Even Hell Has Knights (Hellsong) Read Online Free PDF

agreed.
    “Well, come on by my tent, boy,” the trader said in a normal voice. “I’ll see what I can dig up.”
     

 
     

     
     
    Massan’s water skin landed next to Kara, causing her to turn over and cover her head with a blanket. The trader began rummaging through the pile of packs where he kept his goods. Arturus glanced outside of Massan’s door blanket and noticed that the nearby neighbors were stirring, perhaps awakened by the noise.
    “Now why in the name of Christ Almighty do you want to get an AR-15 barrel?” Massan asked, his voice quiet once again.
    “I don’t know, maybe Galen found a stash of .223 while he was out on his last hunt.” Arturus kept his voice fairly quiet.
    “Could b e . . . or he could have killed an Infidel Friend.”
    Arturus nodded slowly. If Galen had killed one of their kind, the others would surely want retribution. He felt his heart quicken, and he wished even more fervently that Galen would come home soon.
    Arturus had never seen an Infidel Friend. To think of it, he didn’t imagine that many in Harpsborough had either. Still, the Infidel’s men were reputed to be an evil force, both deadly and amoral. And they used 5.56 millimeter rounds, the legends said.
    You cannot judge what you do not know.
    Massan’s unibrow became even more pronounced as it furrowed. The man rummaged more ferociously through his packs. Arturus leaned over to look at what they contained.
    There were a few shirts in there, and a wine bottle, the cork still wrapped. He also saw a collection of lighters, each plastic and painted with a unique design. There was a skull, too. Arturus breathed in when he saw it, and he moved a little closer.
    “Hey!” Massan said suddenly, hiding the skull beneath the shirts. “Stay back.”
    “Sorry, sir.”
    The trader carefully held up the side of his pack, keeping Arturus from seeing his wares while he continued his search.
    I wonder what that skull was from? Why wouldn’t he want me to see it? Maybe he could have sold it to me.
    Not looking up, Massan passed Arturus a box of 12 gauge shotgun shells. After a few moments, he produced a second box.
    “Twelve gauge and slugs. That going to be enough shells?” Massan asked, his accent for some reason becoming more pronounced as he continued to shift through his things.
    “Should be fine, sir.”
    Arturus opened the boxes. The boxes themselves were a bit banged up but the shells looked fine.
    “Ah, what have we here?” Massan marveled as he pulled out a gun barrel from near the bottom of the stash. “Galen will be proud of you, son.”
    He has one!
    “Where did you find it?”
    “You may recall, a few years ago, that I got lost up near Macon’s Bend. I found the barrel with an M-16, actually. The gun was hopelessly damaged, but I took the barrel just in case. I thought I might have to trade it to get someone to take me back to Harpsborough.”
    “You would have traded it to an Infidel Friend?”
    “Son, I would have traded it to the Devil himself if he’d take me home.” He looked past Arturus to the sleeping Kara. “You’d never know how a place you hate can mean so much to you, till it’s gone.”
    Arturus had never been far from home.
    Would I miss it?
    “So, what have you got to trade?” Massan asked, suddenly all business.
    “For the shells I was thinking a few pounds of dyitzu meat and some devilwheat.”
    “How about five pounds per box? It’s been a bit rough finding shells lately. You can keep your devilwheat, we’ve enough of it here. Your friend Julian trades tons of that stuff to us.”
    “Five pounds! Galen never traded you more than one for shells.”
    “I charge everyone the same. I’ve made Galen pay that much in my day, when shells were scarce.”
    But shells aren’t scarce right now, dyitzu are. I’m going to be cheated.
    Galen had given him advice about trading. He had said that the truth was always best, so long as you only spoke part of it.
    “Amazing that you are low