King's Knight

A Rising Knight Volume 4

King's Knight

By Vladimir Duran

This is a work of fiction. All Characters and events portrayed in this anthology are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

A RISING KNIGHT: VOLUME 4: KING’S KNIGHT

Published by Vladimir Duran at Smashwords

Copyright © 2013 by Vladimir Duran

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication Data Duran, Ignacio.

A Rising Knight: Volume 4: King’s Knight / Ignacio Duran.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Contents

Other works by this Author

Cover Credits

By Story Arc

ARK-037 Lion Among Wolves

Charging into the teeth of an enemy stronghold Wraith has come to play. Hundreds of guards stand between him and goal like a pack of wolves hungry to take down a lion. Blood, battle, death and destruction will shake every corridor and corner. Lives will end, ash will sting the eye. The assault on castle Blackblade has begun.

The World of Knights: The Council Guard

ARK-038 Scarred

Some scars you can't see. Some you wish you hadn't. In an all-out battle to the death Wraith comes face to face with the commander of the Knight Hunters. The woman leading the genocide of his people. Its hate at first sight. There will be no mercy when she decides to show him the damage the Knights have done. The horrors they've left behind. In a forest of trees frozen in stone she'll show him her scars.

The World of Knights: Samara Pommelclaw

ARK-039 Fire and Smoke

Out of the ashes of his battle with the head of the inquisition Wraith rises like a monster out of myth. His for is shadow, his breath is flame. He's come to kill Giadan Blackblade, the man who orders that his people should die. At long last they will come face to face and the high councilor will get to test if he had the courage of his convictions. If knights are monsters then surely this one will kill him.

The World of Knights: Wizard Nobility

ARK-040 Falling Scales

Everything you know is wrong. NSA agents Alexander Renault and Francis Duffy have been chasing a legend for two and a half years. Now that legend had them as its mercy. Wraith will take away what they think they know, who they think they are, their faith. What he leaves behind when he's done is up to them. Are they still guardians of the people or just dead men in cheap suits?

The World of Knights: The Quarter World

ARK-041 Civics

Without knowing where we come from, how can we know where we're supposed to go? Since becoming a wizard Vlad has worked himself to the bone to learn everything he can. To be the best there is. He's fought demons and ridden storms. But on the eve of his education's end a question had occurred to him. What's the point of any of it? Power without purpose is nothing. What is Vlad's purpose?

The World of Knights: Wizard High Houses

ARK-042 History

Empires are built on choices and moments. Their history rested on the back of those who fought and died for them. Fought and died for the died for the dream of something greater something lasting beyond themselves. Alone in the heart of the empire of the destroyer Vlad is going to meet his muse. A dream worth fighting and dying for. Something worth living for. The hope of a world where he isn't a freak.

The World of Knights: The Nine Gates

ARK-043 Humanities

When you reach the place where the road ends, what do you do? For almost a year Vlad has worked to learn what it means to be a wizard. And now he had. It means Blood and death and never giving up no matter how many times you get knocked down. But day to day, hour to hour, what's a newly minted wizard to do? When your choices are endless what is there for you to decide?

The World of Knights: Demon Levels

ARK-044 Legends

The wizard empire of the destroyer was forged in fire and blood. They were raised in the muck and blood of battle. Wizards have fought, they have been broken and they have risen. And they began as children looking up to their elder brother. Taking them in hand Slayer will lead them onto the battlefield, into murder and mayhem. They will lose their innocence. Their souls are still up for grabs.

The World of Knights: The White Plague

ARK-045 Fight

The wizards think they've won a victory. They think they've humiliated Wraith and made him mortal like them. But three years of struggle, combat and pain Wraith isn't ready to lay down and die. So he's going to show the wizards they know nothing of what a mortal can do. He will come among them with wondered and with storm. He will challenge the world, dare them. But in the end, has he come to save the wizard people…or destroy them?

