The Chosen (59 page)

Before she could do anything, however, Destiny swooped over her head and barreled into the neck of one of the knights attacking Daniel. The knight's helmet went flying and the man dropped like a rock to the floor, his sword clattering lamely from his grip-less hand. Soaring upward into the gallery, Destiny let out a victorious call before diving down into the fray again. Another helmet went flying and crashed against the wall as a second knight succumbed to the bird's fury.

David waited until he heard the rest of the Dragons engage the first wave of knights before leaving the room and hurrying to the end of the corridor. They didn't get far. A second battalion of knights appeared in the hallway, halted for a brief second before brandishing their swords, and charged.

Irritated at the possibility of a delay, David tapped deep into his power and gathered a large orb of compressed air in his left hand.
Everything in order tries to sink into chaos
, his mentor's words echoed in his mind.  With a grunt, he threw his hand forward and released the energy. The tapestries on the walls were torn from their hangings as David's self-created wind vortex flung itself down the hall in an attempt to release the pressure and order David had created while keeping it captive in his hand.

The knights either suspected something, or the whirling tapestries gave them enough warning, that they dropped to their knees and braced their shields before them. The wind hit them like a heard of stampeding horses, knocking several knights flat on their backs. Unfortunately it only served to slow them down and make them angry.

“Blast them!” David cursed as he readied his sword and moved forward. The knights had recovered from his attack and raced toward him. The Guardian met the first knight's strike with a sweeping block that allowed him to completely bypass the startled knight. Leaving the knight alone, David focused instead on the second knight, knowing that Luke would handle the one he had ignored. The second knight swung at David's ribcage, he blocked and returned with a strike at the man's knee, aiming for the joint in his armor. Leaping back, the knight avoided his blow and brought his own sword down for cleaving strike at David's collarbone.

Stupid
, David thought as he swept the blow aside.
Steel and bone doesn't mix and only damages your own sword
. One of eighty drill rubrics from his basic training, he recalled.  Its meaning was all too simple. Aim for flesh, not for bone.  As he easily swept his opponent's sword to the side, he flicked his wrist in an upward circle and brought his own sword across his opponent's lower abdomen. He felt the sudden resistance that the man's chainmail and flesh presented to his blade, but he also felt the momentum that carried his sword all the way through. The knight dropped and David turned his attention to the next enemy that wished to challenge him.

There were plenty. Ten knights were arrayed around the three Guardians. David felt his eyes narrowing and his gut clenching. The number wasn't a problem, but the time that they would need to dispatch them was frustrating. Not wasting another second, David attacked the knight closest to him. Methodically he and Luke worked their way from one end of the knights to the middle while Jenna used her bow to shoot at the gaps in the knights’ armor and helmets. Three of the knights dropped before either Luke or David could reach them, blood running out of their eyes from the arrow that had made it through the eye slits.

As Luke dealt with the last knight, David was already sprinting up the spiral staircase that led to the fourth floor. Most stairwells in a castle turret rotated to the right making the defenders more effective since most men are right handed. A right-handed attacker moving upwards would be forced to expose more of his body to wield his sword than the defenders would. Trained as a Guardian, David was just as proficient with his left hand as his right. Switching his sword to his left hand he ascended quickly. After only a few strides up the stairs he ran into another contingent of guards.

These guards were well armed and trained compared to the earlier knights. These were the guards who clearly had experience in dealing with Guardians. And they had learned those lessons well, David had to admit that. But he was more stubborn and wiser than he had been a few months ago and unlike that first patrol almost a year ago where he had been surprised when the bandits hadn't fought like bandits, David was prepared for the techniques the guards used. He once again took the brunt of the attack, leaving Luke to deal with anyone, or weapon, that managed to get past him. Jenna maintained a rear guard and protected their backs with her knives and bow.

