Forever Knight (The Champion Chronicles Book 3)

by Brad Clark

  “How do we get in?” Conner asked.

  “The same way we escaped, of course,” Glaerion said.

  “But there is no way back into the queen’s chamber. The first time I used it, I searched and searched for a way back in.”

  Glaerion shook his head and let out a sigh. “That’s because you’re blind. Once that two-man patrol passes by, we can sneak past them and into the alley.”

  The centurions patrolled the perimeter of the castle in pairs. One of the pairs was walking past the end of the alley that they were hiding in. Even if their eyes were sharp, Conner and Glaerion were far enough into the shadow of a building that they could not be seen. As soon as they passed by, Conner and Glaerion quickly ran out of one alley and down the next one. They did this three more times until they were able to reach the alley that was right next to the castle wall where the secret tunnel ended.

  Conner tested the iron grate to make sure that it could be moved. With one last glance to be sure that no one was watching, he lifted it and let Glaerion go first. Then he followed.

  Even though the light of Glaerion’s dagger was plenty to see by, going backwards through the tunnel was slightly disorienting. The tunnel had been designed more for escape than coming back into the castle, so it took some effort for Conner to follow it.

  When they reached the end, Glaerion looked up to the corner of the wall where it met the ceiling. One of the stones was slightly ajar. Glaerion lifted his hands and was about to push it in when he caught the muffled sound of voices.

  Conner started to speak, but Glaerion put a hand over his mouth and shook his head.

  The thickness of the stone kept them from hearing any clear conversation. But the door slamming shut was obvious. After waiting another minute to be sure that they did not hear any more of the conversation, Glaerion reached back up and pushed the loose stone in. The locking mechanism that held the door shut released, allowing the door to pop open. Bright light from the room fell into the dark tunnel and they waited a few more heartbeats to be sure that the room was empty.

  Conner started to step through the doorway, but Glaerion but a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

  “We will come upon the wizard and you must trust me when I tell you that his magic cannot hurt you. You are of the Hurai.”

  Conner shook his head and said. “I don’t know if I can believe you. It does not make any sense to me. My mother, my father, I can remember their faces. They looked nothing like Master Goshin.”

  “I can feel it in you, that you are special. The devotion that you have to your friends, those are very much Hurai traits. And the way you swing a sword, it is clear that the blood of the Hurai runs through you. No mere human can be as good as you are in such a short time without there being other forces in play. For you, it is your bloodline.”

  “You are sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “It is not you who will suffer if you are wrong, you know.”

  Glaerion face cracked a smile. “I know.”

  Conner’s lips drew into a smile and he said, “I may not like you, but I think I may trust you.”

  Glaerion slapped Conner on the back and then pushed him through the doorway. To himself, he said, softly, “Maybe all humans weren’t so bad after all.”

  ***

  Tarcious burst through the double doors. Everyone’s head snapped around at the sudden entrance.

  “Where is he!” Tarcious yelled.

  Lord Martin was standing next to an old man, supporting him so that he would not fall over. Queen Elissa stood on the other side of the old man, holding his arm.

  General Mace stood nearby them as well, and said, “This is the man named Arpwin. We found him on the floor of the queen’s chamber. He is old and dying.”

  Tarcious took long strides, approaching the old man. “Are you the man named Arpwin?”

  Arpwin, his body tired and worn, looked up. “I am he,” he said.

  “Are you the guardian!”

  “I am not,” Arpwin said, his voice shaking.

  Tarcious lifted a hand to strike him, but Elissa put her body in front of him and cried out, “No!”

  “Then do not lie to me!” Tarcious said, lowering his hand.

  Arpwin shook his head and said, “I do not lie. I was once, but no longer am I the guardian of the Ark of Life.”

  A hush fell over the room. Tarcious smiled, finally seeing the end to his search. A childlike excitement swept through him. So many years of planning and plotting were coming down to this very moment. In no time, he would have the Ark and would be in control of the world.

  “Arpwin?” Elissa asked. “What do you mean?”

  Arpwin cleared his throat, finally feeling his age come over him. “For many generations, I have served my Lord, the Creator. I have been caretaker of the Ark of Life, keeping it safe from the likes of monsters like this cretin that stands before us.”

  “And you have failed!” Tarcious said. “Tell me where it is, and I shall spare your life.”

  “The Creator clearly knows more than you, for it is no longer in my possession. It has moved on to another caretaker. Another guardian, if you will. I do not know where it is. My time of service has passed, and so too will my life.”

  Elissa turned to look at Arpwin, sadness filling her heart. “No,” she said softly. “You cannot go!”

  Arpwin smiled the smile a father gives a daughter. “Yes, my dear child. My life has been long, and my end is long overdue. Do not dare cry for me, for I have seen too many good friends die while I lived on. It is truly my time.”

  “That is unfortunate for you,” Tarcious said. “If you have no information for me, I have no use for you. I guess I’ll just speed along your death. And that of everyone else that you know and love as well.”

  Arpwin met Tarcious’ stern stare. “You cannot threaten me.”

  “It is not you that I threaten. It is queen that I threaten.”

