Forever Knight (The Champion Chronicles Book 3) (42 page)

“What is it?” Conner asked.  He looked back at the forest as well, knowing full well that he could not see as far as the elf.

“The Ark,” the elf said.  “I can feel it.”

“Now?” Conner asked.  “All of a sudden?  I thought you said you could only feel it when you were really close to it.”

“Yes, about a hundred or so yards.  From a bit farther out, I can feel its presence, but not direction or location.  I can feel it now, and it is by the edge of the forest.”

“That is a few miles away!”

“I know.  That is what concerns me.  When the Ark is used, it creates a tunnel into the web of magic.  Any user of magic can feel when the web is being touched.  Some can feel it more strongly than others and those that are really in tune with magic can feel where it is coming from.”  He looked away from the forest and at Conner.  “I am not that strong.  Someone is using the Ark.”

“Are you sure?  What does that mean?  Tarcious has the Ark, and he is using it?”  A feeling of dread came over him.  “Does that mean we lost?  The world is lost?”

Glaerion let out a long sigh.  “I do not know.  But I fear the worst.”

“What do we do?”  Conner watched the elf carefully.  For the first time he had some other emotion in him other than anger.

“You are Hurai, it is now up to you.”

“I am not Hurai!” Conner said.  “I don’t know why you keep saying that!”

“There is but one way to truly find out,” Glaerion said.  “We go after the wizard.  Right now.”

“What?”

“You cannot see, but I can.  He rides from the forest to the city, clearly to claim his reward.  He is protected by only a few guards and I am sure he feels overconfident because of his abilities.  Now is the time.”

“But if he has the Ark?”

Glaerion smiled.  “To you, it will not matter.  The Hurai are the chosen people of the Creator.  He made them special, immune to magic.”

Conner shook his head, unsure that he heard the elf correctly.   “Me?  Immune?”

“Hurai are immune to magic, which also means that they cannot use magic.  The elven race was given magic, but we are also very susceptible to magic.  Humans, however, were initially given neither ability.”

“If humans weren’t given the ability to cast magic, then how is that Tarcious can?”

“Elven offspring.  Those humans that came from elven blood have the ability to cast magic.  That is why the ability of magic is passed down through family.  Elven blood is strong, and its power will pass down from one generation to the next.”

“So the Taran empire is ruled by elves?”

Glaerion let out one of his rare laughs.  “No, of course not.  One of their ancestors, however, was an elf.  That is how they can cast magic.  And if we can kill them, and any of their offspring, then we can stop any more emperors from being magic users.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Conner asked.

“Trust me, I know Hurai are immune.”

“No, I mean that I am Hurai.  What if you have to be all Hurai!”

Glaerion shook his head.  “I just know.  It is like the human mages.  The blood of elves gives them the power to cast spells.  The blood of the Hurai gives humans the power to be immune from spells.”

“But, wait, what about when you cast that bridge spell, so I could walk over water?  Or when you allowed us to walk through the rocks!”

Glaerion looked back at the battlefield, watching Tarcious make his way towards the city.  He replied with an impatient tone, “It is complicated and I really don’t have time to explain all the details!  If we don’t move now, we won’t catch them.”

“Okay, but first answer my question.”

Glaerion grabbed Conner by the sleeve and pulled him.  “We run while I talk.  First off, neither spell affected you.  The bridge spell froze the water, which allowed you to walk on top of it, just as if you were walking on a frozen pond.  The other spell was cast not upon us, but upon the door and the rocks behind it to make it so that we could walk through it.”

“What about Hargon, when he healed me?  If I am immune to magic, how could he have healed me?”

“What Hargon does is not magic.  It is a rare gift that doesn’t tap into the web of magic.  It actually is kind of the reverse.  It pulls energy and life force from around them and puts it back into people, or animals, or things.  For the injured, it can heal them.  For wizards, it can restore their power.”

Glaerion suddenly slowed to a stop.  “Hargon and Tarcious cannot be true brothers.  Magic flows through the blood from parent to child.  If the parent has the power, so shall the child, and so shall siblings.  Hargon’s power is not magic.  It is the gift of healing, a gift only granted by the Creator himself.  If they were brothers, then they both would have the true power of magic.”

