Bearers of the Black Staff

Sider nodded and drank gratefully.

“There, that’s enough.” The man took the skin away and rocked back on his heels. “You ought to be dead, you know. I saw what that beastie did to you. Ugly stuff. But you took a couple of blows that would have crushed an ordinary man and barely flinched. So you must not be so ordinary, huh?”

Sider closed his eyes. “What do you call that thing I killed? Does it have a name?”

“It’s called an agenahl. A brute, but smart enough to out-think you if you’re not careful.”

“So I discovered. Are there a lot of them?”

The big man shook his head. “Not so many anymore. They’re freaks, mutants left over from the Great Wars. Me and others like me are working hard at making them extinct, but it’s not so easy.” He paused. “Usually, they hunt in mating pairs. Odd to find a mature one traveling alone.”

Sider nodded. “I killed its mate a couple of days ago, then came looking for this one to finish the job. I didn’t want it leading any others back to where I come from.”

“Smart of you. If they find a place they like, plenty of food they can hunt, they bring all their friends and relatives to the feast.” He paused. “You come from somewhere in those mountains east, do you?”

Sider hesitated, and then nodded. “Quite a way off.”

“Never been back there. No reason to go. My work is all down here, on the flats and in the woods, working for the fastholds. You look like you might do work of that sort.”

“What sort of work would that be?”

“Mercenary. Work for hire. You do any of that? Never mind, don’t answer. I’m asking questions when I should be thinking of fixing you some food. You hungry? Like a little something to eat? Storm passed us by a while back, moving north, so we don’t have to worry about shelter right away. How about it?”

With Sider’s tacit blessing, the big man set about building a fire and cooking a mix of beans, vegetables, and salted meat he fetched from his backpack. It was one of the best meals Sider could remember, and he ate it all in spite of his injuries. He accepted a bit of root the other man offered, as well, an herb that he was told would help dull the pain, but needed to be taken on a full stomach to avoid cramps. Sider found that it worked.

“My name’s Deladion Inch,” the other offered when the meal was done and they were back to conversing.

“Sider Ament,” Sider replied, offering his hand.

Inch shook it. “So what do you call that piece of black wood you’re carrying? I tried to take it out of your hand while I was working on you—just to make things easier, not to try to steal it, you understand—but you had a death grip on it. It started glowing when I touched it. I didn’t think that was a good sign, given what I saw it do to the agenahl.”

The Gray Man hesitated, still not certain how much he wanted to tell his newfound companion, even if he had saved his life. It wasn’t his manner to reveal anything more than he had to. He instinctively liked this man, but he really didn’t know enough about him. Trusting people you didn’t know was never a good idea.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about giving anything away,” Inch declared before Sider could make up his mind. “I know magic when I see it. It’s still around, even after all these years of people living like animals and beating each other to death with clubs. Don’t trust it, myself. But others do, and some seem able to make it work. I guess you must be one. What’s different about you is the staff. I was just curious about it, is all.”

“The staff was given to me by my predecessor, one in a long line of bearers,” Sider replied, making up his mind to trust Deladion Inch that far. “It’s complicated. In the old days, those bearers would have been called Knights of the Word. Do you know the name?”

The big man shook his head. “Never heard of them. People did talk about the Word in the old days. A few still do. Not many, though. No reason for it. But tell me more about the staff.” He paused. “Look, I know you think I’m being more than a little too curious. But I like weapons. I use them all the time in my line of work and see others use them, too, and I’ve never seen anything like that staff.”

Sider shrugged. “There isn’t another like it, so far as I know. There used to be two in the valley where I live, but one was destroyed. Now there’s only this one, and I’m the only one who can use it. So it’s not of much use to anyone else.”

The big man seemed to think about that for a moment. Then he grinned, reached over his shoulder, and pulled a wicked-looking black-barreled weapon from a sheath strapped across his back. “Ever see one of these?”