The Legends of kayshall Chapter-10 (Somewhere Between Hell and Damnation)

                                                                       Chapter-10

                                             Somewhere Between Hell and Damnation

                                                 (On the Walls of the City of Valley Point)

  Shamonah and Martex walked and talked the night away from top of the city walls, at times Martex would stop and his hand would glow a pail blue in color. This went on through most of the night until a king's messenger arrived, telling them that King Raylanty wanted to see them as soon as possible.

  A short time later they arrived at the command tent. “Good you're here, I wasn't sure the page would be able to find you. There's been another murder, this one's over on the North West tower. Three guards were killed this time; the bodies were mutilated the same way as the others. I need a drink, they never had a chance, I can handle a foe I can see to fight but this, I need a drink,” King Raylanty said as he walked over to the small table. The others could see that he was physically shaking from the events of the night as he poured himself a mug of Dark Ail. Martex and Shamonah stood there looking at the things on his desk for a moment where he had a map of the city laying out with all the towers marked where there've been murders. Suddenly a strange look of realization came over both of their faces as they looked at one another.

  “By all the mothers of the abyss Shamonah are you seeing this, are they doing what I think they're doing?” A hint of fear ran through Martex voice as he stared down at the map on the desk. “Because if they are; then were in trouble,” He said as he looked over at Shamonah as she stared down at the map. Turning he walked quickly over to the small table and poured himself a mug of Dark Ail, drinking it down in one draw and then poured himself another.

  “From the looks of the pattern of the killings there making a sacrificial pentagram, which means they’ll haft to strike two more times before it will be complete. If they follow pattern that also means they will strike on the far South East tower…,” Shamonah was saying as she walked over to the small table and poured herself a glass of Brandy.

 King Raylanty just stood there for a moment as a look of confusion came over his face. “I thought a pentagram was used for protection. I know Nattalass used them when we were going through the ruins of Apperattis back in, oh has it really been that long?” King Raylanty said as a sudden lost and confused look came over his face.

  “I'm sorry to say my old friend it truly has been that long.” Martex said as he patted the King on the shoulder. “It is true that a pentagram can be used for protection, but they can also be used as a prison. This means that they are planning to trap some powerful creature inside the city walls. It also means that we must either stop them or face losing the city and possibly becoming trapped ourselves,” Martex said as he walked back over to the desk and looked at the map.

  “We are going to Haft to prevent the ritual from being completed, the next attack should be on the South West tower,” Shamonah said as she took a drink of her Brandy.

    “Shamonah I just thought of something; what if it's not a pentagram but rather a Pentaquad?” Martex asked with a grim look on his face as he looked deep into his mug, almost as if he was searching for the answer somewhere in the bottom.  

   “Now wait a minute just what is a Pentaquad?” King Raylanty asked with a confused tone as he looked from Martex to Shamonah and back again.

    “A Pentaquad is similar to a pentagram in one respect and that is that it can be used to imprison demonic creatures. Where a pentagram can imprison one creature, a Pentaquad can imprison hundreds or even thousands of the same type. The bad thing is that Pentaquad’s are notoriously unstable, which means whatever get summoned will be set loose on the planes when it collapses,” Martex said as he refilled his mug.

   “By all the wrath of Agarith, we can't have demons run loose on the planes. Are you sure this is what they're doing,” King Raylanty asks as he poured himself some more ail.

   “This would account for the size of the circle and the timing with the full moon. It also makes sense because there’s a standing army here that could defeat any one demon that was summoned. But when it comes to an entire army of them, it would be a whole other story. My King from the way things look right now, if we can’t stop the completion of this Pentaquad. Then I would say we’ve lost the city and need to get as many of our people out as possible before the summoning starts as we can. Because once it starts no one will be able to leave the city again,” Shamonah said as she paced back and forth, with a grim look on her face that was getting worse as she took a drink of her Brandy.

   “Have you ever heard of a Pentaquad being done in this way, I haven’t. Normally when one is set up, the opposing army is lured into the target zone. Then the spell is completed and the demons arrive and the opposing army becomes a memory, after which time the summoner would send the demons back to where they came from,” Lord Martex said with a note of fear running through his voice as he finished off his mug of ail.

