Rise of the Champion (The Sword of Kirakath Omnibus #1) (50 page)

“Golems are very useful in battle. I would say that a single golem is worth a dozen soldiers. That does not mean that he will take care of four dozen bandits on his own though. It is very unlikely that so many of Isaac’s forces will focus on him,” Abigail answered patiently. “Perhaps the only two who could draw so much focus on them are you two. Isaac Abrams no doubt wants the men that killed his brothers. If you were to declare your names, it would certainly draw attention to you. Unless you wish to bait a trap, I would not recommend doing such a thing though. It would be foolishly reckless.”

“I don’t see a reason in trying to get people to kill me,” Nicolas said, shaking his head.

“I’m not that foolish,” Caleb agreed.

Katie merely raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

Instead of retorting or acting insulted in her disbelief, Caleb grew sheepish. It did sound like something he might have thought about doing, after all.

Chapter 10

For what felt like the hundredth time, Caleb glanced over at Katie as she let out an audible sigh.

It had been a couple hours since his arrival back at Laus. It was plenty of time to prepare for the inevitable battle, provided Isaac did not turn his forces around and abandon his plans, at least. Vincent had laughed when someone made a similar remark though.

Sir Edmond, Vincent, and twenty of Vincent’s guards were prepared for the fight on the inside of the gates of Laus. Nicolas and Abigail were not far from them either, though it had been decided that neither of them would engage in combat. Not unless they were unable to defeat Isaac’s forces, at least. Nicolas was to protect Abigail while she acted as a healer.

Caleb and Katie, on the other hand, were in one of the sentry towers closest to the gates. Katie was not very pleased with her placement in the sentry tower, and she had made it clear a number of times already.

“Why am I even up here? I don’t have the same range you do, and you’ll see them coming before I do,” Katie grumbled.

He chuckled softly at her question and said, “I understand what you mean. You’re not the only one that’s unhappy about it though. I just took out thirty of them with my bow, and then they give me twenty more arrows and tell me to stay up here.”

“They’re only making you stay up here because you overused the Blood of Kirakath,” she pointed out irritably. “Besides, you can actually do some good up here. I won’t be able to.”

He shook his head as soon as the words were out of her mouth. “Do you really believe that? Yeah, I can do some good, but you can too. We’re close enough that you shouldn’t have any problem with your aim. Besides, it would be a bad idea to put you where you could get hurt. I’d probably draw my sword and leap into the fray if I saw someone hurt you.”

A snort escaped her mouth as she imagined what he was saying. “Would you at least take the time to climb down from the tower?”

He merely smiled in response. The thought of him leaping from the tower and stabbing the Sword of Kirakath into the wall to slow his descent came to mind. It would damage any other sword to do something of that nature, but his sword could handle it.

“They’re coming,” he said, suddenly turning his attention to the road. His ears were able to pick up the soft beat of a marching upon the road. He could not quite seem them yet, but he knew to trust his hearing. “Give the signal to Vincent. They need to be ready.”

Katie nodded before she made her way down the ladder.

He raised his hand so that it was level with his head. Within moments, the other sentries saw the motion and began to nock arrows.

Nocking an arrow of his own, Caleb waited patiently. Their silhouette in the darkness of night was just now barely visible.

“Vincent Meis, if you wish to see Laus survive this night, surrender Caleb of Kirakath and Nicolas of Caldreth to me right now,” Isaac Abrams called out as his forces came closer to the walls.

“I cannot do that,” Vincent stated in a loud but calm voice. “If you wish to survive past this day, then perhaps it would be best for you to turn around and leave at once.”

Laughter could be heard clearly from the entire force of bandits.

“Do you believe that we are so easily defeated?” Isaac asked once the laughter came to a halt. “Perhaps it is time to show you our might.”

“Signal the sentries to take out their archers. Once it’s done, get to the ground,” Caleb said quietly with narrowed eyes. He knew exactly what was going to come next. He did not need to be a prophet to know that much.

“Take out their sentries,” Isaac commanded as he looked back to his archers.

The moment his words were out, the bandit next to him fell down with an arrow lodged in his throat. He had not even been able to nock an arrow yet.

The other three sentries began shooting too, quickly eliminating the rest of the archers. It was not without cost, however. Before Isaac’s ten archers were taken down, the other sentries had all been hit. The first two looked to have been killed quickly, while the last one was hit in the arm. It was not the worst place to be shot, by far. As long as he was taken care of in time, it would simply take him out of the fight. If not, it could be lethal. That was to be expected of an arrow wound though, even a minor one.

It happened in a matter of moments, but Isaac had lost thirty men and Vincent had lost two.

Caleb was already out of arrows, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Creaking filled the air as the massive wooden gates were pushed open, and the battle truly began. Vincent and Sir Edmond rushed through the open gates with the guards of Laus behind them.

Watching his mentor and ancestor fight was a sight to behold. In one hand, he gripped his sword- the sword that had been passed down through the generations in the Sullivan family. In the other hand, he wielded a massive shield. If he recalled correctly, it was called a targe.

When he swung his blade, anyone standing in its path was cut down. And when he swung his shield, his foes were thrown back as if they were hit by a giant.

Vincent, on the other hand, fought like a ghost. With incredible speed and agility, he danced around his enemies. His moves were unpredictable and he constantly struck where his enemies had no armor to protect them. Caleb highly suspected that his scimitar could have cut through their leather armor with ease, but they died just as easily.

The fighting between the guards and the bandits that attempted to avoid Sir Edmond and Vincent was far more gruesome. None of the guards had half the skill that their leaders had, but it was enough to ensure that far more bandits than guards died.