  “Tarcious!” Toknon said sharply. “She shall not be touched.”

  Tarcious spun around and faced Toknon, pointing a finger at him. “Stay out of this, unless you want us to garrison your city as well.”

  Toknon took a small step back and closed his mouth.

  “There is no harm in letting you know,” Arpwin said. “The Creator controls all. It is only through his will that you are even alive. I will tell you what I know and you will leave the queen alone.”

  “If you tell the truth, she will survive the night,” Tarcious replied.

  “There were two of them that came. A young man and someone much older than me. A being from a different time and place.”

  “You speak so cryptically!” Tarcious shouted. “I want names!”

  Arpwin glanced at Elissa. “Conner came for it. He and one of the elven-kind.”

  “Conner?” Elissa asked. “He took it? He is the guardian, now? But I saw him on the battlefield, fighting.”

  “Well it appears that I will have to kill this Conner one more time,” Tarcious said. He turned to Hargon and added, “And he will stay dead this time, right, brother?”

  Tarcious turned back to Arpwin. “You say the other with him was one of the elven?”

  “He appeared as the legends of old told of them,” Arpwin replied. “Tall, long straight hair, and pointy ears. The Creator sent his servants to fetch the Ark. One man, one elf, just as they were meant to be.”

  “The legends of the elven-kind are just that. You were clearly mistaken in your old age.”

  Movement caught Elissa’s eyes and she looked across the room as a set of double doors opened. She lifted a hand to her mouth to keep from letting out a sound. But Tarcious caught her gaze and turned to look. And as he turned, everyone else turned as well to see Conner standing in the doorway, swords drawn. Next to him stood a tall figure with long, straight hair and pointy ears.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Farrus could not resist any longer. He pulled out the gem from its leather pouch and wrapped his fingers around
it, encasing it in his hand. It was warm to the touch, which was a pleasant feeling on this cold winter night. He looked up to see the sliver of a crescent moon above his head. Off in the distance he heard the random clang of steel on steel. The fight for the city continued, even though the outcome was surely inevitable.

  He closed his eyes and focused on the darkness of the gem. He could feel its power grow. It became hotter, burning his hand, but he did not care. He squeezed the gem tighter, forcing himself down the dark tunnel that was right in front of him.

  It was as if he were walking through the night sky. Stars twinkled around him. Translucent clouds of many colors floated by. Forever and ever the sky went, unending in all directions. A strange sense of being overwhelmed came over him. The universe that was around him was infinite, never ending, and that sent a chill through his body. The idea of something never ending was barely comprehensible, but he did get it. And it made him feel small and insignificant.

  The warm feeling of the gem in his hand reminded him that it was there. He brought it up to his eyes, seeing in it the same stars that were around him. Even the clouds that were around him were also inside the gem. In that star-field darkness, he could see a small pinprick of light that was different than all the other stars. It rotated and pulsated as if it were calling out to him.

  A voice spoke in his head. “I can help you.”

  Farrus did not move, but continued to stare at the gem in his hand, trying to focus on the pulsating light.

  “I can help you reach into the Ark of Life and pull out its power.”

  The voice was calming and soothing to him. It was a voice that he could trust.

  “What must I do,” Farrus said in his head.

  “There is a price for the power of the Ark of Life. A price that you do not want to pay.”

  “No!” Farrus called out. “I do want to pay! Whatever it takes!”

  He could feel the power of the universe inside the little black gem. It was there, swimming in the sharp facets of the gem’s face, twinkling in his eyes, and taunting him for being unable to reach into it.

  “You will serve me first, and I will give you the power of Ark.”

  “Yes!” Farrus said almost absently. His mind could only really focus on the that small pulsating light. Whatever the voice was saying, he just wanted it to stop so that he could continue to stare into the heart of the gem.

  “Open your heart, open your mind, and open your soul to me. Let me come to you, and I will show you power that you could never imagine.”

  Farrus did as he was asked to do. The translucent clouds that floated around him slowly drifted towards him until he was surrounded by them. As they neared him, the many different clouds merged into a single grey cloud. It tightened around him, squeezing his body, his mind, and his soul. And then it was inside of him and he was no more.

  ***

  The body of Commander Farrus opened its eyes. Looking around, it only saw darkness. For the briefest of moments, it thought that it had failed and it still was in the empty expanse of the universe. But then it felt a cold wind on his face. Looking around more, it saw that there were trees behind it and a large city ahead of it. The more it looked, the more it could see.

  Then it looked down at its hands and then at its body. Finally, it had returned to the world that should have been his from the beginning.

  “Commander Farrus!”

  It did not respond at first. Although it heard the words, it did not react. The world around it was fascinating and it wanted to take it all in at once. It could hear movement around itself. Shadowed figures hidden by the night moved among the trees doing whatever it was that they were doing.

  The voice from behind it called out again, this time louder and harsher. “Commander Farrus!”

  It turned its body around. Standing in front of it was a large man with a conical helm atop his head. His cheeks were red and his lips were cracked and bleeding.

  “Commander Farrus?” the man asked. “Are you okay? Did you not hear me call for you?”

