The Dragon Knight Order, page 10
Big Day Part II
I opened my eyes feeling fresh and ready for the day. I was confident I was going to win today's examination.
“Good morning Alex,” said a woman sitting on a chair next to my bed.
I jumped out of bed and prepared for the worst.
“It's good to see you so energetic today, but please sit down. If I was here to kill you, don't you think I would have done so already?” she said. “I realize you haven't seen me in my human form. I am Vicis the Time Lord.”
I sat down immediately on the bed.
“I don't have much time. I will be as brief as possible and when I am done speaking I shall leave and you will not ask any questions.” She stood up and walked over to the window. There was a long pause. “Today during, or perhaps after the examinations are over, you will be attacked by an Irkanian kill squad. I have alerted the Cardinal Lords of this and they will be ready to fight if need be. The targets present at the examination include Chairman Zeak, Evey, Ilean and yourself. Their secondary targets are all the Nobles they can get their hands on. For them, this is a suicide mission and they are not meant to return and will fight to the bitter end. I give you permission to use any and all spells you have learned under Shadow's guidance or any you have encountered on your own. I know he told you never to use some spells unless you are alone, but you're the first Dragon Knight in over four centuries who has a chance at becoming a Paladin, therefore I will not let you die. Many challenges await you Alex. If you ever lose hope, seek me out and I will help you. Until that time, guard your life well, cleanse your mind of doubt and you will pull through any adversity you come across.”
With that she disappeared leaving me shaken, again. I was starting to hate the habit dragons have of leaving you with questions unanswered and just delivering bad news. There erratic behavior is very annoying.
I struggled with my thoughts, suppressed them and shoved them into the darkest corner of my mind, figuring it would be easier to function without distractions like those.
I got changed, forced myself to eat and headed out to the arena.
After another ridiculous welcome speech from the chairman, I walk towards my assigned arena pretending not to see any of my friends. I was in such a terrible mood that I was afraid what I would say to anyone who tried to speak to me.
I won my first and second match without having to call upon darkness or light magic. The third and fourth matches were won by forfeit, apparently not everyone wanted to fight a Dragon Knight. After winning my fifth match I decide I should check on Adria and the others to see how far they had progressed.
I made my way to the leader board and checked for Adria, Evey and Ilean's names. I felt disappointed to see both Evey and Ilean had already lost. Adria was still in her fifth fight against Eric. I checked which arena they are fighting in and took off running in its direction.
As I got closer to their arena a crowd had formed. I pushed through everyone until I got to the front. The arena, for lack of a better word, had been completely destroyed. There was a crater where the arena was supposed to be and standing in the middle of the crater was Adria looking up at the sky. She was bleeding from her left leg and right arm; she also had blood running down the side of her face from a wound on the side of her head. I could hear her heavy panting from where I stood. I looked in the same direction she was looking and was shocked to see a fire Vorm flying overhead. On its back stood Eric, with multiple cuts on his whole body, but none as deep as Adria's. I understood in an instant what had happened. Eric had used a weaker version of Dragon Blast, creating the crater and Adria, not having enough time to counter it with her own Dragon Blast used Brunas. However, due to the energy she spent during the fight Brunas wasn't fully activated causing some of the flying debris to get past the armor and hit Adria. Eric having fired the blast from too close got caught in his own shockwave.
“Alex! Can you believe the examiners would allow such dangerous spells to be used during the examination?” cried Max bumping into me.
“Yes, I can,” I said more to myself then him, not taking my eyes of Adria. “Who do you think is going to win?”
“Neither will be able to move onto the next round. They are both standing because of sheer will power, but if I had to guess which one will collapse first, it would have to be Eric. Sustained flight on a Vorm is a master level skill and doing it continuously will no doubt drain him to the point of blacking out pretty soon. Plus, attempting to mimic a Dragon Blast must have taken a massive amount of energy. Adria must have also depleted her remaining energies using Brunas,” said Max worried.
“I just hope she isn't hurt as badly as what it seems like from here because if she is….” I said grinding my teeth.
“If she was badly injured, I think the match would have been stopped.”
“Are you talking about the same match where you can use spells that can kill a person?” I asked looking at him with dark eyes.
The crowd gasped. Max and I turned to see Eric's fire Vorm lose altitude and disintegrate a good 5 meters off the ground, dropping Eric like a rock and with a loud thump, he hit the ground.
“The winner is Adria,” said Professor Lirean who had come down from the tower to be the examiner for their match.
