We trot up outside the stable. Tanner is busy filling a troth of water when he looks up. Doing a double take he throws the water into the troth splashing it everywhere as he runs to the fence.
“Jaria! Can it really be you?!”
I climb off Stallum, pulling her to the gate. He opens it leading us in with disbelieving eyes. He throws his skinny arms around my neck. “I thought you died in the arena. There was talk of what happened for days after you disappeared.”
“I thought I died for a moment too.”
“What happened?”
“It’s a long story,” I shake my head at him.
“I have time! Let’s go inside. Stallum will be fine here.” He pulls a sugar cube out of his pocket letting her lick it off his palm the same way his brother does. “Come on, let’s get some food.” He opens the back door to his house leading me into an old kitchen. A heavy black kettle hangs over the fire, filled with stew. “It’s from last night, mom always makes too much.” He says off my look.
“It smells delicious. I remember having a bowl at the inn.”
He grabs two bowls and begins scooping stew into them. Placing the bowls at the table we sit on opposing sides and dig in.
What feels like hours and endless bowls of stew later I’ve told him everything.
“Danny is alright then?”
I nod brushing a drip of stew from my chin. “He’s excellent. He works the stables up there, has his own room, is well fed and training to be a knight. He’s clung to me as well.”
Tanner laughs with a brilliant smile. “Good, I’m glad. He could use someone trustworthy.” He pushes our empty bowls to the end of the table. “So, you’re the Knight Divine?”
I roll my eyes with a shrug. “So they tell me, anyway.”
“You’ll make a good one. I had a feeling there was something special about you.”
“I’m still figuring things out.”
“Like the lightning?”
“Exactly. I still don’t know what it means.” Looking out the window I see the sky turn soft shades of pink and orange. “I was supposed to find out today, go out into the woods and concentrate on it. I found myself wanting to come here and see an old friend instead.”
His face saddens as he looks out the window at the setting sun. “You’d better go if you want to make it back by dusk.”
I shake my head.
“Jaria, the sun will be gone very soon.”
“I don’t care. I’m not going back there tonight. I’ll stay at the inn. Wizard told me to take time away and that’s exactly what I’m doing. Besides, I don’t want to go back until I’ve figured out this whole lightning thing, or at least tried. I’ll go back tomorrow.”
“Mom and dad would be thrilled to have you at the inn again...”
“No, they can’t know I’m here. No one but you can know I was here today, Tanner.”
“Oh, ok.”
“Tanner I’m serious. You also can’t tell anyone anything that I just told you about the fort, the arena, the tomb…me being the Knight Divine. I trust you.”
“You can trust me! After all, you’re looking after my brother. I trust you with his life, I would never do anything to risk that.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, mom and dad will be home as soon as the sun sets. You can wait out in the stables and walk over after. There’s no guests there, so you’ll need a key.” He stands and walks to a cupboard by the window. Opening it, several keys hang from inside the door. He picks a small brass one and hands it to me. “Just be out before the sun rises and bring the key back to me. I’ll keep Stallum here. They won’t go out in the stables until the morning so she’ll be safe.”
“Thank you, Tanner.”
He turns to look at the darkening sky. “Go wait out in the stables, I’ll see you in the morning.”
I stand and head for the back door.
He pauses. “If I don’t see you again before you leave…thank you, for everything.”
I manage my best smile for him and shut the door behind me. I wait around the side of the house until I hear his parents walk from the inn to the house a few minutes later. I trot across the street and unlock the inn. Brisk cool air kisses my skin. No residents, no fire. I make my way up the creaking steps to the floor above. I stop and look down the hall, overcome with nostalgia for the moments before this all started. I was a simple guest at the inn, hoping to fight in the arena and buy some new armor.