The World of Knights: Shields and Wards

ARK-046 The Other Side

When Wraith challenged the wizards of the city of lightning he knew he was lighting a powder keg. Now the battle has come to a single unit of soldiers. Untrained and alone they'll have to survived going head to head with Wraith's doppelgängers. Each one more dangerous than the last. They will know the taste of pain and fear and loss. They will know betrayal. And if they survive the fight they will be changed forever.

The World of Knights: Wizard Training

ARK-047 The Trick

Bones have been broken, blood spilled, lived ended. All because of two men who want one another dead. Wraith, Knight out of the old world come to wreck vengeance on those who oppress his people. And Gaidan Blackblade, High Councilor who deems his people must die for peace. No games, no tricks, its time for them to come face to face.

The World of Knights: The Wall

ARK-048 Everything that has an End

Everything that has a beginning has an end. Out of the ashes of his assault on the home of his greatest enemy, Vlad comes home to the people who know and love him best. He brings them Plague and storm and death. They will give him truth and hope. And in the end he will know the way forward.

The World of Knights: House Javelin

Glossary

Next Time

About the Author

Connect with Me Online

Cover Credits

Cover: Shane Braithwaite

By Story Arc

Wraith: Year One

Remember that kid in class who looked at you like you weren’t there. This is why you don’t mess with that kid.

ARK-010 Awakening

ARK-011 Rebirth

ARK-015 Stalking

ARK-016 Naming

ARK-017 Hunting

ARK-022 Learning

ARK-023 Migraine

ARK-024 Apathy

ARK-031 Inherently selfish

ARK-032 Jarheads

ARK-041 Civics

ARK-042 History

ARK-043 Humanities

Resistance Revolution Revenge

Sometimes we fight for ambition. Sometimes we fight to defend others. Sometimes we fight for justice. Sometimes it matters. Sometimes we just fight.

ARK-001 Carnage

ARK-005 Meeting

ARK-006 Family

ARK-008 Alliance

ARK-009 Declaration

ARK-013 Assault

ARK-014 Champion

ARK-026 Heir to Sin

ARK-027 The Brothers Blackblade

ARK-028 Safe Passage

ARK-037 Lion Among Wolves

ARK-038 Scarred

ARK-039 Fire and Smoke

Searching for a Symbol

Every army needs a standard, every nation needs a flag, and every legend needs a symbol.

ARK-002 Negotiator

ARK-003 Thief

ARK-004 Collector

ARK-019 Pretender

ARK-020 Superhero

ARK-021 Failure

ARK-033 Fire’s Shadow

ARK-034 In the Dark

ARK-034.5 Bonus Footage

ARK-035 The Black Hammer

ARK-036 Creating Destruction

ARK-045 Fight

ARK-046 The Other Side

ARK-047 The Trick

Stand Alone Chapter

Some stories stand alone.

ARK-007 Betrayal

ARK-044 Legends

ARK-012 Enemy

ARK-018 Cleaners

ARK-040 Falling Scales

ARK-025 Dropping the Gauntlet

ARK-029 Limits

ARK-030 Holy ground

ARK-034 In the Dark

ARK-034.5 Bonus Footage

ARK-048 Everything that has an End

Other Works by this Author

A Rising Knight Volume One: Everything that has an End

He was a killer by fifteen, a warrior by sixteen, a revolutionary by seventeen, a legend by eighteen, he won't live to be nineteen. These are Steps Vlad will take to define his destiny. He will spit at the feet of god and slay his angels.

A Rising Knight Volume Two: Born for War

Welcome to the game. It wants to kill you. Now the stage had been set it’s time for the real show to get started. All three story arcs from volume one are continued in explosive fashion. It’s time to go play with monsters.

A Rising Knight Volume Three: Destruction’s Children

Why do you fight? Why do you pay the price? Destruction’s Children brings the war home for the Knights of the revolution. Jackal is forced to relive his mother’s brutal death while Olga dreams of getting blood on her hands. Vlad reaches a pivotal point when forced to confront reality, there is always someone better. What do you do when you can’t see the way forward anymore? Make one up.

