Knights End

by Brad Clark

  “Conner!” A voice shouted out nearby.

  Conner turned to see Hemli standing proudly, the large battle ax retrieved from the ancient Elf resting against his shoulder. His hair was long and shaggy, and his beard was a tangled mess, but his eyes were bright and full of life. Somewhere under his beard, he was smiling. Surrounding him were his several dozen fellow Dwarves, armored, armed, and ready for battle.

  “We fight for glory!” Hemli shouted out again, and his fellow Dwarves joined in, hooping and hollering. Their energy quickly spread as those around them started shouting and yelling as well.

  Conner raised a fist. Typically, he would have drawn his own sword and lifted it up in response, but the courtyard was too packed and drawing his swords might accidentally slice up close innocent bystanders.

  “For Humans, Elves, and Dwarves!” Conner responded, feeling the energy exuded by the Dwarves.

  Hemli responded with an unintelligible shout, which caused all the Dwarves to raise their weapons above their heads. The crowd pressed in tighter around them as their energy continued to spread wide. Conner kept his eyes locked on Hemli as he moved off, pumping his arms several times to show his support.

  Conner now had to physically force his way through the crowd, as they were being drawn towards the shouting and excitement. His heart was pumping, and the adrenaline was starting to flow, but he had to find Marila, first. The battle would come in due course, but finding what could be a spy of the Deceiver was paramount. Even though Elissa was convinced that Marila was on their side, and he was starting to feel that way as well, he could not let her go. Until they knew for sure whether she was friend or foe, she needed to be kept under close watch.

  As the crowd pressed in around him, he did his best to get a good look at everyone, but there were just too many people. Marila could easily have squeezed in with the crowd as they pushed towards the Dwarves, and he would have never been able to see her unless she had bumped up against him. Getting frustrated and anxious, he glanced around and then up. A sudden realization hit him that if he were up high, he might be able to spot her easier. Forcing his way through the thickest part of the crowd, he quickly reached the stairs leading up to the top of the wall.

  “Glaerion!” Conner gasped out. He was surprisingly out of breath from sprinting up the stairs.

  Glaerion was standing in a small clump of his Elves and turned as he approached.

  “Have you seen Marila?” Conner asked, still breathing heavy.

  Glaerion turned away from the other Elves. One of them was King Illichian. Both had serious looks, which is what he expected as they were preparing for war.

  “What?” Glaerion snapped, showing irritation in his voice.

  “Marila. Have you seen her?”

  “Right now, we have more to worry about than her.”

  Conner looked past the group of Elves and out towards the Deceiver’s army. Many of them had started to move, but not towards the wall. A stream of goblins were running north, towards the foothills of the mountains.

  “What are they doing?” Conner asked.

  None answered his question as they watched the enemy’s movements. It was only goblins that were moving position. The Stone Ogres remained sitting still on their haunches, waiting for the battle to start. The flying minor demons did not follow the goblins, though they all turned to watch as well. With still air, no sounds from the goblins reached them. It was surreal to watch them run across the field in silence.

  Suddenly, the front rank of the stream of goblins dispersed in a chaotic mess. A small force of warriors burst out of the trees, cutting deep into the goblins. They moved about a hundred yards with quickness, but then they stalled, and the goblins began to surround them.

  “Who are they?” Conner asked.

  “Enemies of the Deceiver are our allies,” King Illichian said.

  “They look familiar,” Glaerion said, holding a hand above his eyes to shield what sunlight was seeping through the clouds. “They fight with two swords.”

  “Sak’Hurai?”

  “It seems so.”

  “Princess Nikki!” Conner exclaimed. He rushed forward to the edge of the wall as if the twenty feet he was now closer would allow him to see any better. The fight was still nearly a mile away. “We must help!”

  “Too far for archers,” Glaerion said.

  Conner looked back towards the courtyard.

  Glaerion caught his thoughts and shook his head. “Suicide for them. By the time our army would reach them, the rest of the goblins would attack and surround us all. We cannot sacrifice the many for a few.”

  “Not them,” Conner said. “Where is Sir Marik?”

  Glaerion’s teeth showed as his lips turned into a slight smile. “I have never seen the charge of your famous Karmon Knights.”

  “Seeing is believing,” Conner said. “But, being a part of it is unforgettable.”

  “Go!” King Illichian shouted from behind them. “We will cover you as best we can!”

  Glaerion led the way down the stairs. “Where is Hargon,” he asked. “We could use him now.”

  “Looking for Marila,” Conner replied. “We don’t need him for this.”

  They raced along the base of the wall, which was mostly clear, towards the stables. All the Karmon Knights were milling about, tinkering with their horse’s barding and their own armor.

  Sir Marik saw them coming from a distance and met them as they approached. Conner quickly explained what was happening. The Sak’Hurai, led by Princess Nikki had arrived, and they were being surrounded by a horde of the goblins. They would only have minutes before they would be overwhelmed.

  Sir Marik let out a whistle and lifted a hand into the air and twirled it around. It was their hand signal to mount up, which they all did.

  “We’re going, too,” Conner said.

