becoming the first merchant with his own army of bandit-killers. It got so a bandit would only attack a lone stranger in the woods.”
“Wouldn’t all that sun burn all the crops?” asked Arik.
“Glory, no,” chuckled the innkeeper. “The plants need the sun. The dark sky is why the crops get smaller and fewer every year. The animals also suffer without enough food to survive on. No, lad, sunshine is a wonderful thing. What I’d give to see another sunny day.”
Arik sensed the innkeeper’s despair and knew his questioning would soon be over. “What caused the change and when will it change back?” he asked.
Esta frowned and chewed on his lower lip as he answered. “Some say that a great demon escaped his imprisonment and collapsed the universes. A god came along and imprisoned the demon again, but not before the demon found the world’s greatest magician and made him the Dark One and commanded him to rule over the world for a thousand years. It is said that the Dark One abhors the sun and ordered it to remain hidden and never show its face again.”
“You mean that I’ll never get to see the sun?” exclaimed Arik.
Approaching footsteps warned the innkeeper of the pending interruption and he rounded on the young hunter. “You won’t get to see tomorrow if you don’t get about your business and leave me to mine.”
Arik walked out the back door of the inn, jiggling the coins in his purse, pondering a world without bandits and an inky black sky. As he turned the corner of the inn, a hand reached out and grabbed him.
“Tedi!” Arik exclaimed.
“Shhh,” whispered Tedi. “I don’t want old man Esta to hear you.”
“So it was you,” chuckled Arik. “What did you do to make the woman scream?”
Tedi pulled his friend down the dusty alley and away from the inn. “I was just making rounds of the empty rooms to see if anybody left something behind. How was I supposed to know that some woman would be getting dressed?”
Arik shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going to kill you first, falling off a roof or getting beat to death by your father when you get caught.”
Tedi frowned at the mention of his father. “If he beats me again, it will be the last time that he does. He nearly broke three of my ribs last time. I’m not going through that again. I’d rather take my chances in the woods with the bandits.”
Arik remembered the last time that Tedi was beaten. Arik was concerned that Alan Markel might kill his son one day. He knew it wouldn’t be on purpose, but Tedi’s father was drunk most of the time and Arik suspected the fisherman didn’t realize how strong he was or how hard he could hit. Alan never recovered from the loss of his wife and had spent the last three years going from bottle to bottle. Arik’s father, Konic Clava, and Alan used to be best friends and used to take their boats out together. Tedi and Arik used to go along and help. Three years ago, bandits raided the town and both of the boys’ mothers had been taken. When the two fishermen and their sons returned from the sea that day, Alan started drinking. He hasn’t been sober a day since.
“Why do you do it?” Arik asked. “Why don’t you take your father’s boat out and fish or come hunting with me? There are lots of ways to make money without stealing it. I just sold six rabbits to Esta and he’ll take a lot more if I can get them.”
Tedi kicked a stone down the dusty alley. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I never was much good at fishing and there aren’t that many fish left, anyway. I guess I like the adventure, the chance of getting caught and the thrill of getting away with something. I was never as good a shot with a bow as you, anyway.”
“We could go hunting together,” offered Arik. “We’ll split everything we get no matter who bags it.”
“Your father needs the money as much as mine does,” submitted Tedi. “He’s always having to buy things to fix his boat and nets. He’s hardly making enough to live on as it is.”
“That doesn’t matter,” declared Arik. “My father and your father have been friends a long time. I’m sure that he would give whatever he could to help your dad.”
“Your dad is the only friend my father has,” admitted Tedi, “and my father doesn’t even realize it. Besides, anything my father gets is going towards the next bottle. No, I’ll try hunting with you, but I’ll only keep what I actually get myself.”
“You’re a good enough shot to bring in plenty of game,” cheered Arik. “Let’s go by my place and I’ll show you the animal trap I made. I’m hoping that I can catch something really big with it.”
The smell of fish and salt air increased as the boys sauntered down the alley towards the dock area where both of the boys lived. Arik laid his bow and quiver on the stoop of his house and led Tedi around to the back yard. Proudly, Arik picked up his homemade trap and presented it to Tedi.
“It looks like a metal jaw,” commented Tedi. “How does it work?”
“Well, it doesn’t really work yet,” conceded Arik. “I used oarlocks for the jaws and filed them into teeth. They’ll hold tight whatever gets between them, but I need to find a couple of stiff springs to put some pressure on them. I’ve looked everywhere that I can think of, but I can’t find any. See, the springs will go in right here.”
Tedi was impressed. “I’ll check around and see what I can find,” he offered.
“Well, if you find anything, let me know,” smiled Arik. “And don’t steal them. I’ve got enough money to pay for them.”
“I don’t steal,” replied Tedi angrily. “Taking stuff that people leave behind before the innkeeper gets it and keeps it for himself is not stealing.”
“Alright,” conceded Arik, “I just don’t want you getting beat again.” Arik wanted to believe in Tedi’s honesty, but still he wondered how Tedi could find all of the things he had claimed to find. It was mostly the things that Tedi found that kept some food on his father’s table and drink in his father’s cup. What amazed Arik the most, was the gold necklace that Tedi wore all of the time. It certainly was a very expensive piece of jewelry with six strands of delicate gold woven in an intertwining fashion that culminated in a small golden heart. Certainly, no goldsmith in Lorgo had the skill to create such a piece and the thought of some traveler leaving it in a room at the inn was preposterous. The necklace was probably valuable enough to buy a new home, but Tedi never gave any inclination to part with it even when he and his father had no food to eat. In any event, Tedi stormed off angrily whenever Arik mentioned the necklace.
“Why don’t we go out to the woods and try getting some game,” offered Arik.
“Later in the day would be better,” Tedi replied quickly. “There are bandits just outside of town and the way they were carrying on last night, they won’t be getting up early.”
“How do you know about the bandits?” asked Arik.
“I overheard Esta talking to a traveler yesterday,” responded Tedi. “They were talking about a merchant coming down from the North. I was hoping to find their campsite and hear tales of the outside before the townspeople all crowded around. You know how nobody will talk about the old times and I figured if I shared a campfire with him, he would feel better about talking. The only thing I found were a group of bandits, though. I don’t suppose a lone merchant will survive to even get here now.”
“You’re crazy going out in the woods at night,” exclaimed Arik. He wanted to add in a statement about what they would do to get their hands on Tedi’s necklace and decided not to let Tedi end the discussion and storm off. “What if the bandits saw you? Nobody would even know what happened to you? You would just end up dead and rotting in the forest.”
Tedi looked down sheepishly and shuffled his feet like a small boy being scolded by his mother. Slowly, though, his shame turned to anger and he thrust his chin up and his lips tightened with determination. “I am not a little boy anymore, Arik,” he shouted. “I know how to take care of myself. In fact, they did see me and they did try to kill me and they didn’t succeed.”
“What happened?” Arik asked calmly. “How did you get away?”
Tedi stood silently for a moment and calmed himself. He reached into his pouch and brought out a small metal disk painted black with sharp points on it like an artist’s drawing of a sunburst. “One of them threw this at me. I never even saw it coming, but it missed and struck a tree. I grabbed it and took off.”
Arik reached over and took the small disk, feeling the sharp points. Murmuring to himself Arik said, “I wonder if they are planning to attack the town again. Maybe we should alert somebody. How many bandits were there?”
His anger dissipated, Tedi replied softly. “I didn’t get a chance to find out. I wanted to sneak back after they chased me, but I couldn’t chance it. I don’t know how that one bandit knew I was there. I pride myself on being
