Chapter 10: Resolution

Kate was surprised when New Years eve rolled around, and New Years Day followed uneventful. King Gerard had left along with Princess Savina to celebrate the engagement of the Princess at his castle. Although, he promised to write and visit Kate often, Kate was not really sure if he would keep his promise. Instead, she sat and watched the spectacle unfold before her in the courtyard below. Carriages were loaded up with trunks while good-byes and well wishes exchanged between the Princess and her Uncle, King Gerard and his Uncle the King, and Dame Barbara who was sobbing the entire time. Kate thought she saw Johan ride out on Bayard, and she wondered if he would be charged with the duty of escorting Princess Savina and her fiancé to King Gerard's castle. Instead, she saw several of the King's knights ride up. They were brutes, sitting in full plate armor, atop heavy war horses bedecked in the King's colors. Kate counted at least twelve of the King's finest riding up. All of them, were seasoned warriors and more than capable of handling the task. Some of the knights Kate did not recognize, they were not wearing the colors of King Gerard, or the Good King. Kate guessed they were Prince Raul's knights. Soon, all was loaded up, it was time for goodbye, as the Princess climbed into the carriage along with Prince Raul and King Gerard. The coach driver gave a shout and a crack of a whip caused the carriage to lurch forward. Soon, the entourage was off, one circle around the courtyard, then through the gatehouse. Kate watched as Johan rode off following the group on Bayard until he too disappeared beyond the gatehouse. She was unsure why she felt so scared, but watching him go made her heart ache.

She was able to stand up and move around her room more. Every day she grew stronger, and she worked hard to increase her endurance. She continued to practice using her sword alone, repeating the movements until she memorized them. She visualized herself fighting the ice wyvern, fighting the trolls, and fighting the dragon. She read and reread the spells Poppa Smurf taught her, practicing them in the fireplace of her room. Each new spell brought with it a new challenge, which she met head on. She became proficient with fire spells, and enjoyed being able to manipulate flames to her advantage. Each spell had a price though, sometimes they physically wore her out, other times they made her ill. She took her time with each spell, when she rushed, she found she made mistakes. Costly mistakes resulting in singed hair, clothing, and skin. She learned how to use the fire to her advantage until the flames danced within her hands, and she was able to conjure an ominous looking fireball that danced and hovered in the hearth. There was more to fire magic than simply controlling the fire, or even creating it. There was the task of mastering all forms of it. Poppa Smurf continued to instruct her on the power of harnessing lightning and the power of earth fire. That is, the prime fire from which all others are born. Finally, dragon fire. That which is created from the ether which is neither an element or a material. It is born from magic and can only be used by those who have mastered elemental fire. Kate could just about manage to hold a small flame of dragon fire for a short time before causing it to disappear into nothing. She remembered how it felt, it was not hot and friendly but alluring and menacing. The thought of the dancing flame which twisted and turned between her fingers never left Kate. It haunted her dreams, consumed her thoughts, and drove her to continue to practice.

Her only respite was the brief, fleeting moments she spent with Peewit and sometimes Johan. It was her time with Johan that she enjoyed the most. They would often walk together through the castle, and sometimes through the leisure gardens. Kate felt stronger and was able to take longer walks with him as her leg healed. Soon, she was back at the stables taking care of Brego Bree. Her mind constantly wandered to Johan, she wondered how he was doing, and if he thought of her as much as she did him. Even so, she had to smile as she brushed down Brego Bree.

"BB, soon my friend, we are going to set off on another adventure." Kate said to the horse.

Brego only whinnied snorting and sniffing her arm. He looked at her, nuzzling for the carrot she kept in her pocket. Kate relented once she had finished the job giving the horse the carrot. As Brego ate it, she brushed out his mane and tail.

"No really, this time, next year I'll be home." She told the horse.

Brego's ears flicked back and he stopped chewing. Instead, he gave a snort and stamped his foreleg.

"What?" Kate asked. "Don't you get all weird with me."

The horse was unimpressed.

"Anyway, the guy I like, well he's going to be a knight, and Knights only court Ladies, not some hick from a nowhere town in nowhere USA."

Kate sat down upon a small stool the ferrier used to shoe horses. She looked up watching Brego Bree who took it upon himself to chew on hay in a rather thoughtful manner. Kate smiled chuckling at his expression. "You're a goofball." She said with a laugh. Kate stood up and headed out of the stables. She had not gone far before she felt a hand seize her upper arm. She spun around standing face to face with Johan. His expression was hard to read.

"Johan, is there a problem?" She asked startled.

"Not all Knights follow that code." Johan said softly. "Some are free to choose who they will court." Then, he pulled her into his arms kissing her deeply. Kate gasped struggling to pull free from his embrace. She felt confused, bewildered, and a little scared. He let her go and held her at arms length.

