The Cavalier

by Jason McWhirter

  He landed hard on his back, the impact of the fall not noticed as the pain of the three cuts shot through his body. The lacerations burned agonizingly; Kiln knew that these were no ordinary wounds, that the demon’s tail must be poisonous. He rolled around on the grass, moaning with pain as the poison found his blood stream and began to do its work. Kiln used his powerful mind, concentrating on dismissing the pain and pushing it aside so he could stand and fight this demon. He sought his center, focusing on it, willing his heart rate to slow and his breathing to relax. He pushed away the pain, attempting to ignore the effects of the poison. Gritting his teeth he grabbed his sword, lifting himself to his feet.

  Jonas, seeing Kiln so severely wounded, was filled with fury. He dug deep within himself and brought forth his God Light with a brilliance that he did not think possible. He shone like a star. The beast hissed, retreating slightly, giving Jonas a quick reprieve from the deadly and ferocious attacks of its spiked wings and claws.

  Jonas attacked without hesitation, despite the sinking feeling that filled his mind knowing that Kiln had been grievously wounded. He fought with all the skill that he had been taught, ducking and pivoting as his two glowing blades spun a glowing weave of steel.

  The demon hissed in anger as he felt the sting of the magical blades, and the blinding brilliance of Jonas’s light. But the Greever had his own magic and he brought it forth with malice. Suddenly the area around Jonas was blanketed in darkness; a blackness so thick and dense that it extinguished his God Light. Jonas couldn’t see anything, and he backed away with his swords spinning defensively in front of him, while the Greever could see as if the sun were shining brightly. The demon beat its wings once, and springing with its two powerful legs, it flew through the air above the deadly blades and landed on top of Jonas.

  The impact of the demon sent Jonas flying onto his back, and the full weight of the beast crushed the air from his lungs. Jonas felt the bite of the demon’s long talons trying to gouge holes through his magical armor and chain mail. Jonas struggled, but his arms were pinned by the demon’s powerful legs.

  The beast’s claws ripped at the exposed flesh on his arms, his vital areas saved by the magical armor. The razor sharp claws tore through Jonas’s clothes but could not find his flesh through the armor.

  Jonas lay there, blinded by the darkness, his heart pounding with fear. Terror gripped him and he almost succumbed to it until he remembered Kiln’s teachings and once again entered the state of Ty’erm.

  The demon hissed with frustration when his front claws could not break through Jonas’s rib cage, his armor shielding heart and lungs from the deadly talons.

  “I’ll just feed on your face first,” spit the demon as its maw opened, moving toward Jonas’s face in the darkness.

  Jonas closed his eyes, concentrating on the demon on top of him. He could feel the familiar energy in all the air particles around the beast so he focused his mind on these particles, creating a mold of energy around the demon. Then he froze the particles. Suddenly the demon couldn’t move its body, its deadly jaw only inches from Jonas’s unprotected face.

  “Feed on this!” yelled Jonas, directing a pulse of energy into the particles surrounding the demon. The demon flew backwards as if it were flung from a catapult, the sphere of darkness surrounding Jonas leaving with the beast.

  The Greever reacted quickly, flinging its wings out wide and beating at the still night air. The demon hovered in the darkness forty paces above Jonas.

  Jonas stood up slowly, his head aching from the tremendous amount of energy that he was forced to expend to hold the powerful demon. Jonas brought forth his God Light again. The bright light flared powerfully and lit up the area around him. Jonas saw movement to his right. Glancing over he could see Kiln’s form stand shakily, his sword held before him.

  Jonas was relieved that Kiln was not dead, but the relief soon vanished as he looked back up into the air just as the demon bore down at him from the darkness. Jonas brought up his blades once again fending off the attack with desperate defensive maneuvers.

  The demon hovered several paces off the ground, its long leather wings beating powerfully, sending gusts of wind and dust into Jonas’s eyes. The beast’s claws lashed out again and again trying to bring down the expert swordsman.

  Jonas fought with all his strength, relentlessly blocking the deadly claws and attacking with lighting quick jabs and ripostes, scoring numerous hits to the beast. But the Greever was a hunter of another world and its strength and power was nearly inexhaustible.

