Warriors of the Black Shroud (13 page)

“Quick, throw me the sword!” yelled Eddie.

Walker threw the weapon toward Eddie, who deftly caught it by its handle. Eddie then shuffled toward the Nightangel, beating back each stab of the spear. His skill with the sword was one that had obviously been perfected over many years.

Walker was back on his feet. He looked around to see how he could help his friend. Now that Eddie had the sword, Walker was unarmed—except, of course, for Lightning. She was proving herself to be every bit as good as a sword.

“Lightning, come here, girl!” Walker yelled.

She galloped over to him and he leaped on her back. Since she was his only weapon, he would use her well. He turned her head toward the nearest Nightangel. Then, in the same way he told the unicorn where to go just by thinking of it, he concentrated really hard and conjured up in his mind's eye a picture of Lightning sending the Nightangel flying through the air with her hooves. He felt a bump, heard a cry, and to his delight saw that his vision had come true. The Nightangel lay sprawled on the ground some distance away. It scrambled to its feet and fled.

Walker focused on one enemy after another until the only one left was the creature fighting a desperate duel with Eddie. Walker headed Lightning to where the battle was taking place, only this time he didn't have to imagine the action. Lightning knew exactly what to do. She reared up and then turned her hindquarters to Eddie's opponent and let out a powerful kick with both legs. One hoof hit the Nightangel in the head and another in the chest, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

“Way to go, Lightning!” Walker cried. He leaped from Lightning's back and ran over to Eddie.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yes, I'm fine,” Eddie said, trying to catch his breath. “Thanks for the rescue. It took a lot of guts to do that by yourself.”

“I wasn't by myself,” said Walker, his arm around Lightning's neck.

“No, I suppose not,” Eddie agreed. “And you're not going to be by yourself now.” He pointed. “Here comes the cavalry!”

Walker looked and saw a cloud of dust and light speeding toward them. As it got closer he began to make out knights on unicorns, their gleaming lances topped with fluttering pennants. King Leukos's jet-black war unicorn led the group, with Jevon mounted on him—and a passenger. Clinging on with one arm and waving with the other was Frankie. As the huge beast thundered to a halt in front of them, she leaped from its back.

“Eddie!” she cried in delight. “Is that you? It is you. It really is!”

Chapter 23

F
rankie ran toward Eddie. She leaped into the air, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

“Whoa!” he cried. “You'll have us both on the floor, and I wouldn't want to mess up my best clothes.”

The action had happened so quickly that Walker hadn't really looked at everything around him. Eddie's clothes were in fact torn and filthy, with what appeared to be scorch marks on them in several places. But if he was looking disheveled, the people behind him were worse. Their clothes and hair were caked with mud, and beneath the grime their faces looked gray, unhealthy, and exhausted.

“We thought you were dead,” said Walker.

“Yes,” agreed Eddie. “For the moment so did I. But the Warriors had other plans for me. I was held as a hostage to force the Kingdom to surrender. You, too, I might add, when they got you.”

“I'm so glad you're not dead!” squealed Frankie. “I'm not talking to you, Walker Watson,” she said, turning to Walker. “How you can call yourself my friend and leave me behind like that I'll never know. Just as well for you Jevon came along when he did, so don't think in the future you can get away from me because as you can see you can't.”

“I thought you weren't talking to me,” said Walker.

“I'm not,” Frankie assured him. “I'm just telling you what you need to know.”

Jevon, who was listening to all this, chuckled.

“It's good to see you alive, your royal highness,” he said to Eddie. “But what happened to you?”

“I was on top of the wall and got hit by a darkning bolt, and everything went black,” Eddie explained. “Then the next thing I knew I was on the ground being guarded by someone or something with whips. Every time I tried to move I got a lash or a poke with a whip handle. And I could hear the sound of digging, lots of people digging, and more whippings and shouts from guards. These poor folk were the diggers, although what they were digging I have no idea.”

“Who are they?” whispered Frankie.

“They were prisoners of the Warriors. They lived in the Sister Cities before the invasion of the Black Count,” Eddie told her.

Walker noticed that Jevon was standing in front of one of the freed slaves, a man who looked very old and worn-out.

“My lord Valoris—is that you?” he heard the knight ask.

The old man raised his head, and then beneath the grime that caked his face a look of recognition appeared.