  It looked the fat man up and down. “Is that what I am called? I am called Commander Farrus?” When the fat man only looked at him in a dumbfounded look his face, he continued. “But Commander is a military title. I am in the military. A warrior of the times. Isn’t that interesting. So then, my name is Farrus. I will go by the name Farrus.”

  “Commander? What is wrong? Are you drunk?”

  Farrus smiled, lifting his hand so he could see the gem. “There is nothing wrong with me. I feel…wonderful. Where is my army? I do not see it. I can feel them, but I cannot see them.”

  “The army?” the fat man asked. “They have taken control of the city. They are there.” He lifted his hand and pointed to the city.

  Farrus did not turn and look. “That is not my army. I will bring my army.”

  He closed his eyes and squeezed the Ark. He only need to think of them, and they came. The ground around him seemed to rip from the bottom, splitting to expose a dark chasm. He called for them, and they came, squeezing their way from their eternal lair to the realm of humans. They pushed their way through the slices in the ground, their thin, bony bodies easily able to contort in a way that did not seem natural. They hissed and growled at their freedom, scratching at themselves and the others, wondering if they were truly free or if this was still a nightmare.

  Each of the creatures was different, just like every man who walked the earth was different. But they all had a very similar appearance. Their oversize heads were capped with fuzzy hair and long, pointy ears. Their jaws stuck out far and were filled with pointed razor sharp teeth. Long skinny arms hung down to the ground, the back of the hands dragging along the ground. Their legs were skinny and just as long and they bowed outward, making them waddle as they walked. None wore any clothes, as they didn’t need to. They had no need for protection from the cold, as their leathery skin was thick and they did not feel pain.

  Tens turned into hundreds, and hundreds turned into thousands as they appeared from the ground. In the darkness, they moved silently, crawling across the ground. If the moon had been full, the centurions that patrolled the forests might have seen them before it was too late. They attacked viciously and without regard for their own survival. The centurions put up a brave fight and killed many hundreds, but as they had outnumbered the Karmons, Farrus’ army of creatures outnumbered the centurions ten-fold. It took only minutes before the centurions who had been left to protect the forest were dead.

  Farrus looked down upon the fat centurion. One of the creatures was feasting upon his innards while he screamed his last breath. Once death finally came over the centurion and the screaming stopped, Farrus walked up to the creature that still had its face buried in the man’s abdomen. With a swift kick, he sent it sailing across the forest and slammed against a tree. The audible crack of the creatures back caused others nearby to turn and look.

  Another creature looked up from its own feast and bared its teeth at Farrus. With hardly a thought, Farrus tossed a fireball and struck the creature in the face, sending it spinning across the ground, screaming in agony. It took several minutes for it to die.

  “I guess you can feel some pain,” Farrus observed. He looked around, but none others challenged him. Those that weren’t feasting upon the carcass of a centurion stood silently in the darkness.

  A small group led by a slightly larger creature approached. This creature was thicker and had shorter arms and could have almost passed for human. Once it was close enough, the creature dropped to a knee.

  “You are the chieftain of this tribe?” Farrus asked.

  “I am Omrik,” the creature said. “This is my tribe of Hammirocki goblins.”

  “It is time to take back our world,” Farrus said. “Humans and elves have infested it for too long. We will wage war upon the humans, killing every last one of them.”

  Omrik spread its mouth into a wide grin, showing his pointed teeth. “I can smell more of them. Many of them.”
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  “There is a city full of humans. Go. Cleanse the city.”

  Omrik glanced down at the city. “It is large. Many humans. There are many Hammirocki, but we are not enough. You will call other tribes to help?”

  Farrus shook his head, closing his eyes. “No, there are other children of mine that have been waiting to be free, just as you have waited. And I will free them and they will burn the city. Those that survive will flee from the fires and you will catch them as they try and escape, and then you may feast upon them.”

  Omrik licked his lips, the scent of humans causing his stomach to grumble in anticipation.

  ***

  With all eyes on them, Conner stepped forward and said in a commanding voice, “You will release the queen and everyone else. Your army will return to Taran. No conditions. They will leave tonight at once.”

  As Tarcious laughed, he lifted his hands and prepared a spell on his lips, but Toknon stepped forward.

  “Conner!” Toknon shouted. “We live a new world now. Taran is here to stay. We cannot stop them. We cannot defeat them. Our only option is to join with them.”

  Toknon turned to look at Elissa and continued, “My dear Queen Elissa. We have an opportunity to continue our lives. My kingdom will be untouched by Taran. We can live there in peace. You and I, together.” He stepped forward and took her hands.

  She looked up at him, her eyes red from the tears that had been falling. Too many events had happened so fast in the past two days. What was supposed to be the highlight of her young life, a grand masquerade ball, had turned into a nightmare. In the course of but days, her life had been turned upside down and she had lost her kingdom. She had lost all her people. Many were already dead and many more would die in the coming days. But even those that survived would be lost to her. The easy way out would be to go to Thell with him. She had learned to like him and maybe even love him. But no more. Whatever feelings that she had for him were gone. He was a treacherous liar more concerned about his own people.