  “So from what you're saying it looks like they're planning on using Valley Point as a staging ground for these demons, then when the Pentaquad collapses they'll be set loose on central Kayshall. If I understand you right then I want to know how to stop them?” King Raylanty asks as he looked from Martex to Shamonah.

  Martex stood there deep in thought for a moment. “Well Raylanty to put it in the simplest terms possible try thinking of a Pentaquad as an archway in how it is constructed. In this case the towers are serving as the building blocks of the archway. If we destroy one of the archways support blocks by means of stopping the sacrifice on the tower. The archway will collapse in on itself, which means the Pentaquad is destroyed and nothing can be summoned,” Lord Martex explained in a tired voice as he refilled his mug.

  King Raylanty stood there for a moment as he tried to digest what had just been explained to him, then he turned the Lord Colantray who had been sitting by the stove listening to all of this. “Colantray I want you to double the guards on all the wall towers and I want you to have the guard changed every two hours on the South West tower. If that's where the next attack is going to be, then there's no sense in making this any easier for them than we have to,” King Raylanty said as he walked over to the desk and looked at the map.

    “I will give the orders to the wall Captains myself Raylanty,” Lord Colantray said as he stood up warmed his hands by the stove.

   “Martex you need to go back to your room and get some rest, you’re starting to get week and you know it,” Shamonah commented as she took him by the arm. Martex just nodded in agreement and started walking towards the door. “Lord Colantray, would you see to it that Sir Kallander is sent to my room when you’re ready to start posting the night watch,” Shamonah commented as she and Martex walked out of the tent.

About an hour before dusk Kallander arrived at the door of Shamonah’s room. The door was standing ajar and he could see the glow from the fireplace in the hallway. Kallander started to knock and then he just pushed the door open and stepped inside. Slowly he looked around the room as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and then he saw her, she was bent over the foot of the bed reading something that was spread out on it. She was wearing a pair of black leather pants and a black leather shirt. The outfit looked as if it was more for show than for protection. Kallander had never really thought about how beautiful Shamonah really was till now. Suddenly he felt himself starting to think about her in an entirely new way, but yet he still wasn't sure what it was.

Shamonah glanced up from what she was reading. “Come in Kallander, or do you wish to stand and stare at me some more?” She said with a smile. “You're welcome to if you wish, it's been so long since anyone has; I had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed it,” Shamonah said as she watched Kallander blush slightly and started quickly looking around the room.

   “Let me finish reading these maps and then I’ll be ready to go,” Shamonah added as she turned back to the bed and started studding the maps once more. Within moments Kallander found himself looking at Shamonah again. A short time later she stood up and took a deep sigh as she rubbed her lower back to help relieve some of the pain there. Then she turned and walked over to the table under the window and picked up her sword.

  As she was fastening the belt she walked over to the corner and picked up a ten foot long spear that was leaning there. Without saying a word Shamonah turned and tossed the spear to Kallander who caught it in one hand and twirled it around as if it were a part of his arm. “There you go Kallander I want you to have that. It will serve you well; it might even save your life,” Shamonah said as she watched him test out the weight and balance of the spear. “I see you handle that thing like it’s a part of you. That’s good because you’re going to need it to be. I want you to take me to the South East tower, that’s where the next attack should be at,” Shamonah said as she walked towards the door, stopping only to pick up some leather straps off a small table by the door and started tying her hair into a long tail. Kallander started to say something, but Shamonah cut him off.

   “Don’t worry about me Kallander, it’s hard to fight someone you can’t see, but that’s sweet thank you,” Shamonah commented as she grinned as Kallander looked confused and just nodded his head. As Kallander led the way throw the city the wind started picking up. There was a hard cold bite in the air and a soft snow fall was coming down from the dark sky above. Kallander slowly glanced up at the sky as he started to shiver. Then suddenly Kallander felt a worm sensation, starting at his shoulder and then running throw the rest of his body. He looked over at his shoulder to see Shamonah’s hand resting there.  He followed her arm to her beautiful face and examined every inch of it, from her crystal blue eyes to the genital curve of the points on her ears. He was so engrossed by her that he almost tripped over his own feet. Shamonah just smiled and steadied him. Then they walked on not even noticing that the snow had started to fall even heaver.