“Lord Jevon, my friend.” He smiled. “I never thought I would see you again. Did the king lead this rescue?”

“No, my lord,” replied Jevon. “He was killed when you were taken prisoner.”

Valoris slumped as if someone had hit him.

“I wish I had died there with him and not been captured by these monsters!” he cried.

“Don't say that, my lord. Nebula needs your wisdom and experience now more than ever,” Jevon assured him. “Are the rest of the king's patrol here also?”

“They are in this crowd somewhere,” Valoris replied. “They separated us when we were first captured.”

“Let's see if we can get you and these poor people out of those shackles,” said Jevon.

There was a groan from the fallen Nightangel. He had regained consciousness and rolled over.

“Look!” cried Walker. “On his belt—there's a huge bunch of keys.”

Two knights ran over and each grabbed one of the Nightangel's arms. When it was clear he couldn't escape, Walker pulled the large metal ring from his belt and gave it to Jevon. There were dozens of keys on it and it took some time to find the right one, but eventually they heard a satisfying click and the metal band fell away from Eddie's ankle.

“Great,” said Jevon. “Now let's free the others.”

They started the long process of releasing all of the former slaves one by one. As their chains came off they rubbed their wrists and ankles, unsure of what would happen next.

“Master,” one of the women said to Jevon, “what do you want us to do? Where shall we go?”

“I'm not your master,” Jevon replied, “for once again you're a free woman. We will take you back to Nebula until you've recovered enough to return to your homes.”

“Our homes,” she said. “I fear we have no homes.”

One of the men, tall and dignified even in his threadbare clothes, turned to Jevon.

“My lord,” he said. “My name is Gallimor and I am the leader of those taken from Litherium. Can you tell me, please, if you have any news of our children?”

“Good news,” Jevon assured him. “They are all safe and my men are taking them to Nebula as we speak. They were saved by three of our children, who showed much courage.”

“We are indebted to these children,” Gallimor said, “and long to be reunited with our own.”

“As you shall be, and soon,” said Jevon. “Lightkeepers—help these people back to the Kingdom.”

The knights began to gently organize the former prisoners and slowly started to move them in the direction of Nebula for the long march back. The Nightangel felled by Lightning's hooves was chained in the shackles that Eddie had worn and was prodded to the end of the long line of people.

Jevon turned to the three friends.

“Each of you is as brave as any knight here,” he said. “You are all the children of light. King Leukos would have been so proud of you. And your father,” he said to Eddie, “would have been so pleased to know what a brave son he had.”

“Is the Black Count finally defeated?” Walker asked. “Or will he and the Shroud try again?”

“I wish we had been able to get here sooner,” answered Jevon. “Then maybe we would have had total victory over the Count. But yes, he will return. Evil like his does not vanish of its own accord; it must be vanquished. Now we must get you and these poor folk back to the Kingdom.”

Jevon gave the command to the knights to mount up. When they were back on their unicorns, they formed two columns on either side of the children and the refugees. With Jevon in the lead, they all slowly moved forward, with Eddie and Frankie next to Walker, who was leading Lightning.

“For goodness sake, Walker,” said Eddie, “get up on your unicorn. What's the point of having one if you don't ride it? It's not a pet, you know.”

“I would kind of feel uncomfortable doing that,” Walker told him. “We were all in this together, and I don't want it to look like I'm trying to take all the credit myself.”

“Well, that depends on whether there is credit to be had,” said Eddie. “I'm not sure that Lady Lumina's going to be quite as overjoyed about what we did as Lord Jevon is. We disobeyed her orders, after all. And in my experience she's not one to forgive and forget easily.”

“He's got a point,” Frankie agreed. “Just because we saved the Kingdom doesn't mean we're the flavor of the month in her mind.”

As it happened, she couldn't have been more wrong. By the time they approached the gates they could see flags waving from the ramparts, and flocks of citizens gathered. The news of their victory had spread quickly as soon as the knights accompanying the children of Litherium told everyone what had happened. When the three friends were within earshot, they could hear cheering that got louder and louder the closer they came. When they were a short distance from the walls, the knights raced their unicorns forward and lined up on either side of the gates, tilting their lances to make a tunnel of shining metal beneath which the children would pass.

The huge gates slowly opened to reveal a party of the Kingdom's highest dignitaries waiting to welcome them home. It was, of course, headed by Lumina, and behind her was gathered every member of the Lightkeepers, and behind them were more riders holding banners displaying the Kingdom's symbol.

