A Sky of Spells (Book #9 in the Sorcerer's Ring) (13 page)

There came a cheer from the
crowd as his opponent rolled, bruised but unhurt.

Thor circled around, taking
in the adulation from the huge crowd that lined up to watch the royal jousts,
then jumped from his horse, made sure his opponent was okay, and extended a
hand. The crowd cheered in approval as he did.

“I’ve never been defeated in
battle,” the knight said. “Much less by someone younger than myself, or with a
shorter lance. Well won!”

They clasped forearms, and they
each led their horses by the reigns to the side of the grounds, making room for
the next joust.

Thor was beginning to feel
his muscles stiffening; it had been hours of jousting, a growing crowd lined up
far and wide to watch the highlight of the day’s festivities. As Thor reached
the side, Kendrick took his place, racing down the jousting lane and facing off
against a knight whose armor came from a place Thor did not recognize.

The two charged, and
Kendrick took out the soldier, to the cheers of the crowd. Thor cheered loudest
of all.

Thor was elated to be here, on
this day of the Summer Solstice, fighting with these great warriors, finally feeling
as if he were one of them. For the first time, he no longer felt like an
outsider.

Thor wanted to win on his
own terms, as a regular warrior, with skills that matched others; he did not
want to draw on his magical powers to influence his fight. So far, he had
succeeded. While most of his friends had fallen, Thor had managed to make it to
the final rounds of jousting, in the running with Kendrick, Erec, Conven, Elden,
Reece, O’Connor, Brandt and Atme, along with several foreign knights. There
were not many jousts left in the day.

A horn sounded and Thor
watched a distant jousting lane and saw O’Connor charge against an opponent
twice his size, from the southern province of the Ring; O’Connor missed his mark,
and the opponent struck O’Connor in the gut, knocking him backwards off his
horse. The crowd grunted and groaned as O’Connor hit the ground hard.

He lay there for a moment,
and Thor worried if he was okay; but then O’Connor rose slowly to his feet and
walked off. The crowd cheered for him. He was done with the tournament, but at
least he was unhurt.

In the lane beside Thor,
knights from distant lands charged each other. They met with a great battle
cry, lances aimed high, and one screamed as a lance broke and a splinter pierced
him through the throat. The crowd jeered, as it was a dirty move for the knight
to strike so close to the throat, and dubiously legal.

The crowd groaned,
horrified, as the knight fell off his horse, to the ground, writhing.
Attendants rushed over to help him, to try to stop the bleeding, but within
moments, he was dead.

A somber mood fell over the
crowd as several attendants slowly pulled his body away. They all observed several
moments of silence, Thor realizing once again just how dangerous these jousting
games could be.

The soldier that had won, a
massive fellow, twice as wide as the others, grabbed a new lance and turned and
faced his next opponent. Thor’s heart pounded to see that he faced Elden.

Elden charged fearlessly for
him, and Thor prayed he did not meet the same fate his last opponent had.

They charged, their bulk
shaking the ground, their armor groaning, Elden letting out a great battle
scream as he held his Lance before him. It seemed to Thor as if this knight were
going to strike Elden and win; yet at the last moment, Elden twisted to the
side, pointed his Lance at the knight’s armpit, and managed a direct hit.

The knight fell from his
horse, rolling on the ground, and the crowd cheered as Elden had won.

As Elden rode his victory lap,
proudly, taking in the cheers of the crowd, his opponent, behind him, threw off
his helmet, exposing a face filled with rage. The knight charged at the
unassuming Elden, reached up, grabbed him from behind, and yanked him down off
his horse.

The crowd groaned and jeered
at the cowardly move, and Thor, enraged, rushed forward to Elden’s aid, Reece,
Conven, O’Connor and the other Legion at his side.

The knight jumped on top of
Elden, raised a spear, and prepared to bring in down for Elden before he could
react.

There came a snarling, and
Krohn rushed forward, pouncing on the knight, knocking him down just before he
could stab Elden.

