Shard Knight (Echoes Across Time Book 1)

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Shard Knight (Echoes Across Time Book 1) Page 22

by Ballard, Matthew


  The sword glowed like a red-hot beacon as Ronan sent flows of rage induced magic pouring through its core.

  The enemy knights raised their forearm blocking the blinding scarlet light pouring from Ronan’s blade.

  Dawn came early to northern Meranthia that day as the illumination from Ronan’s blade split the fog like a red alien sun signaling the arrival of the righteous king.

  Breakfast With The King

  Two shard knights stood behind the king’s dining chair as a servant unloaded the last tray of breakfast food. The servant scooped hot eggs and bacon onto a fine white china plate, bowed, and placed it before the king.

  “Thank you Monty, it smells delicious,” Pride said.

  Monty bowed. “Very good Your Majesty.” He left leaving Pride and the shard knights alone with the three Ayralen colonists.

  Four thick slices of bacon sat atop a mountain of golden scrambled eggs blanketing Pride’s breakfast plate.

  His mouth watered as his eyes devoured the feast. He took a sip from a steaming mug of coffee and licked his lips savoring the rich flavor of the beans. Elan favored those who favored Him, and this generous breakfast proved the perfect example.

  The three women sat silent at the opposite end of the long cherry table. Unlike Pride, their plates remained cold and empty. They stared with hungry eyes at heaping plates of food like vultures circling carrion.

  Pride’s stomach growled as the aroma of hot biscuits hit his nose. “Ah, but those biscuits smell delicious. Don’t they?”

  Keely licked her lips and eyeballed the biscuits.

  Pride grinned and couldn’t help but find amusement at her plight. He twisted open the flaky biscuit and let the aroma roll down the table toward the starving women. Steam billowed from the fresh biscuit, and Pride set it on his plate.

  He picked up a carafe loaded with pure honey and drizzled it atop the biscuit letting the excess ooze onto his plate. These women hadn’t eaten in weeks, but it struck him odd the ravages of hunger should’ve taken a greater toll on their physical health. Ronan’s girlfriend had served penance for months yet she appeared fresh as a daisy. “Tell me Miss Finn, you’ve spent two months without Elan’s nourishment yet you sit at my table looking as if you ate just yesterday?” Pride said as he inhaled a large bite of scrambled eggs.

  Rika shrugged. “I can’t explain it.”

  Pride’s anger flared. He demanded respect. He pounded his fist on the table. “Your Majesty. You will address me as Your Majesty. Do you understand me?”

  Rika flushed. “I…ah…yes Your Majesty. I can’t explain it Your Majesty.”

  Keely stifled a grin staring at her empty plate.

  “Do you take me for a fool? You three live only by Elan’s grace. If I listened to my darker thoughts, I’d pile you…women atop a trash heap with the rest of this colony’s rubbish. Answer my question Miss Finn.” He bit into a thick strip of bacon gobbling half in a single mouthful.

  “Through prayer and meditation, Elan has spared me the wrath of famine Your Majesty.” Rika clasped her hands together and nodded her head in prayer.

  The bitch dared mock him. He’d have answers before breakfast ended. He had more important questions, and the company of these three Ayralens made him nauseous. “I see. Perhaps I’ll post guards within the cell? They might benefit from your meditations.”

  Rika didn’t flinch. “Yes. I think the camp guards would gain great insight. Thank you Your Majesty. What do you think Danielle?”

  “Huh? What?” Danielle’s gaze focused on her personal items piled up on the breakfast table. Her pouch, staff, and ring laid inches from Pride’s reach.

  Pride grinned. Like a lamb to slaughter, she couldn’t resist. “Miss Deveaux, are you feeling okay? You seem…distracted,” Pride said.

  “I’d like my ring back Your Majesty. It’s a personal item and returning it would bring you no harm,” Danielle said.

  A thin smile spread across Pride’s pasty cheeks. “Oh? What’s special about the ring?” He gulped a mouthful of coffee washing away a chunk of bacon stuck in his teeth.

  “As I said, its value is purely sentimental. It’s a Deveaux family ring.”

  Pride furrowed his brow. “How do I know you didn’t steal it from the Meranthian dig site in Salem’s Peak? You and your friends did untold damage to the most important discovery in centuries.”