   A short time later they arrived at the lower levels of the far South East tower. Kallander went in and checked it out and the tower seemed to be empty, the towers lower level at least. Kallander waved for Shamonah to come on into the tower. She looked around the ground floor of the tower and then walked over to the center of the room. She looked around once more and then she knelt down on one knee and started speaking in the strange and musical language of magic. Shamonah started making some strange signs about an inch above the floor with one hand and making gesturers with her other hand. She did all of this in a broad circle around her as she slowly turned on one knee. As she turned and drew the signs and made the gesturers, they all started to glow a brilliant blue in color.

   Kallander noticed that the closer Shamonah came to finishing the circle the harder it was to see her. By the time the circle was finished she was gone. But just before Shamonah vanished he noticed that her nose was starting to bleed. There was nothing Kallander could do, except to hope that she would be alright and to go on with his duties. But Kallander made sure that no matter what; he was there every two hours for the changing of the guard. Shamonah on the other hand just took a seat at the back of the wind shelter on top of the tower and sat quietly most of the night.

  The snow stopped later that night and then the temperature started to drop. It continued getting colder and colder and then it finely leveled off. The last guard change came about an hour before sunrise. Just a short time after the changing of the guard, Shamonah was sitting there in the wind shelter listening to the morning birds singing just before sunrise. When suddenly everything went quiet, not even the sound of the wind could be herd.

   Shamonah quickly looked around when suddenly one of the guards was yanked up off the floor into midair and his head severed from his body, all within the blink of an eye. Shamonah jumped to her feet and quickly tried to cast a spell but couldn’t make any sounds. Blood spurted from the dead man’s neck as he fell to the floor and his head rolled over by her feet. She looked around quickly trying to figure out what to do. At just that moment the other guard was yanked from the floor and his head was severed as well and blood started spewing from his neck. Shamonah turned and jumped onto the parapet, and then she could hear the birds and wind again. Shamonah cast a spell that created a cloud of gold glittery dust that covered the entire top of the tower. In doing so the dust outlined two creatures that stood around twelve feet tall. Each of them had a lizard like head as well as four arms and a set of wings. One of the creatures seemed to be blinded by the dust, but the other could see her just fine. It cast a spell which shot a bolt of lightning from each of its clawed hands. The bolts shot forward at her and all of them joined into one large bolt that hit Shamonah square in the chest and exited out her back and engulfed her in a shower of sparks at the same time. The bolt of lightning knocked her off the parapet, as she fell she managed to cast one last spell. A jet black globe about the size of her fist shot out from Shamonah’s hand at the creature that shot the lightning bolt and within the blink of an eye the top of the tower exploded. The explosion blow the entire top of the tower apart, sending chunks of stone big and small showering down all over the area. At that a grin came over Shamonah’s face and then she passed out, as she drifted slowly to the ground. When Kallander finely found her, she was lying about fifty feet from the base of what was left of the tower in a pool of her own blood. She was bleeding from her eyes, her nose and her mouth even her skin; she was bleeding from every portion of her body that could be imagined. Kallander looked at her for a moment and then he scooped her up in his arms and started running throw the city. As he ran he talked to Shamonah.

“Don’t you die on me Shamonah, don’t you dare! You better not die on me Shamonah, don’t you dare! Dame you Shamonah you better not die on me!” Kallander said these things over and over to Shamonah as he ran carrying her throw the city streets. Kallander continued talking to her trying to keep her mined active in hopes that it would help keep her alive. It was about a half-mile to the hospital and Kallander wasn’t sure how long it would take to carry her there. About an hour latter Kallander came stumbling into the hospital. When he did he almost dropped Shamonah, this attracted the attention of some of the True’s that were there. They quickly grabbed Shamonah and put her in a bed and went to work on healing her. A short time later Lord Percy and Lord Martex came running in Lord Percy took one look at Sir Kallander and whispered something to a True and then went to work on Shamonah, the young True walked over to Kallander who was barley standing.

   “Sir, why don’t you lay down right here on this bed so you can get some rest, you need it,” The young True said to Kallander as he pointed to the bed next to Shamonah. He just nodded and lay down, reaching over he took Shamonah by the hand.

   “Don’t you die on me Shamonah, don’t you dare,” Kallander said in a fading voice as he drifted off to sleep. All that day Lord Percy and several other True’s worked on healing Shamonah. Just as the sun was starting to set Shamonah opened her eyes to see Kallander lying in the bed next to her holding her hand.

