Read Online The God Warriors by Sean Liebling - Free Book Online

a pitcher ready to pour. John simply shook his head at their antics and looked over his shoulder at the raven-haired female watching him from a short distance away. He immediately turned back to the others as another slight blush spread across his face.
    "Why do the girls we rescued seem so subservient, Alvaldi?" he whispered to the man sitting next to him, low enough so the others could not hear. He asked Alvaldi because, though they had only known each other for a handful of hours, the other man was rock steady and a growing friendship had already sprung up between them.
    "She's old enough and certainly pretty enough to have been married. She might even have a child or two. When the Illian came through, they killed all the men and male offspring, and female children under eight. She's homeless, penniless, only has the clothes on her back and most likely has little mouths to feed. She is looking for a new husband, of course. In fact, I would guarantee she has children. She's too pretty not to have been married for at least two years," he whispered back.
    John was aghast. "But doesn't the king take care of people in situations like this?
    "Yes, and no. When we get to the city, she and her young ones can take refuge at any of the churches. The churches will feed and clothe her for as long as she stays there and does her prayers. The king provides each church a yearly stipend for this service, and for the general upkeep of their buildings, which is more than most kings do." Alvaldi paused, laying a friendly hand on John's forearm. "Look John, Korath may be wealthy, but we're not that wealthy. It's the best we can do for them." John sighed as he thought about it, then turned to the others. He didn't like the fact that women and their children, including the poor, were treated as second class citizens. But, at this time there was nothing he could do about it.
    "Sir, I noticed the Illians had their own wizards. In fact, those wizards accounted for nearly half of our losses. Do we have wizards? And, if so, where are they? Because they sure would have been handy this morning" John said, addressing the commander.
    "They're hiding back at the capital, John. As a rule, wizards do not risk their necks often and are a rare breed. Only a few dozen are born each year in Korath, and many die at a young age. Generally speaking, wizards are not in the best of health and are usually frail, weak individuals. Those that survive past childhood often take on arrogant airs and are a real pain to work with. Personally, I would rather do without them. Besides, I'm old enough to have witnessed over a half dozen full Illian incursions, and I've never seen their wizards supporting field units until now. That is indeed strange and unheard of." The commander finished his monolog and took another large swallow from his own tankard as he stared into the fire. Rousing himself, he added a final comment. "Those fireballs they cast can only be thrown a limited distance and I would prefer to stand off a hundred paces and fill their bodies with arrows while out of range of their magic."
    "Sorry Commander, it just seemed a little one-sided to me."
    "No apologies are necessary, Captain. You did Korath a tremendous favor by taking them out for us. I counted no less than six wizards amongst the dead and that has to hurt Illian."
    John nodded, taking another swallow while leaning back against Onias's saddle, pondering what he had learned so far about this world. Silence ensued for the moment while the fire crackled in the thrown together pit before them, before the others started filling John in on the details of life in the capital. How many people were in the capital, the general number of guard. Also, the basic physical layout was discussed along with the political entities that resided there.
    It was quite some time later that he was able to break away from the group and stumble to the tent. Alf had the men prepare for him. Stripping his clothes off awkwardly in