Elf-Boy's Friends 41
Corwin's Unicorn
by George Gauthier
[The further adventures of characters from the novel 'Elf-Boy and Friends']
Chapter 1. The Last Centaur War
Within two weeks of the hunters' return to Flensborg the Fyrd, the militia of the Frost Giants, had organized a military expedition to clear the mountains and to hold them for civilization. The forces deployed were enough for a small war: two battalions of Frost Giants, a battalion of human cavalry, and battalions of infantry raised by the dwarves and the elves.
Followup forces were alerted for call-up in the unlikely event they were needed.
Nearly all the militia were armed with the deadly airguns and bayonets. Though they served as infantry the dwarves carried the smaller carbine version originally designed for cavalry. Half the companies of elves stuck with their traditional longbows. Archers could recover and reuse spent arrows. And archery offered the advantages of plunging fire and visual intimidation. Lead bullets were deadly, but you couldn't see them.
There was no need for artillery, not against the the small number of centaurs they expected to face. The ground forces fielded no ballistas, catapults, magnetic cannon, or swivel guns. Likewise the autogyros of the air corps did not carry incendiary kegs nor did the giants take along their own incendiary weapon, the fire globes delivered by sling, invented by Aodh of Elysion.
Giants and autogyros did carry caltrops which would restrict the movements of their quarry. Caltrops were spiked metal devices with four pointed formed in the shape of a tetrahedron. No matter how they were thrown or fell, they always landed with three points braced on the ground and the fourth vertical, poised to impale of hoof or a foot.
The fetchers who flew the autogyros and those who flew with their wooden yokes were also armed with the same steel discs that Hugh and Jules had wielded during their hunt.
Meanwhile the Commonwealth's professional Army sent two companies of regulars, mounted infantry armed with carbines. Besides backing the militia, their main job was to guard the battalion of engineers charged with building all weather military roads and bridges into the mountains. In time settlers would follow those roads to bring those territories fully and firmly under the control of the authorities at Flensborg.
The professionals were supported by a flight of autogyros, i.e. six aerocraft, from the Army Air Corps. Their job was reconnaissance. With their quarry thinly spread over a considerable territory, the aerocraft would be vital to the success of the campaign.
The Army also sent a powerful war wizard and and his young aide who was a war mage in his own right: Sir Willet Hanford and Sir Axel Wilde. Years earlier, they had traveled to New Varangia and fought at the side of Frost Giants. Their job in this new campaign was to organize the local magic wielders into a team which included Donnar and Otho plus Hugh and Jules. The cousins took an instant liking to Axel and he to them.
All told the forces committed to the campaign numbered nearly three thousand, which was really overkill. The allied army that conquered New Varangia had had a strength of five thousand giants and humans. It had fought a series of pitched battles against maybe ten or twelve thousand centaurs. How many centaurs could now be hiding in the mountains? Surely no more than a few hundred.
That was why no one doubted the outcome of this new war, which they were already calling the Last Centaur War. The centaurs had no magic. The allies not only had magic, they had numbers, organization, training, experience, and technology. This war would end with the definitive extinction of the centaurs and the incorporation of this wilderness into the settled lands of the Commonwealth.
The first move in the campaign was to deploy the battalion of dwarven infantry along the northern boundary of the territory claimed by the Commonwealth. Their mission was to block the escape of any centaurs or manticores from the forested lands to the uninhabited badlands to the north. Sir Willet opened a space portal for the dwarves and their supply train. Once in place the dwarves moved south to station observation posts on commanding heights previously identified by an aerial survey of the entire border region.
Once that was done, Sir Willet joined the mages who would travel with the command group ready to respond to any emergency. Between the autogyro Sir Willet could propel and his space portals, and Axel's ability to teleport himself and others, the mages were in a position to respond to any emergency or opportunity which might emerge as the soldiers pressed forward.
Corwin's stint as a feature writer had come to an abrupt end as he resumed his all too familiar job as a war correspondent. He attached himself to the Sir Willet's group of magic wielders, knowing that they would be in the thick of the fight.
The cavalry was the main strike force, the only ground combat arm that could keep up with the swift moving centaurs and manticores. The job of the infantry was to block their movements and to hold territory cleared by the cavalry.
As it happened the Last Centaur War was a walkover. The centaurs had no idea that fetchers in yokes or autogyros could overfly their camps and report their locations to the troops. Nor could the scattered bands of centaurs armed with javelins and sabers stand up to the modern army that hunted them. Time and again they and their hunting beasts the manticores were shot to pieces by cavalrymen or infantry armed with airguns. It was the most one sided war in history with only three serious casualties, two of them riding accidents.
The commanding general even remarked that he felt more like a game warden than a soldier as his army cleared the country of the invasive species which infested it. Still the war gave the Fyrd the opportunity for full-scale field maneuvers under battlefield conditions. It tested officers and sergeants in leadership and tactical skills.
Paradoxically it also built morale.
Sure the militia grumbled about being mobilized and taken away from their homes and their normal pursuits, but they soon came to welcome the campaign as a change of pace, a chance to spend time in the great outdoors with fresh air and sunshine and stout comrades. And at the end, the fighting forces would march back home, heads held high, banners waving and bugles sounding. All hail the conquering heroes!
The military engineers soon were at work building all-weather roads and bridges to open the country for settlement. There were rewards for all the races: townsites and timberlands and sites for overshot water wheels to power sawmills for the Frost giants, mines and limestone caverns for the dwarves, and fertile vales for the elves. Humans laid out routes for stagecoach and freight lines and locations for airfields for autogyros.
"Too bad all that fallen rock is blocking this passage." an army engineer remarked to the mages including Donnar who had explained about the battle there. "This wind gap would otherwise be the perfect route to the open country beyond this range of low mountains."
"Sorry about that major. At the time we we weren't thinking about transportation routes," Donnar told him dryly. "We were just trying to stay alive."
"Understandably."
"Here, let me clear the blockage." Sir Willet told them. "I'll blast the fallen rock to nothingness with white fire."
That was a reference to the subatomic plasma in the heart of stars. Nothing could withstand white fire since it did not burn in the ordinary since nor blast things apart mechanically. Instead the plasma flux disintegrated whatever it touched by tearing it apart on an atomic level. The intense heat made the cloud of subatomic particles lighter than air so it was carried aloft to disperse harmlessly in the atmosphere leaving the floor of the passage scoured flat down to bed rock.
"Now you can build your road, Major." Sir Willet told the officer.
