The Forgotten (18 page)

The sentries blew their horns to signal the rest inside of the castle. Instead of staying at their watchtowers, they climbed down and started running toward him, shifting halfway.

He unsheathed his sword, and with it raised in one hand, he raised his other hand. He didn’t feel like using his shield today—that reckless urge could get him killed but he was going to take down as many shifters as he could before that happened. Should he kill them with magic, or do it the bloody way?

They barked and howled and the one stopped while the other continued lunging at him. He raised his hand and activated his magic.

Crackling crimson red magic surrounded the lunging wolf. He whimpered and his whimpers turned into screams, and then his body went limp. Lucan released him and he fell to the ground. As the life ebbed out of him, he shifted back into his human form.

Lucan felt no pity for the man. He was probably one of the foul bastards who had murdered those in the Resistance and set fire to the Temple.

Looking up, he met the gaze of the other sentry. Fear danced in his eyes. He could see exactly what he was up against. Those who were devoid of magic never quite believed the horror it could inflict until they saw it for themselves.

“Well that was a little crazy looking. I like your style. I would help you, but I can’t really kill anyone unless I have to do it in order to free the soul I’m after. Your father isn’t anywhere in sight. That makes me think Ulwyn has him chained somehow. He never should have returned to these lands after he died. He came back because he had some foolish notion that he could stop the last earl from being poisoned. Instead, he came face to face with a dangerous user of the dark arts, and Ulwyn cursed him so he couldn’t leave.”

“If I have my way, mate, you’ll die tonight. Take it like a man, and at least put up a bit of a fight,” Lucan remarked, addressing the sentry and ignoring Ryn. What Ryn said digested instead of him, and made his gut twist. His father had only ever cared about his legitimate line, why the hell should he be concerned with freeing him from his curse?

He had no bloody reason to do it—the only reason he had was Neri. His father’s kindness to her when she’d needed him most was the only thing that would save his ass in Lucan’s estimation.

“Fireballs,” Ryn said.

Lucan thought he was just adding unnecessary exposition to their tense situation again when he glanced up and saw about a dozen fireballs reigning down toward them.

“Holy shit,” Lucan muttered, erecting a magical shield around his body.

The fireballs struck the ground and created yawning craters around him. He looked away as one of them took out the sentry he hadn’t dealt with.

“I love fire,” Ryn said, coughing, “but I could do without the gross stench of burning flesh I never could quite grow accustomed to that smell.”

Lucan looked to his side. Ryn was unscathed. So he’d either used his divinely sent powers to shield himself or in his state he couldn’t be affected by anything the mortal world could throw at him.

“If he wants to see fire being fought with fire, he should see what my daughter can do. I hope she shows up soon to school that jackass in the art of magical fire. She’ll show him how the fire white magic conjures, can destroy the fire that dark magic conjures. It seems he’s become aware of the fact that the only two things that can kill my wife are water and fire. Anything else just puts her down but it won’t put her out, and I doubt they have the kind of Carn Brea steel blades that will kill our kind.”

Lucan shuddered, thinking of the blades that the members of Red Riding Hood’s Order carried. All Hunters no matter their Order, were equipped with the blades forged from that kind of rare steel. They were fearsome and deadly.

As Ryn said, he would have to be cautious when dealing with these assholes because they wielded weapons that would certainly send him to the Heavenly Otherworld.

“As long as she can use her magic to protect herself like I just did, we shouldn’t have to worry. Besides, I’ll be done with all of them by the time she breaks free of my spell.”

“Like I said, Lucan, you have dearly underestimated my wife’s abilities. She will break through your magic like it is child’s play. She might look small and unassuming to you but take it from me, she has a heart like the Goddess Rhiannon. She is a survivor—the question is, are you?”

He snorted and continued moving toward the outer walls of the castle. Groaning at the slowness of his approach, he attempted to use his magic to transport himself past the walls so he would be inside the Inner Bailey of the castle. Searing pain hit him from the tip of his head down to his toes. He felt as if he was on fire!

The son of a bitch, Ulwyn, had erected a dark shadow shield around the castle. He had done something to keep him from reaching the inside of the castle that had been built by his ancestors!

