Escape: Part Six

Valrigard looked around slowly. In front of him was a small Meridell village, with wooden farms and acres of cropland. Through the town ran the only road to Meridell Castle. He hesitated; if anyone recognized him he would be as good as dead. He glanced down at his scales, and blinked in surprise. The mud and dirt coated them so evenly he looked as if he was painted shadow. As he looked up he saw Elsie smiling at him and he nodded quick thanks. Then they all set off down the road to the castle.

     About halfway down the road they were forced to stop for a large caravan full of wheat, apples, and pets, all traveling hurriedly in the opposite direction. Many of the pets seemed to be crying and two of them looked as if they were badly wounded. Valrigard quickly asked a young blue Shoyru riding a nervous Uni what had happened. In an anxious voice the Shoyru replied, "An army is attacking Meridell Castle! This Draik named Valrigard is at the head of it, wielding a magic sword. None of the mages or wizards has been able to stop him. If I were you I would turn around immediately and head for the kingdom of Brightvale."

     With that he turned his Uni around and galloped off after his companions. Bright hot anger seared through Valrigard's face and he kicked at the ground in fury. Whoever was attacking the castle was benefiting from his escape! "Look," said Lycaon, "it doesn't matter if they are using your name. Once Meridell sees that you are fighting against the invaders your name will be cleared. Besides," a slightly arrogant smile lit up his face; "we can't lose."

     "Oh yeah?" retorted Valrigard, but he smiled nonetheless.

     After that they set off down the road at a faster pace and very soon began to see the ravages of battle. Several small cottages were alight with flame, monstrous holes were ripped through stable doors, and arrows clung to every square inch of the ruins that were left. "What can we do about this?" Valrigard silently wondered. "Three individuals against an army… We must be mad."

     He was jerked violently out of his reverie by the sound of metal clashing against metal and haunting war cries. He looked swiftly up to see a mass of dark blue converging upon a larger mass of bright red, gold and blue. Looking closer he could see individual pets slashing with long swords, shooting arrows, and hacking at each other with sharpened axes. Meridell was wearing its traditional bright red, gold and blue colors but instead of the usual faces of pride and triumph, confusion and chaos reigned free.

     Suddenly Valrigard realized why no Meridellians were celebrating what should be an easy victory. The Meridell army had seemed larger at first glance, but at a second look he noticed that most of the other army's knights weren't solid, they were transparent! A cold shiver ran up Valrigard's spine. The sorcerers were using ghosts in their army. Meridell's knights were trying to slash at the apparitions but either the sword slashed through thin air or the ghosts disappeared before it reached them. The Meridell army was slowly being pushed back towards the castle. He looked anxiously at Elsie. "We need to get down there!"

     She nodded grimly and waved her hands. The next instant they were standing just feet away from the tumultuous battle. Valrigard looked around in awe, "The battlefield must stretch for miles," he thought. In front of him he could see the Meridell knights parrying and thrusting with swords that would have been deadly had they been able to touch anything. He noticed that the ghosts' swords worked just like normal swords on the castle's defenders. It made him sick to see his people hurt. Suddenly he heard Elsie yell, "Wait, back up, I forgot something."

     Hurriedly she produced a small vile containing a purple liquid. "Lycaon," she said, "this will help you use your werelupe form and not become controlled by it. The Faerie Queen wanted me to give it to you."

     Then she took out her sword and pointed it a little way to the west. Valrigard could see at the very front of the battle, commanding his ghostly army, a navy blue Draik stood. Valrigard drew his sword, which was burning brightly and ready for battle, and cautiously made his way towards him. But as he came closer he realized that the Draik was not alone.

     At his side stood a shadow Lupe who, he realized with a shiver of fear, must be masquerading as the escaped Lycaon. A few feet away stood a faerie. She was dressed in dark blue and had her long black hair hanging down; her wings were the color of dark ebony though they were interspersed with patches that were the color of fresh blood. Valrigard was now only a foot away from the sorcerers and was about to call out to them when the Draik, who had been yelling orders to the army, turned around. The Draik had dark navy blue scales and eyes that were a fierce shade of burgundy; when Valrigard looked into them he realized that he was looking at his double. He didn't know why it had come as such a shock. Then he realized something else. This was the same pet who had been honored at the banquet for "finding out that Valrigard had stolen the sword;" he had the same cold, calculating look in his eyes though this time they were burgundy instead of gray. The Draik looked at Valrigard with slight shock and asked courteously, "Is there anything you want?"

     Valrigard angrily replied, "I want to know who you are and why you used me as a scapegoat for your crimes."

     The Draik laughed with amusement. "My name is Midgard and it was really nothing personal; we just needed someone to distract the king so that he would let his guard down. Your escape wasn't part of the plan but it worked well."

     Midgard's smile became wider as he slowly took something from behind his back. Valrigard's stomach gave a sickened twist as he realized what it was, the sword. The hilt was made of brown leather and its blade gleamed dully, but on its side the inscriptions burned like fire. The Draik, without taking a step forward, slashed savagely at the air in front of him. For a second he stood there, puzzled, but then he felt a sharp, searing pain as he was knocked backward off of his feet. He slowly and shakily got up; a long, nasty gash ran across his stomach. As he looked back up at Midgard he noticed that all of the fighting had stopped. "So," he thought, "the Draik needs to be concentrating on his army for them to fight."