"That will open up this entire region. Never doubt that we are doing important work here Sir Willet, extending the frontiers of settlement."
"I could not agree more. I like to think that despite all the destructive power we war wizards and war mages wield that we are constructive agents of civilization. As are our military who are the chief defenders of that civilization."
"Er, pardon me for interrupting your mutual admiration society," began the lieutenant in charge of their escort, but we really need to look to setting up camp. Does anyone know of a stream which we can draw water from?"
Major Tolbart shrugged. "Speaking as a topographical engineer, I could hazard a guess that since a river once flowed through this wind gap its captured headwaters must be over there in the marginally higher ground to the northwest."
Sure enough less than a mile away scouts found a good sized brook, almost large enough to be called a river. The engineers and their escort of mounted infantry set up camp. Early the next day the engineers went to work on the road, hauling gravel to fill in the low spots, digging ditches, and leaving the surface of the road with a camber to help rainwater drain off to the sides and out the lower end of the passage.
"Our job here is pretty much over", Corwin pointed out. "So why don't we four go for a swim in the creek?"
Sir Willet cautioned the four to keep their weapons with them, though two fetchers, a jumper, and a boy who wielded ball lightning were weapons in themselves even empty handed and naked. The discs the fetchers wielded were close at hand and subject to their telekinetic control, and they could always hurl attackers away from them or lift them high into the air and then let them fall to their deaths. For that matter, even without yokes they could always Lift each other into the air and fly. Corwin's ball lightning served as both shield and sword. It killed by both burning and electrocution. As a jumper Axel could simply teleport himself out of danger or teleport his attacker to a position high above the ground and let him drop.
At a wide spot in the brook the boys set their mounts free to graze then laid their gear down, stripped off their uniforms, and plunged in. The water was invitingly cool thanks to the inflow from a spring upstream. At first they were content to relax and float lazily, chatting and joking and enjoying the shade of the gallery forest which lined the brook. Soon enough though relaxation gave way to the grab ass games nude youths were all too likely to engage in while ostensibly swimming, which lead to foreplay, which lead to more intimate forms of interaction.
Hugh and Jules had already come to like Corwin a whole lot with his exotic mixed heritage, both human and elf, and now Axel had joined them, an extremely boyish-looking copper-topped lad with heart-melting dimples who had friendly personality. The cousins soon took a shine to the engaging wizard's aide. Smart, cute, and with a truly gentle soul, there was a lot to like about Axel besides his physical beauty. Which was why the cousins paired off with Corwin and Axel as much as they did with each other.
Their four hard tanned bodies intertwined in all the ways athletic and acrobatic youths were capable of when consummating their physical passions including the time the cousins double-teamed Axel, plugging him at both ends. Axel was delirious with passion, impaled on the cocks of two randy teenagers. It was a long time before they were all spent and lapsed into a pleasant post-coital lassitude.
Chapter 2. The Unicorn
When it was time for Sir Willet to return to the capital, he said goodbye to both Corwin and Axel who had decided to travel together for a while. Sir Willet could reach the capital instantly via a space portal and deliver Corwin's latest reports to the Capital Intelligencer faster than they could be transmitted letter by letter over the postal heliograph.
"Don't worry, Sir Willet." Corwin assured the war wizard. "I'll bring Axel back safe and sound."
Axel snorted. "You mean I'll bring you back, Corwin. Remember I can transport us anywhere at the speed of thought."
Actually Axel could teleport himself and anyone he touched instantly to any place he himself had once reached via a space portal or those he could see either with the naked eye or through a far-viewer. Once Axel's neural circuits invoked his gift, transit was instantaneous, which was why he liked to say that he traveled at the speed of thought.
After taking their leave of their comrades Hugh and Jules and Donnar and Otho, the boys rode out of Flensborg on new mounts, a couple of tractable mares, having relinquished their cavalry mount to the military. With ample supplies in the saddlebags and carbines in scabbards on their saddles, they rode side by side either at a walk or more usually at a trot.
Now Corwin was born on the Eastern Plains and had grown up with horses. Axel was a city boy and so was far less accomplished as a rider. Oh Axel did not dislike horses the way Drew Altair did, but he never went riding for recreation. To him a horse was strictly for off-road transportation. If you went by road, then folks would be better off taking a coach or riding a bicycle.
And these days Axel had a much better alternative: teleportation. The only disadvantage of jumping from place to place was that you missed everything in between. That was simply no way to explore new country or take in the sights. That meant riding, often at a trot.
Now the trot is a two-beat gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment between each beat when all four feet are off the ground. For long distance travel average speed is 8 miles per hour. A skilled equestrian could ride without bouncing, but that required well-conditioned back and abdominal muscles, and even then trotting for long periods was tiring even for experienced riders which Axel definitely was not. That led to grumbling.
"Whoever invented this gait anyway? Either the saddle slaps your butt with every stride, or you have to post up and down, which is a lot of work. Isn't the whole idea about riding that the horse does the work?"
"But Axel, the trot is the working gait for a horse. Horses can canter or gallop only for only a short time before they have to rest, whereas a horse can maintain a trot for hours. The trot is the gait by which horses travel any real distance."
"Then they should all learn the amble. Now there's a gait which is reasonably fast, smooth, and easy on the rider, and the horse can keep it up for a very long time too." Axel countered.
"That is true, but few breeds of horses have that particular gait and very few of those which don't can be trained to it. Trust me. I am a horseman from way back. Why I was still a kid when they invented stirrups."
"As long ago as that eh?"
Corwin shook his head.
"You are lucky Axel that you didn't take up riding till you were seventeen right after you got your job as Sir Willet's aide. I first got up on a horse or really a pony when I was ten years younger than that."
"Back in those days saddles had leather covered prongs which you wedged your hips into leaving your feet to dangle. That wasn't really a problem for me. I learned to ride bareback without even a saddle blanket between me and my mount. That kind of early experience develops your seat, as we horse persons like to put in."
Some days later, the travelers were forced to make camp as the setting sun caught them on still on the road. Axel set things up while Corwin saw to the horses, checking the frogs of their feet and brushing them down.
"Aren't you going to hobble them so they don't run off?" Axel asked.
"They won't do that now that they are familiar with us. Saddle horses know that their riders will take care of them: show them where to go, shelter them in stables out of the weather, feed them oats which are tastier and more nutritious than grass, and sometimes offer treats such as tart apples or crunchy carrots. That is why I refilled my sack of treats at that last farm. No, these mares know when they are well off. They won't stray. Not unless something runs them off."