   “Oh you sweet, sweet man,” Shamonah commented as she looked at Kallander holding her hand in his sleep. Then she started to look around only to see Martex sitting there waiting for her to start waking up.

   “I didn’t think you still cared Martex,” Shamonah said in a shallow voice.

   “Oh Shamonah…. What are we going to do with you?” Martex replied in a soft voice.  

   “Martex my old friend we both have destinies, most of the time they lead us to the same place but this time they will lead us to two very different places and you know this,” Shamonah replied in a soft voice as she watched Martex get up from the chair. Then she looked over at Kallander.

   “Oh I do so enjoy looking at him. Why couldn’t I have found him a long time ago?” Shamonah said as she squeezed Kallander’s hand.

   “I’m going to sleep now, wake me in about six hours,” Shamonah commented as she smiled slightly and closed her eyes.

    Martex turned and left the room and went up on the wall. Martex walked on the battlement for hours. King Raylanty watched him from the command tent for about three hours. Finely Raylanty walked up on to the battlement and waited for Martex to come back around. About an hour had passed when Martex walked up to where King Raylanty was standing and stopped, he looked at Raylanty leaning against the battlement waiting on him.

   “Ok Raylanty, what do you want and why do you want it?” Martex asks as King Raylanty looked at him with a small smile.

   “Oh, I was just wondering when one of the Lords of Kayshall started walking a post and what’s wrong?” Raylanty replied as he leaned back against the wall and waited.

    “I’m afraid that Shamonah may die; she’s in purity bad shape Raylanty,” Martex commented as he turned and looked out over the battle field that held the Archmages army just two weeks before.

    “She seems to like that young officer of yours, and I want her to have the chance if it’s there to be had. I want to be able to help her if I can so what do you think I should do?” Martex added as King Raylanty just stood there looking at the field for a long moment.   

   “Well one thing for sure, let the True’s do what they do best. I can remember once when an old friend of mine told me I should reach out and touch passion wherever and whenever it comes my way. Because true passion is rare enough as it is and one should never walk away from it, and if it’s not recognized for what it is then one may even need a slight push. So when it whispers your name, love is in the making if you’ll just walk to it. Lord Colantray told me this just before I married Nattalass and we were married for almost two thousand years, so I think maybe you should give that advice to the young man. Who is this man anyway?” Raylanty asks as he turned to walk away.

   “It’s that young Knight named Kallander BloodRaven,” Martex replied as he watched Raylanty stop for a moment and then walk on.

   Later that night there were strong voices coming from Shamonah’s room?

   “Shamonah I don’t want you going back up on the tower’s so soon. You may be a contemptible old witch but that don’t mean I want you dead. You’re still too weak to be casting spells and you know it,” Lord Percy commented as he paced back and forth as Shamonah sat in front of the fireplace and studded he spell book.

   “That’s why you and Martex are going to be up there as well. Martex will help me with the casting of spells and your job will be to keep me on my feet. Besides we may just need another sword up there,” Shamonah replied as she walked out on the balcony of her room. Lord Percy walked out behind her.

   “Ok Shamonah I’ll go along with it, but keep in mind I don’t like it. You’re still too weak to be doing this. So you be careful and don’t do anything stupid up there,” Lord Percy said as he walked over and looked down at the city as he listened to the wind whistle throw the buildings.   

  “Okay Percy, I'll be careful. Besides I can't die yet, I haven't killed Eldrick,” Shamonah commented with a smile as she turned and walked back inside. A short time later they were on their way to the South West tower; Shamonah pulled her cloak close around her as the wind howled and screamed through the city streets. Lord Percy and Shamonah met up with Lord Martex and Kallander and Sep near the base of the South West tower. Lord Percy saw that Kallander was carrying the black spear that Shamonah had given him. Lord Percy looked over at Shamonah and then back at Kallander and smiled.

   “That’s a nice Spear you have there. Did Shamonah give that to you?” Lord Percy asks as he pointed to the spear.

   “Yes, she said it would come in handy,” Kallander said as he looked over at Lord Percy.

   “It will serve you well, of that I have no doubt,” Percy commented as he watched Kallander give him a confused look. “That’s almost exactly what Shamonah said.” Kallander replied as he looked at the Black shafted weapon.

