“And there are only four of us,” sighed Rut-ki.
“But we are Knights of Alcea,” grinned Tedi. “The last K’san has been found, and we will not let him escape.”
* * *
Su-won sat up and stretched as the first rays of the rising sun shone on the tall hills of the hidden valley. He glanced around the valley and saw most of the Balmak followers still sleeping. He was not surprised. The lectures of K’san lasted well into the night and most of the followers would sleep until high sun, but Su-won had always been an early riser. He glanced around until he found someone else awake. Rising to his feet, he grabbed a waterskin and walked over to his friend, Ye-ho.
“Join me in a walk to the well?” asked Su-won.
Ye-ho nodded and stood up. “I am an early riser,” complained Ye-ho as he picked up his waterskin. “I wish K’san would finish the lectures earlier. I hate beginning each day tired.”
“You should do what I do,” Su-won said softly. “I prop myself up on my pack as if I were listening, but I let myself fall asleep.”
“That is dangerous,” replied Ye-ho. “If K’san finds you sleeping, you might be the next one on the rock of fire.”
“I don’t think so,” retorted Su-won. “He only uses that for traitors like he did three nights ago. I think he would only have you beaten for sleeping through his lectures, and I am willing to risk a beating to get some sleep.”
The two men walked towards the temple where the well was located. They had to walk a serpentine path as they weaved between fire rings and sleeping bodies, but they eventually made it to the well and filled their waterskins.
“I do not understand you,” Ye-ho frowned as they started the walk back to their camp area. “If you sleep through the lectures, how will you know what Balmak requires of you?”
“What Balmak requires has never changed,” answered Su-won. “While each lecture might be slightly different, they are really all the same. Balmak demands total obedience. All people must come to follow Balmak, or they must die. It is that simple.”
“And we are to be the army that carries out his will.” Ye-ho nodded. “I see what you mean, but what if K’san asks you questions about his lectures?”
“When was the last time the priest spoke to you personally?”
“He never has,” frowned Ye-ho.
“Well, chuckled Su-won, “there you have it. I will continue to sleep through the lectures. K’san can wake me when it is time to kill someone.”
As the two Lanoirians approached their campsite near the mouth of the valley, a dense fogbank flowed towards them. They stopped walking and stared as the thick fog rolled into the valley and spread across it to touch the bases of the hills on each side of the valley.
“That is most strange,” commented Su-won. “I grew up in Tanek, and we had morning fog on many days, but I have never seen a fog spread out like that. It is like water filling a vessel.”
As the fog moved into the valley, startled shouts came out of it. The two Lanoirians looked questioningly at each other and shrugged in a silent reply. Other followers of Balmak began to awaken, and screams of pain joined the startled shouts from within the fog. Su-won and Ye-ho began to back away from the fog. Other followers rose hurriedly and moved deeper into the valley to avoid the approaching fog. Within moments the entire camp was awake, and people started shouting in confusion. Everyone surged towards the temple, and Su-won and Ye-ho joined the frantic rush. As the mob pressed up against the temple, the flight slowed, and those wishing to move away from the fog could do little more than press themselves against a solid wall of human flesh, but Su-won and Ye-ho squeezed their way to the temple steps. Unexpectedly, the fog stopped moving, and an eerie silence fell over the valley.
Two riders emerged from the fog and halted before it. The two Lanoirians wore the tunics of the Knights of Alcea, and their mounts sported the horns of unicorns. Gasps rippled through the followers, but none of them moved to attack the Knights. Two more riders emerged from the fog and halted alongside the others. The two gypsies also wore the tunics of the Knights of Alcea, and they also rode unicorns. The followers of Balmak shouted in alarm, and one of them ran into the temple, even though such a trespass was forbidden by K’san. The man returned a moment later with a black-cloak at his side. The mage stared at the Knights of Alcea and immediately returned inside. When he reappeared a moment later, K’san and the other black-cloak were with him. The two black-cloaks immediately flanked the towering priest.
