The Keep In The Marsh (Escaping Dragons Book 1) - Neil O'Donnell

Sword And Sorcery Adventure Novel With Powerful Dragons

The Keep In The Marsh (Escaping Dragons Book 1) by Neil O’Donnell

Book excerpt

The need for new clothes surfaced as their first essential expenditure. Working in and around the inn left the company’s males stinking to High Heaven. With only two sets of clothes each, Jeffrey, Thomas, Sully, and Siegfried purchased new trousers, shirts, socks and undergarments at the local seamstress’s shop. The purchase cost them most of the group’s initial coin reserves but, for Haley and her nose, it was money well spent. As for the company’s finances, Sully’s work as a bartender paid off nicely right from the get-go. Sure, he wasn’t being paid anything by Wilkins for his time pouring drinks, but he did get to keep the coppers customers left for tips. Being the young, muscular lad he was, many lady patrons certainly spent time chatting him up and leaving copper coins aplenty. Old-timers also left a tip here and there as Sully patiently listened to their tales and gave what sage advice he could from time to time. Truthfully, Sully usually just nodded at customers as they yammered on. It was on the third night that Sully first heard mention of the southern borderlands and the questing many did through the region.

“There’s an old keep down there that young fellas like yourself journey to, seeking gold and whatnot,” Sheriff Gleason murmured between gulps of beer. The town’s law enforcement chief ended every night at the inn, usually needing to be carried out by one or more of his deputies, given his inebriation. “Dumbass kids. There ain’t no gold left down there save for whatever coins the soon-to-be-dead adventurers themselves drop. There’s always some of those to find, but they’re more like to be carrying copper than silver or gold. Course, the kobolds that frequent the ruins likely pick up whatever wayward adventurers drop, right after they’ve killed them, that is.” The sheriff downed his drink, and Sully made sure a fresh mug was ready just in time.

“Kobolds? How many?” Sully asked nonchalantly, trying not to seem interested.

“Half a hundred I reckon, at the least. Used to be two separate tribes, each holed up in a different set of hills. But between several plagues and their territorial squabbles, the survivors killed off their leaders and merged to form one colony. Pretty much stay to themselves, except for their patrols that keep an eye on the borderlands. Most decent people leave the area to them. Just those kids seeking fame and fortune that don’t know enough to steer clear.” The sheriff gulped down some of the new beer.

“How long has the keep been abandoned?” Sully asked, turning his back to grab a washcloth. He then started rinsing out the sheriff’s original mug, the warrior again trying to seem casual and just making small talk.

“Centuries ago, some king or queen had it built. It was a refuge for the soldiers exploring the southern reaches of the country. Wasn’t much to begin with, just a small stone keep with a few tunnels dug for food storage and some such. I think some fools up north in the cities gossip about the place, stirring images of dragon-hoarded gold in kids looking for a quick score of treasure. Old wives’ tales is what it is. No self-respecting dragon would be caught dead in a shithole like that ruin.”

At least it was something, Sully thought as he poured a few beers for a group of inn guests just coming in from the road. Part of a troupe of entertainers they were, though they were too exhausted from their travels to sing any tales that night. An elder then approached the sheriff to ask about the thieves’ guild and the town’s preparations for defense; Sully knew that conversation would keep the sheriff from any more talk of the ruined keep down south. Siegfried fared much worse, as far as information-gathering went.

Nobody thought much of the would-be wizard, especially since he kept delivering the wrong food to the wrong tables. He also worked non-stop because, just when he might get a chance to catch his breath, he needed to get a few drinks or rectify some order he’d wrongly delivered to a patron. Back in the kitchen, Jeffrey likewise failed to gather any intel, but he more than made up for that shortcoming through his work. After two days of washing pots and pans and dishes, Wilkins had the boy cooking meals. Wilkins pronounced Jeffrey a “natural” at cook’s work, and inn guests and townsfolk alike raved about Jeffrey’s cooking, especially his omelets and chicken pot pie. By the third night, when Sully learned of the borderland keep, Jeffrey gained permission to make meals for the company. Instead of the morning porridge and evening dinner of mystery meat and mashed potatoes, Wilkins allowed Jeffrey to use any scraps left over from previous meals. Eggs, ham, chicken and any and all vegetables became fair game for their meals, which brought smiles to everyone.

