Rise of the Champion (The Sword of Kirakath Omnibus #1)

by Billings, Ryne

  “It’s unfortunate, but it’s your only choice,” Abigail said. “Well, I suppose I could remove the barrier without the tome, and the taint would be cleansed if he went three years without using the Blood of Kirakath. I do not believe you have so much time, however.”

  “He needs to get the tome then,” Sir Edmond sighed. “And to make matters worse, neither of us can help him.”

  “What?” Caleb asked, finally snapping out of his shock.

  “A necromancer would be able to control me because I am a spirit, and magic users can sense one another, giving him advanced warning if Abigail accompanied you. The only reason you can go to retrieve the tome is because mages cannot sense the Blood of Kirakath until they are close enough to see what color your eyes are,” Sir Edmond said casually.

  Caleb just stared at him blankly. “You mean that I have to deal with a wizard that can control the dead and take this book back? By myself?”

  “Perhaps it would not be remiss to allow you to return to Laus. One of your friends would be beneficial,” Sir Edmond mused.

  “That’s a yes on the first part, by the way,” Abigail said, making Caleb groan.

  He had a feeling that things were just starting to get difficult.

  Chapter 4

  Just after midday of the following day, Caleb was approaching Laus once again. Sir Edmond and Abigail had both stayed at the temple on Mount Akabar.

  Caleb had been surprised by that decision. The Isle of Akabar was a very unfamiliar place to him, so Sir Edmond’s decision to let him go anywhere by himself was rather surprising. Fortunately, his time as a hunter’s apprentice helped him find Sir Edmond’s tracks from the previous day. His own were difficult to see, but Sir Edmond left deep impressions in the ground where he walked. His stone body was likely the reason behind it.

  “I need to speak to Vincent,” Caleb said as he pulled back the hood of his cloak. The guards were the same as the ones from the other day, so he knew they would recognize him.

  “Come with me,” one of the guards said as he began to lead Caleb through the gates and towards Vincent’s manor.

  As they neared the entrance, Vincent walked out of the manor. A look of surprise was clear on his face.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked, a hint of concern clear in his tone.

  “There’s nothing to worry about,” Caleb said, waving him off. “I need to go to the Dark Caverns to retrieve something though, so I was hoping to get Nicolas or Katie to come with me.”

  “That’s not a good place to go,” Vincent remarked, shaking his head. “If you have to go there, it would not be a good idea to go alone. I can already guess why Sir Edmond and the witch cannot help you. Unfortunately, taking either Nicolas or Katie with you would mean that they would lose valuable time training.”

  Caleb nodded in understanding. He hated the idea of taking them away from their training, especially when the task at hand had to do with his own.

  “That’s fine with me.”

  They both turned and saw Katie walking towards them with the hood of her cloak hiding her face.

  “I heard what you were talking about. I hope you don’t think I’m going to let you go deal with a necromancer by yourself. I heard some of the guards talk about the Dark Caverns last night.”

  “I would rather her go with you than Nicolas,” Vincent admitted. “He prefers to fight straightforward with a single sword. At most, he uses a dagger in his left hand to defend with. That’s how I prefer to fight. Other times, I wield my scimitar with both hands. I never dual wield blades of equal length though. It is a fundamentally different style of fighting.”

  “Then it’s settled,” she said, satisfied. “Let’s get going.”

  Caleb bit back a chuckle as he pulled his hood over his head. “Once we’re done, I’ll be back with Katie. I get the feeling that I’m going to be needed at the temple for a while after we’re done.”

  “I suspect that you’re right,” Vincent agreed. “Good luck.”

  With a nod, Caleb made his way back towards the gate with Katie at his side.

  * * * * *

  No words were spoken for over an hour after the pair left, but that was all the time Katie was willing to allow for.

  “So what are we going to do, exactly?”

  “The Last Witch of Akabar can cleanse the taint from the Blood of Kirakath. Kyran explained how in a tome he gave them, actually,” Caleb said, suppressing laughter as he saw the incredulous look on Katie’s face. “Unfortunately, the tome was stolen a few decades ago by the necromancer that lives in the Dark Caverns. He can’t open it, be he still has it. So we need to get the tome back.”

  “And naturally, your long dead ancestor us useless against a necromancer,” Katie remarked dryly. “Do you really think it’s safe to give her a tome of powerful magic?”

  “They had the tome for over a thousand years. Do you really think they’ll do something bad with it after so long?” Caleb countered.

  “I suppose you have a point,” Katie conceded.

  “What do you expect?” Caleb asked, making himself sound haughty. “I am a direct descendent of Archmage Kyran, after all.”

  Katie came to a complete stop as she heard those words.

  “What?”

  The question came out so softly that he was not sure if she had actually spoken, or if it was his imagination.

