Kingdom's Forge: Book 01 - Paladin's Redemption

by Kade Derricks

  “Not everything is revealed to her. But her faith in you is strong,” Sera said. She turned to face him fully.

  “And you? Do you have faith in me?” Dain asked. He stared into her shining silver eyes, unable to look away even if he desired to.

  “I have faith in Jin, she has faith in you. That is enough. My potions will help you—tomorrow, before your first fight, I will tell you more of them. All contestants drink their own mixtures. Take this one now, and it will help you rest tonight,” she said, offering him a bottle of thick, oily liquid.

  “What did the queen tell you? What was her vision for you?” Dain asked.

  “She told me,” Sera hesitated and looked out the window toward the canyon. “She told me something wonderful and frightening and impossible all at the same time. A thing so fragile that I cannot even speak of it for fear of shattering it.”

  After a moment’s silence between them, Dain nodded. “Sera…” he continued, “Why are you helping me? There was nothing more you wanted in the world than to have me gone.”

  “My reasons are my own.” Sera gave him a solemn look, then turned and walked toward her bedroom. Slowly, gently, she pulled the door closed behind her.

  Dain stepped into the dueling circle early the following morning. A sea of wood elves surrounded the arena, seated in progressively higher levels so all could view the competition below. The wood elves thought a lot of their fighters, as most peoples did. Their oddsmakers were betting heavily against him escaping the tournament’s first round, posting a five-to-one payout and, at the largest of the gambling houses, he had wagered twenty gold on himself.

  A pair of elven mages checked he and his opponent’s weapons, then wrapped them tight in the blue enchanted dueling cloth and sealed them with a binding spell. Finished, they took seats ringside to fulfill their other duty, protecting the crowd from any stray attacks.

  Before he entered the circle Sera had given him a red, bitter potion to speed his reactions. Dain could feel it coursing through his veins. Time seemed to drag all around him.

  He had drawn one of the king’s bodyguards in the first round. One who had advanced into the final eight several tournaments prior. Dain crossed his sword and tomahawk over his chest, saluting the guard, then snapped into a strong defensive posture, waiting for the elf’s opening.

  The guard charged, swinging wildly with his sword just as Jace had. To Dain, under the potion’s effects, he seemed much slower. Conserving his energy for the long day ahead, Dain sidestepped the charge with ease, deflecting the guard’s vicious downstroke with his own sword. He used the blade to sling the elf past himself then whipped the tomahawk against the guard’s head. Steel met bone with a meaty whack and the elf fell, knocked cold before hitting the ground.

  The gathered crowd sat in shocked silence. Whatever they’d expected, it hadn’t been so quick a victory for the outsider. After a few moments of silence, King Teldrain alone stood and clapped, cheering the victory. The other elves followed their ruler’s lead and erupted with applause. Dain bowed to them and returned to a waiting Sera.

  “Tarol said you were good, but I wasn’t expecting that,” she said. She wore a wide, uncomplicated smile for what seemed like the first time in weeks.

  “Neither was the crowd, nor my opponent, it seems,” he said. “The potion must have worked.”

  “Truthfully, I was unsure of its success on a human. I was afraid the dosage would be incorrect.”

  “What would happen if the dosage was wrong?”

  “Too little, and it would fail to aid you, too much might have…adverse effects.”

  “Comforting.” Dain chose not to ask about what ‘adverse’ meant in these particular circumstances.

  His second fight lasted only slightly longer. He dodged a blast of crackling energy and then slipped inside his opponent’s defenses. The eager mage was just as surprised as the guardsman had been when a quick knock on the head dropped him. Silence again greeted Dain from the crowd.

  He had defied the odds twice now and done so with ease. It will get tougher, he knew.

  In the third and final fight of the day he faced his first shapeshifter and Dain changed tactics, charging headfirst instead of waiting. He hoped to end the fight quickly, before the elf could change forms. The elf was too quick though, and shifted into a large tusked boar, meeting the charge before he could close even half the distance. They collided roughly, with the boar using his lower leverage to flip Dain high over his shaggy back. It spun around then and swiped sideways with its long, ivory tusks. Dain, however, had continued to roll after being flipped. He rose up just beyond the beast’s reach, regained his footing, and stepped nimbly aside as the boar charged a second time.

