“That wasn’t a bad summarization,” Abigail remarked.
“You let him do what?” Katie asked angrily. “Are you an idiot? Caleb is good, but he is reckless. Letting him go out and do something like that… that’s as moronic as you can get. For all we know, he could be dead.”
“I assure you that he is very much alive. If he were to die, I would know it immediately,” Sir Edmond said confidently. “I can sense him at all times. I have been able to ever since I was released from Draesa. That is how I know that he is on his way to Laus as we speak.”
“That doesn’t make what you did excusable,” Katie retorted. If anything, it seemed as though she was growing angrier as the conversation went on.
“I would have had to render him unconscious and carry him in order to do what you suggest,” Sir Edmond stated firmly. “When he is driven, there is no stopping him. He did what he wished to do. I cannot claim to understand why he did what he did, but the actions of a prophet rarely make sense to anyone but himself. Consider what he saw in his vision though. He watched as Vincent and his men were killed. Then, he saw you and Nicolas die. And after that, he watched the slaughter of every child, man, and elder of Laus. He is most fortunate to have missed what would have surely happened next. Can you guess why the women were spared? I’m sure you can.”
Katie looked aghast as she took in everything that Sir Edmond was saying. Nicolas did not look much better. Vincent, on the other hand, merely looked grim. As horrible as it was to hear, he already knew the realities of the island.
“So Caleb is a prophet, and prophecy has been returned to the world?” Nicolas asked after a moment of silence.
Katie looked surprised at Nicolas’s words, and the realization began to sink in. Her anger had prevented him from comprehending what Sir Edmond told them until that moment.
“Yes, that is correct. He witnessed his first vision the moment that prophecy was returned to the world. He saw Gabriel Silver fighting him in front of a city. I believe that it was Reinsae from Caleb’s description,” Sir Edmond answered with a nod. “Now, I believe it is prudent that we begin preparing for an attack. Make sure the sentries see who approaches before they shoot though. Caleb will reach us before Isaac and his men do.”
“I’ll alert my guards,” Vincent said as he made his way to the door. “Katie, Nicolas, you may want to prepare for the upcoming conflict as well. We are fortunate that your armor and weapons were finished yesterday.”
With that, he left the room.
“I will not be involved in the fighting unless they get into the town,” Abigail said once Vincent was gone. “Instead, I will use my abilities to tend to the injured. I am not skilled at fighting among others. If I were to assist in the fighting, it would be more than Isaac’s men that would be harmed.”
“I expected as much,” Sir Edmond remarked. “I will be at the forefront on the fighting. I am already dead, so I refuse to stand back and allow others to die.”
Abigail pursed her lips with a knowing look in her eyes.
“Let’s get ready,” Nicolas said to Katie with a grimace.
She nodded once before she made her way to her room to retrieve her weapons and armor.
* * * * *
“You do not wish for them to know then?” Abigail asked once Nicolas and Katie were gone.
Sir Edmond let out an audible sigh as he turned to the Witch of Akabar. “There is no point in worrying them. I knew from the moment Caleb spoke of his second vision that I would be unable to finish his training. Every day, the bond between my soul and this golem grows weaker. A single sustained battle when destroy the bond completely. It will place too much of a strain on it. I am accepting of that.”
“Can you not remain in the world as a spirit after the bond is broken?” she asked with a hint of confusion in her voice.
“As long as the Blood of Kirakath was tainted, I could not pass on. The bond is now the only thing keeping me here. You unknowingly broke the curse that was placed on me before I died,” Sir Edmond answered in a paradoxical tone. His voice held both happiness and sadness.
Abigail did not even react to that news. If anything, it appeared as though she was hearing something she already knew. “You are not bothered by the knowledge that he will be unable to finish his training and master the Blood of Kirakath?” she asked.
“I mastered it, and I did not have anyone to teach me,” Sir Edmond pointed out. “Caleb will master it regardless. With what he knows now, it should take him no more than six months to master the Blood of Kirakath to the same level that I achieved. That estimate assumes that I have no hand in teaching him anymore.”
“I hope you know what you are doing,” Abigail sighed. “If Caleb of Kirakath is the Last Son of Kirakath, he is far more important than we can even comprehend. Kyran spoke of him to my ancestors. He claimed that he would save the world from the Age of Darkness. I have no idea what he meant, but it was enough to make the Witches of Akabar look forward to his birth. There are few men that have been viewed in such a way by the coven.”
“Trust me. I understand what I am doing,” Sir Edmond said firmly. “Now, I would appreciate it if you waited here and brought Caleb’s friends to the front gates when they return. He will reach the gates soon.”
“So soon?” she asked in astonishment.
“It would seem that he has been using the Blood of Kirakath recklessly,” he answered in amusement.
