The Sword of Light: Book One of the Veredor Chronicles (23 page)

‘
So we will ride out in the morning as planned?’ asked General
Hugo.

‘
Yes, we must. I also want you to choose a loyal knight from
the army. I will place him in charge of Galdir.’

‘
I believe Sir Victar would be the best knight to govern
Galdir,’ replied General Hugo. It was agreed that Sir Victar would
be given control of the fortress.

**

Eben slept
that night in one of the upper chambers of the fortress. He woke as
the sun rose in the east and cast long beams of light through his
chamber window. The town below was already bustling as the army was
preparing to march onward. He drew the sword and looked at the
light reflecting off the blade. The steel seemed to collect the
light. The Sword of Light didn’t glow, but it was as if the light
of the sun curved toward the blade making it seem slightly brighter
than it should be. The Ecorian Sword, an ancient and powerful
weapon used to protect Veredor from the powers of darkness. The
thought that his mother had left the sword with him still caused
many questions to flow through his mind. He knew that only the
Fiorians would have the answers he sought.

He walked out
of his room and down a stone stairwell to the command chamber. King
Ignis was talking with some of his knights and General Hugo.

‘
We sent eight scouts east at first light. They will check the
highway and report back. The army will be ready to move within an
hour,’ said Sir Rocco, a burly and dark haired knight.

‘
Well done, Sir Rocco. We will head for Riverside.’

A guardsman
came walking into the chamber carrying a small piece of paper.
‘This arrived by carrier pigeon several minutes ago.’ General Hugo
took the note and handed it to King Ignis. He unfolded the note and
read it to himself.

‘
A message from our enemy,’ said King Ignis with a disdainful
grimace. ‘The Imposter has asked us to surrender. He says there is
no need for a war and that we should know our place as slaves to
the Lord of Veredor.’

King Ignis
cast the note in the fire. He then turned to face the company of
knights. ‘We are men of honour and freed from bondage because of
our service to the truth. Chains, prisons, and even death; all
these things cannot possibly enslave those that have freedom in
their hearts. We will fight these enslavers, and they will see
freedom by our example.’

**

The army
marched away from Galdir as the sun rose higher in the eastern sky.
Eben rode with the King and Cassiel at the front of the army. Red
and Stella were riding further back among the troops. They slowly
came out of the foothills and into a land of lush green plains.
There were very few trees, but occasionally a huge tree would rise
up from the flat land.

‘
These are the Golden Plains,’ said King Ignis. ‘These plains
are home to several nomadic clans. I expect we will see some
shepherds before we cross the plain and reach the western edge of
Altus Forest; although with all the Skatheans and bandits around
they will have probably moved far away from the main
highway.’

They rode on
throughout the day. Clouds were rolling across the sky from the
east; by the late afternoon a light rain was falling. As the
evening arrived they set up camp beside the highway. Red was trying
to get a fire started with some wood he had gathered along the
roadside.

‘
Do you need some help with that?’ asked Cassiel.

Red looked up
and nodded. ‘Sure, if you could use your magic it might help.’
Cassiel pointed his hand at the wood and a flame shot forth. The
fire instantly started blazing.

‘
You’ll have to teach me that trick one day,’ said Red with
his usual cheeky grin. Cassiel smiled and nodded as he sat down
beside Red.

‘
It would take about five years to teach you. It’s not just
about making a flame appear; it’s about understanding the nature of
things around you and learning to bring about a change in that
nature. You would have to learn to focus like a wizard.’

‘
Five years! Ha, I think I’ll keep using my flint rocks,’ said
Red, warming his hands by the fire. ‘I know a few simple coin and
card tricks; that’s as far as I want to take it. After the war is
over I want to focus on my swordsmanship.’

‘
You’re already a great swordsman,’ said Stella.

Red shook his
head at Stella’s comment. ‘You saw that wyvern knock the sword out
of my hand so easily. I don’t want that to happen again. I want to
learn to fight like you, Eben.’

