Death and Honor: Book 1 of 2 Read Online Free

leader, and tapped his shoulder. A moment later Loken’s bow twanged and the leader flinched, just enough that the arrow rammed into his neck instead of his shoulder, rocking his head back and knocking him to the ground. Damn it! Jeremiah wanted the leader alive. He charged toward the still standing bandits. “Surrender and you’ll be spared!”
    One bandit made a clumsy thrust with a short sword but Jeremiah batted it aside and decked the man with a mailed fist. The bandit’s head twisted around and he went down in a heap. The sight of their comrades dead or down must have convinced those still standing to surrender because as one they tossed their weapons down and raised their arms.
    “Sergeant, secure these men. If they give you any trouble run them through,” This last bit he added for the benefit of the bandits. None of his men would kill an unarmed man. “Loken, go fetch the horses. We’ll camp here tonight and ride home in the morning.”
    The victory was one-sided for the most part. Once they sorted out the chaos of the battle they had ten prisoners. The rest were dead and dumped in a heap outside the clearing. As for his men, one unlucky corporal got a deep gash on his cheek and two others took blows to the body that would be sore for a few days.
    “The prisoners are secure, sir,” Marcus said when they’d finished tying up the survivors. He held a belt pouch in his hand. “I took this off the leader’s body, thought you might want a look.”
    “Excellent,” Jeremiah took the pouch. “Post a guard detail and tell the rest of the men they can get some sleep. We ride at first light.”
    Marcus saluted and went to carry out his orders. Jeremiah walked over and sat down beside the little chest that appeared to have caused all this fuss. He hefted it; it weighed maybe a pound or two. The lacquered wood gleamed, and the catch showed no sign of damage. The bandits hadn’t attempted to open it after three days in their possession that seemed odd.
    Jeremiah set the chest aside and dumped the pouch out on the ground. By the light of the fire he studied the contents: a used silk handkerchief, no monogram, that went into the fire, a folding, ivory handled, pocket knife that Jeremiah appropriated, it would make an excellent gift for Xander’s birthday next month, and a three inch long scroll case. Inside the case he found a rolled up strip of paper covered in vertical and horizontal lines. If it was a language it was one Jeremiah hadn’t seen. He replaced the scroll in its case and tucked it away in his own pouch. Maybe Alexandra could make sense of it, her father worked as a scribe so she knew a lot about languages.
    Jeremiah yawned and got to his feet, tucking the chest under his arm. He didn’t plan to let it out of his sight until he had a better idea what was happening. Loken had returned with the horses and it was time to get his bedroll and try to sleep. It would be a long ride home at the pace the prisoners could walk.

Chapter 2
    I ck shrieked and waved his hands at the sky causing the branch he perched on to shake. Below him, in a little clearing in the woods four days travel from the nearest settlement, six of the master’s thugs looked up, frowning, at their tiny master. The humans’ fear washed over the little demon and he reveled in it. For three days they’d waited for the rest of the humans to arrive with the master’s package. Even allowing for the general laziness of humans, the bandits should have arrived two days ago.
    After one last shriek at the universe Ick turned his attention to his servants. They were filthy, diseased creatures too stupid to be trusted with even simple tasks without his supervision. The absolute dregs of Lord’s Way, Ick smelled their sweat and the remains of their last meal rotting between their decaying teeth even from his perch far above them. Reaching into their minds Ick read their anxiety and a desire to collect the gold they’d been promised so they could