Knight Quest

by Brad Clark

  “You are a creature of legends. I did not think that your kind existed until recently. You also look so different than us. You have wings, and you fly. There are scales all over your body. And you can spit fire.”

  “We actually breathe fire.” Myllia moved closer to Elissa and into the light caused by the glowing rock. She dropped to the ground, her front legs in front of her. She rested her head on the top of her legs and looked at Elissa. “If you had never seen me, but only talked to me, would you have thought I was any different than you?”

  “You do speak our language.”

  “We think, and we are. The One God created many races of creatures to populate his world. Some, such as Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Dragons, he gave souls to. Other creatures, he did not. That is one way that the One God created order in his realm.”

  “One way?”

  “Another way is good and evil. Balance. There will always be evil because there is good. We can only have good because we have evil.”

  “But, the Deceiver,” Elissa started to say.

  “The Deceiver upsets the balance,” Myllia cut in. “But he is also part of the balance.”

  “Is that why the One God does not interfere?”

  Myllia lifted her one good eye at Elissa. “You are smart for a Human. If the One God were to interfere, he would upset the balance that he has set forth.”

  “Then how do we defeat evil like the Deceiver?”

  “Just because the One God does not interfere does not mean that he is leaving us on our own.”

  “How is that different?”

  Myllia let out a long sigh. “When I left, I flew to see if your friends were doing as they should. I wanted to see if they were going to really try and free Immerallis or if they were going to run. I would not have blamed them if they just ran.”

  “Well, I would!” Elissa cried out.

  Myllia snorted. “I had always thought Humans were a selfish lot. Only doing what they could to survive or to gain as much power and wealth as they could. At least that has been my experience with them. With your kind.”

  “You have been gone from our world for a long time.”

  “Yes. Yes, I have. I followed your friends, and they did as they promised.”

  “Immerallis is freed?”

  “No. Not yet. As I was watching over them, the Deceiver sent his generals after them. I stepped in to help one of them.”

  “Well, thank you.”

  “I had no intention of helping. I wanted to see if your kind could do as they promised, but then I realized that they were not capable. At least without a little help. Or maybe a lot of help.”

  “Then you’re going back to help free Immerallis?”

  “It is nighttime, now, and your kind does not work well in the darkness. I will return in the morning to help them. I thought that it was my place to leave your kind alone, to let them live or die based on their own skill and abilities. But that is not my place. My place is to be a part of this world and to do so, I must work with your kind. We must work together.”

  “As allies.”

  “Indeed, as allies.”

  “Then, you will help us fight the Deceiver?”

  “With all that I have, with all that I can, till either he is dead or I am dead. I will fight at your side.”

  Elissa covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a cry that was about to come out. Having the dragons as a true ally would help them immeasurably. Coupled with the Elves who had just arrived, they just might be able to win this war.

  “There is one thing, though,” Myllia said.

  Wiping tears from the corner of her eyes, Elissa said, “Yes, anything.”

  “One of yours. A soldier by the name of Marik.”

  “Yes, Sir Marik. One of our bravest and most honorable Knights.”

  Myllia turned her head to show her dead eye. “He did this to me.” Before Elissa could conjure up an excuse or explanation, Myllia continued, “I cannot hold any ill will towards him for it. I attacked your city. Killed many of your kind. In turn, I struck him with the full force of my breath, but through the power of the Ark of Life, he survived. We…I must put the past behind. I am sorry that I did what I did. I acted because of how I expected Humans to act. Since I last flew the skies of earth, your kind has changed. Or at least some of your kind. Forgive me for what I have done.”

  Elissa stood and cleared her throat. “I am Queen Elissa, the sovereign ruler of this land. I have the power to grant life and death. For your crimes against my people, I pardon you and forgive you. As long as you forgive my people for what they did to your kind.”

  Myllia pushed herself to her feet. “I find it difficult to think about my species being wiped out by yours and still be able to forgive you. But, you witnessed first hand the death and destruction of so many of your people and your city. If you have the grace to forgive me, I must put aside my pride and do the same to you. No longer are Dragons and Humans enemies. From this moment forward, we are allies. Not only in the fight against the Deceiver, but for all time.”

  Elissa stepped forward and gently took hold of Myllia’s snout. She pulled it towards her and Myllia dropped her head so that she looked Elissa eye to eye. Leaving forward, Elissa gently touched her lips to the side of Myllias snout. “Our friendship has been sealed with a kiss.”

  Elissa stepped back.

  Myllia dipped her head and reached a claw up to where Elissa had kissed her. The remnants of a tear that had fallen of Elissa’s cheek remained. “You surprise me, Queen Elissa. I thought you could never have forgiven me for what I did to your people. You are not only a great leader, but you are also a great person. History will remember you kindly.”

  “Only if there are people left to remember us.”

  “I will do all I can to ensure that.” Myllia lifted her head up and glanced out the opening towards the cold night sky. “Marik and the two Elves are brave, but I fear they are outmatched. I should not have left them alone. I must go and help them.”