A Rising Knight Volume Four: King's Knight

Wriath is coming and war is coming with him. Vlad has walked three journeys on his path to becoming a Harrower, a King’s Knight. And they have all lead back to the wizard world. To the place he had been an outcast freak, a hated reminder of days gone by and terrifying signpost of things to come. Now its time for him to become something far more dangerous, a man with noting to lose.

A Rising Knight: Eagle

Twenty thousand years before the Blood Ocean and the Fall that came after, the Harrower Knights, the Deathwings, ruled the sky. Sent on a grave mission in the midst of a desperate battle, one Knight will find her moment. With the fate of her legion and a city hanging in the balance will she be able to seize it? In an age of Heroes how do you rise to the top? You do what no one else can do.

ARK-037: Lion Among Wolves

-To underestimate an enemy is to invite him to cut your throat

February 26th 4:34am (Local Time) 1 Year 7 Months 3 Weeks 5 Days since first contact

82 degrees. Castle Blackblade sits in the heart of Lightningstrike. While not the largest building in the city it is the oldest and most intimidating. Three thousand years ago, during a lull between wars, the head of house Blackblade decided to have the castle rebuilt. The new castle was constructed according to the architectural plans laid out by the head of house's brother. Jackal Blackblade was serving in the seventh Harrower Legion as a Warlord when he submitted the plans. Like the guardians on the outer walls the castle is a tribute to the power of life. The outer and inner walls are carved and sculpted with bodies and parts of bodies. In the wizard way the aesthetic portions of the castle also serve a utilitarian one. The bodies are part of the castle support structure. Men and women hold up ceilings as support beams. Massive hands hold aloft towers, feet buttress walls. From a distance the castle seems to be constructed of naked bodies. Depending on the angle the bodies look like they're wracked by pain or pleasure.

An inferno erupted from the Wraith's hands. Coruscating bars of black and blue flame twisted about themselves and crashed down on the defending Council guards. Fire roared and magic crackled as bruise colored flame met hardened shields. Screaming in agony the fire exploded and died, leaving orphaned candlelights to perish on the floor and walls.

Blinking the guards regrouped. Their shield had stopped the flame but not without cost. They'd been knocked back, out of position. Those precious few seconds cost them in blood. Wraith was there, death among them.

Putting everything he had behind a straightforward lunge with the Reigh* he made the other man's chest explode backwards. Shards of bone and sprays of blood spattered against anther guard and the far wall. Lingering traces of magic in the guard's broken breastplate allowed them to pierce past the other man's shield. They dove into his right side and he went down screaming in pain.

Unlike the Broken Bolts, the Knight Hunters, Council guards knew their business. Even as one of their number died and another was wounded the remaining three kept their heads. Three of them, two man and a woman provided covering fire while another woman dead lifted the wounded man.

Dodging his way thought the spellfire Wraith looked like a streak of shadow. A streaking trailer of blackness from a moonless night his cloak broke up his form. The guard's counter attack missed him by inches that might have been miles as he got in close again. Crimson pinpricks of light where his eyes should have been dance merrily as a flew into a barrage of destructive spells.

Face hidden by his cloak he was grinning. To think he'd been bored just a few minutes ago.

Leaning against a tunnel wall under the southern wing of castle Blackblade, Vlad tapped his foot to The Clincher by Chevelle. Shuffle had brought up The Wizard by Black Sabbath first, but he'd thought that was just a little too on the nose.

Glancing at his watch for the twentieth time in the five minutes Vlad saw that it was finally time to get to work. Gaidan would be entering his office just about now. The Councilor's office was fortified. When the guards realized the castle was under attack they would secure him there rather than risk moving him. That was the plan.

Speaking of an attack on the castle, it was about time he got started on that.

Butterflies with wings the size of umbrellas fluttered in his stomach as he stepped away from the wall. He always got this way if he had to wait around before a big performance. Throw him head first into the deep end and he was fine. Ask him to wait ten minutes and he turned into an idiot. Oh well, he was still young. There would be time to grow jaded. Or not.

