Read The Long War 01 - The Black Guard for Free Online Page A

the reality was neither glamorous nor exciting.
    ‘Randall… daydreaming again, boy?’ Torian was sitting on his bunk waiting to be attired in his clerical armour.
    ‘Sorry, master, I was thinking of Sir Leon.’ Randall quickly moved to the wooden chair that acted as an armour rack.
    Torian flexed his arms, clearing the soreness from his morning exercise. ‘The old man was a good first master for you, lad. He was demanding and taught you some humility.’
    Randall hefted the bulky armour and swayed across the simple tavern room. ‘I was just thinking that you and he may have got on well… If…’
    ‘If his squire hadn’t covered me in piss the first time we met?’ he interrupted.
    ‘Yes, master.’ Randall blushed.
    Torian laughed in response and held out his arms for Randall to place the breastplate across his chest. The purple undercoat was designed to show at the corners of the armour. The back plate was fastened by heavy leather straps at the waist and connected to the segmented metal of the arm pieces.
    ‘How’s your reading coming along?’ Torian asked, as the armour went on.
    ‘It’s coming along well, master. I was learning about the other races of men.’
    The cleric raised his eyebrows. ‘So, tell me, what have you learned?’
    Randall considered as he buckled up Torian’s armour. ‘The men of Ranen worship an Ice Giant called Rowanoco and they live to the north.’
    His master nodded. ‘That’s right, lad, they wear chain mail and normally carry axes. They’re brutal, but cunning men.’
    ‘Didn’t the Ro once rule those lands, master?’
    Torian nodded again. ‘Indeed we did, though that was long ago. The Ranen were organized into work gangs by the Red knights.’ His expression showed his distaste for this practice.
    ‘You don’t approve?’ Randall queried.
    ‘No, I do not, lad. The Ranen are primitive, but they were still vanquished enemies and should have been treated with respect.’ He looked up at his squire. ‘And if the knights hadn’t organized them, the Ranen would never have formed the Free Companies and fought back.’
    ‘Master?’ Randall had not heard the term before.
    ‘The work gangs were naturally made up of the strongest Ranen and they rebelled, took their wood-cutting axes and turned them on their masters. They called themselves the Free Companies and were surprisingly effective fighting men.’ He stood up and flexed, feeling the weight of his armour. ‘Ro Ranen became the Freelands of Ranen and the knights retreated south to the lands of Canarn… that was some two hundred years ago, but the Free Companies are still as stubborn and dangerous as they were then.’
    Randall buckled on his master’s longsword. The cleric raised a leg and rested his foot on a small wooden stool as Randall buckled on the steel greave.
    ‘And what of the Karesians, master?’
    ‘Well, we’ve never been truly at war with them, lad. They follow Jaa, the Fire Giant. They keep to themselves for the most part. Any you meet in Tor Funweir will likely be merchants or tavern keepers.’ Torian seemed to have little time for the desert men.
    ‘Sir Leon used to talk about the Hounds of Karesia.’
    ‘Yes, the Hounds… the dreaded Hounds.’ He chuckled to himself. ‘The Karesians have little true military craft and so they rely on numbers. The Hounds are criminals, sentenced to serve time in the kennels as soldiers.’ He placed his second leg on the stool. ‘Jaa apparently taught that nobles should not fight… the dying should be left to the lowest classes of criminals and dishonourable men.’ He turned to his squire. ‘There are several hundred thousand of them, though.’
    Randall finished dressing his master and took a step back to admire his work. The cleric was an imposing and noble figure when fully clad in his armour. The squire knew that he was a skilled swordsman but thought that, for most people, the flashes of purple would be enough to deflect trouble.
    Brother