Knights Without Kings

by J. M. Topp

  ‘I assume you’ve been told what to do?’ Trystrem said to Korhas with a frown.

  ‘We know what to do. Do you?’

  ‘Once the explosion goes off…we—’ Trystrem stopped as he realized that Korhas was poking fun at him. Korhas smiled and tapped his axe. ‘If you want the chance to kill something, you probably shouldn’t wait too long. I’ll see you below,’ Korhas said, baring his teeth as he stepped to the edge of the battlement. The walls scaled so high, they almost seemed like mountains from where they were standing. Korhas leaned over the edge and looked down. Elymiah stood beside Trystrem.

  ‘We are moving on to the southern roads to Aivaterra. We will meet along the Kingsoul River,’ Trystrem said in a monotone voice at Korhas. Korhas turned his head slightly and bared his teeth once more. Elymiah couldn’t tell if his smile and that look were the same. ‘Aye,’ Korhas continued. ‘In the event that we don’t make it out alive, please don’t forget to go fuck yourselves.’

  Trystrem stiffened and cleared his throat. They all knew when they crossed over the wall, the likelihood they would return was drastically low. Korhas and the Weserithians tied a long rope to the edges of the wall that and secured them. Korhas pulled on the rope for extra measure, and after he was satisfied that it would hold, he and the three Weserithians descended in silence. Korhas descended last.

  ‘You bastards owe me a barrel of ale when I return.’ He held his middle finger up as he slid down the rope into the darkness. Elymiah and Trystrem stared down at the wall and waited a few minutes before pulling the rope back up.

  ‘Truth be told, I was feeling guilty about sending the Weserithians down there.’ Trystrem puffed his chest. ‘Oredmere forgive me, but I don’t feel so bad now. Pompous fool.’

  ‘We move on south.’ Elymiah placed her hand on Trystrem’s shoulder plate. ‘I will meet you there.’

  ‘Godspeed, Elymiah. We will hold them off until you are free of the bastards,’ said Trystrem with a grim nod. Elymiah walked to the steps and proceeded to descend the wall. She touched the icy stone and shivered as its chill seeped through her gloved hand. She expected to see Robyn at the base of the wall, but there was no one waiting for her. Elymiah sighed and made her way to the prisons.

  The fool Robyn.

  Snow had been cleared in the Royal Square to allow troops better movement. Soldiers passed her without looking up at her. This was the final hour.

  WHEN SHE REACHED the prison doors, King William was standing by the door. He was wearing rugged riding clothing. Elymiah was a little surprised that he was wearing clothes like that. She knelt before him.

  ‘My King.’

  ‘You are the first to address me like that, Knight-Captain,’ said King William with a hint of disdain in his voice. ‘I have ordered a carriage to be let down on the other side of the wall. It should allow my wife a little respite in the escape.’

  Elymiah stood and looked at her king in the eye.

  ‘This will be a dangerous run, Your Grace.’ Elymiah chose her words carefully. ‘Only a few of us will have horses, and we will be going at a slow pace. We will most likely be attacked. I just pray the explosions Korhas and the other Weserithians cause will draw the daemons away from us.’

  ‘I don’t care what your prayers are, Elymiah. Just do your damn job,’ snapped William. He frowned and turned into the dark cell. Elymiah stood without words, shocked by the display of the king. She cleared her throat as two of the men she had sat with at the top of the wall approached with four horses in hand. They passed the reins of a brown mare to her without words. Elymiah shook her head and jumped on the horse.

  Weserithian scum.

  Immediately, she bit her tongue. Though she had only thought it, Oredmere was purveying her thoughts constantly. He would not approve of such words, especially of the newly-anointed king. Elymiah shook the thoughts from her mind and led her mare into the dark cells. Her men knew what to do. They had been trained extremely well, and even though not much time had passed since her Anointing, she felt confident in them. Silence was entombed within the cells. From the corner of Elymiah’s eye, she saw another prisoner huddled in his cell.

  She squinted and stopped her horse.

  ‘Who is in this one?’

  The men behind her shrugged. Elymiah dropped from her horse and stood beside the cell door.

  ‘Why are you here?’

  The man looked up from underneath his hood without saying a word.

