The Flame Priest (The Silk & Steel Saga) (57 page)

He barked a laugh. “I had a better offer.” The battleaxe rushed toward her, a keening whisper of death.

She jumped backwards, avoiding the blow, cold sweat trickling down her back. “What offer?” She scuttled sideways, trying to lure him toward the gaping mouth of the passageway, praying for
Duncan
’s arrows, but the other traitors moved to block the passage. Kath angled away. Perhaps she could distract him with talk. “What offer?”

The battleaxe whirled, a circle of death. “I’ve felt the power of Darkness. The Octagon is doomed.”

A shiver of certainty raced down her back. “
The Mordant!”

He laughed, a sound straight from hell. “So you know him!” The axe slashed towards her neck, an executioner’s cut. “I’ll gift him with your head!”

Kath ducked low. The half-moon blade whooshed overhead, a narrow miss. She lunged, thrusting low with her sword but found only chainmail. She danced away before the axe could find her.

He roared in anger. “Stand and fight!”

Hoofbeats thundered up the switchback. Kath prayed the traitors did not return.

The battleaxe blurred, a mighty overhand strike.

Kath slipped on the bloody cobbles. Desperate, she raised her sword to parry the stroke. Steel clanged against steel. Her sword twisted from her hands, clattering across the cobblestones. She fell backwards, naked without a sword, staring up at Trask’s leering face.

“And now it ends.”

The axe rose for the killing stroke, a silver crescent in the moonlight.

Kath reached for the dagger in her boot, a thin chance.

The axe descended in a rush of silver.

Kath rolled to the right, narrowly escaping death.

The axe struck stone, shattered chips flying in all directions.

Hoofbeats thundered into the courtyard. A blonde-haired knight galloped toward Trask, moonlight shining on his face.

“
Blaine
!”

He did not hesitate. His great blue sword struck like vengeance.

Trask whirled to face the threat, his axe blocking the blow.

Kath swore she saw sparks where the two blades met.

Trask disengaged and stepped backwards, his face twisted in an ugly sneer. “Farmer boy!” The battleaxe cut a vicious arc. “Come and meet your death!”

Blaine
leaped from the saddle, the blue sword poised to strike. “Trask!”

The false knight charged, a mountain in motion.

Blaine
sidestepped, but the half-moon blade followed, a wicked slash of silver. The blue sword met the attack with a fearsome clang. The two knights clashed. Trask loomed over
Blaine
, forcing him back. His mailed fist lashed out, smashing into
Blaine
’s face.

Blaine
staggered backwards, blood streaming from his nose.

Kath scrambled for her sword, fearing for
Blaine
.

Trask rushed in, a head-high swing of the axe.

Blaine
dropped to his knee, a risky move. The axe whispered overhead. The blue sword lunged upwards, striking for the heart. Metal screeched as if in pain. The blue blade plunged through steel, through plate, through chainmail, through flesh and bone, the tip erupting from the traitor’s broad back.

Trask grunted, disbelief on his face.

Blaine
twisted the blade.

The axe clattered from Trask’s hand. The monster toppled to the side, a clatter armor smashing to the cobbles.

Kath stared at the slain knight, awed by the strength of blue steel.

Blaine
put his boot on the Trask’s chest, tugging on his sword.

Footsteps rushed across the courtyard.

Kath yelled, “Behind you!”

Blaine
wrenched his sword lose and whirled, a backhanded stroke. The false knight parried the blow, steel against steel, but Kath did not have time to watch. A second knight rushed at her, his great sword raised for a killing stroke. Too weary to dance away, Kath raised her short sword, bracing for the blow. She watched the sword flash in the moonlight, everything slowing to a frozen heartbeat. The blade descended for the kill…but then the false knight staggered, an arrow protruding from his chest. Issuing a strangled cry, he toppled sideways, lying dead at her feet.

She stared across the courtyard and met
Duncan
’s mismatched gaze. For a moment, there was just the two of them.

“You took too long.” His words were a whisper yet she heard them.

He saluted with his bow, standing guard at the tunneled passageway. It was only then she realized the clash of swords had fallen silent. Bodies lay strewn across the courtyard. She turned to
Blaine
.

He crossed the yard to kneel in front of her, extending the hilt of his great blue blade. “My sword is yours.”

Kath shook with fatigue, her voice a whisper. “You came.”

“I made a mistake.”

“You had to decide.”

He held the hilt of his sword toward her, insistent. “Will you take me back?”

She smiled through tears. “I never let you go.”

He smiled then, and rose. “Are there others?”