“And what is so amusing about that?” she demanded unhappily.
“Perhaps it amuses me to see the hero that your coven has anticipated acting as a rash young man,” Sir Edmond countered as he made his way to the door. “Or perhaps it amuses me to see how similar he is to myself at a young age.”
Shaking his head, he left the manor silently.
* * * * *
“I need to see Vincent and the others,” Caleb said as he came to a stop in front of the gate of Laus. Noticing the way they gripped the hilts of their swords and the way the sentries firmly held their bows, he added, “I’m Caleb of Kirakath. My friends are guests here.”
Without the guards responding, the gates began to open. In fact, it seemed to be a surprise to them if their dumbfounded expressions were anything to go by.
On the other side of the gates, Sir Edmond stood attentive.
“You made good time,” he remarked.
“Thanks,” Caleb said as he sheepishly as he went through the gates. He released his hold on the Blood of Kirakath at that point. He felt his earlier exhaustion catch up to him the moment he stopped using it, but it was just the exhaustion from before he used it to enhance his stamina. With a little rest, he would be fine.
“What have I told you about overusing the Blood of Kirakath?” Sir Edmond asked him sternly. A hint of amusement could be heard in his voice though, ruining the stern attitude.
“That I should only do it when necessary,” Caleb answered with a grin. “I’m fine. I’m not strong enough to handle a sustained fight with it right now, but it’ll have to be enough. I’d say that Isaac has roughly seventy men. That’s after I killed thirty of them with my bow.” He gestured to his empty quiver when he finished speaking.
“It sounds as if you were busy,” Sir Edmond remarked speculatively.
“I think I could have taken them all down if I had enough arrows,” Caleb admitted. “They had no idea what to expect when I started shooting them from the forest.”
“Tell me everything you noticed about them. The more we know, the better prepared we will be,” Sir Edmond said.
Nodding, Caleb proceeded to explain everything in detail for Sir Edmond.
Once he finished, Sir Edmond left to speak to Vincent about what he had been told.
As Sir Edmond was leaving, Caleb noticed that Abigail, Nicolas, and Katie were there. Of the three, Katie was the one he found his attention focusing on.
Clad in black leather armor that hugged her curves with a gladius at each hip, Caleb could not help but note that she looked both
beautiful and deadly. She had always been an attractive girl and had impressive combat skills, but it was the first time had ever seen her that she truly looked like a woman rather than a girl.
“I hear you did something reckless today,” she remarked as she looked at him sternly. “What in the Abyss do you think you were doing?”
“I was seeing who we were going to have to deal with, along with getting rid of thirty of them,” he answered, making eye contact with her. Neither one of them was willing to back down until they were interrupted.
“Let’s leave the past in the past,” Nicolas interjected. “It wasn’t the best idea he could have come up with, but we’ll need the advantage he gave us. Knowing him, he took out half of their forces.”
“Closer to a third but not quite there,” Caleb said, shaking his head.
“See, he did something that gives us a big advantage,” Nicolas said with an appreciative nod. “Hopefully, that will be enough to change the battle.”
Nicolas and Katie both glanced at Caleb, almost as if they expected him to have a vision at that moment.
“I guess they told you,” Caleb said dryly. “I can’t do it at will. But from what I saw, they lost four men to every one of ours. Sir Edmond and I weren’t here, and they had a hundred men while we had twenty. It should be enough to change how the battle goes, but people are still going to die.”
Katie reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder, seeing the expression on his face. His feelings on innocent men dying in defense of their home was as clear as day.
“That’s how battles go,” Nicolas sighed. “What’s important is that we can keep more people alive because decided to act.”
“He is correct,” Abigail agreed. “Do not think of the inevitable deaths. Instead, think about the way things could have gone. You could have dismissed what you saw as a hallucination or merely sent a message of warning. Instead, you brought your training to a halt, sent us here, and put yourself in harm’s way just to help the people of the town out.”
As she spoke, Caleb could not help but feel a little guilty. His initial reasons for helping had nothing to do with anyone that lived in Laus. It had everything to do with Katie and Nicolas. He was well aware that they would never have agreed to leave the town, so helping them had been necessary. It was only later on that the people of Laus became part of his motivation.
“How much of a difference do you think Sir Edmond will make?” he asked Abigail curiously, hoping to change the subject a little.
“Golems are very useful in battle. I would say that a single golem is worth a dozen soldiers. That does not mean that he will take care of four dozen bandits on his own though. It is very unlikely that so many of Isaac’s forces will focus on him,” Abigail answered patiently. “Perhaps the only two who could draw so much focus on them are you two. Isaac Abrams no doubt wants the men that killed his brothers. If you were to declare your names, it would certainly draw attention to you. Unless you wish to bait a trap, I would not recommend doing such a thing though. It would be foolishly reckless.”
