Thornblade Chronicles - Volume 1

Chapter 13

 Ilkama slowly walked down the stairs and into the sea of guards, his piercing gaze paralyzing the young boy who had turned against him. Curtis felt time slow to a halt. Every passing step his king took felt like an eternity, realizing the weight of his actions. Ilkama firmly grabbed the boy's hand. Begging this was a nightmare, the young boy wished he would wake up soon.

"I would kill you here and now," Ilkama's quiet voice was chilling, "but death would be too quick a release for you: the boy who has yet to carry out his sentence. There are consequences for your actions. You are coming with me," Ilkama dragged the boy towards a doorway behind the throne. "The rest of you, guard Eli. He cannot be allowed to leave."

As Ilkama dragged Curtis out of the room, the young boy could only muster the strength to yell two words: "Run, Eli!" Hearing this, Eli ran back to his room to collect his notes and escape; there was still more to learn if he wished to take out the Dark Lord. Meanwhile, Ilkama dragged the boy through the winding halls which led to the back of the castle. As the two entered a large room, Curtis's heart rate spiked. On a platform was a wooden, square mechanism with four chains in the corners and a cog on the side. Along the left wall were hung weapons, ranging from maces to swords, crossbows, and ropes, to name a few.

Curtis struggled in Ilkama's grasp. Though outclassed, he knew he would have to buy Eli some time to escape. Refusing to go down without a fight, he slapped Ilkama's arm a few times, hoping to get free but to no avail. Looking around for something to use against his ruler, Curtis noticed a few potions on Ilkama's belt. Without hesitation, Curtis reached for one containing purple, swirling liquid and tugged hard at it, jerking Ilkama in his direction. Not knowing what it would do—but also knowing it could not worsen the situation further—Curtis threw the potion to the ground, causing it to explode into a cloud of purple mist.

While a disoriented Ilkama let go of the prisoner and coughed vigorously, Curtis ran to the wall and picked up one of the swords. Though the smoke cleared before he could attack his leader, Curtis charged at Ilkama. As he slashed the sword, Ilkama had recovered and quickly parried with his own weapon, commenting, "You are far too slow."

Curtis growled in return, "Eli will stop you! If I can buy him some more time, he will find the others. Your reign will soon end." Slashing his sword vertically at Ilkama, his opponent quickly disarmed the boy with a single parry.

"Your fiery spirit is admirable," Ilkama spun his sword in his hand. Curtis ground his teeth and curled his fists, knowing his leader was toying with him. Rather than accept defeat, the boy ran to the sword and picked it up again, readying his stance. "You have no chance to survive. Knowing this, you still challenge me," Ilkama laughed. "Come at me with everything you have. If you can successfully hit me once, I will let you and your family live. If you hold back, I will kill you all."

"My family is innocent!" Curtis yelled, lunging at his opponent. Finding himself in a familiar situation, Ilkama spun out of the way. Curtis's lack of foresight prevented him from slashing outwards the way Eli had done previously. Instead, the boy tripped over himself and fell to the floor. Standing up, he began panting. Unwavering, Curtis held the sword straight up and attempted to draw Bursor. However, when the blade did not light up, he wondered if he outlined it incorrectly. He tried several more times.

"Curious, you are familiar with our gly—" Ilkma stopped himself, thinking back to his last interaction with Eli. "It was you: the guard who supposedly organized Eli's desk! Not only did you organize them, but you read them too. How amusing: you picked one of the unenchanted swords, did you not?" The leader looked at the wall and nodded his head, "That is too bad."

Annoyed, Curtis let out a battle cry and charged at Ilkama again. Through the reflection on one of the hung blades, Ilkama saw the strike was horizontal. He held his sword vertically and parried the strike. Curtis froze and stared in awe, "What?"