"Like what?"
Corwin shrugged. "Predators with a taste for meat: a tawny panther, a pack of wolves, a slash bear. Just the cry of a predator can spook a horse."
After an uneventful night, Axel and Corwin were just sitting down to breakfast when their horses let out screams of fear. A pair of slash bears charged out of the tree line. The one in the lead killed Corwin's mare with a mighty sweep of its paw, which was armed with fearsome claws hence species' name. The second bear started to go for Axel's mount when a snow white shape rushed forward and interposed itself between predator and prey.
At first it looked like a bad idea for a very small horse, a pony really, to challenge a huge slash bear. When the boys looked closer, they saw the equine had a horn more than a foot long slanting forward out of its forehead. The skull was different too, much larger in back to accommodate a fully sentient brain, for this was no horse but a magical being, a unicorn.
Taken aback, the slash bear rose onto his hind paws and roared a challenge. That was when the unicorn cut loose with its so-called killer neigh. Really an intolerable screech, it did not kill but startled, pained, and distracted its foes, and either drove them off or made them vulnerable to the unicorn's natural weapons: horn, hoofs, and teeth.
That was a simple enough power, but surprisingly effective in battle for both defense and offense. Armed foes could not handle their own weapons effectively. They put their hands to their ears, making them easy to dispose of or to run away from.
Both slash bears abandoned the hunt and ran for the trees. Anything to get away from that horrible sound. After which the unicorn ambled up to the camp.
"Thank you Sir Unicorn," Corwin began, using an honorific which he thought only proper for addressing so noble a creature and one which had rendered them so signal a service despite its apparent youth.
<Actually it should be I asking your pardon,> the unicorn began with Mind Speech.
<I let my situational awareness slip. Instead of keep alert for predators and chasing them away, I focussed my attention on the two of you. That was why the bears got close enough to attack.>
"My name is Corwin Klarendes and my friend here is Axel Wilde."
"Uh, no offense Derry," Axel began, "but what you you have done if that bear had shook off the effects of your screech and attacked? The slash bear was more than twice your size. A colt like you ought to wait till you grow up to tackle such opponents."
<I'm no colt but a stallion and I am all grown up. You are judging me by the standards of a fully equine unicorn, but I am a shapeshifter. Watch.>
Leaving that statement hanging, the unicorn transformed, its shape blurring then taking on an entirely new one, that of a naked youth standing a finger over six and one half feet, with glabrous alabaster skin, shoulder length ash-blond hair, and icy grey eyes.
"You're a Snow Elf!" Corwin exclaimed. "But you're so much taller and more solidly built than those we have met."
<As for taking on a slash bear, we were not so mismatched as you think. I am nearly four times as strong as I seem. I might weigh just under three hundred pounds but I am stronger than a draft horse or a Frost Giant. If that bear had charged on all fours, I would have crushed its skull with my hoofs. Or if it had stayed poised on two legs, I could have impaled its heart on my horn.>
"What if your horn had hit its breastbone. Might it not have shattered or broken off?"
<Not hardly. The horn of a unicorn is stronger than steel and has the sharpest point of any weapon. It will shear through anything, even armor.>
"He's right Axel. Not long ago Merry told me that horn of the unicorn was a sharp as one of your obsidian surgical blades."
Scalpels made of the dark volcanic glass obsidian had a cutting edge many times sharper than a steel blade. Under a microscope the blade of even the sharpest metal knife has a jagged, irregular edge while that of an obsidian blade is smooth and even.
"Anyway, would you care for some breakfast?"
As his stomach rumbled Derry joked: <There's your answer.>
With that they settled down and ate what Axel had already prepared while he put more bacon and hash browns into the pan to cook. They had a full pot of kaffay.
<You said that you lived in the capital of the Commonwealth of the Long River. So I have to wonder what brings so far from there?>
Corwin explained that he was a journalist writing an update on the development of New Varangia. He and Axel had recently taken part in a hunt and then a brief war against manticores and centaurs. Derry had never encountered either species, which was probably just as well as they might have overwhelmed him. His sonic weapon might not be as effective against invasive species so alien to the planet.
"OK, now you know about us." Axel said. "What are you doing all alone and so far from the nearest settlement?"
<I am on walkabout and have been since last year when I turned seventeen and left my folks and the vale of my birth. My family and friends are all good people but the life of a sylvan elf was not for me. I was made for roaming. I want to see what lies over the next hill, to see natural wonders like volcanoes, cataracts, canyons, and caverns. I hope to travel the world and visit different peoples and learn something of their ways of life. As you might expect I usually cover ground in my unicorn form. Four legs are better than two."
"That makes sense," Axel said then asked. "It strikes me that a name like Derrionydd is so much like that of our friend Meirionnydd. He is druid who was locked into the form of a full-fledged unicorn for centuries before he was permanently transformed into an elf-boy. Now your own shape shifting powers would not have manifested till your teens, so how did your parents know to give you such a distinctive name?"
"Actually my folks originally named me Wolfgang. Now that is a fine name for a frost giant. It suggests strength and fierceness. But for a magical being like a unicorn? No way! So I gave myself a name more fitting for my newly exalted station in life as a unicorn cum Snow Elf."
"Admittedly though I do feel more like a Wolfgang than a Derry whenever I have to fight or to hunt.>
"You hunt?"
<Yes I do. I can easily run down game like antelope or rabbit or such. One kick to the head and I have meat."
"But unicorns are vegetarians." Axel objected.
<Unicorns, yes, but in my true form I am like you. I have hands and the teeth and the digestive system of an omnivore. So after the hunt I transform to dress the carcass and cook the meat and whatever tubers or greens I can rustle up locally or have in my pack.>
<Now you guys are on walkabout yourself in a certain sense. So I am thinking, would you care to join forces? It could be a lot of fun.>
"How do you know you can trust us? We might be highwaymen for all you know, looking for the chance to rob you of your valuables."
<My gift of Mind Speech includes the power of empathy. Without invading the actual thoughts of others, I can tell who is trustworthy and who is not. So I know that both of you are good people.>
The boys agreed that it was a fine idea that they travel together. And yes eventually Derry would travel to Elysion to visit with and maybe join the snow elves of the New Forest, but that was for later. For now, Derry wanted to see something of the wider world.
<Just one thing. When I said earlier that I was watching you so intently that I missed the approach of the bears, I didn't tell you that the reason why my attention was so centered on you was because I was enthralled. I fancy pretty boys, and there you were: two lovely youths prancing around in a state of nature. I hope I haven't offended you with my forwardness.>
"No problem. The two of us are lovers, and ours is an open relationship. What's one more?" Corwin told him blithely.