  The two circled, wary of each other. The boar began creeping closer. The beast was trying to shorten the distance. Dain lowered his swordpoint. One hook with those tusks would end the fight. The boar burst forward, slipping just beneath the blade and slamming into his knees and flipping him over its shaggy back. He couldn’t continue rolling this time and barely managed to raise his sword to deflect the slashing white tusks.

  Eager to finish their match, the boar lunged closer, sweeping its head, trying to get around the sword. Dain stayed just ahead of the beast, then countered with his tomahawk. He struck a hard blow to the boar’s head squarely between its black, beady eyes. The animal’s thick skull prevented a knockout, but it stumbled around the dueling circle in a daze. The tomahawk had torn open a flap of skin. A trickle of blood flowed from the boar’s scalp.

  Dain used the boar’s momentary confusion to take an extra step back, out of its reach.

  The shapeshifter regained his senses and then charged once again. This time Dain held firm, ready to meet the boar head-on. He held his tomahawk before him and started pouring Light into the weapon. It began to glow faintly.

  The boar collided into it, releasing an explosion of Light along with a loud concussive blast. When the Light cleared, it staggered back as if drunk, weaving and swaying from side to side. It managed half a dozen steps before collapsing.

  Instead of the earlier stunned silence, the crowd roared approval as Dain raised his longsword overhead in victory. He could see Jin waving her willow-branch practice sword wildly above her head as she cheered from the sidelines.

  Mentally, Dain tallied his winnings. After three wins, his fortune stood at over five hundred gold pieces all from simply betting on himself. If he continued to wager on himself and won the champion’s prize, he could easily afford the land of his dreams. He was close now—only three other fighters would remain by the following morning. Two more duels stood in his way.

  Done for the evening, he took a seat among the crowd and waited for the day’s final contest between the former champion, Siam, and Krien, a powerful mage.

  Both combatants bowed to one another before the match began. The frenzied crowd chanted in unison for Siam, and he acknowledged them with a slow wave before taking up his staff. Dain had never seen a weapon quite like it. Made from black ironwood, dozens of intricate runic enchantments were carved along its length and large blue gemstones capped either end. They glinted in the fading sunlight. Even from his spot among the crowd he could sense their power.

  Krien opened the fight. The mage cast a quick spell and hurled a sizzling fireball at Siam. Glowing ash and black smoke trailed in its wake as the spell screamed toward its target.

  Siam whirled the ironwood staff in a tight, fast circle. When the fire struck, the staff simply absorbed it. He then slammed the end of the weapon on the ground and a spike of fire raced out along the dueling surface toward Krien. The spellcaster deflected the attack with more conjured fire, shattering it. But Siam hadn’t been idle. He raced toward the mage and swung a quick thrust at the elf’s head with his staff. The ironwood seemed to slow as it closed the gap before finally stopping just short of its intended target. Siam struggled to move it further, but Krien had thickened the air to protect himself. The mage hurled a wall of air
at Siam and sent him flying.

  Krien followed up quickly, throwing streams of blue and white lightning from both outstretched hands, but Siam had held onto his staff and used it to both block and absorb the spell. Sweat broke out on Krien’s forehead as he strained to force his lightning through the enchanted ironwood. Finally, the mage paused in exhaustion, and Siam swept the staff in a wide, flat arc, thrusting the casting back at him. This time the mage was unable to deflect the returned spell. The crackling lightning drove him to his knees.

  Again, Siam tried to rush the weakened mage. He was within ten paces when the ground beneath him softened and swallowed him up to his waist in mud. Krien had turned the hard-packed dueling ground into quicksand and muck. He sent another fiery blast at Siam, and the warrior narrowly deflected it with his staff.

  Struggling against the muck’s suction, Siam fought to free himself, but Krien turned the mud back to solid ground, immobilizing the wily fighter from the waist down. He tried smashing his staff into the once-again solid ground to no effect.

