Knight of the Sword (of Knights and Wizards Book 3)

by A. J. Gallant

  The knight again closely examined the blade, so much time passed as he did so that the candle had burned down somewhat. He was particularly interested in one section that glowed brighter than the rest. All they could do was wait and worry and should he be deemed not acceptable to pass then what. But finally the knight acquiesced to his passage. “You may pass.”

  As they continued on they heard a commotion behind them, a Grumpidygrunch who was also seeking the sword failed to pass the test; sometimes magical items had a pull and this was the case with the deceased knight’s sword. The Grumpidygrunch was run through with the dagger and held over the knight’s head as his blood trickled down its shaft, the dagger was swung hard and the beast went flying hard again a tree. Alexa shuddered, that would have been their fate had they not been acceptable to the three knights.

  The next morning they came out of the darkness into a clearing where the sun shone its rays past several clouds and onto a large redwood tree, and there was the sword imbedded in it. Wasn’t even the same tree the last time the princess was here nor the same location but it was indeed Knightshade’s sword. They were all very happy to finally see it. They all looked around to see if they were going to be attacked by something or other but for now at least they had the sword to themselves. Alexa got off her horse and approached the sword, noticing that it smelled nice here. The scent of pine trees and freshly dug earth was in the air although she could see neither. There were purple wildflowers nearby that added a sumptuous bouquet to the mix. She tried to remove the sword, easy at first and then with all her strength but was unable to budge it, even though it only appeared to be inserted about a hand’s length. And then Merrill tried to pull it, tried hard to push it side to side and up and down to weaken the tree’s hold on it but he couldn’t budge it either.

  Obed tried his best to remove the weapon, becoming angry he pulled his blade and struck the sword, breaking his own sword but doing no damage to Knightshade. “Son of a dog’s arse! This is just great! All that we have gone through to get here! And just look at my sword!”

  “Son of a dog’s arse? Don’t think I’ve ever heard that one.” Alexa examined the sword and then went completely around the tree to see if there might be an indication on how to remove it but found nothing. She stared and stared at it. What a waste of time and energy, not to mention the risk that they had taken. Obed tried again to remove the sword, using all his strength as he screamed but only succeeded in removing some skin from his hands.

  Merrill jumped back on his horse. “Wait here I’ll be back. I’m going to ask the knights if they know how to remove it.” He rode off as Alexa and Obed watched him go.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” said the princess. “If we are worthy to approach it they might tell him how to remove it.”

  Obed shrugged. “Perchance but I wouldn’t hold my breath.” He got down resting his back against the tree and the princess did the same.

  They shared some quiet time as the princess chewed on a piece of dried salted beef. Several chickadees flew by in pursuit of one another and then a raven landed on the sword’s pommel and commenced to peck at it. Alexa looked up at the bird and as she did so it flew off.

  Alexa had a dreamy look in her eyes. “I wonder what Stone is doing right now?”

  “How am I supposed to know that!”

  “Someone’s ornery,” said the princess.

  Obed folded his arms and shook his head. After some time had passed he thought he could hear the sound of a horse approaching and in the distance he could see Merrill returning but he didn’t look happy. They both stood up and dusted themselves off.

  “Any luck?” asked Alexa.

  “The knight said he doesn’t know how to remove the sword,” said Merrill. “He also said if he did know he wouldn’t tell.”

  Obed shook his head at the news. “Well that’s it then, let’s head back.”

  It was Alexa’s turn to shake her head and being royalty she was the one that would decide when to head back. “I’m not giving up that easy. We’ll figure it.”

  “But what if we can’t?”

  “We will.”

  “But what if we don’t?”

  “Merrill hit him for me will you?”

  But instead of Merrill hitting Obed it was the other way around, Obed hit Merrill though not hard. Alexa again attempted to remove Knightshade but to no avail. Merrill dismounted and then all three of them tried to remove it simultaneously but it wouldn’t budge, not even a tad. Obviously it was held by magic; she wondered if her little brother would be able to remove it but she wasn’t about to make the journey all the way back and then all the way here again.

