Knight Rising

by Jason Hamilton

  Any one of those towers could have been the keep, perhaps all of them were. Regardless, she had never seen a structure so grand in all her life, even if the actual circumference wasn’t all that big. But with towers that were twice as tall as the castle was wide, it likely held the same capacity as any castle. How did such towers even remain standing at that height?

  Gloriana continued to lead her forward, through a gate that seemed too simple for such a grand structure. On the other side, Una thought she might topple over backwards from staring up at the towers.

  The Faerie Queen continued to one of the towers, up a winding staircase that thankfully didn’t lead all the way to the top. Una was pretty sure such a climb would have winded even Gloriana, who had seemingly come all this way without breaking a sweat.

  Instead, she followed Gloriana into a large chamber, not unlike the inside of a cathedral. There were two huge rows of columns on either side of the room, columns that appeared like great, living trees. Light filled the room from tall windows along the sides. But instead of rows of benches, an altar, or anything else Una would have expected to see in a cathedral, all that lay in this room was a circular pool in the center.

  “This is where I come to perceive what might be,” said Gloriana, waving a hand at the pool. It was only then that Una noticed the water did not seem to reflect light properly. It was almost as though the waving reflection was of some other scene entirely.

  Something about this place made Una uneasy, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. “I suppose now you can tell me why you need my help?”

  Gloriana nodded. “I thought it would be easier to show you instead.” She put forth her hand in the direction of the pool. She wanted Una to come closer. Una wasn’t entirely certain she wanted to do the same. There was something odd about that pool.

  “You have nothing to worry about,” said Gloriana. “The only curse that can come from this place is a curse of knowledge.”

  Against her better judgement, Una stepped forward until she was leaning over the pool. Now, the reflection appeared entirely black, with no sign of the ceiling illuminated above by the windows. Yes, there was definitely something magical about this pool. And after Una’s prior experience with her own magic, she wasn’t sure she should trust it.

  “I am the Faerie Queen,” said Gloriana, and at her words, the pool rippled, and a vision began to take hold. Una saw Gloriana in the pool, but she was far more radiant, as if emitting light and life from her body. She was standing in a forest, and light streamed through the trees. Surrounding her were hundreds of those knights from the Order of Maidenglory.

  “I have ruled here for millennia,” Gloriana continued, and as she spoke, the vision in the pool changed to reflect her words. “My knights have come from all eras of the Earth, ever since magic diminished on this planet, and the walls between our world and the Otherworld grew thin.”

  “The Otherworld?” Una asked.

  “Annwyn, a place of great evil,” said Gloriana. “Our purpose is to protect this earth from being tainted.” The pool changed to show Una a land ravaged by huge monsters. The land itself was dry and devoid of all life, and yet it was still covered by evil-looking beings of incredible variety. There was everything from human-looking warlocks, to humans with animal faces, to animals with human body parts. One of them looked familiar.

  “There,” cried Una, pointing. “That’s the serpent that George and I fought.”

  Gloriana nodded. “It is one of many such beasts.”

  “But you said you protected this world from these creatures.”

  A look of sadness, no, pain flickered over Gloriana’s face. “The walls between our worlds have grown even thinner of late, ever since one threat from the Otherworld broke free and passed into our realm.”

  The pool shimmered again, and this time Una saw another shape she recognized. This one was huge, sporting green scales and razor-sharp teeth. Fire emerged from its mouth and consumed civilians and knights alike. The beast burned all who got in its path, climbing over the walls of a familiar castle.

  “That’s the dragon at Castle Silene,” said Una, breathless.

  “Indeed. Ever since that day, my strength has failed. It has opened the doors for others to enter the forest. My knights and I manage to keep most of them from escaping, but some slip through our grasp, as you saw with the great serpent you and the Red Cross knight fought.”

  “So you wanted George to go kill the worm for you?”

  Gloriana hesitated for the briefest of moments before answering. “Yes,” she said simply.

  “Why don’t you do it? Why send George to do your dirty work? You have other knights, don’t you?”

  “It is more...complicated than that.” For the first time, Gloriana appeared uncertain. “My magic is not suited to destroy; it serves mainly to protect. And my knights have grown thin as it is.”

  Una wanted to fold her arms. That didn’t seem like much of an excuse at all. It still didn’t explain why she would place such a burden on another knight, one who was good in battle, but still lacked confidence.

  “So, you sent him so you wouldn’t lose anyone if he died, huh? Many knights greater than George have gone after that dragon and died. You know the same will happen to him.”

  “And that is why I sent you,” said Gloriana, giving her a knowing look.

  “You didn’t send me, I…” Una trailed off. George had come looking for her, specifically because of his vision from the Faerie Queen. He had known things about her that she hadn’t told anyone. “Why?” she asked, her voice dropping low and colder.

  “You must discover the reason on your own.”

  Irritation stabbed at Una. “You brought me all this way to tell me, what? That you can’t tell me anything? How am I supposed to help if I don’t know what to do? I don’t even know where George is right now. He left me and can stay away for all I care. I can sneak past the dragon on my own. I did so the night it attacked. I can do it again.”

