Son of Cayn by Jason McDonald & Alan Isom & Stormy McDonald

Author:Jason McDonald & Alan Isom & Stormy McDonald [McDonald, Jason & Isom, Alan & McDonald, Stormy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New Mythology Press
Published: 2018-08-13T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

When the Lieutenant of the militsiya entered the tavern, he found Xandor sitting on top of the bar, stripped to his waist. A bottle of vodka sat open beside him, and the barkeep was putting a knot in the last of a line of stitches along his ribcage. The officer watched as she had Xandor hold white gauze over the wound while she wrapped a cream-colored bandage around his torso.

“I’m Lieutenant Penko. Who are you, and what happened here?”

Xandor looked around and found his leather tunic. He reached inside and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which he handed to the officer. The officer took it and read it. He nodded and, as he handed it back, said, “I thought so. Heard rumors one of the Kral’s rangers was in town.”

The barkeep made a little gasp, and the two men stared at her. “Sorry, I . . . you’re a ranger? I thought you were militsiya.”

“Who are you?” the officer asked bruskly.

“My name is Dana Valevataya, and I own this place.”

“Would you mind please stepping away, ma’am, while I discuss what happened with the ranger? I will have one of the other officers come and take your statement.”

“No, you won’t,” she said, waving her arms. “Have you looked upstairs? It was my home those men tore up. I have every right to know what’s going on.”

Xandor said, “It’s alright, Lieutenant. With all those people outside, there’s no chance of keeping this story quiet.”

Dana threw a quick smile at Xandor. The ranger went on to explain to the officer that he was trailing someone of interest and that person led him to the fugitive knight—the same person responsible for attacking the patrol outside Dobrovnitsa. Xandor recounted the evening’s events leading up to the fight and provided detailed descriptions of the knight’s men, including the heraldic mark on the knight’s shield.

“Lieutenant, although that knight carried a crest of nobility, I expect he is not really a knight, nor does he subscribe to the standard knight’s code of honor. When we fought, his tactics were unorthodox. Not only did his men hold this woman hostage, but he used sharpened edges on his shield during the fight—something I have only seen used by Rhodinan mercenaries. The knights I know would view his tactics as dishonorable.”

The officer wrote down some notes and asked, “Which way did they leave?”

“The last I saw, they disappeared into the crowd.”

The tavern door burst open and everybody turned as a young militiaman rushed inside and said excitedly, “Sir, we found them! We have them trapped near the Stena.”

Officer Penko nodded toward the young man. “I’ll be right there. Wait outside for me.”

As the young man obeyed, Xandor said to Penko, “Be careful. Those men are very dangerous.”

Looking at the ranger with curiosity, Lieutenant Penko asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the Kral’s interest in all this?”

Xandor jumped down from the counter and said, “Believe it or not, Lieutenant, soap.”

Shaking his head in disbelief, the officer turned and slowly walked to the door.

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