Tin Thoughts (The Downfall Saga Book 2) Read online

  The sword felt natural in his hand. It was light and well-balanced. He felt like his arm had always been two feet too short and was finally complete. He had to admit to himself that Wryhta was right, and this was the perfect sword for him.

  He finished a quarter turn while bringing his sword in front of his face in a salute. Hot and sweating from the routine, he carried his cloak and pack in his hand as he strolled towards the gate.

  Once he left Haven, he took a deep breath to enjoy the fine summer morning. Looking down the winding path below him, his enjoyment disappeared. He rolled up his cloak and tied it to the outside of the pack, which he slung over his shoulders. Prepared, he started down the narrow path to where Tuff waited below.

  Chapter 3

  “I thought I lost you,” said Donovan, staring down at Tuff.

  “You should leave thinking to your betters,” said Tuff.

  Donovan shoved past him and started down the path towards Kendra.

  “Why are you here?” he called over his shoulder.

  “I already told you,” said Tuff, starting after Donovan. “Osmont asked me to come with you.”

  “I don’t want you and I don’t need you.”

  Donovan picked up his pace, hoping that Tuff’s shorter legs would tire and he could leave him behind.

  “You don’t know what you need until you need it.”

  “What about you? What would you have done if I was riding a horse?”

  “If you were going to be riding a horse, then I’d expect you to be back in that bar singing for your supper for a few more days.”

  Donovan walked in an angry silence. They were nearing the fork in the road near Kendra, where Donovan would turn east to begin his journey to Lornell, when he finally spoke.

  “Go away. You’re not wanted.”

  “Wanted or not, I’m yours. I gave Osmont my word, and I wouldn’t leave even if you threatened me with that gopher poker on your belt.”

  Donovan stopped and turned to look at Tuff. Tuff stood there shirtless, his own sword tied to the back of his pack where he wouldn’t be able to easily reach it. Donovan was tempted to test his sword, but knew, deep down, that he couldn’t harm anyone unless he felt threatened.

  They stood there, looking at each other, until Donovan backed down.

  “Fine. You can come with me to Lornell, but if you do anything to jeopardize my meeting, you’ll get a close-up view of what my little sword can do to a little man.”

  Tuff stared at him for an uncomfortable length of time, before stepping forward and clapping him on the shoulder, and starting down the East Road.

  Donovan looked back to the north. His eyes slowly traced the spur of mountains concealing Haven. He followed the edge of a mountain upwards to where he thought the entrance was, but he wasn’t sure if he had the right spot. He felt a momentary pang of regret. With the Blood Magic obscuring all of his old memories, all that he had left was less than a year’s worth of memories from his time at Haven. He thought of Kort’s smiling face and unwavering support, Ravyn’s focused stare, and Caddaric’s contemplative face. He was leaving all of that behind, perhaps forever, and he did it reluctantly. It would be easy to stay, but he had to follow his only lead, which could help him find his family and his forgotten past.

  He slowly turned back to the road before him and took a couple tentative steps after Tuff.

  The weather that summer had been particularly mild. A steady cool breeze blew from the south across the Skyrah River as they travelled. The road followed the river and was well maintained this close to the capital. They passed many grazing animals in fenced pastures, as well as fields of wheat and corn. They passed the occasional farmhouse, but most were built some distance away from the road. Patches of trees separated many of the farms, and the further they travelled away from Kendra, the larger the spacing grew between the farms.

  They walked for miles in silence that first day, Donovan didn’t pay attention to how far they had travelled. His resentment for Tuff grew with every step, until he was walking as if in a trance, occasionally stumbling over ruts in the road.

  Every few minutes, Tuff would look behind them, as if he was expecting something, before focusing on the path before them again. Finally Donovan lost his patience and asked, “Why do you keep looking behind us?”

  “Checking to see if we’re being followed,” said Tuff, matter-of-factly.

  “Who would want to follow us?”

