by CK Dawn
Lourdie turned back to the battle still grasping her weapon for dear life. Her knuckles were turning white. Her grip would draw blood soon. She couldn’t breathe.
Temple’s hand moved down her arm as he pried the stun baton from her clenched fist. His large hand enveloped her small trembling one. “It’s time to let her go Lourdes. She’s ready,” he said gently.
Lourdie’s eyes filled with tears as she was overcome with emotions. She held on tight to Temple’s hand. He squeezed back. He was solid and steadfast. The strength she felt emanating from him promised to always catch her before she fell. Her tears crested and overflowed. She’d never been so proud and yet so sad, denying for months that this moment was even coming. She was losing the best apprentice she had ever known, her constant companion. But she knew she was gaining a sister hunter, ready to face the world head on, and alone. She wanted to be selfish and keep Abbey just the way she was forever, but she couldn’t. She had to let her go.
Abbey’s fight was magnificent. She shot a pulse of light at the krimvigo that had broken the glass and slid on her knees moments before its motionless body fell on the spot she had just occupied. Her orb banished the creature as she emerged out from under it on the other side. She popped back up and stared down the four remaining netherwalkers seconds before their deadly dance began. Abbey dodged and spun like a seasoned veteran. The krimvigars couldn’t touch her. Using the nearest wall, she ran half way up, shooting two krims and banishing another all while flying over their heads before landing. She took out the remaining creature just as quickly. Her weapon went into sleep mode to recharge as she quickly banished the beasts. Abbey turned to see one more shadowskin that had hung back. Hiding in its benign form, the beast loomed over Trista, clinging to the rafters. As Abbey stood up, the shadow warped, coalescing into a massive krimdrogo. It was now between her and Trista. The dragon seemed to know the Vicereine would be a trophy kill, worthy of a treat from its master. There was no way for Abbey to get a clear shot without the risk of hitting Trista and her unborn child, and her weapon was still charging. The beast was half shadow half flesh. A pulse of light could go right through. Abbey whispered a word and a brilliant violet orb appeared in her hands. The delvir was as solid and strong as any Lourdie had ever seen. She also knew all the back to back orb creations had to have drained her apprentice. Abbey was running out of options.
“Lady Gilroy, catch!” Abbey tossed the orb to her leader. The apprentice ran full speed, growling and roaring at the dragon. “Over here! Come get me, life sucker!” She charged him head on. The creature turned and barreled down on her. She was able to slide under it, but at a cost. Three of its talons shredded her leg and arm. Her weapon hummed to life, she aimed directly at its torso and fired. The dragon stumbled but wasn’t stunned. It was huge-- thousands of pounds, frightening thick armor, and it wasn’t going to go down.
“Trista, throw it!” Abbey yelled and an orb appeared over her head. She jumped up and helped the orb envelop the massive creature all while shooting it again and again until her weapon died. The dragon lunged and she fell on her injured leg, knocking her down. The orb hissed and popped as the creature struggled for freedom. She reached out toward the laboring orb, under her grip the struggle would subside. Everyone held their breath as the dragon tried to breach the orb. It clawed, scratched, bit, and finally broke free before Abbey could reach it. The dragon let out a roaring huff of ice. Abbey grabbed the table and shielded herself and Trista from its flesh eating acidic breath. Wood hissed and disintegrated. The dragon’s wings expanded and it launched itself out the window, taking more debris down in the process. Dark wings soared higher and higher, it meant to escape and fight another day, next time with a larger army. Several of Trista’s guards recovered enough from the initial assault to surround their Vicereine. One tossed Abbey a military grade stun rifle that all the Vicereine’s bodyguards carried. Abbey caught it and looked back to where her invisible audience stood silent. Lourdie wondered what scene was unfolding before her apprentice’s eyes. She had never seen such a haunted look on Abbey’s face before. She seemed devastated. Lourdie followed Abbey’s gaze and shivered when she saw what appeared to be her own body buried under the rubble. A perfect replica of Lourdie’s stun baton was still clenched in a barely visible and bloody hand. Abbey turned back around and roared almost mournfully. She aimed and fired at the fleeing creature, the weapon muffling her tormented screams. Shots hummed effortlessly, but the pulses went straight through the creature’s body.
