Here Shines the Sun (81 page)

“For crimes against Duroton, this Exalted Council hereby sentences you to death.”

Balin turned and motioned to Raygar and his other Dark Star Knight. The two brought their horses forward, followed by the ten other shrouded Knights of the Councilmen. The vampiric man next to Balin clapped his hands and giggled as Raygar and the others dismounted their horses, threw off their shrouds, and came forward onto the bridge.

Hell below
, was all Etheil could think. His hand went for his own sword, Firebrand, but Samrildar caught his wrist.

“No.” spoke Samrildar. “No blood shall be shed upon my Hill. This is holy ground.” His Keepers formed up paired ranks behind Etheil. Samrildar then pushed Etheil behind him and strode forward a few paces. “Hammer’s Hill is sacred and neutral ground.” he called out to the approaching Dark Star Knights. “The Duroton skies take no witness of your charges here. Turn back! I am Hammer Hill’s guardian, and under my watch no stone shall be scathed.”

“You are a Dark Star Knight sworn to the Lands of Duroton!” called Councilman Gefjon. “Your duty to the lands come before your duties to Hammer’s Hill!”

Samrildar looked over his shoulder to Etheil. “Leave. Go back to the Grimwatch.”

Etheil knew that he should take the offer extended to him, but part of him had to let it be known that Brandrir, and the Grimwatch, were in trouble. Somebody other than himself had to know. “Samrildar,” said Etheil, coming up behind him. “The Grimwatch is in trouble. Speak with me and promise to pass my words to Dagrir. His brother, Brandrir, is in danger. Part of the Mard Grander has been stolen. The Kald awaken a beast. We heard its call out upon the Shardgrims.”

Samrildar shook his head but didn’t turn to face him. “Hammer’s Hill is my charge. I do not involve myself in disputes outside these grounds. Turn back or I shall throw you from this bridge myself.”

Etheil frowned. Behind him, the Keepers parted. He turned to make his leave but then that vampiric man shouted out, “Do not let him pass!” At once the Keepers tightened their ranks, preventing Etheil from passing them.

“Hand him over.” spoke Raygar as he and the other eleven Dark Star Knights quickly approached.

Samrildar slid his sword from its sheath and its blade began to throb with a deep, droning sound. “Let him pass!” growled Samrildar at his men. Then he called out to Raygar, “Come no closer.” He stepped forward, the atmosphere pulsing with his sword’s baritone song as he flourished it. Etheil again tried to make his way past the Keepers.

“You must seize him.” called the vampiric man from his horse. He trotted forward a few paces, coming behind the Dark Star Knights. “You must protect this place. You should seize Etheil. The King will reward you. The Lands will look favorably upon you. You should seize him now.”

Etheil stepped back as half the Keepers moved in on him, steel ringing as swords were slipped from their scabbards. The other half of the Keepers suddenly looked confused, torn between holding Etheil back or letting him pass. It seemed, however, that the order to not let him pass was the one winning out, and more and more swords slid from their sheaths.

Etheil drew Firebrand and ignited it. Roaring flames instantly crawled up the length of the blade and rumbled as they were buffeted by the winds. “Uh, Samrildar…” Etheil stepped back as the first of the Keepers moved in on him, the Keeper’s sword tinkling as ice encrusted the blade. The Keeper whipped his sword around, frost singeing the edges of Etheil’s shroud as he stepped from the blade’s reach. Then there was a crackling as an electrical sword danced to life, and the whoosh as a fire blade ignited. Before Etheil, all twelve Keepers had now ignited their weapons.

Etheil looked over his shoulder. He contemplated jumping. If he harnessed all of his ability, he might be able to land with only breaking his legs. Little good that would do. He could try to slip past them, fling himself over their heads, but he saw that three of them had purple Speed crystals in their violet-glowing swords. Even if he got past them, he’d never outrun those three. He took another step back as the Keepers edged their way in on him.

“No!” barked Samrildar, giving his soldiers pause. “Do not harm him!”

Raygar’s sword began to glow a steady orange, the aura encompassing his body as he came upon Samrildar.

Etheil looked at the Keepers before him. The thought of having to fight and possibly kill fellow Dark Star Knights was not at all appealing. Nor was the thought of having to watch Samrildar try to hold off the Councilmen’s knights all on account of him. There was only one way to avoid this confrontation. He deactivated Firebrand and returned it to its sheath. He held up his hands and the Keepers descended on him. He felt his arms being twisted behind his back and his legs brought out from under him. His breastplate cracked against the stone floor of the bridge as he was held down. He looked up just as Raygar danced in at Samrildar. “No, I give myself up!” yelled Etheil, but it was too late.

