Episode 25: Part 2
The cawing of crows echoed across the overcast skies of Blackmoor Marshes as the knights rode along down a secluded trail while being escorted by a small party of Fir Bolg hunters. The six heroes had donned their armor again and sat mounted upon their steeds. They had decided to save some strength while following the directions of the village elder Helena. The old woman rode slowly at the head of the party atop a gray pony while two Fir Bolg warriors guarded her closely.
"We're almost there children," she called while bringing her horse to a slow halt. "If you keep going down this marshy path, it should lead you to the isle of the Gallow Tree. My warriors and I dare not come any closer than here."
"Thank you for everything Helena. We appreciate all the help," Kristen said gratefully while she rode with Connor on his horse. "You've done more than enough by helping us to get here."
The old sage nodded with a look of mixed amusement and wistfulness, "I still pray you don't visit that horrible place. Remember, the Gallow Tree is a plant of pure evil. Some say that it was the burial place of a terrible and legendary necromancer... one whose will and wrath was so strong that the Gallow Tree grew in its place as a perverse monument of his tomb. The fruit that it bears is said to be made of concentrated life force drawn from the tree's victims. And Hexus... perhaps it was an ancient pet of the necromancer or maybe a beast that was enslaved to the tree's vile will."
"Gee... that all sounds really pleasant," Laura muttered quietly, "It really makes fighting Balor and Morgana sound like a day at the carnival now."
Helena ignored Laura's comment and kept speaking with Kristen, "I wish you and your knights luck. I will pray for your safe return to our village..." sooner rather than later.
Once their Fir Bolg escorts had departed back down the path toward their village, the knights cantered their mounts forward. They didn't quite know what kinds of specific dangers to expect, but they had come this far. There was no turning back now. They followed the path for a while and eventually came to an opening in the marshes where a large swampy pond lay before them. Out in the middle of the pond was a large black tree which looked dead and barren save for a golden glowing apple that hung off one of its skeletal upper branches. The shimmering treasure all made them stop and take pause to admire the seemingly forbidden fruit. Noelle gave an excited smile, "That must be it! That's the golden fruit!"
"I can see why they called that thing the Gallow Tree," Stephen commented as they rode to the edge of the pond and dismissed their magical mounts, "It looks like something out of a horror movie... you know, except without a bunch of skulls and dead bodies hanging off it."
"Thanks for the positive mental image there," Quinton mumbled giving his comrade an elbow before Connor hardened his expression and raised his ring.
"Now's not the time. Let's keep a sharp eye out and not take any chances... let's suit up."
The knights called their weapons and armor before the Summer Knight pointed toward the tree.
"Well… here goes nothing," Connor said as he slowly began to wade forward. While the others cautiously advanced behind him, Stephen took his eyes away from the tree and instead scanned the murky waters around them. As he idly glanced about, he caught sight of a few odd bubbles rising up nearby and displaces some of the muck. He frowned and began walking a little closer to investigate when he saw the surface of the swamp water begin to shift as if something large was moving underneath. The Silver Knight froze and watched the direction of the moving water before abruptly sprinting out to pull Connor out of the way of impending danger. To the two young knights' horror, they witnessed a large monstrous form emerge from the pond scum.
As the swamp water sprayed and the algae and mud sloughed off, a serpentine creature with black colored scales reared up and spread its jagged leathery wings in a menacing warning.
"No way… is that Hexus?" Noelle asked in a meek wavering voice.
Quinton froze in horror and felt a shiver run down his spine, "Oh… sh-"
"It's a… dragon?" Laura cut in with equal dread while watching the creature fully emerge from its hiding place. Without waiting, Hexus let out a piercing cry of fury.
Kristen blinked in shock and shook her head to try and keep her wits about her, "No… it's a wyvern! They're lesser dragons but just as lethal."
Connor and Stephen fearfully retreated back toward their friends and regrouped but Kristen waved everyone away while raising her staff, "No! Spread out everyone!"
