The Misadventures of Ka-Ron the Knight (39 page)

From the cloud, bolts of lightening began to strike at the heart of the Wicca Master.

Kai reacted violently. Screaming and being pushed aback, the woman almost landed on the
Argo
.

"What have you done?" Kai asked.

"Never mess with a wizard who knows his way around electricity, madam."

Kai was hit again with another bolt of energy. This time, everyone with the wizard could see where the lightening struck. It was hitting the silver arrow, shot into her by Rohan.

Kai started to lose her shape.

Drop by little drop, the Wicca Master began to disappear.

"And don't come back!" the wizard warned.

Kai collapsed upon herself, letting out a scream of helplessness and outrage. Showering the
Argo
and her crew with an innocent rain, the clouds above the ship dispersed, and Kai was gone.

"Well," Keeth huffed with satisfaction. "That was interesting."

As the wizard trotted ahead, alone, Ka-Ron and Jatel stared long and hard into the questioning eyes of their elf and dwarfish friends. They mildly mocked the wizard, who appeared to be many years younger in spirit, having successfully prevented Kai from achieving her evil intentions.

"I think he rather enjoyed that," Rohan stated, securing his gear.

"I think he's mad," Dorian offered.

"Which is why we need him," Ka-Ron concluded.

All followed the wizard, having a greater confidence in his protection.

Upon boarding the
Argo
, everyone heard the curious sounds. They took on the suggestions of someone crying out for help. Then, as time passed, they sounded like a sort of shouting. Whatever their intentions, they were clearly heard by all.

"Molly!" Jatel said, running toward the cabin doors. "She could have been affected by the death of Voslow."

Ka-Ron joined her squire.

Upon opening their cabin door, Jatel and Ka-Ron found that their world just became a little more complicated.

The cabin door opened.

Both Molly and En-Don stopped.

Jatel and Ka-Ron stood still, looking stupefied.

In the shock of being caught in a rather intimate position, Molly let out a soft scream. As any decent woman would, she reached for a blanket and covered herself.

En-Don looked on, guilt clearly evident upon his face.

"Ah, sorry," Jatel stated as he quickly closed the door.

It took several beats before either Molly or En-Don reacted.

Both burst out in laughter.

"I think your mother hates me even more, now."

"Really?" En-Don's face mocked sincerity. "How could you tell?"

It had been some time since Molly had the feelings of a mortal woman. And, sitting atop such a handsome young man, with him deeply inside of her, she was in her own personal heaven. There was nothing better than this moment.

"Your mother's going to kill me."

"She cannot," En-Don insisted.

"En-Don," Molly said, beaming. "You'd come to my rescue?"

"Of course," the young man confirmed, grabbing her by the waist. "But that is not what I meant. I meant to state that it would be impossible for my mother to kill you, now."

"Why?"

En-Don grinned, kissing Molly upon her hanging breasts. "Because, my dear lady, I have her sword."

"My hero," Molly purred, enjoying.

Both continued with their lovemaking, knowing full and well that drama and persecution awaited for the both of them on the other side of the cabin door.

Jatel let go of the door knob as if it were on fire. He couldn't seem to shake the mental picture in his mind. His son, less than a phase old, was in bed, making love to a full-grown adult woman. And a woman who was a vampire, no less. As odd occurrences, this one took the cake!

Ka-Ron mumbled to herself.

"But&but&but&" the knight kept saying. A battle of wills, rules, and common sense were raging in Ka-Ron's skull, and no one had the courage to bring a halt to it.

"Sire," Jatel said, trying his best to calm Ka-Ron down.

Ka-Ron bolted. Backing away from everyone, she switched her attention constantly from her friends to the closed door of her cabin.

"He's still a babe," Ka-Ron cried. The tears coming down her cheeks spoke volumes. The pain was quite profound. "He is not ready for this! He barely knows his alphabet!"

"He seemed to know what he was doing," Dorian said.

Both Keeth and Rohan hit the dwarf with a tactful hand.

"What did I say?" the dwarf rebutted.

Jatel approached Ka-Ron, who, in response to his closeness, softly surrendered. She wrapped her arms around her love and wept. Glancing off towards his friends, Jatel calmly took hold of his master. He raised his eyes to the heavens, silently thanking them for his master's acceptance.