Eben knew that
it was the Sword of Light and not so much his skill that was making
him a good swordsman. ‘This sword gives me a great advantage.’

‘
No, it’s more than the sword; you’re brave. I couldn’t
believe what I was seeing when I saw you jump from your horse and
grab the wyvern by the horns; that was truly amazing. Then I saw
you fight those guardsmen in Galdir. What you have is a lot more
than an old sword.’

Eben nodded
and wasn’t sure if he agreed. Erako had taught him to use a sword,
and he knew he was a proficient swordsman, but his skills with the
Sword of Light were far beyond any skill level he had previously
possessed.

**

The next day
was spent marching eastward. The open grass plains appeared to go
on endlessly. There were no other travellers on the highway.
Occasionally they caught sight of a stranded cow or goat. That
night they set up camp again and slept well.

The following
day the army set out early. By the midmorning Eben could see a
horseman in the distance galloping along the road in their
direction. As the rider came closer it was clear he was injured and
struggling to stay on his horse. He was one of the scouts they had
sent out on the first day. Several of the front riders rode out to
meet him and helped him down from his horse. King Ignis dismounted
and walked over to meet the scout as two soldiers helped him to
stand. Eben, General Hugo, and Cassiel walked with the King.

‘
Sire… I bring… bad news,’ he said in a stammering
voice.

‘
What news?’ asked King Ignis.

‘
We rode out across the Golden Plains… to the edge of Altus
Forest. There is an army of muckrons waiting for us camped just
outside the forest… I was the only one to escape. We were firstly
set upon by a group of Skatheans, but their warhorses couldn’t keep
pace with our scouting horses… Then the enemy wizards rained fire
down on us from above… Four of my companions were killed. The four
of us who survived the attack rode on as quickly as our horses
would gallop. That’s when we were set upon by three wyverns… Only I
escaped. My injuries aren’t bad; I think I can still
fight.’

‘
Three wyverns,’ repeated King Ignis gravely, nervously
scratching his beard.

‘
Yes, Sire.’

‘
And how many muckrons did you see?’

‘
Many more than we fought in Scaldonia. It’s difficult to say
how many; I think about twenty thousand.’ King Ignis looked
disturbed at hearing the number.

‘
You have done well and shown much courage. I will reward you
when we return to Ancora for your bravery. What is your
name?’

‘
Tullis,’ answered the scout.

‘
Well done, Tullis,’ said King Ignis. He then turned to Eben
and Hugo.

‘
Three wyverns, Skatheans, and Zyranians; we are in for a
fight this time.’

‘
We are still two days march to the forest’s edge,’ said
General Hugo.

‘
You killed a wyvern, Eben; how about three?’

‘
I can try.’

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

‘
Three wyverns!’ exclaimed Red, shaking his head in
disbelief.

‘
That’s what the scout said,’ said Eben.

‘
You’re going to have quite a task,’ said Red, laughing
nervously. They were sitting around the fire with Cassiel and
Stella in the early evening.

‘
I’ll do my best,’ said Eben.

‘
I think King Ignis is very troubled by this news,’ said
Cassiel. ‘We beat that small army of muckrons in Scaldonia without
too much trouble. This one is much larger, and they have Skatheans
and the Zyranian Enforcers with them.’

‘
Most of the men are very confident. They think we will win
and return home soon,’ said Stella.

‘
They are fighting for their homeland, so they will fight
bravely,’ said Cassiel.

They all slept
in their tents and woke early. The feeling of anticipation was
growing among the troops. Rumours about the enemy army were
circulating throughout the camp; however, the men kept up their
confidence as they knew they were fighting for their families and
homeland and that there was simply no option to fail.

The army set
out about an hour after sunrise and moved quickly. The men seemed
restless to get to the battle; they all knew it was the last task
before a triumphant return home to Ancora. Eben rode in full armour
at the front of the army with King Ignis. He felt ready for battle.
He could feel his fingers tingling from the anticipation.

