Resting his spear against the wall the sentry sat. His scabbard clanged against the stone, and clumsily he swivelled it. ‘I cannot get used to wearing all this armour,’ said Pellin. ‘I trip over the sword all the time. I am not much of a soldier, I fear.’
‘You looked every inch the soldier three days ago on Wall Two,’ said Druss. ‘I saw you kill two Nadir, then fight your way back to the ropes on this wall. Even then you helped a comrade who had a wound in his leg – you climbed below him, supporting him.’
‘You saw that? But there was so much confusion -and you were in the midst of the battle yourself!’
‘I see many things, boy. What is your name?’
‘Pellin . . . Cul Pellin,’ he corrected himself. ‘Sir,’ he added swiftly.
‘We can dispense with the formalities, Pellin,’ Druss told him amiably. ‘Here tonight we are just two veterans sitting quietly waiting for the dawn. Are you frightened ?’
Pellin nodded and Druss smiled. ‘And do you ask yourself, Why me ? Why should I be standing here facing the might of the Nadir?’
‘Yes. Kara didn’t want me to go with the others. She told me I was a fool. I mean, what difference will it make if we win or lose?’
‘In a hundred years? None at all,’ said Druss. ‘But all invading armies carry their own demons with them, Pellin. If they break through here they will sweep across the Sentran Plain bringing fire and destruction, rape and slaughter. That’s why we must stop them. And why you? Because you are the man for the role.’
‘I think I am going to die here,’ said Pellin. ‘I don’t want to die. My Kara is pregnant and I want to see my son grow, tall and strong. I want. . .’ He stumbled to silence as the lump in his throat blocked further speech.
‘You want what we all want, laddie,’ said Druss softly. ‘But you are a man, and men must face what they fear or be destroyed by it.’
‘I don’t know if I can. I keep thinking of joining the other deserters. Creeping south in the night. Going home.’
‘Then why haven’t you?’
Pellin thought for a moment. ‘I don’t know,’ he said lamely.
‘I’ll tell you why, boy. Because you look around and you see the others who must stay, and fight all the harder because you are not standing by your post. You are not a man to leave others to do your work for you.’
‘I’d like to believe that. Truly I would.’
‘Believe it, laddie, for I am a good judge of men.’ Suddenly Druss grinned. ‘I knew another Pellin once. He was a spear-thrower. A good one, too. Won the Gold in the Fellowship Games when they were held in Gulgothir.’
‘I thought that was Nicotas,’ said Pellin. ‘I remember the parade when the team came home. Nicotas carried the Drenai flag.’
The old man shook his head. ‘That feels like yesterday,’ said Druss, with a wide grin. ‘But I am talking about the Fifth Games. I would guess they took place around thirty years ago – long before you were a gleam in your mother’s eyes. Pellin was a good man.’
‘Were they the Games you took part in, sir? At the court of the Mad King?’ asked the sentry.
Druss nodded. ‘It was no part of my plan. I was a farmer then, but Abalayn invited me to Gulgothir as part of the Drenai delegation. My wife, Rowena, urged me to accept the invitation; she thought I was growing bored with life in the mountains.’ He chuckled. ‘She was right! We came through Dros Delnoch, I remember. There were forty-five competitors, and around another hundred hangers-on, whores, servants, trainers. I have forgotten most of their names now. Pellin I remember – but then he made me laugh, and I enjoyed his company.’ The old man fell silent, lost in memories.
‘So how did you become part of the team, sir?’
‘Oh, that! The Drenai had a fist-fighter named . . . damned if I can remember. Old age is eating away at my memory. Anyway he was an ill-tempered man. All the fighters brought their own trainers with them, and lesser fighters to spar with. This fellow . . . Grawal, that was it! . . . was a brute, and he disabled two of his sparring partners. One day he asked me to spar with him. We were still three days from Gulgothir and I was really bored by then. That’s one of the curses of my life, lad. Easily bored! So I agreed. It was a mistake. Lots of the camp women used to watch the fighters train, and I should have realized that Grawal was a crowd pleaser. Anyway, he and I began to spar. At first it went well, he was good, a lot of power in the shoulders but supple too. Have you ever sparred, Pellin?’