“What are you waiting for?” shouted K’san. “Are you sniveling children or followers of Balmak? There are Knights of Alcea before you. Slay them.”
Some of the followers shouted curses as they charged forward, but many more of the followers hesitated. The attackers raced towards the Knights of Alcea, but they ran headlong into an invisible shield. Su-won looked towards the priest as K’san offered a guttural growl and nudged the black-cloak on his right. The mage raised his arm and sent a fireball streaming towards the Knights of Alcea, but it also impacted the invisible shield and sprayed fire over the warriors trying to reach the Knights of Alcea. The warriors screamed in pain and retreated.
“I cannot tell which of them is the mage,” the black-cloak said to the priest.
“Then kill them all,” scowled K’san.
Before the mage could respond, two more riders emerged from the fog. Both of them wore the tunics of the Knights of Alcea. One was a man with patches over his eyes, and the other was a woman who rode alongside him., a short sword hanging from her belt. They also rode unicorns like the first four. Other riders came out of the fog and started forming a line across the width of the valley. They all wore the tunics of the Knights of Alcea, and they all rode unicorns. The followers of Balmak watched in silence as the Knights of Alcea lined up and spread out. A young man with stark white hair halted alongside the Lanoirians. A short woman with blazing red hair halted alongside him. An elf and a Cordonian hunter took their places at one end of the line, while a dwarf rode to the other end.
The line of Knights had a large empty space in the center of it, and four riders emerged from the fog to fill it. The first pair of riders reminded Su-won of death. The man’s eyes seemed to take in the entire valley in an instant, and Su-won was sure that every follower in the valley felt as if the killer was looking directly at him, and only him. The feeling sent a shiver down Su-won’s spine. The woman beside him stared at the tall, black figure on the temple steps, her cold eyes never wavering from the Priest of Balmak. The next pair of riders were immediately identifiable to some of the followers. The Warrior King and the Warrior Queen rode to the center of the line of Knights and halted. Murmurs raced through the assembled followers and soon everyone knew who they were.
“We are the Knights of Alcea,” King Arik announced loudly, “and we have come for K’san. Anyone who wishes to surrender before the fighting begins may drop his weapons and walk out of the valley now. Once the fighting begins, no one will leave this valley until K’san is dead.”
The valley grew deathly silent as the Knights of Alcea waited for people to surrender. Oddly, K’san made no move to restrain his people. He gazed around curiously to see if any of his followers would try to flee. None of them did, and the priest turned his glare to King Arik.
“I see fifteen people who will never leave this valley alive,” boomed K’san, “and I am not one of them. How nice of you to deliver all of the Knights of Alcea to me, Warrior King. Now, you shall see how little feared you are. My people are willing to die for Balmak.” Turning his gaze to the followers looking at him, he shouted his orders, “Followers of Balmak, kill them all! Attack!”
K’san’s voice shot through the followers like the crack of a whip. Even those who shuddered in fear rushed towards the Knights of Alcea. Both black-cloaks immediately assaulted the shields, but K’san ordered them to stop.
“Use your powers to shield me,” commanded the priest. “Let the rabble weaken their shields.”
The followers of Balmak were packed so tightly at the temple end of the valley, that most of them could not move, but those closest to the Knights were shoved from behind, and they charged with threats of death and dismemberment shouting from their lips. Hundreds of weapons impacted the invisible shields, and Fredrik paled noticeably.
“Rest,” Jenneva said softly to Fredrik. “The first wave is always the hardest.”
“I can hold it longer,” the Royal Sorcerer protested.
“No,” retorted the queen. “We will switch off early and often. I do not want any of us to tire with this many opponents. Rest.”
“Cue on me,” Jenneva said to the other Knights. “We are moving forward.”
Jenneva pushed her physical shield out before the Knights of Alcea and then rode forward slowly. The rest of the Knights kept pace, and the one-hundred pace clear space between the crowd and the Knights quickly diminished until the front row of followers could not even wield their weapons. K’san, even though he was magically shielded, did not attack. Curiously, the priest merely watched to see what the Knights of Alcea would do.
