Knight Fire

by Brad Clark

Gregarious let out a laugh, shaking his head. “I don’t think so. I have been brought here for a single purpose, and there is no creature that exists, even you, that can stop me.”

  Myllia lurched forward, snapping her jaws at him.

  Gregarious did not flinch. He continued, “You are of this world. You are flesh and blood. You may have thick scales that protect your body and the power of magic flows through your veins to keep you safe from magic. But tell me of your eyes. Tell me why one is golden and full of life while the other is white and dead? What creature did that to you? Would it have been one of the little pink creatures that call themselves Human? If you are such a grand beast, how is it that such puny creatures can hurt a beast like you?”

  Myllia sprang forward, her teeth bared and her front claws stretched out. Gregarious deftly dodged away, but as Myllia landed, she snapped her tail towards him, catching him off guard. He was sent flying across the field and directly into the forest. Several trees snapped when he hit them.

  To her dismay, he stood up and walked back into the grassy field, a wide grin on his face, showing his long, sharp teeth.

  “There is nothing on this Earth that can kill me. Even you.”

  ***

  Ilasha shook uncontrollably, her cloak pulled tightly around her body.

  Marik had his sword in hand, but he did not move. There were no windows in the room so the dragon and whatever else was out there could not see them, but Marik did not want to make a sound. At first, he was going to charge out and help whoever it was that stood against the dragon, but the words that he heard kept him inside. Whoever it was, whatever it was, was clearly no friend of Humanity.

  And did he really understand that the dragon was going to protect them? It did not make sense. The beast had spent weeks slaughtering Humans. Why now, would it suddenly start protecting them.

  Marik looked down at Ilasha, who was kneeling on the floor. Her wide eyes were filled with tears, and her head slowly shook back and forth telling him that he should not leave her. His hand gripped his swords with force, making his knuckles white. The beast was just outside and was likely being distracted. If he had just a split second of time, he could bring her down. His eyes looked out the doorway of the room, and he could see stairs that led up to the top of the tower. He could quietly climb those stairs and get a good clean shot from above.

  He slowly and quietly sheathed his sword and grabbed the crossbow and a handful of bolts. He pointed up to indicate his intentions. Tears flowed from her eyes and she violently shook her head.

  “I won’t be long,” he said.

  She continued to shake her head.

  “You’ll be safe here. Just don’t move and don’t make any noise.”

  With regret, he turned away from her, knowing what he must do. He didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone, but he saw no other option. She was as safe as she could be. The dragon and whoever it was fighting were outside and would not know she was inside if she remained quiet. But if he had the opportunity to kill the dragon, now was the time to do it. He might never get another chance like this one.

  With cautious and careful steps, he climbed the stairs towards the roof. The stairwell circled around the tower several times before he reached the top. For most of the way, he was in pitch darkness, so he used his hands to guide him and was very cautious with how he set his feet. He made sure they were on solid stone before he put his weight on them to move on to the next step.

  The construction of the tower impressed him. He had known the tower existed and had even seen it from the outside once many years ago, but he had never been inside. If the stairs had been made of wood, they would have rotted out many years ago, or would be so fragile he would never make it to the top. But it seemed as if the stone stairwell was built right into the outer wall, making them strong and secure. It would likely take many thousands of years for the tower to fall on its own.

  He cringed as a new thought entered his mind. The dragon was a large beast, head to the tip of its tail was nearly as tall as the tower. If it really wanted to, the dragon might be able to rip the tower down. The thought of being stuck atop the tower if that happened made him cringe, but he did not let the thought deter him as he continued up.

  A sliver of light up ahead caused him to pause. It appeared to be in the ceiling, but he wasn’t sure how far up he went. Continuing to use his hands to guide him, he went even slower. His hand touched the stone steps, and it came away cold and wet. They were also a bit slimy and slick. With even more care, he took the last few steps until he was right underneath the crack in the ceiling. Then he realized it was not a crack in the ceiling, but in the door that led up to the roof. The wood was cold, hard, and heavy. With all his might he tried to push it open, but it didn’t even budge. It was only after straining his muscles that he realized that there were locks that held the door in place. Once he released them, the door pushed open. A smaller staircase led up to the opening. These steps were worn and also very slick. Carefully, he climbed them.

  The cold air of the morning bit him as he stepped onto the roof. He could not see the dragon, but he could hear it moving about below him. As quietly as he could, he armed his crossbow and pulled back on the lever to lock the strings in place. With his finger hovering over the weapon’s trigger, he inched over to the side to see what was happening.

  The dragon was slinking across the tall grassy field facing the far tree line. Whatever it had been fighting was standing in front of several trees that had been cracked in two. The creature that stood there was as grotesque a beast as he had ever seen. Its skin was a white or gray, he couldn’t really tell. It had a bald head and an overly large mouth that seemed to be full of long teeth. It was clearly the enemy of the dragon, which should have made it an ally of his. Yet, he had a horrible, sinking feeling when he looked upon it. If there was ever a visualization of pure evil, he knew he was looking at it.

