The Silent Guard by KJ Taylor

Author:KJ Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shooting Star Press
Published: 2023-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

The ship sailed on down the river Erech, and its passengers retired for the night. Some of them slept below, with the crew, but Red stayed up on deck with Kraego and slept on the bare boards, not seeming to notice how uncomfortable they must be.

Teressa didn’t sleep at all, not at first. She sat by herself at the back of the ship, with Orak close by, and contemplated. She prayed with her stone, and afterwards looked up at the moon, which had risen high over the roofs of the outskirts of Xanthium.

Orak stood close to her, warm and protective.

‘We have done well,’ he rumbled. ‘The dark griffin is with us now, and we have found our path. When this war is done, we shall be honoured for our courage.’

‘Aye,’ Teressa sighed. ‘But it won’t be easy.’ She looked up at him. ‘Have we done the right thing? I knew what we had to do, but I didn’t know I would have to go this far. Betraying my King to Southerners...’

‘We did what we had to do,’ said Orak. ‘Everything we dreamt of has led us to this. We know why we had to find the child, and the black griffin. But...’ his violet eyes narrowed. ‘...but what about this other one? The man-griffin? We were asked to find him as well. I did not see him, but you did. Can you tell what part he had to play in all this?’

Teressa fidgeted. ‘Well...’

‘Did he speak to you before he died?’ asked Orak. ‘Did he tell you something?’

‘He did,’ Teressa admitted. ‘I haven’t told anyone what he said. It was just for me to hear. He whispered it to me.’

‘What did he say?’ Orak pressed. ‘I am your partner, Teressa – you must tell me.’

‘Aye,’ said Teressa. ‘But I think we should keep it a secret, even from Red and Kraego. I don’t think Red would like it, at least. I know his friends wouldn’t.’

‘You have sworn to follow and obey this red-furred human,’ said Orak. ‘Have you been asked to do something he would not want you to do?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Teressa. ‘I didn’t really understand what Kullervo said. But maybe...’

‘Then tell me,’ said Orak.

‘He said “Her heart is in a hollow tree West of Gwernyfed, and his bones are in a cave above Taranis’ Throne. Ye must bring the two together”.’

Orak huffed to himself. ‘A heart? Bones? What could that mean?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Teressa. ‘But I think I can guess part of it.’ She looked up at the moon again. ‘Nobody ever found King Arenadd’s body, but I think Kullervo told me where it is.’

‘What use would dead bones be?’ said Orak.

‘I don’t know,’ said Teressa. ‘But I think we should go and look in those places and at least see what we find. And we should do it soon, before anyone knows what we did and we can still go into the North without being chased.’

‘That is true,’ said Orak. ‘But you have sworn yourself to Kraego’s human.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.