As to the knights, they had been warned to expect swordsmen whose skills appeared almost unnatural coupled together with the speed and agility that made the guardians famous. The women, they were warned, were faster and more agile than a cat, and the men strong as a battle horse. Their own previous experience with Guardians had seemingly made this warning unnecessary. However the knights had previously fought Guardians who were on the verge of retiring, not fresh, young warriors whose attacks were fueled by an ice-cold determination to rescue their friend.

The inhuman strength David put behind his blows, jarring them down their spines, convinced the knights that they were severely outmatched. Nor were they completely prepared for the extent of the damage that the guardian weapons would do to their own. Each attack they parried left deep gouges in the hardened steel until the sword was altogether useless. The knights had fought older Guardians in brief skirmishes, not a full-blown battle.  The guards barely managed to slow the advance of the Guardians by a few moments.

Together the three Guardians quickly managed to kill or severely injure each wave of knights arrayed against them and followed on the heels of those that retreated up to the fourth floor.

“Milord! The Guardians are here!”

Shock propelled Lord Tanner to his feet. “What? How is that possible?” he demanded as cold fear began to settle in the pit of his stomach like a hard stone.

“I do not know milord,” the young soldier said quickly. “We were patrolling through the corridors when they suddenly appeared.

“But how could they suddenly arrive here?” Lord Tanner demanded, working hard to keep his fear from entering into his tone. “There was no news of traveling Guardians throughout any of the surrounding towns! …You must be mistaken!”

“No, Milord,” the young knight shook his head. “They are Guardians and they are advancing quickly.”

Lord Tanner rushed past the knight and hurried to Lady Kathryn’s room. He could hear his captains yelling orders and the fighting in the hallways and knew that the knight had not been mistaken. Entering the room he raced to where Lady Kathryn sat. “It’s time to go, Milady,” he grunted as he pulled her out of the chair she had been sitting in.

“Unhand me!” she ordered, scratching at his face with her free hand.

“Not on your life,” he grunted as dragged her out of the room When the Guardians caught up to him, he might need to use her as a bargaining chip. Despite the fact that she wasn’t one of their own, she was still a Lady, and the Dowager Princess’ ward, and they would have to do whatever he demanded to save her life.

Kathryn fought him with everything she had. She reached for his face and ripped her nails across the sensitive skin. He howled at the pain, but didn’t let go. She tried again, but he anticipated her move and captured her wrist, twisting it painfully behind her back. Throwing her body against his, she tried to run him into the wall, but only ended up jarring her own shoulder. He was unstoppable, dragging her past several doors until he came to one reinforced with iron. He opened it and raced up the stairs into the tower. He tossed her inside, followed quickly, and locked the door behind him.

Striding over to her, he grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet, the pain in her shoulder increased as if a blacksmith’s red hot iron had been stabbed in the wound—she let out a small cry. “How did you do it?” he demanded, slapping her hard across the face. “How did you get the Guardians here?” He hit her again, feeling satisfaction in seeing blood begin to trickle from her split lip.

She kicked him hard and low. Howling with the pain he let go of her hair and she scrambled out of his reach, ignoring the pain that hammered through her body in disorienting waves.

“You will pay for that,” he hissed advancing towards her.

“The room’s empty!” Jenna cried as the boys fought two guards who had chosen to engage the Guardians rather than run away.

“Find her!” David grunted as he thrust his sword into his opponent.

Jenna raced down the hall, looking for possible escape routes, a long stairway led upwards and she remembered the way Duke Sebastian had imprisoned Princess Roseanna. “This way!” She hurried up the stairs that led to a high tower room. When she tried the door she found it locked. Inside she could hear the sounds of a fight. “Hurry!” she called down to David and Luke.

David finished off his opponent and hurried in Jenna's direction, only to find himself facing the largest group of knights they had yet encountered. He cursed again. They didn't have time for this.

Luke stepped in front of him and opened his hand. A torrent of white and blue flames exploded into existence, overwhelming the knights. The first two gasped in surprise as the fireball seared their lungs and their flesh quickly charred.  The remnant turned and ran, leaving several lagging behind rolling on the floor in an attempt to extinguish the flames from their tunics and woolen cloaks. The corridor filled with smoke and the acrid stench of burning skin, hair, tapestries, and wool.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" David ground out as he used the wind to fan the flames.

