Knight Eternal (A Novel of Epic Fantasy) (Harbinger of Doom Volume 3) by Glenn Thater Page A

the eastern terrace.
    “ I forbade Glim to go,”
said Landolyn, tears welling in her eyes; eyes not accustomed to
tears.
    Malvegil spun toward her,
jaw clenched. “What? You forbade him? You had no business doing
that. We agreed that it was his decision to make.”
    “ You agreed, husband. I
just gave up arguing.”
    “ You shouldn’t have
interfered.”
    “ Interfered? He’s my only
son—our only son. The only one we’ll ever have, and I will not lose
him to some madman’s quest.”
    “ Glimador’s not a boy
anymore; he’s a man—a fine strong man. More than that, he’s a
knight, and pledged to serve the Eotrus. Where his Lord goes, he
goes. Duty and honor, Landolyn; it’s what makes a man a
man.”
    “ This mission and that man
will be the death of him, I know it.”
    “ What? Don’t say that.
Claradon loves Glimador like a brother.”
    “ Not Claradon.
Theta!”
    “ The
foreigner?”
    “ Torbin, you’re an old
fool.”
    Malvegil stood there for a
time, looking at her, open-mouthed and disbelieving. Then he turned
back toward the river and watched The
Black Falcon sail away to meet its
fate.
    “ Ten years ago—no—five,
and I would’ve went with them. Claradon is too young to lead them
in this.
    Landolyn shook her head. “Dead gods, you’re
blind.”
    “ What? What’s come over
you?”
    “ Your nephew leads
nothing. He follows.”
    Malvegil’s shocked expression followed her
as she stormed off.
     

 
    VII
    EINHERIAR
    “ To sate my hunger, I will burn thy
    body and devour thy soul.”
    — Einheriar
     
    Theta stood alone at the
rail of the sturdy vessel, gazing into the darkness from whence
they came, while The Black Falcon sailed down the grand Hudsar River. A storm was
gathering and it grew dark early. Soon, a mist formed, cloaking the
surface of the water.
    Claradon stepped up to the
rail beside Theta. “Dor Malvegil is the farthest south I’ve ever
been before today.”
    Theta made no reply; he
didn’t even acknowledge his presence.
    “ It’s a big world, I
suppose it’s time that I see more of it. I just wish the reasons
were better.” Claradon breathed deep the clean, crisp air of the
river lands and listened to the flow of the water about the ship.
“I would’ve marked you a man to stand at the prow looking at what
lies ahead, rather than looking back.”
    “ We’re being followed and
not by friendly sail.”
    “ What?” Claradon raised
his brows. “A ship? The lookout reports nothing.”
    “ I see better than
most.”
    “ He’s atop the mast; he
has a far better view.”
    “ Perhaps he has his own
agenda or perhaps the captain chooses to keep secrets. Or maybe he
just doesn’t see very well.”
    Claradon looked hard into
the growing darkness. “I can’t see anything but the
mist.”
    “ It comes into view every
hour or so. It flies a black sail. A large ship.”
    “ The
Raven out of Southeast flies a black sail
and a red and black flag,” said Ob as he skulked out of the
shadows. “So does The Grey Talon, and both their reputations are as black as their
sails. It could be one of them two ships, or else it could be a
ship from Dyver’s—a bunch of them fly the black. There is also an
order of Church Knights, don’t remember which one, what flies black
sail too.”
    “ Should we advise the
captain to speed up?” said Claradon. “Maybe we can lose her. We’ve
enough trouble ahead of us; we don’t more from behind.”
    “ If we
were out to sea, I would try it,” said Ob, “but on the river, it’s
futile. Close as she is, if she’s a fast ship and has a mind to,
she’ll catch us. Besides, the way this fog is thickening, if we
speed up, we’d risk running aground. We can’t chance that. If this
ship gets disabled, we’ll never catch The
Rose .”
    “ We must keep our guard up
and meet those that trail us at a time of our choosing,” said
Theta.
    “ The Fens, dead ahead,”
called the lookout from the crow’s nest.
    Ob turned toward the east.