As soon as she finished saying those words, Adria collapsed. I didn't even think about it, I used shadow steps to instantly step out of her shadow and catch her before she hit the floor. Her face was covered with blood and dirt. I cast the most powerful healing spell I knew to stop the bleeding from her leg and arm. I was about to heal her wound to the head when a voice spoke up.
“Let us take it from here, Knight,” said one of the academy’s healer’s standing behind me.
I placed her as gently as I could in the healer’s arm and followed as he and others healers climbed out of the crater with Adria. Max came over and patted my back; I felt relief cross my body. I turned to look at Max and he shrugged.
“It's not much but it should help you feel better,” he said giving me a smile.
“Thanks.” I said returning his smile with a weak one.
“Attention to all students. Due to the inability of two of our quarterfinalists to continue in the examinations, we will be forced to skip the semi-final and move to the final match between Alexander Kerm and Lester Vatn. The final match will begin in thirty minutes. Those who wish to see the final match, please be inside the training grounds ten minutes prior to the start. Anyone left outside will walk into the protection spell and be repelled violently resulting in possible crippling injuries,” announced the chairman in his usual out of place manner.
That relief spell worked like a charm. It not only restored some of my energy, but also eased the tension that was building up in my body. I was never more ready to go out and fight. Since it was Lester, I didn't see a good reason to hold back on which attacks I could use against him. And after Eric left Adria in that state, I was out for vengeance.
The time for me to battle Lester had come. I headed for the center of training grounds that had been designated as the best arena to hold the final battle. Much of the student body who could still walk or wasn't in class had gathered around the arena. I walked onto the field and Lester was walking towards me from the opposite direction until we were both a few meters away from one another.
“I hope you're ready for pay back for the humiliation I suffered because of you,” he said clearly still upset about losing to me.
“Beat you once; I can easily do it again this time,” I shot back.
“I was careless before, it won't happen again Dragon Knight,” he said in vile tone.
The crowed started cheering wildly as Chairman Zeak approached the tower's balcony.
“Today we celebrate the first time in 50 years in which a Dragon Knight and a Noble face each other in the finals of the 1st year’s midterm examinations. I was younger back then, still just a teacher. I don't remember much about those days but I will tell you this, to this date I have not forgotten that magnificent duel. I am sure we won't forget this one either for Alex and Lester represent this year’s absolute best. After seeing the quarterfinal matches, we can expect a great match and so without further ado, I give you the final match of these examinations!”
He raised his hand giving the sign the match had begun.
Not ten seconds later, two electrical Vorms were coming at me. I focused on their shadow, making it heavier than the two Vorms could handle causing them to dispel due to their own weight. Suddenly a blue ball whizzed right past me and struck the ground next to me, freezing everything within ten meters. The ice touched my shoes and climbed up my legs until it reached my knees and then stopped effectively holding me in place. The crowd cheered madly. I looked down at my legs to try to figure out how to free myself and when I looked up Lester was nowhere to be seen. I searched the sky for a Vorm and found three looking down at me. One was gathering magic probably for a Dragon Blast. I was in serious trouble if he let that attack loose and it hit me without Brunas.
“Give up now and I won't have to hurt you like your friend,” said Lester sitting on an ice chair on the back of the Ice Vorm that was gathering magic. I might have been very amazed he held the stamina needed to have three Vorms in the sky had I not disliked him so much.
“I see you have had special training. Ice based magic is pretty hard to control, but I can still beat you,” I said bidding my time as I gathered enough magic to spontaneously summon a Vorm from the shadow of the chair in which Lester sat on. It was tricky to pull it off as the chair’s show was casted on a magical creature, but if it worked, this match was over.
“I told you, didn't I? I will win this time.”
Finishing that sentence, I unleashed the darkness Vorm as well as three spheres out of my own shadow. Almost instantly, my Vorm rose from the shadow on the ice Vorm’s back throwing Lester off and biting into its neck. The Vorm turned and attempted to kick itself free losing height until both Vorms crashed into the ground.
The sphere’s had consumed both of Lester’s guarding Vorms and had grown in size; they were perfect to create two darkness Dragon Blast. They started to spin around me forming a barrier to anything Lester could try. Finally, my Vorm raised its head from the dust cloud it had formed after it had crashed and roared a defiant roar of victory. As I was about to declare an ultimatum, a powerful lightning strike hit the barrier around the arena causing it to waver.
“Was that you’re doing Lester?” I shouted across the arena knowing full well that is not something within his power.
“No! I thought it was you,” he responded.
