Sorus nodded his head, “At least it’s warm,” he said and groaned as he tried to sit up.
“What is it?” said Jon.
“My back,” said Sorus, reaching behind and putting his palm to his spine. “This floor is a bit harder than my bed at home or even that cot at the Smooth Strider. I’ll be ok.”
“We should have thought all this through before we charged away,” said Jon with a shake of his head. “I’m worried about the horses as well. We left them hobbled back at the camp site and they won’t survive more than a couple of days without water. We need to finish up here and head back as soon as possible. If Jane finds out about this I’ll never hear the end of it. Now, keep watch and give me a few hours of sleep. If Sir Germanius is up for it in the morning I know where to go.”
“Where?” said Sorus as he suddenly came fully awake and the pain in his spine vanished.
But Jon already lay on the stone step his eyes closed and his breath in an even rhythm.
It seemed to Sorus that each minute took an hour as he watched the two sleep that long, long night, but eventually Germanius stirred, groaned loudly, and opened his eyes. It took the old warrior a few seconds to focus in on Sorus and then Jon, still gently in slumber, but then he grimaced and began slowly to rise.
“Arrahgh,” he said. “That smarts,” and he grabbed at his back exactly the way Sorus did earlier. “How long did you let me sleep?”
“I’m not sure, how do you keep track of time underground?” said Sorus.
“You don’t,” said Germanius. “You pretty much eat when your belly tells you and sleep when you’re tired. I was underground once for almost a week chasing darklings back in the year Romius Openpalm was First Rider. We never caught them and we only found out how long we were underground later when we got back up. It’s a strange thing being underground.” All the while the old knight stretched and turned first his legs, then his arms, and finally his back. “I haven’t warmed up like this in years,” said the old knight, “but you should do it. It keeps the body limber.”
“I’m not too bad,” said Sorus, smiling and stretching his arms to the sky.
“I know that, because you’re young,” said Germanius. “But, you should learn to stretch everyday proper like and when you get older you won’t have as many troubles.”
“So, how do I do it?” asked the young knight and watched Germanius. The two went through a long series of small movements and by the end Sorus had to admit that he did feel a bit better. When they finished they saw Jon Gray watching them with a twinkle in his eye.
“I’ve seen morning salutations like that before,” he said. “In Tanelorn we’re allies with the elves of Alianus and they practice that sort of thing. One of my father’s friends, a dwarf named Sir Pedlow Fivefist has a son that married an elf girl and she tried to teach them to me.”
“A dwarf married to an elf?” said Germanius, “That must be some place, your Tanelorn. She must be an ugly elf.”
“It’s a long story but ugly isn’t the word I’d use for Appolonia,” said Jon and got up and started a routine similar but different from the one Germanius used.
“It’ll take me a wee bit longer to be ready,” said the old knight with a smile as he flexed his leg. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell it. I’m sure the boy wants to know,” he continued with a look towards Sorus. “Yes, even though you’re a knight now, I can still call you a boy,” he said which shut the objection that was on Sorus’s lips before it could emerge.
“About five years ago, I was just a kid then,” started Jon, “a group of orc kingdoms called the Five Nations attacked an elf nation called Alianus. My father has pledged never to lead a war of aggression and we only defend ourselves, but to get to Alianus the orcs either had to go through a gnoll kingdom called Grelm or Tanelorn. My father and many of the knights wouldn’t let the orcs pass so we got involved in the fight. One of the dwarves was the son of Sir Pedlow, a fellow by the name of Sir Strombolt Fivefist, and he went up to the elf lands for something or another. I can never remember the story, but he ended up saving the life of one of the elf princes, Halavar Evenday, but took a terrible wound doing it. Halavar took Strombolt back to his home in Alianus and his sister, Appolonia, nursed Strombolt back to health. Well, you can guess the rest. They’ve got a little girl now but I can’t remember her name. She bit me though, I remember that, when I tried to pinch her.”
“Maybe if I get wounded,” said Sorus, and Jon and Germanius looked at the boy with smiles on their faces.
“It’s a good strategy for finding a wife, that’s true,” said the old warrior and chucked Sorus on the chin, “but it comes with its own dangers.”
“The wounds or the wife?” said Jon.
“You’ll find a girl that steals your heart one day,” said Germanius to the young gray knight. “I know you’re happy to sow your wild oats in whatever pretty lass happens by the farm, but one day you’ll find someone and then you’ll see. Yes you will.”
“I already found the one I want,” said Sorus, and neither the old man or the young knight chose to contradict him.
“Come along now,” said Jon. “Sir Germanius, I’ve found that dragon for you and it’s not a small one either. I wouldn’t call it an earth shaker but a good twenty feet long to the tail, white as snow, with a pair of horns about as long my dick and twice as thick!”
The old knight suddenly stood up straight and nodded his head, a gleam of anticipation in his eyes. “You’ll let me strike the first blow, boy,” he said more as an order than a request and Jon nodded his head.
“Of course, old man, a promise is a promise,” he replied and put a huge hand on the knight’s shoulder. “It’s about five hundred steps down and then along a corridor into a cave. It’s with another of those dragon children and a darkling elf. I couldn’t get close enough to hear what they were saying, but I think it might have something to do with my little quest as well. I think they’re waiting for our friends upstairs and I doubt they’ll wait much longer.”
“Then why do you stand there and yak away,” said Germanius, looking up at Jon, and putting his hand to the hilt of his sword. “Let’s be about it. If this is my last day alive I’d prefer it to be shorter than the second to last. My knees can’t handle much more. I feel like it’s bone rubbing bone down there, can’t you hear the grinding?” he said and squatted down and then rose again.
Jon and Sorus listened for a moment but the old man suddenly broke into a large grin, “Stop your foolishness boys, I wasn’t serious. There’s a dragon to kill and I’m just the old knight to do it.”
With that the three made their way down the stairs, although Sir Germanius moved with care and his limp became pronouncedly worse as the journey went on.
“Only 500 steps you say,” said Germanius with a grimace as his right knee almost collapsed under him.
“Here, put an arm around my shoulder,” said Jon and leaned down and put his own arm around the waist of the old knight. “You need to save up strength so you can kill that white beast down there.”
“Ahh, that I do,” said the old knight as he slipped his arm around Jon, who walked hunched over to help Sir Germanius, as they slowly made their way down the staircase.
It seemed like hours to Sorus as he watched the old knight and Jon Gray limp down the stairs, and the long journey gave him too much time to think, “Maybe I should whittle,” he said quietly to himself and then laughed. This brought about a glance from Jon and Germanius but neither said anything as they continued their trip. “It’s well and good for Sir Germanius to want to die in glory at the end of his life, but fighting a dragon I could die as well, and for what, so that Jon can find this thing his father just wants to lock away so no one can ever get to it?” he thought to himself as the journey continued. “If it’s that powerful who’s to say I couldn’t use it and become a great knight, the First Rider, and then Shia will marry me.”
Every time his thoughts drifted down this path he pulled himself up short and tried to think more nobly, like a knight should, but it didn’t take him long to realize that being Sir Sorus didn’t change him more than his thirteenth birthday changed him into being a man. “I’m the same person no matter what,” he finally admitted to himself. “I want the same things I wanted before. I promised Sir Germanius I’d stay with Jon and I guess that’s what I’ll do.”
He just came to that decision when they reached the bottom of the seemingly endless stairwell. “Who could have built these stairs?” he asked out loud and looked back up to the endless string of light stones that stretched behind them.
“Darklings,” said Jon, but Germanius shook his head. “This was built by the Old Empire, nobody builds a set of stairs like this unless they’re marching armies. When the emperor finished conquering the world he started
