Gods of Blood and Fire - A. J. Strickler Page 0,31

the dead man’s torso.

Shorthair walked over and put two copper coins on the bar. “Sorry for the trouble, Chugg this should cover it.”

The tavern owner finally freed himself from the dead man. “Damn you K’xarr two coppers? That won’t cover your ale and you owe me a new barmaid; that big bastard killed her,” he said pointing at the towering warrior.

“She was slow anyway, Chugg I think Cromwell did you a favor.” K’xarr laughed and walked out of the bar. The giant looked at Kian. “Better come with us, little man or they will kill you when the rest of the watch comes.”

Kian stepped over the crippled woman’s broken body as he followed the big man out. He really did not want to follow these men but the one called Cromwell was right, more guardsmen would come. He had little choice but to flee with the two killers.

It was dark when they left the tavern. That made it easy for the three men to get out of town, that and the fact no one had ever seen fit to build a wall around the free city. They traveled in silence for near two hours. Kian was not pleased with the company he was in but he had killed a member of the city watch. It was best to get out of town for now. If the watch were still the same as when he was a child he could return in a day or two if he was careful. The city guard’s pursuit and investigation didn’t last much longer than that. If he was caught before then he would most likely be killed out of hand. The watch wasn’t big on trials.

They finally stopped in a wooded area a few miles north of town. The one called K’xarr made a small fire in silence. Kian leaned against a tree and the other two men sat down near the fire; neither had spoken since they had left the city. He didn’t know what to make of these two men. He had learned many things from Gildor but one could not teach another how to judge men. People were still something of a mystery to him. When it came to ascertaining a person’s nature he was very naïve.

The bearded man stood up and brushed the grass and dust from his pants. “We can rest here for the night.” He looked at the large man still sitting near the fire. “Couldn’t keep your head in there could you? I hope you enjoy sleeping on the ground tonight.” The huge man just hung his head. Kian could hear him softly laughing.

The man turned his attention to Kian. “It was smart of you to follow us, friend. There would have been a lot more guards to kill if you had waited around. I am K’xarr Strom and this is.”

“I can say who I am.” The Giant stood up and walked over to Kian; he towered above the half Elven warrior by at least a foot or more and he spoke with a heavy accent like one who was unaccustomed to speaking in the common language used by merchants and traders. “I am Cromwell Blood of the Blood clan. I hail from the village of Volech. I am A Toran warrior. My clan’s blood goes back to the founder of my country and second greatest warrior of my race Tor Ironclaw. None have stood against me and lived.” Cromwell stood with his chest out looking at the half Elf with his sullen eyes as if he dared Kian to dispute anything he had said. The big man sat back down Kian could see K’xarr was trying to hide his grin. “Cromwell thinks a lot of himself as you can see. Can I ask who do we have the honor sharing our fire with?”

“I am Kian Cardan. I was born in Thieves Port.” He could not think of anything else to say. He saw K’xarr looking at him in a strange way and he knew before the man could speak what he was going to say.

“Cromwell I’ll be thrice dammed he’s a half breed.” Cromwell cocked his and gave Kian a long look.

“He can’t be a half breed, K’xarr, he can fight and he hasn’t tried to pick my pocket or beg for food.”

Kian’s jaw tightened and his hand dropped to hang near the hilt of his sword. K’xarr and Cromwell both saw it. “No reason to be so touchy, half breed there are very few Elves