That’s all I wanted. All I thought would happen. Memories of Keeper staying here fill my head. How did he know I was here, or know who I was before the events at the arena? Just how long has he really been watching over me? Shaking off the thought I walk into my old room and pull sheets from the dresser, fixing up the cot. It’s freezing in here. Without slipping off my linens I crawl under the layers of sheets and curl up into a ball, huddling against myself for heat. I shut my eyes relishing in the cold, dark, silence. No Keeper in the same or adjoining room, no fort, no responsibilities, and hopefully no nightmares. It’s just me in this bed alone, where no one can find me.
XV: Burn
“Jaria!” A loud crash awakens me.
I’m still at the inn, freezing under the sheets in the dark. Was I having another nightmare?
“Jaria!” The voice comes again.
I know that voice, Keeper. He’s here, he’s found me. I jump up from the bed, pulling the sheets low as I crawl under the frame to hide. I will not deal with him right now. Heavy footsteps come pounding up the stairs and kick the bedroom door in. His feet face the bed.
“I know you’re here.”
My heart lurches. I’ve never been afraid of Keeper before, but this was different. His feet stomp down the hall to the next room and kick it in.
“Jaria!” He calls once more. “I’m not leaving here without you!”
His voice fades as I hear him walk further into the room down the hall. Carefully slipping out from under the bed I dart down the stairs on the tips of my toes, thankful I wore my leather boots.
I make it down unnoticed. The front door is flung wide open, spilling blue moonlight into the entrance. I run out the door and to the stables. Jumping the fence in a clean swoop I duck down around the back of the house. I look up to see Stallum sleeping. Keeper saw her and knew I was here. He won’t leave without her, even if he doesn’t find me first. I have to move fast. I tip toe through the shadows into the stall wakening her. She neighs at the sight of me.
“Shh girl, we have to be quiet.” I pull her across the stables towards the gate.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Keeper steps in front of the gate. My heart leaps to my throat.
“Away from you.” I say flat as I can.
He opens the gate. “Then go. Leave us. Leave everything you’ve earned and are responsible for behind you and live at the inn with the farmers and stable boy. Or go back to the arena, risking your life for nothing but gold others placed on your head. Go back to the Realm, and see what surprises Helwain has in store for you.”
“What is wrong with you?” I snap at him.
“It bewilders me how you could ask me that question, when it should be directed at yourself.”
“Why are you following me? Why do I not know your name? Why have I never seen your face?”
His hooded eyes bore into mine, angry and unmoving. A scream cuts the silence between us. We turn to see a dragon…a blood dragon, headed down from Winterstrand towards the city.
“It cannot be,” I shake my head in disbelief stepping back.
“So it has begun.” Keeper remains still.
Tanner and his parents run out to the stables.
“Jaria! What are you doing here?” His mother asks.
I do not move, I can’t. All three of them follow our gaze up to the sky, watching with intent as the blood dragon passes over the luminous moon.
“No…” She utters.
Tanner looks to me, eyes filled with fear. “My brother,” he whispers.
�
�Keeper, the fort!”
“We will not make it back in time. We must stay and fight.”
A reptilian screech fills the air from above.
“I don’t have my armor.” I look to Keeper. “I have to go back to the fort.”
He looks to me with what appears to be sadness. Or is it disappointment? “Go, quick as you can. Gather the others. I will do my best to hold the ground here.”
“Here?!” Tanner’s mother cries.
“I will draw it out to the fields.” He grabs a black horse from the stables. “Go, now!”
I jump on Stallum leaning in as we gallop full speed. Keeper bolts the other direction, breaking off from me as we pass the city and head north towards Fort Guarded Dusk. The dragon circles the night sky, high above. I cut through patches of barren forest for cover in the darkness making my way up the hill to the base of the mountain. Another screech cuts through the air as I reach the fort and jump off Stallum. Running inside I stop at the compass and flames in the entryway and yell, “Blood Dragon!”
I run past the stairs to the rooms above yelling louder, “I need every able-bodied man and woman, now!” I burst through the doors to my chamber flinging open the chest drawers with my armor and begin assembling myself.
Shauna runs into my room. “My lady, is it true?”
