The Black Road by Mel Odom

Author:Mel Odom [Odom, Mel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2002-07-19T06:00:00+00:00

Fog rolled through the streets and made the night’s shadows seem darker and deeper as Darrick followed the gambler from the tavern two hours later. He tried to remember the man’s name but wasn’t surprised to find that he couldn’t. Life was simpler when he didn’t try to remember everything or everyone. On the different caravans he hired onto as a sellsword, there were people in charge, and they had a direction in which they wanted to go. Darrick went along with that.

“I had a good night at the table tonight,” the gambler confessed as they walked through the street. “As soon as I get back to my room, I’ll pay you what we agreed on.”

“Aye,” Darrick said, though he couldn’t remember what amount they had agreed on. Usually it was a percentage against a small advance because a true gambler could never guarantee that he would win, and those who could were cheats and would guarantee a fight afterward.

Darrick gazed around at the street. As the tavern bouncer had said, the town had poor lighting. Only a few lamps, staggered haphazardly and primarily centered near the more successful taverns and inns as well as the small dock lit the way. The heavy fog left a wet gleam on the cobblestones. He looked for a sign, some way of knowing where he’d ended on this journey, not really surprised that he didn’t know where he was, and not truly caring, either. Many of the towns he’d been to in the last few months had tended to blur into each other.

The sound of the gambler’s in-drawn breath warned Darrick that something was wrong. He jerked his head around to the alley they’d just passed. Three men bolted from the alley, hurling themselves at Darrick and the gambler. Their blades gleamed even in the fog-dulled moonlight.

Darrick drew his cutlass, dropping the jug of wine he carried under one arm. By the time the ceramic jug shattered across the poorly fit cobblestones, he had his cutlass in hand and parried a blow aimed to take off his head. Fatigued as he was, with the wine working within him, it was all Darrick could do to stay alive. He stumbled over the uneven street, never seeing the fourth man step out behind him until it was too late.

The fourth man swung a weighted shark’s billy that caught Darrick over his left ear and dropped him to his knees. Almost unconscious from the blow, he smashed his face against the cobblestones, and the sharp pain brought him back around. He fought to get to his knees. From there, he felt certain that he could make it to his feet. After that, perhaps he’d even be able to fight. Or at least earn the money the gambler had paid to protect him.

“Damn!” one of the thieves shouted. “He cut me with a hide-out knife.”

“Watch out,” another man said.

“It’s okay. I got him. I got him. He won’t be sticking anybody else ever again.”

Warm liquid poured down the side of Darrick’s neck.

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