Rise of the Champion (The Sword of Kirakath Omnibus #1) (53 page)

He quickly tossed his sword up, nocked an arrow, drew his bow back, and shot in a smooth, fluid motion. His hand snatched the hilt of his sword out of the air before the arrow even hit its target. He only had a dozen left, but it did not look like he would get a chance to use them all anytime soon if things did not change. The remaining twenty bandits were running at them too quickly.

With the Sword of Kirakath in his right hand and his bow in his left hand, he was more than capable of dealing with the lightly armored foes though.

“I’m almost out of power,” Abigail muttered from behind him.

“Do what you can. If you need to, you can borrow my knife,” Caleb said as he ran one of the bandits through with his sword. He glanced down at the knife he kept sheathed at his right hip. It had been a gift from his father one year on his birthday. At one time, he would never have consented to allowing anyone else to use it, but all that mattered was that they made it out of the fight alive.

“Caleb, we’re in trouble,” Nicolas said as he kicked a bandit off of his sword. “Look up ahead.”

His head quickly turned to the fortress, and he let out an audible curse. Isaac Abrams had just stepped out of the fortress with fifteen more bandits.

“You are truly an idiot,” Isaac remarked derisively. “You attack my home with nothing but three others, and you actually expect to win?”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we just kill over eighty of your men?” Caleb asked with a raised eyebrow. Nicolas and Abigail had killed twenty and seen the corpses of ten more that Hector killed before they showed up to help him. Fifty more men had fallen since Caleb began the battle, and that was not including the sentries. “Plus, I killed thirty of your men the other day when you were headed for Laus, not to mention the ones I killed with my bow once you got there.”

By that point, Isaac’s eyes revealed nothing but pure fury. “You’re the one that did that?” he asked in a whisper, hatred filling his voice.

“Yeah, I did,” Caleb answered as he tossed his sword up again and began to shoot at the bandits that were closest to him. While he could have killed Isaac right then and there, it seemed more practical to deal with his immediate enemies first.

After six arrows left his bow, Caleb reached down and grabbed the hilt of his sword. It was much closer to hitting the ground than he would have liked, but it was good enough.

“Caleb of Kirakath, I will kill you,” Isaac stated as he unsheathed his sword and dagger. “You will watch as your friends are torn apart.”

“I’d rather not,” Caleb said as he tossed his sword up once again. He quickly shot his final six arrows and caught his sword smoothly. Even though he was out of arrows, he did not drop his bow. He had plans for it.

As he prepared to dash towards Isaac, an arrow shot between him and Katie. It slammed into the chest of one the men next to Isaac.

Over his shoulder, Caleb saw that Hector had finally arrived. Behind him, he saw what had to be thirty former slaves. They all looked battle-hardened.

“It’s about time you got here,” Caleb laughed.

“I apologize for my belated arrival,” Hector said dryly as he began to shoot arrow after arrow into the men closest to Caleb and his friends.

“It would seem that you are not as much of an idiot at I thought,” Isaac said reluctantly, the hatred still present in his eyes. “Caleb Sullivan, I challenge you to single combat. The loser and his forces must surrender.”

“I accept,” Caleb replied without hesitation.

“You can beat him?” Hector asked.

Caleb only said a single word as he made his way towards Isaac, but it was filled with confidence. “Yes.”

The ring of steel filled the area as their swords met.

Like a signal, the ring of steel started the battle between Caleb’s allies and Isaac’s men. They all stayed away from Caleb and Isaac’s fight though.

Isaac thrust his dagger at Caleb while their swords were still held together, but it was a simple matter for Caleb to maneuver his bow so that he could send the dagger flying with a snap of his wrist. A visible cut was left on the bow, but it had done what it was meant to.

Caleb began to draw on the full power of the Blood of Kirakath at that point, his strength and agility increasing greatly.

With ease, Caleb threw Isaac back using his sword. “You’re going to have to try harder than that if you want to win.”

With a roar, Isaac jumped at Caleb and brought down his sword with all his might. It came down towards the top of Caleb’s head, but he twisted and slammed his bow into the side of the sword. It was enough to make the attack completely miss him. But Caleb was not done there.

Spinning around, Caleb swung the Sword of Kirakath in a powerful arc. It slammed into Isaac’s side and sent him rolling across the ground. His chainmail stopped the blade from cutting into him, but chainmail did not completely stop injury.

Isaac was lying on the ground, breathing heavily. His sword was no longer within his reach.

“Isaac Abrams, it’s time for you to see your brothers again,” he said coldly as he walked over to the beaten man and lifted his sword. He brought it down in a short swing, but his strength was enough. As his head left his shoulders, Isaac Abrams left the world of the living.

Looking around, Caleb saw that the fight around him was over, and the former slaves were looking at him with respect and approval in their eyes. They had seen him finish their former master off.