  Marik glanced back at him and started to say no, but the look on Conner and Glaerion’s faces told him that they would not take no for an answer. He signaled for two of his knights to dismount, which they did with grumbling protest. Not only had they been bred for battle, but they had also been cooped up for too many weeks. Everyone was ready to fight.

  Glaerion easily jumped atop his mount. His daggers would be of no use atop a warhorse, so he took one of the Knight’s swords and a lance. “You know how to use that?” The knight asked.

  “I’ll figure it out,” Glaerion replied, studying quickly how the other knights were holding their lances. He followed suit but knew he would promptly toss it once the fighting began. It seemed awkward and slow. He needed weapons that were fast.

  Conner mounted his horse and was offered a lance, but he declined. He had never even thought about using one, and he was not going to choose such a weapon over the swords that he was accustomed to using.

  The two Knights who lost their mounts and a handful of squires started to push their way through the crowd, shouting for them to move aside. Reluctantly, they started to do so, but once the Knights began to march through the courtyard, they were more eager to avoid being trampled by the warhorses.

  Sir Marik led the way with Conner and Glaerion directly behind him. The remaining four dozen knights marched behind in a two-abreast line. As soon as the crowd had parted wide enough, Sir Marik kicked his warhorse into a trot. The gate was open as they reached it. Without having to tell the warhorses what to do, they immediately broke into a canter, heading across the field and towards the goblins that had now surrounded the Sak’Hurai.

  With seemingly ease, the Karmon Knights raced across the open expanse, the warhorses’ legs churning with increasing speed. Their heads bobbed up and down with each long stride, and Conner could feel his horse’s belly expand and contract with each breath. The canter turned into a flat-out run, and he moved forward in the saddle to keep the thumping bounces from jarring his teeth right out of his mouth. The Knights held their reins with a single hand, while the other hands held their lances, which Conner found astonishing. He gripped the rei
ns with two hands and hung with all his might. He was reminded once again about the skill of the Karmon Knights. Strong and powerful, just like their horses. There were only fifty of them, and they were going headlong into a portion of the goblin army that was easily ten times their number.

  Their formation quickly broke apart as they passed the deserted village. Each horse knew what was coming and was just as eager as their riders to reach the battle. The Knights at the front of the formation moved their steeds to the side to allow those at the rear to move forward until there were twenty abreast. The faster horses pushed ahead, and the Knights had to do their best to keep them in a tight bunch. Arriving spread apart would take away their initial advantage of overwhelming force and prevent them from crashing into the goblins like a hammer.

  Conner had forgotten about their graceful power, and he couldn’t remove the smile from his face. He glanced to his left to see Glaerion hanging tightly onto the horse while griping his lance with a white-knuckled death grip. While the faces of the Knights around him were severe and stoic, Glaerion’s face was white and frozen in what might be called fear.

  “We ride with the wind!” Conner called out.

  Glaerion glanced over and simply furled his eyebrows before looking forward.

  Conner could only laugh.

  ***

  “What is that fool doing!” Hallendrielle growled. She stood tall and proud on top of the wall, hands on her hips, glaring at her husband who was barreling towards the sea of goblins. She was supposed to be taking over command of the archers from Glaerion, but her husband seemed to have already left to do his own thing.

  “A small group of Hurai appeared and are surrounded,” a nearby Elf said. “Glaerion and the Karmon Knights are attempting to save them.”

  “I can see that!” Hallendrielle snapped back. “We need those Knights for our first counter-attack. If we lose any of them, we could lose the chance to fight back.”

  “There are over a hundred of the Hurai,” the Elf said, taking a step back to avoid any further wrath.

  She watched as the Karmon Knights charged across the open field. Their clean lines had shifted into a large mass that showed no signs of slowing down as they approached the goblins who had surrounded the Hurai warriors. Then she looked to see more goblins break away from the main army and start to run towards the fight.

  “They won’t make it,” she mumbled to herself. Even if they broke through to the Hurai, they were still nearly a mile away. In that time, most of the goblin army could swarm down towards the walls, blocking their return. The Knights could make it back because their horses could outrun the goblins, but the Hurai appeared to be all on foot. Even at their fastest, they would likely be unable to outrun the goblins.

  “Men,” she grumbled loud enough for the male Elves nearby to hear her. “Never planning ahead.”

  A thought came to her and she spun around, looking into the courtyard for something she knew was not there, but she looked anyway. She turned back around to see the fight that was just about to happen when she looked closer at the village. Without hesitation, she ordered a handful of archers to follow her.

  ***

  Marik moved his horse next to Conner and shouted, “Lances first! Drop back to the second rank.”

  Conner’s horse did not want to slow down, but he gave a steady pull on the reins until he joined the second rank. Glaerion swallowed his pride and let his horse fall back into the second rank as well. He was an accomplished horseman, but he was not an expert in mounted combat, especially with a long, pointed stick.

  To his right, Conner could see goblins racing towards them, but they were too slow. Once they realized they could not catch the horses, many of the goblins returned to their original formations, yet some continued to race after them.