As for Thomas, he was simply exhausted. He found out that Wilkins owed debts to a number of townsfolk, especially the bank and a few unsavory characters with whom he played poker from time to time. To pay back those debts, the innkeep loaned out Thomas for projects ranging from working iron to repairing roofs and building chimneys, to suit the demands of whomever needed him. By the third day, he was too tired to think when he arrived for dinner. He just huddled down at an empty table, waited for whatever food concoction Jeffrey had decided to whip up, and ate in quiet, half his energy spent on feeding himself while the other half he used to keep his eyelids open. It wasn’t long before Haley arrived. She smiled, watching her new-found brother eat.

“Lamb stew?” she asked. Thomas simply nodded and continued to eat, stopping only periodically to sip down some water. She just smiled as she leaned back while Siegfried plopped down her evening meal. Lamb stew indeed, packed full of rutabaga, carrots and celery with a side plate holding some apple slices and two buttermilk biscuits. She wasted no time digging in, though her eagerness was born more out of the delight in the relatively open space of the inn, when compared to her day in the chilly, stale-aired, and dusty archives she’d found herself in earlier that day. The meal was just the cherry on the top of the proverbial cake. She was about halfway through her dinner when Thomas rested his head on the table; quiet snores started emerging from the man. She did a good job of tapping him on the leg whenever a snore got loud, an action that seem to quiet Thomas enough that patrons at nearby tables didn’t cast overly angry glances Haley’s way.

After finishing, Haley ordered a beer, which she drank in sips over the course of an hour, waiting for the others to join them. With the inn’s eating area only about half full, Sully, Siegfried, and Jeffrey joined them quite early, each inhaling a good portion of the lamb stew.

“Do you three even chew your food?” Haley asked as her companions seemed to ignore breathing itself while consuming their meal. Aside from a glance and angry glare from Sully, her companions just kept eating. It would be close to midnight before each was full, rested, and ready to discuss their days, all while enjoying a round of beer on the house. The fires in the two great fireplaces were now out and only they were in the taproom, a candle at their table the only source of light.

“Time to chat,” Haley said, kicking at the slumbering smith. He woke, gradually, before coming back to some kind of awareness.

“The sheriff mentioned a ruined keep to the south that travelers visit on and off,” Sully said as he quickly rubbed his hands over the candle flame. “He thinks it’s tapped out of gold and silver and hardly worth the risk.”

“And?” Haley asked before gulping down some beer.

“And there’s kobold activity in the area,” Sully continued. “Sounds like more lizardmen than we’d care to handle.”

“Well, it’s better to know that now than to journey south and find out we fought off an army of kobolds for nothing more than copper,” Thomas replied. He took a sip from his mug of water before continuing. “How ’bout you gents?” he asked as he glanced quickly at Jeffrey and Siegfried.

“Too busy in the back,” Jeffrey said, shaking his head. “I don’t see how I’ll ever have time to venture out to deliver food and eavesdrop if I can’t get five minutes away from the grill.”

“It’s not much better on the floor,” Siegfried commented before taking a swig of beer. “People seem to shut up whenever I draw near, as if I’m listening in to their conversations.”

“Well, that is what you’re doing,” Sully replied, laughing.

“All right, calm down,” Haley interjected before her companions got into a pissing contest. “The archives were a bit more fruitful today. I looked through a number of property ledgers that referred to a keep southeast of here. It was a retreat for the church at one time. Account books showed that food for ceremonies was sent there up until about 70 years ago. Since then, there’ve been a few priests and nuns who ventured there for major feast days. I found a reference to repairs being done after a fire, though no specific date was listed. Seems they sent down a good amount of wood and builders to repair the damage. Last entry for any visits to the keep date back almost 20 years. Might be something worth investigating?”

“Definitely a place to start,” Thomas interjected before he finished off his water. “I’m sorry… just can’t keep my eyes open much longer. I say we see what else we can learn about the church’s keep. Might be we can glean some additional details. I figure we stay for another two weeks and see what else comes up before we head south and check the place out. Anyone else up for that?” Sully nodded first after which the others exchanged nods and glances with the smith. “All right. I’ll see if any of the patrons I work with know anything about it or what towns and villages might be on the road south so we can do some more investigating.” With that, he was up and off to bed.

Book details

AUTHOR NAME: Neil O’Donnell

BOOK TITLE: The Keep In The Marsh (Escaping Dragons Book 1)

GENRE: Fantasy

SUBGENRE: Epic Fantasy / High Fantasy / Sword & Sorcery / Dragon Fantasy

PAGE COUNT: 150

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