Dawn of the Zombie Knights (13 page)

he day before his fifteenth birthday, Pete McGee and Sir Mountable didn't train at the knight's house. Instead, Sir Mountable suggested they get away for a change of scenery. Pete thought it was a great idea, until he wandered outside and realised there was another horse next to Lightning. Sir Mountable went up to it and jumped aboard, while Pete watched in horror.

‘This is on loan from a good friend of mine,' Sir Mountable said, looking almost more at home up on the horse than on solid ground. The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile as he addressed Pete.

‘Well, go on. Up on your horse.'

Pete nodded, hiding his fear. He walked over to Lightning and stroked his horse on the nose.

‘Okay boy,' he whispered, ‘Let's not look too stupid here.'

He bowed low to the horse and, to Pete's amazement, Lightning bowed back, just like he had the other day. With a sigh of relief Pete hooked a leg over Lightning's neck. This time the horse stood up slowly and Pete did not cheer or whoop or anything. He just sat there smiling at Sir Mountable.

‘Right, boy,' Sir Mountable said. ‘Let's gallop.'

Ohhhhhhhhhhh no. Pete hadn't thought past getting onto Lightning, and he had no time to think now as Sir Mountable dug his knees into the side of his horse and was off. Pete held onto Lightning's mane and breathed deep.

‘Okay Lightning, let's catch that old man. YAH!'

With his cry he dug his own knees into Lightning's side and the horse took off at great speed, catching up to Sir Mountable in no time, flying right past him in fact. There was just one problem. Pete was on his butt in the dirt back at the house. He stood up and rubbed his bum gingerly. There was nothing to do but head in the direction the horses had gone, so that was what he did. It took an hour, but eventually he wandered into a field where the two horses were grazing happily, and Sir Mountable sat under a tree with his eyes closed. Pete walked over to him.

‘Thought you would join us?' Sir Mountable asked dryly.

Pete did a fake laugh.

‘Ha ha ha ha, oh, 'tis so lucky I put my hand on my head, lest I laughed my head off at your humour.'

Sir Mountable leapt up but Pete was ready for him and blocked the blow. Sir Mountable nodded.

‘Ever ridden a horse before, boy?' he asked, his voice a little too condescending for Pete's liking.

‘Yes, of course I have. I mean, no, never.'

He hung his head a little and Sir Mountable pounced, twisting Pete's arm around and holding it behind his back. Pete had learnt many tricks from Sir Mountable while they had trained, but often the simplest was the best, so he kicked back into the old man's unguarded shin. Then, when Sir Mountable let go, Pete swung around and directed a swift kick towards Sir Mountable's, well, his knightly treasures.

Unfortunately, it seemed knights were prepared for this sort of attack, and Pete's foot met with armour-plated protection, leaving him hopping around holding his toe. Sir Mountable laughed.

‘Nice try, boy. That is your first lesson for today. Be prepared. Now it is time for you to learn to ride a horse, for a knight is not complete without horse-riding skills.'

For the next five hours Pete was up and down on Lightning … most of the ups were deliberate, not many of the downs were. Luckily the grass in the field was nice and cushy, because Pete's bony butt wasn't cushy at all, and he landed on it plenty of times. But, with Lightning's help and Sir Mountable's teaching, by the end of the afternoon Pete was pretty good at mounting and dismounting.

Although his bum was aching and he was exhausted, as he rode Lightning at a slow walk back to Sir Mountable's house, Pete couldn't have been happier. Another item on the list of becoming a knight had been ticked.

As the two rode away from the field, neither of them noticed a solitary figure watching from a nearby hill. Neither of them realised this would be their second last sort of formal class together. Neither of them realised King Rayon's hand was about to be forced.

The Black Knights ransacked three more towns in a week. Next in their path was a town called Bandragon. Sir Vyvor was in Sir Charge's ear again.

‘I know of Bandragon from my past life,' he said as the order gathered for the night to discuss tactics. ‘Thus, I know what the town stands for. They live with nature. They heal. They are a good people and we must avoid this town. They do not deserve to suffer our attack.'

‘Did any of the towns deserve it?' Sir Charge asked, scoffing. He drank deeply from a goblet Sir Plyer had picked up in the last town. Sir Kemspect joined in the discussion.

‘Perhaps we
should
be wary,' he said. ‘Perhaps this would be a good town to avoid. Perhaps they know of ways to stop us.'

Sir Jiccal, peeling some skin off Sir Fing to make him appear more fearsome, looked over.

‘None know of ways to stop the undead,' he said. ‘Only those who have lived as undead know the secret.'

‘Verily,' Sir Reel interjected. ‘The knight doth speak of clouds in the rainbow of my horse. As night duskens, so the dawn brings forth a mangy elephant's flower.'

No-one knew what that meant, so they ignored him. Sir Charge stood.

