Demon Gates (Nexus Wars Saga) by Robert Day

Author:Robert Day [Day, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-10-14T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

For Valdieron, each day of their journey brought him new understanding and knowledge. He developed a close camaraderie with his traveling companions and learned a great deal from each.

With Llewellyn he spent the most time, for the Bard was a wellspring of facts about many subjects, and his humorous view of things was infectious. He told Valdieron of cities and peoples, of places he had seen and heard of, and also of creatures, both great and small. He taught Valdieron some of the finer details of archery, which he was more than willing to learn. Although he had considered himself a good shot with the bow, the Elf was consistently accurate. He could put one of his white-fletched arrows into a slender tree trunk at fifty paces. Valdieron found his aim improving from the simple techniques taught to him by Llewellyn.

Hafri took more time to get to know, for he was silently secretive, for whatever reason. He would change moods in a heartbeat, turning from a smile to a frown at a wrong word. When he did open up, it was obvious that he had not traveled extensively. His knowledge of merchants and their business was deep, and Valdieron guessed he was probably the son of a merchant or shopkeeper.

Like Hafri, Thorgast had his mood swings and was slow to open up, but when he did, Valdieron could not help but be impressed with the big man’s openness and trust. He told of his people and his childhood growing up in Chul’Haka. Valdieron was surprised to find he was the son of the city’s War-Chief, and that his position among his people was like that of a prince. His knowledge of the Southern lands was as limited as Valdieron’s, but his familiarity with the lands to the north kept Valdieron engrossed in his tales.

Far from being alone, the four found that the Highway had many travelers heading in both directions, though mostly northwest. Caravan guards would glance at them warily as they passed, and the four would prudently step from the highway, not wanting to cause any trouble. On occasions, Llewellyn would converse with a few of the smaller groups who passed, gaining word of the south and east. It seemed that most of the attention was focused on the up and coming Combat, which drew more attention this year because of the favorite, a Warrior named ‘Hagar’, who was aiming for his fifth straight victory. Valdieron already knew of this Dak’marian warrior from Nagus. The others all seemed to know of him, and spoke with some concern about him.

“I watched him fight in last year’s Combat,” said Llewellyn one night. Hafri and Thorgast were both sleeping, and Valdieron lay awake feeding the ever-growing Kazakarum.

“Is he as good as everybody says he is?” From what he had heard, Valdieron understood that Hagar was strong, fast and cunning, and had hardly been pressed in his previous four appearances at the Combat.

“Probably,” mused Llewellyn, his head bent as he listened to the tones of his lute strings as he tuned it meticulously.

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