How dare he do that! Lucan had had quite enough. He was done playing honourably. He was going to fucking make Ulwyn rue the day he was born! He was going to make sure he burned in the Dark Underworld for an eternity!

He was going to show that little foul bastard that the tricks he knew where nothing compared to the magic that a Knight Mage wielded. Ulwyn was going to die a horrible death—one that Lucan would be more than happy to serve him!

“So, what’s your plan of action now, oh wise one?” Ryn asked, as they both surveyed the dark magic that now glimmered around the castle. His attempt to penetrate it had made it visible to the naked eye.

“Why don’t you become useful instead of being a Gods damn bloody annoyance?” he barked at Ryn. He was past his breaking point.

“You’ve been out of the real world for a long time,” Ryn mused. “This world has changed, it’s evolved past what you recall. You’re part of the forgotten, lad. And while you try to play a courageous game, you are not as confidant as you make everyone think. You haven’t studied dark magic in some time, and while you don’t need to be a practitioner of the dark arts to understand how it works, you do need to study the dark craft in order to know the spells that either nullify their dark incantations or counter their curses. You are lacking in your knowledge, Sir Lucan.”

“I might be part of the forgotten, but you’re part of the dearly departed. At least I have the ability to live to fight today.”

“Oh, I can fight well enough. They never told me I couldn’t fight Ulwyn’s forces. And since Ulwyn stands in my way of freeing your father’s spirit, I’m pretty certain I could do whatever I wanted to breach that shield of his.”

Reaching down into his boot, Lucan pulled out a dagger than had served him well during his many exploits before being cursed. The blade had belonged to Algernon before him, and was said to have been blessed by Princess Alby herself—who would die as a hero and later became Saint Alby. It was a treasured possession of his, and he’d been immensely grateful to find that Princess Ava’s family had saved all of their weapons after they’d been cursed.

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to break a supernatural sweat. I am prepared for any contingency. This dagger will break that dark spell he’s put around the castle. I might not ever find it again but hell, it will be worth it just to see Ulwyn’s face when he realizes his shield was broken by such a small object.”

He raised his hand and closed his eyes, mentally said a prayer, and then reopened them, and threw the dagger toward the shimmering shield. It struck it and as it hit it, it made a large booming noise akin to an explosion. The reverberating shockwave rippled toward them.

“Brace yourself, this might get a bit bumpy,” he muttered to Ryn.

Ryn pointed at his chest. “Dead and can’t be affected, remember?”

He took his sword out, and stuck it into the ground as the shockwave barreled toward them. When it hit, the strong amount of energy nearly set him flying, but his sword remained true and kept him rooted to the spot.

Ryn wasn’t so lucky. He saw him go flying backward out of the corner of his eye. Slowly, a grin spread across his face. He felt so much better now.

Apparently, Ryn’s corporeal form wasn’t as immune to the physical world as he thought.

The shadow shield was broken. Ulwyn would be weakened since his power had been linked to the dark magic that had conjured the shield. Now, it was time to storm the castle and kill the barbarians within its walls. It was time for him to reclaim his birthright—he had to become a Wylde-Whittier.

“Hey Prince Jackass, you okay?” he called out to the fallen form of Ryn. He watched as the man stood up shakily. He grimaced at Lucan as he strode quickly toward him.

“That wasn’t funny.”

“I wasn’t laughing,” Lucan admitted.

“I can see your shit eating grin, mate.” Ryn scowled at him. The pissed off look in his eyes made Lucan want to bust a gut laughing. He had a dark sense of humour, but once tickled it was hard to stop.

“Did you notice what big teeth I have?” he asked sarcastically, watching the intense gaze of Ryn’s intensify.

“Shut up,” Ryn muttered, staring back longingly at the Tavern. “I’d get your wolfish ass moving, our beloved just broke through your rickety spell.”

“Damnation. Can’t she take her time doing anything?”

“You obviously haven’t figured out what makes Neri tick yet, Lucan. I always knew I just never fully appreciated it until it was too late.”

