Chapter Six: The Young Knight

Have you ever had a dream, where you are running, or walking up or down a flight of stairs and you miss a step, or you trip? It was that sensation of falling that woke me from a dead sleep. I woke with a start and was instantly aware of three things.

One: it was dark out, which means I had been asleep awhile, it having been only early afternoon when we had stopped.

Two: all six of my dogs were on edge, their teeth bared in a snarl that rumbled deep in their chests, the hairs on their back standing up like thistles. This had me on my feet and alert instantly, my bow knocked and ready to fire.

And the third thing I noticed was that my horse was gone.

Keeping cautious and on alert, I made my way to where I had last seen my horse. The grass was crushed and the ground still warm, telling me that the horse had not wandered off or had not been taken that long ago. "Bruce, Dhòmsha." My eldest deer hound stalked over to me and sat beside me "can you find her, boy?" I asked and he set about sniffing the ground where the horse had laid. He gave a single deep bark and took off like a bolt. "Falbh!" I ordered the other dogs, who sniffed the ground where the horse had laid before following after their elder, me hot on their heels.

When I was a young bairn my mother used to tell me a story, a long time ago, in ages long since forgotten, the Vail between the world of mortals and the world of the fae was torn asunder. The tear shook both worlds violently. When the world of the fae shook pieces of it fell through the Vail, and one of those pieces was the land of Caledonia and that is why the Vail between this world and the world of the fae is so thin here. As I followed my dogs through the woods, this story played over and over again in my head. It was hard to navigate the dark woods, but I did my best, keeping up with the dogs as best I could, dodging in and out of the path of trees and bushes, jumping over logs and large boulders. 

When I finally caught up with the dogs, all six of them sat in front of a bush, waving their tails enthusiastically. I approached the bush and knelt down beside Bruce, giving him a good scratch behind the ear "good boy" I gave his back a firm pat before proceeding, as silently as I could, through the bush. When I came out the other side I found myself in a small opening in the wood, off to my right stood my horse, grazing on some grass, there was no sign of anyone else and the horse seemed fine, leaving me to believe she had wandered off on her own.

As I stepped out to approach her I paused. Off to my left something had caught my eye. What I had thought at first was just a pile of rocks, turned out to be some sort of old stone pathway, which lead up toward what looked to be an old ruined castle. I looked to my horse, then back to the castle, my dogs had followed me through the bush and waited for commands. I looked down at Bruce, who sat at my side, and I could tell he was on edge. I could hear a faint growl in his chest and the hairs on his back still stood on end. "What is it boy?" I asked looking back up at the castle ruins. I gave the rest of my dogs a look and all of them sat staring up the stone path, growling softly and their hair on end. "Bruce, come with me, the rest of you stay. Keep an eye on the horse" the other five dogs moved over to sit by the horse, who for some reason, did not seem bothered like the dogs. Bruce and I then slowly made our way up the stone path toward the ruins.

We reached the castle without any trouble, but the closer we got the more on edge Bruce became, and I was starting to see why. The air seemed thick and foreboding. It was also stale to the taste and smelt slightly off, I couldn't place it. When we reached the shattered doorway into the ruins, I signaled Bruce to stay and proceeded alone. It was a small castle, but I could tell that at some point it had been grand in appearance. Old beams from lost ceilings littered the floor with broken furniture and faded tapestries. Old candleabras hung for dear life from the stone walls by a single nail. As I proceeded further I took care where I stepped, not wanting to make noise and alert anyone... Or thing... that might be lurking within these walls. As I approached an open door at the far end of the grand opening I paused to glance up a dark stairwell. Half of me wanted to go up the stairs and another wanted me to go through the doorway. Deciding I'd go up the stairs I paused when a sound caught my attention.

Slowly I approached the door way, drawing back my arrow I rounded the corner into the other room. I had expected to find a couple bandits, maybe even a wild animal, it had never crossed my mind that I would run into what I found. Quickly i dived behind a large piece of wall that had fallen over. I held my breath for a moment, waiting to see if the creature had noticed me or not.

I had never seen anything like it. It was the size or a large bear, with front arms the size of tree trunks, and hoofed legs. Running down its back it had very wiry white hair, with eyes as equally white. It was eating something, it's jaws easily big enough to fit my whole head inside, sharp teeth protruded from both its upper and lower jaws. I let out a slow breath when I was sure I was safe. Slowly I stood up and started to slowly back away. I noticed that the animal was feasting on a cow.. of all the places for my damn horse to wander.. as I backed toward the door slowly, the sword at my side bumped the wall. As the clang rang out within the room I cursed my own stupidity!

The creature jerked its head up from its meal and gazed directly at me. I froze on the spot as I stared down his white eyed, blood stained face. The creature let out a blood chilling roar before jumping down from its perch and charging me. I raised my bow and let the arrow go. I struck the beast in the shoulder, way off my intended target, the arrow bouncing off it's thick hide, i turned and ran. I raced for the front door but some how, the creature came crashing down in front of me. I haulted, feet from the monster. Dropping my bow I drew the sword my father gave me. It felt strange to be using a single handed weapon, and one that was so light. Compared to my claymore this sword weighed nothing. "What are you!?" I hissed as I readied myself for an attack. The creature moved toward me slowly, like a predator stalking its prey. Before the monster could make a move however, Bruce came bounding into the room and jumped onto the monsters back and dug his fangs deep into the monsters neck. The monster made a painful Yelp like a wounded dog might make and thrashed around madly to shake off its attacker. 

