XIII

“We Kornets began this community three generations ago,” Lady Sandra Kornet said. She sat on her throne, her dress pleated and flowing aswarm early evening light shone through the windows.

It made the dust motes in the room light up with orange light, giving the chamber an almost smoky appearance.

Lady Korent shook her head. “The pirates have caused us no small hardship. The spiders are an unfortunate evil that has come upon us at an even more unfortunate juncture. I am happy that you have come here to take care of the problem.”

“Of course,” Dantera said with a small bow. “Please, have your men show us where the nest is. Lord Yoreno and I will destroy it with all due haste.”

Behind them Sir Jerrin stood, his feet spread and his hands clasped behind his back. Lady Kornet was accompanied by her husband, but he was lord consort, and so did not carry any of the noble leadership as Sandra did.

On either side of the throne were two guards, men in armor plating with pole arms and swords at their hips.

“I can spare you my two best and most trusted guards for this endeavor.” She motioned with her hand, indicating the two guards.

Lord Kornet’s eyes widened. “Wife, is that wise?”

She looked her husband. “Certainly. Do not you think that we should offer them assistance for our own problem? Should they fail, we will receive no other help for this curse.” She turned back to Dantera and Yoreno. “Please take them. Sir Morryn and Sir Xanderial will provide excellent assistance.”

The guards moved and bowed to the lady before joining Dantera and Yoreno at their side. “My lady,” one of them said. “It does me great honor to be selected for this task, but I must do so with protest. Who will be at your side to—“

She raised a hand, her palm barely lifted from her thigh. “This must be done, dear sir.”

The knight paused, then bowed his head and back stepped so that he was positioned behind Yoreno and Dantera.

“We will execute our quest with all due hast,” Yoreno said. “And these spiders…”

Lady Kornet shook her head refully. “They are of the monstrous variety,” she said. “They are not natural creatures. The evils of the Age of Darkness are still upon us—ever more so in kingdoms like our own far out from the centers of true civilization.”

“And,” Yoreno began, “do you believe these monstrous spiders to be a coincidence, or does this have something to do with the order of Nai Sha’el?”

“Gods,” she moaned. “I do hope not, but my instincts tell me this is all orchestrated. All of our problems in the Kingdom of the Blue Dragon over the years. They desire to see our end. They have wanted this for a long time. Your king’s Age of Readventure has spurred on new vigor from them, I’m afraid.”

“My sincerest apologies,” Yoreno said with a bow. “It was never my the king’s intent that the evils of our world be foisted onto your kingdom, or any kingdom like it.”

“I understand,” she said with a nod. “I believe in his aims. I wish for nothing but good fortune on your new queen.”

“Thank you.”

“We will take care of the spiders now,” Dantera said. “We will have them all destroyed by night’s end, I am certain.”

Lady Sandra Kornet smiled, her eyes taking on mistiness. With a nod, she said, “I thank you. Sincerely.” Her jaw quivered for a moment. “These abominations”—she sniffed—“they have already taken away too many of our children.”

She glanced at her husband who put his hand over hers.

Yoreno bowed once more and turned. Dantera followed him out, along with Sirs Jerrin, Xanderial and Morryn.

Once they came out of the small castle, Yoreno realized why all the windows in the village were boarded up, the streets almost deserted. Many walkways were shielded by tall posts and boards.

“With a few lovely flower vines, this place might be a sight to be remembered,” Dantera said absently as she glanced about.

“These spiders,” Sir Morryn said, “have been a bane on our village for over a year now. If truth be told, they’re not even that dangerous. But the fear they envoke is parylizing—even for me.”

“Yes,” Sir, Xanderial said, his tone dour.

“I understand you are short of men,” Yoreno said to the two Kornet knights, “but why have you not made any efforts to destroy the spiders?”

“That is not true!” It was Sir Xanderial. He moved to face Yoreno in an almost confronting manner. “We sent twenty men the first time—even dropped oil into their burrow and lit it afire.”

