Here is an excerpt from Chapter Ten of “When Gods do Meddle”. Any thoughts, comments, reviews, shares, likes, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
If you like what you read, my first two books “The Shadow of the Past” and “And the Sun Burned Red” are both available on Amazon.
Chapter Ten – The Forest of Danus
The air was filled with the gentle rumble of cart wheels, the tramp of hooves, and the patter of the light rain that had been falling for most of the day. A long line of carts, and horses, of every description, snaked its way eastward through the Forest of Danus. In the middle of the procession was a wooden caravan of modest ornamentation and painted in a greens and browns. It was pulled by two huge brown horses and an orc, dressed in a green tunic with brown pants, with a brown woolen cloak wrapped fully around him leaving only his arms free with a wide brimmed hat pulled low over his face, sat upfront, lazily holding the reigns and only the occasional twitch and mutter of a command to the horses told anyone that he was even still awake. Five horses were attached to the back of the caravan on long leads that seemed contented to plod along slowly.
It was a little after midday when the door that led into the interior of the caravan opened to reveal Belkor, who stretched his limbs once free of the confines of the interior, and swung his legs over onto the seat next to the driver and handed him a small plate filled with some bread, fruit, and dried meat. As the driver took the plate, Belkor reached over the took the reigns. The driver pulled the hat back from his face, revealing a dust streaked green face, with a wide smile, a nose that had clearly been broken several times, large green eyes, and a curly red hair both atop his head and sprouting from his chin. The hair was starting to go grey in patches which was made more obvious by sandy dust that coated it as well.
The orc grunted, “you haven’t been taking from my own stores now, have you?”
Belkor chuckled, “Of course not, cousin, as I told you back in Vi’nar, we would be providing the food until we have to turn aside.”
“Still,” muttered the orc through a mouthful of bread. “I don’t like the way you lot have spent so much time huddled in my caravan, nor the sneaking around at night, others have already started asking questions?”
Belkor shrugged as he expertly guided pair of horses to make the turn down to the right as they crested a small hill to continue following the others. “Our business is our own, Perlok, just like it is your business what is in those small boxes you have stashed under the floorboards. Besides, there may be some asking questions, but with us around there are none who would be so foolish as to try anything in the night, and that will probably last you for a little while after we leave you. Especially so with our wandering around, none will know for certain that we won’t return at any moment.”
Perlok thought about this for a moment as he chewed through a piece of dried meat. He pulled a water skin from under his cloak and took a long drink before responding, “aye, even in quieter times than these that kind of safety is worth more than coin you’ve already invested in my cargo.”
Belkor eyed his cousin sideways, “invested? Does that mean we’ll be seeing a cut of your profits once you reach Tannisbonn?”
Perlok laughed sharply and was still smiling when he said, “don’t push your luck, cousin. Your protection, whatever it is worth, does not change the fact that I am doing you a favor. Besides, who is to say that if I face danger it will not be because of you? You have not told me near enough for my liking about these cloaked riders I am to watch for. Smells like trouble to me.”
Belkor nodded, “well, if Varna is right we’ll be out of your hair soon and then you’ll just be another lone trader in the caravan. Speaking of being alone, what ever did happen to your daughters? I thought they were helping you?”
His cousin showed a snarl, “that mother of yours. At the first whiff of something going on she called her whole extended family to come and take up arms. I’m too old, and I still haven’t forgiven her for refusing to support me in avenging their mother, but my daughters are young, hot headed, and eager for a fight. They answered her summons immediately.”
Belkor smiled grimly, “I remember that age. I would have done almost anything if it meant a good fight.”
“Well, the Baroness had better not get them killed or banish them if they don’t adapt quickly enough to her whims. I might be fine without the clan, but I don’t want that for Berka and Velka.”
“I am sure they are a lot smarter, and more levelheaded, than I was at their age,” said Belkor, wistfully. “I am sure they’ll be fine.”
Perlok snorted a laugh as he ate the last of the fruit and set the plate aside, “everyone is smarter and more levelheaded than you were when you were young.”
Belkor laughed as well and patted his cousin on the back. Seeing that the reigns were well in his cousin’s hands, Perlok proceeded to pull his hat down low over his eyes once more, folded his arms under his cloak to keep the rain off as much as possible, and leaned back. Belkor glanced over as he was navigating another slow turn, this time to the left, as they reached the bottom of the hill and began to go up the next one. He shifted his position to one of more comfort and moved the plate back to the ledge between the driving bench and the door into the caravan. By the time this was finished and the horses were starting their slow assent, a gentle snore was coming from Perlok as he settled down into an afternoon nap.
Inside the Caravan, Throm and Wendon both shifted uncomfortably as they stooped over their bags to make sure that the food they had gotten out for their midday meal was properly stowed once more. Of them, only Throm could stand at his full heigh in the cramped caravan, and none of them much enjoyed the cramped confines and small nooks that they were left with amid the crates of supplies and trade goods that belonged to Belkor’s cousin. Tanara sat huddled in a corner by the rear door carefully inspecting and sharpening her knives.
