True Warriors Sing by Rowan Erlking (classic book list .TXT) 📕

He opened up a stall, grabbing a halter to put on one brown mare. Jonis gestured for LjuBa to get the saddle hanging on the wall. Clearly he knew she could ride.

“I recommend you both hurry through the woods to the village first, then ride to the main road straight home. You will have more speed on the road.”

Ljev grabbed the other saddle. Jonis had led the mare out gesturing to the other stall where a speckled stallion was watching them. He only had the two horses.

LjuBa shivered staring at them. She then looked to Jonis who was handing Ljev the bridle. “How are you going to live without your horses?”

“Oh don’t worry. We have a car.” Jonis just waved it off, not even looking at her as he took the saddle from her and heaved it onto the horse’s back for her so she would not strain her wounded side.

“A what?” Ljev urged the bit into the stallion’s mouth.

Looking back at him, Jonis smirked. “A car.”

He then pointed to the back of the stables.

Both Ljev and LjuBa peered into the darkness. It was a large strangely-shaped carriage, covered, black and shiny. The frame was metal though. LjuBa walked up to it, passing Ljev as he adjusted the bridle so it was comfortable on the horse’s head. She rapped her knuckles on the strange extended front. Then she peered at it, frowning. “There’s no traces! How do you attach it to the horse?”

Breaking into a laugh, Jonis was shaking his head then sighed. “It is a horseless carriage. Mechanical.”

“Mechanical?” Ljev set the saddle down on the stall gate, walking immediately over to the vehicle to stare at it. “But how does it move without a horse?”

Sighing, Jonis strolled over to them, nudging LjuBa to the side then lifting open the front like one would a wooden storage chest. He then gestured to the oddly shaped insides. There were wheels, belts, cylinders and odd rope like things that reminded LjuBa of the ‘plumbing’ in the house though these were bendable.

Jonis said, “It would take too long for me to explain how all the parts work, but this is called the engine. Imagine how a body works, with a stomach that gathers food and the rest that distributes it to the needed parts. That’s what the engine does.”

“Is it alive?” Ljev asked, staring at the shining yet oily metal parts inside.

“No.” Jonis chuckled, “But I know of a civilization outside our world that had created machines that seemed nearly alive. And that was about three thousand years ago.”

Ljev looked up to Jonis’s face. “You know things from three thousand years back?”

Jonis nodded rather frankly, closing the cover to the vehicle’s engine. “Remember is the more proper term.” He led the way back to the horses. “Cordrils have the ability to pass on memories, and the Macoys have passed on the memory of all our ancestors to all our children, sort of a tradition.”

Both KiTai warriors stared at him.

When he saw their looks, Jonis merely smirked. “I know. That’s a lot. When my father first passed all those memories onto me, my head throbbed for several years. Sometimes I think I am still sorting out memories from my ancestors. I’ve been passing them on to my children in smaller increments.

“Now, we’ve got to get you two home.” Jonis then heaved up the other saddle, placing it onto the back of the horse.

But LjuBa and Ljev watched him, both realizing that this man was indeed someone entirely amazing. Both felt like children next to him, truly overwhelmed that such a man would help them.

“Come on!” Jonis beckoned them to the horses again.

Ljev and LjuBa practically jumped to obey.

They heaved their saddlebags on, gathered their coats around them for warmth, and then led the horses out of the stables, following Jonis. Jonis pulled Ljev aside, pointing out on the map the routes he believed were the quickest for their journey home. Then he walked back to LjuBa to make sure her saddle was secure, or at least pretended to.

He whispered up to her, “Your wound should heal completely in about month. The paper seal will keep it sealed indefinitely until the proper person takes it off.”

LjuBa nodded. “Thank you.”

But Jonis peered up with that incorrigible smirk on his lips. “You cannot take it off yourself. The way I wrote the spell was for your true love to remove it.”

“What?” LjuBa’s face suddenly flushed. She tried her hardest not to look up in a way that would justify any reason for him to say such a thing. “Don’t tease!”

“I’m not teasing,” he said, though his blue eyes were glittering with mischief, “…exactly. But some advice, lady. From one who has searched long and hard for love, you really shouldn’t pretend you don’t feel a certain way about a certain someone.”

She raised her chest and her chin, frowning at him. “A meddler to the last…”

Jonis laughed, bowing to her. “My pleasure, as always.”

Huffing, LjuBa rode up to Ljev, keeping her chin stiff. He glanced to her then blinked.

“Is something wrong?”

“Let’s just go,” LjuBa snapped.

Glancing back to Jonis, Ljev waved. “Thank you again! I’ll make sure your horses get back to you!”

“Just take care!” Jonis called waving them off. “That baron sounds like a nasty piece of work.”

“We will!” And Ljev immediately cracked the reins for his stallion, calling for it to ride quickly.

LjuBa called after, glancing back only once at the fair strange Cordril waving after standing in the yard of his home.

Their ride to the border then to the village took very little time. They were in the woods riding straight to the village on the other side well before sunset, Ljev leading the way at a good pace for the horses. They emerged just as the evening fires were being lit.

