Wand.
I shoved my weapon into my boot and circled back to Blue and Jason, who, based on the bodies around them, hadn’t been wasting any time. I wasn’t sure if those assailants were dead or unconscious, but I didn’t want to know the answer. The cold expression on Blue’s face, however, gave me a clue. My friend had ditched her horse at some point and was now standing next to Jason.
“Crisanta, Blue, let’s go!” Arthur shouted, waving us forward. He and Ormé were resuming their charge to the castle.
Blue turned to Jason. “Come with us. We need to fight together.”
Jason put his hand on her arm. “We don’t need to fight together. We just want to. And that’s not a good enough reason to jeopardize this. I’m staying here because they need my help; you and Crisa should go because Arthur needs yours. Splitting up is still the best option.”
“Blue, he’s right.” I extended my hand. My friend looked at Jason, gritted her teeth, and climbed onto the rear of my horse.
“SJ!” I yelled. “You coming?”
SJ did a flip in the air, kicked a guy in the face, then fired a portable potion that encased a black knight in goo. Suddenly, an apartment building ten feet from her was set ablaze by several flaming arrows shot by the enemy. Screams came from inside.
“I will catch up when I can!” she called. She zoomed up to one of the windows and darted into the building.
“Good luck,” I told Jason. “Look out for each other; her flying will wear off eventually.”
Blue and I took off after Arthur and Ormé, cantering through the upper districts of the citadel. Some of the shops looked familiar; we’d taken this route to get to the castle before. The streets were completely empty aside from the shattered glass, debris, and downed bodies of ally and enemy. The destruction blurred around me as we advanced in search of the battle that had migrated through. It was only on the final stretch to the castle that we heard the cries and clangs of war and the fight we’d been in search of came into view.
It covered a small area in terms of square footage, but it was the most intense combat scene yet. The Gwenivere Brigade and navy knights looked vastly outnumbered, but they were holding their own thanks to the two women clogged at the center of the drama—Gwenivere and Morgan.
Morgan wore forest green armor with black accents that matched her long raven hair. By means of her wind magic she blasted away charging knights, blew others off their higher vantage points, and caused general interference and distraction. As she utilized her powers, she glowed with a sparkling silver energy. If she could do all this with weakened normal magic due to the Aurora, I wondered how formidable she was at full strength.
Gwenivere fought with a sword beside Morgan. She donned navy armor like our allies, but with gold accents on the shoulders and elbows. A belt woven from gold and sapphires hung at the queen’s waist. Her breastplate bore a golden Pendragon Mark. I had never known anyone who could make chainmail look so glamorous.
Although incredibly elegant and refined, the queen was clearly a masterful fighter. It made me hope that she and Arthur had never gotten into a lovers’ quarrel—I wondered if even he could best her.
Despite the strength of Gwenivere, Morgan, and their forces, enemies kept coming around the bend from the castle ahead to cut off our invasion. Good thing we were about to even the odds.
Maybe it was some sixth sense connection to her husband, maybe it was just good timing, but Gwenivere turned as we approached the throng of combat. The queen froze when Arthur came into view, mounted on his white horse and wielding the glow of Excalibur. I could only imagine what she felt.
“Gwen!” Morgan shouted loudly as she shot wind at several knights that nearly cut down the queen in her pause.
Arthur met his wife’s eyes across the crowd. He kicked his horse harder and charged forward, slashing away at enemies as if they were blades of grass. It had been seven years since he had seen his queen and nothing could have broken his momentum.
With a powerful jolt of magic, Morgan blasted back all enemy knights within a twelve-foot radius to clear Arthur’s final approach to Gwenivere. When he was within feet of her, Arthur leapt off his horse and sheathed his sword. In three large strides, he stood before her.
At first, the queen’s face was blank. But then she reached out her hand. Her fingers graced her husband’s cheek and her granite expression broke. Even from a distance—across war and chaos—I could see the joy that seized her. And when that smile lit across her face and eyes, so did it light Arthur’s.
