Shadow of the Knight Read online

  “Figure what out? Why do I see silver? How did I—how did I do that? I smashed him…it…”

  “You did it to save me, Ayja. Now we need to go inside. I don’t want more of them to come.”

  “Tell me what’s wrong with my eyes first.” She tried to stop her shaking, but she couldn’t stop herself. She wanted to go outside and reach deep into the aether and throw gouts of fire into the sky. She wanted so summon the wind and leap onto the roof.

  Cam stroked her hair. “You’re safe. You’ll be fine. Let’s go inside, and I’ll tell you what I think…what I saw.”

  “I’m not afraid, Cam. That’s not why I’m shaking. I burn—”

  Ayja turned at the sound of galloping hooves outside. A horse pulled up short, and then someone shouted. “Hallo! Ayja are you there?”

  “Who?” Cam asked. He let her go and pulled his javelin from the ghul Nedden’s body.

  “The inquisitor.” Through the barn door she saw him dismount and run toward their house. He yanked open their front door and shouted into the house.

  Cam strode from the barn. “Hey, there! What do you need?”

  Yevin emerged from the house. He didn’t look towards them at first, but instead peered down the valley. “They’re coming. The creatures are coming.” His words tumbled over each other.

  “How far?” Cam asked as he and Ayja emerged from the barn.

  “They’re close. Chasing me.”

  “Put your horse in the barn. We’ll lock it.”

  “Too late! They’re here!” Yevin drew his sword. Ayja looked down the path towards town. Figures raced through the falling darkness towards them. Behind her the barn door slammed closed.

  “Into the house!” Cam ordered. He took Ayja by the elbow and propelled her toward the door. Yevin slapped his horse on the rump and shouted. It ran off upslope towards the high pastures.

  All three ran to the front door. Ayja looked over her shoulder and saw pale, skinny, ghuls racing across the yard. Some ran on all fours like animals. Cam shoved her in the door. Yevin followed her and then Cam pushed the door shut behind him. He dropped the bar as something crashed into the door from the outside.

  “Shut the windows!” Cam ordered. “Make certain the bars are seated.” Ayja ran to the nearest window. “You too,” Cam said. Yevin looked as though he might object and then ran to the opposite side of the room.

  The door shook but held fast. Ayja knew how stout it was. The window shutters as well. Cam had turned their farmhouse into a small fort over the years. Unless the ghuls had a ram, it would take some doing to break into the house.

  “I’ll get our weapons,” Cam said. “You guard the door,” he ordered the inquisitor. “Lock the upstairs windows,” he said to Ayja. She ran up the stairs and went quickly from room to room, closing shutters and barring them. These shutters were not as heavy as those downstairs, but would still take some effort to force open.

  She stopped at her own bedroom window and looked out. There were three of the living dead at the door, clawing and scratching at it. They gave out high, keening cries as they tried to force their way in.

  There were more across the yard. They were hard to make out in the falling dark. Some were nearly naked, but others were fully clothed. She thought she recognized some of them. Were they neighbors? More than just Mellor’s family?

  One of them was distinctly different. While the others swayed and growled or moaned, he stood still, observing the house. He was armored as well, she saw. He wore a mail hauberk and had a sword at his side.

  “Ayja!” Cam’s voice came from downstairs. She shuttered the last window and ran down the steps.

  “There are eight of them at least,” she said. “One is different. He wears armor.”

  “I saw them on the path to town,” Yevin said. “They attacked some locals and then charged me as I approached. I saw the one you mentioned. He commanded the others.”

  “I think some of them are our neighbors, Cam,” Ayja said.

  “This is some foul magic of Cragor’s,” Cam said. “He has the Orb of Creation, and he’s abusing its powers just as Akinos did.”

  “Perhaps,” Yevin said. “Or it is dark elementars.”

  Ayja jumped as one of the shutters rattled on its hinges.

  “Take your sword, Ayja,” Cam said, motioning to the kitchen table. She saw both their swords on it—Cam’s heavy, curved falchion, and her own longsword. She saw Cam’s big Idorian axe there as well. Cam lit a candle from the embers of their banked fireplace fire and then lit two tin lanterns. “I’m going to get our armor. Don’t belt the sword on, I want you in armor.”

