The Labyris Knight

by Adam Derbyshire

  Ashe got to his knees, shaking his head, watching in shock as the skiff eased away, leaving a row of angry looking warriors lining the rail of the El Defensor, all powerless to follow unless they wished to be eaten by the gigantic eels now swarming hungrily around the galleon’s hull.

  What had he done now? He swore he had not touched anything! The skiff wobbled out into the channel then laboriously swung itself around the prow of the El Defensor giving Ashe a first-hand view of the damage that had been sustained to the majestic vessel. It certainly did not look so good from out here when you had moved back in this way.

  A huge net appeared to have been strung across the structure of the ship. It was still firmly in place on the starboard side but the rest of it now hung loose, draped over the splintered masts and crushing the sails. The whole ship was turned at an angle, appearing to be almost wedged inside the archway, straining against the net. It reminded Ashe of a majestic bird with its wings broken in a trap and he suddenly thought of Sinders. Where had that stupid bird gone?

  The skiff wobbled to a halt, then suddenly accelerated at full speed towards the starboard side of the El Defensor. His heart leapt into his throat.

  “What…? No don’t hit the ship, don’t!” He closed his eyes tightly and braced as the skiff scraped along the side of the galleon and slammed into the stone pillar of the archway, sending Ashe tumbling across the deck. Scaffolding groaned, wobbled, then plummeted into the water, dropping hypnotised crewmen and Scintarns into the churning current only for them to be dragged to the depths by the sleek predators circling the ship.

  The Halfling was up on his feet in a moment, terrified he would be blamed for this further catastrophe, before he noticed what appeared to be a small pile of refuse hunched over the helm with two scuffed boots sticking out of the bottom.

  “What are you doing?” he screamed, as the craft vibrated again before shuddering backwards, pulling away from the pillar, only to line itself up for another charge. Ashe staggered across the deck, determined to snatch the wheel away from this walking garbage pile, only to find himself staring into two eyes and a grubby face hidden deep within the mobile trash heap.

  “Barney is that you?” Ashe asked, just before the Gnome slammed the throttle forwards and rammed the gateway again, sending cracks shooting up the ancient stone structure as the vessel rose from the water and snapped the lowest chain attached there. “Do you think this is a good idea?”

  The rubbish nodded its head in confirmation, then tried to put the skiff in reverse again but it seemed to be suddenly struggling as if it were losing power. Barney struggled with the mechanism as Ashe wiped his nose and his tear streaked cheeks on his sleeve, suddenly caught up in the excitement of the moment and forgetting his earlier distress. He had no idea what the Gnome was trying to achieve but there was no denying it was fun!

  * * * * * *

  Mathius parried a sword thrust, rolled to the side to get clearance, then retaliated with three quick slashes across the magical warrior’s face, parting his skin to reveal the tightly packed pages beneath. The knight shrugged and lunged again forcing the assassin back away from the rail over towards the cabin entrance Ashe had recently ran from. Mathius tried to goad the fighter into over extending, to leave himself vulnerable but the knight was too sure and much too confident to fall for such a simple approach.

  The assassin’s left dagger parried an overhead chop and he tried to twist the hilt and catch the blade either to force it from the warriors hand or at least make him drop the enchanted weapon but instead he found the brute’s strength such that he started to twist back forcing the strain into Mathius wrist leaving him the choice of disengaging or dropping his own weapon.

  Mathius stepped backwards instinctively and walked into another person emerging from the cabins. There was an unmistakable sound of chainmail moving and the assassin risked a quick turn only to note, too late, the downward swing of a sword hilt that struck him on the temple, dropping him to the deck.

  More knights spilled out onto the main deck, causing Rowan, Violetta and Austen to pause as they noticed there were now duplicate fighters, mirror images of each other, stepping forwards and wielding their swords, the only difference being the colouring of their cloth. One set had blues as their predominant colour whilst the others had highlights of green.

