Red Wind's Ballad: Book One of The Sandsworn Trilogy by Jackson Dammann

Author:Jackson Dammann [Dammann, Jackson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-07-20T22:00:00+00:00

…

The hiding place for Elias’s squad was a tavern situated roughly fifty yards from the town gate. Unlike Half-Moon, Greenwind Town had a proper gate but not much of a wall; the brick perimeter, which only came up to Elias’ chest, was built more for demarcation than protection. Sandstorms rarely passed this far north—Greenwind was just a day’s march south from the Barrier Mountains foothills—so many northern villages, including Sand Hollow, had no wall whatsoever.

It wasn’t only its proximity to the gate that made this tavern an ideal place to set an ambush. The bar inside was high enough and long enough to hide six crouched individuals from view even if a tall enemy walked right past the door.

As fate would have it, one of Elias’ five squadmates was Lyra, the woman from earlier.

“Guess I’m a prophet,” she said when Elias stepped into the tavern’s dusty interior. “Although I never expected the battle to be today.”

Elias nodded politely but said nothing, sizing up the four others standing between tables in the center of the room. Two of them had the look of professional soldiers—powerfully-built and composed, but not without the fear of death in their eyes—but the third man looked very young and very nervous. The last member of his squad worried him even more; she was a short, bony woman who looked well into middle-age.

Can’t be picky with recruits, Elias reminded himself. At least his squad was armed with proper rifles; at least a few of the rebel fighters were carrying crossbows or old, sand-beaten guns that weren’t guaranteed to fire.

“You our leader?” asked one of the men Elias was hoping were as battle-forged as they looked.

“Apparently. I’m Elias.”

“Matthew, and this is my brother, Clayton. What’s with the six-shooters?”

“I prefer them to rifles,” Elias answered. “It won’t be an issue.”

“How do you plan on hitting yellowcloaks if they don’t march right past the door?” Matthew asked. “Even shooting two guns at once, the range—”

“Stop making a fool of yourself,” said the older woman, who was in the process of cleaning her rifle with a rag soaked in gun oil. “‘Elias’ isn’t a very common name. I believe our squad leader is the Hero of Half-Moon.”

The eyes of the others, Lyra included, widened in unison. While Elias was glad the woman had saved him from explaining why he’d be more effective with his Desert Hawks, it annoyed him that word of his ‘heroics’ had spread so fast. The rebels didn’t know that he was the man the entire kingdom feared, but soon he might have another legend to contend with.

“Is it true?” Lyra was the first to speak. “Are you the one who took out the mortars and turned the battle in our favor?”

“Whatever stories are being told are probably greatly exaggerated,” he said. “I only—”

“I should have bought you a drink this morning! Or three!”

“You can buy me one after we rout the First Army,” said Elias, adopting what he hoped was a commanding tone. He’d never given orders in his life, unless he was counting the first few days with Paul and Lewis.

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