   “He has no idea what that spear can do, dose he?” Percy whispered to Shamonah as they walked up the stairs to the wall.

   “Don’t worry, he’ll figure it out Percy. Of that I have no doubt,” Shamonah said as they reached the top of the wall and looked up at the top of the tower.

  “You do realize that if any of the Air Rovers see him with that thing, they're going to be real unhappy,” Percy replied as he looked up towards the top of the tower.

  “Well that spear was given to me to use how I see fit, and I see fit to give it to him. There are only a few people in this kingdom that have enough rank to make me take it back; and to be real honest with you I don't think any of them would do it,” Shamonah said as she walked to the door of the tower. As the others entered the tower they could see that Shamonah was in the process of casting a spell. Kallander and Sep walked up to the top of the tower and relieved the guard's. They kept a sharp watch on each other as much as anything else. The icy wind was blowing hard across the planes as it howled and screamed and blew through the city streets below; it reminded Sep of the cries of the wounded that came from the battle field. After about an hour of this Kallander and Sep both felt like blocks of ice as the howling wind seem to be getting louder.

  Sep leaned over towards Kallander. “It sounds like the winter storms are about ",” Sep was saying when suddenly everything went quiet. The wind could still be felt as it blew across the top of the tower; but there was no sound, none at all. Kallander readied his spear and Sep drew his sword as they scanned the tower for an unseen enemy.  Suddenly a shock wave passed over Kallander as he watched Sep be yanked into the air like a rag doll, his head flew back and a huge gaping wound opened up across his cheek. Just as this happened the puff of white smoke appeared above the tower and a glittery gold dust blew down across the tower, sticking to everything on it. Suddenly Kallander could see a huge creature with four clawed hands outlined by the gold glittery dust. He started to step back, and then he saw the huge clawed hand coming down to strike Sep again without thinking he lunged forward. Kallander thrust his spear into the creature’s lower abdomen and it bursts out of his back spewing the green blood across the top of the tower.

  Suddenly the howls and screams of the wind could be herd again as the creature let out a gut wrenching scream of its own as it dropped Sep to the floor. Just then something hit Kallander knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying through the air, crashing hard against the parapet. Sep rolled between the creatures legs and grabbed his sword, swinging it he cut the creature across the back of its leg. The creature let out another scream as it fell to one knee and pulled the spear free from its gut.  Just then three small balls of flame hit the creature in the head almost knocking it over; at the same time a huge gaping wound opened up in its chest and Lord Percy suddenly appears in front of the creature.

  The Creature started swinging his arms wildly first one way and then another; knocking both Lord Percy and Sep over the parapet then the creature turned and pulled itself upon the parapet as it crawled over the side. Kallander scrambled to get to where he could see; looking over the edge of the parapet he could see Lord Percy lying on the battlement below. Then suddenly he heard Sep yelling for help, quickly looked around and found him hanging off the edge of the parapet; he lunged forward and grabbed his wrist and his collar.

 

  “Hang on my old friend, I've got you” Kallander said as he strained to keep his grip. He looked up just in time to see another one of the creatures flying down out of the night sky. A bolt of lightning shot out from its hands passing over Kallander's head hitting Martex in the chest and throwing him backwards against the parapet. The creature swooped up and turned to come back for another attack; then suddenly Shamonah appeared on the parapet next to Kallander. Waving her hand as a ball of blue flame shot out from them hitting and engulfing it. The creature thrashed wildly as bits of flame flew off in all directions and it fell to the battlement below. Then Shamonah grabbed a hold of Kallander and helped him pull Sep back on to the tower.

   Down on the battlement below Dimez came running up with a squad of archers that attacked the creature that had crawled off of the tower with exploding arrows, and within moments the creature was dead. Within a few minutes Dimez and the archers came running up to see if everyone was alright. Dimez had the archers gather every one up and take them to the hospital where the True’s went to work on healing them. A short time later Sep started waking up and he slowly lifted his head.

   “Is if over, is it really over?” He asked as he reached up and took a hold of Shamonah’s hand.

