King Kobold revived-Warlock-2.5 by Christopher Stasheff Read Free Book Online

entered; then he leaped down and strode over to the witch-pair, booming,
    “Well, ‘tis time thou hast come! Here these goodfolk are near to surfeited with food and ale—and I sent for thee as soon as they did arrive.”
    “Well, we’re never easy to find.” Rod stepped over to the table. “Who is this gentleman?”
    “Sir Reginald De La Place, vassal to the Duke Loguire,” Brom explained. “He it is hath brought these peasants to us. Sir Reginald, this titled lout is Rod Gallowglass, Lord High Warlock.”
    “Lord Warlock!” The knight jumped to his feet. “I am honored!”
    “Glad to hear it,” Rod said, inclining his head. “My wife, the Lady Gwendy-lon.”
    The knight bowed, and Gwen beamed.
    “And these poor folk be victims.” Brom clapped the nearest peasant on the shoulder. “But a week agone, they had houses. What hast thou now, goodman?”
    The peasant gulped his current mouthful. “Eh, we ha’ cottages again, mi-lord—or the half of us do, then.
    ‘Tis not so long, to build a wall of wattle.”
    “And daub,” Brom amplified. “I ha’ seen our folk at work, Lord Warlock. They build a house in but a day. Yet there were a score of cottages in their vil-lage.”
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    Rod noticed the apprehensive way the peasants were eyeing him. “It’s all just a rumor, folks. I’m not really a warlock—just a bad scholar who’s learned a few tricks.”
    If anything, their apprehension deepened.
    “Well, I tried,” Rod sighed. “Tell me, goodman—what did these beastmen look like?”
    “Ah, terrible things they was, milord! Tall as houses, and horned like the moon!”
    “And hairy,” the woman across from him added. “All over covered with hair, they was.”
    “But not on their faces,” another woman chimed in. “Beardless, they was.”
    “And they rode on a dragon,” the man said firmly. “A dragon it was—and it swam away with ‘em on its back!”
    “Nay, ‘tweren’t a beast!” the first woman scoffed. “What would ye know about it? Ye was half dead with a cracked skull when they sailed away!” She turned to Rod. “We were blessed, milord. Seven of our menfolk dead, but he wasn’t one of ‘em.”
    “All of ‘em hurted, though,” the woman next to her muttered , “and six bairns killed.”
    Rod’s face darkened. “What were the dragons he was talking about, then?”
    “Ships, milord! Only their ship! But the front of it was carved into a dragon’s head, and the stern was carved into a tail!”
    “Dragon ships? Were they long and narrow?”
    “The very thing!” the woman chortled. “Hast seen ‘em, then, milord?”
    “Only in a history book—and those raiders did have beards. And not much body hair…”
    “And horns, milord?”
    “Helmets,” Rod explained, “helmets with horns on ‘em. At least, that’s what people thought they wore—but they didn’t really. Not in battle.”
    “Can’t be the same ones, then,” the man said firmly.
    “No,” Rod agreed, “I don’t think the originals could have sailed this far from their home ports. They were mighty sailors, but they did need water.”
    “Then, why would these beastmen be dressed like to them, my lord?” Gwen wondered.
    “Because somebody’s been telling ‘em stories. Speaking of which, do grannies tell folk tales about horned raiders in dragon ships?”
    The peasants shook their heads, wide-eyed.
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    “Well, it was a chance,” Rod sighed. “But if the grannies haven’t been telling tales, who has?”
    “Didn’t look like just a ship in the moonlight, with them devils yellin’ and swingin’ their clubs,” the big peasant muttered, fingering his bandage gently.
    “Of course not,” Rod agreed. “That’s why they carved it that way—to scare the…” His eyes lost focus.
    “Wait a minute! Of course! That’s why