They charged across the long grey stone bridge that led to the first building that was connected to the wall that surrounded the Inner Bailey of the castle. Had Ulwyn been in possession of men who actually had been trained to fight, this castle would be near impossible to take. It had been built to withstand sieges that would last for months, until reinforcements from allies could arrive.

“Are we sticking to your plan of kill them all? I want to be quite certain because I won’t be killing unless push comes to shove so to speak. If I have to do it in self-defence that’s fine but I don’t think the powers that be would look kindly on me simply killing for the sake of it, even if these sons of bitches are evil to the core.”

“You do whatever you have to do, Ryn, and I’ll do whatever I have to do. I’d rather not kill in extreme circumstances. As it is, Ulwyn’s men really don’t follow any code of ethics.”

Lucan stopped before entering the large guard tower that served as a lookout for the castle. Once he went through it he would be inside of the Inner Bailey and he fully expected to meet some kind of resistance between here and there.

He looked down across the hilly green valley, and his keen eyesight focused on Neri, Mother Spratt and Nell exiting the Tavern. Why they thought to bring Nell with them was beyond him, she couldn’t be any of any help, and she’d only get in the way. A farmer’s wife wasn’t equipped to deal with Ulwyn’s men.

Thunder shook the ground beneath them. It wouldn’t be long before the heavens opened up and starting raining buckets down around them.

He thought of the irony of it all. His backup was three women. One of the three was quite formidable in her own right and Mistress Spratt was trained as a warrior even though she’d forsaken that life. But that was it. That ragtag group was the only hope he had of having his ass pulled out of the fire. So, he’d just have to stick to his original plan and kill them all before those charming three could make it up here.

*****

Neri watched as Mistress Spratt silently surveyed the burnt out frame of the Temple. Lucan must have put out the fires for all that was left was blackened ash and the foundation.

“There’s absolutely nothing left,” Mistress Spratt said forlornly. “At least the cemetery wasn’t desecrated. We can thank the Gods and Goddesses for that small blessing. All of my life I’ve run from violence. I never wanted to hurt a single living being and all the while this kind of evil ran amok unchecked. I knew that the warriors of this realm, the Knight Mages and the like, served a purpose for keeping law and order but now, now, I know that I’ve been remiss. I was granted the gift of being able to fight and I shirked it. I smothered the warrior within. I won’t do that anymore. I will pick up the torch and run with it. There is just only one thing left to do. If I cannot be an instrument of peace, I shall have to be an instrument of destruction. I will take up the standard.” She looked to the heavens which had started to cry out rain. “I understand now, my blessed Rhiannon,” she whispered. “Come now, Neri, we have to go and lend your man a hand.”

“I have no shame in saying that I am scared,” Nell whispered. “I might not be any good anymore. I haven’t used my knives in such a long time.” In her hands, she held her folded up Hunter’s cloak with her battle daggers sitting on top of it.

“When you were young you were the most talented knife thrower in these parts, Nell. You can do it. Your father taught you how to use them and how to handle yourself in close quarter combat.”

“My dear grandfather was the warrior—not I. He was the Hunter. I am just a simple farmer’s wife.”

“Be that as it may, my dear, you have the hunter blood in you. You need to embrace it and make it work for you the way you want it to. They say the Hunter in all of us will take over, it will take hold of our bodies when we least expect it. Compared to you my Hunter blood is quite diluted, but I’m still hoping it will rear its beautiful head during the battle we face. Our mind will give in to the hunting instinct, and they say that even without any formal training we can turn into killing machines.”

“I don’t want to be a killing machine, Neri. All I have ever wanted is to be a wife and mother. I couldn’t even help my lad when he was in trouble. Sir Lucan had to do it. I let fear for Brett cripple me.”

“Don’t you want to avenge what almost happened to Brett? Don’t you want to fight for all that you’ve lost? We have tiptoed around for far too long, Nell. We’ve let bullies rule our lives, we can’t do it anymore. There is a time to stand and fight—and we’ve come into that time. We have what we need inside of us. You need to trust in that and know that you can be the warrior your grandfather was before you.”

“If you will wear the cloak, than so shall I.”

