Chapter Ten
Destinies Intertwined
Once in a dream
Far beyond these castle walls
Down by the bay where the moonlit water falls
I stood alone while the minstrel sang his song
So afraid I'd lost my soul
Styx, Castle Walls
As the day wore on and shadows began to grow longer, Richard Castle examined their meager defenses. They only had to hold out until Kate was fit to travel, but no matter how he weighed them in his head, the odds just wouldn't line up in their favor. They were a handful of people, his daughter included, against a horde that likely outnumbered them exponentially. They might be able to repulse them once or twice, but with Kate wounded and their dwindling resources it was simply a matter of time before they were overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers. Even if Lanie could get Kate up and fit to fight, he could still only give them two days, possibly three once the fighting broke out.
Whether they survived the night or not, he had an obligation to keep, an oath he swore before Alexis had been born. He knew that word must get out about the large, organized Kobold force at New Amsterdam's doorstep. For their number to be this large and coordinated meant only one thing... an elder dragon holding their leash at the very least. Only one of their number was in any position to do that. Though it was clear that Kevin Ryan was not the sort to abandon a fight and run, his horse would accept no other.
Ryan had voiced his opposition loudly, but eventually his objections were countered by Castle's logic.
With heavy heart and a sense of purpose, Kevin Ryan swung into his saddle and with a single sweeping turn and a rearing leap disappeared down the road.
The Kobold army appeared at the outer perimeter just before dark, each member of the massed force carrying a burning torch in one clawed hand in a clear show of their superior numbers. A human male approached bearing the white flag of truce, flanked by a bodyguard whom Alexis recognized as Lockwood, the man who'd held her prisoner. A man they'd all thought dead.
There wasn't much choice. Castle knew he would have to parley if he was to buy enough time for Ryan. If the Elven Ranger and his mount rode hard, it was possible that he would find help. But even if Weldon believed him and roused the guard, any forces he could muster would be days away. He unbuckled his scabbard, handed Armageddon to his daughter for safekeeping and strode out, flanked by Esposito to meet him.
"You come out to surrender?" Castle quipped, his face becoming a neutral mask. Only a few people in his life knew that he tended to make inappropriate jokes when he was nervous.
Bracken laughed, his head tilted backward with undisguised mirth. The first genuine moment of levity he'd experienced in nearly a century. Almost feeling genuine guilt that he would need to sacrifice the man when his plan came to fruition. Very rare was the bipedal mammal who could amuse him so.
'Guilt,' he thought to himself, his mirth gone in an instant, 'another human concept I will not miss."
"You and your pitiful band have only one thing of value to me," Bracken stated in an even tone. "Surrender it to me freely and I will let your friends and your daughter leave in peace."
"And what might that be?" Castle replied.
"You." Bracken said. "There is a task I need you to perform, a spell only the "Dark Son, Born of Light" can cast.
Castle drew in a sharp breath. He'd told no one about the dreams he'd been having for years. The woman bathed in near blinding fire calling him the Dark Son Born of Light. The dreams that told him he had a destiny bound to a dragon called "The Black Death", an evil that only he could put down.
It was why he'd wanted to join the Knights of Silverymoon, why he'd trained so hard. Why he'd thrown himself so deeply into his magical studies. Why he'd drawn a sword and walked willingly into the battlefield at Myth Drannor. It had shaped and colored his life since he was eleven years old, dragging James Beckett and his entire family along for the ride, the guilt for which weighed upon him heavily.
'Is this a servant of The Black death?' He asked himself. 'Has my "destiny" come down to this choice?'
"I will give you one hour to decide to either say your goodbyes or dig the graves of all who stand with you, Richard Castle," Bracken stated coldly. "One minute after that, I will give the order for my Kobold thralls to drown you all in a sea of blood."
The road between Tralgar Village and New Amsterdam had grown accustomed to silence, rarely broken by more than the whisper of the wind and the rustling of leaves. It had been so long neglected by the hands and wheels of man that the rhythms of nature had long ago begun its reclamation, the dark shadows of night cloaking it in silence.
But that long accustomed silence was shattered by the fevered clattering of horse's hooves as the lone horse and rider plunged through the night like two creatures possessed. Ryan and his faithful mount, Shadow, knew this pace was slowly killing her – a fate he felt keenly through their blood bond, which both of them understood and accepted. Both knew the circumstances were dire, consequences accepted in equal measure when weighed against the lives hanging in the balance if they failed to bring help in time.
Shadow knew she was running toward her own death. Sweat beaded from her legs and flanks, saliva foaming around the unfamiliar bridle between her teeth, her breathing becoming more and more labored with every mile that flew beneath her hooves. Her battle to the death no less pronounced than the one awaiting the companions they were forced to leave behind. A price she had accepted the moment the noble war horse had chosen and accepted a rider. If they did not find help in time to save the others, they would all die, including the kind one with the pale hair and soft hands, which spurred Shadow on in spite of tiring legs and pounding heart, sending her surging forward.
The part of Ryan bound to her mourned, but failure was not an acceptable option while she drew breath and her legs could run. So on they rode... until they happened upon something that stopped them both in their tracks.
Castle agonized over the decision as he hugged his daughter fiercely while she wept and begged him not to go, but he had to weigh his life against his daughter's, against Beckett's against all of them and the arithmetic only came up one way to him. He didn't trust this William Bracken to keep his word as far as he could throw him, but if he could buy Ryan one more day, or even an hour, it might mean the difference between life and death for the others. He couldn't allow Alexis, Kate or any of them to die for his crusade. He kissed Beckett's unconscious forehead and turned to face his destiny.
"For the dark son born of light to prevail, The Black Death must rise again..."
When he once again stood before William Bracken, he looked the man in the eye then bowed his head.
"I surrender."
**Author's Note** Welcome to this fic's transition from the Castle Winter Ficathon to the Castle Summer Ficathon. I'm hoping to have enough story left to get this fic up to 25K to meet the minimum goal, which it only just missed this past winter.
Yes, I know... it's a cliffhanger, and I'm a meanie, but it is going somewhere, I promise. I have stuff prepared for the next chapter, which I'm hoping to have up in time for CastleFanficMonday.