Before she could shout some more, the black wyvern reared back and belched a spray of liquid from its mouth which bounced off a hastily raised shield spell by the Druid. Everyone watched in terror as the dragon spit went wide and began to quickly burn away some of the ground and vegetation which stuck out of the water. Not to be outdone, the dragonlike monster gave a huff and snorted out a small cloud of sulphurous gas which blanketed the pond and caused the knights to helplessly choke and sputter.
"Faerie dragons have various kinds of breath weapons," Kristen shouted through coughs as their party spread out and moved to counterattack the new monster. "It looks like this one spits acid and poison gases."
Noelle used the elemental power of her ring to blow away some of the poison gas before turning to Laura, "What are we going to do? I'm not sure we'll have enough firepower to take that thing down."
The Winter Knight quickly surveyed the battlefield before turning to Connor, "She's right. We'll have to outmaneuver that beast. Noelle, Stephen, and I will keep that thing busy while you make a break for the tree!"
The Summer Knight nodded in agreement and drew his sword, "All right then. Quinton, it's up to you to grab that apple and run. I'll keep you safe as best as I can."
Quinton nodded and drew his sickle as the two split out wide to the right and began circling around to the right side of the pond. Meanwhile, Stephen drew back a shot and fired an arrow to distract the wyvern while Laura and Noelle readied their own attacks alongside Kristen. The Druid stayed in the rear rank and began casting a few protective charms over her young charges. Stephen's silver arrow glanced off the side of the armored reptile's skull and it turned with a murderous glare to home in on its next target. As it thrashed its wings and began to flail at the knights, they tumbled away from the sheer size and force of the serpentine creature. A spray of swamp water rained down in the air while the monster lashed out with its snapping teeth but Noelle rolled sideways and struck a glancing blow off the beast's flank. Unfortunately, its armored hide was too thick and she did little damage with the slash.
Meanwhile, Laura darted in from the other flank and sprung up on the beast's hindquarters punishing its left wing with a flurry of icy sword thrusts and cut cuts. As she found a more vulnerable spot, the small swamp dragon bucked violently and roared before flexing its wing. The move surprised Laura and threw her off but Stephen moved quickly and arrived just in time to catch her. As Stephen awkwardly fell backwards and the two tumbled end over end in an armored heap, Kristen stepped forward and brought her staff around calling up a powerful burst of air. The pocket of wind slammed into the monster's head, stunning it while Noelle stepped up to help guard Kristen, "Hang in there everyone! We hold the line here!"
Meanwhile, Connor and Quinton sprinted across the shallow pond to the island where the Gallow Tree lay. Hanging above on one of the higher branches was the golden shimmering apple that they had spotted from a distance. Connor leveled his sword and squared away before jogging closer, "All right. So far so good."
No sooner had he said that was when several dark roots burst from the ground and the sinister tree began to sway, using its other branches to flail like sinister whip-like arms. Quinton halted in momentary shock as Connor gasped and hacked apart a root that had threatened to snare him, "Ok... maybe not so good. Quinton!"
The Spring Knight snapped out of it and grabbed his sickle and sword charging forward toward the tree, "Right! The apple!"
As he charged forward, he saw the Summer Knight furiously slashing down the murderous roots of the tree while his other friends fought a desperate battle on the shore to distract the black wyvern Hexus. Right now all his friends were counting on him to be brave and get that apple. Like his friend Laura, he had come a long way on this journey... not only to the bogs but also in becoming a stronger person over the course of a year. Being a knight had made him more confident, decisive, and determined even in the face of a seemingly hopeless situation. Right now, as long as one of them succeeded in their objective, there was still hope. Quinton gave a shout and slashed through several branches of the tree before grabbing on to a thicker one and letting it pull him up as it thrashed backwards furiously.
The Spring Knight held tight as he was pulled up into the tree and placed within arms reach of the glowing golden fruit. Quinton rolled sideways and slashed away an attacking branch before reaching out and cutting the other tree limb holding the apple with his sickle. Before the fruit could fall, Quinton snatched it in midair and gave a triumphant grin, "I got it!"
His celebration was cut short as the tree shook again and knocked him off balance just enough for several other branches to curl around him and pin him with crushing force. Upon seeing his friend in danger, Connor redoubled his efforts and tried to hack his way closer though the offending roots, "Hang on Quin! I'm coming!"
