Read Online Strife In The Sky (Book 7) by Craig Halloran - Free Book Online

“and I’m just passing through.”
    The soldier poked him in the chest.
    “Not with that hardware, you’re not,” it said, peering closer at him. “Take it off.”
    What is going on? Why is this orc bothering me? Avert! Avert!
    Ben’s hand slipped to a dagger hidden under his cloak.
    He said, “I’m just passing through. Looking for work. I can work the docks or sell my services with a sword.”
    A pair of other soldiers flanked him.
    This is bad in so many ways.
    “What seems to be the problem, Harvath?”
    “This one carries a dagger,” Harvath said, poking Ben in the chest again.
    “Oh,” the soldier said. He was a beefy man, but stout and seasoned, “he has a dagger, does he? And let me guess, you think he’s going to take it to us. The hundreds of us?” He laughed and so did the other. “Methinks you just don’t like this fella cause he’s a might more,” he stared at Ben for a moment, and blinked his eyes, “unappealing than you are.”
    “I’m a hard worker,” Ben interjected.
    “Uh,” the soldier said, shaking his head, “I’m sure you are. Just head on through.”
    “But,” Harvath objected.
    “No buts, Harvath. Let this poor fellow go. I’ve more important things to do.”
    “I can help you,” Ben said with a grin. “I’m a really hard worker. I really am.”
    The sergeant’s eyes got really big.
    “Don’t make me turn you around. If you can find someone who’ll hire you, then good fortune to you. But you won’t be working for me. Now go!”
    Ben nodded and headed into the city. He could still hear Harvath arguing with the sergeant with each and every step.
    “Something about that man,” Harvath said, “I tell you.”
    “Find someone else to bother, Harvath.”
    Ben kept his smile to himself, walking along the wharf until he found the sign that read: The Water Dog Inn. He pushed the door open, and inside he went. Dozens of hardened stares greeted him and at the same time looked away. Their rugged conversations continued. Ben sauntered up to a stool at the end of the bar. A man the size of two people glanced over at him and moved one stool farther away.
    This must be how Brenwar feels.
    A bartender came over wiping his hands on a rag and said, “What will it be?” His eyes were smoky, like darkened glass.
    “Coffee,” Ben said.
    “Better make it ale,” the old man said under his breath. “I may be blind, but I can still see, Stranger.”
    Ben swallowed.
    “Ale it is.”
    The blind bartender shuffled away and returned with a large tankard.
    “I can’t drink all of this?”
    “You will, and that will be twenty bits of gold.”
    “What?”
    “Twenty gold,” the old man warned, “else I expose your sorcery.”
    Ben stiffened.
    “But I don’t have twenty gold.”
    “That’s too bad then,” the old man said. “Heh, heh. Too bad indeed. Riik!”
    A shadow rose behind him and busted a club over his back. Everything went black.

 
    CHAPTER 18
     
     
    Dawn broke over the river, and Ben had not returned.
    “He should have been back by now,” Brenwar said, pacing back and forth.
    “Just give him some more time,” Nath said. “An hour, and if he doesn’t return we’ll do something.
    “Certainly he made it to the Water Dog Inn,” Bayzog said. “If we go in, we can start from there.”
    Nath’s thoughts drifted to Gorlee. The Chameleon should have been with them. They’d come to rely on him heavily. He wondered how he and the dwarves were doing.
    “So who goes in?” Brenwar said, combing his beard. “We can’t send one more in and risk losing another. Those soldiers are bound to recognize us, aversion balm or not.”
    “There’s always a potion,” Bayzog said, “And I have spells.”
    “Keep your trickery to yourself,” Brenwar said. “But since you’re volunteering …” Brenwar gave Bayzog a shove. “Get going.”
    “Are you mad, Dwarf?”
    “Am I mad? Is my beard black? Are your ears pointed?” He stomped his foot. “You bet I’m