Raygar swooped his sword around and brought it down. Samrildar’s sword thrummed like pulsing thunder as he brought it up. The two swords cracked together, but Samrildar’s was immediately slammed down where it bit into the floor of the bridge, stone instantly vaporizing into dust. Raygar kicked his foot out, hitting Samrildar square in the chest and sending him tumbling back. Samrildar rolled to his feet as he brought his sword before him.

DOOOOOM!
The very atmosphere shook and the entire bridge buzzed as an unseen force washed over Raygar. Raygar’s sword and armor seemed to smear, the black paint on it turning to powder and dispersing into a cloud as he was thrown back into the Dark Star Knights behind him, bowling them all over.

Samrildar’s sword, Warmouth, held the single most powerful sonic crystal the Jinn had ever made. Etheil had never seen it activated before, but he had heard of its ability. It was said that Warmouth’s call could shake stone, steel and flesh to dust. As Raygar struggled back to his feet, it was clear where the unseen blast had hit him. The entire front of his breastplate was bare steel, rippled like the surface of a disturbed pool.

Raygar’s sword, Rampart, was legendary in its own right. Strength crystals were rare, and Raygar’s was one of only three orange High Crystals the Jinn had ever made. Had he not been protected by its aura, Etheil was certain the man would have been torn apart by the blast. Samrildar, however, had felt the full force of Raygar’s power. As he staggered back, Etheil saw that his entire breastplate was crumpled and he struggled to get the constricting thing off before Raygar could come at him again.

But in the stunned silence that now gripped the bridge, that vampiric man’s giggling seemed all the louder. He clapped his hands, like a child applauding the greatest show he had ever seen. He trotted his horse forward, coming up behind the Dark Star Knights as Samrildar finally got his ruined armor off and tossed it over the side of the bridge. His chest bare, it was now plain for all to see just how devastating Raygar’s kick had been. The center of Samrildar’s chest was black as pitch, fading out to sickly browns then blues and finally yellows at his sides and abdomen. He held his sternum with one hand and Etheil wondered if he had broken bones beneath that horrendous bruise.

“Turn back!” warned Samrildar, his chest heaving as he struggled with his breath. He held Warmouth out.

“No, no.” hissed the pale man, smiling. “You are the one who must turn back. Turn around. Kill Etheil. Protect your precious bridge and kill him.”

Samrildar turned and Etheil witnessed a snarl curl his lips. He struggled, but the Keepers held him firmly to the ground. He began to wonder just what sort of witchery that vampiric man’s words held. Everybody seemed to be swayed by whatever he said. “Samrildar! Don’t listen! Don’t listen to that man!”

Samrildar raised his sword as if he might strike, but then shook his head, as if coming back to his senses. He turned back toward the giggling freak.

“Kill him. Kill him and protect your bridge.”

“No.” growled Samrildar. He raised Warmouth, pointing its tip toward the man, but before he could let fly another sonic blast, Balin, Gefjon, Aldur and the other Councilmen wheeled their horses around him, creating a barrier. Samrildar lowered his weapon. Etheil knew Samrildar would never strike down the Councilmen. To do so would be a high crime beneath the Duroton sky.

The man giggled. “Don’t you want to kill Etheil? Don’t you want to protect this place? Go ahead, turn around and kill him.”

Samrildar gripped at his forehead. He shook his head and then he looked up, his eyes fierce. “No!” he growled. He pointed at the man, his finger trembling with rage. “You are a demon!”

The pale man’s face became stony. His smile melted into an exaggerated, jeering frown. Etheil was certain the man somehow looked larger than he had before. “
Kill him. Kill them both.
”

Raygar and the other Dark Star Knights dashed forward, Crystallic Weapons igniting. Samrildar roared as Warmouth trembled the atmosphere.
DOOOOOM!
Raygar’s aura swirled up the dust of the bridge as he sailed upward on it, leaping away as the unseen sonic shockwave struck two of the knights behind him. They hardly began to scream when their armor seemed to come apart at the molecular level, their bodies beneath shattering like glass. And then the cloud of particulate that was once flesh and bone was swept away by the winds.