  ‘Weserith is about to be overrun. You may stay here or come with us. The decision is yours.’

  ‘A criminal, Knight-Captain?’ Joan entered the prison cells behind her. ‘We have seen torches being lit in the dark. They are close to lighting the barrels of powder. If we saw it at the top of the wall, we are certain that the dark creatures did as well. We have no time for this.’

  ‘The choice is yours.’ Elymiah turned to her men. ‘Unlock this cell.’

  ‘It will be hard to unlock that which isn’t locked,’ said the voice from within. Elymiah raised her brow. She tried the cell door, and sure enough, it creaked as it opened.

  Suddenly, a tremor shook the stone beneath her boots.

  ‘That was the explosion. It has started, Knight-Captain. We must move,’ urged Joan. The short, bearded man stood up. He was thin, and loops of flesh clung to his body as if he once had been a more-than-well-fed individual. A member of Weserithian aristocracy, no doubt.

  ‘I guess I have been here long enough,’ said the man, and he followed the Aivaterrans out of his cell. Elymiah mounted her horse once more and descended into the second level of the cells. Her men lined the sides of the cells in armour. Their spears they held to their sides. Their shields rested at their feet. They grabbed them and stood at attention as Elymiah walked through the center. Five dozen armoured men lined the inside of the cell. Though they only had four horses, Elymiah would have to rely on them on foot for the majority of the escape.

  ‘I want a clean exit. I will lead the vanguard with Trommen and Joan by my side. I want two flanks, and when I give this signal,’ she held her hand out with her two second and third digits out, ‘I want you to fan out and guard the rear. They will be ruthless, and they will be frightening. Armour yourselves with the strength and honour from our god, Oredmere. The fading of the flame will result in the attunement of dark. Steel thine senses and brace thyself!’ Elymiah quoted the words written on her chestplate as if they were written on her own flesh. She sat atop her horse with great pride.

  A second tremor rocked through the base of the cell, making the supports creak and sway. The king, who sat at the edge of the cell, looked up. Elymiah noticed the queen for the first time. She lay in a brown dress. Her distended belly poked from her gown. Her head was hidden in the dark, but it was clear that she was laying it on William’s shoulder. Her breaths were fast. William, with his strong arms, placed the queen on the horse, and he mounted the horse behind her. He held the reigns taut as he held the queen close to his chest. A healer stood beside them, green-faced and seemingly nervous.

  ‘Stay close together with your backs to one another. Oredmere bless us.’ Elymiah guided her horse through the line of men and into a cell whose wall had been completely knocked out. Behind the wall, a clay and mud tunnel stretched out before them encased in shadow. Elymiah grabbed a torch from the sconces lining the walls. A third tremor shook through the cells, and dirt sifted from the roof. The prisons would collapse with them inside if they weren’t fast enough. She turned to William and the queen and nodded to them.

  ‘Stay close to me. Once on the other side, run as fast as you can to the carriage.’

  Trommen and John both mounted their horses, and the envoy exited through the broken wall. Elymiah kept the torch at arm’s length, sword in the other hand ready to fight. Dirt and clay fell from the roof of the tunnel in clods. The line of men kept their silence, with only the rattling of their armour making noise through the tunnel. Suddenly, a moan came from behind them. Elymiah turned and saw tha
t the queen had fainted in William’s arms.

  ‘My lady.’ Trommen stopped his horse and was about to come to her aid.

  ‘No!’ King William snapped at Trommen. ‘Stay on that horse. I will make sure she keeps her silence.’

  William tore a piece of cloth from his sleeve and tied the gag around Gwendylyyn. He kissed her sweat-lined brow and sat the pregnant woman up. ‘We are almost there, my love. Just a little longer.’

  Elymiah turned back and urged her horse faster through the tunnel. Suddenly, a crash of brick and stone roared behind them.

  The tunnel was collapsing.

