Kaz Ironward's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Kaz Ironward read his own name on the mossy pillar outside the guild hall and felt the heat climb his neck. Someone had scratched it fresh that morning, under a crude drawing of two shields and a boy crushed between them. The pillar listed fighters whose styles the city had laughed out of the ring. Kaz fought with two greatshields instead of a sword, pushing and pinning men until they had nowhere to stand. A week ago the veteran who once called the shields his tombstone had nodded at him in the yard. Now no serious warrior would meet him, because meeting him meant being part of the joke. He needed something the laughter could not survive. He had heard the rangers in their tower complaining about a stone troll that had wandered down from the ridge and started breaking carts on the trade road. The guild had posted the bounty three days ago. No one had taken it. Kaz lifted his shields from the twin pedestals where he kept them on display in the yard. People had begun to stop and stare at the stand, half in mockery, half in curiosity. He let them stare. He walked out the north gate with a shield strapped to each arm and did not tell anyone where he was going. He found the troll in a dry creek bed, chewing the iron rim off a wheel. It was taller than him by half, skin like cracked granite, eyes yellow under a heavy brow. It saw him and stood. Kaz did not shout. He set his feet and walked straight at it. The troll swung a fist the size of a stump. Kaz caught it on the left shield, felt his shoulder jam, and drove forward before the troll could pull back. He pinned the wrist against the bank with his right shield and leaned. The troll roared and tried to twist. Kaz walked his feet, closed the angle, and pressed the creature's own arm across its throat. He held it there. He held it until the roaring stopped and the yellow eyes rolled and the body went heavy against the dirt. He cut a piece of the stone hide for proof and dragged the head behind him on a rope. By the time he reached the guild hall, a crowd had formed. Someone had a blue viewing crystal raised on a pole, and the image inside it showed him walking the road with the head bouncing in the dust. The crystal had been following him since the creek. The whole city had watched him do it. The veteran was waiting on the guild hall steps. He looked at the head, then at the shields, then at Kaz. He did not smile. He stepped aside and let Kaz pass into the hall. Behind them, someone was already scraping Kaz's name off the pillar.