  Ahead of them the mass of goblins were jumping and leaping about, their long talons digging into their own, sending blood and body parts flying about. Their focus was on the Hurai and not on what was coming up behind them. If they had any idea what was about to happen, they might have turned and attacked the Knights and their horses, but they were too focused on the Hurai to notice the thunder coming after them.

  Conner drew one sword and held it as tightly as he held the reins of this horse. He leaned forward in his saddle, just as Marik had instructed. First contact would be jarring, and if he somehow slipped out of his saddle, the goblins would be all over him in an instant.

  They crashed into the back of the goblins. Their horses did their best to stomp on any goblin that moved. Lances had been lowered and were driven into the nearest goblin’s backside. In many battles they would attempt to ride through the enemy and hold onto the lances, repeating their charge as often as they could. However, their goal was to punch a hole through to the Hurai so they would only have one charge. Lances were tossed aside, and swords were drawn as the Knights pushed their way through the mass of goblins.

  Conner subconsciously squeezed his knees together as his horse struck goblin bodies tossed from the first rank of horses. Directly ahead of him, a knight lost his balance and slipped out of his saddle. Conner almost drew his other sword and jumped down to help him, but even before his heart beat twice, the fallen Knights were swarmed by slashing and biting goblins. His screams were drowned out by the sounds of battle.

  Conner did not hesitate a moment longer. His sword swung down, slicing into any goblin flesh that came near. The charge pushed forward most of the way to the Hurai, but not all the way. The sheer mass of goblins had stopped them initially, but the brute strength of the Knights and Conner drove them through to the Hurai. With a final burst, they pushed through the perimeter of Sak’Hurai, who quickly slid in behind the last horse to keep as many goblins from rushing through as possible.

  The second rank of Sak’Hurai jumped at the goblins who had broken through, slicing them to shreds before they could reach the Sak’Hurai who were on the perimeter. Glaerion did not hesitate to join the fight. The moment he passed the first Sak’Hurai, he artfully dismounted his horse, pulled out his daggers, and started swinging at any goblin that moved. After only a few heartbeats, the goblins who had followed the Knights through the perimeter were dead

  The Sak’Hurai were surrounded, but far from defeated. They were able to keep the mass of goblins at bay through sheer speed and might. Swords slashed faster than the eye could catch, sending goblins by the troves to the ground. The hundred Sak’Hurai had established a circular perimeter that kept all the goblins at bay. A dozen warriors stayed in the middle, cutting down any goblin that broke through the boundary.

  Conner slid off his horse and drew his swords. He paused to consider their options, which were suddenly quite few. The Sak’Hurai had a two-tiered defense that allowed the Hurai on the front to swing their swords without fear of striking their neighbor, while the second tier was a bit more cautious with how they swung their Sak’Turana’s but were able to keep any goblins from breaching their exterior.

  The Knights had arrived just in time, for the Sak’Hurai would have been overwhelmed within minutes. They were fighting furiously, but several of their numbers had already fallen. Sir Marik commanded his Knights to fill in where the Sak’Hurai fell. One of the Sak’Hurai fell at the front of the formation, and Sir Marik and Conner raced to fill the gap at the same time.

  Conner reached the opening first and immediately sliced the head off a goblin that jumped at him. He ignored the twitching body that took two more steps past the perimeter and engaged the next goblin.

  “Where is Princess Nikki!” Conner called out to any Sak’Hurai that could hear and understand him. He had done a quick survey of the Sak’Hurai and didn’t immediately see her. She looked like none other and should have easily been able to be spotted. His heart dropped as he thought she must have been one of the few Sak’Hurai to have already fallen.

  One of the Sak’Hurai near him that was in the second rank looked up at him with a surprised look. “Conner?” Denn asked.

  “Yes
! Where is Princess Nikki?”

  In broken Commoner, Denn replied, “She is with Kile. Still to the west. She will come soon.” He paused to strike down a goblin that slipped through the first rank. “We thank you for your help. We thought we could sneak to the castle without being noticed. The moment we stepped onto the open field, they attacked.”

  “We need to push this formation forward!” Sir Marik screamed from behind Conner.

  Conner and the adjoining Sak’Hurai each pushed forward two steps, but the press of goblins kept them from moving any further.

  “Too many!” Conner shouted between swings.

  “We stall, we die!” Sir Marik screamed. “Move aside!”

  Conner sensed movement behind him and did as he was commanded, despite the press of goblins. For a moment, a handful of goblins breached the perimeter but were cut down from a rush of twenty knights who had charged forward in a tight formation. Using their shields to push and their swords to slice, the Knights drove into the goblins, allowing their stalled formation to move again.

  “Tighten up!” Marik shouted. He ended up next to Conner in a command position behind the front ranks. Half the Knights were now at the front of the formation, taking the brunt of the goblin force. They did not fight as furiously as the Sak’Hurai, but with their shields to protect their bodies, they were able to be just as effective.

  Denn, who was also nearby, shouted out commands in their native tongue, and the Sak’Hurai immediately changed their tactics to coordinate with the Knights. Rather than swinging wide and fast, they became more tactical in their swings. They didn’t kill as many goblins, but the formation tightened up as commanded, and continued to slowly inch forward.