Read Online Knights: Legends of Ollanhar by Robert E. Keller - Free Book Online Page B

window."
    Loud banging on the front door broke the silence.
    Lannon opened it and found a huge, bearded man standing
before him. The man's face was weathered and ugly, with an oversized nose, and
his shoulders were as wide as the doorframe. He wore rusty chain mail and held
an iron hammer in one hand. He seemed almost ogre-like.
    Lannon pushed the man back a bit and stepped outside,
closing the door behind him. Two more men--similar in appearance to the first
one--stood before the door. They looked so much alike that Lannon assumed they
were brothers. They glared down at him--angry giants eager to smash him.
    "Greetings," said Lannon. "I'm here on
behalf of the innkeeper."
    "So you're paying his debt?" one of them asked.
He held out a sack. "Just drop the coins in there, then, and we'll be on
our way."
    "Not going to happen," said Lannon. "I'm a
Knight of Dremlock Kingdom. I'm also a Dark Watchman. Does that mean anything
to you?"
    "It does," one of them said. "You might be a
Knight, but you're no Dark Watchman. I think you're a liar."
    "He is a dirty liar," another said.
"Look at his face."
    "I'm not a liar," said Lannon, "but you're
clearly thieves. What gives you the right to steal from the innkeeper?"
    "We're not stealing anything," one of them said.
"He owes us, and each night after he does business we come to
collect."
    "We come to collect!" another echoed, raising his
hammer.
    "Owes you for what?" asked Lannon.
    "He hired us to keep the peace in his tavern,"
one of them said. "We worked for months with no pay except food and ale,
while he made excuses and empty promises. Finally we grew tired of it and
decided to force him to pay."
    Lannon sensed they were being truthful. He was about to
take their side when one of the brothers tried to shove a hammer into his gut.
    Lannon seized the hammer and tossed it far down the street
where it landed with a thud. "No need for that," he said. I believe
your story."
    But the brothers weren't listening. They drove in on him
with fists and hammers, intent on breaking his bones. They were immensely
strong and fought with the fury of barbarians, swinging the heavy hammers with
shocking ease. But Lannon was too swift for them, dodging the blows.
    Lannon hurled one of them against the wall of the inn,
cracking a few boards. He punched another one lightly in the stomach, winding
him and causing him to double over for a moment. He swatted a hammer aside with
his palm.
    Stunned at Lannon's power, they backed away, looking grim.
Their eyes were wide with shock. It seemed they had given up.
    "Had enough?" Lannon asked. "Let's talk,
then."
    In response, one of them hurled his hammer at Lannon's gut.
It was a mighty throw that might have dropped a charging bull in its tracks.
    Lannon caught the hammer, then held it forth in two hands.
"Enough of this," he said. "Let me show you what will happen if
you continue." With the Eye flooding through his muscles, Lannon bent the
stout iron handle into a circle. He tossed the mangled weapon to the ground.
    The brothers bowed their heads, looking sullen.
    "You are indeed a Dark Watchman," one of them
said. "And that means the innkeeper has won. He has truly cheated us out
of our money. I guess we'll just go back to the forge with nothing."
    "This isn't fair," another said. "Our
blacksmith business is failing, and we desperately needed that money to buy
better supplies. We'll be forced to close now. But we obviously can't defeat
you."
    "You don't have to," said Lannon. He was
determined to help them. "How much does the innkeeper owe you?"
    "Eight silver each," one of them answered.
    "He owes that much?" said Lannon, sighing. He
wanted to kick the innkeeper in the shin for cheating these three brothers.
They were obviously simple men who worked hard for what they had and didn't
deserve such poor treatment. He sensed that under different circumstances they
would have been likable fellows.
    They nodded. "We did a lot of work. We practically
lived at the