D. Heinrich: The Tainted Sword

Just as the sun was beginning to rise, Flinn’s party exited the tunnel onto the long sloping approach leading from the castle. Flinn pulled Ariac to a halt, the dawning light just touching his face. He turned and gestured for Jo to join him, and she moved Carsig to his side.

“Look, Jo,” he breathed, joy in his voice, as he pointed to the hills to the east. “There is the reason why we are here, why this castle was built, and why we are tied to this land. Look!”

Jo’s gray eyes turned to where Flinn pointed. A moment later exaltation lit her face. She gave Flinn one shy, beatific smile, then turned back to the view.

There, between the two hills known as the Craven Sisters, rose the sun. It was cloven in three. Great, crescent wedges of brilliant red shimmered upward through the hills, and in another moment the disks would join and become one.

Flinn sighed with bittersweet joy. “It is said that as long as the three suns rise and become one, then the lands of Penhaligon will stand. If the three suns fail, so too will Penhaligon,” Flinn said softly. The three segments burst across the horizon and melded into one glowing orb.

It was the dawn of a new day, but they couldn’t linger to admire the sunrise. The time for hard riding had come. The morning shone cold and clear, without a hint of snow-perfect weather for a winter hunt. Flinn gave the signal and Ariac leaped forward.

Braddoc stomped into camp and fell to the ground beside Dayin. Jo, equally dejected, followed the dwarf at a slower pace. She sat down next to Karleah on a fallen log that lay at the center of their camp. Jo moaned a little as her sore muscles hit the hard wood, and she grabbed a nearby fur to provide extra padding. She stretched her long, cold legs toward the fire.

“I’m disgusted with us!” Braddoc was ranting. “Eight days in the wilderness and not so much as a dragon’s whisker!” The dwarf’s face was turning as red as his beard. “Why, if I had my band of mercenaries, we’d have found Verdilith by now!”

“Wasn’t Flinn your tracker?” Jo asked, rubbing one knee and grunting. “Your sell-swords wouldn’t be helping us any, Braddoc, and you know it. Besides, mercenaries are too cowardly to track dragons.” Tensions were running high in the camp. Jo and Braddoc snapped at each other almost constantly, the cantankerous Karleah pounced on anyone with no provocation, and even the shy Dayin had learned how to retort. Only Flinn has remained calm and collected, a far cry from the man I once knew, Jo thought. How can he be so… so stoic? For five days we’ve been in these hills, searching for more evidence of the dragon’s passage. I’m beginning to think Flinn must have been mistaken about seeing signs of the dragon.

For three days after leaving the castle, the knight had kept the five of them on the move until Flinn spotted evidence of the dragon’s passage. He instructed the others to set up camp in a sheltered location. Flinn said that from here they could make forays into the surrounding Wulfholdes. For the last five days, Flinn had sent Jo and Braddoc off into the hills together with strict instructions to return to camp the moment they found anything. Sometimes Flinn sent Dayin with them, and once Flinn took the boy with him. Most often, however, the knight left at sunrise to roam the hills alone in search of Verdilith and then returned at sunset. He was always as exhausted and hungry as the rest of them, but his spirit had never wavered. Jo admired his resolve; despite the grueling, tedious work, Flinn’s spirit was thriving. He was a knight of the Order of the Three Suns, doing his duty to avenge the villagers’ deaths and prevent further destruction at the dragon’s hand. Jo, too, felt proud of her work, but the daily grind was beginning to wear on her. Braddoc, in particular, tested her nerves. But she wouldn’t give in, not while she was a squire in the Order of the Three Suns.

Jo gratefully accepted the plate of stew and bread Karleah handed her. She ate a quick mouthful, then nudged the dwarf with the tip of her cold, dirty boot. “Mercenaries don’t ever hunt dragons, Braddoc, so how can you say you wish we had any here? If we were after treasure, that would be one thing, but-”

“Oh, cut it out, Johauna!” the dwarf said irritably. “It was only a suggestion, that’s all. Thank you,” he said to Karleah when she handed him a plate, who mumbled her response. Braddoc turned back to Jo. “I don’t understand why Flinn has us combing these hills. We’ve been over them five times now, and there’s nothing out there!”

“Flinn thinks there is,” Jo said before she bit into her bread. She caught Dayin’s eye and ruffled his hair. The boy smiled back, his eyes bright. Jo swore he had grown during the last week, though that seemed unlikely with Karleah’s uninspired cooking.

“Have you seen any sign of the dragon? Have I?” Braddoc asked, affronted. “Where does Flinn go? What does he hope to find? Why aren’t we searching a different part of the Wulfholdes?”

“ You have questions, Braddoc?” a voice interrupted from the dark just beyond the light of the campfire. Flinn came into view, then sank onto the log beside Jo. He smiled at her and accepted a plate from Karleah.

“Humph, does he have questions!” Karleah snorted. “Nothing but!” The old woman laid a horse blanket on the packed snow and sat next to Dayin and Braddoc.

“Did you see anything today, Flinn?” Jo asked, her good humor restored as always when Flinn joined the group. “Braddoc and I searched the entire northern quarter again like you asked, but saw nothing. We don’t understand-”

“Just what it is we’re supposed to find, Flinn!” Braddoc threw out his hands. “I know I used to be a mercenary and that I used to rough it now and then, but this is ridiculous! It’s been eight days, and we’ve seen no sign of the dragon or sign of civilization! When I was a mercenary, at least there were towns-”

Flinn held up his hand and broke into the dwarf’s tirade. “I know, Braddoc, I know. Believe me, we could all use a rest, a soft bed, and-for some of us-a decent shave.” Flinn rubbed his hairy chin and laughed ruefully. “But we’ve supplies enough to last another week, and I’m going to stay out here at least that long.” The knight shook his head. “As always, you’re welcome to go back. I won’t begrudge you your right to a bath.”

Braddoc rumbled beneath his breath and then shook his head. “Nay, Flinn, I won’t do that. I’m in this with you, all the way.”

Flinn quickly bit into his food before it grew cold and then gestured with his bread toward Jo and Braddoc. “Like you, I found nothing. I can’t tell you why, but I’m convinced Verdilith is around here somewhere. I can feel his presence, as if the wyrm were watching us.”

“Through the crystals?” Jo asked.

“Does that matter?” Karleah interrupted. “If Verdilith is here, he knows we are, too. So, use a crystal to locate the dragon’s lair. You don’t need to hide from him anymore. Find his lair and then catch him there.” The others turned to stare at her and the old woman cackled. “Good idea, yes? Knew there was some reason I came along.”

“Why didn’t you suggest that days ago, old woman?”

Braddoc snapped.

“Keep a civil tongue, dwarf, or you won’t want to bathe!” The wizardess glowered. “I reveal my own counsel at my own time.” Karleah looked suddenly chagrined and added, “Besides, I only now thought of it.”

“Jo?” Flinn asked, looking at his squire.

Jo returned his look, flattered at his attention. He’d been asking her opinion lately as a way of instructing her. He always applauded her when her suggestions were sound, and he gently pointed out errors when her judgment was not. So now she asked herself the questions the knight had taught her: What would viewing through a crystal accomplish? Would it gain more good than harm? Would it harm others? Yes, Jo thought, but the dragon was certain to do harm regardless of the action they took.