With great enthusiasm, he lifted her off the ground and spun her around in an embrace. After Arthur lowered her back to the ground, the king and queen shared an impassioned kiss. They stared at each other for another moment that probably felt like millennia before Arthur tilted his chin at the melee behind her.
Several black-armored knights had gotten past Morgan’s wind defense and were inbound. Gwenivere touched her hand to Arthur’s cheek once more, smiled confidently, then whirled around. With renewed vigor, she slashed into the enemy with Arthur by her side. Together, they fought harder than ever—their internal fires burning brighter from the sheer proximity.
It did my heart good to witness.
The battle raged on around the pair. Wielding her bow, Ormé went to aid her Gwenivere Brigade sisters. Blue leapt off our shared horse and thrust herself into the fight on foot.
I grasped the reins with one hand and held up my shield to avert stray arrows. For the moment I decided not to abandon my horse. I could face off with other mounted knights by using Twenty-Three Skidd tactics like I had earlier. Plus, horseback gave me a better vantage point from which to search for someone else.
It wasn’t until I rode past the last of the shops, rounded a corner, and entered a throng of brick and mortar high-rises that I spotted the face that I had low-key been looking for since entering the citadel.
Daniel.
Kai, half a dozen Gwenivere Brigade girls, and an assortment of navy knights were up against maybe thirty men, but my eyes zeroed in on Daniel. He was fighting off five soldiers to the side. I wanted to go to him, but a pair of black knights on horseback charged me. I transformed my wand into a lacrosse sword and swiftly dealt with them.
The castle’s tallest towers were visible between the buildings. Just one more turn in the road and the full palace would come into view, as would the bridge leading up to it. But a lot of enemy soldiers and long-range defenses stood in our way before reaching that point.
Volleys of arrows and cannon fire arched over the buildings clustered around us to penetrate different parts of the block. At that moment a cannonball crashed into the fifth floor of the apartment next to me. I raised my shield to protect myself from a smattering of falling debris. My horse bucked in panic when a stone struck his flank. By the time I’d steadied him, Daniel really needed an assist. His enemies were gaining ground. I meant to go to him, but then another cannonball barrelled through the window of a building across the plaza and that was followed by a familiar scream.
Kai.
I changed directions and headed toward her. She needed help more urgently than Daniel did, and I’d made a promise to keep her safe. Right now, that meant letting my friend fend for himself.
As the smoke cleared, I saw Kai struggling to get up from where the explosion had tossed her. Four black knights noticed her plight and were rushing in.
Kai had just staggered to her feet, clutching her side, when another small cannonball plowed into a building between us. Brick and stone showered the cobblestones. I urged my horse onward and we jumped over the rubble and skidded to a stop between Kai and the inbound men. I yanked on the reins and my horse whinnied and bucked his front legs—kicking one of the knights in the head.
“Get back!” I shouted menacingly, aiming the point of my spear at them.
The enemy knights didn’t heed my warning. Not wanting my horse to get stabbed, I leapt from the saddle and smacked my steed on the rear to send him off befo
re I lunged at the black knights. Two men had spears, one had a knife, and another wielded a sword. I ducked the sword, blocked a spear, spun, kicked, jumped out of the knife’s range, shoved my staff behind one attacker’s neck, and hurled him to the ground.
They kept coming. I rammed one attacker back with my spear then jolted another in the ribs.
Shield.
I twirled to intercept a sword then swung my fist to deliver a right hook to someone’s jaw. I kicked out that same man’s knee for good measure then returned my weapon to spear form and swept the knight off his feet.
Kai found her footing and joined me in the fight. She clashed her sword with one of the black knights. I stomped my foot on the spine of a downed man then blocked the assault of a knife. Kai kicked her attacker in the groin then slammed the pommel of her sword against his face. I grasped my attacker’s wrist out of midair, transformed my spear into a blade, and stabbed him in the bicep. Finally I broke his nose with a reverse backfist while Kai punched out the last guy in the group.
