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The Paladins of Karkos
an illustrated tale
page 3


    "Look there knight," Rikio said, pointing to the burnt out barn.  Deep within the rubble, a charred hand was moving, slowly, trying to free itself from a fallen beam.  Garalt felt queasy at the sight.
    "These people were under the control of the necromancer.  Even now, only hours after their death, they try to rise up to do his bidding."
    Rikio slowly walked over to the undead thing with her pike in hand.  She raised it up and then pierced the zombie's burnt flesh, and it froze instantly.  Garalt's eyes widened as the zombie was turned into a steaming pile of ice.  Rikio then hit the zombie hard with her pike, shattering it.
    "So the old man was lying..." Garalt whispered to himself, "But if Jerren was doing these beneficial things, why in the world did his men knock me out?"
    Garn looked at Garalt carefully.
    "It is Jerren's policy that if any witnesses are left after one of his purifications, that they be unable to know which way they run off to, so no one can follow them."
    "But..." Garalt began, puzzled, "that would mean that your parents, Rikio, were 'sinners' too, right?"  Rikio seemed disturbed at the thought.
    "No," she spat, "Jerren destroys an entire village, the sinners and the innocent, adult and child, all to get at those few who did wrong.  I only survived because I had become lost in the woods outside our town."  Rikio walked away, trying to regain her composure.
    "I'm sorry..." Garalt looked at Rikio, "I didn't know..."
    Garn patted Garalt's shoulder.
    "Worry not, we have our reasons for what we do, but we are powerless do to anything else.  We're all used to it."  Rikio turned back toward Garalt and looked at him in her seemingly usual cold stare.
    "And you can't confront him directly?"
    "No, he would surely kill us all," Ceness spoke quickly, "Jerren will not hesitate to rid himself of even the smallest threat."
    Garn swung his sword through the air quickly, sparing with an imaginary foe.
    "That's why we seek the Jackals." he said, sheathing his sword.
    "The Jackals?" Garalt was shocked.  "The group of thieving mercenaries?  Why on earth would you want to have anything to do with that cutthroat lot?"
    "We all have scores to settle with Jerren, but none of us could ever hope to stand up to all his men.  And defeating his men is the only way of even getting close to him.  His magical crown prevents any arrow from hitting him.  The Jackals are the best fighters in all of Kahlan, or at least that's what everyone says.  It's been rumored that they even fought the Order of Huldrain to a draw.  If we can get their help, we might be able to get close enough to Jerren to capture him.  There is a large and growing number of people wanting to exact revenge against him."
    "Living only for revenge is no way to live," Garalt sighed.  "In any case, how do you plan on finding the Jackals?  From what I hear, they disbanded because of the massive reward for their capture.  They're all probably in hiding."
    "That may be true," Ceness said almost excitedly, "but we have information that a few of the Jackals are actually hiding out in Ikros.  And if we can find them, we can find the Crimson Jackal."
    "Crimson Jackal?"  Garalt said, completely clue less.
    "The Crimson Jackal," Garn chimed in, "the leader and namesake of the Jackals.  Best damned sword fighter that lives today.  It is said that the Jackals follow him with total loyalty.  If we can find the Crimson Jackal, and convince him to fight on our side, for our cause, then he can call on the rest of the Jackals.  They'll all come to his call."
    "Just how many Jackals are there to find?"  Garalt asked, checking his axe over thoroughly.
    "By best count," Garn started counting his fingers, "seven.  That's the best information we've been able to come up with."
    "Almost the best..." Rikio smiled.
    "Ahh yes, the name." Garn smiled with her.
    "The name?" Garalt was starting to wonder if he knew anything at all about things.
    "All the Jackals lived under a pseudonym, usually some animal name." Garn looked over his shield again.  "However, we've paid some good money to find out the real name of one of the Jackals.  We've been able to track the name down to Ikros.  It's only a matter of time."
    Garalt couldn't stand his curiosity.
    "So what's his name?"
    "Ohhh no, we paid good money for it" Garn said, chiding the young knight.
    Rikio walked over to Garn.
    "He's from this land, he might know the guy."
    Garn thought long and hard, running his fingers through his short beard.
    "You're right Rikio.  The guy's name is Karbane.  Ring a bell?"
    Garalt's jaw dropped.  Ring a bell?  More like ringing every church bell in Ikros.  Sir Karbane, along with Hillsbrad, trained all new would be knights who came through the Ikros Capitol gates.  Garalt could remember countless mornings sparing with a random partner under the watchful eye of Karbane.  Sure, the man was good at swordplay, but he? A Jackal?
    "Oh my," Ceness spoke softly, a smile slowly coming to her face.  "The boy has heard the name before."
    Garn grabbed Garalt by the shoulders tightly.
    "Garalt... please... you must tell us where we can find Karbane.  We must find the Crimson Jackal, we must stop Jerren from destroying every innocent soul from here to Zol to defeat Ethelred.  There must be a better solution than to let him have his way!"
    Garalt's mouth felt dry.  Could his one time teacher really be a member of the Jackals?  He had always been taught that the Jackals were evil and devoid of humanity.  But Karbane, though his long winded speeches of proper battle techniques were rather boring to the point of being cruel, was not the sort to do evil deeds like those described to him by his fellow knights.  Garalt knew that he could not bring in these three warriors into the castle just blurt out to everyone that Karbane was a member of the Jackals.  Even if it wasn't true, the scandal that would insue would be incredible.
    "Let me take you to my king, Ulmerad.  It is not my place to just make allegations that a wanted criminal of that magnitude dwells in Ikros."
    Garn looked at Rikio and Ceness.  The three nodded and told the young knight that they would travel with him to Ikros Capitol.

 
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