Chapter 7

Andrew got his wish for once and had a full night’s sleep until the cock crowed his morning wake up call. He glared at the bird once more, muttering imprecations about rooster stew. The brightly feathered bird, of course, continued to ignore him as it wandered off in search of something to eat. Andrew Checked and removed a few more bugs from his boots and finished his morning ablutions. He went to the kitchen and snagged a few cooked rabbit legs from the cold box then packed up his gear for his first day on the road. He stopped at the freshwater pump to fill his water skins when he noticed another odd glow coming from the hole in the ground where the body had fallen and dissolved. It was a sickly faint red in the dawn light that faded as he watched. After another moment the glow gone, washed out by the daylight and the chill he was feeling seemed to fade mostly away with it. He would tell his father later after they all came out of the house to start the daily chores.

While he waited and continued readying his gear for travel he looked for the marks where the blood had splattered on his arms. They had faded to near nothing and soon even these faint scars would be gone as well. As he expected, his father was first out. He went over and told Lann about the glow and how it had faded along with the chill he had felt while near it. “Damn it, son, I had hoped in removing all the bad soil we had foiled it. It set a tracking spell of some sort. How I don’t know, but whoever is on the other end knows what went on here to some degree.”

Andrew’s face became grim, “I leave today as planned. It’s the only way you and the rest can be safe from these people. I’ll take some of the contaminated soil so that it has a lock on me rather than the farm since I’ll be the one on the move.”

“Your not ready yet boy, you know that.” Lann was grim but knew his son was correct in this.

“Yes father, I’m well aware of that fact, but I have to do this. If I don’t; you, mom and the rest will suffer at the hands of this Blood Queen, whoever she might be. I won’t allow that to happen to any of you.”

Lann sagged inwardly, he knew the boy was right and it boiled him that one of his children would have to go out and take on dangers even he would have avoided in his day. Andrew had to leave today or risk the safety of the family. “Alright then,” Lann said resignedly. “Let’s get you fully packed and ready to go. I set aside the oils and replacement rope already. Your brothers re-stoned all the smaller blades while you worked yesterday and your mother and sister made a few things you’ll be sure to need along the way.” He led Andrew to the main barn and opened the largest storage room. Inside was the completed heavy pack. Andrew looked at the massive pack and all the equipment attached to it. “It’s all set except for the fresh food. I’ll get them for you now.” Lann left the barn only to return a moment later with Lorna and the rest of the family in tow. They all had the materials and food he would need to get his journey started. His siblings said nothing at all, his mother shedding quiet tears. Lann, on the other hand, seemed almost happy now. His seeing that one his own was taking on the adventurer’s mantle he had put aside so long ago in spite of the dangers involved gave his great pride. Lann handed Andrew a small leather pouch, “This is some of the soil from the hole. Hopefully, it will act as a magnet and we’ll be safe while you try to lead the enemy away.”

Andrew knew his parents meant well, but it was still worrisome that he would have to be the bait for whatever it was that was searching for the gemstones. When he thought about the danger to his sisters that all his worries went far away and faded to nothing except a slight twisting in his guts. He loaded the last few items of food in a side pack and without help began the back-breaking task of getting all the gear on by himself. First came the poles and how they mounted crossed on the back of the main pack. To the raised ends he hung the side pouches that held his fresh food and clean clothing. Next, he made sure the sleeping roll and the ties that hold it in place on the top of the pack were tight. The fresh rope was attached to several loops of leather on the left side of the pack. On the right side, several small camp pots hung nested together with a layer of cloth between them to prevent them from clanging together as he walked. The last major item of weight loaded was the freshly filled water skins. Three skins went inside one of the hanging pouches on the right. One was attached to the side of the main pack within easy reach on the left, the last hung from his belt on the left side, ready to be used as he traveled.

The scabbard and buckler he set with help from his father to make sure he had them secured properly. He had found over time he preferred the sword at his hip rather than across his back, so that is where it went. Once these were set, he squatted down and slid his arms through the straps. He tightened them so they wouldn’t slide as he struggled to stand. Lann handed Andrew his heavy battle staff, “Remember to use this to help in getting up and down as you continue to build your strength son. It served me well for most of my time out there.” With the staff for support, he was able to stand without any additional help. “This is another skill you will need to continue to practice my son. The staff is a deadly weapon in good hands as you’ve found out.” Andrew nodded and slowly strode towards the barn doors with the stride he had been practicing for the last month to improve his travel speed. It was a long stride with his heal coming down then rolling over to the ball of his foot. This seemed to reduce the impact on his feet and legs. He slid the wide doors open, and his family followed him outside into the early dawn, waiting to see him off on his journey.

Lorna walked up to him, her eyes still bright with tears. “Son, may the gods watch over you and guide you. The dangers that will follow you are not to be trifled with nor to ever be underestimated.” She kissed him lightly on the left cheek. His sister hugged him, crying as she held him. She didn’t say anything as she rose on tiptoes and kissed him. Her kiss was not by any stretch of the imagination the kind of kiss a sister should give her brother. He quickly pulled back and stepped away before it became too serious. He knew she could and would be as dangerous as Kaara if she put her mind to it. Andria gave him a hug and a light kiss on the cheek. He felt the baby kick as she pressed up to him as if say goodbye as well. He shook hands with his brothers, again nothing being said. He turned away and faced his father for what he knew could very well be the last time.