The knight shook Krohn off,
but it gave Elden time enough to roll around, reach back with his gauntlet and
backhand the knight across the face.

There came a resounding
crack as he broke the knight’s jaw and knocked him out, unconscious, just as
Thor and the others appeared.

Elden stood, to the cheers
of the crowd, and attendants rushed forward and dragged the unconscious knight
away.

Thor and the others clasped
Elden on the back, relieved that he was OK, and a horn sounded as the fighting
resumed.

Fight after fight, the
jousting went on and on. Thor could hardly believe how many warriors partook in
this day’s festivities, representing all provinces of the Ring and dozens of
countries from across the sea. The competition gave him a chance to test and
hone his skills, and aside from one or two rotten apples, all the other knights
fought with honor and respected the rules of the jousts.

The rounds continued, on and
on. Elden eventually lost a joust, to a warrior twice his height, a knight who
appeared to be invincible. But Kendrick took out that warrior the very next
round.

As the second sun hung low
in the sky, there eventually were but four warriors left in the competition:
Thor, Kendrick, Erec, and a knight Thor did not know, a short stocky man, with
black armor and menacing slits for eyes, who kept apart and who had not raised
his visor once all day. Thor found himself facing him.

The two charged each other,
Thor feeling all the eyes on him as the crowd roared in excitement. As they got
closer, the sound of horses’ hooves rumbling in Thor’s ears, Thor prepared for
impact—but something surprised him. His opponent raised his lance, and suddenly
hurled it right at Thor.

Thor had not been expecting
that. It sailed through the air, right for Thor’s head. At the last second, Thor’s
reflexes kicked in, and he raised his shield just high enough to swat the lance
away. At the same time Thor used his free hand to aim his own lance at the
knight and strike him in the rib cage. The knight fell sideways from horse, tumbling
down to the ground, and the crowd cheered.

Thor, breathing hard, shaken
by how close he had come to losing, rode off to the side and turned and watched,
as Kendrick and Erec, the last two aside from him, faced off with each other. He
wondered which he would have to fight; neither would be easy.

The crowd thickened, as
nearly everyone left in King’s Court crowded in to watch these two great knights,
leaders of the Silver, famed warriors, whose songs had been sung are far and
wide. They faced each other from far ends of the jousting lane, each with visors
up, offering the other a salute of respect. Then they lowered their visors,
raised their lances, their squires got out of the way, a horn sounded—and they charged.

The crowd was cheering as these
two great warriors closed in on each other, their horses rumbling, raising up
clouds of dust in the summer heat. Finally, they met in the middle with a clang,
each knocking the other backwards.

The crowd groaned.

But neither of them fell off
their horses, each of them good enough to be able to, somehow, hang on.

They each regained control,
circled around, and, as the crowd cheered wildly, prepared to meet each other
again. It was the first match of the day that had gone a second round.

Kendrick and Erec charged
again, each ducking low, gaining incredible speed, holding their shining silver
lances, the best the kingdom had, out before them. As they met, this time Erec
raised his shield and blocked Kendrick’s lance. Erec’s shield was so strong
that Kendrick’s lance snapped in two on impact. Erec, in turn, used the opportunity
to aim his lance beneath Kendrick’s shield, striking him dead center in the
chest and knocking him backwards off his horse.

The crowd cheered like wild
as Erec circled around, jumped down from his horse, and gave Kendrick a hand
up. They lifted their visors and Erec smiled down.

“Nicely fought,” Erec said. “If
your lance had not broken, you would have won.”

Kendrick shook his head.

“You fought the better
match,” he conceded. “Next time.”

Erec nodded, remounted his
horse. Thor mounted his, realizing he’d be up against Erec.

Thor and Erec each circled around
the entire perimeter of the jousting grounds, the final loop, as the crowd roared
with a great cheer, chanting both Erec and Thorgrin’s names.