“There must be more in the tower, perhaps a handful. They’re traitors, every one.” She gestured to the tunneled passageway. “We fought in the pass-through. Sir Tyrone held them off.”

Blaine
nodded, his face grim. “I’ll check the tower while you get the others.” He stalked toward the door of the keep, moonlight flashing on his blue steel sword.

Kath trembled with strain, weary beyond the telling, but she made her way across the courtyard to the tunnel.

Duncan
yelled, “Hurry!”

She knew from his voice. Fear shivered down her spine. She sheathed her sword and stumbled up the passageway, nearly tripping over a body. Danya held a torch, a bright circle of light. Sir Tyrone lay still, his head cradled in Zith’s lap, too many wounds to count.

Kath stifled a sob. She knelt by his side and took his hand. He felt cold, too cold. “Don’t leave me.”

He stared at her, a weak smile, blood leaking from his mouth. “You…shouldn’t have…come back.”

She shook her head. “I had too.”

A wave of pain crossed his face.

She held his hand tight, as if she could anchor him to life.

The pain passed and he gave her a half-smile. “When the bards sing of your victory…tell them…my skin’s black…not my armor.”

Tears streamed down her face. “I know a good bard.” She squeezed his hand, trying to hold on to him, knowing he was slipping away. “He’ll sing it true. I promise.”

He smiled…and shuddered…and then was gone.

A sob escaped her. Kath shook her head, numb with grief, weary from fighting.

They stayed with the dead knight, keeping vigil in the grim passageway.

Blaine
came much later, wiping the blood from his great sword. “The others are dead.” He stared at them. “Sir Tyrone?”

Kath shook her head, too numb to speak.
Blaine
sheathed his blue sword and helped them carry the black knight from the depths of the passageway. The moon was setting, but the stars were glorious, jewels against the velvet darkness, a night for heroes.

Blaine
’s voice was a hushed whisper. “There’s nothing here but rock and stone. We can’t bury him, but we can build a cairn.”

Kath shook her head. “He’ll have better than that.”

They carried him into the tower, round the spirals and up to the great hall. They laid him on a trestle table, too weary to do more. Spreading bedrolls on the stone floor, they slept passed sunrise, straight through to sunset. Sore and aching, they woke and had a quiet meal of cold venison, hard biscuits, and a brew of hot tea.

Kath sat in a haze of aches, weary despite the sleep, straining to hold the mug of tea steady. She looked at each of her companions, fatigue on every face. They’d fought well and endured much, but they needed to hear the truth, to understand the evil set against them. “It was the Mordant. He corrupted Trask, turning him to evil.”

Her words sounded like a cold doom, casting a pall on the great room.

Blaine
broke the spell. “Trask was always evil.”

“But the Mordant woke the worst in him, unleashing the evil.”

Zith stared at her, his face lined with grief. “So much death…and we haven’t even crossed the Dragon Spines.”

The monk had the truth of it. The trap at Cragnoth Keep had almost caught them…yet the Mordant wasn’t even present, fighting with nothing more than a legacy of words. Kath wondered how they could hope to win against such evil…but she refused to give up. She drew the crystal dagger and looked at her friends. “Will you come with me into the north?”

Blaine
was the first to answer, his voice full of conviction. “To hell and back.”

Danya hugged the wolf. “Bryx and I are with you.”

The monk whispered, “For my son.”

Duncan
just stared…bringing a flush to her face.

Kath nodded, struggling to keep her voice even. “Then tomorrow we hunt the Mordant,” she sheathed the dagger, “but tonight we honor a fallen hero…we honor a friend.”

The sun set in a blaze of glory, streaks of maroon and red fanning across the sky, as if the gods paid tribute. They carried Sir Tyrone to the tower top and laid him on the bed of dried wood reserved for the signal fire. Kath placed his great sword on his breast, his hands on the hilt.
Blaine
set a shield at his feet, silver emblazoned with a maroon octagon.
Duncan
spread the oil and Kath held the torch. Danya and Zith watched, keeping solemn vigil.

They waited till the first star appeared in the sky. Kath lifted the torch to the heavens, her voice a mixture of pride and sorrow. “We send Sir Tyrone back to the Light. A friend, a true sword, a knight of the Octagon…a hero whose skin was black. He proved the legend, restoring the honor of Cragnoth Keep.” Her voice broke. “He will be sorely missed.” She struggled to finish. “May the Lords of Light welcome him home.”

She touched the torch to the pyre.

The wood blazed to life. The flames embraced the fallen knight, a wreath of golden light, a beacon against the night, the second star of the evening.

The wolf loosed a mournful howl.

