Chapter 57
Chapter
Fifty-Seven
“Where is the grand monk?” Konrad asked as he and the Draconian guards followed the warrior monks along the long corridor.
“Just up ahead, Your Majesty,” the tall warrior monk said.
Konrad sniffed. “What is that smell?”
The corridor took a turn. Konrad jolted to a stop, reached for his sword, and drew it.
Faces of white bone and rotting flesh stared straight at him. The stench of decay filled his nostrils. An undead army of reanimated skeletons and corpses, along with dread knights, filled the large crypt before him.
And there, at the front of the room, stood Wraith amongst his family.
An icy numbness swept through Konrad’s body. His ears rang.
I was right. He betrayed me.
A part of him had resisted the idea and hoped he’d been wrong, despite all the evidence. But there Wraith stood with his family and the undead army, amongst those who wanted to tear Draconia down.
Then Wraith turned towards him. His eyes widened. “Konrad, run! They are going to kill you.” He sprinted towards Konrad, pushing through the undead. “Run! They are going to turn you into a bone dragon.”
A dread knight stepped up behind Wraith. He lifted his sword high and brought the hilt down onto Wraith’s back. With a broken cry, Wraith crumpled to the ground.
“Wraith!” For a second Konrad considered shifting. But the ceiling was far too low. He’d hit the roof and potentially bring it down.
Then, all of a sudden, a rattling sounded behind him. He turned back to see a gate rolling closed, blocking them from the corridor. A dread knight stared at him through the metal grills. He smiled.
Had the dread knight come up behind them? Or snuck around? Either way, there was no escape back that way.
“Arm yourselves and prepare to fight!” Konrad shouted.
The Draconian guards drew their swords. So too did the warrior monks.
The undead army approached. Necromancers at the front of the crypt stood, lips and hands moving as they compelled the reanimated.
Konrad widened his stance and adjusted his grip, ready to meet his attackers. They were vastly outnumbered. But Konrad would not go down without a fight.
The Draconian guards ran forward. But the warrior doves held back. Konrad had never seen warrior doves in battle. He wondered if they would be as unskilled and weak as so many joked that monks armed with swords would be.
But then the tall warrior monk lunged, stabbing her blade through one of the Draconian guard’s backs. The guard cried out. Then the stocky warrior monk did the same to another guard. Both Draconians collapsed.
“What?” But Konrad didn’t have time to work out what the fuck was going on. The warrior monks turned on him.
The tall warrior dove lunged. Konrad blocked the blow but didn’t have time to follow it up as the stocky monk swung at him. He jumped back. The blade sliced, narrowly missing his belly. He dodged and parried as the two attacked.
Then Konrad shoved the point of his sword through the stocky monk’s chest. He tugged the blade free as the tall monk dove at him with a cry. Konrad knocked her sword to the side and shoved his blade into her stomach. She gasped.
Breathing heavily, he yanked the sword free and turned.
All the Draconian guards lay motionless on the floor. Their blood pooled around them. The undead stood over them. Konrad bared his teeth, grip tightening around the hilt of his sword.
The reanimated swarmed forward. He hacked and swung. He took off arms and heads. But it was no use.
Skeletons and rotting hands grabbed at him. They ripped his sword from his grip and shoved him to the ground, face first. Pinned to the floor, he breathed heavily, struggling against those who now held him down.
A dread knight stood over him, smiling. His yellowed eyes glowed amongst his sunken skin. A fat fly walked across his cheek. “Turn him onto his back.”
The reanimated did as they were told.
“Hold out his hands,” the dread knight barked.
They grabbed Konrad’s hands, tugging them forward even as Konrad growled and strained against them. But there were too many. The dread knight held a pair of shackles. He leaned forward and snapped them around Konrad’s wrists.
His heart sank. Konrad recognised what the shackles did.
“You won’t be able to shift whilst wearing these.” The dread knight rose to his full height.
“King Konrad, that was quite a display.” Shadow Queen Rue strolled forward. “We’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival.”
The undead army parted to make way for her. It gave him a clear view of Wraith, who knelt on the grey stone floor. His hands had also been shackled in front of him, just like Konrad’s. His brother and sister stood over him.
Wraith told me to run. He tried to save me. He hasn’t betrayed me. I was wrong.
Konrad squeezed his eyes shut.
I betrayed him. I turned on him.
“Bring him forward,” the shadow queen commanded.
The reanimated released him, and two dread knights stepped forward. Each gripped one arm and one leg. They lifted him. He hung between them as they carried him through the rows of tombs. They dropped Konrad, and he cried out as he hit the stone.
“Konrad! Are you okay?” Wraith asked, shuffling closer.
Konrad groaned. He lifted his head and stared into Wraith’s pale face, streaked with dirt.
“I’m sorry,” Konrad whispered. “I’m so sorry for turning on you.”
He shouldn’t have believed his cousin’s accusations. But why had she said what she did? She’d been so certain that Wraith was plotting with the other necromancers. Why would she lie? And why had the warrior doves turned on him?
Shadow Princess Vex grabbed Wraith’s hair. “Harrow and I knew you’d let us down.” She yanked.
Wraith cried out.
“Stop that!” Konrad shouted. He tried to get closer to Wraith, but the dread knights gripped his shoulders, holding him back.
The shadow princess released Wraith’s hair. Shadow Prince Harrow came up and kicked Wraith in the gut. Wraith clutched his stomach, curling into himself.
“Leave him alone!” Konrad yelled.
But the siblings didn’t even glance in Konrad’s direction. Shadow Princess Vex spat at Wraith. Then, laughing, the two walked away.
“Wraith.” Konrad crawled to him. Thankfully, this time the dread knights didn’t stop him.
Konrad pulled him into his lap. “I’m so sorry. I should have trusted you.”
Wraith blinked up at him. “Konrad,” he whispered. He lifted his shackled hands and touched Konrad’s cheek.
“Bring the dragon king here,” said the shadow queen.
Cold fingers gripped Konrad by the shoulders and tore him from Wraith.
“I have something to show you, King Konrad.” The shadow queen smiled.
Dread knights dragged Konrad to an altar. A skeleton lay on the stone. Candles and symbols drawn in ash circled it. And four necromancers wearing skull masks chanted.
The shadow queen and king stood by the altar. Their two children flanked them. Keys hung from the shadow king’s waist. Was one of them for the shackles?
“King Konrad.” The shadow king smiled. “What do you think?” He gestured to the altar.
Konrad’s chest tightened. “Who is it?”
“Why, don’t you recognise your own father?” the shadow king asked. “We are going to bring Dragon King Alaric Drachen back as a bone dragon.”