after all ”, thought Ender. “ He is past deadly with his swords, but only fourteen .”
“Sixteen years ago I was with the General Army Elite Unit under Kirkland’s father Edgar, the King at that time. My Captain’s name was Tracker Olsen”, said Rolph. “We were returning with a group of miners and about six hundred pounds of star metal from the Northern slopes, just entering the Elven Forest with permission from them. It was a cold, gray day, and snowing. Sixty seasoned troops rode to protect one hundred miners, their equipment, and the priceless metal. Our two Magi, Melinda and Albrite, were the first to warn us by casting a counter spell that destroyed a cloaking that had hidden the ambush. Over a hundred fell creatures were exposed, lying in wait within the trees ahead. The damned were the worst though. They were human once, and they can be what were called Malagae instead of Magi. We formed a wall in front of the miners with our pike men to the fore while Melinda and Albrite attacked the Malagae with powerful lightning bolts, heat flashes, frost bolts, everything they had. We were half blinded by the magic, yet none of the enemy’s blood magic reached the troops. The beasts were not yet ready to attack, so we did instead. We fired a volley of arrows that managed to take out all the damned except not the Malagae. Then we charged into them with pikes and swords, killing the toothsome goblins, and the fleshy ghouls. There were a dozen Orcs with long axes and two Trolls with giant clubs. I saw men eaten alive, swarmed by those vermin Goblins and their companions the Ghouls, so engrossed in their feeding that they hardly noticed as we cutoff their heads or ran them through from horseback. The beasts swarmed over the dead horses, becoming mindless feeding things easier to dispatch. There was blood everywhere and the screams were maddening. Tracker was killed by a Troll, and he
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