“No. I’m not done with you!” a winded Abbey yelled. There was a pain and anger in her voice.
Between bouts of contractions, Trista got to her feet with her guards’ help. She shook her head not wanting to think of the impossible horrors that could rain down upon them, “If it hides and nests it may take months to find.”
“I’m on it,” Abbey holstered her weapon, placed the rifle’s strap over and across her chest, followed the dragon, and never looked back. “That bitch is mine,” she mumbled under her breath.
The scenery flowed past the hidden bystanders as they were propelled up and over the castle walls, following the nimble Abbey. The apprentice landed softly into the snow beyond the outer wall of the castle. She somersaulted and began running full speed after the now partially dazed dragon. It was headed directly towards Loe Pool. Finally within shooting range at the icy water’s edge, Abbey stopped, knelt, and fired both weapons with deadly accuracy. The dragon faltered and went down on the lakes opposite edge.
“Come on, Thorne, think. Let’s go!” She pumped herself up. “Think… Think, think.”
Lourdie knew if her apprentice chose to run around the lake she would be out of firing range for far too long, she would lose site of the dragon through the thick trees, and it would undoubtedly get away.
Abbey dug deep and jumped into the freezing water. Her uncontrollable gasp echoed around them as the initial cold water hit her like a brick wall. She laid on her back and kicked hard. Crossing her arms over her chest, she breathed deeply in and out, and constricted her muscles over and over. Hands fisted, then opened. Opened and closed, opened then closed. She was creating her own heat in the hypothermic water and keeping her core warm.
Good girl! Lourdie was bursting with pride. She squeezed Temple’s hand unknowingly from the suspense. He rubbed his thumb back and forth to comfort her.
Abbey had complained relentlessly about the Navy Seal training, but now she was reaping its benefits. The freezing water would incapacitate a docile within minutes, an untrained guardian minutes after that, but not Abbey. Lourdie would even wager that Abbey’s temperature was actually rising.
The young apprentice reached the far side of the lake shivering, but her body was still under her command. The shivering was in controlled small bursts. Abbey was creating even more body heat. She was an unstoppable hunting machine. Taking a deep breath she whispered a word against her relics and created a perfect orb. Purple light reflected all around the captive audience as they hovered over the middle of the lake. An intensity burned in Abbey’s eyes as she carefully and methodically encased the waking dragon.
“Tell your master you failed! And if you dare set foot on my planet again, I’ll be waiting!” The orb imploded with Abbey’s last words. She dropped to her knees and crossed her arms over her chest. She was exhausted and shaking uncontrollably now.
Trista came up from behind her with a thick thermal blanket. She covered Abbey completely in its warmth and walked around to face the young girl, “You’ve done well, child.” The Vicereine gently touched the stunned girl atop her wet head then placed her hand on her cheek, “Arise, Abigail Thorne. Hunter of the King’s Court!”
The virtual chamber erupted in cheers as Abbey labored to stand. The dark night sky and soft white snow were replaced by a bright sterile white room the exact size of the great hall. Cake, forks, and dessert plates still littered the floor. Apparently those had been real.
Temple let go of Lourdie’s hand,
replacing it with her weapon. She looked back, wanting to thank him for his kindness, but he had disappeared into the crowd.
“That was my trial? Oh thank god! I thought we were in some serious shit!” Abbey collapsed on the floor. “Wait!” she bolted up unexpectedly, “Lady Gilroy, are you even pregnant?”
The chamber boomed with laughter as everyone scuttled about giving Abbey and Lourdie their congratulations.
“Nola! Bernie!” Abbey squealed with delight, hugging her family.
Nola hugged Lourdie tight and whispered in her ear, “You’ve done well too, child. She’s an amazing young woman.”
Lourdie hugged the woman back and smiled at Bernie.
Bernie squeezed Lourdie’s arm and grinned, “We’ll all catch up later. You two enjoy this moment together. Nola, come on hon. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.”