  Obed raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Can we go now?”

  “No!”

  Obed shook his head. “Why are women so stubborn?”

  The princess slowly turned and stared at him. “Men are a lot more pigheaded than women! Who starts most wars? Don’t get me started on that!”

  Hours later the sun should have gone down but this was a section of the forest that never got dark, but they were tired and so all three of them curled up under the tree and went to sleep.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  DAGANTH WALKED AND WALKED following what he was sure was his father’s scent; if only he could fly the journey would be so much faster, unfortunately his broken wing made that impossible. A deer got too close to the dragon and so he cooked and ate it which helped to keep up his strength, at least a little. A pterocrit flew overhead and that caught the baby dragon’s attention, it smelled delicious but there was no way to get up there and pursue it; he would be hampered in many ways if he remained a flightless dragon.

  Fiilmore, a black dragon was flying overhead and looking down saw the baby dragon walking towards a human settlement; he circled several times as he observed and then landed in front of Daganth. “Where are you going?”

  “Hello,” said Daganth. “I’m going to find my father.”

  Fiilmore turned and looked in the direction where the baby dragon was heading. “You’re not going to find your father in that direction. You are heading towards humans.”

  Daganth looked into the adult dragon’s eyes. “My father is a human.”

  “What! No that’s impossible. That’s ridiculous. Your father cannot be a human. Do you take me for a fool?”

  “But he is.”

  “Is not.”

  “Is.”

  He stared at the baby shaking his head. “Even magic could not accomplish that, at least I don’t think so.”

  “Yes he is my father.”

  “He is not. Your father is a dragon!”

  “He’s a human.”

  Fiilmore was becoming annoyed. “You need to shut up!”

  “You shut up you big ugly dragon.”

  “I am not ugly! Am I? Do you really think I’m ugly? I don’t want to be ugly.” It seemed that Fiilmore was a little touchy on the subject.

  “Don’t worry,” said Daganth. “You’re only ugly on the inside.”

  Fiilmore thought about that. “Well that’s good because nobody sees the inside. Do they?”

  It appeared that Daganth was already a little more advanced than Fiilmore, who was also a young dragon. “Not unless you show them.”

  “Not unless I show them? What does that mean?”

  Daganth continued on his way toward Leeander pursuing the scent as Fiilmore took to the air deep inside himself, now he would have to go ask his parents if he was ugly. Perhaps his parents were right that he should stop sniffing swamp gas but it was so much fun. Now which way was home again?

  King Darius watched from the castle wall as the baby dragon approached; he had been there when he noticed the little dragon talking to the bigger one. Although Dragons didn’t usually associate with humans Marcus appeared to be pulling them in with his magical essence, perhaps one day they would be known as the kingdom of dragons. The king went out with about a dozen knights to meet the baby dragon even though his advisors had warned aga
inst it, a single burst of flame could roast them all, small dragon or not. Darius thought the poor thing must certainly be injured otherwise it wouldn’t be walking.

  Daganth called out to the humans. “Have you seen my father? I know he’s here or has been here I can smell him.”

  Galot was a young knight that was frightened of dragons and although he was trying to be brave in the company of the king he desperately wanted to run away. “It’s a ruse your majesty. We are all in danger.”

  The king ignored Galot. “Are you hurt? Your wing looks damaged.”

  “My name is Daganth I think its broken.” He had to sit and rest as he had walked such a long distance.

  “Perhaps we can wrap your wing it might do some good,” said Darius. “The only other dragon that visits Leeander is Ryxa; she and Marcus have become good friends.”

  Daganth nodded. “Yes Ryxa is my mother and Marcus is my father.”

  “Marcus has fathered a dragon?” said Galot. “How is that possible?”

