Belly of the Beast Warren Thomas (e novels for free .txt) 📖

the warrior, after all. But Ma and Pa won’t sign for me to join the army. Ain’t fair. I’ll be sixteen next month, and got my full growth. I’m a grown woman.”

            “You’re still a child, so shut up and eat your peas,” Mercia said, then shuttered. “I was sixteen when I joined the Amazon Imperial Army, and quickly came to wish my Ma and Pa had refused to sign for me. Armies are not nice places for young girls to be.”

            “Ain’t going to matter much,” Jessy said. “War’s coming to us. That’s what I heard in the village green today. So I’ll just fight here with the levy, instead of with the Royal Army where I could do the most good.”

            “Who said the war was coming here?” Tane said.

            “Merchants. Said the roads south of here are full of refugees,” she said. “Word is they’re hounded by zombie monsters and undead fiends.”

            Memories of his nightmare returned, filling his head for a long moment.

            “Bah! Rumors, that’s all,” Calvan said, dismissing it all with a wave of the hand. “Every war I ever fought in had rumors like that. They always seemed to have some evil wizards and such going around and bespelling nice folks like us, or raising the dead, to make them do terrible things. Never happened in all my years of campaigning, not even once.”

            “That’s right,” Mercia said. “When we finally came face to face with the enemy on the field, they were just folks like us. They all died real good, too.”

            “I don’t know,” Jessy said, voice dropping to a whisper. “Those men seemed awful spooked, and they were Tyrians, too.”

            Everyone stopped eating, staring at her in surprise. Tyrians never got spooked. They were utterly fearless, or so Tane had always heard. Then he recalled his dream, of the soul-numbing feeling of doom and despair slowly descending upon him as he worked frantically to finish his swords.

            When Tane glanced up, he saw his mother staring worriedly at him. She didn’t want him to go, had argued against it from the beginning. She was afraid for his safety, fearing she’d never see him again. Tane had dismissed it as typical mother-worry. Now he wasn’t so sure.

            “Well, if there really is an army on the march, and heading our way, then the king will need a good swordsmith,” Tane said, trying to sound cheerful.

Chapter 2

            Bracklin was still sleeping when Tane stepped out of the only home he had ever known. The two-story half-timbered house was the only one lit at that early hour, with the houses crowded in to either side and across the street eerily dark and quiet. Only a lone wolf in the distance broke the silence of the pre-dawn.

            Tane wore new-made trousers and tunic of good cotton, with a thick woolen cloak draped over his thick shoulders. He wore the hunting boots Uncle Calvan had given him on his last birthday. The night air was unusually brisk for early autumn. It looked to be an especially rough winter.

            His sword, Bearclaw, rested in its scabbard on his left hip. Tane was still getting used to the weight and feel of it. Smiths didn’t carry swords, not even swordsmiths. It felt strange, though vaguely comforting.

            Tane lovingly caressed Bearclaw’s bright steel pommel. He had stayed up late finishing up sharpening and polishing the blade. The neighbors would probably have a few curt words for his father later this morning about all the noise they made testing it. He felt guilty, it being past midnight and all before the sword was finally ready for the test. But Bearclaw didn’t break, and polished up brilliantly.

            “Wait’ll they see what I can do,” he muttered with a grin. “Master Tane of the Royal Smithy sounds pretty good, and oh so right, to my ears.”

            “And mine, too,” his mother said, startling him.

            “Ma! You scared ten years off me,” he cried. “Pa’s right. We need to put a bell around your ankle, or something. Always going around sneaking up on folks.”

            “Be careful, Tane,” she said, for once not rising to the bait. “I’ll miss you.”

            Oh, Kamain, save me, he thought. She’s going to start crying again.

            “Don’t worry, Ma,” he said, stroking her back. “We both know swordsmiths are too valuable to risk. I’ll stay safe and sound back in Kestsax while the army goes out and smashes the invaders. Please don’t worry.”

            She nodded teary-eyed. “Now you be careful of those nasty city girls. They are wanton, and only want to steal your hard-earned pay. Totally amoral, I tell you. They’ll break your heart, and laugh at your tears.”

            “Oh, Ma. Please, I’m a grown man.”

            Tane sighed wearily. He had been hearing that same speech every day since announcing his intentions of going to Kestsax to serve the king.

            “I’ll be too busy at the Royal Smithy to worry about women,” Tane said. “Besides, what would a wild and wicked city woman want with a simple backwoods smith like me?”

            “I shutter to think,” she said, squeezing her eyes closed. “I’m sorry, Tane. I know I’m acting crazy. You are a good man, and will do the right thing.”

            “She’s just afraid for you, son,” Kyle said, stepping out to join them. “And so am I. If the army doesn’t stop the invaders, then that’ll mean a siege. Sieges are terrible ordeals.”

            “I’ll be careful,” Tane said.

            He shouldered his pack and took up his walking stick. It would be a two day walk to Kestsax. He had more than enough coin for lodgings and food, and two sets of spare clothes. Some of the daggers, knives, and even some ornate brass sword hilts he had crafted over the years were being taken in case Bearclaw wasn’t enough to prove his skill to the Royal Smithy’s Master Smith.

            “I’ll write soon as I get settled in,” he promised, hugging his mother good-bye.

            “You