  The Greever then changed tactics; it landed softly, and with one smooth motion sent both spiked wings and both sets of claws in for the kill.

  Jonas reacted quickly, spinning his deadly blades in a deflecting barrage of steel, but he couldn’t block both wings and claws. A powerful claw broke through his defenses and penetrated the gaps on his helmet, just missing his eyes. The razor sharp talons cut two shallow lacerations across his forehead. The pain was intense as evil magic penetrated the wounds, but Jonas, in the state of Ty’erm, was able to ignore the pain, and concentrate on the task at hand. Jumping back quickly he tried to focus on the demon, but his face stung and his eyes were filling with blood, making it almost impossible to see anything. Through a haze of blood Jonas caught the blur of a spiked tail before it crashed into his head.

  Kiln screamed defiantly as he saw the beast’s tail strike Jonas with tremendous force. Jonas’s head snapped to the side violently and his horned helm flew into the air. The powerful tail had launched Jonas into the air, spinning him around like a top to land on his side.

  Kiln ran forward without hesitation, his magical sword in his right hand as he quickly drew his long hunting knife from his scabbard with his left hand.

  As the Greever’s tail hit Jonas, the demon pivoted quickly, sensing and hearing the threat from behind. The puny human moved in faster than the demon thought possible. Kiln’s razor sharp blades danced left and right and scored several hits on the Greever’s arms as it tried to swat the deadly weapons away. The demon howled from the pain and shot both its spiked wings forward in attack.

  Kiln saw the spikes approach with lightning speed, but Kiln was the warrior of legend and he was able to follow their trajectory as if they were in slow motion. Kiln turned his body sideways just at the last second and both spikes shot to either side of him. Kiln, reacting rather than thinking, dropped his knife and shot that empty hand forward towards a spike. In the slow motion state of Ty’erm, Kiln could see his left hand wrap around the dark gray spike. He was hoping that the demon would react instinctively when he threw its spikes out for an attack by pulling them back toward its body. He guessed right. The demon pulled its wing tips back just as fast as it had shot them forward. Kiln gripped tightly as the demon yanked the deadly swordsman right toward it.

  The Greever saw the warrior’s move but it was too late. The swordsman crashed into the demon’s body, his glowing sword leading the way. Roaring in pain, the Greever felt the magic blade pierce its abdomen, erupting out the other side with tremendous force. Kiln dropped to the ground, trying to roll backwards out of harm’s way, but the demon was too fast. The beast shot both clawed hands forward, grabbing Kiln by his shoulders. Kiln’s struggles were futile against the powerful demon. He felt the monster’s claws dig in deep as he was lifted into the air as if he weighed no more than a child. Kiln gritted his teeth against the pain as the demon brought him to eye level. The Greever’s beady red eyes pulsed with hatred and its long yellow teeth dripped with saliva.

  “You cannot kill me, human.” The demon spit out the last word with hatred. The beast’s claws continued to dig in deeper but Kiln didn’t cry out.

  “Maybe not, but I can cause you pain,” he gasped as he reached out with his hand and twisted the sword that was still buried to the hilt in the demon’s stomach. The demon roared in pain and Kiln could smell its hot fetid breath on his face.

  Just then he felt a searing pain in his back. His head sho
t backwards as his back arched violently. He could feel his lungs start to fill with blood. He looked down, seeing the demon’s tail underneath him. The beast must have snaked its tail between his legs as it held him in the air. The demon couldn’t get a powerful swing from that position but it was enough to bury the spikes in his back deep enough to puncture his lungs. Kiln coughed, struggling to breath, spitting blood from his open mouth.

  The demon threw Kiln aside like a piece of garbage. But Kiln was an experienced warrior and he learned long ago to never let go of his sword, no matter how grievously he was wounded. So Kiln held onto the hilt of his sword as he was thrown aside, yanking it from the demon’s body. The Greever stumbled backwards as black blood poured from the horrible wound.