“I don’t see a reason in trying to get people to kill me,” Nicolas said, shaking his head.
“I’m not that foolish,” Caleb agreed.
Katie merely raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
Instead of retorting or acting insulted in her disbelief, Caleb grew sheepish. It did sound like something he might have thought about doing, after all.
Chapter 10
For what felt like the hundredth time, Caleb glanced over at Katie as she let out an audible sigh.
It had been a couple hours since his arrival back at Laus. It was plenty of time to prepare for the inevitable battle, provided Isaac did not turn his forces around and abandon his plans, at least. Vincent had laughed when someone made a similar remark though.
Sir Edmond, Vincent, and twenty of Vincent’s guards were prepared for the fight on the inside of the gates of Laus. Nicolas and Abigail were not far from them either, though it had been decided that neither of them would engage in combat. Not unless they were unable to defeat Isaac’s forces, at least. Nicolas was to protect Abigail while she acted as a healer.
Caleb and Katie, on the other hand, were in one of the sentry towers closest to the gates. Katie was not very pleased with her placement in the sentry tower, and she had made it clear a number of times already.
“Why am I even up here? I don’t have the same range you do, and you’ll see them coming before I do,” Katie grumbled.
He chuckled softly at her question and said, “I understand what you mean. You’re not the only one that’s unhappy about it though. I just took out thirty of them with my bow, and then they give me twenty more arrows and tell me to stay up here.”
“They’re only making you stay up here because you overused the Blood of Kirakath,” she pointed out irritably. “Besides, you can actually do some good up here. I won’t be able to.”
He shook his head as soon as the words were out of her mouth. “Do you really believe that? Yeah, I can do some good, but you can too. We’re close enough that you shouldn’t have any problem with your aim. Besides, it would be a bad idea to put you where you could get hurt. I’d probably draw my sword and leap into the fray if I saw someone hurt you.”
A snort escaped her mouth as she imagined what he was saying. “Would you at least take the time to climb down from the tower?”
He merely smiled in response. The thought of him leaping from the tower and stabbing the Sword of Kirakath into the wall to slow his descent came to mind. It would damage any other sword to do something of that nature, but his sword could handle it.
“They’re coming,” he said, suddenly turning his attention to the road. His ears were able to pick up the soft beat of a marching upon the road. He could not quite seem them yet, but he knew to trust his hearing. “Give the signal to Vincent. They need to be ready.”
Katie nodded before she made her way down the ladder.
He raised his hand so that it was level with his head. Within moments, the other sentries saw the motion and began to nock arrows.
Nocking an arrow of his own, Caleb waited patiently. Their silhouette in the darkness of night was just now barely visible.
“Vincent Meis, if you wish to see Laus survive this night, surrender Caleb of Kirakath and Nicolas of Caldreth to me right now,” Isaac Abrams called out as his forces came closer to the walls.
“I cannot do that,” Vincent stated in a loud but calm voice. “If you wish to survive past this day, then perhaps it would be best for you to turn around and leave at once.”
Laughter could be heard clearly from the entire force of bandits.
“Do you believe that we are so easily defeated?” Isaac asked once the laughter came to a halt. “Perhaps it is time to show you our might.”
“Signal the sentries to take out their archers. Once it’s done, get to the ground,” Caleb said quietly with narrowed eyes. He knew exactly what was going to come next. He did not need to be a prophet to know that much.
“Take out their sentries,” Isaac commanded as he looked back to his archers.
The moment his words were out, the bandit next to him fell down with an arrow lodged in his throat. He had not even been able to nock an arrow yet.
The other three sentries began shooting too, quickly eliminating the rest of the archers. It was not without cost, however. Before Isaac’s ten archers were taken down, the other sentries had all been hit. The first two looked to have been killed quickly, while the last one was hit in the arm. It was not the worst place to be shot, by far. As long as he was taken care of in time, it would simply take him out of the fight. If not, it could be lethal. That was to be expected of an arrow wound though, even a minor one.
It happened in a matter of moments, but Isaac had lost thirty men and Vincent had lost two.
Caleb was already out of arrows, but there was nothing to be done about it.
Creaking filled the air as the massive wooden gates were pushed ope
n, and the battle truly began. Vincent and Sir Edmond rushed through the open gates with the guards of Laus behind them.
Watching his mentor and ancestor fight was a sight to behold. In one hand, he gripped his sword- the sword that had been passed down through the generations in the Sullivan family. In the other hand, he wielded a massive shield. If he recalled correctly, it was called a targe.
When he swung his blade, anyone standing in its path was cut down. And when he swung his shield, his foes were thrown back as if they were hit by a giant.
Rise of the Champion (The Sword of Kirakath Omnibus #1) Page 39