  Doing his best to stay hidden, he slid next to a battlement and waited patiently for the next move. If the dragon were to turn its head and expose its right eye, he would fire the crossbow at it and then it would be over. It might try and fly away, but it wouldn’t know when or how to land. It might escape now, but it would surely soon die.

  To his dismay, the dragon kept the left side of its body towards him.

  ***

  Gregarious lurched forward and sprinted right at Myllia. He knew that he could hurt the beast, but she couldn’t hurt him. His body was too strong for her, even thought she was several times his size. His bones were not of the Earth, but hers were. Her skin would tear, and she would bleed because she was of the Earth. It might take some time, but he had the patience right now. He certainly would enjoy the pain that he would inflict upon her.

  Myllia lowered her snout to the ground and prepared herself for whatever Gregarious was going to do next. She knew that the talons on his hands would slice through her scales, and easily through her skin. She must do whatever it took to keep them away from her.

  Still several steps from her, Gregarious sprung up into the air, launching himself for her back. Myllia expected it and simply rolled her body to expose her underside, catching him in midair with her jaws. She squeezed as hard as she could and felt her teeth sink into Gregarious’ skin.

  Gregarious let out a cry of anger. He knew pain and had felt pain much worse than this in his nearly infinite existence. One of his arms was pinned at his side and Myllia’s teeth sunk deep into it. But his left arm was free, and he swatted down hard across her nose, splitting her skin. He was jerked around by the dragon as any predator would do to its caught prey, trying to break its neck to kill it. With bones that were too strong to just snap, the back and forth action did nothing other than to keep him from being able to get another clean swipe at Myllia’s face.

  Frantically swiping at her with his talons, he was finally able to connect and rip another slice across her face. Then he found himself once again flying through the air, having been tossed from her jaws. He l
anded on the grass and rolled until he stopped. He stood, still uninjured.

  Blood seeped down Myllia’s snout and into her mouth. She rubbed it on the grass, leaving a giant smear of dark red blood that was almost black.

  Without waiting to catch his breath, Gregarious ran back towards the dragon to attack it again.

  ***

  Marik watched from above, frozen in amazement at what he saw. Two creatures of evil were fighting one another, and neither one was going to win. The dragon was too big for the smaller gray human-like creature, and it was just as fast, too. But no matter what the dragon did to the gray creature, it didn’t seem to get hurt. It was crunched in the dragon’s jaws, tossed into trees, crushed underneath foot. No matter what the dragon did to it, it could not be harmed.

  It didn’t take him long to wonder what would happen to him and Ilasha if one of the creatures did win. If the dragon was victorious, it would probably tear down the tower to find them. If the other creature won, was it going to be on their side? Was it an ally? Or was it also an enemy like his gut told him.

  After several more minutes of fighting with neither one gaining an advantage, Marik noticed a pattern to the combat. Although the dragon would toss the gray creature away, it never chased after it. It kept its back to the tower, always facing outward, almost as if it were protecting something in the tower. The only thing in the tower now was Ilasha. Could the dragon really be trying to protect her? She was a Human, why would it be protecting her?

  He could not answer the question, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever get an answer. But it was clear who needed to die in the battle. He started to stand up, but the sound of a raspy voice caused him to freeze.

  The voice came from the gray-skinned creature, and it sent a chill up his spine.

  ***

  “You cannot protect the necklace forever,” Gregarious shouted out. Once again he had been tossed across the field. Instead of running at the dragon to attack it again, he walked towards it. He didn’t want to give the impression that he was getting fatigued, but he was.

  “I know what you are doing,” Gregarious continued. “You think I will eventually give up and go away when I realize that I cannot kill you. Unlike you, I have all the time in the world. We can do this until the end of time. Well, I can. But I can feel that you are wearing down and soon enough, you will be a step slow, and I will rip your throat out. You have no scales under your chin to protect you. Your blood will stain this ground, rendering it useless and dead for thousands of years. Your brethren will be slain as well, tortured, if I have my way. Then your species will disappear forever. For eternity. The great beasts of the air will be no more. Forgotten, even before you are remembered.”

  Myllia let out a low growl and cast a breath of fire at Gregorious. She knew that it would do no harm to him, but it allowed her to vent her frustration of being unable to kill him. Trees behind Gregarious had started on fire, but the wetness of autumn would keep the fire from spreading too far into the forest.

  “You are desperate, now. You gave a vow to help the Deceiver in his quest for the Ark of Life, and you have gone back on your word.”

  A low growl came from Myllia. “My promise was only in hunting Humans. That allowed me to keep an eye out for the Ark of Life, to find it before he did. The mistake your Master made was in trusting me. I do not serve him. Never have. Never will. I serve the Creator.”

  “Does your dragon brethren know you have sacrificed him to save yourself?”

  “It is a sacrifice that Immerallis is prepared to make. It is a sacrifice that I would have been prepared to make as well if I were the one captured.”

  Gregarious gave the dragon a long look, wondering if she were truly telling the truth. “Immerallis is the last male dragon. If he were to be slain, then your species would die out. You would allow that to happen?”