  Danielle’s face reddened. “We took nothing from those ruins. We found a dusty old book and left it alone.”

  He didn’t want to hear about the damn book. He’d burn the bloody book and every tree in the Ayralen forest one day soon. He picked up the gold ring and placed it in his outstretched palm. “Do you know what this ring is Miss Deveaux?” He stood and pushed his chair away.

  Danielle’s cheeks grew red. “Like I said, it’s been in my family for years-”

  Heat swelled in his neck, and flashes of rage thumped in rhythm with his heartbeat. He’d not tolerate this insolent child to sit before the Meranthian king and spew lies. “Lies!” He swept his hand across the table sending his breakfast plate flying.

  Pride’s breakfast plate smashed against the stone wall near the hearth sending eggs, bacon, and shattered bits of china skittering.

  Danielle recoiled and covered her face in a defensive posture.

  Waves of anger washed over him. She’d pay for her insolence. Pride stormed around the table and stood towering over Danielle. “How do the rings interact with Elan’s Heart? Tell me!”

  Her eyes went wide with panic. “I don’t know, I -”

  He reached his arm back and swung. His hand went numb as his diamond ring drove into the soft flesh of her cheek. “You’re a dirty liar!”

  The impact sent Danielle flying backward. Her chair tipped over, and she rolled across the rich woven carpet of the dining room floor.

  Rika jumped to her feet reaching for her nonexistent belt knife.

  Keely flung her chair back, jumped to her feet, and whirled on Pride.

  Danielle’s hand moved to her cheek, and she turned panic-stricken eyes on Keely and Rika. “No Keely! Stop!”

  He controlled these women. Their Ayralen submission sickened him. At least the Queen fought for her life. “I’d listen to your friend Miss Bouchard. You’d not enjoy the result.”

  Danielle held onto her cheek and sat upright. “I don’t know anything about Elan’s Heart. My father gave me the ring on my tenth birthday. Beyond that, I know nothing. I promise on all I hold dear.”

  “Tell me of the second ring. Where’s it hidden?” He said.

  Danielle’s face twisted in confusion. “I don’t know about another ring. I swear.”

  Pride slipped the ring into the pocket of his white silk robe and turned his back on Danielle. He gazed at the bigger shard knight standing at the ready. “Bryson, I’ve lost my appetite. Do as you please.”

  A greasy smile slithered over the knight’s stubbly jaw. “Thank you Your Majesty.” His smile faded as the dining room doors crashed open.

  Pride spun, and a thick shimmering shield flashed around him an instant later.

  The servant, Monty, skidded to a halt just inside the doorway. “Your Majesty.” His breathless words came in short bursts as he struggled to catch his breath. “The camp’s defense has failed. Intruders are battering the doors. Please! Hurry!”

  “Your Majesty, we need to take you to the safe room,” Bryson said.

  In Elan’s name he didn’t need this distraction. Another colony uprising? He thought he’d seen the last of those. Pride nodded. “Yes, of course. Bryson, come with me. Jeremy, shield these women, and hold them until I return.”

  Jeremy extended his arm, and detention shields appeared around the Ayralen women. “They won’t escape Your Majesty.”

  Pride brushed past the trapped women and left the dining room with Bryson and the harried servant in toe.

  ***

  Danielle waited for the dining room doors to close then spun on the shard knight. “I’m giving
you fair warning. Drop the shields or I’ll respond with violence.”

  Jeremy doubled over laughing. “I mean no offense.” He held up his armored hand. “Really I don’t, but you’re an unarmed, half-starved, slip of a girl. I’m sorry the king hit you. It’s wrong to hit a lady, especially one with your spectacular beauty.” He held up both hands in a pleading gesture. “There’s nothing I can do to prevent it. Whether it’s right or wrong, I pledged an oath to uphold the king’s law.” He shook his head “No, you’ll stay here until the king returns.”

  “I don’t have time to argue. It’s your choice.” Giant black thorns sprouted from Danielle’s body and rammed into the detention shield.

  Jeremy’s eyes bulged. “Dear Elan, here we go again.” He extended an open palm and flicked his wrist. “Hold on miss, it’s not worth my life.”

