The Crippled God

doesn’t mean you have to fall so low. It’s disgusting is what it is. Head back into the mountains – oh, hold on a moment there. Let’s see that mace – take the sheath off, will you? ’
    He licked chapped, stinging lips. His whole mouth felt swollen on the inside. He needed a drink, but the post’s gate had been locked. He’d slept against it through the night, listening to the singing in the tavern .
    ‘ Show it to me, Teblor – could be we can make us a deal here .’
    He straightened up as best he could. ‘I cannot yield this,’ he said. ‘It is an Eleint’aral K’eth. With a secret name – I walked the Roads of theDead to win this weapon. With my own hands I broke the neck of a Forkrul Assail —’
    But the guard was laughing. ‘Meaning it’s worth four crowns, not two, right? Harrower’s breath, you people can spin ’em, can’t you? Been through Death’s Gate, have ya? And back out again? Quite a feat for a drunk Teblor stinking of pigshit .’
    ‘ I was not always this way —’
    ‘ Of course not, friend, but here you are now. Desperate for drink, with just me standing between you and the tavern. This could be Death’s Gate all over again, come to think of it, hey? ’Cause if I let you through, why, the next time you leave it’ll probably be by the heels. You want through, Teblor? Gotta pay the Harrower’s coin. That mace – hand it over then .’
    ‘ I cannot. You don’t understand. When I came back … you cannot imagine. I had seen where we all ended up, you see? When I came back, the drink called me. Helps me forget. Helps me hide. What I saw broke me, that’s all. Please, you can see that – how it broke me. I’m begging —’
    ‘ Factor don’t take to beggars, not here. Y’got nothing to pay your way in, be off – back into the woods, dry as a hag’s cubbyhole, true enough. Now, for that mace, well, I’ll give ya three crowns. Even you couldn’t drink three crowns’ worth in a single night. Three. See, got ’em right here. What do you say? ’
    ‘ Father .’
    ‘ Get lost, lad, me and your da’s working out a business transaction here .’
    ‘ No deal, Guard, not for that weapon —’
    ‘ It’s your da’s to do with as he pleases —’
    ‘ You can’t even lift it .’
    ‘ Wasn’t planning on lifting it. But up on the wall of my brother’s tavern, well, that’d make quite a sight, don’t you think? Pride of place for you Teblor, right over the hearth .’
    ‘ Sorry, sir. I’m taking him back to the village now .’
    ‘ Until tomorrow night – or next week – listen, lad, you can’t save them that won’t be saved .’
    ‘ I know. But the dragon-killer, that I can save .’
    ‘ Dragon-killer? Bold name. Too bad dragons don’t exist .’
    ‘ Son, I wasn’t going to sell it. I swear that —’
    ‘ I heard, Father .’
    ‘ I wasn’t .’
    ‘ The Elders have agreed, Father. The Resting Stone waits .’
    ‘ It does? ’
    ‘ Hey now, you two! Boy, did you say Resting Stone? ’
    ‘ Best you pretend you never heard that, sir .’
    ‘ That vicious shit’s outlawed – king’s command! You – Da – your son says the Elders are going to murder you. Under a big fucking boulder. You can claim sanctuary —’
    ‘ Sir, if you take him inside the fort, we will have no choice .’
    ‘ No choice? No choice but to do what? ’
    ‘ It’s better if none of this ever happened, sir .’
    ‘ I’m calling the captain —’
    ‘ If you do that, this will all come out. Sir, do you want to start the Teblor on the path to war? Do you want us to burn your fledgling colony to the ground? Do you want us to hunt down and kill every one of you? Children, mothers, the old and wise? What will the First Empire think of a colony gone silent? Will they cross the ocean to investigate? And the next time your people come to our shore, will we meet you not as friends, but as enemies? ’
    ‘ Son – bury the weapon with me. And the armour – please …’
    The youth nodded. ‘Yes, Father .’
    ‘ This time when I die, I shall not return .’
    ‘ That is true .’
    ‘ Live long, son, as long as you can .’
    ‘ I shall try. Guard? ’
    ‘ Get out of my sight, both of you .’
    On to the forest trail. Away from the trading post, the place where Teblor came down to surrender everything, beginning with dignity. He held his son’s hand and did not look back. ‘There is nowhere to drink in the realm of the dead .’
    ‘ I am sorry, Father