Read Online Demontech: Onslaught by David Sherman - Free Book Online Page B

next to the tray. Then he noticed the chest was pulled out and pain flickered across his face.
    “It’s all there,” Spinner reassured him. “We disturbed nothing.” He stood and bowed. “You honor us with your aid.”
    “My lord,” the old man said, returning the bow.
    “What were you called?”
    The old man looked at him for a long moment before replying in a soft voice, “They called me Tiger.”
    “Tiger, they call me Spinner and him Haft.”
    The old man snuffled and brushed the back of a hand across his eyes. Then he removed the cover from the tray.
    Haft and Spinner salivated at the aroma of the stew that was exposed in two bowls. The loaf of bread between the bowls smelled freshly baked. The old man pulled a pair of spoons from somewhere within his garments and handed them over. The girl retrieved two cups from somewhere and carefully filled them from the pitcher. In a short while the food was gone to the last drop of sauce and last crumb of bread, and the pitcher was down to the dregs. Haft leaned back and belched contentedly.
    “Thank you, Tiger. We needed that,” Spinner said politely.
    The old man’s great-granddaughter looked at them more wide-eyed than before.
    The old man bobbed his head several times. “I am glad to do whatever I can to help you rid my city of them . Now you can rest until nightfall.”
    “What are they doing out there now?” Haft asked.
    “There is a citywide manhunt,” the old man said, glee lighting his face. “Early this morning a large raiding party struck at several of the ships they occupy in the harbor and killed twenty of them , including a general or an admiral.”
    “Really?” Haft asked innocently.
    The old man bobbed his head vigorously. “That’s what people on the street are saying.” He looked at them conspiratorially and dropped his voice. “Personally, I think that’s an exaggeration. Had there been such a raid, surely we would have heard the sounds of the battle. Certainly there would have been spontaneous attacks on them as a result of the raid.”
    Spinner nodded gravely. “I agree that such a raid would have caused more interest when it happened. And if a general or an admiral was killed, the Jokapcul would be murdering people wholesale on the streets.”
    “So it was you who went aboard a ship and killed a couple of them ?” The old man’s eyes twinkled.
    Haft opened his mouth to admit it, but Spinner spoke first.
    “I told you before, we are a reconnaissance. Reconnaissance teams avoid fighting if possible so no one knows they are there.”
    The old man nodded knowingly. “Yes, you said that. It is said they have hanged twenty of their prisoners in reprisal. They are not soldiers, they are beasts. Soldiers do not murder prisoners.”
    Shooing the girl ahead of him, he went to the door. “You rest now, I will return later to lead you out of here.” Then they were gone and Spinner and Haft were alone.
    “He took off before I could give him money for the food,” Spinner said, looking around the barren room again. “I’m sure he couldn’t afford to buy it.” He fished a gold coin out of his purse and put it on the table.
    Haft thought of the young girl, how her clothes contrasted with her feet and hair, and agreed. He added a gold piece to Spinner’s.
    “We’re going to be traveling at night at first,” Spinner said. “So we should get some sleep today. I’ll take first watch. I’ll wake you in a couple of hours.” He got off the chest long enough to open it and take out the book, then settled down to read away the time until Haft’s watch.
    Haft looked at the book and wondered what he was going to do to keep from getting bored during his watch—he read well enough, but it wasn’t something he enjoyed. Then he lay on the pallet of rags-over-pine-boughs and, in the manner of soldiers of all armies, was asleep in minutes.
     
    It was dark by the time the old man returned. He gave them a sack that contained cheese, bread, and