Varna was sitting against a stack of crates and had the map of the continent that they had gotten from the River Goddess in her lap. She muttered to herself as she made some notes and quick sketches on another, much less detailed map, that was spread out on the small patch of floor in front of her. Throm and Wendon finished checking their supplies and each found their own places to wedge themselves in a fruitless quest for some kind of comfort.
“I think we have about two more days of this,” Varna said to no one in particular as she began to fold up the maps and put them away in her own pack.
“Oh?” Wendon poked his head over the barrel that separated him from the water troll in a tone of hopefulness.
“Yes,” replied Varna, not turning her head as she continued her own inspection of the contents of her bag. “The progress of this caravan of merchants has been steady, and we are now a week out of Vi’nar. At the pace we are going, we should reach the crossing of the Tamlyc River in about two days. And that is where we leave the Caravan.”
Throm grunted, “uncomfortable as the ride has been, it is a shame we’ll have to lose the anonymity that we have with so many other travelers.”
Varna nodded, “I feel the same, but it cannot be helped. At the cross, this train of wagons will split going either straight toward Tannisbonn, turning south toward Valkas Cor or turning North to follow the river toward the more northern cities. Our road is South, to the headwaters of the river. It is there that the ancient capital of my people sat.”
As she was finishing her description, a faint knock was heard at the rear door of the caravan. Tanara rose silently and shifted over to the door. She carefully slid the bar that blocked a viewing hold to the back of the caravan aside. After taking a quick look, she stood up more fully, head slightly tilted to avoid hitting her head on the roof, and undid the catches on the door.
The door opened to reveal Maelith walking, with long strides, behind them. Wordlessly, they reach their hand forward for the side of the door to pull themselves up, but Tanara reached out herself and caught the hand and pulled the black cloaked figure inside. As Tanara secured the door, Maelith took two crouched steps forward and dropped into a crossed leg position against a large crate.
“Still no sign of the riders, “Maelith said quietly, gently brushing the dush from the road off of their cloak, damp from the rain. Tanara was tempted to recommend they take the cloak off to dry, but having never seen them without it, it seemed a moot point to ask.”
“Any other news?” “What else?” said Wendon and Throm simultaneously.
Maelith nodded, “After riding a little ways ahead and then looping back to the rear, I caught up with this wagon slowly and took time to listen where I could.”
“And?!” demanded Throm, shifting uncomfortably as everything shifted as the cart made a turn to the left.
“And just about all anyone can talk about is the fact that Dark Moon Banners are rising all over the continent. Most do so in whispers, as if they fear drawing the Dark God’s notice or fear the loss of their livelihood, a few sound hopeful or even excited.”
“Excited?!” Throm grunted angrily as the cart went sharply over a bump in the road. “Grr, I cannot bear these wretched bumps and rattles any more right now. I am going to go check on the horses. You all can fill me in later.”
With that, the dwarf rose, stamped over the door, threw aside the latches, flung the door wide, and hopped down to the ground. Wendon nodded at this and followed the dwarf out of the door. They were moving back toward the horses as Tanara shut and latched the door once more.
“Yes, sadly, I have heard a few groups express excitement at the possibility of the return of Ymiron. Whether they are among his secret followers, or just hoping that if they are smart about it that they can make a profit from the war that is brewing.”
Tanara sighed, “any other news?”
Maelith thought for a moment, “a much smaller group of merchants passed us going west in the mid-morning, and they reported that the Dark Moon Banner has been raised by the city of Maggar, and that there are calls going out for others who follow Ymiron to mass their forces there.”
Varna frowned, “Maggar. . . .Maggar. . .Wendon will know more when he gets back, but I thought that city was originally founded by refugees fleeing from one of Ymiron’s wars.”
Tanara shrugged, “perhaps, but that was thousands of years ago. Times change, people move, and it is possible that is one of the reasons that his followers chose that city to be their based.”
“That,” said Belkor as he stepped through the door on the front of the wagon, “and it has the advantages of being hard to approach by land, a busy port so they’ll be well supplied and supporters on other continents can easily reach them, and the city has not major allegiances or cults dedicated to any of the other gods, so opposing factions would likely be disorganized and ineffective.”
Varna smiled as the orc came and sat near to her, “is your cousin still of the opinion that we are going to get him into trouble?”
Belkor chuckled softly, “ah, Perlok has always been the grump of the family.”
Varna joined in the laughter, “THE grump? After twenty years traveling with you, meeting some of your other family members, and the stories you’ve told me, I think your whole clan is just grumpy by nature.”
Belkor shook his head as he went about wiping off the plate he had brought back with him and stowed it, “well, you aren’t wrong there, my old friend, but if you’d spent your childhood with him, you would understand why I feel he takes the prize.”
As Maelith watched the exchange with their usual passive curiosity, Tanara began to frown, “does that make him someone we should keep an eye on?”
Belkor looked at Tanara for the first time since coming into the interior of the wagon and said with a tone of assurance and understanding, “He might like to complain and be frustrating to deal with, but his word is good and his head and heart are in the right place when it comes to it. He’ll not cause us trouble or give us away if it comes to it.”
Tanara nodded in acceptance and after a moment Belkor added half to himself, “although if trouble does come, I can only imagine how much it is going to end up costing me.”
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