Focus came and his body tuned itself into an instrument of will. Butterflies died as the Wraith awoke. He wove about himself his cloak of living shadow, his signature. The bit of blacker night hid away his young, oval face and dark brown hair and eyes. A shade under average height and built with strong wiry muscles he didn't look like someone about to assault a castle. For all his sardonic self amused nature he had a friendly face. Better to keep it hidden behind the burning coals of his cloak's eyes.

Carefully, Wraith pealed back the tapestry hiding the entrance to the tunnel. This was one of seven escape tunnels built into castle Blackblade. It wouldn't do to have anyone know for certain how he got into the castle. Only the Blackblades themselves and their personal guard should have known this tunnel existed. Wraith had to seem to appear out of thin air. That was the last careful thing he did.

Beyond the tunnel, the hallway the wide was tiled in bronze and violet, lit by orbs held in golden brackets every few feet. Relief statues of men and women stood with their hands raised to the sky as if they held up the ceiling. The whole place would be decorated like that. It should have looked garish and overblown. A teenager might imagine a supervillain's lair like this, maybe a disturbed child would. Seeing in real life, being dwarfed by those statues, it looked amazing.

There were any number of ways to get to his Giadan's office from here but Wraith chose to go through the western wing of the Castle. Going in the direction of the dying sun appealed to his sardonic and shallow sense of poetry. His cloak of shadows moved as he moved. Now trailing creepers, now black flame.

Two men in Blackblade bronze and violet awaited him at the first intersection. Real, proper Council guards with modulating shield breastplates* and armed with halberds and wizard shuriken. Council guards were still trained to the pre-Ocean standard of the Council guard. Elite heavy infantry and cavalry. He'd never fought anyone that skilled before. This should be fun.

They didn't hesitate. The moment they saw his cloak they went into action. Their first move wasn't to attack. It was to trip the citadel wide alert on their wrists. Smart, if they fell, at least the rest of the castle wouldn't be caught with their pants down. Then it was time to attack. Lightning to blind and fire laced with earth to stick and burn.

If Wraith had been inclined to allow them more than that first move it might have slowed him down. But he was not and it did not. He moved faster than their eyes could follow, the power of a Knight distorting the laws of physics. Friction, momentum, gravitation, mass, all of them eased their grip on him. Instinct and need controlled the effect. He needed a thing done and instinct made the world bend to the need.

As their webs* crashed into the empty corridor behind him, wraith stood between the two guards. He raised his hands. Fire and lightning answered fire and lightning. The heads of both guards disappeared in a cacophony of heat and sound.

As the bodies of fell Wraith considered their actions. Raising the alarm before trying to defend themselves wasn't just smart. It was the action of men loyal to something more than just money or themselves. Whether to their fellow guards, Gaidan personally or their Councilor in abstract didn't matter. What mattered was these people would fight as a cohesive unit. Now that the shrill alarm klaxon was rousing every guard in the castle, they would come at him with everything.

Hidden by the cloak Wraith smiled a wide, feral smile. No sheep this time. Good. Better opponents meant he got stronger faster.

Triggering his wrist comm Wraith set off his first trap of the day. At once the klaxon died. All over the castle automated defenses shut themselves down and surveillance spells powered down. Three days ago Vlad had infiltrated and booby-trapped the castle's defensive and communications networks. The Council guards would be fighting him blind. Fun was fun but he had things that needed doing. Letting these first two trigger the alarm had just been to stir up the anthill.

Now that they were in a good uproar it was time to really cut loose.

Lavishly appointed by lavishly appointed corridor, Wraith made his way through the halls of castle Blackblade. Everywhere he went Council guards were waiting for him. His estimation of their skills had not been wrong. These men and women, who fought with strategy and covered each other's backs. A real military unit.

Six Council guards made up the second group of them he ran into. Automatic barriers should have come up from the floor to give them cover. Taking the network down had locked in their shuttered position. But Council guards weren't so easily deterred. They had barricaded themselves behind a toppled