Later Derry fetched his gear which was in a pack he could carry conveniently in either form. That left the problem of transportation. Axel's mare Melody had run off a ways but then returned of her own will, enticed by Corwin's carrots. Corwin's own mount was dead. They left the carcass for the bears who no doubt would return once the three of them broke camp and resumed their journey. You couldn't begrudge wild animals for following their instincts.
"I don't suppose you could let me ride you, Derry." Corwin ventured. "Our unicorn friend Merry never let Dahlderon ride him except that one time when he was badly hurt fighting a Tracker. "Besides, I am not a virgin."
"Oh?" Axel asked him with eyebrows raised. "Have you finally found a girl to your liking?"
"You know what I mean, Axel." Corwin chided him.
<The reason unicorns don't let people ride them is that we don't want to be thought of as beasts of burden. We see ourselves as people with four legs. Sure I'll give you a ride, though under certain conditions. You ride bareback. No saddle; yours wouldn't fit me anyway, and no harness whether bridle or hackamore. I am in control. We go where I choose. You can make suggestions, but don't try to take charge or to guide me. The barrel of my body is small enough for you to get your legs around and you can hang on to my mane too, so you won't have any trouble staying on my back even at a gallop. Besides the gait I use to cover any real distance is the amble.>
"The amble! That is so unfair!" Axel grumbled. "You get to amble while I am stuck with this nag who can only trot -- uh no offense Melody. One thing is for sure. My next mount will be trained to the amble. I don't care how much I have to pay for a special breed. Anyway, what is the point of being rich if you cannot spend money on things you really need?"
<And one thing more, Corwin. You ride sky clad. No clothes. Not a stitch. I want to feel your bare bum on my back.>
"That's fine by me. I've always hankered to spend an extended period running around sky clad as the twins and Drew have done or like the Snow Elves do. And I am sure I will look just fabulous bare-ass and bareback atop a magical unicorn."
"One more thing, Derry. When you mount me, you must do it in human form."
That was how Derry the wir unicorn joined their circle of friends and the three youths set out on walkabout in search of adventure.
Chapter 3. On Walkabout
"I'll hang my saddlebags over your withers with your own pack. Okay?" Corwin asked Derry who nodded. The scabbard for Corwin's carbine was more problematic so he put the strap over his own shoulder.
The morning air was cool and refreshing on their bare skin. Corwin and Derry were entirely nude though Axel did wear silk riding trews plus a pair of short boots with thick heels that fit more securely in the stirrups than the flat sole of a sandal much less the soft one of a moccasin. They gave Axel a more secure seat.
With the sun slanting through the trees, the trio made their way down an unimproved rural road, just a dirt track really but adequate for their purpose. The Commonwealth had held off building major highways in this southern region until the pattern of settlement became clear and the planners could route the roads where they needed to go.
Near nightfall they crossed a timber bridge and found themselves in a village with a tavern which mostly catered to locals but did offer accommodations to travelers.
"The stable is out back." the proprietor told them. "You will have to see to your mounts yourself. We don't get much horse-borne trade so we don't have a stable boy for horses or unicorns for that matter."
Frost Giants mostly traveled on foot since they were too large for horses. Humans were much better with horses and mules anyway.Stage coaches and freight wagons were driven by human teamsters to save weight. And their teamsters cared for their horses themselves. Humans were much better with horses and mules anyway.
"I suppose you will need just the one room for the two of you? A bed sized for a giant will easily fit the both of you, small as you are."
<It has to be large enough for the three of us,> Derry corrected the proprietor who was first startled by Mind Speech then astonished at the unicorn's transformation into his two legged-form.
"A unicorn who is a shapeshifting Frost Giant-Snow Elf hybrid! Now I've seen everything." he murmured.
All heads turned as the three impossibly comely youths, two of them stark naked, entered the common room of the "The Sign of the Aurochs." The proprietor had named his establishment after the huge half-wild bovines which drew the plows of the Frost Giants.
To satisfy the curiosity of his patrons the proprietor made an announcement about Derry's status then pointed out that Corwin bore the small blue tattoo of a Giant-Friend which entitled him to their hospitality and protection.
"I've never see a friendship tattoo like yours," he remarked to Axel.
"It marks him as an Orc-Friend." Corwin told him.
"I didn't know orcs had the formal institution of Friendship. Not that I ever had a problem with their kind. Orcs are decent enough."
Orcs were somewhat standoffish and were overly fond of garlic but were not actively disliked. Besides the giants respected the orcs for their strength which owed much to the leverage of their gangly limbs.
The trio put their gear up in their room and went to the washroom to get cleaned up. Derry especially luxuriated in the warm soapy water as he scrubbed his body and limbs and shampooed his hair.
"Isn't shoulder length hair awfully hard to keep clean?" Corwin asked. "I keep my mine close cropped. Otherwise it picks up dirt and gets sweaty and oily."
<I don't have your problems,> Derry sent as he continued to scrub and dunk and rinse his locks.
<Cleanliness is easy for wirs like me. Every time I transform I automatically shed foreign matter as if it were so much dandruff which leaves me clean and dry. To complete my toilette, I run a comb through me hair. It takes only a minute.>
<Now I enjoy bathing as much as you do. It feels good lounging in the bath water, letting the heat soak into your limbs, relaxing your muscles. And soap and shampoo have pleasant floral scents. And let's not overlook the er recreational possibilities of bathing together, but washing is an indulgence rather than a necessity.>
Corwin slipped on a pair of square cut low-rise short shorts and moccasins while Derry wrapped himself in a green and white sarong. He explained:
<In the land of the giants it is wise to comply with the local customs."
Elves might live sky clad but Frost Giants did not. It was one thing to strip for the sauna or for the bath or the sauna or for sweaty dirty work, but Frost Giants usually went clothed though in silks not in the furs they wore in winter in their chilly northern homeland.
Axel wore a complete outfit of shirt and trews and moccasins plus an amulet at his throat which added a note of casual elegance.
"That is quite a pretty stone in your amulet. It's red like your hair though a much dark shade, Axel. Is it a family heirloom or perhaps a present from an admirer?> Derry asked.
"It does have sentimental value, but for other reasons." Axel allowed but did not elaborate.