     Suddenly he heard an eerie howl and saw Lycaon, in werelupe form, charging at Midgard. Then, out of nowhere, the other Lupe leapt onto him and, with a savage snarl, began to rip and tear at his flesh. On his other side Elsie was engaged in an aerial battle where both faeries attacked with spells. Elsie recited a quick incantation and the other faerie's wings began to crumble with frost, but then she was hit with a spray of fire and began to dive out of the air. Valrigard did not have time to watch anymore. He felt a swish of air as he quickly sidestepped Midgard's attack. Then he thrust his own sword at the Draik's arm, and heard a gasp of pain. He started to smile but gave a gasp himself as he saw the wound he had inflicted vanish as quickly as it had come. Midgard chuckled, "Did you expect this to be an easy fight?"

     With a lazy slash he knocked Valrigard back several feet. Then, carelessly he said, "I grow weary of this."

     With a grin of amusement, he began to recite the words to the spell, "Knights die before you, wizards bow before you, and kingdoms fall before you."

     Valrigard's chest tightened and his throat seemed to close up; "I can't die, not now!"

     He thought. He closed his eyes and waited for the blow to fall but nothing happened. He looked up to see Midgard's astonished face, and realized something. If he had been a knight he would have died, if he had been a wizard or mage he would have been left powerless, but he was neither! The spell was never intended to kill a traitor or a thief, and that's what Meridell had branded him! Valrigard gave a slow smile. "Did you expect it to be easy?"

     Enraged Midgard leapt at him, all caution thrown to the wind. As Midgard charged at him Valrigard quickly did the only thing he could think of; he released a jet of fire from deep inside his throat. It hit the Draik right in the face; he gave a look of complete surprise and his hand loosened on his sword hilt.

     Valrigard took his chances and dove, his hand reaching for the sword, and grabbed it! He landed hard upon the grass and held the sword tightly in his claws. Then he was about to raise himself up when he heard Midgard hiss, "Freeze."

     He felt his scales turning to ice. His breath became frosty and his teeth chattered; he tried to move his arms but they seemed to be frozen in place. He heard someone walking around him and saw two blue, scaly arms reaching for the sword. Then an enraged howl resounded through the cold air. A large, shaggy form came hurtling into view and knocked the Draik sorcerer to the ground. Valrigard felt his scales return to normal temperature and quickly jumped to his feet. Lycaon was standing on top of the sorcerer, his claws digging maliciously into the Draik's scales. Valrigard walked up to them and poised his sword right above Midgard's throat; Lycaon walked off with a satisfied smile. The Draik looked up at Valrigard with a placid expression. "You do realize that you can't kill me right? I have been dead for five hundred years."

     Valrigard shook his head. "No, nothing this sword or anyone else could do would kill you. But, part of the inscription on this sword says 'wizards bow before you,' and you, Midgard, are a sorcerer and a wizard. I can take away your powers and have you locked up in the Meridell dungeons for the rest of eternity."

     The sorcerer made a move to get up and Valrigard began the spell, hoping it would work. "Knights die before you, wizards bow before you, and kingdoms fall before you."

     He tried to concentrate solely upon Midgard when he said it but it was hard to focus upon one thing; the sword became very cold and slimy and seemed to his overactive imagination, to feel like death itself. Midgard screamed in pain and anger and then, the spell was done.

     Valrigard watched as three Meridellian knights took hold of the Draik and began to haul him back to Meridell Castle. Valrigard looked around but he could not see the other sorcerers anywhere. Elsie walked up to him, "You did it!" she cried, with a huge smile upon her face.

     Then she noticed where he was looking. "They disappeared a little while ago. I guess they saw that they had no hope of winning. Oh, and look! The ghosts vanished too."

     He looked around again and saw the battlefield teeming with Meridellian knights and nurses, healing the wounded and celebrating the victory. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around and stared.

     There stood the King. The Skeith looked at him with admiration and said, "Brave knight, with your courage you have saved our kingdom. Tell us your name so that all may know who the hero is that rescued Meridell in its darkest hour of need."

     Valrigard shrank back; this was the king who had imprisoned him in the dank dungeons of the castle. How could the king not recognize him? He looked down at his claws and realized that they were still covered in mud. "M…My name is Valrigard, sir."

     The king seemed shocked, "But he was…"

     Valrigard scratched at a place along his arm and some of the mud flaked off showing his navy-blue scales underneath. The Skeith seemed surprised for a moment but then laughed heartily. "'Tis a faerie's work I suspect. I must leave thee now but a ceremony shall be held later."

     The king smiled at him and then walked away to talk to his Counselors of War. Elsie and Lycaon were standing off to the side and Valrigard numbly went to join them. "I can't believe it," he thought, "I'm not a traitor or a fugitive any longer. I can go back to my old life." Lycaon greeted him with a somewhat gloomy detachment. He was a scrawny, shadowed Lupe again. "Valrigard, I've got to leave," he said. "They know my secret. They'll surely burn me at the stake this time."

     Valrigard's throat tightened; it was not an exaggeration. Then Elsie spoke up, "Lycaon, you won't have to run anymore. That potion I gave you wasn't just for this battle; it lasts forever. You will never have to worry about another full moon again. We will just have to convince the king."

     The Lupe smiled. "I knew that all along."

     Elsie rolled her eyes and then spoke to Valrigard, "They will probably want to knight you after this."

     She looked worried. Valrigard shook his head. "I most certainly do not want to become a knight."

     Then he furrowed his brows in thought. Midgard and the other sorcerers could not have returned from the land of death by themselves, so who called them?

     Far away, someone sat looking at into a crystal ball. Its face did not hold fury or surprise, only a slight consternation crossed it. Its plan hadn't worked, but it had not really expected it to. The wizards were too weak. It would have to conjure up something far more deadly next time.

The End

Author's Note: The End? Maybe, but maybe not. How did you like my series? You can neomail firedragon9078 for comments and questions. Valrigard: "Goodbye everyone!"