Knight Quest (The Champion Chronicles Book 5)

by Brad Clark

  Hemli looked at the head of the creature, which sat several feet from the body. Then he looked at Glaerion and said, “It has ears like yours. Was it one of your kind?”

  Glaerion was silent for several more moments as he collected his thoughts. He had thought briefly about what the creature was, but there had not been enough time to really consider all the possibilities. “I have never heard of such a creature as this one. It’s possible that it is an ancient Elf of some sort or maybe a corruption caused by evil and dark magic. Somehow it had survived being imprisoned for many millennia, and it did have powers of magic. I could feel it tap into the Web of Magic, but it was different than anything I’ve ever felt before. I cannot truly explain it. Once it died, I could feel not only its touch disappear but also another force that was tapping into the Web disappear as well. I think the curse was truly a spell of some sort that had been cast on the Dwarves of the valley. If it was magic that was causing the curse, then the effects of the spell could be reversed.”

  Hemli perked up. With wide eyes, he exclaimed, “This curse of ours could really be gone?”

  “Yes. Whatever it was, whatever spell the creature has cast upon you is gone.”

  “We are indeed indebted to you!” Then Hemli’s voice dropped as he remembered that one of their friends had died in the battle. With sorrow in his voice, he added, “I am truly sorry for your friend. His death is on us. I hope you can forgive our people and me.”

  Conner stepped forward and put a hand on Hemli’s shoulder. “Many of your people died as well, but that is in the past. Like Glaerion said, we must look forward to the future.”

  “If you will have us, we will march with you and fight in your war,” Hemli said. “We owe you that much. Do you believe that the spear is your Spear of Salvation and that it can kill the Deceiver?”

  “It must be the Spear of Salvation,” Nikki replied with a confident voice. “The One God would not let us go through all that we went through to not give it to us as our reward.”

  Glaerion raised an eyebrow. “The One God does not simply give us rewards based on what we do. His plans are His plans.” He paused as Nikki’s face soured. “However, I do believe that this is indeed the Spear of Salvation. King Illichian, the wisest of Elves, will know how to mend it and restore its power.”

  Hemli’s face scrunched up, showing deep lines on his forehead. “And if he cannot?”

  “Then we will find another way, or we will die trying,” Glaerion replied.

  Hemli gave a nod of understanding. His eyes caught the battle-ax that Malkalith had used. He pointed to it and said, “The battle-ax is the weapon of the Dwarves. We may not be soldiers now, but we will learn.”

  Conner looked at his companions to see if any of them would object to Hemli taking the creature’s weapon. “Spoils of the battle,” Conner said. “It’s all yours.”

  Hemli stepped around the creature’s body and grabbed the battle-ax and hefted it with ease. He swung it back and forth to test its balance and weight several times before letting it come to rest on his shoulder, a thick, hairy hand grasping the center of the ax's handle. He turned towards his new friends.

  “The ax fits you well,” Conner said.

  “It is light,” Hemli said. “Lighter than I expected.” A smile came across Hemli’s face. His eyes squinted, and his rosy checks bulged out from his face. For the first time since he had come across him, Conner saw joy on Hemli’s face.

  “It is time to leave this battlefield,” Nikki said with some impatience in her tone. “We have a long journey ahead of us.”

  To Hemli, Conner asked, “I do not see your cousin. Did he run away, too?”

  Hemli turned and called out for Marley. A moment later, Marley appeared from the shadows of the hedge. He stood waiting for them at the end of the stone path.

  Hemli said, “As promised, he will lead us out of the maze.”

  ***

  Marley effortlessly led them back through the maze. When they reached the open meadow that led towards the forest, they were met by a sea of Dwarves streaming out from the trees. There were male and female, children and elderly. The children were running through the meadow, laughing and playing with a joy that many hadn’t ever experienced. The grayness of their skin was gone, and their eyes were full of life.

