Remnants of the Order by Hamish Spiers

Author:Hamish Spiers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: teen & young adult, fantasy, sword and sorcery, dragons, quest, adventure, free fantasy eBooks
Publisher: Hamish Spiers
Published: 2018-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

III. Wyvern’s Peak

After a few days of pleasant weather, an evening storm was rolling in again. Lord Keld and his entourage hoped their travel cloaks would keep most of the rain off.

That morning they had crossed the east branch of the Avahast River. One of the defences of Valahir was that north of the fork in the river, there were very few places where an enemy could cross either branch. And where it was possible, these places were always watched. Close to the fork however, there were three bridges. One across the east branch, one across the west and one south of the divide, allowing travelers to easily reach whichever side of the river they wanted to travel along when heading north and south. Between Valahir and Arahir however, Lord Keld always chose the eastern side. That way, if there were any Angdar or bandits, he’d be on the right side to deal with them.

He wasn’t expecting trouble of course and so far, the ride south had been uneventful. They had seen a few trading ships sailing down to Orishelm and Ensildahir. They had seen trading ships heading the other way too, hauled up by teams of horses along the banks – the Avahast flowed too swiftly for anyone to sail up it – and all about them, they had seen the villages that dotted Valahir’s countryside. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary. Until now.

Talon noticed it first. “Keld!” he called out. “There’s smoke to the south–east.”

“Come on,” Keld told the group.

The smoke was some way off in the distance and it was another hour before they reached its source. By that time, the fires that had churned it out had died down but there were still smoldering embers about the place. However, with the rain that was well and truly on its way, they wouldn’t be smoldering for long.

Keld and his companions surveyed the scene. There were a few scattered buildings about the place and two of them had been burned to the ground. There were several dead farmers as well and some who were wounded. A woman clutching the hems of her skirt came running over to them.

“You are men of Arahir?” she asked, recognizing the emblem of the great northern eagle on Keld’s tunic.

“We are,” Keld answered her. “I’m Lord Keld and these are my companions. What happened here?”

“We were attacked by Angdar,” the woman told him. “Some of our men tried to fight them and the Angdar killed them. Then they raided our stores. They took everything!”

“Where did they go?”

“That way,” the woman said, pointing east. “They left about two hours ago.”

Keld nodded. “Were there many?”

“I don’t know,” the woman said. “Fifty or more.” She shook her head. “Marauding killers, the lot of them.”

“We’ll find them,” Keld assured her. “And we’ll send for aid to help you here.” He turned to one of his men. “Ariath, ride north and alert the king. We’ll meet you back in Orishelm. Also tell him we’re heading east to pursue these creatures.

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