‘No, Sir Vyvor. Thou may, as you have done in all towns we approach via foot, tend to the horses as we attack. Verily, I do not understand thy reluctance for brains, yet thou art a vital part of our order, for thy skills on the field of battle are surpassed only by the luck thou doth bringeth. Thou encountered and avoided death many times before the final cut. Thy luck must surely shower upon us as well. Thou shalt stay, but we shall continue to wreak destruction upon any who stand in our way, and even those who we must go out of our way to encounter. Anyone that doth stand, we shall destruct … I mean destroy.

We still do not know the whereabouts of the Wilderene Flower, and it is this we must discover. We attack Bandragon come morn.'

The Black Knights cheered. Well, all of them cheered except for two. Sir Vyvor didn't feel like cheering at all, and Sir Lee was grumbling about having to keep on attacking when all he wanted to do was take a nap.

Even though he was turning fifteen, Pete McGee was still excited about it being his birthday, and rose before the sun. He leapt out of bed, ignoring the pillow hair that stuck up in all directions, and raced into his mum's room.

‘Fair maiden!' he cried, automatically going into knight speak. ‘Fair maiden, a joyous day has arrived.

Why art thou still resting?'

Pete's mum, who was already awake
(she got just as excited as Pete when his birthday came around)
, slowly opened one eye, pretending to be asleep.

‘Why doth thou yelleth?' she asked sleepily. ‘Surely thou can let a maiden rest.'

Pete laughed and shook her blanket.

‘Thou art so awake!' he said, ‘Verily, upsy daisy!'

That got Mrs McGee. She laughed too and got out of bed, already fully dressed and ready for her son's birthday. She only hoped her present arrived in time.

Ashlyn and Marloynne appeared at the door to Mrs McGee's room, also fully dressed and ready for breakfast.

‘Man, you two make a lot of noise this early in the morning,' Marloynne said. He rubbed his fist. ‘Anyway, I believe it's about time for some birthday punches. What do you say, Pete? You ready?'

Pete nodded, flexing his arm for the onslaught. Ashlyn stepped in first.

‘You two never stop do you? It's always punch this and competition that. You know we have to tell Pete something.'

Marloynne nodded, a little disappointed he wasn't able to give birthday punches. He knew he would get a chance later though. Ashlyn continued speaking.

‘Pete,' she said. ‘We're sorry, but you will have to wait until after your training to get your presents today.'

Mrs McGee joined in.

‘That's right, Pete. By the way, what would you like to eat for your birthday lunch?'

Pete laughed. He knew his mum had already bought the usual, but he played along.

‘Wellllllll,' he said thoughtfully. ‘I was thinking maybe some vegetables with gravy, and a piece of bread on the side would be nice.'

Pete's mum went over and hugged him. She knew Pete sometimes longed for more, but he was prepared to put that aside for the good of the family. She loved that about him.

‘It shall be done,' she said. ‘Now go and train. You do not want to keep Sir Mountable waiting. We shall see you at midday for lunch.'

Pete smiled, hugged his mum, hugged Ashlyn, punched Marloynne on the arm and ran outside before he copped a punch in return.

He raced out, then opened the gate and led Lightning away at full speed
(Pete's full speed that is … Lightning's full speed was a little faster than Pete could run at!)
. As he left he heard Marloynne yelling from behind him.

‘I'll get you for that, McGee! Double birthday punches today!'

Pete laughed again and ran off with his horse. Once they were a short distance away from the house, he stopped. Bowing low to Lightning, he then mounted the horse and they started off once more. This time Lightning sped up a little, and Pete felt much more confident. He could feel the horse wanted to go even faster though, and felt a little bad he had to hold back.

‘Not long, Lightning,' he said. ‘Soon we'll go so fast no-one will be able to keep up with us.'

Lightning whinnied and sped up a little more. Pete held on tight to the mane, his legs gripping on too. But he stayed up, and for that he and his butt were very thankful.

Once he got to Sir Mountable's house he leapt off the horse the way he had been taught, and landed gracefully by Lightning's side. He gave his horse a quick hug around the neck, stroked Sir Mountable's hire horse, tossed a carrot from his pack to the goat, and went inside. Sir Mountable was sitting at his table.

‘Greetings, good Sir,' Pete said, feeling very happy. ‘Art thou ready to train?'

Sir Mountable shook his head, fighting the smile that attempted to burst through. He didn't smile much, the old knight, but this boy had that effect on him. He hung his head.

‘I am sorry, young McGee. We shall not train today. I am too old for this. I must leave you on your own now.'

Pete couldn't believe his ears.

‘No way! Not after everything we've done, you can't just stop now. Oh this is not good at all. We were going so well. We built a barn! I can ride a horse! You even, oh, I cannot believe this. You are a stinky old man.'

Although slightly offended by the insult, Sir Mountable continued the charade he had been working on for weeks.

‘No, boy. This is the end for me. You can do this on your own now, although perhaps you may need this.'

His voice gave away his excitement, rising at the end of the sentence as he stood up and whipped out a crossbow from beneath his coat. Pete stared at it. It was not full size, but it was perfect.

‘So you're still going to train me?' he asked, continuing to stare at the crossbow.

Sir Mountable grunted.