  Krien cast more lightning at the trapped Siam, and started circling to get to the elf’s unprotected back. Siam, still clinging to the staff, deflected the incoming bolts. He couldn’t turn far enough to face Krien. The mage soon managed to get directly behind him and began casting for a final attack.

  Unable to see his opponent, Siam started to spin the empowered staff around his head. The flashing blue gemstones began to glow, growing brighter with each pass and picking up speed.

  The trapped elf brought the staff lower until it touched the earth and, at each rotation, a scoop of dirt dislodged from beside him and flew into Krien. The gemstones charged each scoop with energy, and they hit the mage like a punch. Krien jerked as each landed.

  Siam kept spinning the staff lower and lower, finally working himself free. He sprang toward his attacker.

  With his trap failed, Krien conjured a dozen false images of himself before Siam could close the gap.

  Dain could sense the mage’s desperation.

  Siam’s staff connected with the first image, shattering it into thousands of glass-like shards. He pivoted and shattered a second. The hidden Krien cast another fireball and the warrior’s staff once again absorbed the spell. Siam then brought the ironwood straight down, slamming it into the ground, sending small arcs of fire spraying out in all directions. As the flames touched each false image they shattered, until only the true Krien remained.

  The mage stood less than five feet away, and Siam swung the ironwood at his unprotected chest. Again the air thickened and the weapon slowed as it neared the mage, so Siam struck with a hard kick at the mage’s knee.

  Unable to concentrate enough to block both attacks, Krien stopped the kick but took the staff in his abdomen. The blow stole his breath away and he dropped to his knees, grasping for air.

  Siam cracked a hard blow to Krien’s temple, deciding the fight. The crowd roared.

  “Mother, did you see how fast Dain took down grandfather’s guard?” Jin asked. She led Dain and Sera up the steep path to the little cabin on the rim, hopping and running excitedly. Her feet barely seemed to touch the trail.

  Dain smiled, watching her, wondering at how quickly his own youthful energy seemed to have fled as the years had passed. He and his brothers had gone to the tournaments and seen the great knights battle. They used to return home and reenact the fights through the echoing hallways of their home. How long ago that seemed now. How far away.

  “Yes, I saw,” Sera answered.

  “Dain, did ever doubt you would win? Were you afraid of that big, ugly boar?” Jin asked, bouncing on her toes.

  “Doubt, no. Was I afraid? I am always afraid of losing, or of failing. That’s why I practice so hard.”

  “Listen to Dain, Jin. Work and practice hard so you too will win when it counts,” Sera said. She combed her slender fingers through Jin’s streaked hair.

  When they arrived, the girl disappeared around the cabin’s corner, swinging another slender branch at the imaginary enemies lurking among the thick green ferns and dark bushes.

  That too struck at Dain’s memories. Vividly, he remembered swinging his own wooden sword as a child. He and his brothers and often even his sister had spent countless hours slaying their own lurking beasts.

  “What were you just thinking?” Sera asked as they entered the cabin.

  “Hmm, what?” Dain said. He had given himself over to the memories, and had barely heard her speak.

  “There was a strange look on your face. A deep longing, or perhaps a hurtful memory?”

  “Just thinking,” he settled on, smiling at her.

  “I have never asked you about your family. Would you tell me of them and your homeland?” Sera settled into a chair by the door, which they’d left open to catch the last fleeting rays of sunlight.

  “I am, or was, the oldest of four, with younger brothers and a sister. Other than that, there’s not much to tell. I had a dull childhood,” Dain said airily, hoping to divert the subject of their conversation elsewhere.

  “You were the oldest?” Sera stopped, her brows drawing together. “How then can you no longer be so?” She studied his face, her gaze direct, uncomplicated. Dain saw no judgment there, only curiosity and kindness. He took a deep breath then let it out slowly.

  “My family disowned me when I lost my place in the paladin brigades. Well, my father and mother did anyway. My youngest brother and sister were both too young to really understand.”

  After a moment’s silence, Sera nodded gently for him to continue.