  Elissa took a step back and held her head up high. “Go, then.”

  “This cold cave is no place for a queen. You belong with your people so I will take you there.”

  Queen Elissa let out a soft sigh of relief. Although she would do anything and suffer any condition for her people, she could not spend one more cold night in this cave.

  Myllia gently took Elissa in one of her large clawed hands, folding her fingers around Elissa’s body. Elissa pulled her legs in tight, so she was curled up in a ball. Holding Elissa tight to her belly to share warmth, Myllia shuffled to the edge of the cliff and launched herself into the air. With a handful of slow, strong flaps of her wings, Myllia was above the peak of the mountains. In the distance, she could see a ring of lights that outlined the walls that protected the Humans. Banking towards them, she finally felt at peace with herself. The anger that had festered inside of her was gone. In its place was hope for a new world and a new age. It did not matter to her if her species survived. She could not be so selfish to put herself above the eternal survival of the all the races of the earth. If she must sacrifice herself to win this war and defeat the Deceiver, she would do so.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Marik snapped his eyes open and sat up. He was in near complete darkness, and for a moment, he did not know where he was. His mind was groggy and slow-moving, which caused him to feel panicked. His heart starting pounding loudly in his ears and his breathing became quick and short.

  “You okay?”

  The voice startled him even more. It came from behind him, and he spun around on his knees, his hands searching instinctively for his sword. It took a few more heartbeats, but eventually, his mind caught up to the moment, and then he remembered who the voice belonged to. She was an Elf from a distant land. Wife of Glaerion, the other Elf he knew. In his dreams, he had been walking along the bluffs that overlooked the Gulf of Taran. They were near South Karmon, following a winding dirt path that headed towards the castle. He was holding
the hand of a woman, but he could not make out the face. With each passing moment, the vision of the dream faded and reality took its place. The castle was no more, and the city was but piles of rubble. He squeezed his eyes shut to try and return to the peaceful solitude of his dream, but the hard stone floor he was kneeling on reminded him of his reality. The days of peaceful solitude were long gone and would not be returning for a long time, if ever.

  He opened his eyes to see Hellendrielle looking at him from a few feet away. A soft whiteish-blue glow lit up her face making it appear to glow. She had a wide smile on her face, which surprised him as much as anything had in the past year. The blanket that had kept him warm while he slept had fallen off, and there was a slight chill in the room. He shivered and pulled the blanket back up around his shoulders.

  “Are we…” The words stuck in his throat and he had to clear it with a short cough. “Are we still in the tower?”

  For all he knew, they had been taken to underground dungeons while they slept. The light that made him able to see Hallendrielle was not bright enough to show more than their immediate surroundings. He could not see the room’s walls or if there was anything else in here with them.

  “Yes, we are still in the Deceiver’s tower. You slept soundly.”

  He stretched his arms and then arched his back to stretch it. He was stiff and sore from sleeping on the hard stone floor, but he was well rested. She was looking at him with an odd grin, and it caused him pause.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Who is Ilasha?” Hallendrielle asked, her wide smile growing wider and her eyes glistening with the blue light.

  The question caught him off guard. He stammered as the thought of Ilasha caused his heart to flutter. Certainly, she had been the woman that he had been walking within his dreams. “She is … Why do you want to know?”

  “You called out her name several times while you slept.”

  Her smile remained, and her eyes sparkled. For a moment, he forgot that she was an Elf. It was still disconcerting being with Elves. Even though they seemed just like him, their pointed ears clearly distinguished them from any other Human. Seemingly arrogant and full of themselves, they had been difficult to befriend, but there was more to them than their flaws. They were good people who had the heart for the world and a heart to save it. He had found an affinity for Hallendrielle. She was strong and confident, just like he would have imagined a sister would be. She was strikingly beautiful, but he barely noticed. He saw only the important parts of her, the parts that made her an accomplished warrior and a valuable ally.

  Until now, he had not seen much of the soft, friendly side of her. The blue light softened her features and accentuated her smile, giving her an aura of mischief. She might not be his sister, but he would give his life for her as if she were.

  After a moment of studying her face, he let out an embarrassed chuckle and looked away.

  “Is she your wife?”

  “No,” he replied, his mind trying to recapture the scene of him walking with her.

  “You are fond of her?”

  “Very much so.”

  “Have you been courting her for a long time?”

  “Why all the questions!”

  She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “The way you spoke her name, even in your sleep, it was sweet.”

  He tried to ignore the sweet comment. “What did I say?”

  Her smile grew a little wider, and she lifted an eyebrow.

  The hesitation concerned him. He repeated, “What did I say!”

  She let out a laugh. “It was nothing. You just said her name a couple of times. It was cute.”

  “Cute!” Marik let out a low growl. “I am a Karmon Knight! We are not cute!”

  She laughed harder. “Of course not! You are an ugly barbarian!”

  “Well, you don’t need to be insulting.”

