Shield Knight Calliande's Tale by Jonathan Moeller

Author:Jonathan Moeller [Moeller, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5: Gambling

I crept down the slope, trying to be as quiet as I could. I didn’t know if the revenants could hear or not, but I knew that the cogitaers could, and I didn’t want to wake them up. I moved from tree to tree, trying to keep out of sight. The revenants didn’t rush me, so I must have succeeded.

At last, I settled down behind a pine tree at the base of the hill, only a dozen yards from the unconscious prisoners, and I waited.

I didn’t have to wait long.

A rumble of hooves came to my ears, and Sir Hadrian Aurelius galloped into the valley. His horse exploded from the trees, and he hurtled towards the revenants like a thunderbolt. With the paste around its nostrils, the horse couldn’t smell the revenants, and it leaped towards the revenants without fear.

The axe flashed in Hadrian’s hand, and he beheaded two of the revenants as he passed.

That sure got their attention.

The revenants began running after him, and the cogitaers woke up, levitating off the ground. They cast spells, hurling blasts of magical ice at Hadrian, but he avoided them all, and he even managed to behead another revenant in the process.

I should mention this to you. Hadrian was from Caertigris, and the men of Caertigris are the best horsemen in the realm of Andomhaim. They have to be, since western Caertigris is all flat, grassy plains, and there are some dangerous animals to hunt. So, the revenants chased Hadrian, and the cogitaers started flinging spells at him, but he kept ahead of them all.

That wouldn’t last long, though, so I hurried forward.

The revenants and the cogitaers, focused on Hadrian, didn’t notice me.

I ran to Marius first, dropped to my knees next to him, and cast the healing spell. Healing the effects of the sleeping gas didn’t hurt, not really. It just made me feel woozy and unfocused for a few heartbeats like I had drunk too much wine.

But it worked. Marius blinked, sat up, looked around in confusion, and started to draw breath to ask a question.

I realized that if he was too loud, that could be disastrous, so I clapped a hand over his mouth before he could speak. His beard felt wiry and bristly beneath my fingers. I wondered if it made his face and neck itchy. Strange the things you sometimes wonder in the middle of a fight, but you’ve learned this by now.

“We need to wake the others up,” I whispered into his ear. “Hadrian can’t distract the cogitaers for long.”

My old teacher nodded. He had been in many fights, and he knew what to do.

“I’ll start on that side,” he whispered, “and you take that one.”

We set to work, waking up the men-at-arms and cutting their bonds. They, too, were veterans, and they knew what to do. The cogitaers hadn’t yet had time to take their weapons, so the men drew their swords and rushed into the fray.

But by then the cogitaers had recovered from their shock, and they began casting spells.

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