Knight Rising

by Jason Hamilton

  “I could not have done it without your help,” he said. “Or without Una’s. By the way, have you seen her this morning?”

  “She, ah,” Arthur looked like he was trying to find the right words. “She already left this morning. Or at least that’s what Caelia tells me.”

  “What?” The axe dropped to George’s side. “Already? But she’s not supposed to go without me.”

  “I know, and she knows that too. Apparently, she has no intention of going into the castle. She just wanted to scout around, see what was visible.”

  “We have to go to her,” said George, wiping off his sweat and making for the inn. “They have my armor here, I can…”

  “George,” said Arthur. He hadn’t moved from where he stood. “I’m not going with you.”

  George turned slowly, meeting the man’s, no, the king’s eyes. He searched them, looking for something, some explanation. All he saw was regret. Arthur wanted to help him, but something held him back.

  “You were instructed not to go with us, weren’t you?”

  Arthur nodded. “It appears the Faerie Queen is very particular about when I can and can’t help.” There was bitterness in his voice.

  “Do you not wish to serve her?”

  “Gloriana is good, but she is complicated. I don’t like complicated. I prefer to see the demon in front of me and relieve it of its head. But Gloriana thinks in the big picture, she’s playing a game of chess with her enemies, and she must always stay several steps ahead. It would appear she has left me out of this round.”

  George watched him, watched as clear emotions of conflict and indecision graced Arthur’s face. “It is alright,” he said after a while.

  Arthur looked at him. “What?”

  “You do not have to come with us, we will make do on our own.”

  “But the dragon…”

  “I have been training all my life for a moment like this. I will not let you, Una, Gloriana, or most of all myself, down.”

  Arthur stepped close and grasped his arm. George took it with an overwhelming sense of pride and comradery.

  “If it’s not too forward of me to say,” he began, “I would just like to encourage you to become king one day.”

  Arthur’s eyes dropped to the ground, and he let go of George’s arm. “I told you, I like things simple. Being a king would not be a simple path.”

  “But I’ve seen you in action,” said George. “And you have the birthright. All you would have to do is drive out the Saxons with your superior skill and leadership, and all of England would be yours, perhaps all of the isles and beyond. You could be one of the greatest kings this world has ever known.”

  “Kings don’t last long in this place,” Arthur replied. “Either due to war against foes without or with those within, including their own hubris. No, George, that is not my path.”

  “Well if you ever do decide to take up the mantle, call on me. I will be happy to join you in whatever cause you deem is right.”

  Arthur smiled at that. “I would consider it an honor.”

  George brought himself back to the moment. “I must now get ready. Caelia mentioned my armor was in the church.”

  “Then go and retrieve it,” said Arthur, but before George could continue he added, “And George, I’m glad I met you.”

  It was a moment of friendship that struck George to the core. Yes, it had been an honor to meet Arthur, the rightful King of England, even if he didn’t want that responsibility. “Likewise, my friend,” then he turned and began a brisk jog towards the church.

  When he reached the stone building he approached the double door and knocked. He supposed he could have just opened the door, but something felt off about doing that. He could respect the owners at least.

  Not too much time passed before one of the doors creaked open. Inside stood an old man with a brown robe over his person. “Ah,” he said upon seeing George. “I was wondering when I would see you. Come, we don’t have a lot of time.”

  Clearly, he had learned about George. He might have even seen him while he was sleeping. The man did come home to the inn late every night.

  “My name is George,” he said, politely, “I’m here looking for my…”

  “I know why you’re here,” he said, “But there may be more here than what you seek. We must hurry.”

  George looked all around him, wondering what the old man meant. “I suppose you mean I should pray before I go?”

  “Yes, you should,” the man led him to an altar in the front of the chapel. “You will need the blessings of our Savior on your travels.” He grabbed some incense from beside the altar, that had already begun to burn. He must have previously started some kind of ritual.

  “I respect that, but can I first retrieve my armor? I’m in a bit of a rush to leave. Una’s out there already, and I…”

  “You will find her,” said the man. “But my job is to not only armor your body before you go, but your mind as well.” The old man began waving the incense between them. “Do you doubt your own strength?”

  George opened his mouth to say no, but something inside him hesitated. “Yes,” he said finally. “I would be lying if I didn’t admit it. I may have some skill in combat, and perhaps in other things, but I can’t simply live through all I’ve done and not feel some kind of doubt.”

  “Do you not remember what the girl said? That to doubt yourself is to doubt who you work for?”

  “Yes, but I...did Una tell you that?” This man seemed to know a lot. Of course, there was something odd about the entire family, but this man in particular gave him the shivers, though perhaps not in a bad way. Was it just him or was the incense making him a little dizzy?

  “Allow me to show you one thing before you go, my son,” said the old man. His voice was not demanding or forceful, but soft and full of kindness. George’s eyes blurred, and something flashed before them. Instantly he was more alert. “What was that?”

  “It is a taste of what you might become,” said the old man, watching him carefully. The incense still waved back and forth in his hand.