“You’re on. Bye, girls. Come find us later,” Nola beamed and took Bernie’s arm.
The crowd slowly dispersed and headed for the exit.
“Abbey,” Lourdie was on the verge of crying again. “That was… You were-- are, amazing.”
“Because of you,” thinking back to the macabre scene of her mentor, Abbey too fought back tears. “I was-- I didn’t…” she gulped, trying to speak again, “That collapsed ceiling was so real… I thought you were d--” Tears ran down Abbey’s face and she wiped them away defiantly, “I knew you would never miss a fight.”
Lourdie hugged Abbey tight, reassuring the extraordinary guardian that she hadn’t been buried under tons of rubble. “I’m here. It’s alright, Abs. You cry for as long as you need, you’ve earned this.”
“Thanks, Sensei.” Abbey’s sniffles began to subside.
“You know you don’t have to call me that anymore?” Lourdie wiped away her own silent tears.
“I know, Sensei.”
“Abs, I can’t even describe how proud I am of you.” Lourdie hugged her even tighter. “How’s your leg? Your arm?” she pulled away quickly and looked her young friend over assessing the damage.
“I had a good teacher.” Abbey flashed her Kevlar under armor from beneath her shredded pants leg. It was intact.
“That’s my girl!” Lourdie beamed with boundless pride as they both laughed through their falling tears.
“I’ll have some good bruises by tomorrow though.” Abbey scratched her head. “I just can’t figure out how we got here. We were definitely in the great hall, I know we were. So how did we get here? Did they drug me?”
“Hmm,” Lourdie was starting to wonder the same thing herself.
Abbey tilted her head not entirely believing her mentor wasn’t in on it.
“Don’t look at me, they had me fooled, too. I was convinced your trial was going to be during the blue moon tonight down at Old Faithful,” Lourdie said looking around the white room. She laughed out loud. “Does the great hall even exist?”
Abbey gasped, “No way!”
Louie yelled from behind the girls as they were leaving the virtual chamber, “No, not that way!”
They turned around and Louie waved them towards another door. “Abbey, you were brilliant. That was a twenty-five man epic raid if I’ve ever seen one!” Louie said obviously impressed.
“Thanks, I know, right?” Abbey beamed.
“Trista gave me permission to give you the rest of your tour now,” Louie said as he smiled shyly and opened the door to the buttery.
“I’m confused,” said Lourdie.
“Wait, it gets better. Ladies first,” he said following them into the small room and closing the door. “This entire room is a lift, an elevator, connecting the great hall with the virtual chamber below.” The pre-gloamer looked down at his shoes, “The virtual chamber was never under construction. I was under Trista’s orders.”
“It’s okay, Louie. It was awesome! I was totally expecting my trial to be down at Old Faithful during the blue moon tonight,” Abbey assured her guilty friend.
Louie reached, lifting onto his toes, and touched the same area of the door frame that Trista had been grasping during her contractions. “Nope, we hunters will visit Old Faithful after my gloaming bond and cake.”
“Are we moving? I don’t feel anything,” Abbey said.
“I feel it, barely,” Lourdie said.
“The lift’s movement is nearly undetectable, but you two are such good hunters, Trista had to distract you. Pretty brilliant, huh?” Louie said proud of his sister’s acting abilities.
“Apparently not that good a hunter. All this time I thought the virtual chamber was being renovated. I didn’t even bother to take a peek,” Lourdie said, amazed by the deception.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Louie looked down at his shoes and blushed.
Louie opened the buttery door and suddenly they were all back in the great hall. The beautiful stained glass was still intact and a still pregnant Trista was waiting for them.
“Abigail, you showed tremendous bravery and cunning.” Trista laughed, “I’m just glad I’m a good catch. Scrapers don’t normally handle orbs.”
“Yeah, about that, I’m so sorry. I thought, well, if I died charging the dragon, the orb might give you and your baby a fighting chance. If I knew it was my last trial I would have never, ever thrown an orb at you.”
“Don’t ever apologize, you were splendid. So much so that when you graduate, I’d like you to visit me at the Bellows.” Trista put a tapping finger to her lips, contemplating future endeavors with the admirable hunter. She glanced briefly at the wide golden cuff adorning her royal guard’s left wrist then said to Abbey, “Come see me, we’ll talk.”
