The Knights of Dragonwatch by Eric T. Knight

Author:Eric T. Knight [Knight, Eric T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-07T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

In the morning, Pythas seemed subdued. Jarryd had the sense that he was feeling bad about what had been said the night before, but he couldn’t be sure. The man’s emotions were as inaccessible as they’d been that night at the tavern.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Pythas said, handing over another piece of dried meat. They had packed their gear and were getting ready to move out again. “I’m going to take you to Rensfire. It’s a big enough city that you should be able to disappear.”

“And then what will you do?”

Pythas gave him a look of disbelief. “I’ll go back to surviving, is what I’ll do. The same thing I’ve been doing for twenty years.”

“The Emperor isn’t going to stop. He’s going to keep killing people. Don’t you care about that?”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“But I do. Look, I don’t know where you got all this enthusiasm from, boy, but it’s going to get you killed. Let me explain some things to you about the world. Kings and emperors are always popping up. Study a little history and you’ll see it’s true. They rise up, make a splash, kill some people, take some territory. You want to know what they all have in common?”

“What?”

“They all die eventually. Sometime in the following generations one of their offspring screws it all up and the empire or kingdom falls. Or another king takes it. Then he puts himself in power and the whole show repeats itself. The only constant is that someone, somewhere, is always trying to rule. That’s something the Knights never understood. Trying to stop the bad ones is a never-ending task. It’s like trying to bail out the sea. The water never stops. And that’s assuming you can even tell which are the bad ones and which are the good ones. One man’s tyrant is another man’s hero.”

“It can’t be that hard,” Jarryd said stubbornly.

“It’s harder than you think. You sound like Hollis now, you know. He was so sure he knew who the good guys and the bad guys were. Did you know at first he was a supporter of the beast kings? He saw them as a better alternative to the lawlessness of that region. Look how that turned out.”

“I don’t know who the beast kings are.”

“No, you wouldn’t. They were the reason Skrellis ended up doing what he did, which led to his banishment and the destruction of the Knights. That’s not important here. My point is that it’s best to keep your head down and let these things run their course. The Emperor will die eventually, and his empire will collapse. The difference is whether or not you survive.”

“What happened to make you so cynical?”

“I’m not cynical. I’m realistic. It happens to you if you live long enough.”

“I hope I never get that way.”

“If you live long enough, you’ll understand. Now—”

Pythas broke off suddenly. When Jarryd started to speak, he gestured him to silence. He drew his sword.

Then he shoved Jarryd. Jarryd fell backwards, fighting to keep from falling down.

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