  The shields flickered then disappeared.

  Danielle released the black thorns and wrapped a sheath of protective vines around her body. The tight corded plants provided a snug layer of protection.

  “Can every Ayralen control plants like you?” Jeremy said.

  She smiled. “Not all Ayralens sir Knight.” She flicked her wrist, and her belt and staff flew off the table. She caught each in midair then strapped her belt pouch around her waist.

  Keely shifted into the form of a golden saber-toothed forest cat and sprang forward pouncing on a terrified Knight Jeremy.

  Jeremy clattered to the floor landing flat on his back. Keely planted her forelegs atop his chest pinning the knight to the ornate carpet.

  Jeremy screamed as he stared with terror-stricken eyes into the beast’s toothy grin. He held up trembling hands. “Please. I did as you asked. Don’t kill me.”

  Danielle removed a seed from her pouch and flipped it atop Jeremy’s chest. “Keely, the man surrendered. Stop scaring him.”

  A low rumble emanated from the saber cat’s throat, and Keely stepped off the fallen knight.

  Danielle extended her palm toward Jeremy and channeled nature magic toward the seed.

  Green flows of energy snaked across the room and sank into the seed atop his chest. Dark scaly vines wrapped Jeremy as tight as a caterpillar in a cocoon.

  Danielle stood over Jeremy’s constrained body and flicked her wrist.

  A small gap opened above Jeremy’s nostrils allowing him to breathe while the rest of his body remained covered in a spider web of vines.

  “He won’t escape those vines anytime soon.” She stepped away and tightened the grip on her heartwood staff.

  Danielle’s staff warped with an aquamarine flash and opened to reveal a glassy shard swimming with flows of green and red energy.

  She caught the shard as it dropped from the hidden space inside then heartwood staff.

  Rika flashed a wary expression and shook her head as she stepped away.

  “Rika, we don’t have time to argue.” She extended her arm toward Rika holding the shard in her palm. “Go ahead, and take the shard.”

  Rika’s brow furrowed, and she glanced at the glittering shard. “It feels wrong, but I won’t die rotting in that cell.”

  Danielle nodded. “I’m glad that’s settled.” She dropped the shard in Rika’s palm and stepped backward.

  Rika closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, her gaze locked on the shard nestled in her palms.

  Danielle never grew tired of watching magic fill a human soul. “That’s it Rika. Open your heart to the magic, and let it embrace you.”

  Rika’s eyes concentrated on the shard’s core as her eyes took on an out-of-body expression.

  The shard’s light burst outward in a thousand directions. Yellow, green, and red streamers raced across the room in razor sharp lines, crisscrossing each other at wild angles.

  Danielle froze not daring a breath as the magic took hold.

  The light slowed and hung frozen in mid-air. At that moment, time stood still as the shard energy firmed and imprinted on Rika’s soul.

  Danielle stood awe-struck at the shard light’s grandeur. What mind created such wonder?

  The light reversed course and rushed inward slamming into Rika’s flesh embedding its core within her mind and body.

  Rika gasped and snapped her head upward staring toward the heavens as if receiving the answer to a long wondered question.

  Green and red light flowed into her open mouth, eyes, and nose. Shard magic seeped into her hair and through the pores of her skin.

  Rika’s stance slackened, and she stumbled before finding her footing. She leaned over and placed her hands on her knees regaining her equilibrium.

  Keely sat silent, watching, and waiting. A low purr rumbled from her throat, and her saber cat tail batted the floor in playful strokes.

  “Rika. Remember what Keely told you. Look into her eyes and join her soul,” Danielle said.

  Rika stood as she regained full control of her body. She met Danielle’s gaze. “Thank you Danielle. No matter how this night ends, you’ve given me a gift I can never repay.”

  “You owe me nothing Rika. I’m honored to call you a friend,” Danielle crossed the room and embraced Rika. “There’s more we need to discuss. I couldn’t tell you everything in the cell.”

  Rika held her embrace. “There’s more I need to tell you too.”

  Danielle squeezed Rika’s hands and stepped back. “Time’s short. We need to go.”

