The Sleeping Mother : The 13th Paladin (Volume IV) by Weitze Torsten

Author:Weitze, Torsten
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-08-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Ahren was secretly pleased that the desert dwellers hadn’t let him go directly to Khara. If the young woman had learned that her freedom depended on his abilities, she would either have fallen about the place laughing or had a screaming tantrum. One way or the other, she would have torn strips off him at the end of it all, and that was something he could really do without. His only chance of forgiveness lay in getting the swordswoman out of this mess that he had landed them in without bloodshed, and so he concentrated his attention on the immediate task in hand.

Meraad stood facing him. ‘You are carrying both sword and bow. With which weapon shall we test you?’

That’s easy, thought Ahren. ‘The bow. I am a Forest Guardian. And that is our preferred weapon.’

Meraad nodded and led him to a dune that rose beside the nomads’ encampment. Then he pointed to a stone, jutting up out of the sand one hundred paces away.

‘You have three arrows. Hit it and you have passed your test.’

Ahren looked at the target and took an arrow from his quiver with an expression of near boredom. He placed the arrow on the bow, drew back the string and shot. A heartbeat later and the projectile had ricocheted off the stone. Ahren casually slung the bow over his shoulder and looked expectantly at Meraad.

He hesitated a moment before bowing and saying, ‘You have proven yourself an accomplished marksman.’

If things carried on like this, they would get out of the nomadic village faster than he’d expected, thought Ahren. Then Meraad continued, ‘Now the test on the saddle, and you will be a true soldier of the desert.’

Ahren’s mood changed within the blink of an eye to total despair. ‘The test on the saddle?’ he asked with as much nonchalance as he could muster.

Meraad nodded cheerfully. ‘You will catch a Ninitril, break it in, and ride it back here.’ Ahren took a deep breath, trying to control his panic, and a single thought was in his head: hopefully his companions would find them before they had to fight their way out of this place.

Even the beginning of the saddle test wasn’t promising. Ahren had to run through the desert, carrying the saddle for his future Firespray while Meraad and four other warriors trotted cheerfully alongside him on their Ninitrils, leading him to a place they called Giltanaar. Ahren had heard Meraad mention this name once before, and it had sounded as if one could drink there, and so the young Forest Guardian assumed they were approaching an oasis or something of that sort.

Stoic silence seemed to be part of the saddle test, for as soon as Ahren began asking questions, he was met with silence from the warriors. And so, Ahren saved his energy, and they rode silently through the desert and into the night.

Once the sun had set and given way to starlight, Ahren looked over at his escorts – and was horrified to

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