Raygar landed in front of Samrildar and the two powerful swords cracked together with all the fury they had to offer. Etheil watched as their auras collided, discs of dust swirling in a figure eight around them as if their gravitational forces vyed for power.

Samrildar’s sword thrummed, the deep reverberations buffeting Etheil’s eardrums as the man brought his sword around and high at Raygar’s head. Raygar whipped his sword up, knocking away Samrildar’s with such force that the man had to cartwheel with it. As he came up, Raygar leapt at him as four other Dark Star Knights dashed in, electrical blades crackling and an ice blade leaving trails of sparkling frost.

Samrildar tumbled to the side, avoiding Raygar, and then pushed forward into the four Dark Star Knights. His sword swept upward, and the first of the knights screamed as his body smeared into a blur of unraveling particles. Before the dust of his demise even had a chance to be devoured by Samrildar’s aura, he extended his hand and sent his power spiraling forward. The other three Dark Star Knights didn’t stand a chance against Samrildar’s aura. It engulfed their own and they spun up as if caught in a tornado and went sailing over the edge of the bridge.

Samrildar flipped backward just as Raygar’s sword came chopping down. It impacted the bridge right where he had been standing, and a spiderweb of cracks crawled away in all directions. The sundered fragments immediately pulled away and were swept into Raygar’s and Samrildar’s swirling auras, and the two came at each other again.

Raygar’s sword swept forward and Samrildar ducked, coming up on his side. Raygar turned just in time to meet his blade, Rampart easily knocking Warmouth to the side. Samrildar spun with a left hook, his fist impacting Raygar’s cheek. But protected by his sword’s aura of strength, the blow didn’t seem to affect him in the slightest. Raygar brought his own elbow up and across Samrildar’s face, and Etheil heard the sickening crack of bone as Samrildar spun and fell.

Samrildar staggered up to his feet, his nose flat against the side of his face, blood gushing from it. He looked around, dazed, as the remaining Dark Star Knights circled him. He raised Warmouth, but an electrical blade came in and Samrildar screamed. Blue energy bolts crawled up his body as his arm was taken off at the shoulder. He fell, his arm hitting the floor with a thud and Warmouth falling from its grasp. It was still activated when it hit, and the stone it landed on exploded into a cloud of dust, tossing the sword into the air only to go sailing off the side of the bridge. And then Etheil closed his eyes as Raygar spun in, his glowing, orange sword sending Samrildar’s head down to Warmouth.

Now all eyes turned to Etheil as he lay pinned upon the ground. “Kill him! Kill him!” he heard the vampiric man say with glee as he pranced his horse around the Councilmen in circles. Etheil struggled against his captors. He heard an electrical blade pop to life near his head.

“Stand down! Stand down!” The Councilmen were nearly bowled over as Lord Egret and Lord Gregin tore past them on their Icelandic Great-Hoofs. Raygar lowered his sword as all eyes turned toward Egret and Gregin who came galloping to the center of the bridge. In unison they jumped from their steeds and stormed toward Raygar and his men. “What madness is this?” demanded Egret. His eyes flicked to the side and saw Samrildar’s decapitated corpse bleeding out onto the bridge. His eyes found Etheil on the ground, held by the Keepers. “What goes on here?”

“Egret,” grunted Etheil from the ground. “Beware that man in black! Don’t hear his words!”

Egret turned to face the Councilmen, his lips turning up in disgust. “Rennic Finn,” he spat. He looked back at the Keepers. “Free him.” commanded Egret. “All of you, stop this madness!” He pushed Raygar aside and grabbed Etheil up from those holding him and helped him to his feet.

“The Grimwatch is in trouble,” said Etheil. “I must speak with Dagrir. Brandrir is injured and may not live. Let me speak with the King, please.”

“Lord Egret, you are out of line.” spoke Balin as he approached on his horse, the vampiric man at his side, giggling.

Etheil saw a deep scowl set into Egret’s face. “Who is that?” whispered Etheil.

“Rennic Finn.” grumbled Egret. “I don’t know what magic he possesses, but he poisons the Council with his words.” He turned to face the Councilmen and now spoke loud and clear, “What madness goes on here?” He pointed to the fallen Samrildar. “By what authority of the King does this Council march against Hammer’s Hill and the Captain of the Grimwatch?”

“We are Exalted,” reminded Balin. Rennic Finn grinned from his seat beside him. “We need no authority from the King. Etheil was named an enemy of Duroton. The penalty is death.” Balin nodded at Raygar. “Proceed.”