  Hemli rushed forward, hugging and embracing any who would have him. There was much chattering, and questions were tossed about without anyone caring to answer. Nikki, Glaerion, and Conner stood apart, watching the joyous reunion.

  Eventually, Hemli was able to pull himself away and walked over to the three. The crowd of Dwarves followed.

  “These are our heroes!” Hemli shouted out. More cheering erupted. “They have lifted the curse!”

  Conner smiled, enjoying the attention. He lifted a hand, and the cheering rose even louder.

  “They were going to send us to our deaths,” Nikki growled behind Conner.

  “Well, it didn’t work out that way,” Conner replied under his breath.

  “It did for Ryshak.”

  He turned his head towards Nikki and said, “Right. And many more of us will die in the coming days and months. We can continue to wallow in our hatred and anger, or we can swallow our pride and forgive these people.”

  “Ryshak was a warrior, and he died a warrior’s death,” Glaerion said. “He will not be forgotten, but we must get past it. The Dwarves are our allies, and we cannot let our feelings and emotions control our decisions. I have known Ryshak for thousands of years, and I have gotten past his death. You have known him only a short time, and most of that time you were bickering. Now is the time for you to get past it.”

  Nikki dropped her gaze to her feet and remained silent. Although she and Ryshak had butted heads and snipped at one another, she respected his position as a warrior, even if he was an Elven warrior. Despite how her father felt, she knew that she could trust Glaerion and should have trusted both Elves more. Regardless, she didn’t like being reprimanded, even if it was justified. Rather than arguing or making a scene, she simply kept her mouth closed and accepted the rebuke as a good soldier should.

  Conner lifted a hand to quiet the boisterous crowd. They had surrounded them and were cheering and praising them in their own tongue. He hoped that they could understand him as he shouted out in Commoner, “We did not come here to save you.”

  The crowd suddenly became silent. Confusion and curiosity filled the faces around him. He looked around to see if it was confusion because of what he said or because he said it in a language that they couldn’t understand.

  Hemli cleared his throat and looked at Conner with a raised eyebrow. He turned to the crowd and repeated Conner’s words in the Dwarven language.

  After Hemli had translated his first words, Conner continued, “We did not want to save you. You imprisoned us, and you were going to send us to our deaths for your own selfish purposes. One of us was killed because of what you did.”

  Glaerion lifted an eyebrow at the words that were coming from Conner.

  Hemli looked at Conner and hesitated.

  “Say it to them,” Conner said.

  Once again, Hemli turned back to his people and repeated Conner’s words so that they could understand what he was saying. The crowd remained fully silent, unsure how to respond to Conner’s words.

  “We fought to save ourselves.”

  After Hemli repeated the words, a slight muttering started to go through the crowd.

  “But, the world is bigger than you and us. There is a war that is raging far away from here that will soon come to your valley. The curse that you felt will be nothing like the death and destruction that will come on the heels of the army that marches against all the people of our world. We came to your valley seeking a weapon that will help us win this war, and we have found it. The army we fight against is big and strong. Maybe it is too big for our armies. Even with this weapon, we may not win this war. As it turns out, the creature that has been holding your people h
ostage was the bearer of this weapon, and we killed this creature not to save you, but to capture the weapon. Whether it was luck or divine will, we both got what we wanted.”

  Conner looked to the east where clear skies filled the horizon. He pointed and continued, “The war is to the east, and we will leave to fight that war.” His arm moved, and he pointed across the crowd. “This is not just our war, but your war as well. Many among you are strong and can fight. Come with us. Join our fight. If you do not come now, the war will soon be here, and you will be forced to fight for your lives. Alone.”

  As Hemli repeated Conner’s words, the murmuring from crowd became loud. Once he was done, someone from the crowd shouted out in Commoner, “We are not warriors!”

  Glaerion let his anger control his words as he stepped forward. “No! You are not. You are cowards who refused to fight the creature.” Many understood Commoner and responded with their own explanations and excuses, but he shouted them down. “If you were brave enough, you would have sent every man, woman, and child to that creature and fought until either he was dead, or you were all dead.”