“He feels invincible with thousands of warriors around him,” King Arik said softly as he raised one hand over his head. “Let’s see how he reacts to our gypsy friends.”
“Take over the magical shields, Fredrik,” ordered the queen. “I will need to relieve Jenneva real soon.”
The king brought his arm down quickly, and the air sang loudly with the sounds of snapping bowstrings. Hundreds of arrows flew into the valley from the surrounding hills. Cries of pain and surprise roared from the temple area as the arrows struck the teeming mass of followers. The followers gazed up at the hills, but they could not see their enemies, and even if they could, there was nothing they could do to fight back. K’san snarled angrily as he watched his followers being slain. He turned and raised his arm, pointing towards where he had seen arrows come from. Before the priest could get off his spell, scores of birds swooped out of the sky and dived straight for K’san. The priest altered his aim and sent a fiery projectile into the swarm of birds, as another round of arrows flew into the valley. The fireball torched a dozen birds, but the others flew for the priest’s eyes. K’san raised his arm protectively across his face, while shouting for the black-cloaks to raise a physical shield.
“Their physical shield is up,” Queen Tanya said to the king. “Signal the archers. Jenneva, I have the physical shield now.”
The king raised his arm again and made a circular motion. The next volley of arrows targeted the black priest, as the birds slammed into the invisible shields.
“Again,” Jenneva called to the king as she watched the magical aura around K’san ripple under the fusillade of arrows.
Another round of arrows pummeled the invisible shields, and Jenneva smiled thinly as she saw the two black-cloaks say something to each other. She swiftly raised her arms and pointed at the trio of mages on the steps of the temple. Streams of fireballs sped from her fingertips. Jenneva aimed at K’san with both hands at first, but that was part of her ploy. As the black-cloaks reacted to her attack by reinforcing the shield over K’san, Jenneva spread her arms apart. One arm targeted the black-cloak on the right while the other arm targeted the other black-cloak. The dual streams of fireballs tore into the diminished shields surrounding the black-cloaks. The mages immediately understood what Jenneva was doing, but it was too late for them to react. The fireballs punched through the shields and tore into the mages. The black-cloaks screamed as their bodies burned. K’san turned and stared at Jenneva with a look of fear on his face as he quickly erected his own shields.
“That is a look I have never seen on the face of a K’san,” commented Tedi.
The black priest immediately moved to the shelter of the temple doorway where the arrows could not strike him. He raised both arms and sent sheets of fire streaking towards the birds, and the corners of his lips turned upwards as the birds burned and fell to the ground. King Arik raised his hand again and signaled for the gypsies to redirect their arrows at the multitude of followers.
“K’san has learned fear today,” Alex said softly. “Be wary. He is a cornered animal now, and they are always more dangerous than before.”
Another volley of arrows slammed into the followers, but the crowd was so tightly packed that many of the bodies had no space to fall to the ground. Some of the followers at the back of the crowd tried to climb up the hills, but the gypsies were ready for such a move. Arrows caught each of the escapees and their bodies tumbled back down on their fellow followers. Several more volleys of arrows slammed into the mass of followers, and the number o dead exceeded the living. Bodies began to fall on top of one another and the followers began to make room by trampling over the bodies of their comrades. They started attacking the physical shields anew.
“Jenneva?” the queen asked worriedly.
“I can handle the magical shields now,” Jenneva replied.
“Fredrik, back on the physical shields please,” called the queen.
“Can your archers clear a path to the temple?” Alex asked the king.
“What are you thinking?” asked King Arik.
“You and Tedi need to get into the temple before K’san has a chance to recoup his energy. We can tighten up our line now that the black-cloaks are dead. If the archers can clear a path to the temple, the rest of the Knights can secure the path while you two go inside.”