The jewel was actually a secret weapon or rather a defense, one of the extremely rare ensorcelled amulets which negated hostile magic directed against the wearer. It had saved Axel's life on more than one occasion hence the sentimental value. The elf-boy cum druid Dahlderon owned another, both confiscated from evildoers.
Once primped and dressed the three returned to the common room to eat supper and to socialize with the locals and gather local color as Corwin put it.
Now both Corwin and Axel had worked up a good appetite and dug right into the savory beef stew and rye bread the serving boy had brought them, but that was nothing compared to the amount of food that Derry put away. The Snow Elf concentrated on eating and did not engage much in conversation, not till he had taken the edge off his appetite.
"You've eaten enough for three people." Axel observed.
Derry shrugged. "Compared to a little guy like you or Corwin I AM three people. And Corwin rode all day while I carried him on my back. Though I intend to mount him tonight, if you take my meaning."
It was true that at three hundred pounds, the shape shifter had nearly three times the mass of either of his companions, but there was more to it than that. Unlike natural born unicorns a unicorn shapeshifter had to get his nutrition from the omnivorous diet of his human form. It wasn't just that Derry had little patience with the tedium of grazing in his equine form. There wasn't really that much nutrition in grass, so you had to take in a whole lot of it. That took hours, the internal processing took energy, and then their was the quantity of bodily wastes.
The real problem was that a shifter could transform his own body but not the contents of his gut. Taking on human form after grazing would leave Derry with a large mass of mostly indigestible fodder in him which his digestive system could not handle very well. If Derry had to eat in his equine form he munched on grains such as oats which offered nutrition for less bulk.
No, it was much better to rely on the omnivore diet of their bipedal form. Besides the wide range of foods which cooking made available offered meat and vegetables, fruits, nuts, sweets, and cold beer. Such foods were best taken at the evening meal giving Derry all night to digest them. In the evening Derry always stayed in his bipedal form whether to socialize or for sleep or for sex.
Meanwhile the attention of the giants focussed on Corwin and Axel.
"You would be that journalist and author." A giant named Magnus Olsen remarked to Corwin. "I've always liked to read your stuff, and now I see that you are a giant-friend. More power to you Corwin Klarendes."
A giant at the table on the other side asked if they were expecting trouble, armed as they were with carbines.
Corwin shrugged. He and Axel had simply hung onto the carbines they had carried when fighting manticores and centaurs.
"Oh so you were involved in the fighting up north. What is the latest news? Issues of the weekly paper out of Flensborg take forever to reach here by the freight line."
So the boys summarized the campaign for the locals who then asked questions.
"Are you really any good with that carbine, son?" one giant asked Axel who smiled.
"Good enough to be the top scoring sniper in the war against the trolls."
"Axel is just about the deadliest sharpshooter in the Commonwealth though as a sniper he actually used the longer infantry version of the airgun." Corwin enthused. "His motto in Amazonia was one shot, one kill though he actually averaged a bit better than that."
Axel nodded. "One hundred two kills for every one hundred shots."
The giant frowned. "Surely that is not mathematically possible."
"Actually it is," Axel assured him. "I am a dead shot thanks to endless target practice, my gift of Unerring Direction and my enhanced physique which lets me hold the weapon absolutely steady. I would wait till two targets lined up, one head behind the other, then drop them both with a single shot. An occasional double tap more than made up for the very few times I missed when the target moved during the flight of the bullet."
"Now that average is only for the shots I took as a sniper. It doesn't count the volleys I shot off with my carbine as a cavalryman from atop a charging brontothere. It's a lot harder to hit a moving target from a mount which is itself in motion especially when the enemy is sending arrows your way."
"Airguns are not the only way Corwin and Axel can protect themselves, as I learned from Corwin's own book on the war in Amazonia." Magnus Olsen reminded his fellow giants. "Both are war mages with powerful magical gifts. Corwin wields ball lightning and Axel Wilde can teleport himself and others."
"Corwin is also both a combat medic and a magical Healer." Axel added. "During our hunting expedition he counteracted the venom from the stingers of the manticores."
"Now a single gift is useful enough." Axel allowed. "but it is when you use your gifts in concert that you are most effective. I liked to Jump to otherwise inaccessible hides, places which no one would suspect a sniper could get to, and lie in wait. When the time came, I'd take my shot then jump into the clear."
More than his words it was Axel's even delivery that impressed the giants. There was no brag in anything the young human said.
"Just recently we villagers were put on alert but didn't get called up by the militia. Nevertheless we all keep airguns at home in case we are ever mustered into service. And some folks use them for hunting."
Corwin nodded. "I've seen your big airguns in action both in Amazonia and up north. They pack quite a punch. They're the next thing to a swivel gun really."
The giants could tell that these two were friendly modest and respectful boys and rapidly warmed up to them.
The giants didn't know quite what to make of Derry. Half giant half elf, a shape shifter who turned into a unicorn and had the magical powers of both. All that was entirely outside their experience. Still unicorns had sterling reputations right up there with the druids.
Corwin at least knew what to do with Derry in bed or rather Derry with him.
Derry laid Corwin out on his back and stripped the shorts right off his hips, rendering him naked then ordered him to get on all fours.
"I am going to cover you just like a stallion covers his filly." Derry promised.
"Wrong gender. If must use an equine simile at least recognize that I am a male and call me a colt."
"I stand corrected, little one. A spunky colt it is."
So saying Derry laid himself atop the smaller male, though careful to keep much of his weight on his own arms and knees. Derry loved making full the bodily contact with a lover and pressed his hips to Corwin's rump. That brought his erection into play, prodding for the opening in Corwin's fundament. It felt huge.
Corwin looked back and saw that Derry's erection put his own more modest endowment in the shade. Its helmet looked to be about twice the size of his own and the stalk proportionally thick. Empurpled and engorged it throbbed with the shape shifter's passion.
"I suppose that would be what they call a horse cock." he asked.
"Not really, not compared to the real thing." Derry admitted. "but more than adequate to the task."
"That might be true, but it still looks to be about as much as I can handle. So take it slow, Derry. I am small and tight back there."
Which was actually how Corwin preferred it, having a big one forced slowly into his tight quim, impaling him, filling him with his lover's masculinity. With his control of his musculature magically enhanced by his Healing gift, Corwin could work his sphincters rhythmically, squeezing and massaging the invading member, employing muscles normally used to push out to draw in, helping a lover reach orgasm and afterwards milk his cock of the last drops of his gism.
