by E. Molloy
Daveth raised a brow, wondering how anyone had gotten the impression that he didn’t want to hurt the people who had thus far treated him no better than the trash left out to rot. "No, that's definitely not the case. I..." He stopped. Henry's expression gave him more worry than the conversation. While normally not one to argue too much with authority, the young man had a bad feeling about this situation. "I...I will accept, if this is how you truly feel. Are you sure there isn't something else?"
"It has already been decided,” Henry replied abruptly. “You will accept this test, or you can leave if you prefer." A spark of hope shone in his eye at the end of the sentence, as if that was what he was hoping that Daveth would do.
Despite the disappointment of suspecting that Sir Henry wanted him gone, Daveth pressed on. He had come too far to quit now. "Leave? No, why would I leave? No, I accept. What is it you need me to do?"
Henry opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Aaron. "A simple task," he said, his wrinkled face turned upward on one side with a devious grin. "Bring back the skin of a swamp rat, and you will have earned your shield."
Everyone knew that swamp rats were vicious creatures, but that wasn’t the worst of it. Like most things that threatened the lives of the public, they resided in the dark forest. Alone, they didn't pose much of a threat, but they were rarely found without the rest of their pack. That was not to mention whatever else he would face while on that cursed land. "Why-"
The Father abruptly interrupted him, his impatience betraying the devious grin on his lips. "A White Knight does not ask why. He follows orders. Will this be yet another category of training that you fail at?"
Daveth knew that going up against a pack of swamp rats was not a proper test. For an Order so strict on rules and regulations, it was impossible for him to not be suspicious of this 'exception' they were making. Henry's offer: take this test or leave. They were trying to get rid of him. Why else would the ultimatum come like this? Was Henry hoping that he would just quit, and not be sent to his death? If they wanted him gone so badly, why would they have even had him come along in the first place?
"Well?" Aaron urged.
Daveth nodded, putting his helmet back on to hide the mix of fear and rage that were boiling up inside of him. "No issue, sir,” he said through gritted teeth. “I will go at once."
"Good. Do not come back without the skin. Failure is not an option."
"Understood."
Daveth left the fortress at once, unable to wait until morning in fear that the sting of betrayal would drive him mad in his small stone room. He had on him enough provisions to last a few days, as his horse was always packed in case of emergency. It also got the horse used to carrying a full load and rider, and was part of both of their training.
Rider and steed headed north from the fortress, with the letter that the courier had brought still tucked in his pack. He couldn't skin a swamp rat. Not without the proper tools to deal with their thick hides. Henry knew this. Everyone in the Order would have known this. They thought him not only weak but stupid, and Daveth intended to prove them either right or wrong. His eyes set on the tower to the north. Opportunity had once again knocked, and he would not walk into an obvious trap before first pitting himself against a real test. Even if he returned with the requested skin, the mocking wouldn't end. It was no glorious feat to kill a swamp rat. A dragon, on the other hand...they would have to make him a Knight, then.
Daveth sat atop his horse, staring up in awe at the dark tower. While behind him were sunlit plains with trees and rocks scattered here and there, before him was a long winding path, leading up a tall hill that seemed to be the only place in the world that was shrouded in shadows at this early evening hour. Heavy gray clouds loomed overhead, lightning striking from them, the grass was dead, and empty suits of armor and bones littered the walk up. Only then did the thought occur to him that this might not have been such a good idea. Faced now with the reality of what he had come here to do, Daveth swallowed hard. The lump in his throat was the least of his worries, as even now he could see the large red dragon circling the tower in the distance. It was going to be a long journey from here to there.
Daveth kicked the side of his horse gently. The steed stomped its feet in protest of its rider’s terrible decision.
"I don’t remember asking for your opinion,” Daveth chided the steed, kicking him harder this time. The horse snorted, and then reluctantly started his canter up the path. Most of the journey was uneventful, but there was this ominous air about the place that felt as though at any moment the dead would rise and peel his skin off of his flesh. What tension he had only grew stronger the longer he walked the dark path to the dark tower. If it weren't for the knowledge that the dragon could swoop down at any minute and try to devour him, Daveth may have been bored. The closer they got to the tower, the farther away it felt, and he and his steed seemed to be making slow progress. He had expected some kind of trials, or monsters, or something else leading up to the dragon, but so far it just kind of seemed creepy with very little else. Even the dragon had stopped circling overhead, having disappeared behind the tower and not yet emerged.
Suddenly, a hollow clanking began behind him. At first, he thought it was an animal, but as the sound grew louder his horse stopped trotting and both turned to look at what was causing it. The bones on the ground had begun to assemble themselves, each piece latching with an invisible energy to its respective pieces until the piles on the ground had turned into a small army of skeletons in full suits of rusted armor. Daveth pulled his sword and shield, but his horse was having none of it. The steed bucked the scrawny knight off of his back, kicked some dust up into his face, and ran off in the direction they'd come from as fast as he could.
