Knight Quest (The Champion Chronicles Book 5)

by Brad Clark

  Nikki looked him in the eye and said, “If it meant saving the world from the Deceiver, then of course.”

  Conner let out a sigh. “Would you give your life for me, even if had nothing to do with saving the world?”

  “You are Hurai. Of course.”

  “But Glaerion and Ryshak?”

  Nikki again looked at Glaerion. “They are Elves.”

  Glaerion finished his memorization and stood up, which ended their conversation. Nikki turned back to finish eating the rest of her fish. Conner feared that when it came down to a final fight, Nikki would not risk her life for them. However, in the end, she was Sak’Hurai, and her training and discipline should overcome the mistrust she had towards the Elves. His instincts told him that she would help them, but a small part of him still feared that her mistrust would come through at the wrong time.

  Glaerion sat next to Conner and took a slice of fish and stuffed it in his mouth. “I cast two spells of protection around us,” Glaerion announced as he chewed the steaming fish. “The first spell puts out a very high-pitched sound that cannot be heard by our ears. Animals will hear it, and they will find it bothersome, so they will stay away. Secondly, I cast a spell that will alert us to anything that comes near the perimeter of the camp. If anyone, or anything, steps into the camp, I will know it. For that reason, I would recommend you do your personal business soon, while I am still awake. If you wander outside of the camp, Ryshak may just be at your side ready to cut our throat. So, to avoid any accidents, don’t leave the camp once you settle in for the night.”

  “What about the wall spell that you do? Can’t you just cast that around us and then nothing will come inside.”

  “That spell takes too much energy and concentration, and I would need to remain awake all night long to keep the spell going. The two spells that I have chosen will continue to exist through the night even while I’m asleep.”

  “But it won’t really keep anything out?”

  Glaerion chuckled. “Do not worry! If anything or anyone comes into our camp, we will all know right away, and we will be able to defend ourselves.”

  ***

  Conner snapped his eyes open, his heart pounding and his body dripping with sweat. The image of Elissa burning in a huge rush of bright yellow flames lingered in his thoughts. It took him a moment to gather his bearings and remember where he was. As he realized that he had just been dreaming, his heart began to slow, and the image of Elissa’s fiery death faded into the night. The chill of the night caused him to shiver even though he continued to be bathed in sweat.

  He looked around and saw Glaerion sitting next to the fire, his eyes staring into the dancing yellow flames.

  “You okay?” Glaerion asked.

  Conner cleared his throat and muttered, “Yeah, just a bad dream. Is it still your watch?”

  “Yes.”

  The fire was burning high and bright, spreading its warmth around them. Conner was just far enough away to feel some heat from the fire, but he mostly felt the night cold. Nikki was sleeping closer to the fire, breathing slow and easy. Ryshak was farther away from the fire lying on a blanket, but not sleeping underneath one.

  Conner looked away from the fire and into the darkness around him. As his eyes became adjusted to the dark, the flash of a pair of small, yellow lights caught his attention.

  “What was that!” he exclaimed.

  The more he looked, the more pairs of lights he saw.

  “They are just wolves that are hiding in the darkness,” Glaerion said. “The light of the fire is reflecting off their eyes.”

  “There are many of them!”

  “Do not worry, they won’t come into the light.”

  Conner looked closely at Glaerion. His face was stern, and his eyes were droopy from fatigue.

  “You need some sleep,” Conner said.

  Glaerion shook his head. “I will be fine.”

  Conner looked again at the perimeter of the camp. He could not see the bodies of the wolves as they were too far into the darkness. Then he realized that there was a reason for that. Glaerion was not awake solely to stand watch, but also to keep a wall spell going.

  “How long have you been awake?”

  Glaerion stifled a yawn. “Much of the night. Ryshak awoke me some time ago when he first saw them. A small pack would surely be afraid of the fire, but there are many, and they are surrounding us. We do not know what kind of predators these are. They could be simply curious, or they could be vicious killers.”

  “There are plenty of antelope and elk around. Why would the wolves bother with us if they have a natural food source?”

  “Do you have wolves in your homeland?”

  “In Karmon? Yes. They stay pretty much to the north of where I grew up, but I have come across them in the forests in the winter. If they are hungry, they are dangerous. But mostly, they leave us alone.”

  “These wolves may not be like your Karmon wolves. They might have a taste for Human flesh. There are many such predators in the jungles around our village. Mostly they stay away, but there are times when they have been known to attack without provocation.”

  “Do you think that’s what these are?”

  “Why risk it?”

  “I guess you’re right. Will you be able to stay awake all night, though?”

  “Is there a choice? If there were but a handful, maybe the fire would keep them away. But, there are too many to count. If they are like most pack animals, the more there are, the less fearful they are.”

  “And they’ve stayed in the darkness? They haven’t tried to come through the wall?”

  “They stay far enough away that I can’t see anything but their eyes. Now, you go back to sleep.”

  “You’ll be okay?” Conner asked, stifling a yawn.

  “Do not worry about me. The power of the Web keeps me energized and awake.”