  ‘Run! As fast as you can!’ Elymiah screamed, kicking her horse. Yet she could only go so fast. She held the torch before her and followed the tunnel that turned into a bend. She took the bend quickly and then saw the end of the tunnel. Moonlight spilled through on the other side. Screams from the end of the tunnel echoed fast to her. Dust sprang into her face. Elymiah sped up faster than the armoured men on foot. She glanced back out of the corner of her eye. The men at the end of the line yelled in terror as the tunnel swallowed them up. Dirt clouded her vision and entered her lungs. She couldn’t see, but she trusted the sense of the horse beneath her to know where they were going. A loud crumbling noise roared in her ears. The sound blew wind against her back and seemingly propelled Elymiah’s horse forward. Screams joined the cracking of stone. Elymiah didn’t know if it was the men behind her, but there was nothing she could do.

  Suddenly, they were free. Elymiah and her men spilled from the tunnel. Elymiah jumped off her mount and helped the queen from William’s arms. Men exited the tunnel as fast as they could go, and a wave of wind shot from the destroyed underpass. Men were panting and checking their compatriots in relief. Elymiah began to count her men that had survived. Twenty-five men, out of fourty, had emerged from the tunnels. Already, the casualties were staggering, and they hadn’t even left Weserith yet. Her men stood at the foot of the Weserithian wall. Tall flames could be seen billowing over the top of the wall. Elymiah could hear screams emanating from the other side.

  ‘Mourd, Oredmere save him.’ John dropped to his knees, staring at the mound of dirt covering the tunnel. Elymiah noticed that Joan hadn’t made it out of the tunnel, either. Elymiah snapped her thoughts to herself. There would be time later to mourn.

  ‘Silence. I want no unnecessary words. Form a perimeter around the king and queen, now! Bare your steel!’ Elymiah barked. Her men followed orders like they had been trained and unsheathed their swords and halberds. Elymiah turned to John, who was still trying to catch his thoughts and his breath.

  ‘Help me find the carriage. The sooner we leave this place, the better,’ Elymiah whispered.

  ‘Knight-Captain!’

  Elymiah and John both turned to see Trommen pull a giant green painted sheet, revealing a carriage. It had three scratches on the side, exposing the carriage, but the wheels seemed to be intact. Elymiah nodded, and William and the queen entered the carriage.

  Elymiah scanned the surroundings. Everything was still on the outside of the wall.

  No daemons. Nothing. Not yet, at any rate.

  Two of her men tied one of the horses onto the carriage. John was riding the other horse that was meant to pull the carriage, and Trystrem brought another one for Elymiah to ride on. They loaded up, and silently, Elymiah motioned to make a perimeter around the carriage.

  ‘Stay close to me, keep your silence and move quickly,’ Elymiah whispered, cautiously studying the murky skies above. The dark coloured clouds loomed like a thick billowing blanket overhead- thick and frigid. Elymiah mounted her horse and stared at the road ahead. Her men assembled around the carriage, spears in hand. They jogged beside the carriage at a brisk pace. The clattering of armour and horseshoes was the only noise given off, but Elymiah was afraid that it would be too much. They rushed along the dirt road going south. It seemed with the arrival of the Dark, man wasn’t the only thing dying. Pines that had been so luscious on their arrival were barren and devoid of life. The very grass had dried up. There were no birds or animals scurrying through the forest. Along the sides of the road, stakes had been put up. They had been decorated with naked bodies. The stakes had been pushed through their assholes and going up through their mouths. Flies and maggots collected around their open mouths and crusted eyes.

  Elymiah shuddered at the horrific sight.

  Other than the sounds of war coming from inside the city, everything was silent. Elymiah glanced at the battle going on within the city. Her heart raced to Robyn. She shouldn’t have been so cruel to him.

  It’s ok to need someone.

  Elymiah prayed that those wouldn’t be the last words she heard from him. Suddenly, a feeling of relief descended upon her. Oredmere had answered her prayer. Elymiah was sure that she would see him once more.

  She strained her eyes at the darkness and raised her torch even further. Elymiah’s heart dropped. A fallen tree rested in the middle of the road. She held her hand up, signaling the envoy to slow down.

  ‘It’s an ambush,’ said someone behind her.

  ‘Keep your eyes open,’ snapped Trommen.

  A sharp shriek came from the edge of the road. Pools of black sludge collected on the sides of the road. At first, Elymiah thought that it was tar, but as she unmounted to investigate, a bony hand clutched at the ground before her.

  To her horror, dozens of skeletons rose from the pools of tar. Her men surrounded the carriage and fanned out, holding their spears from the daemons rising from the muck.