  Jonas’s head rang, throbbing with intense pain. He shook off the dizziness, struggling to get his feet underneath him. If it weren’t for his magical helm he would be dead, the demon’s tail would have crushed his skull like a ripe melon. He staggered to his feet, the fogginess in his head slowly clearing. His face was covered with blood and he still couldn’t see. He closed his eyes and used his powers to locate the monster. He was an IshMian and could see the demon’s energy within his mind, allowing him to see the glowing outline of the demon’s form.

  Jonas stumbled again trying to get his bearing. He could make out two forms fighting, one obviously the demon and the other must be Kiln. Jonas’s spirits lifted as he saw his friend, but they soon plummeted again as he watched Kiln’s desperate attack, and moments later his body flying through the air to land unmoving in the grass.

  The beast was hurt, for Jonas could see the different shades of temperature on its body and its wounds were lit up with an orange glow. But the damage Kiln did wasn’t enough to stop the monster. The demon swung around and turned its attention to its real target. With lightning speed, the demon’s long bony body, outlined with blue energy, moved in like a glimmer of death.

  Jonas couldn’t move quickly enough and again felt sudden and immense pain as one of the beast’s sharp wing spikes drove in deep into his upper hip, just above his thigh greaves. He screamed from the pain, yelling in his mind for Shyann’s help.

  Instantly Jonas’s body flared with blue fire. Jonas didn’t really know how the power came. It wasn’t like he was praying. He just asked for help, or maybe that wasn’t the correct way of explaining it. He willed the power forward, and it came. But this time it was different. It was a new form of magic. Burning flames erupted outward from his body like an explosion, striking the demon and scorching its flesh. It roared in pain and leaped back from the fire, ripping its long spike from the deep wound in Jonas’s hip.

  Bright red blood gushed from the puncture wound and Jonas stumbled backwards, still blind from the blood that was pouring into his eyes. He didn’t know where the fire had come from, and even though he figured the magical flames came from Shyann, he did not have time to ponder the question. Jonas used his cloak, frantically wiping his face so he could see. He was able to clear enough blood from his face to allow him to view, through a blur, the scene around him.

  The Greever roared in pain as its thick skin turned black from the God Fire. The demon glared at the dangerous warrior, its lips curling up in a smile, exposing long dirty fangs. The warrior was stumbling on one leg, blood pouring from the gruesome wound on his hip. The pitiful human was frantically wiping the blood from his eyes trying to find the stalking hunter. The Greever, though badly wounded, knew that it had this one defeated. The beast licked its dripping teeth anticipating the taste of the warrior’s blood.

  Suddenly pain shot through the demon as arrows slammed into its back, into the joint connecting its left wing to its shoulder. The Greever spun towards the new attacker to see a brilliant light around eighty paces away coming at him like a shooting star. The demon crouched low, hissing in anger, and tried to flap its wings. The left one burned in pain and wouldn’t react to its commands. The arrows must have been magical as no normal weapon could have harmed him so seriously.

  As the light came closer the Greever saw that it was a female warrior on horseback illuminated with powerful God Light. The cavalier held a long bow drawn back tightly, a silver tipped arrow pointing at the monster.

  “Time to die, demon,” whispered the red haired warrior. She let the arrow fly, nocking another quickly. The arrow whistled through the air leaving a streak of blue magic in its wake. The sharp point slammed into the demon’s muscled chest. The arrows, blessed by the gods, burned deeply into the demon’s body, causing excruciating pain.

  The Greever was getting weaker; the wounds from the deadly swordsman, the young cavalier, and now this female warrior, were taking their toll. The beast needed to destroy this new threat quickly. Using its powerful legs, the hunter from another world sprinted toward the horsed woman with astonishing speed.

  The female cavalier sent another magical arrow into the chest of the charging demon. The shaft struck the demon in the upper shoulder, causing it to stumble slightly, but it didn’t stop the ferocious charge. The Greever closed the gap quickly and the cavalier dropped her bow and drew forth her long sword.

  Suddenly a form rose from the tall grass directly in front of the charging demon. It was the man that the beast thought it had killed. The beast could not stop its momentum, realizing too late that the man was still holding his glowing green sword. That was the last thing the beast felt as it barreled into the man.