  “I think we need to stop fighting now.” Austen remarked, lowering his sword, fully aware the battle was over when faced with such overwhelming odds. Abeline dropped to the deck from the rigging, eager to engage with the enemy, only for his face to drop when he noticed the sheer volume of foes approaching them.

  “I tend to agree.” Rowan replied, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice as the warriors advanced menacingly and Abeline’s weapon clattered loudly to the deck behind her.

  “Bring them on I say!” Violetta snarled, bringing her frying pan up before her. “No man is ever putting me back in chains again.” Rowan laid a soothing hand upon her arm.

  “I hear you.” She whispered, dropping her wrench. “but now is not the time for heroics.” Violetta shook her head and dropped her shoulders in defeat, gently placing her skillet to the deck as if it were a priceless treasure and not something that she had been bashing the opposition with but moments before.

  “What?” she remarked, raising an eyebrow in annoyance. “Do you know how hard it is to get a good frying pan!”

  * * * * * *

  Aradol charged out onto the aft-castle, aware something was happening to his right but unable to take his eyes from the woman crumpled on the deck. He charged across the space and dropped to her side, taking in her beauty with a heart that ached. If anything had happened to her he could never forgive himself.

  Rauph staggered to his feet and moved past the kneeling knight, his attention focused on something to the stern of the ship but Aradol’s intent was to the woman at his side and refused to be distracted. He lifted her head tenderly from the deck and gently stroked her brow.

  “Colette, can you hear me?” He asked, breathless with fear that she could not. He gasped aloud, praising the gods as her eyelids fluttered open and her beautiful cornflower blue eyes focused on him.

  “I thought I had lost you.” He sighed, scooping her up into his arms and cradling her softly against his chest. Colette looked confused, her mind clearly racing to catch up with the events that had been developing before she had blacked out but Aradol was caught up in the moment.

  “Everything is going to be okay.” He smiled warmly. “Don’t worry I shall protect you with my life.”

  “No you don’t understand.” Colette replied, her memory suddenly becoming very clear. The sorceress, the gateway, the spell. Oh no! The spell. She looked down at her hand in shock, realising the magical power holding the passage open from Taurean had now been dispelled by her lack of consciousness.

  The ship would be crushed! She turned her head towards the stern, noting Rauph leaning over the rail, pushing against the stone pillar of the gateway for all he was worth, trying to hold the ship from the closing aperture with a feat of strength that she would have thought impossible.

  She turned back to look at Aradol in disbelief. Did he not realise the danger they were in? Aradol looked at her wide-open eyes and leant in even closer.

  Then he kissed her passionately on the lips.

  * * * * * *

  Kerian thrust with Aurora, trying to strike a telling blow to the monster, only to find he had to step back as more tendrils darted in towards his arm, forcing him to swing up his shield and deflect the barbed fans away. One fan hit the top edge of the shield, razor sharp little teeth scratching the highly polished surface as it struggled to gain purchase and rip his protection away.

  “That’s it! Just keep him busy.” Thomas shouted from the other side of Malum. Kerian tried to see what it was the captain was doing and even take the time to say hello, re-introduce himself but instead the man suddenly ran away along the top of the archway,
leaving Kerian to fight the tendrilled menace all by himself.

  “What…?” he could not believe it! Thomas had run away and left him! He could not believe the captain had done such an improbable deed! However, before he had time to think about it, Thomas was gone and Malum turned all of his attention towards Kerian. Barbed tendrils whirled in from all sides, brightly coloured lights flashing pre-programmed messages to suggest Kerian drop his weapons, let down his guard so that Malum could feast on his brains but with the light from Aurora as dazzling to Kerian as it must have been to his foe, the coloured lights from Malum’s display were muted and thankfully ineffective.

  Kerian struggled to pull his shield free, then decided to do the opposite and shield charged the monster, pushing back hard in a move Malum clearly had not expected. Malum’s feet slid across the surface of the stone, his barbed fans initially frozen by the actions of Styx, the man who had forced him to this desolate place and conspired with others to curse him with his current form.