Reaching over its shoulder, the monster took hold of Bruce in one of its massive hands and tossed him across the room. I heard my old friend Yelp in pain as he crashed through an old table, shattering it to splinters. "Creagh dhu!" I sounded my battle cry as anger took hold of me. I charged the beast and plowed my shoulder hard into its side. A pain shot through my arm as if I had just plowed into a stone wall. My arm went dead and my weapon dropped from my fingers. I managed to knock the monster over but my way to the door was still blocked, and I was not about to leave without Bruce. I turned and ran for the staircase, my mind still on my old friend and the monster closing in on me.

I took the staircase two at a time, my left arm gripping my right as it hung limply at my side. What the hell was this thing made of? When I reached the top of the stairs I was met with a long hallway. Doorways lined each wall and at the far end was another stairwell.

I had no time to think. I ran from door to door. Some opened to dead end empty rooms, and others lead nowhere, their rooms having crumbled to rubbled a long time ago. As I reached the end of the hall and began my climb, the monster was just reaching the top of the first stairwell. The top of the stairwell was blocked by a thick wood door. Despite my current predicament, I noticed how the state of the door did not match the rest of the castle. It was very out of place compared to the rest of its surroundings.

At first I tried the handle, but the door wouldn't give. Cursing I kicked the door a few times before throwing my already hurt shoulder into it. Pain wracked my body as my shoulder slammed into the door over and over again, but still the door would not open. "Fine!" I spat in frustration "as long as I die inna glorious battle, who cares if it's against such a beast!" I pulled my Dirk from its sheath at my side and readied to fight the monster with my off hand with just a dagger. As I braced myself against the door a soft click sounded and the door swung open, causing me to fall backwards into the room. Before I had time to look around the monster rounded the stairwell to the top. Quickly I slammed the door shut and managed to get it locked just as the beast threw its weight into the door. Dust rained down with each blow to the door. "That won't hold long" I thought out loud as I turned to examine the room for anything that might help.

The room was empty, except for a single throne. Sitting in the throne was a statue of a knight, he wore a heavy suit of chainmail with a tabard over top embroidered with a single cross on the chest, he had long flowing hair and handsome features, he was young too, one hand rested on the arm rest of the throne, where a helmet sat perched, his other arm resting on the top of a mighty hammer, that stood at his side. On the back of the throne hung a mighty sword.

Judging by the smooth, whitish-grey colour of the stone, I figured it had to be marble. Well I was admiring the statue, the beast broke through the door, which made a loud bang as it crashes to the floor. I turned, dagger still in hand, ready to fight the beast, the beast charged, ready to kill, I brought my left fist down hard, managing to catch the monster in the eye. Pain shot up my arm, but the creature stumbled. I had never punched any living thing that felt like that. This creatures hide was hard and thick as stone. In its daze, the creature waved it's arms in a confused attack. The blow knocked me over, crashing into the statue. The blow knocked the stone hammer free, which fell to the ground and shattered, except, instead of a pile of rock at my feet, I looked down at a pile of rock dust and a hammer, not a stone hammer, but a real hammer of solid wood and metal.

Noticing the monster was still in a daze from the hit to the head, I grabbed the hammer, gripping it tight in both hands, I hefted the hammer over my head, roaring with frustration, I brought the hammer down hard on the monsters head. The monster dropped to the ground from the blow but began to rise again. Again I brought the hammer down then again, and once more. The creature lay still, it made not attempt to get back up and it's eyes remained closed. I saw no blood, or any sign of physical damage at all to the creature it was as if my blows had counted for nothing. I held the hammer over my head and wait for what seemed like a life time, when I could no longer hold the hammer up, I decide the creature wasn't going to get back up. I kissed the hammer in the excitement of victory. 

"Thanks for the help" I turned to look at the statue. To my surprise, the marble crumbled away to show a young knight of flesh and blood. His hair was long and brown, his skin clear and fair. His armour looked to be of the highest quality, and just when I thought he would open his eyes and speak, his flesh too turned to dust to leave only a skeleton sitting in armour, but those too began to crumble into dust. Made uneasy by what I had just seen, I stepped around the beast and left, taking the hammer with me.

Both my arms hurt like hell. Now that I was calm and my adrenaline was gone I couldn't lift my right arm again and I was sure that that punch had broken a knuckle or two. When I got down stairs I collected my boe and my father's sword and went to check on Bruce. As I approached where he had been tossed a bark pulled my attention to the door. In the doorway stood Bruce, his tail going crazy, happy to see his master.

As i mounted the horse and turned it to leave, I risked a glance over my shoulder. Standing in the doorway of the ruins was the young knight. He crossed an arm across his middle and gave me a respectful bow before turning to walk back into the ruins, vanishing as he did. "Let's go" I told the animals and we left the ruins behind us.

I do not own any of these photos. All and full credit to the owners.