  “If you faced the dragon alone, you would fall,” said Gloriana, her face grave.

  “I just said, I’m not going to face it at all,” Una replied, her annoyance growing.

  The woman paused as she considered Una, her face poised as if about to say something. But her shoulders slumped, and she walked beside Una so she could stare directly into the pool. “Not all is as it seems,” was all she said.

  Well a fat lot of help she was being. “Look,” said Una. “If you say I need the knight to get into the castle, and he needs me, then fine. But then, where is he? How do I find him? We’re running out of time.”

  “He is in a place beyond my reach,” said Gloriana, still staring into the pool with that sad expression.

  “Beyond the forest?”

  “No,” the Queen shook her head. “He is here, but there is much of this forest that is no longer under my control. An old enemy has taken refuge inside a fortress of evil, a sort of antithesis to this palace.”

  “Are you talking about Duessa?”

  Gloriana’s head swung in her direction. “How do you know that name?”

  “I met two of her...servants, I guess. A strange knight from a country I don’t recognize, and a warlock. And before that, the trees mentioned her to me. That wasn’t you?”

  Gloriana tilted her face back in a slow nod. “I communicate with the trees, but they have life of their own. They are not mine to command. If you have already met with Duessa’s emissaries, then our time is even shorter than I thought. She already knows you exist. George may have told her too much.”

  “Willingly?” Una asked. Another question hung in the air. If not willingly, then how? Torture? Would she find anything left of the knight once she found him again?

  “It is more complicated than that. Duessa is very powerful. The fact that she has not killed the knight already worries me.”

  “Worries you?” Una narrowed her eyes. “Shouldn’t you be happy about that?”

  “I am, but
it is not in Duessa’s nature to spare one of my servants. It means she has other plans, and I do not know what those plans are.”

  Una went silent. What had George gotten himself into? Everything she heard about this Duessa only got worse and worse. Even if George was still alive, it sounded like rescuing him would be near impossible.

  “I suppose you want me to help rescue him?” she asked, knowing what the answer would be.

  Gloriana nodded. “The two of you are intrinsically connected, your fates intertwined.”

  “Why send me?” Una asked, the question coming to her in the moment. “You have knights, you have those...dryads. Why not use them to rescue George? They have far more skill in battle than I.”

  “Skill in battle may not be what you need,” said Gloriana, thoughtfully. “Yet, you will have help. There is one with great prowess near here. I will arrange for him to meet you outside of my enemy’s castle.”

  “Who is he?”

  “One who has long rejected my call to become a member of the Order of Maidenglory. Yet a good man, nonetheless.”

  Una narrowed her eyes. “That’s not exactly much to go on.”

  “You will understand when you meet.”

  Una sighed. All of this was a lot to take in. And she still didn’t know if she could trust this Faerie Queen. She seemed to have all the right intentions, but there was a lot she was not telling Una. She still had no idea why she and George were so important to Faerie Queen’s plot.

  But she knew one thing, and that was the fact that Duessa and her servants were most definitely people she did not want involved in her life. She wasn’t sure she wanted the Faerie Queen in charge either, but Duessa seemed worse.

  Secondly, she also knew she needed to get to Castle Silene soon, and if she needed George to do that, then she would find him. Yes, it still meant trusting the word of a personage that Una had no reason to trust. But even then, part of her missed George, and knowing he had not simply abandoned her made a difference. Before, she might not have cared what happened to him, but now...well now he needed rescue.

  “Tell me what to do,” she said, her voice resolute.

  23

  She slept in the Faerie Queen’s halls that night, perhaps the best rest she’d had since escaping Londinium. She stayed in one of those odd houses that seemed to have grown out of a tree itself. It was different, but also comfortable. She could have sworn she felt the bed adjust to her posture.

  But early in the morning, she awoke to the startling sight of two dryads. Up close, the creatures were a little frightening, their faces and skin covered in little protuberances, small twigs and leaves.

  “We are here to guide you to the one with the Red Cross,” said the two in complete unison. That was further unsettling.

  “Uh...yeah,” said Una, blinking away her sleep. “Maybe give me a moment to change? And do you have a place to bathe around here?” She looked around for what might pass as a washroom in this place.

  The dryads looked confused. “But...you have already been cleaned.”

  “Huh?” she asked. She had not bathed since the first inn outside of Londinium, unless you counted torrential rainfalls.

  “Arden caterpillars,” said a voice behind her. She turned and nearly forgot how to speak.

  Behind her was a tiny little man, no bigger than her thumb, sitting across a sparrow that must have just flown in through the open window.

  “I’m Tom,” he said, noting her face. He waved a hand at the dryads. “These two were talking about Arden caterpillars. They’ll sneak onto your body while you sleep and eat away the dirt, sweat, and grime away from your body. Don’t worry, they’re completely harmless to someone your size.”

  Una could not help but stand up and begin brushing at her clothes. The dryads watched her, curious and perhaps a little confused.

