The Coastal Kingdoms of Olvion: Book Two of The Chronicles of Olvion Read Online Free PDF Page A

spend too much time watching because the man was not clothed.  He sent her to fetch her mother, Summ, who was at the river with Seeja’s wife, Lonn.  Mattus made certain to cover the man with a blanket once they got him in bed.  He was not eager for his wife to see the young giant naked either.  Of course that point became moot when Summ and Lonn arrived and quickly removed the blanket and examined the man for wounds.  They even had their husbands pull him over onto his side so they could check his back.  Mattus did not miss the look that passed between the two women.  Once the examination was done, they pronounced him free of injury and set about cleaning the field dirt from his body.
    When the two women began the washing process Mattus tapped Seeja and nodded toward the door.  They left the house and stepped over to the stables.  Mattus spat in a corner and looked at his brother.
    “Have you ever seen anyone that large in your life?”
    Seeja crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the stable wall.
    “I’ve barely ever seen a charon that large,” he answered.  “And did you see all of those scars?”
    Mattus looked back at the house.  “I did.  He is a warrior, they are the marks of combat.”
    Seeja nodded.  He did not doubt the conclusion his big brother had drawn.  Mattus had served for years as a warrior in service to the kingdom of Archer’s gate.  His time of service had expired, and he was offered the option of serving another eight years, with the resulting increase in pension, or homesteading the farm in Olvion’s valley.  It was a risk either way.  The farm was in a very isolated area with fertile ground and the bonus of a crop-nourishing river.  Farms had been known to fail, however, and the Grey Ones, though seriously reduced in number, were still around and still dangerous.  Staying in military service always carried the threat of dying alone in a dusty battlefield and ending up on the menu of the grey brutes. 
    The “Great War” had probably broken the back of the threat from the Greys for the remainder of Mattus’ lifetime.  That would mean an early retirement for him no matter what choice he made.  The farm had been available to him now and might not be later.
    There was another reason that Mattus and Summ decided to start a new life as farmers.  The Great War was a humiliation to every citizen of the three Coastal Kingdoms; Archer’s Gate, Aspell and Northland.  While the heroic citizens of Olvion fought the Greys to a standstill, losing an estimated thirty five thousand warriors, the Coastal Kingdoms had dithered, allowing the politicians and fundraisers to delay providing the assistance needed by the besieged kingdom.  That delay had been responsible for the deaths of thousands of brave warriors who died, not just defending Olvion, but also protecting the Lion’s Road.  At the end of that route lay the sea and the three remaining kingdoms.
    As a warrior, Mattus could not abide others dying in his place.  Neither could the other military wings of the three kingdoms.  When they finally took matters into their own hands they were amazed and disgusted at what they found.  The huge battleground to the east of the walled city of Olvion ran red with blood.  Mattus had been a cavalryman and as he rode his mount past the insect covered dead bodies of magnificent warriors his stomach turned.  He saw lads as young as his own lying prone in the dust, half-opened eyes staring sightlessly up at a sky they would never again see. 
    As he spurred his mount further onward he saw another sight that shamed him.  The surviving remains of the Olvion army that had battled the sub-human invaders non-stop for hours was exhausted and badly-outnumbered.  Yet instead of fleeing before the savage grey horde they limped, staggered and slogged their way toward the enemy, prepared to defend their kingdom and those on the coast to the last man or woman.  Never had Mattus