  Conner laid his head back down on the ground and pulled the blanket over his shoulders. His eyes were heavy, and the memory of his nightmare had already faded into oblivion. It did not take long for sleep to overtake him again.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Conner awoke with a start. He had started to slowly come out of his deep sleep when the memory of being surrounded by wolves suddenly came back to him. He sat up, feeling the warmth of the morning sun on his face. Swiveling his head around, he expected to see a ring of wolves growling and ready to pounce on them. There was nothing other than the tall grass of the meadows and the trees of the grove that they camped in.

  Glaerion and Ryshak were walking through the grass around the perimeter of the camp. Conner jumped up and jogged over to them.

  Glaerion greeted him with a nod and a smile. “Sleep well?”

  “Yes. How are you feeling? Were you up all night?”

  “Mostly. When the sun began to rise, the wolves left. I awoke Ryshak so that I could get a little sleep before you and Nikki woke up.”

  Conner then realized she was not in the camp. “Where is she?”

  “She went to the lake for some fresh water.” Glaerion recognized the look of concern on Conner’s face. “Do not worry! There is nothing out there that she could not handle. The wolves have left us and will likely not return until dark. By that time, we should be safely to that castle in the middle of the forest.”

  Ryshak was kneeling down to get close to the grass, his hands touching the long blades that had been bent by the animals that had surrounded them during the night.

  “There are no wolf tracks here,” Ryshak said. He stood up and slowly walked the perimeter where the long grass had been matted. After he had walked a quarter of the way around the camp, he called out, “There were no wolves here.”

  Glaerion kept his mouth closed tightly.

  Conner called out, “No wolves? Then what were those animals looking back at us in the night?”

  “Come look,” Ryshak said. His eyes looked down at the ground near his feet.

  Conner walked over and looked at a sandy
spot in the grass. There was the clear impression of a foot. It was a small, but wide foot.

  “This track was made in the night and not by any of us.”

  “Are you sure?” Conner asked.

  Ryshak let out a heavy sigh. “This footprint is smaller than all our feet. Even Nikki’s feet are bigger than this. Plus, we’re all wearing boots. This is a bare footprint.”

  “Who was it?”

  Ryshak looked at Glaerion and said, “You knew they weren’t wolves.”

  Glaerion glanced away sheepishly.

  “Glaerion?” Conner asked. “What were they? Did you see them?”

  “They were not wolves,” Glaerion replied.

  “You lied?”

  “You were having nightmares. Kicking and tossing and muttering about Queen Elissa. I did not want to trouble you further. I know you had grown up in the forests of your kingdom and if you just thought they were wolves, I knew you would be able to sleep the rest of the night. In that, I was right.”

  “But you lied to me!”

  “I did not want to cause alarm. They were not going to come through the wall I had set up, so it didn’t matter who, or what, they were.”

  Ryshak seemed not to care that he had been lied to. He continued to press Glaerion for a description of what he saw.

  “Their eyes did glow like wolves’ eyes do. They were humanoid but smaller than any of us. They blended into the darkness so I couldn’t get a good look at them. But they walked on two legs and had two arms. Other than that, I know nothing more than you.”

  Ryshak slowly started walking away from the camp and out of the grove of trees. He pointed towards the forest and said, “They came from the trees. Possibly from the castle itself.”

  Conner could see that the tall grasses of the meadow had been trampled down heading towards the forest. Whoever, or whatever, they were, there had been a lot of them.

  “Do we follow them?” he asked.

  “Do we follow who?” Nikki asked from behind him. No one answered her right away, so she asked, “What’s going on?”

  “Whatever it was that surrounded us last night went back into the forest,” Conner replied.

  “The wolves?” Nikki asked.

  Conner shook his head. “They weren’t wolves.”

  “What? If they weren’t wolves…”

  Glaerion interrupted her with a sharp tone. “I wasn’t trying to hide anything. I had the situation under control, and you were all very tired and needed the rest.”

  “What were they?” Nikki asked.

  Glaerion shook his head slowly. “I have no idea. They stayed in the darkness, and I never got a real good look. They were like us, though. Two arms. Two legs.”

  “Dangerous?”

  “There’s no way to know.”

  “Could these be the ghosts of your legends?” Conner asked.

  “It certainly seems like it,” Nikki said. “They came in the middle of the night and if not for the magical wall, who knows what they would have done to us.”

  Ryshak walked back into the camp and kicked sand onto the coals of the fire to snuff it out. “Pack up,” he said. “It’s time to get moving.”

  “We don’t know what we are up against,” Conner said.

  Glaerion cleared his throat and said, “No, we don’t. These might be a tribe of friendly natives who just wanted to welcome us onto their land, or maybe they are cannibals looking for their next meal. We have to get the Spear, and the most obvious place that it is hidden would be in the castle.”

  Conner knew Glaerion was right, even if he knew they were heading into an unknown situation. Even if the Spear wasn’t in the castle, if there was anyone who lived there, there was a good chance they knew where it was. He only hoped that they were friendly and not another enemy to stand in their way.

  They had few provisions, so it did not take them long to break camp. They make sure the fire was completely out and covered as many of their tracks as they could. Even though there was no way to completely hide the fact that they had camped here, they could at least make it not so obvious.