  “It isn’t,” said the king. Darius wanted to laugh at that statement but held himself in check. “Come inside and we shall wrap that poor wing of yours, but I warn you that it will hurt and you mustn’t accidentally burn us.”

  “I promise that I won’t burn anyone. Is Marcus here?”

  The king smiled. “He’s gone off on an errand to defend the kingdom. With some luck he shall return soon.” What could possibly make him believe that Marcus was his father?

  Daganth lay down and stretched out as best he could with his broken wing. “I am so tired I think I need a nap.” He closed his eyes and almost immediately went to sleep.”

  Galot didn’t feel safe even though the dragon was now asleep. “We could kill it while it sleeps.”

  Darius turned to face Galot. “You have a week of guard duty on the wall. Get to it.” He watched as the knight headed back toward the castle. “Besides if Marcus is the father then that makes me his grandfather.” He spoke in jest but some of the other knights wondered, with Marcus being such a powerful sorcerer who knows what he could accomplish.

  The king left three knights to guard the baby dragon as he slept and headed back to the castle.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  ZEDOCK WAS SNORING LOUDLY as the sun was hours away from rising, curled up with Ella, his head toward her tail, subconsciously enjoying her scent. The sky was overcast and a shower would arrive soon, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky in the distance and then another. There was a cool breeze blowing directly into the cave entrance, pushing a green leaf across the rock floor and against the far wall. The fresh air followed all the side tunnels that Ash had dug, which was great for sleeping soundly.

  Cinder-Ella’s dreams were encouraging her to speak aloud, telling Ash to stop spewing fire at her. “Stop it!” Firestorm woke up briefly and snorted at her sister’s mumblings, turned around facing away from her and went back to sleep. She started to suck on her tail for comfort which young dragons sometimes did.

  The little dragon wizard was sleeping in his own chamber, both eyes twitching from a dream that he was having. He had been flatulent all day and the room was filled with the pungent smell of sulfur, the honey he had eaten had not agreed with him. He got up in his sleep and threw himself down against the far wall.

  Outside in the night sky a small bright pink cloud emerged from the other clouds overhead, the cloud was so tiny that it was no larger than a human, it slowly floated toward the den, being drawn by Ash’s magical energy. It commenced to rain lightly, and drops of moisture entered the little cloud but didn’t leave and it expanded slightly from the extra moisture. Ash always left behind an energy trail which mostly went unseen. The cloud discovered him sound asleep and floated above his head before slowly disappearing down into Ash and the dragon sorcerer moaned slightly as it did so.

  Ash flew over the Mighty Kassa River noticing that everything had a slight red glow to it and he wondered if only he could see it, even the ground was lightly dusted with red sand. Boys were playing by the river when one of them bumped into another and they were inexplicably blown to pieces, their body parts now falling from the sky like chunks of rain. The third boy that had been wielding a small sword fell into the water and when he jumped out he was a fish flopping around on the bank. He was afraid to go back into the water but if he didn’t he would die. The world was now saturated in magic.

  A red dragon flew by Ash and suddenly she transformed into a huge boulder falling out of the sky, she squashed a knight on his horse far below, shaking the earth as she hit, opening a vast crack in the ground so big that the end of it could not be seen, and so deep that it just might lead down into the pits of hell. Bubbling lava was seen deep in the fissure as Ash flew over it.

  An old man was pulling a cart full of ripe melons and heading towards Kaday when the green fruit stated to crack open and large spiders began to emerge. The old man noticed one crawling on his chest and quickly flicked it off; he stopped the horse got off and ran from the cart, looking back as his poor horse was being engulfed by the brown hairy arachnids, bucking to get them off. Excessive magic was causing a food shortage.

  Ash was compelled to follow a pink trail back to its source, finding a volcano that was blowing its top, an enormous ash cloud with lava busting forth like an upside down waterfalls.