"I, I just did not know. I saw you ride out following King Gerard's entourage. We have not spent much time alone beyond sparring and preparing for the quest. You know I do not belong here. You belong with Savina, not me." Kate blurted out, her voice shaking. "This is, I don't know, but I am scared that this is wrong."

Johan looked at her. Kate felt the hot tears roll down her cheeks as she struggled to retain her decorum, yet when she looked into his eyes she felt her heart melt. "I just don't know anymore, I wanted to go home, yet now I'm afraid." She said. "I am afraid I am falling in love with you."

Johan smiled. "Wow, that's a relief, I mean not in an arrogant way, just that I was afraid you hated it here." He said.

Johan's reply caught Kate off guard and all she could do was laugh and cry. "Yeah." She managed to say. Johan pulled her into another tight embrace burying his face in the folds of her cloak.

"Kate, no matter what happens, I will go with you to the very end, and beyond. I love you, and no rules or decrees can change that simple fact." He whispered into her ear. "I fell in love with you, when I least expected it, and now I confess it feels as if I have always been in love with you."

Their moment was broken by the cough of a stablehand.

Johan quickly walked with Kate, his cloak swishing behind him as they left the stable. They walked for some time in silence. Kate's mind was reeling from the outburst of emotion and Johan's reaction. She had no idea he felt that way, although Peewit hinted about it to her.

"That is why you did it!" Kate exclaimed.

"Did what?" Johan replied arcing a brow at her remark.

"Why you went with them." Kate said.

"What?" Johan started to say, then he paused. "Well, yes."

"You wanted to be certain about those other Knights." Kate replied.

"Exactly." Johan said, "that was why I also kept my distance from you while King Gerard was around."

"Ok, I don't understand that." Kate replied.

Johan led her to a stone bench and sat her down, before sitting down next to her, still keeping his arm around her shoulders.

"The truth is, Gerard is a King. He outranks me and can easily make life difficult for me, but I think he might be a very good ally. Also, I saw he liked you." Johan said with a slight blush. "What could I do?"

"I see." Kate replied. "You are a really kind soul."

Johan looked at her. "Do you think so, because I don't."

"Why?"

"Because every time he looked at you, spoke to you, touched you, I hated him. Yet, I owe so much to him. It was his arrow that brought down the first ice wolf, it was his arrow that distracted the wyvern, that ultimately allowed me to kill it." Johan said softly. "He carried you back, and sent his own personal guard to fetch Homnibus, and his own doctor to help you."

Kate was unsure how to react. She had thought that Johan saved her life, that it was Johan who brought Homnibus to her. She thought it was Johan who put himself in danger to help her. Really, it was King Gerard. She felt horrible. She never thanked him, she never knew.

"But I love you." Kate said. "This is a mess."

"We'll figure something out." Johan replied.

Johan got up and offered her his hand. Kate took it and together they walked into the castle.

Meanwhile, something stirred beneath the great black mountain of Crb Goch. Within the sulfurous, burning abyss, a creature of ash and smoke writhed within its lair deep in the heart of the mountain. Two eyes opened, burning brightly, as pupils became narrow slits. Claw scraped upon stone, scale upon a blanket of gold horded from generations of Kingdoms. A legacy of hellfire and horror now started to wake within the shadows. Giant wings stretched their leathery expanse as muscles rippled beneath scale armor burnished with blood and fire. The creature turned and settled down, only its forked black tongue flicked from its mouth tasting the air, as its eyes glazed over within the darkness silently waiting.

The white stag lifted his head and looked to the North before springing off into the deep forest. Oliver woke up clutching his chest, his scream of terror caught in his throat.

"It stirs." Homnibus whispered. "The old wyrm is calling for the one who will challenge him."

"I saw, fire, the world was in flames, no one could escape the darkness that blotted out the sun. Kingdoms fell before my eyes, castles crumbled, and men fell as trees before the woodsman's ax." Oliver said wiping his forehead with his sleeve. "I saw it, I saw the dragon it landed, and the earth shook, it stretched its wings and the sky became dark, it swallowed the sun and the moon, it caused men to shrivel and turn to ash. Its roar was that of a thousand winds, its teeth black lances as sharp as swords. Its scales like the armor on a mighty warhorse! Its movement fluid and quick as lightning."

"Did you see the gate?" Homnibus asked.

"I saw it stood behind the dragon, it was not in the mountain, but upon it. It stood in a circle of wood and stone. It was surrounded by fire, yet it did not burn. It is waiting." Oliver replied.

Then the young apprentice shook his head and fell back down into his bed, fast asleep.

"You have done well my son." Homnibus said softly as he pulled the blanket over Oliver. "Rest now, the days will come when such a luxury will not be ours to have."