  Another flash, and another. He was not looking at the interior of a darkened church anymore, but a brightly-lit courtyard, overgrown with grass and with clumps of dirt everywhere. The flashes of light were coming off a knight, dressed in full plate armor and wielding a spear. In that moment that spear was plunged into the mouth of a full-sized, green dragon.

  George took a step back. He knew that armor. That was his armor! So was this an imposter of some kind, or...no, he was having a vision. That had to be it. Just moments before he had been in a church.

  “This is what might be,” said a voice all around him, the voice of the old man.

  “I will kill the dragon?”

  “You may,” clarified the voice, “but only if you have the confidence you need in yourself, and once again only if you remain united with Una.”

  “But she has already left.”

  “And you must go to her, but there is one thing you must learn about yourself.”

  “Who are you?” remarked George. Clearly this man was no ordinary Christian priest.

  “No more than a messenger,” he replied.

  The vision changed, the bright light of mid-day swirling until the warm light of dawn. They were in the same place, but there was something different. The castle had changed. It was now a church, and an enormous statue stood in the center of the courtyard.

  George’s mouth opened wide as he stared. The statue was of him, slaying the dragon.

  “Yes,” said the old man’s voice. “This is what will come to pass if you should succeed.”

  The vision rippled again, and he saw the same image, of him jamming his spear into the dragon, immortalized in art of many varieties. He saw statues and tapestries and mothers telling his story to their young. All of them praised him, the dragon slayer.

  “Should you succeed, your past leading up to this moment will be forgotten. You will be forged anew, and you will not
only be known as the knight who killed the dragon, you will be known as a Saint. Your story will span continents, immortalized in art, literature, and song.”

  Tears began streaming down George’s face, as he saw each and every instance of what the old man prophesied. “This is too much,” he said. “I can’t possibly live up to this.”

  “You can,” assured the old man. “And that is the final piece of armor I give you. Hope.”

  With that, the vision ceased.

  33

  Una pressed forward. Yes, she knew what the Faerie Queen had told her, that she needed George in order to keep from falling when faced by the dragon. But she wasn’t planning on going in without him, just taking a quick peek from outside the wall. Maybe she’d catch a glimpse of whoever may or may not still be living there. She had to know.

  She would easily stay outside of reach, assuming the place even became visible again. She had only the word of others that the castle reappeared once a year on this day.

  She proceeded up a grassy path on a bare hill. There were trees to her right, the Forest of Arden that cradled Castle Silene in its border. But she couldn’t see it yet. She still had another two or three large hills to climb before she would reach the spot. She could remember the way perfectly, every hill and large tree bringing back memories.

  At the base of the hill, she froze, eyeing what had just appeared out of nowhere in front of her.

  “Hello, Una,” said a sensuously curvaceous woman clothed all in black, with black hair. Una had never met the woman directly before, but she knew who it must be.

  “Duessa,” she breathed. Her heart rate began to increase. This wasn’t in the plan. She couldn’t go up against Duessa and the dragon. Even between her and George together, they would have no chance.

  Her only defense was her magic, but she had vowed not to use it. She couldn’t delve into that dark place without consequences.

  “Do not worry,” said Duessa. “I am not here to attack you.”

  Una tilted her head, but quickly instinct took over, and she adopted a more confident persona, whether it matched her current mood or not. “What do you want?”

  “Nothing really,” said Duessa. “Nothing you cannot easily give me. I want you to stay away from Castle Silene.”

  Una narrowed her eyes. “You what?”

  “I want you to stay away from the dragon. No one has ever vanquished it.”

  “Well it’s not like they’ve had much opportunity, since he only comes out once per year.”

  “Oh there have been others. That dragon and I have a long and hard history together. We used to be companions in Annwyn, before he was let free.”

  “So you want me to stay away because you don’t want to see the dragon hurt?”

  “Not at all, dear,” said the woman, grinning at Una in a way that chilled her blood. “You are the one I don’t want to come to harm. I’m trying to protect you.”

  Una’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

  “Because of who you are. You could be among the greatest of the great. You could stand by my side, and maybe even replace me some day as mistress of this world and the Other.”

  “I don’t know what you mean. And I would never stand beside you. You or anyone else.”

  “Do you mean you do not know?” Duessa looked at her curiously.

  “Know what?”

  “I admit, it took me some time to puzzle it out,” she said. “I’ve been following you ever since you took my knight. But I recognize it now. You have old blood in you. Older, perhaps even than my own.”

  Una was beginning to grow impatient. “I don’t have time to listen to your cryptic words. Either tell me straight or get out of my way.”

  Then she did the bravest thing she had ever done. She walked directly towards the monster of a woman and went right on past.

  “Go then, if you must,” Duessa called after her. “There is nothing you can do to defeat that dragon. Not even your blood will save you there. He does not recognize it or care.”

  Una didn’t respond, instead focusing on keeping her face fixed on the path ahead. She was exposed, her back was turned, but she steeled herself and kept on walking.

