The Dark Rider

CHAPTER Twenty-Six



The Rider stood poised above Falk. His hands gripped the hilt of the sword, his muscles contracting and expanding in unison as they carried the blade effortlessly downwards. He had won easily, his power absolute. He was the Rider. Hunter of Warders. Destroyer of the Light. Nothing else mattered to him at that moment. Then, like a knife piercing his skin, the awareness came. Other memories and knowing began to rise within him and as they did so the gravity of what he could sense opened him up and shocked him to the core of his being.

The wolves were moving.

They had found Nicola.

Now everything had changed. He could not kill Falk. He needed his help.

Falk’s blow caught him unaware, knocking him sideways onto the floor. As his sword flew out of his hand he found himself sprawled on the ice with Falk upon him, the blade of a knife gleaming as the man swung his hand forward. Desperately Paul raised his forearm narrowly blocking Falk’s attack. He followed through with the elbow of his other arm but Falk twisted his head away avoiding the blow and then punching down. Falk’s fist impacted with Paul’s temple and for a moment all Paul could see were stars. Blindly he kicked upwards with all his might. He heard Falk grunt with pain and fall away to the right. Rolling left Paul picked himself up shouting as he did so.

“They’ve found Nicola.”

Falk came at him but Paul could see the sudden confusion on the man’s face. Paul sidestepped the flashing blade with an inch to spare and brought his fist down towards Falk’s knife arm but the warrior had already moved out of the way and was flowing into his next strike. In desperation Paul cried out again.

“They’ll end the awakening.”

Falk let the knife run wide, his elbow connecting with the side of Paul’s head with a satisfying crunch sending him back down onto the floor. Falk knelt over him the tip of his knife resting against the side of Paul’s throat. His brain had registered the Rider’s words and now he was trying to comprehend them. At the same time he knew he had won. He had beaten the Rider and could end it now, destroy him before he found and killed Nicola and Alex. Part of him was already screaming to make the cut, to push his knife forward for he would never get another chance. What the hell was he waiting for?

Falk tensed his muscles.

“Alex,” Paul cried out desperately, his brain still reeling from the blow. “I can get her back.”

Falk hesitated. His eyes flicked to where, a few meters away, her lifeless body still lay on the ground miraculously untouched by the battle that had been fought around her. Could this really be true? He opened his awareness, letting it expand into the world above. He could sense the wolves moving. The Rider spoke again in a breathless whisper.

“Go and save Nicola from the wolves. I will bring Alex. Only then can we complete the awakening. There is no other way.”

The sudden choice lay before Falk, its weight bearing down on him.

“Why should I believe you?” growled Falk.

“Because I am not who you think I am,” cried Paul urgently. “Myrkur thought he banished Arachar when he made the first Rider but he did not. It is the same with me.”

“You led him here. You killed Gwen,” Falk barked back at him. “Your only purpose is to destroy.”

“The Rider killed them, not me,” said Paul breathlessly.

“You are the Rider,” cried Falk.

Paul’s voice dropped. He spoke with all the force he could muster.

“In a few minutes the wolves will be at a hotel in Penwryn. They will go to the second floor and there they will find Nicola and everything will end unless we act now, unless you trust me.”

“Listen to what you ask of me,” Falk cried out. “You, who brought death to me and my people. How can I ever trust you?”

“Because I could have killed you already.”

Paul indicated downwards to his right. Falk followed his gaze, a sinking feeling in his stomach. As he looked down he saw the needle sharp dagger in Paul’s other hand, the point of the blade pressed against the side of his chest. It would only have taken a single movement to plunge the blade through Falk’s ribs and into his heart.

“I love Nicola,” said Paul his eyes burning with anger. “Don’t you understand? I love her.”

The pair stared at each other for a few seconds, and then slowly Paul lessoned the pressure on the knife and then pulled it away.

“Do you trust me now Falk?”

Warily Falk clambered to his feet, not taking his eyes from Paul.

“It is true you could have killed me then, yet you did not.”

Falk sighed.

“What choice do I have?”

Paul held his stare.

“I didn’t ask for this.”

“Yet it is you,” Falk replied.

Paul stood up and then went to Alex’s side, cradling her head in his arms. He turned, his face unreadable.

“Nicola is shielded. Room 22 of the Victoria Hotel in Penwryn. I will wait for you at the Oak in the clearing.”

Falk nodded.

“And afterwards?”

“Nicola will decide.”

“We are still enemies,” said Falk.

“I know,” Paul replied holding his gaze.

