Morgan Rice - A Sky of Spells

A horn sounded and Thor watched a distant jousting lane and saw O’Connor charge against an opponent twice his size, from the southern province of the Ring; O’Connor missed his mark, and the opponent struck O’Connor in the gut, knocking him backwards off his horse. The crowd grunted and groaned as O’Connor hit the ground hard.

He lay there for a moment, and Thor worried if he was okay; but then O’Connor rose slowly to his feet and walked off. The crowd cheered for him. He was done with the tournament, but at least he was unhurt.

In the lane beside Thor, knights from distant lands charged each other. They met with a great battle cry, lances aimed high, and one screamed as a lance broke and a splinter pierced him through the throat. The crowd jeered, as it was a dirty move for the knight to strike so close to the throat, and dubiously legal.

The crowd groaned, horrified, as the knight fell off his horse, to the ground, writhing. Attendants rushed over to help him, to try to stop the bleeding, but within moments, he was dead.

A somber mood fell over the crowd as several attendants slowly pulled his body away. They all observed several moments of silence, Thor realizing once again just how dangerous these jousting games could be.

The soldier that had won, a massive fellow, twice as wide as the others, grabbed a new lance and turned and faced his next opponent. Thor’s heart pounded to see that he faced Elden.

Elden charged fearlessly for him, and Thor prayed he did not meet the same fate his last opponent had.

They charged, their bulk shaking the ground, their armor groaning, Elden letting out a great battle scream as he held his Lance before him. It seemed to Thor as if this knight were going to strike Elden and win; yet at the last moment, Elden twisted to the side, pointed his Lance at the knight’s armpit, and managed a direct hit.

The knight fell from his horse, rolling on the ground, and the crowd cheered as Elden had won.

As Elden rode his victory lap, proudly, taking in the cheers of the crowd, his opponent, behind him, threw off his helmet, exposing a face filled with rage. The knight charged at the unassuming Elden, reached up, grabbed him from behind, and yanked him down off his horse.

The crowd groaned and jeered at the cowardly move, and Thor, enraged, rushed forward to Elden’s aid, Reece, Conven, O’Connor and the other Legion at his side.

The knight jumped on top of Elden, raised a spear, and prepared to bring in down for Elden before he could react.

There came a snarling, and Krohn rushed forward, pouncing on the knight, knocking him down just before he could stab Elden.

The knight shook Krohn off, but it gave Elden time enough to roll around, reach back with his gauntlet and backhand the knight across the face.

There came a resounding crack as he broke the knight’s jaw and knocked him out, unconscious, just as Thor and the others appeared.

Elden stood, to the cheers of the crowd, and attendants rushed forward and dragged the unconscious knight away.

Thor and the others clasped Elden on the back, relieved that he was OK, and a horn sounded as the fighting resumed.

Fight after fight, the jousting went on and on. Thor could hardly believe how many warriors partook in this day’s festivities, representing all provinces of the Ring and dozens of countries from across the sea. The competition gave him a chance to test and hone his skills, and aside from one or two rotten apples, all the other knights fought with honor and respected the rules of the jousts.

The rounds continued, on and on. Elden eventually lost a joust, to a warrior twice his height, a knight who appeared to be invincible. But Kendrick took out that warrior the very next round.

As the second sun hung low in the sky, there eventually were but four warriors left in the competition: Thor, Kendrick, Erec, and a knight Thor did not know, a short stocky man, with black armor and menacing slits for eyes, who kept apart and who had not raised his visor once all day. Thor found himself facing him.

The two charged each other, Thor feeling all the eyes on him as the crowd roared in excitement. As they got closer, the sound of horses’ hooves rumbling in Thor’s ears, Thor prepared for impact—but something surprised him. His opponent raised his lance, and suddenly hurled it right at Thor.

Thor had not been expecting that. It sailed through the air, right for Thor’s head. At the last second, Thor’s reflexes kicked in, and he raised his shield just high enough to swat the lance away. At the same time Thor used his free hand to aim his own lance at the knight and strike him in the rib cage. The knight fell sideways from horse, tumbling down to the ground, and the crowd cheered.

Thor, breathing hard, shaken by how close he had come to losing, rode off to the side and turned and watched, as Kendrick and Erec, the last two aside from him, faced off with each other. He wondered which he would have to fight; neither would be easy.

The crowd thickened, as nearly everyone left in King’s Court crowded in to watch these two great knights, leaders of the Silver, famed warriors, whose songs had been sung are far and wide. They faced each other from far ends of the jousting lane, each with visors up, offering the other a salute of respect. Then they lowered their visors, raised their lances, their squires got out of the way, a horn sounded—and they charged.

The crowd was cheering as these two great warriors closed in on each other, their horses rumbling, raising up clouds of dust in the summer heat. Finally, they met in the middle with a clang, each knocking the other backwards.

The crowd groaned.

But neither of them fell off their horses, each of them good enough to be able to, somehow, hang on.

They each regained control, circled around, and, as the crowd cheered wildly, prepared to meet each other again. It was the first match of the day that had gone a second round.

Kendrick and Erec charged again, each ducking low, gaining incredible speed, holding their shining silver lances, the best the kingdom had, out before them. As they met, this time Erec raised his shield and blocked Kendrick’s lance. Erec’s shield was so strong that Kendrick’s lance snapped in two on impact. Erec, in turn, used the opportunity to aim his lance beneath Kendrick’s shield, striking him dead center in the chest and knocking him backwards off his horse.

The crowd cheered like wild as Erec circled around, jumped down from his horse, and gave Kendrick a hand up. They lifted their visors and Erec smiled down.

“Nicely fought,” Erec said. “If your lance had not broken, you would have won.”

Kendrick shook his head.

“You fought the better match,” he conceded. “Next time.”

Erec nodded, remounted his horse. Thor mounted his, realizing he’d be up against Erec.

Thor and Erec each circled around the entire perimeter of the jousting grounds, the final loop, as the crowd roared with a great cheer, chanting both Erec and Thorgrin’s names.

The two stopped at opposite ends of the jousting field, facing each other, and the crowd went wild. Thor felt nervous to face his old friend. He was determined to fight him on his own terms, and not to draw upon any of his powers. Thor wanted to see if he could win, as one man to another, one warrior to another.

They each lifted their faceplates in a gesture of respect, Thor facing off against his old mentor, a man he was once squire to. It was a funny feeling.

A horn sounded, and the two charged for each other. Thor focused with all his might and all his will, trying to drown out the screams of the crowd. He did not want to hurt Erec, and he tried to aim his lance for Erec’s chest, where the armor was thickest. But as he tried to focus, Thor realized that Erec was different than all the other opponents he’d faced. He was faster, harder to pin down, and his custom-forged silver armor, with all of its interchanging plates, shined in the light like the scales on a fish. It made it even more difficult for Thor to concentrate.