“But the followers will be able to escape by going around us,” frowned King Arik.
“Let them escape,” replied Alex. “They are leagues from any city, and the Lanoirian army is already on its way. Our goal today is to kill K’san, and our mages cannot keep up the shields forever.”
“He is right,” the queen responded. “Jenneva used a lot of energy to destroy the black-cloaks. If Niki can bring on a fresh attack of birds, I think K’san will retreat indoors. That will alleviate the need for magical shields. That would be the ideal time to rush the temple.”
King Arik gazed at the line of Knights spread across the valley and returned his gaze to the mass of followers trying to reach the Knights. Eventually, he nodded in agreement.
“Pass the order to tighten up,” said the king. “I will try my best to communicate your desire to the gypsies, but we must be careful that the followers do not attack us from the rear when we let them past us. Our mages could never withstand assaults from all sides at once.”
“They will flee once we charge,” promised Alex. “Without K’san staring them down, they will run hard and fast.”
“Do your thing, Niki,” commanded the queen. “Chase K’san into the temple.”
The red-headed mage nodded and raised her eyes to the sky. Wordlessly she communicated with the birds and sent them diving towards their deaths. King Arik raised both arms over his head and brought his hands together. He brought his arms down with his clasped hands pointing towards the temple door. The arrows continued to target the entire mob of followers, and he repeated the motion three more times in rapid succession. The birds soared downwards and headed straight for K’san. Although the priest was shielded, he raised his arms instinctively and backed further into the doorway. Queen Tanya raised and arm and pointed at the priest. She had no hope of shattering his shields with the spells, but she sent several fireballs in his direction to keep his mind divided between enemies.
The gypsies finally understood the king’s desires, and the next volley of arrows centered on the line between the king and the temple door, many of them quite close to the temple. The combination of attacks caused K’san to retreat even further until he was barely visible to those outside the temple. He still sent sheets of flame out of the temple to attack the birds, but the spells were not as effective as before because the doorway restricted his target area. Still, a large number of birds plummeted to the ground in flaming balls, and Niki kept up her call for more birds to rally to her cause. As the Knights of Alcea tightened their line, followers began to see a chance to escape
. They were hesitant at first, but after a few made it by the Knights without being molested, two streams of followers swung around the Knights. King Arik looked nervously behind him to see if any of them would attack from the rear.
“Wylan, you take the left flank,” Alex called to the Knights. “I will take the right. We are to clear a path for Tedi and Arik to get into the temple. Sheri, Bin-lu, Rut-ki, and Karl go with Wylan. Natia, Garong, and Darok are with me. Mages, follow the Arik and Tedi into the temple. Ready?”
“I will be leading,” announced the queen as she maneuvered Frea in front of the king.
Alex nodded in agreement as he saw his daughter gathering the power of a spell. Another volley of arrows streaked into the followers along the path to the temple. As soon as the volley hit, Alex shouted a charge. Tanya’s unicorn leaped forward and the other Knights followed in three columns. Tanya brought her hands together in front of her, and a burst of wind shot down from the sky and angled towards the temple along the path in front of the Knights. The fierce wind knocked the followers off their feet and tumbled bodies, dead and alive, towards the temple steps. Most of the followers outside the windy zone fled from the charging Knights of Alcea, but some saw no chance for escape. They raised their swords and charged towards the king.
Wylan’s group guarded the left flank and attacked the followers threatening the king from that side. Bin-lu and Rut-ki used throwing stars, while Wylan used his staff. Karl wielded a two-handed sword, and Sheri used her horse bow, but the unicorns left few enemies for the Knights to attack. Their horns slashed anyone who came close, and their deadly hooves made sure that no one rose once they fell. On the right flank, Alex’s two-handed sword reached out and sliced anyone in reach. Prince Darok’s battle axe reached almost as far. Prince Garong’s bow and Natia’s knives killed anyone outside the closest range if they appeared to be heading towards the Knights instead of away from them.
Knights of Alcea Page 43