Falk stood before them among the trees. Shock threatened to overwhelm him. Gwen was right. The Rider’s power was absolute. Yet Falk was still alive. The Rider was in turmoil, that was plain to see, a dangerous conflict burning within him. If what he said was true he was determined to complete the awakening. It was utter madness, for no agent of the Dark would allow that. Falk shook his head. His continued existence was living proof of the Rider’s intentions. He had no choice but to believe him. Taking a deep breath he launched himself upwards and embraced the falcon within his mind, his wings biting into the frigid air. Accelerating hard, his form merged with the night and then disappeared.


*****


Paul stared down at his sister. Her face was ashen, her chest barely moving as she breathed. He touched her forehead and tried to feel into her mind but it was as if a barrier had been thrown around her consciousness and he could sense nothing. He removed his hand and stared down at her, bitterness clutching at his heart, for there was nothing more he could do.

Gently he lifted her up, cradling her motionless body in his arms. Moving to his horse he lifted her up and placed her across the saddle. Readying himself he prepared to jump up behind her. It was then that he felt the link opening in his mind. At first he did not comprehend what was happening, but then the realization gripped him.

“No,” he screamed as the Rider took over his mind and called to Myrkur, but it was too late. Already Paul could feel a hole opening in the fabric of the forest and before he could react, Serenti were pouring through to surround him. In desperation he clutched at the dark energy, but as soon as he tried anything it collapsed and folded in on itself. The realization hit him then that he had lost. Powerless, he watched as a hundred Serenti moved to form a defensive circle around him and, as they did, he felt Myrkur’s presence pervading his consciousness like poison. As the last Serenti moved into place a heavy silence descended across them, and in that silence Paul’s hopes left him.

“So this is the cost?”

“Did you really think you could evade me?” Myrkur’s voice spoke into his mind.

“Arachar did,” Paul responded bitterly.

“But not forever, Rider.”

“Just get it over with,” Paul growled in his mind.

“There is no easy way out.”

“All you want is death.”

“And for a long time that is what you brought them.”

Paul shuddered as the words hit him. Suddenly memories rose to his consciousness. He was moving on horseback through the trees. Ahead the Warder he had been tracking was moving quickly but the trap was already laid and an army of Serenti waited. Inside him the tremor of excitement and adrenaline was already rising. The Warder stopped and closed her eyes, touching the energy and pulling herself back into her group’s hideaway. With its location revealed the Rider opened himself to the dark energy and followed. He saw the surprise on her face and watched in fascination as the realization dawned, as the knowledge of her failure and what was to come filled her until her eyes burned with anger and despair. Then the Serenti spilled through the gap and the slaughter followed. Yes, he remembered the slaughter, and the rivers of blood.

“No,” Paul cried desperately trying to force the images from his brain. “That was not me.”

Again Paul heard the soft chuckle, like an echo in the wind.

“I’m afraid you are quite wrong.”

A movement caught Paul’s eye and he turned his head to see one of the Serenti detach itself from the circle and step towards him.

“Let it approach,” Myrkur’s voice commanded.

Paul froze as the monster came towards him, its armored skin glinting with frost.

“You face a choice Rider. The new Warder still lives. The one you call Nicola.”

Hearing her name Paul felt pain lancing across his chest as his heart tightened.

“Do the wolves have her?” he asked trying to suppress the fear rising within him.

“No. But it is of no consequence.”

“How can that be?”

“Do you want your sister to live?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

The Serenti was close now, so close that the stench of its breath filled his nostrils and Paul fought the urge to gag. It stopped and towered above him, dilated pupils fixed on him, eyelids drawn back in an expression of terror.

“I will send you back with your sister. The wood warrior will bring the other to you as he promised.”

The shock hit Paul in the stomach.

“You saw this?”

“I see everything.”

Paul felt dizzy, rapid breaths shallow to his lungs.

“The feathered one will only bring Nicola if he senses you both.”

Paul tried to comprehend the choice he was facing.

“It is this or your sister dies now.”

Paul nodded feebly, crushed by the inevitability.

“Let the Serenti touch you.”

The beast raised its massive clawed hands and touched, ever so gently, Paul’s and Alex’s foreheads.

“Now matters will end.”

Paul felt a sudden surge of power within the clearing and he opened his awareness to the dark energy, feeling it surround and envelop them so quickly that he had no time to control it, and suddenly his body felt like it was on fire. Throwing his head back he let out a piercing scream as the fabric of the worlds shifted and he felt his reality compressed into a single point of light. Around him the dark energy flowed and shifted, strands weaving themselves in complex patterns as Myrkur’s presence took control of them. They surrounded Alex, probing her mind and mending the broken neural pathways where they could and after a few moments the weaves withdrew.

All that was left was silence.