Knight Fall (The Champion Chronicles Book 1)

by Brad Clark

  "General Urgal’s legions are on their way to join the battle. If all goes well, we will push them back to their homes."

  "Yes," the emperor said. "That is the news I was looking for. He will be ordered to continue the fight back to their villages. Slaughtering and burning the whole way. We must wipe their existence from the face of the earth.”

  "Of course, my brother,” Prince Tarcious said. “Your will shall be done."

  "Now be gone! I have many more things to ponder before the night is through."

  Prince Tarcious gave his brother a deep bow and left as silently as he had arrived.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The morning sun was about to make its appearance. The eastern sky was a slightly lighter shade of dark than the rest of the clear night sky. The stars were especially clear, especially the very bright northern star that Goshin had been so concerned about. Conner hadn’t thought about the old man in quite some time. He had been too busy with trying to stay alive. A sudden feeling of loneliness swept through him. He had been racing around the countryside for so many days, he couldn’t even remember how long it had been since he left South Karmon. But even through Brace was sleeping soundly just five feet away, the loneliness was overpowering. He missed the old man and his quirky ways. He missed the warmth of his own bed and the friendly faces of the castle staff.

  And of course he missed Elissa. He could not image the grief that she would feel when the news of her father’s death reached her. His heart ached for her and the pain that she would go through. There was nothing that he could do, especially being so far away. But even if he were there, he could at least provide a shoulder for her to cry on. He wanted to be there for her, to comfort her. It was a selfish thought, he knew, because he just wanted to be with her.

  He shook his head at his silliness. Trying to keep the thoughts from creeping into his mind, he tried to distract himself by stirring the fire. He moved the burning logs around, allowing the flames to grow when a sudden pop came from the fire. It wasn’t real loud, but loud enough to stir his companion.

  Brace Hawkden sat up from what had been a deep sleep and looked around, bleary-eyed. As his mind processed his surroundings, Brace jumped for his sword, landed awkwardly and stayed on the ground, writhing in pain.

  Conner held his laughter inside and called out, “Are you all right?”

  Brace sat up holding his head. “I don’t know what hurts more, my head or my leg. What happened?”

  “You were exhausted. About five miles from the valley, you simply fell off your horse and hit your head pretty hard on the ground. You didn’t move for some time, but you were still breathing. So I dragged you into the woods where our fire wouldn’t be seen and made camp.”

  The Knight Captain touched the wound on his head and his hand came away sticky with blood. “Ow. How long was I out?”

  “It was midday when you fell," Conner said. "And now it is nearing morning. So half a day and a night.”

  Brace jumped up, ignoring the pain in his head and leg and grabbed his sword. “Get the horses. We must ride.”

  “Are you okay?” Conner asked.

  “No, but I don’t need to be," Brace replied. "We lost much time. Too much.”

  “You needed rest,” Conner said apologetically.

  Brace stopped in mid-step and let his chin fall to his chest. “You were right to let me rest. I have been on the go for so many days. I have no idea when I last slept.”

  “I have food,” Conner added.

  “And I am starved. But we must eat on the go.”

  It took only minutes to break camp. Generally, Brace tried to clean up his camps to prevent the untrained eye from recognizing that there had been a camp. But Brace was in too big of hurry. He knew they were way late and likely had already missed Neffenmark. If the fat lord was going to make a play for the crown, then he would likely have already started for South Karmon to stake his claim to the throne. If that was the case, then they still might be able to chase him down. Lord Neffenmark’s wagon train didn’t move fast, barely at the pace of a walk.

  The horses were more than ready to go after getting plenty of rest. The moment Conner touched his heels to the side of Lilly, she shot forward at a canter. He had to pull her back and keep her from running too fast. Brace kept them at a pace that pushed the horses hard, but not hard enough to hurt them.

  ***

  Brace Hawkden squatted behind thick foliage at the edge of the woods. In front of them was Neffenmark’s village. It had a name, but Brace had no idea what it was called. He had never been in it; he had always bypassed it and the front entrance to the castle. Even though the secret entrance up through the cliffs of the mountain was not widely known, it was still watched closely. He knew most of the lookout points and they were inaccessible from the outside and even a well-placed arrow would not reach the lookout guards. Since they had arrived some time ago, they had not seen one villager or even evidence that anyone was there. Even as twilight was descending, there were no lights or lamps lit in any of the homes or shops.

  “Let’s go,” Brace said. He stood and checked that his sword was secured in his scabbard. Conner followed, next to, but a step behind the larger man.

  Cautiously they approached the village. They avoided the main road, coming up through a trampled field instead. They scanned the nearby houses looking for any movement, especially the tip of an arrow sticking out. Brace tried to walk in an unthreatening manner to avoid being noticed, but he was still clad in his chain armor. The only unthreatening part of his approach was his obvious limp.

  The village was spread out across a large area. The uneven terrain of the mountains kept the inhabitants from building close to one another. Here and there three or four buildings were clumped together, but mostly the buildings of the village were spread out. They passed the first building without incident. It was a small thatch roofed house with its door cracked open. Brace kept his eye on the door as they passed, but there were no signs of its occupants.