Kath watched the flames grow, a light to beat back the dark. The signal tower was lit, fueled by a hero’s bravery. The beacon blazed bright. The kingdoms of Erdhe were called to war.

APPENDIX

CASTLEGARD

Three hundred years after the War of Wizards decimated the kingdoms of Erdhe, a group of knights banded together to protect the southern kingdoms from the ravages of the north. They claimed Castlegard, the great mage-stone castle left empty after the War of Wizards, as the seat of their power. Adopting the shape of the great castle as their symbol, they became known as the Octagon Knights.

To bolster their cause, the knights were ceded land running along the length of the
Dragon
Spine
Mountains
. Stretching from Castlegard all the way to the
Western
Ocean
, this land became known as the Domain. A series of castles, keeps, and walls were built along the Dragon Spines, allowing the knights to control the mountain passes and deny access to the southern kingdoms. The Domain also includes the only iron ore mine in all of Erdhe to yield blue ore, the rare ore required to forge the knights’ fabled blue steel swords.

As a sworn brotherhood of elite knights, the candidates forsake their lineage and their past when they win their maroon cloaks. Their symbol is a maroon octagon emblazoned on a silver shield.

KING URSUS ANVRIL
, King of Castlegard and the Knights of the Octagon, Lord of the Domain, hero of the Battle of Raven Pass, bearer of a great blue sword named
Honor’s Edge.

-his wife,
QUEEN PHYLA
, died giving birth to their only daughter

-their children:

PRINCE ULRICH
, First-born son of the king, a sworn knight of the maroon, commander of the wall at
Raven
Pass
, bearer of a great blue sword named
Mordbane

PRINCE GRIFFIN
, Second-born son of the king, a sworn knight of the maroon, commander of Dymtower

PRINCE GODFREY
, Third-born son of the king, a sworn knight of the maroon, commander of Shieldhold

PRINCE TRISTAN
, Fourth-born son of the king, a sworn knight
 
of the maroon, slain while leading a patrol into the steppes

PRINCE LIONEL
, Fifth-born son of the king, a sworn knight of the maroon, commander of Cragnoth Keep

PRINCESS KATHERINE
, Sixth child of the king, a girl of fifteen, also known as the Imp or Little Sister or Kath. As a female, the Octagon symbol of Castlegard is forbidden to her. Instead she uses the Anvril’s ancient heraldic symbol of a red hawk attacking with talons outstretched on a field of white.

-his sworn knights and retainers:

SIR OSBOURNE
, The Knight Marshal of the Octagon, right hand of the King, a hero of Raven Pass, a one-eyed man, he wields a saber as his weapon of first choice.

SIR ABRAX
, knight of the maroon, champion of the sword, he wields a blue steel sword named Protector

SIR MALVOY
, a fresh-sworn knight of the maroon

SIR MARIN
, a knight of the maroon

BALDWIN
, senior squire of the maroon, assigned to the King

OTTO
, the Master Swordsmith of Castlegard’s forge, responsible for the forging of all blue steel weapons

QUINTUS
, the Master Healer of Castlegard

VAL
, a stable lad of Castlegard

SIR RAYMOND
, branded as an unmade-knight of the Octagon, exiled from the Domain of Castlegard on penalty of death

-the contingent of knights and retainers sent to Lanverness

SIR BLAINE
, sworn knight of the maroon charged with protecting Princess Kath, he bears an unnamed blue steel sword

SIR TYRONE
, knight of the maroon with skin the color of ebony, often referred to as the ‘black knight’

SIR TELLOR
, a knight-captain of the maroon, charged with leading the group to Lanverness and returning with a down payment of gold for the Queen’s blue steel weapons

SIR KIRK
, a knight of the maroon, sent back to Castlegard with dispatches for the King

CARL
, a Master Smith of Castlegard’s forge, sent to Lanverness to take measurements for the Queen’s blue steel weapons

ALAIN
, a squire of the maroon

TODD
, a squire of the maroon, sent back to Castlegard with dispatches for the King

-the knights of Cragnoth Keep

SIR TRASK
, knight of the maroon, leader of a dissident faction, sent to Cragnoth Keep as a punishment posting, champion of the battleaxe

SIR PENROSS
, a knight of the maroon

SIR DRAVIN
, a knight of the maroon

SIR CARFAX
, a knight of the maroon

SIR CARLINE
, a knight of the maroon

SIR BELMORT
, a knight of the maroon

SIR ORRICK
, a knight of the maroon

SIR TALLOVER
, a knight of the maroon

STEWARD BALLARD
, the head steward of Cragnoth Keep

SIMON
, a steward of Cragnoth Keep