  She nodded as he disappeared down the stairs.

  Ayja went to the table and drew her longsword. It had been her mother’s. Cam had told her how her mother had killed three varcolac defending her with it before she’d died.

  “That’s not a legal weapon,” Yevin said, just as something banged against another shutter.

  “You want me to put it away?” Ayja asked. “Maybe I should fight them with a ladle?”

  He put his hand to his own sword hilt as another shutter rattled furiously. “No. No need.”

  How long until they would break in? The creatures had not appeared to show any intelligence up to this point. “How smart is the leader?” Ayja asked.

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “Will he be able to figure out how to get in? The others seem mindless.”

  Yevin turned to face another window. Someone was hammering on it from outside. “Yes, I think so. He was giving them orders. Maybe he isn’t even one of them. Maybe he’s a dark elementar or some other creature of the Orb.”

  Cam came upstairs with a heavy wicker basket filled with armor. “Let’s arm you first, Ayja,” he said. She knew better than to object. He pulled out her aketon and helped her into it. It had half sleeves and went down to her thighs. Her lower legs were unarmored but for a pair of tall leather boots.

  “You know how to shoot a bow?” Cam asked Yevin as he helped Ayja.

  “No. Only a crossbow.”

  “I don’t have one of those. I have a couple of javelins, though.”

  “You seem to have everything else.”

  Cam slipped an arming cap over Ayja’s head. “There are heavy stones upstairs. In the front room over the door. How about you drop a few on our friends. Keep them occupied.”

  “You seem awfully used to giving orders for a peasant farmer.”

  Ayja lowered her head, and Cam put her helm on her. It was open-faced and had a padded aventail. “Well, you can obey those orders, or you can let those things into the house. Your choice.”

  While Yevin ran upstairs, Cam helped Ayja with her arm guards of leather reinforced with iron bands. As they buckled the second one there was a heavy thud outside followed by a furious, inhuman scream.

  “Go back to Dromost!” the inquisitor shouted from upstairs.

  Ayja helped Cam into his armor. His armor was mismatched, but much heavier than hers. He had an aketon, coat-of-plates, reinforced leg and arm harness, and a helm with a mail aventail. It was no quick task getting it all on.

  There were two more thuds outside as Yevin dropped more stones, and then all was quiet. “They’ve drawn away for now,” he said as he appeared at the top of the stairs. He gave Cam a dark look. “I doubt you have a land-grant that allows such armor.”

  “It’s a good thing I do.”

  “You have the grant?”

  “No, it’s good that I have this armor. You might appreciate it soon.” Both Cam and Ayja buckled their sword-belts on. Ayja hung her buckler off of her sword hilt.

  “Given the circumstances, I’ll allow this,” Yevin said.

  “Very good of you, inquisitor,” Cam said. “Ayja, get our bows. Let’s feather a few of them and see if that drives them off.”

  “Barricade the door,” Cam said to Yevin. “Use some tables.”

  “I’ll turn a blind eye to your armor and arming a woman. But I won�
��t accept your orders. I’m a Royal Inquisitor.”

  “Think of it as a request,” Cam said. “As in, if you want to live to see tomorrow, would you please barricade the door?”

  While he spoke, Ayja took their bows and quivers from where they stood by the door. She and Cam ran up the stairs and went into the front room where they both strung their bows. “I’ll be lucky to hit anything,” Cam said.

  “Well, it is full dark,” Ayja said.

  Cam shook his head as he belted his quiver on. “Shooting bows isn’t my specialty. Ready?”

  Ayja nodded. She had an arrow nocked and stood near the window. Cam took their lantern and put it outside the room. He came back in and pushed open the shutter.

  The group she had seen across the yard earlier was gone. In fact, none of the creatures were in sight. “I don’t see a thing,” Cam said.

  “Neither do I.” Ayja paused at the sound of heavy thuds in the distance. “What’s that? I hear something.” They both stood still.

