Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

When Arik reached the alley, Tedi wasnowhere in sight. He ran alongside the inn to the street and sawTedi just disappearing into the woods where the merchant had beenthe night before. Arik took off running for the woods and startedcalling Tedi’s name when he entered the forest, but he could findno sign of his friend. After half an hour, Arik decided to give upand return to town. As he walked along an animal path he heard alarge sound and froze, an arrow fitted to his bow without thinking.Arik lowered himself to a crouch, eyes following the sound, whichseemed to be coming nearer. After a few seconds, which seemed aneternity to Arik, Tedi walked onto the path.

Arik lowered his bow and stood, scaringTedi into producing a quiet gulp. “Okay, Arik, so you are quieterthan me in the woods,” Tedi sighed with relief. “I promise I’ll letyou teach me if you don’t scare me like that again.”

“Actually, you were prettyquiet, Tedi,” remarked Arik. “I was only alerted by that one sound.If I hadn’t heard that one crack, I would never have picked you upand I can detect anyone in the woods within one hundredpaces.”

The two boys sat on the path andtalked.

“Why did you run from theFisherman’s Inn,” Arik inquired.

Tedi breathed deeply and replied. “Isaw the bandit in the common room. The one who tried to kill mewith that black sunburst thing and he saw me. He recognized me,too. I could tell as soon as his eyes set on me.”

“What is he doing in town?”questioned Arik. “We had hoped the witch in the blue dress wouldstumble into them when she left thinking she would follow us north.Now she may come back when she finds out we didn’t leavetown.”

“I don’t know,” pondered Tedi.“I just got frightened and took off. Still, I think I’d rather facesome bandit killer than that witch with her magic and questionsabout our age.”

“Maybe we should just go spendthe day at our campsite until our fathers return,” suggestedArik.

“I think that is a good idea,”responded Tedi. “I don’t want that bandit to know anything aboutus. He might even start asking questions like the witchdid.”

The two boys rose to continue along thepath, oblivious to the man dressed in black that had been squattingnot ten paces away.

The boys crossed over the coastalhighway and reentered the woods to make their way to theircampsite. Once along the way, they heard rabbits and managed to bagtwo of them for dinner. Arik laughed. “See, when you are quietenough, even the animals don’t know that you are there. Maybe wecan spend the afternoon by me teaching you some of the tricks Ilearned from Trapper Grein.”

The man in black smiled slightly asTedi agreed to the lessons and the boys continued down the path. Ittook longer getting to the campsite through the woods, but the boysfelt safer keeping out of sight of anyone in the town who might belooking for them. When they reached the campsite Arik retrieved thehidden duffel bag and started a fire. The man in black crept off asArik started teaching Tedi his tricks of quietness.

When the men returned from fishing, theboys had a dinner of rabbit stew waiting for them. Master Markelwalked over to the pot and inhaled deeply. “That smells mightygood, boys,” he remarked. “Master Clava and I have kept some oftoday’s catch for dinner, but what you have smells a bit moreappetizing.”

“I think we can have the stewand the fish,” added Konic. “It’s not right to waste good food. Didyou have a good day hunting?”

Arik and Tedi had agreed to be honestwith their fathers and explained about running into the bandit atthe inn. Tedi went on to explain how he had run into the bandits’camp two nights ago and the bandit had hurled the deadly littlestar at him. The boys continued talking over dinner and theirfathers seemed content to listen. Tedi had expected his father tobe furious, but Alan’s facial expression was one ofconcern.

After dinner, Alan and Konic sattalking quietly while the boys cleaned the dishes and pots. Tedithought his father looked happier than he had at anytime in thelast three years. When the boys were all done with their chores,Alan spoke. “We are going to post a guard tonight and every nightuntil things quiet down in Lorgo,” he announced. “Tedi, give thatstar weapon to Master Clava. Arik, you are going to have the lastwatch, so you should get to sleep right away. Tedi will wake youwhen it is your turn. Everyone is to be awakened if you even thinkthere may be a problem. I will take first watch.”

Tedi handed the star to Konic. Alanindicated that Tedi should sit next to him so they could talkwithout disturbing Arik. Konic stuck the weapon in his pouch andstarted walking towards town. “Where is Master Clava going?” Tediinquired.

“He is going to talk with yourbandit,” Alan said quietly.

Arik shivered as he watched his fatherwalk away from the campsite.

Konic Clava walked into the common roomat the Fisherman’s Inn and looked around. It did not take him longto pick out the man in black seated by himself in the corner, nordid it surprise him that the man had already inspected thenewcomer. Konic understood why the man was seated alone. No one whovalued their life would voluntarily sit with a man whom soobviously reeked of death, at least not while there was anotheropen seat in the common room. There were other open seats as thenumber of travelers to Lorgo had steadily decreased since theCollapse, as they had everywhere else. Still, Konic marched overand sat across the table from the mysterious killer. And a killerhe surely was. Konic could see death in the man’s icy blue eyes.The man’s hands carried the calluses of both sword and bow, as wellas some that Konic could not identify. The bandit sat, bowstringtaut, ready to spring in any direction at a moment’s notice, yet hegave the casual appearance of relaxing with his drink. The manmight not be a bandit at all, Konic pondered, more likely anassassin.

A young town girl came over to take hisorder. “Good evening, Master . . .”

“Just an ale, girl,” Konicinterrupted. “And I’ll signal if I wish another.”

The girl left with a puzzled look andKonic turned his attention back to the mysterious man who waslooking out towards the rest of the common room, though Konic wassure that the man was watching his every move.

“Can I get you a drink whenthe girl returns, stranger?” Konic asked.

“I am well cared for,fisherman,” the bandit smoothly replied.

The bandit’s accent was slight, butobviously not Sordoan. “You are not Sordoan, I see,” heremarked.

The bandit blinked at him beforereplying. “No one is Sordoan anymore,” he stated flatly. “And if Icame from anywhere around your town, you would surely already knowme. What is it you wish to ask me that comes so slowly to yourtongue?”

The man was no fool, but Konic hadalready determined that. The problem would be getting any usefulinformation from him. Konic was sure that the man could lie with asstraight a face as if he were telling the truth. It was also clearfrom the man’s behavior that he did not consider Konic as a threat,only a distraction from watching the other people in the commonroom. “I am just curious what brings someone of your obvious skillto such a small town as Lorgo,” Konic finally asked.

The girl brought Konic’s mug of ale andgave him a puzzled look but did not say anything.

“I am just traveling through,”smiled the bandit. “Who can say what makes a man travel anyparticular road any more than what makes a soldier settle down andtake up fishing?”

Konic was startled. Not manytownspeople even knew that he had been in the Army when he wasyounger. Surely the sword calluses were long gone and covered byyears of fishing. How could this simple bandit know that? Thenagain, this was no simple bandit, Konic reminded himself. The manhad all the poise of a person who had spent his whole life in theArmy. Perhaps he is a forward scout for one of the many warringarmies ravaging Sordoa. Then again, most of the bandits plaguingthe world had been soldiers at one time or another. “We’ve hadtrouble with bandits invading the town before,” Konic finally said.“If that is your intention, I would like to dissuade you from thethought.”