Frankie, as always, loved being the center of attention, and Eddie looked more like a prince than ever before. He seemed to have grown, both in height and dignity. His long copper-colored hair streamed out behind him, and his bright green eyes flashed, taking in every detail of the scene. As they came through the gates Walker noticed a strange, reddish mark on Eddie's cheekbone.

“What happened to your face?” he asked.

“I don't know,” Eddie replied. “What can you see?”

“There's a sort of red mark there.”

Eddie rubbed the place that Walker had noticed.

“Yeah,” he said, “it's a bit sore. I think it must be where the darkning bolt hit me. It's probably just a bruise.”

Frankie saw what Walker was talking about and she ran in front of Eddie, stopping him and the entire column.

“Whoa!” she cried. “That's no bruise. Look where it is, and look what it's doing. That, prince boy, is the mark!”

And sure enough, as they stood and watched it the “bruise” began to transform itself from a red blotch to the identical sun-shaped symbol that Walker carried on his own cheek.

“Is she right?” Eddie asked Walker, his voice quavering with excitement.

“She is,” Walker assured him in astonishment. “You have the mark.”

Eddie put out his hand and grabbed hold of Walker's shoulder as if he needed support or he would fall to the ground.

“Do you realize what this means?” he asked in a quiet voice. “It means the end of wandering. It means I can grow to be a man after all these years.”

“It means, Your Highness, that you are home; you are where you belong.”

Lumina had approached them and she, too, had seen the emblem of the Kingdom that was now clearly visible on Eddie's face.

“Your restoration to the rank of Chosen One is a just reward for the courage you and your friends showed when you went into Diabolonia,” she continued. “Sometimes we elders have to be taught by children, and everything you did has shown me that it is not enough just to love peace; sometimes you must take strong actions to preserve it. You took those actions and we are proud of you.”

There was a roar of cheering from the crowd. Frankie leaned over to Walker and whispered in his ear.

“Does that mean we're off the hook?”

He grinned at her.

“I think it does,” he said, “but I also think you can get back on really easily.”

“Tell me about it,” Frankie muttered. “I've spent most of my life on the hook one way or another.”

Lumina took Walker and Eddie by the hand, and she turned to Frankie.

“Follow us, child. I only have two hands and these I must reserve for the Chosen Ones, but you are none the less deserving.”

Then she led all three toward one of the statues of ancient kings that flanked the road leading to the gates. The sculpture had been placed on a stone platform with steps leading up to it, and these they mounted, raising them up above the heads of the crowd, which Lumina now addressed.

“Citizens of Nebula,” she began. “Today we start a new chapter in the history of this happy realm, for never before have we been blessed with the presence of two Chosen Ones. Between them they have saved the Kingdom and rescued the citizens of a Sister City from the bondage of the Black Count. We also owe much to a young woman from the Outerworld who put herself at high risk in the defense of our Kingdom, and for this I say we must recognize her as the lady she surely is. From now on all will address her as ‘my lady' and grant her all the honors of her high status in this realm.”

Waves of renewed cheering washed over them.

“Lady Frankie,” said Frankie. “Cool.”

“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” sighed Fussingham. “I must remember to write that down in the Book of the Kingdom.”

As the cheering died down Walker took his hand from Lumina's and turned to face both her and Eddie. He bowed and addressed them formally.

“Lady Lumina, Your Royal Highness. Until Prince Edward found me I didn't know I was a Chosen One. I'm glad he brought me to the Kingdom, because I love it here and I'm really happy that we beat the Warriors. But I never wanted to be special, or a leader, or anything like that. That's why I didn't want to be king, even though King Leukos wanted me to because there wasn't anyone else with the mark. Well, now there is—Prince Edward—and he's my good friend along with Lady Frankie.” He turned to Frankie and was surprised to see her blushing when he used her full title.

“Eddie really is the boy who was born to be king,” he continued. “It's time he fulfilled his destiny and became the next ruler of Nebula. Whatever my future holds, it's in the Outerworld, but Eddie's is here. This is where he belongs; this is his home.”

He turned to his friend, who stood tall and regal, and he knelt in front of him.

“I will give to you my loyalty and friendship forever, and I will call you majesty for as long as I know you.”

“Bless me,” muttered Fussingham. “More changes. How I hate change.”