Kyron the Mercenary

Kyron the MercenaryPeter Rhodan Copyright © 2023 Peter RhodanAll rights reservedThe characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.ISBN-13: 9781234567890ISBN-10: 1477123456Cover design by: Art PainterLibrary of Congress Control Number: 2018675309Printed in the United States of America For Leanne, as always Contents Title PageCopyrightDedicationMAP OF CENTRAL & EASTERN ITHRIAChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 19Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 27Chapter 28EpilogueBooks by Peter Rhodan Where to next MAP OF CENTRAL & EASTERN ITHRIA Chapter 1 New adventures Kyron the Swordsman, Captain of the Black Dryarns, spotted the rotund figure as soon as he came through the tavern's front door. Once across the threshold, the man stopped and then slowly looked around the room. Kyron had seen the large gentleman around town and had even learned that the fellow was an important local magician by the name of Perenius Joythar. The man looked slowly around the room once more, and then his eyes fastened on Kyron, and he waddled over to where Kyron was sitting. Perhaps saying that he waddled was a bit harsh."Thank you for agreeing to meet me." the man rumbled in a surprisingly deep voice.He then pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Kyron. Kyron pointedly looked around the tavern, which was half empty at this time of the day. There must have been three or four empty tables between them and the nearest occupied table, so they didn't need to whisper, which would make communicating easier. It was a pity that the fellow spotted Kyron's magic sword in the market yesterday, but there was not much he could do about it now. He had learned early on that any magician worth his salt would be able to detect his magic sword, provided that they had a reason to check Kyron over magically."It is of no great hardship to meet you in a tavern. Bear in mind that my troop and I are leaving the city tomorrow."He picked up his mug of ale and swished it around to make it clear that it was half empty, if not emptier. The magician smiled momentarily as he settled in his seat, and then his face took on a harder expression. Finally, the man leaned forward and said quietly."It's not every day we get someone in town wearing a magic sword." He frowned at Kyron. "Quite rare, in fact. Normally such artifacts are in the hands of Kings or powerful Kerns, not some vagabond mercenary Captain. How did you come by it?""I could, of course, deny that my sword is magic, but as you are a magician, I doubt you would believe me. As to how I acquired it, well, I found the sword some years ago when I served as a Royal Bowman in Malia, and the fact that I possessed it was the main reason I had to leave Malia in somewhat of a hurry.""Ahh." the magician said. "No doubt someone with authority decided they wanted the sword?""Yes. I wasn't going to be given a choice as to whether I would sell the sword to the person concerned or not, so rather than hang around and accept what I felt was a measly price that he offered, I took off. And now I am here."The portly magician studied Kyron from across the table for a few moments and scratched his head."Where did you find the sword?" he asked finally.Kyron thought about it but decided he didn't want to risk upsetting the magician, nor did he entirely trust that the magician wouldn't cast a spell that would make him tell the truth, so he went with the usual story he told those that he had to answer to. It had the advantage of being plausible enough that no one had really questioned it so far."I came across it in what appeared to be the remains of a tomb or perhaps a temple. It was a bit hard to tell. These massive boulders had crushed the place, you see. The boulders were as large as this tavern's outhouse or even larger. The rockfall had also changed the way the water flowed in the area, and most of the building, if that was what it was originally, had been scoured by floodwaters. On numerous occasions, too, by the look of it."The man took this in and nodded for him to continue."The sword was on a shelf that was slowly being eroded but hadn't yet given way entirely. There was a flat tiled area behind the shelf and then a bit of what I assume was the original wall.""What sort of wall was it?"Kyron tried to look like he was struggling to remember."I'm not rightly sure, as it was dark in there, you know, but I think it was faced with painted plaster. It sure felt like the walls in the Palace in Malton, not in style or anything, just in the material used. Mind you, parts of the plaster it had fallen off, so the picture painted on it was spotty, besides being very faded."The man frowned at him."There was still a picture to be seen! Of what?""Well, as I said, it was pretty dark, but there was enough light to see the picture of a hooded figure carrying a spear and that the figure was mounted on a huge pemmia. At the time, I thought it was an exaggeration, one of those fanciful pictures they draw of supposed Gods and so on. For a start, pemmias don’t get that big, and females don't ride them! In hindsight, I would have to say that it was probably a cat like you would find in