Nodding, he lifted his sword above his head and was met with cheers from everyone there.

The Battle of Caer was over.

Epilogue

A little more than three months had passed since Caleb had killed Isaac Abrams, and the Isle of Akabar was already a much different place.

The single biggest change was that the Isle of Akabar was no longer a lawless place.

Following Isaac’s defeat in Caer, Vincent had chosen to free the island from the grip of the bandits that ruled it. It would have been impossible for him to accomplish if he had acted alone, but he received a great deal of help.

From the moment that Katie told him that they needed to change the island, Caleb had known that he would not be able to leave without doing just that. Nicolas and Hector had chosen to help them as well, but that was just what Caleb had expected.

There had been two major surprises though. The first was that Abigail had chosen to assist in the liberation of the island from the bandits. And the second was the addition of an unexpected group of people in Vincent’s forces: the slaves. Nearly every slave that was freed chose to join Vincent, starting with the slaves Hector freed from the Arena during the attack on Caer.

Together, they managed to drive the bandits from the island en masse. The former slaves would have preferred to see their old masters killed, but they were never given the choice. What had once been a refuge to the worst criminals of Arcadia had changed completely. It had lost its appeal to them once it dealt with them even more harshly than Arcadia did.

It was the single best thing that had ever happened to the island as a whole, however.

But now, Caleb had accomplished the last thing he had planned on doing before he left the Isle of Akabar. Though he was now a hero on the island, albeit not quite as much of one as Vincent Meis, Caleb still needed to leave. It was time to return to Arcadia and look for answers.

That was what brought him to Northport alongside Katie and Nicolas.

As they walked through the small town, Caleb could not help but smile. Northport had never looked bad, but it was now a thriving town. Everywhere he looked, the people looked happy. It was a stark contrast from the way the island had been when he first arrived.

It did not take them long to reach the docks. Once he was there, Caleb saw that two people were waiting for them. He had known Hector would be there. He had stated his intentions of traveling to Arcadia with them, after all.

Abigail, on the other hand, was a surprise that he had not expected. Not in the least.

“What’s going on?” Caleb asked as his eyes flickered between them, noticing the apprehensive looks on their faces.

“Before we left for Caer months ago, I told you that I had another reason for accompanying you. I intended on telling you as soon as we dealt with Isaac Abrams, but it was not something I felt I could say until you were ready to leave the Isle of Akabar,” Abigail replied in a somber tone. “Caleb, have you wondered why I am the only Witch of Akabar still alive?”

Before he realized it, Caleb was already nodding. The thought had crossed his mind quite a few times, but it never seemed right to ask her about it.

“Shortly after King Andrew of Arcadia passed away, someone that no one could have predicted came to the Isle of Akabar with a number of warriors. That person came to the temple on Mount Akabar and confronted the older members of the coven. Because I was so young, I was hidden where they had no chance of finding me, but I saw it all. The rest of the coven was killed because that man did not want us to be able to help the Last Son of Kirakath. Apparently, he learned something about the prophecies.”

Caleb was taken aback by the news, but he knew that she was not done surprising him. Not by far.

“Who was it?” he asked quietly.

“One of the men he had with him went by the name of Cain Fell,” Abigail said uncomfortably.

That was the last thing that Caleb had expected to hear, but it was not what he was asking. “Abigail, who was it?”

“His name was Lucas Staloc, High General of Arcadia,” Abigail answered in a whisper. Her voice came out almost too quietly to hear, but it was loud enough.

Anger rose up inside Caleb and his hands balled into fists. Lucas Staloc had been his father’s best friend before he left the King’s Army. If he understood Abigail correctly, then he had a good idea who Clovis had been working for.

“Vincent has informed me that the Order of Kyran has been looking into the Massacre of Kirakath as well,” Hector said, his demeanor no less grim than Abigail’s. “It is inconclusive, but they appear to suspect two people. It is their opinion that one of them, or perhaps both, was responsible for the Massacre of Kirakath. Those two people are Duke Aron Black and High General Lucas Staloc.”

Caleb closed his eyes and nodded once. “This doesn’t change my plans. I’m still returning to Arcadia.”

“And then what?” Abigail asked warily.

Caleb could not find it in him to blame her. It was not difficult to imagine him going after both individuals, after all. He had no intention of doing that, however. “I want answers. I don’t plan on doing anything stupid until I have them.”

He noticed that her lips twitched ever so slightly as he spoke.

“I will see you again one day. I get the feeling that this won’t be the last time we meet,” Caleb said as he walked past her.

“I suspect you are correct,” Abigail admitted as she turned away from him. “Good luck on your journey, Caleb of Kirakath.”

And with that, Caleb and his friends boarded the ship. They had no idea where they were going to end up, but one thing was for sure. Nothing would ever be the same again.