Broken World Book Three - A Land Without Law by T C Southwell Page A

you think, no place for a boy."
    "If they fail
to find the pieces of the staff, all will perish, so what does it
matter?" Larik pointed out.
    "Thorn found
the stone, Papa. He will find the other pieces too!" Shan
cried.
    Jesher sighed,
glancing around at the stony-faced warriors, his eyes skittering
away from Shella's hard stare.
    "To deny the
boy is cruel," a senior warrior, Mejan, chimed in.
    "We should ask
the horses," Larik stated. "If they say the boy should go, then he
should."
    "Which
horses?" Jesher demanded.
    "Mishal, Nort,
and Thorn."
    The headman
stared at the floor, unable to look at his wife. "Very well, we'll
let the decision be theirs."
    Shella snorted
and left the tent, her disapproval hanging in the air behind her.
Shan bounced with eagerness, certain that the horses would want him
to go, especially Thorn. Jesher gazed at his son, wishing that he
had sired more than one.
     
    Kieran emerged
from his hut with the Starsword, strapping it on as he loped after
the Mujar, who was already halfway to the grove of trees that
flanked one side of the lake at the far end of the valley. Dread
nibbled at him. Did Chanter intend to destroy the weapon, as he
claimed he should have done before the staff was broken? Kieran had
overheard that comment when he had been climbing up the scree to
the rock where Chanter sat with Talsy.
    Chanter must
not destroy the sword. It would be important on the quest to find
the rest of the staff. How could he prevent the Mujar from doing so
if he chose? One thing he had learnt during his time with Chanter
was that no one went against the Mujar and won. The only person who
seemed to be able to influence him was Talsy, and he had no time to
find her. After the humble pie he had eaten at the hands of the
mage Chanter had defeated so easily, the Prince was not so
confident any longer.
    The Mujar
vanished amongst the trees ahead, and Kieran loped after him, not
wishing to keep him waiting. His earlier impatience and frustration
with Chanter now seemed disrespectful and childish. Striding
through the trees, he came across the Mujar sitting on a mossy rock
in a glade, and paused to take in the scene. Sunlight filtered
through the trees to gild the unman, who sat motionless, as much a
part of the forest as the rock on which he and the trees around
him. A Trueman would have looked out of place, but the Mujar looked
as natural in this setting as a deer.
    Chanter looked
up, and the words Kieran had rehearsed on the way here burst from
him. "If you've decided to destroy the sword, I don't agree. We'll
need it on the quest for the staff. It's too important. The damage
has been done now, let it be used for good."
    Kieran paused,
and Chanter raised a leg, put his foot on the rock, rested his
elbow on his knee and his chin on his hand. He gazed at Kieran, who
went on, "I bet you haven't discussed this with Talsy. I know she'd
agree with me. We're going to need all the weapons we can get out
there, and the sword is a good weapon. I know it didn't do any good
against the mage, but I shouldn't have been showing off. I should
have just burnt him to a crisp."
    Chanter cocked
his head as Kieran's oratory stumbled to a halt. "If I was going to
destroy the sword, I wouldn't need you to bring it here. I could do
that any time."
    Kieran slumped
in relief. "Then what's this all about?"
    "It's about
your defeat at the hands of the mage. You're right, you shouldn't
have been showing off, but nor should you have burnt him to a
crisp. There are other solutions to such problems."
    "You're going
to teach me something?" Kieran hazarded.
    "No." The
Mujar rose and approached him. "I'm going to increase the sword's
power." He held out his hand.
    Kieran stared
at it, then drew the weapon and handed it to its maker. Chanter
raised the blade and studied its honed edge. He ran the stump of
his right wrist along it, pausing halfway along the blade.
    "See here,
where it broke the Staff of Law."
    Kieran peered
at the place where the