Roger, Danny, and three others pile in my room behind her.
“There is a Blood Dragon out in the fields, Keeper is trying to keep it distracted and away from the city. We must go, now!” I pull on the last of my armor, my steel boots, and push through the crowd at my door back to the entry way. Thorn and a few other knights come down.
“What will you have us do?” A red-headed knight I’d seen in the dining hall several times asks.
“Assemble your armor, your weapons, and your horses and meet me in front of the fort. We must go, now.” I look around the room giving a sharp nod to the half-terrified, half-asleep faces as they take off running in various directions.
I step outside and mount Stallum. The blood dragon is still circling the sky, though he is lower now. Thorn, Shauna and two others come running to their horses. Danny, clad in armor too big for him, follows suit. Wizard and Roger stand in the entryway. “Stay here.” I look to them.
Five more knights run out assembling on their horses. Eleven of us altogether sit on our horses, everyone waiting on my command. A few heads look up to the sky. I turn Stallum to face my knights. “Do not look up at the Blood Dragon. Do not catch it’s attention until we are far enough from both the city and the fort. We will ride out through the woods for cover, then head south into the fields where we will join Keeper. Is that understood?”
A few heads nod.
“I said is that understood?” I shout, getting up their ire.
Everyone nods this time.
“Good. When we are out in the field, we will draw it’s attention.”
“What’s our plan of attack?” One of the knights with a bow and arrow, Tristan, asks.
“I want the archers to fire when they have a clear shot, but not any sooner. We cannot afford to waste arrows. With a few precise shots from Tristan and the others we should be able to draw it to the ground, where the rest of us will ride in close and attack while the archers continue firing arrows from a distance.”
A few faces look to one another, disheartened.
“Look, I know we’re not fully prepared for this, but we can defeat it—together. You are strong, all of you. I have seen you practice; I have seen you defend yourselves against one another in training. We can do this.” It wasn’t the best speech, but I had to say something. I look up to the sky, Keeper appears to have caught its attention in the fields.
“Ride!” I turn Stallum into the forest galloping through the trees. A stampede of knights follow close behind. To my right I can see Keeper, with his sword to the sky, running fast on his horse drawing the dragon out. The dragon lowers so close it could snatch his horse with his claws. “Now!” I yell at the top of my lungs as we burst from the woods. Heading down the field I command my archers to fire at will. Still focused on Keeper the blood dragon swoops down snatching his horse with a claw. Several arrows sail towards the dragon’s claw, sinking into it causing him to screech and release the horse.
The horse as it lands on its side with a cry, throwing Keeper off. He lands a few yards away. We ride right up to the dragon, breaking off in flanks encircling it. “Hold nothing back!” I yell as swords, axes and arrows beg to draw blood from the dragon. The dragon hovers close to the ground, foot wounded. I break off looking for Keeper. He’s unconscious, but safe where he is. The blood dragon roars, billowing out black fire to the knights at his feet. Two of the knights scream in the blaze, trying to pull away. Black flames engulf them and set fire to the field. I run up on Stallum, slicing my sword through the blood dragon’s right leg deep enough to draw blood. A painful cry escapes the blood dragon as he flaps his enormous wing span, lifting himself upward.
Thorn runs up nearly standing in his stirrups with his ax held high. He slices the tip of the tail as the blood dragon ascends. I look for my archers. Tristan stands on his horse behind Keeper, guarding his body. “Tristan, now!” I run at the blood dragon as an arrow cuts through the air above my head, just missing the belly. I shove the sword up, cutting into the tail with a bolt of lightning. The blood dragon flies higher upward, screeching quieter as it ascends far out of reach into the night sky. We stand ready on our horses, watching. “Wait,” I warn as we watch his shadow cross the moon. He flies north and out of sight.
“Keeper.” I trot towards him and Tristan and dismount. Keeper is breathing, but unconscious. I lean down to inspect him, noticing deep cuts from the claws his ribs. “We have to get him back to the fort right away.”