“And still they come,” Sir Morryn added.

Sir Jerrin frowned ponderously. “Surely your efforts should have burnt them out?”

Xanderial shook his head. “Our efforts have not.”

“I apologize if I implied that you were not making efforts to rid yourselves of these monsters,” Yoreno said. “I was not my intention.”

Sir Morryn nodded. “It is all right, my lord.”

“Hmm,” Dantera noised. “Burning them out has not worked…”

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“It should have,” Sir Jerrin added.

“I do not like the sound of thism,” she said. Dantera looked up at their knight escorts. “Take us to the burrow.”

“At once!” Sir Morryn said and led the way out of the ghostly village past some patches of wild brush. The whole town was nearly overrun with similar plants and scrub. Without the villagers tending to their yards, pathways and gardens, the village almost looked deserted.

Had it not been for the castle, it probably would be.

They followed Sir Morryn across the flagstones. Grass grew between them, thick and untrimmed. It was a dreary village to behold.

The climb up into the hills was short and as they neared the burrow, the area became rocky, the grass withered and dead. Yoreno realized the pull at his feet as his boots clung to the dead grass, the silky, yet sticky gossamer spread out everywhere. “It started thickening.”

Yoreno turned around. “Where is Sir Xanderial?”

“He is rousing the villagers,” Sir Morryn said.

“Why?” Sir Jerrin asked.

“We are going to have to fire the burrow to remove the webbing.”

“Are you certain?” Yoreno asked, but when they crested the rocks, he saw why. The area bellow was covered in thick sheets of the sticky webbing, all of it spread out in a perfect grain encircling to form a tunnel leading to the hole in the ground.

Yoreno shivered.

“I have to say,” Dantera said. “Spiders have never bothered me much, yes?”

“And now?” Yoreno asked.

“I may change my mind.”

“Yes,” Sir Morryn said, his steel armor glinting in the dusky sun. “You will.”

“Gods,” Sir Jerrin said, his silky strands of jet black hair waving about as he shook his head. “I will have nightmares after this. It is as if some terrible sorcerer has empowered these monsters beyond all measure.”

“Have you encountered sorcerers before, Sir Jerrin?”

He turned, distracted. “No. Well yes, but…”

Yoreno raised a quizzical eyebrow at the man’s flipslopping.”

“Surely you know if you have or not,” Dantera said amusedly.

With a nod, Sir Jerrin said. “The answer is yes. This burrow, though… I am distracted. My apologies.”

“No need,” Dantera said, waving him off. She still wore most of the same armor they had found her in up in the mountains before reading the Kingdom of the Blue Dragon, but now she wasn’t covered up with a showl of animal furs. Before, she looked like a csword wielding bandit.

She still appeared rather humble, but her glinting armor was partially visible, the runes on the plates unsean for the most part.

Sir Morryn turned. “There is Xanderial with the villagers.” He pointed.

They were rolling barrels up the hill.

“Oil?” Dantera asked.

Lady Kornet’s other bodyguard nodded. He was rather young, his blonde hair short and his blue eyes slightly watery. Yoreno wondered if that was because of someone he had lost, or if he simply appeared that way.

Sir Morryn ran down to assist the other knight and the villagers. They moved the barrels around the sticky web, then cracked them open.

“I am going to assist them,” Sir Jerrin said.

“All right,” Yoreno nodded.

He watched Sir Jerrin trudge down the hill to the others as he glanced toward the burrow repeatedly.

“He’s very distracted.”

“I would be too, if this was the first time I’ve seen spiders.”

“I don’t know,” Dantera said thoughtfully. “Something tells me this is not his first time.”

“Perhaps he has had a bad run-in with them before.”

“Perhaps…” she offered. “But something is off about him.”

“What?” Yoreno asked. “You sound suspicious for some reason.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I do not know. I just have a strange feeling. But it is nothing—surely. In any event, Yoreno, I hope we are not trapped here in this Kingdom of the Blue Dragon for very long,” She had her hands on her hips as she regarded the knights and villagers cracking the barrels open.

