Rise of the Champion (The Sword of Kirakath Omnibus #1) (46 page)

“I’ll do that,” Caleb promised.

“Caleb, we should split up now. There’s no reason for you to head to Laus, only to turn around and go back to Mount Akabar,” Katie said as she looked towards the town in the distance. “Please be safe. I didn’t tell you my secret only for you to do something reckless and get yourself killed.”

“You don’t have to worry there,” Caleb chuckled. “I appreciate the thought, but you’ll be in more danger than I will.”

“If I have to make a list of reckless things you’ve done, we’ll be here all night,” Katie stated pointedly. “Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise I’ll be careful,” Caleb said, seeing the resolve in her eyes. “Try to do the same. With the last Abrams brother on the island, I get the feeling that we’re not going to leave without a confrontation.”

“Leave?” Katie asked suddenly. “I was under the impression we were staying for a while because we’re wanted for assassinating the Count of Caldreth.”

“I think after Sir Edmond finishes training me, I’d like to return to Arcadia,” Caleb admitted. “I need answers. Until I know the truth about Arcadia and who Clovis served, I don’t think I’ll be able to completely relax.”

“I can’t say that I’m surprised,” Katie conceded, her lips curving upwards slightly. It was easy to see that she was trying not to smile. “I’ll definitely go with you when you leave. I don’t know about Nicolas though. He’s not as big on adventure as we are.”

“Perhaps he’s the only smart one,” Caleb remarked, making Katie laugh softly.

“Perhaps he is,” she said once the laughter died away. “Of course, he may end up choosing to come with us if he sleeps with the wrong girl before we leave. His promiscuous tendencies have offended more than one noble in the past. Some say that’s the part of the reason he ended up outside of the city walls.”

“He’ll be welcome to come either way,” Caleb laughed. “But I should get going. It takes hours to reach the mountain, and then I’ll have to climb to the top of it.”

Katie nodded as she turned towards Laus. “I’ll see you soon.”

And with that, she ran towards the town, not even waiting for him to say anything.

Caleb just shook his head as he began his trek back to the mountain. If it was up to him, he would not say any farewells to her ever again. It reminded him too much of his time alone after they dealt with the Black Crows.

He had no intention of allowing a repeat of that to occur. Other than him realizing that being alone was not something he wished to experience again, nothing good had come of it. In fact, it had almost resulted in her death.

Chapter 6

“It took you less time than I had expected,” Sir Edmond remarked as Caleb stopped in front of the temple on Mount Akabar. “You have the tome?”

“I have the tome and the necklace of something called a lich,” Caleb answered, removing both objects from his bag.

“There was a lich there?” Abigail asked as she stepped through the doors of the temple.

“A necromancer and a lich,” Caleb replied as he tossed the broken amulet to her.

“This is definitely the soul anchor of a lich, a phylactery. I never imagined a lich would be here on the island though,” Abigail remarked as she examined it.

“It’s a good thing Katie broke it with a knife,” Caleb said as he walked over and handed the tome to her. He then looked at Sir Edmond. “It’s also a good thing I figured out how to do this.” As he spoke, he unsheathed his sword and drew upon its magic.

“I suspected you would,” Sir Edmond said as he stared at the glowing blade. “You have questions, I take it?”

Caleb barely suppressed a snort at hearing Sir Edmond’s casual acceptance. “Just one for now. Is the voice normal?”

“It is something I never understood, but it appears to be connected to the sword’s magic,” Sir Edmond answered with a nod of his head.

Caleb did not look surprised by Sir Edmond’s words. Instead, he looked at Abigail. “When can you cleanse the taint?”

“Give me some time to look over the tome. Tomorrow morning, I will begin the process. Provided nothing interferes, of course,” Abigail answered.

Though he did not look pleased by that answer, he nodded his head in understanding. She did not see it though. She returned to the inside of the temple as quickly as she left it.