  “You never know who you’ll encounter on the road.”

  Donovan shook his head and kept walking.

  Tuff looked up at the setting sun. “There’s a small inn about a mile up the road. We should stop there for the night.”

  Donovan felt like disagreeing, but realized how childish it would be. “Yeah, alright.”

  Light was pouring out of the main floor windows of the inn when they arrived. The inn was a stout building, with stables attached and several storage buildings around back. The main floor consisted of a kitchen, and large common room with row upon row of tables and a large fireplace which sat dormant on this warm summer night. The upper floor provided sleeping chambers for its guests.

  Donovan let out a sigh. He looked forward to a hot meal, and being able to remove the boots from his tired feet.

  They had an unspectacular meal before heading up to their rooms for the night. Donovan was tempted to leave during the night to try and lose Tuff, but those thoughts disappeared once his head hit the pillow and a welcome sleep enveloped him.

  Donovan woke before the sun and, ignoring his protesting muscles, rose to meet the day. Dressing and repacking his bag, he headed down to the common room for breakfast, silently hoping that Tuff would still be sleeping.

  Descending the stairs, he saw Tuff’s squat form at a table, engaged in his own breakfast. Donovan headed over and joined him at the table.

  “I’ve always liked this place,” said Tuff. “Pity we’ll be sleeping under the stars tonight.”

  Donovan signaled to the server to bring him some food before answering. “Why is that? Surely there are other inns along the way.”

  “There are. We’ll pass one about midafternoon, but we’d have to keep walking until the sun comes up tomorrow to reach the one after that, but it’s up to you if you want to stop early.”

  “No. I’ll trade comfort for speed if it gets us there a few days quicker.” Donovan watched Tuff eat in silence for several minutes before his own food arrived. The plate contained a couple of fried eggs and bacon. His mouth began to water when the smell of the fried bacon reached his nose. “We can spare the time for a warm meal.”

  Tuff gave him a smile but didn’t answer.

  The sun was just rising as they left the inn. Clouds slowly built throughout the morning, turning into a steady rain in the afternoon. They stopped by the next inn for a meal and a chance to dry themselves by the fireplace, but reluctantly left the comfort of the inn, and travelled many more miles before darkness crept up on them.

  Tuff studied the terrain to their right as darkness approached, searching for some landmark which he couldn’t describe to Donovan. The sun was just setting, when Tuff motioned for them to cross a small field to the south. After stumbling over many furrows and gopher holes in the gloom, they reached the black edge of the woods.

  Tuff searched the edge of the woods for several minutes before he found a narrow track leading in. They plunged into its dark depths. It seemed warmer in the woods, the trees sheltered them from the wind and the rain. The path was dark, and Tuff summoned a small orb of light with his magic to light their way.

  Donovan had assumed that he was a wizard after their confrontation the first night in his room, but this confirmed it. Donovan had never managed to summon a light of his own during his classes the previous year, unlike all of the other students, so he didn’t bother trying to summon one now.

  They found a rock overhang which they could curl up under to get out of the rain. Donovan headed out to collect firewood while Tuff
setup the camp.

  They made a simple meal from their supplies before turning in for the night.

  Donovan awoke stiff and sore. He stood up and did a joint popping stretch as he slowly inhaled the crisp morning air. He looked down at Tuff who was awake, but still curled up under his blanket.

  He picked up a few sticks and rekindled the fire, before he drew his sword from its sheath on the ground, and walked to an open area where he fell into a Vanora.

  “That’s a pretty form if you’re fighting snails,” said Tuff.

  “Just getting warmed up for the day,” said Donovan.

  “Bah. You humans waste so much time easing into things. Do you want me to show you how we get warmed up?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Right.” Tuff rolled to his feet, sword in hand.

  He charged, full speed, towards Donovan and swung at him.

  Donovan pivoted out of the way, Vanora forgotten. “What are you doing?”