  “Apparently, Archmage Kyran had one son and two daughters. The son carried on the Cross line and is the ancestor of King John and Princess Eliza. The second daughter married into the Sullivan line and is the ancestor of Sir Edmond. Since I’m his direct descendent….”

  He did not need to continue. The look in Katie’s eyes made it clear that she understood.

  “This is more significant than you realize. Arcadia has been ruled by direct descendents of Kyran since it formed. If anything happened to King John and Princess Eliza, you would have a claim to the throne. Well, you would have to have proof of your lineage, but I’m sure something could be found.”

  When that sunk in, Caleb could not stop the look of astonishment from crossing his features. She was correct, and he knew it. If his lineage became known, everything would have become much different.

  “I wonder if Clovis, or his boss, knew about this. Your father was a popular man. If his lineage had gotten out six years ago, the nobles might have tried to put him on the throne after Andrew’s death instead of John,” Katie pondered.

  “But why would they kill him five years after King John took the throne?” Caleb asked. Part of him hoped to end the discussion quickly, but another part of him wanted to continue it. Curiosity mainly fueled that second part. Katie was sharp and had unusual insight, after all.

  “It’s conjecture at this point,” Katie admitted. “It is unusual that Duke Aron Black visited Caldreth a month before Kirakath was massacred though. While it’s not irregular for a duke to visit nearby cities to visit the counts and barons, the timing is still suspicious.”

  “You know a great deal about nobility,” Caleb remarked with a hint of a frown. He still remembered his conversation with Clovis before he did. The Count of Caldreth had mentioned serving a master. Duke Aron coming to Caldreth a month before the Massacre of Kirakath was very alarming because of that. He had told Katie about the conversation already, and he could see that she had made the same connection that he had.

  “You think Duke Aron was in league with Count Clovis, Cain Fell, and the Night Blades?” he asked carefully.

  “It is possible,” Katie answered nervously.

  “Katie, what’s wrong?” he asked, coming to a stop. She looked more nervous than he had ever seen her before. Given that he met her in a slave camp, watched her freeze up after encountering a griffin, saved her after assassins nearly killed her, and broke into a castle to kill a noble alongside her, he had not thought such a thing was possible.

  “I don’t know if I want to tell you,” she said after a few moments of silence. Her eyes were focused on her bo
ots as she spoke. “I shouldn’t have any problem telling you after you told me about your lineage, but if what I just told you is true….”

  “You can trust me,” Caleb reassured her as she trailed off. “We’re good friends, and that’s what we do.”

  Katie took a deep breath as she came to a stop. Her emerald eyes met Caleb’s sapphire ones before she spoke in a soft and calm voice. “Caleb, I was never known as Katie before I came to Caldreth. When people ask me what my real name is, I tell them it’s Katelyn. But in truth, my name is Katherine Black, second child and only daughter of Aron Black. My father is the very duke that may have plotted to have yours killed. Now, do you see why I didn’t want to tell you?”

  Caleb stared at Katie for a moment. No emotion could be seen in his eyes, but that was simply because he was stunned.

  He had always known that Katie was more than she appeared to be, but none of his guesses had been close. He likely would never have made the connection, now that he thought about it. She had mentioned that she lost a father that she barely knew, though she never said that he died. He had assumed that he had, but assumptions were often misleading.

  All of Katie’s knowledge suddenly made sense as he thought about what she had told him.

  She spoke of bards familiarly. She knew far more than the common man did about history and was well spoken. She had skill with blades that only came from someone who was trained with such things, and nobles were known to have their young taught to use a sword. That was not all either. There were many other minor things that he had noticed that could be explained by what she told him.

  “You could have told me earlier,” Caleb said as he finally took it all in. “I can’t say that I see you the same as I did before. I don’t mean that in a bad way though. Knowing more about a person helps you understand them, and understanding them changes how you see them. You’re still my friend, and I have no plans of changing that.”

  “You don’t care?” she asked in surprise. “I thought you’d at least be a little upset with me.”

  “I don’t see any reason why it should matter to me. You never lied about it to me, and I’m sure you had a good reason for leaving that life behind you,” Caleb said with a shrug as he began walking again with Katie a few steps behind him.

  “I wasn’t his heir, so Father wished to marry me off and secure an alliance,” Katie said quietly as she followed him.

  Hearing that made Caleb feel a little nauseous, but he suppressed it. He was not sure what caused it, so he decided to worry about it later. “I’m just guessing here, so tell me if I get it right. You ran off since you didn’t want to be forced into a marriage. You ran off to Caldreth, and you probably ran into Nicolas once you got there. You couldn’t live like you were used to, but the life of a thief was better than the life of a run-away.”