I look around and saw all four Cardinal Lords standing and reinforcing the barrier with their magic aura. Another lightning strike hit the barrier, this time cracking it. You could hear the crowd gasping. The next one will break the barrier. The professors attempted to round up the students to exit the arena but most were mesmerized by the spectacle that had been cause by the lightning strike against the barrier. Then, the third strike with more strength than the last two, shattered the barrier and hit the ground with enough force it crystallized everything in the impact area. A large number of the students panicked and ran into the Academy, disregarding the professors’ efforts to keep them calm.
I walked slowly and cautiously towards the impact crater with the spheres still circling around and the Vorm closely following me for protection. Strangely enough, Lester was walking next to me in an equally defensive pose. A strong gust of wind erupted from the crater, clearing the dust cloud and revealing six fully armed Irkanians.
“By order of the Great Queen,” said the Irkanian wearing heavy battle armor at the center of the group. “We have come for your head, Alexander Kerm Knight of the Dragon Order.”
I looked at Lester and he looked at me. He nodded at me and I understood immediately that we were going to fight. I turned my attention to the Irkanians and said in the strongest voice I could, “You can die trying."
“Good, I hope you don’t prove to be as disappointing as the other Knights I have defeated in the past,” it said.
I didn't bother answering. I sent one of the sphere's that was hovering around me at one of the Irkanians, only to have it stopped by its bare hands. It then said something that turned the sphere into dust, staggering forward, as if tired by the action. Another Irkanian was chanting something I couldn’t understand. Before I could resume attacking, the chanting stopped and suddenly the ground in front of the chanting Irkanian started slicing itself open as if a large blade was being swung. It then moved towards me with amazing speed. I moved the second sphere into the path of the invisible blade in an attempt to stop the blades advance. When the blade came into contact with the sphere, it stopped and cracked the sphere, causing the electrical magic it had absorbed from Lester’s Vorm to be released in powerful discharges. This caught one of the Irkanians off guard and sent him flying a few meters away.
I heard yelling to my far left and I turned just in time to see Lester being thrown violently at the base of the tower and collapsing onto the floor. He wasn’t moving. One of the Irkanians came at me with a blade, while another sent a fireball at me. I activated Brunas, which consumed the fireball and shattered the blade. I order my Vorm to attack the now unarmed Irkanian, but the Irkanian wearing armor seconds before I could command it to attack, dispelled it. At last I remembered the light and the void it created. I summoned a new darkness Vorm and a light sphere that began to release massive amounts of energy as it fed off the magical presence of the Vorm and Irkanians. I thought a Dragon blast using light and darkness magic would be unstoppable in power since light and darkness were the most powerful offensive magic types. It was a risky plan because I would have to hold them in place, keep Brunas active and feed magic to both the Vorm and sphere. This would most likely consume all of my remaining magical power, but what other choice did I have? They were clearly playing with me.
Under my command, the Vorm ate the sphere of light causing it to become extremely heavy. It leaned its head back and looked at the Irkanian wearing the heavy armor and let out the Dragon Blast. The Irkanians tried to move out of the way but found they couldn’t. They started chanting in unison at an extremely fast speed. The effects of the blast were felt instantly. As soon as the ray of light shot out of the Vorm’s mouth, an air blade formed as the ray of light cut through the air causing heavy damage to the surrounding area. The ray came into contact with the Irkanians seconds later, imploded with such force, the explosion of energy kept moving giving the impression it was fire instead of light. The shockwave from the explosion was so powerful it destroyed the Vorm and sent me flying a few feet.
As the dust started to settle, I released Brunas and attempted to stand up but found it difficult. My whole body was throbbing in pain and I had cuts and bruises all over. It was a good thing that blast finished them because I was almost out of magical energy.
“That was impressive to say the least,” says a voice from behind me. I turn pale and my breathing stops.
“How?” was all that came out of my mouth.
“How you ask? A Death Knight like myself would never be killed that easily. I see your training hasn’t advanced far enough yet to consider you a proper Knight, using such crude and forceful spells is something only someone who has not learned the art of Knighthood would do. I will admit however, I was impressed by the strength of your last attack and the fact you can use Brunas. Few Knights have known of that particular spell, but even fewer have managed to defeat a kill squad. It is a shame you have been marked for death, you would have made an excellent opponent in the future." He drew a dagger from the side of his belt and placed it on my neck.
“Almost defeated… I didn’t kill you,” I said valiantly. Where had that courage came from was a mystery to me.
“I see, you think I was part of the kill squad? Well Knight, I am not. I was sent to make sure you died given the possibility the squad failed. I am a Death Knight. I answer only to our supreme one.”
“A Death Knight? What makes you different from the rest of the Irkanians? You are all the same foul creatures and you shouldn’t be allowed to roam this land or live for that matter.”
