The Sworn Knight, Robert Ryan [good beach reads .txt] 📗

the name out of legend for them. Elù-draks. The names inthe old stories were better, although Night Fliers was an apt description.

He had seen elù-draks on the way to the square, and he hadbeen prepared for it. Some of the men had not seen them before though. Thesehad nearly run, foolish as that would be. But he and Caludreth had held thosefirmly, and pressed them back against the side of the building they had huddledagainst.

There, in the shadows, they had escaped detection. But ithad happened several times, and now, out in the open, their cover was gone.

But the men who had nearly panicked the first time, toMenendil’s surprise, went on. He had thought they would turn back and try to gohome by themselves, but they had stuck it out and their fear, while certainlynot leaving them, had reduced. The subsequent time a warning had been whisperedand they had pressed against the wall to hide themselves, those same men merelyclosed their eyes and gritted their teeth.

Menendil cast his gaze skyward as they walked across thesquare. The stars were dim tonight, and there was no moon to be seen. Thepalace hulked ahead though, on the far side of the plaza, and to the left, onthe dim horizon, rose the Tower of the Stone.

The tower was several streets away. No light shone from thetop, as it often did. But that did not make Menendil feel better. The heart ofthe evil was there, and those who had woken it might or might not be abroad.Just because there was no light did not mean the tower was empty, nor that theknights walked the streets. For that too had been rumored lately. The knights,once beacons of nobility, were said to haunt the city with the wicked thingsthat the king had summoned to Faladir, and to join their grisly feasts. Therewas no proof of that, and he was inclined to disbelieve it. But who knew thetruth?

They came to the statue. A grand thing it was, showing ayouthful king in glory. There were other statues in the square, but this hadbeen given pride of place at the center. It was decades old, and it was a signof a prideful king, for he had never achieved anything special. Other kings,queens and heroes lined the sides of the square, and most of those were moreloved. This was a sign that even in his youth, the king had a bad streak runningthrough him.

They looked around. There was no sign of anyone. But even asthey prepared the ropes, there was noise from the side of the square they hadcome from themselves. It was the sound of booted feet marching.

“Quickly!” Menendil hissed. “To the side of the square.”

He raced to the side, and the men followed him. They ran,but they were careful to try to do so silently. It only took them some moments,yet it seemed an eternity. But soon they were within the deeper shadows, andhuddled behind a statue of some king on a rearing horse. Menendil was not surewhich one it was, for there were several such statues on this side of thesquare and he was disorientated in the dark, but he blessed their namelesspresence and the deeper shadows they provided.

The soldiers were already in the square and they marchedloudly and purposefully. It seemed though, that Menendil and his men hadescaped detection. There was no sign of alarm, and the men marched directlyacross the square and ended up entering a street that ran into it from theother side.

The noise of the soldiers gradually receded, and soon thesquare was still again, as void of people as it had been when they firstarrived.

“Just as well the king’s men are stupid,” Caludrethwhispered quietly.

A few of the men sniggered, and Menendil relaxed. He knewwhat Caludreth had just done to relieve the tension, but in truth, stupid orotherwise, it would not take much for this mission to be revealed.

Menendil led them out again, and they acted swiftly oncethey reached the statue. The ropes were thrown over it, and secured in variousplaces to offer the greatest leverage when they pulled. This was the partMenendil feared the most. When the statue was toppled, it would make a massivenoise.

He glanced over at the palace. It hulked dimly in theshadows. There would be soldiers there. At least a few would be guarding thegates. Others would be sentries around the palace grounds. And inside would behundreds. How long after the noise before they were roused?

It was reassuring to see the man chosen to carve the wordsnearby. He had a chisel in one hand, and a hammer in the other. He was ready towork the moment the statue came down.

Some had argued it was better to do the chiseling first. Onthat point, Menendil and Caludreth were of one mind. If they were interruptedand had to flee, it was better that the statue had been pulled down. That wasthe main message, and the words on the plinth mattered less.

Before they began to pull on the ropes though, there wasmovement near the palace. Three soldiers walked out, and they walked straighttoward the group.

It was a tense moment. Menendil drew a knife, but hid it. Caludrethseemed relaxed. The truth was, they might have to kill these men by surprise.But that would draw more soldiers quickly. It was better to try to talk theirway out of this, and just possibly that might work. The approaching soldiersclearly had no idea of what was intended, otherwise they would have alertedtheir comrades.

The soldiers drew near, and Menendil stepped forward,smiling. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Caludreth had pulled up hishood to avoid recognition. If that happened, all was lost. Yet the man wasstill close, and he seemed ready to spring into action. That was reassuring.

“What’s going on here?” one of the soldiers demanded.

“Just what it seems,” Menendil said in his friendly tone,the one he used on patrons of the inn who might cause trouble. It was easy andpleasant, but also suggested that he was in charge and knew what he was doing.

“This here statue is coming