Axel was odd man out, but he could accept that Derry would have an exclusive bond with Corwin at least at first. Only time would tell. Corwin did look every so sexy, his small body getting shoved back and forth by the male who was pronging him to the accompaniment of moans and inarticulate cries, his small body sweaty and slick from from exertion and arousal.
Derry took Corwin twice the night, the second time on his back so they could make love face to face with Corwin's small body bent in half, his knees up by his shoulders. Derry thrust into him, grunting with his passion until he came with a triumphant neigh or something close to it.
Corwin was a natural bottom though he could be flexible with a lover his own size like Axel. Still no one would take either of them for tops, being small and slender and pretty and totally lacking body hair even at the fork of their legs, not to mention their penchant for running around much of the time bare-ass naked. Yes nudity was a sensible adaptation to the tropical climate, but with both Corwin and Axel it was more than that. They wanted other people to ogle their scrumptious bodies and to long for them.
Chapter 4. Boomtown
In time their journey brought the travelers to the bottom of the Great Escarpment. Ages ago an earthquake had split the earth for many miles, lifting the bedrock to the south by more than three hundred feet [100 m], creating a nearly vertical escarpment. The stone wall extended east and west as far as the eye could see.
During an expedition years earlier, confronted by this impassible barrier, Sir Willet had built an access road to the higher land south of the escarpment. Shooting a stream of white fire along the face of the wall the war wizard had blasted a ledge slanting all the way to the top.
His road was wide enough for horses and wagons. Its surface was quite smooth, but the natural grain of the rock afforded decent traction. Weeks later Sir Willet had built a second road further along the wall, explaining that you always needed a back door. Axel had been along on that earlier expedition so, guided by his gift of Unerring Direction, he headed straight for the start of the first road at the base of the wall.
Derry was surefooted enough to walk up on four legs, though Corwin dismounted to ease his burden. Axel followed on foot leading his uncomplaining mare Melody. The road really might have been wide enough Derry and Melody to climb side by side, but that would have put the one on the outside a little too close to the drop-off for comfort.
From the top they headed south along a winding road which bent back and forth to keep to the ridge lines rather than descend into the hollows where the creeks flowed and then up the opposite slopes. This route was originally a brontothere trace, an energy saving game trail which spared the massive brontotheres the effort of endless descents and ascents which they would have had to make traveling across the grain of the country.
Brontotheres still traveled seasonally to salt licks three hundred miles to the south, coexisting amicably with travelers on the understanding that brontotheres always had the right of way.
[Salt licks provide animals with salt and elements like calcium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc plus trace elements) which are needed in the springtime for bone and muscle growth.]
The road led from the escarpment toward the settlements of the Frost Giants and those of the elves and dwarves with whom they shared the virgin land now called South Varangia. It was all undiscovered country even to Axel whose prior journey had gone down a different path.
The first two settlements they encountered were the clean well-ordered villages typical of Frost Giants, but the next was a raw mining town laid out helter-skelter, with little care for practicality or even basic sanitation. Board sidewalks flanked the unpaved streets lined with tents and temporary buildings thrown up hastily. Privies rather than sewers served for bodily wastes.
The town of Viborg teemed with with persons of all races on the lookout for the main chance. There were giants and dwarves, and humans, plus a sprinkling of elves and orcs. Homes were few. The town was all boarding houses, tent dormitories, eating places, saloons, gambling joints, and brothels. The sounds of music and drunken revelry jarred their ears. And the smell left a lot to be desired. At least the ground was well drained so they did not have to slog through mud.
Derry observed.
Corwin nodded.
"We could bypass this town, but I am a reporter, and I suspect there are some good stories here. Shall we stop for a while or push on?"
"I am for staying." Axel said, "but we'd better keep our guard up. Towns like this attract unsavory sorts who prey on the miners who do the hard work only to see it slip through their fingers and wind up in the hands of saloon keepers, brothel operators, and professional gamblers, not to mention thieves and footpads and claim jumpers."
<Before we get to the built up area, I am going to change to my Snow Elf form and wear my sarong."
Derry removed the boldly patterned green and white sarong from his pack and wrapped it around his hips, securing it with a bone clip.
"Let's keep it to ourselves that I am a shape shifter. It might be our trump card.>
"Good idea." Corwin agreed. "Same tactic with our major gifts. We don't talk up our reputations and make no mention that I can wield ball lightning or that Axel can teleport. To throw bad guys off, I will wear my expeditionary outfit with the armbands which proclaim me both a combat medic and a Healer, but let's keep our sleeves rolled down to the elbow so they cannot see the tattoos that mark me as a Giant-Friend or you Axel as an Orc-Friend."
"Fine, and let's ask the local law about the best place for honest travelers to stay." Axel proposed.
"We'd better hope the local law isn't corrupt." Corwin replied.
Corwin's empathic gift confirmed that the town marshall was an honest man or rather a tough looking Frost Giant with a harried look about him. The nameplate on his desk gave his name as Lars Sigurdsson.
"I see that one of you is a Healer. Healers we need. So if you here to practice your profession, then you are welcome. If you come looking for sapphires my advice is to move on. Nice boys like you wouldn't be safe in a boomtown like this. You three don't look like you could defend yourself against claim jumpers. Only one of you has any brawn, and you would be facing giants and dwarves. Your life is worth more than any pretty stones you might dig up."
Corwin shook his head:
"We aren't miners, but there is money to be made in a boomtown without getting your hands dirty. I am sure I can make a good living here as a Healer. As for my friends, they have private means and interests of their own and will be staying with me for a while. Also we three are more capable of taking care of ourselves than you give us credit for you, though I don't care to elaborate on how."
"I can understand that you want to play your cards close to your vest. Anyway Red, that ruby in your amulet will draw attention. You just might get bashed over the head and wake up without it, if you do wake up."
"Actually the stone is just a garnet and has little value as a gemstone."
"Maybe, but robbers wouldn't know that beforehand, would they?"
"Then as opportunities present themselves at saloons and eating places I'll make a point of mentioning, just in passing mind you, that it is only a garnet, which I wear because it is my birthstone. Hopefully word will get around for them not to waste their time."
Axel wasn't really worried about theft. His wartime experiences had taught him to maintain situational awareness at all times. And as a Jumper, he could easily dodge blows directed at him and turn the tables.
"Is crime really so out of hand?" Corwin asked.
"It's not so bad as that. Mostly it's crooked gambling, armed robberies, and fist and knife fights which result in mercifully few fatalities. Gems are kept in the vault of the miners' cooperative, so no one had been killed or robbed for his stash. Understand we do what I can to keep the lid on, but my two deputies and I cannot be everywhere at once. So watch out."
