The Story of Evil: Volume I - Heroes of the Siege (9 page)

Twelve knights and one honorable mention.
Steve felt completely inadequate among these men and knew his small action to save the Giant and the Dwarf could not even begin to compare to the sacrifices and decisions these men had made in their moments of glory.

The king’s Guardian Knights were all standing around in their full sets of armor featuring red, blue, and some gold pieces. Some were talking amongst themselves in small groups, similar to how Steve saw the warriors talking in the castle lobby.

This attack has shocked them as much as everyone else.

Four of the knights stood around a miniature replica model of Celestial. It was a perfectly accurate representation of Celestial on a smaller scale. Each one was pointing at different sections of the city with the tiny sticks they held in their hands.
No doubt they are in the middle of planning strategies.

Steve’s eyes went to the center of the room. A magnificent tall and golden chair sat in the center of the room facing away from him.
The King’s Throne! There it is!
Steve had seen paintings of it, but not even the finest color could match the perfect gold it was made out of. In the back of it, he could see a warped reflection of himself standing next to the Supreme Commander in the doorway.

In front of the throne a man stood looking out an enormously wide observatory window. His back was to Steve, but Steve saw that he wore golden armor from neck to boot. He also wore a long red cape, the same color as Steve’s armor. Just as Steve knew he was entering the King’s Tower, and then the King’s Throne Room, he also knew right away who this man was.

The window was the widest and largest Steve had ever seen. It took up more than half the circumference of the circular tower. The view to the north was amazing. He could see miles and miles away.
Whitebark Woods. Evergreen Forest. I can even see the beginning of Lake Azure.

Even though he didn’t want to, Steve could also see the entire north side of the city. Sadly, it was just as destroyed as the south side of Celestial, if not more. He could partially see the east and west sides as well. The fires and plumes of smoke looked like a ring around the outer part of the city. This was because cheaper houses made of straw and wood were farthest away from the castle and closest to the inner wall. They burned more easily than the stone buildings towards the middle of the city. Also, most of the flaming projectiles from monster catapults in the fields could not fly far enough to hit most of the stone buildings.

The last of the monsters were climbing over the inner wall with their ladders or entering through breaches. Most of the attacking army was in the streets. All looked tiny specs flowing through the city from so high up.

A hand lightly tugged Steve’s tunic sticking out of the plate of armor at his waist, bringing Steve back to reality. The Supreme Commander was already on the ground kneeling, trying to get Steve to do the same by pulling him down. Steve went down on one knee and stared down into the royal red carpet.

How could I forget to kneel in the presence of this man?
He felt like a low class slave with no manners.
Everyone knows you’re supposed to kneel at first sight of the king.

“What is your report?” The golden armored man asked, still looking out the window. He had known his Supreme Commander would be the next one that walked into his throne room.

Steve remained kneeled as Sir Lambert rose and gave his answer, “Your honor, this is the largest attack we have ever witnessed. We’ve never had so many causalities in one day. Seventy-five warriors have made it back to provide additional support in the guarding of the castle. As you know, multiplying that number by five would still not be enough men to cover all our stations.”

“Any word on Prince Silas’s location?”

“We have searched everywhere, but he is nowhere to be found, your majesty. He ditched his guard and disappeared this morning.” The Supreme Commander cut an angry look at two guards who stood talking to each other. Steve assumed they had been the ones who lost track of the prince.

The man breathed a deep sigh of frustration. After weighing the possible meaning of his missing prince, he asked, “Who did you bring with you?”

Steve was amazed that the king knew he was in the room, especially since the king’s back was to them the entire time since they had entered.
He must have seen our reflection in the window.

Steve continued to kneel with his head lowered. He heard the sound of clinking armor and footsteps as the man turned and began to walk towards him. Steve’s heart was beating faster than the times when Ty convinced him to talk to a pretty girl.

“For his heroic sacrifices on the battlefield, that I observed firsthand, I present to you an honorary Guardian Knight,” Sir Lambert announced.

Steve saw golden boots enter at the top of his view of the floor.
He
was standing before Steve.

“Rise.” The man’s powerful voice boomed as he commanded such a simple word. Steve obeyed and stood up, meeting King Oliver Zoran face to face.

Chapter 8

As Steve stood up, his eyes went from the golden boots, upward to the weapon the king kept in the sheath at his side.
There it is.
Steve thought.
The Aurelian Sword! The very sword Oliver Zoran used to kill the five-headed dragon, Draviakhan.
Steve stared at the long, double-edged weapon. The Aurelian Sword (also known as Aurelia [meaning golden] or the King’s Sword) had a curved golden blade, classifying the weapon as a scimitar. The hilt was beautifully decorated in jewels. Five stones representing the elements were attached above the sword’s optional one or two handed handle. There was a red ruby for fire, a green emerald for wind, a blue sapphire for water, a yellow topaz for electricity, and a brown jasper for earth. In the center of the circle of jewels was a large diamond. The diamond symbolized that there was strength in bringing the five elements together. The diamond was a rare jewel. It was a perfect, flawless gem, incapable of being scratched, thus making it highly sought after.

For someone like Steve, who had spent many years of his life designing swords and weapons for warriors, Aurelia was an amazing sight to behold. Steve stared in awe at the beautifully crafted weapon of the king. He finished standing up, realizing he was as excited to meet the sword as he had been to meet the king himself.