Like his comrade, the Summer Knight was overwhelmed by a sudden surge of more roots that restrained his limbs and began to strangle him. As Connor fought desperately to break free, he could see the ground around him had been unearthed by the animated roots which now exposed the skeletons of numerous past victims that the tree had claimed and likely drained of their life energy. He wouldn't let himself become another one of those victims.
From the shore, Stephen could see the desperate situation unfolding near the Gallow Tree. He spared a moment to glance back at the battle against Hexus and saw it wasn't going much better. Laura and Noelle were fighting furiously to harry and slash the dragon monster while a tired looking Kristen stayed back performing Druid magic to relieve any minor injuries or exhaustion from the two female knights. The Silver Knight gritted his teeth and prepared an arrow before turning toward the island where the Gallow Tree was thrashing his other friends. Infusing the arrow with a bit of energy, Stephen aimed carefully and released a powerful bolt that split the air and struck the tree limbs that were constricting Quinton.
The Spring Knight gave a shocked gasp as he fell down from the tree and landed right on top of Connor and the roots that were choking him to death. The momentary force of the blow stunned both knights and caused the roots to let up their grip in order to recover from the shock. As he rose to his feet, Connor shook off his daze as Quinton helped him up and summoned his faerie steed, "I got the apple Connor! Let's get the hell out of here!"
"Right behind you buddy. I had enough of this tree anyway!" Connor growled as he ignited his blade and slashed apart several roots with one more swing before unleashing a fire cloud slash at the base of the Gallow Tree itself. As the freakish undead tree caught fire, it began to thrash in a wild violent manner, almost as if it were in pain. The two knights jumped upon Quinton's horse and dashed quickly back across the shallow pond to join in the battle with the wyvern.
Upon reaching the battle, the knights were halted again as the wyvern spewed a poisonous cloud of choking gas. While the six sputtered and coughed, Hexus lashed out violently with its tail and its wings, knocking everyone to the ground. Laura, Noelle,and Quinton were tossed aside roughly as they were bashed by a wing strike while Connor and Stephen shielded Kristen and took a swipe from the monster's tail. Both knights fell over gasping as they had the wind knocked out of their already depleted lungs.
Hexus stomped the ground and loomed over the downed heroes before giving a triumphant roar and taking to the skies with its wings. The wyvern beat the air a few times and reared back into position to finish off the stunned intruders with another acid spray. Quinton grunted and rolled over looking to Laura who was trying to resist too. "We're not dying here... not yet."
The Spring Knight gritted his teeth and channeled as much remaining elemental energy as he could through his ring before unleashing a tremendous bolt of Spring Thunder at the beast. The rolling lightning bolt engulfed the wyvern and caused it to scream while it hung transfixed in midair for a moment. As the blinding flash and thunderclap faded, Hexus dropped like a giant rock into the pond causing a huge spray of swamp water. Not wanting to waste an opportunity, Laura scrambled over and jabbed her rapier into the edge of the water, focusing as much Winter Ice as she could. In mere heartbeats, the entire pond was flash frozen into solid dirty ice.
Both Quinton and Laura slumped over as their armor faded away. While they had completely drained themselves in that fight, they had bought an opportunity to hold Hexus down long enough to escape. Battered, bruised, and weary, the other three hurried over and scooped up their friends along with Kristen on their summoned horses and made a hasty retreat from the heart of Blackmoor.
Connor reared his mount and secured Quinton before giving one last look to the frozen pond and the still burning Gallow Tree in the center island. It was truly a bizarre and surreal sight that one could only expect to see here in the Faerie Realm. "Come on guys. Let's get the hell out of here."
Noelle exchanged quick look with Kristen before giving a nod, "Helena and the Fir Bolgs will be expecting us. Let's not keep them waiting."
Stephen gripped the limp form of Laura and spurred his own mount into a gallop following his friends away from the unhallowed clearing. "And not a moment too soon."