"Not with you insisting on leading the charge each time we encountered resistance," Luke countered. "I couldn't risk hitting you too."

"You could have told me to stand down," David growled as they raced up the stairs that Jenna had already taken.

Luke snorted, "Not likely."

"Come on!" Jenna urged from above them. "I can hear a fight going on inside!"

Natalie felt like her arms were about to fall off. She wished that she had spent more time on the training fields like Kathryn and Amy. Even Jenna, the gentle healer, spent more time sparring with Kathryn and Matt than she did. Still, she was better off in this battle than she had been when they had rescued Princess Roseanna. Her movement was more fluid, her reflexes sharper, and her parries and thrusts were precise and deadly. Kathryn's lessons during the trip back had seemed grueling at the time but compared to the unending fight she was participating in now they seemed like ideal situations.
Focus is everything
, Kathryn had told her
. If you let your mind wander, even for a second it will kill you, maybe not the first time, but eventually it will kill you.
It was advice Natalie had heard many times before at school, but for some reason Kathryn made it stick in her mind...as well as her warning.
Be focused on your opponent, but don't allow yourself to see only him. Broaden your focus to include the entire battlefield so that you aren't taken by surprise.

Natalie had been surprised by her words. The school had taught them to focus directly on their opponent and yet Kathryn was the best fighter that the family had, perhaps that was part of her secret.

A knight came at her, a battle axe in his hands. Natalie felt her courage die a little bit. Swords she could handle, knives she could handle, even maces weren't that bad. But battle axes were a whole different story...and this guy looked like he knew how to use one.

The knight swung his weapon in a stroke strong enough to rend her in half. Natalie stepped backward and to the left. Air whistled as the axe passed close to her body—too close. She knew that the cirin armor she wore would protect her against the sharp blade, but it couldn’t change the basic laws of the earth. The cirin would protect her from being cut to ribbons, but it didn’t help much when it came to a good hard pounding by an opponent twice as big as her. Even if the axe merely grazed her, she would most likely end up with several bruised or cracked ribs, and quite possibly, some internal bleeding.

She was still trying to decide what to do when a gray blur shot over her shoulder and hit the axe-man full force. His cursing was loud enough to be heard above the sounds of the battle going on all around them.

Destiny shot back around at what seemed an impossible speed and stretched out her talons toward her opponent’s face. Still recovering from her first attack, the man didn’t see her until it was too late. As accustomed to gore and blood as she was, Natalie still fought the urge to lose her last meal at the sight of the man’s shredded face and ripped throat. Tearing her focus away from the dying man and the expanding pool of blood, she quickly scanned the fight for another opponent.

There was no need. Tyler and Daniel were dispatching the last two knights while the others verified that the knights on the ground were truly dead.

In the distance she could hear the sounds of another fight still raging.

Kathryn heard Jenna’s voice outside the door and fought with renewed determination, she only needed to hold out for another minute. Lord Tanner came at her in a fury. He managed to grab one of her flailing arms and twisted it painfully behind her back. She kicked him hard in the shins. He grunted, but didn’t release his grip. He gripped her already injured shoulder and pushed on the joint.

Dragging one of her feet behind her she locked it behind one of his and yanked. Unprepared and slightly off balance, Tanner failed to recover. They fell together with a resounding crash that Kathryn was sure dislocated her shoulder.

Now she could hear others outside the door, hacking at the wood, trying to get through. She just had to hold on a little while longer.

Tanner grabbed her injured shoulder and yanked her to her feet, twisting it behind her back again. She couldn’t stop the scream that resulted from the pain.

“I was supposed to deliver you to my mentor,” he hissed in her ear as she fought the waves of pain that caused the room to spin.

The door let out a resounding crack indicating that whoever was on the other side was coming through.

She felt Lord Tanner shift. “But now it’s too late,” he told her, breathing heavily. “If I can’t have you—no one will…and you’re too much trouble as a hostage.”