  “Very well,” said Duessa as Una kept walking away. “If you insist on not joining with me, then perhaps I will be better off without you.”

  Una breathed out. She had been worried that Duessa would attack, try to prevent her from going to the castle for whatever twisted reasons she might harbor. But if she was so certain that Una would die upon facing the dragon, that didn’t speak well for her chances.

  Whatever. Duessa didn’t know what Una knew about the layout of the castle. She didn’t know Una had once been a princess in Castle Silene, and that no one knew the grounds better than her. She had spent days and weeks exploring every nook and cranny. If anyone could avoid the dragon, it would be her. Besides, she still had George to help.

  With a thought, she turned to look back at where Duessa had stood, but the woman had vanished. Even from Una’s vantage point, nearly at the top of the hill, she could not make out anyone within at least a mile.

  Duessa said she had been following them. Which meant that she was no longer hell-bent on killing or torturing George. If she had, she could have just attacked them. Instead, she must be electing to allow the dragon to do it for her. Hopefully that meant George would arrive at the castle in safety.

  Una continued on, down the hill and up another one, keeping to the grassy path that was only barely visible now. These had once been well-traveled hills. Now there was almost nothing left.

  Then she saw it.

  In the distance, at the base of the next hill, lay Castle Silene, nestled among the trees of the Forest of Arden.

  Despite the danger, and the potential threat of Duessa, Una breathed a sigh of relief. Never had the sight of her home ever prompted such joy. It had been so long since she’d seen those white towers disappear into the night. Now they were blackened and many of the wooden portions of the roofs were caved in after having burned with dragon fire. But the castle still stood. The peak of the castle’s keep, its highest tower, still gleamed in the morning light.

  She could not stop herself, she ran down the hill at her top speed. The dragon wasn’t visible from here. Chances are it lay in one of the wards, probably the middle ward by the keep itself. Or perhaps in the upper ward since that was largest. Perhaps it had fled altogether?

  No, she could not take that chance. Just because she couldn’t see the dragon from a distance did not mean he was not there. She would have to be extra careful. A lone figure running on the hills could be seen from the castle. She needed to close the distance fast while the dragon was out of sight.

  Her top speed brought her to the corner of the castle in no time. She clutched at the stone, feeling a shiver of delight pass through her at the feel of touching her old home again.

  She was at the corner tower now, and the main gate on the north side was not far. But going through the gate was fool hardy. She would be visible from both sides of the castle, and if the dragon was in the middle ward or anywhere near the keep, he would see her instantly and roast her alive.

  But she knew of a secret passageway that led into the state apartments from the back. All she would have to do was round the castle on this side, follow the tree line and she would find a way in.

  She began walking around the side of the castle, taking care to make no sudden sounds as she went. Even from outside the walls, the last thing she wanted to do was give herself away by even the slightest noise.

  Una retraced steps from her childhood, rounding the castle until she came to the tree line. Her parents had warned her never to go too deep into the woods. She had, mostly, listened. The forest had scared her in those days. But that hadn’t stopped her from venturing in as a teenager, just far enough that she could still barely make out the castle itself. This time, she stayed far away from the forest, choosing instead to hug the wall as she made her way to the state apartments.


  Parts of the wall here were blown outward, almost certainly from the dragon’s fire or the force of his tail. Una didn’t remember much of the specifics. She had been in too much of a hurry to leave the castle when it was attacked.

  Unfortunately, that meant that there were pockets of the wall where she had to be careful when walking past. In one area, she had to duck so as to remain unseen from anyone or anything on the other side. The damage reached almost all the way to the ground.

  Peeking her head over the damaged wall, she could make out the middle ward, and the keep in the center, a large archway in the center leading to a row of internal stairs. There had been a door there once, long burned away by the dragon.

  Yet still, she could see no sign of the beast. Should she enter here, or keep going? There was no one in sight, but she would be exposed for a long time if she ran from here to the keep. Best to focus on her original plan.

  She kept low across the wall, finally arriving at a small wooden hatchway, half covered in dirt. This cellar door had not been burned away, since it lay on the outside, and the dragon had mostly focused on destroying everyone inside.

  Feeling the excitement burn inside of her, she grabbed the latch and pulled at the horizontal door.

  At first it didn’t budge, but then it finally came as she strained, scraping against its wooden frame with a sound that was far too pronounced for her liking.

  She stood there for a moment, staring down into the darkened chamber below, and listening hard for any signs of the dragon. Amazingly, there were none. Perhaps the dragon truly had left the castle, or maybe someone on the inside had finally found a way to kill it. Maybe its skeleton was lying in one of the wards right now.

  She began lowering herself down a ladder that had been incredibly preserved so far before she stopped.

  Should she wait for George? She had promised to not enter the castle without him. Well, what she really said, or meant at least, was she wouldn’t confront the dragon without him. One was not the other. She could easily enter the state apartments without coming close to the dragon, wherever he was hiding, and assuming he was even still alive.