  “I am a man without family and without a homeland. I found something though…somewhere, actually. A place near the edge of the Spine Mountains. Where they drop down and meet the broad, grassy plains. A quiet, out-of-the way place where I can settle down. No more running, no more fighting.”

  “Alone?” Sera asked. Dain met her gaze.

  “I’m not fit for a family, Sera. I never should have asked you to leave with me. It was a selfish mistake on my part. I failed in my duty, dishonoring my family and myself. I deserve to be alone.”

  “It was not a mistake. No one deserves to be alone. A man without honor would not have saved Jin when he could have just ridden along. A man without honor would not have saved my father. You are not without honor.”

  Sera regarded him with a serious expression, as if daring him to contradict her. Whether or not she was right about his honor, he knew he was lying to himself about one thing: he didn’t want to be alone. He wanted to be with her and Jin, but so much stood between the wanting and the having. She was a princess and he was what exactly…a soldier for hire, and a poor one at that.

  “Why are you helping me, Sera?” Dain asked. “What is it you want?”

  Sera’s shoulders hunched in, and she looked down to the floor. “I have known only war. I was born during the war with the Golden. My daughter was born during the war with the Golden.” She raised her head and looked at Dain once more. There was a closely held fury in her voice when she spoke again. Her fists trembled and a fierce light blazed in her eyes. “I want peace. I don’t want to worry about Jin being in danger when she’s picking strawberries in the fields. I don’t want her to know war. And I want her own children to be free from it, as well.”

  Dain nodded. “You haven’t answered my first question,” he said. Something shuttered behind Sera’s eyes, and when she answered, her voice took on a formal tone.

  “I am helping you because I must. My family and I owe you a great debt for saving my father. One that must be repaid.”

  Though he hadn’t known her long, he recognized the lie. There was more to this than the repayment of a debt. Does she believe in Selasa’s vision? Does she expect me to somehow deliver the peace she craves? Dain tried to hold back the next question that forced its way up through his mind like an arrow, but to little success.

  Does she simply not wish to lose me, as I do not wish to lose her?

  Dain took the second of Sera’
s sleeping potions to help him rest before the tournament’s second day. He slept deep and dreamless. He could hardly remember the last time he was visited by the dark nightmare of the burning city and the rider. Perhaps he’d finally come to grips with his past. Finally found some measure of peace. He knew not how, but he chose not to question it.

  In the early dawn, he returned to the dueling arena after betting half his winnings on himself. The odds hadn’t improved much, he was scheduled to face Siam in the day’s first match. After seeing the former champion in action, Dain wasn’t as confident this morning. The elf was both quick and clever.

  The crowd cheered Siam, their favorite, standing and chanting his name over and over. Their voices rose like rolling thunder while the fighters and mages prepared.

  Siam stood opposite Dain and bowed respectfully. After watching the previous day’s fight, Dain understood that any spells he used would be turned against him, so he planned to avoid magic for this battle. The elf would have to outfight him with standard weapons. Sera gave him a bright green potion meant to boost endurance this time, expecting a lengthy contest. He wondered how much stamina the elf had. If he was too slow meeting Siam’s quick strikes, it wouldn’t matter.

  The mages finished with their wrappings. The match began.

  Dain held his sword high and his tomahawk close to his body. Siam approached, holding his ironwood staff in both hands. Once the elf stood just a few feet away, he flicked the end of the long staff outward.

  Dain blocked it and twisted quickly to stop Siam’s follow up when the elf spun and brought the other end around toward his ribs. He kicked forward. His boot caught Siam squarely beneath the sternum. The elf slid back, driven by the blow’s strength, but recovered before he could strike again. Siam was testing his defenses, and he hoped the kick would give the wood elf one more thing to worry about.

  Again, the gap between them narrowed until Siam struck with the staff. He gripped just one end, extending the weapon’s range. Dain dipped under it, but was out of reach for a counter. Siam followed the swing, pivoting on one foot and bringing the staff around lower on the second pass. Dain blocked it with his sword, and the ironwood slid up and over the bladepoint. Still out of striking distance, he didn’t bother with a follow-up attack, instead stepping back out of the staff’s arc.