Sentinels: Forsaken Knight (5 page)

“You should listen to His Majesty,
Captain
,” Amador chimed in. “Regardless, we have the forty best men and women from each of our respective units, the most respected divisions of Delrich’s military, serving as escort guard. If anyone dared attack us they would be dead before they could give the retreat order.”

The prince found Amador’s bold claim amusing, proving so with a few hearty laughs in response. “Lieutenant, your confidence is refreshing. Now let us-”

An explosion in front of them stopped the prince’s words, and his company, in their tracks. Before anyone knew what was happening they were being bombarded with a combined force of arrows and magic from all directions. Several soldiers went down, either scorched or from arrow wounds, before they could even draw their weapons.

Anye drew her sword and readied her shield. Within seconds she had deflected two arrows and a fireball aimed at either her or the prince’s horse. “My Liege, we must get you to safety!” she yelled out.

The prince nodded his head, but before they could move they were surrounded by a group of men, all dressed in dark colored robes and armed with swords. Open hands held a small fiery glow in place of a shield. Anye recognized them immediately as Mitus’ light armor combat mages, soldiers who proved to be expert swordsmen as well as adept wizards similar to dark knights. They could cut an opponent down just as easily as conjure fire, ice, lightning, or any other type of magical attacks to fell entire groups by themselves.

“What is the meaning of this!?” Anye shouted at their attackers. “This is Prince Robert Ferdinand Delrich, ally of your leader, the emperor! You would dare commit this act of aggression against a sworn ally of your empire!?”

“We’re no allies of Delrich,” one of the mages yelled back to her. “The peace treaty isn’t finalized until you return back to your precious kingdom.”

“Your emperor has already called for you to lay down your arms and let us pass!” Anye yelled. “Would you disobey these orders?”

“Orders can be rescinded, Captain,” the mage replied.

The group didn’t give Anye or the prince enough time to say another word. They continued with their assault as soon as the one she assumed was their leader finished speaking. The sound of yelling and swords clanging against one another filled her head. She had to fight off two of the mages at once as soon as the fighting started. Their target was the prince, and it didn’t look like they wanted to keep anyone else alive, if they even wanted
him
alive.

Without heavy armor or shields to lug around the combat mages were more agile than Delrich’s warriors, and their skill with magic allowed them to use projectile attacks as well as their swords. Luckily for Anye and the prince she was quite skilled with healing and protective spells, and managed to counteract most of the attackers’ bombardment. The soldiers from her unit utilized a similar strategy as well, but many from both sides had fallen.

Anye realized that Amador was missing from his post defending the prince after a few minutes had passed. She thought it was possible he had fallen from a stray arrow or had been struck unexpectedly by one of the many magical attacks being thrown at them, but pushed the thought from her mind. She didn’t like him, but she recognized his skill in combat and knew that he wouldn’t go down easily. Still, his absence begged the question of where he was, though.

Her sword cut through the cloth armor of a third assailant as a large shadow swept over the chaos and caught Anye’s attention. She looked up for a moment to see Amador’s dragon swoop down into the fray with Amador riding on his back. The impact of the dragon’s landing shook the ground and flung several of the attackers backwards. The dragon roared and fire flew out of its gaping jaw like liquid, setting the dark robed attackers ablaze.

“Amador, where the hell were you!?” Anye shouted at him. “You left His Highness undefended! Do you have any idea what could have happened!?”

Amador used his lance from his mounted position to sweep one of the attackers off his feet, plunging the tip through the attacker’s chest when they landed on their back. “When the attack started I thought I saw one of the archers that shot at us and went after him. By the time I realized it was a trap you were already surrounded. Calling Oscar was the best way to get back to you and defend His Majesty,
Captain!
” he yelled back at her.

Anye deflected one more attack and cut down another attacker before turning to face the prince and lancer again. Most of the attackers had been killed by now, their blood staining her sword and armor. Many of their soldiers had fallen as well. Only a few on each side remained. The bodies of the fallen all lay scattered around. Scorch marks from the combat mages’ attacks and the blood of the slain covered the area. Luckily the prince was unharmed, although visibly shaken. His own sword was drawn and dripping with red liquid, indicating that while Anye had fought off the majority of the mages he had to defend himself at least once.

“Captain Everdyne, look out!” one of her soldiers shouted from behind her.

She quickly turned to see one of the last mages was charging towards her. The blade he carried was being held in both of his hands and had been set ablaze. He intended to overpower her and claim his prize before she could react.

He was fast as well. She barely managed to get her shield in place before the swing from the enemy connected. He hit her with such force that the shield shook itself from her grip and fell to the ground away from her. He came back around for another swing, but this time she was ready. Her blade met with his and deflected it around her. Sparks flew off of the enchanted metal as they slid across each other, threatening to blind her.

The mage continued his assault on the knight. Each attack he sent her way was met with her own weapon, now starting to glow with heat from repeated contact with the fiery sword. His exhaustion and visible anger were making him careless though, and Anye recognized the weakness quickly. She defended herself, waiting for the right moment to counterattack. It came when he tried a forward thrust with the blade. She easily deflected it to her side with her sword and spun into the attacker, bringing her weapon over her head in masterful display of swordplay and swung horizontally. The blade hissed as the hot metal slid through his flesh, removing his head. The fire surrounding the enemy sword ceased to be, and the attacker’s body slumped to the ground at her feet…

Anye looked around quickly to assess the situation. It appeared that the enemy she killed was the last one. Only two of her soldiers and one of Amador's were still alive, along with the prince. “Prince Robert, it appears that the enemy-” Before she could finish speaking she was struck in the back of the head with a hard blunt object, the force of which knocked her off her feet and planted her face into the dirt of the road. The object that struck her pushed into her head, keeping her in place.

