Refuge: Kurt's Quest Read Online Free Page A

forest.  Still, my
people are more at home in the forest, something ancestral, I am sure.”
    “They also want nothing to do with the Nords,”
said Garios.  “My people have traded with the white humans for ages, and I can
communicate with them.”
    “White humans?” asked Jackie in a curious
voice.  “Like the Germans?”
    “Not like the Germans,” said the Dwarf, shaking
his head.  “Not like any of your people.”
    “Are they good or bad?” asked Kurt, his own
eyes searching the forest, even though he knew his own scout, out there in the
woods, was better than anything that might be trying to surprise them.
    “They are like most humans,” said the Dwarf
with a smile.  “Some are good, some evil.  Most are somewhere in between, and
want nothing more than to be left alone to live their lives.”
    [Riders approach] came the transmission from White
Paw.  [Many riders.]
    [Like the riders from the plains,] sent Kurt in
reply.
    [No,] said the wolf.  [They are heavy with the
steel you humans wear, on big horses.]
    [Keep a close watch, and be prepared to use
your mind when I call.}
    Fenris’ ears perked up, and Kurt knew that the
Elf could now hear them.  It took a few moments for his own ears to pick them
up, and he was sure a normal human would still be unaware of the presence of
the men.  They had stopped by a bend in the road, where they could see a
hundred meters of straight path, and allow the others to see them as well. 
Fenris had thought it a good idea to let the riders see them, as surprise could
turn into a disaster quickly.
    The first riders to come into sight stopped as
soon as they saw the adventurers.  They were clad in chain from head to foot,
with conical helmets on their heads, and long swords at their side.  Their
sircoats were worked with a brown bear.  They were big men, strongly built, on
big horses.  They had broad faces and big noses, features that reminded Kurt of
Africans on Earth.  And they looked like they had painted their faces with
flour, or some kind of solid white makeup.
    One of the riders turned and shouted something,
then both men drew their blades and started their horses toward the party at a
walk.  When they had covered about a third of the distance more riders came
around the curve of the road in a column of twos.  All were armed and armored
much as the first two, except for what looked like a pair of magic users among
them.  The riders kept coming around the curve, until Kurt counted thirty of
them.
    The leading pair stopped ten meters from Kurt
and Fenris, the leading riders of their group.  They looked over the human and
Elf, swords still gripped tightly in their hands.  “What manner of men are
you?” asked the older of the soldiers.  Kurt heard the words as if they were
German, translated by the Dwarf, who rode his own horse to the front where he
could communicate with the Nords.
    “We are friends,” said Garios, holding up an
open hand.  “We are merely passing through.”
    Another knight, this one with an aristocratic
cast to his features, rode through the others.  A man with a lance and flapping
pennant rode beside him, and a woman in leather armor followed.  That’s a
magic user , thought Kurt, his eyes following the small group.  They reined
to a halt in front of the party and the two scouts moved their horses back.
    “An Elf and a Dwarf,” said the leader, bowing
his head to the pair.  “But the three of you?  Are you Danes?  Those who have
so troubled the king?”
    [So, the Danish people came in to these lands,]
sent Jackie to Kurt.  [I think we’re going to find all the Earth’s people in
this place, eventually.]
    Kurt sent back his acknowledgement, paying
attention to the exchange that would determine whether they had another fight
on their hands.
    “They are not Danes, whoever that might be,”
answered Garios, half turning and nodding toward his friends.  “These people
are of the Germans, Americans and Brits, though of