  Rika faced Keely and stared into her flecked saber cat eyes. A moment later, her body shifted, transforming into a saber-toothed forest cat. Her ebony coat gleamed with a dark rich sheen. She padded across the thick carpet with her cat form as liquid and feminine as her human body.

  “Okay, let’s go.” Danielle left the dining room through the same door Pride used minutes earlier.

  Keely and Rika bounded after her following close behind.

  A smaller utilitarian dining room crammed with a half-dozen tables sat in scrambled chaos. Silverware and napkins laid atop plates of half-eaten breakfast. Empty tables and pushed back chairs signaled a hasty departure.

  A faint whimper came from the far corner of the abandoned dining hall.

  Curiosity pulled Danielle toward the noise, and she weaved through the mess of fallen chairs and dropped napkins.

  A small frail man with a sunken face and a close-cropped gray beard sat huddled and trembling on the floor. Smashed against his chest he protected a thick book. As Danielle slid into view, he shoved himself deep into the room’s corner. “I’m warning you. A dozen shard knights are fighting right outside.” His voice quivered with fear. “If you leave now, I’ll forget I saw you pass.” He tracked the stalking saber-cats with fear riddled eyes.

  The gold and black saber cats glided through table legs and stopped on Danielle’s right and left.

  A high-pitched shriek escaped the man’s throat as his trembling body deteriorated into a full-out quake. “Keep those ghastly beasts off me. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

  Danielle recognized the strange book from the ruins. The spindly man appeared willing to die protecting it. She didn’t know what it contained, but she wouldn’t allow Merric Pride access to its secrets. “Hand me the book.”

  The man’s mouth fell open. “No!” He twisted his body sideways and looked ready to scratch a hole through the wall.

  Danielle sighed. “Your boss stole my ring, so I’m taking the book. I’ll call that a fair trade.” She motioned to the cats. “Rika. Keely. Bring me the book please.”

  Keely bounded toward the trembling man with her jaws stretched wide and canines gleaming. She reared up on her hind legs and roared.

  Silverware shook and plates rattled, and the man screamed in blood curdling terror.

  He threw the book behind him at Danielle’s feet and buried his head in the corner violently shaking. “Take the book! Just don’t kill me please.” His body shook with sobs.

  This man stood idle while thousands died. Danielle felt no sympathy for him, but she wouldn’t slaughter him in
cold blood either. “That’s enough Keely.” She spoke the words with little urgency in her voice.

  Keely settled onto four legs and retreated.

  Danielle picked up the discarded book. She tucked it under her arm and turned to go. “You’re lucky to leave this room alive. I wonder if your employer will offer the same compassion? Somehow, I don’t think he’ll be very happy with you.”

  The man offered no response and remained cowered in the corner trembling like an injured fawn.

  Danielle, Keely, and Rika dashed through the guardhouse’s abandoned hallways. The sounds of fighting grew louder and echoed from the rear entrance. Primal screams of combat mixed with cries of terror and pain.

  A slight tingle of apprehension tugged at Danielle’s conscience. The intense sounds of combat wouldn’t rise from a simple rebellion of a few unarmed women, and she heard no female voices. Camp guards and shard knights fought for their lives, and they sounded desperate. Who would fight a dozen well-armed shard knights and expect victory? Had Pride’s knights stumbled on Arber and Brendyn attempting a rescue?

  The women kept moving until they reached the guardhouse’s front entrance. The room sat silent and unoccupied.

  A hollow feeling of victory washed over Danielle. “Ladies, wait. Does it strike you odd that every guard and shard knight in camp would abandon their post to quell a rebellion of unarmed starving women?”

  Rika changed to her human form. “You’re reading my mind Danielle. What do you think we should do?”

  Keely switched into her human form. “We should leave fast and thank our lucky stars for the guardian angel who created that distraction.”

  “I don’t feel right doing that Keely,” Danielle said. “What if it’s Arber and Brendyn trying to save us?”

  Keely sighed. “I never considered that. Count me in. What’s the plan?”

  “If we stay inside, we run the risk of guards trapping us from behind. Let’s go out the front door and circle behind the guardhouse,” Danielle said.

  Keely nodded. “If we run into trouble, we’ll take flight.”

 

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