  Ryshak led the way towards the forest. Glaerion followed, the words of several spells ready to be cast. Nikki and Conner walked side-by-side to take up the rear.

  ***

  As they came around the lake, the sun crawled up into the sky, and the world around them came alive. Birds of various breeds and sizes flew above their heads. The largest of them, a hawk with a great wingspan dove into the water to break its morning fast. A small herd of antelope was silently grazing in the middle of the meadow. Two larger elk were standing at the forest’s edge, seemingly watching them.

  To Conner, it felt comfortable. He had spent most of his life living on his own in the woods, experiencing nature close up. Although he had enjoyed some of the aspects of living in the castle at South Karmon, such as a warm bed during winter, he really missed living in the outdoors. He feared nothing about the animals, even the predators. He knew which ones were a threat to him, and which ones were threatened by him. His thoughts brought him back to a simpler time in his life, even if it was only two years ago. So much had happened in that time and he had changed so much as well. He had grown up emotionally and physically. He was bigger and strong, now. His muscles rippled as he walked, honed from hours upon hours of training. More importantly, though, he had matured. The events of his life had forced him to grow up quickly. The responsibility of the survival of many people, maybe the whole world, rested on his shoulders. It was a feeling that he really didn’t like.

  With each step, he thought about how simple and easy his life would be if he were to just never leave this valley. There was enough food and water for him to survive. It would be a modest and safe life. Yet, he knew it would never happen. First, he knew that Elissa would never agree to live out in the open and sleep under the stars. Even though she had grown up so much in the past year, she was still a princess at heart. She might agree to live in the wild, but she would never like it. Certainly, he would never choose a place to live without her.

  His heart ached as he thought of her. His stomach was in knots just thinking about how much he missed her and how much he wanted to be with her. They had spent so few days and nights together, it hardly seemed like they were married at all. The thought of calling her his wife put a smile on his face and his step became just a little bit springier.

  Even with the approach of the forest, the smile stayed on his face. Ryshak had said that there was something wrong with the forest, but there was nothing obvious from what he could see. The leaves of the trees were lush and green and rippled in the light breeze. They directed themselves towards an opening that might have been a game trail and entered the forest with long, swift strides.

  Two steps in, their pace slowed.

  It was indeed just like Ryshak had described. Even though Conner’s heart was full of joy from thoughts of Elissa, he could not help but feel the oppressive presence of death and decay. The trees were alive, for they formed a leafy canopy above their heads. Yet, underneath that canopy of green was a dismal darkness. The trees were black and had many dead branches. The ground was covered with fallen and rotten leaves. There was no underbrush to speak of to block their way. There were some small trees and bushes, but they were barely alive. Only the rolling terrain kept them from seeing far into the forest.

  “At least we’ll make good time,” Ryshak observed, marching ahead of them.

  Conner glanced at Nikki, and they shared a look of concern. The forest was not normal, and they both knew it. There was not an obvious or immediate threat, but both of them loosened their swords so that they would come out just a split second faster if needed.

  “What do you make of this?” Conner asked Glaerion. Their pace had quickened, and Conner had fallen into step with the Elf.

  Glaerion glanced around a bit before replying. “An infestation of some sort. Maybe a blight?”

  “But the tops of the trees are alive,” Conner countered. “An
infestation would kill the whole tree.”

  “Maybe.”

  Nikki was looking up at the top of the trees as well. “Very little light gets through,” she said. “Without sunlight, nothing will grow. Maybe that is all it is.”

  Conner shook his head. “I grew up in Darkenwood, the thickest forest I have ever seen. There is always growth on the ground. There are places where not much grows, but you can still see life. What I see here is death. And it smells of death, too.”

  “The Deceiver?” Nikki asked from behind them.

  “I think the forest has been like this for many, many years,” Glaerion replied. After a moment he added, “but certainly anything is possible.”

  “Magic?” Conner asked. He knew so little about magic, but what he did know was that nothing was impossible.

  “Maybe,” Glaerion replied. “But it would be something I am not familiar with.” He fell silent as his mind churned through the thoughts that were in his head.

  “You all talk too much and too loudly,” Ryshak groused from ahead of them with a low voice. “Whatever is out there surely knows we are coming.”

  “Keep your eyes peeled, then” Glaerion called back.

  “He’s back to his old grumpy self,” Conner said.

  Glaerion chuckled. “It truly never left. He was simply out of character for a while. This is more what we’re used to!” He did continue with a lower voice, though. “He is simply being cautious, and he is right. Our voices were too loud and will carry quite some distance here.”

  They continued on in silence for some time. The forest floor was undulating, which took them up and down small hills. The crossed a few slow running creeks, but no one even thought about drinking the water. Even if the water was crisp and healthy, the thought of drinking from the forest’s creeks made stomachs turn. They tried not to think about the fact that they filled their water skins from the large lake, which was fed by these very streams.

  The deeper they went into the forest, the more oppressive was the feeling of doom. It wasn’t just the darkness of the forest or the lack of life in the vegetation. It was like there was an invisible fog that surrounded them and permeated their souls.