“So how did Hargon become emperor, if he is not of the bloodline of his parents?”

“Only one parent needs to carry the line of magic.  For hundreds of generations, there has always been a male emperor to carry the bloodline.  So Hargon must be a bastard son who has a different father than Tarcious.”

“So Tarcious is really the true emperor, and he should have been all along?”

Glaerion replied.  “It matters not.  They will reach the city long before we will.”  He looked at the sun, which was well on its way down toward the horizon.  “We will wait until darkness and then we will sneak in to the city.”

“We can use the same secret tunnel we used to get out,” Conner said.  “Can we trust that the old man is still in his house, and is willing to dig up the trap door?”

Glaerion shook his head, looking at the demolished buildings just outside the main gate.  When the five large stone ogres arrived, they leveled all the buildings, including the one that had the trap door leading to the underground tunnel.  “Even if he is there, we have no way of getting into the tunnel.  I don’t remember exactly where that house was, but it was certainly one of those that is now smashed apart.  We will find another way.  Don’t worry, I have plenty of ideas.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

The centurion army pushed into the city with orders to head directly for the castle.  General Mace kept small companies of centurions to stay behind to cover their rear flank.  The last thing that he wanted to do was to let his army get pinched and surrounded.  Initially, the fighting was fierce and intense.  Knights, soldiers, guards, men, and boys attacked the invaders from all sides.  With his orders to march forward as quickly as he could, General Mace knew that casualties would be high.  But he had so many more centurions, it did not matter how many fell in the assault.

It didn’t take long to break the backs of the Karmons.  After only a couple blocks of fighting, the resistance fell off and the attacks slowed down.  They did not stop, especially bowman who took the opportunity to fire into the ranks of centurions whenever they could.  But with their goal to capture the castle and not the entire city, the fighting did not last long.

The stone ogres continued their assault as well.  They moved slowly towards the castle, knocking down building after building.  Two of them ended up drifting away from the path to the castle, but three of the large ones and the small one continued towards the castle. 

The centurions caught up to the stone ogres when they were almost at the castle.  At first, General Mace kept his centurions back and out of sight, but it soon became clear that the stone ogres were ignoring the centurions.  They only cared about smashing buildings or any Karmon that came in their path.  The closeness of the stone ogres also kept the Karmon soldiers and knights away, as they feared the creatures much more than they feared the human centurions.  By the time General Mace reached the castle, his army was no longer getting harassed.

Shouting from the rear caused the general to look back into the city.  His army had moved up to the castle and was taking positions around it.  There had been Karmon bowmen atop the battlements, but they had been either killed or scared away by their crossbowmen.

Tarcious, atop a horse, came racing towards him.  Six others were behind him.  Five of them were centurions, the other was his brother, the former emperor.  It still felt weird to see Hargon alive, although he didn’t look like an emperor.  His long hair was as ratty as ever, and his beard was tangled and matted.

With the grace of an expert equestrian, Tarcious pulled his horse to a stop and slid off the back.  The nearest centurion grabbed the reigns of the horse.

“They offer any resistance?” Tarcious asked.

“They did for some time.  But our superior forces have squelched any fighting out of them.  I did expect a final defense of the castle, but as you can see, they are not here.  It is as if they are giving us the castle without a fight, something I would not have expected.”

The four stone ogres that were working on the castle walls suddenly stopped.  They turned and looked directly at Tarcious.  After a wave of his hand, the four sat on the ground, unmoving.

“You control them?” General Mace asked.

“Of course,” Tarcious replied.  “Does that surprise you?”

“Well, yes, I guess.”

“They needed to be controlled, else they would not only destroy the city, but they would come after your army as well.”

“I’m sure we could take them,” General Mace said confidently.
Tarcious raised an eyebrow.

“You saw one of them just inside the gate?  If the Karmons can take one down, I am sure that we can, too.”

A trumped blared from inside the castle.

“They signal for parlay,” the general said.

“Of course they do,” Tarcious replied.  “Their city is in ruins and they have no more army to defend it.”