At the same time the door flew open, Kathryn felt an explosion of sharp pain radiating out from her stomach. She looked down to see only the hilt of the knife Tanner had stabbed her with.

It was the last thing she saw.

Jenna heard scuffling and Lord Tanner grunt in pain as Luke and David joined her. Luke began to hack at the door with his sword, trying to break it down.

A scream echoed through the room and down the stairs.

Jenna felt her heart rate triple.

“That’s not going to be fast enough,” David said as he concentrated, gathering air in his hands, compressing it tight.

“You could help,” Luke grunted, throwing himself against the door. It cracked against his weight. “Two of us would be faster than one.”

“So would this.” David threw the ball of air at the lock. The pressure expanded inside the lock’s mechanisms, breaking it. The two boys threw the door open—and watched in horror as Lord Tanner plunge his dagger into their friend. When he saw the Guardians, Tanner dropped Kathryn. She hit the floor and didn’t move, a red tide already beginning to seep outward from her wound.

“Jen, Go!” David ordered as he rushed Tanner, trusting the healer to understand.

Tanner brought out his own sword and the two men engaged. Luke was half a second behind his leader. Tanner had no delusions of getting out of the situation alive, but he refused to give up. Instead he fought like a maniac. The power behind his blows was impressive and David realized that this wasn’t some simple duel on a tournament green. This was for real and Tanner really did want to kill him. Abandoning all thoughts of old camaraderie with Tanner, David focused on not just winning the fight, but staying alive and in one piece. His opponent lunged at him, his sword aiming for David’s neck. David parried while Luke attacked from behind Tanner. Impressively, Tanner seemed to sense Luke behind him ducked slightly and managed to parry his thrust with another dagger. Sparks were flying whenever blades connected, but unlike the knight’s swords below, Tanner’s weapons appeared to sustain no damage from David’s or Luke’s sword.

How many of these blasted swords are there?
David thought in frustration as he swung his sword in a swipe at Tanner’s knees while Luke swung for his neck. Tanner swept his sword downward deflecting David’s sword while blocking Luke’s attack by smacking his sword’s hilt with his gauntlet, sweeping up and out. David began a strike aimed at Tanner’s right shoulder, but as Tanner moved to block he flicked his wrist and brought his sword down at Tanner’s left leg, aiming for the gap between his armor plates. Luke followed his lead and faked Tanner into blocking a shot to his head while a last second flick of the wrist reversed the sword’s direction and ended up at Tanner’s right leg. Tanner managed to deflect Luke’s blow but David’s sword found flesh.

Tanner let out a cry of rage and attacked wildly. For several moments both Luke and David were forced to go on the defensive while Tanner hacked at them with all his strength. David felt sharp contact with his left arm and Luke took a blow to his forehead. Emboldened, Tanner stepped forward for another wild round but as his sword swung at David’s neck, his target dropped to the ground and rolled toward his legs. Tanner quickly jumped backwards to avoid David’s flashing sword…and impaled himself on Luke’s.

Coming to his feet, David hurried over only to watch a mortally wounded Tanner still put up an impressive fight against Luke’s sword. David was done playing games. His left hand swung behind his back and grabbed his hunting knife. In one smooth motion, as he was still hurrying to his friend’s aid, he threw the knife towards Tanner, where it sliced through his brigandine and chainmail, burying itself into his back.

Tanner collapsed, bleeding profusely from wounds in his chest, legs, and back. David moved to stand over him. “You have won…this round,” Tanner gasped, blood pouring from his mouth. “But the…Brotherhood shall…prevail.” He gave David a cold, cruel smile. “Soon… the Guardians…will…be…nothing more…than…a memory,” he gasped the last two words as his last breath rattled from his now lifeless body.

David didn’t stay by his side another second. Tanner was dead, he didn’t know about Kathryn.

He hurried over to where Jenna knelt by Kathryn’s still form. Luke was already there, kneeling beside them; his knees surrounded by blood. “Is she alive?” he asked quickly.