“I made it almost to the halfway point along the back section yesterday on the re-cleaning,” said Andrew. “You’ll need to see to the brush piles before long. They will be a major fire hazard soon as dry as it’s getting. I checked the rest of the line on the way back in too. If all of you hit it at once, you should be able to finish the entire line in a day.” He turned away and started towards the gate. One last check to see to the pouch of corrupted dirt in his vest pocket and he walked away from the place he called home. In his heart, he knew he would most likely never see it again, at least not as it stood now.

He pulled the gate shut behind himself and started down the path to the county road. When he reached the end of the farm’s road, he turned left and started towards the village that served as a waypoint for the trade roads. He hoped to make it just before sundown so he could pick up a few items he needed for the road still. He could trade his old boots for a newer pair. For the first half an hour he moved at a steady pace, getting a feel for what his body could handle. He knew he would be hurting the next day but he would need to push on in spite of any pain or weakness he knew he’d be feeling over the coming days and weeks. Ahead, he finally saw the edge of the farm where Kaara lived. She had not been seen by any of the family since mid-spring, but he felt a stab of worry that if she spotted him he would be in a world of hurt should she catch up to him with his current load. He needn’t have worried though. He saw that her father, Grahm had not been kidding about her spending time in front of the plow. He saw that Kaara was in harness pulling a weeding plow with her father snapping the whip over her head. His mouth yelled out a continuing diatribe about the trouble she had caused and cost them. ‘Jeez, she will be as strong as the oxen at that rate, if she survives that is.’ He thought as he passed the fields.

Andrew saw that her father had seen him and he snapped the whip, striking one of her butt cheeks with the end of the whip. She jumped with a loud yelp of pain and pulled harder, never looking up from the ground in front of her feet. He could hear her crying and cussing up a storm at how she was being treated. He heard a few snatches of yelling that concerned himself and was glad he would be far away before she would be able to act on her threats against him. He increased his speed to get out of sight before she could look up and take notice of him as he struggled down the road.

As he cleared the last turn bordering their properties, he felt a weight of worry lift from him. Here he paused, lifted the first water skin and drank much of it. He had been advised to always keep as much water in himself as he could while on the road. He knew the real journey for him had begun. He also knew the next place he would stop would be at a fordable spot at a Planes River feeder branch, about three hours ahead at his current pace. He allowed for his lack of advance road conditioning so he added an hour to that time. He pulled a small disk from a small pocket on his pants and opened the cover on it. It had numbers showing what hour of the day it happened to be. It was currently on twelve, so he had four more hours until midday. He thought about the fact that Gardallen day was 32 hours long. Being in the month of Dry Hearth, the third month of summer, the daylight hours were slowly getting shorter. He still had close to six months to make it to Fairhams Cove before midwinter. He closed and put the time disk away then stepped up his stride in hopes of improving his arrival time at the stop he wanted to make it to.

Andrew was relieved when he arrived at the small trading village before nightfall. The inn had rooms for two silver. It was two coppers for the mush for the first meal. The common room wasn’t large by any standard but he sat and drank water for the evening. He had arrived in town too late to trade so settled in to wait for dawn.

Andrew found the Inn and settled in for a night’s rest. He was sitting in the common room having eaten a meal of beef stew and bread rolls. It was filling and warmed him inside. He sat watching the people around him when he felt a faint whisper in his head. “Yes sword, is something wrong?”

“No Master, Just making sure you remember I am here with you should you need help,” whispered the sword in his head.

Andrew thought back to the sword now rather than speaking out loud. “I have never heard if you have a name or title. I can’t just call you sword now can I?”

“Master, I was created many ages ago on a world far away. I was created to slay the Undead race known as Vampires. You have no idea how lucky you are that your world is free of the undead.” The sword waited a minute then went on. “The name I was given is Blood Rend.”

“Undead?” Asked Andrew.

Creatures that once lived then died of one cause or another. The bad thing is they act alive to some extent. Most are mindless killers, some like the Vampire and Litch Kings are very much intelligent and evil.”

What does a Vampire do?”

“It feeds on the blood of the living. Most they just kill, some they convert and enslave. That is what we were chasing when we came to this world. The team leader was able to entrap the monster and put it to sleep. The Gems you carry are what is was after when they were hired to stop him.” The sword paused.

“Is the Vampire still alive, so to speak.”

“Sadly, yes, and it is awake now. That is why the one serving it has sent minions to capture all the bits of the stone. The one it wants most is well hidden and by one of the few remaining guardians of this world. Her instructions that I helped set up are to keep it hidden until one of the blood comes to her and takes it. I hope that day never comes.”

Yeah, we can only hope, but things are moving in ways beyond our control.” The sword went silent once more and left Andrew in his thoughts.

He was able to relax and not paying attention to the back of the common room when a hand touched his left arm lightly. He jumped away on the bench and spun in the seat, his right hand going for the hilt of the sword, but stopped when he saw the person was a girl.

“I’m sorry mister,” she said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Andrew looked her over before answering. The dim light of the commons made it hard to see details, but he could see she wasn’t much older than himself. Her hair though was stringy and ill-kept. Her clothes were also ragged so he figured she might be a street urchin that slipped inside from the chill. “No problem miss,” he answered, and went back to watching the other patrons and listening to conversations that he could hear.

Rather than leave, the girl sat next to Andrew and now he knew she was off the street, she stank. The girl did not shy away from the sour look he gave her. “Would you like companionship tonight good sir?” She asked.