The Gateway (Harbinger of Doom Volume 1) Read Online Free Page A

comrades.
    Now look unto the west and behold thy sisters,
thy wives, thy mothers, and thy daughters.”
    “ Around us are our kinsmen,
always,” said the men.
    “ Now think not again of them until
we march on the homeward road.”
    “ Not until the homeward road,”
said the men.
    “ Now look unto the south and
behold thy father, and thy father’s father, and all thy line afore
thee, back unto the beginning.”
    “ Unto the beginning,” said the
men.
    “ Now look forward and behold thy
fate. For before you lay the paths to victory and glory, and the
paths to defeat and disgrace. Intersecting these paths are the road
to tomorrow, the road to Valhalla, and the road to
darkness.”
    “ Beware the dark road,” said the
men.
    “ Now look above thee and behold
the all-father. He beckons us forth to meet our fate. He tells us
that the path we choose is of our own making.”
    “ Our path is our own,” said the
men.
    “ Now my brothers, vow thy
path.”
    “ We choose the path to victory and
tomorrow if we can, to victory and Valhalla if we must,” said the
men. “This we vow.”
    “ We shall bring Lord Eotrus home,
or take vengeance on his slayers if he has fallen. This we
vow.”
    “ This we vow,” said the
men.
    “ Rise now my brothers,” said
Claradon, “and go to thy fate with Odin’s blessing.”
    The men arose and stood silently for several
moments.
    “ --All right, you slackers,”
bellowed Ob. “That’s enough standing around. Check your weapons and
secure your packs. We’ll be heading out forthwith.”
    As the men prepared their equipment, Claradon
moved to where Theta and Dolan were standing. “I hope that our rite
did not offend or make you uncomfortable,” he said, as he removed
his clerical vestments.
    “ Not at all,” said
Theta.
    “ Vowing thy path,” said Claradon,
“is an ancient prayer amongst our people. We wouldn’t embark on a
quest or go off to battle without speaking it.”
    “ We have a similar rite in our
land,” said Theta.
    “ Then why may I ask did you not
join us and reaffirm your path?”
    “ I chose my path long ago, Eotrus.
I know its every crag and crevice. I could no more divert from it,
than could the sun choose not to rise in the morn.”
    “ Then I’m glad that we’ll face
this road together, since you know it so well.”
    Theta stared off into the distance. “Mine is a
perilous road; those that walk it with me are seldom long for
Valhalla.”
    Dolan raised an eyebrow at this.
    “ Ominous words, my Lord,” said
Claradon. “I’d gladly end the day in Valhalla, if before I drew my
last I avenged my father.”
    “ Be not so quick to fly to
Valhalla, young Eotrus, it will still be there however long your
journey. It is…eternal.”

    V
    DARGUS DAL

    As the men adjusted their gear, Gabriel
unlocked an ironbound chest that he and his aides had earlier
dragged into the room. When he opened the lid, an unnatural glow
crept from within. The men gathered about to get a closer look.
Gabriel reached in and pulled forth a long dagger in a bejeweled
leather sheath. When he bared the silvered blade, it glowed with a
soft white light. Similar blades filled the chest.
    The men gasped at the sight of that eldritch
blade, ensorcelled as it was with some forgotten magic of bygone
days to luminesce so. Most retreated several paces and some drew
their swords.
    “ Sorcery!” said one
knight.
    “ Witchcraft!” cried
another.
    “ Hold,” boomed Gabriel. ‘There is
no danger here. This blade and its kin are weapons for us to gird,
not foes for us to fight. Cover your blades. Now.”
    The men complied, though fear and doubt filled
many a face.
    “ What’s this humbug, Gabe?” said
Ob. “We’ve no need of fairy magics, we have honest steel to gird
us.”
    “ And honest steel is all one needs
when facing mortal man or beast,” said Gabriel. “But today I fear
we face something more.”
    “ Bah,” said Ob.
    “ Sir Gabriel is right,” said Par
Tanch. “We’re