Neri looked down at the Hunter cloak she’d taken from the back of her wardrobe, she’d always kept it hidden away for the time when she would need it. This was all she had left from Avonry, reminding her that she’d come full circle in her life. This cloak had been woven, made and enchanted in Shardizar. And now, now, it would do what it had been made to do. It would bring down evil and defend those who could not defend themselves. When she was gone from this world, it would be her only thing she had left to give to Rhiannon and it was doubtful that Rhiannon would ever have the opportunity to wear it—in fact, she prayed her daughter would never be in the situation Neri was in now.

She could feel the strength of the dark magic emanating from the castle. It wouldn’t be an easy fight—and maybe Nell was right—maybe Nell wasn’t ready for what lay ahead of them but they had little choice in the matter. They had to stop Ulwyn before his darkness blackened the land. 

“I will. Mother Spratt, are you ready?”

Mother Spratt held her staff in her hands, which shimmered with her magic. “I am ready to do whatever has to be done. I will not go down without a fight, and Sir Lucan needs us—I won’t leave him to fight the dark magic that Ulwyn wields alone.”

“In that case, ladies. Let’s go hunting, shall we?”

Neri put on the cloak and felt a comforting feeling wash over her. Strength flowed into her, as the enchantment on the cloak worked its beautiful white magic.

Lord Ulwyn would beg for mercy by the time she was done with him.

They charged up to the castle. They were few in numbers but strong in faith. Lord Ulwyn had brought this upon himself and now he would have to deal with the consequences.

She glanced over at Nell. Her hands were shaky. “You’ll do fine, Nell.”

“Two daggers enchanted by the fiercest white magic will heed my voice and do as I bid. I don’t think I’ve ever prepared myself for this moment. I’m about to kill without compunction and I don’t think I can do it.”

“You can do it. Don’t you want to make the world a safer place for your son and daughter?”

Nell nodded her head. She searched for Lucan. Had he already gained entrance to the castle? If he’d breached their walls, then Ulwyn’s men were in trouble—and so was Lucan.

“I sense an overwhelming amount of dark energy emanating from within the castle walls, Neri. We’ve underestimated Ulwyn’s power. Lucan won’t be able to stop him—we might not even be able to stop him. If I’m not mistaken he’s summoned a legion of evil warriors to do his bidding, I am going to go ahead and see what he has done.”

Neri watched as Mother Spratt ran ahead of them to do reconnaissance. She was literally a blur. Her spritely speed would make her undetectable when she cloaked herself with her magic. Within a blink of an eye, Mother Spratt returned and her breathing was ragged, while her eyes were opened as wide as Neri had ever seen them.

“From whence has he summoned his legion of warriors, Mother Spratt? The Dark Underworld?”

“No, the benevolent Gods Ankou and Llyr keep those dark spirits where they belong. Unless he’s breached the River Essus then no, we’re good. From what I could see, I believe he’s opened a portal to the Hellish Dimension of Herne,” she shivered. Her eyes had a hardened glint to them, and Neri had never seen Mother Spratt look so determined.

Legends told of that dimension. The last time a portal had been opened to that dark land, Shardizar had been ravaged mercilessly. If they thought the Domnonee were a threat those barbaric warriors had nothing on the dark hellish monsters that lived in the Dark Kingdom of Herne.

Ruled long ago by the Demonic God, Braidius that Rhiannon and the other Gods had banished from the Celestial Kingdom, those in Shardizar had only been triumphant in pushing the demonic creatures back to their home dimension when Princess Alby had sacrificed herself in battle against Braidius.

Her sacrifice had gotten the Goddess Rhiannon’s attention and she had come down to Shardizar with a legion of her own Celestial Beings of Light to fight the dark intruders and push them back to where they belonged. They had no way of knowing if Rhiannon would lend them a hand this time around. All she knew—was that Ulwyn had to be stopped.

Ulwyn had to be stark raving mad to call upon such a dangerously dark power. Braidius would turn on Ulwyn and use Ulwyn’s weakness to take back Shardizar as his own breeding ground for evil.

Shivers of fear flowed through her. How could they possibly stand against such unholy evil?

How could Lucan possibly survive their onslaught? They had to move faster and get there to help him. Could they even fight such a force?