The Sword of Darrow by Hal Malchow Page B

fear a boy, small and lame, who walked alone with little more than the clothes on his back? But he had expected to meet his uncle by now. He had no more food and his stomach ached with hunger.
    He spied an old woman, moving slowly, with a heavy load on her back.
    “May I help you with your sack?” Darrow asked, hoping his assistance might lead to an offer of food.
    “I’ll take any help I can get,” the woman replied practically throwing her bag to the ground. Darrow leaned over to grab the sack. It was heavy, but with one heave, he was able to swing it across his shoulder. But almost as soon as the bag was on his back, Darrow jumped to the side, dropping his load.
    “It’s moving,” he exclaimed.
    “Of course it’s moving. It’s snakes, you idiot!”
    “Snakes!” Darrow was confused. “Why?”
    “Haven’t you heard?” the woman replied, with a tone of disgust. “The goblins love them. Snake soup. My boys catch them, and I sell them. It’s not much, but it’s a living.” She stared at him curiously. “Where have you been these last ten years?”
    Darrow once again positioned the wiggling sack on his back. “I live in the mountains.”
    “I guess there ain’t many snakes there. So where are you headed?”
    “Hexenwald.”
    “Well, snakes will be the least of your worries there. Have you ever heard of a griesonaut?”
    “Griesonaut?”
    “What mountains do you come from?”
    “The ones to the south.”
    “Well, you might want to learn some things they’re not teaching over there. These griesonauts look like lizards, ’cept they’re long as a man. They have fur and webbed feet. They hide in the bogs. But they travel to the edge of the forest to grab dogs, children, or even grown women. Then they carry them back to eat. People won’t live near that forest anymore. There’s no controlling those creatures.”
    She paused and looked Darrow up and down.
    “A runt like you would barely make them a good meal.”
    Darrow considered the griesonaut attack and the tactics he might use. Thinking of none, he spoke again.
    “Have you heard of a wise man named Asterux?”
    “He’s no wise man.”
    “How do you know?”
    “’Cause he’s a wizard.”
    “A wizard?”
    “He has powers. Good powers, so I heard. He must be dead.”
    “Why is that?”
    “If there was any magic for the good, do you think we’d all be catching snakes for them goblins?”
    Darrow stopped, absorbing this news. His uncle was a wizard, but he might be dead, and the forest was a very dangerous place. Well, no one said it was going to be easy.
    “Can you tell me how I can find him?”
    “No.”
    “Not even which part of the forest?”
    “No one knows.”
    Her tone was so sharp. For a long time, they walked without words, but Darrow was hungry for conversation.
    “What did you do before the goblins came? Did you always catch snakes?”
    “I don’t catch ’em. I just sell ’em. In the old days, I told fortunes.”
    “Will you tell mine?”
    “I don’t tell them anymore. They are all bad. Yours? You are traveling alone into the Hexenwald Forest with no weapon, looking for a wizard you will never find. You don’t need me to know your fortune.”
    Darrow smiled at this warning.
    “If things were so predictable, we wouldn’t need fortune-tellers, would we?”
    For the first time, the woman smiled.
    “Give me your hand.”
    Darrow set the snakes on the ground, gripping the bag with one hand. The woman did not look at his palm but wrapped his hand between both of her own and closed her eyes. For a long time she stood silent, then she opened her eyes. She was shaking.
    “What did you see?” asked Darrow earnestly.
    “Beware of the words of a loved one, for they mark the path of death.”
    Darrow gulped. “And what will be the outcome?”
    She grabbed the bag from Darrow’s hand and turned to walk away.
    “But what is my fortune?” Darrow called after her.
    “I told you. I do not tell fortunes anymore.”

    It was