Knight Rising

by Jason Hamilton

  “And your work is?”

  “I must...I must….I must…” he was rambling again, the crazed look entering his eyes once more.

  “It’s okay,” said Una, wanting to feel pity, but found herself simply too overwhelmed with emotions. This had all been too much. “A great knight is fighting the dragon right now. You don’t have to do what the dragon forces you to do.”

  “Force?” Antioch looked at her, but there was nothing of her father left in those eyes. He grinned. “No one forces me.”

  With that, he tossed the green vial, glass and all, into the blue orb.

  The reaction was immediate. The orb swelled in a burst of energy, turning the color of the vial. Great beams of energy shot out, destroying many of the cabinets nearby, and causing Una to duck.

  “What have you done?” she yelled.

  But Antioch did not answer. He did nothing but laugh maniacally. Then, as though forgetting about Una entirely, he darted past her and ran up the stairs.

  Ducking a bolt of energy that sizzled out of the now-green orb, Una followed, racing up the stairs so as not to lose Antioch.

  When she arrived at the top, she saw him at the keep’s balcony, looking upward. While the air had been crisp, and the sky blue, it was now heavy, the sky darkened. Una ran to join Antioch on the balcony.

  She arrived just in time to see a pillar of fire emanate out of the dragon far below. It rose straight into the sky, into dark clouds. Those clouds were moving in a swirling pattern, right above the keep, right above them.

  “What have you done?” she repeated, her voice hollow.

  “We worked for this day for so long,” said Antioch. She nearly took a step back. His voice was strong and deadly, not like it had been a moment before. It was closer to the tone she remembered, but more...evil. “When you were born, we were promised you would be the heir to a great kingdom, a kingdom of our own making, one we would shape together. We spent years researching, but we tried too soon. We brought in the dragon, but the magic failed, the breach closed, and the castle was doomed to appear for only one day out of the year.”

  “You opened a breach to the Otherworld.”

  “Soon,” he breathed. “Soon it will open again, and it will be the greatest breach ever recorded. All of England will be engulfed. We will push out the Saxons, the Romans, and shape this place after our own desires.”

  “You’re insane,” she said. “You have to stop this.”

  “Stop it?” he said. “Nothing but ancient magic can stop this. It is beyond me now.”

  Ancient magic? Old blood.

  Una swallowed. “Who is my father?”

  Antioch turned to face her, standing as tall as he had ever done. “You will learn soon enough.”

  She had to stop this. Reaching within, she touched that part of herself that gave her power. Instantly, it responded. She had kept it buried for too long, and now it begged her to be let out.

  Was this the ancient magic her adopted father had talked about? Did it have the potential to stop a breach from opening?

  Something began to happen in front of her. A thin, green line formed suspended in mid-air, directly ahead. Even as she watched, it began to trail downward, creating a thin, wavering line.

  The breach was opening, and it would be enormous once that line reached the ground far below. Una stared down to see the dragon had taken the advantage over George. A whip of his tail had sent George flying into a nearby tree, where he now rested, the dragon advancing.

  She would need to work fast.

  38

  Thunder cracked, and George looked up to see a strange green light emanating from the castle’s keep. The great line of light extended from the top, trailing down towards the ground, as though green lightning was suspended in mid-air. Whatever was happening with the clouds, it was centered around that green energy. They swirled in a dark pattern above the keep.

  The dragon bared its teeth as it advanced. “IT HAS BEGUN,” he said. “EVEN IF YOU COULD DEFEAT ME, YOU WOULD STAND NO CHANCE AGAINST THE ARMIES OF ANNWYN.”

  George shifted his position against the tree, placing one hand on its girth to lift himself to his feet again. It was not an easy challenge.

  “BUT IT MATTERS NOT,” said the dragon, still advancing. “FOR YOU WILL NOT GET THE CHANCE TO FIGHT THEM. YOU WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY.”

