round the bend. The second set of riders immediately halted their horses, nearly colliding with each other, and drew their swords.
Garth slowly approached them and they tried to sandwich him between them. Garth’s steed suddenly rose up and turned towards one of the Dark Riders, its hooves lashing out at the man’s head. As if this was a practiced maneuver, Garth chose that very moment to swing his mighty sword at the other Dark Rider. Garth’s sword cut a long rent in the man’s body from his neck to his waist as Garth was sliding off his horse to the ground. Ignoring the man he had just severed, Garth turned to the rider who had been knocked off his horse by the beating hooves. Garth halted his swing at the man on the ground when he saw a pair of lifeless eyes staring up at him. Garth’s horse had crushed the man’s head.
Garth stepped around the bend in the canyon trail and saw three men running towards him on foot. He placed himself squarely in their path with a stance that indicated that the men were not getting past him and they slid to a halt. Eyeing his blood-drenched sword, the Dark Riders drew their own steel while looking for another way out. Garth furtively slipped his hand into a pocket and grasped a Lanoirian Star. He stood with his sword point on the ground in front of him, hilt in his right hand, with his left hand concealing the Lanoirian Star.
“You wanted to serve the Dark One, didn’t you?” Garth sneered. “Well, come, let your blood flow for him.”
The three men screamed as they rushed as one. Garth waited until they closed the distance before tossing out his left hand and sending the Lanoirian Star into the leftmost man’s eye. A second later, he brought his right arm up and the tip of his sword caught the center man just under the right side of his jaw. The sword continued upward and sliced through the man’s nose and left eye. Dropping to one knee, Garth felt the shock of the third man’s sword striking his sword. He allowed the blow to push his sword back by withdrawing it in a smooth arc that came around and sliced through the third man’s legs. The man lay screaming and Garth plunged the sword into his heart.
Garth rose and looked down the canyon for more adversaries. Seeing none, he wiped his sword clean on one of the bodies and sheathed it. He recovered his Lanoirian Star and wiped it clean, also. He walked with his horse down the canyon towards Kalina. Kalina lowered the barrier and walked out to hug him.
“Arik,” Garth said over Kalina shoulder, “I need a count of the bodies. I want to make sure that we got them all.”
The two teams that had been on the canyon rims came riding in, and Garth ordered them to retrieve arrows and anything else that they could find which would be useful. When Arik came back with a count of twenty-six, Garth frowned. He left Kalina’s embrace and went to examine the bodies.
“Klarg is missing,” Garth sighed as he returned. “Everyone is accounted for except Klarg. He will organize a new troop and pursue us. Loot what you can. We move out in half an hour.”
Chapter 15 Melbin
They stopped for the evening in the pine forest. Tedi got a fire going while Tanya helped Arik with the horses. Niki helped Kalina with dinner, while Fredrik helped Garth butcher a deer that Garth had killed. Everyone was tired from the stress of battle as much as the long day of riding.
“How come you didn’t want any offense magic during the battle?” Fredrik asked.
“I had hoped to kill all of the Dark Riders,” Garth answered. “If we had gotten them all and left no trace of a magic battle, anyone who discovered the bodies would attribute the scene to a bandit gang who were hiding in the canyon. If we left blasted boulders and scorch marks that would not be believable. Bandits generally don’t have anything to do with magic. The fact that Klarg escaped means we will be hunted. It is unfortunate because all of you need a lot more training before we start getting into battles.”
“Do you think there will be a lot of fighting?” Fredrik queried.
“There will be more than any of us will want,” Garth sighed. “After dinner we must all train and hone our combat skills. You, Niki and Tanya will join in. Have you ever used a sword?”
“No,” Fredrik admitted, “I have never even touched one until today. I shot a bow quite a bit when I was younger and I learned to throw knives. That is about the extent of my warrior skills.”
Garth examined the boy’s wiry frame and delicate hands and nodded. “Knives may do fine,” Garth commented. “That and some hand-to-hand techniques that I can show you.”
Garth heard laughter and turned to look. Tedi was coming from the stream with a long pole over his shoulders with four small buckets of water suspended on it. Arik and Tanya were laughing at Tedi, but Garth was impressed with the boy’s balance. The buckets were not discharging their contents. “And maybe the staff,” Garth added absent-mindedly.
Kalina signaled that dinner was ready so everyone washed up and gathered around the campfire and started eating the venison and apples that Tanya had picked on the way from the canyon.
“How do the King of Alcea and the descendant of the Dark One relate to each other?” Tedi asked. “I mean we have at least one of them with us and maybe both. Should they be working together?”
“Absolutely,” Garth affirmed. “The Kingdom of Alcea will be devoted to bringing the end to the Dark One’s reign and the descendant will be working to bring an end to the Dark One, himself. They are not necessarily the same thing. The Dark One has many followers. The Black Devils are a group of magicians devoted to the Dark One. There is also a group called the Servants of Sarac who are not magicians, but also devoted to him. There are races from the other Universes that worshipped Alutar, the Demons, Goblins, Yaki and Ogres. They will want Sarac to succeed because it will mean the return of Alutar. People who wish Sarac to succeed may well run some of the rogue armies. Whomever the King of Alcea is, he will have to marshal whatever forces he can to fight Sarac’s horde. It is imperative the King and the descendant work together to accomplish their goals.”
“So, in effect,” Fredrik offered, “we have just joined the Alcea Army.”
“Yes,” Garth said grimly. “More accurately, we probably are the Alcea Army.”
“Doesn’t Alcea already have an army?” Arik inquired.
“I don’t really know,” Garth answered. “I have not been there in many years. At the time people were still calling it Tagaret, which was its name when Targa existed. The Collapse, the war with Sordoa that was going on at the time, and the attacks from Sarac’s Army, all decimated the Targan Army. After the Collapse, all that was left of Targa was the city of Tagaret. What was left of the Army probably settled in wherever they were.”
“What of Alexander Tork and the Targa Rangers?” queried Tanya.
“Alex and Jenneva left to imprison Sarac in his castle,” Garth answered. “They haven’t been seen since. The Targa Rangers were only a thousand strong at their peak and Captain Mitar Vidson ran them. I would assume that they remained loyal to King Byron and rallied to him. If so, some of them may still exist.”
“You paint a pretty bleak picture,” commented Niki. “It sounds like this King of Alcea doesn’t even have a country.”
“He doesn’t,” Garth sighed, “but between Kalina, me, and you children, he will, and we will see that it grows strong.”
“You really need to stop calling us children,” Tedi stated. “I know you mean it as Collapse Children, but we still find it offensive.”
There was a general agreement to Tedi’s remark and Garth nodded. “You certainly proved today that you are not children. I am proud of the way you all followed orders, but what shall we call you, then?”
“We should be called the Alcea Rangers,” offered Tanya, “and that includes you and Kalina.”
Calls of agreement went around the campfire and Garth smiled. “Okay,” he said, “I will be proud to serve with each and every one of you in the newly formed Alcea Rangers. However, as proud as I am to serve with you, I would rather feel safe serving with you, so I think it time to start our training for this evening. Niki, you will train with Kalina this evening. Tedi, I want you to cut another pole like the one you used to carry water. I want you and Fredrik to start learning how to handle a staff. Tanya, you get to prove you are as good as the other boys against Arik. Let’s go.”
Everyone started to get up and Garth turned back towards the fire. “Forgot a couple of things,” he stated. “Everyone in the Rangers will be required to be proficient in using a knife and throwing a Lanoirian Star. These are two weapons that are easily concealed and deadly if used by someone who has been trained. See me when you