  Elymiah’s horse bucked, throwing Elymiah onto the ground. She landed with a thud, her shoulder plates digging into her neck. She coughed and stood up.

  ‘Damned horse,’ Elymiah spat and turned to the daemons. ‘Brace yourselves and fight for your Queen Gwendylyyn.’

  Elymiah charged the skeletons. Their armour was different from their first appearance at Estia Fortress. Their armour was newer and had a shine to it. She noticed Weserithian and Aivaterran symbols on their chestplates. The daemons had killed her kin and stolen their armour. She spat again at the disgrace.

  ‘Kill them all. Leave none alive!’ Elymiah struck at the chestplate of one, knocking the torso completely off. The bones fell into a heap. Elymiah smiled at how easily it went down. She danced to the next skeleton, cutting off its legs from beneath it. She crushed its glowing red eyes beneath her boot. She turned to see her men dispatch them without much difficulty. Before she knew it, they had killed all of the skeletons in their way. She stood by the giant tree that was felled. For a moment, the only sound she could hear was the panting of her and her men.

  ‘We have to move this out of the way—’ The tree burst into bright flames, throwing Elymiah onto the ground again. Bits of splintered wood struck her chest, arms, and legs. She felt the warmth of blood trickling down her face. Trommen jumped to her side to help her up. A large man with the helm of a smiling skull emerged from the smoke, riding atop a black wolf, taller than the carriage itself. His black armour glistened in the darkness. He held a curved longsword and raised it above his horned head. The wolf it rode on had two swords and a dozen arrows embedded in its side. Its eyes glowed white as blood spilled from its wounds. Gore seeped from its mouth onto the ground. It growled as it eyed the knights before them.

  The man pointed his sword at the soldiers and uttered a phrase in a hellish tongue. Dark pools of muck collected around them seemingly out of nowhere. Elymiah’s breath caught in her throat as her worst nightmares emerged from the pools of black goo. Bulbous creatures with rows upon rows of jagged teeth heaved themselves from the murky water, screaming in hunger. Her men took a step back from the horrendous creatures that had no name. One of her foolish knights charged with his spear leveled at his side. One of the creatures shrieked and rolled to dodge the blow. In a flash, it rolled back at the knight. It bit the knight in the back, crushing reinforced steel in its jaws. The flesh-coloured creature then chomped, cutting the man in two. The knight didn’
t even have a chance to scream. Elymiah turned her head to see a woman emerge from the pool. The woman clutched at her bare breasts and opened her legs, fingering her womanhood. She licked her lips voluptuously. Suddenly, her torso split in half, and thousands of tentacles sprung from her belly. The daemon laughed as she sprung into the air, boosted by the tentacles coming from her body. She landed beside the armoured men. Whether they were struck by the nakedness of the woman or the daemonic presentation, they could only watch with mouths open wide. The daemon shot its tentacles into the open mouths of the knights, exploding their heads within their helms. A giant one-eyed snake emerged before Elymiah. She took a step back in horror. It rose from the pool with a deep growl. Its teeth, much like a human’s, displayed a smile on its face beneath the large eye. The beast raised itself high into the sky and rolled into itself, revealing rows of teeth on its underbelly. It reared its body to bite at Elymiah, but something crashed into her, knocking her from her daze.

  ‘Get the queen and king out of here!’ Trommen screamed as he tried to fend off a tentacle from the naked daemon. More and more monsters began to pour from the pools of blood. A creature made of decaying bodies sewn to each other emerged and screamed as it clutched at the carriage. A scream came from within. Elymiah snapped back into her mind and stood up, sheathing her weapon.

  ‘We will fend them off. Get her out of here, now!’ A tentacle wrapped around his neck and squeezed. Trommen’s eyes shot to the back of his head as he tried to struggle. The naked daemon tossed him into the air, and the giant snake caught him in its mouth, crunching him in his armour. The sickening sound of metal and bone being crunched made vomit collect in Elymiah’s mouth. Elymiah jumped to the horse, who was trying to buck from the noises it heard beside it. Its blinders kept it from fully realizing the horrors rising from the ground. Elymiah jumped on it and slapped it with the flat part of her sword. Instantly, the horse bolted forward.