  “Cutting. They’re cutting down a tree,” Cam said. “Making a ram, I’ll bet.”

  Ayja heard the sound of furniture moving downstairs. “The inquisitor is obeying. We’ll be in trouble with him if we get through this.”

  “It’s a mess one way or another.” He looked back outside. Lowering his voice he said, “Only use your power if you must. And stay in control of your… emotions.”

  Ayja frowned. “What did you see in the barn? What happened to my eyes?”

  Cam didn’t reply at first. When he did, his voice was a whisper. “They were silver. Pure silver.”

  Ayja’s heart sank. “Silver? Like a varcolac?”

  Cam nodded.

  “What do you see up there?” Yevin called up the stairs.

  Cam went to the door. “Nothing. But they are cutting wood out in the forest. Making a ram, I think. Is the door barricaded?”

  “Yes.”

  “Stay down there. Make sure they don’t break in.”

  “Very well.”

  Cam rejoined Ayja by the window. “Your mother was nearly killed by a varcolac. It was when she and Prince Morin journeyed to find the Orb of Creation. She was kept alive by the magic of several eternal knights. The story goes that she was so far gone that only Akinos’s touch could save her.”

  Cam paused, staring out into the darkness. “I think maybe… he did something to you when you were in the womb.” Cam said. “It would answer some questions I’ve had for a while. For one, it explains how strong you are.”

  “I’m a varcolac?” She’d never seen one, but she’d heard the stories. Some told by her friends, passed on from others, and others still, until they were beyond belief. But Cam had told her his stories as well. He’d told her of the silver-eyed fanatics and their fury in battle. They never stopped fighting.

  Until they died.

  “I don’t think so,” Cam said. “The eyes of a varcolac are always silver.”

  “What if mine turn that way? What if I become—”

  Cam put his hand up for her to stop. “The cutting has stopped.”

  They both remained silent. The only sound was Yevin’s steps as he walked from one end of the house to the other.

  “I see them,” Ayja said.

  “Where?”

  “Across the yard, near the path to town. A dozen of them, maybe.”

  “You have your mother’s eyes. Can you shoot them?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then do it.”

  Ayja nocked an arrow and peered into the darkness. She drew, aimed, and loosed her arrow in one smooth motion. It disappeared into the dark, and then there was a terrible piercing scream. Ghuls raced across the yard. In front were six wiry, naked beasts, their skin pale in the moonlight, and their faces wild with hate. Behind them ran a half dozen more—between them a log.

  “Keep shooting,” Cam said. “I’m going down.” He ran from the room, shouting, “Yevin, they’re coming!”

  Ayja nocked another arrow and shot one carrying the ram. These ghuls were clothed and more human in appearance. Some wore rags, but others were fully clothed. There were men and women both.

  Her arrow struck a big man in the chest, and he screamed and fell away from the log. To Ayja’s horror, he plucked the arrow from his chest and ran after the others. She shot another arrow, but it missed, and then it was too late.

  The ram smashed, not into the door, but one of the windows. She heard the crash from downstairs. The monsters screamed as they threw themselves at the window.

  Ayja moved to get a better angle and something flew past her, cracking into a wall behind her. She threw herself away from the window and saw a javelin buried in the wall behind her. She hadn’t seen any of them with weapons.

  There was fighting downstairs. “Cam?” she shouted. “Do you need help?”

  Someone yelled outside, but it was in a foreign tongue. She risked a peek and saw the armored man. He had several javelins with him and was shouting towards the window.

  “We’re holding!” Cam shouted. “Shoot more.”

  Ayja drew and loosed an arrow at the armored man, striking him in the chest. He staggered back and then hurled a javelin through the window. Ayja ducked away, and it stuck high in a wall.

  Moving to a different position, she looked out. The man was still there, apparently unharmed. She had no angle on those at the window downstairs, so she pulled the shutters closed and barred them.

  Running downstairs, she found Cam and Yevin standing near a window hacking at the creatures as they attempted to enter. One was dead, his body hanging half way through the window.

  Every time one of the creatures tried to come in, Cam and Yevin would drive it back. One of the naked ones, ignoring its wounds, shoved far into the window, before Cam’s axe split its skull.

