Shadow Hunter by Arthur Slade

Author:Arthur Slade [Slade, Arthur]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dava Enterprises
Published: 2019-02-09T22:00:00+00:00

14

Even Further than Deira

“Don’t just stand there gloating.” Megan gave him a shove that nearly knocked him off his chair. “Tell us.”

He playfully rubbed his shoulder. “I’m very familiar with each of those ingredients. And they only come from one place: my homeland of Woden. The Hokum flower, the Bardur fox, the berry of the Black Lotus vine. They are all from the fields around the city of Gudheim.”

“You come from Woden?” Megan asked. “I thought there were only sheepherders up there.”

“There’s nothing wrong with sheepherders,” he replied. “Be sure to thank one next time you sit down to a plateful of mutton. And don’t ever make fun of my home country.”

He said this last line with a hint of menace. Since I never knew where I came from, I never felt an allegiance to any kingdom. My allegiance was to the place I grew up. “What do these ingredients have to do with Woden?”

“My mother ran the gardens of Gornia.” He paused as if he expected us to recognize this supposedly famous place. “Well, they are well known in Gudheim.”

“I’m sure many boring things are,” Megan said.

This got a frown out of Thord. “Anyway, I believe this list is showing us where Banderius is.”

“It’s a complicated way to find him,” I said. I leaned on the table. "Very few people would know where those ingredients were from."

“He was a master of riddles,” Maestru Beatrix said. “And he had an odd sense of humor. Though the berry of the Black Lotus vine and the petals of the Hokum flower are used in soporific potions. So it is a riddle that many assassins might figure out. He also knows every nook and cranny of Ellos, so it doesn’t surprise me he'd be familiar with Gudheim.”

“So you think he sent this out to fellow assassins?” I said.

Maestru Beatrice thought for a moment. “Yes. This ‘recipe map’ could have been retrieved from the home of a dead assassin—someone Banderius knew personally. And Corwin is trying to decipher it right now, or he has deciphered it and is hunting for Banderius. His death would be a prize kill, like when Sargon had the great wizard Davak crucified on an oak tree. That was the final blow to any strong wizard resistance. Banderius’s death would be the end of hope for any living assassins.”

“Then we have to get to him before Corwin,” I said. “It's our only chance to receive his counsel and perhaps the help of his sword. Plus, who knows how long he'll wait in Woden. If no one comes, Banderius might choose to vanish forever.”

“But Woden is a full month’s march northwards,” Megan said. “And that’s only if we don’t stop to sleep.”

I knew it wasn't a month's march for me. But Brax couldn't carry three passengers. He didn't even want to have one.

“Maestru Beatrix, what should we do?” I asked.

“I am not your maestru any longer,” she said. “You could follow the wisdom of the remaining wizards who hired boats and sailed away to the west.

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