   “Yes Captain, it’s over. You can relax, it’s really over,” Shamonah told him as she waved her hand over his face and he drifted off to sleep. Shamonah went over to the next bed and started casting healing spells on Martex and then on Percy. Kallander watched Shamonah as she went from one to the other all night long. As he watched, he noticed that blood starting to run out of her ears and then from her nose and even her eyes. She wiped a stream of blood from her cheek and sat there and stared at the Crimson on the ends of her fingers for a moment, and then turned back to Martex and cast another healing spell. Finely one of the True’s walked over and cast a spell on her so that the bleeding would stop. She turned and looked at him for a long moment.

    “I guess I should stop for a while,” Shamonah said as she turned and faced the young true.

   “You won't be doing him any good if you're in the bed next to him,” The young true answered in a soft tone. Shamonah started to say something and then she just smiled and walked over and sat down by Kallander.

   “You’re really worried about him aren’t you?” Kallander asked in a low voice as he looked from Martex to Shamonah.

   “Yes we’ve been worrying about each other for a long time. The thing is, this time I’m not sure he’s going to make it,” Shamonah commented as she started cleaning some of the blood from her hair.

   “Tell me what it is with the two of you? One minuet you’re acting as if you hate each other and then the next you’re practically killing your self-trying to save him. It’s just hard to figure out that’s all,” Kallander asked as he looked at Shamonah with a smile.

  “Well Kallander, normally I would tell you that it’s none of your business. But yes we make a strange pair don’t we. Well it wasn’t always this way, at one time we were married and had a son. But over time, well we drifted apart and went our separate ways. Finely I left and took our son and went back to the  Merchion Forest to raise him. When I returned I wanted to smooth things over between us, so that our son could see us at least be civil to each other.  That’s why I started coming back around; but then the war broke out and here and we are. So yes I will do whatever it takes save his life for my son,” Shamonah commented as she sat and stared at Martex for a long moment. Finely Shamonah lay down and went to sleep. Kallander continued to watch the True’s as they worked on healing the others for the rest of the night.

 

            Camp on Merchion Costal Road

  Tiberius woke to Sir Bolandurus tapping on his boot and staring down at him. “Your young Squire's awake and wants to see you,” Sir Bolandurus said as he motioned towards the young Squire with his hand.

  Tiberius face lit up like a spark to a flame. “So he's going to live?” He asked getting to his feet.

  “I've done all I can for him. His life is now solely in the hands of Agarith. You should go to him; the two of you have much to talk about,” Sir Bolandurus said as he glanced over at the squire lying on the ground, and then he turned and went over to the camp fire were Croesus was cooking a stew.

  Sir Tiberius walked over to the Squire and knelt down beside him. “Lucian can you hear me?” Tiberius asks in a low voice.

  The Squire slowly opened his eyes and stared up at Tiberius. At seeing him, he managed to force a weak smile. “Sir Tiberius your alive! How can it be, I saw him stab you in the chest. You should be dead,” Lucian said in a voice that was little more than a whisper.

  “We should both be dead, and it is only by the divine mercies of Agarith that were not,” Sir Tiberius said as he leaned down by Lucian's side.

  The confused look came over Lucian face. “Agarith you say. I didn't think you believed in the ancient gods,” Lucian said as he strained to force the words from his mouth.

  The look of concern intensified on Tiberius face at seeing this. “Much has happened over the last few days. I will tell you of all of this; but for now you must rest and regain your strength,” Tiberius said as he noticed Sir Bolandurus walking up to him.

  Bolandurus handed him a bowl of stew and a mug of water. “He hasn't eaten in days; see if you can get some of this down him so he can regain his strength,” Sir Bolandurus said as he looked down Lucian. “Are you in pain Squire?” Sir Bolandurus asked Lucian.

  Lucian stared up at Sir Bolandurus with a look that was a mixture of confusion and hatred. “My head hurts and the calves of my legs hurt,” Lucian said as he stared up at Sir Bolandurus.

  Sir Brannerd stood there for a moment looking down at the Squire glaring up at him through exhausted eyes. “I can help with the pain if you'll allow me to,” Sir Bolandurus said as he knelt down beside Lucian.

  Lucian looked over at Tiberius worriedly; Tiberius nodded to him indicating that it was okay. “All right,” Lucian said as he looked over at Sir Bolandurus.

  Bolandurus bowed his head and placed his hand on Lucian's four head and began saying a prayer; his hand began to glow a light yellow for a moment. “There you go Squire that should help,” Sir Bolandurus said as he stood up.