  The crunch of their boots on the ground seemed to echo loudly. There was not even the sound of birds chirruping or dogs barking.

  “Where are they?” Conner asked as quietly as he could.

  Brace shook his head slowly, his hand gripping the pommel of his sword even more tightly. They continued walking in silence, straight down the center of the village towards the castle.

  Neffenmark castle was built out from the lower slopes of the mountain. Half of the castle was actually in the mountain, having been dug out during the original construction. The rest of the castle was not as elaborate as the multi-spired stone building that perched atop the cliffs in South Karmon. But it was serviceable when it came to defense. The castle was but a single square structure with a tower at both corners. Battlements lined the top of the walls. A single gate at the center of the outermost wall blocked their way.

  The two doors that comprised the gate were each twice as tall as Brace, easily allowing a rider on a warhorse to enter the castle without having to duck. The doors were half as wide as they were tall. Maybe two riders could ride abreast, but it would have been a tight squeeze.

  “Should we knock?” Conner asked.

  Brace looked up. There was a wide gap in the battlements atop the wall just above them. It was wide enough for a barrel or two of hot oil to be pushed on top of unsuspecting assaulters.

  “Should we not have been challenged? Where is everyone?” Conner asked again.

  “I do not know,” Brace replied. “Nothing about this village makes sense.” He looked more closely at the doors and realized there was an odd gap between them. He drew is sword and took a step back.

  “Push it,” Brace ordered.

  It took Conner a moment to realize what Brace was asking and then he walked up to one of the doors and gave it a hearty push. It moved easily, to his surprise. He jumped back and drew his swords.

  The doors opened up to a long corridor. At the far end was another gate, but it was open. In betwee
n was thirty feet of open space. Arrow slits were cut into the wall about ten feet above the ground. There was a reason the gates were so narrow. If the castle was assaulted, it was a real bottleneck for the assaulters. Many, many men would die in the assault. Brace and Conner moved slowly, their eyes on the arrow slits. With each step, their eyes were stuck on the arrow slits expecting a razor sharp arrow to suddenly appear and shoot them down.

  “Is this wise?” Conner asked. “We can easily be killed.”

  “It is likely a trap, but that is why we are here. To spring it and kill Neffenmark before he can do any more damage.”

  As they reached the inner gate, Brace gave Conner a quick push and they jumped through the doorway, expecting the portcullis to drop on them. But it didn’t. Brace quickly scanned the inner courtyard, but it was as deserted as the city. There were patches of grass in the courtyard, but mostly it was dirt covered. Directly in front of them, about a hundred feet away was the face of the mountain. A set of closed double doors faced them, cut directly into the stone of the mountain. The courtyard stretched about a hundred feet both to their left and right. A large wood structure was to their left with the smell indicating that horses were stabled inside. Or used to be stabled inside. To their right was a square stone building with several doors leading into it.

  Spinning slowly while walking through the courtyard, Brace scanned the castle walls for signs of ambush. He only relaxed after he had crossed the courtyard and stood at the doors directly across from the castle gate.

  “Should I check the stables?” Conner asked. “Look to see if there are any horses?”

  Brace nodded. “There is an entrance from the back of the stables into a hallway that leads to the room behind this door. Move slowly and silently.”

  “You don’t want to wait for me?” Conner asked with a whisper.

  “I’ll be okay.”

  Conner nodded, unsure that Brace would really be okay. He moved as quickly as he could without making noise. Just as he reached the open archway that lead to the stables, Conner glanced back to see Brace step through the double doors.

  Like the village and presumably the rest of the castle, the stables were deserted. There was still the strong scent of manure, so he knew that the horses had only recently left. He glanced in each stall, just to be sure. There were a few saddles and miscellaneous tack on the ground as if the riders had left in a hurry. There were two torches still burning, but they were almost burned out. Soon there would be no light left as the sun no longer offered light to the enclosed stables. He sheathed one of his swords and took the longer of the two torches and headed towards the far end to find the hallway that Brace had mentioned.

  ***

  Brace stepped through the door and heard the whiz and knew what hit him before the pain exploded through his shoulder. He spun around partially because of the force of the crossbow bolt and partially because his fighting instincts kicked in. His spin caused him to land on the ground and he rolled once more away from the doorway. A second bolt whizzed past his head and buried deep into the wall.

  Brace lifted himself to a knee, raised his sword and scanned the room. He didn’t care who was firing the crossbow, he just needed to find a way to get out of the shooters line of sight. In less than a second, he took in the room. He had been here before, so he already knew its layout. The room was Neffenmark’s audience chamber. Along the far wall were stacks of pillows where the fat lord held court. Curtains were draped along both walls covering doors from adjoining hallways. Various tables and chairs were to his left where he knew Neffenmark’s favorites were allowed to feast on the lord’s exquisite food. With his bearings set, Brace dove for the table and chairs hoping one of them could provide him enough cover until Conner could come.

  Another crossbow bolt struck the wall where Brace had just been.

