Noble V: Greylancer Read Free

exchange another three times, once for each time they passed
     a woodcutter’s house that Michia had spoken of.
    When they came within a few kilometers of the edge of the forest, Greylancer pulled
     up on the reins.
    Clear of trees now, approximately two hundred meters ahead in the ochre-colored mesa,
     there lay what appeared to be a blue metallic object that was clearly not of this
     world. Its brilliant sheen accentuated the desolation of the treeless wilderness surrounding
     it.
    It resembled a saucer with three horizontal tail planes. A two-seater judging by its
     ten-by-eight-meter size. The two open bulges on what appeared to be the cockpit corroborated
     this. The body was split open diagonally from the rear of the cockpit to the tail,
     such that it was difficult to believe the aircraft had crash-landed safely.
    The landing had not put a mark on it. The enemy aircraft was not equipped with an
     energy shield but was made of a super-dense alloy.
    A human shadow stood in front of the cockpit.
    Spiked leather vest and wool shirt. The wide-barrel hunting pistol was nicked and
     well worn, but the hand axe stuck behind his belt was shiny enough to reflect one’s
     face.
    Another larger axe lay at his feet. No doubt this was the woodcutter.
    Rather than the tool of his chosen profession, he held a cylindrical tube with a grip
     resembling that of a handgun.
    He stood at a distance of five meters and pointed the cylinder at the aircraft.
    A pale blue mass spewed forth from the tube, and in a moment the aircraft, taking
     on the same hue, became enveloped in a brilliant glow. When the glow subsided, not
     a trace of the aircraft remained. Scattered about the sandy earth and rocks were silver
     dust particles, which blew away in a blast of wind.
    The woodcutter fell to his knees, clasped his hands in front of his chest, and began
     to drone some kind of incantation.
    “That was a first,” said Greylancer, narrowing his eyes.
    “I hear the OSB have no blood running through their veins.” Grosbec tightened his
     grip on the reins.
    “Stay here.” Greylancer spurred his horse forward.
    Even as he drew within ten meters of the supplicant figure, the woodcutter was still,
     seeming not to notice the Noble’s presence.
    Climbing off his horse, Greylancer called out, “Beijrot?”
    So engrossed was the woodcutter in prayer that he spun around in shock. He stared
     at the giant with the deep blue cape fluttering in the wind. “Who—are you?” he asked,
     distorting his bearded face.
    “Are you Beijrot?”
    “Yeah. But…you wouldn’t be…”
    “Greylancer.”
    “Oh, your lordship! Yes, I am Beijrot. What are you doing here in these parts?”
    “I came with questions, but they have been answered. This dust scattered about you—the
     remains of the woodcutters and their families, Beijrot?”
    “What…was that?” The woodcutter staggered backward. “I came out to investigate the
     thing that fell out of the sky last night, is all.”
    “If you merely came to investigate, why did you disintegrate the aircraft? Which weapon
     will that arm behind your back reach for? The axe of the woodcutter whose identity
     you’ve stolen or your blaster? Which would be easier to handle in your present form?”
     Beijrot continued to inch backward. The sweaty, quaking figure was outwardly one of
     a simple, mild-mannered woodcutter. “Or perhaps neither. You must know your weapons
     are ineffective against vampires.” Greylancer brought his left hand up to his ear.
     The jewel on his ring finger reflected the sun’s rays. “Well now, this is what my
     retainer tells me you were thinking just now: Damn Nobles! Someday, we’ll wipe out the lot of you ! ”
    “Right you are!” Beijrot jumped right and pointed the cylinder at Greylancer. A glowing
     blue mass again fired from the tube, and the vampire vanished into thin air. “Yes!”
     Beijrot howled and wiped the sweat off his brow with his weapon hand. The awful