Shield Knight Ridmark's Tale by Jonathan Moeller

Author:Jonathan Moeller [Moeller, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-21T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5: Lives

“Wait,” said Mara. “Wait.”

I hesitated. I ought to have killed the urdhracos at once. They can heal quickly, and in a few moments, both her wings and the wounds I had carved into her side would close. Unless I took her head off, she would heal and attack us once more.

“Kill me,” croaked the urdhracos. “End it at last.”

“No,” said Mara. “We can help you.”

The urdhracos shivered and closed her eyes as Caius and Kharlacht came up to join us.

“The only help that can be had for me,” whispered the urdhracos, “is death.” She opened her void-filled eyes. “Please.”

“I am like you,” said Mara. “I almost transformed into an urdhracos. But I faced myself. I directed the transformation. You’ve heard the Traveler’s song in your mind your entire life. But it’s gone now. A different song can take its place. The song of your own blood.”

“I already transformed,” said the urdhracos. A spasm of pain went over the pale face. “It is too late for me. End it and let me know peace at last.”

“At least let Brother Caius baptize you,” said Mara. “Reject the evil of your past. If you do that, it will force you to face the dark elven half of your soul within the depths of your mind. If you can do that and prevail, you can be free. Truly free.”

“No,” said the urdhracos. She shuddered again, grimaced, and grasped her side. “Just kill me and free me.”

“You wish you had killed the Traveler yourself,” I said.

The urdhracos stared at me, her mouth working in silence.

“You’re a warrior,” I said. “You always have been, and you hated the Traveler more than anything else in the world. You would have given anything to fight him, to kill him. Mara did that for you.” Qhazulak, Camorak, and the Anathgrimm warriors approached, stopping a dozen yards away. “But you can still fight him. He made you into an urdhracos. You can fight and conquer the part of him that’s still inside your head. If you want, I’ll kill you now. Or would you rather go down fighting, as a warrior should?”

She stared at me and bared her teeth in a snarl. A shudder went through her. Her face was still filled with rage, but it wasn’t directed at any of us.

It was aimed at her father.

“Do it,” she rasped.

“Caius,” said Mara.

Caius hurried forward and asked if she rejected the Adversary and all his works of evil and if she would accept baptism of her own will. The urdhracos snarled out a yes. She could have ripped out his throat with a single twitch of her talons, but Caius showed no fear as he stooped, cupped water in his hands, and poured it out over her head in the name of God.

I don’t know why it worked the way it did.

Maybe it was the mercy of God. Maybe by accepting baptism and the grace of the Dominus Christus and renouncing evil and all its works, she rejected the part of herself the Traveler had corrupted.

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