The Exodus Sagas: Book I - Of Spiders And Falcons Read Online Free PDF Page A

caused James to wince, making the bruises and cuts ache more than they did in the darkness. How many days had passed since I had water or food? At least three days of travel , he thought to himself. The ogre of King Avegarne, about a dozen he counted, had him bound and gagged, delivered several daily beatings, and let him soil himself, as they did themselves most likely. Carried, dragged along by chains, filthy and dirty, James was still in shock over what had happened. He knew they were heading east toward the keep for days now and he was surprised that he had not seen a patrol yet, or reinforcements. He lay in the grass watching these creatures eat the deer they had speared. They did not cook nor clean the animal at all, merely ripped and devoured the meat from the bones. The ogre left the carcass behind, in the open, giving the young knight nothing each time. He grabbed a handful of water from a stream they passed, getting some refreshing moisture to his mouth and throat.
    Suddenly the ogre stopped, crouched down, and began talking in their guttural growls and thick words of native tongue. One vile creature drew a sword from his side, hidden under his wretched stink of worn animal pelts. Arlinne’s sword. Another, the one that was missing an eye, obviously from a very recent injury, pulled from his wolfskin sack the Chazzrynn flag, red with the black falcon and white trim. Tattered and bloodstained, the banner was wrapped around the knight’s shoulders while the other ogre handed him the deceased lord’s blade. A third removed the chains from his hands and forearms. The other seven drew their various weapons, as if the young man had energy to fight. “Hoddram, human, hoddram va.” Whatever that meant , James thought carelessly as they gestured him to go forward over the hills in front of them. The youth knew now that he was a message, a warning, a symbol of what the tribes in the west have done and will do to protect their stolen lands. Avegarne and his ogre army wanted him to live and return home as a living threat. His former captors waited until James was far ahead, though he traded suspicious glances with them until they could see one another no more.
    The smell of food, a road to follow, water from a stream to quench his thirst of days, the town of Elcram ahead, he knew he was outside of Southwind Keep. James Andellis saw riders in the distance, farmhouses, and the keep, his home, on the horizon. His head hung low, he heard yells and alerts growing louder as he staggered toward the villagers who came up to him in his daze. Women and children were shocked and crying while the men stood quiet, knowing why only one returned from the west. Soldiers knew what it was to face an ogre, let alone hundreds protecting what they claim as home. James’ brothers and sisters of the keep arrived, moving the small crowd of pleas and tear filled questions away from the youth. The young twins, Alexei and Kaya T’Vellon, the legitimate children of Arlinne, were there as well. He could not look at them, wanted to hide the sword at his side, wanted this all to have been a bad dream. James desperately prayed that he did not have to be the one to tell them that their father had been killed, but there was no one else. Even if some of the regular army had fled, the ogre would outrun them and hunt them down. It was obvious to the battered knight that he was the first and only to return, he could tell by the desperate looks on the faces of all he passed.
    The meeting hall was bitter cold that next morning; one of the children had started the fire warming for James, who had many visitors waiting outside the hall foyer in the morning chill. The knights and priests of the temple of Alden could be heard through the door trying to keep the crowd calm, assuring them of many hopeful things that the young knight would surely spoil with his words should he tell them the truth. He touched his wounds from time to time, staring at the blue light on