"Coward!" Daveth yelled after the steed, lifting the visor on his helmet. He didn't have time to do much else, though, before he heard a horrible cackling. The bones on the skeletons rattled loudly as they laughed, probably harder than they had in centuries.
"Oh, you think that's funny?" he said, rolling his eyes and lifting himself off the ground. He lifted his shield and raised his sword, letting out a loud yell as he charged at a group of the skeletons with no plan of action except to try and block everything and hopefully hack a few of their limbs off.
The skeletons really weren't hard to fight. As a matter of fact, it was almost like fighting practice dummies that moved, only they were far less resilient than the straw-stuffed burlap sacks in the yard. They were extremely clumsy, and any time one of them hit his shield its limb would fly off from the impact, as though the magic that had pulled them together wasn't nearly as strong as the reality bashing against it. Still, Daveth was horribly outnumbered.
One of the skeletons swung overhanded at his head with a heavy two-handed axe. Daveth's shield went up to block the blow just in time. The impact made a loud clank as the axe bounced off of the shield, the skeleton's hands and arms still attached to it as they left his body and spiraled with the weapon over his head and into a pile of dead grass a few feet away. The creature's armless body wasted no time in attacking the same spot, this time with its unarmored head. The head rammed into the shield, as if it thought it would break through it, and it, too, flew off and rolled away. Though it seemed a little like adding insult to injury, Daveth took the chance to raise his shield and stab beneath it with his sword like he had against the tree. It was a small victory, but as the sword went between its ribs, the bones crumbled to the ground at his feet.
For every bone that fell, though, the ones remaining grew stronger. He watched in horror as the bones of his last opponent rose up and clung to one of the other skeletons. Of course, the pieces didn't go anywhere that made sense, since they didn't really belong on those bodies to begin with. One arm poked out of the newly-formed opponent's head, another came from the front of his waist. The hand closest to the ground picked up a small rock and threw it at Daveth. He only had to move his shield an inch or so to block the projectile, and then sco
wled at the creature.
"Really, a pebble?" he asked in disbelief, as if he expected the skeleton to feel bad for its choice of weapon. The other two arms of the creature that were where arms belonged aimed a bow at his head. It released the arrow, but its aim was horrible due to the arm in its forehead blocking its view. The arrow whizzed past Daveth's head just as another skeleton came up behind him with a sword held high. Before the creature could swing, the arrow hit it right in the skull. The head popped off and flew back with the arrow lodged in its skull, setting the body back a few steps. The headless body resumed its motion toward him.
This was ridiculous. He had no idea how he was supposed to defeat an enemy that could just pick up its pieces every time it fell down. It wasn’t as if he had much choice in the matter, but finding an end to the chaos would have been a relief. He was wasting precious energy here that he would need for the dragon. He managed to take out another 20 of the creatures before a loud rumble shook the world around him. The skeletons shook in place for a moment, their hollow jaws rattling in their skulls, before crumbling to the ground.
Everything went eerily silent, even the lightning and thunder of the clouds above stopped. All of the skeletons were motionless, left again in piles just as they had been before they’d taken up arms. Daveth checked around himself to be sure there were no stragglers. Once he was certain that he was, in fact, the last one standing, Daveth grinned and lifted the visor on his helmet.
"Yeah, and stay down!" he yelled at them, his voice catching in his throat a bit. No matter how brave he thought he was being, the young man was terrified. The dead just walked and tried to take him out. Any man would be a little shaken by that, he told himself.
Just as he was finishing metaphorically patting himself on the back, another loud rumble came. Turning to face the tower, he was much closer to it now than he remembered being. He didn't have chance to ponder on this too long, though, as he saw the dragon reappear from behind the tower. His first time seeing a dragon had been today, and it had been so far away that it really didn't seem as scary as all that. Now, he could feel his knees shaking in his armor. The young man was suddenly acutely aware that he wasn't ready to fight it yet. He thought the dragon would at least wait for him to get to the tower, and maybe get the princess, before attacking. He expected to have more time to plan, but as the giant beast hurled toward him with wings the size of buildings, Daveth realized that he had made a grave mistake in going there.
He was so focused on the dragon that he didn't even notice the figure running toward him on the path. A woman's voice broke his trance as the figure screamed, "RUN!" He turned his eyes down to her just as she whipped past him.
"But...I have to save the princess!"
"Hard to do that if you're dead!" she yelled back at him. Her point was made, and Daveth bolted after the woman, though she moved much faster than he did as he was weighted in the armor. The woman wore nothing but a white underdress, and carried a wooden longbow that still had a skeletal hand gripping the bottom side of it.
As the dragon gained on them, the girl raced ahead and Daveth fell behind. He would have to turn and fight it. If nothing else, it would serve as a distraction and give her a chance to escape. Stopping, knowing he couldn’t outrun it no matter how hard he tried, he held his shield up at the giant lizard and yelled loudly as he waved his sword in the air.
The woman stopped running at the sound of Daveth’s shouting, turning around to see what he was yelling about. "What are you, stupid?" she shouted at him.