  Her laughter slowly faded out. “Thank you,” she said.

  “What? For what?”

  “I have not laughed that hard in some time. This war is only going to get worse, and there will be little time for laughter. We have to take it when we can get it.”

  “There is little time for anything else in the war.”

  “What of your Ilasha? You will need to make time for her.”

  “She is back at Neffenmark Castle waiting for me to return. I do not like being away from her where I can’t protect her.”

  “Are there not hundreds of your Karmon Knights there?”

  “Yes. And many other soldiers as well. I guess she is as well protected as she could be.”

  “And soon enough you will be with her.”

  “Right,” Marik said, pushing himself to his feet. “I think we have slept too long! Queen Elissa needs us to free that dragon, so we better get moving before that beast decides she doesn’t need the Queen anymore.”

  Marik’s eyes drifted down to the floor next to Hallendrielle where the bluish light was coming from. He asked, “Is that my sword?”

  His sword was unsheathed and gave off the soft glow that gave them the light by which they could see.

  She picked it up by the handle with her right hand and held the blade aloft with her left hand. “I cast an enchantment upon it.”

  “A what?”

  “The power of a spell can be imbued in objects like a sword. The stronger the spell, the longer the enchantment will hold. It can be made permanent, or made to last only a few minutes.”

  “What did you do to my sword?” He reached out and took the sword from her.

  “Your sword is still as sharp and strong as it was. For the next half-day or so, it will hold a disguise spell that will allow you to walk among the city.”

  He turned it over to look at both sides of the blade. Other than giving off the bluish light, it didn’t look any different to him. It took a moment for her words to register with him.

  He looked up and asked, “It’ll do what?”

  “With this in your hands, you will be able to walk through the city without being attacked.”

  “It’ll make me invisible?”

  “No, it’s not like that. I didn’t have enough strength to cast that powerful of a spell. This spell will make you look like any creature you want to look like. I’d suggest you choose a goblin, as you are about the same height as most of them.”

  He still did not quite understand. His right hand gripped the sword, and he held it up, so it was pointed straight up. Finally, he asked, “So, the sword makes me look like a goblin? Does that mean I look like a goblin to you right now?” He looked at his arms and body, and he still looked like himself.

  “No, the spell has limitations. Only those with simple minds can be deceived by your appearance. Elves and Humans would see you as you are. Animals and simple creatures like goblins are not smart enough to see through the disguise.”

  “Why didn’t we do this before to get into the city? We probably could have gotten all the way into the tower and freed the dragon!”

  “The Deceiver would surely have seen through the disguise, and if not, he would have detected the spell. This is one of the many spells used in the jungles to keep the predators from attacking us while we hunted for food.”

  “If the Deceiver can detect magic, won’t he detect this, too?”

  “He might have been able to detect the casting of the enchantment, but unless he is standing near the sword, he will not detect it. The enchantment is not that powerful of a spell, even though it does take quite a bit of energy to cast the enchantment. If he were specifically looking for it, he might detect it, but it would be easy enough for it to go unnoticed.”

  He sheathed the sword, and complete darkness encompassed them. He pulled it back out so they could see.

  “Okay,” he said. “Why do you want me to go into the city?”

  “A plan came to me on how to free the dragon.”

  He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

  “Back before our exile, even before the
wars with Humans, when I was a young Elfling, I lived in a place that was cold during the winter like it is here in your kingdom. It was a beautiful place where the small creeks and waterfalls froze for a few weeks during the coldest part of winter. As I lay here last night in the darkness, my thoughts went back to that time, and I remembered a trick that young Elves played with magic. It was frowned upon by the elder Elves, as any tricks with magic were. Magic is not a toy, they had always said. But, we were young and brash, and like any immature Elfling, we needed to prove ourselves to our peers. So we cast a spell upon logs in the creek, a very powerful spell that allowed the water to seep into the inner parts of the wood. Then we would take those logs and put them in the center of town overnight. They would freeze, and then explode in the middle of the night.” She let out a laugh and a giggle. “Sometimes it was so loud, it would wake up half the town.”

  “What does this have to do with freeing the dragon?”

  She let her giggling die and collected herself. “It was Glaerion who ruined it for everyone,” she continued with a smile. “He was mischevious as a child, and he did the same thing with an iron rod. It not only exploded, but it sent pieces of metal flying into nearby buildings. One of the elders was cut by a piece. From that moment, that spell was forbidden to be cast by any but an Elder.”

  Marik continued to give her a blank look. “What does that have to do with freeing the dragon?”

  “We can do the same thing to the chains that hold the dragon. You pour water over the chains while I cast the spell that allows the water to flow through the chain. Then, I stop the spell, and the water is trapped with the metal. The water freezes, expands, and boom! The chains break, and the dragon is freed.”

  Marik shook his head in disbelief. “That can really work?”

  “You grew up here, where it is very cold in the winter, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you not seen water inside of barrels if the barrel is too full?”