  The crowd started to surge forward as many continued to retort with their own angry words.

  It was Hemli who stepped between the crowd and Glaerion. He lifted his battle-ax over his head. “He is right! We have been cowards. Whether the curse made us weak, or our weakness made the curse, it does not matter. I am not going to sit back and be a coward anymore. I will fight.” He turned to Conner and repeated, “I will fight.”

  One stepped forward and shouted out for all to hear, “I let my wife be sacrificed four years ago. She was chosen, but I let her be taken. No more will I stand and watch others fight for me. I will fight.”

  Hemli gave the man a sharp nod.

  Another stepped forward and simply said, “I will fight.”

  One-by-one, more Dwarves stepped forward. Even young children stepped forward.

  Hemli walked over to one of the young boys and kneeled to look him in the eye. Speaking not only to him, Hemli said, “We will need some to stay here to rebuild our homes. Those who can fight, join us. Those who are not ready to fight, stay and rebuild our homes so that when the war is over, there is a home to return to.”

  In all, nearly a hundred Dwarves stepped forward to accept the challenge to fight in the war.

  “They are skinny and weak,” Nikki said, looking over the Dwarves that she had once called Ghosts of the Valley.

  “They will fight,” Conner said. “Right now, that is what we need. We need the Spear of Salvation to kill the Deceiver and as many warriors as we can find to fight against his army.”

  Hemli hefted his battle-ax and approached Conner. “The Dwarven Army is ready to march,” he declared.

  Conner looked west to where the sun was hovering just above the horizon. Soon, nighttime would arrive.

  “It will be a long march back to my homeland. We have already wasted too much time but starting such a journey with night coming would not be wise. Gather your army and provision them as well as you can. We will leave the valley in the morning at first light.”

  Hemli left, gathering the Dwarves around him to lead them back to their castle.

  Conner, Nikki, and Glaerion were left standing alone in the middle of the meadow.

  “For a Commoner, you make a fine leader,” Glaerion said. “It is a shame that one as yourself could never be king of your land.”

  “I agree,” Nikki said. “I would follow you to the ends of the earth.”

  Conner chuckled, embarrassed at the compliment. “I spent a lot of time around many great leaders. I could never be one, though.”

  Glaerion slapped Conner on the back. “Your rules that keep Commoners from being king are silly. Humans are so stupid. Now, if I understand their words right, they are going to prepare a great going away feast, and I am famished!”

  ***

  The feasting and revelry went well into the night. Large barrels of sweet, fruity mead were rolled out from the basement of the castle and set out under the trees around the castle’s perimeter. Laughter and silliness reigned as there was plenty of mead to go around. Two large Elk carcasses were hung from a spit and cooked with unique spices, giving a flavor to the meat that even surprised Glaerion. The Dwarven kitchens were worked overtime baking breads and sweet cakes. Musical instruments were pulled out, and the upbeat sound of Dwarven melodies filled the forest, pushing out the despair that had ruled for so many years.

  Conner watched from a distance, a half-filled mug of mead in one hand. The drink was thick and strong, making his head spin with each sip. The darkness of the trees no longer sent a chill through his spine, as the curse had been lifted. In its place was the wonderful sight of Dwarves dancing with their friends and family. For the moment, he enjoyed the peace of celebrating their victory.

  His ears perked up at the sound of footsteps. He turned to see Nikki approaching.

  “Too much of that will leave you with a horrible headache in the morning,” she said.

  Conner lifted the mug to look at its contents. Unlike the Dwarves that could consume a seemingly endless number of mugs, he could barely get through half of his. It was too strong for him and sat heavy in his stomach. He tipped the mug over to dump out the rest of the contents.

  “It’s not that great anyway,” Conner said. “Karmons are partial to sweet wine. It’s much lighter and doesn’t go the head quite as fast.”

