Quest Call_The Dowland Cases 2 by Kirk Dougal

Author:Kirk Dougal [Dougal, Kirk]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Diamond Seven
Published: 2017-10-28T22:00:00+00:00

*****

We pushed the horses hard and made it back to Breton in half the time it had taken to travel to Bear Run as part of the caravan. With everything that had happened, riding into the city did not hold the same note of accomplishment as the first time, however. Instead, silence settled over our group like a gentle snow, blanketing us with quiet until even the sounds of the horses' hooves were muted to our ears. The ever-present gloom that pervaded the ravaged city did nothing to change our spirits, either.

We rode directly to the armory, stringing a rope corral in the small courtyard for the horses before moving our gear inside for the night. I decided the safest place for us to spend the night was inside the barracks, once we removed the body of the dead guardsman. Saleene shot a spring buck on the outskirts of the walls, the white spots on his back still faint in his brown fur, and we cooked as much of the venison as we could eat before smoking long strips of the remaining meat for the journey ahead of us. We all knew that the ruins of the keep was the last time we would sleep with a roof over our heads until we reached tavern, and even then, it was not a certainty. Despite the mood that had fallen over us, I knew we might look back fondly on this night in the coming days or weeks.

“Before we settle in for the night, I want to visit my parents' tomb,” DeBrest said. He rose to his feet and hesitated, waiting in the dying light by the fire.

I looked at Saleene and Bree, but they were whispering, Saleene gesturing with her hands to emphasize whatever point she was trying to make while Bree worked on scraping down the deer pelt. Card returned my glance in his direction, but only nodded his head toward DeBrest without speaking.

“I'll go with you, Duke,” I said. “None of us should be wandering around by ourselves after dark.” I gave Card a look as I took his mace. “We'll raid the armory after we get back.”

DeBrest and I walked through the darkening streets, both of us too interested in what we were passing to talk. I realized the city must have been beautiful in its day, filled with people and the sounds of everyday life. In a way, I was glad I had never seen Breton's glory days because the difference between then and now would make the devastation even harder to accept. I glanced over at DeBrest to see if he felt the same, but his face was blank, shadows playing across his cheeks and scruffy beard.

The outer walls were in sight, a hulking black mass towering over the bare space where the burial mounds rose in a row. I followed DeBrest to the next to last hill where his parents were placed. We stopped in front of the crypt's door, the heavy oak set into the stone frame still barred and locked.

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