  And then they pulled back.

  The ram, partially in the room, was suddenly yanked back. Cam tried to grab it, but it was torn from his hands. Yevin shoved the body through the window and then slammed the shutters closed. “The bar is broken,” he said.

  “We’ll have to jam it,” Cam said. “Bring that log from next to the fire.” The two men braced the log against the window and Cam hammered it into place with the butt of his axe.

  “There are a dozen of them at least,” Ayja said. “Arrows don’t seem to do much harm.”

  “Well, axes do,” Cam said. “If there were twelve, there are ten now.” He looked at Yevin. “You fought well.”

  “You certainly know how to wield an axe, farmer.”

  There was a cry from outside and the ram crashed through the window closest to Ayja. She drew her sword as one of the skeletal creatures scrambled through.

  Ayja aimed a heavy blow at its head. The creature dodged, but still she nearly severed its arm. Its face twisted in rage, and it threw itself at her. With no time to recover her sword, Ayja threw her arm out to hold the beast off.

  The creature struck her hard enough she stumbled back and fell. Its face drew close to hers as it lunged for her throat. She felt the silver rage rising up in her, but then the monster was thrown from her as Cam kicked it in the ribs. His axe beheaded it.

  At the window, Yevin rained blows on another naked beast. The monster shielded itself with its arms, which Yevin hacked to shreds. Finally a stroke got through and cut deep into the back of the creature’s neck. It fell, limp.

  And just as suddenly, they were gone. Ayja got to her feet and took a deep breath. She pushed her anger back and regained control of herself.

  Yevin looked out the window. “They’re retreating,” he said. He shoved the monster out the window and closed the shutters. “Ruined,” he said. “I don’t even think we can jam this one closed.”

  “The hinge is broken,” Cam said.

  “At least there are only eight of them now.”

  “We think.” Ayja stared down at the dead creature on the floor. It was so thin she could hardly see how it lived. Or did it? Was it a dead thing come to life? The others, t
hose with clothes, seemed almost human but for their pale flesh.

  “The wasted, thin ones seem more enthusiastic,” Cam said.

  “The ones with clothes carried the ram,” Ayja said.

  “What will we do when they break down another window?” Yevin asked. “We can’t cover them all.” He pushed the broken shutter closed and then took some more logs from the fire and attempted to jam the shutters in place.

  “We’ll retreat upstairs. We can hold the stairwell,” Cam said.

  “Until they burn us out.”

  Cam nodded. “We’ll deal with that when we have to.”

  “What’s that noise?” Ayja asked. They got quiet. She heard the keening cries of the creatures, but then the terrified bleating of sheep. “They’re in the barn.” She ran upstairs.

  Cam’s room faced the barn, so she went there. She threw open the shutter and was filled with dread. The barn doors were open. Dozens of ghuls filled the ground in front of it. They gorged themselves on the blood of the sheep, ripping at their flesh with their mouths and hands.

  Three armored figures watched the orgy of death. One turned and stared up at Ayja. “We all have to die,” he said to her. “We all have to serve.”

  At his words the others turned and faced her as well. Even in the dark, she could see their soulless black eyes staring up at her.

  Ayja didn’t reply. There was nothing to say. She, Cam, and Yevin could never hold against so many. A last sheep dashed for freedom, but was tackled by a woman in a bloody white night-dress. She dragged it down and lunged for its throat. Ayja glanced back at the armored men and then pulled the shutters closed.

  Slowly, she made her way back to the stairs.

  “What is it, Ayja?” Cam asked when he saw her.

  “There are dozens of them now. And three of the armored men commanding them. They’ve killed all our animals.”

  “Forsvar save us,” Yevin said. “We’re doomed.”

  “There won’t be any terms,” Cam said. “They’ll kill us or turn us into one of them.”

  “Dromost take them all. I don’t want to die,” Yevin said.

  Ayja bounced on the balls of her feet. The silver rage, normally hidden deep within her welled up. She didn’t know if she could control it—or if she even wanted to. “The way of the warrior is death,” she said.