‘
It’s going to be quite a fight, Eben. They have assembled an
army of Skatheans, wyverns, and wizards. We only have soldiers,
archers, and cavalry’ said King Ignis.

‘
We will fight bravely. The men are ready,’ said
Eben.

They continued
marching across the plain. By mid-afternoon they could see a
distant line of trees of the Altus Forest. Smoke rose in a thick
column forming a dark cloud directly ahead. As they marched closer
they could see the smoke was rising from an area between two small
hills.

‘
We are not far from them now,’ said King Ignis.

Another hour
passed as they marched onward. They could see the encampment of the
enemy in the distance just outside the forest at the beginning of
the plain. General Hugo rode up beside King Ignis and Eben.

‘
We will use our cavalry again,’ said King Ignis as his eyes
scanned the distance.

Eben could see
the muckron army was marshalling itself into long lines parallel to
the forest. It was instantly clear that the enemy army was
massive.

‘
How many muckrons are there, Hugo?’ asked the
King.

‘
Twenty thousand at least,’ said General Hugo stoically. They
could see the dark shapes of three wyverns rising up from the
ground into the sky above the muckron horde; two of them were red
and one was green. Their scales glimmered in the
sunlight.

‘
What do you think, Hugo?’

‘
We face a difficult fight,’ said General Hugo. The King
turned to Eben. ‘And you, Eben?’

‘
We can either fight or retreat, but if we retreat we’ll have
to fight them again at Galdir anyway.’

‘
You’re right, Eben. We must fight them either way. Hugo,
assemble the cavalry. Tell the men to be ready’

General Hugo
rode off and began shouting commands to the army. The army began to
move into an attack formation. The cavalry moved to the front with
the heavy cavalry making up the first line with five lines of light
cavalry behind. The infantry formed about ten lines behind the
cavalry, and the archers stood not far behind the infantry.

Red and Stella
rode up toward Eben. Stella had acquired a knight’s shield, which
was flat on the top edge and curved downward to a point at the
bottom edge. The shield was dark red with a golden lion painted
across it. She also carried a new sword at her side instead of the
two short swords she had carried into the previous battle. Eben
noticed that she had a rope coiled with a grappling hook. Red wore
shining new armour and an open-faced helm.

‘
What’s the rope and grappling hook for?’ asked
Eben.

‘
For catching wyverns and pulling them out of the sky,’
replied Stella with a confident smile.

‘
Stay near me. This is going to be much bigger than the last
battle,’ said Eben.

‘
We won’t let you get away from us,’ said Stella.

They looked
toward the enemy lines and could see two riders crossing the field,
one of them carrying a blue banner.

‘
It’s the banner of terms. They want to negotiate,’ said
General Hugo.

‘
Eben, follow me. Let’s ride to meet them,’ said King Ignis.
The King rode out across the field. Eben turned Swiftwing about and
charged after the King. A minute later they were nearing the two
riders. One was a Skathean, revealed by his deathly pale skin and
cold piercing eyes. He carried a long sword and no other weapon,
and he wore the dark attire and a black cloak. The other rider was
also wearing a long dark cloak. As the King and Eben approached
they both recognised the familiar face of Falsig.

King Ignis
halted about thirty feet from the two enemy riders, and Eben came
up to be beside him. Sweat was dripping from Falsig’s swollen and
ugly face. His eyes were red and bloodshot.

‘
What terms do you bring?’ asked King Ignis firmly.

‘
We ask you to surrender!’ answered the Skathean, his voice
cold and harsh. ‘If you surrender you will be disarmed and allowed
to return to your homes after taking an oath of allegiance to the
Lord of Veredor.’

‘
We will never surrender. Your evil army will die today unless
you leave our lands and return to where you came from! We will
never serve your master,’ shouted King Ignis, his voice deep and
strong.