Thorn dismounts and runs over helping me lift Keeper.
“Hold him.” I mount Stallum sitting as far back on my saddle as possible. “Help me get him up here, I’ll ride back with him.”
Thorn lifts him up to me. We pull him up so he’s sitting in front of me, leaning forward on Stallum’s neck. I look over to the diminishing black flames. “Do the same with them,” I nod to the two fallen knights. “Bring them back on horses.”
Thorn nods sullenly, “We’ll see you back at the fort.”
Stallum takes off running, slower than usual with the added weight, but I push her to go as far and fast as possible. She begins losing energy as we make our way up the last part of the hill to the stables. “Help!” I cry so loud it burns in my throat. “Someone help!” I scream louder as tears burn down my cheeks. I can’t lose him. Not another.
Roger and Wizard come running through the fort doors.
“Help him.” I sob.
Wizard gasps at the deep wounds in Keeper’s ribs.
“Help me carry him inside!” Roger pulls him down by the arms and Wizard grabs the legs.
I dismount Stallum, turning to see Danny ride up behind me.
“I’ll take her,” he nods to me holding back tears. Danny’s alive. I turn back to the fort and lift Keeper’s legs with Wizard as the three of us haul him inside.
“To her quarters.” Roger says.
We pull him through the entryway and down the hall. Backing into the room we haul him up onto the bed.
“Wizard, we need something for his wounds.” I look to him.
“I’m not sure what I can—“
“You healed me! Repeatedly! Get something for his wounds, now!”
Wizard turns, running to his apothecary.
“I’ll grab some washcloths and water.” Roger places a calming hand on my shoulder.
“Thank you.” I hadn’t even noticed in all the chaos, Keeper’s hood had fallen back fully exposing his face. I rip off his gloves and tear off his shirt exposing the lacerations.
Wizard runs back in with two brown bowls filled with liquid. “This,” he says holding out a clear yellow one, “will clean the wounds. It will hurt him, but we have to use it generously and quick
ly or he could die from infection.”
Roger enters bearing several washcloths and a large bowl of water. “First we need to clean the blood away.”
I dip a cloth into the water and start wiping blood from his skin, following Roger.
“After cleaning his wounds with the liquid, you’ll need to use this one.” Wizard holds out a bowl of cherry red liquid, the same one he gave me. “It will help to close the wounds and keep him from getting infected.” He looks to the cuts. “Those are deep wounds, you will need to do this quickly if it will work at all…” his voice trails off as he notices his face.
“Wizard,” Thorn calls from the entryway. “You are needed elsewhere, there are others wounded. Go.”
Wizard looks to me with fear then runs out of the room.
“You can stay and help, I will need it.” I say to Roger. He nods dipping the bloodied cloth back into the water. Light red blood floats like ink in the bowl.
“The water will only get bloodier, I think this is as good as it will get.” He says tossing aside his bloodied cloth. He grabs a clean cloth and hands me one.
“Hand me the bowl with the clear yellow liquid.” Roger passes it over.
I wonder how many times he’s had to do something like this back in his pirate days on the Four East Seas. Pushing the thought out I scoop my fingers into the liquid and pat it on Keeper’s wounds.
“Here, let me,” Roger takes the bowl from me and pours the thick honey-like liquid over the three lacerations. Keeper yelps, gripping the sheets. I jump up to hold him down but Roger holds out an arm stopping me.
“It is just his subconscious, it will pass.” He pours the last drops over the cuts, dousing them.
Keeper’s stomach muscles tighten as his hands let go of the bed. His head falls limp to the side.
“Why is his stomach clenching like that?” I ask.
“It’s the reaction to the liquid. His body is fighting it.”
Keeper’s arms spasm. His stomach and neck convulse.
“What’s happening to him?”
Roger stands holding Keeper down by the wrists. “He’s reacting badly to it.”
Tears well in my eyes at the sight.
The Writings of Assassination: Book One Page 18
