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him not much at all, save perhaps Relentless Death,
and a far-reaching one at that.
A hunter and tracker by profession, his weapon of
choice was slung betwixt his shoulder blades: A yew
longbow, tipped in the pearled whorls of some
fantastic beast's horn. It was a weapon as stern as
its wielder, and as tall as well. A score of black
cloth-yard shafts hung over one shoulder, from the
quiver there a mere eyeblink to his cheek. Animal
skins and furs formed the bulk of his garments,
testament to his hunting skills, although he did
allow himself the luxury of a twilled shirt. The
silver-grey pelt of a wolf was about his shoulders –
this a remembrance of life past.
The blade he held at his side resembled a Viking
Scramasax
; an ordinary shortsword by most
standards, save that its hilt was wrought of stag's
horn, and was double-edged. Usually it weighed his
left hip and tapped his knee with its point. Not in a
decade of years or more, and perhaps many beyond
that, had its blade tasted blood. That the
cold-forged and wickedly gleaming iron remained
unstained
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was proof enough of Longshanks's skill with
the bow.
The narrow, stonework hallway he walked was feebly
lit by smoky torches set in sconces along the walls
every twenty paces or so. The air was tinged with a
burnt cinder-like taste that seemed to stick in the
back of Duril's throat. Two more shadowy figures
crept out of the darkness into the passage and
followed the lanky ranger. They all moved along in
silence, their caution adding weight to their
shuffle; their footfalls bare whispers of leather
across stone. The passageway eventually crossed
another, and here they stopped.
Longshanks looked first one way and then the other,
concern marring his features. The chicken-scratch
wrinkles that ringed his eyes were readily apparent.
He glanced back at his companions behind him. The
first was becloaked in a dark cowl and cape, but he
could see the features of the young maiden inside.
Barely midway through her second half-score of years,
Duril could foresee a beauty in her that men would
kill –and some
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