  With this unexpected success, Kerian shoved all the harder, until he physically pushed Malum over the edge. The monster dropped from sight with a scream and Kerian immediately turned towards Thomas, eager to have words with the man.

  Thomas had other ideas and was intently focused on hacking away at a chain attached to the top of the archway. Kerian initially had thoughts that this was a fine way to break your blade but the captain seemed quite determined and who was he to warn him that he would need to see a good blacksmith to get the kinks worked out of the metal afterwards. Thomas’s triumph as the chain fell free, instantly turned to concern as the entire archway shook and cracks coursed through the structure.

  Kerian nearly overbalanced as the tremors shook the stonework. He staggered near to the edge where Malum had fallen over and risked a glance down onto the deck of the Spanish Galleon to which he had been so desperate to return. His eyes roved over the deck in that split second, noticing crew gathered midships, some in the clothes of knights, others in more common seafaring garb. Octavian’s rowing boat was not far away on the port side of the ship, the gypsy’s rowing clearly not his strong point but at least he was safe.

  Not so the numerous corpses lying scattered about the ship, mainly hounds but also people who Kerian silently prayed were not crewmen that he knew. His gaze moved to the aft-castle, this would be where Colette would be because she needed to open the gateway. He just wanted one glimpse of her, one quick look to sate his need for her, to see that she was safe.

  Thomas started shouting something but Kerian was not bothered about the man right now. He needed to see Colette. His eyes fell upon her and he blinked several times, clearly confused with what he was seeing.

  She was in Aradol’s arms and they were kissing!

  Thomas continued his screaming but it fell on deaf ears. The captain started charging back towards Kerian, sword in hand. Let him come, Kerian did not care. He felt a pain in his heart, as real as if someone had stabbed him there and was now maliciously twisting the blade. After all this time! All the days, weeks and months of pain and suffering he had endured to get back to her and she was kissing someone else!

  He blinked back the tears, not daring to believe what he was seeing, only for a movement to his left to drag his attention towards a strange vessel that skipped over the water and slammed violently into the stone arch in an explosion of sparks.

  The whole structure swayed alarmingly beneath Kerian’s feet making him stagger to the side, giant cracks appearing between the blocks of stone that created the monstrous arch. He fell to one side, putting his hand out to catch himself, in an act that probably saved his life.

  Several of Malum’s barbs shot forwards, the fans opening out, buzzing over Kerian’s head as he dropped, opening when they expected to hit, the trailing edges scoring the flesh across the top of his scalp. Kerian spun on one knee, horrified to see that the creature was looming high above him, other barbs swaying and ready to strike. He had no time to swing his sword, no time to go on the offensive. He swung up his shield and winced as several barbs struck the surface, hitting with such force that his shield slammed down hard onto Kerian’s chest blasting the air from his lungs.

  Thomas rushed in, cutlass swinging, hacking and slashing for all he was worth, catching a couple of barbs and sending them flying away trailing ichor. Malum roared in fury, torn between the two men, not knowing which one he hated the most. Kerian rolled to one side, coming up right on the edge of the archway and only just stopping himself from overbalancing and falling onto the ships far below.

  Colette and Aradol! The thought galvanised his emotions, pouring out a hatred and bile that had Aurora lunging, striking, stabbing at Malum as if by these actions Kerian could purge his mind of the distress he held deep inside. Malum shrunk down onto the stone then leapt just as a huge tremor ran through the arch, sending a buckling force rippling through the stonework.

  Malum landed past them both, tendrils waving anxiously as he charged towards the next arch along, determined to place as much space between himself and the damaged column as possible. Thomas gritted his teeth and turned to follow, determined to finish this battle once and for all. Kerian fell into step alongside him and noticed the strange looks the captain was throwing his way as he ran. He appeared confused, as if he knew Kerian but could not place from where.

