A Warrior's Redemption

  *****

  I parted the heavy knot of reeds in front of me slightly to glance towards the boats pulled up in the sand across from us. The water was up to my waist and it was surprisingly cold for this time of year.

  I watched as the Kawnia Lake fishermen finished hauling in the day’s catch from their fishing boats. Having finished their task, they started off towards the sleepy village in the distance. I waited until the sun had almost disappeared over the horizon before I felt it was safe for us to move from the heavy reeds where we were hidden.

  We had run straight into a Zoarinian patrol two nights ago. It had been a unexpected surprise for both parties. In the chase that followed, we’d had to practically run our horses into the ground to avoid capture. Last night, I had released the horses so that they would lay down a false trail for our pursuers to follow and we had set off on foot towards the lake, hoping that the patrol would take the bait and follow our worn out mounts instead of us.

  It seemed to have worked out so far in our favor, but there was nothing favorable about our current circumstances. The water we stood in was dark and it stank. Dead fish and lake debris swirled around us in the murky water, but that wasn’t the worst of it. Leeches! I could feel them sliding along my flesh and then the sudden pinch of pain when they latched on and started to suck my blood.

  All I wanted to do right now was roll in a barrel of salt until every last one of the retched things shriveled up and fell off. I hate bugs and anything close to it, especially leeches. The arena dungeons had been full of bugs and the poor excuses of what passed for medicinal experts assigned to patching up fighters had employed the heavy use of leaches in all their remedies. I had grown to loath both. It was all I could do to remain calm as I stood there.

  The boy looked as miserable as I felt. “Okay, they're gone, let’s go!”

  We waded through the reeds over to the beach, where I slid a small, sturdy looking craft with a single small sail out into the waters of the lake. Pushing it further out into the current, I reached for the boy and lifted him into the skiff and then climbed in myself. I rowed away from the shore for awhile to get some distance between us and the beach and then I unfurled the sail and set the rudder on a course to take us to the northern side of the lake.

  After I had tied the rudder off, I turned to the boy, “Now that we’re on our way, let’s get off these stinking, bloodsucking leeches!”