“Things never go as planned…do they?” a voice said from above her. “No matter, this could actually work out in my favor.”

“What?” she mustered from the dirt. The ringing in her ears and the throbbing in her head kept her from being able to focus on what was continuing to happen around her.

“Anye, I’m surprised you didn’t see this coming, especially with your great
intuition
,” the voice said. “If I hadn’t convinced the king to send me on this little expedition instead of that self-righteous clown, Sturmwind, this wouldn’t have been possible.”

Anye started recognizing the voice through the ringing in her ears as she heard the screams of her last remaining men falling to the ground, and then being silenced. “Amador? What…what are you doing?”

“Oh no, Captain, not me,” Amador said. “I admit, this wasn’t part of the original plan, but pinning the blame on you for the prince's untimely death suits my needs just as well.”

Anye’s eyes opened wide and she attempted to get to her feet. Her sword was still in her hands, gripped tightly, but the pressure being applied to the back of her skull had her pinned. “Amador, you can’t do this!”

“Oh, but I can,
Captain
.”

Anye heard the thump of Oscar’s massive feet move around her. She realized that the blunt object holding her to the ground was the back end of Amador’s lance, and he was using the dragon’s weight to help to keep her down. “You won’t get away with-AH!” Anye yelped in pain as the dragon’s foot pressed down on her sword arm, forcing her to release the handle of the weapon.

Amador released the pressure on the woman’s head and slid down from the dragon’s saddle to pick up the blade. The dragon’s weight on her arm put her in such pain that she couldn’t move and watched helplessly as the armored traitor walked over her. “I will get away with this. Not you, Sturmwind, or anyone else can stop what’s happening,” he whispered to her. He laughed at her, sounding as if he’d gone mad, and then kicked the side of her head.

Stars filled her vision as she began to lose consciousness. The world around her started to go dark, and sound seemed to all but disappear completely. The dragon’s foot lifted, releasing her from its weight, but there was nothing she could do. She was quickly losing consciousness, barely able watch what was happening while blood slowly exited the fresh wound on her head. She could hardly see the prince being held by Amador’s cohort, apparently loyal his treasonous cause, and Amador himself slowly walking towards him with Anye’s sword in his hand.

 She tried to speak, to tell him to stop, but the words wouldn’t come. Before succumbing to her injuries and passing into unconsciousness she saw Amador raise her blade towards the captive prince, and then slowly push it through his heart. The betrayer’s maniacal laughter, mixing with the prince’s agonizing screams, echoed in her head as she lost the strength to keep conscious. It fell to the ground as she finally slipped into darkness.

Lost hope

            The weeks following Prince Robert’s murder while on his mission of peace in Mitus were tumultuous. Only Anye and Amador remained after the assault, showing that Amador didn't even spare those who would aid him. When Anye had woken from her head injury, she found that her sword and shield had been taken from her and her armor had been stripped, having been replaced with prison garb. She tried not to think about what may have happened while she was unconscious.

            She had been told that Mitus’ guards rushed to the scene after a civilian told them they heard the groups fighting. By the time they arrived, Anye was already unconscious, the prince was dead with her sword still plunged through his heart, and only Amador and his dragon remained alive with the point of his lance held at her throat. According to their report Anye was a “warmonger” who couldn’t stand the thought of peace coming for both her kingdom and their enemy, and had conspired with a renegade faction of the imperial army to stage the assault and blame Mitus. Such an accusation caused Mitus’ emperor to withdraw from the offer of peace, claiming that if one such as her couldn’t follow the royal family’s orders then there was no reason to believe others would uphold the peace. As a sign of respect and sympathy for the king though, he did return Amador and Anye back to their kingdom so she could be tried, along with the bodies of the prince and the escort party.

            Each attempt she had made to try and convince the guards of her innocence, be them of Mitus or Delrich, ended in failure and usually with their weapons hitting the bars of her cell accompanied by a stern reminder to “shut up”. Anye knew that Amador was lying, plotting something that could only end in disaster for her kingdom at the very least, but nobody was willing to listen to her, not even the soldiers that were under her charge until recently. As much as she wanted to hold hope that someone would believe her, panic was starting to set in. She spent just under a week in the castle’s dungeon before she finally had her first visitor. To her surprise it was her father. She hadn’t thought about his marriage prospect since the day of the attack.

            “Hello, Anye,” the brooding man said in greeting. His tone was less than friendly and his facial features matched.

            “Father,” she replied with a mixture of hope and sorrow in her voice. “I hope you and mother are well.”

            “Your
mother
has been in a state of depression since word reached the estate,” he answered coldly. “We’ve been harassed by citizens of the kingdom and accused of conspiracy because what you have done!”

            Regardless of everyone's lack of belief in her Anye was shocked. “What I’ve done? Father, I did my duties as a knight to protect his majesty! Amador is the betrayer but nobody will listen!”

            “Your sword was the one found shoved through his chest, you ungrateful child!” her father yelled. “Sir Astley barely survived your little revolt and has been in mourning with the king since you two returned. You should be grateful he decided to spare your wretched life so that the royal family could see their son’s murderer.”

            “Murderer!? Father, why won’t you believe me?” she cried.