Katie helped the guards on that end as well. She threw her knives with lethal precision at the bandits when she saw openings. She had to be careful though. She had to make sure none of them were about to step in front of the path of her knives before she threw. It would have been too easy to accidentally hit one of the guards by accident.

Caleb clenched his fists as he noticed something that he had not expected.

Isaac Abrams was gone.

He could actually see the man, but he was riding down the road on the back of his horse. Away from Laus.

He had abandoned his men when he saw what he was up against.

“Abrams fled!” he yelled as loudly as he could. He knew that Isaac would hear him. It was not a surprise when Isaac ignored the yell and continued down the road, but it did serve another purpose.

The bandits’ morale dropped the moment they heard that their leader had chosen to abandon them rather than aid them or call for a retreat.

Their lowered morale was not a factor for long though. Sir Edmond and Vincent cut the rest of them down before they had much time to think about what had just happened.

After ten minutes from start to finish, the battle had come to a conclusion.

“Don’t even think about it,” Katie remarked as she looked at Caleb with her piercing emerald eyes. “You haven’t recovered enough to chase him down without a horse of your own, and he would be long gone by the time you had a horse ready.”

“I know,” he sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, she had a point. “Let’s go down and see the others.”

He began down the ladder without looking to see her response.

It did not take him long to reach the gates, but he did not know if he was thankful for that or not. The results of the battle stood before him, and they were not the most pleasant results that he could have imagined.

The corpses of nearly eighty men lay before him. The majority of them were bandits, but he saw seven fallen guards.

A surge of guilt rose up inside of him suddenly. So many people had died because he and Nicolas had not given themselves up. He knew that it was irrational. People like Isaac were untrustworthy and were unlikely to honor any deals. Truthfully, he felt no guilt for anyone but the seven dead guards, the two dead sentries, and the wounded. He could not help but feel that the bandits deserved it. The others most certainly did not though.

“We can’t leave the island after you finish your training,” Katie said quietly, breaking his train of thought. “We cannot leave until we end this. As long as the Isle of Akabar is ruled by people like Abrams, there will be more senseless death like this.”

Before he could respond, he saw Sir Edmond walk towards him, carefully avoiding the corpses.

“Caleb,” he said as he stopped before him. “I am afraid that I will be unable to finish your training.” He quickly removed his belt once the words were spoken. His sheathed sword was attached to it.

“What are you talking about?” Caleb asked, panic clear in his voice. That news, combined with what he saw before him, was overwhelming. Katie’s hand on his shoulder was the only thing that kept him steady.

“The bonds between my soul and this golem are breaking as we speak,” he answered simply. “I apologize for being forced to leave you before you have been fully trained, but this is the way things happen sometimes. I have every confidence that you will succeed in mastering the Blood of Kirakath without me though.”

Caleb’s eyes dropped to the ground. He was at a loss for words. As surprising as he would have found it at one time, he had come to greatly enjoy Sir Edmond’s company and presence. He had known that Sir Edmond would pass on at some point, but he had thought that it would be years. Truthfully, the idea of losing his mentor had not truly sunk in. After Hector’s disappearance, it had been too painful to consider.

“Caleb, this is my last request. Always follow your heart and be true to yourself. You have a great destiny before you, but you will not succeed if you try to change who you are.”

Caleb reached out and took the belt from Sir Edmond. His eyes were focused on his ancestor as he spoke the last words he would ever say to him. “I will do it. I hope you rest in peace and see your family on the other side. Thank you for everything.”

“Thank you as well, Caleb. I could not have chosen a more perfect successor than you,” Sir Edmond said as he stood up straight. As soon as he was standing at his full height, he turned rigid. With a small flash of light, Sir Edmond’s spirit separated from the golem. It was only visible for a moment before it disappeared.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Caleb said under his breath as he stared at the golem. It still looked like a statue of him, as it had ever since Sir Kirakath possessed it.

“He knew before the battle that it would happen,” Vincent said as he walked up to them. “He told me after he sent you up to the sentry tower. I believe that the only one he informed other than me was the Witch of Akabar.”

Caleb shook his head, not wishing to think about it. “How are the men?”

“We lost nine men in total. None of the survivors were seriously injured. I’d say that the worst injury was on a sentry. Thankfully, the Witch of Akabar is good at healing,” Vincent answered with mixture of relief and sadness in his voice. “We will not have time to mourn our losses though. I know that Isaac did not bring all of his forces with him. If we’re lucky, that was half of them. He’s not foolish though. He won’t try a straightforward attack with his forces again.”

“What will he do?” Katie asked.

“I suspect that he will attempt to form an alliance with some other factions on the island. Where seventy bandits failed, five hundred or more would succeed. With Sir Edmond and nine of our men gone, we would have even less of a chance,” Vincent answered in a grim tone.

“If we waited for them to attack, that’s probably what would happen,” Nicolas agreed as he walked up to them. “Caleb is very talented at attacking people at their headquarters though.”

Vincent looked startled as he understood what Nicolas was implying.

“That is suicide,” he argued fiercely.

“No, it is not,” Abigail said as she made her presence known. “It did not take me long to heal the wounded, and I overheard what you four are discussing. I believe that it would be a very good idea. It is only suicide if we do it recklessly.”

“We?”

The question came from Caleb, Katie, and Nicolas simultaneously.

Abigail nodded with a firm look in her eyes. As she spoke, her voice carried a sense of finality to it. “I wish to assist you in this endeavor. I know more about this island than you do, and it will assist you greatly.”