Milli turned her head slightly to the left and bobbed it up and down with her lips pursed and a far off look in her eyes, “You have a point there. You do indeed. Are all witches so smart?”
“Smart and ugly,” said Petra with a shrug of her shoulders. “The two don’t exactly go sheath and sword just like pretty and dumb aren’t always paired but there does seem to be correlation.”
“You’re not ugly,” said Milli.
“And you’re not dumb,” replied the witch with a smile and then pointed to the barn door. “There, he’s coming out now with a pony. What’s the plan?”
Milli put bit her lower lip with her upper teeth and moved her jaw from side to side for a moment and then spoke, “Ok, I’ve got it. Just go with whatever I start, right?”
Petra nodded but remained silent.
Dol led the little mule over to Milli and Petra and smiled broadly, “Now, to kill Gazadum. Nothing stands in our way.”
“The townsfolk worship him as a god,” said Milli. “They might not want us to go and kill him, and news spreads quickly.”
“Who is going to stand in my way?” asked Dol with a grin and put his hand on the hilt of the great hammer at his side. “I cannot be stopped.”
“Yes,” said Milli, “that’s true. However, do you want to kill all those townspeople? If you are going to raise an army it will have to start with the people around here. Killing them all can’t be a good first step.”
Dol stopped and looked at Milli with his brown eyes and finally nodded his head, “That does make sense. Those who witness my great triumph will want to join me, but if I’ve killed most of them first that is a problem.”
“Not to mention their wives and sons,” said Petra as she moved over to him. “You’ll want as many allies as you can get as quickly as possible. There will be those currently in power who will move against you. While you are nigh on invincible with the hammer in your hands a few hundred soldiers and crossbowmen might prove troublesome, no?”
Dol nodded again and took his hand off the hammer hilt. “There is some truth there,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I’m sure I could handle it in the end but all those dead people doesn’t make a lot of sense. So what should we do?”
“It won’t be easy,” said Petra with her hand on her chin. “Milli is pretty distinctive and so are you, Dol. I’m the only one who people might not recognize right away. Witchy women are everywhere.”
“So, we send you in first?” said Milli. “I don’t like that idea.”
“What else do you suggest?” said Petra with a tilt of her head and a twinkle in her eyes.
Milli shrugged and looked at Dol with wide eyes and a blank expression as her tone became more girlish, “I don’t know. What do you think?”
Dol shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, send in Petra to see what’s going on.” Then he turned to the older woman and put his hand on her shoulder. “Just go into town and figure out the way to Gazadum. After that I’ll take care of the rest.”
Petra nodded her head, “That sounds reasonable, Dol. But there might be more trouble if they know you are coming. They’ll set up guards around the entrance. We might need to make a distraction or something.”
“It’s possible,” said Dol with a shrug and he rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t really matter in the end but we’ll deal with that problem if it happens. For now, get on your horses and let’s ride to glory!”
Chapter 27
Twenty armed soldiers stood in front of the large campfire and guffawed as one of their number capered in a strange little dance punctuated by sharp upward jabs of his arms. Other soldiers played makeshift instruments in a tune apparently known to all of them. The dancer was dressed in an ill-fitting leather tunic and nearby, leaning against a tree, stood a small wooden shield with two of its slats badly warped. At his side he wore a short sword or perhaps a long dirk and the men providing musical accompaniment and cheers were equally ill-equipped.
“We’re farmers,” said one of two men off to the side as they watched the dancer near the fire go through his routine once again. There wasn’t much to the dance and it seemed to repeat itself regularly which gave those other members of the group plenty of opportunity to drink from small flasks as they shouted out encouragement.
“Somebody has to do it,” said another man as he took a swig from his skin and grimaced. “The damn baron is off chasing his son again and there aren’t any soldiers.”
“So why do we have to do it? Couldn’t we just let this idiot go into the mountain and get himself killed? The Great Fire Lord will never let a human slay him. What business is it of ours to stop him?”
“High Priest Aaran says it’s our business,” said the second man with a shrug of his shoulders as he took yet another sip of the liquid inside his flask.
“Bah,” said the first man and spat on the ground with a grimace. “Those priests are good for nothing except living off the hard labor of others. What do they do except take our bread and tell us to get down on our knees and beg forgiveness so the Gods don’t kill us all?”
“They keep the Gods from killing us all,” said the second man. “What would happen if we didn’t support the priests and give our offerings?”
The first guard shrugged his shoulders and spat again, “Who can say?”
“I can say,” replied the second man turning towards his friend. “I can say and I can say it loudly for all to hear. If the priests didn’t keep the Gods at bay the world would turn to chaos. The demons and devils would walk the earth and destroy us all. We’d have no moral or ethical foundation. We’d be just animals, killing and rutting.”
“Do animals just kill and fuck?” said the first man turning to face his companion.
“Of course they do,” said the second man. “Just look at them,” he said and pointed to a group of ducks sitting placidly on the dark pond.
The first man turned and looked at the quiet animals, “I’m looking.”
“That’s not what I mean,” said the second man. “I mean, they don’t kill each other all the time.”
“Nor do men,” said the first man.
“I’m making a point,” said the second man. “If we don’t have morals we’re nothing more than animals.”
“Yeah,” said the first man. “But my question is what’s so bad about animals? They’ve been getting along all these years. They don’t spend half their day kneeling and praying to live or praying to be good or hoping their kid doesn’t die. I mean, they get along all right.”
“They’re animals,” said the second man.
“Yeah, I get that,” said the first man with a shrug of his shoulders and a wry smile.
“Then why are you arguing with me,” said the second man.
“Because you’re not answering any of my questions,” said the first man.
“That’s because they’re stupid questions,” said the second man. “Everyone knows people are different than animals.”
“Orcs also?” asked the first man.
“They’re almost animals and that’s the point isn’t it? Look at the way they live. Goblins too, just to satisfy their carnal desires. They have no ethics, no morals, no religion.”
“The goblins do too have religion. They’re crazy religious to that god of theirs. That’s why they do all that raiding to have sacrifices.”
“That’s not the point,” said the second man. “Aren’t you listening?”
“I think I am,” said the first man scratching his head. “Are you sure it’s not you who is not listening?”
“Don’t make this about me,” said the second man and gave the first a short little shove. “Just because you don’t have any ethics isn’t any reason to blame the priests. It’s your free will to believe or not believe. No one makes you pay the tithes.”
“They do make me pay the tithes. The soldiers come by and if we don’t pay they take what they want,” said