  The keystone at the centre of the Taurean arch dropped away, setting off a chain reaction that dislodged the blocks either side and raced through the stone the two men were running upon. The stonework trembled beneath their feet, huge slabs of masonry tumbling down just as they leapt from one stone to another. The column behind them wobbled then stabilised but the tremors beneath them raced past and to the next archway which started to vibrate as the magic sustaining it threatened to disappear.

  Kerian threw himself over to the next slab, Thomas landing beside him, Malum just ahead. They could feel the stonework buckling beneath them as they ran out onto the next gateway. There was an almighty groan, then the slabs ahead of them physically jumped before the whole arch cracked and gave way beneath them. This new gateway flashed, its arcane magical energies crackling as if knowing it was working for the very last time. The portal roared open, revealing a fleeting glimpse of a storm swept night and a skyline of tall structures illuminated with lights, then it surged closed, before the whole arch collapsed in on itself sending chunks of masonry crashing into the murky waters below.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Colette felt a tingling rush as Aradol kissed her. A cascade of emotions, feelings of security, the excitement of knowing someone truly cared for her. She wanted to enjoy it, bask in it, surrender to the warmth of his muscular arms but the timing of this passionate embrace was so wrong. She broke the kiss, looking up into his brown eyes, noting the total devotion and love reflected back at her from this charismatic man who had spent all of that time training her to use Kerian’s sword.

  Kerian’s sword! She pushed Aradol away, suddenly horrified by her own behaviour, angry at letting herself be this vulnerable, her mind battling with the feelings of guilt and insecurity whilst deep inside secretly wishing she could enjoy the feelings more. Her gaze stared over his shoulder and lingered on the erect blade that vibrated at the centre of the deck.

  The ship! Damn, how could she have been so stupid?

  Colette turned around, disorientated, the whole scenario playing out before her surreal and as if in slow motion. She noted the bow of the ship, the gateway slamming closed, huge splinters of wood shearing off and tossed up into the air, Rauph collapsing on the deck his body shaking in sheer exhaustion. She spotted the dark witch being helped to her feet by the strangely garbed man and then she noticed Commagin lying still, his hand outstretched, fingers curled, the Lady Janet abandoned at his side.

  Aradol placed his hand on Colette’s shoulder, unaware of the drama unfolding behind him, his emotions completely focused upon the beautiful mage. The ship rocked violently beneath their feet as some
thing crashed against the side of the galleon, before it slammed into the stone pillar. A mighty crack sounded as the net restraining the ship finally gave, allowing the wounded vessel to surge forward into the clear, huge masonry blocks crashing down into the waters of her wake.

  Magical knights stormed up onto the deck from both ladders, swords gleaming. Another crash, another crackle of static, the hairs on her arms rising as the adjacent gateway roared into life, revealing an alien landscape, a stormy night and tall closely packed buildings, before this too disappeared in a cascade of falling masonry and stone.

  “Drop your weapons!” the knights roared. Aradol turned towards the sound, bringing his sword to bear, his mind not thinking clearly, prepared to take on an entire battalion.

  Colette glanced over to Commagin’s still form, tears welling in her eyes and everything rushed back into perspective. She placed a hand on Aradol’s shoulder and leant forward to whisper into his ear.

  “Stop. Just stop!” Aradol turned back to her, confusion written clearly across his face, his emotions running high. “We can’t win this one Aradol. We simply can’t.” She lowered her head and Aradol’s shoulders slumped, his sword reluctantly dropping to the floor as the warriors moved in.

  * * * * * *

  Colette looked around in a daze as she was pushed roughly to her knees, noting the remaining crew all gathered there, hands upon their heads, shoulders slumped in defeat. Nineteen fearsome knights surrounded them, swords drawn, their faces devoid of any emotion. She tried to count heads, tried to note which of the crew had survived. Commagin’s body was dropped roughly on the deck in front of her making her gasp at the insensitivity shown to her friend, whilst vividly asking the question of what had happened to those who were still missing.