  “You’re closer to the truth than I expected,” Katie said with a weak smile. “The details don’t matter too much, but you have the basics down. I ran away after Father told me that he intended to begin meeting with suitors. I would have been married within a year. I did meet Nicolas shortly after I arrived in Caldreth, and he is the one that taught me the skills I needed to become a thief. The rest is history. I haven’t seen my father, my mother, or my brother in four years. I’m afraid that the next time I see them, I will have to fight to stop them from forcefully taking me.”

  “Look at the bright side. You helped me murder the Count of Caldreth. If anyone forcefully takes either of us anywhere, it’s probably to the gallows,” Caleb pointed out with a smile. He never enjoyed seeing Katie sad.

  Fortunately, the attempt worked, and Katie started laughing.

  No more was said for a while as they walked through the forest.

  Chapter 5

  Two and a half hours after leaving Laus, they reached the Dark Caverns.

  Despite the name, there was nothing dark or sinister about the place. In fact, it looked to be nothing but a cave at one of the island’s sandy seashores. With the sun shining off of the golden sand and the crystal clear water within sight, the area actually looked pleasant. The only part that looked menacing at all was the narrow path that led from the cliff top that they were standing on to the seashore.

  “Are you sure that’s it?” Katie asked with a hint of a frown.

  “Yeah, Abigail actually described it last night,” Caleb replied with a nod.

  “What do you think of her?” she asked suddenly.

  Caleb looked at her in confusion. He detected something that he did not recognize in her eyes and voice. He knew better than to try to understand a woman though.

  “I think she’s a very dangerous person. A single look at her is enough to tell you that she has power. She also has a great deal of pride in being a witch. You should have seen how furious she looked when she spoke to Sir Edmond at points.”

  “What do you mean?” Katie asked, curiosity shining in her eyes.

  He looked at her in surprise as he realized what he had forgotten to tell her. He went on to tell her what he had learned about Sir Edmond, the Blood of Kirakath, and prophecy.

  “You should have told me that,” she said as she slapped his arm. “That’s an important detail. Prophecy is going to be returning to the world because of our actions today. If anyone learns of our part in this, we will be written about in the history tomes. Perhaps blame will be cast on us for the injustices carried out in the name of prophecy, or maybe we will be praised for the good that it brings about. Either way, this is a monumental thing.”

  “If I was you, I’d worry more about the task at hand than what’s going to happen in the future,” Caleb remarked dryly. “We’re about to walk into the lair of a mage that has power over the dead. If that’s not something we should focus on, then I don’t know what is.”

  He proceeded to make his way down to the beach with his companion following him. He heard Katie mutter something about boys, but he decided that it was for the best if he ignored it.

  Like he said, they did have more pressing matters to deal with at the moment.

  * * * * *

  Though the Dark Caverns seemed to have been named wrongly by anyone that saw where the entrance was, they were appropriately named by anyone that had been inside them.

  That was how Caleb saw them, at least.

  Half an hour had passed since he began his trek through the winding tunnels that the cave led to, and he was beginning to lose his patience. A torch was held in his left hand and the Sword of Kirakath was held in his right hand. Both felt heavy in his hands, but he ignored his throbbing hands. It was better to have his sword already unsheathed when trouble arose, and it was too dark to see without the light of the torch.

  A sense of unease filled Caleb as he saw the walls of the tunnel disappear up ahead. It looked as though it led to a chamber of some sort.

  The thought of fighting a necromancer did not bother him at the moment. It did not seem real to him yet, so the words meant nothing to him.

  No, what made him feel uneasy was a completely different matter. It was the fact that he was going into a dangerous situation with the knowledge that the Blood of Kirakath was too dangerous to be used at the moment. Sir Edmond had cautioned him that it would grow more and more tainted every time he used it. Before long, he would lose all sense of rational thought under the influence of the magic.

  “Death,” Sir Edmond had told him, “would be preferable to coming to your senses as you stand over a comrade with their blood coating your sword.”

  At times like the present, Caleb could not help but wish he had taken a greater interest in swordsmanship before the Massacre of Kirakath.

  As he stepped into the wide, open area that the tunnel ended at, Caleb saw an elderly man standing before them, clad in black robes with a long silver beard. Bones littered the floor nearly as far as the eye could see.

  That was not what caught his attention though.

  Near the wall to his far left, he saw a pedestal with a book on top of it. I
t felt as if the book was calling him to it. He instinctively knew that it was the Tome of Akabar.

  “Who are you to come to my sanctuary?” the old man demanded as he hefted a staff of ebony before him. “You seek the Tome of Akabar, do you? Well, you can’t have it.”

  He let out a hysterical laugh as he slammed the end of his staff to the ground.

  Within moments, the bones that littered the floor began to come together. By the time the echo of the staff hitting the stone floor faded away, thirty skeletons stood around the room. There was nothing physically keeping the bones together. Caleb knew that magic kept them together and allowed them to move, but that did not help matters in the least.