Tarcious confidently walked up to the gate.  General Mace followed.

The inner gate doors creaked open.  A short, plump man in a thick wool robe stood behind the portcullis, which was still down.

“Greetings, I am Lord Martin.  I represent the Kingdom of Karmon.”

General Mace said, “This is Emperor Tarcious.”

“Raise your portcullis and let us in so that we may talk.”

A surprised look came across Lord Martin’s face.  “Oh?  The two of you?”

“I fear nothing,” Tarcious replied.  “We shall discuss terms of surrender.”

“Well…”

Tarcious took a step forward and turned his head towards the stone ogres that were sitting quietly next to the outer castle walls.  “I can ask one of them to open it, if you’d like.  But then I’d probably just let it loose inside your castle.”

“Of course!” Lord Martin replied, fear evident in his voice.  He motioned to the gate operator and the portcullis was raised.

As soon as Tarcious and General Mace stepped through the portcullis, Lord Martin turned to signal for it to be lowered.

“Do not do that.  Leave it up.”  He turned to his general and said.  “Secure the castle.  Kill anyone who resists.  Those that give up, you may spare.”

“But…but…we have not discussed…”

“There is no discussion.  There is only your surrender to us.  We have your city.  We have your castle.  You can either give it up peacefully, or I will return my friends to action and they will tear this castle apart brick-by-brick.  Now take me to your queen!”

***

Lord Martin led Tarcious and General Mace into the Great Hall.

Queen Elissa sat upon her throne still in her bloody tunic.  Her golden hair was matted and dirty and tied behind her head.  She would have preferred to have it braided, but that was a luxury that she was going to have to do without.  Lord Kirwal sat on the floor next to her.  His face had been sliced and blood covered his neck and down onto his chainmail shirt.  He had several other deep cuts that were bandaged up.  One of them was on the back of his leg, which would likely keep him from walking normally ever again.  King Toknon, nearly unblemished, stood at her side.

The queen glared at the two Tarans who walked into her hall.  It was only one day ago that this hall was filled with joy and merrymaking and now it was where a kingdom was likely going to die.  She could not comprehend the loss of life that had happened over the course of that one day.  So many of her brave men, and women, and fallen because of these two men.  If she had a sword, she would have jumped up and attacked them.  Even though she knew it would have been a fatal attempt at retribution, she would have tried it anyway.

“Welcome,” Toknon said.

“Who are you?” Tarcious snapped.

“King Toknon of Thell.”

“Why are you here?”

“I am here to offer support for our southern neighbor.”

Tarcious narrowed his eyes.  “You should be more concerned about your own kingdom.”

Toknon glanced at General Mace, who cleared his throat and said, “Thell is a friend of Taran.  Because of our arrangement, we were able to procure safe passage for our forces through the western most part of their kingdom.”

Elissa’s face went from anger, to surprise, to outrage.  “You did what!”

A smile fell across the general’s face.  He had heard rumors of a friendship growing between the two kingdoms, which would explain why the king of Thell was here.  But based on this latest revelation, it was likely that that friendship would be no more.  He added fuel to the fire.  “King Toknon has been a good friend of Taran and without his help, we would not have been able to achieve surprise.”

Elissa sprang out of her chair and threw a punch at Toknon.  It connected on his jaw.

Lord Martin rushed over to grab Elissa and held her back.

“I guess I deserved that,” Toknon said.  “But you have to understand, I did it to protect us.  Not just Thell, but us.  We could have escaped together to Thell and lived our lives together in peace.”

Elissa pushed Lord Martin away.  “I would rather die.”

Tarcious stepped forward.  “I am an impatient man, so I will get right to the point.  In this castle there is an ancient artifact that is called the Ark of Life.  If you tell me where it is, I will take it and leave your city.  Well, I will, but of course I will leave a large garrison of my best centurions to ensure peace.  But if you do not tell me where it is, then I will have to search for it.  And like I said, I am an impatient man.  So if you force me to search for it, I will not be happy and I will make a mess of your castle.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Elissa said.  “I know of no such thing.”