King Zoran wore a golden crown. The piece was related to his impressive sword. It also featured the five elemental gemstones equally spaced around the circular crown. A diamond just as large as the one on the Aurelian Sword was front and center. The crown had twelve spires. Twelve was an important number in the Celestial City. There were twelve Guardian Knights, twelve warriors’ watchtowers, twelve catapults, and twelve cesspools.

Steve realized he had been staring at the impressive sword and crown instead of meeting the king eye to eye. He quickly lowered his gaze. Now he was looking into the king’s blue eyes.

Steve heard Sir Lambert clear his throat. Once again, he was trying to quietly warn the new Guardian Knight of something he was not doing right.

I’m still holding Brightflame!
Steve realized. In the same instant it crossed his mind, Steve dropped his sword. It loudly clattered on the marble floor, making all of the other knights turn and look at him
. I am royally embarrassing myself.

Steve’s face grew as red as his armor. It was considered disrespectful to hold an unsheathed weapon in front of the king. Steve had been carrying Brightflame since he left the arena because his sheath had been burned along with the squire.

King Zoran smiled at the young warrior to help relax and calm him. He could see Steve was nervous. “What is your name?” he asked.

“Stephen Brightflame, your majesty,” Steve said with as much confidence as he could muster.

The king was a burly man with a black bushy beard and a full head of slicked back hair, exposing his forehead. Strands of gray lined the black hair on both his head and beard, and there were dark shadows under his eyes. These features were acquired from the stress of ruling his kingdom for the past forty years.

“Sir Stephen, I thank you for your bravery on this unfortunate day. Since you are the only one here that has been on ground level, we will need to hear your firsthand account of what you saw. But as of right now, we have hours of planning to do.” The king began to turn around and walk towards the model of Celestial when he stopped and turned back to Steve.

Zoran waved his pointer finger at Steve with a puzzled look on his face. “You look familiar to me. Have we met before?”

“No, your highness, this is the first time I’ve ever met you,” Steve said, equally confused.

“I have seen you before, but I can’t remember where. Don’t worry, it will come to me.”

Steve wondered about how the king might have recognized him.
Maybe he saw me in a promotional advertisement from the Jousting Tournament. Why didn’t I realize that’s probably what he knows me from? I should have said something.

Zoran was conferring with four of the Guardian Knights at the strategic planning table. Three of the knights stood by the large window and called out destroyed parts of the city to the king and the men around the model of Celestial, who made markings on the three-dimensional map. They marked fallen warriors’ watchtowers, breached sections of the wall, and large buildings that had been demolished. The damage done by monsters was being accounted for. After it was all tallied up, the king and his advisors would be able to see where their strengths and weaknesses were.

Since Celestial had never been in this stage of an attack before, Steve wasn’t exactly sure what the next step would be. According to Sir Lambert’s plan, the castle would become a central hub for strategy. Doves carrying messages would be sent to the warrior occupied watchtowers, detailing what the status of the rest of the city was, as well as of any plans for counterattacks that their specific tower would be ordered to carry out. Warriors would be sent into the city on missions to battle monsters and then retreat back to their watchtower, where they would await further orders.

Our counterstrikes might begin as soon as tonight. They might ask me to lead a group of warriors in an attack,
Steve hoped.

The last time monsters attacked (unsuccessfully) Celestial that Steve could remember had happened when he was a child of only six years. Steve, Ty, Darren, and Warrior Thatcher were all sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch when watchtower horns interrupted their conversation.

Thatcher immediately got up, grabbed his gear, and commanded, “Stay here until I come back.” Then his voice grew ever more commanding as he spoke to the three young boys, “Do not move from your seats until I get back. Do you hear me?”

Thatcher was already locking the door behind him by the time they all mumbled out a timid, “Yes.”

Thatcher fought on the inner wall, kicking off ladders and killing any monsters that made it to the top. Meanwhile,

Steve and his two adopted brothers sat at the kitchen table, watching the door for nine hours, unmoving from their chairs. The next creation that came through the door would either be their adopted father or a monster. Steve had never felt such relief when Thatcher came in through that door. He, Ty, and Darren, all got up and ran to hug him.

I wonder how many children and how many wives are sitting in their homes, watching their doors right now?

In the attack where Thatcher defended the walls, the warriors had defeated the small monster army that attacked Celestial. Today’s defense of the Circle City was not as fortunate. The warriors failed. For the first time monsters had won. Steve took the blame personally as part of the failure. He was a warrior. It was his job to aid in the defense of the city during an attack.

As Steve reflected the past attack and the current one, a voice caught him off guard.

“How have you been son?”

Steve turned and almost became emotional at the sight of the man standing before him.

Sir Titus Thatcher.

Chapter 9

Steve cleared all of the emotions from his throat. “The armor of a knight suits you, Commander Thatcher.”

“You can still call me father, you know,” Sir Thatcher said before he embraced Steve in a tight hug.

He must have felt the same way I did when I sat in that kitchen chair. He watched the attack from this tower, worrying about me as I tried to survive down there.

Titus Thatcher was the third oldest man in the throne room. The Supreme Commander was the oldest, at seventy. King Zoran was just under sixty name days. Sir Thatcher was around fifty years old. Even though he was younger than the king, he had twice as many gray hairs.

Probably from having to raise both Ty and I.

Other than Sir Lambert, he was the oldest of Zoran’s Guardian Knights, but the newest addition. Sir Thatcher was by far the most honorable and wisest man that Steve had ever known.