Chapter 13
The Oaken LogWarriors sat about their fires in restrained silence. There was no drinking or feasting this evening. There were no wrestling bouts nor games of dice being played. One of their greatest champions had fallen, and there was not a man nor a woman present who did not bitterly feel the loss. When the great doors crashed back to shiver the timbers of the hall and Uath the Stranger entered, he stopped and glanced about him. A puzzled expression crossed his face, he hugged the great axe to his body and rasped his thumb across its blade. Slowly, he walked on to the fire across from which Uther sat with his closest warriors. Uath turned a full circle and stared at the silent gathering, his big cold face finally becoming a grin until his laughter bellowed out loud, the sound
