‘I understand,’ said the emissary as they faced each other on the western terrace of the palace.
‘Our thoughts and our love go with you,’ said the Queen who stood beside him.
She stepped forward to kiss him and then Falco turned away and walked towards the black dragon that waited for him at the end of the terrace. The Queen and her Chevalier watched as they rose into the sky and disappeared among the clouds.
*
Flying high above the world, Falco looked down as the forests of Clemoncé gave way to the highlands of Valentia. All through the mountains he followed the trail that led back to his home town of Caer Dour. He did not stop to look at the burnt out buildings. Instead he turned Sidian towards a dark mountain that the locals had called Mont Noir.
Up they flew until Falco could see the amphitheatre of jagged stones known as the Castle of the Winds. At the centre of the curving cliffs was a flat expanse of stone, the western edge of which fell away in a sheer cliff to the mountain slopes below. It was down the face of this precipitous cliff that Falco now took Sidian.
Down they flew to the slopes of tumbled rock and scree, and it did not take long for Falco to find what he was looking for. There, lying twisted and broken among the stones, were the decomposed bodies of a dragon and a man, still bound together in the embrace of death that had claimed them both.
Falco now understood what had taken place on that fateful night, but understanding did not assuage the grief. All through the night he toiled to extricate the bodies from the mountain’s grasp and lay them in a shallow grave that he dug with his own bare hands. With great reverence he laid the remains of Darius Voltario beside the body of the dragon that had answered his call.
He gathered rocks and piled them high until the two great souls were encased in stone then he stepped back as Sidian came forward. The dragon took a deep breath and the night was illuminated by the fierce light of dragon fire, fusing the stones together into a memorial that came to be known as the Cairn of Fallen Souls.
As dawn broke across the mountains, Falco kissed his fingers and laid them lightly on the stones.
‘Forgive me,’ he breathed.
And deep in his soul Falco Danté finally found some measure of peace.
Epilogue
The knight removed his great-helm and raised his eyes to view the field. The Possessed army filled the valley like a forest of dark steel, but there was more. Not one but two demons strode through the seething horde and the soldiers around him could not believe that the knight was so calm.
Like hellish giants the demons towered over the normal soldiers of the Possessed and the fear that issued from them was enough to crush the courage of even the most stalwart man, but still the knight did not seem concerned. He sat there on his bay coloured destrier, the bright red birthmark showing clearly on his face, and he was not afraid.
He was not afraid because he knew they were not alone.
Turning his head he glanced up to the craggy hills that overlooked the valley. The men around him followed the direction of his gaze and suddenly their hearts were filled not with fear but with wonder, for there, at the very edge of the cliffs, was the dark shape of a dragon, and on its back a man.
The figures were silhouetted against the sky but even so the soldiers could see that the dragon was black. A ripple of astonishment swept through the Valentian army as the men recalled the stories that people told of a black dragon and the man who rode it.
‘Le Cœur Noir! they whispered in the hushed tones of awe.
The knight gave a grim smile as the name spread throughout his force. The army saw a figure of rumour and legend, but the knight saw only his friend. As a child this man had been born in tragedy and lived a life of guilt, shame and illness. He had been a weakling in a world of warriors, but somehow he had managed to overcome all this to become what he was born to be.
A battle mage.
Dear reader
Thank you for buying Battle Mage. It really is very
much appreciated. If you enjoyed it I’d be extremely
grateful if you could leave a short review on Amazon.
If you have any comments or would like to get in touch,
you can drop me a line on Twitter: @TheFlanston
Or contact me via my website: www.peterflannery.co.uk
Either way it would be great to hear from you.
Thanks again for buying the book.
Peter
Peter Flannery lives in a small village in the Scottish Borders with his wife and two sons. After leaving school he studied art and design before leaving college to work in forestry. However, during an accident at work he broke his neck and, after a month on traction and a year's convalescence, he moved into horticulture before switching again to set himself up as a sculptor working for the toy industry.
A design studio in Edinburgh provided the opportunity to move from sculpting to writing, producing background stories for the company’s models and games. In 2010 Peter decided to focus on his writing and in 2011 he released his first novel, a psychological thriller called First and Only. In 2012 First and Only reached No.1 in the Amazon rankings for psychological thrillers and is currently in pre-production for a movie to be shot in the spring of 2017.
Other books by Peter
To order First and Only click here:
Battle Mage Page 95
