The Valley of the Beast Part VII

The sun crested over the broken walls of the castle, casting tents and stairwells in the shadows of early morning light.  Sir Pierre broke from his tent that he shared with Lord Sven.  Looking back the big man still slumbered and snored, perhaps a little too comfortable in the wild.  He saw shadows moving from the top of the wall facing east and there he saw Rota and Kiera speaking softly and enjoying the sunrise.  Watching the morning light shine on Kiera's blazing red hair made Sir Pierre rethink his 'room' assignment.  He looked back and saw Lord Sven roll onto his side and groggily sit up.  Maybe on the way back Rota can be persuaded to take his place.

"You have an odd choice of bedmates with those two nearby."  Kaag said as he came up alongside Sir Pierre.  He made no noise as he moved, Pierre never noticed that during their previous battle.  On a battlefield there is noise everywhere so maybe it made sense that he missed that, but here in the quiet of this castle he saw the quiet grace of this warrior.  Something he never thought he would say of an orc half breed. 

"I assure you, it was not my choice."  Sir Pierre said and patted the mercenary leader on his shoulder.  One of Kaag's men brought over coffee and bread and cheese.

"A meal fit for a king!  The hospitality of an orc half-breed!"  Kaag clanked Pierre's mug and took a swig of his particular brand of coffee.  Pierre almost spit out his coffee, but not from the strong taste of alcohol.  Up on the wall Kiera had disrobed in her morning prayers and was singing softly towards the sun.  Rota, standing beside Kiera and following the hymn, was also naked and basking in the morning sun.  Their song carried across the yard, rousing the men and women from their tents and hovels.  Soon the entire castle was captured by the song and followed it to the sunrise.  Lord Sven came alongside Kaag and caught sight of the women on the wall.

"Good, it's going to be one of those adventures," Lord Sven said as he looked over the women singing a prayer to Kiera's goddess.  He stood in awe for a few moments before shaking his head and turning to the rest of the men.  "Glorin, I wa..."

"Utter another word and I will crush your skull,"  Kaag whispered into Lord Sven's ear as his huge hand covered Sven's mouth.  "They can finish their prayer or whatever it is they're doing."

Kaag never took his eyes off the two women as they finished their prayer.  Their bodies glowed ever so slightly in the sun, although Sir Pierre wasn't sure if it was just a trick of the eyes.  Kaag finally released Lord Sven and stalked off to his private chambers.  He muttered under his breath and stole one last glance at the women as the put their clothes back on.  Sir Pierre began helping to rally the band of warriors to assemble as they prepared to leave into the woods.  As she came down the stairs to the courtyard Kiera caught Sir Pierre's gaze and held it.  A wry smile spread across her face and he was forced to smile back and shake his head.  It was going to be one of those adventures indeed.

Once the trance was broken the camp sprang to life as Sir Pierre and his companions prepared to enter the forest.  Tents were broken down, fires put out and packs were slung over shoulders.  You could ride horses into the forests, but the trails were treacherous and hungry beasts often stole them in the night.  Or during the day with the rider still mounted.  Lord Sven had decided to leave behind the two newest knights, Owen and Kar as they were not quite ready for this part an adventure.

"Leaving behind your horses?  Do you not trust me Sir Pierre?"  Kaag was back from his private chambers although Pierre never saw him approach.  Looking at the monstrous orc before him, Pierre wished he had paid more attention to his surroundings.  Kaag was furious that Pierre was leaving knights behind with their horses.

"I asked you a question Sir Pierre, do. You. Not. Trust. Me?"  Kaag had a large dagger in his hand and he was breathing heavily.  Pierre realized what it looked like and was about say something before he stopped himself.

"Well!?" Kaag bellowed loud enough for the entire castle to take notice.

"We are leaving Kaag, and we are leaving two of our finest guards to watch over our horses."  Pierre spoke loud enough for the entire castle to hear.  "I don't know what your mother told you or even if you know who your mother is, but my mother told me to never trust an orc farther than you can throw him.  And if you didn't notice, you're quite large for a rat faced orc."

Kaag gripped his dagger tight and breathed heavily as he prepared to unleash his rage.  Then he saw Pierre wink at him.  He leaned in close, the courtyard heavy with tension.  "What game are you playing Sir Pierre?"

Pierre leaned in closer, "the knights I'm leaving are new recruits.  Owen and Kar.  Break them in, test their mettle for me and I'll pay twenty five gold per recruit."

"Fifty per recruit and I promise we won't kill them,"  Kaag spoke quietly but with anger still lingering in his tone.

"Done."  Pierre turned back to the courtyard and stared at all of the hardened mercenaries surrounding their camp at the moment.  "I'm leaving two of my highly trained knights to watch over our horses and supplies.  If any of you are thinking of helping yourselves to our wares once we have left, you'll have to go through Owen and Kar first."

Pierre turned a grabbed his pack off the ground as he, Sven, Brother Gronin took the lead out the back gate.  Kiera was flanked on either side by Rota and Paxil.  Last came the twins Bernard and Brandon, brothers who grew up as rangers before joining the ranks of the Battered Rose.

"What was that all about?"  Sven asked after they had lost sight of the castle.

"I wanted Kaag to test Owen and Kar while we searched for the temple."  Pierre looked at Sven and shrugged.  "They'll be fine, I took care of it."

"Kaag doesn't seem the mentoring type."

"Exactly my point."  Pierre smiled a thumped Sven's arm.  The group came upon the first marker, a statue from a forgotten time that marked an ancient road forgotten in the forest.  Pierre was getting ready to lead the group on from the statue when Sven stopped him.

"What is it?"  Pierre asked and he followed Sven's gaze up the derelict statues façade.

"It's the statue."  Sven said and turned to Pierre.  "It's eyes are bleeding."