  Without any word, George brought his sword into position, readying for the dragon’s next, and likely final attack.

  Una stared down as the dragon advanced on George. She couldn’t see much of the knight’s condition, but she could tell by his stance that he was tired. He would not last much longer against the dragon, and none of that would matter anyway if this breach reached its conclusion.

  She had no other choice. She had to use her magic.

  Reaching within, she called it forth. It sprung out of her, desperate for use. It almost took control over her own actions, acting on its own accord. But she would not let that happen. She seized it, feeling it writhe like it too was a dragon, caught by the tail.

  Forcing her mind to dominate the magic, she redirected its momentum, sending it hurdling down towards the great orb of energy in the chamber below.

  Something about it resisted her. It did not want to destroy this magic, to stop the breach from opening. Why? It would serve little purpose in the long run. This wasn’t what her magic was meant for.

  But her magic could do it. She knew that instinctively. This was the ancient magic Antioch had talked about. It was capable of much more than it had let on.

  Directing her power forward, she forced it to turn inward against the breach.

  The breach resisted her, as did the green orb of magic that powered it. It knew Una’s magic, recognized it, but processes were already in motion. The breach was nearly open. It could not stop now that it was so close.

  But Una pushed forward, feeling her magic rushing through her, as desperate for release as whatever else lay beyond that breach. Finally she was giving into it, finally she was letting it free, embracing her true darkness.

  To her magic, it was worth the cost, worth bringing down such a mighty spell as that which opened the doors to the Otherworld, to Annwyn. If it meant the magic’s freedom, it would do whatever Una asked for now.

  The breach halted, and the keep shook.

  “What are you doing?” her father, her adopted father, was looking at her with wide eyes. “You should not stop what has already started.”

  Una’s face was hard, her jaw fixed as she worked her magic, guided it against the portal and the power behind it. “I…have to,” she said.

  “No,” Antioch rounded on her. “You shouldn’t even know how to use your magic yet!”

  He lunged at her, reaching inside his rags for the knife he’d used to slice his hand earlier. Una yelped, retreated off the balcony into the chamber within, her magic temporarily forgotten.

  No distractions, came a voice inside her head. Suddenly her magic surged, coursing through her without her control. It flowed like a great torrential river through her body, striking down the person who would stop it.

  Her adopted father halted in mid-step, his knife raised to attack Una again. Now his body quivered, his hand shook until the knife clattered to the ground.

  “Uuuuna!” he screamed as blood came out of his eyes and nostrils.

  “No!” she shouted as her magic attacked her adopted father, flowed into him, overwhelming his mind.

  Antioch fell to the stone floor face first, and lay still, blood pooling beneath his head.

  But the magic was not done. It still had the breach to close. And though part of it did not want to work against magic that was so similar to its own, it jumped at the opportunity it had to act at all.

  Torrents of magic rushed through Una, almost enough that it consumed her. But she struggled, rising to her feet, seizing hold of the magic.

  “If we are going to do this, we will do it my way.”

  It was an effort like
trying to wrestle a lion, the more she pulled, the more it threatened to lash out at her. Pain lanced through her head.

  “If you kill me,” she shouted, hoping the magic could somehow hear her. “You eliminate yourself.”

  The pain subsided, and the magic stopped flowing through her like a white-water river. She was in control again.

  “There,” she said. “Now I will finish this.”

  She brought the magic to bear, wielding it as George wielded his sword and spear. She channeled all of it, all that she could safely hold, into the green orb of energy. The floor beneath her imploded, revealing the chamber below, yet Una remained in the air, suspended by her magic.

  There was great power here. This green orb of energy that lay beneath her, that powered the breach. It was a great source. What if she took all that energy for herself? She could use it to bring her magic to an entirely new level. She could stop all who opposed her. Duessa, Archimago, even the Faerie Queen if it came to that.