“Perhaps you should think about getting some rest before tomorrow,” Sir Edmond suggested as he rose to his feet and looked at the doors of the temple. “No one can be for sure how the cleansing will affect you. It is quite possible that it will leave you drained though.”

“I can’t argue with you there,” Caleb agreed. He had spent half of the day walking, so he was exhausted as it was.

* * * * *

The next day, Caleb was standing in front of Abigail in a chamber below the temple. For the first time in a while, the Sword of Kirakath was not in his possession. Sir Edmond was holding it near the door.

“Before I remove the taint, it is important that you understand what I must do,” she said as she made eye contact with him. “What I am about to do is taboo. If this was Arcadia, Calia, or Tiberia, I would be sentenced to the gallows. If anyone managed to capture me, at least.”

“Blood Magic,” Sir Edmond stated.

“Blood Magic,” she agreed. “Using Blood Magic, I can temporarily gain control over the Blood of Kirakath. Once I have control over it, I can use it to undo the barrier between prophecy and the world. Then, I can also use it to purify the taint within you.”

“What are we waiting for?” he asked curiously.

“Nothing,” she said with a wry smile as she placed her hand on his chest over his heart. She did not say anything further, but she appeared to be focusing intently. A tingling sensation overwhelmed him suddenly, starting from his chest and spreading out throughout his body. The sensation changed rapidly, and he felt as though he had embraced the Blood of Kirakath. His blood felt hot as it coursed through his body, but there was no bloodlust accompanying the sensation.

“It is done,” she said after a few minutes. As she spoke, it felt as though he had been relieved of a heavy weight. He looked mystified as he was relieved of a burden that he had not even realized he carried.

That was when things took a turn that no one had expected.

Caleb suddenly collapsed to his knees as a sharp pain filled his head. The chamber around him disappeared before his eyes, and he saw himself standing at the gates of a large city. He was holding the Sword of Kirakath, and he was fighting his former best friend, Gabriel Silver. The thing about it that confused him the most was that he saw the fight as though he was a spectator in a crowd. He did not see it through his own eyes.

Just as quickly as the vision came about, it faded, leaving Caleb in the chamber with Abigail and Sir Edmond again.

“No wonder the Blood of Kirakath was partially awakened before he obtained the Sword of Kirakath,” Sir Edmond spoke in a whisper, alarm clear in his voice. “How could it stay dormant when it had to actively work to reinforce the barrier?”

“What are you talking about?” Caleb demanded, seeing the shocked look on Abigail’s face and hearing Sir Edmond’s tone.

“Caleb, the barrier does not prevent prophets from being born. It merely stops them from accessing their abilities,” Abigail said reverently. “You were one such person. Caleb of Kirakath, you are a prophet. You have the gift of prophecy.”

“That was a prophecy?” he asked in confusion. It was too much to comprehend, but he found that he could not stop the question from coming out. “All I saw was me fighting someone in front of a city.”

“Prophecy, true prophecy, comes not in the form of words but in visions. Seeing visions of the future… that is prophecy. Prophets tend to put words to it to describe what they saw, but only fools try to interpret prophecy through a description,” Sir Edmond stated. “I need you to rise to your feet now. Abigail must cleanse the taint now. Things are only half done now.”

“Right,” Caleb muttered as he did as he was told. The realization of what he had been told began to sink in as Abigail placed a hand over his heart once again. He had known that prophecy would return to the world, but he had never expected that its return would affect him so personally.

He was broken from his thoughts as he felt his blood grow hot again, but it did not stay hot that time. Instead, he felt it begin to fade. He could still feel the power within the Blood of Kirakath, but it was now no warmer than standing under the sun on a cool day. He could feel power course through him as Abigail removed her hand from his chest.

Abigail was no longer in control of the Blood of Kirakath. Caleb had its power in his grasp, and it was nothing like it had been. He felt at peace with the world under the influence of the magic. There was nothing reckless or desperate about the magic now that it had been cleansed. He was in complete control now. After being ruled by the bloodlust that came with the taint, being free of it was indescribable.