North, Trista’s first in command of her royal guard, started to protest, but she quickly silenced him with a single wave of her hand.
“Come see me,” she simply said again.
“Okay, wow. Thank you,” Abbey was honored. She gave a thankful smile to everyone and headed to her room to change for Louie’s gloaming bond.
“Lourdie?” Trista said quietly waiting for the others to give them some privacy. “I forced my poor cousin to keep the trial details from you. So, when you see him, go a little easy on him. Hmm?” she smiled and walked away.
Thirteen
Blue Gloaming
A large group of guardians exited the castle and headed to Loe Pool for Louie Templeton’s much anticipated gloaming bond. The sun itself seemed reluctant to set as brilliant pinks and oranges slowly streaked across the sky. The evening air was crisp and the sky clear as snow crunched under dozens of foot falls. Even in the dead of winter, the Cloak was a beautiful fairy-tale wonderland. Warm, steadfast light glowed through its windows as the blue moon beckoned. Happiness, harmony, and unwavering strength radiated out of the graceful castle. It was a gentle giant, covered in a blanket of snow. It saddened Lourdie to admit how much she was going to miss the place, how much she was going to miss its people. Her dampened spirit smiled. All of them. Her heart felt like it was full of butterflies as she thought of one person in particular.
Lourdie slowed so Abbey and Louie could enjoy their dwindling time together. Her sister hunter was reassuring the pre-gloamer that he had nothing to be nervous about. Louie was nodding his head with every bit of advice. His frame straightened and his steps became more confident with every sentence she spoke.
Someone matched Lourdie’s pace and fell in beside her. She smiled secretly, knowing who it was without even having to look. Butterfly wings fluttered once more around her heart. The two hunters walked side by side, an unspoken truce hung in the air.
“A heads up would have been nice, you know?” Lourdie said, not unkindly.
“I know,” Temple said softly. He appeared to be done fighting too. “I was under orders,” he said, tugging at the waist of his jacket, apparently aggravated at the thought of being restricted.
“I know,” Lourdie said softly.
The two walked in a comfortable silence that surprised them both. Lourdie stole another glance at Abbey. She had never been so proud of an appre
ntice, yet so sad at the same time. Their relationship would be forever changed. For the better of the court? A resounding yes, but, personally, Lourdie simply mourned the loss of her apprentice.
“Thank you for...” Lourdie said looking up at the knight as tears threatened to fall.
“Always,” he said kindly, looking back at her. Something in his response tickled at her memory.
Lourdie cleared her throat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to teach any of the hunters how to create multiple orbs at once, and...I know I can be a jerk when I’m frustrated.”
“Never apologize for being unique. Any knight would be lucky to have you in their court. Very lucky.” Temple looked at her with a sadness in his eyes, “And… I can be difficult as well.”
“I know,” Lourdie smiled up at Temple and he smiled back.
“No witty retort?” he asked, lowering his chin and arching his brow. “Do I sense a crack in that granite armor of yours, Ms. Reese?” he asked playfully.
“Never,” she teased.
“Ha!” he scoffed. “Good.”
The two slowed their pace as they neared the water’s edge, neither wanting the delicate truce to end.
Temple reluctantly broke the silence. “Time to be Lord of the Castle,” he said and looked out towards the tree line but his gaze wasn’t fixed on anything.
“Yeah, your duty calls,” Lourdie said. A little sadness crept into her voice as the prospect of leaving the Cloak invaded her thoughts, “I guess the country boy’s end is drawing near?”
Temple walked ahead but, looked back and gave her his full devilish grin, “He’s never really very far.”
Bishop appeared at Lourdie’s side and offered his arm as he escorted her down to the lake’s edge. She gladly took it as his warm hand covered hers.
“We are going to miss you around here, my dear,” Bishop said patting her hand.
“Me too,” Lourdie said, glancing at Temple as he smiled proudly at Louie. His eyes found her in the crowd, still smiling warmly, “Me too.”