  Nikki stood in the shadows of a nearby tree. Light from the festivities carried into the forest, but they stood at the outer limit of the light. It took Conner a moment to notice that she had her swords strapped to her back and carried a wool sack that was slung across a shoulder.

  “What’s in the sack?” Conner asked.

  “Supplies,” she replied.

  “What for?” He didn’t realize that even half a glass of the potent mead would bring a slight fogginess to his thoughts, so he was slow in understanding what she was talking about.

  “I have to leave,” Nikki said.

  Conner looked at her with a questioning look. “We leave in the morning. No one else is ready to go, yet! The feast is still going on.”

  She let out a sigh and said, “I cannot go with you.”

  Conner was stunned and fumbled at his words before they tumbled out. “You cannot leave us!”

  She lifted a hand. “Stop!” she said, cutting Conner off from protesting. “I promised that I would fight at your side, and I will. But, I must go with my people. They need to know why they are fighting and I feel that if I am not with them, they will be led astray. Watching what these Dwarves went through, suffering for years, made me think about what could happen if the Deceiver wins this war. We don’t need just the Sak’Hurai, we need all the Hurai to march east to fight. Our land has been divided for some time. You saw it in the village where I was looked upon as the enemy. The only enemy right now is the Deceiver, and we must all join forces to fight him.”

  “I think I understand what you are saying,” Conner said. “But, can they not find their way east on their own? Come back with us so that we can fight together.”

  “There is more.”

  “Oh?”

  “My father does not trust the Elves. He wanted me to take the Spear of Salvation so that he was sure that it would be used to kill the Deceiver. He thought the Elves would take it and use it for their own purpose.”

  Conner stiffened, and any fuzziness caused by his drink was gone. “What are you talking about? We are fighting for the same thing. Glaerion is committed to killing the Deceiver.” He paused for a moment and added, “So was Ryshak.”

  “I know that, but my father has his beliefs. He has a distrust of Elves, and I cannot let his influence affect the Sak’Hurai. For that reason, my father cannot lead the Sak’Hurai. It must be me, which means that I must return to Hurai.”

  “You never trusted us from the beginning,” Conner said.

  Nikki slowly shook her head. “No, not at first. But, i
t did not take long for me to realize how wrong I was. You, Glaerion, Ryshak, all three of you are the most honorable, noble, and courageous people I have ever met.” A slight smile came to her lips. “I was just starting to get used to Ryshak.”

  “He was a good soldier. He did not deserve to die the way he did.”

  “No one ever does.”

  “What do I tell Glaerion?”

  “Nothing,” Nikki replied. “Do not tell him anything. I fear that if he heard this, heard that my father never trusted him, that he would never trust me again. It took the three of us to kill that creature to save the Dwarves. It will take all of our people working together to defeat the Deceiver.”

  “He will ask questions, and I will not lie to him.”

  “The less you say, the better. He does not need to know anything other than I am returning to Hurai to gather the Sak’Hurai and lead them myself. They need a leader that is committed to sacrificing to destroy the Deceiver, and I am that leader.”

  Conner took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Well, I think I can tell him that.”

  Nikki stepped forward and awkwardly brought herself close to Conner so that she could hug him. Conner hugged her back, smiling at her clumsiness. “I trust you, and I am sorry that I did not at first. You were strangers, but you are no more. You are a friend. Glaerion, too.”

  Conner pulled himself away. “Promise me that you will be there when we need you.”

  Nikki smiled. “You have my promise.”

  Without another word, Nikki stepped back into the darkness of the forest and disappeared.

  Conner watched her leave and stood silently in the shadows of the trees for a long time. He had gotten used to her and would miss her. He hoped that she would follow through on her promise to be there when they needed her. After some time, he returned to the festivities and tried to put on a happy demeanor. With Nikki gone, he felt the weight of responsibility back on his shoulders. In the morning they would begin the long trek back to Karmon where they would join in the war that could determine the fate of the world.