With all the men down, Kai patted me on the shoulder as she caught her breath. “Thanks for the save.”
“Any time,” I said, returning my knife to a wand.
Kai’s eyes looked past me. “Wow. That’s an impressive team if I ever saw one.” She gestured behind me.
Arthur and Gwenivere (who were mounted on the king’s white horse) and their party had arrived. All our main fighters were still in play, including Morgan, Ormé, Blue, and a good number of navy knights and Gwenivere Brigade girls. SJ was flying alongside them; I was glad she’d caught up with us, though I wished Jason were with her. I guess he was still helping other factions of the fight.
Looking around at our friends and allies, I felt confident we could make it to the castle. Then a cannonball came. It seemed to curve over the buildings in slow motion as I registered where it was heading.
“Daniel!”
The fiery projectile plowed into the street barely a dozen feet from him. The force of the explosion propelled his attackers into the street and him through the glass window of a building behind. Kai and I bounded through the shattered window in pursuit. We were in some kind of office space with blue carpet, white walls, mahogany furniture, and chunks of broken glass that reflected glints of the sky. Charred papers floated through the air. Daniel lay on the dust-covered carpet beneath a swinging light fixture that was threatening to fall.
My heart jumped in my chest, but before I could get to him, movement reflected in a cracked, tarnished mirror on the room’s back wall. In the lookin glass reflection I spotted a knight in the street taking aim at Kai with a crossbow.
“Kai!” I shoved her aside and changed my wand into a shield. It transformed a nanosecond too late and the cruel point of an arrow skimmed my left shoulder.
“Argh!” I cringed in pain. I changed my shield into a spear and aimed at the head of the knight. I had a clear kill shot and was about to launch my weapon, but then Blue’s voice echoed in my head.
“You can’t kill, Crisa.”
I adjusted my aim at the last second and hurled my spear through the window. It sailed straight into the thigh of the knight. He went down but remained alive.
I whirled toward my friends. Kai was already next to Daniel, who still hadn’t moved. I hurried to my knees beside him, across from Kai. His face was covered in dust from the explosion. A cut across one cheek left a trail of blood down to his jaw.
Suddenly, he grabbed his head and groaned. My heart jumped again; this time for joy. He opened his eyes and seemed surprised to see us both there. “What’d I miss?” he asked.
I exhaled with relief. “Nothing.”
“If you don’t count Crisa saving me twice as nothing.” Kai turned to me. “I guess that makes it two to one. Which means I owe you another save.”
“I’ll try not to cash that in too quickly,” I replied.
Daniel picked up his sword and stood slowly. When he was sure of his balance, he waved away our concerned hovering and led the way to the window, wiping the dust and grime from his face a bit with the sleeve of his jacket. Kai looked at him with worry, but he gave her a nod to signal he was all right then gestured her forward. She nodded in response then sprung out the window and immediately returned to the fight. I was about to do the same when Daniel grabbed my wrist.
“Hey, thank you,” he said. “You’re making good on your promise to protect Kai. You don’t know what that means to me.”
I gave him a strange look. “Yes I do, Daniel. It means the world. So I’ll do whatever’s necessary to keep it from shattering.”
“As long as you don’t get shattered in the process.” He nodded at the injury on my shoulder; he could see the slight bleeding through the slice the arrow had made in my jacket. “Kai may mean the world to me, but I don’t want anything to happen to you either.”
“Ditto,” I said, meeting his eyes and ignoring a weird spark in my heart. We stepped through the window and parted ways. Daniel headed toward where Kai was fighting; I hurried to collect my spear, which the knight was trying to remove from his leg.
“Let me get that for you.” I ripped the weapon from his thigh, kicked him in the rib cage, and smashed my fist into his face. He went down and I went back to the battle.
Weapons, fire, and combatants tornadoed around each other in a violent, productive flurry. In a few minutes, our band of heroes emerged victorious. With all our enemies taken down, we charged forward around the bend. The castle and bridge leading up to it came fully into view.