  “Getting you warmed up.”

  Donovan deflected his thrust before he started to circle around Tuff, dodging his furious attacks.

  “You’ll never win if you don’t enter the fight,” said Tuff.

  “I don’t actually want to hurt you.”

  “I’m tougher than I look.”

  Donovan hesitated and Tuff made him pay. Getting inside Donovan’s guard, he drove his shoulder into Donovan’s stomach, knocking the air from his lungs. He punched Donovan in the side of the head with the hand holding his sword. Donovan toppled to the ground. He stomped on Donovan’s hand and crushed it into the dirt until he released his sword. He dropped a knee into Donovan’s gut before pressing the edge of his blade against Donovan’s neck.

  “I give.”

  Tuff stood up and helped Donovan back to his feet. “That’s the problem with you humans. You spend so much of your time going easy on each other, that you’re not ready to go full bore when you need to. We teach our kids from a young age not to start anything unless they’re prepared to see it through to the end.”

  Donovan winced as he felt the growing lump on the side of his head. “We try not to kill each other during training.”

  “Trying causes dying. You must commit or run.”

  “I’ll try to remember that.”

  They gathered their belongings from under the overhang, and headed out for another day of travel.

  On their fourth day of walking, they reached the town of Blaine. Donovan’s friend Kort lived with his family on a farm near the town, and he was tempted to stop by for a visit. They were purchasing supplies at the general store when Donovan decided that they couldn’t afford the time to visit Kort. He was too eager to get answers from Eamon to risk spending a few days with his best friend. He told himself that they’d visit him on the way back, if they came back this way.

  They were on their eighth day of travel when Tuff did one of his customary scans of the road behind them, which Donovan had finally learned to ignore, except this time Tuff turned all the way around to walk backwards for several seconds, before finally turning back to Donovan.

  “We’re being followed.”

  “You’re paranoid.”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re being followed.”

  “This is a road. People travel along it in one of two directions.” Donovan gently shook his head and continued walking.

  “There are at least two people on horses back there. I’ve caught glimpses of them several times today. If they were ordinary travelers, they would have caught up to us by now, instead they are staying the same distance behind us.”

  “Hopefully they stay back there.”

  “Your ignorance will get you killed one day.”

  “Then why don’t you teach me something.” Tuff’s jumpiness was making Donovan nervous, and he hoped that a distraction would help him calm down.

  “I could write several books on everything that you’re oblivious to. So, what do you want to know?”

  Donovan thought for a while before finally answering. “You’re obviously a wizard.” Tuff showed no reaction to the statement. “How do dwarves train their young wizards? That is, if you’re allowed to talk about it,” he added.

  “We make no secret of it, though few outsiders ever visit our lands. Take everything that you humans do, then do the opposite and you’d be close to our methods. We test our young when they’re still wobbling about. Everyone who has an aptitude for it, even the tiniest amount, receives training. Magic is a boon, a dangerous one, but a boon nonetheless.”

  Tuff took another look over his shoulder and Donovan found himself following suit, but couldn’t see anybody in the distance.

  “How much magic can a young dwarf do?”

  “Very little, but that’s not the point. We want them to be comfortable with their magic so they don’t hold back as their power grows. It’s like building any other muscle, you have to push yourself past what is comfortable if you want to grow strong.” He casually stretched his thick arms.

  “Many must lose control of their Gift.”

  “We push our young to exceed their bounds, which causes many mishaps, and that’s one reason why we have some of the best Healers. They compete from a young age, and never stop. We have a solid understanding of their abilities by the time they are teenagers, when the conclave assigns them their path.”

  “They don’t get a choice? That must go over well.”

  Tuff let out a deep booming laugh. “No it doesn’t. Kids hate being told what to do, even when it’s in their best interest. The conclave looks at the young wizard’s abilities, and the needs of the community, before deciding.”