  And this would just be the start. There were other sources of power and people like Merlin who channeled it. She could find him or the sorceresses at Avalon. She could become more powerful than any of them. Instinctively, she knew it was true. Her body tingled with the possibilities.

  No. That was not her. She was not what her magic made her. She was more than just a persona to be wielded by another being. She would not let magic or anyone else control her. She was Una, and no matter what ‘persona’ she chose to adopt, she still remained herself.

  Straining, she grabbed hold of the massive amounts of energy emanating from the green orb. And turned it in on itself.

  The energy exploded in an intense burst of power. Una couldn’t see it now, but she knew the ribbon of light outside that represented the growing breach, had recoiled back into itself, disappearing from view.

  The explosion burst outward, tearing each and every rock apart, and shattering the top of the tower into a million pieces.

  Seeing the coming onslaught, Una threw her arms up, and reeled in her magic to protect her from the explosion.

  39

  The dragon hesitated as the explosion shook the ward. He turned, as did George to see great stone bricks raining from the sky, showering on the both of them from a huge explosion that left the top of the keep completely decimated.

  Una.

  Last he’d seen of the girl, she had gone into the keep. He could only hope she hadn’t been at the center of that explosion.

  The dragon kept its gaze fixed on the tower. The green ribbon of light had disappeared, though there were occasional flickers of green among the rubble.

  “IT IS NOT POSSIBLE,” said the dragon, its voice a growl.

  This was his chance. The dragon was distracted.

  Lurching to his feet, George picked up his shield. He’d been lucky not to be struck by one of those flying bricks. He needed that luck to continue.

  A quick glance told him his sword had flown too far away for him to reach in time. His spear lay beyond that, and it was broken in pieces anyway.

  Suddenly the bright whinny of a horse rushed to his ears. He turned to see his Pegasus running towards him, braving the battleground to come to the aid of his master.

  The dragon’s ears twitched, and it turned its gaze back to George, but the horse was already there by that point. He swung himself into the saddle, ignoring the pain of his blistered skin beneath his armor.

  The horse made directly for the gate, but George had other ideas. He grabbed the reins and swerved the horse to one side, heading towards the lower wards and the buildings he’d seen there. Somewhere among that blackened stone would be an armory.

  His sudden change of direction likely saved his and the horse’s life, as a jet of fire flew through the space where he had just been. The dragon was on their tail. Moving instinctively, he guided the horse in a weaving pattern, making his way away from the gate and away from the keep, to where all the smaller buildings lay within the castle.

  Fire raced after them, but his guiding skill and the speed of his horse was enough to avoid the dragon’s breath, though the sound of great foot falls told him the worm was right on their tails.

  He reached the nearest gap between buildings and leapt from his horse, slapping its rear to keep it moving away from them. The dragon would hopefully focus on George alone.

  He darted into the nearest building, its door long-ago burned away. There was nothing inside but broken furniture.

  Continuing his quest, he ran past the building, temporarily obscured from the dragon’s view. He tried another building, but with the same luck. But there, at the end of the passageway through the ruined buildings, he spotted what must have been a stable. If there was an armory, it would likely be close. Without pausing to think, he ran.

  “WHY DO YOU HIDE,” said the dragon, whose voice was far closer than George liked. “YOU ONLY DELAY THE INEVITABLE.”

  George did not answer, only ran as fast as his armored legs could carry him.

  “I HEAR YOUR PLATE, I HEAR YOUR BREATH,” said the dragon. “YOU RUN LIKE ONE AFRAID.”

  He was not afraid. He was not afraid. George continued to run, away from the dragon, but not out of fear. He would never run away out of fear again.

  Slipping through an open door next to the stables, he finally found what he was looking for.

  Scores of weapons lay in front of them. Spears, swords, lances, crossbows, everything you could think of. Many were missing from their posts, no doubt used when the dragon had first laid waste to the inhabitants of Castle Silene. But judging by the number that remained, they had been understaffed. There were still plenty of weapons to be used.