  Ash awakened by the sound of his own scream.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  THE BLACK BEAR OPENED ITS EYES and Cyrus knew that the odds of killing such a big animal with a sword wouldn’t be good; one swipe with those claws would likely cause a mortal wound. It was a shadowy atmosphere but as his eyes adjusted he did see a way out, a small hole near the floor that continued on into another passage; he got on his hands and knees and crawled out of the chamber that contained the black bear, all the while keeping his eye on the animal. But as he entered the tunnel and stood up he wondered what exactly was in that barrel? Could it be filled with gold or jewels? Did he dare go back and test its weight just to see if it was empty?

  The foundation of a great life just might be waiting for him in that barrel.

  Cyrus stopped and turned toward the opening that he had just pulled himself through, staring at it with his hand on the hilt of his sword. Nothing ventured nothing accomplished he thought, but of course he was gambling with his life. The bear had appeared to be calm. There might be too many decisions for the young man to make and survive. He made his way back to the opening, knowing it was stupid to knowingly go into a bear’s den, yet he was compelled to go back in. He got on his hands and knees and stuck his head through the hole to have a look. The animal remained curled up as if it was in hibernation, however he could see from its luminescent eyes that it wasn’t sleeping. The precious necklace around his neck would do him no good if he ended up being bear food. He crawled back into the chamber, eyeing the barrel with the silver hoops. Should he be brave enough or sufficiently foolish to touch the barrel it might cause the bear to attack, especially if it was there to protect it.

  Since there was no food around that he could see he guessed that the bear was probably magical, and so he reasoned there was likely something of value inside that silver lined barrel. He stood up and took a step toward it, and then took another step. Should he put even a single finger on the barrel the animal might attack but how could he simply be on his way without ever knowing what’s inside? Cyrus stopped, stared and wondered. As he reached toward the barrel he was more frightened than he had ever been, his hand was shaking, what a horrible death it would be to be eaten alive. His screams would go unheard. He was tempted to say nice bear but decided not to risk it.

  Cyrus moved within reach of the barrel and placed his index finger on it and nothing happened though his heart was pounding from the fear. He put both hands on it and pushed slightly and then a little harder; it was heavy. There was indeed something inside. Would the barrel fit through the opening? It looked like it might just fit but then again maybe not. One thing was for certain the bear would not fit
through the hole and he took a little comfort in that knowledge, which wouldn’t do him much good if the bear grabbed him.

  What the hell am I doing? For all I know there’s nothing of value in there. The ultimate test might be moving the barrel. Only a fool would risk such a thing and yet here he was ready to chance it. Cyrus tilted the barrel and as he did the bear lifted his head and blinked his glowing brown eyes but remained silent and mostly motionless. Cyrus slowly backed away and stood beside the hole. Was it simply a test of courage? Might the animal do nothing if he moved it? Some enchantments were a trial of courage, and one simply had to be brave enough to reap the rewards. But was this one of them?

  Cyrus returned to the barrel and after some time he decided to move it just a little; the bear again raised its head, sniffing this time. He moved it a little more as he thought his heart might jump out of his chest but so far so good, the bear watched but didn’t rise. He finally got the barrel near the cavity but didn’t dare attempt to open it. If he could push it through to the other chamber he would be safe.

  The black bear stood up sniffing loudly. A vicious roar went through the chamber. Cyrus got down on his hand and knees and tried to crawl out but when he was half way into the second chamber when the animal tore into his left leg, and another mighty swipe took the leg off just below the knee. Cyrus screamed.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  MARCUS WAS UNRESPONSIVE as Brother tried to awaken the wizard, gently nudging him as Kadyn looked on. The golden knight could sense his heart beating and so knew he wasn’t dead but it was alarming to see him so lifeless, his handsome face apparently sleeping but of course it was more than that. Brother and Kadyn were the very first knights that the boy had conjured while sleepwalking and were proud to defend him so this felt like a failure to both of them. They weren’t sure what to do, carry him back to Leeander or wait and see if he would awake. Even though they were themselves conjured by magic they had little experience with it.