Myrkron (Volume Two of The Chronicles of the Myrkron) Read Online Free Page B

since about this time yesterday.  As hungry as he was, Bran thought he would give up food for the next week for a dip in a nice cool mountain lake right about now.  The heat in these lower lands was taxing and made him feel grimy all the time.
    Mardak studied Bran as he sat in front of the tent.  He seated himself facing the dwarf and crossed his legs.  "So Axethane Bran, tell me about Dain."
    Bran opened his eyes and peered up.  "What is it you would like to hear?"
    " Anything that would give me insight into why he would go through what he did to help one of my kind."
    Bran sighed again and sat forward with his elbows on his knees.  "Dain is unlike most of our race.  His father is a Forger, and his mother is a Delver.  To say it is uncommon for such a union to take place would be an understatement."
    " The Forgers are your warriors are they not?"  Mardak inquired.
    " Aye.  We are the warriors and smiths of our people.  The Delvers are the stone crafters among us.  From them also come the healers.  The two clans hardly ever intermarry.  Dain is from such a union.  He was attached to a group guarding one of the passes into our land when I met him."
    " Is he not young for one of your race to be in a fighting unit?"
    " Aye, but not by much.  Most of us start out when we are not much older than he is now, as apprentices to a unit of soldiers.  We spend time as messengers and cooks' helpers.  We learn to tend arms and armor and then how to wield those arms.  If we display an aptitude for repairing things, we generally are then apprenticed to a smith so we can learn the craft of forging.  If we are better with wielding than repairing, then we are trained in fighting.  Dain was a cook’s aid when I met him.  He brought me a bowl of soup and then just stared at me."  Bran laughed lightly, remembering the awed look on Dain’s face.  "He told me I glowed."
    " Ah, the boy can see auras then.  That explains much," Mardak nodded knowingly.
    " How so?"  Bran asked.
    " Since he can see the aura of men, he can know what they are feeling and what is in their hearts.  He knew we came to help and were no threat to you.  He could read it in Karg’s and my auras.  That explains why he trusted me enough to approach.  He is a rare one, your Dain."
    " Aye.  That he is.  He has saved us more times than I care to count.  There isn't a man among my unit who would not give his life to protect Dain.  After this morning, I’ll wager a good many of Commander Salic’s men feel the same."
    " I’d not take that bet.  I can assure you they do, for I feel the same way."  Mardak chuckled.  "By the look on my brother’s face upon seeing me as I am now, I would wager he would take on a great wurm barehanded if it threatened Dain."
    " I’d not take that bet either," Bran said eyeing the big ogre.
    Mardak laughed at Bran turning his own statement back on him.
    Bran was sitting with his head tilted back and his eyes closed when he heard a rustle from inside the tent behind him.  He heard the faint chink of chain mail and then opened his eyes to see Dain pull back the flap on the tent.  Dark circles under the boy’s eyes spoke to his fatigue.
    " You should rest more, Dain.  The wounded are being tended," Bran told him.
    " There is one that requires me, Axethane," Dain stated as he walked from the tent and headed toward the area where the wounded were being treated.
    Bran was immediately on his feet as was Mardak.  They followed behind the young dwarf, watching him as he tried to smooth out the gray healers tunic he wore over his armor.  There wasn’t much gray left to it.  Most of it was stained an ugly dark brown from the blood that had dried on it from all the wounded Dain had healed during the battle.
    " Axethane, why does he think he is needed by one of them?"  Mardak asked, gesturing to the many wounded laying in neat rows on the canyon floor.
    " I couldn't even begin to answer that, Master Mardak.  I only