  They continued talking through the afternoon as the terrain around them started to turn hilly. Donovan thought that Tuff had forgotten about the pursuers, when Tuff suddenly stopped them.

  “Keep following the road,” said Tuff. “I’m going to watch for our pursuers and will catch up with you later.” Not waiting for a response, Tuff hurried off the road and down into a forested ravine.

  Donovan stood there dumbfounded for a moment before he continued on. Maybe he’d get lucky and Tuff would get lost.

  The road ran south beside a deep ravine, its sides covered with trees. Donovan followed the road for another mile before it reached the end of the ravine, and curved back into a northeasterly direction. He glanced around but saw no sign of Tuff. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued on. They hadn’t passed any settlements in the last couple of days, and Donovan hoped that they would come across a good campsite before it got too dark.

  Several minutes later, he saw Tuff running up the road behind him. He stopped and waited for him to catch up.

  “Quickly,” said Tuff grabbing Donovan’s arm. “This way.”

  He pulled Donovan off the road to the north. They ran between two short hills and circled around behind the one on the right.

  “I was right,” said Tuff, running towards the rise in the distance. “We have to get over that rise before they come around the bend.”

  “Why don’t we lay down behind that hill and wait for them to pass?”

  “Too risky. When they don’t see us on the road, they’ll start searching for us. Hopefully they’ll think we’re hiding in the ravine.”

  They ran towards the rise in the distance. Donovan was surprised at how effortlessly Tuff kept up with him, despite his shorter stature. Cresting the rise, they threw themselves onto the ground on the far side. Panting for breath, they wormed their way back to the top and looked out for their pursuers.

  Less than a minute later, they saw two men riding horses clear the trees growing around the ravine. They pulled their horses to a halt as they surveyed the road ahead of them. One of the riders motioned towards the ravine with his arm before starting down the road, while the other rider started to ride along the top of the ravine.

  “We’ve got to go,” said Tuff.

  Sliding back from the top of the rise, they headed northeast.

&nbs
p; “Did you get a look at them?” asked Donovan.

  “Not as good as I wanted. One has a thin build and grey hair, while the other looked younger and bulkier.”

  Donovan had many more questions, but he saved them for later. They jogged away from the road, carefully using the hills to block them from their pursuers.

  Donovan was relieved as the sun sunk towards the horizon. A wall of trees was slowly growing in the distance, and he was looking forward to the warm meal that he’d been planning to cook when they settled down for the night.

  “When are we stopping for the night?” asked Donovan.

  “We’ll walk through the night and sleep during the day, until we lose them.”

  “Won’t they track us here?”

  “This land is tough to track over. They’ll watch the road and wait for us to turn south.”

  “There’s no way for them to know that we were going to leave the road tomorrow and head south.”

  “There are not many places where we could be going. There are more direct routes to get anywhere in Kern, and we should have turned south a couple days ago if we were planning on staying in Rourke. Lornell is the only sizable settlement in this general direction. They’ll search along the road until they find the spot where we left it. Once they know that we’re on the north side of the road, I’d bet money that they will patrol along the road until they catch us trying to cross it.

  “So, we’re going a different way?”

  “We’ll head into the badlands and loop our way down to Lornell.”

  “Will we lose them this way?”

  “We might lose them for a while, but if they can’t find us after a couple of days, they’ll head to Lornell and wait for us to come to them.”

  True to his word, Tuff kept them moving through the night. A faint moon covered by clouds made travel through the woods difficult, and they were both scratched up and frustrated by the time they called a halt for the night. Exhausted from travelling for nearly an entire day with few breaks, they both sprawled out on the ground and fell asleep, neither having the energy to stay awake to watch for pursuit.

  They woke in the early evening. After eating a cold meal, they packed up and headed out. The sun was still in the sky when they reached the far edge of the forest. Looking towards the horizon, Donovan could see steep hills rising in the distance. The green grass changed to brown, and the vegetation died off.