  “Lucian, my name is Lucian; and yes it did help thank you,” He said as he rubbed his head and stared up at Sir Bolandurus.

  “Don't thank me Lucian, thank the goddess Agarith.  She is the one that grants me the ability to heal you,” Bolandurus said as he turned and walked back over to the camp fire.

  Croesus scooped up a bowl of stew and handed it to Bolandurus as he sat down. “So is the squire going to live?” Croesus asked as he picked up his own bowl and started to eat.

  “Yes I think he will; and by the way his name is Lucian,” Bolandurus said as he started to eat.

  “So what are we going to do now?” Croesus asks as he sat there staring at the fire.

  “I think tomorrow you and I will ride into Rettes; I can get Tiberius's armor fixed their and the horses need shod as well. You should be able to collect on some of the posters you have; there at the constables office,” Sir Bolandurus said as he started digging through his saddlebag.

  Croesus glanced over towards Sir Tiberius and Lucian. “That's going to take a couple days; you think they'll be all right to leave alone?” Croesus asks as he glanced back at Bolandurus.

  “I think they'll be fine. Tiberius can nurse Lucian back to health and Skinny will keep watch over the camp. Just in case we’ll leave them there weapons and I'll leave Tiberius a bow that way he can do some hunting while were gone,” Bolandurus said as he pulled a small leather bound book out of his saddlebags.

  Sir Bolandurus stood up, scooping up another bowl of stew and picked up the waters skin. He walked over to Sir Tiberius and handed them to him. “I thought you might be hungry,” Bolandurus said as he stood there for a moment.

  “Yes I'm famished,” Sir Tiberius said as he took the food.

   “I have something for you; I think you might find it useful,” Sir Bolandurus said as he handed the small leather bound book to Tiberius. “It contains the basic prayers to Agarith. It would do you good to learn them and it would benefit you greatly to believe in her,” Sir Bolandurus said with a slight smile.

  Sir Tiberius stared for a moment at the book of prayers and looked up at Sir Bolandurus. “Will you teach me?” Tiberius asks stared deep into Sir Bolandurus his eyes.

  “I will help teach you the prayers in the time that we have; but the belief in Agarith must come from within yourself. Think about what you've seen over the last few days and decide for yourself whether or not you believe,” Sir Bolandurus said and then he turned and walked away.

  Tiberius opened the worn leather bound cover to find the title page; it said The Path to Agarith. He stayed up reading the book until late into the night. The next morning, Sir Bolandurus and Croesus were up at dawn getting ready to leave.

  “Tiberius we should be back in two days, three of the most. Skinny will keep the camp safe; so just take care of Lucian and everything should be fine,” Sir Bolandurus said as he put his saddlebags on his horse.

  The look of concern came over Tiberius's face “What if Lucian needs healing again?” Tiberius asks.

  “The first prayer you learn in that book I gave you is a healing prayer. It's a very minor healing prayer, but as a healing prayer nonetheless. Its main requirement to use this is your belief, your faith in Agarith. So what it all boils down to Tiberius's is do you wish to be a knight or do you wish to be a paladin of Agarith? You claim to be a paladin of Agarith but yet you have no faith in her; so you are only a knight. To be a paladin of Agarith you must believe in her, you must have faith. I have given you the tools you need to start this journey; it is up to you take the first step,” Sir Bolandurus said as he looked deep into Tiberius eyes.

  Tiberius stood there for a moment looking at him. “You definitely give a man something to think about,” Tiberius said as he gently ran his hand across the cover of the leather bound book.

  “Pray Tiberius, pray to Agarith and asked for her guidance; she will help you and show you the way.  I believe you already have some faith in Agarith; just because of what you've seen here over the last few days. So like I said just ask the guidance,” Sir Bolandurus said as he mounted his horse. Tiberius nodded and turned and walked away deep in thought. Croesus is Sir Brannerd turned and road off, leading the other horses.

 

Author's Note

don't keep it to yourself guys; tell me what you think of this.

Reviews

[Rose of Gondor]

Whew. Finally found time to read this! After an extreme week of homework (being practically buried in it :P) I EMERGE ALIVE AND VICTORIOUS!!!!!

:) I think you know the gist of what I"m going to say about your writing by now, but I'm just going to say it anyways. THIS IS FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!!!! As brilliant as every other chapter of this book!