The dragon landed directly in front of Daveth, shaking the ground and sending him stumbling back a few steps as he fought to keep his balance. The creature was massive and blood red, black horns lining its knees, elbows, forehead, and jaw. A foul smell accompanied it. Each of the talons of the creature was almost the size of a man’s leg. For the second time that day, an arrow whizzed past his head, this time from behind. It sailed forth and landed in the dragon's eye, and the beast stood up on its hind legs and let out an awful scream that seemed to shake the entire world.
Chapter 6
Daveth stared up in awe at the creature, frozen with fear. He felt something pull his hand, and realized the woman had tugged on his arm before breaking into a run again. He wasted no more time before following suit, stumbling over the corpses that were scattered about and very much wishing his horse hadn't been such a coward. This escape would have been much more impressive and more likely to succeed if his steed were still there.
The dragon was delayed only slightly by the arrow in its eye. It took flight almost immediately, but promptly landed after wobbling in the air a little and instead began following them on foot. Each step from the giant beast caused the ground to vibrate. The two sprinting were too fast for the huge lizard to keep up with on the ground, for now. Still, there was a long run left and the dragon didn't show any sign of getting tired. They were going to run out of stamina long before the dragon and before they got to a safe enough distance from it to slow down.
"What....are....you doing...here?" Daveth asked between labored breaths.
"Now is REALLY not the time for this!" she replied irritably, not seeming to have as much trouble as Daveth was at maintaining her speed.
"We...have to go back...for the...princess!" The woman just laughed and shook her head, but didn't respond.
As if he wasn't already the laughing stock of his order, if Daveth made it out of this one alive, he would still have to go back and tell them about the princess in the tower. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too late.
Daveth's tall grey horse waited for him just outside the boundary of the bleak and dreary land, where the grass mysteriously grew twice as tall and the sky had not a cloud in it. When it saw him coming, it broke into a full run towards the two of them. The horse came to an abrupt stop, dust kicking up around him and into Daveth's face. Straight from her run, the woman threw a foot into the stirrup and hoisted herself onto the horse's back.
"Friend of yours?" she asked as the horse backed up a little so that Daveth could climb up on him too. Of course, this was a horribly awkward experience considering he'd never had to get on a horse while someone else was on it already.
"Coward," he murmured under his breath at the steed, though deep down he knew it wasn't the horse's fault that he'd gotten spooked by the undead crawling up from the bowels of hell to dismember them.
He managed his grip, and the horse broke into a gallop without command. The dragon, still following slowly behind, finally growled loudly. Once they started their gallop, the red beast stopped and let out a huff. The two rode off, Daveth having the front and the mysterious woman holding his waist. He hadn't saved the princess, but he had seen and survived a dragon. Not to mention, of course, there was a pretty woman in nothing but undergarments with her hands on his waist. All in all, the day was a success.
Any pride he'd salvaged by noting his conveniently triumphant escape was squashed when the woman suddenly spoke.
"Are you stupid or something?" she asked, though sadly it sounded like a genuine question.
"I beg your pardon?"
There was a pause from behind him, and then she clarified. "I mean, you seriously thought you were going to fight that thing? Alone?"
Daveth cleared his throat. "With all due respect, I am a White Knight of the Shining Order. I came to free the princess from the dragon, by royal decree. Who exactly are you?"
"Nobody. I was just looking for my dog," she said off-handedly, then immediately went back to picking on him. "You're kind of scrawny to be a knight, don't you think? Or did the King hire from the discount rack for this one?" There was bitterness to her tone, though it didn't seem to be aimed in Daveth's direction.
Daveth was offended, regardless. He puffed up his chest, which only made it seem to fit in his armor better, before retorting, "How would you know? Have you seen many knights?"
"Yes."
"What? Really? Where?"
"Around," she replied, avoiding the questi
on.
Daveth rolled his eyes, a motion missed thanks to her being behind him. "Around isn't an answer. You're just making that up."
"I'm right though, about you being scrawny."
"I wasn't too scrawny to save you from that dragon."
"Last I checked, I was firing arrows while you were waving your hands and screaming like you were going to scare it away with your enormous shield," she said sarcastically. "I'm pretty sure I saved you from the dragon."
He huffed, and stopped responding to her. On top of all of the things that had happened today, the last thing he needed was this girl telling him what he already knew and just wouldn't admit. Still trying to keep his ego up for whatever it was worth, Daveth thought it best if the topic be dropped.
After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "Where are we going?"
In truth, Daveth didn't know. In all the reflection and self-loathing he'd been doing, he hadn't taken the time to consider what the next step actually was. "I'm going to get you to safety, and then go back for the princess." They were well away from the dragon by now, trotting lazily and seemingly aimlessly across the plains.
"I'm not sure if you have short term memory, or if there's even a head hiding inside of that thick helmet of yours, but there is a dragon back there. A big one that looked to be pretty angry the last time I checked. And by some stroke of magic or luck or something, he decided that we weren't delicious enough to keep following. You might want to just let the princess sort it out on her own."