Jenna nodded. “She’s still alive, but it’s not good. Tanner’s dagger did a lot of damage internally.” She turned a sorrowful face at David. “He didn’t just stab her, David. He twisted the blade while it was inside her. The odds are against her with this type of wound...I…I don’t know if she’ll make it through the night.”

The honesty in those simple words and the brutality of Tanner’s attack tore at David. The Dragons were a family and he was responsible for them. Now it looked like one of their own was going to leave them—permanently. “I should have listened to Amy,” he muttered darkly. “If I had, none of this would have happened.”

Luke stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “You can’t know that,” he said firmly. “You did what a responsible leader would have done.” He maneuvered David back a few paces so that Jenna could work without obstructions.

The leader of the Dragons shook his head. “Amy knew something was wrong and I talked her out of it. Amy knew Kathryn better than anyone. I should have trusted her instincts.”

“Kathryn is a very resourceful Guardian,” Luke replied steadily. “Something she was always reminding us of. How could you have known that she was in over her head?”

David couldn’t think of a viable reason. Instead he turned his attention to the dead man, “What are we going to do with him?” He didn’t bother to hide the contempt in his voice.

Luke made a face. “As far as I’m concerned we can feed him to the rats, but we should probably bury him.”

“Send Daniel and Tyler to dig a grave out in the cliffs, we’ll bring out the body when they’re done.” Turning to Jenna, David asked, “Can we move her?”

“Kathryn!” Amy’s anguished cry echoed through the room before the healer could answer. Amy raced to her friend and knelt beside her. “Is she going to be okay?” she asked hoarsely.

David moved to kneel beside her. “We don’t know,” he said quietly. He paused, not wanting to alarm her, but decided that she deserved to know the truth. “Her injuries are severe.” For the first time, he allowed himself to actually look at their fallen comrade. The blade’s hilt immediately grabbed his attention, the silver and gold glinting in the light; the bright red of blood staining the steel blade before it disappeared into a very jagged and torn looking wound. Jenna had already cut away a section of the dress Kathryn was wearing and what he could see of her torso was stained with blood, rivulets dripping down her sides and pooling on the floor. Despite the horror her injury appeared to be, her face was serene. Peaceful. Pale. Deathly pale.

“She has to be okay… she can’t leave me…” Amy whispered brokenly.

“Jenna will do everything in her power to help Kathryn, but we need to let her work.” He pulled Amy to her feet and turned to face the rest of the team that had slowly filed into the room after Amy.

“I take it you took care of the rest of the guards, Tyler.”

“Like swatting flies,” Tyler grunted. “We now control the castle.”

Jenna’s voice spoke up from behind them. “Tyler, you have a healing gift. I need your help.”

“What do you need me to do?” Tyler hurried over, his normally dour expression replaced by one of a concerned healer.

“I need you to pull the knife out…slowly.”

Tyler and nodded and gripped the hilt of the weapon. David wrapped his arms around a tearful Amy and held her head against his shoulder, not wanting her to watch, but unable to prevent himself from doing so.

“Now!”

Slowly Tyler dislodged the weapon. The image of the long blade being slowly pulled from Kathryn’s body, covered with her bright blood, would never leave David’s memories for the rest of his life. Jenna quickly began to work to stop the bleeding that was seeping from within the wound.

David had seen enough. “Cass, Leia, and Rachel, I want you to go down to the kitchens and let the servants know that there’s been a change in management. Also tell them to ready a room, we’re going to bring Kathryn down.”

Jenna’s head shot up. “I don’t know if we can move her yet without killing her.”

“As soon as you can, you move her,” he ordered. “Amy, Daniel, and Elizabeth, I want you to go through the castle and make sure that there are no surprises waiting for us. Also see if you can get a message to the Guardian council. They need to know what happened here, ask if they know anything about this supposed Brotherhood.”

Just before they disappeared around a corner a sudden thought occurred to him. “Wait!” Elizabeth halted and stepped backed into his view. David continued, “while you’re at it question the servants maybe they know something.