The Ransom Knight by Jonathan Moeller

Author:Jonathan Moeller
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Tags: Norse & Viking, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Horror, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Myths & Legends, Historical, Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages), Genre Fiction, Literature & Fiction
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5: Dark Sword

The narrow stone stairs spiraled into the rock of the crag.

Mazael went first, shield upon his arm and sword in his hand. Gerald followed, and Atalia brought up the back. A sphere of pale blue light hovered over her palm, throwing back the gloom and flinging shadows upon the rough rock of the wall. Mazael found the magical light uncanny, but he had to admit it was easier on the eyes than the smoke and flickering glare of torchlight.

At last the stairs ended in a door of pale white stone.

“A lever, there,” whispered Atalia.

Mazael nodded, returned his sword to its sheath, and yanked up the metal lever. For a moment nothing happened, and then the floor trembled beneath his boots. The stone door slid aside with a faint rasp, and Mazael drew his longsword and strode through the door. He found himself in the courtyard of Castle Highstone, the white tower of the Dark Elderborn ruin rising overhead. The curtain wall rose to the left, the battlements dark against the night sky. A dilapidated wooden stable slumped against the curtain wall, and Mazael saw their horses within. Other horses wandered the courtyard, grazing upon the thin grass. Likely they had belonged to Sir Edmund and his men.

“Where is Sir Traeger?” said Mazael in a low voice.

“He’ll be in the top chamber of the tower,” said Atalia, her voice calm, but her face was tight and fearful. “He doesn’t sleep any more. He sits with the kalchweisyr in his lap, whispering to it. I think the damned thing talks to him.”

Mazael nodded. Knights were supposed to engage in honorable combat, but Mazael had no qualms about stabbing Traeger in the dark while he communed with his sword of dark magic. The only way to fight a wizard was to kill him before he could bring his magic to bear. As far as Mazael was concerned, that also applied to robber knights wielding magical swords.

“We’ll surprise him, then,” said Mazael. “Sneak into his chamber, and strike hard and fast. Overwhelm him and cut him down before he can use the kalchweisyr’s magic. Understood?” Atalia nodded. Gerald looked troubled, but he nodded as well.

“It’s through there,” said Atalia, pointing at a narrow door at the base of the white tower. “Up a spiral stair, and then the chamber at the top of the tower. You can go first.” She smirked. “You have the biggest shield, after all.”

“Fair enough,” said Mazael.

He took a step towards the tower, and the door burst open.

A man in chain mail stalked forth, tall and strong, with wild black hair and a bushy gray-streaked beard that hung to his chest. He had a hard, weathered face, and scars covered his forearm and marked his right cheek. In his right hand he carried a slender sword with a silvery blade, the metal giving off a peculiar shining gleam.

“Oh,” said Atalia in alarm, raising her hands as blue light shone around her fingers.

“You betray me, witch?” hissed the bearded man.

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