The two stopped at opposite
ends of the jousting field, facing each other, and the crowd went wild. Thor felt
nervous to face his old friend. He was determined to fight him on his own
terms, and not to draw upon any of his powers. Thor wanted to see if he could
win, as one man to another, one warrior to another.

They each lifted their
faceplates in a gesture of respect, Thor facing off against his old mentor, a
man he was once squire to. It was a funny feeling.

A horn sounded, and the two
charged for each other. Thor focused with all his might and all his will, trying
to drown out the screams of the crowd. He did not want to hurt Erec, and he tried
to aim his lance for Erec’s chest, where the armor was thickest. But as he
tried to focus, Thor realized that Erec was different than all the other
opponents he’d faced. He was faster, harder to pin down, and his custom-forged silver
armor, with all of its interchanging plates, shined in the light like the
scales on a fish. It made it even more difficult for Thor to concentrate.

The two met in the middle,
and Thor braced himself, as he felt for the first time that day the impact of a
lance on his chest. Yet at the same time, Thor felt his own lance impacting Erec’s
chest. The two of them hit each other at the same time and they each went
flying backwards, off their horses.

The crowd groaned as each
hit the ground at the same time. It was the first time of the day that had
happened, and the rules of jousting demanded that if both fighters fell, then
the fight must continue.

As Thor and Erec faced each
other on foot, attendants ran out and handed each one a long mace with a
studded wooden ball. They faced each other and charged.

The two of them fought hand-to-hand,
slashing and blocking, maces clacking on armor. Thor knew that the rules
demanded that whoever hit the ground first would lose—and he was determined not
to lose.

But so was Erec.

Back and forth they fought,
pushing each other forward and back; memories flooded back of Thor’s real
battle with Erec, when he fought for Andronicus. Thor felt overwhelmed with
guilt; he lost focus, and as he did, for a moment Erec got the better of him. Erec
landed several blows and Thor stumbled back, nearly falling, the crowd cheering
as it seemed he was finished.

Thor shook his head and
cleared his mind. He had to stay focused and forget about the past, to let go
of his guilt. This was just a tournament now, not real life. If he won, he
would not be hurting Erec.

Thor rallied and pushed Erec
back—but then Erec rallied and pushed him back. The two of them went blow for
blow, until Thor’s arms grew tired, neither able to gain an advantage. They were
well-matched. That alone made Thor proud, given that Erec was a veteran knight
and Thor was years younger than he.

Erec brought his mace down
in one great blow, and Thor turned his and blocked it. The maces locked, and Thor
held it in place, his arm shaking against Erec’s great strength. He felt that
in moments he would give way. He did not want to lose, not in front of all
these people. Especially not in front of Gwendolyn, whom he knew was watching
with everyone else. Thor dropped to one knee, arms shaking, barely hanging in
there.

Thor closed his eyes, and
involuntarily summoned a power from some deep place inside. Without trying to,
his magic, his true power, suddenly surfaced. He felt himself gushing with
energy, a heat racing through his body.

Thor stood in one burst of
energy, raised his mace, and pushed Erec’s mace so that it went flying from his
hand. Thor swung around in the same motion and struck Erec in the chest, and knocked
him down, onto his back.

The crowd cheered like
crazy, Thor the victor.

Thor lifted his visor,
reached down, and gave Erec a hand up, feeling guilty.

The crowd came running in,
all converging around him to embrace him.

“What happened to no magic?”
Erec asked with a smile, goodheartedly.

“I’m sorry,” Thor said. “I
did not mean to.”

Erec smiled wide, and Thor
could see he was not upset.

“I’m proud of you,” he said.
“You are a great warrior.”

The crowd closed in, hoisted
Thor high up on their shoulders, and carried him off into the festivities. A
chorus of horns sounded, and casks of ale and wine suddenly appeared, rolled out
onto the fields by an army of attendants. The jousting fields instantly
transformed into a field of festivity. More and more horns sounded, people
drank and cheered, and it was clear the day’s festivities had begun.