"I've lost my son even before I had a chance to know him," Ka-Ron cried.

"Nonsense," Jatel whispered, kissing his master upon her forehead. "In the long term, Ka-Ron, we will get to know him better."

"How?"

"What better way to know someone, than to see how they in turn love another?"

Ka-Ron gave in to the inevitable.

"Prepare to get underway!" Keeth shouted, stationing himself between the ship's wheel and his row of control levers.

Both Rohan and Dorian responded.

With ease, the dwarf pulled up the
Argo's
bow anchors. Rohan put the gangplank in place, and secured all the ship's lines. Each did his part to help the vessel get underway. All stood at a respectful distance away from both Ka-Ron and Jatel, who were still recovering from their parental shock.

Keeth pulled down on two levers and pulled back up on one.

Again the
Argo
clicked, vibrated, and rolled to life.

The ship became airborne.

"To The Fire Mountains!" the wizard shouted, turning the wheel until it could not be turned anymore.

Having cast one last glance towards Mull Garden, Keeth was happy to see a small group of villagers approaching the ancient castle. Once more, after the fear passed, people would live within her walls. Perhaps, just perhaps, her great history would be saved. The wizard went further with his assumptions: History was not through with Mull Garden. Her legacy continued still.

For Keeth, that was a satisfying feeling.

Ka-Ron sat silent upon Jatel's lap, glancing down at her tiny feet. Her shoes were ruined by the muddy waters of the bog, and there appeared to be no replacements. She waited for Kai's spell to take hold.

She was not disappointed.

Slowly, the stains in her shoes siphoned away. The tears and soiled marks faded as if a bad memory. Her shoes returned to their former glory.

For once, the knight did not curse the Wicca Master.

"Shoes are quite expensive in this economy," Ka-Ron mused to herself. "Better that magic replace them."

Her thoughts were interrupted by a kiss from her squire. Ka-Ron closed her eyes and beamed. Her position in Jatel's arms was not unpleasant.

"Better, now?" Jatel asked, nibbling on her ear.

"Somewhat." Ka-Ron turned her head, making Jatel's task easier to accomplish. "I knew this day would come, Jatel. To be honest, however, I imagined it seventeen seasons down the road."

"Hmmm&an interesting road, to say the least."

"An understatement."

The
Argo
disappeared from the Cibolan skyline, only to become a memory for storytellers, historians, and those seeking to thrill maidens on a foggy night.

Molly woke, blinking her eyes.

By all appearances, both she and En-Don had slept through the course of the morning, into the darkness of night. This amused her. After several seasons, being a vampire, she still was a night owl. Her mother was correct: bad habits were indeed hard to break. But, thankfully, that was now all in the past. For the first time, in a long time, Molly was hungry for food. She started to crave a fried piece of fish. She didn't care what kind it was, she only knew that is what she wanted to help start off her sun. Perhaps a warm glass of sheep's milk. Anything but blood.

En-Don snored.

Deep within his corner of the bed, Molly's love battled with the forces of the nocturne, and raised up one hell of a storm. It almost made the scene comical, if it had not been for the sweet fact that his ass poked out from under the sheets. That sight alone made the racket En-Don was causing somewhat bearable.

"Zzzzzzzzzz."

Molly winced at the noise.

"Oh, enough!" she playfully yelled, slapping En-Don upon his butt. "Wake up, my noisy prince."

"What?" En-Don's head popped up, and he searched.

"Time to rise and face the music, dear."

En-Don surrendered to the battle which lay before him. Although he was still new to this world, he was not naive enough to believe that his mother and father would accept his interest in Molly. Not even after her becoming mortal again.

The young man lowered his head and shook it in a troubled manner.

"We'd better," En-Don said, turning to face his love.

En-Don had all intentions of giving Molly a kiss, but, upon facing her, he was taken aback.

"No!" Molly screamed, placing a shaking hand outward, as if to order En-Don to keep his distance.

"Molly, what's wrong?"

The young man got up, strapped on his armor, and tried to approach his love. He could not understand why she kept avoiding him.