  George grabbed hold of a spear. A beautiful, gilded tip wrapped over solid wood. This would do.

  Exiting, he stared ahead. Down the long passageway he just barely saw the tip of the dragon’s tail, still dripping blood from where George had cut it, disappear around a corner. And standing to his left, not far from the stables, stood Pegasus.

  It was now or never.

  With a loud whistle, he called the horse to his side. But no doubt the dragon had heard the whistle as well. He would likely come from down the passageway George had just seen him pass.

  Mounting his horse and giving the animal a swift kick, he raced forward at a full gallop down the passageway. With the sound of the horse’s hooves, there was no doubt the dragon heard them. With any luck…

  The tip of the dragon’s snout came back around the corner, followed by the dragon’s head, then its full body. “THERE YOU ARE,” he said.

  George did not stop, he did not turn, he did nothing but hold his spear forward, angling it downward like he was taking part in a jousting tournament. The tip of the weapon sparkled in the sunlight that pierced through the dark clouds overhead.

  The dragon opened its mouth, preparing fire to leap out of its maw. The back of its throat began to blaze with light.

  And George’s spear stabbed straight through the monster’s gullet.

  Instantly, the fire in its mouth died, and the dragon let out a horrifying scream, one that filled not only the whole castle, but the entire land for miles around. Letting the momentum of his horse carry him forward, George drove the spear in harder, piercing internal flesh and sinew as it drove into the dragon from the inside.

  As he passed, the spear snapped in half, with part of it left embedded in the dragon’s open mouth. George kept riding forward, then reined in his horse to turn and see what happened next.

  The beast thrashed about, waving its injured wings and paws, its tail whipping this way and that, in utter agony. The spear remained inside its throat, not only causing pain, but choking the dragon as well.

  George maneuvered the horse back a bit as the dragon fell, the tip of its wing nearly hitting them in its death throes.

  It writhed on the ground, one way then another, but its movements were growing sluggish, and soon it did not move at all, and the small trickle of smoke coming out of its nostrils,
extinguished.

  Deafening silence filled the castle grounds. Then, as if on cue, a distant bird sang its first note.

  George breathed, his chest still restricted from his smashed armor. But he was alive. He still drew breath. He was still here. And the dragon was dead.

  Una! Suddenly all thought of his own triumph escaped him as his thoughts went back to the woman who had brought him on this great journey.

  Heeling his horse, he raced back towards the ruined keep, swinging himself out of the saddle as he arrived nearby.

  “Una,” he cried. “Una, where are you?”

  “I’m here,” came a response almost immediately.

  George followed the sound around the other side of the keep, running until he finally caught sight of the woman.

  Una lay on the ground as though she had recently fallen there. She pressed herself up to her knees and George rushed forward to take her hand and help her up. Her face was drained of color.

  “George,” she said as their fingers touched. “George, you’re alive!”

  “I did it,” he said. Their bodies were close now as he steadied her on her feet. “I killed the dragon.”

  “That’s...that’s amazing,” she said. She sounded alarmed and relieved, but not surprised. She had believed in him, that much was clear.

  Hope, the old man had given him earlier. Indeed, it was his hope that had won the day, hope of a better future for himself, his legacy, but most of all his potential life after killing the dragon, and what that might mean for his future, and possibly Una’s as well.

  But hope was not the only gift he’d received. With that hope had come confidence, and it was that emotion that seized him now.

  “Una,” he said, pulling her close and gazing into her eyes. “Una, I have to tell you…”

  Words were not enough. Reaching one arm around her back, he leaned in for a kiss. Their lips met, and George waited for the possibility that Una would withdraw, push him back, tell him not to touch her again like she had several long days prior.

  But she did not push him away. She pulled him closer, grabbing his head forcing his mouth on hers. It was the sweetest feeling of reciprocated love, sending tingles up and down his body. Their lips pressed against each other in furious hunger, making up for lost time.