  “You are quick for being lame,” a voice shouted from the far end of the room.

  Brace peeked around a table and noticed movement from behind the curtains on the far wall. He hoped that the shooter was reloading the crossbow so he exposed himself momentarily to pick up the table and push it over. Once settled behind his thick oaken shield, he looked around the corner of the table just as he saw the crossbow between the folds of the curtain. Before he could react, the crossbow was shot and the bolt buried itself into the table, inches from his face. Fortunately, Neffenmark had his tables constructed from thick and hard oak. A lighter wood might have allowed the bolt to fly through. With a grunt, Brace pushed the table forward about ten feet.

  “Where is Neffenmark?” Brace shouted out.

  “Lord Neffenmark has left his castle,” the shooter called out. “He has other business to attend to.”

  Brace’s heart sank. He was too late. The pain that he had been able to ignore until now overwhelmed him. The bolt was sunk deep into his shoulder, possibly all the way through. His right arm felt useless. Each time he squeezed his right hand, pain shot through his entire body. He had felt worse pain, but not by much.

  “Where is he?” Brace shouted back.

  “Does it matter?” the shooter said. “You will be dead soon enough.”

  Brace caught a slight odd accent to the man’s words. He realized the shooter was likely a mercenary from Taran. Neffenmark liked to bring in disposable soldiers. Pushing aside the pain for a moment, he put his back against the table and pushed it another five feet forward. Another bolt was shot, sticking into the table, but not through it. Brace peeked around. The shooter was still behind the curtains, hidden from view. If he got close enough, he knew the shooter would get only one shot. It would take the shooter too long to reload. There was no pain in the world that could stop him from killing the shooter if it came to that.

  Brace took a long, deep breath and winced at the pain. He was going to have to rest a minute to gather the energy for his next push. “Who are you?” Brace asked.

  “The man who is going to kill you.”

  “I’m already dead,” Brace shouted back. “The arrow hurt me bad. At least give me the courtesy of knowing who killed me.”

  “You seem to be moving pretty good for a dead man,” the shooter said. “I will unfortunately let you die not knowing. I know it is a cruel thing to do. But I am a cruel person.”

  “You are not Karmon. And likely not Thellian. That would make you Taran,” Brace said. “How much did Neffenmark pay you?”

  The shooter let out a chuckle. “To kill you? Nothing. I paid him for that honor.”

  Brace gave the table another push and another bolt followed into the table. This time a sliver of the tip punched through.

  “We could make this easier,” Brace shouted.

  “This seems pretty easy as it is,” the shooter called back.

  “I will give you one free shot. If I survive, I get a free shot on you.”

  The shooter laughed. “That would be unfair to you. I would put the bolt between your eyes and your death would be too quick. I would prefer you to have a death that will take some more time. Time for you to reflect upon your treacherous acts.”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about!” Brace shouted back. He leaned over to peak around the table. As the curtain shifted, he pulled his head back and a bolt whizzed through the space where his head just occupied.

  He was still about twenty or so feet away. A feeling of dread came over him. There was no way that he could charge and survive. His breathing was shallow and the pain that was spreading through his body made it difficult to even blink. His only hope would be to force the shooter to fire a bolt and then he could charge before the shooter was able to reload.

  Just as he was about to peak around the table to see where the shooter was, he noticed the curtain billow out on the other side of the room from the shooter.

  ***

  Conner pulled the door open and stepped aside, half expecting a flurry of arrows to cut him down. But only darkness greeted him. He stuck the torch through the doorway. The hallway went about ten feet before ma
king a sharp turn to the right. Cautiously, he stepped into the darkness.

  The torch had nearly expended its fuel so Conner moved more quickly than he wanted to. Because he was in near total darkness, the little light the torch did give off gave him enough to see by. At the corner, Conner reached the torch out to see what was there. The hallway around the corner was wide enough for three people to easily walk side-by-side. And there was a door on the left wall.

  At the door, he turned the doorknob slowly and gave it a little push. He stuck the torch in the room. What little he could see told him that it was likely just a storage room. There were shelves full of bags, boxes, and jars. He closed the door and moved on. Ten feet later, there was another door. Again, he carefully opened the door and was greeted by starlight coming in from windows high up on the wall. This was clearly a kitchen. Another set of doors were on the wall directly across from him. He thought for a moment about going through the kitchen and checking on what was behind those doors, but his instincts told him to move on. So he did. He closed the door and continued down the hallway.

  After about twenty feet, the hallway ended at a door. With a little less caution than before, he pushed the door open and found himself looking down a very short hallway, only about five feet long. It was not as wide as the hallway he was just in, maybe half the width. At the end of the hall was a red curtain that was moving, probably from when he had opened the door.

  “Your treachery will be well known through the land,” a voice said from the room beyond. Conner tilted his head, trying to recognize the voice. Not only did he not, the words were spoken in an odd manner, as if he didn’t know how to speak the common language of the Karmon people.

  Conner tossed the torch back into the hallway that he had just come from and closed the door. As quietly as he could, he drew his swords and inched towards the curtain.