  “They’ll be gone by now,” said Tom, his face more than a little amused. “I am here to give you last instructions before you go.”

  “Okay,” said Una, trying not to help the feeling that there were little creatures still crawling all over her. “What is it?”

  “The dryads will take you as far as we can,” said Tom. “But we cannot take you all the way to the City of Pride.”

  “City of what now?”

  “Duessa’s castle,” said Tom. “City of Pride was its name in older times, but it has remained uninhabited until now.”

  “Alright,” said Una. “So I find the city and George will be there.”

  “Not at first. You must remain at a cave where the dryads will leave you until your help arrives.”

  “Right,” said Una. “This mysterious helper. I don’t suppose you could tell me who it is?”

  Tom shook his head. “My mistress has forbade me, but I am personally ensuring that he arrives.”

  Una shrugged, but began gathering her things. “Then I wait for whoever this person is, and we travel the rest of the way to the City of Pride.”

  “Yes, but you can’t just knock on the gate and expect them to open it for you. Many of Duessa’s servants and admirers remain there, though our sources suggest they were recently unleashed into the forest itself. That’s bad news for us, but good news for you. It means the castle will be less defended. But beware. Duessa will likely be there, as will many others.”

  “Don’t go in swords swinging,” said Una. “Got it. Though I don’t suppose you could spare any weapons?”

  Tom once again shook his head. “All we have belongs to the Order of Maidenglory, and they cannot spare any.”

  “Of course, you can’t,” Una breathed out.

  “Not to worry,” said Tom, “You already possess that which you need. And your help will have a sword.”

  Great. She rolled her eyes. That made her feel much more comfortable. But she was done trying to coax more information or resources out of these people. How could she ask for more when they had been so gracious enough to provide her with cleaning caterpillars?

  “You will be provided with ample provisions of course,” said Tom, not noticing her eye roll. “Water and enough food to last you for two weeks. That should be plenty of time to rescue your knight, slay the dragon, and find what it is you seek.”

  Una locked eyes with the little man. “You mean I’ll find my parents?”

  “What you find may not be what you want, but it is what you seek.”

  With that, the small man patted his sparrow on the side, and it took off, zooming out of the window and well beyond her reach.

  Una almost wanted to scream with frustration. That had been the most anyone had said about her goals. Now she was sure that the Faerie Queen knew more about her situation than she was letting on. When this was all over, she would need to have a stern talk with that woman.

  The dryads waited patiently for her to gather her remaining supplies, then they provided her with the promised provisions, and they set off.

  It took half the day for them to leave the Faerie Queen’s domain, as marked by the increased sunlight and general sweetness to the air. But soon, the humidity grew thicker, and the sky darkened as they joined the part of the forest she was more familiar with.

  Still, there was enough light that she could continue to see the dryads leading the way. And the path wasn’t too hard either. It seemed to open up for the dryads as they passed, with Una traveling in their wake.

  It occurred to her that she’d never asked the Faerie Queen about her own magic, that somewhat dark part of her that had come to her aid on more than one occasion. Would Gloriana even tell her more about that? And did she even want it? No, Una didn’t trust the Faerie Queen any more than anyone else. As far as Una was concerned, until the Faerie Queen began telling her more, everything she said was suspect. And she didn’t need any more cryptic statements about her magic right now.

  They continued that way for some time, eventually joining with the road once again. But the dryads didn’t stop to follow the road. They continued on the other side. Una glanced down the cl
ear path to her right, the path that would eventually lead to Castle Silene, or very close to it. For a moment, she considered taking it, leaving the dryads to continue on their way until one of them realized she had not followed them.

  After all, what proof did she have that the Faerie Queen was right? How did she know she would die if she went back to her old home without George? Though come to think of it, Gloriana hadn’t said she would die, she said she would ‘fall’. Was there a difference?

  The dryads continued to push forward through the trees and brambles on the other side of the road. Una gazed from them, to the road, and back at them.

  “Dragon dung,” she whispered to herself and plunged forward, off the road, following the dryads.

  It wasn’t the Faerie Queen’s warning that helped her make her decision, nor was she too scared of the dragon. It was the thought of George held without friends in this City of Pride.

  She had traveled with the Red Cross knight for only a short while, but in that time, she had come to care for him to some extent. Enough that when he had left, and she thought it was because of her, it had hurt a bit. She’d tried to hide it behind resentment or indifference, but the fact of the matter was, she didn’t want him to come to any harm. No, she would get him out if it was within her power. Then they could travel to Castle Silene together.

  They traveled for a full day after that, rarely stopping to rest. These dryads didn’t seem like they needed rest at all. And every time Una asked how much farther they had to go, they always answered the same. “The forest is vast, but we will be there by nightfall.”

  By the time the forest was plunged into complete darkness, Una was on the verge of telling them she couldn’t go on for much longer. Even with the sort of path created by the dryads, Una kept finding herself stumbling over roots or poorly-placed stones. More than once she nearly rolled her ankle.