LjuBa slid off her mount, listening to the air. There were no demonic sounds, but there was an ominous undercurrent as if something was being played in a minor key—a tune she realized at that moment was not a demon but the sound of hate. When Ljev slid off his horse, he opened his mouth to call out that they returned.

LjuBa slapped a hand over his mouth, setting a finger to hers.

“What is it?” He whispered back. “Is it the other demon?”

LjuBa shook her head. “No. But something bad. We should go in carefully.”

Nodding to her, Ljev followed her lead now. They walked into town, their horses clopping slowly after them until they reached the village center. It was clean and shining, but the minor tune grew only stronger, creeping along the ground like mist. LjuBa led the horses to the well then reached for the bucket to draw water. She whispered the song to make it come up quickly and pure.

Ljev peered at the homes wondering what had caught LjuBa’s attention. Sliding to her side, he whispered, “What are you hearing? Where is it coming from?”

“Bad tune,” LjuBa murmured. She then pointed to one of the houses near the village center. “I think they are waiting for us.”

“They?” Ljev frowned. “They who? The villagers?”

Listening carefully, LjuBa shook her head, also hearing a faint mournful sound. There was regret in it. “No. More like…” 

“The Baron’s men,” Ljev finished for her, understanding. He murmured, “They must have figured out we killed the gole. We’ve been gone about three days. That’s enough time for them to make camp here.”

“And lie in wait,” LjuBa nodded also.

He then tapped her belt. “Did you sing the song when you put this on again?”

LjuBa nodded. “Of course. Protection by the gods is the best choice.”

Ljev smiled. He drew his sword.

Drawing hers, LjuBa listened to the air. “Should we call them out, or charge in?”

Sighing, clearly reaching for resolve, Ljev replied, “We call them out. We don’t need blood spilt anywhere else in this village.”

“Me or you?” LjuBa asked, smirking at him.

Ljev smiled back then raised his voice. “You in there! Baron Hoisten’s men! Come out!”

There was a rustle then a jostle, as the door to the home burst open, six men rushing out with weapons drawn. All of them looked ready to kill.

“It is not my desire to kill you,” Ljev said. “But if you force us, we will.”

Clenching his teeth, the leader of the group let out a war cry, heaving up his fat blade. All of them charged.

LjuBa and Ljev met them.

But it was a different battle than before. The blade against blade was also against heavy mace and brute strength. Yet even that was nothing to the strong heart and will of the returned KiTai warriors who disarmed those they could, and killed those they could not. Four of the baron’s men remained alive, seething out threats at Ljev as LjuBa tossed their weapons and severed parts away. Two hands were in the pile, leaving two men whimpering over their bloody stumps.

Ljev’s sword point was poking at the second in command’s throat, as the leader lay dead on the ground, slashed to the heart. “You and your men will take your dead back to that baron with a message. If he dares take on a KiTai warrior, he is asking for the entire KiTai nation to come down on him. His Highness the King will know of this.”

“You dog!” the second in command spat blood at him. “You die! You to king no return!”

“Do you wish to survive this day?” LjuBa asked, lifting her sword to lop off his head if necessary.

The man pulled back, glaring at her.

Ljev called to the village leader. “Here come! These men, tie. Tomorrow with message, to baron, take.”

Cringing, the village leader wrung his hand. “Baron us, if we do, kill.”

Shaking his head, Ljev replied. “In two days, king to baron army send. I promise.”

“Promise?” the village leader blinked at him.

“We returned with the gole wards,” LjuBa replied, gesturing back to the horses. “We keep our promises.”

That changed the tense tune in the air to one of soft relief. Several people who had been listening came out, rushing to claim a portion of the promised wards. LjuBa went back to the saddlebags to distribute them, explaining where to hang them, for best results. The song of the wards jingled in her hands like a military chant mixed with the bubbling of water. Not evil, but beautiful.

Ljev joined her the moment the baron’s men were seized and tied. For the rest of the afternoon they hung the gole wards, leaving the village surrounded and full of song.

They stayed the night in the northern village. This time they ate a feast of roast pork, baked apples, potatoes, spiced ciders, sautéed vegetables, glazed fruits and several different confections that LjuBa could not identify. The people celebrated the end of the gole threat with more gusto than the KiTai ever did, even in their holiday celebrations, drinking until the night was late, children nodding off in their parents’ laps as Ljev recounted whom he had obtained the gole wards from, mostly saying there was a magister just over the border in Westhaven who would gladly help them out more if they asked.

LjuBa nodded off near the fire, listening to his rich voice describe the magic user, making it explicitly clear that the man was a demon, but not one that ate human flesh. And though he expounded on the amazing attributes of Jonis’s family, he did not clarify what Jonis could do except that it was wise not to let him touch them. In a way it was like he was preparing his speech for the king to convince him not to enter Westhaven by any means. Of course, if she hadn’t seen them herself, she wasn’t so sure she would easily believe the tale Ljev was spinning either. The locals stared wide-eyed when Ljev talked, all of them recoiling at the idea that such a powerful demon lived a day’s