"Molly?" En-Don pleaded. "Tell me, what have I done?"

En-Don found his answer as she passed in front of a mirror.

"Dear gods!" the young man stated, placing a trembling hand up to his lips.

En-Don's mind raced as he inspected his reflection.

This was not who he was!

An aged man glared back at him: one well beyond even his parent's seasons. Gray hair sprinkled its way throughout his hair, concentrating the most at his sideburns. Wrinkles sprouted outward from his eyes, giving him an educated but rather dusty aura. He looked a man at least fifty in his seasons.

"I'm&I'm&old." En-Don mumbled.

Molly sat in a corner of the room crying.

It was all the woman could do.

"Is he well, wizard?" Jatel asked.

The squire held tightly to his master, who cried in his arms, shaking with both shock and anger. The shock came when she discovered that she was now younger than her own son, and the anger from wanting to behead Molly. Ka-Ron glared hard at the woman, who, like her, was crying for what had become of their young man. Molly had explained that she was no longer under Voslow's spell, and had become mortal again, but under the circumstances, nobody seemed to care.

All eyes were on En-Don.

"And you feel no discomfort or dizziness, young man?" Keeth asked, looking into En-Don's eyes with a candle and looking glass.

"None," the young man stated.

"You appear&healthy."

"Healthy, you say!" Ka-Ron shouted. "Look at him!"

"Woman, I am looking at him," the wizard barked. "Please, control your motherly urges."

"Keeth, what is wrong with me?" En-Don asked. "I am starting to look like you."

"Like me?" the wizard's eyes opened wide.

At En-Don's last remark, Rohan could not help but smile.

"I am looking old."

"With age, young man, comes wisdom," Keeth patted En-Don on the shoulder. "Start using it."

Silently, the wizard called Jatel and Ka-Ron over to one side.

"This is not good, my friends." Keeth's eyes could not look up at Ka-Ron's. "It appears your son is aging faster than anyone can stop him."

"Meaning?" Jatel asked.

"Meaning," Keeth said uneasily, "if he continues down his current path, your son will die of old age before the end of this luna."

Ka-Ron, not wanting to hear any of this, buried her face upon Jatel's chest. The knight openly cried out in pain. So much so, that no one upon deck seemed to know how to react to such a thing.

"Wizard, is there anything you can do to stop it?" Molly asked.

Upon hearing the voice of the woman who had attacked her lover and loved her son, Ka-Ron's eyes darted up at Molly, glaring at her with blazing hatred. Molly backed away, and took a safe position behind Rohan. It was clear to the woman where she stood in the scheme of things.

"To answer your question, young lady," Keeth meekly replied, "no. I know of nothing, but Kai, herself, who can bring a stop to this madness."

Again, Ka-Ron broke out in a painful series of cries.

"Why does this woman haunt me so?" the knight asked, softly beating her fists on Jatel's chest.

Jatel, fighting back his own tears, only gazed upward, praying to whatever god would listen.

Dorian, hearing all, stood upon the bow of the ship fighting an agonizing battle with his own demons. He knew well the spell under which En-Don had been placed. Several dwarfs, insulting wizards and witches through the ages had been placed under similar ones.

He knew of a cure.

He knew of the dangers.

It would be hard. It would be costly.

And, lastly, it could betray an honored and sacred secret.

"I know of a cure, dear friends," Dorian stated, his voice shaky and light.

All eyes turned to the dwarf.

Hope started to beam.

Dorian, however, had never been so terrified in all his life. What he was about to confess was for dwarfs' ears only. There had never been a story, legend, or myth involving anyone other than his own race. But he believed that what he knew could save the lad.

It could also, in the long run, make him a leper amongst his own kind.

It could kill him.

"Are you quite serious?" Keeth asked.

"Yes," Dorian confirmed. "I know of a cure."

Both Jatel and Ka-Ron did all within their power not to overwhelm the dwarf with questions. The dwarf knew that they were desperate, but,in his heart, he knew that what he was offering was right.

"Where is this cure?" Rohan's voice dripped with curiosity.

Upon hearing the elf's voice, Dorian stiffened. His gaze matched everyone's on board, but not that of his traveling companion.