  Kiln held the sword in front of him like a lance and the demon hit him hard. The impact felt like a smith’s hammer swung from a frost giant, the power of the charge driving the point of the magical blade through the demons thick chest, slicing through the protective bone plating that covered its heart, and burying the sword to the hilt, completely cleaving the beast’s heart in two. Kiln and the demon somersaulted through the air, landing heavily in a tangle of claws and limbs.

  Jonas could barely make out the events as he stumbled dizzily towards the light, leaving crimson stains on the tall grass behind him. He saw the demon charge a horsed warrior, but it was all a blur as the blood in his eyes still affected his vision. His head ached and his temples pounded like an army’s war drums. The use of his cognivant powers had weakened him tremendously. The loss of blood caused his vision to blur even more, and his body felt too heavy to bear. Jonas finally succumbed to his wounds, falling face down in the bloody grass, his mind a whirlwind of visions and thoughts. He rolled over on his back and tried to stay conscious. The last thing he remembered before darkness overcame him was the vision of a lovely face framed in red hair leaning over him.

  ***

  Jonas slowly opened his eyes struggling for consciousness. His vision swam and his head was clouded with pain. His eyes managed to focus on a flickering orange light which helped to bring him out of his sleep and into reality.

  The light became a burning fire. Jonas was lying next to it and wrapped in his sleeping blanket. Sitting by the fire was a beautiful red haired woman who was gazing intently at him. He remembered seeing her briefly before he lost consciousness. She was wearing magnificent polished plate armor that reflected the dancing flames off its silver surface. A dark blue cloak was pulled tightly over her shoulders.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked; her voice was soft and filled with concern.

  “I feel weak and tired, and my head hurts.”

  “Understandable, you lost a lot of blood and you suffered severe injuries to your head. I’m glad I was able to heal you. I feared you would have died.”

  Everything came flooding back to Jonas in a rush of memories, and he bolted upright, frantically searching for Kiln.

  The female warrior moved toward him and gently placed her hand on his chest. “It’s okay, the demon is dead, and your friend is alive.” She paused. “Barely.”

  Jonas looked around and saw Kiln lying on the ground, wrapped in blankets on the other side of the fire. “What happened and who are you?” asked Jonas, dizziness overtaking him and forcing him to lie back do
wn.

  “Your friend killed the demon as it charged me. I didn’t see your friend until he rose up from the grass and lanced the demon through the heart. The wound in his back should have killed him, and yet he stood up in front of a charging demon and killed it. The beast hit him hard, breaking both arms and several ribs. He was filled with poison and he lost a lot of blood. I don’t know how he survived at all. He never should have been able to fight a demon that was that powerful. He was lucky his blade was enchanted and that he managed to pierce its heart. He must be very strong.”

  “It was not all luck, and yes, he is very strong. Will he make it?” Jonas asked hopefully.

  “I don’t know. I will need to link power with you to heal him correctly. I don’t have the power alone to heal such serious wounds. I merely stopped the bleeding and eliminated the danger of the poison.”

  Jonas looked at the amber haired warrior intently. “How do you know I have power?”

  “You’re a cavalier,” she said bluntly.

  “I am no cavalier.”

  “What do you mean? I saw your God Light, and that mark on your chest is a God Mark, for no human could make something so beautiful. You must be a cavalier.”

  “What I mean is that I have had no formal training. I passed no tests and attended no school.”

  “What? How can that be?” she asked with surprise.

  “It’s a long story for another time. More importantly, what is your name and how did you happen upon us in our time of need? We owe you our gratitude. We would not be alive today if it were not for you.”

  The woman smiled warmly, immediately reminding Jonas of Allindrian. She had the same sharp features, minus the elven ears and almond shaped eyes, and her smile lit up her entire face. Jonas analyzed the woman as she stared at him from across the fire. Her long red hair was tied back at the top of her head by a leather cord, which kept it out of her eyes. Light freckles dotted her creamy complexion which accentuated her full red lips. Yet the line of her mouth and jaw created an image of strength as well as beauty.