Knights End
Page 47
Elissa turned to Conner and took both his hands in hers. “You once were my Champion, called to fight my battles for me because I could not do it myself. None of us can fight all our battles alone. We are your Champions, now. This is not something that you will need to do alone. We are with you. All of us. Not just your friends that know you, but everyone that has seen you lead us this far.”
“What,” Conner started to say, but his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and asked again, “What are we do to?”
To all of them, Myllia spoke. “As King Illichian has already told you, the Ark of Life is more than just a powerful artifact that can draw power from the Web of Magic. It is the thread that connects the world to the web. Destroy the Ark of Life, and the Web of Magic will be severed. This you know, and this is what you agonize over.”
Conner held up the necklace, the black gem swinging underneath his clenched fist. “There is to be no more discussion. How do we destroy this?”
Surprising everyone, Hemli stepped forward and held out his battle ax. “This ax can slice through stone as easy as it can slice off a man’s head. You went to my hidden valley to find a spear that could kill the Deceiver, but what you really needed was a way to stop him forever. There is magic in this ax. I felt it from the moment I touched it. It is what you need.”
“You are the expert,” Conner said. “It should be you.”
“You are Hurai,” Myllia said. “Hurai are the chosen people of the One God for many reasons. Eons ago, he chose you for this task. It must be you, Conner.”
Conner tossed the Ark of Life onto the ground and took the battle ax from Hemli. Slowly, he stepped back and spread his feet for balance. Many in the crowd took several steps back. Some were unafraid and did not move. Some were too afraid to move. A deathly silence fell across the courtyard as Conner looked down at the gem for what seemed an eternity. Until this moment, he knew the Ark of Life needed to be destroyed, but as he stood poised over it, his thoughts become cloudy and confused.
If the Ark of Life were destroyed, then they would lose their best chance at defeating the Deceiver if he ever returned. Despite all their unity and courage, in the end, it was only the Ark of Life that had saved them. His swords could not have defeated the entire goblin army. Elven archers were deadly, but there were not enough arrows to stop the army. The Bargoroth had arrived with Princess Nikki when the battle was about to turn against them, but they still would not have been enough to conquer all that the Deceiver sent at them. If the Ark of Life were destroyed, they would lose their last line of defense.
“What you feel is the touch of the Deceiver,” Myllia said. “Evil will always exist. It permeates our world just as the wind does. Sometimes it blows hard, and we know it is there, but other times it is silent, and we forget its power. You must learn to feel the truth of the One God and turn away from the lies of the Deceiver. It is a lesson we all must follow, but we all fail too often.”
Conner pushed away the conflicting thoughts and his mind was suddenly clear. Evil will never go away, and there will be a never-ending battle against it. But, with the Ark of Life destroyed, they will have a chance for victory if he can keep the Deceiver’s essence from ever returning to this world. They may not be able to stop his influence, but there is enough good in the world to fight it.
Conner took a deep breath and swung the battle ax, striking the black gem directly in the center. An explosive white light momentarily blinded them all.
Conner blinked for several moments to regain his vision. When he looked down, all he saw were piles of dust where the necklace was, and a small stone cut cleanly in two pieces. His heart pounded, and he looked around, wondering if there would be any dead Elves on the ground. Instead, he saw a silent and stunned crowd, holding their breath, looking at one another.
Conner turned and saw Glaerion looking at his hands, turning them over to look at the front and the back.
“Glaerion?” Conner said.
Glaerion looked up, his eyes still full of life, and a smile on his face.
“What do you feel?” Conner asked.
Glaerion slowly shook his head. “I feel nothing.” His smiled widened. “And I’ve never felt more alive!”
About the Author
Brad Clark grew up in the modestly sized city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, but now resides in a small town in the southwest corner of Michigan. He manages software development at a local family-owned software company.
Reading and writing have always been his passion, but the stories that were jotted down into piles of notebooks never made it beyond a chapter or two. Somewhere between coaching youth sports and all of life's great adventures, a full-length novel happened to get written. After much nagging from his wife and kids, he broke down and published his first novel as an e-book. With a renewed passion for writing, he dove into the fantasy genre to start the epic fantasy series The Champion Chronicles.
As much as he has a passion for reading and writing, Brad is also an avid road bicyclist and runner. Springtime is running season as he prepares for an annual half-marathon. Summer, though, is his favorite time where he can spend hours riding his bike on quiet back country roads.
With five kids, two still at home, writing is a way to escape from the busyness of life. His stories come from his love of the genre and from his heart. Whether the stories work for the rest of the world is not why he writes, he writes because he simply wants to put his dreams on paper. He never wants his writing to be work, he only desires it to be a fun hobby and hopes that others can share in his stories.
Brad can be followed on Twitter @booksbybrad or found on the web at www.booksbybradclark.com.