"One more thing which might interest you as a Healer. People have been dropping dead for no apparent reason. Five so far this spring. They were the picture of health in the evening, but when found the next morning stretched out in the street or an alley they were dead and looking as if they had aged thirty years overnight. Any ideas what might cause such deaths?"
"Not offhand, I'd have to examine the bodies."
Sigurdsson shook his head. "Cremated just in case whatever killed them was contagious. I'll bring you in to consult on the next case, all right?"
"Fine, and what about lodgings?"
The marshall directed them to what he assured them was the cleanest and safest boarding house in town. The landlady was none other than Mrs. Sigurdsson which explained why the criminal element largely left the place alone. It didn't hurt that one of the deputies boarded there too.
The rates were high, even for the inflated price structure of a boomtown, but then the travelers could afford it. Derry had only a modest poke, but since he had provided Corwin with transportation it was only fair that Corwin pay for the lodgings. The rooms were small but clean and fresh smelling though their thin walls forced Corwin and Derry to be less vocal during their enthusiastic couplings.
Suspicious about the mysterious deaths which he already suspected were the result of murder by magic. Corwin went to work at the local infirmary where he was paid the modest stipend of a beginning Healer. The job gave him the chance to sound out the local medical community. Over time he had a chance to question the staff about the mysterious deaths. What were their observations? Did they have a clue as to a diagnosis?
They too suspected that foul magic had been at work but also grumbled about having come under suspicion themselves. It was well known that magical healers could kill with a touch or just a thought really. Physical contact was not necessary though proximity was. But a heart attack did not leave a person looking like the way the victims had.
Axel and Derry carried out a parallel investigation into the circumstance of the deaths all of which had happened in the commercial district. While Derry sounded out the humbler members of the business community such as clerks and drivers Axel called at the bank, the businessmen's association, the offices of the freight line and other firms, ostensibly in search of investment opportunities. Sooner or later he brought the conversation around to the five mysterious deaths, saying he was worried not only for his personal safety but for the impact a larger outbreak might have on the prosperity of the town.
The substantial letter of credit Axel carried testified to his financial wherewithal. Moreover Axel had picked up enough about business from the wily dwarf Lennart to walk the walk and talk the talk.
All three took to visiting saloons and gambling palaces, though careful not overindulge. Corwin especially was the sort who was easy to talk to, while many were eager to chat up the exotic Snow Elf. Some men liked to brag, others to complain, still others expressed their hopes or their fears. To all of them the boys lent an ear. That gave them a better feel for this town and its varied populace, and what might be going on with the mysterious deaths.
The victims were found in circumstances that suggested they had not fallen prey to a malefactor skulking around or lurking in the shadows. No it had to be someone who could approach them openly and whose presence and movements at night would not attract undue attention.
A grizzled human seated at a card table in the most popular gambling hall asked Corwin:
"You always watch interestedly, Healer, but you never play cards yourself. Are you one of those fellows who just can't stand to lose?"
"Hardly. If I did play I would almost certainly win. First off I grew up in an army town where card playing is a major pastime. Second my healing magic includes a sensitive empathic gift. It would tell me whether an opponent really had good cards or was just bluffing. So it wouldn't be fair for me to sit in on a game. That would be like cheating. Not the kind of cheating where a player palms cards or deals from the bottom of the deck, but cheating all the same."
"Can you tell the real cheats from the honest players?"
"Certainly. You yourself are an honest player but also a skillful one, which is why you win more often than you lose, unlike that swarthy fellow sitting across from you who is neither honest nor very good at manipulating cards. He really should practice more."
The man in question rose to his feet, a scowl on his face.
"Are you calling me a cheat?"
"What else should I call a man who exchanges two of the cards he was dealt for better ones from up his sleeve?"
"But I have nothing up my sleeves, youngling." the man said smugly pushing his sleeves up past his elbows.
Corwin shook his head.
"Your sleeve was where you took your new cards from. You hid the discards in your sash."
Rough hands held the man, and a search produced the incriminating evidence. The crowd was in a mood to administer summary justice. There was talk of tar and feathers, but just then the marshall hurried in, alerted to the trouble by a customer who had stepped out and waved him down as he went about his rounds.
"I'll take it from here, gentlemen. Those of you who are willing to stand witness should give my their names."
The bartender produced pencil and paper and after taking down the names, the marshall took his prisoner to jail along with the man's chief accuser, Corwin Klarendes. Axel and Derry tagged along.
Chapter 5. Life Leech
"All right, young man. What was that all about? I appreciate your fingering a crooked gambler, but I have a feeling there is more to it than that."
"There is. Tonight I set in motion my plan to expose the killer in our midst."
"Are you talking about those five mysterious deaths? Those were murders?"
Corwin nodded. "Almost certainly the work of a life leech."
Corwin explained that a life leech was one of those very rare humans who enjoyed an indefinite life span at the expense of others. The leech's magical gift let him kill with a mere touch of his hands though he had to maintain contact for a few minutes to fully drain the life force of others and use it to restore his youth. The fact of multiple victims had thrown Corwin off at first. Life leeches usually fed only once every few years and then on only a single person, a youth or girl of their same gender. The infrequency of their kills helped them escape detection or even suspicion.
The marshall's description of the victims' appearance had suggested aging, but the medical practitioners and witnesses Corwin had talked to had told a somewhat different story. The victims' hair had not turned gray nor were their faces truly wrinkled, nor did they have age spots as with true senescence. Instead their faces looked sunken or drained, their whole being diminished.
"Do life leeches take pleasure from draining a victim? Is that why this monster has killed five times so far?"
"Perhaps, but a better guess is that his regenerative powers are failing. He can still kill with a touch or draw out the life force of his victims, but a single life no longer does as much for him. To fully rejuvenate he might need a dozen victims for each cycle. Maybe his cycle is shorter too."
"I see. So what is this plan of yours?"
"Simple. I have set a trap using myself as the bait. At the saloon I deliberately made myself conspicuous, wearing the armband of a magical healer and sussing out that cheat. You understand that the life force of a magical healer is much stronger than normal. That will tempt him to drain me. And my empathic powers are a threat. I might see through his mask of normalcy. I actually felt the leech's presence in the saloon, but I could not pick him out of the crowd. No question now that he knows about me. He will try to kill me very soon."
"How soon?"