Upon returning to the overjoyed Fir Bolg village, the knights took some time to let Quinton and Laura regain their strength while also celebrating the recovery of the golden apple. After crossing back over to the real world, Kristen and the knights returned to town to rest and recover after their recent frightful ordeal in the Faerie Realm. To their relief, the rain and storms had passed and mild gentle weather had returned to Somerset Valley.
They still had a week left before their next meeting with Lord Gwydion but the apple was left with Kristen for safekeeping and study. After taking another day to clean up and enjoy the comforts of hot meals and sleeping in soft warm beds, the knights slowly tried to acclimate themselves back to the routine and safety of college life at their dormitory. After dinner that particular evening, Connor walked up to the upper floors of the dorm and strolled out onto one of the building's balconies. From his vantage point, he could see out over part of the grassy quad and some of the nearby dorms and lecture halls situated nearby.
By now, the early evening sun had cast a warm orange-yellow hue to the skies while the last fleeting gasps of the summer season kept the air comfortably warm, but not overbearing. It was a beautiful evening, but the Summer Knight stood with a reticent look and almost an air of slight melancholy about him. It was strange really. In some ways, the Faerie Realm was an exaggeration of the real world. Against the breathtaking primal beauty of the land or the savage terrifying dangers there, the real world sometimes began to seem a bit dull by comparison. As he watched the dying light of day in the skies, Connor couldn't help but understand a little those stories of mortals who were never quite the same after spending some time on the other side... like Leanansihe.
His somber thoughts were interrupted as he heard the balcony doors open behind him and he glanced back for a moment only to see his girlfriend enter and approach the edge of the railing. Noelle gave her trademark smile, one that was gentle but cheerful, "Hey... what are you doing all the way up here?"
"Sorry, I was just thinking a little. I had a lot on my mind."
Noelle looked out over the quad and nodded calmly, "I can see. You've got an awful long face tonight too. That's kinda unusual for you, isn't it?"
Connor snorted and continued gazing out over the quad, "I just couldn't help but think that summer is almost gone... and so has the past year. A lot has happened and a lot of things changed."
"You make some of those changes sound like a bad thing," Noelle laughed quietly while putting a hand over his on the railing .
"Oh I didn't mean it like that," he said with a reassuring smile while squeezing her hand back.
Noelle fell quiet for a moment before making an observation, "You know, maybe it's like Helena was saying about nature. It's just the way of things. Seasons change, lives change, and so do we. All of us have grown a bit since finding our magic rings last year."
"About that... I can't help but wonder if events are going to be changing soon too," Connor grimaced slightly while looking out toward the setting sun, "Now that we have that golden apple, we're going to be visiting the Summer Court, and that's a big deal. I'm sure Balor and his Fomorians are up to something big and if the other Faerie Courts are becoming more active... well, we're going to be caught right in the middle of it all."
"Gee... maybe being a knight has changed you too. You've started becoming a lot more serious and thoughtful about things," Noelle teased gently, "I kinda like it."
He gently bumped her with his own shoulder and sighed causing her to laugh again, "Come on. Let's just enjoy being home for a little while longer. We can worry about Balor again tomorrow."
"Yeah, you're probably right Noelle... thanks," he said quietly, "Any ideas on how we should distract ourselves tonight?"
The Autumn Knight tapped her finger to her chin thoughtfully and shrugged, "Wanna back to your dorm room and make out for a while?"
"Wait... what?" Connor blinked in surprise, "You're just saying things to mess with me now, aren't you?"
Noelle laughed again and led him back inside, "Well it got your attention and helped get you off this balcony... so yeah. Stephen told me he and the others were going to the Student Union later for a game night at eight. What do you say?"
"All right. Sounds good... but that's not for another two hours yet," Connor frowned while looking at his watch.
The Autumn Knight gave a mischievous wink and pulled her boyfriend along back down the hallways of the dorm, "That's okay. I'm sure we'll manage to figure something out in the meantime."
"Ah, seems like I'm not the only one who's changed either," Connor laughed while putting a sly arm around her shoulders, "A Noelle who isn't so timid and demure anymore? I think I could get used to that too."
He was met with a playful jab to the ribs as Noelle smirked and led the way downstairs to the lobby, "And don't you forget it either."