The Heir of Gorradan by Tony Roberts

Author:Tony Roberts [Roberts, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-07-22T23:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

The sun was bathing the eastern horizon with a watery colourful glow when Faer woke. She stretched and sat up, rubbing her eyes. They felt gritty but at least she had the strength to move. She became aware of figures moving about and looked up. She was in a camp with Lace and his men. A couple of small fires flickered close by, and she caught sight of two figures standing guard at the edge of the small glade they were in.

Tall trees rose all round, concealing the glade from the rest of the forest. She got to her feet, wiping some dirt from her clothing.

“Ah, you’re up,” Lace’s voice came from behind.

She turned, nodding. “How long was I asleep?”

“All night. We made enough distance to avoid any chance of them catching us.”

“But they’re trained scouts – they’ll follow your trail.”

Lace shook his head. “We left a few surprises for anyone following us. Besides, at night not even one of the famous scouts of Via could accurately follow us. They’ll pick our trail up now but we’re moving north and then west.”

Faer looked at the expressions on the faces of the others, and guessed this wasn’t good news. “What’s bad about that?”

Heller spat. “The ruins of Caldok.”

“Excuse me?”

Lace waved to his men to pack. Time they were gone. “I’ll explain on the way. Bet you’re hungry.”

“Mmm. And thirsty.” She reached for her water bottle and uncorked it, taking a welcome pull from the cool liquid. Lace offered her some half stale bread which she accepted eagerly and chewed on it as she fell in alongside the captain, leading the middle group. She noted that three more men had joined them during the night, escapees from the raid.

Lace pointed ahead where the forest seemed to grow thicker. “The only way to throw them off the scent,” he said, “is to go via the ruins of Caldok. Do you know anything of the history of Gorradan?”

“No – they knew nothing outside their own little village in Selanic.”

“So. Before Gorradan this land here was ruled by an ancient empire called Caldok. The people – or beasts – that made up the Caldok were the forerunners of those we now call Scalers.”

“Scalers?”

“Mmm. Lizard-men. Humanoids in the form of lizards. Some still survive here but in small groups and well away from men. So, the empire of Caldok lasted for many centuries, from what the legends say, until some cataclysmic event ended it. Nobody knows what that was for sure, whether it was pestilence, war or some natural disaster. Anyway, the old capital remains deep in this forest, ahead of us. It’s said to be haunted by the old Caldok people, and certainly there are beasts and creatures all round it that we must be wary of. It’s the worst part of the forest and has swallowed up many a patrol or even in one case, an army!”

“And our small group is sufficient?” Faerowyn asked, concerned.

“We hope so,” Lace grimaced. “A big force following us definitely won’t go undetected.

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