"Tonight. We three will return to the saloon to set the stage. After a couple of drinks I will peel away, ostensibly to catch up on my sleep while my friends continue socializing. Derry here will keep in touch with all of us via Mind Speech, including you Marshall. Now the killer might try to sneak in while I sleep or knock on the door on some pretext to get me to open it. When that happens Axel will teleport himself to my room. The two of us will capture or kill the leech. You and Derry will come up the stairs to block any attempt at escape."
Sigurdsson nodded. "If he tries to get past us, I'll hit him with a mild levin bolt, just enough to stun him. Still I have to ask: How does a giant-elf hybrid have telepathic powers in the first place?"
Derry told him telepathically, slipping out of his sarong and assuming his quadrupedal form, horn and all.
"Well I'll be damned." the marshall said amazed. "And you can teleport, can you Axel?"
Axel nodded. "And both Corwin and I will be armed with our carbines."
"And if our carbines don't intimidate him, my ball lightning will."
Corwin called up a single ball of lightning four feet wide which hummed and crackled menacingly.
"The most important thing Marshall is don't let him touch you with his bare hands." Axel cautioned. "Leave capturing him to me."
"Why you? Aren't you just as vulnerable to a life leech as anyone else?"
"No, I am immune to hostile magic, for reasons I do not care to disclose. The fewer who know... "
The Marshall's gaze went to Axel's throat.
"That's an ensorcelled amulet, isn't it?"
Axel confirmed the marshal's shrewd guess but asked Sigurdsson not to tell anyone else, not even his deputies. He agreed, saying:
"There is a whole lot more to you three than I ever suspected."
No plan survives contact with the main strength of the enemy, and Corwin's plan was no exception. The life leech set a fire in a dormitory as a distraction. In all the commotion, no one would hear Corwin's cries for help or the clash of weapons if it came to that. Nor would anyone mark or remember his own movements. Another advantage was that the fire and the crowd would draw the attention of the town marshall and his deputies.
The leech was resolved that Corwin would die this and provide him with the life force he needed to rejuvenate. Who knew? The life force of a Healer might even cure his problem and restore his fading powers. It was so unfair that after only four centuries of life, less than that of most elves, he had gone into decline. He now looked to be twenty years older than he ever had before.
The life leech knocked on Corwin's door, telling him though the closed door that the marshall had sent him and that his healing powers were needed to save a man wounded in a knife fight.
"OK. I'll come right away." Corwin called then pulled on a cord he had rigged to open the latch from across the room.
A big man looking to be in his forties stepped into the room reaching for the boy he expected to be standing in the doorway.
He grabbed air.
Corwin was standing in the far corner with his carbine leveled. A red-headed youth armed with another carbine stood in the center of the room, careful to stay out of his friend's line of fire.
"Don't shoot. I surrender." he said, adding with a disarming grin: "I am willing to take my chances in court. You cannot prove a thing against me."
The leech didn't really dare face a court of justice. How would he explain his false claim that the marshall had sent him for Corwin to save a dying man?. Not only did he have ample opportunity for the murders and no alibis, an an empath would give the lie to his denials. No his outward confidence was just a tactic to put his enemies off their guard. Just wait till one or the other of them came within reach.
It was Axel who advanced to tie his wrists behind his back and then slip steel gauntlets over his hands. A blacksmith was standing by to rivet them around his wrists.
The leech let Axel get close then made his move. He grabbed Axel's bare arm and invoked his deadly power.
Nothing happened -- till Axel kneed him in the groin.
In pain but still fully functional, the big man shoved Axel into Corwin's line of fire and made a break for the door only to impale himself on the unicorn's horn. Its monomolecular point sundered his ribs and pierced his heart, killing him instantly. Just to be sure, after the body slumped to the floor, Derry stomped on his head and crushed the skull.
Derry wanted the foul creature dead and had always intended to kill him straight out, no matter what the marshall or his own friends wanted.
"Was it really necessary to smash his skull too?" Axel asked.
<I had to make sure he stayed dead. Who knows how powerful the regenerative powers of a life leech might be? My own shapeshifter gift can regenerate a seriously damaged body, but not without a working circulatory system and brain. So if you ever need to kill a wir, present company excepted of course, decapitate him, though that takes a sharp blade and strong arm.>
"Not the way I'd do it." Axel told him. "In Amazonia I would jump next to a troll, put a hand to his head then jump away with just the head, leaving the rest of his body behind. My technique was efficient since it combined the kill stroke and the getaway. But don't get me started on war stories."
Corwin nodded. What was done was done.
The marshall and a deputy showed up a while later.
"There's your life leech, Marshall. He tried to kill me and Axel. When that plan failed, he turned to flee, but Derry killed him as he sought to escape. You can touch his body now that he is dead." Corwin told them.
"Maybe it's better this way." the marshall allowed. "He would always have been a threat to his jailers till the day he was executed."
The marshall was relieved that he did not have to keep a life leech incarcerated for even a few days, steel gauntlets or no. Good riddance to the fiend anyway.
They later learned that under the name of Lazlo Szeged the life leech worked for the night patrol hired by the businessmen's association in the commercial center. That gave him the opportunity to prowl around at night unsuspected and to approach strangers in the dark.
Corwin had a terrific story to tell: a tale of mystery and magic, mayhem and murder. It was sure to sell papers. Unfortunately the young reporter had no way to file his copy. No heliograph line or postal autogyro served the area. Fortunately Axel could teleport to the offices of the Capital Intelligencer and hand the story over to Corwin's editor. They would not only print it but put it out via the Altair's Press Association which linked the news-papers of the Commonwealth via the postal heliograph.
Next stop was the suite in a residential hotel he shared with his friends to drop off his and Corwin's dirty laundry and pick up replacements though Corwin's would be getting little use since he had to ride Derry while sky-clad. No one else was at home, so he left a note to tell the others that he had stopped by briefly. Corwin's story in the Capital Intelligencer would tell them what he and Corwin had been up to.
Axel was also carrying a letter from Derry to his folks about how he had fallen in with Corwin and Axel and would be traveling with them until they finally returned to the capital of the Commonwealth. Axel posted it via air mail. He then stopped by the Institute for a brief visit with Sir Willet, to fill him in and to arrange for any mail addressed to Derrionydd or Derry to be held at the institute to be called for, either in person or by Axel on his next hop, skip, and a jump visit to the capital.
Axel teleported back to Viborg and mounted Melody while Derry transformed to let Corwin mount him. After saying their goodbyes to Marshall Sigurdsson the three travelers headed out.
Adventure awaited.