The dark stone of the palace contrasted magnificently against the sherbet swirls of the sky. Torches lined the outer walls from every elevation, illuminating the patrolling black knights. Lanterns on the long bridge that stretched over the moat burned just as brightly. I was surprised the bridge had already been repaired after being damaged so severely during our escape a few days ago. There were still some areas of exposed wood and iron along the side, but for the most part it was whole. I guess being a tyrannical king meant that you probably got your work orders completed fast.
That was all the time I had for admiring the surroundings. The instant we sped around the bend, we became completely exposed and vulnerable. All the waiting archers and cannon operators had clear shots of us and they took advantage of it straight away. A massive assault of arrows and cannonballs soared toward us.
Oh crud.
Arthur wheeled his horse in a tight pivot and we followed, racing back the way we’d come and ducking for cover behind the closest structures to reevaluate. SJ flew next to me.
“Is Jason okay?” I asked as explosions rattled the buildings. Dust and rubble fell around us and I held my shield over our heads.
“Yes, but we may not be.”
I checked my Hole Tracker. It was nearly a quarter past six. Crazily, we had not been fighting that long, but every minute lost was a point against us. We needed to wrap this up if we were going to get to Oz before the Aurora started at half past seven.
I turned off the Hole Tracker. That’s when something more powerful than a hundred cannonballs hit me. A mighty magic energy wave swept through the air, the strongest I’d felt all day. The sensation was like drinking a cocktail of caffeine, adrenaline, and sugar. Goosebumps rippled along my skin and I felt my eyes widen.
Ormé darted beside me. “Our forces inside the castle must’ve been defeated,” she said, sounding worried.
Arthur and Gwenivere joined our huddle too. “If we attempt to cross the bridge like this, it will be a massacre,” Arthur said. “We need cover.”
SJ flew up above the building for a split-second to take a better look at the threat but bolted back down just before a slew of arrows skewered the sky where she’d been.
“What’s the verdict?” Ormé asked.
“I cannot get any closer,” SJ said. “It was different in the mountain pass. I had the element of surprise and the advantage of coming at them from above. Here, I have neither and we are facing ten times the men.�
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Although I was still listening to my friends, the feeling of magic rolling through the atmosphere was intoxicating and drawing my focus. Power didn’t merely tingle through me this time; it shook my limbs with the hunger to get out. I glanced around at the buildings, thinking. The nearest ones had been obliterated by cannon fire. Across the street was some sort of hotel with two towers, a tall apartment complex made of brick, and a few other structures with multiple stories.
Out of nowhere, a red-chested hummingbird curtly flitted in front of me. It darted one way, and then the other, panicked. I could relate. But the tiny creature was surprisingly helpful. It sparked a memory—a drawing that Merlin had made of one of his dreams featuring me with five weirdly shaped hummingbirds flying overheard.
An idea burned within me that my magic liked very much. My conscience had mixed feelings about it though. It was such a large-scale endeavor that I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off. And if I did manage to succeed, would I have any power left? Even if my abilities were boosted by the magic energy wave, this idea could seriously tap me out, which meant I would have little chance of being able to resurrect myself if I was killed in the near future. And there was so much left to do today!
Still, desperate times called for desperate measures. Furthermore, no one else here had a back-up plan for mortality so why should I? I was no more important than Arthur, SJ, Ormé, or any of the other men and women who were risking their lives without a safety net. I owed it to them to do the same.
“Arthur,” I said, attaching my wandpin to my bra strap. “I hope your kingdom has a healthy construction budget. I know how to get you that cover, but it’s going to make a real mess.”
I dashed away from the wall before he could ask me to elaborate. I raced across the street to the brick apartment building. Magic energy pulsed through me. With the Aurora so close, I sensed that if I were ever going to pull off something this crazy, now would be the time. I ducked around the building to shield myself from the castle’s vantage points. Several navy knights and members of the Gwenivere Brigade were hiding nearby, and I waved for them to get back.
Crisanta Knight: The Lost King Page 11