  “Sacrifice is clearly not a concept you can understand,” Myllia said. “It is why you and the Deceiver will always fail, for you do not know what it means to sacrifice everything to gain everything.”

  Gregarious laughed. “That makes no sense! You can spout all the words that you want, but I will kill you and retrieve the necklace, or you can let me have it. However you choose, I will have the necklace. It is a simple choice.”

  “We have spent a long time trying to kill one another. You can try to kill me, but you will not succeed. And you will not get the necklace. The Ark of Life is not meant for you. It is meant for the Creator’s true creations.”

  “That is not for you to decide. My Master will take it, as he was meant to bear it, just as he bears the black gemstone. Stand aside and save your life. I know that the necklace is within the tower. I can feel its power. You can still live and kill Humans as you have been doing, but I will have the necklace with you dead or alive. You might as well choose to live since I will take the necklace.”

  Gregarious started to move to his left, his eyes on the door to the tower. If he were fast enough, he could get inside, grab the necklace and use it to kill the dragon. Even if the dragon was ripping apart the tower around him, the tower seemed strong enough to give him a few moments to find it. Once inside, he would be so close to it that he could easily be able to find it. He would just need a split-second head start.

  As Gregorius moved, Myllia turned to match his movements.

  ***

  Marik’s heart suddenly started beating hard. The dragon finally was turned so that it’s right side was facing him, exposing its one good eye. Slowly and carefully Marik stood and brought the crossbow up to aim at the great beast’s head. It would be an easy shot, even more so with a crossbow. Although he did not like the feel and heft of the weapon, he knew that it could make arrows fly truer and straighter than nearly any longbow. He pulled air into his chest and held it. One more heartbeat.

  In that heartbeat, the words of the dragon struck him. The dragon was protecting the world from the Deceiver, even though it was killing Humans. It didn’t make sense. He could feel the next beat of his heart in his ears, but he did not fire his weapon. The dragon claimed to be fighting for the Creator, for all the creatures of the Creator and that included Humans. Yet, it hunted them down and murdered them without so much thought or care. He could not just let the dragon live and kill more Humans. It had to die.

  He moved the crossbow’s sights to aim just above the eye, as it would fall just that much over the short distance from him to the dragon. There was no wind to move it, only gravity. His finger rested on the cold metal of the trigger. He took in a deep breath, held it, and waited for one more heartbeat.

  He heard the voice of the gray creature once again. He wasn’t sure what it said, but its gravelly voice broke his concentration. His eyes drifted to it and once again he felt that feeling of dread as if he were looking at pure evil. The dragon was a murderous creature, but the gray creature was something else, something more sinister. Something even more dangerous.

  His heart told him to kill the dragon, but his head was telling him something else.

  The words of his old friend, Sir Brace Hawkden came to him. When they were both young knights, Brace had told him that a knight lives by his heart, but must fight with his head, for if he fights with his heart, he will always lose. Until this moment, he had always thought he knew what Brace had meant, but now he finally did.

  He lifted the crossbow up just a bit farther up and squeezed the trigger. Without looking to see where the crossbow bolt landed, he stumbled across the roof and down through the open doorway towards the descending stairwell.

  ***

  The sound of the release of the crossbow bolt caused Myllia to flinch, tucking her head down to protect her one good eye. It came from above, and she feared that she was going to be too slow. As her head moved down, the crossbow bolt buzzed past, clearly missing her, but striking Gregarious directly between the eyes.

  The bolt bounced off his forehead, but it broke his concentration. Gregarious looked up to see who it was that dared shoot at
him. Didn’t they know something so trivial as a piece of wood couldn’t hurt him?

  Myllia did not hesitate. She sprang directly for Gregarious, landing with both front feet on his chest. Using her claws to dig into his body and hold him still, she took his head in her jaws and clamped down as hard as she could. Gregarious fought back, his talons raking across the dragon’s legs, cutting deeply into muscle and scraping bone. Myllia ignored the pain, knowing that she had this one last chance to finally kill the creature from hell. She could feel her teeth cut deep through its skin, and then she shook her head back and forth with such violence that her entire body swung too. All her weight was on Gregarious’ body, keeping it still while his head was thrashed about. There was a ripping sound and then a snap as his super strong bones finally gave way. She lifted her snout high into the air and spat out Gregarious’ head. It landed halfway to the tree line, resting hidden in the tall grass.

  ***

  Marik stumbled down half the steps, slipping down the rest. He grunted and groaned as he kept hitting the same spot on his back each time he slipped. He didn’t know how long he had before the dragon would start to tear through the tower. If it did, they would be caught under tons of stone and would be easily crushed.

  When he finally burst through the doorway, Ilasha was crumpled on the floor sobbing.

  “Come on,” he said, trying to pull her up.

  But she didn’t budge. She could only lay on the floor.

  He was about to scoop her up into his arms when he heard a voice.

  “I know you are there,” the voice said. It was a female voice, and he recognized it as the dragon’s voice.

  Marik turned towards the door and even though he could not see her, he screamed, “Leave us be! We have done nothing to you!”

  “You have done everything to me if you must know,” the dragon replied.