“I highly doubt that will happen,” Yoreno said. “Dell and Lev will arrive with members of the Roaming Lions soon.”

“We will have a small army at our disposal.”

“Yes.”

She sighed.

Yoreno moved his hand, put it under Dantera’s and squeezed as she looked at him with a smile.

“What if I cannot get my title back?”

“Are you asking about this?” he said as he lifted up their hands together.

“Si,” she said with a grin.

Pausing for a moment, he didn’t know what to say. “I’m still not certain what this is.”

She took her hand away. “Something we should not be doing right now.”

He nodded in agreement. Yoreno didn’t know what to think. He knew something was between them, didn’t he? He had known it before, but perhaps he had been too dense to see it?

He noticed his heart was beating a little faster.

Gods, she was beautiful.

But why was she interested in Yoreno, of all men? He was her protégé.

Was her protégé.

What was he to her now? Yoreno wasn’t certain. She didn’t seem overly eager to “instruct” him lately. Where did that leave them? As friends? Allies?

More?

He shook himself from his thoughts. This thing between them was distracting. He turned to the matter at hand. Now that the oil barrels were open, the villagers removed some pewter mugs from a sack one of them had dropped and handed them out. They then began to dip them into the barrels and to toss the oil over the net of spider silk.

“We cannot be anything more than what we are now, Yoreno.”

He looked at her, surprised by her words. Something inside him sank. “Why not?”

With a sigh she said, “If I do not get my title back, I don’t want you following me around as I journey through these outer kingdoms. You are needed in Aevalin. You are a skilled adventurer, a good leader and you have a bright future ahead of you. The Age of Readventure needs you.”

“And what if I wish to be a knight errant?”

She turned to him with a look on her face. “Then you can be a knight errant on your own. I will disappear again and you will not be able to find my next time.”

The possibility of such an occurrence made his heart wither a little. Yoreno didn’t feel this way simply because a part of him wanted to romance her. He felt this way because of how much he respected her, both as the leader of the Roaming Lions, but also as his mentor.

Yoreno did not want to lose her.

Putting on a good face, he grinned. “I guess we’ll just have to make certain we capture Rynoria and deliver her to the queen.”

She regarded him critically, but then a grin came to her face as well.

Though Yoreno had no idea whether she was acting, as he was, or if she felt sincere about what he had just said. He was completely sincere about finding the king’s assassin, but the possibility of not achieving that made him need to feign his easy attitude toward it all.

“Lord Brendara!” Sir Morryn called. “We are ready to fire the nest!”

With a heavy sigh, Yoreno said, “Here we go.”

“Come on,” Dantera said, her grin still there. “Were is your adventurer’s spirit?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re right!” To the men bellow, he called, “Come back!”

Once they had joined Yoreno and Dantera on the hilltop, Yoreno ordered that they fire the nest. Sir Xanderial started a small fire with his flint as one of the peasants went to fetch a bow and appropriate arrow.

“Are we ready?” Sir Morryn asked as the bow was delivered.

“Quite,” Sir Xanderial said. He knocked an arrow, fired it in the flames and strode forward. He drew and loosed.

The arrow hit the webbing and the oil caught fire and slowly began to spread. As the flames licked against the gossamer substance, Sir Xanderial fired several more arrows and loosed them in key spots.

The smoke from the webbing was thick and black as it rose into the air like a promise of demons from the depths of the ground.

“Once that webbing is gone, we can crawl down there,” Dantera said.

Sir Morryn looked at her, his eyes wide and his complexion pailing.

“Go,” Yoreno said. “We require stout rope and a bundle of good torches.

The knight nodded. “Of course.”

Sir Xanderial took in a deep breathe. “We must destroy this nest. I will assist you in any capacity that I can.”

Sir Jerrin was quiet.

Yoreno nodded. “Then let’s kill some spiders.”