Reluctantly releasing his hold on the Blood of Kirakath, he turned to look at Sir Edmond.

“So, when are we going to start training?”

“If you are ready, we will begin now,” Sir Edmond replied as he held the Sword of Kirakath out in one his hands.

“That sounds good to me,” Caleb said as he took the sword from Sir Edmond and secured it at his left hip.

“Be careful for a few days,” Abigail called out as they began to make their way out of the chamber. “Your gift may prove to be dangerous until you get used to it.”

Caleb absently nodded his head. Truthfully, he wanted to forget about his supposed gift. He had to concede that it would be dangerous if he had a vision and collapsed during training, but that did not dissuade him. He needed training, and the thought of seeing his former best friend again, even in a vision, was a pleasant thought.

* * * * *

Caleb and Sir Edmond ended up in front of the temple to begin the training. It was a wide open space, fulfilling the only location requirement for the training.

“Before we begin, I wish to speak to you about the Sword of Kirakath and the Blood of Kirakath,” Sir Edmond stated as his left hand rested on the hilt of his sword. “You must understand something’s true nature before you can appreciate it.”

Caleb nodded his head in agreement. When he was a child, he had not appreciated bows. Under Hector’s apprenticeship, he came to understand them a great deal. With that understanding, he came to truly appreciate them.

“The Sword of Kirakath has changed much over the years. It is said that it is the product of Archmage Kyran’s desire to have a weapon that could be used against mages in combat. I have no idea why he wanted a sword when it would have been easier to create a shield. Perhaps he thought it would be more practical, but his reasons do not concern me.”

Caleb had to bite back a chuckle at his ancestor’s words. He could see that they would not have been appreciated at the moment.

“The steel that the blade is made of was not created by magic. It was imbued with his magic and forged by Archmage Kyran’s magic, but that makes it vastly superior to a conjured blade. The blade is the only part of the sword that he created though. He had a swordsmith affix the blade to the hilt of a gladius. The blade was much longer than the blade of a gladius, but it worked well enough.”

Hearing that drew Caleb’s eyes to his sheathed sword. He had never imagined that the hilt was newer than the blade. He had not realized how Archmage Kyran had created the sword either, for that matter.

“The Sword of Kirakath was imbued with powerful magic when it was forged. There has been some debate as to whether it was one or two pieces of magic, but it matters little. Of the two abilities that the sword had, only one still resides within it. That ability makes magic solid before it. It is something you experienced yesterday. It is not merely for defense though. Some magic can actually be cut because of it. In fact, it was the sword’s magic that allowed me to sever the link between prophecy and the world.”

When he had been told of Sir Edmond severing it, Caleb had never imagined that he actually severed it with the blade of a sword. It was almost humorous to hear that he had, in fact, done just that.

“The second ability was just as useful, if not more so. Instead of affecting the sword itself, it affected the wielder. It could increase a person’s speed, strength, agility, stamina, and rate of healing. As a side effect of the magic flowing through a person, their body became more durable as well. That side effect is actually a safe guard. Increasing your speed or strength through magic is not safe. It puts a tremendous strain on your body and can result in serious injury. Fortunately, the increased durability prevents the strain.”

“The Blood of Kirakath,” Caleb said with wide eyes. “He turned the magic of the sword into the Blood of Kirakath, didn’t he?”

“He left the sword with the first ability and sealed the second one away inside of his second daughter. It was passed down for many generations, but it remained in its sealed state until I was born. At that point, it went from being sealed away to being dormant.”

“What caused it to wake up?” Caleb asked curiously.

“It became habit to use the Sword of Kirakath in knighting worthy subjects. I happened to be knighted because of something I did. The moment the Sword of Kirakath touched me, the Blood of Kirakath awakened. Certain individuals instantly recognized what was going on, and I was given the title
Knight of Kirakath
as a result.”