Tarcious smiled.  “Of course not.  I would not expect you to.  But there is someone here, someone in this castle that is its guardian.  Someone who has been here for many, many years.”

Lord Martin’s face lit up.  “Arpwin, of course!  He has been the personal assistant to kings longer than all of us have been alive!  It must be him.  If he tells you where it is, then you will go?”

The smile never left Tarcious’ face.  “Why of course.  I will even let you rebuild your city.  Under the supervision of my garrison, of course.”

“You came just for this Ark?” Elissa asked.  “You brought your entire army, brought those…those things, and all you want is some artifact?”

“It is a special artifact.”

“I will go find Arpwin,” Lord Martin said.

Before he could take a step, Tarcious stopped him.  “You will take General Mace and two others with you.  And be quick about it.”

“You destroyed my city,” Elissa continued.  “You killed my people for this thing?  Could you not have just come and asked for it?”

Tarcious laughed.  “Like I said, it is a special artifact.  If this Arpwin person is truly the guardian, he would not have willingly given it up.  In fact, I expected him to use it against us, which is why I brought more than enough soldiers.  I really did expect a much better fight.”

In mid-laugh, the feeling came over him.  He had hoped that he would never feel it again, but there it was, and just at the worst possible time.  The tingling sensation in the back of his mind told him that his master was calling him.  He had no choice but to answer him.

He tried to maintain his composure as he turned to Toknon.  “I must leave for a moment.  Can I trust the two of you together?”

“Of course,” Toknon replied.

Tarcious turned to the centurions who were in the room.  “If either of them try to leave the room, kill them.”

To emphasize their point, the centurions lifted their crossbows.

Without another word, Tarcious stormed out of a set of double doors that was directly across from the doors that led outside.  He tried the first door on his left and it opened. 

The room was warm with a fire still blazing in the fireplace.  As quickly as he could, he pushed the room’s furniture away from the middle of the room.  Once clear, he pulled out a small knife and carefully sliced into his wrist.  He couldn’t go too deep, or he would end up bleeding out before he could complete the circle.

As soon as the circle of blood was drawn upon the floor, he sat down and closed his eyes.  The blood continued to pump out of his wrist as he took a deep breath and recited the spell that would heal his wrist.  A tingling sensation came over him and the blood stopped and his skin sealed itself up.  Once the wound was healed, he stood, trying to force any extraneous thoughts out of his mind.  He needed to concentrate solely on the task at hand.  Once he dropped to a knee, his mind emptied and he could feel it suddenly replaced with the presence of his master.

With a firm, clear voice, he said, “My master, my lord and protector.  The Grand Adversary of the Other.  I come here as you bid.”

“I feel the power of the Ark,” the voice said in its head.  “It is very near to you.”

“Of course it is!” Tarcious declared.  For the first time since he had been contacting the Adversary, he was not afraid.  “It is all but in my hands as we speak!”

“That is good!  I can feel its power and I can feel that it struggles to be used.  It is good that you have not used it yet, for without instruction and direction, its power will quickly overwhelm you.”

“Yes, of course, my lord,” Tarcious replied.  “I do as you have instructed.  Of course I will not use it until I am ready.”

Pain shot through his head.  It was as if a great force was pushing out from inside his skull.  The pain was unbearable.  He could not hold in the scream that was bursting to come out.

And then just as quickly as it had come, it was gone.

“Do not try and deceive me!” the voice said.  “I felt the exposed power.  I can sense that it is ready to be freed from its earthly chains.  You will fetch it and you will bring it to me.  My patience is no more.  Upon the next rise of your sun, you will come to me again, and you will present the Ark of Life to me.  If you do not, then your life will be forfeit, and I will choose another.  For this is your last chance to prove you are worthy.”

“Yes, of course, my master.”

Then the tone of the voice changed.  “How did it feel to touch the raw power of the universe?”

Tarcious did not know how to respond.  It suddenly occurred to him that the Adversary thought that he already found it and touched it.  Maybe the Adversary even thought that he had tried to use it.

“Answer me!” the voice screamed in his head.  “How did it feel?”